Mark Ruffin in Conversation with Sullivan Fortner

Fresh off of winning The Gilmore’s 2026 Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award, jazz pianist Sullivan Fortner performs an intimate solo recital at Baruch Performing Arts Center in Manhattan on December 12, 2025.

This is an excerpt from a conversation Fortner had with Mark Ruffin at the Bell Jazz Artist Award ceremony in early October, streamed live from The Greene Space in NYC. Watch the conversation in full  here.

Mark Ruffin: Your dad didn’t want you to go into the music business. Tell them about the pact you guys made.

Sullivan Fortner: Well, I graduated as valedictorian from my high school McDonogh 35, which is probably the oldest African American high school in New Orleans, and part of the deal there is if you make it into the top 10 or top 35, you automatically get a full scholarship to any university in New Orleans. So I could have gone to Xavier, Dillard University, University of New Orleans, Loyola, Tulane—all that. Full ride.

I told my dad I wanted to go into music. It was kind of an off-the-whim decision. I was driving home from prom and had a conversation with God. I said, “I’m pretty sure if I were to become a neurologist, I’d probably kill somebody.” [Laughter]

So I said, “Look, okay, if this is what I’m supposed to do, you have to figure out a way to make it work.”

I sent a videotape—on cassette—of me playing The Flintstones theme to Oberlin Conservatory of Music. And to Berklee. Berklee put me on the waiting list. Oberlin gave me a $16,000 scholarship. So I thought, Maybe I should go to Oberlin. Maybe this is my ticket into music.

My dad said, “Absolutely not. You can get a car. I’ll buy you a car. You’ll have stability. There’s no guarantee in music at all. And there’s no one in this family that is going to be able to help you.” I have a couple of cousins that are professional musicians, but for the most part, I’m the only one. So to pursue jazz, which wasn’t even in my household, he said, “You’re on your own with this.”

I told him, “I really feel like this is what I’m supposed to do.” He said, “Well, please, if you’re going to do this, make sure you get a master’s degree. So if all else fails, you can teach a kindergartener how to blow through a recorder.”

That was the conversation I had with my dad in the computer room of our house before I turned in my acceptance letter to Oberlin Conservatory.

Ruffin: Now, you  didn’t necessarily come from a music family—although your mom did play some piano playing… gospel stuff? 

Fortner: Yeah, my mom. Well my whole family- on my mom’s side particularly- are singers. Now they’ve been branching out a little bit more in a professional field doing background stuff, but for the most part it’s just been gospel music. Singing in church on Sunday mornings with the choir and the praise team. My mom was my first music teacher. She brought me to every single rehearsal and made me sit in the tenor section, even though I wanted to sit next to the organ player.

The choir director, who was also the organist, Miss Betty, said, “No, he’s fine. He’s not bothering me at all.” So I’d sit next to her, and of course I had a crush on her because she smelled like cocoa butter and had great gold hair. You know, she smelled good! When you’re four years old, and you smell good and got treats, you’re in love. That’s all it takes. [Laughter]

But really, the people I always wanted to play for always were my mom and my grandmother. I had no idea this is what I’d be doing. I just wanted to play for my grandma and keep time. That’s all. 

Ruffin: But as you grew as a piano player—where did jazz come in? Where did pop and hip hop and everything else you’re listening to come in? 

Fortner: Well my dad always had all those old school R&B records. When I was 12 years old my part time job was killing rats and cutting grass at my grandmother’s house. And that drive was probably an hour each way. And he’d play everything. My dad would say “This is the Ojays, this is Stevie Wonder, this is The Spinners.” All the old school 70s and and 80s artists: Babyface, Anita Baker, Chaka Khan, Michael Jackson. My mom was also a fan of R&B, don’t get it wrong, but when she was driving it was mostly Gospel. On our way to school with me and my sisters she’d put on a Gospel song and do ear training tests. “All right Sal (my nickname), what’s the alto line?” And I’d have to sing it. Then she’d ask my sister “what’s the tenor line?” and she’d do the same. And we’d all harmonize, with my mom and two sisters, going through the whole song. So, like I said, she was my first music teacher in that way. 

Ruffin: Where did jazz come in? 

There was a guy who came to church when I was about 11 or 12. His name was Ronald Markham. He told me I had a lot of talent. After choir rehearsal one day he goes to the organ and starts playing some Bach preludes, and I said “What’s that?!,” and then he plays some jazz, something like Jimmy Smith. I said, “What is that?” He said, “That’s jazz. You need to go to the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.”

“What do I need to need to do get in?,” I asked. 

“Just play the way you play, and apply,”

So I applied in eighth grade. I couldn’t play a C major scale to save my life. The only thing I knew was gospel songs so I auditioned playing Because He Lives. And I got in. First day of school, I walked into the classroom and saw Christian Scott (now Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah), Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews… so as I’m learning jazz, I’m surrounded by a community of people that grew up with the music with a certain type of legacy with it. So they took me under their wings, and told me what I needed to listen to. I had a teacher, Peter Martin, who said “OK, this is Herbie Hancock’s theme from Blow Up. Don’t come back next week until you’ve learned it.” And so I learned it.

At first, I hated jazz for the first two years. It was too long, too complicated. Too many solos. This was a waste of time and energy. I just wanted to play the big chords.Then my teacher Clyde Kerr Jr. gave me Concert by the Sea by Erroll Garner. He said, “If you don’t like this, you shouldn’t be a jazz musician.”

