Appearing Dec 9
Kaley Karis Smith
Kaley Karis Smith works as a stage director and assistant director across the country, most recently as the revival director for La traviata at Houston Grand Opera. In 2023, she directed Rusalka at Opera Idaho and La traviata at Opera Delaware and Opera Baltimore, as well as being the assistant director of La traviata, Werther, and El Milagro del Recuerdo at Houston Grand Opera. She completed a two-year contract with Pittsburgh Opera as the Resident Artist Stage Director in May of 2022, where she directed Soldier Songs and The Rose Elf, and was the assistant stage director for the world premiere of Cerrone and Fleischmann’s In A Grove, directed by Mary Birnbaum. Other directing credits include: The Telephone (Pittsburgh Festival Opera), Le Nozze di Figaro (Augusta University), The Crucible and Turn of the Screw (Chicago Summer Opera), Goldie B. and The Three Singing Bears and Opera for the Young: The Elixir of Love (Virginia Opera). This fall, she is teaching Opera Stagecraft at Oberlin conservatory, and returns to Houston Grand Opera in 2024 for Madame Butterfly and Don Giovanni.
Linn Obery, “The Inspector”
Appearing November 20
The Brazilian conductor, Jorge Sarmientos has performed with orchestras in Brazil and in the United States, being praised by his musicianship and precision.
Sarmientos worked with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra and in Brazil, with orchestras such as the Santo Andre Symphony Orchestra, FIAM-FAAM Academic Orchestra, and the Sao Paulo State Academic Orchestra, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Sarmientos worked as an Assistant Conductor with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, working with renowned conductors: Carlos Kalmar, Vinay Parameswaran, JoAnn Falletta and Marcelo Lehninger. He also served as a cover conductor for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, working with Maestra JoAnn Falletta.
As a pianist, Sarmientos performed several recitals in concert halls in Sao Paulo. As a collaborative pianist, he participated in the production of Mozart’s “Die Zauberflote” at the “Fabrica de Óperas” Festival of the Sao Paulo State University-UNESP, under the direction of Maestro Abel Rocha. In December of 2017, he worked as a pianist in the world premiere of the Ópera “Tres Sombreros de Copas” written by the Spanish composer Ricardo Llorca, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has also performed with soloists in recitals, auditions and recordings.
Jorge Sarmientos has a Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting at the Cleveland Institute of Music-CIM, where he studied under the guidance of Carl Topilow, Emily Freeman Brown, Vinay Parameswaran and Carlos Kalmar.
He also has a Bachelor’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Sao Paulo State University-UNESP, studying under the guidance of Abel Rocha and Lutero Rodrigues. In October of 2017, Sarmientos won the first prize of the Eleazar de Carvalho Young Soloists and Conductors Competition.
Sarmientos attended several conducting masterclasses and festivals with important names of the classical music scene like Louis Langrée, Mélisse Brunet, Andrew Grams, James Ross, Timothy Muffit, Carlos Kalmar and Kenneth Kiesler.
Appearing January 29
Marina Ziegler, violin
Marina Ziegler began piano study at the age of four with her mother Mayumi Kikuchi. Subsequently, at five, she started her violin education at the Sato Center for Suzuki Studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Marina’s violin teachers have included Stephen Sims, Isabel Trautwein, and Eugenia Poustyreva. She currently studies violin with David Bowlin at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and sonata-coaching with Carolyn Warner of The Cleveland Orchestra. She is also a current member of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. Marina has been awarded several prizes including the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs awards, the Sigma Alpha Iota String Competition, and state awards for both piano and string divisions of the Ohio Buckeye Competition. She won the Suburban Symphony Concerto competition in 2020 and 2021 and appeared as a soloist with the orchestra in 2021. In past summers, Marina has attended Credo Music Festival at Oberlin Conservatory, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Bowdoin International Music Festival. This past summer, she was invited to participate in Chamber Music Northwest’s inaugural Young Artist Institute in Portland, Oregon. She was also accepted into the National Youth Orchestra and performed at Carnegie Hall as well as major concert halls in Europe with the orchestra. When she is not practicing the violin, Marina enjoys going on drives and hikes. She attends Copley High School where she is a senior.
Appearing March 19
Gerardo Teissonnière, piano
Regarded by international critics and audiences as an artist of extraordinary musicianship and rare sensibility since his acclaimed solo recital debut at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, pianist Gerardo Teissonnière brings to the concert stage an exciting amalgam of the diverse and important musical traditions he represents. From the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, Lincoln Center in New York to concert halls in Asia, Europe, North and Latin America, Mr. Teissonnière appears in recital, with orchestra and chamber music performances in concert series as well as in radio and television broadcasts throughout the world.
Concert season highlights include his solo recital debuts in Munich and Vienna, as well as solo and chamber music performances in Italy, in the United States with members of The Cleveland Orchestra, a performance for an audience of twenty
thousand and a solo recital at the Diaoyucheng International Music Festival in Chongqing, China, his solo recital and concerto debuts in Beijing, and all-Chopin concerts in Poland.
Upcoming season highlights include return engagements in Austria (Barocksaal in Vienna), and his solo recital debut in Paris featuring music by Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy in October of 2022. Mr. Teissonnière’s recording of the monumental last three Beethoven sonatas for the Steinway & Sons record label is released March 4, 2022.
