Joseph Puglia

Joseph Puglia

Violin, Play-Conduct

Joseph Puglia is managed worldwide by Leontien van der Vliet.

Contact:
E: leontien.vandervliet@interartists.nl
T: +31 6 5 24 68 707

---

Known for his “breathtaking” performances (Trouw) of contemporary music as well as a sensitive and creative approach to the standard repertoire, Joseph Puglia enjoys a varied career as a soloist, chamber musician, concertmaster, and teacher. His solo debut in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw was hailed as “Exceptional” (NRC Handelsblad), saying that he “Brought the hall to a boil” (De Volkskrant). Highlights from Joseph’s recent seasons include a performance and talk at the European Space Agency highlighting the connections between music and physics, concerti performances in the US and Europe by Ligeti, Saariaho, Barber, and Saint-Saëns, chamber music collaborations with Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Marie-Luise Neunecker, Patricia Kopatchinskaja.

He is a guest concertmaster of numerous orchestras, including the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, and Netherlands Philharmonic. He has played chamber music with members of the Juilliard and Brentano string quartets, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and frequently performs in international festivals across Europe and in the US. He recorded for the Sony Classical, ECM, Attacca, Brilliant Classics, and Hungaroton labels, and performed on television and radio programs in the US, Europe, and Australia.

Joseph is increasingly known for his interpretations of 20th and 21st century music. He has given countless premieres and worked with many leading composers including John Adams, Louis Andriessen, Joerg Widmann, Kaija Saariaho, and Pierre Boulez. His “Berio Project” includes a CD acclaimed by the Dutch press as “Mindblowing” (Luister magazine) and “Spectacular” (Opus Klassiek), and has led to many inspiring performances with student and amateur musicians. A creative partnership with conductor Reinbert de Leeuw included performances of violin concerti by John Adams, Ligeti, and Saariaho in Europe and the US. In his “…and Beyond” series, as leader of the Asko|Schoenberg ensemble, he uses masterworks from the past as starting points for unconducted programs of 20th and 21st century compositions.

His interest in the connection between science and music have led to a collaboration with the European Space Agency, a performance of music written by artificial intelligence, and a program titled “Music and Quantum Physics”, with his wife, physicist Stefania Giodini. During the current Covid-19 crisis he has been active online and live (when possible), having started local initiatives in The Netherlands and the creation of a worldwide quarantine recording of Terry Riley’s In C with the Asko|Schoenberg ensemble. He is currently developing and performing a series of live-streamed “Young People’s Concerts” aimed at inspiring young musicians. Other projects have included a chamber music series at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, which drew connections between museum exhibitions and chamber music masterworks, and provided an opportunity to display the museum’s extensive instrument collection, now in storage.

Joseph is currently solo violinist with the Asko|Schoenberg ensemble in Amsterdam, and teaches at the violin faculty at the Royal Conservatory in The Netherlands. He studied at The Juilliard School from 1994-2006 with Robert Mann, Nicholas Mann, and Louise Behrend. He received his Master of Music degree with highest possible marks at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague in 2008, working with Vera Beths. Some of Joseph’s notable musical mentors have included Anner Bylsma, Reinbert de Leeuw, Joel Krosnick, and Barbara Hannigan. A native of New York City, he has resided in The Netherlands since 2009.

---

Highlights 2024

Voices of the Violin:
This program explores how a violin’s own personality influences our musical experiences. This project will connect composers directly with audience members. It is a series of new commissioned works, completed in 2023 and to be performed in the season 24-25

Deep Listening sessions: Joseph Puglia has been researching the work of Pauline Oliveros. His research focuses on how we hear and interpret sound, and the interaction people have by listening together in a live concert setting. In 2024 he realised a concert format for music faculties, which shows how we create meaning in music. Composition students can make creations, along with pioneering works by Oliveros, John Luther Adams, James Tenney, Cornelius Cardew and Milton Babbitt. Joseph is also researching how active audience participation can create deeper musical connections in concerts, through the music of Pauline Oliveros and others.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

---

Reviews

“He came on stage, arranged his sheet music on his stand, looked around peacefully and nodded to the conductor: well, let’s begin, all as if he were just sitting with you at your kitchen table. And with that exact same attitude, he played Ligeti’s virtuoso piece, a piece of cake in Puglia’s hands. Breathtaking.”

— Trouw

“Joseph Puglia’s substantive interpretation of this violin repertoire comes from very deep within. [...] Mindblowing.”

— Luister Magazine on Ladder of Escape: Music for violin

“Puglia plunged with gusto into the demanding, complex solo part. He played in the rough, aggressive manner that much of the music demanded. Yet the soloist also brought a ghostly tone to eerie procession of high notes. Puglia achieved a huge tone as his bow swept across the strings in rapid arpeggios, drawing enough power to stand up to the massed forces of the orchestra.”

— South Florida Classical Review

“Last Thursday [Joey Roukens’] new violin concerto “Roads to Everywhere”, written for Joseph Puglia and Asko|Schoenberg, was performed in the Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ. It could not have been written by anyone else. Sections flow over each other organically and in a dance-like manner. […] Puglia played it with fire and to great effect.”

— NRC