By Daniel Hathaway
HAPPENING TODAY:
At 9am & 2pm, young contestants in the Cooper International Piano Competition will continue playing 40-minute recitals in Warner Concert Hall at the Oberlin Conservatory, to be webcast live. At 6 pm: Announcement of the SIX pianists who will move on to the Concerto Round.
Click here to visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings page for more information.
NEWS BRIEFS:
The Nashville Symphony has appointed Peter Otto (pictured) as its concertmaster, beginning on January 1, 2024. Otto became First Associate Concertmaster of The Cleveland Orchestra in September of 2007 and served as its Acting Concertmaster from 2018 until 2022. Read a story in The Strad here.
Cleveland Chamber Choir has appointed interim director Gregory Ristow as artistic director for the ensemble. Read the press release here.
The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra has announced its 2023-24 season. Click here for more information.
The Cleveland Orchestra has announced that the celebrated soprano Renée Fleming will return to Severance Music Center on October 15, 2023, for a concert with pianist Simone Dinnerstein, the Emerson String Quartet, andis actress Merle Dandridge (The Last of Us). Click here for more information.
The Cleveland Institute of Music has released a list of alumni who have recently been appointed to major orchestral positions. They include Justine Campagna, assistant concertmaster, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Paul Kim, second violin, Kansas City Symphony, and Austin Williams (BM ’15, Sachs), trumpet, Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Canadian-born trombonist Hilary Simms has joined the American Brass Quintet as its first female player. Read the New York Times story here.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
There are no special Cleveland connections to celebrate for August 1 but how about a little quiz that references classical music figures who were born or died on the first day of August?
- English pianist John Ogdon died on August 1 in 1952. Which of these composers did he especially promote? a) Charles-Valentin Alkan. b) Ferruccio Busoni. c) Alexander Scriabin.
- Russian pianist Svyatoslav Richter died of a heart attack on August 1, 1997. True or false: In 1952, Richter was invited to play Franz Liszt in a film based on the life of Tchaikovsky.
- Conductor William Steinberg was born on this date in 1899 in Köln, Germany. He led the Buffalo Philharmonic from 1945 to 1952, the Pittsburgh Symphony from 1952 to 1976 and the Boston Symphony from 1969 to 1972. Health problems kept him off the podium in Boston for a long period of time, during which time what young assistant conductor had the opportunity to launch what became a distinguished career? a) Esa-Pekka Salonen. b) Michael Tilson Thomas. c) Michael Stern.
Click here for the answers to the quiz.
