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To•Day

DIARY: WEEKEND, Thursday—Sunday, January 8-11, 2026

by Daniel Hathaway

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:

On Thursday at 7 pm, No Exit & Zeitgeist’s “An Evocation of Our Current Time” will premiere at Cleveland’s Trinity Cathedral, and will travel on Friday to SPACES and on Saturday to Heights Arts.

On Thursday at 7:30, The Cleveland Orchestra will play Wolfgang Amadé Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11, which have been subtitled “the Jupiter” and “The Year 1905” respectively. Read the program notes here to find out why. The program will be repeated on Friday and Saturday.

On Saturday at 1 pm, the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series will feature Vincenzo Bellini’s I Puritani in a number of local theaters, conducted by Marco Armiliato, with Lisette Oropesa, soprano, Lawrence Brownlee, tenor, Artur Ruciński, baritone, and Christian Van Horn, bass-baritone.

On Sunday at 4 pm, organist Kevin Jones will continue the long-standing January tradition of a complete performance of Olivier Messiaen’s La Nativité on the Holtkamp organ at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, in Cleveland Heights.

The weekend will conclude on Sunday at 7 pm in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center with another long-standing tradition: The Cleveland Orchestra’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Concert. This edition will be led by Taichi Fukumura, and features Latonia Moore, soprano, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Chorus.

For details of these and other classical events, visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings.

TODAY’S FEATURED ARTICLES:

Terence Blanchard to curate The Cleveland Orchestra’s fourth annual Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival May 15–24 (Orchestra Press Release)

Piano Cleveland to present Concerts Around Town (Web Page)

Semyon Bychkov Appointed Music Director of Paris National Opera (The Violin Channel)

Béla Fleck cancels Kennedy Center shows (NY Times) [Read More…]

Pre•Views & Features

No Exit and Zeitgeist: An Evocation of Our Current Time

By Mike Telin

NO EXIT evocation_jan_2026This week Cleveland-based No Exit and St. Paul-based Zeitgeist will continue their long-standing collaboration with “An Evocation of Our Current Time.” This 55-minute multimedia experience draws on improvisation, film, artificial intelligence, environmental manipulation, lies, magic, gaslighting and other forms of chicanery.

The 7:00 pm free performances are on Thursday at Trinity Cathedral, Friday at SPACES, and Saturday at Heights Arts.

No Exit’s Laura King spoke with artistic director/composer Tim Beyer about how the ensemble’s recent Surreality season reshaped their creative trajectory, why it’s important for artists to grapple with the foundational instability of “now,” and how audiences might react when confronted with a work that both mirrors and distorts the world we inhabit.

The interview is reposted with the permission of the ensemble and author. 

Laura King: Tim, please talk about how Surreality reshaped your thinking about what a No Exit concert can be, and how An Evocation of Our Current Time has grown out of that evolution.

[Read on…]

Apollo’s Fire to bring back Praetorius Christmas Vespers

by Mike Telin

On Friday, December 12 at 7:00 pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Akron, Apollo’s Fire will revive its popular Praetorius’ Christmas Vespers under the direction of Jeannette Sorrell.

Soloists include sopranos Rebecca Myers, Andréa Walker, and Molly Netter, countertenor Doug Dodson, tenors Michael Jones and Matthew Newhouse, and bass Matthew Dexter along with Apollo’s Singers, and members of Apollo’s Musettes (Treble Youth Choir). The program will be repeated at 7:00 pm on the 18th and 19th at Trinity Cathedral, 7:00 pm on the 20th at First Baptist Church, and at 4:00 pm on the 21st at St. Raphael Catholic Church. Tickets are available online.

I caught up with Jeannette Sorrell on Zoom and began our conversation by asking her when she first created the program.

Jeannette Sorrell: Exactly 20 years ago. So, we’re bringing it back on the 20th anniversary of the premiere. [Read on…]

Arts Renaissance Tremont presents Burning River Brass: a holiday tradition

by Mike Telin

According to HISTORY.com, “the Renaissance was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic ‘rebirth’ following the Middle Ages. Generally described as taking place from the 14th century to the 17th century, the Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art.”

Founded in 1991 with a mission to enhance the quality and diversity of life in Tremont by providing the fine arts with a greater presence in its neighborhood, Arts Renaissance Tremont has played an important role in creating community and fostering a greater appreciation for the arts through accessible artistic programs.

Although the organization has experienced some setbacks over the past few years, taking a cue from that period in history and their own name, Arts Renaissance Tremont (ART) will return to its founding home, Pilgrim Church UCC, to launch its 34th season with a performance by Burning River Brass on Friday, December 19 at 7:00. The concert is free. [Read on…]

See all previews

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