by Jarrett Hoffman
“Ghost”
“Moonlight”
“Resurrection”
“Trout”
What looks like a dramatic poem about fish is actually a list of four famous nicknames of classical works. And everyone loves a nickname: they’re not always important to think about, but they’re always fun.
Oberlin Conservatory piano professor Angela Cheng and I recently talked about Mozart’s “Elvira Madigan” Concerto (No. 21 in C), which she’ll perform with the Akron Symphony and conductor Christopher Wilkins on Saturday, September 29 at 8:00 pm at E.J. Thomas Hall. The program will also include Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio italien and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.
Most famous orchestral composers are people who either conduct or listen to orchestras rather than play in them. But there is a small cohort of professional orchestra musicians who step into the composer spotlight. 
2018-19 marks the tenth anniversary of the always creative new music ensemble No Exit. And they will begin their season later this week by once again sharing a stage with Minneapolis-based Zeitgeist. “I’m just thrilled that they will be joining us for these opening three concerts,” No Exit Artistic Director Timothy Beyer said during a telephone interview. “They are they an absolutely amazing new music ensemble but they’re also great collaborators — they always bring something wonderful to the table.” 
What are musicians to do when the piece of music they are looking to present simply doesn’t exist in the repertoire? In the case of guitarists Stephen Aron and Jeremy Collins, they decided to fill that void by writing their own.