Steven Copes
Violinist Steven Copes leads a diverse and enthusiastic musical life as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral leader. He joined the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) as concertmaster in 1998 and has since led the orchestra from the first chair in many highly acclaimed, eclectic programs. He appears frequently as soloist with the orchestra, having performed concertos by Bach, Beethoven, Berg, Brahms, Hartmann, Hindemith, Kirchner, Korngold, Lutoslawski, Martin, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Piazzolla, Prokofiev, Schnittke, and Weill. In addition, he has performed as soloist with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, the Colorado Symphony, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra in Boston, the São Paolo State Symphony, the Orlando Philharmonic, the Knights, and the Mexico City Philharmonic. A zealous advocate of the music of today, Copes gave the world premiere of George Tsontakis’s Grammy-nominated Violin Concerto No. 2 (2003), which won the 2005 Grawemeyer Award and was recorded for Koch Records, and also gave the New York premiere of Lutoslawski’s Subito (1992) for Violin and Piano. In June 2017, he gave the world premiere of Pierre Jalbert’s Violin Concerto with Thomas Zehetmair conducting the SPCO. He performed John Novacek’s Four Rags with the composer on NPR’s Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, and has also appeared on the PBS series Now Hear This.
Other recent and upcoming solo engagements include Berg’s Chamber Concerto with pianist Kirill Gerstein at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Hartmann’s Concerto Funebre with the SPCO, Berg’s Violin Concerto with the Orlando Philharmonic and Eric Jacobsen, Frank Martin’s Polyptyque with Josh Weilerstein and the SPCO, Bartok’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with the Colorado College Summer Music Festival Orchestra, Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with Scott Yoo and the Mexico City Philharmonic, and a new arrangement of Prokofiev’s Violin and Piano Sonata No. 1 (for solo violin and chamber orchestra) by Stephen Prutsman. Copes recently led a program featuring Dvořák’s New World Symphony in Miami, which included Hartmann’s Concerto Funebre, and is also performing Brahms’s Violin Concerto with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra in Boston and the SPCO this spring. Next spring he is excited to perform a brand-new arrangement of Berg’s Violin Concerto with Gábor Takács-Nagy conducting the SPCO.
An avid chamber musician, Copes has performed at festivals and concert series such as Aspen, Boston Chamber Music Society, Bravo! Vail, Caramoor, Cartagena, Chamber Music Northwest, Chestnut Hill, La Jolla Summerfest, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, Mainly Mozart, Marlboro, Moritzburg, Mozaic, Norfolk, Olympic Music Festival, Piccolo Spoleto, Salt Bay Chamberfest, Santa Fe, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Skaneateles, Styriarte, and other festivals across the globe. He cofounded the Alpenglow Chamber Music Festival in Colorado, as well as Accordo, a chamber music collective in the Twin Cities comprising musicians from the SPCO and the Minnesota Orchestra, now in its second decade.
A frequent guest concertmaster, Copes has recorded and toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Budapest Festival Orchestra, and Mahler Chamber Orchestra, as well as the Baltimore Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Halle Orchestra, Houston Symphony, London Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony under conductors such as Haitink, Temirkanov, I. Fischer, Masur, Nezet-Seguin, Harding, Jurowski, Nelsons, Ades, Tilson Thomas, Elder, and Morlot.
A dedicated teacher as well, he has taught and coached at the Banff Centre in Canada, Curtis Institute of Music Summerfest, New World Symphony in Miami, Colorado College Summer Festival, East Carolina University, University of South Carolina, National Orchestral Institute in Maryland, Western Michigan University, Indiana University, University of Minnesota, University of Texas at Austin, Roosevelt University in Chicago, and Orford Academy in Quebec.
A native of Los Angeles, Copes holds degrees from the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School; his main teachers for chamber music include Robert Lipsett, Aaron Rosand, Robert Mann, and Felix Galimir. He performs on violins made in 2014 by Brooklyn maker Samuel Zygmuntowicz, patterned after the “Kreutzer” Stradivarius of 1727, as well as on an interpretation of J. Guarneri made in 2020 by Zygmuntowicz. Copes lives in St. Paul with his wife Anne; two very sweet and funny daughters, Ella and Izzy; and their Bernese mountain dog pup, Coco.