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Oberlin Cooper Violin Competition: conversations with director Gregory Fulkerson and competitors Kiarra Saito-Beckman and Christina Nam

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by Mike Telin and Samantha Spaccasi

gregory_fulkersonLater this week, 24 young violinists representing eight U.S. States and eight countries will arrive in Oberlin to participate in the eighth edition of the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition. Events begin with the semifinal rounds on Saturday, July 15 at 1:30 pm in Warner Concert Hall at the Oberlin Conservatory.

The Competition will continue into next week and culminate with the three finalists playing concertos with The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Jahja Ling in Severance Hall on Friday, July 21 at 7:30 pm. (See our concert listings for details about the semi-final, concerto and recital rounds that will determine who plays in the finals.) [Read more…]

Music and the environment: a conversation with composer Margaret Brouwer about Voice of the Lake

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by Samantha Spaccasi

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“Lake Erie is in trouble, and getting worse by the year,” reads an August 2014 article in The New York Times that describes the water crisis in Toledo. The disaster spawned another national conversation about the state of the country’s drinking water and environmental pollution. For composer Margaret Brouwer, that conversation, coupled with her love of Lake Erie, spawned an idea — a new piece titled Voice of the Lake.

In a recent phone conversation, Brouwer described her newest work about Lake Erie’s beauty, but also about its serious environmental problems. I reached her at Interlochen, which she called “a great place to compose.” Brouwer explained her process of creating Voice of the Lake. She’s been working on it for over a year and said it’s “3/4 complete.” [Read more…]

Chautauqua Opera: a conversation with director Steve Osgood

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by Mike Telin

norton_hallNow that summer is officially upon us, it’s time to take profit of the many cultural activities that Northeast Ohio offers. But if you’re searching for something just outside the region, why not follow the lead of many area residents and head toward Jamestown, New York to the Chautauqua Institution?  A two-and-a-half-hour drive from Cleveland, Chautauqua is the perfect summer getaway.

Located on 750 acres on Chautauqua Lake, the Institution was founded in 1874 by inventor Lewis Miller and Methodist Bishop John Heyl Vincent as a teaching camp for Sunday school teachers. Today it offers a variety of public programs that explore the important religious, social and political issues of our times. The Institution also offers recreational and cultural activities including popular entertainment, theater, symphony, ballet, and visual arts exhibitions. [Read more…]

Reports from BPI

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by Daniel Hathaway

DanLucasContinuo(Gascho)Embedded as a harpsichord student, Hathaway has completed his daily dispatches from inside Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute. Read the saga here.

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra and Cleveland Chamber Choir to premiere Guarnaccia’s Emergent Universe Oratorio

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by Daniel Hathaway

ComposerCleveland Chamber Choir founding artistic director Scott MacPherson will lead his expanded chorus and the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra in the world premiere of Sam Guarnaccia’s Emergent Universe Oratorio at the Maltz Performing Arts Center at Case Western Reserve University on Friday, June 30 at 7:30 pm. Designed to underline humanity’s responsibility to protect and preserve planet Earth, the work relates the scientific story of the journey of the Universe from the Big Bang to the emergence of the evolutionary force of human consciousness.

The new work will be performed in conjunction with a congress of the World Union of Jesuit Alumni at John Carroll University — held every four years but meeting in North America for the first time since its founding in 1956. [Read more…]

Fresh off Fischoff win, Milton String Quartet to perform at ENCORE

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by Mike Telin

Screen Shot 2017-06-27 at 4.57.46 PMLife has quickly changed for the Milton String Quartet. After winning the grand prize and string division gold medal at the 44th Annual Fischoff Chamber Music Competition in May of this year, violinists Roman Fraser and Maithéna Girault, violist Evan Robinson, and cellist Joshua Morris are already receiving invitations to perform recitals and at festivals.

Formed in 2015 at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, the ensemble is also ENCORE Chamber Music’s Fellowship Quartet, and on Friday, June 30 at 7:00 pm, they will present a free recital at the Tudor House on the campus of Gilmour Academy. The program will include Joseph Haydn’s Quartet in F, Op. 77, No. 2, Béla Bartók’s Quartet No. 3 in C#, and Felix Mendelssohn’s Quartet No. 4 in e.

