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Pianist Juho Pohjonen returns to ChamberFest

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by Mike Telin

Finnish pianist Juho Pohjonen enjoys a varied career that regularly takes him to recital and symphony halls across Europe, Asia, and North America. A computer enthusiast, in 2019 he launched MyPianist, an AI-based iOS app he both designed and programmed that provides interactive piano accompaniment for musicians. This week he makes his second appearance at ChamberFest.

I spoke to Pohjonen over Zoom from Minneapolis where he was performing Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin and Piano with Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra. I began by asking him to share his insights on Debussy’s Cello Sonata, which he will perform with Jonathan Swensen on June 30.

Juho Pohjonen: The interaction between the cello and the piano is so intimate. The music is like an exchange of ideas and that is one of the most rewarding aspects of the piece.

Debussy was able to create new colors without resorting to any fancy techniques like playing inside the piano or things like that. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: A chat with violinist Stephen Waarts

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by Mike Telin

Still in his mid-twenties, violinist Stephen Waarts has already amassed an impressive resumé. Among his successes, he was a prizewinner at the 2015 Queen Elisabeth Competition and secured the majority vote of the television audience. In March 2017 he was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, and he was winner of the International Classical Music Awards Orchestra Award by the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra in 2019.

One of the few things Waarts has not done is to perform at ChamberFest Cleveland. That will change later this week. We reached the friendly violinist by telephone in Brussels where he was rehearsing for an upcoming recording project. [Read more…]

Soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon to make ChamberFest Cleveland debut

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by Mike Telin

This week music for voice will take center stage when the dynamic soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon makes her ChamberFest debut.

Fitz Gibbon has appeared as a soloist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, and the Albany, Richmond, Tulsa, and Eureka Symphonies.

Just prior to our telephone conversation she had performed a recital for the Berkeley Early Music Festival and was a guest artist at SongFest at the San Francisco Conservatory. There she sang contemporary works by American composers including a song-cycle by Sheila Silver and the West Coast premiere of a cycle by John Harbison.

Mike Telin: We’re looking forward to your ChamberFest performances, but this is not your first visit to Cleveland.

Lucy Fitz Gibbon: That’s right. I was there in 2018 for the Art Song Festival. [Read more…]

Harpist Sivan Magen returns to ChamberFest Cleveland

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by Mike Telin

This week harpist Sivan Magen will make a return visit to ChamberFest Cleveland. “I’m excited to come back to Cleveland and play with those incredible players,” Magen said via Skype from Los Angeles, where he was preparing for a concert with his Israeli Chamber Project. “After that we’re heading to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the American Harp Society Conference where we’ll be giving a concert, master classes, and talks.”

Born in Jerusalem, Magen studied at the Jerusalem Academy for Music and Dance. After completing his military service, he continued his studies at the Paris Conservatory and went on to complete his Master of Music degree at the Juilliard School. Magen is the only Israeli to win the International Harp Contest in Israel. He is also the winner of the Pro Musicis International Award, and in 2012 was the winner of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. Since fall 2017 he has served as principal harp of the Finnish Radio Symphony.

Mike Telin: When you were here in 2016 you brought some cutting-edge repertoire. This year feels slightly more tame. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland:
catching up with Alexi Kenney

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by Mike Telin 

Violinist Alexi Kenney was in his early twenties when he made his ChamberFest Cleveland debut. Still, his résumé up to that point was already impressive. He had won the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, had given recitals at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and was the recipient of top prizes at the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition and the Mondavi Center Competition.

Since then Alexi Kenney has established a career that is his own. He regularly creates  experimental programs, commissions new works, solos with major orchestras around the world, and is a constant figure at renowned chamber music festivals. He is also the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.

And this week Kenney will once again return to ChamberFest. I caught up with the violinist by telephone. 

