S
tudy with me this summer at International
Woodwind Festival 2010 in Pella, Iowa or at 2º
Curso International de Musica Ciutat de Xativa! IWWF this year
features renowned Belgian soloist and teacher Eddy Vanoosthuyse,
Simon Bolivar Orchestra principal clarinetist and renowned teacher Valdemar
Rodriguez, Central College professor of clarinet Cynthia Doggett,
along with yours truly Jonathan Cohler. We are also very excited
to have the Claremont Trio back
in residence again as well as pianists Rasa Vitkauskaite, Shizue
Sano and more TBA. APPLY
ONLINE NOW!
The International Music Course Ciutat de Xàtiva is a 7-day
intensive event lead by Fran Moral & Jordi Fuster, founders of Saetebis
Music Society. The festival takes place in Xàtiva, Spain. You
can download the application form here: English
or Spanish.
RECENT NEWS
F rom November 1 to November 15, I was in
Caracas, Venezuela conducting the Simon Bolivar Orchestra,
playing a recital with Rasa Vitkauskaite,
and performing the Morton GouldDerivations with the Simon
Bolivar Big Band in honor of Benny Goodman's 100th birthday.
The orchestra concert included Beethoven Symphony No. 6,
Arismendi Concerto, Ravel La Valse, and CoriglianoConcerto, and it took place on Saturday, November 7 at 5:00pm in
Simon Bolivar Hall at the Centro de Acción Social por la Música
in Caracas. The Facebook event page is HERE.
Our recital on Monday, November 9 at 6:30pm in Concert Hall No. 2 of the
Centro de Acción Social por la Música in Caracas included
Schumann Sonata No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 105, MartinuSonatina, BernsteinSonata, and BassiRigoletto.
The Facebook event page is HERE.
The Morton Gould performance was on Sunday, November 8 at 5:00pm
at the Humboldt Cultural Association in Caracas.
A fter Caracas, I headed straight out to
Logan, Utah where I played a performance of the MessaienQuartet
for the End of Time and the BeethovenTrio in B-flat Major,
Op. 11 with the renowned Claremont
Trio on the concert series of the Chamber
Music Society of Logan. The concert was at 7:30pm on November 18 in the
Manon Caine Russell Kathryn Caine Wanlass Performance Hall on the campus of
Utah State University.
I
have just published a few recent articles of mine on the web. You
are welcome and invited to read them! Although they are published as "Notes"
attached to my Facebook "Fan Page", you CAN read them without
being a member of Facebook. If you would like to add comments to those
pages (which are always welcome!), however, you must be a member and logged
into Facebook. These three articles come from my recent CD Jonathan
Cohler & Claremont Trio:
I hope you enjoy them and would certainly appreciate any feedback that
you may have!
I
n December, Rasa and I will be playing a recital at Steinert Hall in Boston.
More info to come soon!
O
ur new CD Romanza should be back from the factory by the end of
October. Stay tuned!
F
rom August 17 to 25 we were in China, where I was one of the featured
artists at the International Clarinet and Saxophone Festival in
Taiyuan, playing the same recital with Rasa and teaching masterclasses.
We visited an ancient city an hour away from Taiyuan in Shanxi Province
and then in Beijing, we saw Tiananmen Square, The Great Wall (at Badaling),
and the Forbidden City. The students in China are amazing! We look forward
to our next trip back there.
On August 13 at 2:30pm, Rasa
Vitkauskaite and I played a recital at the beautiful Casa da Musica
in Porto as part of the International
Clarinet Association's ClarinetFest. The program
included Schumann Sonata in A Minor, Op. 105 (from
our coming CD Romanza), Wilson Liquid
Ebony, Messager Solo de Concours (from our
award-winning CD Rhapsodie
Francaise), Arnold Sonatina,
and Lovreglio Fantasy on Themes from "La
Traviata". The Facebook
event is here. Then at 9:30am on August 14, I taught an open masterclass
at the Conservatory of Music in Porto. I also judged the final round of
the International Clarinet Association's Young
Artist Competition.
Luckily, we had a little bit of free time, so we were able to check out
the beaches in Espinho and Matosinho where we also ate some great seafood!
