I have listened to violinist Leila Josefowicz from time to time in the past; today, when I did some biographical research on her I noticed something immediately: Her middle name is “Bronia”, which was my mother’s first name. So I was intrigued…
Ms. Josefowicz was born in Canada, and as a child her parents moved to Los Angeles. Later, when Leila was 13, the Josefowicz family moved to Philadelphia so she could attend the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with several well-known teachers Jaime Laredo, Jascha Brodsky, Felix Galimir and Joseph Gingold.
Earlier today I watched with some interest Ms. Josefowicz as she conducted a masterclass in which she coached a violinist in the performance of the Prokofiev Violin Concerto #1.
I found her to be an energetic coach; she was standing, involved, not missing any area where help was needed. If tempos were sluggish, she intervened; if the musical line did not lead anywhere, she stopped to make suggestions.
Many other coaches mostly sit, listen and offer rather little. Ms. Josefowicz was — in my view — so effective. I wished that I had her as a teacher when I was studying violin.
Here she is conducting the Prokofiev masterclass:
