Meet violist Eliesha Nelson
Had Eliesha Nelson not been an Air Force brat, she might never have come to Cleveland. She might never have become a valued member of the Cleveland Orchestra viola section, and might not even be going to Los Angeles for Sunday evening’s Grammy Awards. She wouldn’t need to be going there because she might not have made an album that was nominated for four Grammys! Her debut CD (issued by Dorian) received four nominations: two of them are Eliesha’s own — for Best Instrumental Soloist with Orchestra and Best Chamber Music Performance. The other two are for engineering and production. Not bad, wouldn’t you say?
(Actually, Eliesha is the fourth Cleveland female musician to be nominated for a Grammy in the last few years. Last year it was Caroline Goulding for her violin portion of a CD made with Christopher O’Riley, pianist. Harpist Yolanda Kondonassis was nominated in 2009 for Best Chamber Music Performance along with Cynthia Phelps and Josh Smith. Starting this happy progression in 2007 was Angelin Chang, pianist and faculty member at CSU, who won for her piano wizardry on a CD with the Cleveland Chamber Symphony.)
But Eliesha was an Air Force brat — Dad ended his career in Alaska (having traveled all over the world, and spent two tours in Viet Nam along the way) while her Mom is both a teacher and performer on violin and piano, just as her mother was before her. Both Eliesha and her older sister Elisa-Ruth were offered music lessons as a way of life. Even with all these advantages, however, she was curious about what was available to students in the rest of the world.
Eliesha says, “I came to Cleveland in a very specific way. The summer I was 15 I attended Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina and became very good friends with the director of admissions for the camp. I told her how much I loved Alaska, and that I never wanted to leave, but yet I also wanted to have the same musical opportunities as the kids who went to Julliard prep and Curtis. She suggested I go to CIM for their Young Artist Program, and made a phone call. At that time, Eleanor Holt was the director of preparatory, and she called my parents before I was able to warn them about getting a phone call from Cleveland! Less than 2 months later, I was living in Cleveland in the college dorm attending the program.” She still seems a bit dazed by the rapid progression.
She was enrolled as a junior at Hathaway Brown School and studied violin at Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) with Linda Cerone and David Russell. She was the concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. She studied piano for one year with the renowned Madame Olga Radoslejevich, and composition for one year with Donald Erb. Nothing like starting at the top! Altogether, it was perhaps a bit too much, but it helped her narrow her focus to only the violin. That instrument was her major subject for her undergrad degree from CIM. Eliesha’s Master’s Degree is also from CIM, but shared with a year at UT-Austin and one as a Fulbright Scholar at the Royal Academy in London.
Then came a summer session at Encore School for Strings, a sort of summer extension program for gifted young string players, held each summer in Hudson, but sponsored by CIM. It was the brain-child of then CIM president David Cerone, and Eliesha was recruited as a teaching assistant. Of course, due to her previous years in Cleveland, she knew many of the Cleveland Orchestra members who also were on the Encore faculty, in particular Robert Vernon, then, as now, principle of the viola section.
He watched the elegant young woman play, and said, “Why don’t you study viola?” Fortunately, it was a great fit physically, but, she adds with a giggle, “I couldn’t read the clef!” For the uninitiated, there are two (or more) additional clefs in addition to the more-familiar treble and bass. These are alto and tenor, and like the other two signal their key signature by their placement. She persisted however, and spent a year as acting principal viola in the Florida Philharmonic, which has unfortunately closed since then.
Following that year, there was an audition for section viola in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Eliesha won the chair, but three weeks later, she was informed that she’d also won a chair with Cleveland. No contest! Cleveland was the winner of her services, and she’s now been with the orchestra for eleven years. She is the first former COYO member to join the orchestra.
