by Robert Rollin
Last Friday evening, June 15, ENCORE presented an enchanting program of chamber music featuring the Cavani String Quartet, soprano Chantal Mathias, and pianist Hyun Soo Kim. The concert, in the Tudor House at Gilmour Academy, was a delightful mélange of short, intimate pieces with neo-Romantic, folk-song, and nostalgic connections. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
On Sunday, December 3, at 7:00 pm in Mixon Hall, the Cavani String Quartet — Annie Fullard and Mari Sato, violins, Eric Wong, viola, and Si-Yan Darren Li, cello — will present a recital as part of the Cleveland Institute of Music’s annual Winter Chamber Music Festival. “A Viennese Legacy” will include Haydn’s Quartet in F, Op. 77, No. 2, Webern’s Langsamer Satz, and Beethoven’s Quartet No. 15 in A, Op. 132. The concert is free but seating passes are required and available online. For a complete list of Festival events click here.
Last August, just after violist Eric Wong and cellist Si-Yan Darren Li had joined the ensemble, ClevelandClassical.com spoke with all four members of the Cavani Quartet. The following was originally published on August 7 before the Quartet’s performance on the Cuyahoga Valley National Park series.
When two longtime members of a string quartet decide to leave the ensemble, the remaining musicians have to ask themselves what to do next. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
When two longtime members of a string quartet decide to leave the ensemble, the remaining musicians have to ask themselves what to do next.
The Tokyo Quartet elected to disband, but after violist Kirsten Docter and cellist Merry Peckham moved on from the Cavani String Quartet to pursue new professional opportunities, violinists Annie Fullard and Mari Sato decided that the Cavani should live on. “We did ask ourselves that question,” Sato said, “but the quartet repertoire is so rich and we love working with students, so we quickly decided that, yes, we need to move forward.”
On Tuesday, August 22 at 7:00 pm at the Happy Days Lodge in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the Cavani Quartet will present their first local performance with new members violist Eric Wong and cellist Si-Yan Li.
“Excitement doesn’t even begin to describe the feeling that I have,” Fullard said, “there are so many emotions that go through you when you make transitions. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
As the fall semester come to a close at the Cleveland Institute of Music, it’s once again time for the school’s annual Winter Chamber Music Festival. From December 1 through December 4, students, faculty, and guests will present thirteen concerts featuring over forty unique chamber music compositions.
In addition to performances by woodwind, brass, and percussion ensembles, the school-wide festival of chamber music will feature participants in the Intensive String Quartet and Intensive Duo Seminars, the Advanced Piano Trio Program, and CIM’s Preparatory Friday Night Chamber Music, as well as the Young Artist Programs. As always, the Festival will feature an all-evening Chamber Music Marathon. All performances are free unless otherwise noted.
“The Winter Chamber Music Festival is one of the true musical highlights of the year here in Cleveland,” Cavani Quartet violinist Annie Fullard said via email. [Read more…]
by Robert Rollin
Last Friday evening, December 4, the Cavani String Quartet (Annie Fullard and Mari Sato, violins, Kirsten Docter, viola, and Merry Peckham, cello) — who serve as Artists-in-Residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music — presented a stellar concert of Czech music in Kulas Hall as the final event of the CIM Violins of Hope concert series. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
Composer Erwin Schulhoff, who perished in the Holocaust, wrote in his 1919 avant-garde music manifesto: The idea of revolution in art has evolved for decades…This is particularly true in music, because this art form is the liveliest, and as a result reflects the revolution most strongly and deeply — the complete escape from imperialistic tonality and rhythm, the climb to an ecstatic change for the better.
“I love that quote,” violinist Annie Fullard said during a telephone conversation. “It’s so upsetting that Schulhoff’s life was cut short.” On Friday, December 4 at 8:00 pm in Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Cavani Quartet (Annie Fullard and Mari Sato, violins, Kirsten Docter, viola, and Merry Peckham, cello) will perform two pieces by Schulhoff — Divertimento for String Quartet, Op. 14 and String Sextet — as part of a CIM Violins of Hope Faculty Recital. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
The Cavani Quartet isn’t easing up after thirty years as an ensemble. Its faculty recital on Wednesday evening, March 4 in Kulas Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music with guest musicians Donald Weilerstein and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein featured exciting and disciplined performances of two very different Shostakovich works, followed by an exuberant reading of a Mendelssohn quartet. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
Celebrating your thirtieth anniversary is a big moment — especially if you’re a string quartet. Formed three decades ago in Columbus, Ohio, the Cavani Quartet is also celebrating its twenty-sixth year as Quartet-in-Residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music. What began in 1988 as a one-year residency with the support of a grant from Chamber Music America has turned into a long-term relationship. During that quarter-century, the Cavani have established themselves as one of the most successful community residencies in the country.
On Wednesday, March 4 at 8:00 pm in CIM’s Kulas Recital Hall, the Cavani Quartet, Annie Fullard and Mari Sato, violins, Kirsten Docter, viola and Merry Peckham, cello, will celebrate thirty years as a quartet in a free concert, when they will be joined by guest artists Donald Weilerstein, viola and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, piano. The program includes Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 9 in E-flat, op. 117 and Piano Quintet in g, op. 57 as well as Mendelssohn’s String Quintet No. 2 in B-flat, op. 87.
by Mike Telin
When you walk into their studio, home of the Cavani’s Intensive Quartet Seminar program at CIM, you immediately understand why they have been a source of inspiration to so many young musicians. It’s a fairly large space, and in spite of the fact that there are no windows, it’s bright and cheery with its colorful, poster-covered walls. The perfect environment for honing one’s chamber music skills.
At the far corner of the studio sits a large chest of drawers. “Show him what’s in the drawer,” one of them says, laughing. “Let’s see,” Merry Peckham exclaims, producing two umbrellas, a coffee mug, the Annie wig and a bear hat. There’s also a bow case that no one claims, and a couple of folding music stands. “These are coaching accessories,” Peckham tells me, adding, “wait, these are nice stands, why are they in here?” The drawer also houses a number of packages of photographs of family and friends. [Read more…]
by Carlyn Kessler and Mike Telin
The Cavani’s Intensive Quartet Seminar is renowned for preparing well-rounded musicians. The program allows students to constructively track their progress alongside their peers, who, just like faculty members, are valuable resources. The IQS is an incubator for creative ideas, and a “safe place” for improvement, empathy and inspiration. We spoke to current IQS students and alums and asked them about the program’s impact on their education and careers.
“Working with the Cavani Quartet as part of the Intensive Quartet Seminar and Apprentice Quartet Program completely transformed how I thought about music and its relationship to the world,” violist Elizabeth Oaks said in a recent e-mail. “I learned that I could strive to perform the repertoire I loved at the highest possible level while working to bring music to a diverse range of audiences in a creative way.” [Read more…]