Few conductors command the respect of the Cleveland Orchestra like former music director Christoph von Dohnanyi. Is it better for a leader to be loved than feared, or feared than loved? CvD leads with a fair mix of both; he is exacting and demanding, and the orchestra loves him for the results his approach yields. He conducts works by Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Widmann this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Severance Hall.
Here he is speaking with Cleveland Orchestra Musicians:
Quincy Porter: The Complete Viola Works by Cleveland Orchestra violist Eliesha Nelson has been nominated for Grammies in four different categories. Read more on Eliesha’s website.
Two recent Cleveland Orchestra recordings have also been nominated for Grammies: Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder with Franz Welser-Most, conductor, and Measha Brueggergosman, soprano, and Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 23 and 24 with Mitsuko Uchida. Both albums are available on iTunes and Amazon.com.
And Cantando, the recent solo recording by Principal Trombone Massimo La Rosa was featured on the Best Albums list on cdbaby.com.
The Happy Dog and the Gordon Square Arts District are partnering with The Cleveland Orchestra for a night we’re calling ‘Gordon Square Goes to the Orchestra.’ The Orchestra has agreed to offer a special rate for their next Friday’s @ 7 event on December 3rd – lower level Orchestra seats for only $25 – the seats in this section would normally go for $65!
Lolly the Trolley will make trips from the Happy Dog to Severance Hall for the concert and after-party, then back to the Happy Dog for a no-cover show with Bill Fox and Tadpoles, then back to Severance Hall for East-siders who left their cars in University Circle. Tickets include transportation.
See the Facebook page for more information.
‘We want people to feel comfortable,’ the cellist Charles Bernard told The Cleveland Plain Dealer. ‘That’s the whole point.’
New York Times
See Joshua Smith’s blog for more.
By Sonja Braaten, violin
On Friday night, October 22nd, violinist Emma Shook, violist Lisa Boyko, and retired TCO cellist Diane Mather volunteered their services for “A Classical Evening of Friendraising and Fundraising” to benefit The Gathering Place. The Gathering Place is a caring community that supports, educates and empowers individuals and families touched by cancer through programs and services provided free of charge.
One of the main goals of this event was to build a donor base and more awareness for The Gathering Place’s west side location at 800 Sharon Drive, Westlake. Their Beachwood location at 23300 Commerce Park is in its eleventh year and is thriving, tending to the needs of more than 20,000 people over the past 10 years. The hope is that the Westlake campus can help just as many people.
Our goal was to raise $10,000 for The Gathering Place, and we’re thrilled to report that the evening resulted in almost twice that: over $19,000 in donations!
The event was held at the amazing Avon Lake home of Kathy and Alex Hahn on the shore of Lake Erie. Guests were treated to cocktails and heavy hors d’ouevres as they enjoyed performances of Beethoven’s String Trio #1 in E flat, Opus 3 and Erno von Dohnanyi’s Serenade in C, Opus 10. This was the first joint project between musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra and The Gathering Place. And seeing as how it was a sold out event, it was a very successful evening!
There is another house concert/friendraising event scheduled for January, this time in Florida while The Cleveland Orchestra is in Miami for their residency. Scheduled to perform is the Amici Quartet, comprised of TCO members Takako Masame, Miho Hashizume, Lynne Ramsey, and Ralph Curry.
Special thanks go to Beth Darmstadter, Director of Development, and Eileen Saffran, Founder and Executive Director of the The Gathering Place for welcoming us into their “family.”
Herbert Blomstedt has long been a favorite guest conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra. Always enormously gracious while demanding the utmost integrity, his interpretations and performances have an old-world depth, richness, and confidence that inspires some of the orchestra’s best playing. He is in control of every nuance in every bar of the score, yet grants the players freedom and spontaneity. While conducting, his face often glows with a giddy smile, as if thinking, “This is fun“.
On the final concert of his recent series at Severance Hall the orchestra refused to stand for a bow, insisting that he accept the ovation himself.
Here he is speaking with Cleveland Orchestra Musicians:
The orchestra and choir are much more than artistic studies. They are examples and schools of social life. To sing and to play together, means to intimately coexist.
-Jose Antonio Abreu
Photo by Roger Mastroianni
Violinist Isabel Trautwein is a recipient of the Abreu Fellowship, named for the founder of the enormously successful and influential El Sistema program in Venezuela (of which Gustavo Dudamel, music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic is a graduate), and the newly developed El Sistema USA. Fellows spend one year studying in Boston and Caracas, with the goal of bringing the concepts of El Sistema to American cities.
