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Kent/Blossom Music Festival Continues Unique Program of Combining Visiting Students with Members of Cleveland Orchestra

The Kent/Blossom Music Festival is a unique program that pairs advanced young musicians with a stellar faculty drawn primarily from members of the Cleveland Orchestra. The relationship between the festival and the Cleveland Orchestra members represents a high level of artistic collaboration, without any direct financial linkage.

Since the inception of Blossom Music Center in 1968, the Musical Arts Association has partnered with Kent State University and its College of the Arts to develop Blossom as a complete environment for the arts. Each summer, Kent/Blossom combines performance with education and joins working professionals with talented students to teach, explore and produce great music. This important relationship between a premier performing ensemble and a public university has also served as a model for other collaborations.

Founded in 1968 by George Szell and Louis Lane, the Kent/Blossom Music Festival has welcomed more than 2,200 young artists. The program has propelled hundreds of remarkable young musicians into the ranks of major orchestras, opera companies, and conservatory facilities throughout the United States and around the globe.

The Kent/Blossom Music program brings music students from all over the world to study alongside members of The Cleveland Orchestra for five weeks. Students develop professional skills through personal study and classes with visiting master artists, members of the Cleveland Orchestra and Kent State University faculty. A focus on major works of the chamber music repertoire is augmented by studies in orchestral repertoire and techniques and solo master classes. Participants also attend open rehearsals and concerts of the Cleveland Orchestra. The program features a professional concert series as well as 13 free concerts featuring the Kent/Blossom Chamber Players. Undergraduate and graduate credit is available and scholarships are provided to many participants.

Twenty former Kent/Blossom students are members of The Cleveland Orchestra. Known career placements include 157 chairs in U.S. and international orchestras, 14 chamber ensembles and on more than 52 U. S. and foreign music faculties.

KENT/BLOSSOM MUSIC FESTIVAL

2011 Professional Concert Series
Ludwig Recital Hall, Kent State University Music and Speech Center, 1325 Theatre Drive, Kent, OH 44242
$15 General Admission/$5 Students: Available at the door
For more information call the concert hotline at 330-672-3609 or visit »Kent/Blossom Website

Wednesday, June 29, at 7:30 p.m.
Central European Splendor!
Miami String Quartet with guests
Spencer Meyer, Gold Medalist of the 2008 New Orleans International Piano Competition
Daniel McKelway, Assistant Principal Clarinet, The Cleveland Orchestra
Robert Vernon, Principal Viola, The Cleveland Orchestra

Dohnanyi Piano Quintet in E flat
Weber Clarinet Quintet
Mendelssohn Viola Quintet, Op. 18

Monday, July 6, at 7:30 p.m.
The Intimate Beethoven
Amy Lee, Associate Concertmaster, The Cleveland Orchestra, with guest artist Tina Dahl, piano

All Beethoven Program

Monday, July 11, at 7:30 p.m.
Music for a Summer Evening!
Miami String Quartet with guest artist Jerry Wong, piano

Beethoven Quartet in C minor, Op. 18
Beethoven Kakadu Variations
Schubert Death and the Maiden

Wednesday, July 20, at 7:30 p.m.
The Regal Sounds of Winds
Frank Rosenwein, Principal Oboe, The Cleveland Orchestra
Daniel McKelway, Assistant Principal Clarinet, The Cleveland Orchestra
Barrick Stees, Assistant Principal Bassoon, The Cleveland Orchestra
Richard King, Principal Horn, The Cleveland Orchestra
Randall Fusco, piano

Mozart Piano Quintet
Griebling-Haigh Sonata for Horn & Piano [world premier]
Griebling-Haigh Romans des Rois
Beethoven Piano Quintet

Wednesday, July 27, at 7:30 p.m.
Soul ...del sol! An Evening of Latin-Inspired Music
The Cleveland Orchestra Piano Trio: Joela Jones, piano; Peter Otto, violin; Richard Weiss, cello;
Frank Rosenwein and Danna Sundet, oboe; Barrick Stees, bassoon; and Joela Jones, accordion;
with guests Emma Shook, violin; Stanley Konopka, viola; Scott Haigh, double bass; Donna Lee, piano; and Ted Rounds, percussion

Turina Piano Trio
Griebling-Haigh Sinfonia Concertante [world premiere]
Griebling-Haigh Alegrías [world premier]
Piazzolla Milonga del Angel, Libertango, and selections from Five Tango Sensations

2011 Chamber Players Series
All concerts are FREE and in Ludwig Recital Hall unless otherwise noted. All works subject to change.

Series I
Friday, July 8, at 7:30 p.m.
Haydn String Quartet in F minor Op. 20, No. 5
Brahms Horn Trio, Op. 40
Arnold Wind Trio, Op. 37
Dvorak Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81

Saturday, July 9, at 2:30 p.m.
Hellmesberger Romance Op. 43, No. 2 for Four Violins
Enesco Dixtuor for Winds, Op. 14
Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110
Villa Lobos Woodwind Trio
Brahms Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25

Sunday, July 10, at 2:30 p.m.
Rossini Sonate a Quattro in C major No. 3
Beethoven Serenade in D major, Op. 25
Dvorak Serenade for Winds, Op. 44
Mahler Piano Quartet in A minor
Tchaikovsky String Sextet in D minor, Op. 70 (Souvenir de Florence)

Series II
Friday, July 22, at 7:30 p.m.
Mozart Horn Quartet K. 407
Poulenc Trio, Op. 43
Berwald Septet in B-flat major
Shostakovich Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57
Faure Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 15

Saturday, July 23, at 2:30 p.m.
Quantz Trio for Two Flutes, Bassoon and Continuo
Moszkowski Suite for Two Violins and Piano, Op. 71
Haydn Octet in F major, H. 2/F7
Shostakovich String Octet, Op. 11 (Prelude and Scherzo)
Prokofiev Oboe Quintet, Op. 39
Dohnanyi Piano Sextet in C major, Op. 37

Sunday, July 24, at 2:30 p.m.
Mozart Oboe Quartet, K. 370
Foote Nocturne and Scherzo for Flute and String Quartet
Glazunov Cello Quintet, Op. 39
Rochberg “To the Dark Wood” for Woodwind Quintet
Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34

Posted June 20, 2011

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Last Chance to Visit Local Terrain Exhibit at Downtown Gallery

The Kent State University School of Art's Downtown Gallery presents Local Terrain through June 25. The exhibit was curated by recent MFA graduate Lesley Sickle and features the work of Adair Taylor, Annie Stimson, April Bachtel, April Bleakney, Carey McDougall, Drew Smith, Elaine Hullihen, Emma Pavlik, Gianna Commito, Liz Maugans, Maren Derbogen, Maria Lafelice, Mark Schatz, Roni Callahan and Stephanie Brewer.

“The exhibition Local Terrain focuses on using the art of mapping to specifically depict the Northeast Ohio region,” says Sickle. “There are 15 participating artists and each of them has a unique connection to the area. I have selected work from a variety of mediums for the exhibition, including photography, printmaking, sculpture, painting, video and mixed media. I have asked that the artists explore the diversity in mapping: appropriation, charting, documentation, representation, memory/nostalgia, identity, and journey/travel.”

“I am interested in each artist using strategies in mapping to illustrate a system of diagrammed information and examining various conventions of our connection and understanding of place,” Sickle adds.

The Downtown Gallery, located at 141 E. Main St. in Kent, is open Wednesday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, contact Anderson Turner, director of galleries for the School of Art at Kent State, at haturner@kent.edu or 330-672-1369.

Posted June 20, 2011

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