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Archives for March 2016

Cleveland Museum of Art to present Qasida Project

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by Mike Telin

09-QasidaOn Wednesday, March 16 at 7:30 pm in Gartner Auditorium, the Cleveland Museum of Arts Performing Arts Series will present Qasida, an astonishing musical collaboration between Sevillian flamenco cantaora Rosario La Tremendita and Iranian classical singer Mohammad Motamedi.

Created for the third Dutch Flamenco Biennale by festival Artistic Director Ernestina van de Noort (click here to view a promotional video), Qasida was described by writer Jan Fairley as a “contrast between the sheer beauty of flamenco’s distilled, passionate outpourings of the heart and the more inward, mystical philosophies of Persian poetry…” Following the Cleveland performances the show will travel to New York, Washington, D.C., and Boston. [Read more…]

CityMusic Cleveland: a conversation with soprano Jeanine De Bique

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by Mike Telin

DeBique_JeanineAs a young girl growing up in the Caribbean, soprano Jeanine De Bique had no idea that it was possible to make a living as an opera singer. “I come from Trinidad and Tobago, where you are surrounded by music all day long. Whether it’s classical music, calypso, soca, or chutney, it’s always around you,” De Bique said during a Skype conversation from Barbados.

“When I finished high school at 18, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I thought about being a lawyer or physiologist, but my voice teacher asked me if I wanted to pursue music. I had no clue that you could have a career in opera. When a country doesn’t have any means for you to see an opera — where people are doing that as their job — you have no idea that those jobs exist.” [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra to premiere Avner Dorman’s Siklòn in Miami

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by Mike Telin

DORMAN-Avner2In his composer notes for his new work titled Siklòn, the Haitian Creole word for hurricane, Avner Dorman writes, “As I had the opportunity to tour different neighborhoods in Miami and meet artists, musicians, and other members of the community, I was struck by the energy of the people. The mingling of different cultures, foods, politics, and arts concocts a whirlwind of energy that is unique to the city of Miami.”

This weekend the Cleveland Orchestra’s 10th Anniversary Miami season will conclude with performances on March 17, 18, and 19 in Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center led by Cleveland Orchestra Miami principal guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero. The concerts will feature the world premiere of Dorman’s new work, commissioned for The Cleveland Orchestra by the Arsht Center to celebrate the organizations’ ten-year partnership. [Read more…]

Les Délices to hold Ohio City residency from March 17—20

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by Mike Telin

LesDelicesPopUp2Les Délices, Cleveland’s period instrument ensemble specializing in French Baroque music, will settle into Ohio City beginning on Thursday, March 17 for a weekend full of free events. As a resident of the neighborhood, Artistic director Debra Nagy feels strongly about reaching out to Cleveland’s Near-West Side community. “The primary goals for the residency are to build awareness of chamber music performance, expand the group’s West-Side audience, and increase visibility for Cleveland artists,” Nagy said in an interview.

The ensemble’s residency also celebrates Early Music Month, devised by Early Music America. Nagy, who is an EMA board member, explained that the month is designed to draw attention to the quantity, breadth, and richness of the country’s early music scene. [Read more…]

MYCincinnati Ambassador Ensemble to visit Near West Theatre March 19

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by Mike Telin

MyCincinnatiAmbassadorsOn Saturday, March 19 at 6:00 pm at Near West Theatre, the MYCincinnati Ambassador Ensemble under the direction of its founder Eddy Kwon will present a concert featuring his String Septet. The piece was created as part of the Ambassadors’ year-long project that combined critical discussions around issues of social justice and identity with creative music making and performance.

The ensemble’s Near West concert will also include the screening of Michael and Henry Wilson’s documentary about the project (click here to view a trailer). [Read more…]

BW Opera: Peter Brook’s The Tragedy of Carmen (Feb. 25)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Carmen-DonJ-CigarBritish director Peter Brook’s re-imagining of George Bizet’s ever-popular opera Carmen caused a stir when it debuted in New York in 1981. Pared down to 85 minutes in length and divested of choruses and much of its connective music, it rankled die-hard opera fans and critics. But as director Victoria Bussert and Baldwin Wallace Opera proved on opening night, Thursday, February 25, The Tragedy of Carmen can be a stunning piece of theater in its own right. [Read more…]

CIM Opera: Beatrice and Benedict meet again in a world of letter sweaters (Feb. 24)

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by Daniel Hathaway

CIM_Beatrice_Benedict_1Beatrice and Benedict of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing might have been surprised enough to find themselves recast in Hector Berlioz’s operatic sequel, Béatrice et Bénédict. What would those two eventual lovers have thought about their translation to a 1960s American university during football season? Director David Bamberger’s updating of Berlioz’s 1862 work for the CIM Opera Theater on Wednesday, February 24 certainly brought a fresh perspective to an old story, even with a few cultural dissonances. [Read more…]

Music from the Western Reserve: Factory Seconds in Hudson (Feb. 21)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Factory-SecondsThe names Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Johannes Brahms are ubiquitous on concert programs. But Marius Flothuis, Arthur Meulemans, Norman Sherman, Robert Marek, and Arthur Frackenpohl? Not so much. So it was refreshing to encounter a whole set of new compositional personalities on the concert by Factory Seconds Brass Trio on Sunday afternoon, February 21, part of the 33rd season of Music from the Western Reserve at Christ Church, Hudson. [Read more…]

NEOSonicFest: a conversation with Cleveland Chamber Symphony’s Stephen Smith

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by Daniel Hathaway

SMITH-Steven NewNEOSonicFest, now in its third season, is the invention of the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, who will anchor the festival’s 2016 programs with concerts on March 9 and 16. Other performances under the NSF umbrella have already featured two concerts by flutist Carlton Vickers sponsored by No Exit, and a performance by FiveOne Experimental Orchestra. The festival will continue with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra in “Music and Its Industry: music from video games” on Saturday, March 12, and a program of works by members of the Cleveland Composers Guild on Sunday, March 13.

“NEOSonicFest is a bit more spread out this year,” Smith said in a telephone conversation from Virginia, where he conducts the Richmond Symphony. “That’s partly so we could capture two weekends, as we like to do, but we also ended up extending it to connect with the Baldwin Wallace Focus Festival. Our final concert on March 16 will also be their opening concert, which is an exciting development.” [Read more…]

Oberlin Opera Theater to stage Handel’s Alcina March 9-13

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by Mike Telin

Alcina-&-Ruggiero“There’ve always been stories about the young soldier who leaves his native country to go fight in a distant land but then becomes immersed in that land’s culture, and for whatever reason loses himself and his purpose,” Oberlin Opera Theatre Director Jonathon Field said during an interview. “That’s exactly what happens in Alcina — you have Ruggiero, who flies on a griffin onto this island and becomes enchanted with the sorceress Queen Alcina.”

On Wednesday, March 9 at 8:00 pm in Hall Auditorium, and continuing on Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sunday at 2:00 pm, conductor Christopher Larkin will lead the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra and two all-star casts in Handel’s fantastical opera Alcina. [Read more…]

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