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To•Day

DIARY: Thursday, June 4, 2026

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Today belongs to classical guitarists. At 9:45 am & 1:30 pm, the semifinal round of the James Stroud Classical Youth Guitar Competition will bring young artists ages thirteen to eighteen to CIM’s Mixon Hall to perform before the public and a panel of internationally acclaimed judges. Free.

And at 7:30 pm, the 26th Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival gets underway in Mixon Hall with a recital by headliner Jason Vieaux (pictured) of works by Barrios, Morel, Orbon, Ponce, Pujol, and others. Jonathan Leathwood will give a free, pre-concert lecture at 6:00 pm.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Cleveland Chamber Choir will present four major concerts next season as well as performances by smaller ensembles. Gregory Ristow conducts Trinity Cathedral’s resident ensemble. Read the press release here.

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced performers for its 2026-2027 recital series   in Mandel Concert hall at Severance Music Center. Performers include pianist Lang Lang Lang (September 12), Violinist Lisa Batiashvili, cellist Gautier Capuçon, and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet (October 19), and pianists Stephen Hough (January 26), Garrick Ohlsson (March 16) and Nobuyuki Tujii (April 20).

In conjunction with the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists in August, Piano Cleveland will host a series of solo recitals at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History from July 21 through August 1. Read the Cleveland.com article here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

On June 4, 1951, Russian-American conductor Serge Koussevitzky, who led the Boston Symphony for a quarter of a century, died in Boston. [Read More…]

Pre•Views & Features

Next week at ChamberFest: season fourteen begins

by Mike Telin

Music is in a constant state of flux — adapting and taking on new life as it crosses borders, cultures, and time. Just as tectonic plates shift slowly but inevitably, musical traditions push against one another, sparking something new.

Diana Cohen | Franklin Cohen | Roman Rabinovich
Artistic Directors

With the theme of “Continental Drifts,” the fourteenth edition of ChamberFest Cleveland will launch on Wednesday, June 10 at 7:30 pm in Kulas Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Tickets to all events are available online.

The evening will begin with a 6:30 pm welcome by CFC executive director  Jessica Peek Sherwood. The program, titled “Global Fanfare,” will kick off with virtuosic drumming from djembefola Weedie Braimah.

The program will also include Steve Reich’s Piano Phase, Yang Baozhi’s Ambush on All Sides, Miguel del Águila’s Clocks: I. Shelves Full of Clocks, Matthew Hindson’s Rush for Piano Trio, and Johannes Brahms’ String Sextet in G major, Op. 36. The audience is invited to stay for a Postlude Reception to celebrate Opening Night.

[Read on…]

Petra Polácková returns to her “second home”

by Mike Telin

“I remember coming to the U.S. for the first time to play in the Cleveland Festival,” Petra Polácková recalled during a Zoom conversation. “That was twelve years ago. I remember Armin Kelly waiting for me at the airport — we were all super excited and of course, super nervous.”

On Sunday, June 7 at 4:00 pm in Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Polácková will make her tenth appearance at the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival. Jonathan Leathwood will give a free pre-concert talk at 3:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

In addition to the Festival, Polácková has also returned to record videos for Guitars International. “This might be my 12th time in Cleveland, so nowadays it’s like coming home for the annual meeting of the family. I can’t imagine not being in Cleveland at least once a year.”

The guitarist said that the origins of her setlist began to take shape when she was asked to play a Spanish program for a Rodrigo anniversary festival. [Read on…]

ENCORE’s 11th Music & Ideas Festival finds a way home

by Stephanie Manning

“HOME,” the theme of this year’s ENCORE – Gates Mills Music & Ideas Festival, has been on Jinjoo Cho’s mind for a while.

“I am a homebody that is not allowed to be at home very much,” the artistic director and violinist said, speaking by phone from a midpoint in her drive from Chicago to Cleveland. She’s lived in Chicago since 2024, when she began teaching at Northwestern University, and she spent six years before that at McGill University in Montreal.

Given that relocation back to the U.S. from Canada, the concept of home “encapsulates a lot of thoughts I’ve had throughout the past two years,” she said. “It’s kind of a peculiar science what conditions need to be met for someone to truly feel secure and safe. This festival theme is really my attempt to pinpoint what those conditions are.”

From June 5 to June 20, the eleventh season of ENCORE’s Music & Ideas Festival will present five headline concerts in different venues around Northeast Ohio. These events take place concurrently with the Summer Academy, which provides training, mentorship, and performance opportunities for young musicians ages 13 to 26. Tickets are available online. [Read on…]

See all previews

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