CIM Notes | Spring 2023

NOTEWORTHY

CIM honors Governing Members with special, star-studded concert

If any Governing Members wondered whether CIM values them, none do so now.

At a private concert and reception March 8 in honor of Governing Members, three distinguished members of CIM’s faculty offered undeniable proof in music that the school holds its public stakeholders in the highest possible regard.

CIM friendship blossoms over 50 years into epic musical triptych

Friendships formed at CIM have a way of yielding great art. Just look at Paul Yancich and James Oliverio

Out of their 50-year friendship came an astounding three concertos for timpani, a cycle loaded with personal meaning and a monumental addition to the repertoire.

“The idea of a trilogy never dawned on us, until it happened,” said Yancich (BM ’75, Duff/Weiner), co-head of the percussion department at CIM and principal timpanist of The Cleveland Orchestra since 1981.

Yancich and Oliverio (1974-75) connected at CIM. The young timpanist sought a new piece for a recital and Oliverio struck him as the ideal partner.

“I got the vibe he was hip, that working with him would be interesting,” Yancich recalled.

That hunch was correct. Oliverio quickly produced Dantreume Leu Pliska for timpani and amplified bass.

But that was just the beginning. Fifteen years later, Yancich again tapped Oliverio, this time on behalf of The Cleveland Orchestra. The result? Timpani Concerto No. 1, “The Olympian.”

The concert, presented to a full house composed of Governing Members, Trustees, faculty, staff and students, took place in Mixon Hall, CIM’s crown jewel for chamber music.

It was the first live event at CIM exclusively for Governing Members in at least three years. Governing Members are among CIM’s top supporters and serve the school as community ambassadors, bridgebuilders and event hosts.

Fittingly for such a special occasion, the music was first-rate. On stage were three legends, each a titan in his or her field: violinist Jaime Laredo, cellist Sharon Robinson and pianist Sergei Babayan. At the outset came a brief welcome by Peter Hussell, CIM’s chief development officer.

For the talent on hand, the program was an ideal showcase. Both string players performed a solo work with Babayan and then all three performed a trio together.

Laredo and Babayan got the evening off to a cheerful start with Mozart’s Violin Sonata in A Major, K. 305. After that came a sweeping performance by Robinson and Babayan of Hindemith’s Phantasiestück in B Major, Op. 8, No. 2.

Last but not least was Dvorˇák’s “Dumky” Piano Trio No. 4, Op. 90. Thus did a celebratory evening end with a feisty bang.

Next, two decades later, came Dynasty, a double concerto for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, commissioned by Yancich’s brother, Mark Yancich (BM ’78, Duff/Weiner).

The grand finale came in January 2023, when Yancich and The Cleveland Orchestra premiered Legacy Ascendant with conductor Alan Gilbert.

Ever since their student days, Yancich and Oliverio have had clear roles: One writes the music. The other plays it. The arrangement may be simple, but it has served them and the musical world at large exceptionally well.

“I just love that he helped me a lot and maybe I helped him a little, too,” Yancich reflected.

Sharon Robinson Sergei Babayan Jaime Laredo

Alan Gilbert conducts The Cleveland Orchestra in a performance of James Oliverio’s Legacy Ascendant, featuring CIM faculty member Paul Yancich.

PDFs of the current and past issues of Notes are available at cim.edu/news

P : 216.791.5000

E : marketing@cim.edu | cim.edu

2 Noteworthy

CIM honors Governing Members with special, star-studded concert

CIM friendship blossoms over 50 years into epic musical triptych

Temesi brothers find a musical home at CIM’s Academy

CIM lays welcome mat for first Edward and Gay Cull Addicott Presidential Scholar

A gathering to remember: CIM’s 2022 Annual Meeting

CIM mourns loss of vigorous supporter Barbara Robinson

CIM trumpets success of Blueprint:100 centennial strategic plan

CIM students share their talents at pop-up community events

CIM welcomes Kathleen Drohan as Chief Marketing Officer

CIM celebrates alumni success at 2023 Grammy Awards

Stage veteran JJ Hudson named interim Artistic Director of CIM Opera Theater

Future of Music Faculty Fellowship gets off to a warm, welcoming start

11 Features

CIM Opera Theater emerges from pandemic with newfound strength, inspiration

Admission coups bode well for future of classical music at CIM

Lincoln Scholarship for Voice blossoms with graduation of first winner

CIM student-teachers help Cleveland School of the Arts students find their voices

All content written by Zachary Lewis

Design by Roberta Bianchi

Photos by Timothy Bates, Clockwork9, Yevhen Gulenko, Roger Mastroianni, Robert Muller, Red Point Digital, Tanya Rosen-Jones, Abigayle Williams and Gregory Wilson

(Photo by Robert Muller)

Jennifer Call, associate dean of preparatory and public programs, leads a student choral group in the Academy at CIM.

NOTEWORTHY

Temesi brothers find a musical home at CIM’s Academy

If Michael and Myles Temesi’s 9-to-5 Saturday schedule sounds full, that’s because it is. It’s also just the way they like it.

As students in CIM’s new Academy, both see their Saturdays of making and learning about music in eurhythmics, composition and chamber music classes as the perfect cap to the week.

“I like having a day devoted to all the essentials,” said older brother Michael, a high-school junior and voice student of Dina Kuznetsova studying on the Helen L. Baker Memorial Scholarship. “For me, it works out perfectly.”

But it isn’t just the comprehensive, tailored nature of the Academy that makes the Temesis eager to spend their weekends at CIM. No, they’re also happy to study alongside their peers, among others seriously contemplating a life in music.

CIM lays welcome mat for first Edward and Gay Cull Addicott Presidential Scholar

When the 2023-24 school year begins at CIM, one lucky student will be there because of one uncommonly generous benefactor.

That benefactor? The late Gay Cull Addicott. Upon her death last August, Addicott’s estate made one of the largest gifts of its kind in CIM history, a fund endowing the Edward and Gay Cull Addicott Presidential Scholarship.

The fund, which takes effect next academic year, supports full tuition, room and board for one Conservatory student annually.

“CIM’s gratitude to Gay is beyond words,” said Erin Horan, CIM’s associate director of campaign gifts. “Even now, Gay is supporting CIM as she did in life: with distinction.”

As Horan notes, Addicott was a tireless advocate for CIM and a passionate lover of music dedicated to shaping the future of the art.

As Trustee and active committee member since 2000, Addicott used her background in business, finance and philanthropy to benefit CIM in some fashion almost every day. The school could not have had a more devoted colleague or a supporter more generous, wise or committed to music.

Addicott’s scholarship was far from her only significant gift to CIM. Over her career as a Trustee, Addicott regularly supported CIM with critical gifts to the Annual Fund. She also donated an antique square Steinway piano, now in use at 1609 Hazel, CIM’s student residence complex.

“Everywhere you look at CIM, you see the imprint of Gay Addicott,” Horan said. “Gay’s impact on this school was enormous and will continue to be felt here for generations to come.”

Michael and Myles Temesi

Gay Cull Addicott

At the Academy, which launched in fall 2022 and is now enrolling for next year, “There’s automatically a common interest,” said Myles, a sophomore pianist and saxophonist studying on the Mary Williams Rautenberg Memorial Scholarship with Allen Yueh (DMA ’20, Babayan/D. Shapiro) and Stanislav Golovin (BM ’09, MM ’11, Cohen). “Everyone is working and encouraging one another toward the same goal.”

