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Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival: Davin-Levin guitar & harp duo (June 3)

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by Daniel Hathaway

You’d think that two instruments that create their sound by plucking strings might not provide enough variety to sustain interest over the course of a whole program, but guitarist Colin Davin and harpist Emily Levin have news for you.

The Davin-Levin Duo played the second recital of the 2022 Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival on June 3 in Kulas Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Their engaging program, containing original arrangements of 20th-century works and a recent piece, was the first of four during the festival to feature guitarists playing with other instrumentalists, and Davin and Levin made the most of their opportunity to plunge into the rich possibilities of collaboration. [Read more…]

Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival: a guitarist, a harpist, two dogs & a composer

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by Jarrett Hoffman

One by one the guest list for a recent Zoom conversation grew, until it included — in order of appearance — a guitarist and a harpist, two dogs, and a composer.

I knew about the instrumentalists going in. CIM guitar department co-head Colin Davin was staying at the home of his friend and collaborator Emily Levin, principal harp of the Dallas Symphony. So it would only make sense to chat with them together about their Davin-Levin Duo program coming up on Friday, June 3 at 7:30 pm at CIM’s Kulas Hall, presented as part of the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival (tickets here). [Read more…]

Classical Guitar Festival returns coupled with Stroud Competition: a conversation with Armin Kelly

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by Daniel Hathaway

When COVID-19 crashed the party in March of 2020, it arrived just as musical organizations were putting final touches on their summer festival plans.

The famously disruptive pathogen caused the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival to make major alterations in its annual event at the Cleveland Institute of Music that June. What may look like the most practical solution — taking a whole festival online — poses problems of its own.

“Early on, and learning on the spot, we resorted to videos,” founder and artistic director Armin Kelly said during a recent phone conversation. “We were proud of what we were able to do on such short notice, but nothing beats the camaraderie of a live performance.” [Read more…]

CD Review — Davin-Levin Duo: Banter

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Aware of the limited repertoire that exists for their combination of instruments, guitarist Colin Davin and harpist Emily Levin got creative. The debut album from the Davin-Levin Duo, Banter, released on April 7 on Iris Records, includes their own arrangements of music by Ravel, de Falla, and Glass, as well as commissioned works by Will Stackpole and Dylan Mattingly.

[Read more…]

Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival: five recitals (June 9-11)

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Jason Vieaux, guitar
by Daniel Hathaway

Vieaux-(Tyler-Boye)The 17th Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival got off to an auspicious start at the Cleveland Institute of Music on Friday evening, June 9 with a beautifully structured recital by Jason Vieaux. Originally scheduled for Mixon Hall, the performance was moved to Kulas Hall because of the demand for tickets. In cases like that, it’s nice to have a second venue right across the lobby. Any doubts about how the sound of a solo guitar would fare in the larger space were immediately put to rest by Vieaux’s sonorous performance of Fernando Sor’s Mes Ennuis at the top of the program. [Read more…]

Guitarist Colin Davin and harpist Emily Levin to close out CICGF 2017

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Davin_Levin“Guitar and harp is such a rare, unique combination,” said guitarist Colin Davin in a recent conversation. “To the extent that there’s an epicenter for that kind of duo, it might be Cleveland. Jason Vieaux and Yolanda Kondonassis have performed and recorded an album together, and in the past few years, some of the students here have formed guitar and harp duos. We like to think we’re starting something that will catch on.”

On Sunday, June 11 at 7:30 pm in the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Mixon Hall, Colin Davin and harpist Emily Levin will close out the 2017 Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival with a duo recital featuring a world premiere by Dylan Mattingly and a recent work by Will Stackpole, with the Duo’s own arrangements of works by Maurice Ravel and Manuel de Falla as bookends. [Read more…]

Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival celebrates its 17th season June 9-11

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by Mike Telin

CICGF-ArtistsBeginning on Friday, June 9 and continuing through Sunday, June 11, Guitars International will present the seventeenth annual Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

“I cannot believe it’s the 17th season,” CICGF founder and artistic director Armin Kelly said during a recent telephone conversation. “Over the years I’ve learned a lot about what to do and what not to do, but it was a steep learning curve.”

Kelly noted that the Festival has grown beyond what he had ever imagined possible. “I was interested in figuring out how to fill a void in the presentation of the classical guitar in Cleveland,” Kelly said. “There were guitar programs at CIM, Oberlin, the University of Akron, and other schools in the area, but there really wasn’t an established concert presenter for the instrument.” [Read more…]

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