Young Soloist Winners - 2022-2023
Daniel Colaner, piano
Daniel Colaner captured international media attention at the age of 12 with his same-day performances on piano at Carnegie Hall and on organ at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Since then, his talents have been showcased on ABC World News Tonight, Good Morning America, The Harry (Connick Jr.) Show, and the BBC World Service Newsday. He is the winner of numerous competitions, including the American Protégé Piano Competition, the Steinway Junior Piano Competition, and the Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory Concerto Competition. Last spring, he made his Severance Hall debut with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, performing Nikolai Kapustin’s Piano Concerto No. 2. He has performed Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Euclid Symphony Orchestra and with the Lakeland Civic Orchestra. An avid collaborative pianist and chamber musician, his Meraki Trio was awarded 1 st Place at the inaugural Glass City Chamber Music Competition and has been selected to compete in the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.
Also an accomplished organist, The Diapason magazine named Daniel to their “20 Under 30” Class of 2021, a select group of young adults at the forefront of the organ field. He has been featured on the NPR radio show From the Top (Show #377), performing “Jupiter” from Gustav Holst’s The Planets, and on PBS, performing Doxology Variations with the American Pops Orchestra in One Voice: The Songs We Share – The Sacred. Most recently, he performed Joseph Jongen’s “Toccata” from Symphonie concertante, Op. 81 with Carlos Kalmar and the CIM Orchestra. He was a 2023 National YoungArts Winner in Classical Music and the recipient of the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award in 2020. Additional awards include 1st Prize at the ECU Young Artists Organ Competition, 1st Prize at the Columbia AGO Competition for Young Organists, and the 1 st Prize and Audience Prize at the Sursa American Organ Competition (HS Division).
Diagnosed with stage IV cancer as an infant, exposure to music as cognitive therapy, combined with his love of sound, unleashed Daniel’s passion for the piano at age 5 and organ at age 10. He continues to actively promote the benefits of classical music on television and radio and has helped raise thousands of dollars for a variety of non-profit organizations which support music education and music therapy.
Daniel is a recipient of the Olga Radosavljevich Endowed Scholarship from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where his teachers include Daniel Shapiro, Sean Schulze, and Todd Wilson. He is also a private organ student of David Higgs at the Eastman School of Music. When not practicing, Daniel enjoys programming, playing tennis, and the company of his calico cat, Imogene.
More at danielcolaner.com
Fiona Tsang, cello
Fiona Tsang, 17, is a graduating senior at Ohio Connections Academy and second-year
student in the Cleveland Institute of Music Young Artist Program, where she studies cello with Professor Richard Weiss. Fiona began her musical journey with piano at the age of five and started playing cello when she was six. Recently, she performed as a soloist with the Cleveland Institute of Music Symphony Orchestra as a winner of the Preparatory Concerto Competition. She has received awards from numerous other solo and chamber competitions, including the Ohio MTNA State Competition, Cleveland Cello Society Scholarship Competition, Euclid Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition, Pacific Musical Society Competition, North International Music Competition, US International Music Competition, American Prize, Mahler Cello Competition, Dresdner Wintersterne Competition, and Junior Bach Festival.
She has served as principal cellist for the CODA Honor Symphony Orchestra, El Camino Youth Symphony, and Bay Area Youth Music Society Orchestra, as well as performed in the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, CASMEC All-State High School Symphony Orchestra, and University of the Pacific Orchestra.
Fiona is extremely passionate about sharing music with the community, and she has received the President’s Volunteer Service Award for music-related community service for nine consecutive years. Besides music, she enjoys photography, hiking, traveling, reading, and video production.
Eleanor Pompa, cello
Eleanor Pompa was born in Cleveland, OH in 2005 from musical parents. She started piano lessons at 5, and cello at 8. Her first cello teacher was Pamela Kelly, and she is currently studying with Richard Weiss in the CIM Young Artist program. From very early on in her studies, Eleanor started performing. Among other places, she has played in England, Italy, and the US (a benefit for UNICEF at the Steinway Piano Gallery Cleveland, and recitals at Judson Manor, and in Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music). Eleanor loves playing as a soloist, but she relishes the opportunity to be part of a chamber music group. Recent chamber music coaches include Stanley Konopka, Carolyn Warner, Anita Pontremoli, and Si- Yan Darren Li.
In her beginner years, she was a member of the Crazy Squirrels Quartet, and the ELK piano trio. She also served as principal cellist of the Cleveland Institute of Music Prep Orchestra. Eleanor has played in masterclasses for cellists Merry Peckham (Cavani String Quartet), Tom Landschoot (Arizona State University), Sharon Robinson (CIM), Sheku Kanneh- Mason, Klaus Mäkelä, and Alan Harris (Eastman), as well as violinists Peter Salaff (Cleveland Quartet) and Phillip Setzer (Emerson String Quartet). In 2016, Eleanor won the First Prize in the Elementary Division of the Cleveland Cello Society competition. As the winner of this competition, she performed for the Cleveland Cello Society on November 20th, 2016.
In 2017, Eleanor made her solo debut with the Napolinova Orchestra in Todi, Italy. In 2019, she entered the Cleveland Cello Society Competition in the Junior Division, and was awarded First Prize. In May of 2019, Eleanor successfully auditioned for the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, becoming a member of its cello section, where she currently sits as assistant principal cellist. During the summer of 2021 and 2022, she attended the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine. She will attend again this upcoming summer. Also in 2022, she participated in the Aronson Cello Festival. Her piano trio participated in the Glass City Chamber Music Competition and won first prize in the junior division in the spring of that same year.
Eleanor is currently a senior at Laurel School. She alternates performing with her mom, Emanuela Friscioni, and her dad, Antonio Pompa-Baldi. When not playing the cello, she loves reading and playing with her dog, Cocoa.