"The Boston-based clarinetist Jonathan Cohler always seems to put
on a good show, and he does here...Cohler and his collaborators have a
professionalism and artistic commitment that is difficult to match...
While there will never be a shortage of recordings of the Beethoven and
Brahms trios for clarinet, cello, and piano, these renditions by Cohler,
Kwong, and Julia Bruskin may rank among the best. The Beethoven sparkles
with daring tempos, driving intensity, and a highly expressive lyricism...
The Brahms, too, is deeply moving...the Dohnanyi... Cohler and his colleagues
make it a treat to hear, finding a remarkable balance between contrapuntal
clarity and late romantic fire."
O
ur CD Jonathan
Cohler & Claremont Trio was awarded the BBC Music CHOICE
distinction in the May 2009 issue of BBC Music Magazine, the world's
best-selling classical music magazine. Giving the CD a top rating of 5-stars
for Performance, reviewer Anthony Burton lauded our:
"spirited, stylish account of Beethoven's early Trio, and a performance
of the late Trio by Brahms which generates real intensity through
subdued dynamics, eloquent phrasing and responsive teamwork...altogether
a splendidly enjoyable programme, with Cohler's extensive notes...an
interesting bonus."
The CD was also recently featured on Minnesota
Public Radio's Classical Tracks in a story by Julie Amacher.
Minnesota Public Radio®
is one of the nation's premier public radio organizations. With headquarters
in the heart of downtown St. Paul, Minnesota Public Radio operates
a regional network of 38 stations, covering Minnesota and parts of
Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Michigan, Iowa and Idaho. With 850,000 listeners
each week, it has the largest audience of any regional public radio
network.
"This CD is the sixth solo recording released by Cohler and adds
to the growing list of definitive interpretations he has made of major
works from the clarinet repertoire."
"Jonathan Cohler is an acclaimed
soloist and chamber musician. He has been heard in concerts around the
world. His many recordings have been lauded by publications including
the American Record Guide, BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone... His collaborator
in this recording is Lithuanian-born pianist Rasa
Vitkauskaite. Initially trained in Vilnius, and later in Italy and
at the Boston Conservatory, she has won top prizes at international piano
competitions including the Rubinstein, Les Rencontres Internationales
des Jeunes Pianistes and the Mendelssohn Cup.
The success of the collaboration of these two world-class artists
is unquestionable and on vivid display throughout this CD. The duo's performances
achieve an ideal blend of elegance, delicacy, and joie de vivre. The listener
is struck by the easy virtuosity and inherent musicality of every performance,
and by the sensitivity and subtlety of Cohler and Vitkauskaite's ensemble
work."
"...flawless...dazzling...sensitivity and grace...sparkling
performances...Rhapsodie Francaise is a CD worthy
of any collection."
Some of the other artists chosen for the honor include Yo-Yo Ma, Luciano
Pavarotti, Helene Grimaud, Gustavo Dudamel with the Simon Bolivar Orchestra,
Claudio Abbado with the London Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Fournier, Leonid
Kogan, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Emil Gilels, and James Galway.
Check out the cover of our new CD which will
be released in September!! It includes the following great pieces:
Robert Schumann Sonata in A Minor, Op. 105
Three Romances, Op. 94
Sergei Prokofiev Sonata in D Major, Op. 94
Carlos Guastavino Tonada y Cueca
"Rosita Iglesias" from Las Presencias
T
he current issue of Fanfare Magazine contains a nice recommendation
of my recording of the HindemithSonata and HoneggerSonatina recordings on Moonflowers,
Baby! as their preferred recordings of the works! Check out the
full Fanfare review here.
At the end of March, Rasa and I returned from
a wonderful tour of Asia where we played concerts in Beijing, Shijiazhuang,
Shanghai and Tokyo (check out the pictures on mine and Rasa's FB pages). Our
following recital at Seully Hall in Boston included much of the music that
we played on tour plus some other pieces. The concert also included two pieces
from our CD Rhapsodie
Francaise which just received a great write-up in the March-April
issue of Fanfare Magazine.
This is the tour poster made our top sponsor Gao's Royal Musical Collection.
