NEWS RELEASE
James Feddeck conducts The Cleveland Orchestra
in a “Side by Side” concert with the
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra
at Severance Hall on March 9
High School Concert features Cleveland Orchestra debut of pianist Margret Erlendsdottir
CLEVELAND, February 16, 2010 – Assistant Conductor James Feddeck will lead The Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra in a High School Concert in Severance Hall on Tuesday, March 9, 2010, at 12:00 p.m. The concert features pianist Margret Erlendsdottir in her Cleveland Orchestra debut. Ms. Erlendsdottir, a junior at Hawken School, is the principal keyboardist of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra.
This “Side By Side” program is a dynamic learning experience. In each section of the orchestra a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra will be performing “side by side” with a member of The Cleveland Orchestra. The Cleveland Orchestra’s High School Concerts are designed to introduce high-school students to the traditional format of orchestral programs, to present musical selections that demonstrate the diversity of the orchestral repertoire, and to feature an exceptionally talented young soloist.
The program for the concert, which is performed without intermission, will begin with Hector Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture, followed by the fourth movement (Allegro energico e passionato) from Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Opus 98. Next on the program is the first movement (Moderato) from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18. The program concludes with Leonard Bernstein’s “Mambo!” from West Side Story.
Biographical information on James Feddeck and Margret Erlendsdottir follows.
TICKETS for the High School Morning Concert are $10 each. To purchase tickets, call Sandra Jones in the Cleveland Orchestra Education and Community Programs Department at (216) 231-7349.
PARKING in the vicinity of Severance Hall is limited on weekdays due to demand from Case Western Reserve University students and faculty, employees of other University Circle institutions, and visitors to these institutions. Parking is available on a first-come, first-served basis in the underground garage next to Severance Hall, in the underground garage at the Cleveland Botanical Garden, and at meters along East Boulevard and other streets neighboring Severance Hall.
The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra is supported by generous grants from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, and many other donors. Endowment support is provided by The George Gund Foundation and Christine Gitlin Miles.
* * *
The Cleveland Orchestra’s High School Concert is part of the Orchestra’s Community Music Initiative a broad array of educational and community programs designed to foster a love of music and a lifetime of participation in the musical arts. Other programs include the “Musical Rainbow” concert series for preschoolers, Family Concerts for ages 7 and up, the PNC Grow Up Great partnership with local Head Start sites, Education Concerts (which bring more than 25,000 school children to Severance Hall each year), the Learning Through Music school partnership program, MusicMentors and MusicMasters, supporting school music programs throughout the region, Concert Previews and Music Study Groups for adults, and several programs to nurture aspiring young musicians (Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, Youth Chorus, and Children’s Chorus). For more information, call the Orchestra’s Education and Community Programs Department at (216) 231-7355.
Calendar Listing
Tuesday, March 9, 2010, at 12:00 p.m.
High School Concert
Severance Hall
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA YOUTH ORCHESTRA
JAMES FEDDECK, conductor
MARGRET ERLENDSDOTTIR, piano
BERLIOZ Roman Carnival Overture
BRAHMS Fourth Movement (Allegro energico e passionato) from Symphony No. 4
RACHMANINOFF First Movement (Moderato) from Piano Concerto No. 2
Margret Erlendsdottir, piano
BERNSTEIN “Mambo!” from West Side Story
TICKETS for the High School Concert are $10 each. To purchase tickets, call Sandra Jones in the Cleveland Orchestra Education Department at (216) 231-7349.
Press Contacts: Jennifer Schlosser, (216) 231-7518; Email: jschlosser@clevelandorchestra.com
Ana Papakhian, Office: (216) 231-7476; Cell phone: (216) 370-2595; Email: anap@clevelandorchestra.com
* * *
James Feddeck
Assistant Conductor
Elizabeth Ring and William Gwinn Mather Chair
The Cleveland Orchestra,
Music Director
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra
James Feddeck is in his first season as an assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra and as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. As assistant conductor, Mr. Feddeck conducts Education, Family, and other concerts and serves as cover conductor for Severance Hall and Blossom Festival subscription concerts. He also helps to oversee the editing of archival recordings of concerts and provides assistance to Franz Welser-Möst. As music director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, Mr. Feddeck leads the ensemble in weekly rehearsals and conducts its three-concert series in Severance Hall. Mr. Feddeck made his debut with The Cleveland Orchestra in a Blossom Festival concert in August 2009, as an Aspen Academy Conductor.
Before coming to Cleveland, James Feddeck served for two seasons as assistant conductor of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. During the summer of 2009, Mr. Feddeck served as assistant conductor at the Aspen Music Festival and School. A conducting fellow for three summers at the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he was a protégé of David Zinman, James Feddeck received the Aspen Conducting Prize in 2008. He was awarded the Robert J. Harth Conductor Prize in 2007. In addition, he was the unanimous winner of the Sixth Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting Competition and, at twenty-two, its youngest participant.
Mr. Feddeck was admitted to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in four areas: piano, oboe, organ, and conducting. He studied conducting with Steven Smith, Timothy Weiss, and Bridget-Michaele Reischl. After earning undergraduate and graduate degrees from Oberlin, Mr. Feddeck continued his studies in conducting at the University of Michigan, working with Kenneth Kiesler. He has participated in conducting masterclasses at Aspen with Patrick Summers, Harry Bicket, and James Conlon. Mr. Feddeck has performed organ recitals throughout Europe and North America and has won competitions sponsored by the American Guild of Organists. Recent and upcoming conducting engagements include appearances at the Aspen Music Festival, Cleveland Institute of Music, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra (with soloist Yo-Yo Ma), and return performances with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.
Margret Erlendsdottir
Pianist Margret Erlendsdottir, who will make her Cleveland Orchestra debut at this performance, is the principal keyboardist of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (COYO).
A student of the piano since the age of four, Margret studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) with Antonio Pompa-Baldi, a Distinguished Professor of Piano at CIM, after first studying for ten years with Mrs. Olga Radosavljevich. Margret participated for four summers in CIM’s Camp Klavier for piano and one summer in their new Summer Sonata program for piano. She has been the recipient of various scholarships awarded at CIM and was a performer at the opening concert of CIM’s new Mixon Hall.
Most recently, Margret won first prize in the 2008 PIANO/OHIO competition and was a finalist in the 2009 COYO Concerto competition. She made her concerto debut as a soloist with COYO on its four-concert tour of Boston in June 2009. She was also a member and representative of the Junior Jury of the 2009 Cleveland International Piano Competition.
In addition to the piano, Margret has also studied violin with Vladimir Deninzon, a member of The Cleveland Orchestra, and music theory with Cecilia O’Linn and Adeline Huss.
Margret, 16, is a junior at Hawken School, where she represents her class on the Hawken Integrity Council, is a Writing Center Intern, and is a member of Hawken’s Speech and Debate team.
