ClevelandClassical.com Header
Ad
Ad

Piano Cleveland: CIPC for Young Artists Concerto Final Round (July 15)

by

by Daniel Hathaway

The last hurdle to be cleared on the way to the awarding of prizes in Piano Cleveland’s Competition for Young Artists brought the finalists to the stage of Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Saturday, July 15 to play concerto movements with the Canton Symphony Orchestra, led by Steven Byess.

Six items were on the docket: the three Junior Division players chose the opening movements of concertos by Beethoven, Mozart, and Grieg, while the three Seniors each chose Chopin, with only one repetition. Piano Cleveland president Yaron Kohlberg emceed the proceedings. I watched the well-produced webcast.

Concertos, which occupy a singular position in the orchestral ecosystem, are often performed with only a read-through beforehand, which means that both the soloist and the orchestra have to show up well-prepared. But anything can happen in the heat of battle — and adjustments have to be made on the spot with intelligence and sensitivity. [Read more…]

Piano Cleveland celebrates 50 years of CIPC

by

by Mike Telin

A 50th anniversary is always cause for celebration. But achieving that golden milestone requires hard work, and perhaps most importantly, the willingness to adapt to the ever-changing times.

In 2024, the Cleveland International Piano Competition (CIPC), which is set to take place from July 28 – August 10, will mark its 50th anniversary with a new approach to the design of the competition. One that encourages unique musical expression and creative artistic vision beyond the competition stage. All that comes with a new tagline — Classical Music, EVOLVED.

During a recent Zoom conversation, Piano Cleveland president Yaron Kohlberg noted that the changes were a result of him, executive director Marissa Moore, and the Piano Cleveland team thinking about the experiences they have accumulated over the past few years. Those included Kohlberg’s personal experiences in competitions, observations of other competitions and organizations, and conversations with a lot of pianists.

[Read more…]

Duo Amal kicks off
PianoDays @CLE (July 24)

by

by Jacob Strauss 

On Sunday, July 24 the piano team of Yaron Kohlberg and Bishara Haroni — Duo Amal — kicked off Piano Cleveland’s PianoDays @CLE in Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Kohlberg and Haroni, who first performed together at a peace conference in Oslo in 2011, began their concert with a pillar of the piano four-hand repertoire, Schubert’s Fantasie in f. With Haroni playing the lower part and Kohlberg the upper, they negotiated the keyboard with nimble choreography, highlighting their adroit musicianship and amicable collaborative spirit.

[Read more…]

PianoDays @CLE: the chemistry of Duo Amal

by

by Mike Telin

One can never predict where life will take you, but wherever it does, friendships, artistic and personal, endure. If in doubt, just ask pianists Yaron Kohlberg and Bishara Haroni.

Kohlberg, the second prize winner at the 2007 Cleveland International Piano Competition, and Bishara Haroni first came together for a peace concert at the Oslo Opera House in 2011. After that, the two pianists chose to redirect their professional energies away from solo careers in favor of pursuing their career paths as a duo piano team — and Duo Amal was born.

On Sunday, July 24 at 2:00 pm, Duo Amal will kick off Piano Cleveland’s inaugural PianoDays @CLE in Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art with a program featuring music by Shostakovich, Khachaturian, Milhaud, Elgar, Rachmaninoff, and Schubert. Read a Festival preview here and purchase tickets here.

[Read more…]

Piano Cleveland launches PianoDays @CLE

by

by Mike Telin 

What is PianoDays @CLE? “It’s a festival that celebrates the piano in all of its forms,” Piano Cleveland president Yaron Kohlberg said during a recent Zoom conversation. “We want piano lovers from around the city and the region to be able to enjoy not only traditional classical performances but also performances that offer something for everybody.”

While Piano Cleveland’s signature event is the Cleveland International Piano Competition, Kohlberg said that it is important for them to engage with their audience while attracting new people to that event and to classical music. “It’s our role to tackle these things and to influence people — we are responsible for the future.”

To get people in the piano mood, there will be two Forte Friday events — the first on July 15 at 6:30 pm at Crocker Park and the second on July 22 at 5:30 at the Van Aken District. “Last year we saw that the pop-up events like these were a great way to attract new audiences and to generate excitement for our big performances,” Kohlberg said, adding that like last year, these will also feature music of many genres and styles.

