Corey cerovsek with Genadi Zagor

Born in Vancouver, Canada, Corey Cerovsek began playing the violin at the age of five. After early studies with Charmian Gadd and Richard Goldner he graduated at age 12 from the University of Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music with a gold medal for the highest marks in strings. That same year, he was accepted as a student by Josef Gingold and enrolled at Indiana University, where he received bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and music at age 15, master’s degrees in both at 16, and completed his doctoral course work in mathematics and music at age 18. Concurrently he studied piano with Enrica Cavallo, frequently appearing in concert performing on both instruments.

Working with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Charles Dutoit, Michael Tilson Thomas, Neeme Järvi, Andrew Litton, Yoel Levi, and Jesús López-Cobos, Cerovsek has performed in North America with the orchestras of Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Detroit, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Atlanta, Baltimore, Montréal, Vancouver, and Toronto, among many others, and internationally with such groups as the Israel Philharmonic, Prague Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Residentie Orkest of the Hague, Berlin Symphony, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide Symphonies, Bournemouth Symphony, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestre de Poitou-Charentes and the Montpellier Festival Orchestra (France).

In recital, he has performed throughout the world, including frequently at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston), the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.), Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theatre and the Frick Collection (New York), the Place des Arts (Montréal), the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra “Debut Series,” Wigmore Hall (London) and the Théâtre du Châtelet and the Salle Gaveau (Paris). He is also an avid chamber musician, regularly appearing at the festivals of Kuhmo (Finland), Verbier (Switzerland), Tanglewood (USA), Divonne (France), and Stavanger (Norway), as well as the Spoleto Festivals (USA and Italy). Chamber music partners include Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Thomas Quasthoff, Joshua Bell, Julien Quentin, Jeremy Denk, Leonidas Kavakos, Eric Le Sage, Denis Pascal, Alexandre Tharaud, Paul Meyer, Truls Mørk, Tabea Zimmermann, Katia Skanavi, Isabelle Van Keulen, Leif Ove Andsnes, and the Borromeo, Ysaÿe and Diotima Quartets.

His recording of the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas, made in 2006 with pianist Paavali Jumppanen for the Claves label, received numerous awards including the 2008 MIDEM Classical Music Award for Best Chamber Music, Gramophone Recommends, and recognition from Le Monde de la Musique, Diapason, Supersonic Pizzicato, and Fono Forum Stern des Monats. It was followed in 2008 by a much-acclaimed recording of works of Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne under Hannu Lintu. His Corigliano Violin Sonata, with Andrew Russo on the Black Box label, was nominated for a 2006 Grammy Award.

Corey Cerovsek performs on the “Milanollo” Stradivarius of 1728, played among others by Viotti, Paganini, and Christian Ferras. He is also cofounder and CTO of a technology company specializing in medical education.

Genadi Zagor is an Instructor of Piano in College of Music at MSU with primary teaching in the area of duo-piano and collaboration with the Voice Area in opera and other collaborations.

A native of Krasnodar, Russia, Genadi Zagor began his music studies at the age of four with his father, a foremost guitarist and composer. He continued his piano studies at the Moscow Central Music School for gifted children with Tatiana Manuilskaya. Subsequently, he studied with Nelly Mezhlumova, one of the most prominent teachers of the Caucasus. After graduating from Krasnodar's Rimsky-Korsakov College of Music with distinction, he went on to study at the Moscow State Conservatory with Mikhail Mezhlumov. In 1991, Genadi immigrated to Israel and became an assistant to the famous Piano Duo Bracha Eden-Alexander Tamir at the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music and Dance.

Dr. Zagor holds prizes from the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in Salt Lake City; the Eighth Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition, Israel; the Leeds International Pianoforte competition, United Kingdom; the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition, Japan; and the Francois Shapira Music Competition, Israel. Dr. Zagor won top prizes from the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, San Antonio International Piano competition in Texas, and the Grand Prize at the D’Angelo Young Artists Competition in Erie, Pennsylvania. In 1995, he became a recipient of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarship for outstanding artists and appeared in a special recital at the Presidential Palace for the seventh President of Israel, Ezer Weizman. In 1997, as a cultural mission leader for the Jerusalem municipality, he performed in Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, and the Czech Republic.

Throughout his career, Dr. Zagor appeared with the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Gotham City Orchestra, Northbrook Symphony Orchestra, South Bend Symphony Orchestra, Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, Post-Classical Ensemble and Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, among others. In 2000, he moved to the United States and joined Maestro Alexander Toradze's Piano Studio at Indiana University (South Bend). After completing his Artist Diploma, he accepted the position of Visiting Artist at the University of Northern Iowa.

Dr. Zagor holds Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in piano performance from Michigan State University. He has performed on stages and at festivals around the world as well as radio and television programs. Reaction to his performances has been commonly expressed as “sensational,” “nimble-fingered,” a “lively and imaginative player,” a “triumph,” and an “electrifying performance.”