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CIPC Finals: Chamber Music Round with the Escher Quartet (August 3 & 4)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Why put international piano competition finalists through a chamber music test between their solo and concerto rounds? Because there’s no better indicator of musicianship than one’s ability to function in a team. And since pianists tend to spend long hours all by themselves in practice rooms, collaborating in chamber music with other musicians is a healthy, socializing activity that can produce wonderful results. (Photo: Yaron Kohlberg welcomes the audience on August 3.)

Thus it was that over the course of two evenings, the four finalists in the 2021 Cleveland International Piano Competition joined the Escher String Quartet onstage at Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art to perform their choice of works from a list of five piano quintets.

On Tuesday, Byeol Kim chose César Franck’s Piano Quintet in f. Yedam Kim followed with Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat. On Wednesday, both Lovre Marušić and Martín García García selected Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in g. (Dvořák No. 2 and Brahms, the other possibilities, went unclaimed.)

That made things interesting for the audience and jury on the one hand, and for the Escher on the other. [Read more…]

CD Review—Dance, Jason Vieaux and the Escher Quartet

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by Mike Telin

There are few recordings that provide as much listening pleasure as guitarist Jason Vieaux’s and the Escher Quartet’s Dance. Released by Azica Records, the album is an hour-long feast for the ears that is full of pristine beauty and energetic swagger.

[Read more…]

Tuesday Musical:
marriage and an octopus

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by Mike Telin 

What do marriage and an octopus have in common? They both served as inspirations for Gregg Kallor’s new work for string octet. On Wednesday, October 30 at 7:30 pm at E.J. Thomas Hall, Tuesday Musical will present “October Octets” featuring the Dover and Escher String Quartets. The program will include the premiere of Kallor’s String Octet as well as Shostakovich’s Two Pieces for String Octet, Op. 11, and Enescu’s Octet for Strings in C, Op. 7. A conversation with the musicians will be held in the Flying Balcony Club beginning at 6:30 pm. Tickets are available online.

First, the marriages. Kallor’s new work will bring together two brilliant string quartets. That’s a marriage of a sort. But there’s more — Dover violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt and Escher cellist Brook Speltz are in fact married. And when composing his String Octet, marriage was at the forefront of Kallor’s thoughts. “I started writing it in the late winter of last year,” the composer said during a recent interview. “But I had proposed to my wife in November, so marriage was very much on my mind.” That marriage took place in September. 

Second, the octopus. “My wife has this thing for octopuses, and we’re dealing with eight musicians. It wasn’t a conscious decision but this was all floating around in my head when I was writing the piece.” 

[Read more…]

Tuesday Musical: Escher String Quartet (Mar. 28)

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by Nicholas Stevens

Rare, even precious, are the occasions when classical-concert organizers and the ensembles they welcome give substantial new pieces the space to thrive alongside beloved classics. Tuesday Musical, however, presents Northeast Ohioans with just this sort of experience on a semi-regular basis. When the Escher Quartet came to Akron on Thursday, March 28, a bold new thirty-minute composition more than held its own alongside works by Mozart and Beethoven. [Read more…]

The Escher Quartet returns to Tuesday Musical on March 28

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by Mike Telin

When the Escher Quartet began planning their 2018-19 season, they knew it would include a new piano quintet by Anthony Cheung. Soon another commissioning opportunity from the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music came their way. Earlier this month the Escher gave the premiere of Chris Rogerson’s String Quartet No. 4 (2019) as part of the Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival.

On Thursday, March 28 at 7:30 pm in Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall, the Escher — Adam Barnett-Hart and Danbi Um, violins, Pierre LaPointe, viola, and Brook Speltz, cello — will give the second performance of Rogerson’s new work. Presented by Tuesday Musical, the program will also include Mozart’s Quartet in F, K. 590 and Beethoven’s monumental Quartet in C-sharp, Op. 131. A conversation with the musicians led by composer James Wilding will begin at 6:30 pm. Tickets are available online.

[Read more…]

Tuesday Music Celebrates 130 years (Sept. 16)

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by Mike Telin

Mndoyants1Founded in Akron in 1887 by a group of young women who wanted to share their love of music, what was then known as the Tuesday Musical Club quickly evolved into an organization that presented public recitals and held afternoon study groups for club members. Early on, events were held in private homes as well as in churches and other public spaces. On Saturday, September 16 at E.J. Thomas Hall, Tuesday Musical Association celebrated its 130 years as an anchor arts institution in Northeast Ohio in style. An engaging lineup of performances showcased the venerable organization’s many programs and collaborations. [Read more…]

Tuesday Musical celebrates 130th Anniversary: a conversation with composer James Wilding

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by Mike Telin

JamesWildingDuring the year 1887, detective Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance in a novel, Emile Berliner was granted a patent for his Gramophone, Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello premiered at La Scala, and Dvořák wrote his Second Piano Quintet. The year also included the births of Nadia Boulanger, Arthur Rubinstein, and Heitor Villa-Lobos — and marked the birth of Akron’s Tuesday Musical Association.

On Saturday, September 16 at E.J. Thomas Hall, Tuesday Musical will celebrate 130 years as an anchor arts organization in Northeast Ohio in style with “Prelude Party, Concert and Extraordinary Experiences.” The Party, which begins at 5:30, will be followed by a 7:30 concert that will showcase Tuesday Musical’s programs and collaborations. The concert will include performances by the Escher String Quartet, violinist Grace Brown of the Brahms Allegro Junior Music Club, soprano and 2017 Scholarship Competition winner Olivia Boen, and the 2016 Cleveland International Piano Competition Gold Medalist Nikita Mndoyants. Tickets may be purchased for the entire evening or for the concert only. Click here for more information. [Read more…]

Tuesday Musical: a chat with Escher Quartet cellist Brook Speltz

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by Mike Telin

Escher-Quartet“The string quartet repertoire is perhaps richer than any other musical form,” cellist Brook Speltz said during a recent telephone conversation. “There is a purity to the soprano, alto, tenor, and bass combination of instruments that is equal to a choir, and that has inspired many composers.”

On Wednesday, April 26 at 7:30 pm in Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall, Speltz will join his Escher String Quartet colleagues — violinists Adam Barnett-Hart and Aaron Boyd and violist Pierre Lapointe — in a performance featuring works by Claude Debussy, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Felix Mendelssohn. The concert, presented by Tuesday Musical, marks the culmination of the Escher’s first year as TMA’s Quartet-in-Residence, a performance and education initiative.

Speltz said that Mendelssohn’s Quartet No. 6 in f makes a great opener. “His last fully completed string quartet is known for its drama — that carefree Mendelssohn that exists in almost all of his music is nowhere to be found. He wrote it after the death of his sister, who was his best friend and sort of life companion, and it’s relentless in its combination of anxiety and passion that at times almost feels like anger.”

[Read more…]

Cleveland International Piano Competition Finals: Colafelice & Klinton with the Escher Quartet (August 3)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Colafelice1How do you tell a great chamber music performance from an ordinary one? That’s what the jury and audience are asking themselves this week as the Cleveland International Piano Competition puts its four finalists through a chamber music round with the Escher String Quartet. [Read more…]

Cleveland International Piano Competition Finals: Tchaidze & Mndoyants with the Escher Quartet (August 2)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Tchaidze1In a new twist this time around, the Cleveland International Piano Competition is requiring each of its finalists to play a chamber music round with the Escher String Quartet. Aside from the welcome change in musical timbre after many hours of solo piano music, this new round is designed to show how well pianists play with others — a direct look at their musicianship in collaboration with a world-class ensemble before moving on to play concertos with The Cleveland Orchestra. [Read more…]

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