Last Night at the Cooper Competition

How many teenagers get to perform with the Cleveland Orchestra? Minutes after the winners' announcement at the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Piano Competition, the three finalists posed with their certificates in the Severance Hall Greenroom. George Li, 14, the first place winner, is in the middle. At left is second-place finisher John Chen, 16, and at right is Kate Liu, 16, who placed third.

The woman wearing the scarf is Evon Cooper, one of the evening's 11 judges. She and her husband, Thomas, an Oberlin alum, generously sponsored this competition, which made it possible for the finalists to perform with the Cleveland Orchestra. Until this year, the contest was known as the Oberlin International Piano Competition. It will alternate annually between piano and violin.

In performance order, George Li, who lives in Massachusetts, played the Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1, and Kate Liu, from Chicago, played the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3. After intermission, John Chen, who lives in Virginia, gave the evening a big finish with the Tchaikovsky No. 1. Jahja Ling led the Cleveland Orchestra.

The Greenroom was mobbed with amateur and professional photographers, family and friends. Our broadcast on 104.9 & wclv.com was hosted by Robert Conrad in the booth backstage at Severance Hall. During the interval between the concert's end and the winners announcement on stage, Bob chatted on the air with Jahja Ling.

The winners posed together and with the panel of judges, some of whom can be clearly seen above. Between John and George is the British pianist and cellist Christopher Elton; between George and Evon Cooper is the Finnish pianist Matti Raekallio.

The Kitty-chen Sink?

This is our intern Steven's roommate's cat, Dionysus. In addition to sleeping in the sinks, in this case the one in the bathroom, Dionysus likes to hide in the bedroom, inside the box spring.

Live Broadcasts

These signs remind audience members that in an auditorium during a live broadcast, not only do the performers have audiences for their performances, but you have one for yours. Those microphones pick up sneezes, coughs, rustles and errant audience members coming in late.

On to the Finals

Three young pianists perform with the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall Friday night at 8. The finalists in the Cooper International Piano Competition are John Chen of Leesburg, Va., George Li of Lexington, Mass., and Kate Liu of Chicago. You can attend at Severance Hall; call 216/231-1111 for tickets. Or listen on WCLV 104.9 & wclv.com.

Broadcasting Live

Tonight's final solo round from the Cooper International Piano Competition features three 16-year-olds, two 14-year-olds, and a 13-year-old. You can attend in person at Oberlin's Warner Concert Hall, or listen to WCLV beginning at 8, on 104.9 FM or on the web at wclv.com. If you attend in person, you'll see WCLV's Robert Conrad announcing the competitors from the stage. You won't see the engineers, the backstage activity, or yours truly in the booth, back announcing the competitors and vamping until the next pianist comes out.

The Warner audience will be asked to vote for its favorites, to be announced at the evening's conclusion. For the first time, listeners to WCLV will be able to vote by e-mail for their favorites, to be counted in that tally.

I'll be lurking around Warner with the digital. Check this site for photos.

Clear Skies

Friday's and Saturday's storms and heat have migrated East. The WCLV garden is now refreshed and ready to have its weeds pulled.

Finally, Photographable Flora

Two obliging zinnias from the WCLV Garden in Thursday morning sunshine. Sunny today and 85 in Cleveland.

Broadcasting the Old-Fashioned Way

This genealogical ancestor of recording tape has nothing to do with this post, although the tableau was apparently arranged by someone harboring a degree of frustration.

All the music you hear on WCLV originates from compact discs. Some of it, for convenience, is also recorded to a computer cut and played by clicking a mouse. It's a labor-saving device that makes it easier for me to play the 30+ pieces of music for you every morning on WCLV's 6-10 a.m. "First Program."

Some overnight computer updating was still going on this morning, which required me to play today's music the "old-fashioned" way, from CD. It requires much more effort and planning to do so, but it makes you appreciate the modern conveniences.

As the 10:00 a.m. shift change neared, WCLV's midday host, Mark Satola, and I fondly recalled the romance of cueing up an LP. There was an art to turning on the cue monitor, hitting the "on" button, placing the stylus on the vinyl, waiting for the music, then stopping the turntable and backtracking, that is, positioning the LP back a half turn, so that when you started the piece, there was just enough silence to cushion the music.

What Rhymes with "Meow?"

Can a cat work as a bouncer? This feline heavy is Snickers, who belongs to our intern, Steven.

Cats inspired the Pet News which you hear every morning at 7:25 on WCLV. Years ago, at a Cain Park Arts Festival remote in Cleveland Heights, a visitor to the WCLV booth told us how long she'd listened to 104.9. She added, "Both of my cats listen, too. One likes Mozart. The other prefers Beethoven and the Late Romantics."

