Washington Post on Star Violinist Leila Josefowicz' distinctive dress

“When the violinist Leila Josefowicz walks on stage, you know she’s a different kind of performer just by looking at her. Her concert attire is angular, sculptural, distinctive. It’s created for her by the designer Jenny Lai, who specializes in inventive approaches to performance attire, and it meets her specifications — not least in that it’s supremely comfortable. “First and foremost,” the violinist says, “I actually want to forget what I’m wearing on stage.”

Josefowicz, 40, is a former child prodigy. After years of wearing “white lacy dresses with bows in my hair,” she says, and abiding by dictates about what she could and couldn’t wear on stage, “I have an absolutely allergic reaction to all of these things.” After trying on one of Lai’s prototype blouses, Josefowicz says, she “gave her all these gowns I had in my closet, and she cut them up and made them into shirts.”

“I’m sure some very conservative people look at me and think I’m off my rocker,” she says, “but that’s fine. I’m proud of myself.”

-Anne Midgette, Classical Music Critic for The Washington Post