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ChamberFest Cleveland’s Season 6 — Cycles: Phases! — launches on June 15

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by Mike Telin

ChamberFest-BannerChamberFest Cleveland has done it again and come up with eleven intriguing programs for their sixth season, which will run from June 15 through July 1.

This year, co-artistic directors Franklin and Diana Cohen have put a new spin on the Festival. Cycles: Phases! reflects on the complexity of the human experience at each stage of life.

There will be many familiar faces onstage, as well as a number of performers who are new to the ChamberFest family. As always, programs will be presented in a variety of venues, from the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Mixon Hall and CWRU’s Harkness Chapel to modern, urban settings such as Hingetown’s Transformer Station and the Bop Stop, and Midtown’s Dunham Tavern Museum. Tickets are now on sale. Click here for further information.

[Read more…]

What makes it so great? An intimate look at ChamberFest Cleveland

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by Neil McCalmont

ChamberFest2016GolijovGroup“Dad, I think we should have a festival.” Recalling the words of his daughter Diana, Franklin Cohen related how ChamberFest Cleveland first got started. “We loved the way summer music festivals felt like a family,” he explained. “What a great way to reach the core of the average audience member.”

After more than a dozen thrilling concerts, the festival’s fifth season has come to a close. Though the number of artists and performances has grown since its 2012 inception, ChamberFest still holds this mission at its core: “To nurture a deep family-like connection between musicians and audiences of all ages.”

The father-daughter duo of Franklin and Diana Cohen founded and co-direct ChamberFest Cleveland. Diana is concertmaster of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, her father the principal clarinet emeritus of The Cleveland Orchestra. They set out to found a festival — partly inspired by their experiences at the Marlboro Music Festival — with the goal of “great players, great music-making, and great community.” [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: “A Soldier’s Tale” at Maltz Performing Arts Center
(July 2)

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by Daniel Hathaway

CFC-July-2-5The twelfth and final event of ChamberFest Cleveland 2016 was a festive, multimedia concert at the Maltz Performing Arts Center on Saturday, July 2. The event was built around Igor Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat, complete with puppetry and video projections — with free admission for 17 and under, and ice cream for all afterwards. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: “Schubert Journeys” at Reinberger Chamber Hall (July 1)

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by Daniel Hathaway

CFC-July-1-2Expanding its “Tales & Legends” theme in the direction of expeditions, ChamberFest Cleveland presented “Schubert Journeys” on Friday, July 1 in Reinberger Chamber Hall at Severance. In this case, the composer’s journeys were either brief and dramatic (in the Quartettsatz in c) or agreeably rambling — like a stroll in the countryside with no destination and no timetable (in the Octet). In between, Kurt Rohde’s … maestoso … mysterioso … sent two musicians off into uncharted territory with a curious set of tools. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: “Shakespeare” at Mixon Hall (June 28)

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by Nicholas Jones

CFC-June-28-MaltaisIn the final act of The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare gives this eloquent warning:

The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils;
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus.
Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music.

Essentially, don’t trust anyone who doesn’t love music. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: meet composer Kurt Rohde

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by Mike Telin

Kurt-Rohde_Jeanette-YuThe seventh in a series of articles highlighting ChamberFest artists

Composers can be inspired by many things. A visit to a special place, an event, or listening to a piece of music can serve as the impetus to sit down and start writing. Composer and violist Kurt Rohde said that he found inspiration while preparing for a performance of Beethoven’s Op. 127 string quartet with the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble.

“Op. 127 happens to be my favorite Beethoven Quartet,” the Rome and Berlin prize-winner said during a telephone conversation. “I was inspired by the first movement because musically it does everything wrong in the most perfect way, and the result is this sublime, even extra-musical experience.”

On Friday, July 1 at 8:00 pm in Reinberger Chamber Music Hall at Severance Hall, ChamberFest Cleveland will present Kurt Rohde’s …maestoso…misterioso for amplified violin, viola and assorted items. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland turns “Obsessive” at Mixon Hall (June 24)

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by Neil McCalmont

CFC-June-24-1On Friday, June 24 at CIM’s Mixon Hall, ChamberFest Cleveland put on a thrilling concert titled “Obsession,” exploring the more intimate side of several composers’ lives and oeuvres.

“Obsession” began with two of Richard Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, his only vocal composition for which he did not also write the words. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: “Isaac’s Dreams” at Maltz Performing Arts Center (June 18)

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by Daniel Hathaway

CFC-June-18-2On Saturday evening, June 18 at the Maltz Performing Arts Center, Jewish patriarchs, matriarchs, and rabbis held works by Haydn, Kljuco, Britten, and Golijov in their embrace for a ChamberFest Cleveland concert titled “Isaac’s Dreams.” No matter how closely the pieces adhered to the theme, the performances were uniformly superb. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland Opens with Concerts at Ideastream and Mixon Hall (June 15/16)

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by Neil McCalmont

The fifth season of ChamberFest Cleveland — titled “Tales and Legends” — has officially begun, and the world-class festival of chamber music is off to a thrilling start.

WCLV listeners and audience members in Ideastream’s Smith Studio were treated to “Nosh at Noon,” an unofficial inaugural concert on Wednesday, June 15. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland announces its 2016 season

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by Daniel Hathaway

COHEN-Frank-&-DianaChamberFest Cleveland has announced its fifth season under the joint artistic direction of its founders, Cleveland Orchestra principal clarinet emeritus Franklin Cohen and his daughter, Diana Cohen, concertmaster of Canada’s Calgary Symphony. Eleven concerts over fourteen days will be held at venues throughout metropolitan Cleveland from June 16 through July 2.
The theme for 2016 is “Tales and Legends.” Concerts will center around stories ranging from the profane to the divine, including the fantastical, mystical, and obsessive.

Performers who will join Franklin Cohen and Diana Cohen include (to name just a few) pianists Orion Weiss and Roman Rabinovich, violinist/violist Yura Lee, violinist Noah Bendix-Balgley, and accordionist Merima Ključo, who is composing a piece to be premiered at the festival. [Read more…]

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