{{short description|American cellist (born 1948)}} {{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians --> | name = Nathaniel Rosen | image = | caption = Studio portrait of Nathaniel Rosen with his cello | background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1948|06|09}} | birth_place = Altadena, California | instrument = Cello | genre = Classical | occupation = Cellist, instructor | years_active = 1960s–present | label = North Star, John Marks Records, Naxos | website = {{URL|https://nathanielrosen.net/}} }} '''Nathaniel "Nick" Rosen''' (born June 9, 1948 in Altadena, California) is an American cellist, the gold medalist of the 1978 International Tchaikovsky Competition, and former faculty member at the USC Thornton School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music.<ref name="Manhattan"/>
==Early life== Rosen grew up in a musical household, his father being an amateur violist.<ref name="LA Times">''Los Angeles Times'': [http://www.cello.org/cnc/rosen.htm "An Artist Finally Gets It on Record"] by Daniel Cariaga. Retrieved March 22, 2007.</ref> At the age of six, Rosen began studying with Eleonore Schoenfeld, professor of cello at the University of Southern California. At age 12, his teacher encouraged him to move on, first intending to study with Gabor Rejto; but, when it was announced that Gregor Piatigorsky was joining USC, Rosen auditioned and was welcomed into his studio and the newly created Institute for Special Musical Studies at the age of 13. Growing up, he also studied chamber music with other renowned teachers who joined Piatigorsky and the institute including Jascha Heifetz and William Primrose.<ref>Internet Cello Society: [http://www.cello.org/Newsletter/Articles/rosen.html "Interview with Nathaniel Rosen"] by Tim Janof. Retrieved March 22, 2007.</ref> He graduated from John Muir High School in the Class of 1965, and was active in the John Muir orchestra while in Grades 10, 11, and 12.
He soon, however, began to branch out into the musical profession. While a student at the University of Southern California, he became a founding member and eventually principal cellist of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.<ref name="LA Times"/> He also studied with Laurence Lesser. By age 22, the same year he graduated from USC, he had also become Piatigorsky's assistant — a post he maintained for five years. In 1977, at the age of 30, he became principal cellist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as well, under André Previn.<ref name="LA Times"/>
INathaniel Rosen won the coveted Naumburg Competition in 1977 for cello, and presented recitals in London and New York. In 1980, he was a soloist with the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park (NY), summer series.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Notable Events and Performers |url=https://naumburgconcerts.org/notable-events-and-performers |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=Naumburg Orchestral Concerts |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Tchaikovsky Competition== Although he was a finalist in the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1966 at the age of 17, he returned in 1978 to win the Gold Medal,<ref name="Manhattan">Manhattan School of Music [http://www.msmnyc.edu/catalog/facbio.asp?fid=1008173188 faculty biography] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903183349/http://www.msmnyc.edu/catalog/facbio.asp?fid=1008173188 |date=2006-09-03 }}. Retrieved March 22, 2007.</ref> thrusting him into the forefront of the classical music circuit. It was however unlikely for an American candidate to win the competition, as the jury was mainly composed of Soviet cellists. The Russian cellist Daniil Shafran was the one who influenced the jury.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Conversation with Vera Guseva|url=http://www.cello.org/newsletter/articles/shafran/shafran.htm|access-date=2021-02-05|website=www.cello.org}}</ref> Rosen remained, thus, the only American cellist to take first prize at the competition until Zlatomir Fung achieved the same feat in 2019.<ref name="Tchaikovsky Competition">XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition [https://tch16.com/en/news/307.htm]. Retrieved June 27, 2019.</ref>
==Today== He taught at the California State University, Northridge and the University of Illinois for six years. He has been a member of the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music<ref name="Manhattan"/> and also enjoys engagements with the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire and Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
He has soloed, among other orchestras, with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He has also played at numerous chamber festivals including the Sitka, Park City, Manchester (VT) Music Festival and Casals Festivals.
Since 2011 he lives in Japan with his Japanese wife and daughters. In 2013 he has moved from Matsuyama to Yamanakako.
His important and historical cello was crafted in 1738 by Domenico Montagnana, the "Mighty Venetian." One of the instrument's previous owners was Adrien-Francois Servais (1807–1866), the man who invented the endpin.
==Discography== *''Nathaniel Rosen Plays Brahms'' with Doris Stevenson: Johannes Brahms' first and second cello sonatas, Felix Mendelssohn's "Song Without Words", and Robert Schumann's "Fantasy Pieces." *''Nathaniel Rosen In Concert'' performing Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations and the First Cello Concerto by Shostakovich. *''Complete works for cello and piano of Chopin'' with Doris Stevenson *''Complete works for cello and piano of Schumann'' with Doris Stevenson *''The Bach Gamba Sonatas'' with Anthony Newman *''The Six Suites for Solo Cello of J.S. Bach'' *''Orientale - Short Pieces such as Elfentanz'', Ritual Fire Dance, etc. *''Reverie - Romantic Short Pieces'' *''Music for a Glass Bead Game'' with Arturo Delmoni *''Sonatas of Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff'' with Pavlina Dokovska *''David Amram - Honor Song for Sitting Bull'' with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra *''Saint-Saëns Concerto Live with the Camerata New York'' *''The Gallant Troubadour'' with Robert White, Samuel Sanders, Mark Peskanov, and Ransom Wilson *''Jacques Ibert Concerto for Cello and Ten Wind Instruments'' with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official website|https://nathanielrosen.net/}} *[http://www.cello.org/Newsletter/Articles/rosen.html Interview with Rosen]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosen, Nathaniel}} Category:1948 births Category:American classical cellists Category:Jewish classical musicians Category:Living people Category:American music educators Category:Southern Methodist University people Category:USC Thornton School of Music faculty Category:Manhattan School of Music faculty Category:Musicians from New York (state) Category:Prize-winners of the International Tchaikovsky Competition Category:USC Thornton School of Music alumni