CCM Extends Residency of Internationally Acclaimed Ariel Quartet

Peter Landgren, dean and Thomas James Kelly professor of music at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), has announced that the internationally acclaimed Ariel Quartet will continue to serve as the college’s string quartet-in-residence for the next seven years. An ensemble-in-residence since 2012, this extension will keep the Quartet at CCM through the 2021-22 academic year and concert season.

“I am thrilled that the Ariel Quartet will call CCM its permanent home for the foreseeable future,” said Landgren. “Their residency has already had a notable impact on both our college and the city of Cincinnati. In their first three and a half years, the members of the Ariel Quartet have provided unparalleled coaching and mentorship to our students, presented our community with its first complete cycle of Beethoven’s string quartets, performed as part of Bryce Dessner’s MusicNOW Festival, collaborated with distinguished CCM guest artists like Menahem Pressler and David Geringas, and served as ambassadors for the Queen City as part of the CINCYinNYC initiative.”

The Ariel Quartet is comprised of Alexandra Kazovsky, violin; Amit Even-Tov, cello; Gershon Gerchikov, violin; and Jan Grüning, viola. The group was formed in Israel in 1998, and they have been playing together ever since. 2014 recipients of the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, the Quartet directs CCM’s chamber music program as part of this residency, in addition to their annual series of concerts at the college.

“The past three and a half years exceeded our initial expectations of this residency in every respect,” the members of the Ariel Quartet explained. “The eagerness of CCM’s students paired with the incredible support of our esteemed faculty colleagues has enabled us to help cultivate the active and enthusiastic chamber music community of our dreams. We are thrilled to be able to make Cincinnati our permanent home and are excited at the prospect of continuing to be a part of this community’s musical life.”

The Ariel Quartet will continue to perform four concerts per year in CCM’s Corbett Auditorium for the duration of this new seven-year agreement. The Quartet will continue to coach 20 – 25 student string quartets in the fine art of chamber music performance, as well. The members of the Ariel Quartet will also expand their pedagogic roles at CCM by adding one-on-one teaching to their responsibilities.

CCM’s new agreement with the Quartet also provides a fund to attract guest artists who will perform with the Ariels and provide masterclasses for students, along with funding to support an annual student string quartet competition.

The Ariel Quartet will also be able to maintain its impressive international performance schedule thanks to support from the University of Cincinnati, which was key in assisting the members of the Quartet in obtaining their H-1B visas.

According to Paul Katz, the scope of the Ariel Quartet’s new arrangement with CCM is quite noteworthy. Founding cellist of the world-renowned Cleveland Quartet and a master teacher at the New England Conservatory, Katz said, “The long-term nature of this agreement brings both deserved economic security to this amazing young string ensemble, and gives CCM and the Ariel Quartet time together to build a first class string chamber music program for the school.”

Prior to its residency at CCM, the Ariel Quartet was the resident ensemble of the New England Conservatory’s Professional String Quartet Training Program, which is led by Katz. “I am delighted that my 26 years in the Cleveland Quartet and our groundbreaking residency arrangement at the Eastman School of Music was able to serve as a successful model for CCM’s relationship with the Ariel Quartet,” he observed.

Katz concluded, “In 45 years of mentoring extraordinary young groups, seldom have I seen an arrangement of comparable perception, detail and mutual benefit.”

“This has all been made possible by a group of individuals who understand how their investment in this young quartet revives a proud tradition initiated by the LaSalle Quartet,” Landgren explained, referring to CCM’s storied string quartet-in-residence from 1953-88. “Cincinnati and CCM will continue to benefit from the remarkable talents and engaging personality of the Ariel Quartet, whose members are writing an exciting new chapter in our community’s strong history of chamber music.”

Learn more about the Ariel Quartet’s upcoming CCM Concert Series by visiting ccm.uc.edu/ariel.

A New Era Dawns: The Ariel Quartet’s 2015-16 Concert Series
For its next season in residence at CCM, the Ariel Quartet will present concerts at 8 p.m. on Sept. 1, Nov. 10, Jan. 26 and March 1. These Tuesday night concerts will be held in CCM’s acoustically stunning Corbett Auditorium and will feature works by Tchaikovsky, Bartók, Brahms, Haydn and others.

Series highlights will also include a performance of Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite and a collaboration with CCM artist-in-residence Awadagin Pratt on Dvorák’s Piano Quintet No. 2, Op. 81. Complete concert series repertoire is available online at ccm.uc.edu/ariel.

