Jocelyn Chang, Michael Leese to Perform Harp and Flute at Jennings
Jennings Center for Older Adults invites the community to join the audience for a Harp and Flute performance by the mesmerizing musical duo of Jocelyn Chang (harp) and Michael Leese (flute) on Saturday, July 22, 2006 at 1:30p.m. The one-hour performance combines signature arrangements of melodious favorites with classical repertoire. This is a free event hosted at the Jennings campus and is open to the public.
Jocelyn Chang and Michael Leese have mesmerized audiences for more than 15 years with performances of their beautiful, artful arrangements. The Harp and Flute program composed for Jennings offers a broad array of styles designed to please virtually all musical palettes. The audience will hear popular favorites such as “Over the Rainbow,” as well as distinct classical arrangements during the one-hour feature.
“Each individual in the audience will be enchanted by the intimate setting and amazing talent of Jocelyn and Michael,” says Lisa Brazytis, Director of Marketing and Outreach at Jennings Center for Older Adults. “It is such a unique experience to have this personal connection between the artists and the audience.”
In addition to enjoying the cleverly composed musical arrangements, Jocelyn and Michael will also engage the audience through brief introductions and explanations throughout the program. The expressions will offer support to frame musical pieces, illustrate a particular mood or offer education about the instruments. Following the program, the musical duo will answer questions from the audience.
As a duo Jocelyn Chang and Michael Leese perform more than 100 performances each year in addition to individual musical careers. Jocelyn Chang is the principal harpist and a founding member of the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, and her talent for improvisation has been showcased in many artistic collaborations through the years. Among various local teaching positions, she is also the director of the Jocelyn Chang Harp Ensemble and appears on over two dozen recordings, including numerous world premieres. Michael Leese is a composer, flutist, teacher and lecturer. A MacDowell Colony fellow, his music has been featured in concerts and festivals across North America, South America, Europe and Asia. His workshops on improvisation have been offered as far afield as Germany and Bulgaria, and as close to home as the Cleveland Institute of Music. His chamber work, Music for Harp, Percussion, and Strings, was premiered by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony in 2002, and appears on a Cleveland Composers Guild CD released by Capstone Records. His new CD, Music of Michael Leese, representing 20 years of his creative output, features harpist Jocelyn Chang and was released in 2005 by Lizhang Records.
The Harp and Flute performance is the third in the 2006 Gateway to Culture Season at Jennings Center for Older Adults. A grant from The Harry K. and Emma R. Fox Charitable Foundation helps to support the cultural arts performances. The Jennings campus coordinates the programs as an opportunity to offer cultural arts in a way that is more accessible for older adults and their families, with amenities such as close parking and accessible walkways.
Tickets for the performance at Jennings are free with advanced registration. Due to the popularity of the program, reservations are strongly encouraged. For more information, or for a complete Gateway to Culture schedule, please call Lisa Brazytis at 216-581-2902, ext. 2297 or visit www.jenningscenter.org.
You can preview this performance on WCPN! Hear about the Gateway to Culture series as well as Jocelyn and Michael's live performance onWCPN . Cleveland's own musical duo of Jocelyn Chang, harp, and Michael Leese, flute will air live on "Around Noon" on WCPN 90.3 FM on Monday, July 17.
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