A Year of Change, Student Success & Record-Setting Accomplishments

2016-17 was marked by change and accomplishment, with the arrival of Paul W. Hogle as President and CEO mere days into the new fiscal year, the selection of Dr. Judy Bundra as the new Chief Academic Officer and Dean of the Conservatory, an unprecedented increase in annual fundraising and the launch of a year-long strategic planning process that gave birth to a new mission and vision, and sets the stage for CIM’s centennial anniversary in 2020.

The best measure of a conservatory is the success of its students and alumni. Among the many positions won and prizes earned in the past year are:

• Thomas Carpenter (BM ’13, Geber) is now performing in the cello section of the Atlanta Symphony.
• CIM Preparatory program alumnus Marc Djokic received Canada’s prestigious Prix Goyer Award for a collaborative emerging talent.
• Meaghan Gillis (MM ’14, Yancich) is now Principal Timpani of the Spokane Symphony.
• Harpist Rachel Hall (BM ’16, MM ’17, Kondonassis) was selected as one of the six winners of the Astral Artists 2017 National Auditions.
• Violist Yu Jin (BM ’07, Irvine) is now a member of the Indianapolis Symphony.
• Dylan Kennedy (BM ’16, Zenaty) founded the Keuka Lake Music Festival and was named Principal Second Violin of the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra.
• John Walter Kriewall (MM ’17, Clouser) serves as Acting Principal Bassoon in The Florida Orchestra.
• Hanna Landrum (BM ’14, Updegraff; PS ’16, Preucil) won the Principal Second Violin chair in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.
• Leah Latorraca (MM ’17, Rose) is a member of the second violin section of the Phoenix Symphony.
• Current student Patrick Lin won a position in the violin section of the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra.
• Charles Morey (BM ’10, MM ’11, Preucil) was named First Assistant Concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for the 2017-18 season.
• Ann Hobson Pilot (BM ’66, Chalifoux), who was Principal Harp of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 40 years prior to her retirement in 2009, received the League of American Orchestras’ Gold Baton Award.
• Pianist and current student Megan-Geoffrey Prins took first prize in the SAMRO Overseas Scholarships Competition.
• Tuba player Jason Tanksley (MM ’16, Sugiyama) won a two-year fellowship with the Minnesota Orchestra.
• Conductor Deanna Tham (PS ’14, Topilow) was appointed Principal Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras.

In addition, during the course of the year, the Institute debuted new, influential programming, embraced the most diverse class in CIM history, and celebrated other notable accomplishments:

• The CIM Center for Innovative Musicianship (known as CIM²) was launched, creating a comprehensive, sequential program to equip students with essential business and entrepreneurial skills, provide career advising, and lead the Institute’s diversity efforts. Dr. Joyce Griggs was named Vice President and Director of CIM².
• CIM attracted a very highly ranked incoming class and the most diverse class in school history for 2017-18.
• Ilya Kaler, the only violinist to win the gold medal at the Tchaikovsky, Sibelius and Paganini competitions, and violinist Olga Dubossarskaya Kaler joined the CIM faculty, to start in 2018-19.
• CIM raised record-setting annual fund gifts totaling almost $2 million — a 30% increase over the prior fiscal year.
• The unaudited financial results of 2016-17 show the 22nd consecutive balanced operating budget, the result of both improved fundraising and administrative cost-cutting measures.
• Tuition was held flat in 2016-17, leading to the announcement last month that tuition would be reduced by 15% for new students entering in 2018-19.
• A new Minority Artist Fellowship program, preparing young African-American and Latino musicians for acceptance to music school, debuted thanks to leadership funding from the Cleveland Foundation and George Gund Foundation.
• The Institute’s accreditation by the National Association of Schools of Music was renewed for ten years, and the Higher Learning Commission lifted its sanction of notice.
• The Institute recruited several key leaders to Cleveland, including Dale Hedding, Managing Director of External Affairs and Patron Engagement; Jerrod Price, Associate Dean of Admissions and Enrollment Management; Madeline Lucas Tolliver, Interim Executive Director of Preparatory and Continuing Education, and Amy Brondyke, Director of Marketing & Communications.
• Faculty and students performed more than 580 concerts and recitals, sharing their immense talents with the CIM community, the residents of Cuyahoga County, and—via live concert streaming—prospective students and the world.
• Students also gave approximately 250 performances in community locations including schools, parks and churches.

Read the full press release from the 2017 annual meeting.