Their favorite element of the Academy, however – besides sharing lunch at Dave’s Cosmic Subs – are the performances, a pillar of the Academy model.

Whether they’re in the audience or on stage, they said they find the opportunity to share music in a low-stress environment not only educational but inspiring.

“It’s very difficult to practice performance,” said Michael. “It’s just something you have to do.”

“I like having a day devoted to all the essentials,” said older brother Michael, a high-school junior and voice student of Dina Kuznetsova. “For me, it works out perfectly.”

A gathering to remember: CIM’s 2022 Annual Meeting

The festive mood at CIM’s 2022 Annual Meeting was fully warranted. There was much to celebrate.

Not only was the December 8 gathering in Mixon Hall the first in-person Annual Meeting for Governing Members in three years and the debut of nine new Trustees. It was the finale of a transformative year and a retirement party for one of CIM’s finest.

None who attended will forget the sendoff given Senior Vice President Eric Bower (MM ’82, Vassos). With kind words from President and CEO Paul Hogle and the presentation of a framed picture, CIM expressed its gratitude to Bower and his family for 40 years of devoted service.

All those years were encompassed in a review of Blueprint:100, CIM’s centennial strategic plan. In addition to the many artistic, academic and financial successes of 2022, CIM looked back on longer-term promises made and recently or soon to be fulfilled.

Among the many promises kept: new pianos, interior and exterior upgrades, Orchestra 2.0 and the Academy at CIM. CIM also lowered and froze tuition and took steps to become smaller, with an eye to eliminating tuition.

Most inspiring were words from Jonathan Martin, president and CEO of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In an address titled Less Talk, More Action: Leading the Charge for Diversity, he invited CIM to redouble its already robust efforts to diversify classical music.

“Each of us...can make a difference,” Martin said. “As leaders in our fields, we each have the ability to effect real change not only in Cincinnati or Cleveland but across Ohio, the Midwest and the entire country.”

Former CIM Senior Vice President Eric Bower acknowledges applause during a celebration of his career at the 2022 Annual Meeting.

NOTEWORTHY

CIM mourns loss of vigorous supporter Barbara Robinson

CIM lost one of its greatest champions and truest friends this spring with the passing of Barbara Robinson, 93. She died peacefully at home, surrounded by family, on March 22.

The loss for CIM is incalculable. Barbara’s affection and generosity for CIM knew no bounds. She was a Life Trustee, a donor and the source of much that continues to drive student success, including the Robinson Music Library and the Robinson Orchestral Career Fellowship.

Under Robinson’s watch as CIM’s first female board chair, from 1987-91, CIM completed an $11.3 million campaign, the largest the school had seen at that point. Later, she co-chaired the $40 million Campaign for CIM that resulted in Mixon Hall and the Lennon Education Building.

CIM trumpets success of Blueprint:100 centennial strategic plan

CIM’s completion of Blueprint:100 was big news, even if it didn’t make headlines.

What wasn’t there to celebrate? On all fronts within its centennial strategic plan, CIM achieved exactly what it intended and laid the foundation for unparalleled success in the future.

Among the most important achievements:

• With its tuition frozen, CIM today is both more affordable and more accessible than ever. At the same time, more students are receiving financial aid.

• CIM completed a three-year, $2.25 million investment in its physical property.

• Inspired by its founder, Ernest Bloch, CIM developed and launched the Academy at CIM, a comprehensive preparatory program that transforms young students into complete musicians.

• In the span of two years, CIM opened and purchased 1609 Hazel, its new residential and practice complex, enabling it to guarantee the very best in student housing.

• The world’s finest music students now have access to over 180 of the world’s finest pianos, after a five-year rejuvenation of its Steinway inventory and appointment of new piano technicians.

• Fewer students today are leaving CIM in debt while all are leaving with critical new career and entrepreneurship skills, through initiatives funded by generous contributions to CIM’s endowment.

• Throughout the term of Blueprint:100, and for many years prior, CIM reported a balanced budget. Over the same period, CIM’s annual budget and overall size trended downward, in keeping with its “moonshot” mission.

• Diversity at CIM has become the norm with the Musical Pathway Fellowship, Sphinx Performance Academy and Future of Music Faculty Fellowship.

CIM recently completed a three-year, $2.25 million investment in its physical property.

Barbara Robinson

CIM is far from the only entity feeling the loss. In four terms as chair of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, Robinson was instrumental in preserving the National Endowment for the Arts, which continues to support thousands.

She also led a generous Ohio Arts Council and had a hand in creating Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. For these and many other reasons, the Cleveland Arts Prize awarded Robinson a special citation in 2001.

“I cannot thank [Barbara] enough for the example she has set of humble leadership and unwavering dedication,” Rothmann recently told the board. “Her unflagging enthusiasm for our work has seen the future of classical music become the present.”

Board Chair

Susan Rothmann said Robinson’s legacy “will resound through the halls, practice rooms, concert stages and the boardroom [at CIM] for years to come.”

CIM students share their talents at pop-up community events

CIM students gave back to Cleveland in two unusual ways last fall. They ventured off campus to serenade voters at the polls and to sing to shoppers during the holidays.

Election night, November 8, came first. Sporting new CIM sweatshirts, a student brass quintet led by Artist Diploma student trumpeter Austin Cruz (MM ’22, Sachs) appeared at Cleveland’s Fairfax Recreation Center, surprising all but those who’d arranged it.

Voters and poll workers alike were delighted as the quintet, seated on a stage away from voting equipment, played through patriotic favorites including The Star-Spangled Banner, Battle Hymn of the Republic and When Johnny Comes Marching Home

Calm prevailed, but gratitude abounded. Applause erupted after every piece and several approached the stage to thank and chat with the musicians. Other poll locations may have been more crowded, but none had more joy.

The vibe was similar a month later at Legacy Village in Lyndhurst, when CIM voice students and staff led by Digital Content Manager Abigayle Williams (MM ’22, Schiller) treated shoppers to Christmas carols.

Bundled up against the cold, the singers exuded warmth as they performed favorites from holiday songbooks. So friendly were they, in fact, that several bystanders – including Santa and Mrs. Claus – accepted the invitation to join in the singing.

These were just two of the more exceptional ways CIM shared their gifts with Northeast Ohio last year. Many others helped revitalize CIM’s community concerts, a series of free student performances all over the region.

At CIM, it’s about more than talent. It’s about being good musical citizens. Stay tuned as CIM continues to explore new ways of engaging with the community.

Board Chair Susan Rothmann said Robinson’s legacy “will resound through the halls, practice rooms, concert stages and the boardroom [at CIM] for years to come.”

Current and former CIM students were joined by Santa and Mrs. Claus at their caroling event at Legacy Village in December.

NOTEWORTHY

CIM welcomes Kathleen Drohan as Chief Marketing Officer

Days before students returned for the spring semester, CIM welcomed Kathleen Drohan as its first chief marketing officer.

An award-winning storyteller and bridge-builder, Drohan arrived at CIM January 9 with a distinguished resume and long list of accomplishments involving prestigious cultural groups all over the country.

“I am thrilled to join CIM as they change the face of and create the future of classical music,” Drohan said. “I share their passion for creating new avenues and opportunities for young musicians, and I am excited to contribute to their continued success.”

Drohan came to Cleveland from Miami, where she oversaw messaging around pandemic programming and led robust efforts in video, social media and digital storytelling for the New World Symphony. She also established a partnership with GBH Boston and founded a South Florida collaborative called Miami Art Strong.

