Join us to enjoy a performance by violist Matthew Cohen and pianist Zhenni Li-Cohen. This is their first appearance at these concerts.

• Program
• About the Artists
  • Matthew Cohen
  • Zhenni Li-Cohen
• About the Concert
  • Reservations

Program

About the Artists

Matthew Cohen

Ukrainian-American violist Matthew Cohen is a dynamic and versatile artist whose captivating performances have made him one of the most sought-after violists of his generation. Recently appointed as the violist of the Formosa Quartet and a founding member of Ensemble Elatós, he was a special prize winner at the prestigious Primrose International Viola Competition as well as garnering top prizes at the Citta di Cremona International Viola Competition in Italy, Vivo International Music Competition and the Art of Duo International Competition. Particularly interested in advocating for the viola as a unique voice, he is challenging the misconception that the viola has a limited repertoire by bringing attention to lesser-known gems as well as arrangements of other masterworks.

Recent solo engagements include his Lincoln Center debut performing Bartok’s Viola Concerto with the Juilliard Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall, Hummel’s Potpourri with the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, Bartok’s Viola Concerto with I Virtuosi Italiani in Cremona, Italy, and presenting the world premiere of Garry Schyman’s viola concerto “Zingaro” with the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony. Upcoming appearances include performances at Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Irvine Philharmonic Society, Music Mondays - Toronto, the University of Houston, and recitals for the Performing Arts Consortium in Hilton Head, South Carolina and Core Memory Music in Wakefield, Rhode Island.

Cohen is a graduate of the Juilliard School’s Master of Music program where he was the proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship. He has served as a member of the chamber music faculty at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and the Heifetz Institute and is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Opus 71 Concerts, a multidisciplinary concert series near New York’s Lincoln Center. His recording of York Bowen’s Phantasy for viola and piano with acclaimed pianist Vivian Fan is available on the Soundset label.

In addition to his musical activities, he enjoys public speaking and has acted in a number of plays including various works of Shakespeare, Peter Pan, Auntie Mame, and the musical Bugsy Malone.

Zhenni Li-Cohen

Hailed as “…an artist of tremendous conviction, who fascinates even as she provokes… “ by Gramophone Magazine, “…a thrillingly good pianist…” by The New Yorker and for her “…big, gorgeous tone and a mesmerizing touch” by The Philadelphia Inquirer, pianist Zhenni Li-Cohen has performed in such notable venues as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, WQXR’s Greene Space in New York, the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., Kimmel Performing Arts Center, the Helsinki Music Centre in Finland, the Grieghallen in Norway and the Berliner Philharmonie. She has appeared as a soloist with the Bergen Philharmonic and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. Her second album for the Steinway & Sons label was released in 2023.

Zhenni Li-Cohen has garnered worldwide recognition as the winner of the New York Concert Artists Worldwide Debut Audition, Astral Artist’s National Auditions and the Grieg International Competition in Norway. Ms. Li-Cohen is currently the Associate Professor of Piano at University of Alberta. She holds a Bachelor and Master of Music degree, both on a full scholarship, from The Juilliard School, under the tutelage of Seymour Lipkin and Joseph Kalichstein. After obtaining her Artist Diploma with Peter Frankl at Yale School of Music, she completed her doctorate studies at the McGill School of Music under Dr. Stéphane Lemelin.

Ms. Li-Cohen is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Opus 71 Concerts, a multimedia concert series near New York’s Lincoln Center. In her spare time, she enjoys learning jazz and new languages, looking forward to becoming pentalingual, traveling and meeting people of different cultures.

Zhenni Li-Cohen is a Steinway Artist.

About the Concert

This performance begins at 2:00 pm. Join us an hour earlier for a pre-concert discussion about the music on the program. After the performance, you’ll have an opportunity to meet the artist(s) and learn about their backgrounds, interests, and career plans.

The suggested contribution for this concert is $40 per person, collected at the door. We accept cash, personal checks, and credit cards. Checks should be payable to “Core Memory Music”. All contributions go directly to our performing artists. Children under 18 are welcome to join us free of charge.

The address of the venue is 103 North Road, Wakefield, Rhode Island 02879. Driving time from Providence, Newport, Westerly, and southeastern Connecticut is under an hour, and Kingston Station is only five miles away.

Map and Directions

Reservations

If you’d like to attend this concert, send us an email with the full name of each person in your party. If seating is still available, we’ll confirm your reservation.

If you can’t attend the concert in person, we invite you to listen to the audio livestream (no reservation required).