Cleveland Institute of Music Gets $10,000 Grant

From the Cleveland Institute of Music:

January 15 2020

The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) has been approved for a $10,000 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The grant will be used to create a 15-month long festival celebrating new music at CIM and the institution’s century-long commitment to the creation and programming of new music. Through CIM at 100: A Century of New Music, Clevelanders will be introduced to some of CIM’s most esteemed composition faculty and alumni throughout history.

“This marks an important moment in CIM’s history as we build on the Institute’s long tradition of celebrating the music of the time,” explains Paul W. Hogle, CIM’s president and CEO. “When composer Ernest Bloch was selected as CIM’s first director in 1920, the founders set a course of compositional excellence that includes such luminaries as Donald Erb, Roger Sessions, Quincy Porter, Margaret Brouwer, and of course, current Vincent K. and Edith H. Smith Chair in Composition Keith Fitch. It’s an honor to steward that legacy into CIM’s second century.”

Beginning this spring and continuing through 2021, performances of works written by CIM alumni and current and former faculty will be featured as part of the CIM at 100: A Century of New Music festival.

Selected festival events this spring include:

• Feb 12: Keith Fitch’s Totem, performed by the CIM Orchestra
• Mar 1: Keith Fitch’s Ruthless Voicings and the world premiere of Echoes of Orpheus, as well as Donald Erb’s String Quartet No. 3, performed by the CIM New Music Ensemble
• Apr 1: The world premiere of alumnus Evan Fein’s (BM ’07, Brouwer) Omega Variations, performed by faculty member Gerardo Teissonnière.
• Apr 5: Alumnus Hale Smith’s (BM ’50, MM ’52) Dialogues and Commentaries and alumna Marta Ptaszyńska’s (AD ’74) Trois Visions de L’Arc-en-Ciel (Three Visions of a Rainbow), performed by the CIM New Music Ensemble
• Apr 16: 360° of Sight & Sound: The Planetarium Project brings together filmmakers from the Cleveland Institute of Art, student composers from CIM and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Shafran Planetarium for the world premieres of student projects shown on the planetarium dome.

Additional events will be added to the festival; find the full performance calendar at cim.edu/events. All performances (except 360° of Sight & Sound) are free and open to the public (free seating passes are required); most concerts are also livestreamed for the enjoyment of those outside of the region. WCLV 104.9 and wclv.org will also broadcast the Feb 12 orchestra concert live.

Overall, the NEA has approved 1,197 grants totaling $27.3 million in the first round of fiscal year 2020 funding to support arts projects in every state in the nation, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

The Art Works funding category supports projects that focus on public engagement with, and access to, various forms of excellent art across the nation; the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence; learning in the arts at all stages of life; and the integration of the arts into the fabric of community life.

“The arts are the heart of our communities, connecting people through shared experiences and artistic expression,” said Arts Endowment Chair Mary Anne Carter. “The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support projects like CIM’s Centennial New Music Festival.”

For more information on projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

Cleveland Institute of Music
The Cleveland Institute of Music empowers the world’s most talented classical music students to fulfill their dreams and potential. Its graduates command the most celebrated and revered stages in the world as soloists, chamber musicians and ensemble members; compose meaningful, award-winning new repertoire; and are highly sought-after teaching artists, administrators and thought leaders. A testament to the excellence of a CIM education, more than half of the members of The Cleveland Orchestra are connected to CIM as members of the faculty, alumni or both. All students benefit from access to world-renowned visiting artists and conductors, intensive study with CIM’s stellar faculty and the rich curriculum offered by CIM’s partner Case Western Reserve University. CIM is an integral part of Cleveland’s arts community, presenting nearly 600 free performances and master classes on campus each year, and hundreds more at locations throughout the region, including Severance Hall. Explore cim.edu to learn more.

CIM at 100: A Century of New Music Events
As of January 15, 2020

Wednesday, February 12
8pm | Kulas Hall
Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra
Timothy Muffitt, guest conductor
Jiarui Cheng, piano, student artist
FITCH Totem (1993)
STRAVINSKY Symphony in C
RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30

Timothy Muffitt’s appearance is made possible by the Kulas Visiting Artist Series funded by the Kulas Foundation.
CIM at 100: A Century of New Music is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Live broadcast on WCLV 104.9 FM and wclv.org with support from Audio-Technica

Free seating passes required

Sunday, March 1
7pm | Mixon Hall
New Music Ensemble
Keith Fitch, director
Si-Yan Darren Li, cello
FITCH Ruthless Voicings (2018-19)
ERB String Quartet No. 3 (1995)
VARÈSE Octandre (1923)
FITCH Echoes of Orpheus (2019) (World Premiere)

CIM at 100: A Century of New Music is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Free seating passes required

Wednesday, April 1
8pm | Kulas Hall
FACULTY RECITAL
Gerardo Teissonnière, piano
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 110
FEIN Omega Variations (World Premiere)
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111

CIM at 100: A Century of New Music is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Free seating passes required

Sunday, April 5
4:30pm | Mixon Hall
New Music Ensemble
Keith Fitch, director
Claude Baker, guest composer
SMITH Dialogues and Commentaries (1990-91)
BAKER Omaggi e Fantasie (1981/1987)
PTASZYŃSKA Trois Visions de L’Arc-en-Ciel (Three Visions of a Rainbow) (2008)
BAKER Années de pèlerinage: Italie (2016-17)

CIM at 100: A Century of New Music is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Free seating passes required

Thursday, April 16
7pm and 7:45pm | Shafran Planetarium, Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Evolution
Join us for the premiere of 360-degree original films by CIA students, scored by CIM student composers, shown on CMNH’s Planetarium dome.

Tickets: $10, available via cmnh.org closer to the event.

CIM at 100: A Century of New Music is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Artists, repertoire, locations and dates are subject to change.

This press release was produced by the Cleveland Institute of Music. The views expressed here are the author’s own.