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Father’s Day with ChamberFest: Alexi Kenney and Ferdinand the Bull

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by Jarrett Hoffman

This Father’s Day, skip the awkward conversations with dad and instead sit down with him to enjoy an hour of music together, courtesy of ChamberFest Cleveland.

On Sunday, June 20 at 3:00 pm, six musicians and one narrator will gather at The Grove Amphitheatre to share a family-friendly program highlighted by Alain Ridout’s Ferdinand the Bull and Jean-Philippe Rameau’s La Poule (“The Hen”). The selections also include music by Richard Strauss, Antonín Dvořák, Helen Grime, and Franz Schubert. Reserve a free ticket here.

The Ridout piece, for solo violin and narrator, is a musical retelling of Munro Leaf’s classic children’s book The Story of Ferdinand. That heart-warming and humorous tale centers around a bull who stays true to himself — he enjoys smelling the flowers and having a bit of peace and quiet, even when he somehow ends up in the middle of a bullring.

Translated into more than 60 languages since its publication in 1936, the book has been read in households all over the world, including that of at least one ChamberFest musician when he was a kid. “My parents would read it to me when I was little,” violinist Alexi Kenney said in a recent interview. “It was one of my favorite children’s books.”

[Read more…]

Contemporary Youth Orchestra with Pompa-Baldi & a Steinway Spirio (Nov. 16)

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by Peter Feher

It’s tempting to think that learning only goes one way in a youth orchestra concert. Young musicians see months of rehearsal realized, often on a classic piece, maybe one they’ve never performed before. The Contemporary Youth Orchestra concert on November 16 at Tri-C East’s Mandel Theater satisfied that equation, and then offered something new. Gustav Holst’s titan-sized The Planets occupied the second half of the program, but the real energy and inventiveness came in the first, with the world premiere of a piano concerto that took a far-from-standard approach to the genre. [Read more…]

Contemporary Youth Orchestra: a new piano concerto, without the pianist

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by Jarrett Hoffman

When the Contemporary Youth Orchestra opens its 25th season this weekend, those in the audience will see players playing, conductor conducting, and a piano whose pedals and keys depress and release, letting out the most artful of sounds, but without anyone laying a finger on it.

A talented ghost? Not exactly. Steinway & Sons has developed a high-resolution player piano known as the Spirio. By measuring hammer velocity and pedaling, it can reproduce a performance that, according to the company, is “utterly indistinguishable” from the original.

Using a Spirio, Antonio Pompa-Baldi has already recorded the solo part to Roberto Piana’s new Concerto Fantastique. That instrument will be onstage in front of the Contemporary Youth Orchestra and music director Liza Grossman, playing back Pompa-Baldi’s performance during the work’s premiere on Saturday, November 16 at 7:00 pm at Mandel Theatre on the Eastern Campus of Cuyahoga Community College. The program also includes Gustav Holst’s The Planets. [Read more…]

Contemporary Youth Orchestra heads into its twenty-fifth year

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by Mike Telin and Rory O’Donoghue

“There was no question that I was going to form this orchestra. My goal was simply to provide something new,” Contemporary Youth Orchestra founder Liza Grossman said during a recent interview. Grossman recalled that as a high school student at the Interlochen Arts Academy she was told she had two options for a career in music: play in an orchestra or teach in the schools. “I have a high respect for both of those professions, but I knew that I didn’t want to do either of them.”

Once she realized that her calling was to be a youth orchestra conductor, she knew she needed to figure out a way to let students know that there are far more options in music. It’s worked out well for Grossman, who said, “Leading CYO has grown into a life that has been so rewarding, and all of the work is a pleasure. I think it was Mark Twain who said ‘The secret of success is making your vocation your vacation.’” [Read more…]

Contemporary Youth Orchestra says happy 80th birthday to Joan Tower

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by Mike Telin

On September 6 of 2018, Joan Tower celebrated her 80th birthday. On Saturday, March 9 at 7:00 pm, in Cuyahoga Community College’s Metro Auditorium, the Contemporary Youth Orchestra, under the direction of Liza Grossman, will honor that occasion with a concert dedicated to the eminent composer’s music. The program will include the Ohio premieres of Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 6, Stroke, and In Memory (For String Orchestra), as well as Tambor. Tickets are available online.

