Purdue News

October 20, 2000 Former child prodigy Corey Cerovsek brings violin mastery to Purdue WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – 28-year-old violin star Corey Cerovsek will be performing at Purdue University at 3 p.m. Sunday Nov. 12 in Loeb Playhouse. Tickets are $21 for general public and $15 for Purdue students. Tickets are on sale at campus box offices or charge by phone at (765) 494-3933 or (800) 914-SHOW. Cerovsek visited Purdue 10 years ago as part of the Discovery Concert Series. At that time, 18-year-old Cerovsek had just finished his doctoral work and was stepping onto the international scene as an adult. Born in Vancouver, Canada, Cerovsek began playing the violin at age 5. "It was love at first sight. Within weeks I was telling everyone I was going to be a violinist," said Cerovsek. At 12, the prodigy graduated from the University of Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music. Cerovsek then moved from Canada to Indiana to study under Josef Gingold at Indiana University's School of Music. He received both his bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics and music from IU at 16. At age 18, Cerovsek earned a doctoral degree from IU. While not on tour, Cerovsek resides in Bloomington. In his 13-year career, Cerovsek has played with dozens of orchestras. In the United States he toured with orchestras in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Denver, Detroit, Atlanta and Indianapolis. Internationally, Cerovsek has performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Berlin Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony, Vienna Chamber Orchestra and is a featured guest at the Spoleto Festival in Italy. While Cerovsek embraces many composers and has made recordings featuring the music of Mozart, Borodin, Gedike, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky, his biggest role model Henryk Wieniawski. One of Cerovsek's most noted releases is a compact disc produced with sister, pianist and fellow prodigy, Katja, featuring Wieniawski's music titled: " Corey Cerovsek Plays Wieniawki." Corey plays a Guarneri del Ges violin made in 1742 that was owned by Wieniawski. The antique was temporarily loaned to Cerovsek by the Stradivari Society of Chicago but, following the release of the recording, the violin became a permanent feature in his performances. Cerovsek is sponsored by Purdue Convocations as part of the Loeb Music Collection. CONTACT: Laura Sargent, Purdue Convocations, (765) 494-5045, sargentl@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page