Audiences can experience the Ariel Quartet’s next concert series in its entirety for just $75 per subscription, a savings of 25% off single ticket prices. Subscription packages can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office or over the telephone at 513-556-4183.

Single tickets become available on Monday, August 24, and are $25 for general audiences and $15 for non-UC students. Single tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online at ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice.

About the Ariel Quartet
Characterized by its youth, brilliant playing, and soulful interpretations, the Ariel Quartet has quickly earned a glowing international reputation.

The Quartet was formed in Israel 17 years ago when its members were young students, and they have been playing together ever since. Recently awarded the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, the Quartet serves as the faculty quartet-in-residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where its members direct the chamber music program and perform their own annual series of concerts – a remarkable achievement for an ensemble so young.

Highlights of the 2014-15 season include a groundbreaking Beethoven cycle performed at New York’s SubCulture that featured a midnight performance of the Grosse Fuge; a performance featuring music by three generations of Israeli composers at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; performances resulting from the Cleveland Quartet Award in Kansas City, Austin and Buffalo; and a tour of South America.

The Ariel Quartet performs widely in North America, Europe and Israel, including two recent record-setting Beethoven cycles, performed before all the members of the quartet turned 30. The Ariel continues to astonish with its performances of complete works by memory and has remained committed to performing extensively in Israel. In addition, the Ariel has collaborated with the pianist Orion Weiss; violist Roger Tapping; cellist Paul Katz; and the American and Jerusalem String Quartets. The Quartet toured with the cellist Alisa Weilerstein during the 2013-14 season, and performs regularly with the legendary pianist Menahem Pressler. Additionally, the Ariel was quartet-in-residence for the Steans Music Institute at the Ravinia Festival, the Yellow Barn Music Festival and for the Perlman Music Program.

Formerly the resident ensemble in the New England Conservatory’s Professional String Quartet Training Program, the Ariel has won a number of international prizes including the Grand Prize at the 2006 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and First Prize at the international competition “Franz Schubert And The Music Of Modernity” in Graz, Austria, in 2003, when the Quartet’s members were remarkably young. After they won the Székely Prize for their performance of Bartók, as well as the overall Third Prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2007, the American Record Guide described the Ariel Quartet as “a consummate ensemble gifted with utter musicality and remarkable interpretive power” and called their performance of Beethoven’s Op. 132 “the pinnacle of the competition.”

The Ariel Quartet has been mentored extensively by Itzhak Perlman, Paul Katz, Donald Weilerstein, Miriam Fried, Kim Kashkashian and Martha Strongin Katz, among others. The Quartet has received extensive scholarship support throughout its studies in the United States from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Dov and Rachel Gottesman, the Legacy Heritage Fund, as well as The A. N. and Pearl G. Barnett Family Foundation.
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CCM Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

The Ariel Quartet’s 2015-16 CCM concert series is made possible by the generous contributions of The Estate of Mr. William A. Friedlander, Mrs. William A. Friedlander, Dr. & Mrs. Randolph L. Wadsworth, Mr. & Mrs. J. David Rosenberg, Mr. & Mrs. Harry H. Santen, Mr. & Mrs. Thomas E. Stegman.

A preeminent institution for the performing and media arts, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is the largest single source of performing arts presentations in the state of Ohio.

All event dates and programs are subject to change. For a complete calendar of events, please visit us online at ccm.uc.edu.

The Ariel Quartet’s 2014-15 CCM Concert Series Comes to a Stunning Conclusion on March 31

CCM’s internationally-acclaimed string quartet-in-residence the Ariel Quartet concludes its 2014–15 concert series at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31, in Corbett Auditorium.

The program will include Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 76, No. 4, Béla Bartók’s String Quartet No. 5, Sz. 102 and Johannes Brahms’ String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat Major. Tickets for this performance are on sale now.

From left to right: Amit Even-Tov, Jan Grüning, Alexandra Kazovsky and Gershon Gerchikov are the Ariel Quartet. Photography by Saverio Truglia.

Last season, the Quartet performed its first complete Beethoven Cycle in Corbett Auditorium, a feat that the Cincinnati Enquirer‘s Janelle Gelfand characterized as “a challenge like climbing Mount Everest, and you could only marvel at their musicianship each step of the way.” You can watch excerpts from last season’s concert series by visiting www.arielquartet.com/video.

“The Cycle” proved so popular that the Ariel Quartet was invited to perform another complete cycle of Beethoven’s string quartets for New York City audiences at the SubCulture music venue on Bleeker Street.

