Carolyn McCracken-Forough's Page

Carolyn McCracken has been known to audiences for her “blazing artistry”, daring      individuality”, and “consummate technique”.  She has been called “a genuine master of the piano”. 

Ms. McCracken has received such ovations throughout her career from the age of 9 when she began teaching herself piano.  By age 11 she was featured in the Pittsburgh Three Rivers Arts Festival, was the overall winner of the Carnegie Awards Competition and as a result was chosen to perform on a live PBS televised concert from Carnegie Hall, Pittsburgh.  By the end of the year she performed six concerts with the Pittsburgh Symphony as the youngest winner of the Young Artist Competition.

At 12 years of age she began study with her first piano teacher and was awarded a full scholarship to the Chatham College School of Music where in her first term she performed a recital of major piano works.  A critic wrote, “dazzling…an extraordinary event…displays the most remarkable pianistic and musical gifts…this unusual artist is destined to become one of the great musicians.”

At 14 she attended the Chautauqua Institute in New York on a scholarship as a national piano competition winner, was offered a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music, and was invited by Leonard Bernstein to perform on the “Young People’s Concerts” with the New York Philharmonic.

Ms. McCracken continued to win prizes and awards in national competitions and appeared as soloist and chamber musician on many television and radio broadcasts. She received her degree in Piano Performance at Indiana University School of Music, Bloomington as a student of Gyorgy Sebok where she received the coveted Joseph Battista Award.  As a sophomore she won the graduate competition and performed the Barber Concerto on tour.  She continued summer studies at the Chigiana Academy in Sienna, Italy, Ernen, Switzerland, the Vienna Conservatory, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

At the invitation of conductor Lukas Foss, McCracken was soloist in the Aaron Copland Festival with the composer present.  Critics said it was, “the revelation of the evening.”

Her highly acclaimed solo performances with the Milwaukee Symphony in Olivier Messiaen’s massive ten-movement “Turangalila-Symphonie” were broadcast over 300 stations in the U.S. and on the BBC in England.

In 1988 her solo debut in Orchestra Hall, Chicago on the prestigious Allied Artist Piano Series received extraordinary reviews. Later, she was chosen by Steinway & Sons to perform a solo recital in Chicago on Vladimir Horowitz’s legendary piano.

Throughout these years she and her husband, violinist Cyrus Forough, performed frequent concerts together as the Forough/McCracken Duo.  They have appeared in major musical centers and have given master classes in the United States, Europe, Russia, the Far East, and Latin America. They were chosen in national competition by the State Department’s former USIA to represent the United States as Artistic Ambassadors and after tours in Latin America and the Far East, performed a duo gala recital at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

In her career as pianist Ms. McCracken has been equally acclaimed as a teacher of piano. She maintained a class of students who have won national and international awards and competitions.  She has received recognition for her work from the “National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts” along with the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars “Distinguished Teacher Award” presented to her by First Lady Barbara Bush. 

Ms. McCracken plays a Steinway piano.

 The Forough/McCracken Duo

Composed of two prize winning soloists, the Forough/McCracken duo has captivated and charmed audiences throughout the world with the artistry of their unique duo partnership.  Critics have called them “musical treasures”… “who have reached absolute mastery.”  At the conclusion of their concerts on tour in South America, audiences “unleashed their ovations” rhythmically chanting “Don’t ever die!”, a tribute given only to their most beloved and esteemed performers.

Forough/McCracken have appeared in major musical centers and on major concert series across four continents where their live and recorded performances have been broadcast on radio and television including interviews on the “Voice of America” and an autobiographical video distributed to NPR stations across the U.S. They have also been featured in articles in Musical America and Ovation magazines.

Incorporating the repertoire of their separate solo careers with that of their duo collaboration, they have given concerts featuring solo violin and solo piano works together with duo repertoire, as well as solo and double concerti.  They have performed a broad range of music from Baroque to contemporary and have become known for their premier performances of the Shostakovich Sonata in numerous American cities and abroad.  They have also collaborated as founding members of two piano trios, Orion and Trilogy.

The Forough/McCracken Duo has given lecture recitals for the Johnson Foundation International Conferences at Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Wingspread”, including the International Council for Educational Development.  Other topics have included international human rights, environmental protection, biochemical research, nuclear disarmament, and many others.

The husband and wife team were chosen in nationwide competitive auditions by the former United States Information Agency to perform in recital and with symphony orchestras, and to teach master classes throughout many countries of the Far East and South America as Artistic Ambassadors of the United States under the auspices of the State Department.  The duo premiered repertoire of modern American composers along with the works of composers of the host countries, and met with government officials and leaders of the artistic communities where cultural and educational ideas were exchanged. 

