by Daniel Hathaway

by Daniel Hathaway

by Daniel Hathaway

The KLR Trio enjoyed a distinguished debut as an ensemble more than four decades ago, having been invited to perform at the White House in 1977 as part of the inauguration festivities for President Jimmy Carter. (Joseph Kalichstein reminisced about that event in an interview for this publication in October of 2012).
I reached Sharon Robinson and Jaime Laredo by telephone at their home in Cleveland, where they both teach at the Cleveland Institute of Music, to chat about their Kent program. I began by asking them about André Previn’s Piano Trio No. 2, which the ensemble commissioned and debuted during their 2012-2013 season, and which they’ve brought back recently. [Read more…]
by Rory O’Donoghue

“Our faculty concert series will feature fantastic artists from The Cleveland Orchestra, Kent State’s revered faculty, the Miami String Quartet, pianist Spencer Myer and other guest artists,” Festival director Ricardo Sepúlveda said in his letter introducing this year’s season. For these musicians, their tenure at Kent Blossom is more than just performance based — they’ll be working closely with the 43 visiting students accepted this year. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway

Pianist Joseph Kalichstein was born in Israel and came to the US in 1962 to study at Juilliard. He rose to prominence after winning the Young Concert Artists Auditions and making his debut with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic in a televised performance of Beethoven’s fourth concerto. After winning the Levintritt Prize in 1969, he made his Cleveland debut with George Szell and The Cleveland Orchestra in that same work. This season, he celebrates the 35th anniversary of the founding of the KLR Trio. We reached Joseph Kalichstein at his home in New Jersey to ask about the Mixon Hall concert and how he first got together with violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson.
Daniel Hathaway: Is it true that Jimmy Carter was the matchmaker who formally brought the KLR Trio together?
Joseph Kalichstein: Yes, absolutely. One of his better accomplishments, I think. [Read more…]