[Read more…]

Geneva Lewis & Gabriel Martins make ChamberFest debuts 

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by Mike Telin

Violinist Geneva Lewis has been hailed as “clearly one to watch” by Musical America. She is the recipient of a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and Grand Prize winner of the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Competition. Other honors include Kronberg Academy’s Prince of Hesse Prize and being named a Finalist at the 2018 Naumburg Competition, a Performance Today Young Artist in Residence, and Musical America’s New Artist of the Month.

Cellist Gabriel Martins’ accolades include the Concert Artists Guild – Young Classical Artists Trust Grand Prize, the Sphinx Competition Gold Medal, the David Popper International Cello Competition Gold Medal, and the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians Silver Medal, to name only a few. He has performed at the Wigmore, Carnegie, and Merkin Halls, 92nd Street Y, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and with the Houston, Indianapolis, Memphis, Pacific, and Phoenix Symphony Orchestras. The Strad Magazine declared his New York City recital debut to be “flawlessly played” and “a deeply moving experience.”

Later this week the two “rising stars” will make their ChamberFest Cleveland debuts. We caught up with Lewis and Martins by Zoom and began by asking how the ChamberFest invitations came about. [Read more…]

Petra Poláčková wows at Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival (June 5)

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by Mike Telin

Over the past few years Petra Poláčková has enthralled audiences at the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival, and on Sunday afternoon, June 5, at the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Kulas Hall, the young Czech musician demonstrated why she has become a Festival favorite.

Her program, “Canciones,” featured a set of songs by Narvaez, Dowland, Milano, and Cassado, arrangements of Catalan folk songs by Liobet, and six Schubert lieder. And from start to finish the performance had the “wow” factor we have come to expect from Poláčková — her technique was unblemished and her thoughtful interpretations were both reserved and expansive.  [Read more…]

Duo Damiana mesmerize at Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival (June 5)

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by Mike Telin 

Anyone who has been paying attention to the world of contemporary chamber music during the past twenty years will recognize the names of flutist Molly Barth and guitarist Dieter Hennings — together known as Duo Damiana. 

On Sunday, June 5 at the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Kulas Hall, these extraordinary musicians presented a program of 21st-century music that bore witness to their irreproachable technical skills and their mesmerizing palette of colors.

[Read more…]

JazzFest comes home to Playhouse Square

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by Mike Telin

It feels like forever since Tri-C JazzFest was last held in its customary location. During the past two years, Festival director Terri Pontremoli and her team produced one of the best online jazz festivals around, and in September of 2021 Cain Park proved to be a terrific substitute location.

Finally the wait is over. From June 23-25, the 43rd annual Tri-C JazzFest comes home to Playhouse Square. The 2022 lineup features eight ticketed concerts in Playhouse Square theatres, with a special opening night concert — dedicated to retiring Tri-C President Alex Johnson — at Cleveland Public Auditorium’s Music Hall on June 23 at 8:00 pm. That show stars legendary soul storyteller Anthony Hamilton backed up by an all-star ensemble.

“I don’t want to be too positive, but it does feel like things are getting back to normal,” Terri Pontremoli said during a telephone conversation. [Read more…]

Violinists Joseph Lin and Sarah Kapustin to make ChamberFest debuts 

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by Mike Telin

Coordinating the schedules of musicians and festivals is often a long, and at times, a complicated process. Take violinists Joseph Lin and Sarah Kapustin for example. Both have been on ChamberFest Cleveland’s list of invitees from the Festival’s beginning, but the stars have simply never aligned. Until now.

Later this week both Lin and Kapustin will finally make their ChamberFest debuts when the Festival kicks off its tenth season. Click here for details.

“Ever since Diana and Frank started the festival we’ve talked about me coming, but it never seemed to work out until this year,” Lin said. “I’m so glad that everything has finally come together.”

“I’ve known Diana since we were teenagers, so for over 20 years,” Kapustin said. “I’ve been invited from the beginning but it just never worked out. My debut should have been two years ago but because of COVID  it was put on hold. So I’m happy that it’s finally on the calendar.” [Read more…]

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