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Cellists swarm to Cleveland for Lev Aronson Festival, June 6-12

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Aronson Posterby Daniel Hathaway

If you see a sudden influx of cello cases on Cleveland streets and sidewalks this week, it’s because the Lev Aronson Cello Festival, usually held in Dallas, is convening here for a packed schedule of events that will mainly interest those who play the violoncello, but many of which will appeal to a wider audience as well.

The brainchild of founding artistic director and Cleveland Orchestra cellist Brian Thornton, the Festival honors his teacher, Holocaust survivor Lev Aronson, who played principal with the Dallas Symphony. [Read more…]

Musical Upcoming Stars in the Classics: 23rd Classical Cabaret (July 18)

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by Rory O’Donoghue

“It’s always inspirational to hear vocalists, because that’s really how music is supposed to sound,” Cleveland Orchestra cellist Brian Thornton said as he got settled on stage at Orange Village Hall on July 18. He performed as part of M. U. S. i. C.’s (Musical Upcoming Stars in the Classics) 23rd Classical Cabaret, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which featured a lovely lineup of vocal and instrumental music by both professional and emerging musicians. [Read more…]

CD Review —
Brian Thornton, Afendi Yusuf & Spencer Myer, Debussy: Cello Sonata, Brahms: Clarinet Trio

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by Rory O’Donoghue

Cellist Brian Thornton explores late chamber works by Debussy and Brahms with creative polish and refined sensitivity on his latest album from Steinway & Sons. Joined in masterful collaboration by a fellow Cleveland Orchestra member, principal clarinet Afendi Yusuf, and the superb pianist Spencer Myer, Thornton pairs Debussy’s 1915 Cello Sonata with Brahms’ 1891 Clarinet Trio, Op. 114, a thoughtful juxtaposition of the composers’ mature styles. [Read more…]

CD Review — Brian Thornton: Brahms Cello Sonatas

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by Hannah Schoepe

Thornton-Brahms-CDCapturing the essence of human emotions, Brahms’s cello sonatas are undeniable gems. Cleveland Orchestra cellist Brian Thornton and pianist Spencer Myer share a beautiful interpretation of the sonatas in their new album Johannes Brahms Sonatas for Cello and Piano, released on the Steinway & Sons record label. The playing on the album is magnificent, and the balance between the players is beautiful. [Read more…]

CIM: “Boulez the Friend and Teacher” with Carolyn Warner & Friends (Sept. 28)

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by Robert Rollin

boulez-flyerOn September 28 in Mixon Hall, the Cleveland Institute of Music presented the second Boulez Legacy concert, subtitled “Boulez the Friend and Teacher,” featuring Carolyn Warner and Friends in a program of French, German, and Russian duos and trios that reflected Boulez’s musical interests. [Read more…]

Boulez tribute at CIM continues with “Boulez the Friend and Teacher”

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by Mike Telin

boulez-flyerOn Wednesday, September 28 at 8:00 pm in Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music, pianists Carolyn Warner and Daniel Shapiro will join clarinetist Franklin Cohen, saxophonist James Umble, violinists Stephen Warner and Mari Sato, and cellist Brian Thornton in a program titled “Boulez the Friend and Teacher.” The concert is part of CIM’s series celebrating “The Boulez Legacy.”

“This concert completely lives up to its title,” program curator Carolyn Warner said during a recent telephone conversation. Warner, who joined the violin and keyboard sections of The Cleveland Orchestra in 1979 and serves on the CIM faculty, noted that deciding to include the two works by Ravel was a no-brainer. [Read more…]

Review: iCellisti at Harkness Chapel (January 30)

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by Carlyn Kessler

Cellos1Every week, Cleveland Orchestra audiences look forward to hearing the cello section’s lush sounds emerging from the surrounding group. On Friday night at CWRU’s Harkness Chapel, listeners had the unique opportunity to hear the section showcased outside of its orchestral setting in a remarkably delightful concert. iCellisti is an annual event organized by the Cleveland Cello Society and headed up by Ida Mercer, but this is the first year that the entire Cleveland Orchestra cello section was able to take part — except for one player who had a conflict. [Read more…]

Cleveland Cello Society: iCellisti to feature mega-cello concert at Harkness

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by Daniel Hathaway

TCO-Cello-Section-MiamiThe Cleveland Cello Society’s annual “iCellisti” concert on Friday, January 30 at CWRU’s Harkness Chapel might set a local record for the number of cellists to appear onstage at the same time. At the end of a program featuring members of The Cleveland Orchestra cello section in various solos, duets and quartets, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra cello section will join their senior counterparts in a work that calls for an ensemble of twelve performers.

“Julius Klengel’s Hymnus looks a little intimidating in the score, with its twelve individual parts,” TCO cellist Bryan Dumm said in a telephone conversation. “But it’s a charming piece in a Romantic style. We’ll be doubling the parts, with Youth Orchestra players sharing stands with Cleveland Orchestra cellists. Having twenty-two cellists onstage at the same time will thicken the texture and make the piece even a bit nicer. It’s going to sound ringing and quite glorious in Harkness Chapel.” [Read more…]

CD Review: “Kol Nidrei & Beyond: Lev’s Story” — Brian Thornton, cello, with Spencer Myer, piano

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by Daniel Hathaway

ARONSON-LevLev Aronson was a Latvian cellist who managed during the Nazi regime to survive slave labor, the confiscation of his instruments and internment in the concentration camp at Stutthof. After being rescued by the Soviets, he was re-imprisoned, miraculously escaped and made his way to the American Zone. After the War, he became principal cellist of the Dallas Symphony and, as a celebrated teacher, profoundly influenced a number of young cellists including Lynn Harrell, Ralph Kirchbaum and Brian Thornton. He died in 1988 (The Lost Cellos of Lev Aronson, a book about his life by Frances Brent, was published in 2009).

Thornton, a member of The Cleveland Orchestra, has launched a project to honor Lev Aronson’s legacy with an annual festival at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, set to launch on June 10, a CD to be released today, May 29, and a forthcoming series of concerts in temples and synagogues.

The CD, Kol Nidrei & Beyond: Lev’s Story is an evocative, living memorial to a great cellist told through wordless songs: original music by Max Bruch (his setting of Kol Nidrei), Sergei Rachmaninoff (Vocalise) and Ernest Bloch (Prayer from Jewish Life, No. 1), Yuriy Leonovich’s Fantasie on Themes from Dvorak’s ‘Rusalka’, four of Aronson’s arrangements (a Hassidic dance, Ansky’s Mipnei ma, Bloch’s Abodah and Lavry’s Kinereth), and Patrick Zimmerli’s five-movement Sonata “Kol Nidrei” for solo cello which Thornton commissioned especially for the project. Spencer Myer is the excellent pianist. [Read more…]

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