by Daniel Hathaway
Apollo’s Fire will present seven local subscription programs totaling thirty concerts during its 23rd season in 2014-2015. Additionally, Cleveland’s baroque orchestra will make its debut at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in December and at London’s BBC Proms next August, undertake a national tour of Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers in November, and appear on the Pittsburgh Renaissance & Baroque Society series in April. [Read more…]
L-R: Finalists Sae Yoon Chon, Zitong Wang and Tony Yike Yang
Oberlin – July 24. Late on Wednesday evening from the stage of Oberlin Conservatory’s Warner Concert Hall, WCLV’s Robert Conrad announced the judges’ choice of the top six prizes in the Oberlin Cooper Piano Competition. The decisions followed yesterday’s recital round.
Sixth prize winner is Min Jun Lee (15, Seoul, South Korea). Fifth place winner and audience prize winner is Evren Ozel (15, Minneapolis, Minnesota). Fourth place winner is Gyu Tae Ha (17, Uijeonbu, South Korea). Each contestant wins a cash prize of $1,000. Ozel takes home an additional $500.
The finalists, who will play concertos with Jahja Ling and The Cleveland Orchestra in Severance Hall on Friday evening, July 25 at 8:00 pm are:
Sae Yoon Chon (18, Seoul, South Korea). Beethoven’s Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73. Zitong Wang (15, Inner Mongolia, China). Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26. Tony Yike Yang (15, Toronto, Canada. Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23.
Friday evening’s concert will be broadcast live on WCLV, 104.9 FM and audio streamed on wclv.com. Following the performance, the winners of the first ($10,000), second ($6,000) and third ($3,000) prizes will be announced.
Oberlin – July 23. Following the concerto round last evening, the judges announced the six finalists in the 2014 Cooper International Competition who will advance to the Recital Round on Wednesday evening, July 23 at 7:00 pm in Warner Concert Hall at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Following the program, the judges will announce the three contestants who will play concertos with Jahja Ling and The Cleveland Orchestra on Friday evening at Severance Hall. The performance will be carried live on WCLV, 104.9 FM and wclv.com, and a video stream will be available here.
Here is the Recital Finals program for Wednesday evening (performance order to be announced):
Lorain County Community College will present six concerts in its 2014-2015 Signature Series at the studio theatre in the Stocker Center in Elyria. The concerts, curated by Jeffrey Mumford, are free.
October 13 – Jake & Sarah, saxophone duo (State University of New York at Fredonia).
November 25 – duo parnas, violinist Madalyn Parnas and cellist Cicely Parnas.
March 2 – Nicholas Underhill, piano.
April 2 – Deborah Norin-Kuehn, soprano (Heidelberg University).
April 27 – Brandon Patrick George (above), flute.
March 5 – Shelly Du, harp.
“Summers @ Severance,” a new series on Friday evenings in August, will feature The Cleveland Orchestra in three performances at Severance Hall.
The Front Terrace of Severance Hall will be open before and after each 7:00 pm concert, with beverage service and seating areas available. “Happy hour” drink prices will be in force during the hour before the performances.
On Friday, August 1, Johannes Debus will conduct the Orchestra in Ravel’s Pavane for a Dead Princess and the Piano Concerto in G with Benjamin Grosvenor as soloist. The program will conclude with Rachmanninoff’s Symphonic Dances.
Jahja Ling will lead an all-Beethoven concert on August 15, including the Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, Symphony No. 4 and the Choral Fantasy with pianist Orion Weiss and the Blossom Festival Chorus. The performance is an official cultural event of the 2014 Gay Games being hosted in Cleveland from August 9-16.
Franz Welser-Möst will close out the mini-series with a concert of music by Jörg Widmann (Lied and Flûte en suite with Joshua Smith) and Brahms (Symphony No. 1) on August 29, a performance in which the Orchestra is partnering with local colleges and universities to mark the kick-off to the fall semester.
Two Oberlin Conservatory students won top prizes in the 59th Tuesday Musical Association Scholarship Competition Winners Recital on May 18 at Fairlawn United Church of Christ in Akron. In first place was junior violin performance major William Overcash, a student of David Bowlin, who will receive $2,000. Second place winner Silei Gie, a sophomore who studies piano with Peter Takács, will receive $1,000.
