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Cleveland Cello Society: a conversation with Santiago Cañón-Valencia

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by Mike Telin

While growing up in Bogotá, Colombia, cellist Santiago Cañón-Valencia knew from an early age that he wanted to be a musician. “My dad plays bass clarinet and other clarinets in the Bogotá Philharmonic. My mom used to play the cello, and my sister plays the violin, so the house was always full of music and people practicing all the time,” he recalled during a Zoom conversation from Bogotá.

“I picked up the cello as a suggestion from mom. I wanted to play the bassoon but I was four and that’s an impossible instrument when you are that age. So they bought me my first little cello and I was completely in love with it, and I kept going from there.”

Kept going indeed. His many awards include being named a 2022 BBC Next Generation Artist, and winner of the Silver Medal and the Audience Favorite Award at the 2019 International Tchaikovsky Competition.

On Friday, April 14 at 7:00 pm at LatinUS Theater at the Pivot Center for Art, Dance, and Expression, Cañón-Valencia will make his Cleveland debut in a concert presented by the Cleveland Cello Society. His program features works from his latest recording, Ascenso, released on the Sono Luminus label.

[Read more…]

JoAnn Falletta Returns to CIM

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When she was appointed Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, JoAnn Falletta became the first woman to lead a major American orchestra. On Wednesday, April 12 at 7:30 pm Falletta will lead the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra in music by Tchaikovsky, Dvořák, and Hailstork at  Severance Music Center. Admission is free but reservations are required.

Falletta also serves as Music Director Laureate of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Brevard Music Center. The multiple GRAMMY-winner was recently named one of the “Fifty Great Conductors,” past and present, by Gramophone Magazine. I caught up with her by phone and began our conversation by asking about her frequent appearances as guest conductor at CIM. [Read more…]

No Exit to present April Series

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For their April series, No Exit will present a collection of diverse new works from some remarkable artists. Featured on the program will be world premiere pieces by Victoria Cheah, Jeremy Siskind (a “shining example of chamber music”– Downbeat), Robert Honstein ( “smart, appealing works”—The New Yorker) and Cleveland-based composer Chris Neiner.

The program will also feature two extraordinary special guests, pianist Shuai Wang (“her musicality flowed effortlessly, undaunted by any of the dense technical work”—Cleveland Classical) and vocalist Lauren Pearl (“Soulful and engrossing depth of tone”—The Philadelphia Inquirer).

The program will be presented on Friday, April 7 at 8:00 pm at SPACES, Friday, April 14 at 7:00 pm at Heights Arts, and on Saturday, April 15 at 7:30 pm at Kent State University School of Music. All performances are free. [Read more…]

Piano Cleveland celebrates 50 years of CIPC

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by Mike Telin

A 50th anniversary is always cause for celebration. But achieving that golden milestone requires hard work, and perhaps most importantly, the willingness to adapt to the ever-changing times.

In 2024, the Cleveland International Piano Competition (CIPC), which is set to take place from July 28 – August 10, will mark its 50th anniversary with a new approach to the design of the competition. One that encourages unique musical expression and creative artistic vision beyond the competition stage. All that comes with a new tagline — Classical Music, EVOLVED.

During a recent Zoom conversation, Piano Cleveland president Yaron Kohlberg noted that the changes were a result of him, executive director Marissa Moore, and the Piano Cleveland team thinking about the experiences they have accumulated over the past few years. Those included Kohlberg’s personal experiences in competitions, observations of other competitions and organizations, and conversations with a lot of pianists.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Cello Society: i Cellisti! 2023

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by Mike Telin

“A cello society is supposed to promote the advancement of the instrument and bring  professionals, amateurs, and lovers of the cello together for a rich exchange of ideas. And the Cleveland Cello Society embodies that,” Cleveland Orchestra principal cello Mark Kosower said during a telephone conversation.

On Friday, March 24 at 7:00 pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights, Cleveland Cello Society will present i Cellisti! 2023, their annual extravaganza that raises funds for their Scholarship Competition. Closing out the evening will be a mass cello ensemble performance of Randall Thomson’s Alleluia. Cellists of all ages and experience are invited to participate. Click here for more information and tickets.

The evening will begin with a performance by Kosower of two works for solo cello.

He noted that as the title suggests, Hans Werner Henze’s Serenade is a light-hearted and entertaining work. “It is a twelve-tone piece, but it doesn’t really sound like it. I find the dissonances to be rather mild in general, and it proves that in the hands of a great composer, great music can be made out of the twelve-tone system.”

[Read more…]

Oberlin Artist Recital Series: Verona Quartet with Wu Man (Feb. 25)

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by Mike Telin

If you are familiar with the Pipa — a Chinese lute-like instrument with a history that dates back more than 2,000 years — chances are that you first heard it played by Wu Man.

