Ian Cooper (violinist)

Ian Cooper (born 14 August 1970) is an Australian Violinist. He was commissioned to compose the "Tin Symphony" for the opening ceremony of the Games of the XXVII Olympiad ^[1] in Sydney and is proficient in many musical styles including Classical, Gypsy,^[2] Jazz,^[3] Irish & Country music. He has performed with Silverchair, Tommy Emmanuel,^[4] James Morrison,^[5] Deni Hines, Olivia Newton-John, Barry White, and Simon Tedeschi.^[6]

Background

Cooper began learning the violin at age 4 from his mother Jan Cooper, a Suzuki Violin teacher. He performed the Seitz violin concerto at age 6 on the Seven Network's 11AM program with Roger Climpson and at age 7 Cooper performed concerts in Hawaii and the USA representing Australia and as part of the Suzuki Violin World Conference, and again in Japan in 1980 for NHK Television. He was awarded a scholarship to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music ^[7] at age eight where he studied with Christopher Kimber, Harry Kurby, and Laslo Kiss, as well as a music scholarship to Knox Grammar School where he also studied drums and percussion. In 1990 Cooper was mentored by the French Jazz Violinist Stéphane Grappelli. The guitarist Tommy Emmanuel invited Cooper to perform with him at the Sydney Opera House in 1992 and Ian joined him on tour for the next five years. Cooper has also been a member of trumpeter James Morrison's sextet since 2007.

Instruments

Cooper's main violin was made by E.H. Roth in Markneukirchen, Germany in 1926 and is modeled on an Antonio Stradivari 1714 Cremona instrument. His electric violins are Epoch,^[8] Guscott and E.F. Keebler.

Discography

• 1993 - Soundpost - with Ike Isaacs, Peter Inglis & Tim Rollinson
• 1994 - Strings of Swing - with Don Burrows, Tom Baker & Ian Date
• 1995 - Ian's World - with Tom Baker, Ian Date, Bernard Berkhout & John Morrison
• 1996 - At Home - with David Paquette
• 1997 - Hard Axe to Follow - with Tommy Emmanuel, Tommy Tycho, George Golla & Ian Date
• 2002 - Big Band - with James Morrison
• 2007 - Simon Tedeschi & Ian Cooper - with Simon Tedeschi
• 2009 - Straight to the Pool Room - with The Smokin' Crawdads
• 2009 - Ballads and Bossa Nova with James Morrison, Emma Pask, Jim Pennell, Steve Brien, Paul Cutlan & Phil Stack ^[9]
• 2009 - Quintet with Simon Tedeschi & James Morrison

Awards and recognition

• MO Award - Variety Instrumental Performer of the year - 1999 ^[10]
• MO Award - Variety Instrumental Performer of the year - 2000 ^[11]
• ACE Award - Instrumental Act of the year, 1999 ^[12]
• ACE Award - Instrumentalist of the year, 2000 ^[13]
• Golden Fiddle Award - Best CD by a fiddler as soloist - 2005
• Golden Fiddle Award - Best fiddler soloist - 2006 ^[14]
• Golden Fiddle Award - Best CD by a fiddler as soloist - 2006, for "Ian Cooper - Big Band" ^[15]
• Queensland Country Music Awards - Queensland Group or Duo of the Year - 2010 - The Smokin' Crawdads ^[16]

See also

• List of jazz violinists

References

1. ^ "The Games of the XXVII Olympiad 2000". Music from the Opening Ceremony (Sony Music, BMG Australia Limited). September 2000. http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Games-Of-The-XXVII-Olympiad-Official-Music-From-The-Opening-Ceremony/release/1149770. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
2. ^ "Gypsy Passion Plays In Three Easy Pieces". Ian Cooper - "Ian's World" (Sydney Morning Herald). 13 Nov 1995. http://www.latch.com.au/latch-articles/1995/11/13/gypsy-passion-plays-in-three-easy-pieces/. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
3. ^ "Brisbane Jazz Festival". Ian Date & Ian Cooper (Jazz Queensland). 28 November 2010. http://www.jazzqueensland.com/index.php?view=details&id=3382%3Agreshka-the-date-brothers-with-ian-cooper-final-djam&option=com_eventlist&Itemid=126. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
4. ^ "Tommy Emmanuel & Ian Cooper". On Stage (The Whole Guitarist). http://www.thewholeguitarist.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=95:tommy-emmanuel&catid=59:performers&Itemid=58. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
5. ^ "James Morrison & Ian Cooper". James Morrison and Ian Cooper (Blue Mountains Concert Society). 29 April 2011. http://www.bmconcerts.com.au/concert.asp?concert=43. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
6. ^ "Simon Tedeschi & Ian Cooper on ABC Radio". Simon Tedeschi & Ian Cooper (702 ABC Radio Sydney). 4 October 2009. http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2009/10/04/2704207.htm. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
7. ^ "Alumni". Sydney Conservatorium on Music (Sydney University). 22 March 2011. http://www.alumni.sydney.edu.au/s/965/images/editor_documents/news-events/news/March/alumni_recognition_ceremony_program_print.pdf. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
8. ^ "Epoch Players". Epoch Musical Instruments (Epoch Strings). http://www.epochstrings.com.au/players/index.html. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
9. ^ "Le Brava Music". Ian Cooper - Ballads and Bossa Nova (La Brava Music). 2009. http://www.labravamusic.com/artists/iancooper.html. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
10. ^ "MO Awards". Variety Instrumental Performer of the year (MO Awards). http://www.moawards.com/?page_id=642. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
11. ^ "MO Awards". Variety Instrumental Performer of the year (MO Awards). http://www.moawards.com/?page_id=646. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
12. ^ Instrumental Act of the year (Australian Club Entertainment Awards). http://www.aceawards.com.au/1999.php. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
13. ^ "ACE Awards". Instrumentalist of the year (Australian Club Entertainment Awards). http://www.aceawards.com.au/2000.php. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
14. ^ "Golden Fiddle Awards". http://www.goldenfiddleawards.org.au/winners-finalists.php (Golden Fiddle Awards). http://www.goldenfiddleawards.org.au/winners-finalists.php. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
15. ^ [[http://www.goldenfiddleawards.org.au/winners-finalists.php
16. ^ http://www.charterstowerscountrymusic.com/cms/country_music/index.php?vsite=5&Area=348&SubSectionOf=0