Joseph Gotoff, DMA

Biography

Praised for his “clarity and an approachable sensitivity” (The Boston Musical Intelligencer, 2019), cellist Joseph Gotoff is recognized as a thoughtful and passionate performer, scholar, and teacher. With a repertoire spanning the Baroque to the modern era, Dr. Gotoff works closely with a number of composers working today, with premieres by composers including Lowell Liebermann, Cody Forrest and Binna Kim. A sought-after collaborator, his performances as a founding member of the award-winning Petrucci String Quartet have garnered wide acclaim in the United States and abroad. In 2020, his debut album “The Voice of the Cello” was released to critical acclaim on the Spice Classics label.

Dr. Gotoff appears as a soloist and chamber musician in concert halls across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Some highlights of past seasons include a 19-city concert tour of China with the award-winning Petrucci String Quartet, recitals at the Harvard Musical Association, and a performance of Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the Thames Valley Youth Orchestra. Dr. Gotoff’s talents have been recognized with a number of awards, including a grant from New England Conservatory to study Beethoven’s string quartet manuscripts, as well as NEC’s Guest Artist Award, which afforded him the opportunity to share the stage with the renowned Borromeo String Quartet.

Dr. Gotoff joined the faculty of Towson University in 2021, where he now serves as Assistant Professor of Strings, and he also teaches at the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C. He performs regularly throughout the Washington and Baltimore region, including with the Washington Arts Ensemble, the New Orchestra of Washington, and the Pan American Symphony Orchestra. A fixture in the Boston music scene, Dr. Gotoff is the assistant principal cellist of the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, and served as assistant principal of the Orchestra of Indian Hill until 2020.

Born in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, Joseph Gotoff began playing the cello at age 10, and from an early age developed a love for chamber music. He was one of the last students of the renowned cellist Orlando Cole, and went on to work closely with the Brentano String Quartet while studying evolutionary biology at Princeton University. Other teachers include Ann Kindig, Tom Kraines and Barbara Stein-Mallow. Dr. Gotoff received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from New England Conservatory, studying with Yeesun Kim.