“… Thomas Lee Cooper took up the tune and suspended time with his absolute conviction and glimmering silver thread of tone.”
- The Boston Musical Intelligencer
American violinist Thomas Lee Cooper’s passion for music and the violin began at an early age, studying piano with his mother alongside his sister, before subsequently taking up the violin. Since then, Cooper has performed in several countries across continents, including Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands. He is an active soloist and chamber musician, performing with the Colorado College Festival Orchestra, the Coeur D’Alene Symphony Orchestra, the Credo Baroque Orchestra, the Bar Harbor Music Festival Orchestra, and the Middlesex Chamber Orchestra among others. Cooper is concertmaster of the Du Bois Orchestra, and has appeared as concertmaster with the Boston Chamber Symphony and the Apollo Ensemble of Boston.
Cooper is a laureate of several prizes and competitions, such as the Naftzger, Washington, and Coeur D’Alene Competitions and most recently the Cremona International String Competition in July 2019, at which he received the First Prize.
As a chamber musician, Cooper has had the fortune of sharing the stage with such groups and individuals as the Oberlin Trio, the Jupiter String Quartet, David Bowlin, Amir Eldan, and Evgeny Sinaiski. He is a founding member of the Tristan Trio, alongside pianist Aljoša Jurinić, and cellist Tyler James.
With a love of conductor-less ensemble playing, Cooper has appeared as a guest musician with many of the finest chamber orchestras in the country, including the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and A Far Cry. He has spent his summers performing at Keshet Eilon in Israel, the Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg, Nagold Sommermusik in Bavaria and Festival Orford Musique in Quebec.
In the 2024 - 2025 season, Cooper appears regularly in concert as a soloist and chamber musician, with engagements to include appearances at the Bar Harbor Music Festival, Red Door Chamber Music, Museo Stradivari in Cremona, and Amadeo at the Croatian Museum of Natural History in Zagreb.
A native of the Boston area, Cooper received his early training from the late hungarian violinist and musicologist, Stephen Erdely. He recieved his formal training through scholarships at the New England Conservatory and Oberlin Conservatory.
Cooper performs on a “Januarius Gaglianus 1751” on generous loan from a private collection.
“He painted his lines with bold colors; his tone tastefully wavered between silvery delicacy and dark, grainy power.”
- The Arts Fuse
