CIM Notes | Winter 2025

NOTES Cleveland Institute of Music

WINTER 2025

NOTEWORTHY CIM’s Zachary Brandon wins right to play coveted “Bolton Violin” Talent isn’t everything in music. Sometimes, it comes down to one’s instrument.

No wonder CIM violin student Zachary Brandon (Laredo/ Rose) considers himself so fortunate.

Last fall, the Artist Diploma candidate won the right to continue playing the “Bolton Violin,” a fine instrument gifted to CIM in 2019 by John Bolton, one of the school’s most loyal supporters.

In competitions and auditions, “It’s a huge advantage to have a good violin,” said Brandon, who earned the special loaner with essays and teacher recommendations.

The Bolton Violin, a 1910 Scarampella, represents a step up from Brandon’s personal instrument. He said the Bolton instrument has a “warm, round tone” that fully accommodates his bolder, stronger style.

“It makes everything I want to do so much easier,” Brandon said. “It enables me to be a lot more musical. I can give it a lot and it still sounds good.”

The Bolton Violin is one element of a broad, ongoing commitment to CIM from The Payne Fund, a nonprofit incorporated in 1929 by Frances Payne Bolton, the first woman elected to Congress from Ohio.

In addition to many other gifts, the organization has also presented The Payne Fund Prize, whose winners perform with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra.

Next up for Brandon? A major international violin competition in Japan, where he now feels he has a fighting chance.

“At that level, everyone has a great instrument,” Brandon said. “I feel really blessed.”

CIM student Zachary Brandon performs on the “Bolton Violin,” a fine instrument gifted to the school.

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A scene from CIM Opera Theater’s recent production of Chabrier’s L’Étoile.

2 Noteworthy ON THE COVER

Recording Arts & Services Assistant Director Max Porter, left, poses in a recording studio at CIM with the Grammy Awards won by Recording Arts & Services Director Alan Bise (story, page 12).

All content written by Zachary Lewis

Pianist Nina Schumann is “resilience personified” in November visit to CIM CIM’s Ariel Karas preps students for independent careers Alumni remain sterling exemplars of the CIM Advantage through fall 2024 Kulas Hall renovation update

Design by Tom Putters

2024-25 school year gets off to vibrant start with host of new faculty

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

Augustin Hadelich doles out sage advice in violin masterclass at CIM

CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC

11021 East Boulevard Cleveland, OH 44106 P: 216.791.5000 E: marketing@cim.edu

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CIM students serenade University Circle guests in new Museum Melodies recital series CIM Academy expands reach with remote option CIM students gain fitness options in upgrades to 1609 Hazel gyms

CIM is supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

CIM is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

12 Features Setting the record straight, one concert at a time: CIM’s Recording Arts & Services Department Charging up: CIM students and faculty supply and receive musical power on visits to Cuba A little help from our friends: CIM’s external partnerships

18 Alumni Spotlight Praise be to CIM alum Irene Roberts, star of San Francisco Opera’s The Handmaid’s Tale

20 Alumni News 22 Lifetime Giving

Cleveland International Piano Competition medalist also wins fall residency at CIM

Cover photo by Tim Bates.

CIM and Cleveland are major themes of new album by Daniil Trifonov

Additional photos by Tim Bates, Andrew Bogard, Abigayle Flack, Roger Mastroianni, and Lydia Rhea.

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NOTEWORTHY

Pianist Nina Schumann is “resilience personified” in November visit to CIM Inspiration was in plentiful supply at a November visit to CIM by South African pianist Nina Schumann.

Here at the request of Piano Department Head Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Schumann presented a film about her artistry and discussed her recovery from breast cancer and ongoing struggles with focal dystonia and Parkinson’s disease.

Students witnessed “resilience personified,” Pompa-Baldi said.

“The fact that Nina has been able to endure and overcome...is something we all can take as a model.”

Schumann is an acclaimed pianist noted for recitals, orchestral appearances, competition victories, and recordings. Often she has performed with pianist Luis Magalhães. Since 1999, she has been head of piano at Stellenbosch University.

CIM’s Ariel Karas preps students for independent careers It’s a good thing violinist Ariel Karas (BM ’10, MM ’11, D. Cerone/L. Cerone/Rose) doesn’t spend much time at CIM. As CIM’s senior career advisor, her job is to be out in the real world, making a living, and sharing her wisdom with students.

“My work outside the building provides a really valuable experience,” said Karas, one of three advisors along with pianist Artina McCain (MM ’06, Brown) and violist Jennifer Arnold (BM ’03, PS ’05, Vernon). “I see it almost as vocational training.”

Of the three advisors, Karas thinks of herself as the most “hyperlocal.” She runs and plays in OPUS 216, a large, versatile string ensemble that performs wherever, whatever, and in whatever combination an occasion demands.

The group is exceedingly busy, performing 400 times a year.

It’s not uncommon for them to have 15 gigs in a weekend.

“We literally do everything but play in the [Cleveland] orchestra, and the orchestra tells people to call us,” Karas said.

All of that is potential work for CIM students and alumni.

Beyond that, each event also enriches Karas’ senior seminar on contracts, applications, event planning, and resume- and grant-writing.

Karas herself learned much of this through direct experience.

As a CIM student, she played for tips to pay rent and developed a passion for independent work. Now she’s helping generations of others who may be similarly inclined.

“Many will follow a path different from the one their teacher took,” Karas said. “I want to be a resource for those students and foster relationships with young professionals who want to do something different.”

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Lately, though, much of her fame has centered on her remarkable response to illness. Rather than retreat, Schumann has pushed forward and spoken openly.

Cancer – which she attributes in part to stress – has been the easiest to discuss, and the least disruptive.

Following a double mastectomy, she has been cancerfree 12 years.

Focal dystonia and Parkinson’s have been more difficult in every way. While the dystonia in her left hand has stabilized, Parkinson’s has curtailed

her practicing and obliged her to approach music differently.

But these challenges also have instilled what Schumann calls “musical feeling,” a newfound combination of artistic self-respect and connection to something eternal.

“I discovered that I have musical feeling that cannot be taken away, ever,” Schumann said. “[N]o matter the course the Parkinson’s will take, I will always have what makes me unique. This is the true gift of music.”

Alumni remain sterling exemplars of the CIM Advantage through fall 2024 The CIM Advantage remains a powerful force, judging by the incredible ongoing success of the school’s alumni.

Over the course of fall 2024, dozens of former students reported new professional appointments or competition successes, extending an already long list announced last summer.