It was the first time I experienced music that brought me to tears. And that was it, I’ve been chasing that ever since.

Ruffin: Were classical musicians part of your coming up? 

Fortner: Yeah. I had a girlfriend when I was younger who sang opera—she introduced me to people like Puccini and Verdi. Then when I got to Oberlin, going to the surrounded by classical musicians, I’d see the student orchestra and opera productions, and got exposed to Rimsky-Korsakov, Berlioz, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev. 

Once I was practicing Chopin on a concert stage and a classical pianist walked in. She laughed at me and walked out. It definitely inspired me to practice harder. 

Ruffin: You’ve collaborated with a lot of folks. You’re on every Lauren Henderson record, and then you have a nice groove with Étienne Charles, and many others.There are some piano players too! I heard you were roommates with pianist Mike King for four years? Is there anybody you would dream to collaborate with? 

Fortner: I did a thing this past weekend, with Jason Moran and Kris Davis and George Cabos and David Virelles. It was really really fun to sit inside their sounds and really learn from them. I’d like to do a lot more of that. Gonzalo is top of the list. Kevin Hays, Craig Taborn, Brad Mehldau, Herbie Hancock.

I really miss Barry Harris. That would’ve been incredible, to have him just as a teacher, mentor, and a friend. Ethan Iverson. There are so many. I’ve done some stuff with Fred Hersch, and that’s been fun.

Ruffin: He’s another great collaborator with other pianists. 

Fortner: Oh yeah. And I’ve studied with him off and on for about 5-7 years. He was definitely a source of inspiration and wisdom. Sometimes he laid to me straight, and I’d walk home and think “He really just told me I suck, but in the nicest way possible.” [Laughter]

Baruch PAC presents jazz pianist Sullivan Fortner

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December 12: Baruch Performing Arts Center presents Sullivan Fortner, Solo Piano

The Grammy award-winning jazz pianist is recipient of 2026 Bell Jazz Artist Award

Baruch PAC concert is Fortner's only solo show in NYC this season

Fresh from the announcement that he is recipient of the 2026 Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award from The Gilmore Foundation, pianist Sullivan Fortner gives a solo performance presented by Baruch Performing Arts Center on December 12, 2025 at 7:30 pm. The concert is Fortner's only solo appearance in New York City this season.

For more than a decade, the two-time GRAMMY Award-winning artist has stretched his deep-rooted talents as a pianist, composer, band leader and uncompromising individualist. Sullivan Fortner is a frequent collaborator with singer Cécile McLorin Salvant and has enjoyed creative associations with Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Diane Reeves, Etienne Charles and John Scofield.

As a leader he has issued five albums, including the critically acclaimed recording with his trio Southern Nights (2025) with Peter Washington and Marcus Gilmore, and is sideman on more than two dozen albums including with Roy Hargrove, Samara Joy and Stefon Harris.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Fortner began playing organ at the age of 7, and went on to earn degrees at Oberlin Conservatory and Manhattan School of Music. He received the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists and was named one of Downbeat Magazine’s 25 for the Future in 2016 among numerous other awards.

Sullivan Fortner's solo piano performance on December 12, 7:30 pm is part of the Milt Hinton Jazz Perspectives Series at Baruch PAC. Tickets are $35 general admission ($20 with CUNY ID), available at bpac.baruch.cuny.edu. Baruch Performing Arts Center is at 55 Lexington Ave in Manhattan (enter on 25th Street, between 3rd and Lexington Avenues).Friday, December 12, 2025 at 7:30 pm.

Gail Wein featured in new book

A new book features Classical Music Communications founder Gail Wein. The Savvy Musician 2.0 by David Cutler (Oxford University Press, 2025) guides musicians to build careers, lead organizations, found ventures, strengthen viability, and make a difference. Industry challenges are highlighted, but not dwelled upon. Instead, these pages burst with flexible, actionable success strategies that address a comprehensive collection of issues for professionals of all stripes. And one of the chapters features contributions from Gail!

Details available at Oxford University Press, copies available for purchase online here.

Concert reviews for JACK Quartet at Cutting Edge Concerts

On March 12, 2025 professor Frank J. Oteri brought students from the class “John Cage and The New School,” which he co-teaches with Joan La Barbara at The New School College of Performing Arts, to Symphony Space for a concert with the JACK Quartet, presented by Victoria Bond’s Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival.

Each of the three students who attended were asked to write a review, which are published below.

By Sofía Alvarado

The most immediately noticeable difference in the JACK Quartet’s performance of John Cage’s String Quartet in Four Parts, compared to the other pieces of the night, is how much quieter it was. As if Cage’s piece demanded that silence, if unable to occupy the entire space of the piece, be at least brought into tension not just with the piece itself but also with the others around it. The Philip Glass piece that preceded it, String Quartet no. 5, instead called for the repeating melodies to fill the space, and in so doing seemingly suspended it in time, sending it floating through imagined places. But Cage’s String Quartet leads to a different kind of unmooring: we are brought to a deep awareness of the room we are sitting in, and made aware above all of the passing of time, of the authentically slow and quiet nature of the seasons, and of our experience of the current season that awaits once we exit the room; the JACK Quartet allowed Cage to use them and their instruments as a vessel for absence.