Follow Isabel throughout the Fellowship on her Blog
Read more about the Fellowship, El Sistema, and Isabel:
New England Conservatory, host of the Fellowship Program
By performing in a bar and encouraging people to eat, drink and talk during the music, this group of artists from or associated with the Cleveland Orchestra is voiding three of the most common objections to traditional classical concerts.
Read the article by Zach Lewis in the Plain Dealer
Cleveland Orchestra Musicians Joshua Smith, Frank Rosenwein, Amy Lee, Joanna Patterson, and Charles Bernard will be joined by pianist Christina Dahl in a concert at the Happy Dog Wednesday, October 13, beginning at 8:00. Music by Corigliano, Piazzolla, Bolcom, and others.
Imagine the bewilderment on the faces of a hotels’ housekeeping staff when, prepared to clean the rooms, they walk down the hallway and see a row of “Do Not Disturb” signs, accompanied by a cacophony of metronomes, scales, arpeggios, symphonies, overtures, and concertos.
It’s often said that playing an instrument is like paddling upstream: if you’re not constantly working to move forward, then you’re actually moving backward. On a two-week tour across many different countries and time-zones, practicing to stay in shape on your instrument can feel like paddling up a waterfall. Here are a few shots of Cleveland Orchestra Musicians practicing when and where they can on tour:
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- Hans Clebsch at the Abbey of St. Florian (photo by Linnea Nereim)
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- Scott Dixon practices backstage (photo by Linnea Nereim)
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- Tubist Yasu Sugiyama warms up at the St. Florian Abbey (photo by Linnea Nereim)
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- Principal Trombone Massimo La Rosa visualizes a passage of music (photo by Linnea Nereim)
The future of the venerable Detroit Symphony Orchestra, one of the country’s great cultural institutions, is being threatened. The DSO musicians are on strike, protesting cuts that could severely jeopardize their standing among America’s top orchestras.
Like any business, an orchestra’s long-term viability depends upon its ability to hire and retain talent. Advances in the quality and integrity of an institution that take decades to achieve can be done away with overnight.
Members of the the Cleveland Orchestra will join the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Musicians on stage in a concert on October 24th. Please help us support the future of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Excerpted from the full article by Reed Johnson in the Los Angeles Times:
Some 10 years after Borda took over an artistically esteemed but financially embattled, spottily attended institution, the philharmonic today has the largest annual budget of any American symphony orchestra, performs in a world-renowned architectural landmark, is led by the charismatic young Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel and has embarked on an ambitious effort to bring classical music training to the area’s children, particularly underserved ethnic minorities.
Many, inside and outside the organization, credit a large measure of the Phil’s success to its risk-taking, ultra-confident, Armani-clad CEO. Frank Gehry, architect of Disney Hall, echoed others in suggesting that what’s most distinctive about Borda’s leadership style is her willingness to embrace calculated risk as a creative strategy and treat innovation as an imperative.
“She jumps off cliffs,” Gehry said. “I find that exhilarating about her. There’s never an arbitrary, ‘No, I won’t look at that.’ ”
Borda’s reputation for demanding as much of others as she demands of herself is matched by the professional respect and affection she commands in classical music circles. In interviews with more than two dozen colleagues and associates in Southern California, other parts of the U.S. and abroad, no one offered a negative word about her. Those who know her best, and work most closely with her, don’t hesitate to praise.
“She’s transparent. She’s collaborative,” said David Bohnett, the Phil’s board chairman. “Very classic, successful CEO traits in terms of giving people a sense of ownership and a sense of responsibility, and a sense of accountability.”
Peter Rofe, a bassist with the L.A. Philharmonic since 1986 and head of the musicians’ negotiating committee, said Borda deserves much of the credit for the orchestra having one of the nation’s most generous labor contracts, as well as for its artistic quality. “I think right now we have the best management in the country,” he said.
Robert Cutietta, dean of USC’s Thornton School of Music, said that Borda has been “a wonderful spokesperson” and leader not only for the Phil but also for L.A. culture in general.
“She has been on our campus so many times for different reasons,” he said. “That’s amazing to me, that the executive director of the L.A. Phil would be so accessible and so willing to come to campus and do things for students.”
Ask Borda who deserves credit for the current prosperity and she’ll respond with paeans to former Phil music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Phil’s legendary impresario Ernest Fleischmann, Dudamel, the orchestra, her board, her staff and the inspirational feng-shui of Disney Hall. “I always say I don’t do anything,” she said. “I help other people to do things.”