The Ariel Quartet is comprised of Alexandra Kazovsky, violin; Amit Even-Tov, cello; Gershon Gerchikov, violin; and Jan Grüning, viola. The Quartet was formed in Israel 16 years ago when its members were young students, and they have been playing together ever since. Recently awarded the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, the Quartet serves as the string quartet-in-residence at CCM where they direct the chamber music program and perform their own annual series of concerts.

This concert will be dedicated to the loving memory of businessman and philanthropist William A. Friedlander. The Friedlanders’ generosity has helped to make the Ariel Quartet’s residency at CCM possible.

Below, watch the Ariel Quartet perform Haydn’s Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 33, No. 2, “Joke,” at the 2012 Vermont Summer Music Festival:

Performance Time
8 p.m. Tuesday, March 31

Location
Corbett Auditorium, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Purchasing Tickets
Tickets are $20 for general admission, $15 for non-UC students and FREE for UC students with valid ID.

Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online now through our e-Box Office!

Visit ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice for CCM Box Office hours and location.

Parking and Directions
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.

For detailed maps and directions, please visit uc.edu/visitors. Additional parking is available off-campus at the new U Square complex on Calhoun Street and other neighboring lots.

For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.
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CCM Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

The Ariel Quartet’s 2014–15 CCM concert series is made possible by the generous contributions of The Corbett Foundation, Dr. & Mrs. Randolph L. Wadsworth, Mr. & Mrs. William A. Friedlander, Mr. & Mrs. Harry H. Santen, Mr. & Mrs. Thomas E. Stegman and Dianne & J. David Rosenberg.

The Ariel Quartet’s CCM Concert Series Continues on Jan. 27

The internationally acclaimed Ariel Quartet continues its concert series at CCM on Tuesday, Jan. 27, with a performance featuring works by Schubert, Stravinsky and Schulhoff. Tickets for this performance are on sale now.

The Ariel Quartet is comprised of Alexandra Kazovsky, violin; Amit Even-Tov, cello; Gershon Gerchikov, violin; and Jan Grüning, viola. The Quartet was formed in Israel 16 years ago when its members were young students, and they have been playing together ever since. Recently awarded the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, the Quartet serves as the string quartet-in-residence at CCM, where they direct the chamber music program and perform their own annual series of concerts – a remarkable achievement for an ensemble so young.

Last season, the Quartet performed its first complete Beethoven Cycle at CCM, a feat that the Cincinnati Enquirer‘s Janelle Gelfand characterized as “a challenge like climbing Mount Everest, and you could only marvel at their musicianship each step of the way.” You can watch excerpts from last season’s concert series by visiting www.arielquartet.com/video.

“The Cycle” proved so popular that the Ariel Quartet was invited to perform another complete cycle of Beethoven’s string quartets for New York City audiences at the SubCulture music venue on Bleeker Street.

Last month, the Wall Street Journal‘s Barrymore Laurence Scherer praised the Quartet members for their “vigorous aplomb” and their “palpable joie de vivre born of understanding and affection for the works channeled through their own consummate musicianship.”

Repertoire
SCHULHOFF: Divertimento for String Quartet, Op. 14
STRAVINSKY: Three Pieces for String Quartet
SCHUBERT: String Quartet in G Major, D. 887

Performance Time
8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27

Location
Corbett Auditorium, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Purchasing Tickets
Tickets are $20 for general admission, $15 for non-UC students and FREE for UC students with valid ID.

Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online now through our e-Box Office! Visit ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice for CCM Box Office hours and location.

Parking and Directions
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.

For detailed maps and directions, please visit uc.edu/visitors. Additional parking is available off-campus at the new U Square complex on Calhoun Street and other neighboring lots.

For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.
____________________

CCM Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

The Ariel Quartet’s 2014-15 CCM concert series is made possible by the generous contributions of The Corbett Foundation, Dr. & Mrs. Randolph L. Wadsworth, Mr. & Mrs. William A. Friedlander, Mr. & Mrs. Harry H. Santen, Mr. & Mrs. Thomas E. Stegman and Mr. & Mrs. J. David Rosenberg.

CCM Performances Make Critics’ “Best of 2014” Lists

In case you missed it, Music for All Seasons Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Enquirer and Music in Cincinnati have each published “year in review” stories, looking back on the great performances of 2014.

