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Cleveland Institute of Music to offer Summer Intensives

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by Jarrett Hoffman

While summer festivals around the world are being cancelled due to the threat of the novel coronavirus, the Cleveland Institute of Music is offering virtual Summer Intensives in nine areas during the months of May and June.

The series, taught by CIM faculty, is aimed at anyone preparing for conservatory or music school auditions, seeking a professional job, or simply honing their performance skills. The faculty members have curated a mix of master classes, demonstrations, discussions, and private lessons to be conducted exclusively online (and notably, CIM has two decades of experience with distance studio teaching).

Want to watch, but not play? Each session is also open to observers for a separate tuition rate, but only participants will receive lessons and the opportunity to perform in master classes.

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In memoriam
George Vassos: a tribute to a
teacher, mentor, and friend

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by Joanne Uniatowski

At the crossroads of music and words, one finds inspiration in song. Meeting George Vassos in 1992 at the Cleveland Institute of Music was for me the beginning of an incredible journey into a life filled with song. As I began my doctoral studies at CIM, George not only became my teacher, but also my mentor, and most significantly, my friend.

George’s number one gift to his students was an infectious love for words and music, whether in art song, opera, or oratorio. He continually encouraged us to honor the words, infuse them with meaning, and share them with our audience. He encouraged us to soar. He allowed us to fail. And in all things he opened his heart to each one of us.

Over the years, I know that George saw in me far more than I saw in myself. He provided opportunities for me to teach his younger students, to teach young artists in the Lyric Opera Cleveland summer season, and eventually to serve as executive director of the Art Song Festival from 2001-2016. [Read more…]

Pianist Till Fellner to return to Cleveland Chamber Music Society

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Till Fellner last came to town in 2011 at the invitation of the Cleveland Chamber Music Society. The Austrian pianist returns to the series for a recital next Tuesday, November 12 at 7:30 pm in Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Roger Klein will give a pre-concert lecture at 6:30 pm. Tickets are available online.

Fellner’s international career was launched when he won first prize at the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in 1993. Since then, he has been a guest at major orchestras and music centers of Europe, the U.S., and Japan. Last season brought his debut with the London Symphony, and this season includes his second appearance with the Boston Symphony. He teaches at the Zurich Hochschule der Künste.

The pianist’s Chamber Music Society program is one part Schoenberg and two parts Schubert — who is among the composers Fellner admires most. As he told Kyle MacMillan last year in an interview for the Chicago Symphony’s CSO Sounds and Stories, “…it seems to me that Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert and Bach are so important, and it’s the most interesting music for me.”

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CIM Opera Theater to begin The Juniper Tree on Halloween

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Murder, cannibalism, a return from the dead, and revenge — basically everything you could want from an evening out. You get all of that in Philip Glass’ and Robert Moran’s The Juniper Tree, presented by CIM Opera Theater beginning on Halloween night, October 31.

Arthur Yorinks’ libretto is based on the Brothers Grimm story, which begins where else but with a stepmother. She worries that her stepson reminds her husband of his own late wife. Her solution? We might call it unique. She kills the kid — gruesomely — then feeds him to her unsuspecting husband in the form of a stew. The boy later returns as a bird, seeking vengeance.

In a phone call, director Dean Southern (above) said he’s long been drawn to the realms of fantasy and horror. “As a kid, I was probably a vampire for Halloween more than anything else.”

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ChamberFest Cleveland: “Mozart the Giant” (June 20)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Mozart the influencer was documented in music for winds by Beethoven and Poulenc for ChamberFest Cleveland’s fifth program on Thursday, June 20 in CIM’s Mixon Hall, while the notion of “Mozart the Giant” was affirmed by the composer’s own String Quintet in D. The first part of the evening was distinguished by elegant wind playing every bit as refined as what you would expect from a world-class string quartet, yet fully capable of incisive punctuation when the music called for emphatic gestures.

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ChamberFest Cleveland: talking Cage with Rabinovich

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by Jarrett Hoffman

This weekend a collection of carefully placed screws, bolts, and pieces of wood, cloth, and rubber will make the Steinway in CIM’s Mixon Hall sound less like a piano and more like an ensemble of percussion instruments.

For that we can thank two men: John Cage for inventing the prepared piano (in which objects placed among the strings alter the sound of the instrument), and Roman Rabinovich for playing Cage’s The Perilous Night on Saturday, June 22 during a 7:30 pm concert titled “Sei Solo (You Are Alone),” the sixth of the season for ChamberFest Cleveland.

The sounds that emerge from the instrument will surprise even the man looking down at the keys. “When you get to the prepared piano, it kind of blows your mind because nothing comes out the way you expect,” Rabinovich, winner of the 12th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, said during a recent interview. “It’s a beautiful effect and a very interesting way to approach the instrument.”

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Bach and electronics: Alexi Kenney explains his ChamberFest solo program

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Even for Alexi Kenney — who has loved Bach since age six and considers the Chaconne from the Second Violin Partita to be one of the greatest pieces of all time — digesting the work is not easy.

That’s partly because it’s often performed as a standalone. “It’s so hard for me to get into the right headspace to hear something that intricate, monumental, and emotionally deep,” the violinist said during a recent phone call on a hot day in New York City.

That thought set the 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient on a quest to put the work in context, and to help audiences feel receptive to what it has to offer. What he devised might surprise you: a solo program that interweaves movements from Bach’s Sonatas No. 1 in g and No. 3 in C with short pieces from the 20th and 21st centuries, some involving electronics, and all leading up to what else but the famous Chaconne. Kenney will present that program, titled “Bach to the Future,” on Tuesday, June 18 at 9:00 pm at The Wine Spot in Cleveland Heights as part of ChamberFest Cleveland.

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Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival: a conversation with Xuefei Yang

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by Mike Telin

When given her choice, guitarist Xuefei Yang likes to present programs that represent a variety of musical styles. “The guitar is such a diverse instrument, and I think of myself as a diverse player as well,” Yang said via Skype from her home in the U.K.

On Friday, June 7 at 7:30 in Mixon Hall at CIM, Xuefei Yang will present a program that ranges from traditional Chinese music to 21st-century works. The concert is presented as part of the 2019 Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival.

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ChamberFest Cleveland 2019: Under the Influence

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by Mike Telin

Since bursting onto the scene in 2012 with its Big Bang!, ChamberFest Cleveland has established itself as an organization of the highest musical integrity with a seemingly endless number of themed programs. Looking through the archives of this publication, it’s fascinating to see the imaginative and clever way the Festival has reinvented itself each year.

But a closer look reveals that ChamberFest’s mission, “to nurture a deep family-like connection between musicians and audiences of all ages,” has never waned. In summing up the 2016 season, ClevelandClassical.com critic Neil McCalmont noted, “Technical prowess, fierce dedication, and the cultivation of friendships all contribute to ChamberFest’s captivating concerts, which keep audiences coming back season after season.”

Season 8, titled Under the Influence, considers the factors that inspire and influence composers. Cutting-edge pieces by John Adams, John Cage, and Steve Reich will anchor works by other classical composers. Pre-concert talks will be held prior to most concerts and are open to the public. Tickets and subscriptions are on sale now and range in price from $15 to $40. For concert details and additional information, call (216) 471-8887 or visit www.chamberfestcleveland.com.

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