by Daniel Hathaway
Having expanded its June season from five concerts in 2012 to eight in 2013, Franklin and Diana Cohen’s ChamberFest Cleveland grew again in 2014 to encompass ten events. Ten seems now to be the magic number for this enterprising festival, which offers everything you can imagine in the category of chamber music, played by an all-star cast of young musicians who come to Cleveland from far and wide. The ten concerts scheduled for the 2015 festival will begin on Wednesday, June 17 at Spaces and conclude on Wednesday, July 1 at a new venue, the Blackstone Organ House in Bratenahl.
Operating under the theme of “Crossing Borders,” the festival events will move about from venue to venue during those two weeks, as they explore the theme of travels and journeys. As the Cohen father-daughter team writes on the Festival’s website, “From river cruises to ocean crossings and beyond, our chosen musical offerings reveal the myriad of influences that have shaped the hearts and minds of great composers both past and present in their search for expression. ‘Crossing Borders’ celebrates this phenomenon by starting its musical journey with a trip down the Danube River and ends with a salute to America and the influence our country has had on others.”
And there’s a lot to be seen and heard between the Danube and the Mississippi. One concert entitled “Becoming Light” will center around Thomas Adès’s Darknesse Visible.
Others include a look at the notion of romanticism in Mozart and Schubert; a “Grab Bag” mashup of works by Friedrich Hermann, Giovanni Bottesini, Albert Schnittke, Steve Reich and Chick Corea; “Music for a Summer Evening” featuring George Crumb’s piece of the same name for amplified pianos and percussion; a Russian program entitled здоровье (“Health”); a Bartók-Gershwin-Brubeck-Thelonious Monk evening; and a program of off-the-beaten-path, four-hand piano music called “Crossing Hands” with Anna Polonsky and Orion Weiss.
The concert on Friday, June 19 in Mixon Hall at CIM will celebrate the artistry of the Festival’s co-director, Franklin Cohen, who will retire from his position as principal clarinet of The Cleveland Orchestra at the end of the Blossom season this summer. He’ll celebrate that milestone by sharing some of his favorite works by Mozart, Brahms and Steve Reich.
Read more about the individual programs and the excellent roster of performers the Cohens have assembled as ClevelandClassical previews the forthcoming edition of Chamberfest in the next few weeks. A variety of ticketing options can be viewed here, including two levels of festival passes; Pick 5 and Pick 3 mix-and-match offers; and tickets to single events.
Here is the complete schedule with participating artists:
Wednesday, June 17 at 8:00 pm – Down the Danube, with Julie Albers, Bill Caballero, Jinjoo Cho, Diana Cohen, Clive Greensmith, Hsin-Yun Huang, Alexi Kenney, Yura Lee, Amy Schwartz Moretti, Dimitri Murrath, Roman Rabinovich & Mari Sato.
Mozart’s Quintet in E-flat Major for Horn and Strings, K. 407, György Ligeti’s Ballad and Dance for Two Violins, Béla Bartók’s Duos for Two Violins (selections), Antonin Dvořák’s Maličkosti (Bagatelles) for Two Violins, Cello, and Harmonium, Op. 47 & Georges Enescu’s Octet in C Major for Strings, Op. 7.
Spaces, 2220 Superior Viaduct, Cleveland. Opening night party to follow at Music Box Supper Club
Thursday, June 18 at 8:00 pm – Becoming Light, with Bill Caballero, Diana Cohen, Franklin Cohen, Clive Greensmith, Hsin-Yun Huang, Nathan Farrington, Alexi Kenney, Yura Lee, Roman Rabinovich, Amy Schwartz Moretti, Fernando Traba & Peter Wiley.
Thomas Adès’s Darknesse Visible for Solo Piano, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet, Op. 57 & Ludwig van Beethoven’s Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20. 7:15 prelude with festival speaker Patrick Castillo.
Mixon Hall, Cleveland Institute of Music, 11021 East Boulevard, Cleveland.
Friday, June 19 at 8:00 pm – FRANK! with Franklin Cohen, clarinet, Yura Lee & Diana Cohen, violins, Dimitry Murrath, viola & Peter Wiley, cello.
Steve Reich’s New York Counterpoint for Amplified Clarinet and Tape, Johannes Brahms’s Quintet in B Minor for Clarinet and Strings, Op. 115 & W. A. Mozart’s, Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in A Major, K. 622.
Mixon Hall, Cleveland Institute of Music, 11021 East Boulevard, Cleveland. Post-Concert Celebration in Frank’s honor at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (included in subscriptions, $15 for Pick 3, Pick 5 & single ticket holders).
Sunday, June 21 at 3:00 pm – Who’s Romantic? with Orion Weiss, David Bowlin, Dimitri Murrath, Clive Greensmith, Peter Wiley, Hsin-Yun Huang, Julie Albers & Yura Lee.