Rafael de Acha selected 10 special performances from 2014 for Music for All Seasons Cincinnati, including:

• Professor Emeritus Frank Weinstock‘s return to the CCM stage as part of the 2014 Bearcat Piano Festival;
• Guest artist Andreas Scholl‘s all-Lieder recital at CCM;
• CCM’s Mainstage Series production of Les Misérables, which “won them a fine judgment from judicious lovers of the musical,” according to de Acha;
• CCM’s Studio Series production of Chabrier’s L’ étoile;
• CCM’s Opera d’arte Series production of Ravel’s L’ enfant et les sortilèges;
• and CCM’s Mainstage Series production of Don Pasquale, directed by the-graudate student Omer Ben-Seadia, who was in “full command of the style that infuses the spirit of Donizetti’s masterpiece,” by de Acha’s estimation.

Janelle Gelfand picked her 14 highlights of 2014 for the Enquirer, including:

• the Ariel Quartet’s groundbreaking Beethoven Cycle at CCM, which Gelfand dubbed the year’s “most impressive survey;”
• CCM’s Choral and Orchestral regional premiere of John Adams’ El Niño, which she described as the year’s “biggest spectacle;”
• and CCM’s Mainstage Series production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s fairy-tale opera Hansel and Gretel, which she called the year’s “most magical” performance.

Mary Ellyn Hutton widened her selection to 21 highlights for 2014 for Music In Cincinnati, including:

• CCM’s production of John Adams’ El Niño, which “alternately intrigued, touched and pinned one’s ears to the wall,” according to Hutton;
• CCM’s Mainstage Series production of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale;
• The Academy of Ancient Music’s regional debut at CCM, performing the complete orchestral suites of J.S. Bach;
• CCM’s performance of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 at Christ Church Cathedral, which Hutton described as a “treat for both eyes and ears;”
• and CCM’s Mainstage Series production of Hansel and Gretel.

The magic continues in 2015, as CCM presents over 125 major public performances during UC’s Spring Semester, beginning with a faculty artist recital by Pat Linhart and Julie Spangler on Sunday, Jan. 18, and concluding with the CCM Prep Jazz Extravaganza concert on Sunday, May 17!

See a full schedule of events at ccm.uc.edu/about/villagenews/notations-ovations/spring-2015-calendar-of-events!

The Ariel Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle Concludes with Performances on March 25, 27 and 29

Join us next week for the stunning conclusion to the Ariel Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle! The Ariel Quartet will finish its first complete tour of Beethoven’s string quartets with a trio of performances on March 25, 27 and 29.

To celebrate the occasion, we are delighted to present an excerpt of Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Minor Op. 95, “Serioso,” recorded live in CCM’s Corbett Auditorium in January of 2014. Watch the video embed below or view it on YouTube here!

Please see the schedule below for complete details.

CCM Announces Revised Performance Schedule for the Ariel Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle

CCM is pleased to announce a revised performance schedule for the remaining installments of the Ariel Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle. A make-up date of Tuesday, March 25, has been added to this concert series, necessitated by the weather-related cancellation of the Quartet’s Jan. 25 performance.

The original order of the repertoire will be followed for the remainder of the Beethoven Cycle, so the program originally announced for Jan. 25 will now be performed on Thursday, Feb. 20. Please see the revised schedule below for complete details.

Concert ticket holders affected by the University of Cincinnati’s closure on Jan. 25 can contact CCM Box Office Manager Jeanne Rose at 513-556-9443 or rosej2@ucmail.uc.edu for additional assistance.

The Ariel Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle Opens to Rave Reviews

The Ariel Quartet‘s complete tour of Beethoven’s string quartets commenced last evening and the opening performance of “The Cycle“ was met with rave reviews!

In her write-up for Music in Cincinnati, Mary Ellyn Hutton writes, “Evident at once in any performance by the Ariel Quartet are the differing personalities of its members. Kazovsky is sweeping and demonstrative. Gershon is pointed and elegant. Violist Grüning radiates confidence and control, while cellist Even-Tov is animated, with facial expressions to match. And how beautifully they come together to make music.” Read the full review here.

In her review for the Cincinnati Enquirer, Janelle Gelfand writes, “One could marvel at their pinpoint attack and cutoffs, performed for maximum dramatic effect, sometimes with flinging bows. The slow movement was phrased with profound beauty, and the players breathed together as one.” Read the full review here.

iSPYCiNCY.com also provides a video teaser for “The Cycle” in its recap of CCM’s Moveable Feast. Watch the video here.

Earlier this week, CityBeat published an in-depth feature on the Ariel Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle. Read the full article here.

“The Cycle” continues at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25 Thursday, Feb. 20. Learn more about the performance here.

