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Archives for December 2016

Oberlin Orchestras featuring faculty soloists (Dec. 6 & 9)

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by Neil McCalmont

fulkersonobchorchTwo orchestra concerts given at Oberlin’s Finney Chapel during the first week of December featured faculty soloists and yielded phenomenal results. On December 6, Raphael Jiménez led the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra in a concert highlighted by Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. The audience roared as professor of violin Gregory Fulkerson took the stage for his last appearance with the ensemble as he prepares to retire from the Conservatory this spring after a tenure of 35 years. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: pianist Roman Rabinovich in Haydn sonatas at Dunham Tavern Museum (Dec. 16)

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by Mike Telin

rabinovichOver the course of three concerts, the outstanding pianist Roman Rabinovich performed fifteen of Haydn’s keyboard sonatas as part of ChamberFest Cleveland’s Winter Mini Festival. I heard the final recital at Dunham Tavern Museum on Friday, December 16. [Read more…]

CMA: Violinist Francesco D’Orazio at Transformer Station (Dec. 9)

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by Mike Telin

dorazioAlthough Luciano Berio composed his Sequenza VIII for Carlo Chiarappa, it was the violinist’s student, Francesco D’Orazio, whose performance of the piece from memory ultimately left a lasting impression on the composer. On Friday, December 9 at Transformer Station, D’Orazio gave a stunning performance of that work and other contemporary Italian compositions for solo violin. [Read more…]

Composers Guild & Syndicate for the New Arts: chamber music at Historic St. John’s (Dec. 4)

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by Daniel Hathaway

syndicatcomposersExcellent performances of chamber music written by 7 of the 34 members of the Cleveland Composers Guild were featured in a collaborative concert with the Syndicate for the New Arts on Sunday evening, December 4 at Historic St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ohio City. [Read more…]

Cleveland POPS New Year’s Eve: meet vocalist Melinda Doolittle

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by Mike Telin

doolittle-melinda“Some of my favorite shows are singing with pops orchestras,” vocalist and American Idol winner Melinda Doolittle said during a recent telephone conversation. “It’s such an exhilarating feeling. There’s nothing like having a massive orchestra behind you playing the songs you love. And this is my very first New Year’s Eve symphony show, so I’m even more excited.”

On Saturday, December 31st at Severance Hall, Carl Topilow and the Cleveland POPS Orchestra will ring in 2017 with their 21st Annual New Year’s Eve Celebration. The festivities begin at 9:00 pm with a two-hour concert featuring Melinda Doolittle and the Orchestra  performing Broadway songs, contemporary pops and jazz hits, and a tribute to some of the great American soul singers — Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Tina Turner, Gloria Gaynor, and Marvin Gaye. [Read more…]

Cleveland International Piano Competition announces its 2017 Concert Series

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by Mike Telin

Westhuizen“It’s all about keeping the fun going,” executive director Pierre van der Westhuizen said in a recent telephone conversation about the Cleveland International Piano Competition’s 2017 concert series — one of several piano-centric activities the organization is planning between now and the next competition in 2020.

Now that CIPC is on a four-year cycle, the Concert Series will take place every other year (in 2017 and 2019), with a Young Artists Competition in between (2018).

The 2017 Concert Series will feature the Westhuizen Duo (Pierre and Sofié van der Westhuizen) on February 10 at the Shaker Heights Country Club, Marc-André Hamelin on March 21 in Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and 2016 CIPC Gold Medalist Nikita Mndoyants on April 30 at the Maltz Performing Arts Center. [Read more…]

The Gift of Music

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CDsThe gift of music is always a wonderful way to say happy holidays to friends and family. The week, the editors and correspondents of ClevelandClassical.com are pleased to suggest nineteen CDs released in 2016 by outstanding musicians, most of whom call Northeast Ohio home.

There’s certainly something on this list for every classical music lover. Click on the links at the end of each paragraph to read complete reviews of each album. [Read more…]

Summit Choral Society Candlelight Concerts to feature new carol

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by Daniel Hathaway

ahrends-mcgrowartyTradition reigns during the December holidays, but new infusions into what might be called “The Great Christmas Carol Book” can give new life to musical celebrations. Think of King’s College, Cambridge, whose choir annually commissions a new piece — often strikingly new — for its Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, broadcast live on Christmas Eve.

Summit Choral Society will include a new carol setting in its Candlelight Christmas Concerts at St. Bernard’s Church in downtown Akron on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evening, December 16, 17 at 18 at 7:30 pm. As part of the “Bells” section of the program, the Masterworks Chorale will perform a newly-commissioned setting of I heard the bells on Christmas Day written by University of Akron music major Mickey McGroarty.

In a telephone conversation, conducting fellow Anna Ahrens noted that Summit Choral Society artistic director Marie Bucoy-Calavan has adopted the mission of “Preserving and conserving — passing classical choral music on to younger generations. My position, our program of choral scholars, and the inclusion of young soloists are all part of that, as well as giving real-world experience to a student composer.” [Read more…]

CD Review
Aaron Helgeson’s Poems of sheer nothingness with Susan Narucki & the Talea Ensemble

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by Jeremy Reynolds

helgeson-poems-cdLast January, on the Innova label, composer Aaron Helgeson released Poems of sheer nothingness, a 53-minute album of works for soprano and small instrumental ensemble. James Baker leads the Talea Ensemble, featuring soprano Susan Narucki. [Read more…]

CD Review
Quicksilver: Fantasticus

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by Daniel Hathaway

quicksilver-fantasticus-cdThe New York-based period instrument ensemble Quicksilver, co-directed by violinists Robert Mealy and Cleveland’s own Julie Andrijeski, have released an enthralling album titled Fantasticus: extravagant and virtuosic music of the German seventeenth century. [Read more…]

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