Acclaimed Violinist Giora Schmidt is Named Assistant Professor of Violin at CCM

Interim Dean bruce d. mcclung has announced the appointment of Giora Schmidt to the position of Assistant Professor of Violin at CCM. Schmidt joined CCM’s faculty on a visiting basis in 2017. His new tenure-track appointment will begin on Aug. 15, 2018.

CCM Assistant Professor of Violin Giora Schmidt.

Praised by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as “impossible to resist, captivating with lyricism, tonal warmth and boundless enthusiasm,” Schmidt has appeared with many prominent symphony orchestras including Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Detroit, Toronto, Vancouver and the Israel Philharmonic.

As a recitalist and chamber musician, Schmidt has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, San Francisco Performances, the Louvre Museum in Paris and Tokyo’s Musashino Cultural Hall. His festival appearances include the Ravinia Festival, the Santa Fe and Montreal Chamber Music Festivals, Bard Music Festival, Scotia Festival of Music and Music Academy of the West.

Born in Philadelphia to professional musicians from Israel, Schmidt began playing the violin at the age of four. He has studied with Patinka Kopec and Pinchas Zukerman at the Manhattan School of Music, and the late CCM faculty member Dorothy DeLay and Itzhak Perlman at the Juilliard School.

Schmidt was the first prize winner of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Greenfield Competition in 2000, the recipient of a 2003 Avery Fisher Career Grant and won the Classical Recording Foundation’s Samuel Sanders Award in 2005. He was selected to be a Starling Fellow at the Juilliard School from 2004 to 2006.

Prior to his current appointment as Visiting Assistant Professor of Violin at CCM, Schmidt was on the faculty of the Juilliard School and the Perlman Music Program. Through technology and social media, he continues to find new ways of reaching young violinists and music lovers around the world.

On the announcement of CCM’s new Assistant Professor of Violin, mcclung commented:

“Schmidt’s commitment to pedagogy and his passion for excellence make him an ideal addition to the CCM family. I am grateful to Violin Search Committee Chair James Bunte and committee members Gershon Gerchikov, Alexandra Kazovsky, Kurt Sassmannshaus, and Won-Bin Yim for their work and dedication to find CCM’s next great faculty member.”

Please join us in congratulating Giora Schmidt on his new appointment!

The Application Deadline is Approaching for the CSO/CCM Diversity Fellowship!

Time is running out to apply for the CSO/CCM Diversity Fellowship! The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra are accepting applications for the next class of CSO/CCM Diversity Fellows through Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2016!

Diversity Fellow Emilio Carlo in rehearsal with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, this one-of-a-kind program provides an unparalleled learning experience for violin, viola, violoncello and double bass players coming from populations that are historically underrepresented in classical music. The inaugural class of fellows are halfway through their first year in the program; read more about them in this UC Magazine feature story.

Fellows receive full tuition scholarship support while earning a Master of Music or Artist Diploma degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

The inaugural class of Diversity Fellows with CSO music director Louis Langrée.

Fellows perform the equivalent of five weeks per season with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Each fellow receives compensation of $8,000 per season while performing with the CSO.

Fellows receive a $10,000 per year graduate stipend and one-time Graduate School Dean’s Excellence Award of $3,000 from CCM.

The deadline to apply is Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016. For application and audition requirements, visit us at ccm.uc.edu/chance2perform.

Apply online now at ccm.uc.edu/admissions/application/gradapplication.

Questions? Email us at ccmadmis@uc.edu.

Tracing Tangueros: Alumna Co-Authors First English Study on Argentine Tango Music

During her first trip to Argentina over the holidays in 2000 Kristin Wendland (MM Composition, 1982) began exploring the complex relationship between dance and music in the Argentine tango. The interest she developed in the subject during that brief trip has blossomed into what can surely be called expertise. Wendland and her co-author, Kacey Link, just completed the first English-language foundational study on the tango, called Tracing Tangueros: Argentine Tango Instrumental Music.

Argentine Tango Ensemble Concert at Schwartz Center. Photo provided by Kristin Wendland.