“The world’s most talented young musicians...know a CIM education gives them the advantage as they pursue their most ambitious goals and dreams,” said Paul W. Hogle, President & CEO of CIM. The appointments were as diverse as the alumni. Many joined major orchestras, while others won prizes or were hired by leading universities or arts organizations.

Daniel Kaler (BM ’20, Kosower), prizes at the World Artistry Music Award competition, Bach International Music Competition, Medici International Music Competition, and Maurice Ravel Competition Dan Kassteen (BM ’97, Darling), principal trumpet, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra Chantel Leung (PS ’18, Dixon), double bass, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra Samantha Powell (BM ’21, Weiss), principal cello, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra Samuel Sykes (BM ’23, Kraut), cello, North Carolina Symphony

These alumni hailed from all the over the U.S. and world, and included degree holders from CIM’s undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs as well as its Young Artist Program, Artist Diploma, and Professional Studies tracks.

A partial list is below: Layan Atieh (MM ’24, King/Silberschlag), horn, Seraph Brass Sabrina Bradford (MM ’20, Rose), second violin, Minnesota Orchestra Cheryl Losey Feder (BM ’06, MM ’08, Kondonassis), principal harp, Minnesota Orchestra Paul Halberstadt (MM ’22, Rose), second violin, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Tristen Jarvis (MM ’20, Dixon), visiting lecturer, Cornell University Maya Ito Johnson (BM ’22, MM ’24, I. Kaler/O. Kaler), associate concertmaster, Savannah Philharmonic WINTER 2025 | 5

NOTEWORTHY Kulas Hall renovation update Ask any CIM student, faculty, or staff member and they’ll confirm: Kulas Hall renovation work proceeded apace last semester.

Throughout the fall, workers in hard-hats roamed the halls from morning to night, and the noises of construction mingled with the much more pleasant sounds of students practicing and rehearsing throughout the building.

This did more than reroute foot traffic. It also obliged the CIM Orchestra and CIM Opera Theater to hit the road.

With Kulas Hall unavailable, the orchestra presented concerts at Severance Music Center, Maltz Performing Arts Center, and high schools in Cleveland and Mentor. The opera, meanwhile, took its talents to Playhouse Square and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

2024-25 school year gets off to vibrant start with host of new faculty New students weren’t the only fresh faces at CIM this fall. No, along with a stellar incoming class came several new members of the faculty.

Indeed, the already world-class learning environment at CIM received a substantial infusion of talent this fall, with artists joining or expanding their positions in areas all across the school.

Previously announced but still new to CIM were pianists Gabriela Montero, Dr. Daria Rabotkina, and Ilya Itin; trombonist Brian Wendel; flutist Hannah Hammel Maser; cellist Wei Yu; double bassist Charles Paul; and saxophonist Steven Banks.

But those were only the most prominent. Many others came aboard in guest, visiting, or expanded internal roles.

Mariam Adam

Matthew Ernst

Marcelo Rebuffi

Cynthia Wohlschlager

New to CIM were Marcelo Rebuffi (core curriculum); Cynthia Wohlschlager (Academy voice); visiting faculty Matthew Ernst (trumpet) and Timothy Pitts (double bass); and guest faculty Jack Sutte (trumpet), Mariam Adam (clarinet), and Emil Khudyev (clarinet).

Returning to CIM or in new expanded roles, meanwhile, were saxophonist Drew Hosler (Academy Coordinator of Wind Studies), Ariel Karas (Senior Career Advisor), Jennifer Arnold (Career Advisor and Program Director of Summer Programs), Artina McCain (Career Advisor), Jennifer Conner (Director of Academy Musicianship Studies and music theory and composition faculty), and Alex Cooke (Director of Professional Skills and Breadth Development and general education faculty).

CIM is always a diverse and vibrant place to be, but with these new faculty in the mix, it was even more so at the start of the 2024-25 school year. Welcome, one and all!

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But the inconvenience was worth the trouble. Much was accomplished, and thanks to prudent planning and resilient oversight by the Kulas Hall Renovation Task Force, the $32 million project remained on budget and on schedule.

As of this writing: • The plaster ceiling, stage, seats, and sidewall paneling had been removed • Electrical lines and HVAC ductwork had been replaced and rerouted • The orchestra pit had been overhauled Much remains to be done, as anyone who toured the facility or viewed the designs by Cleveland-based J. KURTZ Architects can attest. Work is slated to continue at the same pace through the remainder of the 202425 school year.

But the end is coming up on the horizon. Substantial completion is still expected in June, the grand reopening in the fall.

Augustin Hadelich doles out sage advice in violin masterclass at CIM There’s always value in a second opinion. Especially when that opinion comes from Augustin Hadelich.

elsewhere to go “in the funnier direction...The most important thing of all is that it needs to be a different character.”

In a November masterclass at CIM, the star violinist fine-tuned the work of four lucky students, refining what were already incredible displays of talent into truly special performances.

Much of Hadelich’s guidance to violinists Hiroka Matsumoto (I. Kaler) and Zachary Brandon (Laredo/Rose), meanwhile, was about shaping, about maintaining and conveying their sense of musical direction.

For nearly two hours, a crowd of CIM students – not all of them violinists – sat in rapt attention in Mixon Hall as Hadelich offered commentary that was gentle, complimentary, and unfailingly constructive. In general, he advocated bold expression, efficient technique, and a clear sense of purpose.

At points in Ysaÿe’s Poème élégiaque, Hadelich showed violinist Yuwa Roten (O. Kaler) how to distribute tension and when to give it her all.

Moments later, violinist Rhianna Lingle (Lee) was urged in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 to “go a little crazier,” and

Within Korngold’s Violin Concerto, “There are moments where you have to show where you are in this harmonic journey,” Hadelich told Matsumoto.

Some of the most broadly helpful advice came after Brandon’s performance of a portion of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto.

“Be clear enough about the structure to know how to get back,” Hadelich said, adding later, “It’s important to be clear first about the shape you want. Then, make the bow do it.”

Violinist Augustin Hadelich, right, demonstrates a passage of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 for CIM student Rhianna Lingle.

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CIM students serenade University Circle guests in new Museum Melodies recital series Two very different pillars of University Circle joined forces in a special way this fall.

September through November, CIM students presented Museum Melodies, a free noontime concert series in the newly renovated visitor hall at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

The twice-weekly series, one of many CIM programs around Cleveland during the 2024-25 season, provided students real-world professional experience and benefited University Circle employees and guests.

CIM student Yao Xiao performs at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, as part of last fall’s Museum Melodies series.

CIM Academy expands reach with remote option Not every CIM Academy student comes to CIM. This year, a few study remotely, from points all over.