Hope you like it! For arrangements in China, please contact Gao's
Royal Musical Collection.
I
played a recital with Rasa
Vitkauskaite on Sunday, Feb 1 at 7pm in Pickman Hall at The Longy
School. Here is a video clip of one of our favorite pieces from the concert!
For more info, check out the Facebook event page here.
We also played live on WGBH radio on Thursday, January 29 at 3pm on the
show Classical
Performances hosted by Richard
Knisely. If you missed, the show, you can listen to it here.
My new CD Jonathan
Cohler & Claremont Trio(Ongaku 024-122) is out! You can listen
to sound clips on the Ongaku Records website and place orders for the disc
now! This CD was made in collaboration with the renowned Claremont
Trio and includes the Brahms and Beethoven trios and the Dohnanyi Sextet
with violist Mai Motobuchi (of the Borromeo Quartet) and hornist James Sommerville
(of the Boston Symphony Orchestra).
F
rom December 2 to 6, 2008, I spent an exciting week conducting the Simon
Bolivar Symphonic Band, and teaching masterclasses for the Clarinet Academy
of Simon Bolivar University. With the band we did an exhilirating performance
of Bernstein's Slava!, Ives' Variations on America,
Copland's El Salon Mexico, John Williams' Star Wars Trilogy,
Holst's Mars and Jupiter from The Planets, and Rimsky-Korsakov's
Capriccio Espagnol. The already short rehearsal schedule of 5
days, was shortened to 4 when airplane delays caused me to miss my connections
to Caracas! Despite that and the huge difficulty of the program, the group
gave a stellar performance! The musical spirit and talent in Venezuela
is just electrifying. I'll definitely be headed back there again soon!!
My CD, Rhapsodie
Française, is out, and it includes most of the core repertoire
of the "French school." The pianist on the CD is an amazing young
multiple prize winning Lithuanian pianist named Rasa
Vitkauskaite. She and I are planning to make several more CDs in the coming
seasons. It is already available for orders on the Ongaku
Records website as well as from Amazon and CD Baby among others.
I posted MP3's of several of my recent live performances
on my Recordings page. Click here or access "Recordings"
in the menu above.
I
n September 2008, I was the featured artist at the Iowa
Clarinet Day 2008. It was my first trip to Iowa and I had a great
time! Pianist Rasa
Vitkauskaite joined me in a recital there on September 6, and I also
taught several masterclasses at both Drake
University in Des Moines and Central
College in Pella. Visiting Pella was like walking on a movie set!
What a beautiful place, and the students were wonderful. Thanks go to
Cynthia Doggett and Clarence Padilla for organizing such a wonderful event!!
I
n July 2008, I performed a duo recital with Howard
Klug at the ClarinetFest
in Kansas City, Missouri. We premiered several new works for two clarinets
and piano in various combinations. The new works included a great new
duo by Simon Sargon called "Birds
of a Feather.." for two A clarinets. Two other premieres included
Don FreundRite
Now! and Michael KibbeShiva Dances (both for clarinet, bass clarinet and piano).
It was a great pleasure to collaborate once again with renowned pedagogue
and performer Howard Klug who played some amazing bass clarinet! See
pics here
I
n June 2008, I taught and performed at the beautiful Domaine
Forget festival in St. Irenée, Quebec. The students there were
wonderful, the festival was expertly managed and organized and all of
my colleagues were world class! I spent a wonderful week teaching along
side Marie
Picard and Lawrie Bloom. While
there I also had the great opportunity to perform StockhausenIn Freundschaft on a special Stockhausen memorial concert.
That was a special treat. My last night there I had the great privilege
of hearing the phenomenal pianist Gabriela
Montero play several breathtakingly beautiful and amazing improvisations
based on themes offered from the audience. Wow! I will remember that forever.
Lawrie, Marie and I had a great time working together both in teaching
clarinet and winning at ping pong! And Marie Picard was the most gracious
host ever!
