Gerardo Teissonnière, Alexander Kobrin headline CIM’s new Young Artist Piano Seminar

Rare and special opportunities await serious young pianists and composers this summer at the Cleveland Institute of Music.   

Start with pianists. Upon enrolling in CIM's 2024 Young Artist Piano Seminar, ambitious players ages 10 to 18 can look forward to studying with not one but two world-renowned artists in a uniquely challenging and supportive environment.  

Those artists? Gerardo Teissonnière, a member of CIM’s piano faculty; and guest artist Alexander Kobrin, gold medal winner at the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The seminar runs June 23-28.  

“I am thrilled to welcome students from around the world to Cleveland,” said Teissonnière, the program’s artistic director.  

“I have witnessed the effects of Alexander's extraordinary gift for communication in my students who have studied with him, and I am certain he will bring that same gift, along with his invaluable performing experience, to his teaching at our seminar.”   

Pianists who successfully audition for the Young Artist Piano Seminar can look forward to frequent performance opportunities and a full array of private and group training.  

Also leading portions of the seminar will be Sean Schulze, a member of CIM’s piano faculty, and pianist Ching-Yun Hu, artist in residence and piano faculty at Temple University. Hu “brings tremendous energy in piano performance and working with young pianists to her program in Philadelphia,” Teissonnière said.  

Daily schedules will vary but all participants will engage in lessons, masterclasses, and recitals; eurhythmics and piano literature classes; and a final concert. Those who wish may also enter a piano concerto competition, culminating in the performance of a single concerto movement with a second piano.   

Detailed seminar information, including a fee schedule and application form, can be found at cim.edu/pianoseminar.  

To audition, all applicants must submit links to videos of unedited, specially recorded performances of two works in contrasting styles from the standard classical piano literature. Students interested in the competition must submit a third video featuring a movement from a concerto with orchestra or a second piano.  

Young Composers Program 

An equally exciting opportunity awaits aspiring composers. The week before the Piano Seminar, June 16-22, CIM composer Keith Fitch will again host the Young Composers Program (YCP), a distinguished week-long intensive for students ages 14-19. The program is now in its second decade under Fitch.  

All students in the YCP will compose a piece for solo instrument or small ensemble and participate in a workshop with the performer(s) ahead of time. They also will have a private lesson with CIM faculty and take classes in music theory, music history, and electronic music. All of this will lead to a performance and recording of each student’s composition.  

To be considered for the program, applicants must submit at least one letter of reference from a music teacher or mentor and one to three original scores, at least one of which must be complete.  

Detailed information about the YCP, including a fee schedule and application form, is available at cim.edu/ycp.  

Questions about either program can be addressed to preparatoryweb@cim.edu. 

ABOUT THE PIANO SEMINAR FACULTY 

Gerardo Teissonnière 

Regarded by international critics and audiences as an artist of extraordinary musicianship, pianist Gerardo Teissonnière brings to the concert stage an exciting amalgam of the diverse musical traditions he represents. On stages across the U.S. and Asia, Europe, and South America, Teissonnière appears as a soloist, soloist with orchestra, and chamber musician, and in radio and media broadcasts. His recording of three Beethoven sonatas was named one the best classical recordings of 2022 and his recent recording of Schubert’s impromptus garnered extraordinary critical acclaim and enjoyed unprecedented success on digital streaming platforms. Many of his students have won top prizes at major competitions and performed as soloists with leading ensembles including The Cleveland Orchestra, among others. 

Alexander Kobrin 

Pianist Alexander Kobrin stands at the forefront of today’s leading musicians, acclaimed for his emotional and technically inspired performances. Kobrin is an active guest soloist with major orchestras worldwide including the New York Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Dallas Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, among many others. In addition to his gold medal at the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Kobrin has garnered top prizes from the Busoni International Piano Competition (first prize), Hamamatsu International Piano Competition (top prize), and Scottish International Piano Competition in Glasgow (first prize). Since 2017, Kobrin has served on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music. 

ABOUT THE COMPOSITION FACULTY

Keith Fitch 

Keith Fitch has been head of composition at CIM since 2008. Last April, he was named a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow, and in January, he won the Composer Award from the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation. Both of these are in addition to many other honors including three ASCAP Young Composer Awards, three National Society of Arts and Letters awards, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Copland House Residency, and awards from the Indiana Arts Commission, Ohio Arts Council, American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Fromm Foundation. He also has enjoyed many performances. In addition to ensembles at CIM and members of The Cleveland Orchestra, Fitch counts performances by The Philadelphia Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, St. Luke’s Chamber Orchestra, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.