“It’s a beautiful thing,” said Academy faculty Jennifer Conner (MM ’87, DMA ’92), who teaches music theory and composition live and remotely. “It doesn’t matter where the students are.”

Two of Conner’s students live in Ohio but not in Cleveland. Others live close but can’t always attend in person. One lives in Japan and also takes remote lessons with new piano faculty member Ilya Itin.

In every case, applying skills she picked up during the pandemic, Conner said she uses technology to simulate – and in some ways even improve upon – lessons in the classroom.

Students mark up existing scores and read, hear, and write music in real time, much as if they were with her in person. Ear training and sight-singing can be challenging, due to internet latency issues, but even there, Conner said she has found workarounds.

Amid the negative fallout of the pandemic, the onset of remote learning at CIM has been a “gift,” Conner said. “It gave us a tight deadline to figure it out, how to teach students well online.”

Technology hasn’t been the answer to every problem, of course. In at least one case, the solution has resided in music itself.

In her remote lessons with the Japanese student, which she conducts early in the morning, Conner said she often employs their common togue to overcome what would otherwise be a language barrier.

“I speak solfege,” she said.

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CIM Academy faculty Jennifer Conner uses digital tools to teach music theory online.

NOTEWORTHY “This [was] a great opportunity for everyone,” said Antonio Pompa-Baldi, head of CIM’s Piano Department. “[O]ur students [learned] vital professional skills, all of it with a community partner that is literally steps away. It does not get much better than that.”

Dates in October and November were solo piano recitals, while November events featured string ensembles. Pianists performed in the museum’s lobby, part of an ongoing $150 million transformation project, on a Steinway grand piano owned by the museum.

Even as it drew music-lovers to the museum, the new series benefited CIM students in particular. Ariel Karas (BM ’10, MM ’11, D. Cerone/L. Cerone/Rose), CIM’s career advisor and a co-organizer of the series, said pianists in September and October were compensated, and students who performed in November received academic credit.

“It can be difficult for young pianists to get regular work, so the fact that this new series focuse[d] on piano is really fantastic,” she said.

“Beyond that, it [was] a privilege for our students to perform in such a beautiful venue, on a high-quality instrument, for a partner right next door. It’s truly a win-win.”

CIM students gain fitness options in upgrades to 1609 Hazel gyms Getting a good workout just got twice as easy for CIM students.

In October, CIM students in the 1609 Hazel residence gained access to the building’s fourth-floor gym, a bright, well-equipped space previously reserved for residents enrolled at Case Western Reserve University.

At the same time, the pre-existing CIM gym on the second floor was opened to CWRU students and received a significant upgrade in the form of new equipment and amenities.

Formerly stocked with yoga supplies, the new CIM Hazel gym now contains an adjustable weight bench and a complete set of dumbbells up to 50 lbs.

Resident Director Christopher Agnew also outfitted the room with weighted medicine balls, BOSU balance trainers, an internetconnected television, a couch, and small therapeutic and strengthbuilding devices that will help musicians prevent or recover from overuse injuries.

Even more options await CIM students in the upper gym. There, students can run on one of three treadmills, use one of two elliptical machines, row on an ergometer, or perform a wide variety of exercises on a cable strength-training machine. All while looking out over Hazel Drive.

CIM’s residence building, 1609 Hazel, recently received several upgrades to its exercise facilities.

Then there’s the signage. Although injury prevention is serious business, Agnew happily injected a little levity into the situation at the CIM gym, including such humorous advice as “stretch before using the remote” and “blink regularly” in the mix with important instructions and health warnings.

At the first sign of pain, one sign reads, stop. “Did you practice your instrument today? Try that.”

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NOTEWORTHY Cleveland International Piano Competition medalist also wins fall residency at CIM As first-prize winner of the 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition (CIPC), pianist James Wei has a bright future.

Now that future includes CIM. Thanks to a new element in his prize package, Wei will spend part of fall 2025 in residence at CIM, teaching and performing across the school.

“I appreciate the CIPC and CIM for making this happen,” Wei said. “I will enthusiastically embrace new challenges and everything that happens during the residency.”

The new partnership, funded by Daniel and Linda Silverberg in memory of Martha Joseph, strengthens the deep connection between CIM and Piano Cleveland, presenter of the competition.

Several of the contest’s earliest supporters – notably Joseph, a former board president and competition advocate – hailed from CIM, and many competition events have taken place in Kulas Hall.

Furthermore, several winners have taught and performed at CIM. Notable examples include Antonio PompaBaldi, head of the Piano Department, former CIM artistin-residence Sergei Babayan, and new piano faculty Ilya Itin.

“We are thrilled now to formalize the natural bond between two organizations committed to the future of classical music,” said Scott Harrison, CIM’s Executive Vice President & Provost.

For Wei, the new arrangement holds even more value. In addition to the prize purse’s cash, recitals, and a recording, the CIM residency provides priceless real-world career experience.

“A lot of people go on to a performance career but also end up teaching,” said Yaron Kohlberg, president of Piano Cleveland. “This is a wonderful opportunity to learn how to do that.”

Pianist James Wei, winner of the 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition, will teach and perform at CIM in fall 2025 as part of a new partnership with Piano Cleveland.

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CIM and Cleveland are major themes of new album by Daniil Trifonov CIM and Cleveland figure prominently in My American Story, the new album by pianist Daniil Trifonov.

visit. “It was the first time I have spent so much time in [this] country...I have a lot of great memories [there].”

Start with the cover. There, beneath the Deutsche Grammophon masthead and album title, Trifonov (AC ’09, AD ’15, Babayan) strides down an industrial road in Cleveland’s Flats, ahead of a lumbering dump-truck.

The recording itself features The Philadelphia Orchestra and artistic director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, with whom Trifonov performs Gershwin’s Concerto in F and the world premiere of a new concerto by Mason Bates.

Inside, artistic photos of the city’s bridges, skyline, and landscapes, notably including Cleveland’s Terminal Tower, grace the CDs, while photos of Trifonov in his favorite spaces at CIM appear in the project’s liner notes.

Trifonov alone further acknowledges the U.S. with Copland’s Piano Variations, Corigliano’s Fantasia on an Ostinato, a New York recording of Cage’s 4’33”, and his own transcription of Johnny Green’s I Cover the Waterfront.

None of this is by accident. In Trifonov’s real life, CIM played a crucial role, nurturing and polishing the pianist’s incredible talent over the course of years.

“I did not wish to record an anthology,” Trifonov writes in the notes. “These are simply pieces that I feel personally connected to. Favorites of mine that speak to me on a musical level.”

