Middle- and high-school instrumentalists who study privately and are involved in their school music program are invited to audition for the 100-member Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra’s thirtieth season in 2015-2016. [Read more…]
Archives for January 2015
St. Olaf Choir at Severance Hall February 2: a conversation with conductor Anton Armstrong
by Daniel Hathaway
When the esteemed St. Olaf Choir from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota sings at Severance Hall on Monday, February 2 at 7:30 pm, the ensemble will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of its conductor, Anton Armstrong. Only the fourth conductor in the choir’s 103-year history, Armstrong is also the first African American to hold that post.
Founded in 1912 by F. Melius Christiansen, St. Olaf Choir introduced the tradition of a cappella singing to a country where glee clubs and oratorio societies were the rule for choral music at the time. Also one of the first to undertake national tours, St. Olaf Choir has hit the road annually since 1920. The choir’s 2015 tour of 18 cities will include such important venues as Mechanics Hall in Worcester, MA, Battell Chapel at Yale, Carnegie Hall in New York, Princeton University Chapel, Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, and Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. [Read more…]
Oberlin Winter Term Chamber Music Festival: “The Chamber Musician’s Approach to the Media” (January 23)
by Jarrett Hoffman
January has been all about chamber music at Oberlin. On Friday, January 23 in Stull Recital Hall, the school gave a taste of the media side of the field with the help of three Cleveland-based music critics, also Oberlin faculty members: Mike Telin and Daniel Hathaway serve as editors of ClevelandClassical.com, while Donald Rosenberg is editor of Early Music America magazine and former chief music critic at The Plain Dealer. [Read more…]
A Rhapsodic Fusion of East and West from the Canton Symphony Orchestra (January 24)
by Tom Wachunas
Exiting Umstattd Hall after the January 24 “East Meets West” MasterWorks concert by the Canton Symphony Orchestra (CSO), I briefly noticed wide-eyed wonder on the face of a woman just ahead of me as she looked at her companion. I heard her gush, “Oh, those strings, those glorious strings! I had no idea!” And I thought to myself ah ha… another convert. [Read more…]
The Verditas Quartet at laid-back BOP STOP (January 25)
by Jarrett Hoffman
Twenty-some audience members mostly lined the bar. Soup and pretzel bites were eaten, and little kitchen clangs were heard. It might have been the most laid-back setting of any concert. And — not but — the music was excellent, as the Verditas Quartet thrilled Cleveland’s BOP STOP Sunday night with quartets by Haydn, Beethoven, and Dvořák — and their own personality. [Read more…]
CMA celebrates Karel Paukert’s 80th birthday with Messiaen’s La Nativité (January 25)
by Daniel Hathaway
It may seem odd to those in other professions, but what’s a more natural way to celebrate a major milestone in the life of a musician than inviting him to perform at his own party? On Sunday, January 25, organist Karel Paukert returned to the Cleveland Museum of Art, where he served as curator of musical arts from 1974 to 2004, to mark his 80th birthday with a masterful performance of Olivier Messiaen’s La Nativité du Seigneur (1935). [Read more…]
Oberlin Chamber Music Intensive & Festival ends with Oberlin Trio & friends in Warner Concert Hall (Jan. 24)
by Daniel Hathaway
The Oberlin Trio, Oberlin Conservatory’s excellent faculty piano trio, brought three busy weeks of chamber music coachings and performances to a rousing conclusion on Saturday evening in Warner Concert Hall. [Read more…]
Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall with Jakub Hrůša and William Preucil (Jan. 23)
by Daniel Hathaway
Czech musicians were highlighted on the first half of last weekend’s Cleveland Orchestra programs, including guest conductor Jakub Hrůša and composers Leoš Janáček and Antonín Dvořák, but it was Russian music scored by a Frenchman that brought down the house after intermission — or should we say, knocked the paintings right off the walls? [Read more…]
CIM Orchestra celebrates composer Margaret Brouwer’s 75th Birthday
by Mike Telin
In his 2012 New Music Box feature on composer Margaret Brouwer, Frank Oteri appropriately titled the article Margaret Brouwer: Multiple Planes — for Brouwer has undoubtedly enjoyed a multi-faceted career. Starting out as a violinist in the Fort Worth Symphony and Fort Worth Opera Orchestra, she has also toured with the likes of Johnny Mathis and Tony Bennett. But it was her passion for composing that eventually led her to abandon her violin career and pursue a doctorate in composition. From 1996 until 2008 Margaret Brouwer served as head of the composition department at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
On Wednesday, January 28 at 8:00 pm in Kulas Hall at CIM, guest conductor Michael Adelson will lead the CIM Orchestra in a concert celebrating Margaret Brouwer’s 75th Birthday. The concert features Brouwer’s Caution Ahead – Guard Rail Out (2012) and Rhapsody for Orchestra (2009) as well as Carl Ruggles’s Angels (1921/1940), Lilacs (1924) and Sun-treader (1931). [Read more…]
Violinist Vadim Gluzman to make Cleveland Orchestra debut this week at Severance Hall
by Mike Telin
It goes without saying that it takes talent and hard work to have an international concert career. However, being at the right place at the right time doesn’t hurt. For the celebrated violinist Vadim Gluzman, his good fortune came when he met violinist Issac Stern as a teenager, quite by accident. In an article titled “The accidental virtuoso,” Gluzman recalled the off-chance meeting with Stern: “I made my way to Jerusalem, and at the JMC I told the receptionist I wanted to play for Isaac Stern. And she said: ‘Welcome to the club! You should have arranged this a couple of years ago.’”
Gluzman had the impression his quest was hopeless, but at that very moment Stern himself walked in. The receptionist explained the situation. To Gluzman’s surprise, instead of sending him away, Stern said, ‘Go and warm up and I’ll give you five minutes.’ “So I went,” Gluzman said, “…and he was with me for about two hours. And at the end of that, I had a new violin waiting for me in Tel Aviv, a scholarship and the possibility to work with him whenever I could.” [Read more…]