Review Quotes

"Joshua Gordon played splendidly." Bernard Holland, The New York Times

"Gordon is a superbly equipped cellist with a big sound and musical personality forged through years of study at Juilliard and Tanglewood and more than 20 years of the freelance life in New York. His intonation is superb, and he knows how to pick up a melody and set it free to soar... Gordon adds an element of drama and risk to the mix." Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe

"The playing is splendid, authoritative, expressive, and involved." Edith Eisler, Strings Magazine

"Joshua Gordon was unfazed by the considerable coloristic and technical demands of the cello part" Allan Kozinn, The New York Times

"Joshua Gordon, the newest member of the Worcester Chamber Music Society, performed in all six compositions on the program, and was soloist in two of them. He is a great asset to the Society, evident in this tour de force performance which displayed his amazing musical abilities." Joyce Tamer, Worcester Telegram & Gazette

“Gordon read the [Sarabande from J.S. Bach’s Cello Suite No.1 in G Major, BWV 1007] with poignant ease that only a master can achieve. Whatever apprehensions may have existed about venturing into a public space after the months of isolation melted away in the centering beauty of his performance. It provided exactly the needed remedy. The sanctuary filled with the intense resonance of the cello, the unexpected location taking full advantage of the architecture of the room. It was as though he were playing two instruments, his cello and the walls and ceiling of the space.

This beauty continued in the piano trio. I am not very familiar with [Gabriela Lena] Frank’s compositions and was surprised by the haunting beauty of the Four Folk Songs, and surprised further to find an echo in the theme from the Sarabande in the fourth section. Leslie Amper and Heidi Braun-Hill matched the standard of mastery established by Gordon, reading the piece with grace and beauty.” Michael Scanlon, Boston Musical Intelligencer

Biography

The cellist Joshua Gordon has won acclaim from audiences, critics, colleagues, and composers for his dramatic music making and rich tone. An experienced soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and educator who joined the Naumburg Award winning Lydian String Quartet and the music faculty of Brandeis University in 2002, he is also an artist member of the Worcester Chamber Music Society and resident cellist at the annual Composers Conference and Chamber Music Center led by Kurt Rohde. He is equally at home whether performing on stage in famous concert halls around the world, in an Australian limestone arch cave, or with dancers on a Boston housing project basketball court. He has been a guest of many ensembles and festivals including the Apple Hill, Cassatt, DaPonte, Juilliard, and Ying Quartets, Boston Baroque, Boston Chamber Music Society, Chameleon Arts Ensemble, Emmanuel Music, Fromm Players at Harvard University, Lighthouse Chamber Players, Mistral Music, Monadnock Music, North Country Chamber Players, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Portland Chamber Music Festival, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Speculum Musicae, and the UMass Bach Festival.

Joshua Gordon's duo with pianist Randall Hodgkinson has been described as "insightful and impassioned" by The New Yorker, and their New World recording Leo Ornstein: Complete Works For Cello and Piano was named one of the top 10 classical recordings of 2007 by the All Music Guide. As a Lydian, Gordon can be heard on critically acclaimed recordings of works by Martin Boykan, Mohammed Fairouz, John Harbison, Laurie San Martin, Vincent Persichetti, Kurt Rohde, and Beethoven in a set of his late quartets. He is also featured playing music ranging from Roger Sessions and Charles Wuorinen to Morton Feldman and Gerry Hemingway on recordings from Albany Records, CRI, Cala, Koch International Classics, Naxos, and Tzadik. His web site can be found at joshuagordoncello.com.