CIM was “the place where I...first studied by myself,” reflected Trifonov, a native of Russia, during a February

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FEATURE Setting the record straight, one concert at a time: CIM’s Recording Arts & Services Department Not all of CIM’s great musicians play instruments, compose, or sing. A few are masters of microphones, mixers, and monitors.

These, of course, are CIM’s sound engineers, the brilliant minds behind the school’s acclaimed Recording Arts & Services (RAS) Department.

For decades, they’ve been taking CIM events and producing audio or visual masterpieces, segments that meet every standard of recording quality and cast every performer in the most flattering light possible.

“Our goal is always to help our students achieve their dreams and potential,” noted Max Porter (BM ’13, Egre), Assistant Director of RAS. Porter is not overstating the impact of his department. While it’s true that every member of the staff and faculty at CIM serve the students, RAS serves students in a uniquely valuable way, enabling them to share their artistry with whomever they wish, now and for years to come.

Without RAS, CIM parents all over the world would be unable to hear their talented children perform on a regular basis, and remote work during the pandemic would have persisted much longer. Those same students also would have no concrete record of their work, little to show competition judges or audition panels.

In fact, just the opposite is true. By livestreaming, recording, and storing virtually every performance, RAS brings the sounds of CIM into living rooms, kitchens, and cars all over the world, with nary a compact disc in sight.

“We’re providing a valuable service to students and alumni,” said Alan Bise (BM ’94, Knab) the Grammy Awardwinning head of RAS. “The world has evolved to where we no longer keep track of physical recordings.”

But even that doesn’t do RAS justice or fully explain what sets it apart. Most WINTER 2025 | 12

schools of music record their students and offer or teach recording in some fashion.

To fully appreciate RAS, one must take a broader view, one that incorporates context and history. In that light, it’s clear: CIM’s recording department is a leader in the field, and continues to perform its work with distinction.

Much of what sets RAS apart stems from the fact that all three members of the team – Bise, especially – have significant professional experience. They don’t just work for a school. They make real records, driven by a willingness to push recording norms in search of sonic vibrancy.

get a foretaste of what they’ll experience in the real world. They’re treated not like a student but like a professional, and the recording they receive is professionalgrade.

“We bring that commercial recording experience right back to CIM and record our students the same way,” Bise said.

“We use that same approach when making CIM recordings.”

“A modern sound is a sound that is present and exciting, and engages the listener,” Bise Recording Arts & Services staff Alan Bise, right, and Max Porter oversee a said, explaining recording project in a control room at CIM. his department’s credo. “That requires a microphone setup This, in turn, greatly improves a student’s that is maybe a little different than what is chances of professional success, if the standard.” recording happens to be part of an audition or competition entry. More than once in Whatever the setup, it’s clearly working. recent times, a sound-file produced by With Cleveland-based Azica Records, RAS was precisely what helped a CIM where he has been Classical Producer student stand out from the crowd. since 1999, Bise has garnered no fewer than nine nominations and two wins at the In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Grammy Awards. Another may be in the violinist Shannon Lee (MM ’20, PS ’22, offing, too; at deadline, two recordings Laredo/Sloman), then a student, needed were eligible for 2025 awards. a video to enter the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition, which was It’s not just Azica, either. Bise and his conducted remotely that year. Expectations colleagues, including Recording Services were high. The video needed to meet Coordinator Christopher Jordan (MM ’20, an array of technological standards and Hawes), also have been involved with regulations. projects on Sony Classical, Deutsche Grammophon, and Nonesuch.

Luckily, Lee knew just where to turn. Bise and RAS produced and engineered a All of that is to the benefit of CIM. When a recording that met the contest’s standards student makes a recording with RAS, they and earned Lee a tie for first place.

Working with RAS “relieved a good portion of the stress,” Lee recalled.

“I was very happy to pass that responsibility on to a trustworthy party...The quality of sound and of the video certainly made an impression in a situation like that.”

The impact of RAS may have been even more pronounced in the case of Shanie Klas (Damoulakis/Yancich), a current percussion student. Not only did Klas recently win an audition with a CIM recording but her likely future employer specifically cited the recording as a factor in her favor.

Eyeing an open seat in the Opera Australia orchestra but unable to travel to audition during the school year, Klas considered letting the rare opportunity in her homeland slip.

How could she compete against live auditioners with a recording?

Happily, she thought otherwise. After several intense recording sessions at CIM, Klas produced a recording she felt was competitive and ended up winning both the audition and the praise of Opera Australia.

CIM’s Recording Arts & Services Department covers almost everything, including off-site rehearsals by the CIM Orchestra.

All in a day’s work for RAS.

Musicality, of course, is just one of several keys to the department’s success. Another is continuity of vision. Not only has RAS seen few major staffing changes over the years but each new director has been a direct artistic descendant of his predecessor.

“It’s so cool how much they can hear through a recording, but it’s just bread and butter for them,” Klas said. “They were so musical, and so kind.”

Bise, for instance, was a pupil of former department head Tom Knab.

Knab also hired Bruce Egre, who served as a staff audio engineer.

Both Bise and Egre left at different times for different periods, and were replaced by Alex Kosiorek (BM ’95) and Kevin Harbison (BM ’92), both Knab pupils. Both later returned in new capacities. Porter, meanwhile, was also a student of Egre’s.

“It’s been great, philosophically, having the same approach,” Bise said.

Now on the horizon is a whole new era for RAS, an opportunity for the department to apply its philosophy even more effectively.

Max Porter, assistant director of CIM’s Recording Arts & Services Department, prepares a piece of equipment before a CIM Orchestra rehearsal.

When the newly renovated Kulas Hall opens in fall 2025, RAS and the students they record will have the latest in recording technology at their disposal. Gone will be the days of climbing into the rafters, dangling microphones manually, and using adapters to connect old cables to newer equipment.

“Everything will be pre-installed at the highest level, ready to go,” Bise said.

“That will allow us to be a lot more precise about where we want the microphones to be...I think students will appreciate seeing modern technology in action.”

The feeling will be mutual.

If there’s one thing RAS appreciates more than using modern technology in a brand-new hall, it’s doing their part to help CIM students look and sound their best as they head out into the world.

“I like to make music without being a performer, at the highest level possible,” Porter said. “It’s a satisfying feeling to help others achieve their dreams.”

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FEATURE Charging up: CIM students and faculty supply and receive musical power on visits to Cuba unforgettable moments of CAYO’s journey,” an event that “confirmed to us once again that art always saves.”

