In Sunday’s (1/20) Plain Dealer (Cleveland), Zachary Lewis writes, “The first visit by the Cleveland Orchestra to Indiana University generated both excitement and nervousness. Around the Bloomington campus two years ago, the mood ahead of the first residency was one of anxious anticipation. ‘It was exhilarating,’ said violin professor and orchestral studies chair Jorja Fleezanis. ‘But it was also freaking people out.’ Things are much calmer now. This week, as IU’s Jacobs School of Music prepares to be invaded by Cleveland a second time, everyone is more relaxed. … The three-day program starting Tuesday is a veritable blitz of musical activity, jam packed with master-classes, outreach events and rehearsals, and culminating Wednesday in a public performance under music director Franz Welser-Most and Thursday in a chamber music concert. … Most elements of the orchestra’s residency will take place in and around the Jacobs school and Indiana University Auditorium. One notable event, however, will take place off campus. On Wednesday, violinist Isabel Trautwein will visit Fairview Elementary, a public school in a low-income section of Bloomington where IU launched an extracurricular string program in 2008. There, she is expected to lead a Suzuki-style violin class with about 20 young players.”
Posted January 23, 2013