It is Heinz Holliger’s String Quartet No. 2 which brought the final surprising shift in awareness, with the final section of the piece involving the use of breath by the performers. At this point, we are made aware of our own bodies, but pulled through the breath and our attention to it into becoming something no longer human, our breath as an audience also being absorbed into the piece itself. As Kevin Davis writes in A Systematic Dismantling: Heinz Holliger’s Streichquartett, “The quartet is like a breathing thing, a living entity […] with appendages moving in different, unpredictable directions at all times, but yet possessing a highly unified vector; […] the entire quartet as the exhaling of a single, giant lung.” We too, inevitably, are invited to become part of this unhuman lung – before we fall back into silence.

By Kaizan Connor

Going into this concert, I didn't have a great deal of experience listening to string quartets in a live performance setting such as this, but one of the only other times I've been able to experience a string quartet in action was another JACK performance, playing the music of John Zorn. So going into this concert, I did have some expectations of the level of skill that JACK possesses, but I still felt like I had a somewhat naive perspective when it came to this format in general, which conversely granted me the unique ability to evaluate this performance independent of many of the preconceived notions I would have had otherwise; particularly about the selection of music that evening.

Although I knew of JACK's excess in talent as performers, high skill level doesn't necessarily guarantee a successful performance; luckily for me, I found the content of this performance to be highly engaging and inspiring. Particularly, I thought that the order in which the pieces were played contributed greatly to the entertainment component of my experience. To me, it felt as if the entire performance hung on the central axis of the Philip Glass piece, being distinctly tonal and relatively conventional in structure, whilst the surrounding pieces were by comparison much more esoteric and distinctly atonal with the possible exception of the Cage piece. It may also be that the Glass piece was the piece I was most familiar with going in, so the other pieces seemed even more esoteric by comparison.

The evening started off with what felt like an atonal double hit of a mysterious Boulez piece (or arrangement of another Boulez piece?) and Webern's iconic bagatelles. Boulez's style is so extreme and sort of disconcerting, it made for a very striking opener to the evening, particularly the way Boulez inserts silences into his music feels very unique and sort of mysterious; this seamlessly flowed into the elegantly structured, yet still iconoclastic bagatelles of Webern which all sort of ended up feeling like a single atonal gesture, which made the transition into the Philip Glass piece all the more obvious. I don't think it's possible to find a subtle way to insert Philip Glass into the program, but even if there was, I'm glad they didn't because the contrast of the pieces made the program all the more engaging. Glass's 5th string quartet is mostly normal Philip Glass, but with a touch more complexity in the harmony and structure, which I think helps make his music feel a bit more accessible, which I don't feel was a detracting factor in this particular instance. After that was finished there was a brief intermission, and then... John Cage! I really enjoyed his piece. Structurally it reminded me a lot of one of Zorn's game pieces hockey because of the use of limited musical elements, but Cage's piece definitely feels a lot more meditative and truly static. I really enjoyed this one, and I think it would've been a good closer to the program which brings me to... Heinz Holliger! I wasn't familiar with Holliger's music before stepping foot into Symphony Space that evening, and perhaps that made his music all the more difficult because I found that by this point my concentration was waning, and my appetite; growing. Despite these factors, I wouldn't say it was an unenjoyable experience to listen to Holliger's string quartet. It was immediately obvious that he is a very skilled and thoughtful composer, but I don't think I quite had the mental capacity to engage with it by that point.

By Ivan Chen

I know JACK Quartet because they are a collaborator of John Zorn, one of my inspirations for contemporary music. I like how JACK plays Zorn's string quartet. When they play his piece, each section is emotional and always straight to my heart. They always bring organic interpretation and lots of energy to the stage. Therefore, when Frank mentioned this concert to me. I was looking forward to hearing them play Webern, Boulez, Glass, Cage, and Holliger.

This program has an interesting combination. From "Livre 1, 2, 3c" by Pierre Boulez, "Six Bagatelles" by Anton Webern, "String Quartet No.5" by Philip Glass, "String Quartet in Four Parts" by John Cage, to "String Quartet No. 2" by Heinz Holliger. I like the order of the concert. They organized atonal, dissonant pieces for opening and ending, with Glass's and Cage's in the middle. The huge difference between the music, just like a roller coaster, makes the audience build up lots of tension and release.

I particularly enjoyed Glass's string quartet in this concert. As a composer, I am not a huge fan of minimalism. I want music to develop faster rather than stay in one piece for a while (By the way, I still like the slower progress of music, like Toru Takemitsu, but Glass's pieces are too slow for me!) However, his music worked well in this concert because it was so beautiful for his repetitive, tonal, simple pattern after lots of dissonance and tension.

After Glass's piece and intermission, I had a different experience of Cage's piece. Compared to Holliger or Boulez, this piece is also relatively peaceful, harmonic, and less chaotic, but I didn't get it and felt a little sleepy. I think because it was after a twenty-minute, repetitive Glass's piece and an intermission. The longer time let me lose some concentration on this beautiful piece. However, JACK still sounded great on this piece.

I also like the last piece, "String Quartet No. 2" by Heinz Holliger. I didn't know this piece before the concert, but I was surprised by the energy, emotion, and chaos. JACK sounded awesome on techniques, emotional interpretation, and brought me to outer space.  Although this piece is around 25 minutes long without a stop. The organization of the dynamic and articulation was clear. I could visualize the whole structure when I listened. The ending of this piece was gorgeous. The lower-drawn texture was still dissonant, leaving lots of tension and complicated emotions for the audience.