I
n May 2008, I recorded two new CDs. One includes Brahms Trio
in A Minor, Op. 144, Beethoven Trio in B-flat
Major, Op. 11, and Dohnanyi Sextet in C Majory,
Op. 47. The CD was a wonderful and rewarding collaboration with the
Claremont Trio
(Emily Bruskin-violin, Julia Bruskin-cello, Donna Kwong-piano), Jamie
Sommerville (horn, Principal of Boston Symphony Orchestra) and Mai Motobuchi
(viola, .Borromeo Quartet). The second is an all-French CD of works for
clarinet and piano by Saint-Saens, Debussy, Widor, Messager, Rabaud,
Chausson, Bozza and Cahuzac. On this CD, I teamed
up with a fabulous young Lithuanian pianist, Rasa Vitkauskaite. We had
so much fun making this CD together that we are already planning several
more! Both CDs will be released in August.
In November 2007, I was in Caracas, Venezuela
for 10 days. While there I conducted a wonderful performance of the Simon
Bolivar Symphonic Band playing RespighiPines
of Rome and ShostakovichSymphony No. 5 Finale,
as well as the Rimsky-KorsakovClarinet Concerto
with soloist Jorge Montilla and several other works. I also taught masterclasses
every day as part of the new Masters Degree program in clarinet of the Universidad
Simon Bolivar. Pictures of the band, soloists, me, the students, my masterclasses
and the dancing afterwards are all here!
On October 7, 2007, I played a faculty recital
at the Longy School of Music. Joining me on the program was a fabulous young
piano trio with Judith Lee (violin), Tess Remy-Schumacher (cello) and Christopher
Cooley (piano). A few pictures from the reception after the concert are here.
In July 2007, I taught and performed at the
International Winter Festival of Campos do Jordao,
Brazil where the weather was cooler than last year (sometimes as low as 32
degrees F at night) but when it was beautiful and sunny in the day time, it
was more like ~75 degrees F. I had six wonderful fellowship students there
from Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina and Costa Rica. I conducted a performance
of the Dvorak Serenade for Winds, Op. 44. Here are the 200+
pictures I took while there.
ClarinetFest
2007 took place in Vancouver, Canada from July 4 to 8 on the campus of
the University of British Columbia. A good
time was had by all. I played a recital there in the beautiful Chan
Centre for the Performing Arts and taught a musical interpretation masterclass
featuring some of the contestants (and winners!) of the orchestral and solo
competitions.
O
n June 30, 2007, I returned from a two-and-a-half-week tour of China with
the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra of NEC. As always, this YPO tour was
a thrilling experience for all involved. The orchestra played 12 concerts
in 14 days in 10 cities! We visited Beijing, Shichiazhuang, Tianjin, Shenyang,
Anshan, Yingkou, Chongqing, Suzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai. I took more
than 600 pictures of the tour, so you can see them and make prints from
snapfish.com by
clicking here.
Here's a live performance of me with the Claremont
Trio playing the sixth
Bruch piece! From left to right, that's Julie Bruskin (cello),
Emily Bruskin (violin), me, and Donna Kwong (piano).
Here's a live performance of me with the Claremont Trio playing the third
movement of Beethoven
Trio, Op. 11!
Listen to this live recording of me and Paquito
D'Rivera playing his piece Contradanza
from Paquito's Aires Tropicales Suite. Alon Yavnai is the formidable
pianist. See if you can tell which one is Paquito and which one is me!
In May 2007, I took seven groups that I coach
to compete in both the Junior and Senior Divisions of the Fischoff
Competition. All seven made the Quarterfinals, three made the Semifinals
and one of my groups, Attacca Quartet, won 3rd Prize in the Junior Division!
For pictures of the trip, click
here.
In April 2007, I had an wonderful time in Caracas
conducting the Simon Bolivar Orchestra! We did Bernstein's West Side Story
Suite of Symphonic Dances to celebrate the 50th anniversary of that revolutionary,
one-of-a-kind musical. Pictures
here. Video clips to come. Stay tuned!
At the beginning of March 2007, I was featured
at the 10th International Clarinet Festival of Lisbon. The festival
was held in a beautiful palace, so I guess we got the "royal" treatment!