Apropos the above article, see Peter Rofe’s comments regarding the L.A. Phil’s management excerpted from the full article in the International Musician Magazine:
“We probably have the best management team in the business,” Rofé boasts. Rofé recognizes the importance of a smooth working relationship between everyone involved in orchestra operations. “You need to have teamwork between the musicians, the board, and management, and we’ve always had open communication,” he explains. “It helps if you can develop personal relationships. That way, when issues come up, [management] knows that they can trust you, and you know that you can trust them.”
Rofe recently took on a new challenge, when he was asked to become a negotiator for the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) Electronic Media Committee. “Unlike with the L.A. Phil, I was negotiating with managers I did not have personal relationships with,” he says. “That was eye-opening, and I got a sense of what my colleagues are up against.”
Check out this fantastic article about being a professional musician by Jeremy Mastrangelo, associate concertmaster of the Syracuse Sympohony Orchestra:
I can’t imagine anyone looking at an NFL player and saying, “You know, that must be the easiest job ever. Those guys work for 16 weeks out of the year (19 if they have a great year), and on those work weeks they are only playing on one day, and on that one day there’s only one hour of actual game time, and then they’re only on the field for half of the game. They only work for a half-hour a week … playing a game! There you go, easiest job ever.
By Kathleen Collins
We returned from our European Festivals tour nearly 3 weeks ago and since all of the kids are now back to school I have finally had a chance to reflect upon this latest travel experience. Touring with the orchestra is typically a highlight of any season, both musically and culturally. The orchestra is always at its supremely wonderful best on these occasions, and its artistry is inevitably enhanced by the beauty and majesty of our European surroundings.
I have often taken the opportunity to include my family in some way on our tours. My husband occasionally comes with mewithout the kids for a portion of our trip. We have also opted to bring the whole family just at the end of a tour when the orchestra has a vacation and we can then travel a bit on our own.
This tour was particularly special for me because I was able to bring my 13 year old daughter, Maya, along on the majority of the trip all by herself. This was an unusual experience for a number of reasons. I’ve never had such an extended period of time with one of my children separately, and I’ve never had a family member with me for the entire duration of a working tour. I was not sure how things would go, but had high hopes for a great time.
What a terrific experience we both had! We flew out 1 day ahead of the orchestra which enabled us to spend a couple of nights in London. We took a train from London to York, spent the night in York, and then took a train to Edinburgh to meet the orchestra for our first concert. I was careful to plan our itinerary around Maya’s interests so we were heavy on castles and mountains, and light on museums throughout the journey. After meeting the orchestra we traveled and stayed with the group through Edinburgh, Grafenegg (Krems), and Linz, Austria. We then met my husband and two sons in Salzburg on a free day, and traveled via car but parallel to the orchestra for our concerts in Merano, Italy, and Luzern, Switzerland. On the last day the boys left to go back to Munich, from where they flew home, and Maya and I finished up with the orchestra in Stresa, Italy.
The Europe tour made quite a positive impact on my daughter for many reasons. Of course she loved being in all of those beautiful locations in Europe and she certainly appreciated several days of her mom’s focused attention. But there were some less obvious benefits as well. For the first time she was able to act as a true team member with me, rather than taking her usual role as that of a subordinate child. This was especially apparent in the days before meeting the orchestra as we navigated our way around London on the Tube, lugged our suitcases, and made our plane and train connections. Once we were with the group she was thrilled to experience first-hand a working Cleveland Orchestra tour, with an emphasis on ‘working’. Although we have time for fun and sight-seeing, a tour is hard work and often high pressure for the orchestra members. It is an eye opening experience to see and hear what it takes for the people in the orchestra to be able to maintain their high artistic standards amid sometimes grueling travel days, and occasionally inconvenient or unpredictable circumstances. Maya heard people practicing in the hotel rooms, saw me leave early for rehearsals and concerts to get some extra preparation time, and heard us discussing concerts and music all around her. She also noticed the stellar reputation that precedes us wherever we play, and how much pressure there is for us to maintain that reputation. Maya most loved the unity and sort of “large family” feeling that we all share on a tour. She got to enjoy meals with many different orchestra members, heard our funny stories, babysat for colleagues, and even went to a post-concert orchestra party in Edinburgh.
For me, the privilege of including my daughter in all of this was really its own reward. I loved the quality time we spent together and watched my child go a long way down the path to adulthood on this trip. She is an adventurous, independent, creative, and compassionate young woman, but still loves to feed the ducks in St. James Park and the swans in Luzern just as she did at age 5. Some of Maya’s observations on the tour – Edinburgh was her favorite city, but she said that the Scottish people were the craziest. Riding the Eye over London was her favorite experience. Switzerland was the most beautiful country, but didn’t get her vote for favorite country overall because it was too expensive. That vote went to the U.K. Favorite food was anything Italian. The Sheraton Grand Hotel and Spa in Edinburgh was the best hotel ever!
