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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 8, 2006
CLEVELAND CHAMBER SYMPHONY
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OHIO - The Cleveland Chamber Symphony (CCS), the award-winning
contemporary music ensemble and mainstay of the classical music scene in Cleveland for more than
25 years, today made three exciting announcements:
1) The recently released CCS recording featured in the box set – Music That Dares to Explore (TNC
Music 2006) has been nominated for a GRAMMY Award in the category of Classical Music – Best
Instrumental Soloist with Orchestra. The recording of Olivier Messiaen’s Oiseaux Exotiques
(Exotic Birds) was conducted my John McLaughlin Williams with Angelin Chang as piano soloist.
The 49th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on Sunday, February 11, at Staples Center in Los
Angeles.
The entire box set of CCS recordings will be available for purchase at the next Cleveland Chamber Symphony concert on Sunday, January 21, 4:00pm at Gamble Auditorium at Baldwin-Wallace College, Kulas Musical Arts Building, 96 Front Street in Berea. The concert is free and open to the public.
2) CCS has selected Marta Ptasynska as the composer for its innovative Public Commissioning Initiative. Marta Ptaszynska, composer, percussionist, and professor of music at the University of
Chicago, was born in 1943 in Warsaw, Poland. Ms. Ptasznska has previously been awarded commissions from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the BBC in London and the Polish Chamber Orchestra, among others.
The new work will celebrate the spirit of Cleveland and the memory of our dear departed composer laureate Dennis Eberhard. “Marta Ptaszynska has a long standing relationship with our city, having
attended the Cleveland Institute of Music in the 1970’s. She was also a colleague and friend of Mr. Eberhard. This composition will be a very special musical expression for Clevelanders” said Dr.
Mark George, president of the CCS board of trustees.
The Public Commissioning Initiative is a unique opportunity for an entire community to participate in the creative process. Individuals or organizations can purchase one or more musical measures (the traditional bite-sized increments of music) for $25 each. Contributors will receive a printed copy of their measure or measures and be invited to the gala premiere celebration in 2008. The performance of the new work will be underwritten by a grant from the Fromm Foundation, a major supporter of contemporary music since 1972, based at Harvard University. Those interested in participating in the Public Commissioning Initiative should contact the Cleveland Chamber Symphony at www.clevelandchambersymphony.org.
3) The Argosy Foundation has awarded the Cleveland Chamber Symphony a $25,000 grant in support of its programming of contemporary music. The Argosy Foundation is a private family
foundation founded in 1997 by John Abele, co-founder of Boston Scientific and located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The objective of the Argosy Foundation Contemporary Music Fund is to promote the proliferation and awareness of contemporary classical or "non-pop" music. CCS will use the grant to produce performances and recordings over the next two years.
The music director and conductor of the Cleveland Chamber Symphony is Steven Smith. Thanks to its unique mission and vision to commission, perform, record and promote the dissemination of musical works exclusively by composers of our time, no other institution has contributed so much to advancing the art of contemporary, primarily American, music. While the Cleveland Chamber
Symphony's current number of over 175 World Premieres of new works primarily commissioned by the CCS ranks at the top of the list of all orchestras over a comparable period, the commitment goes further by giving repeat performances, often in multiple locations locally, regionally and nationally. The CCS's authoritative work in the recording studio leads to the production and distribution of a significant body of compact disc recordings, further insuring a permanent and widely available legacy of the Chamber Symphony's extensive contemporary repertoire.
The Cleveland Chamber Symphony’s excellence has been recognized repeatedly with numerous prestigious awards including ASCAP’s Edwards Award for the strongest commitment to American Music. It has consistently earned significant support from individuals, government, and
distinguished private foundations including the National Endowment for the Arts, The Ohio Arts
Council, The Ohio Board of Regents, The Argosy Foundation, The Cleveland Foundation, The
Fromm Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, The Kulas Foundation, the John P. Murphy
Foundation, The Bascom Little Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, The Cleveland
Federation of Musicians, The Recording Industry Music Performance Fund and others.
For more information about the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, contact David McQuire at (440) 590 -
0786 or refer to the CCS webpage at www.clevelandchambersymphony.org.
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