Garcia’s use of the word “journey” is apt. Now eight years old, CAYO has by any measure come a long way in its transformation from a good idea into a thriving nonprofit.

Rena Kraut, a clarinetist, first visited Cuba in 2015, as a sub with the Minnesota Orchestra. On that trip, she was struck not only by the difficult conditions under which most Cubans live but also by how “hungry” the people she met – and especially students – were for music and music instruction.

One year later, Rena Kraut founded CAYO, tapping her sister Melissa as one of several artistic advisors. Their mission: to bring high-level training and collaborations to Cuba and to share the beauty and culture of Cuba with American students.

The Heilerin Quartet, a CIM ensemble, enjoys a ride from a local in Cuba during the first CAYO trip in 2018.

At CIM, musicianship isn’t only about making music. It’s also about making a difference, and connections.

Cuba is moving in some way, said Kraut, who now has visited three times. This trip, however, was exceptional.

Need proof? Look no further than CIM’s current and former cello students.

When they join others to visit young musicians in Cuba through a program founded by a faculty member’s sister, they bring more than musical expertise. They bring hope, help, and inspiration, and return with even more.

Near the end of the week, Kraut, her sister Rena, and a group that included current and former CIM students had an experience they’ll not soon forget.

Determined not to let days of rain and a prolonged, nationwide power-grid failure get the better of them, CAYO convened on a private rooftop and presented a concert under lights powered by a generator.

For CIM students who participate in the Cuban American Youth Orchestra (CAYO), “There’s perspective and gratitude,” said faculty cellist Melissa Kraut (BM ’90, Harris). “It opens their eyes to broader humanity and life outside the conservatory.

And I know they make friends.”

“The floors were being mopped around our feet as we were doing a sound-check,” recalled cellist Lydia Rhea (BM ’22, Kraut), noting that the rain had just stopped moments before. “The concert was very, very special, to be able to share in that moment.”

All of this proved true in spades on the group’s last visit, in October. Given how eagerly students there soak up music, supplies, and knowledge, every trip to

Daiana Garcia, music director of the Havana Chamber Orchestra and artistic director of CAYO, called the presentation “one of the most ‘sui generis’ and

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“Music is the tool we use to build the connections,” Rena Kraut explained. “I think young people are looking for the ‘why’ behind their music. It can’t just be about them and their instrument. And I think we do a good job of providing that.”

They do indeed. Every year, CAYO organizes three or four trips to Cuba organized by instrument families. Rhea was part of the string cohort. Other trips bring together brass, percussion, and woodwind players, sometimes including CIM students, all under Rena Kraut’s supervision.

Groups are typically small; the October company included six students, two teachers, and five parents of the five students 17 or under. Rhea, a young professional, was the exception, an adult student who also served as the group’s photographer and social media manager.

In every case, the groups spend their days interacting with Cuban students of all ages, passing on some of what they’ve mastered at CIM and other schools and in turn picking up Cuban rhythm, melody, and culture.

The CIM-based Heilerin Quartet performs for locals and their own peers and family members in Cuba during the first CAYO exchange in 2018.

Cubans “have that crossover ability that we really yearn for,” Rena Kraut said.

“They have this innate sense of rhythm that we can really learn from.”

The highlight of each trip – as was the case last fall – is always the final collaboration. Still, that’s far from everything; even the magical rooftop concert was just one of many profound experiences CAYO participants report having in Cuba. All three artists affiliated with CIM came back in October brimming with tales of sweltering heat, shocking poverty, and hardy spirits impossible to deflate.

On her first trip out of the country, second-year cello student Willow Stracuzzi (Kraut) said she was affected less by the scarcity of basic supplies – for that she was prepared – than by how readily people adapted. One way or another, she said, Cubans made do, and shared what was available with remarkable selflessness.

Often this resilience took musical form.

One especially poignant example: even as the cello Stracuzzi herself was borrowing could barely hold a tuning, a 12-year-old girl she met gave an incredible performance on an instrument in even worse condition, on a chair liable to break at any moment.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone play like that before,” Stracuzzi said.

“These people, they’re incredible.

They keep going no matter what.

It’s really eye-opening, how they take these conditions and make something so beautiful.”

For her part, Rhea said she enjoyed observing her former teacher in action, watching the way she overcame language barriers and mechanical issues with instruments to leave Cuban players with at least a kernel or two of genuinely helpful knowledge.

“It was really, really invaluable watching her be a true educator on every level, finding something that each student could remember and apply,” Rhea said.

Even that wasn’t all. Rhea also was stunned by the hardiness of two young girls who, had she not arranged a ride, would have walked several miles home in complete darkness after the rooftop concert, with cellos on their backs.

These same people also could have used twice as much toothpaste, rosin, strings, and school supplies as she and her colleagues were able to bring.

“You don’t realize what an impact supplies actually make,” Rhea said.

“Everything you bring is used and cherished.”

Power outages are a weekly or even daily occurrence in Cuba. The one that CAYO witnessed, however, was unusual in that it was unannounced and long-lasting.

When it struck, and persisted, “There was a real feeling of doom on the part of the Cubans,” Rena Kraut said. “It was a very heavy thing.”

But there was also lightness and joy.

Even as Cubans prepared for a period of darkness and CAYO members made their way to a barely functioning airport and onto a flight home, both parties were still riding high on what had just transpired.

The Americans were on their plane, already looking forward to their return.

The Cubans, meanwhile, also had found an outlet and were now more determined and better equipped to pursue it.

“It’s an intense experience,” Melissa Kraut said. “For us, there’s something that hooks you, but for them, this is their ticket out. A lot of them, they really do find their way out through music.”

CIM student Willow Stracuzzi (right), alumna Lydia Rhea (third from right), and faculty Melissa Kraut (fourth from right) pose with students in the CAYO program.

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FEATURE A little help from our friends: CIM’s external partnerships What’s true of CIM students is true of CIM itself: no one goes it alone.

Brilliant faculty, devoted staff, and superb facilities aren’t everything. Providing students everything they’ll need in the real world also means making connections, tapping the talents and resources of other organizations.

It also means giving back, exemplifying the school’s renewed commitment to being Cleveland’s Institute of Music.

Happily, CIM does all of that, and in spades.

“We help our students view their work not as a solitary effort but as part of a living, dynamic, impactful art form,” said Scott Harrison, CIM’s Executive Vice President & Provost.

What follows is an incomplete survey of the many partnerships and other, less formal affiliations CIM currently enjoys. Read on to learn how CIM students are learning from – and helping – like-minded entities across Northeast Ohio, the nation, and the world.