CCM Video: The Ariel Quartet Presents ‘The Cycle’

In honor of tonight’s opening installment of the Ariel Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle, we proudly present an excerpt from the Quartet’s very first concert while in residence at CCM! Enjoy an excerpt from Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135, recorded live in CCM’s Robert J. Werner Recital Hall on Sept. 11, 2012.

Also, be sure to pick up this week’s issue of CityBeat for an in-depth preview of “The Cycle,” courtesy of Anne Arenstein. The Jan. 22 issue of CityBeat is on newsstands now and is also available online here.

For more information about “The Cycle,” please visit http://ccm.uc.edu.

The Ariel Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle Commences With Series-Opening Concerts on Jan. 23 and 25!

From left to right: Amit Even-Tov, Jan Grüning, Alexandra Kazovsky and Gershon Gerchikov are the Ariel Quartet. Photography by Saverio Truglia.

CCM proudly presents the opening concerts of the Ariel Quartet’s first complete Beethoven Cycle on Thursday, Jan. 23, and Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014 Thursday, Feb. 20. Both performances begin at 8 p.m. in CCM’s Corbett Auditorium.

Through the course of this six-part concert series – otherwise known as “The Cycle” – CCM’s acclaimed string quartet-in-residence will perform all 17 of Ludwig van Beethoven’s string quartets. Taken as a whole, these works are widely regarded as the greatest achievement in the history of western chamber music.

The program for the Ariel Quartet’s series-opening concert on Thursday, Jan. 23, includes Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1; String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95 (“Serioso”); and String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 127.

The Saturday, Jan. 25, Thursday, Feb. 20 program includes Beethoven’s String Quartet in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2; String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3 (“Razumovsky”); and String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135.

The quartet debated about how to present “The Cycle,” whether to play it in chronological order or to break it apart and program works from different periods into each concert, members explain.

Beethoven’s life and works are frequently divided into three general periods: a formative period lasting until around 1802, a middle period lasting until around 1812 and a transcendent third or late period lasting until 1827. For their first complete cycle, the members of the Ariel Quartet decided to present one composition from each period during each concert. Every concert in “The Cycle” will open with one of Beethoven’s Opus 18 quartets, the first set of string quartets he composed during his early period.

The members of the Quartet explain, “Most concerts will present three works in chronological order, offering audiences a rare opportunity to listen to all three periods back to back. We feel this will allow each concert to showcase the development of Beethoven as a composer, enabling our audience to experience this music to its fullest.”

“It’s not often that we have the opportunity to experience the complete oeuvre of a creative individual’s output,” observes Peter Landgren, dean and Thomas James Kelly Professor of Music at CCM, who worked closely with the Ariel Quartet to plan this concert series. “‘The Cycle’ provides just such an opportunity.”

“The Cycle” will be held in UC’s acoustically stunning Corbett Auditorium with performances scheduled for 8 p.m. on Jan. 23 and 25, Feb. 20 and 22, as well as March 25, 27 and 29, 2014.

CCM Announces Spring 2014 Calendar of Major Events

Download CCM’s Spring 2014 Calendar Booklet today.

UPDATED March 7, 2014: CCM is delighted to announce its spring 2014 schedule of major events. The largest single source of performing arts events in the state of Ohio, CCM presents nearly 150 major public performances from Jan. 12 through May 18, ranging from faculty and guest artist concerts to fully supported opera, musical theatre, drama and dance productions.

Highlights of CCM’s spring concert series include the return of Cincinnati’s premiere fundraiser “A Moveable Feast” on Jan. 17, the Ariel Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle running Jan. 23 – March 29, a performance of Schubert’s Winterreise song cycle by guest artists Gerald Finley and Julius Drake on Feb. 5, the fifth annual Bearcat Piano Festival running Feb. 6 – 11, the 17th annual PRISM concert on Feb. 23, a performance of John Adams’ El Niño on March 2 and a celebration of the music of jazz legend Thelonius Monk on March 9.

CCM’s Mainstage Series also continues in early 2014 with a production of Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses, directed by guest artist D. Lynn Meyers, running Feb. 5 – 9; the CCM debut of the iconic musical Les Misérables, running Feb. 27 – March 9;  Donizett’s comedic opera Don Pasquale, running April 3–6; and the quintessential romantic ballet Giselle, running April 17–19.

Learn more about these and dozens of other performing and media-arts events by referring to the list below. You can also view a digital copy of CCM’s Spring 2014 Calendar Booklet here.