Ombra Musici II – The Fiddler on the Roof

• Tomas Cotik, violin

In early February, the Portland Winter Light Festival returns to the city. This time, attendees will be treated to a magical, ephemeral experience of music in a most unexpected location. Visitors to PSU’s Urban Plaza will be able to look up from the street to see (and hear) a giant color video projection of acclaimed violinist Tomás Cotik, professor of violin at the School of Music & Theater, playing selections by Bach, Telemann, Piazzolla, and Tárrega.

The project, which runs Feb. 3-5, is titled "Ombra Musici II" ("musician's shadow" in Italian), and is the result of a collaboration between Cotik and Dave Colangelo, a professor of digital creation and communication at Ryerson University. The team received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to produce the project, which expands on "Ombra Musici," presented at the 2019 Portland Winter Light Festival, where moving silhouettes of musicians were projected onto the PSU Library facade.

"Life has been radically altered by the effects of the pandemic," says Cotik, who notes that, while arts activities in particular were halted during COVID-19, the human need for catharsis, comfort, and entertainment only grew. With this project, Cotik aims to surprise and delight viewers with a performance of classical music that can be experienced alone or in communion with other festival-goers—offering a moment of beauty and solace at the darkest time of winter.

"I am convinced that as musicians, an important responsibility lies in our involvement with our community, passing on our passion, and giving back," says Cotik. "For him, the project embodies PSU’s motto—Let knowledge serve the city—by sharing the beauty and healing qualities of music with Portland and its citizens."

About Portland State University School of Music & Theater

https://www.pdx.edu/music-theater/

About Portland Winter Light Festival

https://pdxwlf.com/

About Tomas Cotik, violin

Hailed by Michael Tilson Thomas as "an excellent violinist," Tomás Cotik was a first-prize winner at the National Broadcast Music Competition in his native Argentina in 1997 and the winner of the Government of Canada Award for 2003-2005. An avid recording artist, Dr. Cotik has recorded fifteen CDs for Naxos and Centaur Records, which have received three million Spotify streams and over two hundred enthusiastic reviews from publications such as Gramophone, American Record Guide, Downbeat, and MusicWeb International. His latest Piazzolla CD on Naxos was nominated for the International Classical Music Awards.

Mr. Cotik was a rotating concertmaster with the New World Symphony and has performed hundreds of recitals and chamber music concerts across the globe as a member of the acclaimed Amernet, Delray, and Harrington string quartets. He has worked closely with artists such as Joseph Kalichstein, Franklin Cohen, and members of the Cleveland, Miami, Pro Arte, Vogler, Vermeer, Tokyo, and Endellion string quartets. Committed to passing on his passion for music, Dr. Tomás Cotik recently received the inaugural Dean's Council Award for Research, Scholarship & Creativity for his significant contributions at the international level and was promoted to Associate Professor of Violin at Portland State University. He previously taught at West Texas A&M University, Florida International University, and the University of Miami's Frost School of Music.