CIM celebrates alumni success at 2023 Grammy Awards

Sunday, February 5 was a great day for CIM. On the same day CIM hosted live auditions for the 2023-24 school year, projects featuring three CIM alumni won Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

Two CIM alums won prizes for their work on Shaw: Evergreen, winner for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance.

CIM’s recording arts and services director, Alan Bise (BM ’94, Knab), produced and engineered the album, while violinist Domenic Salerni (BM ’09, L. Cerone/Preucil) is a member of the Attacca Quartet, the album’s featured ensemble.

“I’m thrilled to bring home another Grammy Award to Cleveland,” Bise said. “My education at CIM and my teachers Tom Knab (BM ’81) and Bruce Egre (1985-87) provided the foundation for my professional success. My own students today, as well as my colleagues, inspire me daily. “

Pianist Michelle Cann (BM ’09, MM ’10, Schenly/D. Shapiro) wasn’t officially named for Best Orchestral Performance, but CIM regards her as a winner nonetheless.

On the winning album featuring the New York Youth Symphony in works by Price, Montgomery and Coleman, Cann is the featured soloist, along with conductor Michael Repper. CIM percussion student Angelo Antinori (Weiner/Yancich/Haddad) is a member of the ensemble.

Three other CIM-related projects received nominations: the Dover Quartet’s second Beethoven album, produced and engineered by Bise; Musical Remembrances by the Neave Trio, with pianist Eri Nakamura (PS ’08, AD ’11 Babayan/Pontremoli); and Bach: The Art of Life by pianist Daniil Trifonov (AC ’13, AD ’15, Babayan).

Congratulations to all for living out CIM’s standard of excellence and proving that CIM is the future of classical music.

Recording Arts and Services Director Alan Bise and his wife, Stefanie Paganini, on the red carpet at the 2023 Grammy Awards.

Kathleen Drohan

Before Miami, Drohan was marketing and communications director of New York’s Usdan Center for the Arts and launched an instrument drive for New York Public Radio, which collected over 6,000 instruments and inspired the film Joe’s Violin

Drohan also served as associate director of public relations for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and co-founded High 5 Tickets to the Arts. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College and an MBA from Fordham University.

Said President and CEO Paul Hogle: “With Kathleen on our staff, in our corner, we look forward to sharing the talents and accomplishments of our students and faculty with the world and drawing a brighter light onto the great things happening here in University Circle.”

“I share their passion for creating new avenues and opportunities for young musicians, and I am excited to contribute to their continued success.”

– Kathleen Drohan

Stage veteran JJ Hudson named interim Artistic Director of CIM Opera Theater

One voice in CIM Opera Theater now sounds a little more loudly than the others.

In spring 2023, CIM appointed Dr. JJ Hudson interim artistic director of its highly distinguished opera program.

Hudson, guest director of CIM’s recent production of Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, takes up the position in fall 2023.

“I jumped at the opportunity because of the excellent experience I had there,” Hudson said. “[W]e were able to make magic together at CIM because everybody was so invested.”

Scott Harrison, executive vice president and provost of CIM, said Hudson joins a robust slate of artistic leaders providing students with vital training and experience.

“[U]nder his leadership...our voice students will be even better positioned to fulfill their dreams and potential at CIM,” he said.

“I’m confident JJ Hudson will preserve CIM’s standards of artistic excellence,” added Mary Schiller, head of CIM’s opera division.

Hudson comes to CIM from Georgia State University, where he has taught since fall 2021. Before that, he guest directed with Sarasota Opera, Opera in the Heights and Opera Tampa.

Hudson also remains in demand at university and young-artist opera programs nationwide. CIM marks his first appointment at a conservatory.

Imagining the future of CIM Opera Theater, Hudson said he will continue pushing artistic boundaries and exploring new ways of fostering engagement. He said he’s excited for more collaborations like those he enjoyed directing Dialogues.

“I knew CIM was a special place almost immediately,” Hudson said. “The level of support...was the kind of involvement you dream about...It was such a pleasure.”

JJ Hudson has been appointed interim artistic director of CIM Opera Theater.

NOTEWORTHY Future of Music Faculty Fellowship

gets off to a warm, welcoming start

Right from the outset of this year’s Future of Music Faculty Fellowship (FMFF), Leaha Villarreal could tell she was in the right place.

Something about CIM facilitator Joan Maze and the vibe from her 11 colleagues, whom she met at the SphinxConnect conference in Detroit, told her this was a special group destined for great things.

“Everyone was so talented and so accomplished, but also so humble,” recalled Villareal. “There were no egos anywhere. I was grateful to be in the room.”

That welcoming vibe was highly intentional. Everything about the FMFF, now in its second cohort, is designed to help Black and Latinx professionals further their music careers in academia.

That gathering at the SphinxConnect conference in Detroit was the first of six remote or in-person meetings under the FMFF banner featuring expert presentations and discussions on the art of navigating the academic ladder as one’s authentic self.

“There are a lot of ways I could go right now, and no one’s forcing us to be this or that,” said Villareal, a doctoral candidate in composition at the University of Southern California. “I value the holistic picture I’m getting from CIM.”

Even better are the friends she’s making. By the end of the program, when the group convenes at CIM, Villareal predicts she’ll be part of a robust support network on which all can rely.

“We’re finding our next paths together,” she said. “There’s the understanding that we’re all here to help each other. However we advance, we won’t advance alone.”

The 2023 Future of Music Faculty Fellows. Top row, left to right: Adan Fernandez, Alicia Romero-Sardiñas, Ana Laura González and April Hamm; Middle: Christophe Jackson, Sakinah Davis, Luís Armando Rivera and Demetrius Robinson; Bottom: Emorja Roberson, Hermann Hudde Chacin, Leaha Maria Villarreal and Danielle Davis

FEATURE

CIM

Opera Theater

emerges from pandemic with newfound strength, inspiration

If CIM Opera Theater were an opera character, it would without question be a hero or heroine.

Just consider the last few years. Facing unprecedented obstacles, CIM Opera Theater played the part of the protagonist and overcame them handily, emerging not only victorious but also stronger than ever.

“The pandemic was a specific challenge for singers everywhere,” said mezzo-soprano Carlyle Quinn (Schiller), a second-year master’s student at CIM. “You saw it on every level.”

“Now, though, I think everybody sees a lot of promise. Everybody is working really hard and excited to bring opera back to audiences.”

The difficulties posed by the pandemic were truly legion. While many instrumentalists were able to gather and perform in relative safety by donning masks, singers had few such options. Meanwhile, new virus variants and ever-changing masking guidelines made

scheduling a production nearly impossible.

And yet the vocal show had to go on, especially at CIM, where gathering, collaborating and performing together are integral to the curriculum. Indeed, opera is at the heart of CIM’s vocal program. Every student participates, to some extent or another.

“You can’t replace being on stage, looking at a conductor and an orchestra,” said CIM Vocal Coach and Opera Managing Director François Germain. “Those are all skills that need to be honed and mastered and put all together in school. It’s very valuable, pedagogically.”

Luckily, CIM remained like a true hero or heroine: undaunted. Unwilling and unable to go into hibernation beyond the initial lockdown, the brilliant minds in the school’s voice and opera department put their heads together (figuratively, of course) and devised some of the most inventive work-arounds in the field.

The simplest solution, staging performances outdoors, which the company did twice, was possible in warm, dry weather. The rest of the pandemic in Cleveland called for technological intervention, and a certain degree of boldness.

