Wolf-Dieter Seiffert
May 2022
"The Henle Company was formed in 1948 with the permission of the
American military government."
Ever wonder what goes into your musical score, from deciding which notes the composer actually meant to indicate, to deciding ways to increase readability? What does "Urtext" mean, and why should we care? Does Marc-André Hamelin put in the fingerings for Rachmaninoff, when he doesn't perform any of his music? Dr. Wolf-Dieter Seiffert, born in Frankfurt, studied musicology, modern German literature, and philosophy. In 1990 Seiffert started work at G. Henle Publishers as an editor, where he became managing director of G. Henle Verlag in 2000.
Emmanuel Pahud
May 2022
"Music is greater than us--it plays us."
Emmanuel Pahud, principal flute of the Berlin Philharmonic, joins Living the Classical Life in Berlin for a conversation about his life and work, and how he prepares for concerts and zeroes in on his musical voice. With anecdotes and reflections about the late violinist Ivry Gitlis, he shares advice for young performers.
Zlata Chochieva
May 2022
"Music is born from silence."
PIanist Zlata Chochieva, of Ossetian descent, is winner of numerous awards, over a dozen competitions and has five highly-praised albums to her name. She appeared at the Miami International Piano Festival, the Gilmore Keyboard Festival, the festival «Progetto Martha Argerich» in Lugano, the Lucerne Festival, and the Berliner Klavierfestival.
Alena Baeva
May 2022
"Beauty is everywhere around you."
Violinist Alena Baeva joins Living the Classical Life in Tokyo, where she performed the Schumann Concerto, after which she invited the audience to join a prayer for peace. Winner of the Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition, the Sendai Competition, the Moscow Paganini Competition, and the International T. Wronski Competition, she reflects on the artist's role in the changeable world today, and examines the obligations that may come with the spotlight. With discussions about competitions and the fostering of vulnerability for artistic growth, this conversation is a deeply introspective look at the musician's world.
The Board
Jonathan Eifert
Jonathan Eifert founded Gold Sound Media LLC, a creative studio based in New York that provides marketing services for the classical music industry. He also founded the media brand, Classical Post, which publishes dynamic editorial and podcasts. He previously worked in publicity and management on both sides of the Atlantic—Philadelphia (Astral) and London (IMG Artists). Jonathan is an associate member of the Grammy Recording Academy, and holds a Master of Arts degree in cultural policy and management from City, University of London—specializing in marketing—and a Bachelor of Music degree from Cairn University.
Daniel Isengart
Daniel is a specialist in the Franco-German Chanson repertoire of the early 20th Century and teaches a course about the history of the cabaret art form at NYU. His own one man shows have been featured at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater, the BAM Café at the Brooklyn Academy of Arts, Café Sabarsky at the Neue Galerie Museum, the Neuberger Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and SF MOMA. He has hosted and directed numerous cabaret-style variety shows at venues around New York City, including MoMa, the Gershwin Hotel and the Night Hotel in Times Square, where his multinational Foreign Affairs cabaret ran for over a year. He has staged operas with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and, most recently, directed a concert series at the Sun Valley Music Festival. He privately coaches singers and performers in stage craft, interpretative skills, and mime.
Sean P. Malone
Attorney at Malone Law, LLC, Cleveland. Sean is an attorney who helps clients resolve disputes, mitigate risk, and grow their businesses. In addition to litigating cases throughout the state and federal court systems, he serves as a mediator and represents clients in administrative proceedings, government investigations, and real estate matters. Sean serves as a member of Shaker Heights City Council, on the board of the Shaker Heights Development Corporation, and as a team leader in the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s 3-Rs program. He also participates in the music ministry at St. Dominic Church.
Caroline Oltmanns
Caroline is a pianist, presenter and pedagogue. ‘A star in the piano world’ (Donald Hunt, Pianist Magazine), she reveals in her playing a deep connectivity between music and culture. Her impeccable musical phrasing combined with an engaging stage presence have attracted audiences both in the US and abroad.
Caroline has recorded six solo CDs on the Filia Mundi label. Her playing has been broadcast globally on radio and television stations. She serves as a jury member of national and international competitions including the Cleveland International Piano Competition and the Macao Piano Competition.
Caroline Oltmanns is a faculty member of the UK based residency program Piano Week, The Gilmore KeysFest and Summer Sonata at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2008 she founded Kammermusikfestival Kaufbeuren, a German chamber music festival. She is co-founder and co-director of the North East Ohio Keyboard Festival, an annual program dedicated to keyboard music.
As an International Steinway Artist, Steinway Spirio Recording Artist, Fulbright Scholar, and recipient of the Stipendium der Deutschen Wirtschaft, she is a Professor of Piano at Youngstown State University and holds degrees from the Staatliche Musikhochschule Freiburg and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
M. George Stevenson
Associate Professor of Media Arts and Technology at Borough of Manhattan Community College.
George teaches film language and history, scriptwriting, producing, and video editing and is the Media Studies Program Coordinator and the director of BMCC Time Warner Screenwriting Fellowship. He is a filmmaker whose works include The Sea in My Brother (2016) and But Enough About Me… (2000), and also an actor who has appeared in Approval Pending: The Abundance of the Heart (2019) Dream Work (2015), Night of the Working Dead (2014) and Show Me the Aliens (2014). A sketch comedy writer and performer whose troupe, TunnelVision, has played major venues in New York City, he is also a widely published critic, writer, and editor, whose articles have been featured in The New York Daily News, Newsday, Variety, Business Week, among other publications.
Ben Wolf
Cinematographer and film director.
Ben Wolf is a DP, director, and owner of Brooklyn-based film production company Topiary Productions, Inc.. A graduate of Yale (BA Philosophy) and Columbia (MFA Film), he works world-wide in all genres. Recent projects include serving as DP/co-producer of the documentaries Keeper of Time (dir. Michael Culyba), Obit (dir. Vanessa Gould), and The Happy Film (Stefan Sagmeister). Commercial clients include Citi, KPMG, New York City, IBM, Knoll, MOMA, and The Getty and Whitney Museums.