Wed 6/14-Sat 7/1
ChamberFest Cleveland is a series of small-ensemble events at a variety of venues both traditional and non-traditional, strung over a period of a couple of weeks. It was started in 2012 by Cleveland Orchestra principal clarinet emeritus Franklin Cohen and his violinist daughter, Diana Cohen, concertmaster of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, who now serve as artistic directors, along with Diana’s husband, pianist Roman Rabinovich. This year’s theme is “Lightness of Being.”
“This season, we’ve been particularly inspired by one of our favorite 20th century works of literature, The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera,” they say. “The focal themes of love and betrayal, physicality versus spirituality, politics, oppression, human and animal nature … are relevant and eternally relatable. Kundera’s deep knowledge and references to classical music throughout the novel make it a potent ground to play and mirror and reflect these ideas through the endlessly diverse world of chamber music.”
This year’s festival, which runs through Saturday July 1, starts on Wednesday June 14 @ 7:30pm with a concert called “Body and Soul,” in a very traditional venue: Severance Music Center’s intimate Reinberger Chamber Hall. The concert features Henry Purcell’s Incidental Music from The Fairy Queen, Carl Frühling’s Clarinet Trio, and Antonin Dvořák’s Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major.
In addition to the three artistic directors, the concert will feature violinists David Bowlin and Jacques Forestier; violist Milena Pajaro-Van de Stadt; cellists Sterling Elliott and Jonathan Swenson; bassist Derek Zadinsky; pianist Amy Yang; and percussionist Jamey Haddad.
There are 11 concerts in all, taking place at venues such as the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, St. Wendelin Church, Forest City Brewery, Disciples Church, Case Western Reserve’s Harkness Chapel and Dunham Tavern Museum.
Find a full schedule of concerts and ticket information here.