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Kotaro Fukuma makes long-awaited return to Cleveland for Piano Days

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by Stephanie Manning

Right after Kotaro Fukuma became the First Prize winner of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the then 20-year-old pianist went through a rollercoaster of emotions.

“ Of course, I was overjoyed,” he said in a recent interview, remembering how he called his parents to celebrate. But when he woke up the next morning, the review in The Plain Dealer told a different story. The first line: “Did the wrong pianist win the 2003 Cleveland International Piano Competition?”

“I was so shocked,” Fukuma said. “The night before I was congratulated by many, many people, and the next day I read this newspaper and think, ‘Oh my gosh, how can I leave my hotel?’”

More than 20 years later, the pianist views that experience as an important turning point. After that bittersweet victory, “I accepted all kinds of engagements and I forced myself to study harder. And I think that was the right attitude.”

Today, Fukuma has curated a healthy international career, splitting his time between Berlin, Leiden, and Tokyo. And on Thursday, July 31, he will return to Cleveland after a long absence to perform on Piano Cleveland’s 2025 Piano Days series. Tickets for the 7:30 pm performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music are available online. [Read more…]

Cooper International Piano Competition welcomes 21 young pianists to Oberlin

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by Mike Telin

“This year, we had 190 applicants,” Robert Shannon, director of the Cooper International Piano Competition, said during a recent telephone conversation. “I listened to them all, and I can tell you that the level of playing has never been higher.”

This weekend, the Cooper International Competition will welcome 21 pianists between the ages of 13 and 18 who have advanced through the preliminaries of submitted videos to participate in live rounds in Oberlin’s Warner Concert Hall from July 20 to 23.

The 21, who represent eight countries, are vying for the opportunity to play full concertos in a final round with The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Samy Rachid at Severance Music Center on Thursday, July 24 at 7:30 pm — and for the $20,000 first prize. Tickets are available online. Click here to view a complete schedule.

[Read more…]

Piano Days: for “Raga Pianist” Utsav Lal, the challenge is its own reward

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by Stephanie Manning

When Utsav Lal first received a performance offer from Piano Cleveland, he was pleasantly surprised. “ I know the bulk of their work involves pretty straight-ahead classical piano and the Competition,” he said in a recent interview. “I do things a little differently, so it’s nice that they’re interested in what I’ve been working on.”

Lal, often nicknamed the “Raga Pianist,” is known for his interpretations of classical Indian ragas, bringing the centuries-old form to the Western piano. On Tuesday, July 22, he’ll showcase that distinct approach at Gilmour Academy’s Dodoro Center as part of the 2025 Piano Days series. Tickets are available online.

The concert, presented in partnership with the Federation of India Community Associations (FICA) of Northeast Ohio, is just one part of a three-part evening. [Read more…]

Mirabelle Kajenjeri goes back to her roots for Piano Days program

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by Stephanie Manning

The participants in the Cleveland International Piano Competition (CIPC) aren’t just expected to perform well — they need to speak articulately about their music making, too. So when the jury sat down with the 2024 contestants for individual interviews, they asked: what’s one project you would like to do?

“ I said that it would be great to launch a program that features my different origins and musical influences,” said Mirabelle Kajenjeri, who lives in France and traces her heritage to Ukraine and Burundi. The team at Piano Cleveland remembered that — and this year, they invited her back to make that idea a reality.

On Thursday, July 24 at 7:30 pm, Kajenjeri will present “Resonating Roots: My Story Through Sound” as part of the 2025 Piano Days series. The concert in the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Mixon Hall brings together pieces by Ukrainian and French composers, plus the pianist’s improvisations on traditional Burundian songs. Tickets are available online. [Read more…]

Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali returns to Severance Music Center

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by Mike Telin

After making his Cleveland Orchestra debut last November by stepping in for Franz Welser-Möst, Finnish conductor Santtu-Mathias Rouvali received a great honor — a return engagement.

On Thursday, July 17 at 7:00 pm, Rouvali will lead the second Summers at Severance concert in Mandel Concert Hall. The program includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2, Stravinsky’s Jeu de cartes, and Ravel’s Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé. Tickets are available online.