FRIENDLY LOCALS Some of CIM’s most fruitful relationships are with organizations close to home.

Last fall, for instance, CIM and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History co-organized Museum Melodies, a series of free lunch-hour concerts.

Most Thursdays and Fridays from September through November, students serenaded visitors with solo recitals or chamber music performances in the museum’s newly renovated lobby.

“How lucky we are in this region to have the opportunity to partner with CIM so that their talented students can be showcased,” said Sonia Winner, President & CEO of the museum.

Those performances were not the only chances to hear CIM students perform in and around University Circle. For years, CIM students also have been performing in spaces throughout the Cleveland Museum of Art, including Gartner Auditorium.

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The Gateways Brass Collective will appear at CIM this spring on the Perspectives concert series.

Both of these stand in addition to the many places around Cleveland where CIM students performed all last fall for residents or guests at local libraries, medical centers, and senior living facilities. Among those venues were Judson Senior Living centers, Moreland Courts, and University Hospitals.

A NEW GATEWAY

Yet to begin, too, is a new partnership with Piano Cleveland, presenter of the Cleveland International Piano Competition.

More than a dozen grads took part in the Gateways debut concert at Carnegie Hall in 2022 with pianist Jon Batiste and conductor Anthony Parnther, a frequent guest conductor of the CIM Orchestra.

Through that arrangement, 2024 champion James Wei of China will conduct a residency at CIM next fall, one that entails both performing and teaching.

“We’ve been looking for a way for our two organizations to be more closely affiliated,” said Yaron Kohlberg, president of Piano Cleveland, in the July announcement. “This gives both institutions an opportunity to get to know each other better and work together on a deeper level.”

“We’re teaching our students that their talents are not ends in themselves but means to serving our communities and serving the world around us,” Harrison said.

CIM and the Gateways Music Festival go way back. For as long as Gateways has been connecting African American musicians, CIM graduates have figured among their ensembles.

Not until recently, though, has there been any official relationship. Last fall, CIM announced a new level of engagement with Gateways, one that sets the stage for deeper collaboration.

Harrison summed up the rationale nicely.

“When we talk about the future of classical music, Gateways is one of the best living examples,” he said. “They’re an actualized vision of what the classical music world should be.”

The relationship has started off small, but momentum is growing. Now in just its second full-year season, Gateways will

Another development on the international front is the arrival of the Lang Lang Young Scholars Summit, a summer program for gifted pre-college pianists, sponsored by superstar pianist Lang Lang.

CIM student Karisa Chiu performs a concerto with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra.

advance its relationship with CIM this spring with a Perspectives series performance and residency by the Gateways Brass Collective, the group’s premier ensemble.

What comes next remains to be seen. But there is interest from both parties in delving deeper, in looking together for new ways to advance their shared desire to change the face of classical music.

Last summer, CIM hosted the program for the first time, and it went well.

Indeed, it was so successful that the Lang Lang Foundation asked CIM to host it annually, potentially in collaboration with pianists and other instrumentalists in the CIM Academy.

The summit itself also formed separate partnerships of its own, arranging for participants to perform and even teach in local schools, hospitals, and museums.

“For us, it’s an intimate and personal way of reaching new audiences,” said clarinetist Alexander Laing, President and Artistic Director of Gateways. “It’s an opportunity to give back to this community that has given to Gateways so many times. It’s reciprocal.”

“At CIM, the young scholars experienced the stellar level of our own faculty and in turn shared their talent with the community,” said Antonio Pompa-Baldi, head of CIM’s Piano Department. “I am sure we will put together a great experience for 2025, for both our scholars and our community.”

INTERNATIONAL

ASHEVILLE AND BREVARD

CIM students have long enjoyed the privilege of spending a semester or full year abroad, studying at peer institutions in Paris, London, Glasgow, Copenhagen, or Helsinki.

Often such visits take place when faculty advise their students to engage temporarily with a different teacher.

Thank The Payne Fund, a longtime supporter of CIM, for these special and uniquely rewarding relationships.

Every year, through the fund’s generosity, a CIM Concerto Competition victor also

wins the opportunity to perform a concerto with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, a respected regional orchestra in North Carolina.

Over the years, bolstered by this professional exposure, many of these Payne Fund Prize winners have gone on to enjoy prominent careers as soloists or members of major orchestras or chamber ensembles.

The Payne Fund also provides scholarship funding to support CIM students, at the high school or collegiate level, to attend the Brevard Music Center’s premier summer programs, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains just south of Asheville.

The arrangement is the brainchild of Tom Bolton, a Cleveland native and Distinguished Director of the Asheville Symphony Society Board of Directors, with the support of The Payne Fund, which was founded in 1930 by Bolton’s relative, Frances Payne Bolton.

“It is an amazing asset for the Asheville Symphony to have such a strong relationship with the Cleveland Institute of Music,” said Daniel Crupi, Executive Director of the Asheville Symphony.

“To have the opportunity to showcase CIM’s most talented students on our stage is an honor, and it is also a fantastic opportunity for these burgeoning soloists to play with an excellent ensemble and in a community that truly values classical music.”

Now students and faculty have even more options.

Last fall, CIM brokered exchange agreements with two other schools: the famed University of Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna and the Conservatory of Music in Puerto Rico. In both cases, as with the other destinations, students will be able to study there and CIM will accept qualified students for visits at CIM. Sean Schulze, Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Partnerships, was especially excited about Vienna. “They’re going to a city with a storied role in the Western art music tradition,” he said.

“To study where Brahms was once a faculty member – can you imagine?”

James Wei, winner of the 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition, will teach and perform at CIM in fall 2025 through a new partnership with Piano Cleveland, presenter of the competition.

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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Praise be to CIM alum Irene Roberts, star of San Francisco Opera’s The Handmaid’s Tale Irene Roberts (MM ’08, Schiller/ Southern) is no stranger to challenge.

A Wagner mezzo-soprano, she’s used to playing such demanding characters as Kundry, Brangaene, and Venus.

But the role Roberts sang last fall at San Francisco Opera was in a category by itself. As Offred, the lead in Poul Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale, the Berlin-based vocalist had to tap new levels of vocal and theatrical endurance.

“It was the hardest piece I’d ever participated in,” said Roberts, via Zoom, about the 2000 opera set in the brutal, dystopian theocracy imagined by Margaret Atwood.

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“It was a different kind of stamina. I had the responsibility to really carry and drive the show with emotional intensity.”

but she also threaded her way through moments of respite,” wrote a critic in Musical America.

By all accounts, Roberts bore up under that pressure exceedingly well, immersing herself in a dynamic character ripped from her family and forced to reproduce with another.

