Ida Edwards Mercer

12 Meade Lane

Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44106  U.S.A.

Ph: (216) 921-3480   Mobile: 216-375-4361

idamercer @ gmail.com  https://idamercer.com

EDUCATION

1986:   Doctor of Musical Arts

Joint degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio

1980:   Master of Music

Yale University, School of Music, New Haven, Connecticut

1977:   Bachelor of Music (Major: cello)

University of Illinois; Urbana, Illinois

ACADEMIC HONORS

2002:   Ohio String Teachers Association, Studio Teacher of the Year

1983:   National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (Cleveland)

1979:   Francis Louise Kirchoff Tapp Scholarship (Yale)

1977:   Bronze Tablet Award (Illinois)

1973-77:  James Scholar (Illinois)

1973:   Valedictorian (High School; Belleville, Illinois)

HONORS

June 2009:  Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award from Belleville High School-West, Belleville, Illinois for contributions to arts and culture.

2010: Awarded a Creative Workforce Fellowship by Arts Cleveland (formerly Community Partners for Arts and Culture), Cleveland, Ohio. 

INSTRUCTORS

Cello: Alan Harris, Aldo Parisot, Janos Starker, Gabor Magyar, Joseph Pival

Chamber Music: Raphael Hillyer, members of the Tokyo String Quartet, Gabor Magyar, Zoltan Szekely

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Performance:

            1999-2024: Cellist, Cleveland Pops Orchestra

            1991 – 2023: Cellist, Britt Festival Orchestra, Jacksonville, Oregon

            2008- 2016: Cellist, Almeda Trio, ensemble-in-residence, Music Settlement, Cleveland

            2002 – 2008: Cellist, Red {an orchestra}, Cleveland  

            1982 – 2009: Assistant Principal Cellist, Cleveland Opera Orchestra

            1982 – 2000: Assistant Principal Cellist, Ohio Chamber Orchestra

            1980 – 1982: Principal Cellist, Rochester (Minnesota) Symphony

            1980- present: Solo performances in the USA and Europe

Pedagogy:

            2021-present:  Fully-certified Presenter/Mentor, Paul Rolland String Pedagogy

            2022- present:  Rolland Pedagogy Workshops (for both students and teachers) at:

                                         Radford College, Canberra, Australia, July 2025

                                         University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, June 2025

                                         Royal Northern Conservatory of Music, Manchester UK, October 2024

                                         School for the Arts, Greenville, South Carolina, June 2024

                                         Phoenix School for the Arts, Phoenix, Arizona, December 2023 

                                         University of Akron, March 2023

                                         Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, March 2023

                                         University of Chichester, UK, ESTA Summer School, August 202

Administrative:

            2005-2006:  Artistic Manager, Red {an orchestra}

            January – June 2004: Interim Executive Director, Red {an orchestra}

(See also Arts Volunteerism section.)

Associations:

            2022-present-International Cello Institute, Northfield, Minnesota, Board member

            1997 – present: Cleveland Cello Society, Co-founder and Executive Director

            2001 – 2009 Red {an orchestra}, Cleveland, Ohio, founding Board member

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2022 – present:  fully certified Paul Rolland String Pedagogy Presenter/Trainer

2022 – present: Cello faculty, International Cello Institute (summer program), Northfield, MN

1987 – 1991 and 2006 – present: Cello Instructor, Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University

1978 – Present:  Private cello instructor

1998 – 2022: Cello Instructor and Chairman of the String Department, Cleveland Music Settlement

1986 and 1987:  Adjunct Professor, Notre Dame College, Cleveland, Ohio

1984: Interim Cello Instructor, Baldwin-Wallace University, Berea, Ohio

1980 – 1982: Cello/bass and Music Theory Instructor, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa

1981:  Cello Instructor, Illinois Summer Youth Music Program, Urbana, Illinois

ARTS VOLUNTEERISM

1997- present:  Co-founder and Executive Director of the Cleveland Cello Society, devoting for over a quarter-century 5-15 volunteer hours/week to this 501(c)(3) arts organization.  Tasks (shared variously with other Board members over time) include: programming concerts; locating, renting, and arranging venues; producing detailed program notes; collaborating with other NE Ohio arts organizations (e.g., The Music Settlement, The Cleveland Orchestra, Lithuanian American Citizens Club, LatinUS Theater), presenting internationally acclaimed cello soloists, maintaining the Society’s website, putting on educational workshops for area cellists (classical and non-traditional styles, all ages and skills), marketing events through various media, growing and maintaining a diverse membership body, ensuring the financial health of the Society (including managing all financial institution and government filing requirements) and organizing the annual cello ensemble extravaganza concert, i Cellisti! which raises the funds for the Society’s annual scholarship competition (Elementary through Collegiate divisions), and which to date has distributed some $90,000 in scholarship funds to winners).  

2025 – present: in collaboration with The Music Settlement, established the Cleveland Cello Collective, an intergenerational cello ensemble for intermediate to advanced students and amateur adults.  The Collective (20 members in its inaugural year)  meets periodically for rehearsals and performances at The Music Settlement, and is the only ensemble of its kind in NE Ohio.

PUBLICATIONS

Cello Companion to Paul Rolland’s The Teaching of Action in String Playing by Ida Mercer and Joanne Erwin, American String Teacher Association/Alfred Music Publishing, 2026.  In press.

RECORDINGS

Almeda Trio: CD of piano trios by Paul Ferguson, Astor Piazzolla, Paul Schoenfield. Albany Records TROY 1386- recorded in 2012

SCHOLARLY WORK

“The Six Sonatas for Cello and Continuo by Rayner Tayler- A Critical Edition” (DMA Document III: Cleveland Institute of Music, April 1986)

“Bach’s Use of the Cello as a Solo Obbligato Instrument in his Cantatas” (DMA Document II: Cleveland Institute of Music, January 1985)

“The Slow Sections of Beethoven’s Cello Sonatas: Introductions of Independent Movements?” (DMA Document I: Cleveland Institute of Music

Studies including transcriptions for cello of 17th-centuryworks for gamba, division viol and violone (various dates)

Performance edition of Ricercar No. 6 for Solo Cello, by Domenico Gabrielli

LANGUAGES

German: very good to excellent in speaking, reading, and writing

REFERENCES

Available upon request