So, 3 weeks later I am still reminiscing happily and gratefully over this amazing trip. How fortunate we are to have the opportunity to travel and play in such wonderful places. I feel so extremely lucky to have this remarkable daughter and the chance to spend time with her in this unique way. I am hoping very much to do the same thing with my two sons as well when they are old enough!
Kathleen Collins, violin Sept. 17, 2010
Michael Miller inhabits the loudest section of the Cleveland Orchestra, yet he may be the mildest, most grounded person you’ll ever meet.
Solos: Hard work and humility landed trumpeter in Cleveland Orchestra, Plain Dealer
By Rick Stout
This tour is quite unique and special for me as it is my first tour since returning from a two-year medical leave. Following a slip-and-fall on some icy stairs I spent two full seasons and three Blossoms as a full-time patient. That’s another story, but I thought it might be interesting to hear some observations from a fresh set of eyes and ears on what touring with the orchestra is like.
To begin with, I brought my own concerns with me in returning with multiple surgical repairs to the rigors of playing and traveling. It may come as a surprise, but by far the easier of the two has been the playing. Though I was a bit apprehensive initially as to how well and completely I would recover my musical skills after such a long hiatus, my practicing progressed without a hitch over the two months I gave myself to be ready to rejoin the band. Still, the first rehearsal back I was nervous to see if I would fit back in and be up to the level expected. Halfway through that first 10 o’clock service I had my answer. I had always said that this is the easiest orchestra to play in because it is so damn good, and that was still true. That accuracy and refinement made it so incredibly easy to fit right back in, and the warm supportive nature of my colleagues made me feel like I was back home.
Once we left home I had to deal with the travel aspect. I think every case of injury or even just soreness is individual and unique, so I’ll just offer a couple of thoughts about travel and its effects on the body: it’s awful! Cramped plane seats, airless compartments, and slogging through lines of people just as unhappy as you are nothing new. But these have proved to be a challenge to my newly repaired back and shoulder. Though everyone really should be doing some type of preventive or restorative exercise to counter these, for me it is proving to be crucial. So later today, when we arrive in Italy and get checked into the hotel, I will be getting to a gym or at least doing exercises with my therapy bands to try and fix what it feels like this vibrating bus is doing as I write.
But for the interesting part! Once the travel itself has been accomplished, the rest of the tour is fantastic! To be back playing with this orchestra in the venues we have been visiting is wonderful. Last night we performed Bruckner 8 in “his” church in St. Florian. It is a humbling and inspiring experience to hear his music reverberating throughout this impossibly beautiful and rather mystical setting. I followed up the performance immediately with a beer, while in tails and with instrument in other hand, from the small restaurant in the abbey. Similarly if less magnificent, the evening before we played at the outdoor venue of Graffenegg (which loosely translates to “green eggs and ham”) and though the concert hall was acoustically challenging it was great to rip through Ein Heldenleben and be handed a nice glass of Gruner Veldtliner backstage. Nothing quite tops the hall in Cologne for the perform/drink combo, where costumed young Frauleins hand you a local Koelsch beer as you leave the stage. No word yet on my proposal to our management that we institute something like this for all of our Severance Hall concerts.
While Edinburgh’s Usher Hall was quite nice to perform in, what was great about that first tour stop was the town itself for me. Just an easy town to spend a few days in, get over jet lag in, and wander about sightseeing. Of course the castle in the center of town, which offered a spectacular view from my posh hotel room, is a major tourist draw, along with the Royal Mile of shops and street performers just below. But there is much much more outside of those heavily trafficked areas. While many of my colleagues took excursions to golf or sightsee in the surrounding countryside, I contented myself with walks into less popular parts of town where I got more of a local flavor. On one of these I found a lovely small French bistro I would not have otherwise, and four of us had a memorable dinner there the last night. Another great find was the Modern Gallery and its provocative collection, including a couple of Scottish painters I was previously unfamiliar with. Too bad they had a no photography policy, as the first room I entered had a large piece that made me laugh – a table and chairs almost identical to ours at home except blown up to maybe 5 times normal size. As I stood there looking up at the bottom of the table I thought how much it must resemble the view at home for our cat. I resisted the urge to jump up on it- I figured the guard might not lightly scold me and set me down with a scratch on the chin.
So, a week into tour I can report that the orchestra is playing well and traveling well. Even on the couple of hard days where we travel many hours then play a concert, the level of musicianship and courtesy displayed is inspiring. Welcome back, indeed.
