International Violin Competition of Indianapolis Archives

International Violin Competition of Indianapolis: a conversation with gold medalist Jinjoo Cho

September 30, 2014 by Daniel Hathaway

by Mike Telin

On September 5, thirty-seven young violinists representing fourteen countries began their quest to win the Gold Medal at the Ninth Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. After the field had been narrowed to sixteen contestants, and then to six, on Saturday, September 20 the jury announced that Jinjoo Cho was the winner of the competition’s top prize. [Read more…]

Les Délices: music fosters meaningful conversation at Cleveland’s VA Medical Center (Feb. 21)

by Stephanie Manning

Navigating dementia — a common, yet devastating part of aging — requires confronting all sorts of complex emotions. People with memory loss, their caregivers, and the medical teams who interact with them all understand this well. So when Les Délices commissioned a piece tackling this difficult topic, they made a special effort to bring the music to those who would resonate with it the most.

The Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center hosted the early music ensemble for two performance-discussion sessions on February 21, a moving and emotional afternoon of empathetic, honest conversations about memory loss all framed by the solace of music.

At 12:00 pm, medical professionals and providers gathered in the rec hall, where flags of the U.S., the Department of VA, and the military’s many branches now provided a backdrop to a harpsichord and a collection of music stands. As part of the “Bioethics at Noon” series, the Les Délices musicians performed François Couperin’s La Visionnaire and selections from Viet Cuong’s world premiere, A Moment’s Oblivion. [Read on…]

Les Délices contemplates what makes us human in “A Moment’s Oblivion” (Feb. 23)

by Stephanie Manning

“How wretched to forget,” sings the son in A Moment’s Oblivion — a character whose father now struggles to recognize members of his own family. “For all we were forms who we are.”

But the miracle cure that restores his father’s memory turns out to be a more fraught solution than it appears. Such is the conflict at the heart of Les Délices’ recent commission, with music by Viet Cuong and libretto by Cleveland poet Dave Lucas. The early music ensemble’s latest program surrounded the world premiere of A Moment’s Oblivion with more musical opportunities to reflect on the complex, and sometimes contradictory, emotions that make us human. [Read on…]

Baldwin Wallace Conservatory Opera: Speed Dating Tonight! (Feb. 15)

by Peter Feher

In 2023, Axios reported that according to a recent poll, only about 20 percent of college students said they regularly used dating apps. The survey didn’t ask if anyone had ever tried good old-fashioned speed dating — presumably, that number would have been even lower.

The undergraduate performers in Baldwin Wallace Conservatory’s opera studies program can therefore claim a special distinction. More than a dozen BW singers took the stage at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium over Valentine’s Day weekend for the local premiere of Speed Dating Tonight!

This quirky one-act opera, with words and music by composer Michael Ching, has received upward of 100 small productions since its 2013 premiere, and it’s easy to see why. If Ching’s concept is somewhat outmoded, the dramatic setup he contrives is perfect for a college or community organization that has talent and ambition to spare.

[Read on…]

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