For the interpretation and the program, every piece matches JACK's style a lot. These dramatic, emotional pieces always sounded amazing with JACK's awesome performance and the beautiful reverberation of Symphony Space. Although there is a tiny thing about order for me, it is still an impressive, beautiful concert. Thank you for sharing this beautiful music!

Cleveland Chamber Music Society featured in Russian Magazine

Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartets in Concert April 21-30 Are Not To Be Missed

Presented by Cleveland Chamber Music Society at Cleveland Museum of Art

Originally published in Russian, on Russian Magazine Cleveland, March 2025

The great 20th century Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich was prolific – he wrote symphonies, ballets, operas and much more. But it is his 15 string quartets that are both a personal diary and a reflection of Russian history. Shostakovich composed these quartets over half a century, tracing Soviet times from Stalin to Khrushchev to Brezhnev.

On April 21-30, music lovers in Cleveland will have the rare opportunity to hear this cycle performed live. The Cleveland Chamber Music Society, in celebration of its 75th anniversary season, presents the complete Shostakovich string quartets over five evenings, performed by the Jerusalem Quartet. This is a remarkable feat and it’s never been done before in Cleveland.

The performances are April 21, 22, 23, 29 & 30 at 7:30 pm at the Cleveland Museum of Art (11150 East Blvd, Cleveland, OH). Each concert features three quartets, and there will be a pre-concert lecture by James Wilding at 6:30 pm each evening.

Praised by BBC Magazine as "an absolute triumph," the Jerusalem Quartet is a regular and beloved guest on the world’s great concert stages. Recent appearances include a Beethoven quartet cycle at Wigmore Hall in London; a Bartok cycle at the Salzburg Festival; their annual String Quartet seminar in Crans Montana Switzerland, and a residency at the Jerusalem Academy of Music. 

We spoke with members of the Jerusalem Quartet about this monumental occasion.

How has the quartet prepared for this series of concerts?

This is our third time in 30 years performing the Shostakovich cycle around the world. These opuses are rooted deeply in our minds and souls. This time, the whole preparation process focused on what can or should be performed differently for creating an even stronger message, character, and atmosphere.

This is the first time the Shostakovich Quartet Cycle will be performed in its entirety in Cleveland. What do you think the audience gets from hearing all 15 quartets in a short span of time?

Coming back to your cultural city to perform this great, maybe the most important, quartet cycle of the 20th century over 10 days makes this project intense both for the public and for us. To experience this cycle chronologically in such a short period of time creates a much stronger, deeper, and more powerful impact on the audiences. In every piece, you get closer to the Shostakovich spirit, you receive more easily his ideas, you start to understand better his musical language. In a way, you get transported to a different world of sonority and atmosphere. Shostakovich wrote these quartets over a span of nearly a half century, from the 1930s to the 1970s.

How does this body of music reflect world history?

For more than five decades, Shostakovich was the foremost composer active in the former Soviet Union. The only possible way to succeed in making such an incredible career in such complicated times is living a double life, and that’s why it is so important in Shostakovich’s music to be able to receive "hidden” messages, to read between the notes and lines. His symphonies, for example, were mostly created as a reaction to major national events, and his quartets are the most personal and intimate pages of his life’s diary. Most of the quartets were dedicated to his family members, closest friends, and colleagues. One can also feel the development in the composer’s writing, which mirrors the development in the history of the Soviet Union.

2025 marks 30 years since the founding of the Jerusalem Quartet. What’s the secret to maintaining a strong bond as an ensemble?

Being “married” for 30 years is always challenging, and do not forget that in a string quartet, there are four partners. Our love and dedication to this magical ensemble, and to the endless repertoire from great masters beginning with the father of string quartets, Joseph Haydn, have kept us together all this time.

The Jerusalem Quartet has a long history of performing in Cleveland, but this is its first time at the CMA. What is most exciting about this debut?

We have performed many, many times in Cleveland in the past decades. This kind of a cycle debuting now evokes special emotions, and we are looking forward to presenting this amazing music to the old and new audiences of Cleveland.

Tickets are available online at ClevelandChamberMusic.org or by phone at (216) 291-2777. Single tickets are $40 for adults ($35 seniors, $5 students), with package-deals available starting at $60.

Yekwon Sunwoo interview in Miroirs CA

Re-posted from Miroirs CA (December 7, 2017)
By Leonne Lewis

Soon after 28-year-old Yekwon Sunwoo won the 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Decca Gold released a recording of his performances at the competition called Cliburn Gold, which became number one on Billboard’s Traditional Classical Album charts.

Those who live streamed or attended this year’s Cliburn Competition  were bowled over by Yekwon Sunwoo’s dynamic playing, as were the jury members who awarded him a gold medal with its built-in perks that include three years of concert tours in the US and at international venues and fashion threads - concert attire supplied by Neiman Marcus which is reason enough to practice hours a day for a chance to compete!

Over the next few seasons and beyond, Sunwoo will appear with high-profile groups such as Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Elbphilharmonie, National Orchestra of Cuba, and perform at Aspen Music Festival, Istanbul Music Festival, Klavier-Festival Ruhr and the Gewandhaus in Leipzig.

