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DIARY: WEEKEND, Friday-Sunday, May 15-17, 2026

by Daniel Hathaway

FEATURED EVENT: On Sunday afternoon at 3, Arts Renaissance Tremont honors the late Chris Haff Paluck (pictured with cellist Ralph Curry), founder of the ART series, with a tribute concert by the Amici String Quartet, guitarist Jason Vieaux, and The Cleveland Orchestra Bass Quartet at Pilgrim Congregational Church UCC in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood.

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:

MAY 15 – FRIDAY

Tonight at 7:30, CityMusic Chamber Orchestra continues its final peripatetic series of the season at St. Noel Church in Willoughby Hills (note corrected venue). Jeannette Sorrell conducts Mozart’s Magic Flute Overture and Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, and Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin and Piano features violinist Diana Cohen, violin, and pianist Roman Rabinovich. Repeated on Saturday at 7:30 at the Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus, and Sunday at 2:30 in Our Lady of Angels Church.

Also at 7:30, Erik Ochsner leads the Youngstown Symphony in Modest Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina Prelude: Dawn on the Moskva River (arr. Rimsky-Korsakov), Anna Thorvaldsdóttir’s ARCHORA, Felix Mendelssohn’s Calm Sea & Prosperous Voyage, and Carl Nielsen’s Symphony No. 4, “The Inextinguishable,” in Stambaugh Auditorium.

MAY 16 – SATURDAY

As the central event in its Opera and Humanities Festival, The Cleveland Orchestra presents Beethoven’s Fidelio, Franz Welser-Möst, conducting, with Sara Jakubiak & Ashley Emerson, sopranos, David Butt Philip & Owen McCausland, tenors, Tomasz Konieczny & Dashon Burton, bass-baritones, Martin Summer, bass, and The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus (7:30 in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center).

Also at 7:30 pm – The Singers’ Club of Cleveland presents “And All Nature Did Sing!” Chris Clark, artistic director, and Ben Malkevitch, piano, at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church in Rocky River (repeated on Sunday at 3 at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland.)

MAY 17 – SUNDAY

This afternoon at 3, Arts Renaissance Tremont honors the late Chris Haff Paluck, founder of the ART series, with a tribute concert by the Amici String Quartet, guitarist Jason Vieaux, and The Cleveland Orchestra Bass Quartet at Pilgrim Congregational Church UCC.

Also this afternoon at 3, Master Singers Chorale presents a 25th Anniversary Concert led by Marc Weagraff, with pianist Eric Charnofsky, soprano Sabina Balsamo, mezzo-soprano Kimberly Lauritsen, tenor; Ethan Burck, tenor, and baritone Aidan Eddy, baritone, including the world premiere of Charnofsky’s Everyone Sang, at First United Methodist Church in Cuyahoga Falls. Free.

For details of these and other classical music events, please visit the ClevelandClassical.com concert listings.

WEEKEND ALMANAC:

On May 15, 1501, Venetian printer Ottaviano del Petrucci published Harmonice musices odhecaton A, the first musical score to be printed from moveable type — a feat similar to Johannes Gutenberg’s technical advances of 60 years earlier. [Read More…]

Pre•Views & Features

Tenor David Butt Philip sheds light on Cleveland Orchestra’s Fidelio

by Mike Telin

In his program note, Franz Welser-Möst writes that: “Fidelio is not only an opera; it’s a philosophical statement about courage, liberty, love, and the triumph of the human spirit. Every stage director I’ve met wrestles with the same question when putting on Fidelio: How do you make it relevant to the time we live in? Here, we present it in concert to bring attention to the extraordinary ways that Ludwig van Beethoven’s music is philosophy set to sound.”

On Saturday, May 16 at 7:00 pm in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, Franz Welser-Möst will lead The Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus in the first of three performances of Beethoven’s only opera as part of the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival.

The all-star cast includes Sara Jakubiak as Leonore, David Butt Philip as Florestan, Tomasz Konieczny as Don Pizarro, Raymond Aceto as Rocco, and Dashon Burton as Don Fernando. Click here for Festival details. The program will be repeated on Thursday, May 21 at 7:00 pm and Sunday, May 24 at 3:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

[Read on…]

A Legacy of ART: a conversation with violinist Mari Sato

by Mike Telin

Founded by Chris Haff-Paluck 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.

Since her passing on April 25, 2020, the organization has experienced some setbacks, but this season, Arts Renaissance Tremont (ART) has returned to its founding home at Pilgrim Church UCC, and launched its 34th season.

On Sunday, May 17 at 3:00 pm, Arts Renaissance Tremont will present “A Legacy of ART: Honoring Chris Haff Paluck.” Performers include the Amici String Quartet, guitarist Jason Vieaux, and The Cleveland Orchestra Bass Quartet, and violinist Jason Yu. The concert is free.

I caught up violinist Mari Sato by phone and began our conversation by asking her when she first met Chris Haff Paluck.

Mari Sato: I first met her when I was in high school at the Encore School for Strings, I believe it was 1989. I’m not sure what her role was, but it was administrative. I’d see her every time I went to pick up my mail. She helped me orient myself there. She was a really kind presence.

[Read on…]

Isidore String Quartet and Jeremy Denk collaborate for Cleveland Chamber Music Society season finale

by Stephanie Manning

When the Isidore String Quartet performed in Northeast Ohio last year, they faced some unusual circumstances. On the way to their Tuesday Musical engagement with pianist Jeremy Denk, violist Devin Moore came down with a painful case of strep throat, and the group had to find a substitute player at the last minute.

In their more than three years of touring, the Isidore have faced obstacles like flight delays and other illnesses. But “ that was actually the first time that we’ve had to call someone else in,” said violinist Phoenix Avalon. Eva Kennedy, the violist of the Callisto Quartet, drove up from Columbus in time for the day-of rehearsal and soundcheck. ” It was very last-minute, but we were glad that she could come in.”

Next Tuesday, the Isidore will return to the area — with all four members thankfully in good health — for their 7:30 pm concert at the Cleveland Museum of Art, presented by the Cleveland Chamber Music Society. The Juilliard-trained group will present quartets by Haydn and Ligeti and reunite with Jeremy Denk for Brahms’ Quintet for Piano and Strings in f minor. Tickets for the May 19 concert are available online. [Read on…]

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