ALEXANDRE Da COSTA
VIOLIN
GALLERY | BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | CONCERTO | DISCOGRAPHY | LINKS
GALLERY
Photography Alex Vovan, Montreal; Bo Huang, Montreal/Toronto; Nancy Bull, Montreal
Click each image to download
BIOGRAPHY
For many, winning international competitions and awards would be an achievement to attain. For Canadian violinist Alexandre Da Costa, this was a result of true artistic communication and musical connection with audiences in his performances. Born in Montreal, Alexandre showed an uncommon interest for both the violin and piano. At age nine, in his first recital, he had the astounding ability to perform on both instruments. Shortly afterwards, he decided to focus his career on the violin and soon, was performing regularly in recitals and with orchestra.
Since then, Mr. Da Costa’s concerto appearances have seen him with the London Royal Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Berlin Symphony, Hamburg Symphony, Spanish National Radio & TV Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Gran Canarias Philharmonic Orchestra, Extremadura Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Symphony and in Canada, Montreal Symphony and Toronto Symphony. In recitals, Alexandre has graced the international stages throughout North America, France, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Japan, China and Taiwan. His performances have been broadcast by BBC, WestDeutscher Rundfunk, Radio-Classical International, Radio-Canada/CBC, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), Radio Nacional de España (RNE), Austria State Radio (ORF) and TV Asahi Japan.
Alexandre has nine CDs with the XXI-21 Record label, among them the world premiere recording of Portuguese composer Luis de Freitas Branco’s Violin Concerto. This fall, he will record the Daugherty violin works with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
In 1998, at the age of 18, he received his Master of Music and a First Prize from the Conservatoire de Musique du Québec . Concurrently, he received a Bachelor of Music in Piano Interpretation from the University of Montreal. Alexandre was also a pupil at the prestigious Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia in Madrid with the violin master Zakhar Bron, teacher of violinists such as Maxim Vengerov and Vadim Repin.
Alexandre da Costa plays the 1727 "Di Barbaro" Stradivarius and a Sartory bow, courtesy of Canimex Music Foundation.
(as of October 2009)
REVIEWS
“In the Beethoven Concerto, the young Alexandre Da Costa proved of his accomplished personality and sensitivity, with the help of a magnificent Stradivarius, and gave such a posed and rhetoric interpretation that it could invite us to the softest dreams”
-LA VERDAD, Murcia, Spain
“His interpretation of Bruch’s Concerto was posed, with great lyricism and very beautiful and composed phrasing. It is not often that we find a young performer approaching music with such serenity. In his interpretation, he sought beauty rather than showmanship”
-DIARIO DE NOTICIAS, Pamplona, Spain
“The audience remained speechless in presence of this apotheotic interpretation by Alexandre Da Costa who seemed to exercise, on his "Dubois" Stradivarius, the most diabolical ghosts... The 27-year-old Canadian violinist demonstrated the same fluid expressivity, profound and immaculate, of his compatriot violinist Ida Haendel”.
-HERALDO ARAGON, Zaragoza, Spain
PREFERRED CONCERTO LIST
2010-2011
Bach Concerto BWV 1041, 1042, 1043 & Double Violin Concerto
Barber Concerto for Violin
Bartok Rhapsodia Nos. 1 & 2
Beethoven Concerto, Romances Nos. 1 & 2
Brahms Concerto
Luis de Freitas Branco Violin Concerto
Bruch Concerto No. 1 & Scottish Fantasy
Chausson Poeme
Michael Daugherty Fire and Blood, Ladder to the Moon
Dvorak Concerto
Haydn Concerto No. 1
Janacek ‘Pilgrimage of the Little Soul’ Concerto
Kabalewski Concerto for Violin in C Major
Khatchaturian Concerto
Korngold Concerto in D Major
Lalo Symphony Espanole
Mendelssohn Concerto in e minor
Mozart All Concerti
Nielsen Concerto
Paganini Concerto No. 2
Ravel Tzigane
Saint-Saens Concerto No. 3, Havanaise, & Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
Sarasate Ziguenerweisen, Carmen Fantasy, Caprice Basque, Playera, Introduction and Tarantella & Navarra for 2 Violins
Shostakovich Concerto Nos. 1 & 2
Sibelius Concerto
Tchaikovsky Concerto
Vaughan-Williams Romance for Violin (The Lark Ascending)
Vieuxtemps Concerto No. 5
Vivaldi Four Seasons & Various Concerti
Wieniawski Concerto Nos. 1 & 2
Recital repertoire available upon request
Master classes and workshops available
Other concerti available upon request
DISCOGRAPHY
Schindler’s List: With Symphony Orchestra of Bienne ACD2 2579
Les Grandes Classiques d’Edgar: La Musique Romantique OCT 2 6956
Valses et Miniatures OCT 2 6957
Musica Portugesa A-CD 2 2578
Bruch Concerto XXI-CD 2 1552
Le Qyattro Stagioni XXI-CD 2 1528
Extremadura Symphony Orchestra XXI-CD 2 1521
Solitario XXI-CD 2 1507
Mozart Duos for Violin & Viola XXI-CD 2 1479
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto XXI-CD 2 1477
España XXI-CD 2 1423
Hendrix – McCartney – Ysay XXI-CD 2 1422
Alexandre Da Costa AMBC-CD 7101
LINKS
Artist Website
www.alexandredacosta.com
Recording Label
www.xxi-21.com
www.octavemusique.com
INSTRUMENT SPONSOR
Canimex
www.canimex.com
INSTRUMENTALISTS
Piano
Lucille Chung*
Jane Coop
Michael Kim
James Parker
Wonny Song*
Piano Duo
Anagnoson & Kinton
Violin
Martin Beaver
Alexandre Da Costa*
Erika Raum
Cello
Kaori Yamagami
Bassoon
Nadina Mackie Jackson*
ENSEMBLES
Piano Trio
Gryphon Trio
Trumpet & Bassoon Duo
guy&nadina*
Violin & Piano Duo
Da Costa & Song*
NARRATOR
Colin Fox
WORLD MUSIC
Indian Ghazals & Punjabi Folk Songs
Kiran Ahluwalia*
Cuban Music Ensemble
Luis Mario Ochoa Quintet*
SPECIAL PROJECT
Music-as-Theatre
The Schumann Letters*
*First AKAM Season