Sunwoo’s playing was center stage even before his participation in The Cliburn Competition as evidenced by his winning the 2015 International German Piano Award, 2014 Vendome Prize at Verbier Festival and 2012 William Kapell International Piano Competition. Already a seasoned performer, he has given recitals in South Korea, Europe, Costa Rica and appeared with major orchestras including the Houston Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, National Orchestra of Belgium.

He also concentrates on chamber music in collaboration with such artists as members of the Brentano and Jerusalem Strings Quartets, Ida Kafavian, Peter Wiley and released recordings with violinist Benjamin Beilman on the Warner Classics and Analekta labels.

He began piano studies in his native South Korea at age 8 and then relocated to the US in 2005 where he received a bachelor’s degree at The Curtis Institute of Music with Seymour Lipkin, a master’s degree at The Juilliard School with Robert McDonald and an artist diploma at the Mannes School of Music with Richard Goode. He currently studies with Bernd Goetzke in Hannover, Germany.

Yekwon Sunwoo talks about his career with Editor Leonne Lewis.

YOU STUDIED IN SOUTH KOREA AND AT CONSERVATORIES IN THE US. HAVE MENTORS OF THESE SCHOOLS INFLUENCED YOUR APPROACH TO PIANO PLAYING?

I feel extremely fortunate to have such wonderful teachers and they all share the same trait of being genuine and sincere musicians and warmhearted human beings. I am deeply saddened by Seymour Lipkin’s passing two years ago, but have fond memories of working with him at Curtis for six years beginning in 2005, when I was 16 years old. During the time I worked with him, I became more exposed to diverse music and he helped me open up my heart and play as if actually singing with my own voice.

After that, I went to Juilliard to work with Robert McDonald for two years. He has incredibly sensitive ears, which helped me become more attentive in listening to my own sound and the phrasing coming out as intended. Then, I went to study with Richard Goode at Mannes School of Music for two years. From time to time he would be away giving concerts, but whenever he was in town I would come to his house and play for him – and sometimes this went on for two or three hours.

He demonstrated a lot and it was sheer beauty to stand right next to him and hear him play, and I would feel as if I was reborn after each time. His whole life is faithfully dedicated to discovering the true intentions of each composer and I learned so much from him, like not taking every phrase each composer writes for granted.

In the Fall of 2016 I moved to Munich and currently study with Bernd Goetzke in Hannover. I’ve been working with him for just a year now but he has helped me to have more conviction in my music making and especially in shaping each phrase according to the requirements of the composer and understanding the whole structure in a more constructive way. I am forever grateful for guidance from all these teachers. They all made me love music even more deeply so that I can really bring out all emotions through piano playing.

YOU HAVE WON MANY INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITIONS. DOES YOUR APPROACH CHANGE WHEN PLAYING FOR COMPETITIONS OR PERFORMING LIVE CONCERTS?

I believe strongly in not having a different thought process when performing in concerts or competitions. You are there to play your heart out and to share all kinds of emotions that are going through at every second of music making and hopefully convey them to audience members. The only difference might be in these two elements. First, you have to be even more focused and mentally strong when participating in a competition because you are under high pressure and there is the cruel fact that the announcement awaits after each round. Secondly, you are handling a huge amount of repertoire, so you need to understand your physical stamina and how to balance it all at once.

However, it is all about music making in the end and conveying your own interpretation with conviction. Seeking the composer’s intentions and putting all your endeavors into making the music come alive should be the main concern at all times.

SINCE WINNING THE CLIBURN COMPETITION, WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR CAREER AND ARTISTIC GOALS?

Since I first started playing the piano when I was 8-years-old my ultimate dream has always been to become a concert pianist, travel all around the world and share all these feelings through music. Winning the 2017 Van Cliburn Competition has opened up a new chapter for me and this definitely helps my dream continue. I have a personal affinity towards German and Russian repertoire so I would like to focus more on this repertoire for now. Having performed works such as Mario Davidovsky’s Synchronisms No. 6 and Thomas Ades Traced Overhead, I would also like to explore more contemporary works that are not yet often played. After winning the Van Cliburn Competition, I know that the exciting musical journey will continue.

Insider Interview with pianist Vedrana Subotic

Croatian American pianist Vedrana Subotić has released a fascinating album that combines the collection of her favorite traditional folk songs from the former Yugoslavia with Sonata in B Minor by Franz Liszt, a work that is deeply indebted to the composer’s Hungarian background and his Balkan roots. "Chiaroscuro” is available on Blue Griffin Recording (BGR673). We spoke to Subotić about the recent release, life as a classical musician in Utah, collaboration, and more.

What are the similarities and differences of the folk tunes you chose for this recording?

All of the songs are poignant reflections on life and its joys and sorrows. Some are exuberantly extroverted, featuring impassioned melodic virtuosity and lilting dance rhythms while others are intimate and quietly melancholy. The songs vary in the level of emotional intensity as well as in the musical character. Djelem, djelem (I went, I went), and Rujna Zora (Crimson Dawn) lament death and loneliness; Djelem explores influence of jazz on Romani music while Crimson Dawn makes use of extended piano techniques. Mujo Kuje Konja (Mujo Shoes His Horse) is a moody juxtaposition of two characters: Mother and Son. Each character is assigned a particular melodic content contrasted by “instrumental” interludes. Kad Ja Podjoh Na Bembašu (When I went to Bembaša) is styled as a berceuse, a quietly sad retrospective on lost love; and Makedonsko Devojče (Macedonian Girl) is a series of joyful dance variations in Balkan rhythms, comparing a young woman’s youth to a beautifully flower garden. 