After that initial trip to Argentina, Wendland began the research alone and returned to Buenos Aires for seven months in 2005 as a Fulbright Scholar.

“In that time, I absorbed many elements of Argentine culture, especially the music, through attending countless concerts and getting to know tango musicians,” Wendland said.

Those tango musicians are the tangueros mentioned in the title. Anyone with an expertise in tango, especially a tango musician or dancer, is a tanguero, or aficionado. After essentially becoming a tanguero herself, Wendland shared her knowledge in an article published in the College Music Symposium in 2007 titled “The Allure of Tango: Grafting Traditional Performance Practice and Style onto Art-Tangos.”

That same year, Wendland was invited to direct the College Music Society’s Tango Institute, where she met Kacey Link. They began to work together at the conference and eventually developed their ideas on tango into a book proposal. It took more than four years for that proposal to materialize into Tracing Tangueros, which was published by Oxford University Press in March.

Wendland has balanced the role of researcher and author while teaching as a senior lecturer at Emory University in Atlanta, where she coaches the Emory Tango Ensemble and teaches courses in Argentine tango, among other subjects.

Tracing Tangueros covers not only how to perform and interpret tangos authentically but also the genre’s historical development and guidelines to composing or arranging tangos. The book is supplemented by an extensive companion website, which includes musical recordings and videos that demonstrate tango performance practices. It is being sold in hardcover and ebook editions through the Oxford University Press.

“Kacey and I saw a need to write this book, since many musicians outside of Argentina are interested in playing tango music but really don’t know how to interpret it stylistically,” Wendland said.

“We hope it will give practicing musicians and scholars a solid stylistic basis to study, play, arrange and compose the music, while giving a more general reader an understanding of its history. We also hope it will lay the groundwork for future tango studies.”
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Story by CCM graduate student Alexandra Doyle

The Application Deadline is Approaching for the CSO/CCM Diversity Fellowship!

Time is running out to apply for the CSO/CCM Diversity Fellowship! The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra are accepting applications for the inaugural class of CSO/CCM Diversity Fellows through Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015!

Funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, this one-of-a-kind program provides an unparalleled learning experience for violin, viola, violoncello and double bass players coming from populations that are historically underrepresented in classical music.

Fellows receive full tuition scholarship support while earning a Master of Music or Artist Diploma degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Fellows perform the equivalent of five weeks per season with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Each fellow receives compensation of $8,000 per season while performing with the CSO.

Fellows receive a $10,000 per year graduate stipend and one-time Graduate School Dean’s Excellence Award of $3,000 from CCM.

The deadline to apply is Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. For application and audition requirements, visit us at ccm.uc.edu/chance2perform.

Apply online now at ccm.uc.edu/admissions/application/gradapplication.

Questions? Email us at ccmadmis@uc.edu.

CCM Welcomes Award-Winning Pianists Dror Biran and Ran Dank to Keyboard Studies Faculty

Dean Peter Landgren has announced two new additions to CCM’s already-illustrious roster of piano faculty members. Acclaimed performers and pedagogues Dror Biran and Ran Dank have both been appointed to full-time faculty positions with CCM’s Division of Keyboard Studies.

“Both men have distinguished themselves internationally through numerous competition wins,” Landgren commented. “Their impressive artistry coupled with their vast teaching experience will make them excellent additions to our already exceptional piano faculty.”

Incoming CCM faculty member Dror Biran.

Dror Biran’s playing has been described as “powerful, but also beautifully sensitive,” by Die Bleed magazine. He is winner of the top prizes at the M.K. Ciurlionis International Piano Competition and the Cleveland International Piano Competition (where he also received a special prize for best performance of works by Chopin), along with other competitions in Spain, Israel and the US.

Biran joins CCM as Associate Professor of Piano in August 2016 after serving as Visiting Adjunct Professor of Piano during the 2015-16 academic year. A graduate of the Givatayim Conservatory and Tel-Aviv University in Israel, Biran holds a Doctoral degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. A native Israeli, he has been the recipient of multiple scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation for Distinguished Musicians.