I was so stunned that I forgot to ask, "How do you know?"

Since then, WCLV listeners have contributed stories about an opera-loving canary named Caruso, cats who are mesmerized by Rossini's "Cat Duet," and a dog that was so spooked by the cannon fire at the end of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" that he upended the furniture.

Here's what to send: (1) the name, make and model of your pet, (2) how long you've listened to WCLV, and (3) how does the music affect your pet? Please include your name and mailing address. If I use your item on the air, you'll receive a prize from the WCLV Prize Closet.

Send your Pet news to "queenofthemorn@gmail.com," or by regular mail to "Queen of the Morn, WCLV, 26501 Renaissance Parkway, Cleveland, 44128." Feel free to include photos. They may end up in this blog. At the very least, we'll hold them up to the microphone so everyone can see them.

Details about the WCLV "Pet Poetry" contest for the "Dog Days of Summer" will be announced soon.

Sagacity

From the WCLV garden: Sage, Queen Anne's Lace and pineapple mint created a fragrant bouquet for the WCLV table at last night's Cleveland Orchestra concert at the Blossom Music Center.

I started the garden in 2003, when I turned shovelful after painful shovelful of earth in the yard behind WCLV, creating a bed for tomatoes, herbs and flowers. An experiment with peppermint has resulted in thick beds of mint. Now and then I throw a little down our disposal, which makes the drain smell like toothpaste. The mint is a real plus when I'm in the mood to make tabboule.

Why painful? The rock-to-soil ratio is very high. As one of my former colleagues used to say, "It's like gardening on Alcatraz."

The White Pines of Blossom

Last night at the Blossom Music Center. Those baskets on either side of the WCLV table contain white pine seedlings, complete with planting instructions. We gave away all 500 seedlings. I urged people to call their pines "Respighi," since the giveaway was inspired by "The Pines of Rome," which concluded last night's Cleveland Orchestra program.

The centerpiece, a close-up of which will be posted shortly, is an arrangement of sage, pineapple mint and Queen Anne's Lace, all from the WCLV garden.

This is Why We Stream Online

WCLV was the "classical pick" in The New Yorker's "Goings On" blog, posted yesterday.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/goingson/2010/07/quick-pick-15.html

Today's WCLV Pop Quiz

A "pop quiz" can be just the thing to rouse the waking brain. On WCLV, occasionally I spring a pop quiz on "First Program" listeners from 6-10 am. "Close your books, put your pencils down, no talking to your neighbor," is the routine introduction.

Today's was an elevation quiz: Which of these three Cleveland-area cities has the highest elevation -- Richmond Heights, Broadview Heights, or Bedford Heights?

Congratulations to the first three listeners to get it right: Dale Obran of Avon, Leslie Mason of Fairview Park, and Lily Petrila of Westlake. They correctly guessed that Broadview Heights was the highest. According to City-Data.com, the elevation of Broadview Heights is 1,150 ft. Bedford Heights comes in second at 1,040 ft, with Richmond Heights third at 880 ft.

I've given this quiz, using different area cities, for years. We always get a blizzard of calls. The first time I used this question, the WCLV switchboard was flooded with callers asking us to look up the elevation of their cities. I finally had to make an on-air announcement asking callers to stop calling us. I gently suggested that they call their public library reference departments.

After all, librarians know everything, and if they don't, they know where to look it up.

More Cain Park

Purple coneflower snapped behind the WCLV broadcast booth at the Cain Park Arts Festival last weekend in Cleveland Heights. Cain Park is landscaped in a rather comfy style. The City of Cleveland Heights maintains it.

Some years ago, in an on-air interview from Cain Park, I asked one of the arts festival administrators whether what I had heard was true: That Cleveland Heights was like the U.N. He said, "Yes."

It's Very "Cleveland Heights"

A snapshot of the bike rack at the entrance to the Cain Park Arts Festival in Cleveland Heights, last Friday through Sunday. WCLV broadcasts from the festival every year, but this year there seemed to be many more bikes out front. I noted this to a friend who replied knowingly, "That's very 'Cleveland Heights.'"

In my nine years of remotes at WCLV, Cain Park has always been one of my favorites because it's among the best-organized events. On Saturday, July 10, we had hot, dry and breezy weather. Many of you took us up on our offer of free WCLV "personal air conditioners," old-fashioned paddle fans, at the 104.9 broadcast booth.

