Meet Steven Copes
Steven Copes will join our violin faculty for the 2026 season.
Tell us about your upbringing and first exposure to music.
I grew up in West Los Angeles, and my mother simply loved music and played a little piano. She always had LPs playing classical or folk music in the house growing up. She also tried to take me to as many recitals and concerts as possible, so I regularly heard artists like Perlman, the Guarneri Quartet, etc., and even my hero, Nathan Milstein, once! My older sister was also a wonderful pianist, and soloed with the LA Phil when she was 12. So she was(and is) a big inspiration and even played with me from time to time when I was young.
When did you decide to pursue music professionally?
I don‘t think I ever really pursued it early on, or even knew what being a professional entailed, but I loved music and something about playing the violin, and always wanted to be able to play like the artists I listened to. I would say starting my studies with Robert Lipsett at a young age and then following him to the ENCORE School for Strings for 6 summers exposed me to the kind of discipline, camaraderie, and especially the amazing talent and musicianship that became clearer goals and passions for me.
Who were your most meaningful mentors?
Robert Lipsett in Los Angeles from 11-18, Aaron Rosand for 5 years at Curtis, and Robert Mann at Juilliard for 2 years. Felix Galimir was also a big influence in my college years. And of course, many other mentors along the way and still!
Have you ever had something unexpected happen during a performance?
I remember, many years ago, during the last movement of the Brahms Concerto (and before the first set of octaves), accidentally knocking my bridge with my frog so much so that it made my E string peg go down, thus making my fairly well-drilled octaves effectively 7ths. That was unexpected and rather unpleasant for me and the audience, I‘m sure.
What helps you get in the optimal state of mind for performance?
Getting to the hall early, being rested, a few minutes of deep, slow breathing and/ or meditation, slow warm-ups, reiterating the fact to yourself that the audience came to the concert not to hear you mess up, but to enjoy your music and your performance!
Do you have a favorite place to practice?
Wherever neither of my children is screaming too loudly, and it‘s not too cold. I also generally like dead rooms where I hear everything that I‘m doing, as painful as that is.
What do you do to relax when you are not practicing or performing?
I try to read a variety of things and often, I like to walk my Bernese Mountain Dog, Coco, when it‘s not too cold, I love many types of cooking, watching Great British Baking Show and other cooking shows, playing Monopoly or Codenames with my kids, practicing Greek and other languages on Duolingo, the Wridges game on Washington Post online. But I‘m not that good at relaxing in general – it‘s something I‘m working on!
What are your favorite foods or types of restaurants?
I love any delicious food and any restaurants with great food, charm or at least decent lighting.