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Sensational and unmistakable, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg stands out
in the field of classical music. Her risk-taking persona and energetic
presence has created a trademark sound that is individual, passionate
and powerful. A musician, author and teacher, Nadja is recognized
as one of the world's preeminent violinists. Since 1981, when she
burst onto the music scene as the youngest recipient ever of the
Walter W. Naumburg International Violin Competition, Nadja has remained
in the media spotlight. She was the subject of the Academy Award
nominated documentary "Speaking in Strings: Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg
(1999). A guest on NBC's The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
numerous times, Nadja has been featured on CBS' 60 Minutes, Nightwatch,
and Sunday Morning, NBC's National News and has been
A&E's Artist of the Week with Elliot Forrest. She has
also been featured on PBS' Live From Lincoln Center, Backstage/Lincoln
Center, Journey, The Charlie Rose Show, City Arts, and Bravo's
The Art of Influence, in addition to the PBS/BBC series The
Mind, PBS' Sessions at West 54th, a PBS special presentation,
"Dallas Symphony Orchestra: Music of Bernstein, Barber &
Beethoven" and PBS' Children's Television Workshop's award-winning
program Sesame Street. In May 1999, CBS' 60 Minutes II
aired a follow-up to their 1986 feature, highlighting the last 13
years of her career.
A highly acclaimed recording artist, Nadja's numerous classical
recordings are released on the Angel/EMI Classic and Nonesuch labels.
A sought-after artist who has performed with many of the world's
greatest conductors and orchestras and at major international festivals,
she has played at the White House in a command performance for the
Arts & Humanities Awards. She has also collaborated with such
artists as Mandy Patinkin, Joe Jackson, Judy Blazer, Janice Siegel,
the Assad brothers, Mark O'Connor and Roger Kellaway.
Born in Rome, Nadja emigrated to the United States at the age of
eight to study at The Curtis Institute of Music and later studied
with Dorothy DeLay at The Juilliard School. In 1989, she wrote "Nadja:
On My Way," an autobiography written for children, in which
she shares her experiences as a young musician building a career.
She is the recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize (1999)
awarded to instrumentalists who have demonstrated "outstanding
achievement and excellence in music." She has been honored
with an Avery Fisher Career Grant (1983) and in 1988 was Ovations
Debut Recording Artist of the Year. She is in Who's Who of American
Women and is also the recipient of an honorary Masters of Musical
Arts from the New Mexico State University (May 1999), the first
honorary degree the University has ever awarded.
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