Thus appeared expertly designed pairs of high-tech, zero-latency studios, allowing singers and pianists to work together in real time, and a live presentation of scenes from operas with Shakespeare texts specially conceived and filmed for a remote audience.

The pinnacle in this vein was a live production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, mounted and filmed last spring at a warehouse on Cleveland’s west side. With that, conceived by Dean Southern (DMA ’09, Schiller), vice president for academic and student affairs (and a former singer), CIM Opera Theater did more than just solve a critical problem. It created a whole new genre and gave CIM students the musical and technological experience of a lifetime, including exposure to the practice of lip-synching.

“I consider Dido to be one of my greatest achievements at CIM,” said Harry Davidson, conductor and music director of CIM Opera Theater. “It was very gratifying. I love what we got out of that.”

Dido aside, some of the most glorious moments in recent years came in November 2022, when CIM Opera Theater returned to the stage and live audiences returned to Kulas Hall for Massenet’s Cendrillon, guest directed by Cara Consilvio, the school’s first full, live production since the pandemic.

Talk about a fairy tale. In the veritable blink of an eye, normality was restored. Students were back in Kulas Hall, in some cases on that stage for the first time, without masks, sharing their talent with people they could see, with Davidson and members of the CIM Orchestra right there beneath them. It was magical.

“It felt new for everyone,” Germain said. “I think we all had forgotten and really missed what it’s like, to manage what you get from an audience. It’s a reaction that’s organic and

Jiayin Shi (MM ’21, Southern/Blumberg) starred as Aeneas in CIM Opera Theater’s production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas

FEATURE

genuine, and it can be unexpected. I think it came together beautifully.”

Critics agreed. One review, in Cleveland Classical, called Cendrillon a “beautifully produced” presentation featuring “charm and flair” as well as “clear and elegant” singing.

Nowhere is this unique collegiality more evident than on the stage. With every production, program directors strive to set up every student for success and to provide every member of the company with valuable hands-on experience.

Part of what made the pandemic so difficult for CIM Opera Theater stemmed from what makes the program so special in the first place.

Of all the departments at CIM, voice is arguably the closest-knit, the one in which teachers and students form the tightest bonds. Unfortunately, to quote a common wedding sermon, it also proved one uncommonly difficult to put asunder, even temporarily.

Davidson, who also teaches at Duke University, said CIM Opera Theater stands apart from other conservatory opera programs on the bases of both size and focus. Each of the approximately 45 voice students receive the undivided attention and support of their teacher, and the students themselves treat each other as peers, no matter their age, school level or voice type.

“We have a real team here,” said Mary Schiller, head of CIM’s voice department. “Everything we do, we do together. We respect each other as colleagues, and that applies to both teachers and students.”

In practice, that means double-casting major roles and allowing both to perform at least once, filling choruses and other smaller roles with students, giving students a shot at stage management, and asking all students to help with set and lighting constructing and set moving. In this way, CIM Opera Theater becomes a true ensemble.

“They see the belly of the beast,” Germain explained. “It’s not like taking a class. It’s a much more personal and deeper connection. This is what makes the opera life enjoyable. You have that sense of a stage family.”

Being together as singers, though, wasn’t all CIM voice students missed during the

pandemic. They also felt the absence of another entity that distinguishes CIM from other opera programs: the CIM Orchestra.

Unlike other troupes, including many professional companies, CIM Opera Theater collaborates with the CIM Orchestra, a dedicated, high-level orchestra capable of playing anything. The company’s list of recent productions includes everything from Handel and Rameau to Mozart, Puccini and Strauss, not to mention contemporary composers.

“To sing with an ensemble of that caliber is very much a privilege,” said Davidson, a conductor who himself boasts 40-plus years in opera. “That kind of experience is invaluable.”

All these resources came into play as CIM Opera Theater approached Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, its mainstage production of spring 2023. Ten years after premiering the opera at CIM in English, the company mounted a new production in its original French.

That fact was more significant than it may sound. French, said Germain, is “often the language singers fear the most, and the trickiest initially.” What’s more, Dialogues is loaded with it; its 12 scenes are heavily steeped in a literary work by Georges Bernanos. Thankfully, Germain, one of the school’s vocal coaches, is a native speaker and lyric diction expert.

Dialogues is also just about as non-fictional as opera can be. The work tells the powerful true story of a group of Carmelite nuns

Emma Nossem (MM ’20, AD ’22, Schiller) used a green screen in a portion of her role as a witch in CIM Opera Theater’s production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas

Mezzo-soprano Carlyle Quinn starred as Madame de Croissy in CIM Opera Theater’s recent production of Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites

during the French Revolution who opt for the guillotine rather than renounce their faith.

“It’s an intense piece and a strong piece of theater,” said JJ Hudson, interim artistic director of CIM Opera Theater. “The text is always right there, clear and up front.”

Another challenge in a heavily textual work like Dialogues is that of spacing, of figuring out where to put so many characters and what to have them do while others are speaking.

Hudson said he solved this problem with a multi-level set design, one that allows the characters to move around freely and observe each other from a range of different perspectives. What’s more, by constructing the set out of wood, he introduced a sense of instability and evoked the scaffolding on which the nuns eventually took their last steps.

“The end was there right from the beginning,” Hudson said. “Everything was about to fall.”

Quinn, who sang the role of Madame de Croissy, praised Hudson for that concept. She said she took inspiration from the set, seeing in it and the opera itself poignant echoes of recent events and her own life as an aspiring musician.

Those platforms? To her, they represented not only the stratification among the nuns

but also the isolation many experienced during the pandemic. Meanwhile, as a voice student, she felt special sympathy for her character’s devotion.

“It’s her vocation,” Quinn said. “It’s a similar process of dedication and making sacrifices. That’s how I found myself in the work. It’s a great piece to come back with.”

Of course, Quinn would have been happy to come back, almost no matter the opera.

She came to CIM during the pandemic to perform at Kulas Hall but only recently got the pleasure of singing for a live audience

in that space. The fact that Dialogues also played to her strengths, to her passions for acting and physical expression, only made the experience that much more rewarding.

Madame de Croissy may not have been the heroine of the tale, but Quinn, the CIM student, still felt a sense of victory for herself and for her colleagues.

“It was a real breath of life,” she said. “Just to get to play again, to be on stage, was really awesome.”

In the memorable final scene of Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, CIM Opera Theater students collapsed one by one in pools of red light.

CIM voice student Kiana Lilly (BM ’22, Schiller), center, joins Imani Severin (Schiller), left, and Nola Tan (Kuznetsova) in a scene from the recent production of Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites by CIM Opera Theater.

FEATURE Admission coups bode well for future of classical music at CIM

CIM welcomed hundreds of new applicants and their families during Audition Days in February.

Like a crocus flower in early spring, the admission department is the bellwether of a bright future at CIM.

As the pandemic wanes, CIM’s gatekeeper is back at full strength and seeing applications and auditions reclaim or even surpass previous levels.

Together, like that flower emerging from the cold ground, these developments portend not just one but many wonderful seasons ahead, both for the department and the school as a whole.

“We’re moving in the right direction,” said Fred Peterbark, dean of enrollment and aid at CIM. “We are in a position now to be successful through the next several cycles.”

The surest sign that good things await was the 2023 application and audition process, which wrapped in February.

Fueled by a combination of pent-up dreams, new willingness to travel and the school’s elite status, gifted young musicians around

the world bombarded CIM last winter with more than 1,100 applications. That’s almost 200 more than was normal before the pandemic.

