CIPC Executive Director Pierre van der Westhuizen shares his experience at the September 30 concert featuring Eric Zuber, Mark Dumm, and Bryan Dumm.
Sunday promised to be a perfectly golden, fall day in Cleveland, and this culminated in a personal highlight: I have always loved Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in d minor, op. 49, and when I asked Eric, Mark, and Bryan to come and play it on our concert series a few months ago, I had no idea how perfect the setting would be. The nostalgia of the second movement bid a last farewell to summer, and the passion of the outer movements, delivered so thrillingly by a seasoned pianist (did you catch that flawless articulation?!?) and incredible members of The Cleveland Orchestra held yet another promise: it was a grand invitation to the audience to come and see what the future will bring. Eric’s solo selections also set the tone perfectly: from the melancholy of Schumann’s beloved Kinderszenen to the monumental virtuosity and fire of Rachmaninoff’s Preludes, he certainly showed what it takes to be a medalist in one of the world’s most prestigious events. I am so humbled to be surrounded by these wonderful musicians, and I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what talent will descend on Cleveland next year!