They performed for President Hassanali of Trinidad and Tobago in a concert for the National Association for Down Syndrome and have performed for other medical foundations, drug education and rehabilitation centers on their tours.  They also gave a birthday celebration gala recital for Her Majesty the Queen Sirikit of Thailand.  After serving two terms as Artistic Ambassadors, the Forough/McCracken duo performed a gala recital at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.

Review

A review by Howard Reich

Chicago Tribune

Click here to see the Original Document

Words For Music For Life Concert (by Carolyn McCracken)

 I would like to express my thanks and deepest gratitude to all those involved in this concert, and my regret for being unable to attend.  Twenty-seven years ago I was a student in college, engaged to be married, and preparing for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.  But something was not right.  There were symptoms reminiscent of those I had first noticed at age 16.  My fingers were numb and my hand would shake and drop things.  My left leg felt heavy, and I repeatedly fell down.  I was dizzy and my vision wasn’t clear.  A neurologist said bluntly that I had MS and within a year would be in a wheelchair and become unable to ever play the piano again.

     I could not accept this doctor’s diagnosis.  Classical musicians usually know from a very early age that music is their passion and chosen profession.  Their entire childhood is taken up with lessons and long hours of daily practicing. A career is not only what you do, but it is who you are.  Your very essence is your life’s work and source of your greatest joy.  So, Cyrus and I embarked upon a marriage and a career with defiance and denial as our modus operandi.

     For a very long time no one knew why concert dates sometimes had to be postponed, rejected, or canceled, or why my left palm often rested against the piano to steady the shaking, or why I sometimes entered and left the stage on Cyrus’ arm.  I taught students from wheelchairs and in doctor lounges of hospitals.  I’ve not been able to perform for many years, but nothing would, nor still does, deter me.

     The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has transformed the lives of MS patients and their families from despair to hope.  They have supported medical research, drug development and therapy, and have provided an enormous network of support for patients, improving both their quality of life and sense of dignity.  They have given those of us with MS the opportunity to affirm life and not live as victims, but as victors.

     Devastating health struggles ultimately led to the unfulfillment of early promise for both our careers.  However, in this performance you will hear the indomitable affirmation of life.  You will hear that the music must go on.

Carolyn McCracken-Forough

A Tribute to Carolyn (by Cyrus Forough)

Carolyn also achieved what she said was her most profound and joyous experience of her life, the birth of our child. With great devotion she continued to teach her piano students and was presented the highest award in teaching, the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars Distinguished Teaching Award.

Throughout her illness, through sheer strength of will, Carolyn has been able to perform in situations which would seem impossible to overcome.  Like the career of the late acclaimed cellist Jacqueline DuPres, Carolyn’s career also was cut tragically short by this disease.  In Carolyn’s case, the early onset of the illness prevented her from achieving what her talent promised.  In the words of her piano professor at Indiana University, “A talent like Carolyn’s might happen only once a century.”  Fortunately we have recorded examples of her artistry and we hope someday she may be able to add to that body of work.

Although her performances were few, those who heard her will never forget the artistic experiences she offered to her loving public who always responded to her devoted performances with standing ovations.  We have all been enriched by her artistry and are privileged to have this opportunity to celebrate her gift to music at this event.  We can   sincerely hope that with more events such as tonight’s we may all contribute to the research toward finding a cure for all MS patients.  Needless to say, in such an eventuality we eagerly anticipate hearing Carolyn perform again.  As stated in her aforementioned review, “As for McCracken, the next time we hear her will not be soon enough.”

In Honor of

Carolyn McCracken

Fundraising Concert for MS Society

Friday, January 20, 2006

Marvin Center (George Washington University), Washington DC

Cyrus Forough, Violon

Tatyana Stepanova, Piano

Program:

Remarks by Student Association

Remarks by President of The National Capital Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Ms. Jeanne Oates Angulo

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Johannes Brahms    

  Sonatensatz for Violin and Piano in C minor

Remarks by Cyrus Forough about Carolyn Forough which included four excerpts of Ms. Mc Cracken  performing

Scarlatti, Chopin, Liszt and Rimsky Korsakov.

Ludwig van Beethoven  

      Sonata for Piano and Violin in D Major, Op. 12 No. 1   

 Intermission

     Claude Debussy       

                                                                                             Sonata for Piano and Violin in g minor

                                                                                                            Gabriel Fauré    

                                                                                                            Berceuse Op.16           

                                                                                                      Camille Saint-Saens    

                                                                                        Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso Op. 28 

 
 Two encores; De Falla "Spanish Dance" and William Kroll "Banjo and Fiddle".

There were four standing ovations

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