ChamberFest Cleveland – A Conversation with GroundWorks’ David Shimotakahara

by Alice Koeninger

A recent phone conversation with David Shimotakahara, Executive Artistic Director of GroundWorks DanceTheater, was as much about his upcoming collaboration with ChamberFest Cleveland as it was about the process and source of creativity.

GroundWorks is about to kick off its 20th season with its second collaboration with ChamberFest in a June 30 concert at 7:30 pm at the Maltz Performing Arts Center. “Dawn of a Revolution” spans centuries of music from Beethoven to Alberto Ginastera, connected by the common thread of György Ligeti’s Musica Ricercata for solo piano, selections of which are distributed throughout.

“I don’t think I would call the dance itself ‘Dawn of a Revolution,’” Shimotakahara said with a laugh, “but it works from the music side, referring to these breakthroughs of ideas, these moments of musical revolution.” The concept was created by ChamberFest’s own Frank and Diana Cohen, who were interested in finding a way to showcase these different, significant pieces from the chamber music canon.