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COYO: a conversation with concerto competition co-winner Célina Béthoux

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by Jarrett Hoffman

There are certain people in the world who amaze you with how deeply they feel about what they do. After my recent telephone conversation with fourteen-year-old violinist Célina Béthoux, I can say that she’s one of them.

A member of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, Béthoux is also a co-winner of its 2018 concerto competition. That’s earned her a solo appearance in the Samuel Barber Concerto during the ensemble’s 8:00 pm concert this Friday, November 16 at Severance Hall, led by music director Vinay Parameswaran.

And it might be what Béthoux says, or maybe it’s something that comes across in her voice, but it’s clear that her interest in classical music isn’t at all obligatory, self-important, or resumé-stuffing. It’s just love.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra season finale at Severance Hall (May 5)

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by Robert Rollin

COYO Dec 17 MastroianniLast Saturday evening, May 5, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra presented its final concert of the season at Severance Hall under conductor Vinay Parameswaran. The evening’s highlight was 20th-century Polish composer Witold Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra, a massive, three-movement piece that filled the stage with young musicians. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra: a conversation with concerto competition winner Charlie Jones

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by Mike Telin

Jones_CharlesA highlight of each Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra season is the concert featuring the annual concerto competition winner. On Saturday, May 5 at 8:00 pm at Severance Hall, trumpeter Charlie Jones will join his COYO colleagues in a performance of Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto under the direction of Vinay Parameswaran. The program will also include Beethoven’s Overture to Coriolan, Danielpour’s Toward a Splendid City and Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra. Tickets are available online.

A resident of Hinckley, Jones is a senior at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. The eighteen-year-old has been a member of COYO’s trumpet section since the 2015-16 season. In addition to his orchestra duties, he has played with the ensemble’s brass quintet since 2016. In the fall, Jones will be attending the New England Conservatory and studying trumpet performance with Steven Emery.

We caught up with Charlie Jones by telephone and began our conversation by asking him why he chose Haydn’s concerto.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and Chorus at Severance Hall (Feb. 25)

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by Timothy Robson

COYO-Vinay-SideThose who have never heard a concert by the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and their sibling organization, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus, have been deprived of a very fine musical experience. Their recent concert at Severance Hall on Sunday, February 25, under their youthful new music director, Vinay Parameswaran, was again proof of the fine training that these young musicians receive from their own teachers as well as from their Cleveland Orchestra coaches. If anything, this concert improved upon past performances. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus:
a conversation with Daniel Singer

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by Mike Telin

Singer-Daniel 2018“The members of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus are some of the best kids in their high school choral programs,” COYC acting director Daniel Singer said during a recent conversation. “When they come into this group they tear into learning new repertoire and tackle a professional masterwork like the Te Deum that is not dumbed down for kids in any way. They thrive on that challenge.”

On Sunday, February 25 at 7:00 pm in Severance Hall, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and Youth Chorus will come together for performances of Dvořák’s Te Deum featuring soprano Marian Vogel and baritone Brian Keith Johnson, and Hanson’s Song of Democracy. The concert, under the direction of Vinay Parameswaran, will also include Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1. Tickets are available online.

Singer, who is in his seventh year as Director of Music at University School, said that somehow, Dvořák’s Te Deum has stayed off his musical radar. [Read more…]

Conductor Vinay Parameswaran makes debut with Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (Dec. 1)

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by Daniel Hathaway

COYO-Vinay-SideWith echoes of Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony still lingering in the corners of Severance Hall from their elder ensemble’s concert on Thursday evening, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (COYO) made an impressive showing in works by Beethoven, Barber, and Prokofiev on Friday, December 1, marking the debut of their new conductor Vinay Parameswaran at the beginning of their 32nd season. [Read more…]

Conductor Vinay Parameswaran to make COYO debut December 1st

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by Mike Telin

Vinay Parameswaran“When I was in middle and high school I played percussion in the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, and those six years were incredibly formative for me,” conductor Vinay Parameswaran said during a telephone interview. “It confirmed my love for classical music, and told me that I wanted to be around it in some capacity. It’s been nice coming back to those years in youth orchestra that meant so much to me.”

On Friday, December 1 at 8:00 pm at Severance Hall, Parameswaran will make his debut as music director and conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. Tickets are available online.

Parameswaran, who also serves as assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra, said that he’s “had a blast” working with the young COYO musicians. “There’s so much talent in that group. The energy and enthusiasm they bring to this music is unparalleled. They’ve really grasped this repertoire, and I can’t wait to see them in action on Friday.” [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra with pianist Catharine Baek (May 12)

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by Timothy Robson

COYO-MitchellThe Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra played an ambitious program of works by Joan Tower, Maurice Ravel, and Sergei Prokofiev at Severance Hall on Friday evening, May 12, the last concert of their 2016-17 season. It was a bittersweet occasion. Not only did the Orchestra bid farewell to a group of graduating seniors, but it was conductor Brett Mitchell’s 29th and final concert with COYO, marking the end of his four-year term as Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra before taking up duties as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra: fifteen minutes with pianist Catharine Baek

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by Mike Telin

Baek-Catharine“This concerto is unlike others — it exists on a different playing field,” Catharine Baek said about Maurice Ravel’s challenging Piano Concerto in G. On Friday, May 12 at 8:00 pm, Baek will make her Severance Hall debut as the soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, performing Ravel’s jazz-inspired work. The concert, under the direction of Brett Mitchell, will also include Joan Tower’s Made in America and Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5.

Baek, a junior at Willoughby South High School and a second-year member of COYO’s percussion section, earned the opportunity to perform the Ravel by winning the Orchestra’s annual concerto competition. [Read more…]

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