Incoming CCM faculty member Ran Dank.

Described as, “a strong player with technique and imagination,” by the New York Times, Ran Dank has received numerous awards, including a coveted place on the Young Concert Artists roster in 2009. He is a laureate of the Cleveland International Competition, the Naumburg Piano Competition, the Sydney International Piano Competition and was First Prize winner of the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.

Dank joins CCM as Assistant Professor of Piano in August of 2016 after serving as the Director of Piano Studies at the College of Charleston. He holds degrees from Tel Aviv University in his native Israel, as well as Master’s and Artist Diploma degrees from the Juilliard School in New York City. Dank joins his wife, Soyeon Kate Lee, who became a member of CCM’s faculty in August of 2014.

“In my opinion,” Landgren added, “the hires of Dror Biran and Ran Dank will continue to strengthen CCM’s status as a preeminent institution for the performing and media arts in the US, while also enhancing our global reputation as a leader in arts education.”

Please join us in welcoming Dror Biran and Ran Dank to the CCM family! You can learn more about both pianists below.

About Dror Biran
Dror Biran has been described by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier as “mesmerizing in the intensity and emotionalism of his playing. His fingering in the fast passages was breathtaking, and the loving care he gave to the sweetly lyrical passages was riveting.” The Cleveland Plain Dealer added, “his fortissimos crashed and roared, but next to them came pianissimos that whispered seductively… he has technique to burn and uses it effectively.” Biran’s superb tonal control combined with interesting phrasing and voicing has won him consistent critical acclaim and enthusiastic audiences.

Born in Israel, Biran is a top prizewinner of several national and international piano competitions. He is a graduate of the Givatayim Conservatory where he studied with Mrs. Lily Dorfman, as well as the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel-Aviv University where he studied with Professor Arie Vardi. Biran received his Doctoral degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Mr. Paul Schenly and Dr. Daniel Shapiro.

Biran won top prizes at the M.K Ciurlionis International Piano Competition (1995), and the Cleveland International Piano Competition (1997) where he also received a special prize for the best performance of works by Chopin. His honors include the first prize at the “Pilar Bayona International Piano Competition” in Zaragoza, Spain (1998), first prize at the Israeli Rubin Academy Piano Competition (1998) and the Rafi Goralnik prize for pianists, in the Aviv Competition (2000). Biran has been a recipient of multiple scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation for distinguished musicians.

Biran has performed widely as a soloist with major orchestras including the Lithuanian Philharmonic Orchestra, RTVE Symphony Orchestra of Spain, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He has played under the batons of Etinger, Rodan, Gueller, Gacia Asensio, Mester, Lane and others. His concert tours have taken him to the United States, Israel and South America, along with Eastern and Western Europe.

As a chamber musician Biran has appeared on a regular basis with different music ensembles such as Carmel and Aviv String Quartets. He has also performed with members of the Cleveland Orchestra in different venues. His concerts have been broadcast by WUOL, WCLV, WQXR, The Voice of Music – Israel and Classic FM South Africa, among others. Biran can be heard on the JMC (Jerusalem Music Centre) labels featuring ballades by Brahms and Chopin.

Prior to his CCM appointment, Biran taught at the University of Louisville, Youngstown State University and Case Western Reserve University.

About Ran Dank
Israeli pianist Ran Dank has been hailed as a “superb pianist… absolutely splendid: dashing, impetuous and full of imagination” by the Washington Post.

A favorite of New York audiences, Dank performs in New York City’s most notable venues to frequent critical acclaim by the New York Times. In recent seasons, he has been heard in recitals in Town Hall and Symphony Space. As a soloist, he has performed Prokofiev’s Second Concerto with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall and Tobias Picker’s Keys to the City at Columbia University. In September of 2013 he and fellow CCM faculty member Soyeon Kate Lee performed the world premiere of Fredric Rzewski’s Four Hands at (le) Poisson Rouge to a glowing review by the New York Times.