None of this came as any surprise to Dean Southern (DMA ’09, Schiller), CIM’s Vice President for Academic Affairs. One of the mezzo’s former teachers and still one of her greatest admirers, he knew it was just a matter of time until Roberts grabbed the world’s attention.

Reviews of The Handmaid’s Tale called Roberts the “big star” of the show, a co-production with The Royal Danish Theatre, praising her “relentless and persuasive” interpretation and “courageous, vulnerable, and gorgeously sung” performance.

“Roberts unflinchingly communicated Offred’s ongoing pain of losing her family as well as over the present outrages,

Recalling Roberts as a student, Southern said he always had a feeling she was destined for greatness. His early impression was of an artist with deep musical knowledge (stemming from years of piano study) combined with tremendous vocal potential and a strong sense of theatricality.

His hunch proved correct. Over the years, he watched Roberts “clearly master” voice technique and land a series of ever larger, more important roles.

Long before The Handmaid’s Tale, Roberts rose through the operatic ranks at CIM and then went on to become one of the most in-demand Wagner mezzos in Europe. She also has garnered acclaim in Italian opera, for such roles as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

nurtured her spirit and was “all about being there in every capacity for her singers,” while Southern emphasized discipline and good vocal habits.

From this tag-team approach, Roberts said she effectively received twice the education, mastering two dissimilar approaches to music and singing.

Moving back and forth between studios, meanwhile, developed in her a sense of

A Handmaid’s Tale, which ran at San Francisco Opera from September 14 to October 1. Rare, in opera, is the halfhearted performance, but in The Handmaid’s Tale, Roberts had to go above and beyond, to give her all.

“This was the first show where if I wasn’t really living through it, it wasn’t a powerful performance,” she said.

“We all had to go through something huge every single time...I don’t believe in just singing pretty notes.”

“It was a joy to work with her during those pivotal years,” Southern said, noting her simultaneous studies with Voice and Opera Division Head Mary Schiller. “Through it all, Irene has always sounded like Irene with her distinct musical intelligence and spectacular personality.”

This posed certain risks, of course, especially for Roberts, who said she identified strongly with Offred and indeed accepted the role in part for its contemporary relevance. Each time she took the stage, she had to keep her own emotions in check, to find ways of safely but fully immersing herself in the plight of Offred.

The feeling is definitely mutual.

For her years at CIM, Roberts said she nurtures nothing but fondness for Southern, Schiller, and other members of the faculty, including former CIM Opera Theater Artistic Director David Bamberger and current Music Director Harry Davidson.

Here, too, her CIM education was of service. At school and over her years of training, Roberts said she learned the value of doing the “inner work” ahead of time, priming herself to inhabit a character and “be there completely for the audience and everybody else.”

The former, she said, gave her much-needed and invaluable time on stage, while the latter was the first to spot in her voice the raw ingredients of a serious Wagner singer, thus helping her discover what she now realizes was her “true calling.”

Not an ounce of that work was in vain. Not in San Francisco.

Roberts can list any number of memorable evenings, CIM alumna Irene Roberts has made a name for herself as a Wagner performances of which she mezzo-soprano and recently starred in San Francisco Opera’s is proud. But her role in The production of The Handmaid’s Tale.

Handmaid’s Tale is one that will stick with her for a different reason: for artistic independence, one that Every new role was “a chance to step the profound way in which she reached has served her well now for more than out of my comfort zone,” Roberts said. those lucky enough to have held a ticket.

15 years.

“With each experience, I grew more “Never have I felt that connected to confident in my ability. I feel very grateful “I had the best of both worlds,” Roberts an audience before,” Roberts said. “It that they saw potential in me and give said. “That foundation happened at CIM. renewed my love for what I do, although me as many opportunities as they I had two totally different approaches, that’s never really gone away. People could.” and you need that, because anything were deeply moved, and that’s what we can happen on stage.”

Roberts is especially grateful for the live for, why we love live theater.” complementary way Southern and That latter observation – that anything Schiller co-taught her. Schiller, she said, can happen – certainly proved true in

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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 for a later issue.

Alumni

Leo Gevisser (YAP 2018-20) won second prize at the Concours International Piano Competition of Orléans.

Paul Halberstadt (MM ’22, Rose) joined the second violin section of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Chris Neiner (MM ’20, Fitch) received the 2024 Ohio Commissioned Composer’s Award from the Ohio Music Teachers Association.

Ophir Paz (BM ’18, Egre) was promoted to gunnery sergeant in the United States Marine Band.

Qingzhuo Li (BM ’23, O. Kaler) and Mingyao Zhao (PS ’19, AD ’21, Kosower) joined the Canton Symphony Orchestra.

Samantha Powell (BM ’21, Weiss) was named principal cello of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra.

Sara Jakubiak (MM ’04, Rinaldi) sang Sieglinde in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s fall 2024 production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen.

Juan Riveros (BM ’21, MM ’22, Kondonassis) joined the strings area faculty at Michigan State University College of Music.

Tristen Jarvis (MM ’20, Dixon) was appointed visiting lecturer at Cornell University.

Lauren Roth (MM ’13, Preucil) was named assistant concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Maya Ito Johnson (BM ’22, MM ’24, I. Kaler/O. Kaler) was appointed associate concertmaster of the Savannah Philharmonic.

Rachel Schultz (BM ’02, MM ’08, Brown/Pontremoli) was named chief operating officer of the Hawaii Youth Symphony.

Paolo Dara (BM ’19, PS ’23, GD ’24, Sloman/Rose/Laredo) joined the second violin section of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Daniel Kaler (BM ’20, Kosower) won prizes or mentions at the World Artistry Music Award Competition, Bach International Music Competition, Medici International Music Competition, and the 2024 Maurice Ravel Competition.

Samuel Sykes (BM ’23, Kraut) won a one-year post in the North Carolina Symphony.

Isabelle Durrenberger (BM ’19, Laredo) won second prize in the 2024 Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach String Competition, and was appointed first violinist of the Aeolus Quartet.

Dan Kassteen (BM ’97, Darling) was named principal trumpet of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra.

Paul Aguilar (BM ’19, Laredo) joined the viola section of the Houston Symphony.

Layan Atieh (MM ’24, King/Silberschlag) joined Seraph Brass.

Jonas Aumiller (MM ’22, AD ’24, Babayan) won second prize at the 12th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition.

Sabrina Bradford (MM ’20, Rose) joined the second violin section of the Minnesota Orchestra.