They hailed from an unusually wide range, too. Represented by those 1,100 applicants were 45 of 50 US states, 39 countries and six of the globe’s seven continents.

“We’re right back where we used to be, or even exceeding that,” said Tyler Niemeyer (MM ’18, Yancich), assistant director of admission. “It speaks to the reputation of CIM and the education people know they can get here.”

Even more telling were the auditions that ensued over each of the four weekends in February.

Out of those 1,100 applicants, 675 were invited to audition. That equated to a selectivity rate of 60 percent, some 10 to 15 percent higher than normal. Importantly, the percentage of applicants who identified

as Black or Latinx was mirrored in those invited to audition, indicating a lack of bias.

What’s more, most of those 675 candidates opted to audition live, as opposed to remote. This unusual development was welcome news to Peterbark, who said he regarded each live audition as a show of genuine interest in CIM and an opportunity to evaluate a student fairly.

Live auditions “put everyone on an equal playing field,” Peterbark said. “For students, it’s important to see where you may spend the next several years of your life. For us, it lets us trust our ears and know there was no manipulation of what we heard.”

The biggest unknowns in spring 2023 were of course who would be offered spots and who would accept and enroll. And yet, even within those questions, there were signs of new life, evidence that the admission department and CIM in general are much different places than they used to be.

One of the most significant signs relates to tuition and affordability. It wasn’t just pent-up dreams that drove more students to apply to CIM this year. It also was the fact that CIM’s tuition has not increased since 2018, even as the number and size of scholarships has increased dramatically. In other words, never has a CIM education been more affordable or more attractive.

Another is class size. As CIM pursues its tuition-free vision, the number of students it accepts every year is decreasing over the long term. Already, since 2018, the number of incoming students has dropped from 166 to about 139. This makes CIM more exclusive and its graduates more likely to find desirable employment in a rapidly changing world.

“We’re able to be as selective as we want to be,” Niemeyer said. “That’s the kind of environment students should want to be in. If you come here, the odds are in your favor. It’s a good bet.”

This, too, has an effect on admission, injecting new but inspiring artistic variables into an already complex equation. Now, the admission team coordinates with faculty to

see that CIM enrolls enough players of every instrument to completely staff two fullsized orchestras capable of playing anything from Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire to an epic Bruckner symphony.

So far, the new arrangement is going well. In the current cycle, Peterbark said, every major instrument had double-digit representation.

“We want to keep all the options on the table,” he said. “That means it can be hard to give firm answers to what would seem to be easy questions. There’s much that we don’t control.”

Some of the best news – maybe the best news – in the admission department of late relates to staffing. Following several recent appointments, the department in early 2023 was fully staffed for the first time since before the pandemic.

Today, in addition to Peterbark and Niemeyer, the team includes Rachel Rose (PS ’22, Kuznetsova), admission counselor and summer programs manager; Jessica Martin (BM ’20, MM ’22, Kondonassis), admission

events coordinator; and Daniel Shiu, admission and financial aid assistant.

As the department looks to reach ambitious new goals, it’s “freeing” to be at full strength, Niemeyer said. “We can do all the things we want and have the firepower to do them,” he said.

Having a new, larger staff is already paying dividends. One of the reasons CIM received 1,100 applications in the last cycle is that staff were on hand to communicate with and encourage each interested student.

“It’s all about follow-up,” Peterbark said. “Every student just wants to know that the school is interested in them.”

The same held true all four Sundays in February, when CIM conducted live auditions. Fully staffed, the admission team was able to conduct smooth, productive events including lunches provided by Partners for CIM and provide a human touch that made each auditioner and family member or guest feel welcome.

While students put their talents on display, with their futures in the balance, Niemeyer paused to reflect on all that he was seeing and hearing: fresh buds of musical life, signs of beautiful seasons ahead at CIM.

“The energy when hundreds of students and their families are all here, all full of hope, it’s so inspiring to see,” he said. “You’re seeing the future unfold in real time.”

Student Ella Golden (violin, Lee) gives a tour to prospective students during CIM’s Audition Days.

Current Conservatory students staffed the “relaxation room” during CIM’s Audition Days in February.

FEATURE

Lincoln Scholarship for Voice blossoms with graduation of first winner

A philanthropic seed planted at CIM five years ago is now actively bearing fruit in the form of a young artist poised for greatness.

That artist? Mezzo-soprano Carlyle Quinn

She’s on the brink of a brilliant career and it’s due in large part to an estate bequest from the late Mrs. Emma Lincoln, the root of the scholarship that has funded Quinn’s education at CIM.

“I hold it as a high honor to be the first recipient of the Emma Lincoln Scholarship for Voice,” said Quinn, a student of Mary Schiller. “My continued studies with CIM’s incredible faculty and completion of my Master of Music would not have been possible without this generous gift.”

Sadly, Quinn never met Mrs. Lincoln before

her death in 2017, but it’s not hard to imagine the two hitting it off. Cathy Lincoln, Mrs. Lincoln’s daughter, said her mother, an amateur singer, had a deep and abiding love for opera and did everything she could to support it.

She didn’t just quiet the house on Saturdays, during broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera. She also traveled to catch live performances and served or gave to organizations that produced or taught opera.

At CIM, where she served as a Trustee, Mrs. Lincoln went out of her way to help voice students, regularly inviting them to her home.

“There were always students here,” recalled Miss Lincoln, one of six Lincoln children and a lover of music, who along with her brother David has extended her mother’s legacy by

giving to CIM’s Annual Fund. “Our family was all about education, but music brought mom special joy. She was always very supportive of it.”

That devotion was all the more remarkable given Mrs. Lincoln’s day job. In addition to working on behalf of CIM and other Cleveland arts organizations, Mrs. Lincoln founded and ran a law firm and served for a time as Assistant Attorney General of Ohio.

“She was quite a remarkable person,” Miss Lincoln said.

Mezzo-soprano Carlyle Quinn starred as Madame de Croissy in CIM Opera Theater’s recent production of Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites She is the first recipient of the Emma Lincoln Scholarship for Voice.

Much the same also might be said of Quinn. Her portrayal of the Prioress in CIM’s February production of Dialogues of the Carmelites more than proved her worthiness of the scholarship, capturing the attention of critics and listeners alike. One review described Quinn’s performance as “riveting... one of the outstanding moments in the first act.”

“I think she’s going to have a fabulous career,” Miss Lincoln said.

Meanwhile, what’s certain is that Quinn is only the beginning. She’s just the first talent in a long line of future stars nurtured at CIM by one generous, broadly impactful gift.

“I am so looking forward to seeing how this scholarship shapes the next generation of singers,” Quinn said. “I believe that CIM is extremely lucky.”

FEATURE

CIM student-teachers help Cleveland School of the Arts students find their voices

If Cleveland School of the Arts teacher

Robert McCorvey had one wish, it would be for a cloning machine.

His first subject?

Savanna Butcher (Schiller), the CIM voice student who visits his classes every week through an initiative funded by the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.

Butcher, he said, one of several CIM studentteachers at CSA, significantly deepens his impact by providing what his public-school students need most, the one thing he himself can’t offer: private voice lessons.

“Anytime someone can come in and give them time on a one-on-one basis, it’s a wonderful thing,” McCorvey explained. “I wish we could have her here every single day.”

Butcher, of course, does her best.

