© 2024 Milwaukee Public Media is a service of UW-Milwaukee's College of Letters & Science
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

On That Note: Musical Influences

Courtesy of Robert Cohen

Musicians have an array of influences in their lives that impact who they are as a person and as a musician. For cellist Robert Cohen, his influences range from his father to the music he performs.

"I have more that I can look at that music with," says Cohen. "I have a broader sense of what can happen inside me because of these influences."

However for Cohen, the messages in the music should be the largest influence on a musician. For him, it is essential to bring out the feelings and very essence of the composer in the pieces performed.

"What music is about is the really big influence because it's not about technique, it's about what you bring and discover in the music," says Cohen.

Robert Cohen is the cellist for the Milwaukee-based Fine Arts Quartet and a Lake Effect monthly contributor for On That Note.

Bonnie North
Bonnie joined WUWM in March 2006 as the Arts Producer of the locally produced weekday magazine program Lake Effect.
For 35 years one of the worlds leading cello soloist, Robert Cohen is an award-winning recording artist, conductor, artistic director and pedagogue who has been broadcast on TV and radio throughout the world. His passionate views on the art of learning, performing and communicating music have been widely published.