Rick Stout, trombone
Kevin Switalski warming up in front of his travel trunk.
By Marisela Sager
As the task of packing for another tour is upon me, I thought I might share some of it: perhaps interesting for you and therapeutic for me.
The orchestra has wardrobe and instrument trunks that travel with us everywhere we tour. In them we pack our concert necessities: instruments, backup instruments, our concert black, sewing kit, lint roller (when you wear so much black…), etc. The orchestra will travel with approximately 92 trunks on this tour. We pack them up here in Cleveland and they appear again (thanks to our amazing stage managers and operations staff ) in Edinburgh.
Somehow before every tour the chore of packing sneaks up on me. Getting organized seems to be the hardest part.
Step 1: Do laundry!
When packing for a 2-3 week trip across multiple climates, you want to have all your options available.
Step 2: Go shopping for anything that’s missing
Usually this includes an attempt at finding the illusive stylish but comfortable walking shoe.
Marisela and Searan
Step 3: Air out the trunk and spray with Febreze
This step needs no further explanation!
Step 4: Be kind to your trunk mate
Wardrobe trunks are shared between two people. My trunk mate is the beautiful, talented, and charming Saeran St. Christopher…now I can check step 4 off my list.
Step 5: Pack it all in, knowing that you’re probably forgetting something!
~Marisela Sager, flute
Few musicians have as strong a claim to the title “Living Legend” as Pierre Boulez. From his notorious article Schoenberg Is Dead, to his founding of the Ensemble Intercontemporain, to his famed conducting, Boulez is, simply put, a giant.
He spoke with Cleveland Orchestra Musicians on a recent conducting trip to Cleveland:
Clockwise from top left: Mark Jackobs, Sonja Braaten, Alan Harrell, Scott Dixon, Martha Baldwin, Alicia Koelz, Brian Thornton, Joanna Patterson, Emma Shook, Lynne Ramsey. (Photo by Micah Leibowitz)
On a perfect August evening, 10 Cleveland Orchestra string players banded together to perform J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concert #3 for a variety of purposes. The event took place Friday, August 6th, at the Solon Arts Center under the stars (well, under a tent under the stars) and featured a wine tasting, hors d’oeuvres, and dinner as a fundraiser for the Solon Philharmonic. As well as wanting to support another musical arts organization in the Cleveland area, TCO musicians felt compelled to donate their services in honor of their former colleague, violinist Leon Lazarev, who passed away earlier this spring and whose name will be forever attached to the Solon Philharmonic’s concertmaster chair. And yet one more reason for TCO musicians’ involvement in the evening was the exciting announcement of Brian Thornton, cellist with The Cleveland Orchestra, who performed with the group, as the Solon Philharmonic’s Associate Conductor.
Sonja, Alicia, Brian, Martha and Lynne. (Photo by Micah Leibowitz)
The concert began with the first and third movements of Schubert’s Cello Quintet performed by Sonja Braaten and Alicia Koelz, violins, Lynne Ramsey, viola, and Brian Thornton and Martha Baldwin, cello. They were later joined by Emma Shook, violin, Mark Jackobs and Joanna Patterson, viola, David Alan Harrell, cello, and Scott Dixon, bass for the Brandenburg. Lydia Lazarev, Leon’s widow, was in attendance and was very touched by the musicians’ performance, saying, “Leon is smiling.”
Alfresco Friday was generously sponsored by Friends of Solon Center for the Arts as well as Solon Wine and Liquor. Local personality, John Rinaldi, served as emcee and the young cast from “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (SCA Summer Stock Theater) performed selections from the musical. Members of the Solon City Council present included Vice Mayor Lon Stolarsky, Bill Tusso, Bill Mooney, and Rick Bell.
On a personal note, I would like to thank my colleagues for donating their time, energy, and talent for this event. At one point in the Brandenburg, I looked around and thought to myself, (not for the first time in my tenure in this Orchestra!) how incredibly lucky I am to work and play music with such a wildly talented group of people.
–Sonja Braaten, violin
(Photo by Micah Leibowitz)
We had a strenuous, but beautiful ride to Blossom on Saturday, July 31. We gathered at Steelyard Commons & left around 10 am, after Mark Dumm spent a few minutes adeptly convincing the security guy that indeed we were not planning on partying in their parking lot all day! Mark was our fearless leader & organized the route, the food & the support vehicles, driven by Leslie Dumm & Emma Shook. Stopped several times to eat & drink, arriving at Blossom around 2:45 for the 3:30 rehearsal. It was a fun group, about 20 in all, including musicians, staff, family & even neighbors.
–Beth Woodside, violin