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Cohen with his daughter, Diana
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continued from page 41
Then there’s family.
With a mother who taught piano
and practiced for hours, Cohen built
his appreciation for music as a very
young child, finding a place under-
neath the keyboard as she played.
Because of her, he got to know the
piano literature.
Although learning the piano from
his mom, Cohen felt she was harder
on him than other students and
quit. Her response was to take him
to a music store and let him choose
another instrument. After looking
over five, he picked the clarinet.
With studies at Juilliard, a turn-
ing point in his career happened in
the 1960s, when he became the first
clarinetist awarded a top prize at the
International Munich Competition. It
was the same year another top prize
went to soprano Jessye Norman.
While building credentials as a
soloist, recording artist, chamber per-
former and teacher, Cohen traveled
the world making appearances, enjoy-
ing hiking as recreation. He and late
wife, bassoonist Lynette Diers Cohen,
served as career inspiration for their
two children. Diana Cohen became
a violinist as Alexander Cohen chose
timpani and percussions. Both
work full-time with the Calgary
Philharmonic Orchestra.
“I think our children liked the way
our house felt with someone always
playing an instrument or teaching or
rehearsing with friends,” Cohen says.
“They liked the lifestyle and what
musicians represented.
“My late wife and I would bring
them to festivals, and they loved
being around the musicians there,
hearing the great music and going to
these fun places in the summer.”
Diana Cohen, who had the idea for
ChamberFest Cleveland and partners
with her dad for administering the
program, has recorded with him.
Together they performed Osvaldo
Golijov’s The Dreams and Prayers of
Isaac the Blind, an epic telling of the
history of Judaism.
With his son, Cohen has worked on
commissions.
Every fall, Cohen volunteers to play
during the Yom Kippur observance
and plans programs for a Cleveland
synagogue, where he has opened the
repertoire so that it’s not just Jewish.
Occasionally, he has participated in
klezmer concerts.
Besides performing and teaching
(whether at the Cleveland Institute of
Music or as a visiting artist), Cohen
works on the instrument itself.
“For many years, I’ve been fabricat-
ing my own clarinet mouthpieces,”
says Cohen, whose chamber music
engagements have included the
Marlboro and Sante Fe festivals. “I
started experimenting with mouth-
pieces because I never really cared
fully for the sound of the instrument.
I had something else in my brain and
wasn’t able to achieve it on conven-
tional equipment.
“My outlook originated when I was
a kid. To make me practice, my moth-
er would say, ‘Frank, don’t blow into
the clarinet; sing into the clarinet.’
Because of that, I’ve always treated
the clarinet as a vocal instrument, not
a blowing instrument.”
This summer, another musi-
cian will enter the Cohen family.
Pianist Roman Rabinovich, who
will be featured playing at the June
ChamberFest Cleveland, will marry
Diana Cohen.
“Chamber music tied my whole
life’s work together because it can be
played with people who get to know
each other well by rehearsing, work-
ing together and hanging out after-
wards,” Cohen says. “It all gets to feel
like family, and with my festival, we’ve
tried to create three weeks of family.
That’s why I do it.” •
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May 4 • 2017
45