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To•Day

DIARY: Wednesday, June 10, 2026

by Daniel Hathaway

ANNOUNCEMENT:

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced a guest artist update to its America at 250 concert at Blossom Music Center on Friday, July 3. “Tenor Russell Thomas (left) has graciously agreed to join the program, singing a selection of traditional spirituals and narrating Copland’s gripping Lincoln Portrait, in his Cleveland Orchestra debut.”

Thomas replaces the late Limmie Pulliam (right), “an artist with extraordinary vocal power and sincerity” who made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in 2022, stepping into the title role in Verdi’s Otello. “He deepened his connection with our musicians and audiences through Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West and, most recently, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde.

“Thomas wishes to dedicate his performance to the memory of his friend Limmie Pulliam.”

HAPPENING TODAY: 

Tonight at 7:30 in CIM’s Kulas Hall, ChamberFest Cleveland launches its 2026 season, “Global Fanfare.” Eleven of the festival artists will present works by Weedie Braimah, Steve Reich, Yang Baozhi, Miguel del Águila, Matthew Hindson, and Johannes Brahms.  Executive director Jessica Peek Sherwood presents the pre-concert festival welcome at 6:30 pm

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

English composer Frederick Delius died on this date in 1934 in Grez-sur-Loing, near Paris, blind and paralyzed by syphilis. [Read More…]

Pre•Views & Features

Apollo’s Fire and violinist Alan Choo hear the “Echoes of Ireland”

by Stephanie Manning

Over the past few summers, it’s become increasingly likely to find Apollo’s Fire performing at Holden Arboretum.

“It’s kind of become our summer home,” violinist Alan Choo said about the venue, which sprawls across more than 3,600 acres of green space in Kirtland. “I love taking a walk between shows or before rehearsal. It’s always so refreshing and gives me new inspiration.”

Next week, Apollo’s Fire will return to the botanical garden for four outdoor performances of this year’s Countryside Concerts. “Echoes of Ireland” focuses on the life and music of harper Turlough O’Carolan. The program runs from June 16-21, including concerts at Avon Lake UCC, The Bath Church UCC, and Lakeside Chautauqua. Tickets and more information are available online.

“Echoes of Ireland” will be the group’s first folk program directed by Choo, who has expanded his role over the years as the associate artistic director. “Apollo’s Fire really introduced me to the music of so many different cultures, so I’m really excited and very grateful for the opportunity,” he said. [Read on…]

Ohio Light Opera opens 47th season with My Fair Lady, directed by Jacob Allen

by Mike Telin

When Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s My Fair Lady debuted on Broadway in 1956, it was an instant success — winning six Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Indeed, the story about Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who is magically transformed into a lady by the phonetics professor Henry Higgins, is filled with songs that will keep you humming for days.

On Saturday, June 13 at 2:00 pm in the College of Wooster’s Freedlander Theatre, Ohio Light Opera will open their 47th season with the iconic musical. Jacob Allen directs and Michael Borowitz conducts the OLO Orchestra. My Fair Lady runs in rep through August 2. Tickets are available online. View a season calendar here.

I caught up with Jacob Allen by phone and began our conversation by asking him about his history with the musical.

[Read on…]

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…]

See all previews

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