Mozart’s Piano Quartet in E-Flat Major, K. 493 & Franz Schubert, Quintet in C Major for Strings, Op. 163, D. 956. 2:15 pm prelude, festival speaker to be announced.
Harkness Chapel, Case Western Reserve University, 11200 Bellflower Rd., Cleveland.
Tuesday, June 23 at 8:00 pm – Grab Bag—Surprises Galore! with Julie Albers, Yehonatan Berick, David Bowlin, Jinjoo Cho, Scott Christian, Alexander Cohen, Nathan Farrington, Clive Greensmith, Alexi Kenney, Yura Lee, Dimitri Murrath & Mari Sato.
Friedrich Hermann’s Capriccio No. 1 for Three Violins, Op. 2, Giovanni Bottesini’s Gran Duo Concertante for Violin, Double Bass, and String Quartet, Albert Schnittke’s Quartet #3, Steve Reich’s Nagoya Marimbas & Chick Corea’s Spain for String Quartet.
The Wine Spot, 2271 Lee Road, Cleveland Hts.
Thursday, June 25 at 8:00 pm – Music for a Summer Evening, with Julie Albers, Yehonatan Berick, David Bowlin, Jinjoo Cho, Scott Christian, Marc Damoulakis, Nathan Farrington, Clive Greensmith, Nathan Hughes, Alexi Kenney, Dimitri Murrath, Roman Rabinovich, Mari Sato, Jennifer Stumm & Orion Weiss.
Franz Josef Haydn’s String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 76, No. 4, “Sunrise,” Benjamin Britten’s Phantasy Quartet, Op. 2, for Oboe, and String Quartet, Johann Strauss Jr.’s “Wine, Women, and Song,” op. 333, arranged by Alban Berg for Harmonium, Piano, and Strings & George Crumb,’s Music for a Summer Evening (Makrokosmos III) for Amplified Pianos and Percussion. 7:15 prelude with festival speaker Patrick Castillo.
Mixon Hall, Cleveland Institute of Music, 11021 East Boulevard, Cleveland.
Friday, June 26 at 8:00 pm – здоровье (Health), with Julie Albers, Yehonatan Berick, David Bowlin, Diana Cohen, Franklin Cohen, Nathan Farrington, Nathan Hughes, Alexi Kenney, Dimitri Murrath, Roman Rabinovich, Jennifer Stumm & Orion Weiss.
Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G Minor for Piano Trio, Op. Posth., Alfred Schnittke’s, Prelude in Memoriam Dmitri Shostakovich for Two Violins & Musica Nostalgica for Cello and Piano, Sergei Prokofiev,’s Quintet for Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, Viola, and Double Bass, Op. 39 & Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, “Razumovsky,” No. 1. 7:15 pm prelude with festival speaker Patrick Castillo.
Harkness Chapel, Case Western Reserve University, 11200 Bellflower Rd., Cleveland.
Saturday, June 27 at 8:00 pm – Something Borrowed, Something Blue, with Yehonatan Berick, Jinjoo Cho, Alexander Cohen, Diana Cohen, Franklin Cohen, Marc Damoulakis, Nathan Farrington, Anna Polonsky, Roman Rabinovich & Orion Weiss.
Maurice Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, Edgar Meyer’s Amalgamations for Solo Bass, Béla Bartók’s Mikrokosmos No. 151, Sz. 107 & Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano, Sz. 111, Dave Brubeck’s “A La Turk,” Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight,” George Gershwin’s An American in Paris for two pianos & Dana Wilson’s A Thousand Whirling Dreams for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano, & Percussion. 7:15 prelude with festival speaker Patrick Castillo.
Mixon Hall, Cleveland Institute of Music, 11021 East Boulevard, Cleveland.
Sunday, June 28 at 3:00 pm – Crossing Hands, with Anna Polonsky & Orion Weiss, piano four-hands.
Claude Debussy’s Marche écoaisse sur un théme populaire, Robert Schumann’s Bildung aus Osten, Op. 66, Maurice Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnole & Antonin Dvořák’s Selections from Slavonic Dances, Op. 72.
Dunham Tavern Barn, 6709 Euclid Ave., Cleveland.
Wednesday, July 1 at 7:00 pm – Stars and Stripes, with Julie Albers, Diana Cohen, Franklin Cohen, Yura Lee, Dimitri Murrath, Anna Polonsky, Jennifer Stumm, Fernando Traba and The Echo Saxophone Quartet.
Terry Riley’s Tread on the Trail, Echo Saxophone Quartet, Ned Rorem’s Winter Pages for Clarinet, Bassoon, Violin, Cello, and Piano & Antonin Dvořák’s String Quintet #3, Op. 97. 6:15 pm prelude with festival speaker to be announced.
Blackstone Organ House, 9721 Lakeshore Blvd., Bratenahl.
Published on ClevelandClassical.com May 15, 2015.
Click here for a printable copy of this article