The staff at Cain Park line up artist interviews for us. We always ask for samples so we can describe the art for you on the radio. During my afternoon shift, I chatted with a Pennsylvania man who carves spoons out of cherry wood, a Cleveland Heights photographer who loves shooting in black and white, and a couple of local brothers, a woodworker and a ceramacist, whose starkly different styles suggest yin and yang.

Blossom-ized

A tranquil night last night at the Blossom Music Center as the Cleveland Orchestra under Tito Munoz played a program featuring the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. Giora Schmidt, who went to high school with Mr. Munoz, was the soloist. Also on the program were the "West Side Story" Symphonic Dances, and Elgar's "Enigma" Variations.

Arriving early to Blossom concerts is always a good idea, but give yourself a few extra minutes to stroll the gardens.

We're Witnesses, All Right

If the Cleveland Cavaliers' owners, administration and players listened to WCLV 104.9, they'd have won their championship by now.

So what will happen to the building-sized wall portrait of LBJ downtown? Will they re-paint the arms so that they wave "Bye-bye?"

Harvey Araton in the New York Times says it well: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/sports/basketball/09araton.html?_r=1&ref=sports

You Gotta Have Art

Nature's art in the form of a lively magenta Monarda, also known as "Bee Balm" and "Oswego Tea."

This Saturay, July 10, WCLV 104.9, streaming on wclv.com, will broadcast live from the Cain Park Art Festival, located at the corner of Lee and Superior in Cleveland Heights. I'll be on the air live 1:30 to 4 interviewing artists at the WCLV tent. My WCLV Midday colleague, Mark Satola, our resident photography expert, will do the same from 11 to 1:30. Stop by -- I've always wanted to know what YOU look like.

Blue or Rose?

Some obliging hydrangeas found in my travels around Cleveland. If Picasso had painted these, would they have been considered part of the "blue" or "rose" periods? Of course, had Picasso painted them, would they be identifiable as hydrangeas in the first place?

Not a pressing question, but in this hot Cleveland weather, one's mind does wander.

Congratulations to the Winners

You are good! We had three correct answers long before the deadline. Sting and his wife, actress Trudie Styler, portrayed Robert and Clara Schumann in a concert and theater production entitled "Twin Spirits," last week in New York. The production also featured six musicians, including baritone Nathan Gunn and pianist Jeremy Denk, both of whom have performed in the Cleveland area in recent months.

Congratulations to our trio of winners: Calvin Hwang and Harold Wagner of Cleveland Heights, and Mike Kyner of Akron, all of whom have won CDs from the WCLV Prize Closet.

Watch this blog for more contests, and tune in to WCLV's "Queen of the Morn" Monday through Friday from 6 to 10 a.m. on WCLV 104.9 & wclv.com

Fireworks "Snaps"

Tuesday morning at WCLV is like the day after a holiday at every other employer. People ask "What did you do on your day off?" This is what I did.

Why don't we use the term "snapshots" anymore?

More Fireworks

Another view of the Shaker Heights fireworks Sunday night.

Wait Until Dark

This was the view from the lawn at Shaker Middle School last night. We lugged lawn chairs, blankets, and snacks to the annual fireworks display, but got there far too early. So we talked until the sun exited stage right and and the show began.

Guess the Classical Couple

Recently in New York, Sting appeared in a dramatic concert in which he portrayed a well-known classical composer. His wife, Trudie Styler, played the composer's spouse. Identify the composer and the wife.

E-mail your answers to "queenofthemorn@gmail.com." Include your name and mailing address in addition to your e-mail address. You have until 12 noon Eastern Time Thursday, July 8. The first three people who get it right on or before the deadline will win a CD from the WCLV Prize Closet. One answer per person, please. Prizes are not exchangable.

The winners will be notified by e-mail and the CDs will be mailed to them. The answer and the winners will be posted on this blog.

Good luck!

A Puzzlement

In morning drive radio, not only do you condense eight hours of work into your four-hour shift, but after your shift, you've got four more hours of work to complete.

To avoid crashing and burning, you've got to take lots of breaks. So often, though, you default to surfing the Internet. That can numb your mind and your wrists.

Here's my old-fashioned, energy-efficient way of taking a break without compromising your carpal tunnels: Take a Jigsaw Puzzle to Work.

Find a vacant desk or table with plenty of light. Dump a jigsaw puzzle on the table. Voila! Instant focus.

How co-workers attack and solve a puzzle reveals a lot. Some people work on the edges first. Some match up colors and shapes.

WCLV's president, Robert Conrad, took this photo of your slacker morning announcer taking a break after a recent morning drive shift. The puzzle is a Charles Rennie Mackintosh painting reduced to 1,000 infuriatingly tiny puzzle pieces.