by Daniel Hathaway
The Cleveland Women’s Orchestra will make its 88th annual visit to Severance Music Center on Sunday, April 30 at 3:30 pm when Cleveland Orchestra cellist Dane Johansen will be featured in Antonin Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in b minor. Filling out the program, Jungho Kim will lead the ensemble in Dolores White’s Celebration, Salute to the Arts, and Jean Sibelius’ King Christian II Suite, Op. 27.
Johansen, a native of Fairbanks, Alaska, joined the cello section of The Cleveland Orchestra in March of 2016, after studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, and at the Juilliard School, and touring for five seasons with the Escher String Quartet.
In addition to performing Elliott Carter’s concerto during the composer’s centennial celebrations at Lincoln Center, Johansen made his Carnegie Hall debut as first winner of the Juilliard Leo Ruiz Memorial Award and appeared in William Walton’s Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Like most cellists, Johansen has devoted himself to performing J.S. Bach’s six solo suites, which he played in New York’s Alice Tully Hall in 2010, and most notably during his 2014 pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain. A documentary film, Strangers on the Earth, chronicled his experiences during that 580-mile trek, which took him six weeks to complete.
I reached Dane Johansen between rehearsals at Severance Music Center to chat about his career and the Dvořák concerto. Alas, the same features that so effectively isolate that hall from potential interruptions by the helicopters and ambulances of University Circle can also make the facility difficult for cell phone reception. After trying to reconnect several times, Johansen had to get back to the stage and graciously agreed to finish our conversation via email.
Daniel Hathaway: How did your life change when you went from being a member of a touring quartet to a member of the cello section of a major orchestra?
Dane Johansen: Being on the road all the time is pretty challenging, not only for the instability that traveling and living out of a suitcase brings. But also the financial side of playing in a string quartet can be pretty bleak. The life I have here in Cleveland now is so much more fulfilling in many ways. I met my wife here, and we have a beautiful house in Cleveland Heights. And now I’m playing in a quartet with some colleagues in the Orchestra that I love playing with. We’ve been a bit shy about naming it, but we play a handful of concerts every year. We bring a lot of mutual understanding to the quartet because we play together every day in the Orchestra.
DH: Any plans for big future adventures like the Camino trek?
DJ: That was a once in a lifetime experience, and because I was playing in the Escher I had to plan so far in advance to be able to take six weeks off for that crazy opportunity. But I’m open to ideas and looking for opportunities.
DH: How did you choose the concerto for Sunday’s program?
DJ: When Jungho Kim invited me to perform with the CWO, he requested that we tackle Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor. It is “the” cello concerto amongst all others that every cellist plays throughout their career. We all love it and fear it!
DH: Can you explain both the love and the fear?
DJ: It is technically challenging and the symphonic nature of the orchestral writing presents plenty of challenges to every member of the orchestra. It is very conversational; the soloist and the orchestra are given equal voices, so the cellist has to project and the orchestra needs to exercise caution not to drown out the poor soloist. The concerto’s supremely beautiful themes and exciting pyrotechnics make for a crowd pleaser. It is deeply moving and great fun to perform. I’m looking forward to our performance at Severance Music Center!
DH: Off-topic, but I don’t have the opportunity to interview natives of the great state of Alaska very often, and I wonder what you think of the music of John Luther Adams, which is frequently inspired by Alaskan scenes?
DJ: I must admit that I’m not very familiar with Adams’ music. I’ll have to check him out and let you know! I know that’s shameful for a fellow Alaskan, but I still have time to correct my shortcomings!
Published on ClevelandClassical.com April 29, 2023.
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