Top Image: Pictured – Paul Schwendener, newly appointed Executive Director of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival (CCCMF).
Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival Names New Executive Director
Longtime classical music producer and administrator Paul Schwendener has been appointed Executive Director of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival (CCCMF) in its 42nd season, assuming the role on June 1. He succeeds Elaine Lipton, who announced her retirement earlier this year following 15 years tenure, continuing as Executive Director Emeritus through August.
“It is an honor to carry on the great tradition of this Festival. I am delighted to work together with Elaine, the Board, and with Artistic Directors Jon Nakamatsu and Jon Manasse to ensure a smooth transition back to concert life in these challenging times,” says Schwendener.
CCCMF Board President David Farer shares “We are fortunate to have Paul on board as our new Executive Director. The Festival is already benefitting from his experience and insights. The synergies we already see among Paul, the artistic leadership and with the Board are exciting and inspiring.”
Most recently Schwendener served as Executive Director of the All-Star Orchestra, an ensemble comprised of top players from major American orchestras that has produced five seasons of Public TV programs, winning seven Emmy® awards. The All-Star Orchestra has also created extensive music education content and lessons for the Khan Academy, providing free instruction to over six million students.
Over a 30-year career in the classical music recording industry, Schwendener has been instrumental in producing and marketing hundreds of recordings with leading artists and ensembles, including the “Complete Mozart Edition” (180 CDs) for Philips Classics and the “Milken Archive of Jewish Music” (600+ recordings).
Schwendener is a Governor of the National Arts Club in New York City, and has programmed multiple seasons of chamber music concerts as co-chair of its Music Committee.
Born in Michigan and currently residing in New York, Schwendener studied at the Eastman School of Music and at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna where he also performed with the Choral Union of the Vienna Philharmonic for several years.
Hailed by The New York Times as “A Triumph of Quality,” the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival (CCCMF) has been a presenter of chamber music and a major contributor to the cultural life of Cape Cod since its inception in 1979. The Festival was founded by the late Samuel Sanders, a gifted pianist and accompanist to Itzhak Perlman for thirty years. Sanders’ goal was to establish a continuous presence of first-rate chamber music concerts on Cape Cod. As the Festival enters its 42nd season, it excels under the leadership of its Artistic Directors, the team of Jon Manasse (clarinetist) and Jon Nakamatsu (pianist), both acclaimed musicians who represent the top ranks of American chamber music, both as a duo and as individual artists. “The Jons”, as they are known, work closely with CCCMF staff, along with the help of an active Board and more than 60 local volunteers, to bring a stellar mosaic of talent to the Cape. In addition to its annual summer season of concerts, community and school outreach programs and an annual benefit in New York, it partners with local cultural organizations for educational programs and fundraising.
CCCMF presents the finest classical and contemporary music by both world-class ensembles and exceptional young, emerging artists to Cape Cod audiences, developing new and younger audiences for chamber music. The Festival continues Sam Sanders’ tradition of showcasing emerging talent by presenting accomplished musicians early in their careers. Over the years this has included such famed musicians as Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, the Borromeo Quartet and the Emerson Quartet, among others. Programming spans the 17th to 21st centuries, with periodic commissions from such composers as John Corigliano, William Bolcom and Osvaldo Golijov. The Festival owns several quality grand pianos housed at its Cotuit, Chatham and Wellfleet venues, utilized year-round by community members and other arts organizations.
For more information about Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival’s 2021 season, performers, mission and venues, visit capecodchambermusic.org, or follow Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival on Facebook and Twitter.
FAWC announces 2021-2022 Fellows and welcomes new writing & visual arts chairs
For over 50 years, the Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC) has annually welcomed 20 fellows to its historic grounds in Provincetown, the nation’s oldest art community, for seven months, from October 1 through April 30, providing these artists and writers with uninterrupted time and space in which to make their work.