Among her numerous accolades — Tower has just been named the recipient of the League of American Orchestra’s 2019 Gold Baton Award — she was the first woman to win the Grawemeyer Award for Music in 1990. The New Yorker called her “one of the most successful woman composers of all time,” and she has served as a source of inspiration to Grossman dating back to CYO’s fourth season in 1998. “I was researching women composers and Joan was one of the first to come up,” Grossman said during a telephone conversation.

The conductor said that she quickly became “fascinated” with Tower’s music and history. “The way she was carving a path for women composers and inspiring them to write really was inspirational to me.” Still, it was not until August of 2000 that Grossman decided that the orchestra was ready to play one of Tower’s works. [Read more…]

Contemporary Youth Orchestra to premiere MESH: concerto for drumline and orchestra

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by Mike Telin

For the past 23 years, the Contemporary Youth Orchestra has treated audiences to many firsts. These include premieres of new works as well as first-time collaborations between rock musicians and an orchestra. When CYO kicks off their 24th season on Saturday, November 17 at 7:00 pm at Tri-C’s Metro Auditorium, the program will include the premiere of Michael McIntosh’s MESH: concerto for drumline and orchestra, the first work of its kind.

Under the direction of CYO founder and artistic director Liza Grossman, the concert will also include works by Christopher Rouse, Michael Daugherty, and Charles Griffes. Tickets are available online.

“I’m so excited about this premiere,” Liza Grossman said by telephone. “This is something that has never been done before. In the drumline world both Mike McIntosh and the Cavaliers are top-tier. I’ve told the orchestra that bringing in the Cavaliers is similar to bringing in Yo-Yo Ma.” [Read more…]

Kenny Loggins with Contemporary Youth Orchestra at Severance (May 21)

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by Alice Koeninger

CYO1Kenny Loggins and the Contemporary Youth Orchestra brought rock and roll to Severance Hall on Monday, May 21. Conducted by Liza Grossman, the CYO’s forces included two drum sets and a large chorus with backup vocalists for this retrospective of Loggins’ music. The sound was remarkable. [Read more…]

CIPC’s second Young Artist Competition to run from May 30 through June 9

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by Daniel Hathaway

CIPC-Young-ArtistsTwenty-two young pianists from eleven countries will flock to the Cleveland Institute of Music next week to compete in both junior and senior divisions of the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists. (Meet the contestants here.)

The competition — verging on a festival with the inclusion of several extra events — will be set in motion on Wednesday evening, May 30 with a 7:30 pm opening ceremony in Kulas Hall featuring Canadian pianist Leonid Nediak. Only 12 when he took home second prize in CIPC’s junior division in 2015, Nediak will play solo works before joining Liza Grossman and the Contemporary Youth Orchestra in the first movement of Rachmaninoff’s Second Concerto. WCLV’s Robert Conrad will introduce all of the contestants from the stage, and a reception will follow.

Competition rounds begin on Thursday afternoon, May 31 in Kulas Hall and continue daily through the semifinal rounds on June 6, when three pianists in each of the junior (ages 12-14) and senior divisions (ages 15-17) will advance to the final round. That event, on Friday, June 8 at 7:30 pm at the Maltz Performing Arts Center, will feature concerto performances with Gerhardt Zimmermann and the Canton Symphony Orchestra. [Read more…]

Contemporary Youth Orchestra: a conversation with Kenny Loggins

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by Mike Telin

LogginsA highlight of each Contemporary Youth Orchestra season is the annual Rock the Orchestra concert. On Monday, May 21 at 7:00 pm in Severance Hall, Liza Grossman and her 115-piece Orchestra and 50-voice choir will join forces with the legendary singer, songwriter, and guitarist Kenny Loggins. Tickets are available online.

During a career that has lasted over four decades, Loggins has pretty much done it all. He began writing songs while still in school in San Gabriel, California and  formed his first band, Second Helping, in 1968. Two years later he was introduced to Jim Messina, which led to the birth of the “accidental duo,” who released their first album, Sittin’ In in 1971. Loggins first solo album, Celebrate Me Home in 1977 includes the song “I Believe In Love,” sung by Barbra Streisand in the film, A Star Is Born. His second album, Nightwatch (1978), features “What A Fool Believes,” a song he co-wrote with Michael McDonald. The two would also co-write the hit song “This Is It”. His albums Return to Pooh Corner and More Songs from Pooh Corner received Grammy nominations for Best Musical Album for Children.

Loggins’ many film contributions include “I’m Alright,” the theme from Caddyshack, and the title track from Footloose, which received an Academy Award nomination. [Read more…]

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