Associate Professor of Violin
Tomás Cotik’s discography includes complete opuses by Bach, Telemann, Mozart, Schubert, and his own arrangements of music by his countryman, Astor Piazzolla. These releases have garnered him the highest acclaim from the best-known publications.
Cotik enjoys creating collaborations with artists from multiple disciplines, a recent example being the project “Ombra Musici,” which included a five stories high projection for the Portland Winter Light Festival and won a National Endowment for the Arts Grant for a 2023 installation.
Cotik is the violin professor at Portland State University, where he recently received the inaugural Dean’s Council Award for Research, Scholarship & Creativity as well as the the Kamelia Massih Outstanding Faculty Prize for his significant contributions to research, scholarship, creative activity and outreach at the international level. He previously taught at West Texas A&M University, Florida International University, and at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Committed to passing on his passion for music, Cotik regularly provides master classes, lectures, and presentations around the globe. Recent residencies include the Round Top Music Festival, the Miami Classical Music Festival, Ithaca College, California State University Northridge, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Michigan State University, and Jerusalem University Har Hazofim, among hundreds of others institutions of Higher education, Music Festivals, and High Schools. Cotik also regularly presents at international conferences such as TMEA, OMEA, the College Music Society, and the American String Teachers Association.
In the work with his students, Cotik emphasizes a natural approach to the instrument, providing tools to avoid unnecessary physical tensions. He also encourages an in-depth confrontation and understanding of the styles of different composers. His numerous articles on his teaching philosophy, string pedagogy, and interpretation have been published by The Strad, the American String Teacher Association Journal, American Music Teacher Magazine, and the National Association for Music Education Magazine. Tomás’s ultimate goal is to guide his students to cultivate, develop, and further their own artistic visions and professional dreams. He places emphasis on guiding his students to develop career tools to help them succeed as performers in the 21st century.