Cleveland Institute of Music Takes Orchestra on Tour

Asheville, North Carolina – March 25, 2012

The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is pleased to announce the first tour of its Orchestra in more than 20 years. The CIM Orchestra will travel to Asheville, North Carolina to perform in the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium on March 25.

While the CIM Orchestra performs regularly on the school’s campus and four times per year at Severance Hall, home of The Cleveland Orchestra, it does not usually perform outside of the University Circle neighborhood. The Asheville event represents CIM’s new commitment to touring, to broaden the reputation of the school and to expand the performance experience of CIM’s students.

“This tour is a great opportunity for an audience beyond Cleveland to hear our wonderful Orchestra,” said Conservatory Dean Adrian Daly. “It is also important as a pedagogical opportunity for our students to perform in a new venue, to an audience unfamiliar to them. It is of vital importance that CIM have a visible presence outside of Northeast Ohio, and I look forward to future opportunities to present CIM on a national and international platform.”

The event is being hosted by the Asheville Symphony. Asheville was chosen for the maiden tour because of its 15-year history with the school. Since 1998, the Symphony has featured CIM students as soloists. Among them, Jeanette Aufiero, the first prizewinner in the Ibero-American Piano Competition of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic); Matthew Allen, gold medalist in the Gaspar Cassado International Violoncello Competition; Grammy-nominee and Avery Fish Career Grant recipient, violinist Caroline Goulding; and Chad Hoopes, now an IMG recording artist.

Carl Topilow, director of CIM’s orchestral program and conductor of the Cleveland Pops, leads the CIM Orchestra in a program of Elgar, Stravinksy and Ginastera’s Harp Concerto, with soloist, Shelly Du.

The tour is made possible thanks to support from CIM’s generous donors, including the Payne Fund – the same fund that allowed CIM soloists to travel and perform with the Asheville Symphony.

Tickets for the event in North Carolina can be purchased through the Asheville Symphony Box Office, 9 a.m. through 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and on concert Saturdays. Call 828.254.7046 or visit Ticketmaster.com.