FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 6:30PM (HARKNESS CHAPEL)
PRELUDE TALK WITH KEVIN McBRIEN
Editorial & Publications Manager, The Cleveland Orchestra
KEVIN McBRIEN is a writer, editor, and speaker who serves as the Editorial & Publications Manager for The Cleveland Orchestra. He has written program notes and presented pre-concert talks for organizations across the country, including The Cleveland Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival and School, St. Louis and Seattle symphonies, and Philharmonic Society of Orange County. McBrien earned a master’s and PhD in musicology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His dissertation examines intersections between European émigré musicians and Los Angeles orchestras in the 1930s and ’40s. Previously, McBrien received a bachelor’s degree in music history and literature from California State University, Long Beach. Born and raised in Orange County, California, McBrien has performed as a horn player, chorister, and conductor. In his spare time, he enjoys attending concerts, catching up on podcasts, completing crossword puzzles, and seeking out the perfect chai latte.
PRELUDE TALK WITH KEVIN McBRIEN
Editorial & Publications Manager, The Cleveland Orchestra
KEVIN McBRIEN is a writer, editor, and speaker who serves as the Editorial & Publications Manager for The Cleveland Orchestra. He has written program notes and presented pre-concert talks for organizations across the country, including The Cleveland Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival and School, St. Louis and Seattle symphonies, and Philharmonic Society of Orange County. McBrien earned a master’s and PhD in musicology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His dissertation examines intersections between European émigré musicians and Los Angeles orchestras in the 1930s and ’40s. Previously, McBrien received a bachelor’s degree in music history and literature from California State University, Long Beach. Born and raised in Orange County, California, McBrien has performed as a horn player, chorister, and conductor. In his spare time, he enjoys attending concerts, catching up on podcasts, completing crossword puzzles, and seeking out the perfect chai latte.
SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 6:30PM (MIXON HALL, CIM)
PRELUDE TALK WITH NADIAH RIVERA FELLAH
Curator of Contemporary Art, Cleveland Museum of Art
NADIAH RIVERA FELLAH specializes in Latin American and global contemporary art. Since joining the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2019, Fellah has curated Rose B. Simpson: Strata (2024), Picturing the Border (2024), New Histories, New Futures (2021), and the exhibition by Firelei Báez for FRONT International (2022). At the Newark Museum of Art, she curated the traveling exhibition Wendy Red Star: A Scratch on the Earth and served as the primary author and editor for the accompanying catalog. Fellah previously held curatorial positions at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Allen Memorial Art Museum. Her books include Picturing the Border (Yale, 2024), Rose B. Simpson: Strata (Yale, 2024), Picturing Motherhood Now (Yale 2021), and Wendy Red Star: A Scratch on the Earth (Newark Museum, 2019). Fellah received her BA in art history at Oberlin College and a PhD at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
PRELUDE TALK WITH NADIAH RIVERA FELLAH
Curator of Contemporary Art, Cleveland Museum of Art
NADIAH RIVERA FELLAH specializes in Latin American and global contemporary art. Since joining the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2019, Fellah has curated Rose B. Simpson: Strata (2024), Picturing the Border (2024), New Histories, New Futures (2021), and the exhibition by Firelei Báez for FRONT International (2022). At the Newark Museum of Art, she curated the traveling exhibition Wendy Red Star: A Scratch on the Earth and served as the primary author and editor for the accompanying catalog. Fellah previously held curatorial positions at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Allen Memorial Art Museum. Her books include Picturing the Border (Yale, 2024), Rose B. Simpson: Strata (Yale, 2024), Picturing Motherhood Now (Yale 2021), and Wendy Red Star: A Scratch on the Earth (Newark Museum, 2019). Fellah received her BA in art history at Oberlin College and a PhD at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 6:30PM (MIXON HALL, CIM)
PRELUDE TALK WITH LENA LESON
Professor of Musicology, Oberlin Conservatory
LENA LESON is an Assistant Professor of Musicology at Oberlin College & Conservatory. She holds a PhD in musicology from the University of Michigan and performance degrees from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Her research explores the politics of music and movement, and her current book project examines American ballet’s significance to US-European relations in the early Cold War. She has published scholarship on the religious dimensions of a Soviet tour of the opera Porgy and Bess in the mid-1950s in the Journal of the Society for American Music and Russia’s use of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto as a substitute national anthem at recent Olympic games in Music & Politics, and is currently working on a project about music in the American Girl franchise.
PRELUDE TALK WITH LENA LESON
Professor of Musicology, Oberlin Conservatory
LENA LESON is an Assistant Professor of Musicology at Oberlin College & Conservatory. She holds a PhD in musicology from the University of Michigan and performance degrees from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Her research explores the politics of music and movement, and her current book project examines American ballet’s significance to US-European relations in the early Cold War. She has published scholarship on the religious dimensions of a Soviet tour of the opera Porgy and Bess in the mid-1950s in the Journal of the Society for American Music and Russia’s use of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto as a substitute national anthem at recent Olympic games in Music & Politics, and is currently working on a project about music in the American Girl franchise.
THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 6:30PM (MIXON HALL, CIM)
PRELUDE TALK WITH DR. IRA D. SASOWSKY
Professor of Geology, The University of Akron
IRA D. SASOWSKY, Ph.D., is Professor of Geology at The University of Akron. He received his doctorate from Penn State University. Along with his students, he conducts field and office research with the overall goal of understanding how the Earth surface changes over millions of years. Much of his work is focused on caves and deciphering the deposits they hold. Originally from New York City, his field studies have included sites in North and South America, the Caribbean, and Europe. He has edited eleven scientific books and authored over 50 scientific articles that have appeared in journals such as: Earth & Planetary Science Letters, Environmental Geology, Geology, Geomorphology, Journal of Cave & Karst Studies, Journal of Hydrology, Quaternary Research, Science, Water Research, and Water Resources Research. He shares his scientific work at national and international meetings, as well as giving invited lectures at many universities.
PRELUDE TALK WITH DR. IRA D. SASOWSKY
Professor of Geology, The University of Akron
IRA D. SASOWSKY, Ph.D., is Professor of Geology at The University of Akron. He received his doctorate from Penn State University. Along with his students, he conducts field and office research with the overall goal of understanding how the Earth surface changes over millions of years. Much of his work is focused on caves and deciphering the deposits they hold. Originally from New York City, his field studies have included sites in North and South America, the Caribbean, and Europe. He has edited eleven scientific books and authored over 50 scientific articles that have appeared in journals such as: Earth & Planetary Science Letters, Environmental Geology, Geology, Geomorphology, Journal of Cave & Karst Studies, Journal of Hydrology, Quaternary Research, Science, Water Research, and Water Resources Research. He shares his scientific work at national and international meetings, as well as giving invited lectures at many universities.