Dank’s other recent performance highlights include recitals at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, Washington Performing Arts Society at the Kennedy Center, the Chopin Festival in Warsaw, Finland’s Mantta Festival and performances of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts’ piano concerto with the Mobile Symphony. His recent chamber music performances include appearances at the Santa Fe, Great Lakes, Maverick, Seattle, Montreal, Tokyo Chanel and Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festivals.

Last season, Dank returned to his native Israel for a double-bill concert featuring Liszt’s Concerto No.1 and Totentanz with the Jerusalem Symphony.

His upcoming engagements include a performance at the prestigious Ravinia Festival, recitals in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico and a return engagement with the Kansas City Symphony.

A recipient of numerous honors, Dank won a coveted place on the Young Concert Artists’ roster in 2009 and subsequently made his New York recital debut. He is a laureate of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, where he also won the Bach Prize, the Naumburg and Sydney International Piano Competitions, and was the First Prize winner of the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.

A graduate of the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University and the Juilliard School, he has worked extensively with Richard Goode, Emanuel Ax, Joseph Kalichstein, Ursula Oppens and Robert McDonald.

In 2014 Dank joined the faculty of the College of Charleston as the Director of Piano Studies and Assistant Professor. He also serves as Artistic Director of the College of Charleston International Piano Series.

In addition to concertizing and academic posts, Dank established a series of concerts with his wife, pianist Soyeon Kate Lee. Dubbed “Music by the Glass,” this series is held in a New York So-Ho art gallery, where young professionals mix and mingle with performing artists, who play solo pieces and chamber works. The performances are accompanied by sweet and savory treats paired with wines by the glass. Learn more about these popular events by visiting www.musicbytheglass.com.

Learn more about CCM’s preeminent piano faculty by visiting ccm.uc.edu/music/keyboard/faculty.

CCM Dance Invited to Perform at the Beijing Dance Academy’s 60th Anniversary International Gala Celebration This Month

Choreography by guest artist Michael Bearden. Photo copyright Luke Isley.

We are delighted to report that CCM’s Department of Dance has been invited to perform at the Beijing Dance Academy‘s 60th anniversary international gala celebration later on this month.

Twenty schools from around the world have been invited to participate in this event, including just two other representatives from the United States: SUNY Purchase College’s Conservatory of Dance and Brigham Young University’s Department of Dance.

This celebration runs Oct. 10 – 16 and includes performances, lectures and exchange classes in Beijing. Five dance majors will be participating in this celebration: Luca De-Poli, Regina DuPont, Gabrielle Gulan, Dominic Barrett and Claire Bergman. They will be performing Simpatico, choreographed by guest artist Michael Bearden. This piece will also be presented locally in CCM’s Fall Dance Concert later on this semester (Dec. 5 – 7).

These students will gain international performance and study abroad experience during this trip, while also strengthening  CCM’s relationship with the world-renowned Beijing Dance Academy, paving the way for future exchange programs and job opportunities. CCM Dance Chair Jiang Qi and CCM Dean Peter Landgren will also be traveling to China for this celebration.

This invitation is just the latest example of CCM Dance’s ever-rising profile. Earlier this year, Dance Magazine named CCM one of “three top programs to consider.” Read the full report here.

The Dance Department gratefully acknowledges the support of the Corbett Endowment at CCM.

UC Fulbright Winners Earn Prestigious Professional Opportunities in Europe

Jennifer Williams, Fulbright Scholar

Three University of Cincinnati students and spring graduates – and one faculty member – are heading abroad in the coming academic year to pursue prestigious opportunities for professional development via teaching and work. As previously reported, this group includes recent CCM alumna Jennifer Williams.

CCM Prep and the CSO Present Adult Chamber Music Weekend Sept. 28-29.

The Preparatory Department of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM Prep) is proud to announce a weekend to play chamber music and work with some of the finest musicians in the city. Adult musicians who want a chance to play chamber music with their peers shouldn’t miss this rare event, hosted by CCM Prep and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) Community Engagement Program on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 28-29, 2012. All sessions will take place at CCM Village.