“Hello!” Rouvali said enthusiastically, answering his phone from his farm outside of Tampere, Finland. I ask him if it’s still a good time to talk. “Yes, I was just cutting the grass before departing to America, because in one week the grass will be like a jungle if I don’t cut it now.”

[Read more…]

Piano Days 2025: two weeks, six international pianists, and many creative performances

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by Stephanie Manning

As the hosts of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, Piano Cleveland spends plenty of time promoting traditional classical repertoire. But their other programming, like the summer festival Piano Days, focus on celebrating the instrument in all its forms.

“ We say this all the time — piano is the most accessible instrument,” Piano Cleveland executive director Marissa Moore said. “Our real goal in programming a festival like this is always to push the boundaries of what people think of when they think about classical music.”

The 2025 edition of Piano Days, which will take place at venues across the area from July 20 through August 2, features six musicians who champion crossovers in genre, presentation, and cultural influence. Tickets are available online. [Read more…]

Conductor Osmo Vänskä returns to Blossom Music Center

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by Mike Telin

“It’s great to come to Cleveland, because the Orchestra is always willing to do their best,” conductor Osmo Vänskä said during a recent interview. “And they expect that if someone is on the podium, that person should have the same attitude and have done their homework.”

On Saturday, July 12 at 7:00 pm, Osmo Vänskä will revisit Blossom Music Center to lead The Cleveland Orchestra in a program that includes Jean Sibelius’ En Saga and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Tickets are available online.

Speaking to him via Zoom from his home in Minneapolis, I began our conversation by asking him if there is a connection between the Sibelius and Orff. “To be honest, I don’t know if they’re connected,” Vänskä said. “There are many ways to come to a final program. Obviously in this case the concert was about Carmina Burana, and we needed another piece to start with.”

[Read more…]

Blind Injustice: a conversation with the stage director, conductor, and chorus master (4th of 4 articles)

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by Mike Telin

This weekend, Chagrin Arts will present the Northeast Ohio premiere of Blind Injustice at Outcalt Theatre in Playhouse Square.

Composed by Scott Davenport Richards with a libretto by David Cote, the opera is based on Ohio Innocence Project co-founder Mark Godsey’s book of the same name and interviews with six people who had their convictions overturned. The 90-minute opera will be presented on Friday, July 11 (sold out), Saturday, July 12 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, July 13 at 3:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

We caught up with director Eric van Baars, conductor Andrew Grams, and chorus master Jay White on Zoom. I began our conversation by asking them how they became involved with the project.

[Read more…]

Blind Injustice: the making of an opera (3rd of 4 articles)

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by Mike Telin

This weekend, Chagrin Arts will present the Northeast Ohio premiere of Blind Injustice at Outcalt Theatre in Playhouse Square.

Based on Ohio Innocence Project co-founder Mark Godsey’s book of the same name and interviews with six people who had their convictions overturned, the 90-minute opera will be presented on Friday, July 11 (sold out), Saturday, July 12 at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, July 13 at 3:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

We caught up with composer Scott Davenport Richards and librettist David Cote on Zoom.

Mike Telin: Who originally approached whom about creating this opera? 

David Cote: The Cincinnati Opera reached out to me because they heard about my work, but the director, Robin Guarino, was already attached to the project. At the time, she was running the opera program at Cincinnati Conservatory, so I flew out there, met her, and we hit it off. We did some initial interviews with the exonerees. So we had a framework, but we needed to find the perfect composer.

[Read more…]

The cast of Blind Injustice discuss portraying real people and the power of hope (2nd of 4 articles)

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by Stephanie Manning

 While the team at Chagrin Arts was in talks to bring Blind Injustice to Northeast Ohio, the question of location became increasingly important. “We talked about doing it in different cities, but it became clear that this needs to happen in Cleveland,” tenor Tim Culver said.

Composed by Scott Davenport Richards with a libretto by David Cote, the 90-minute opera follows the stories of six people who had their convictions overturned with help from the Ohio Innocence Project. Four of them lived in Cleveland or East Cleveland, while the other two lived in neighboring Lorain and Summit counties.

[Read more…]

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