Anat Cohen and Marcello Gonçalves

Anat Cohen and Marcello Gonçalves

The Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation is the lead sponsor of the Washington Jewish Music Festival.

Charismatic, prolific, and endlessly inspired German Award-nominated clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen has captured the hearts of audiences worldwide with her expressive virtuosity and captivating stage presence.

The New York Times writes, “Ms. Cohen on the clarinet was a revelation. Using the clarinet’s upper register, she could evoke infectious joy. In the lower register, her playing could conjure a deep, soulful melancholy. On up-tempo numbers, her improvisations weren’t just bebop fast; they had a clarity and deep intelligence that is really quite rare. She made it look effortless, even as she was playing the most technically difficult of all the reed instruments… she took my breath away.”

One of Brazil’s most acclaimed seven-string guitarists, the Grammy Award–nominated Marcello Gonçalves is internationally renowned not only as a stellar performer, but also as a sought-after musical director, arranger, producer, and educator. His boundlessly warm nylon-string tone, broad sonic range, and irrepressible rhythmic finesse can yield a sound as full as an orchestra, revealing roots deeply planted in Brazilian popular, folkloric, and classical music traditions. Gonçalves’ creative synthesis of all these elements has elevated his artistry to a rare and transcendent level.