[Read more…]

Piano Cleveland presents: Prelude to Piano Days 2022 Listening Series

by

by Mike Telin

Piano Cleveland has a lot in store for Northeast Ohio this summer. But before PianoDays@CLE kicks off on July 24, why not take a deep dive into how to listen to piano music by enrolling in the Prelude to Piano Days 2022 Listening Series? During the three sessions you’ll discover how two pianists work together, what it means to immerse yourself in the work of a single composer, and what exactly is involved in improvisation. Click here for more information.

“We call this ‘education for adults,’” Piano Cleveland president Yaron Kohlberg said during a Zoom conversation. “It’s all part of our mission to make piano music as accessible as possible. And to help everybody, regardless of their knowledge of piano music, find something to connect with.”

Following the success of last year’s listening series which touched on the basics, Kohlberg said that this year the series will go one step further. “Everything that is being presented during the listening series will be heard during the summer performances. So there is a direct connection.” [Read more…]

Piano Cleveland to debut video contest PianoFlicks

by

by Mike Telin

If you ask a musician what new skill they learned during the past eighteen months, more often than not, the answer is video editing. And, in a relatively short amount of time, many became quite good at it.   

“Everyone we knew learned how to video-edit,” Marissa Glynias Moore, executive director at Piano Cleveland, said via Zoom. “So we thought, what would be a cool way for us to tap into that creativity?”

On Wednesday, October 27 at 7:00 pm, Piano Cleveland will debut PianoFlicks, a new video contest showcasing pianists as they creatively re-imagine how classical music is presented and enjoyed by audiences. Throughout the broadcast — which will air on the Piano Cleveland website — viewers will have the opportunity to cast their vote for the Audience Prize. They can also cast their votes over the course of the next week — details below. All participants will receive prize money for their participation in the contest.  

“Everything we do is about making classical music more accessible, not only for the audience, but for young pianists as well — making yourself and what you do accessible is an important part of being an artist in today’s world,” Moore said.

[Read more…]

The Cleveland International Piano Competition:
Week Two and beyond

by

by Mike Telin

After a three-day break, Competition first-round performances will continue on Thursday, July 15 at 7:00 pm. Audiences can also experience that evening’s session by attending the Watch Party at the Beachwood Community Center. Pack a picnic and bring your chairs to watch performances under the stars and on the big screen. Click here to register for the free event.

New at this year’s competition is the Trivia Night/Watch Party on Thursday, July 22 at 7:00 pm at the The Music Box Supper Club. Hosts Yaron Kohlberg and Zsolt Bognár (pictured) have created questions that are designed to engage every level of piano and classical music enthusiast. Teams can be up to six people, so bring your friends (or make new ones) and enjoy great music and a chance to win a Cleveland musical prize package.

The ticketed event will include the buffet-style menu on the Music Box’s website. The first drink is on CIPC, but after that, for the rest of the evening you can purchase your favorite beverage at the cash bar. Click here to purchase tickets online or call 216.242.1250. [Read more…]

Music From The Western Reserve: Pianist Yaron Kohlberg at Steinway Gallery

by

by Daniel Hathaway

Many pianists win prizes in international piano competitions but few return to the scenes of their triumphs to run them.

Make an exception for Yaron Kohlberg, the Israeli keyboardist who came in second in the 2007 Cleveland International Piano Competition at the age of 24, and became President of Piano Cleveland in 2018, just in time to have to cancel the 2020 competition due to the pandemic. (As a placeholder, he invented Virtu(al)oso, an online competition that increased the organization’s global audience.)

On Sunday, June 6, Cleveland piano fans got an opportunity to hear Kohlberg himself in a short solo recital that formed the coda to Music From The Western Reserve’s online concert series. [Read more…]

Piano Cleveland announces plans for 2021 International Piano Competition

by

by Mike Telin

Piano Cleveland has announced that after a year-long postponement due to the challenges presented by the pandemic, the organization’s signature event — the Cleveland International Piano Competition (CIPC) — will take place from July 8 through August 11, 2021. (Above: Nikita Mndoyants, 2016 first place winner, with Bramwell Tovey.)

The competition has been reimagined as a hybrid event with pre-recorded First and Second Rounds — Semi-Final and Final Rounds will take place in Cleveland. Twenty-eight contestants who were chosen for the 2020 competition will compete for an opportunity to perform with The Cleveland Orchestra and to win the Mixon First Prize of $75,000, a New York performance debut, management services, and a recording on the Steinway & Sons label. Click here for a full competition schedule and here for ticket information.

Creating the plan — a logistical jigsaw puzzle 

Piano Cleveland president Yaron Kohlberg said in a Zoom conversation that all the decisions during the planning process were made with the best interests of the contestants in mind. [Read more…]

Follow ClevelandClassical.com

Contact us