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Ohio Light Opera Costume Retrospective showcases four decades of design

by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

The importance of costumes in theater or opera is easy to determine. Just think of how often a brief glimpse of a costume can not only tell you when the action is taking place, but frequently where as well. Think of The Mikado, for instance, or more recently, Brigadoon or My Fair Lady. But those costumes don’t just appear like magic.

Oh, no. There are numerous meetings with the other technical staff of the production in addition to Costume Design. Among these are Set and sometimes Prop Design, Lighting Design, more rarely Sound Design, plus the Stage Director, Choreographer, Stage Manager and Conductor. All of these people have an interest in how the production will both look and sound to an audience. Depending on the size of the show, these meetings may begin as much as a year in advance of opening night.

Obviously, I Do! I Do! (the famous two-person, one-set musical of 1966) isn’t nearly as demanding or complex as Phantom of the Opera, but either of them could easily have been ruined by a lack of proper attention to the necessities. For the former, that meant two nightgowns and a huge bed. For the latter, it seemed like half the population of Paris was onstage at times. [Read more…]

Opinion:
The Cleveland Orchestra — Prometheus or Epimetheus?

by David Kulma

Heinrich_fueger_1817_prometheus_brings_fire_to_mankindAs noted in The Cleveland Orchestra’s program book for The Prometheus Project, the  mythological Titan’s forgotten brother Epimetheus “spent much of his time thinking about yesterday, and last week, or looking at the history of a hundred years ago.”

The Orchestra ended its 100th season celebrating two revolutionaries: Prometheus and Ludwig van Beethoven. Music director Franz Welser-Möst’s goal for The Prometheus Project was to link the light-giving Titan to the powerful Enlightenment composer, and through them connect to “the idea of fighting for good.” This celebration of revolutions past is noble, but it also points out how the Cleveland institution appears more like his backward-looking sibling than Prometheus himself.

In a way, TCO’s festival of Beethoven symphonies and overtures makes all the sense in the world. [Read more…]

CIPC Announces 2018 Prizes in Young Artists Competition

by Daniel Hathaway

CIPC YA FInalists 2018

Customarily, the Cleveland International Piano Competition announces its winner late in the evening of its final round, which this year featured concertos with the Canton Symphony Orchestra on Friday evening, June 8 at the Maltz Performing Arts Center. But for the Young Artists Competition this time around, CIPC kept its competitors and followers in suspense until an awards ceremony the following evening at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Here are the results (L-R: Shuan Hern Lee, Hao Wei Lin, Eva Gevorgyan, Xiaoxuan Li, Yunchan Lim, JiWon Yang):

JUNIOR DIVISION
First Prize ($10,000): Eva Gevorgyan (13, Russia)
Second Prize ($5,000): Yunchan Lim (13, South Korea)
Third Prize ($2,500): Hao Wei Lin (13, Taiwan)

SENIOR DIVISION
First Prize ($25,000): Xiaoxuan Li (16, China)
Second Prize ($10,000): Shuan Hern Lee (15, Australia)
Third Prize ($5,000): JiWon Yang (16, South Korea) [Read more…]

Roomful of Teeth residency at Oberlin: Q&A and composition sessions
(Feb. 15)

by Hannah Schoepe

Shaw Q&AHow are your compositions formed? How do you balance judgement with unhinged creativity? What is the most profound advice you can offer students today? Those were a few of the questions posed to the Pulitzer prize-winning composer and Roomful of Teeth member Caroline Shaw during an insightful Q & A session Thursday afternoon, February 16 in Oberlin’s Kulas Recital Hall.

During the session Shaw addressed her compositional process, as well as her creative sources of inspiration. She began by playing an excerpt from her recently composed string quartet Valencia. With its simple lines and ethereal harmonics, the piece grabbed the audience’s attention immediately. When asked about the work, Shaw affirmed her love for simple layers in her music.  She said, “I like to create a ‘room,’ a musical space where people can walk around but don’t get lost.” Continuing on a humorous note, she said most listeners assume there is a connection between the quartet and Valencia Spain, when in fact the genesis of the work was derived from the beauty of a valencia orange. [Read more…]

Countertenor Jay White appointed artistic director of Quire Cleveland

by Daniel Hathaway

White-JayThe board of Quire Cleveland has announced that countertenor Jay White will succeed founder Ross W. Duffin as artistic director of the professional choir at the end of Quire’s tenth anniversary season in July 2018.

