by Mike Telin
Since taking the helm of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, Brett Mitchell has continued the long tradition of challenging the first-rate ensemble to achieve higher artistic standards with each program. On November 18 at Severance Hall, Mitchell and his young musicians took on what was arguably the most demanding program of his tenure, and the results were stellar. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
Whether you’re a member of a “Big Five” orchestra or not, the prospect of performing a newly-composed work is always exciting. On Friday, November 18 at 8:00 pm at Severance Hall, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (COYO) under the direction of Brett Mitchell will have that opportunity when they present the world premiere of Roger Briggs’ Fountain of Youth, commissioned by COYO. The program will also include Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 (“Romantic”).
For composer Roger Briggs, the COYO commission was immediately attractive to him for two reasons: first, it provided him with the opportunity to write a new work that would be conducted by a former student. “Brett Mitchell studied composition and conducting with me at Western Washington University. He was a marvelous talent,” Briggs said during a telephone conversation. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
The first in a series of articles highlighting the world premiere of Roger Briggs’ Fountain of Youth.
The prospect of performing a newly-composed work is always exciting. On Friday, November 18 at 8:00 pm at Severance Hall, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (COYO) under the direction of Brett Mitchell will have that opportunity when they present the world premiere of Roger Briggs’ Fountain of Youth, commissioned by COYO. The program will also include Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 (“Romantic”).
Premiering Briggs’ eighteen-minute tone poem is especially exciting for Brett Mitchell. “It’s impossible to overestimate the impact Roger Briggs had on me,” the conductor said during a telephone conversation. “If it weren’t for the opportunities he provided me, I wouldn’t be here now.” [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
As The Cleveland Orchestra gears up to launch its fall Severance Hall season, we caught up with Ross Binnie, the Orchestra’s Chief Marketing Officer, and asked him to give his insights into the array of programs. He described them as “a blend of the curious and the familiar which will be wonderful for the audiences.”
The season kicks off on September 29 and 30 when Franz Welser-Möst leads performances of Ives’s Symphony No. 3 (“The Camp Meeting”) and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2. And organist Paul Jacobs (below) will make his Cleveland Orchestra debut as soloist in Copland’s Symphony for Organ and Orchestra. [Read more…]