Cohen began studying violin at age six, and graduated from the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan, although his intention was to become a doctor.
His pre-med studies at Brooklyn College were interrupted by serving in Europe with the U.S. Army during World War II.
His performance As concertmaster under Stravinsky's baton of "The rite of spring" is one of those preserved on the gold album carried by the voyager spacecraft.
[1] In 1968, following the retirement of violinist Daniel Guilet, he was persuaded to join the Beaux Arts Trio by pianist Menahem Pressler and cellist Bernard Greenhouse.
During Cohen's time with the trio, dozens of recordings were released, including the complete piano trios of Ludwig van Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Dvořák, Brahms, as well as works by Chopin, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Charles Ives, and Dmitri Shostakovich.