The former violinist of the Rio Opera House Orchestra, Arnoldo Cohen has increasingly concentrated on the piano. In addition to performing with such symphonic groups as the Royal Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre De La Suisse Romande, Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome, Vancouver Symphony and Calgary Philharmonic, Cohen has played piano in the Amadeus Piano Trio and Lindsay, Chilingirian, Orlando and Vanbrugh Quartets. His solo albums include an on-going series, Franz Liszt, Complete Piano Music, featuring the music of the influential Hungarian composer and pianist, and an album, Brasiliana: Three Centuries of Brazilian Music, of his interpretations of traditional Brazilian tunes. Born in Brazil, of Russian ancestry, Cohen has been playing music since the age of five. Graduating from the Federal University, in Rio De Janeiro, with an honors degree in piano and violin playing and engineering, he continued to study piano with William Kappel disciple, Jacques Klein. He later temporarily relocated to Venice to study with Bruno Seidhofer and Dieter Weber. Attracting worldwide attention when he agreed to replace pianist Martha Angerich for a highly publicized concert in Amsterdam. Cohen turned down a contract with Deutsche Grammaphon, opting instead to continue his studies. The years of training culminated with his winning the Busoni International Competition in 1972. Since making his United States debut at New York's Frick Museum, during the 1996-97 season, Cohenhas made North America a second home. He performed at the Tisch Center for the Performing Arts in New York in 2001, returning the following year to perform concerts in Detroit, Sarasota, Vancouver and Calgary. ~ Craig Harris, Rovi