"Cook has a solid technique and attractively firm, smooth tone that's especially effective in lyrical music... the way Cook makes the solo part song [in the Shostakovich] is eloquent... ."
Gramophone ~ January 2010

"Kim Cook is quite a cellist... Her performances are very impressive."
Turok's Choice, Issue No.217 ~ January 2010

"[Cook plays the Shostakovich] with clarity, and the orchestra backs her up in the same mood...the ensemble is effective with the cellist..."
American Record Guide ~ November / December 2009

"American cellist Kim Cook, with the able assistance of the Volgograd Symphony Orchestra of Russia under Edward Serov, gives performances of  two Russian classics that sound simply ravishing...  In the Shostakovich, the Nebraska native shows her stuff from the very opening of the Allegro, with strongly characterized mastery of a powerful driving motif GEBB-flat that we will hear later in the finale. In the Sarabande-like second movement, marked Moderato and never rising above piano in its soft dynamic range, soloist and orchestra strike an ideal balance between restraint and emotion... Cook has the stage all to herself in the 6-minute Cadenza, comprising some of the most difficult writing (including scalar passages) imaginable for the cello. Here, she is called upon to alternate between richly expressive bowing and boldly struck pizzicati, as she ranges from higher to lower registers in an eloquent rumination on earlier themes that serves as a bridge to the finale. Marked Allegro con moto, it is given all the movement and verve that Shostakovich could have desired, ending on a decisive note.

The Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations holds pleasant perils of a different nature than the Shostakovich. By contrast, it is so immediately engaging and adorable that its natural inclination is to snuggle up in the listener's lap and fall asleep. Cook avoids this pleasant trap through a strict adherence to the lithe, firm but flexible line of the melody in all the guises in which it appears in this wonderfully luminous score. The work is romantic in feeling, and most particularly Russian. In the slow Variations III and IV, marked Andante sostenuto and Andante grazioso, respectively, Tchaikovsky pays homage to the music of Mozart's era in the bright, optimistic melody and the embellishments he adds to it. Kim Cook's ravishingly beautiful singing tone in the former, and the decorations she applies in the latter while flawlessly effortlessly soaring up to the the cello's high register, distinguish her performance."
Phil Muse, Audio Video Club of Atlanta ~ June 2009

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“This concert and recording with the Volgograd Symphony and Mr. Serov provided me with a unique experience. The Russian musicians gave me a deep insight into creating a meaningful interpretation of the music of Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky. I appreciate the emotional intensity and purpose that they generously shared in our work together.” – KIM COOK

KIM COOK has performed as a soloist in more than 25 countries, including Germany, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, England, Ireland, France, Finland, Russia, China, Israel, Jordan, and in Latin America and throughout the United States. She has presented concerts and master classes as International Artistic Ambassador for the US State Department. Television and radio broadcasts of Ms. Cook’s performances have been heard in Brazil, China, and the United States. She has also recorded concertos by Dvorak and Haydn and solo sonatas of Kodaly, Crumb and Hindemith. A native of Nebraska, Ms. Cook received degrees from the University of Illinois and Yale University. She studied with Carol Work, Gabriel Magyar, Aldo Parisot, Alan Harris, and Janos Starker. She was principal cellist of the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Eleazar de Carvalho, and taught at New Mexico State before assuming her current position as Professor of Cello at Penn State University.

EDWARD SEROV is one of the leading Russian orchestral conductors of the day. After his studies, he was named assistant to Evgeny Mravinsky with the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. Winner of the first Karajan conducting competition, Mr. Serov founded two major symphony orchestras in Russia, and has served as chief conductor of the St. Petersburg Chamber Orchestra, the Volgograd Symphony, the Saratov Philharmonic and the Odense Symphony in Denmark. Mr. Serov was banned from traveling abroad for 10 years by the Soviet authorities, and only recently has he been able to travel freely. Serov has made more than 80 recordings for Melodiya and other labels. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reviewed one performance as “alive with poignancy, moments of suspense and thrilling peaks.”