Duffin, who is Distinguished University Professor of Musicology at Case Western Reserve University, and Beverly Simmons, Quire’s executive director, will move on “to pursue new artistic and familial adventures in California and Washington, D.C.,” according to a December 19 press release.

White, who joined Quire Cleveland in 2012, serves as professor of voice at Kent State University, where he is also music director of Kent State Opera. He sang for eight seasons with Chanticleer, and during his more than 35-year career has performed with the Men and Boys Choir of Washington Cathedral, Grace Cathedral San Francisco, the Folger Consort, the Carmel Bach Festival, and Apollo’s Fire Singers. [Read more…]

Guest essay: A Summer in Ohio (and a Thank You to Akron)

by Levi Hammer
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

Hammer“Why, oh why, oh why, oh — why did I ever leave Ohio?” So goes Bernstein’s Broadway hit. In moments of discouragement in Berlin over the last year, my thoughts drifted to that tune. This summer brought me back to Ohio for my third season at Cincinnati Opera, where I worked on the Barrie Kosky production of The Magic Flute on loan from the Komische Oper Berlin. Spending a summer in my beloved Ohio has given me cause to reflect on my time there.

I first traveled to Ohio assisting Benjamin Zander when he was conducting Mahler’s Ninth Symphony with the Akron Symphony. I had never heard of this orchestra, let alone of the city of Akron, and I was unaware of the musical riches of Northeast Ohio, extending back to industrialization, and the two world-class orchestras in the region (The Cleveland Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony). [Read more…]

Johan Dalene takes first prize at Cooper International Competition

by Mike Telin

Cooper-Dalene-072117CroppedOn Friday evening, July 21 at Severance Hall, violinist Johan Dalene, 16, from Sweden, was named first place winner in Oberlin’s Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition following his stellar performance of the Tchaikovsky Concerto with Jahja Ling and The Cleveland Orchestra. Two American competitors — Christina Jihee Nam, 14, who also played the Tchaikovsky, and Qing Yu Chen, 17, who was featured in Prokofiev’s Second Concerto — shared second place.

Dalene, who had already captured the Audience Prize of $500 following Wednesday’s Recital Round, takes home $20,000 in cash. Nam and Chen receive $7,500 each. All three were also offered full-tuition scholarships to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, pending admission. [Read more…]

Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute: Week Two, Day Six (Saturday, July 1)

by Daniel Hathaway

StudentOrchWeek2(Gascho)If Saturday began with the fatigue that accompanies the end of an immersive two-week experience, it ended with the adrenaline rush and afterglow of some wonderful performances.

The last day of Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute was devoted almost entirely to preparations for the final participant concert, which would begin at 1:30 pm in Warner Concert Hall with performances by the Student Orchestra and Choir and the Intermediate and Beginner Dance Classes.

Before that, most of the 16 ensembles who would play on the second part of the event in Kulas Hall got a 15-minute dress rehearsal — really more of a sound check — onstage. That necessitated a number of furniture moves by the agreeable and accommodating stage crew, and not in the same order as the concert itself. [Read more…]

Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute: Week Two, Day Five (Friday, June 30)

by Daniel Hathaway

LisaCoaching063017Friday morning’s harpsichord master class was the last opportunity to formally pick our mentor’s brains, and performances by the last set of students inspired Mark Edwards and Lisa Goode Crawford to deliver some very useful tips.

Performance No. 1 was a C-major prelude from the Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Notebook — a set of pieces Johann Sebastian Bach expressly selected for the tutelage of his eldest son beginning in 1720. Edwards began by asking what type of piece it was. Answer: a figuration prelude, in style brisé, which is meant to imitate the lute. In fact, Edwards said, the harpsichord is really a giant lute with keys. Advice to student: overhold notes (including octaves in the left hand), let the strings vibrate, and think of articulation in terms of wetness vs. dryness. [Read more…]

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