Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg

“A master musician at the height of her powers,” violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg is celebrated worldwide as one of the most original and fearless artists on the concert stage today. Renowned for her electrifying performances, passionate interpretations and musical depth, she is sought after by today’s greatest conductors and orchestras, as well as by fellow artists for collaborations in both classical and other genres. Acclaimed by the press in the performance and recording arenas, she is an artist whose talent “will make you hang breathlessly on every note.”

Following the 2005 EMI Classics re-issue of her acclaimed recording of Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Violin Concerto No. 1,” honoring Shostakovich’s upcoming 100th birthday anniversary, and Samuel Barber’s “Concerto for Violin and Orchestra,” Op. 14 with the London Symphony Orchestra, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg can be heard playing both works in concert throughout the upcoming season, beginning with her 2005 summer performances at some of the most prestigious US music festivals, including Ravinia, Aspen and the Eastern Music Festival. Additional orchestral engagements during the summer included the Vancouver Symphony in Canada, and the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, where she joined violinist Mark O’Connor to perform his “Double Violin Concerto.” During the 2005-06 season, Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg was heard in orchestral engagements throughout North America, including appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and Toronto Symphony Orchestra. She continued her highly successful collaboration with the duo guitarists the Assads, and performed Sergio Assad’s “Concerto Originis,” written for her and the two brothers, with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in February 2005. With pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, she toured in recital in March and April 2006, with March appearances at Ithaca College and Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall (where she also made a special appearance on the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s subscription series in October, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, Finney Chapel in Oberlin, and April performances at Jesse Auditorium in Missouri, Hill Auditorium in Michigan and Lund Auditorium in Illinois.

Considered a groundbreaker in the recording field, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg continues to remain on the cutting edge with the creation of her own record label, NSS MUSIC (nssmusic.com). The label launched in summer 2005 with an August 1 release of two live recordings: one a recital CD recorded live at New York’s Merkin Hall entitled “LIVE” featuring Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg with pianist Anne-Marie McDermott performing Schubert’s “Rondo brillant,” Poulenc’s “Sonata for Violin & Piano” and Beethoven’s” Sonata No. 7 in C,” Op. 30/2; and the other a concerto album featuring Tchaikovsky’s “Concerto for Violin in D,” Op. 35 and Clarice Assad’s “Violin Concerto,” which Nadja recorded live in November 2005 at Denver’s Boettcher Concert Hall with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and conductor Marin Alsop. With over 20 recordings to her credit, Nadja has also recorded for the Nonesuch and Angel/EMI Classics labels. In addition to standard classical repertoire, including Barber, Brahms, Bruch, Chausson, Debussy, Mendelssohn, Paganini, Shostakovich, Vivaldi, and Wolf (all recorded for EMI Classics), she has received critical acclaim for several “crossover” discs as well: a self-titled recording of gypsy music from Eastern Europe with the duo guitarists the Assads (Nonesuch 2000); “Humoresque” (Nonesuch 1998), a CD of music from the 1947 film “Humoresque” that combines classical works and pop standards, which the New York Times has called “a valuable historical document”; and “It Ain’t Necessarily So” (Angel/EMI 1995) which includes works by Gershwin, Kreisler, and Scott Joplin, among others. Included among her recordings is “Speaking In Strings” (Angel/EMI 1999) comprised of music from the Counterpoint Film’s documentary on Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg of the same title. An admirer of all musical genres, she has made guest appearances on recordings by Mandy Patinkin, Joe Jackson, and Keith Jarrett, and has also collaborated with such artists as Judy Blazer, Roger Kellaway, Bob James, Regina Carter, Eileen Ivers, and Janis Siegel. Additional recent releases include Mark O’Connor’s “Double Violin Concerto” with the violinist/composer on the OMAC label, and “Concerto Originis” by Sergio Assad on the GHA label.

An engaging communicator whose sense of humor and naturalness in front of the camera have not gone unnoticed, Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg has been featured on a variety of television programs, not only as a guest on talk shows, but as a host and featured actress/musician. She has appeared in a cameo on ABC’s prime time comedy “Dharma & Greg” (2001); in a special segment on PBS’ Children’s Television Workshop’s award winning program “Sesame Street;” and as the subject of a 2000 Academy Award nominated documentary film on her life, entitled “Speaking In Strings” (which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival). Released in theaters nationwide during the summer of 1999, and subsequently premiered on HBO’s Signatures channel in December 1999, “Speaking In Strings” is available on VHS and DVD by New Video. She has hosted PBS’ “Backstage/Live from Lincoln Center” and been featured in a commercial for Signet Bank. Her guest appearances are numerous, and include CBS’ “60 Minutes,” “60 Minutes II,” and “Sunday Morning;” CNN’s “Newsstand;” NBC’s “National News” and “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson (several times); A & E’s “Artist of the Week” with Elliot Forrest; Bravo’s “Arts & Minds” and “The Art of Influence;” PBS’ “Live from Lincoln Center,” “The Charlie Rose Show,” and “City Arts,” as well as the PBS/BBC series “The Mind.” In 1989, Crown Books published “Nadja: On My Way,” an autobiography written for children in which she shares her experiences as a young musician building a career. In 1999, Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg was featured in a book on celebrities entitled “The Virtuoso.” Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg’s professional career began in 1981 when she won the Walter W. Naumburg International Violin Competition. In 1983 she was recognized with an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and in 1988 was Ovations Debut Recording Artist of the Year. In 1999 she was honored with the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize, awarded to instrumentalists who have demonstrated “outstanding achievement and excellence in music.” In May of that same year, Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg was awarded an honorary Masters of Musical Arts from New Mexico State University, the first honorary degree the University has ever awarded. Her extended background information can be obtained via her website at nadjasalernosonnenberg.com. An American citizen, Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg was born in Rome and emigrated to the United States at the age of eight to study at The Curtis Institute of Music. She later studied with Dorothy DeLay at The Juilliard School.

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