On February 25 in Oberlin Conservatory’s Warner Concert Hall, the world’s premiere pipa virtuoso joined the Verona Quartet — Jonathan and Dorothy Ro (violins), Abigail Rojansky (viola), and Jonathan Dormand (cello) — for a program that traveled the musical globe to explore the question, What is home? The concert was presented as part of the Oberlin Artist Recital Series.

Throughout the evening, the large audience was treated to a musical collaboration that never felt forced. As always, Wu Man’s innate sense of musicality proved that great virtuosity is not always about fast technical passages, it can also be found in the nuances of serenity. And the Verona, Oberlin’s Quartet-in-Residence, were unified partners, producing musically intelligent and technically flawless playing that seamlessly moved in and out of a spectrum of colors and stylistic emotions.

[Read more…]

New Morse Code at Rocky River Chamber Music Society

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by Mike Telin

For over a decade, the innovative duo New Morse Code — Hannah Collins (cello) and Michael Compitello (percussion) — have been creating projects that shed light on society’s pressing issues. These include The Emigrants, a documentary chamber work by George Lam, and dwb (driving while black), a chamber opera by Roberta Gumbel and Susan Kander.

The ensemble was recently named the inaugural grand prize winner of the Ariel Avant Impact Performance Prize, which supports the development and touring of new works that address sustainability goals and scientific innovation.

On Monday, March 13 at 7:30 pm at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, Rocky River Chamber Music Society will host New Morse Code in a program that will include works by Caroline Shaw, Sam Suggs, Andy Akiho, Osvaldo Golijov, Robert Honstein, Florent Ghys, and Viet Cuong. The concert is free.

I caught up with both the cellist and percussionist by phone and began our conversation by asking why they chose these pieces for their program. [Read more…]

Pianist Martín García García  to perform for Tuesday Musical

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by Mike Telin

Since winning first prize at the 2021 Cleveland International Piano Competition and 3rd Prize at XVIII International Chopin Piano Competition, as well as the special award for the best concerto performance, Spanish pianist Martín García García’s world has — in his words — changed drastically.

On Tuesday, March 7, at 7:30 pm in Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall, Tuesday Musical will welcome García García back to Northeast Ohio. His program includes Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13 and Brahms’ Sonata No. 3 in f. Tickets are available online.

I caught up with the pianist by phone and began our conversation by asking him why he chose two large works rather than presenting a selection of smaller showpieces?

Martín García García: These are two great abstract works from the past which have not more musical value but more transcendent value.

Almost all the great composers have works like these. They don’t take any of the imagination away from their shorter pieces. But composers always put so much effort into the bigger works — the symphonies, sonatas, and operas — and I tend to lean toward these kinds of pieces.

[Read more…]

CIM Opera Theater: JJ Hudson directs Dialogues of the Carmelites

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by Mike Telin

Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites recounts a fictionalized version of the real-life story of the Martyrs of Compiègne, a group of Carmelite nuns who, during the closing days of the Reign of Terror, were guillotined in Paris for refusing to renounce their vocation.

On Friday, March 3 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, March 5 at 3:00 pm, CIM Opera Theater will present Poulenc’s haunting opera directed by JJ Hudson. Harry Davidson conducts the CIM Orchestra. Tickets are available online.

Since 2021, JJ Hudson has been Professor of Opera at Georgia State University and was recently appointed Artistic Director of the Harrower Summer Opera Workshop. His upcoming productions include A Little Night Music for Opera in the Ozarks, Ariadne auf Naxos for Lakes Area Music Festival, and La serva padrona, Dido and Aeneas, and Our Town​ for Georgia State University Opera Theater.

I caught up with the director by phone and began our conversation by asking him about his history with Poulenc’s opera. [Read more…]

Daniel Reith to lead the 
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra 
and Youth Chorus on Friday

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by Mike Telin

What are the duties of an assistant conductor of a major orchestra? “Every day is an experience,” Daniel Reith said during a recent telephone conversation. Since assuming that position with The Cleveland Orchestra this season, Reith has had a lot on his plate. In addition to his involvement with numerous educational activities, he has led the Orchestra’s family concerts and the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concert. Earlier this month he stepped in on very short notice for an ailing Klaus Mäkelä to lead three subscription concert performances.

“It’s a great pleasure to work with The Cleveland Orchestra,” the German-born conductor said. “During my first few weeks I would think about all the great conductors who had walked through these halls. I would just stare at the walls and ceiling in Mandel Hall imagining all the amazing musical interpretations those walls had heard over the years. It is one of the best halls in the world. After a tour, everybody is happy to come back to Severance — it’s great to have such a hall as your musical home.”

On Friday, February 24 at 8:00 pm at Severance Music Center, Reith will wear another hat when he leads the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and Youth Chorus in works by Wagner, Schubert, and Brahms. Tickets are available online.

[Read more…]

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