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To•Day

DIARY: Thursday, April 30, 2026

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Three events all begin tonight at 7:30. Jörg Widmann (pictured) conducts The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Music Center in his own works plus Felix Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony. Timothy Weiss leads the Oberlin Sinfonietta with faculty soloists Alexa Still, flute, Drew Pattison, bassoon, and Martha Guth, soprano, in pieces by Stephen Jaffe, Stephen Hartke, and Katharina Mueller in Warner Concert Hall. And the Canton Symphony hosts the soul band Apostle Jones in its Divergent Sounds series at the Auricle.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Today’s honorees include Austro-Hungarian operetta composer Franz Lehár (born on April 30, 1870 in Komárom, now Komárno, Slovakia), American conductor Robert Shaw (born on this date in 1916 in Red Bluff, Iowa), and American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (who entered the world in Miami on this date in 1939). [Read More…]

Pre•Views & Features

Marc-André Hamelin returns to Severance Music Center

by Mike Telin

“I’m looking forward to being back in Cleveland, It’s almost like a second home,” pianist Marc-André Hamelin said during a telephone conversation. “I believe my first visit was at the Art Museum. I played the complete Iberia — that was a little over 20 years ago.

“But it’s always a joy to be back in Severance. The combination of the atmosphere and acoustics — there’s hardly anything better. And I’ll be experiencing it for the first time as a solo recitalist, which I’m very excited about.”

On Tuesday, May 5 at 7:30 pm in Mandel Concert Hall, Marc-André Hamelin will present the final concert of The Cleveland Orchestra’s Recital Series with a program featuring music by Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mieczysław Weinberg, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Tickets are available online.

[Read on…]

Soprano Midori Marsh marks a homecoming with BlueWater Chamber Orchestra

by Stephanie Manning

When the Phantom of the Opera North American tour visits Playhouse Square in April 2027, Midori Marsh will have plenty of reasons to celebrate. The soprano — who is currently playing the role of Carlotta — grew up in Cleveland Heights, and the city is still home to many of her friends and family.

But Marsh’s first milestone homecoming actually arrives this week. On May 2 and 3, she will join BlueWater Chamber Orchestra for their program “Rustic Reverie,” singing Joseph Canteloube’s Songs of the Auvergne. Douglas Moore’s Farm Journal and Haydn’s Symphony No. 99 in E-flat Major round out the program, conducted by artistic director Daniel Meyer. Tickets and venue information are available online.

Marsh’s parents still live in Cleveland Heights, and she occasionally comes back to sing for the Church of the Covenant’s Christmas Eve service. “But when it comes to a capital ‘G’ gig, I think this might be my first one in Cleveland,” she said. “So it’s a bit of a thrill, really.” [Read on…]

Verona Quartet to make its CCMS debut: a conversation with violinist Jonathan Ong

by Mike Telin

After winning top prizes at the Wigmore Hall, Melbourne, Osaka, M-Prize, and Fischoff International Chamber Music Competitions, as well as the 2015 Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Verona Quartet have enjoyed a quick rise to the upper echelon of the chamber music world.

Committed to mentoring the upcoming generations of musicians, the Quartet serves on the faculty of Oberlin College and Conservatory, ENCORE! Chamber Music, and as Artistic Directors of the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance.

On Tuesday, April 28 at 7:30 pm in Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Verona Quartet — Jonathan Ong and Dorothy Ro (violins), Abigail Rojansky (viola), and Jonathan Dormand (cello) — will make their Cleveland Chamber Music Society debut. Their program features music by Scarlatti, Glass, and Janáček. The ensemble will be joined by pianist Yaron Kohlberg for Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Quintet in A. Tickets are available online.

[Read on…]

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