by Mike Telin
As the fall semester come to a close at the Cleveland Institute of Music, it’s once again time for the school’s annual Winter Chamber Music Festival. From December 1 through December 4, students, faculty, and guests will present thirteen concerts featuring over forty unique chamber music compositions.
In addition to performances by woodwind, brass, and percussion ensembles, the school-wide festival of chamber music will feature participants in the Intensive String Quartet and Intensive Duo Seminars, the Advanced Piano Trio Program, and CIM’s Preparatory Friday Night Chamber Music, as well as the Young Artist Programs. As always, the Festival will feature an all-evening Chamber Music Marathon. All performances are free unless otherwise noted.
“The Winter Chamber Music Festival is one of the true musical highlights of the year here in Cleveland,” Cavani Quartet violinist Annie Fullard said via email. “We urge everyone to take a moment out their busy lives and come to CIM and celebrate the beauty and transformative quality of chamber music. Our students will bring to life the music of some of the world’s greatest composers from Mozart to Dvořák. There’s something for everyone.”
Celebrating it’s 25th year, the Festival kicks off on Thursday, December 1 at 7:00 pm in Mixon Hall with a performance by students in the Advanced Piano Trio Program, directed by Sharon Robinson. The program will include Antonín Dvořák’s Trio in f, Robert Schumann’s Trio in d, Felix Mendelssohn’s Trio in c, Maurice Ravel’s Trio in a, and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Trio in B-flat.
On Friday, December 2 at 8:00 pm in Mixon Hall, students in the Intensive Duo Program, directed by Anita Pontremoli, will present a concert featuring Mozart’s Violin Sonata in E-flat, K. 380, Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 7 in c, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata, Robert Muczynski’s Flute Sonata, Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Sonata No. 1, and Richard Strauss’s Violin Sonata.
The members of the Juilliard Quartet will each lead masterclasses on Monday, December 5 beginning at 7:00 pm in Kulas Hall, Mixon Hall, Studio 113, and Studio 225. The event is presented in collaboration with the Cleveland Chamber Music Society.
On Tuesday, December 6 at 7:30 pm at Plymouth Church, the Juilliard will return to the Cleveland Chamber Music Society for a performance that will include Haydn’s Quartet in f, Op. 20, No. 5, Bartók’s Quartet No. 1, and Beethoven’s Quartet in B-flat, Op. 130 (“Große Fuge”). Tickets are required and are available online.
Also on December 6 at 7:30 pm, Music for Winds will take center stage at Mixon Hall. The program will include Milhaud’s La cheminée du roi René, Françaix’s Wind Quintet No. 1, Janáček’s Mládí, Nielsen’s Quintet, and Poulenc’s Sextet for piano and winds.
On Wednesday, December 7 at 7:00 pm in Mixon Hall, students of the Intensive String Quartet Seminar, directed by the Cavani String Quartet and Peter Salaff, will present a concert featuring Béla Bartók’s six string quartets. “This is a special opportunity to hear these spectacular quartets performed in one evening,” Fullard said. “Bartók’s music represents not only his own personal journey, but a joyful connection to the folk music of Eastern Europe and Northern Africa which he synthesized into his music to represent the voices of all humanity.”
The program will feature the Gemini Quartet in No. 1, the Jaius Quartet in No. 2, the Belka Quartet in No. 3, the Onyx Quartet in No. 4, the Aurelia Quartet in No. 5, and the Callisto Quartet in No. 6.
“I think Bartók’s own thoughts on his music sum up the nature of these truly masterful and moving compositions,” Fullard said:
My own idea…is the brotherhood of peoples in spite of all wars and conflicts. I try to the best of my ability to serve this idea in my music therefore I don’t reject any influence, be it Slovakian, Romanian, Arabic, or from any other source.
The annual Chamber Music Marathon will be held on Thursday, December 8 at 6:30 pm in Kulas Hall, Mixon Hall, and Studio 113. Student chamber music performances continue throughout the evening, and refreshments will be served during breaks.
On Friday, December 9 at 8:00 pm in Mixon Hall, the Cavani Quartet, CIM’s quartet-in-residence, will be joined by faculty guitarist Colin Davin for “An Italian Serenade.” The program will include Boccherini’s String Quartet in d and his “Fandango” from the Guitar Quintet in D, Vivaldi’s Concerto for Guitar and Strings in C, and Schubert’s String Quartet in d, “Death and the Maiden.” The event is free, but seating passes are required. Call 216.795.3211.
Students from the Preparatory Friday Night Chamber Music Program, directed by Annie Fullard and Carolyn Gadiel Warner, will present their final concert of the semester on Sunday, December 11 at 5:00 pm in Mixon Hall.
It’s all about brass and percussion on Monday, December 12. At 8:00 pm in Kulas Hall, CIM brass ensembles, directed by Edward Zadrozny, will present a concert featuring works by Bozza and Hindemith. At the same time across the lobby in Mixon Hall, Paul Yancich will lead a concert of chamber music for percussion. The program will include works by Joseph Pereira, Michael Burritt, and Brett Deitz.
The Festival will wrap up on Wednesday, December 14 at 7:00 pm in Mixon Hall when students from CIM’s Young Artist Program present their end-of-semester chamber music concert.
Published on ClevelandClassical.com November 28, 2016.
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