The folk songs you commissioned arrangements for all come from the former Yugoslavia. Tell us how the different countries in the Balkans relate to one another?

The five songs come from different geographic regions of the former Yugoslavias; however, they aren’t really “Yugoslav” -- the country of Yugoslavia -- existed for a relatively short time, between 1918 and 1992. The five songs (with the exception of Macedonian Girl) all pre-date the formation of Yugoslavia in 1918, and continue to be a part of the Balkan cultural tradition, untouched by the political events in this region. The Bosnian melodies began to emerge during the Ottoman Empire reign in the early 16th century; the Montenegrin song first appeared during the time Montenegro was a Kingdom int he 19th century; and the Romani melody arrived to Serbia with the Romani peoples’ westward migrations from India which began in 15th century.

What made you choose to work with Christopher O’Riley and Igor Iachimciuc as arrangers for this collection of folk melodies?

I have collaborated with Igor on commissions for the Intermezzo Concert Series and have been consistently impressed with his musical imagination, depth, and skill. Igor was born in Moldova and is a virtuoso cymbalom player. Like me, he grew up listening to traditional Eastern European folk music and has a deep love for and understanding of that musical culture. His two compositions on this album, Crimson Dawn and Djelem, Djelem, are more than arrangements -- they are original compositions, reimagined with authenticity and true understanding of the traditional folk genre. 

Christopher and I collaborated on a project of teaching and performing the 48 Preludes and Fugues from J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, in a series of masterclasses and concerts at the University of Utah. I had also heard him play his own arrangements of Bernard Herrmann’s score for the Hitchcock movie “Psycho” and that work stood out to me in particular -- it was meticulously detailed and true to the complex orchestra score. Christopher was the right person to faithfully translate the original folk material into a piano transcription/arrangement.  He was excited to give the Balkan songs a try and created these arrangements in a matter of days. Sometimes in just a few hours! 

How collaborative was the process as they arranged the works?

Very concentrated! To begin the process, I selected several performances of each of the songs by my favorite folk artists, and worked with both Igor and Christopher on finessing and polishing the content, texture, form, and details over a period of few months. The whole process was so natural between the three of us -- a true meeting of the minds. We were particularly concerned with capturing the authentic performance details in the arrangements -- the uniqueness of the metric patterns, the subtle variations of decorative patterns, expressive melodic inflections, vocal melismas, and the instrumental improvisation.  

Can you compare and contrast how you approach playing these newly arranged folk tunes to how you play the Liszt B minor Sonata that concludes the album?

The folk tunes are gorgeous and unique in many ways. They are formally uncomplicated. Their complexity lies almost solely in the poetry and not so much in the melodic and harmonic structure. This is the nature of “popular” music, whether ancient, or new -- simplicity and repetition. The exception to this perspective is the often spectacular and unique live improvisation by the legendary singers and instrumentalists -- this is what Igor, Christopher, and I tried to capture in the arrangements.

The Liszt Sonata in B Minor creates a complex narrative by means of formal and structural designs that stem from scholarly musical thought and tradition. The Sonata form itself is synonymous with multiple contrasting themes and involved harmonic structures - a polar opposite of the folk song genre. Yet, the B Minor Sonata’s heart and essence lie in the ideas sourced from the folk music, much in the same way in which Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies aren’t based on actual Hungarian tunes; instead, they are reimagined versions of Liszt’s exposure to the Hungarian musical traditions (a large portion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was previously a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). Likewise, the B Minor Sonata’s musical language is influenced and colored by Liszt’s innate understanding and love of the traditional Balkan music. 

Tell us a bit about your musical life in Utah.

Utah has an incredibly vibrant arts community -- we are home to the Utah Symphony and Opera, the Sundance Film Festival, the Shakespeare Festival, Ballet West, the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir - the list goes on and on. I feel incredibly lucky to be surrounded by so much excellence and support for music and the arts. I am a Professor of Music at the University of Utah, where I teach a full studio of aspiring pianists and two courses in Career Development for musicians. I am also the Artistic Director for Intermezzo Concert Series which presents 15 concerts every year. As President of the Utah Chapter of the American Liszt Society, I also direct the Liszt Festival and Competition in Utah, and frequently perform as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and collaborative pianist.

Cleveland Chamber Music Society featured in The Land.

The Cleveland Orchestra isn’t the only organization in Northeast Ohio that’s been making great music for decades.  

Just a few miles east of Severance Music Center, a much smaller but no less determined organization has also been serenading citizens for a long, long time, and attracting committed followers. 

That group? The Cleveland Chamber Music Society (CCMS). 

Once an occasional performance presented by a small band of friends, the series has grown into a pillar of classical music in Cleveland. Indeed, the season now starting marks the group’s 75th anniversary, making it one of the region’s longest enduring musical organizations. 

Read the full article in The Land. here.

Chou Wen-chung at 100 - concert review

On March 21, 2024 professor Frank J. Oteri brought students from his class “Analyzing and Placing Music in Historical Context” at The New School College of Performing Arts to the Chou Wen-chung Centennial Concert at Miller Theatre in NYC. The students reviewed the concert for an assignment, this is one of those reviews.