She met her husband Jon Cline while she was completing her Masters studies. His Mom, (Eileen, formerly Dean of Peabody Conservatory and member of the Board of Marlboro Music) and sister Joy, were in Boston from their native Colorado. Both women are pianists and teachers, and they combined to introduce Eliesha to Jon. Although he is also a talented musician (piano and oboe), his career field is vastly different.“It’s a field called Mathematical Biology,” says his proud wife. “It’s environmental forecasting, and he works at the University of Tucson.” Distance isn’t all that enjoyable, but they engage in frequent back-and-forth visits, through SKYPE, so their son William doesn’t forget his dad between visits.
So far, William has accompanied his Mom on the orchestra’s tours; sometimes Jon is able to go, too, or Eliesha’s Mom or Dad. He is a very well-traveled baby!
William Elisha Cline (named for both grandfathers) was Eliesha’s second major production of 2009. Now that he talks and walks, there are more things to tell Daddy about during the SKYPE visits. Among these are the toddler’s responses to music. “If I tell him something, he might not respond. But if I sing the words, his response is immediate! He seems to really like music, and if he’s unhappy, I play Chopin’s Nocturnes, which tend to soothe him.”
She has utilized all these elements in her intermittent teaching career, which includes one year at the School of the Arts, the Music Settlement, and until it ended, the Encore School for Strings. Plus, in addition to her orchestra duties, she’s just completed another album, again for Dorian Sono Luminus. This one features little-known Russian viola sonatas. It was recently recorded in the ballroom at Ayreshire Farm in Upperville, Virginia, with ‘fantastic’ pianist Glen Inanga. He’s Nigerian by way of the Cayman Islands.
It was a connection from CIM that led to her first CD. Conductor John McLaughlin Williams was also the conductor for Angelin Chang’s Grammy-award winning CD, and made the suggestion that Eliesha investigate the viola compositions of a former CIM teacher, Quincy Porter. Porter was on staff here for 5 years in the 1920s, before going to Paris for further study. He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 1954, and composed music in a wide range of instrumentation, but it was his works for his own instrument that truly captured Eliesha’s attention. Almost as though he’d planned it, the eight works comprise 73.37 minutes, exactly the right length for a CD.
They’re beautifully presented and performed, as is the eye-catching CD package. It isn’t the typical jewel box, but rather a cardboard folder with full color photos of the artist on both covers. In both of them, Eliesha and viola are standing in the chilly waters of Lake Erie, but you get both front and back views! Neat. The photo shoot was at dawn at Edgewater Beach. Matthew Gregor was the art director, Daryl Strong was the intrepid photographer, and the gorgeous gown (as well as hair and makeup) was created by Inda Blatch-Geib—all Cleveland area talent!
They—along with the rest of us—will be rooting for Eliesha and her CD on Sun 2/13 when the award-winners are announced. Regardless of the outcome, however, Eliesha Nelson and her viola will be back at her usual musical stand on the stage at Severance Hall the following weekend!
For more information regarding the CD, visit http://Sonoluminus.com/m-11-eliesha-nelson.aspx and check out Eliesha’s blog at http://ElieshaNelson.com/blog.
[Top photo taken during the orchestra’s tour of Japan, Fall 2010.]
From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz, who writes: My most recently published book is Ardenwycke Unveiled (e-book and trade paper). Cerridwen has another contemporary romance from me, But Not For Love, currently available only as an e-book, but perhaps will be in print later this year. I hope to soon get around to completing some of the 30+ incomplete books in my computer!Actually, I’ve just re-issued my very first published book (from Berkley in NY 1993) Secret Shores which is available now in regular print, plus large print and as a Kindle.
By the way, Cerridwen has also accepted two of my short stories in their Scintillating Samples (complimentary reads) area: Song of the Swan and Unexpected Comfort. I love photography as well, as you can see here. Occasionally I teach writing workshops and sometimes do editing or ghostwriting on a free-lance basis. But over and above everything else, there’s always been the writing. I can’t imagine my life without it.
And now, after more than a few requests, I’ve started a blog about writing. You can find it here.