Penn State's first laureate is Kim Cook

University Park, Pa. — Kim Cook, professor of music in cello in the College of Arts and Architecture, has been named the University's inaugural Penn State Laureate.

This distinguished faculty member will bring an enhanced level of social, cultural, artistic and human perspective and awareness to a broad array of audiences. Cook will be assigned half time to serve as the University Laureate for one academic year. The laureate will be a highly visible representative of Penn State who will appear regularly at events University-wide and throughout the Commonwealth at community and statewide events.

 "As laureate, I intend to seek out opportunities to introduce music in informal settings to community groups," Cook said. "As a child, I was inspired by musicians who visited my hometown of Lincoln, Neb.  It is my job to communicate my excitement about music to people who may not have been exposed to the arts. Next year I will perform and speak at University Park events, and I will offer recitals and presentations at the Commonwealth Campuses. I also would like to encourage more people to take advantage of the extensive arts and humanities outreach programming that is already in place."

Cook has been a member of the School of Music since 1991. She has recorded several CDs of classical music, both as a member of Penn State's Castalia Trio and as a solo artist. She has performed in concert both for television and radio broadcasts, as well as with symphony orchestras and recitals worldwide in solo appearances. Cook also has appeared as a guest artist and performed at international music festivals as well as served as a guest faculty member.

She holds a master's degree from Yale University and bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Among Cook's many honors are a Distinguished Service Award from the American String Teachers Association in 2006. She served as Ambassador for the State Department in 1996 presenting concerts and master classes in 22 cities in eight countries.

Cook has performed as a soloist in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, China, Israel, Jordan, Latin America and throughout the United States. Her recent recording of the concertos by Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich with the Volgograd Symphony in Russia, will be released this summer.

She also has recorded the Concerto in B minor by Dvorak with the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic and the two Haydn concertos with the Dvorak Collegium in the Czech Republic, as well as the solo sonatas of Kodaly, Crumb, and Hindemith. Recent performances include recitals in New York, Baltimore and the University of Cambridge, and a concerto performance with the Dublin Festival Orchestra in Ireland.

Cook was selected by President Graham B. Spanier following a recommendation by the review committee. The committee was chaired by Blannie Bowen, vice provost for academic affairs, and included Susan Welch, dean of the College of the Liberal Arts; Sue Haug, director of the School of Music in the College of Arts and Architecture; John J. Romano, vice president for Commonwealth Campuses; Sherry Roush, associate director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities, and associate professor of Italian in the College of Liberal Arts; and Anne Riley, a member of the Board of Trustees.