Cleveland Institute of Music: On the Cutting Edge
with Distance Learning and Expansion

"If you close those doors over there and sit quietly, you can almost hear your own blood flowing," offers Mark George, Director of Distance Learning at the Cleveland Institute of Music. "It's a magical thing."

We are walking through CIM's Fred A. Lennon Education Building with Susan Schwartz, the CIM Marketing and Communications Director, all three of us enveloped in the first phase completed in school's incredible $40 million expansion--nearly 10 years in the making from seed to blossom.

Dazzling new teaching, studio and practice spaces are nearly finished and ready for a public dedication this coming weekend (see below for info). Nearly all are acoustically resplendent spaces--blissfully Zen-like in their wash of silence. Save for the ones with construction workers in them anyway.

The glint in George's eye and his beguiling, soft-spoken enthusiasm is cause enough for quiet reflection. So, for a brief moment, I pause... listening for the blood. He's right. Though the tinnitus earned from some 1,000 odd rock shows runs some interference, I can actually hear my heart beating... faster.

How could it not? The CIM is standing on the cutting edge of technology with this "new wing," as well as next year's completion of new Mixon (concert) Hall, and the potential of these spaces will only make the elite school even more so.

Look out Julliard, Eastman, Manhattan School of Music, Curtis and USC, because one of the nation's premier music conservatories is right here in Northeast Ohio and they are clearly "upping the ante." And the over 400 enrolled conservatory students and 1700 preparatory (and continuing education) students are the first of the tens of thousands of beneficiaries of this forward momentum.

Distance Learning programs at the CIM connect students and teachers in real time through video conferencing technology. Web-based and other multimedia materials supplement this curriculum.

CIM's Distance Learning programming concentrates in four segments: Pure Music (which includes master classes, theory and music history); K-12 Interdisciplinary (designed for science, language arts, and history classes); Professional Development (for educators, performers, music administrators); and Community Service (providing music resources to hospitals, nursing homes and other community venues).

All will benefit from the miles of cable and integrated technology being installed as we speak. George continues, discussing "world video conferencing" capacity of the spaces, as well as the increase of human bandwidth in the faculty--which includes 25 current and 2 retired members of the Cleveland Orchestra--by utilizing digital classrooms and even streaming student auditions.

The revolution will indeed be televised... and from right here in Northeast Ohio.

"We are a small school in Cleveland, not New York or Paris, and we have to pick our spots to be excellent. High speed video conference technology helps to reach beyond the size of our school and capacity of our faculty and really opens up a lot of avenues for us," George offers, with a motion of his hands. "Sending a string quartet on a trip to Toledo in February for a class was not as likely before this."

"We have a lot of amazing faculty here, being next door to the Cleveland Orchestra, and to be able to connect them to students all over the world is amazing," George adds. "There are certain things that make us strong, and we can certainly use this technology to capitalize on that."

"Arts budgets everywhere continue to be cut, but we are by no means going to be a substitute for hands-on experience," George says. "We want to augment those experiences." He is very clear in distinguishing this way of interfacing as not a first choice, or by any means a substitute for in-person learning and performance. Just the same, "logistics, expense and ability of international travel will make this technology ever more important," George says.

The collective spaces in this new Lennon building have ability to serve as state-of-the-art recording, production and broadcast facilities. The technology also allows for streaming live event performances in real time from multiple remote locations. What's more, these performances can be integrated simultaneously, as though they are being performed at once together in the same room.

"So far, the performing part of [that] has been an experimental proof-of-concept. When composers and writers begin to create work specifically for this medium, that will be the true test," George says. "That's going to make the future interesting."

Whoa. Once you start getting your head around the concept, you realize that reality is changing right here in our region. Hi-fidelity stereo, audio and video through Internet2 operating at 30 Megabits. And if the possibilities for CIM's technology explosion isn't breathtaking enough, the architectural plans and models--to paraphrase Schwartz--is also beautifully precise in its execution.

"Not all projects come out looking like the drawings and models," Schwartz says. "This one looks exactly like it was conceptualized—really exceeding our expectations. We could not have hoped for a better outcome, but there was never a doubt that this would come together with our president [David Cerone] and our board behind it."

Schwartz adds that she is grateful that such a great program and accompanying technology will serve the CIM, the community and the world. But she is just as anxious to see the space of the additions serve the student body at the conservatory.

"This [space] was built for 150 students," she says, opening a door to one of the very compact practice rooms in the original portion of the school. "We are glad that the building will be able to match the caliber of the students. With as many people as we have here now at CIM, you should be here on the weekend!"

"It's a zoo," she laughs. "I just don't come on Saturdays!"

We wander the remainder of the construction, through the campus halls and then to the courtyard for a view on the construction of Mixon Hall. That sound is back, but it's not blood. It's been replaced with the sound of wind and hi-fidelity construction noise. The conceptual drawings of the Hall are unfolding before their very eyes. You can see where the open glass wall will reside, immediately behind the musicians, which will look out into the courtyard.

They tell me it will be in sync with the technology and acoustic brilliance of the rest of the Lennon Building. And when they work in concert--musicians, Mixon, Lennon--you'll hear that blood rushing again.

What you won't hear at Mixon Hall, as is heard in other performance venues all over the world, is the sound of lighting and HVAC. The CIM's jewel of next year will thrill with much different ambiance, less the bane of the gentle ears of musicians from CIM and the world over.

George, who is also principal keyboard of the Cleveland Chamber Symphony and RED {an orchestra}, grins with pleasure at the prospect. With every bit of deadpan he has, he waxes intently, looking on at the construction of the Hall.

"Did you know that a rogue fluorescent light panel hums in B flat?"

Join the Cleveland Institute of Music for the dedication of the Fred A. Lennon Education Building, part of their $40M expansion. Ribbon cutting on this stunning new wing will take place Friday, October 13 at 11:30 AM, then enjoy an open house and tours from 12:30PM until 3PM. An open house and tours of the new facility will also take place Saturday, October 14 from 9AM to 2PM. Light refreshments will be served. Call 791-5000 for more information, or visit http://www.cim.edu for more. Don't miss out.

From Cool Cleveland Managing Editor Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com

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