Chautauqua Chamber Music: ChamberFest Cleveland
Claude Debussy
Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp (1915) [17']
Johannes Brahms
Serenade No. 1 in D major, op. 11 (1857–58) [49']
Chautauqua Chamber Music is made possible by the Kay Hardesty Logan Fund, Bruce W. and Sarah Hagen McWilliams, and Jeffrey and Norma Glazer.
MARK ALMOND joined the San Francisco Symphony as associate principal horn during the 2020–21 season. He previously held positions in the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra of London. Growing up in Bolton, England, Dr. Almond won principal horn positions with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the European Union Youth Orchestra. He made his professional debut playing with the London Symphony Orchestra at age 19 and has since performed as guest principal with numerous ensembles including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition to music, Dr. Almond is an experienced hospital physician and has a PhD in immunology and virology from Imperial College, London. He is currently researching COVID-19 as a Post-Doctoral Research Scholar at UCSF.
Principal cellist of Camerata Pacifica ANI AZNAVOORIAN has appeared as a soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras. She has received first prize in a multitude of solo competitions around the globe and was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. Ms. Aznavoorian received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School, where she became the youngest cellist in history to be awarded first prize in the institution’s concerto competition. Ms. Aznavoorian enjoys performing new music and has given world premieres of many contemporary works, notably Lera Auerbach’s Dreammusik for Cello and Chamber Orchestra, which was written specifically for her.
BENJAMIN CHEN, clarinet, joined the Washington National Opera and Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra as assistant principal and E-flat clarinetist in 2018. He has performed with The Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, and as guest principal clarinetist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. He made his American solo debut at the Kennedy Center after winning the National Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Music Institute concerto competition. In addition to performing with ChamberFest Cleveland, Mr. Chen is a member of Cleveland’s Pierrot new music ensemble, Ars Futura, and the award- winning North Coast Winds Quintet. Other festival appearances include the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, National Repertory Orchestra, Breckenridge Music Festival, and Sarasota Music Festival. He has served as an interim faculty member at Kent State University, visiting instructor at the Oberlin Conservatory, and presented masterclasses in China.
DIANA COHEN, violin, is a founder and co- artistic director of ChamberFest Cleveland. She was appointed concertmaster of the Calgary Philharmonic in 2012 and has appeared as soloist with the symphonies of Richmond, Charleston, and Kalamazoo, the National Repertory Orchestra, Iris Orchestra, and Red {an orchestra}. She has also served as guest concertmaster with the Rochester Philharmonic and Phoenix Symphony. Ms. Cohen regularly performs with the Grammy-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and East Coast Chamber Orchestra, and has appeared with the International Sejong Soloists, The Knights, The Cleveland Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic. She has collaborated with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Miró, Cleveland, and Parker Quartets. She can be heard on several of Orpheus’s recordings as well as with her father, clarinetist Franklin Cohen, on Osvaldo Golijov’s The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind.
FRANKLIN COHEN, clarinet, is a founder and co-artistic director of ChamberFest Cleveland. He was the longest serving principal clarinetist and most frequent soloist in the history of The Cleveland Orchestra, and was named Principal Clarinet Emeritus, the first honor of its kind given since the orchestra’s founding. Mr. Cohen has been featured as a soloist in more than 200 performances throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe. His Deutsche Grammophon recording of Debussy’s First Clarinet Rhapsody, conducted by Pierre Boulez, won two Grammy Awards in 1996. Mr. Cohen has collaborated with such leading artists as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Emanuel Ax, Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Menahem Pressler, and Andras Schiff, and has performed with the Guarneri, Takacs, Tokyo, and Emerson string quartets. He gained international recognition as the first clarinetist awarded first prize at the 1968 Munich International Music Competition.
NATHAN FARRINGTON graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2006. He studied double bass with the principal bassist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Hal Robinson, as well as with bassist/composer Edgar Meyer. Mr. Farrington has appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony, the Aspen Music Festival Conducting Orchestra, and the Minnesota Sinfonia. He completed his third summer at the Marlboro Music Festival in 2006, and appears regularly in the bass sections of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Columbus Symphony, and the East Coast Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Farrington has also appeared on MPR’s “A Prairie Home Companion” numerous times. He was awarded second prize at the 2009 International Society of Bassists Solo Competition and won the Aspen Music Festival’s 2009 Low Strings Concerto Competition.
American violist MATTHEW LIPMAN frequently appears as both a soloist and chamber music performer. Highlights of recent seasons include appearances with the Minnesota Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and the Juilliard Orchestra. Ascent, his 2019 release, was celebrated by The Strad as a most impressive debut album. He was also featured on a recording of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with violinist Rachel Barton Pine and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields that topped Billboard’s Classical Chart. Named the 2019 Artist- in-Residence for the American Viola Society, Mr. Lipman has been featured on WFMT Chicago’s list “30 Under 30” of the world’s top classical musicians, and is a published contributor to The Strad, Strings and BBC Music magazines.
SIVAN MAGEN has served as the principal harpist of the Finnish Radio Symphony since 2017. The only Israeli ever to win the International Harp Contest in Israel, Mr. Magen is also a winner of the Pro Musicis International Award and the 2012 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. He appears across the U.S., South America, Europe, and Israel as a soloist and chamber musician. Mr. Magen is a founding member of the Israeli Chamber Project, a group that performs in both outreach venues and major concert halls in Israel and the U.S. He is also founding member of the trio Tre Voci, which has released a highly praised CD for ECM of music by Debussy, Gubaidulina, and Takemitsu. Mr. Magen has released two solo albums for Linn Records: Fantasien and French Reflections.
Scottish-born LORNA McGHEE was appointed principal flute of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2012, and has performed as a guest principal, soloist, and chamber musician in venues across Europe, North America, Australia, Singapore, and Japan. In 2004, Ms. McGhee gave a performance of Penderecki’s flute concerto with the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra conducted by the composer. Her Naxos recording of chamber music by Arnold Bax with the ensemble Mobius was selected as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone Magazine. Ms. McGhee is now a member of the flute faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, and continues to work as a teacher at universities, conservatoires, and flute festivals in the UK, U.S., Japan, and Canada.
FERNANDO TRABA has served as principal bassoon with all five major orchestras in Mexico City, as well as the Orchestra of the Principality of Asturias, National Opera Orchestra, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería. He has performed the major bassoon concertos with orchestras in Mexico, Europe, and the United States, including multiple performances with the Sarasota Orchestra. Most recently he was heard in three performances of R. Strauss’s Duet-Concertino with clarinetist Bharat Chandra and the Sarasota Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, Mr. Traba has been a member of the Sarasota Wind Quintet since 1992, and has also performed with Instrumenta (Mexico), the Palm Beach, and ChamberFest Cleveland Music Festivals. Mr. Traba has a private bassoon studio in addition to serving on the faculties of Florida Southern College as well as State College of Florida (Bradenton).