As a full-time master’s student, Butcher’s ability to spend 20 or 30 minutes with each of McCorvey’s singers is limited. Still, she typically manages to visit CSA twice a week, and thereby to see each of the school’s 50plus choir participants two or three times a semester. Every year, CIM students spend up to 1,000 hours teaching at CSA.

“I feel like I’ve built a pretty good rapport with them,” said Butcher. “Remembering all their names is tough, but I feel like I’m helping them think about themselves differently and believe that yes, they can do this.”

Such would appear to be the case. In brief late-March lessons with two students, preparing for an end-of-semester recital,

Butcher coaxed two relatively quiet singers out of their shells and made noticeable progress on matters of expression, phrasing and tone in an art song.

The lessons may be short, but “Even a little individualized attention is really beneficial,” Butcher said.

McCorvey couldn’t agree more. After working with Butcher, he said, his students are more productive at home and audibly more confident and capable on stage, in both group and solo settings. They also look forward to her next lesson, to showing their CIM teacher artist what they’ve accomplished.

“When she’s not here, the students ask for her,” McCorvey said.

The high schoolers aren’t the only winners in CIM’s arrangement with CSA. Butcher,

too, benefits, deriving both enjoyment and professional development from her time teaching.

Some of the up-shots are obvious, she said: a nice line on her resume, extra income, a flexible work schedule.

Others, though, have caught her by surprise, and may in fact be more valuable. Among them: making new friends and professional connections, witnessing student success, and gaining real-world skill as a teacher.

All the way around, Butcher said, “It’s a quality experience, I would say.”

Savanna Butcher, seated at the piano, coaches a voice student at Cleveland School of the Arts.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Scott Price: Special devotion to students with special needs

All it took to change his life was a few bars from The Phantom of the Opera.

That music, played and sung by a young girl who otherwise barely spoke, inspired pianist and teacher Scott Price (MM ’91, Hecht) to devote himself to students with special needs.

“When a student with profound autism and other developmental delays invites you into their world, it is a marvelous thing and an opportunity to learn from a master teacher,” says Price, coordinator of piano pedagogy at the University of South Carolina School of Music.

“It’s the music that is the doorway. Music is the way we reach the person. Music is the way we may all grow and become better as people.”

10 or 11 years old at the time she played Phantom, the girl who changed Price is now an adult, and music, Price is proud to say, remains part of her life.

Price, meanwhile, has gone on to become one of America’s preeminent pedagogues, a widely published author and composer and the force behind a nationwide effort to cultivate music in the lives of those left behind by traditional forms of music education.

For this reason, Price is the winner of CIM’s 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award, the latest in a long string of CIM graduates using their talents to bring about significant change. He’ll receive the prize at CIM’s 2023 Commencement Ceremony in May, along with violinist Diana Cohen (BM ’01, MM ’11, Kantor/Smirnoff/Preucil/ Weilerstein), winner of CIM’s 2023 Alumni Achievement Award.

“To be recognized leaves you stunned,” says Price, whose full title at USC is Carolina Distinguished Professor of Music.

“It’s really humbling, just to be a part of the CIM tradition. It inspires me and drives home the need to keep up that tradition the best

that I can. There is a duty to emulate the people who gave so freely to the next generation.”

In terms of upholding CIM tradition, Price is unquestionably doing an excellent job.

Soon after working with his first specialneeds student, Price began receiving calls from others like her, from parents or teachers of students with a wide array of physical or learning disabilities. Some came to him with vision or hearing challenges, others with Down syndrome, autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

All of them wanted the same thing: for their child to be taken seriously, for their child to enjoy all the same cognitive, social and emotional benefits of studying music that other children do.

“Teachers really want to help these children and they’re hungry for information,” Price says.

Certainly, Price was eager to help.

Throughout his musical life, which includes performing solo and training pianists of all ages and abilities (he specializes in the art of improvisation), Price has espoused a welcoming philosophy. The motto at his studio was and remains the open, Southernstyle invitation, “Y’all come.”

“All people are born with music aptitude,” says Price, a native of Northwest Ohio who studied at Bowling Green State University before enrolling at CIM. “Music aptitude doesn’t discriminate, and we shouldn’t, either. Teachers just need to know how to adapt their instruction for every individual student.”

When it came to special needs students, however, Price found he was largely on his own. Surveying the field for literature and best practices – any advice, really – he discovered that very little had been written on the subject.

Thus began a long, ongoing process of filling the gap. A regular speaker at music teaching conventions and a widely published author of journal articles, piano works and instructional recordings, Price gradually parlayed his new experiences with special-needs students into

Pianist, composer and educator Scott Price is the winner of CIM’s 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award.

The Inclusive Teaching Course, the first comprehensive online course for piano teachers in the autism arena.

He also founded at USC the Carolina LifeSong Initiative, a group dedicated to providing piano lessons and musical experiences to students with special needs and offering specialized training to teachers. Now available is Price’s new book, Autism and Piano Study: A Basic Teaching Vocabulary.

“We’ve been able to build a community,” Price says. “We’ve been able to develop best practices and disseminate research. These students who might have been overlooked have been the force behind that.”

Community is an apt word for Price’s current and former students. While not all have kept up with piano, all have gone on to grow as people and to become living testaments to the power of music and Price’s teaching.

Some transitioned from their studies with Price into adult living centers. Others have enrolled at other schools, there to study

music or other subjects. One student is still with Price after 13 years, while another, who is deaf, earned advanced degrees with papers on hearing impairment. Another doctoral student who is dyslexic has made improvement in music study for students with dyslexia the focus of her research.

A few even found their way to the stage. Some of Price’s college students have performed with the University of South Carolina Symphony and presented papers at national and international conferences. One, with autism, was highlighted on national news.

“I just love seeing people grow and reach their goals,” Price says. “I try never to think about my own gratification. It must always be about the student in every way.”

One reason Price is so keen to help others is that he himself grew up through music. Whether it was by Thomas Hecht, his primary teacher at CIM, or his pedagogy teacher, the late “Miss Olga,” Price says he was nurtured at every turn.

Some of the most pivotal events transpired outside the classroom. Price says he’ll never forget the time a CIM teacher, Vitya Vronsky, commended him for undertaking Chopin’s daunting Piano Sonata No. 3 or the invaluable experience he gained performing with Cleveland-area ensembles.

“I’ve been blessed with a lot of supportive mentors,” he says. “All of those opportunities just kept building upward and outward and really prepared me for everything to come.”

Looking back, Price notes that while the blossoming of his first special-needs student was indeed life-changing, the real fork in the road appeared shortly before that, when the girl’s family inquired with him about lessons. He needn’t have taken on the challenge, but he did, and that has made all the difference.

“I knew I had to say yes to that first phone call,” Price says. “Investing in a child is always the right thing to do.”

Pianist and composer Scott Price has devoted himself in recent years to the training of students with special needs, and their teachers.

ALUMNI NEWS

Have some news? Visit cim.edu/alumni and click the Share Your News button. News is accepted on an ongoing basis and may be held until the next issue.

Alumni

Susan Bengtson (BM ’16, Irvine) was appointed adjunct professor of viola at Carthage College.

Constance Bergmann (BM ’80 Goler/ Kurzban) has joined the Oakton Six Piano Ensemble based in Chicago, IL.

Daniel Bradley (BM ’02, Bishop) is a featured member of Bedlam Brass on the group’s recently released first album, Exit Seeking Behavior.