As always, the seafood was delicious, and although the weather was unseasonably
cold the performances by artists from all over the world were wonderful. I
got a chance to collaborate with the superb Lisbon
Clarinet Quartet on "Aires Tropicales" by Paquito D'Rivera
and with Jessica Phillips
of the New York Metropolitan Opera orchestra (and a former student) on "Il
Covegno" by Amilcare Ponchielli. My wonderful pianist was Aniko Harangi.
Pictures from Lisbon
In February 2007, Shanghai was an eye-opener
once again. The rate of construction and growth in that city and at the Conservatory
is simply phenomenal. The clarinet students there are uniformly excellent,
and as always the food is delectable and plentiful. Masterclasses almost every
day plus rehearsals and a recital made for a busy time. But I was very happy
to play together with my former student Izumi Fujiyama who has developed into
first-rate professional. My excellent pianist was Xie Beni. Pictures
from Shanghai
In January 2007, I had a transformational experience
conducting the Texas All-State Orchestra in an incredible performance of DvorakCarneval Overture and BartokConcerto for Orchestra.
What great people and what unbridled energy and talent! That was my first
experience with a standing ovation following the overture!
S
ee my photos from the 2006 Festival
Internacional de Inverno de Campos do Jordão in Brazil. I was
there for a very exciting three weeks in July of masterclasses, conducting
and concerts. I played the MozartConcerto with the orchestra
from Santo André and the MozartQuintet as well as
the MartinuNonet.
Read the great story from The Enterprise on Sunday,
April 23, 2006 here.
In January 2006, I was inCaracas,
Venezuela, where I conducted ShostakovichSymphony No. 5 with
the Orquesta Sinfonica Simon Bolivar. Wow what an orchestra! The musical spirit
in Venezuela is absolutely incredible. I also played a recital and taught
several masterclasses there.
In summer 2005, I was in Japan
and Taiwan where it was really hot!
From July 16 to July 24, I was in Tama, Tokyo at the ClarinetFest
and from July 30 to August 5, I was in Taipei at The 2nd International Clarinet
Festival of Taiwan where I played the Copland Concerto with the Evergreen
Symphony Orchestra at the National Concert Hall of Taiwan, a gorgeous hall.
In June 2005, I went on a tour of Venezuela
and Brazil with the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra of New England Conservatory.
The 2005 International
Woodwind Festival from May 31 to June 12 in Boston at The Boston Conservatory
was a big success. You can see pictures
from the festival too.
Check out the video clip here from the Brockton
Symphony Orchestra performance of The
Rite of Spring in spring 2005 at Jordan Hall!
In March 2005, I was in Lisbon,
Portugal.where the cod fish was great, and the people were even better!
While there I performed and taught as part of the 8th International Clarinet
Encounter of Lisbon.
In November 2004, I was in Caracas,
Venezuela where I performed and taught at the 6th Festival de Jóvenes
Clarinetistas Venezolanos.
During the summer of 2004, I spent a week
in Argentina and two weeks in China playing concerts, teaching, and conducting
in Rosario, Buenos
Aires, Yantai, and Changchun. Pictures from Buenos Aires. Pictures from festival in Yantai.
Pictures from festival in Changchun, China.
The site is updated regularly so stop by again soon!
S
tudy with me this summer at International
Woodwind Festival 2010 in Pella, Iowa or at 2º
Curso International de Musica Ciutat de Xativa! IWWF this year
features renowned Belgian soloist and teacher Eddy Vanoosthuyse,
Simon Bolivar Orchestra principal clarinetist and renowned teacher Valdemar
Rodriguez, Central College professor of clarinet Cynthia Doggett,
along with yours truly Jonathan Cohler. We are also very excited
to have the Claremont Trio back
in residence again as well as pianists Rasa Vitkauskaite, Shizue
Sano and more TBA. APPLY
ONLINE NOW!
The International Music Course Ciutat de Xàtiva is a 7-day
intensive event lead by Fran Moral & Jordi Fuster, founders of Saetebis
Music Society. The festival takes place in Xàtiva, Spain. You
can download the application form here: English
or Spanish.
