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Archives for June 2018

The lutes are coming! — LuteFest-2018 at CWRU

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by Delaney Meyers

LRPpicThe Lute Society of America’s annual LuteFest draws people from all over the world, and is the largest early plucked instrument festival of its kind. From Sunday, June 24 through Friday, June 29 on the campus of Case Western Reserve University, LuteFest-2018! will present concerts by world-class faculty, and festival participants will take part in all kinds of workshops — they’ll learn about lute technique as well as the instrument’s history and repertoire

“One of the great things about this festival is that every participant gets private lessons with the faculty members,” Assistant Director Chris Wilke said during a recent telephone conversation. “It’s like going to a cello conference and getting a private lesson with Yo-Yo Ma.” Lessons are open to anyone who registers, regardless of their level or background with the instrument.

[Read more…]

CD Review —
Syzygy: Music for Flute by Efraín Amaya
Alexa Still (Oberlin Music)

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by Alice Koeninger

syzygy_coverFlutist Alexa Still recently released her second solo album on the Oberlin Music label. Syzygy is comprised of six pieces by Venezuelan-American composer and conductor Efraín Amaya. Assisted by her fellow Oberlin faculty member, pianist Robert Shannon — as well as a few other Oberlin professors and alums — Still showcases her exquisite lyricism and virtuosity on every track.
[Read more…]

Re:Sound Festival — two shows at Bop Stop and CODA (June 9)

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by Alice Koeninger

BobStopMatzkeMany of the sounds heard at the Re:Sound New Music Festival performances at the Bop Stop and CODA on Saturday, June 9 were reminiscent of noises made by ‘90s computers and played on old science fiction space TV shows. Relying heavily on electronics and other sound-manipulation techniques, each artist or group gave festivalgoers a taste of their music in a series of increasingly strange and interesting pieces. [Read more…]

Flutist Lorna McGhee to join ChamberFest for George Crumb’s Voice of the Whale

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by Jarrett Hoffman

lornamcgheeIn 1969, George Crumb heard the complex, otherworldly singing of the humpback whale — then a deeply endangered species — and was inspired to write Vox Balaenae (“Voice of the Whale”). A trio for flute, cello, and piano, all amplified, the work continues to fascinate audiences with its imitation of whale song, and the feeling it conjures of time standing still.

Taking the composer’s suggestion, ChamberFest Cleveland will cast a deep blue light over the stage of Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music on Thursday evening, June 21, when they present Crumb’s underwater epic as part of a 7:30 pm concert titled “A Turn in the Road.” The program will also include Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 3 in f and the “Adagio” from Berg’s Chamber Concerto.

I recently spoke with Scottish-born Lorna McGhee, principal flute of the Pittsburgh Symphony and professor at Carnegie Mellon University. [Read more…]

Re:Sound at SPACES
(June 9)

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by Mike Telin

Corkill

Presented in the intimate, acoustically-pleasing Mistake Lab, Austin-based cellist James Burch began his set with Phong Tran’s Durability Problems (2017). Burch brought a dark, rich sound, loads of technique, and great intonation to the five-minute, mercurial work full of sudden tempo changes and mood shifts. [Read more…]

ENCORE Chamber Music: the Miró Quartet (June 8)

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by Delaney Meyers

Miro2After mixing up the start time, I arrived to the Miró Quartet concert on Friday evening, June 8 just in time to witness the aftermath of violist John Largess’ two broken strings. For their relatively short length and narrow width, those strings caused quite the wave of amused chatter in the Tudor House at Gilmour Academy.   [Read more…]

ChamberFest’s “Forging New Paths” to highlight Rabinovich Brahms arrangement

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Rabinovich pc balazs borocz“When a father-in-law asks, it’s the law,” Roman Rabinovich said during a recent conversation. As fans of ChamberFest Cleveland know, that father-in-law is co-artistic director Franklin Cohen. His request? An arrangement of Brahms’ Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel to be performed at the Festival — and his son-in-law happily obliged.

Rabinovich’s nonet version of that solo piano work will receive its premiere on Saturday, June 23 at 7:30 pm in Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music. And the web of connections in that program, titled “Forging New Paths,” is worth spending an evening on itself. There’s the Handel-to-Brahms thread: on one end of the program is the Baroque composer’s Trio Sonata in c, HWV 386a, while on the other end are Brahms’ Handel Variations — in their new clothes picked out by Rabinovich. And in between is Ligeti’s homage to Brahms: the Trio for Horn, Violin, and Piano — a rare instrumentation for which the big B also composed.

You’ll see Rabinovich at the harpsichord in the Handel sonata, but our conversation focused on his arrangement of the Brahms for flute, clarinet, horn, bassoon, string quartet, and double bass. [Read more…]

Cleveland International Guitar Festival: five guest artist recitals at CIM (June 8-10)

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by Mike Telin & Daniel Hathaway

Vieaux-LabroFor the past seventeen years, the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival has brought some of the world’s finest classical guitarists, lutenists, lecturers, composers, teachers, and guitar makers to the Cleveland Institute of Music. The eighteenth season, which ran from June 8 through 10, featured thirteen artists and ensembles, five concerts, nine master classes, and three lectures. Here are our impressions of the artists who provided enthusiastic audiences with top-notch performances of a range of diverse and entertaining repertoire.    [Read more…]

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