Fellows are selected in a blind, multi-round jury process purely based on the merits and promise of their submissions; while living in Provincetown, they receive housing, workspace, and a modest monthly stipend. The current financial value of an individual fellowship is approximately $55,000.
Past fellows include artists Elliott Hundley, Jennifer Packer, Jacolby Satterwhite, and Lisa Yuskavage; poets Louise Glück, Major Jackson, Tyehimba Jess, and Yusef Komunyakaa; and fiction writers Michael Cunningham, Jhumpa Lahiri, Ann Patchett, and Jacqueline Woodson.
FAWC is pleased to announce its incoming 2021-2022 fellows, an exceptional group of emerging artists and writers selected from a pool of more than 1,300 applicants from across the globe. It is an honor to share the names of the 2021-2022 Fellows below.
The 2021-2022 Fiction Fellowships were awarded to Shastri Akellaof Amherst, Mass.; Sterling HolyWhiteMountain of Blackfeet Reservation; Vedran Husić of Tampa, Fla. (returning, second-year Fellow); Gothataone Moen of Serowe, Botswana; and Zeynep Özakat of Istanbul, Turkey.
The 2021-2022 Poetry Fellowships were awarded to Laura Crestéof Brooklyn, N.Y.; Tracy Fuadof Berlin, Germany; Eduardo Martinez-Leyva of Washington D.C.; Samyak Shertokof Salt Lake City, Utah; and H.R. Webster of Ypsilanti, Mich. (returning, second-year Fellow).
The 2021-2022 Visual Arts Fellowships were awarded to Kevin Brisco Jr. of Memphis, Tenn.; Widline Cadet of New York, N.Y.; Sara Emsaki of New Haven, Conn.; Nick Fagan of Richmond, Va.; Elizabeth Flood of Hamilton, N.Y.; Lavaughan Jenkins of Boston, Mass.; Peter Pothovenof Amsterdam, Netherlands (returning, second-year Fellow); Tinja Ruusuvuori of Glasgow, U.K.; and Sichong Xieof Pasadena, Calif.
Like so many arts and cultural institutions, the Work Center has had to temporarily close its grounds due to public health concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The original start date for this year’s fellowship of October 1, 2020 has been postponed to October 1, 2021; the fellowship will conclude on April 30, 2022.
The Work Center is also pleased to welcome painter and master printer Andrew Mockler as incoming Chair of the Visual Arts Committee and poet Mark Wunderlichas Chair of the Writing Committee. The Visual Arts and Writing Committees are vital to the successful administration of the Work Center’s signature Fellowship.
Andrew Mockler, incoming Chair of the Visual Arts Committee, is a painter and master printer living in Brooklyn, NY. At his printmaking workshop, Jungle Press Editions, Andrew collaborates with artists in lithography, etching, woodcut, and monoprint. He has taught at Yale School of Art, RISD, Columbia University, and Hunter College. He has lectured at Cornell University, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Christies New York, and The Baltimore Museum of Art. He had a fellowship at The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown in 1990-91. His works in painting and printmaking have been exhibited in galleries and museums, including The Addison Gallery of American Art, The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, George Billis Gallery (New York and Los Angeles) and Metaphor Gallery (Brooklyn).
Mark Wunderlich, newly elected Chair of the Writing Committee, is the author of four books of poems, the most recent of which is God of Nothingness, published earlier this year by Graywolf Press. He is the director of the Bennington Writing Seminars graduate writing program, and was named a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow in poetry. He has twice been a fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center.
The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown is a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging the growth and development of emerging visual artists and writers and to restoring the year-round vitality of the historic art community of Provincetown. The Work Center is internationally known for its acclaimed 7-month residency program granting fellowships to 20 emerging writers and artists, as well as its open enrollment Summer Workshop Program, an online writing program 24PearlStreet, and an extensive series of year-round cultural and virtual events, and exhibitions. The Work Center values diversity and inclusion and seeks to build and maintain a community and culture that celebrates and values diverse backgrounds, identities and perspectives. For more information visit fawc.org.
