Leah Ferguson Archives - Cleveland Classical

CIM Orchestra@Severance November 19: a conversation with violist Leah Ferguson

November 18, 2014 by Daniel Hathaway

by Carlyn Kessler

Leah Ferguson is delighted to be performing Béla Bartók’s skillfully-crafted Viola Concerto in the Cleveland Orchestra’s beautiful home of Severance Hall. On Wednesday, November 19^th, beginning at 8:00 pm, guest conductor Kimbo Ishii will lead the CIM Orchestra in a dynamic concert that also includes Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture and Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra.

Originally from Wilmette, Illinois, Leah is a senior at CIM studying with Robert Vernon and has recently participated in festivals including Ravinia, Music@Menlo, the Perlman Music Program, and the Sarasota Music Festival. She has collaborated with artists including Itzhak Perlman, Miriam Fried, and members of the Cleveland, Orion and Tokyo quartets. Most recently, Leah appeared with Joshua Bell on the television program “A YoungArts Masterclass,” which aired on HBO last October. [Read more…]

Review: Arts Renaissance Tremont: Daniel Shapiro and Friends at Pilgrim Church (November 17)

November 22, 2013 by Special to ClevelandClassical.com

by Daniel Hathaway

Sometimes it’s not so easy to produce a concert. An established string quartet originally announced to appear with CIM piano professor Daniel Shapiro on the Arts Renaissance Tremont series last Sunday afternoon, November 17, withdrew late in the summer.

Fortunately, ART artistic director Christine Haff-Paluck had the rich resources of the Cleveland Institute of Music to draw upon, and organized a replacement quartet of excellent players: violinists Jinjoo Cho and James Thompson, violist Leah Ferguson and cellist Catlyn Kessler.

Then came the piano issue. Shapiro needed a more powerful instrument than the resident piano for a program of Romantic piano quintets, so a Steinway B was graciously loaned for the occasion from the Oberlin Conservatory.

And then there was a change in the program order after the programs had been printed: Dvořák’s Quintet in A, op. 81 was to have begun the concert, with Franck’s Quintet in f to follow. Haff announced before the concert that the two pieces would be played in reverse order. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra’s holiday concerts return with plenty of festive cheer (Dec. 11)

by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — If the twinkling lights, leafy green garlands and festive poinsettias didn’t already clue you in, the holidays have arrived at Severance Music Center. ‘Tis the season for annual traditions — including The Cleveland Orchestra’s holiday concerts, which began on Wednesday evening.

Running through December 22, the programs feature plenty of seasonal classics plus some potential new favorites. The first performance proved that this mix is a delightful recipe for festive cheer.

“Look at you all, out on a school night!” conductor Sarah Hicks proclaimed joyfully from the podium. Just as many concertgoers donned red outfits to get into the spirit, Mandel Concert Hall was also decked out with decorations and stage lighting effects.

[Read on…]

Oberlin Conservatory convincingly tells Omar’s story (Dec. 8)

by Stephanie Manning

The Cleveland premiere of Rhiannon Giddens’ and Michael Abels’ Pultizer Prize-winning opera Omar on December 8 at the Maltz Performing Arts Center proved that concert productions of opera can succeed without sets, elaborate costumes and extensive staging. Indeed, the Oberlin Conservatory presentation offered more than enough to keep the audience in the crowded house enthralled.

The Opera, which was also presented at Oberlin’s Finney Chapel two days earlier, is based on the 1831 autobiography of Muslim scholar Omar ibn Said, the only such work written by an enslaved person during their enslavement, and the only such document written in Arabic.

Rhiannon Giddens’ brilliant libretto chronicles the life of ibn Said, beginning in present-day Senegal and following him through his capture, journey via the Middle Passage, and enslavement in North and South Carolina. [Read on…]

Kirill Gerstein is captivating on piano as Cleveland Orchestra recital series continues (Dec. 4)

by Daniel Hathaway

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — There’s no dearth of first-class piano performances to enjoy in Northeast Ohio, but Kirill Gerstein’s contribution to the collective wealth Wednesday night was extraordinary both in concept and execution.

Playing as part of the Cleveland Orchestra’s ongoing recital series at Severance Music Center, Gerstein wove an overarching narrative from the 21 little masked ball portraits in Robert Schumann’s “Carnaval.” Then he helped composer Francisco Coll blow up the idea of the waltz in two striking, brand new pieces written for Gerstein and joined Maurice Ravel in redefining that most civilized of dances in a cataclysmic performance of “La valse.”

[Read on…]

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