Chou Wen-chung Centennial Concert Review

By Jaden Lewis-King
”Analyzing and Placing Music in Historical Context” Spring 2024
Professor Frank J. Oteri | The New School College of Performing Arts

The Chou Wen-Chung Centennial Concert “A Retrospective” on March 21, 2024 at Columbia University's Miller Theatre was a celebration of life, music and legacy. Chou’s music was performed by the Continuum group, Joel Sachs, conductor, which is an ensemble dedicated to the performance of works by live composers. Five different and distinct musical selections and a panel discussion held by his closest friends, historians and family members helped to put his life and legacy into perspective and humanize his music and point of view through firsthand accounts and stories. The panel was a lens which allowed the audience to see Chou’s impact on Chinese and Western music. 

The concert had five musical selections: In the Mode of Shang (1956), Yu Ko (1965), Twilight Colors (2007), The Willows are New (1957), and Ode to Eternal Pine (2009), followed by a repeat performance of In the Mode of Shang to close the concert. These selections highlighted pillar points in Chou Wen-Chung’s music and acted as a timeline for his life and compositional career.

Joel Sachs, an intimate friend and collaborator of Wen-Chung was perfect at leading from a place of tenderness and care and it showed in the response from the musicians right from the opening of In the Mode of Shang. Rightfully so, as In the Mode of Shang and The Willows are New were the foundations of the night. Luyen Chou, one of the composer’s two sons, described them as love songs.  The story however is overshadowed by grief, given that Chou dedicated In the Mode of Shang to his first wife, Katherine “Poyu” Chou, who died within months of their wedding. The work remained unpublished until after Chou’s death and the world premiere of the piece as Chou originally envisioned was given by the Xinghai Conservatory Orchestra conducted by Bing Chen in November 2023. The performance heard at the New York concert was only its second time being heard in its original orchestration (three times total, if you were to count the replay).

One of the main things touched upon on the panel was love being the impetus behind most of his works, and particularly In the Mode of Shang as the depiction of a man in love. For me this also showed the intricacies of Chou and his homogenization of traditional Chinese music and traditional Western contemporary music. What was so effective about most of his orchestration was the small size of the wind section (one player per instrument) which added a layer of transparency to the music. 

The Willows Are New, Chou’s sole piece for solo piano, had no dedication, but during the panel discussion, his son Luyen Chou mentioned it was inspired by his father’s chance meeting with pianist Chang Yi-An, whom Chou wen-Chung would ultimately marry. This composition is inspired by text about bonds and parting ways. It's safe to say that the emotions and symbolisms of this piece to his life and family history are prolific, and it has a nostalgic feel which Sachs enacted well with a lot of pace and emotion. There was a care to his notes and silence wasn't a fear but an ally in his performance. 

Highlights of the concert were some of Chou’s other works: Twilight Colors and Ode to Eternal Pine.  In Twilight Colors, Chou sought to capture the changing skies over the Hudson River, which has been a source of inspiration for many artists. Interestingly enough it brought him back to his past life as an architect where he was able to take artistic inspiration in a visual medium and turn it into the ambient, beautiful soundscape he created in this work. The piece was scored for double trio, and solos by the violin, English horn and cello were stand-outs. Ode to Eternal Pine was composed in the spirit and style of traditional Korean chong ak (upper class/higher class) music and is the only piece Chou composed with an Asian, but non-Chinese, inspiration. The ancient form of chamber music sought to express the range of human emotion inspired by natural phenomena which have inspired East Asian minds for centuries. The emphasis is on the fluidity of the concurrent flow of instrumental voices, characteristic of chong ak, rather than exploitation of novel instrumental colors. This piece was different than all the others in that the percussion (bells, cymbals, chimes, gong, drums) dominated. Although it wasn't my favorite piece its contrast was stark and needed.

The other piece on the program, Yü Ko, showed more of Chou’s interest in ancient Chinese traditions. Translated to “fisherman’s song”, it is a pure example of the tablature notation from the thirteenth century. The notation is similar to that used for lute and modern guitar music which indicates the actual placement of the fingers instead of showing the physical notes. Ending the night with a second performance of “In the Mode of Shang” felt redundant at first but as it went, the lyricism and beauty carried through and was a great way to end all that had been heard leaving nothing more to be desired.

Chou Wen-chung Centennial Concert Review

On March 21, 2024 professor Frank J. Oteri brought students from his class “Analyzing and Placing Music in Historical Context” at The New School College of Performing Arts to the Chou Wen-chung Centennial Concert at Miller Theatre in NYC. The students reviewed the concert for an assignment, this is one of those reviews.

Chou Wen-chung Centennial Concert Review

By Claire Coven
”Analyzing and Placing Music in Historical Context” Spring 2024
Professor Frank J. Oteri | The New School College of Performing Arts

The Miller Theatre at Columbia University was bustling with fans, friends, and family of Chou Wen-chung Thursday evening for his Centennial Concert. Performed by Continuum, led by Joel Sachs, the evening was exciting and enlightening for those who knew and were new to Chou Wen-chung and his music. 