Rebecca Cafarelli (MM ’04, Clouser) was named one of Musical America’s Top Professionals of the Year for 2022, honoring her work at Chicago-based Third Coast Percussion.

Jessica Chancey (BM ’21, Fink) won the third flute/piccolo audition at the Louisville Orchestra.

Meredith Clark (MM ’10, Kondonassis) takes up her new post as solo/principal harp with the Royal Swedish Opera in fall 2023.

Matthew Cohen (BM ’11, Irvine) has joined the internationally renowned Formosa Quartet.

Nicolas Constantinou (MM ’01, Shapiro), piano, released his first solo album, Metavasis, on Odradek Records.

Hannah Duncan (BM ’22, Lee), violin, was selected to train and perform with the London Symphony Orchestra for ten days.

Even Fein (BM ’07, Brouwer) won The American Prize in Composition, COVID works division, for his piece, Greenport, Long Island: A Socially-Distanced Diva

Ryan Finefrock (MM ’14, Clouser) was appointed orchestra personnel assistant at The Cleveland Orchestra.

Gilbert Galindo (MM ’06, Brouwer/Long), composer, released his debut album, Terrestrial Journeys, on Neuma Records.

Ralitsa Georgieva-Smith (PS ’06, Pontremoli), piano, performed with three students at Carnegie Hall after winning the 2022 BMTG Intercontinental Music Competition.

Daphne Gerling (MM ’01, Ramsey/Irvine), viola, won the Fredell Lack Outstanding Young Studio Teacher Award from the Texas String Teachers Association.

Kimia Ghaderi (MM ’15, Preucil) was appointed assistant principal second violin of the Grand Rapids Symphony.

Gunnar Owen Hirthe (PS ’13, Cohen) was appointed solo clarinet of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble.

Timothy Michael Kalil (BM ’74, MM ’76, Podis/Radunsky) appears in the PBS documentary Engineering Tragedy, The Ashtabula Train Disaster of 1876

Peter Kjome (BM ’89, Mack) was named president and CEO of The Phoenix Symphony.

Elisabeth Kufferath (BM ’92, Weilerstein) performed the Albert Dietrich Violin Concerto with the Austin Symphony Orchestra and conductor Peter Bay.

Rachel Kribbs (MM ’09, Clouser) was promoted to director of new business at The FORM Group, a digital marketing firm for nonprofits.

Zachary Litty (MM ’22, Hawes) won the bass trombone audition at the Toledo Symphony Orchestra.

Michael Lu (BM ’22, Pompa-Baldi), piano, was selected by Maria João Pires to attend the Partitura residency at the Gilmore School in Kalamazoo, MI.

Maxim Moston (BM ’93, MM ’95, Danchenko/ Updegraff/Weilerstein) served as music director of Vysotsky+Dylan: The Summit, a symposium about Bob Dylan and Vladimir Vysotsky.

Kelly Mozeik (BM ’12, Rosenwein) was named principal oboe of the Charleston Symphony.

Emma Nossem (MM ’20, AD ’22, Schiller), mezzo-soprano, took second place at the Vann Vocal Institute in January.

Ashley Odom (MM ’20, O. Kaler) was appointed to the first violin section of the Nashville Symphony, beginning this fall.

Timothy Peters (BM ’01, Preucil) was appointed associate concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.

Elise Richard (AD ’89, Babayan/Vronsky/ Babin) will teach at four European festivals in summer 2023: the Academie Internationale de Musique de Colombes, Talent Summer Courses, Music Fest Perugia and Euro Music Festival.

Rick Robinson (BM ’86, Angell) saw the premiere of his Chaconne: For Interesting Times by the Canton Symphony Orchestra.

Grace Roepke (BM ’19, MM ’21, Kondonassis) won the audition for principal harp at the Louisville Orchestra.

Sharon Mautner-Rodgers (BM ’89, Geber) was chosen to be a sabbatical replacement at Drake University.

Jessica Ryou (MM ’14, Preucil) joined the first violin section of the North Carolina Symphony.

Michael Schaner (MM ’12, Wilson) was appointed university organist, organ professor and collaborative keyboard artist at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI.

Chee-Hang See (MM ’16, S. Shapiro) was featured on the Centaur Records album Spanish Journey

Sami Seif (BM ’21, Fitch/Reese) was commissioned by Barbara Yahr and the Greenwich Village Orchestra to write a violin concerto for Benjamin Lerman.

Eric Sung (BM ’97, Geber) performed concertos by Dobrinka Tabakova and Anna Clyne with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, where he is the principal cello.

Alexandra Switala (2018-20, I. Kaler) won second prize at the 2023 Sphinx Competition.

Brian Thornton (PS ’94, Geber), cello, organized a benefit concert for victims of the Turkey and Syria earthquakes featuring members of The Cleveland Orchestra. He also released Sirventès, an album featuring members of the Iranian Female Composers Association.

Mary Vanhoozer (DMA ’13, D. Shapiro), piano, released the album Under the Birchwood Tree: Music of John Playford and John Hilton.

Elisa Wicks (BM ’01, MM ’03, Cerone/ Rose/Duffin) was appointed to the faculty at Colorado College, where she will direct the Collegium Musicum early music ensemble.

Students

Angelo Antinori (timpani/percussion, Wiener/ Yancich/Haddad) was featured on the Grammy-nominated debut album by the New York Youth Symphony.

Kelsey Berg (organ, Wilson) and JoEllen West (organ, Wilson) were co-winners of the annual Organ Scholar Playing Competition at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Evanston, IL.

Zachary Brandon (violin, Laredo/Rose) earned honorable mention at the 2023 Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition.

Several CIM students won prizes in Tuesday Musical Association’s 2023 Scholarship Competition: Alisa Crueger-Cain (trumpet, Sachs), first in Brass; Austin Cruz (MM ’22, Sachs), second in Brass; Matias Cuevas (piano, D. Shapiro), first in Piano; Benjamin Mekinulov (cello, Kraut), first in Strings; and Kiana Lilly (BM ’22, Schiller), first in Voice.

Daniel Dorsey (cello, Kraut) won first prize at the Tennessee Cello Competition, which included a cash prize and use of a $125,000 cello for one year.

Chris Jenkins (viola, Ramsey/Irvine) was named a Room in the House fellow at Karamu House in Cleveland.

Alex Moiseev (composition, Fitch) won the Marvin Hamlisch International Music Award for Classical Composition (Youth).

Sol Rizzato (organ, Wilson) has accepted a full-time management position with the Muller Pipe Organ Company in Columbus, OH. Rizzato also won a Biggs Fellowship with the Organ Historical Society.

Tristan Wilson (viola/composition, Jackobs/ Fitch) won first prize in the Cleveland Composers Guild Competition.

Preparatory

Daniel Colaner (organ, Wilson) received the first prize and Bach Prize at the East Carolina University Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance. He also earned his Service Playing Certification from the American Guild of Organists and the National Association of Pastoral Musicians.

Olivia Fritz (flute, Ruby-Kushious) was the winner of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra’s 2022-23 Concerto Competition. As a result, she will perform with COYO at Severance Music Center in January 2024.

Elora Kares (voice/cello, Stauch/Li) was a featured composer and performer on the NPR series Daily Joy.

Kobby Owusu (piano, Yang) was the runnerup in CIM’s 2022-23 Preparatory Concerto Competition.

Travis Phillips (double bass, Rowell) and Nicholas Garrett (clarinet, Golovin) took part in the National Pathways Festival and Annual Convening in Cincinnati last March.