The Milton are the Festival’s first Fellowship Quartet. “I heard about the program from Clara Engen, who is ENCORE’s Head of Operations,” Joshua Morris said during a conference call with his quartet colleagues earlier this month. “Clara and I both did our undergraduate studies at Oberlin and we’ve kept in touch. She encouraged us to apply. We did, and we won, and we’re very happy about that.” In addition to Friday’s concert, the Quartet are also performing outreach concerts, playing in master classes, and receiving daily coaching with the Cavani Quartet as part of the Fellowship. [Read more…]

Pianist Aaron Diehl to make Cleveland Orchestra Debut

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by Mike Telin

Screen Shot 2017-06-27 at 4.47.44 PMAfter jazz pianist and composer Aaron Diehl made his New York Philharmonic debut in September of 2016 performing George Gershwin’s Concerto in F, Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times wrote: “Mr. Diehl played magnificently. He had brilliance when called for during jazz-tinged passages of Lisztian runs and octaves. The roomy freedom of Mr. Diehl’s playing in bluesy episodes was especially affecting. He also folded short improvised sections into the score, and it’s hard to imagine that Gershwin would not have been impressed.”

On Saturday, July 1 and Sunday, July 2 at Blossom Music Center, the Columbus, Ohio native will make his Cleveland Orchestra debut performing that same Concerto under the baton of Jahja Ling. The 8:00 pm concerts will also include Shostakovich’s Tahiti Trot, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture, and Tchaikovsky’s “1812” Overture. [Read more…]

ChamberFest: Josef Špaček on music, travel, and social media

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Josef-Špaček-by-©-Radovan-Subin-4ChamberFest Cleveland brings a new face to town this week. Making his Cleveland debut on Thursday, June 29, violinist Josef Špaček will play three concerts in three days, performing works by Schnittke, Strauss, Mozart, and Dvořák as he helps bring the 2017 edition of ChamberFest to a close.

Born in Třebíč, Czech Republic, Josef Špaček has been concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic since 2011 and was named Associate Artist by the orchestra in 2016. A graduate of Juilliard, Curtis, and the Prague Conservatory, he was a laureate of the International Queen Elisabeth Competition, and won top prizes at the Michael Hill and Carl Nielsen International Violin Competitions. As a soloist, he has performed with such ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, and Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg.

Špaček picked up the phone after wiping away the tears of his 9-month-old daughter and getting her to bed. “She’s asleep now, but one never knows. Babies kind of wake up any time they want,” he said with his trademark laugh. [Read more…]

Follow reports from Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute

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by Daniel Hathaway

BPIBarOrch0624Editor Daniel Hathaway is covering the 2017 Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute from June 18 through July 1 as an “embedded” harpsichord student, joining 123 other participants whose birth dates span a remarkable range from 1927 to 2003

He’ll be posting reports on a daily basis. Follow his narrative here (or click on “BPI 2017” in the navigation bar above). [Read more…]

Kent/Blossom Festival: a conversation with Kulas Guest Artist Jennifer Koh

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by Mike Telin

Koh-Jennifer-2017Violinist Jennifer Koh is fascinating. Born in Chicago of Korean parents, she made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 11. In 1994, while she was pursuing a degree in English Literature at Oberlin, she won the International Tchaikovsky Competition.

After furthering her musical studies at Curtis, the violinist began carving a career path that has led to collaborations with artists from many disciplines, and creating projects that bridges music from all eras — traditional to contemporary. She has also premiered more than 60 works written especially for her.

This week Jennifer Koh will return to Northeast Ohio as this year’s Kent Blossom Music Festival Kulas Guest Artist. On Wednesday, June 28, at 7:30 pm in Ludwig Recital Hall, Koh will perform a solo violin recital featuring J.S. Bach’s Sonata No. 2 in a, BWV 1003 and the Partita No. 2 in d, BWV 1004. [Read more…]

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