by Mike Telin

Timpani concertos are few and far between. Even the most knowledgeable would be hard pressed to name the composers of one or two. How remarkable is it that Cleveland Orchestra principal Paul Yancich has two that were written for him with a third on the way, all by the same composer, James Oliverio.

“My relationship with Paul goes back to when we were students at the Cleveland Institute of Music in the’70s and he asked me to write a piece for his senior recital,” Oliverio said said during a telephone conversation from his home in Florida where he serves as Executive Director of the Digital Worlds Institute at the University of Florida. “That was my first major work for the instrument. And since that time we’ve stayed in touch.”

On Thursday, January 5 at 7:30 pm at Severance Music Center, Yancich will give the World Premiere of Oliverio’s Legacy Ascendant with The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Alan Gilbert. [Read more…]