Rhea Singh (voice, Call) was a semi-finalist at the Butler University Vocal Competition in February.

Fiona Tsang (cello, Weiss) won the Euclid Symphony Orchestra’s 2022-23 Tom Baker Young Artists Competition and performed Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 with the group in April.

Faculty

Keith Fitch (composition) saw the premiere of his composition still by the Grossman Ensemble at the Logan Center for the Arts in Chicago.

Mary LeRouge (writing) presented a paper at the annual Conference on College Composition and Communication in Chicago in February.

Jeremy Paul, CIM interdisciplinary artist-inresidence, won lighting designer of the year from the Cleveland Critics Circle for his work on The Thin Place at Dobama Theatre.

Antonio Pompa-Baldi (piano) performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 10 with the Lviv National Philharmonic in February at Cuyahoga Community College.

Julia Russ (piano, PS ’12, PS ’14, Radosavljevich/Pontremoli) received Steinway’s 2022 Top Teacher Award, her third recognition from Steinway & Sons.

Gerardo Teissonnière (piano, BM ’85, MM ’89, Vronsky) was included in AllMusic’s Best Albums of 2022 with his recording, The Last Sonatas

Charles Angell passed away Dec. 16, 2022. He was founder and president of the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, a lead supporter of CIM’s Musical Pathway Fellowship.

William Blair passed away Feb. 2, 2023. He was a staunch supporter of arts organizations across Ohio and a CIM Trustee.

Gladys Cavell passed away Nov. 15, 2022. She and her husband David endowed a named scholarship at CIM. She was a member of CIM’s 1920 Society.

David Deioma passed away Jan. 21, 2023. He was the husband of CIM Trustee Emeritus Rosemary Deioma.

Shirley Donley passed away Jan. 14, 2023. She was the wife of CIM Trustee Emeritus Terry Donley, who spearheaded major construction projects at CIM.

Donald Hageman (1952-53) passed away Dec. 1, 2022. He studied piano at CIM with Beryl Rubinstein and was an active teacher and concert presenter in the Dayton area.

Donald Jack passed away Jan. 29, 2023. He was a CIM Governing Member.

Joan Ostendorf passed away Dec. 27, 2022. She was a former president of the CIM Women’s Committee.

Patricia Pogue passed away Feb. 25, 2023. She was a member of the CIM Women’s Committee and the wife of CIM Trustee Emeritus Richard Pogue.

Barbara Robinson passed away March 22, 2023. She was a Life Trustee and one of CIM’s staunchest and most generous supporters.

Juanita Schubert (BM ’67, BM ’68, MM ’69) passed away Dec. 24, 2022. She was active as a church musician and excelled in sacred hymn arrangements and hymn improvisations.

THE ACADEMY TURNS ONE

It was a great first year for the Academy, CIM’s comprehensive new training program for children and young adults. Our students had a blast, and we did, too!

LIFETIME GIVING

Thank you to the many supporters past and present who have made a CIM education possible for generations and continue to shape the future of classical music. Below are some of the most generous donors whose lifetime giving to CIM has exceeded $250,000 (as of April 6, 2023).

$10,000,000+

Cuyahoga Arts & Culture

The Fred A. Lennon Charitable Trust

$5,000,000–$9,999,999

Kulas Foundation

Barbara and Mal* Mixon

$2,500,000–$4,999,999

Gay C.* and Edward Addicott

Mr. and Mrs. F. J. Callahan*

Elizabeth D. Hicks*

Barbara S. Robinson (HDMA ’06)*

$1,000,000–$2,499,999

Hope S. and Stanley I. Adelstein*

Mr. and Mrs. A. Chace Anderson

Vitya Vronsky Babin Foundation

Eleanor H. Biggs*

The Cleveland Foundation

Mr. and Mrs. John D. Gilliam

Clive and Mary* Hamlin

Linda Harper and Jim Martin*

Jean and Dick Hipple

Mort* and Emilie Kadish

The Kresge Foundation

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander McAfee*

John P. Murphy Foundation

State of Ohio

Ohio Arts Council

Partners for CIM

The Payne Fund

Dick (HDMA ’06) and Pat* Pogue

Mrs. Alfred M. Rankin

The Reinberger Foundation

Susan Rothmann, Philip Paul and Jeremy Paul

Edith H. Smith*

Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Thomas

United States Department of Education

Anonymous

$500,000–$999,999

Ms. Ruth Beckelman*

Helen C. Brown*

Ann C. and Hugh Calkins*

Mr. Arthur L. Charni*

Larry B. Faigin*

The GAR Foundation

Mr. and Mrs. Carl D. Glickman*

Margaret R. Griffiths Trust

The George Gund Foundation

Tom and Iris Harvie

The Martha Holden Jennings Foundation

Mr.* and Mrs. Daryl A. Kearns

KeyBank

Dr. Vilma L. Kohn*

Mr. Richard A. Manuel*

National Endowment for the Arts

NewBrook Partners

C.K. “Pat” Patrick* and Nancy Patrick

Jane Kottler Post*

Audrey and Albert B. Ratner

Gail and Elliott Schlang

Mrs. Bert E. Siegel*

The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation

Anonymous (2)

$250,000–$499,999

Paul M. Angell Family Foundation

John and Elizabeth Aten

Mrs. Marguerite A. Barany*

Mr. and Mrs.* Eugene J. Beer

Mr. and Mrs. Alfred J. Buescher, Jr.

Irad (BM ’87, MM ’88) and Rebecca (BM ’87, MM ’89) Carmi

Delores Comey*

Robert Conrad (HDMA ’98)

Charlie and Grosvie Cooley

Virginia Deupree Crumb (BM ’77) and Carl & Jeanne Crumb

Dr. Mark H. Curley

Mr. and Mrs. John D. Drinko*

Rebecca and George* Dunn

Alice S. Feiman (BM ’32, MM ’36)*

William O. & Gertrude Lewis

Frohring Foundation

The Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation

The Dorothea Wright Hamilton Fund

Mrs. Beverly S. Harris*

The Hershey Foundation

The Albert M. Higley Co.

George M. and Pamela S. Humphrey Fund

Carter Kissell*

Joy Miller Kiszely*

Emma Lincoln*

Mrs. Elliot L. Ludvigsen*

Charles and Susan Marston

Mr. Joseph B. McClelland

Meldrum & Fewsmith Communications

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Laura Ingrid Messing*

Edith and Ted Miller*

David and Inez Myers Foundation

Mr. and Mrs. Raymond P. Park

The Ranney Scholarship Fund

Peter J. Reichl*

Sam and Sarah Sato*

Astri Seidenfeld

Kevin and Kristen Stein

Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Taplin, Jr.*

Carole Hershey Walters

Ms. Annette E. Willis*

*deceased

Every year, individuals, corporations and foundations contribute generously to the Cleveland Institute of Music, directly supporting the transformative music education of CIM students. Through this incredible commitment and community of donors, CIM empowers the world’s most talented classical music students to achieve their dreams and potential.

Make your contribution to CIM with a meaningful gift of any size at cim.edu/donatenow or contact a member of CIM’s development team at 216.795.3160

Be the Future of Classical Music

Every year, hundreds of classical music students walk through our doors to have access to one of the best training opportunities in the world. We are able to ensure the next generation of classical musicians has access to these experiences because of the support of the hundreds who make donations to the Annual Fund every year.

Deepen your support of the future of classical music by making a gift to CIM’s Annual Fund using the QR code or URL below.