Michael Buckles (MM ’95) was named provost and vice president for academic affairs at McNeese State University.

Cheryl Losey Feder (BM ’06, MM ’08, Kondonassis) was named principal harp of the Minnesota Orchestra.

Karen Ferry (BM ’22, Rose), was named principal second violin of both the Akron and Canton Symphony Orchestras.

Elizabeth Furuta (BM ’13, MM ’15, Preucil) joined the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Stanislav Khristenko (AD ’11, Babayan) joined the piano faculty at Michigan State University College of Music.

Claire Kostic (BM ’15, Rosenwein) was named principal oboe of the WinstonSalem Symphony.

Chantel Leung (PS ’18, Dixon) joined the double bass section of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

Jonathan Mak (BM ’19, D. Shapiro) won grand prize at the Concours International de Piano de Sorel-Tracy.

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Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate (MM ’00, Erb/Pastor) saw the premiere of his opera Loksi’ Shaali’ (Shell Shaker) by the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the first opera in an American Indian language.

Daniel Urbanowicz (BM ’12, Irvine/ Ramsey) joined the viola section of The Florida Orchestra.

Sergein Yap (BM ’15, Irvine) was named director of operations at Chamber Music of Society Palm Beach.

Michael Zogaib (BM ’19, Dixon) won a one-year post in the Houston Symphony Orchestra.

STUDENTS

Bonnie Humphrey passed away May 29, 2024. She served as a CIM Trustee from 1989 to 2006.

FACULTY

Tony Chen (piano, Brown) won second prize in the 2024 Los Angeles International Liszt Competition in the Division V category.

Jacob Bernhardt (music theory, MM ’19, DMA ’23, Pontremoli) was named principal keyboard of the Akron Symphony Orchestra.

Jeremy Foster (violin, Rose), Remy Howard (double bass, Dixon), Abigail Macy (violin, Lee), Sebastian Orellana (violin, I. Kaler), Lydia Plaut (viola, Irvine), Gene Waldron (double bass, Dimoff), and Annamarie Wellems (cello, Kraut) joined the Canton Symphony Orchestra.

Sean Schulze (piano) published Not so Serious: Humor and Hijinks in Haydn’s Piano Sonatas in the fall 2024 issue of Piano Magazine.

Curtis Li (piano, Brown) won first prize in the 2024 Brevard Solo Piano Competition.

Alex Moiseev (composition, Fitch) was named composer fellow for the Canton Symphony Orchestra and will write a piece for premiere in 2025.

Gene Waldron (double bass, Dimoff) won an audition for the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.

Richard Nelson passed away Aug. 29, 2024. He was head of CIM’s Music Theory Department from 1996 to 2018.

Martha Schlosser passed away Nov. 19, 2024. She taught piano in CIM’s Preparatory Division for 20 years.

Ralph Schultz (MM ’60) passed away Sept. 24, 2024. He had been music professor, choir director, and president of Concordia College.

IN MEMORIAM Judith Burganger-Treer passed away Nov. 19, 2024. She was an accomplished concert pianist and a member of CIM’s piano faculty.

Viljar Puu Weimann (MM ’91) passed away in Sept. 2024. He was an active conductor and violinist and director of Alabama’s Orchestra Sul Ponticello.

Laura Bodnar Fiore passed away in Germany on Aug. 10, 2024. She studied voice at CIM and pursued a career in opera and volunteer service.

2025 gets off to good start with early honors for CIM’s Piano Department CIM’s Piano Department received two pieces of good news at the start of the new year. Before most students had even returned to campus for the spring 2025 semester, the school learned of significant honors granted to faculty members Gerardo Teissonnière (BM ’85, MM ’89, Vronsky) and Dr. Daria Rabotkina.

Teissonnière won the Individual Artist category in the 2025 Governor’s Awards for the Arts, while Rabotkina, who joined the CIM faculty in fall 2024, was named a Steinway Artist and added to the illustrious International Steinway Artist Roster.

The Governor’s Award recognized Tessonnière’s multifaceted career at CIM and beyond, as both a performer and an educator. The honor is granted each year to an Ohio artist whose work significantly impacts his or her discipline locally, statewide, regionally, or nationally.

Rabotkina, meanwhile, joined Steinway’s storied list of the world’s top pianists, one that dates back to the late 19th century. Fittingly, her name was added alongside several other current CIM piano faculty members, including Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Gabriela Montero, and Teissonnière.

Dr. Daria Rabotkina

Gerardo Teissonnière

Congratulations, Gerardo Teissonnière and Dr. Daria Rabotkina!

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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 Dec. 11, 2024). $10,000,000+ Cuyahoga Arts & Culture The Fred A. Lennon Charitable Trust $5,000,000–$9,999,999 Kulas Foundation Barbara and Mal* (HDMA ’15) Mixon Kevin & Kristen Stein and Family $2,500,000–$4,999,999 Gay C. and Edward Addicott* Mr. and Mrs. F. J. Callahan* Elizabeth D. Hicks* State of Ohio 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 The Deane A. and John D. Gilliam Foundation Clive and Jane 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 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* Mr. and Mrs.* Eugene J. Beer Helen C. Brown * Ann C. and Hugh Calkins* Irad (BM ’87, MM ’88) and Rebecca (BM ’87, MM ’89) Carmi Mr. Arthur L. Charni* Charlie and Grosvie Cooley Larry B. Faigin* The GAR Foundation Babs and Carl Glickman Margaret R. Griffiths Trust The George Gund Foundation Iris and Tom Harvie Martha Holden Jennings Foundation Sharon C. and 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 Barany* Mr.* and Mrs. Alfred Buescher

M.E. & F.J. Callahan Foundation Delores Comey* Robert Conrad (HDMA ’98) 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 Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. Carter Kissell* Joy Miller Kiszely* Emma Lincoln* Mrs. Elliot L. Ludvigsen* Charles and Sue 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 Ohio Department of Higher Education Mr. and Mrs. Raymond P. Park The Ranney Scholarship Fund Peter J. Reichl* Sam and Sarah Sato* Astri Seidenfeld Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Taplin, Jr.* Carole Hershey Walters Ms. Annette E. Willis*

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/donate or contact a member of CIM’s development team at 216.795.3160.

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*deceased

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Be the Future of Classical Music Every year, hundreds of classical music students walk through our doors to have access to some of the best training opportunities in the world. We are grateful to the hundreds who help ensure the next generation of classical musicians has access to these experiences by making donations to CIM’s Annual Fund every year.

Deepen your investment in the future of classical music by making a gift to CIM’s Annual Fund using the QR code or visit cim.edu/donatenow.

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