Renowned cellist Denise Djokic appointed to string faculty at University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign

International soloist, who already calls Urbana home, will begin teaching in the fall of 2021.

Djokic is one of the outstanding performers of her generation. She burst on the scene in 2002 when millions of television viewers watched her performance of Bach at the 2002 Grammy Awards following the lauded release of her self-titled debut recording on SONY Classical. Since then, Djokic has accrued numerous distinctions and accolades: she has been named one of the top “25 Canadians Who Are Changing Our World” by MacLean’s Magazine, one of “Canada’s Most Powerful Women” by Elle Magazine, and had her life and career chronicled by a special BRAVO! TV documentary entitled “Seven Days, Seven Nights”.

As an educator, Djokic has been a visiting professor at the University of Ottawa and given scores of master classes across North America. She is a regular guest on the faculties of the Bowdoin International Festival of Music, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and Scotia Festival of Music.

Djokic’s most recent recording of the Rachmaninoff and Chopin Cello Sonatas (with David Jalbert) has been praised by Gramophone Magazine as “plush and beautifully moulded”. Her award-winning discography also features the complete Britten Solo Suites for Cello, a self-titled CD, featuring works by Barber, Martinu, and “Folklore” which received a JUNO nomination, hit the Billboard Chart’s top 15 Classical CD’s and was featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

Djokic will join forces with Daniel McDonough, who holds positions of Associate Clinical Professor and Artist-in-Residence as cellist of the Jupiter String Quartet.

“Denise is one of the most elegant, beautiful players I know and I have always admired her technique and artistry,” says McDonough. “My quartet has collaborated with her on several occasions and she is a joy to work with. She will bring incredible knowledge and a generous spirit to our string students and faculty. She also probably the nicest, most humble musician I know.”

A frequent guest soloist with many orchestras in North America and Europe, Djokic recently made her Carnegie Hall Debut with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and conductor William Eddins. She also appeared with Seattle’s Spectrum Dance in the world premiere of Donald Byrd’s Love, set to Benjamin Britten’s Cello Suites, and with Ballet Victoria in a special performance of solo Bach. Other recent highlights include her acclaimed Lincoln Center performance of Arturo Marquez’s “Espejos en la Arena” with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas and Alondra de la Parra conducting, a return appearance with l’Orchestre Métropolitain and Yannick Nézet-Séguin performing Strauss’s Don Quixote, her debut with the Aachen Symphony Orchestra under Marcus Bosch, performances of both Haydn Concerti with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria in Mexico City, and appearances with the San Diego Chamber Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, Portland Symphony, and Syracuse Symphony.

Djokic brings a wealth of experience to her new position. She is eager to share her knowledge with cellists of all levels and backgrounds and give them the tools they need to excel as teachers and performers. She is excited to meet with young musicians interested in music from across the state.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to join the distinguished faculty at the University of Illinois School of Music this year.  I’ve felt so warmly welcomed by the Champaign-Urbana community since moving here, and am excited to extend that same generosity and devotion to my students and fellow colleagues as I begin teaching this fall. Teaching has been a long-time passion for me; I feel a strong need to connect with our new generation of musicians by nurturing the essential, human element of our art form while discussing practical ideas about how to shape an individual career path today.  I want to give each of my students the confidence to realize their unique potential and help them to become their own teachers, filled with a lifelong desire to keep learning.”

Denise’s “This Is My Music” to be re-broadcast on Saturday morning, April 8, from 10am-noon EST

Lucky listeners will have the chance to hear a re-broadcast of Denise’s ‘This is My Music’ on Saturday morning, April 8 on CBC Radio 2 and streaming on cbcmusic.ca

Friedrich Gulda’s Concerto for cello and string orchestra with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and Bill Edins

“[Gulda’s] Concerto for Cello and String Orchestra (which includes percussion and guitars) was written in 1980 for cellist Heinrich Schiff. It is a kind of mad-cap patchwork of pastiche, from rock and jazz through echoes of early music in the style of the Spaniard Rodrigo, to Souza-like marches mixed with the cancan. It’s crazy, but undeniably fun, with some whimsical lyrical beauty in a second slow movement that recalls the idiom of Stephen Foster. It doesn’t exactly challenge audiences, but it does challenge the soloist, especially in the extended, sometimes improvised, cadenza. The young Canadian cellist Denise Djokic made a very strong case for the piece, her virtuosos playing binding together the weird elements. I thought she was more idiomatically effective than Schiff’s own recording, especially in the first movement, where she rocked with the best.”

(Edmonton Journal, 8 February 2015)

Twinning in music and life

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