The retrospective opened, and later closed, with the American premiere of In the Mode of Shang, composed in 1956. Continuum filled the stage as a complete ensemble and enraptured the audience throughout the seven-minute piece. One need not read the program notes–although they are illuminating–to appreciate how Chou developed the theme: he seamlessly alternated the melodic line between the entire ensemble and solos, duos, and trios from each section, building and changing the line with each pass. This became a defining characteristic of the work we heard Thursday evening: an avid calligrapher, Chou simultaneously drew melodies from and inspired by ancient Chinese techniques with those of the Western twentieth century, melding them just enough that something new is created while maintaining a distinct deference for each culture. 

Upon the first listen, In the Mode of Shang paints vivid scenes through the solo melody. The discernable sections of the piece were marked by the entire orchestra coming together before returning to solo or small ensembles continuously developing the theme. The final piccolo solo, singing like a bird with unrelenting melodious legato, left us just satisfied enough to end the piece, yet it felt as though the piece could have continued. Continuum’s vivid playing allowed us to experience Chou’s early musical landscape in those few minutes.

Next we heard Yü Ko. Composed in 1965, this piece was perhaps the most traditional in its use of ancient Chinese techniques we heard that evening. Performed by a smaller ensemble led by winds and brass, with piano, violin, and percussion, it was interesting to hear how Chou was able to achieve such authentic ancient Chinese idioms and colors from Western instruments alone. To produce this, he had both the violinist and pianist pluck strings, and had a mute on the trombone to manipulate the sound. Again, the theme was played by few and then all.

The first half of the concert closed with Twilight Colors. Composed in 2007 and scored for a double trio–one with flute, oboe, and clarinet and the other with violin, viola, and cello–this piece consisted of vignettes in four movements and a coda. “A Thread of Light” began the series with a deep cello drone solo that continued to penetrate when the other instruments joined in. “Colors of Dawn” followed without pause, employing both trios in chaotic bowing until they calmly unwound. Next, in “In the Mist,” Chou programmatically writes a thick layer of mist by having the strings repeat narrow, chromatic intervals that the flute and clarinet permeate. In “Mountain Peaks Rising,” the ensemble created a topography with ascending and descending intervals. After playing a chord together, each musician continued to play their own unique theme, creating at once unexpected harmony and juxtaposition. The penultimate movement concluded with a hauntingly beautiful woodwind trio, as if birds were flying out of and around the mountain peaks. “Coda” flourished in a full ensemble sound reminiscent of late-Romantic quartets. 

After intermission there was a panel discussion moderated by Kathryn Knight, music publisher and President of Edition Peters USA from 2019 to 2023, and included Chou’s sons Luyen and Sumin, and former students Lei Liang and Shyhji Pan. They spoke not only of the important mentor that Chou Wen-chung was, but also shared stories of his life that gave new meaning and insight to the pieces performed and his compositional process. Lei Liang said that Chou asked every student “When is a line not a line?” One can hear in his music that he taught by example, constantly asking himself the same question. Shyhji Pan synthesized Chou’s mission and technical philosophy stating that the “Confluence of East and West is what he dedicated his life to,” and that, “...technique lies in delicacy of details, that was consistent throughout his life.”  His sons provided insight about the posthumously-published In the Mode of Shang: Chou wrote the piece in 1956 for his first wife who died a few months after the first partial performance in 1957. Bereaved, this is perhaps why Chou never published this early work, and why works composed after this tragedy reflected his “profound grief.” Chou later married concert pianist Chang Yi-an in 1962. Luyen described that “big leaps of faith defined” both his parents’ lives, and that music saved his father’s life. 

Next we heard Joel Sachs perform The Willows Are New. Composed in 1957, this is Chou’s only composition for solo piano. At once dark with sprinkles of light, Sachs brought the single line to life through subtle and drastic dynamic shifts. After that we heard Ode to Eternal Pine, composed in 2009. Originally composed for an ensemble of traditional Korean instruments, we heard this piece performed on Western instruments. Notably, the piano was played in traditional Western style.  Despite the Western instrumentation, we could hear the inspiration of traditional Korean music in each movement. The ensemble was tight and attuned to each other, maintaining continuity through tough transitions.

Ending the program the way it began, the whole Continuum ensemble came out to play In the Mode of Shang once again. With the information from the panel discussion and from listening to pieces ranging throughout Chou's career, the piece had a new levity to it. This was especially so after Sumin Chou described how his father wrote this piece when he was young and full of hope, and before experiencing the profound grief of the death of his first wife. The ensemble played with a robust and infectious sense of excitement. It was a wonderful way to end a meaningful evening of inspiring music. 

Born in Yantai, China in 1923, Chou immigrated to the United States in 1946 leaving war-torn China to study architecture at Yale. However, it was on the ship that he realized he must pursue his passion for music, and upon arrival, gave up his fellowship at Yale. He subsequently began his music studies with Nicolas Slonimsky and Edgard Varèse in Boston, the latter of whom Chou became closest mentee and lifelong champion. Chou later studied at Columbia University where he became instrumental in the establishment of the Electronic Music Center (later revitalized into the Computer Music Center), the Fritz Reiner Center for Contemporary Music at Columbia, and the US-China Arts Exchange. Not only is Chou the first world-renowned Chinese-born composer, but he is also responsible for the success of the following generations of Chinese composers who he mentored through his US-China Arts Exchange. In his music you can hear the sounds of his childhood in China, adulthood studying with Varèse and other luminaries, and–above all–his dedication to fusing cultures of the East and West in harmony.