F rom November 1 to November 15, I was in
Caracas, Venezuela conducting the Simon Bolivar Orchestra,
playing a recital with Rasa Vitkauskaite,
and performing the Morton Gould Derivations with the Simon
Bolivar Big Band in honor of Benny Goodman's 100th birthday.
A fter Caracas, I headed straight out to
Logan, Utah where I played a performance of the Messaien Quartet
for the End of Time and the Beethoven Trio in B-flat Major,
Op. 11 with the renowned Claremont
Trio on the concert series of the Chamber
Music Society of Logan. The concert was at 7:30pm on November 18 in the
Manon Caine Russell Kathryn Caine Wanlass Performance Hall on the campus of
Utah State University.
O
ur new CD Romanza should be back from the factory by the end of
October. Stay tuned!
I
n the July-August issue of American Record Guide, there was a stellar
review of our CD Jonathan
Cohler & Claremont Trio.
In November 2007, I was in Caracas, Venezuela
for 10 days. While there I conducted a wonderful performance of the Simon
Bolivar Symphonic Band playing Respighi Pines
of Rome and Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 Finale,
as well as the Rimsky-Korsakov Clarinet Concerto
with soloist Jorge Montilla and several other works. I also taught masterclasses
every day as part of the new Masters Degree program in clarinet of the Universidad
Simon Bolivar. Pictures of the band, soloists, me, the students, my masterclasses
and the dancing afterwards are all here!
In July 2007, I taught and performed at the
International Winter Festival of Campos do Jordao,
Brazil where the weather was cooler than last year (sometimes as low as 32
degrees F at night) but when it was beautiful and sunny in the day time, it
was more like ~75 degrees F. I had six wonderful fellowship students there
from Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina and Costa Rica. I conducted a performance
of the Dvorak Serenade for Winds, Op. 44. Here are the 200+
pictures I took while there.
O
n June 30, 2007, I returned from a two-and-a-half-week tour of China with
the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra of NEC. As always, this YPO tour was
a thrilling experience for all involved. The orchestra played 12 concerts
in 14 days in 10 cities! We visited Beijing, Shichiazhuang, Tianjin, Shenyang,
Anshan, Yingkou, Chongqing, Suzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai. I took more
than 600 pictures of the tour, so you can see them and make prints from
snapfish.com by
clicking here. 
Here's a live performance of me with the Claremont
Trio playing the sixth
Bruch piece! From left to right, that's Julie Bruskin (cello),
Emily Bruskin (violin), me, and Donna Kwong (piano). 
In May 2007, I took seven groups that I coach
to compete in both the Junior and Senior Divisions of the Fischoff
Competition. All seven made the Quarterfinals, three made the Semifinals
and one of my groups, Attacca Quartet, won 3rd Prize in the Junior Division!
For pictures of the trip, click
here.
At the beginning of March 2007, I was featured
at the 10th International Clarinet Festival of Lisbon. The festival
was held in a beautiful palace, so I guess we got the "royal" treatment!
As always, the seafood was delicious, and although the weather was unseasonably
cold the performances by artists from all over the world were wonderful. I
got a chance to collaborate with the superb Lisbon
Clarinet Quartet on "Aires Tropicales" by Paquito D'Rivera
and with Jessica Phillips
of the New York Metropolitan Opera orchestra (and a former student) on "Il
Covegno" by Amilcare Ponchielli. My wonderful pianist was Aniko Harangi.
Pictures from Lisbon
In summer 2005, I was in Japan
and Taiwan where it was really hot!
From July 16 to July 24, I was in Tama, Tokyo at the ClarinetFest
and from July 30 to August 5, I was in Taipei at The 2nd International Clarinet
Festival of Taiwan where I played the Copland Concerto with the Evergreen
Symphony Orchestra at the National Concert Hall of Taiwan, a gorgeous hall.
In November 2004, I was in Caracas,
Venezuela where I performed and taught at the 6th Festival de Jóvenes
Clarinetistas Venezolanos.
During the summer of 2004, I spent a week
in Argentina and two weeks in China playing concerts, teaching, and conducting
in Rosario, Buenos
Aires, Yantai, and Changchun.
Pictures from Buenos Aires.
Pictures from festival in Yantai.
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