Alum to play for the President of South Korea during U.S. visit

On June 16, President Obama will welcome President Park Geun-hye of the Republic of Korea to the White House. The night before, Cleveland Institute of Music alumnus Suliman Tekalli (MM ’13, Smirnoff) will welcome President Geun-hye at the Ritz Carlton in Washington, D.C., with a solo performance of Vivaldi's “Summer” with the International Sejong Soloists. The group will also debut Tekalli’s arrangement of Ástor Piazzolla’s “Libertango.”

Tekalli recently won top prize at the 2015 Seoul International Music Competition. He’s performed as soloist with orchestras throughout North America, Central America, Europe and Asia and as a chamber musician at Yellow Barn Festival, Banff Chamber Music Festival, and Sarasota. At age 11 he was featured on NPR’s From the Top and he made his debut with the Orlando Philharmonic at the age of 16. Tekalli earned his masters of music at CIM studying with President Joel Smirnoff.