by Alice Koeninger
This Friday, ENCORE Chamber Music begins its 2018 summer season, titled “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” ENCORE will present concerts every Friday and Sunday from June 8 to July 15.
Performances will take place in the Tudor House at the Gilmour Academy through July 6, after which they move to Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Tickets can be purchased here.
The season starts with the Miró Quartet on Friday evening, June 8 at 7:00 pm. This Austin-based group, renowned for its thoughtful programming and musical interpretation, will play Haydn’s Quartet in E-flat, Op. 71, No. 3, Kevin Puts’ Credo, and Beethoven’s Quartet in a, Op. 132.
The season continues on June 10 at 2:00 pm with one of ENCORE’s popular “Sunday Unplugged” concerts, where they recommend leaving your phone in the car to better enjoy the afternoon. “Rebels of Décadence” will feature the Cavani String Quartet playing Ravel’s String Quartet in F. The Quartet will then be joined by pianist Hyunsoo Kim and violinist Jinjoo Cho, founder of ENCORE, to perform Chausson’s Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, Op. 21.
The next weekend again features the Cavani, this time with French soprano Chantal Mathias, a professor at the Paris Conservatory. The concert on Friday, June 15 at 7:00 pm will include works by Tchaikovsky, Britten, and Corigliano. The entire program can be found here.
The “Sunday Unplugged” concert on June 17 at 2:00 pm is titled “Souvenir de Florence” after Tchaikovsky’s String Sextet in d, Op. 70, and will feature violist Mathieu Herzog along with violinists Jinjoo Cho and Aaron Chan, violist Eric Wong, and cellists Si-Yan Darren Li and Tate Zawadiuk. The ensemble will also play Mozart’s String Quintet No. 3 in C, K. 515.
A special concert on Friday, June 29 at 7:00 pm titled “Nasty Women” will feature music written or inspired by “fiery” women: Shulamit Ran’s string sextet Lyre of Orpheus, George Benjamin’s Viola Viola, Poulenc’s Hommage à Edith Piaf, and Amy Beach’s Piano Quintet in f-sharp, Op. 67.
The July 1 “Sunday Unplugged” concert features “sentimental romances with a touch of melancholy.” The 2:00 program comprises Glière’s Op. 39 Duo, Debussy’s Piano Trio in G, and Bruch’s Octet for Strings in B-flat.
The following Friday, July 6 is an evening with pianist Itamar Golan and violinist Jinjoo Cho, who will play Britten’s Suite for Violin and Piano, Op. 6 and Prokofiev’s Violin Sonata No. 1 in f, Op. 80. The program also includes Franck’s Piano Quintet in f.
The final “Sunday Unplugged” concert on July 8 at 2:00 pm, “Imagine No Country,” features masterworks by composers from diverse cultural backgrounds: Richard Danielpour’s Book of Hours, Tōru Takemitsu’s A Bird Came Down the Walk, Osvaldo Golijov’s Tenebrae, and George Enescu’s Octet for Strings in C, Op. 7.
On Friday, June 22 at 7:00 pm, and Sunday, June 24 at 2:00 and 7:00, ENCORE presents three free concerts as a part of its Blooming Artists series. The Young Artists of the ENCORE String Quartet Intensive will perform works by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Dvořák, and Brahms at the Tudor House.
ENCORE’s summer season ends with five more free concerts as part of the Blooming Artists Series, in which the students of the Summer Academy will perform a marathon of concerts in Mixon Hall from July 13 to 15.
The season’s grand finale on Sunday, July 15 at 7:00 pm will include an Academy performance accompanied by the ENCORE Camerata ensemble with music by Bartók, Dvořák, Brahms, Vaughan Williams, and Grieg, rounding out a full celebration of classical music and student accomplishment. Click here for times and details.
Published on ClevelandClassical.com June 5, 2018.
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