Tour Diaries: President Hogle's Recap of the 2023 Astro Quartet Tour

Friday, March 24

For the past two days, CIM’s Astro Quartet has been on tour on the west cost of Florida playing two standing-room-only home concerts in Estero and Osprey. Magnificent hospitality greeted over 100 audience members between the spectacular homes of Mary and Chris Swift and Jeanne Glazer. The quartet’s program of Hugo Wolf and Maurice Ravel was capped off with a triumphant encore of Webern. In Estero, it was especially wonderful to have guests hailing from across Northeast Ohio, including retired Youngstown State University President Jim Tressel and his wife, Ellen; alum Paul Nadler and his wife; as well as Dr. Dean Southern's mom.

The Osprey crowd, gathered by CIM’s legendary alumna and retired principal harp of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Ann Hobson Pilot, and her husband, Prentice, hailed from all across the country, many “getting to know CIM for the very first time.” In the audience was Priscilla Fullerton (BM '64, organ) and the architects of CIM’s golden age, David and Linda Cerone. The CIM standard of artistic and "friend-raising" excellence was met and exceeded on Florida’s Gulf Coast thanks to the breathtaking homes and grace of Chris and Mary Swift and Jeanne Glazer. Bravi tutti!!

This weekend, we head east to Vero Beach and meet up with two additional Board members, where Astro will make music for an audience of over 1,000 between a home recital and services at Vero Beach Community Church...

Sunday, March 26

On Saturday and Sunday, after a 3-hour drive across Florida on Saturday morning, the Astro Team and the Hogles arrived in Vero Beach and presented two musical offerings. First, on Saturday night, at the wonderful home of CIM Trustee Chace Anderson and his wife Josie, the Quartet christened the Anderson’s new Vero Beach retreat with excerpts from the tour repertoire followed by a delicious home-cooked meal. The evening was filled with the Anderson’s friends, music, laughter, and revelry.

The alarm clock rang early on Sunday morning as Astro graced both services at the Community Church of Vero Beach with musical moments of Ravel and two traditional hymns. CCVB is the home congregation of CIM Trustee Emeritus Terry Donley, the man who built Mixon Hall! After the services, Mr. Donley treated the Quartet and the Hogles to a spectacular brunch at the Moorings Yacht Club, where many plates were filled and all were emptied. Chace, Josie, and Terry made the two days in Vero Beach truly inspirational and presented the Quartet with deeply appreciative audiences. CIM has many friends and fans in Vero Beach!

After plates were cleaned and clothes were changed, the Quartet and the Hogles loaded up the tour van and began the 7-hour drive north to Hilton Head Island, where the quartet will play a home concert, catch up with CIM’s retired head of music theory, Rick Nelson, attend a concert of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchetsra, and offer a full, public concert at SoundWaves in partnership with the HHSO!  Looking forward to being in one place for a few days before we head home on Wednesday...

Tuesday, March 28

Tonight, we finished the 2023 CIM Astro String Quartet tour in Hilton Head, SC with a standing room only concert in SoundWaves — the unique blackbox performance venue of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra. This concert was the 6th day in a row of driving and performing, for a cumulative audience count of around 1,500 and nearly 1,000 miles in our trusty Ford Transit van. We had the honor of getting to know CIM Trustees better, thanked a growing army of donors, and introduced CIM to a large number of friends, families, and neighbors who, to a person, introduced themselves to us with “we had no idea CIM was that good!” 

Having played the concerts, shaken the hands, taken the bows, and driven the miles, we head back to Cleveland on Wednesday to hit the books and practice rooms and respond to phone messages as we approach the exciting end to the 2022-23 academic year.

Until next time,