One hundred thirty-five students from twenty-one Ohio colleges and universities participated in the Association’s 59th scholarship Competition on March 22 in seven categories: brass, music education, organ, piano, strings, vocal and woodwinds. All first and second place scholarship winners participated in the Winners Recital last Sunday. [Read more…]
Photo by Gary Adams
For its third season, Franklin and Diana Cohen’s ChamberFest Cleveland will expand to ten concerts, to be presented from June 19 through June 29 at several venues. The festival includes a family concert and a world premiere collaboration with GroundWorks DanceTheater.
The roster of artists includes violinists Noah Bendix-Balgley, Yehonatan Berick, David Bowlin, Jinjoo Cho, Diana Cohen, Yura Lee and Amy Schwartz Moretti; violists Yehonatan Berick, Yu Jin, Yura Lee and Dimitri Murrath; cellists Julie Albers, Gabriel Cabezas and Robert deMaine; bassist Nathan Farrington; pianists Roman Rabinovich and Orion Weiss; clarinetist Franklin Cohen; oboists Alex Klein and Xiomara Mass; bassoonist Fernando Traba; harpsichordist Carolyn Warner; percussionists Scott Christian, Alexander Cohen and Luke Rinderknecht; and pipa and ruan player Min Xiao-Fen. The Festival Speaker will be composer, performer, writer and educator Patrick Castillo.
The schedule follows (performer details yet to be announced): [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
On March 13, Early Music America, the advocacy organization for performers, scholars, students and audiences, announced the selection of Donald Rosenberg as the next editor of Early Music America magazine. Founded in 1985 and now based in Pittsburgh, Early Music America (EMA) provides its membership with publications, advocacy, and technical support, in addition to publishing the quarterly magazine. (The term “Early music” includes Western music from the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical periods, performed on period instruments in historically-informed styles.
“It’s an organization for the entire early music community throughout North America,” Donald Rosenberg said during a recent Skype conversation. “It serves professionals, students, amateurs and enthusiasts. It serves as the go-to place for the early music field, which is growing so rapidly these days that I think it will become even more important to more people in the future. So I’m just thrilled to be associated with the organization and to have the chance to reach out and spread the word about early music.”
“EMA now has a Young Artist Competition that will be held in Chicago in November,” Rosenberg added. “They also do programs in collaboration with festivals — for example, the Berkeley Early Music Festival in California this year. [Read more…]
Before the Takács Quartet’s performance on April 13, Oberlin Conservatory Dean Andrea Kalyn announced dates for the forthcoming 136th Artist Recital Series. All performances will take place in Finney Chapel. Tickets will go on sale in the summer.
Tuesday, September 30 – The Calder Quartet
Tuesday, February 10 – Garrick Ohlsson, piano
Friday, February 20 – St. Lawrence Quartet
Saturday, February 28 – Bang on a Can All-Stars
Thursday, April 2 – John Relyea, bass-baritone
Sunday, April 12 – Jennifer Koh ’97, violin
Friday, April 24 – The Cleveland Orchestra, Susanna Mälkki, conducting, with Jeremy Denk ’90, piano
ClevelandClassical is pleased to announce that Chicago native Daniel Hautzinger has been named the 2014 ClevelandClassical.com Young Writers Fellow. The two-month summer fellowship is designed for young writers who wish to hone their skills and prepare for careers on the new frontiers of musical journalism.
Hautzinger is completing his sophomore year at Oberlin where he is a double degree student majoring in piano performance and history. “I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity,” he said. “As an aspiring music critic, I will gain great journalistic experience through this fellowship by writing reviews and previews and conducting interviews with artists.”
Additionally, Hautzinger will participate in daily editorial meetings and strategy sessions with editors Daniel Hathaway and Mike Telin, and will interact with artists, presenters and publicists in the music industry. He will also be provided the opportunity to learn about and assist with all matters associated with the daily operations and managing of the website. [Read more…]