ClevelandClassical.com Header
Ad
Ad

Archives for September 2019

Choir of Trinity College Cambridge at Trinity Cathedral Cleveland (Sept. 18)

by

by Nicholas Stevens

Rattle off musical attractions that could pack a cathedral, and the list might include well-known orchestras on tour, or superstar soloists. “Collegiate chapel choir” may not spring to mind right away. However, the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge is no mere a capella group, and its associated organ scholars no mere keyboardists. The long-respected, ever-renewed ensemble brought hundreds of Northeast Ohioans to Trinity Cathedral on Wednesday, September 18 for a program of classics and contemporary fare from English and international choral traditions. [Read more…]

LCCC Signature Series presents violinist Lauren Cauley and cellist Mariel Roberts

by

by Jarrett Hoffman

It happens so often in any industry that one collaboration morphs into many. That was the case when violinist Lauren Cauley and cellist Mariel Roberts worked with composer Jeffrey Mumford at June in Buffalo. At the time, Cauley and Roberts were members of the Mivos Quartet, which went on to perform Mumford’s the promise of the far horizon at the Kennedy Center in 2017.

Having recently left the Mivos, Cauley and Roberts will continue their partnership with each other — and with Mumford — on the next edition of Lorain County Community College’s Signature Series, which the composer curates.

The free concert of solos and duos will take place on Thursday, September 26 at 7:30 pm in Cirigliano Studio Theatre at the Stocker Arts Center. The program includes three works by Mumford, a world premiere by Richard Carrick, and music by Dai Fujikura, Clara Iannotta, Kaija Saariaho, and Mariel Roberts herself. [Read more…]

No Exit at SPACES (Sept. 6)

by

by Nicholas Stevens

Any concert program that begins with music of mutual hostility and ends with a lament may seem too reminiscent of the news cycle in 2019. Add to that a composition about species diversity, and the picture darkens further. However, No Exit’s season opener at SPACES felt more like a refuge from the fights and frights of everyday life, or at least a guide to bearing them with grace and vulnerability. In a program of diverse music, Cleveland’s contemporary-classical powerhouse proved itself capable of anything, and unafraid to take risks. [Read more…]

Cleveland Opera Theater moves to Playhouse Square with La Bohème (Sept. 13)

by

by Daniel Hathaway

Puccini’s La Bohème was produced 598 times worldwide during the 2017-2018 season, making it the fourth most-performed title in the repertoire (trailing La traviata, Carmen, and The Magic Flute). It’s also the show that Cleveland Opera Theater chose for its move from venues like the Masonic Auditorium and the Maltz Performing Arts Center to the Ohio Theater, a more traditionally-outfitted house. On Friday, September 13, Scott Skiba’s clever production surrounded a fine cast with memorable scenic design by Matthew D. McCarren and projections by Brittany Merenda that brought a Parisian garret, the Café Momus, and a toll gate outside the city vividly to life in Playhouse Square.

[Read more…]

CIPC Concert Series culminates in Wosner-Weiss piano duo (Sept. 14)

by

by Daniel Hathaway

In the last event in its concert series before it turns its attention to the 2020 contest, the Cleveland International Piano Competition presented duo-pianists Shai Wosner and Orion Weiss in a viscerally thrilling and intellectually stimulating recital on Saturday evening, September 14 in Reinberger Chamber Hall at Severance Hall.

[Read more…]

Violinist Andrew Sords: at home, with friends 

by

by Mike Telin 

While violinist Andrew Sords’ prolific career as a soloist and chamber musician takes him around the world to far away places, there’s just something about coming back to Cleveland and making music with his friends. “There’s nothing better than to rehearse with these high-level colleagues, and have dinner afterwards,” the Cleveland Institute of Music graduate said by telephone on his way to Toronto.

On Sunday, September 22 at 3:00 pm at Rocky River Presbyterian Church, Sords will join violinist Mari Sato, violist Eric Wong, cellist Nathanael Matthews, and pianist Elizabeth DeMio for a program titled “An Afternoon of Romantic Chamber Music.” The free concert is presented as part of the church’s Artist Concert Series.

“Liz and I have done nearly 400 performances together,” Sords said, “and I’ve known Nate Matthews for a number of years. Mari was a coach of mine at CIM. We get along so well and I’m always inspired by her classy playing. And Eric and I were both students at CIM but never worked together until this year, when we played the Schumann piano quintet back in January. I thought wow, what a player.”

[Read more…]

Clocks in Motion to premiere Rindfleisch percussion quartet at CSU

by

by Jarrett Hoffman

Last month on the podcast The Three Questions with Andy Richter, comedian Jim Gaffigan said he always thinks he’ll be “metaphorically escorted into a room of luxury” after achieving something special, though he’s learned that doesn’t exist. But if you’re a composer interested in writing for percussion, there’s a room that might provide similar validation, and plenty of new ideas.

I’m talking about a 2,000-square-foot warehouse in Edgerton, Wisconsin, where Sean Kleve, music director of the percussion quartet Clocks in Motion, houses a collection of instruments, some of them rare and built by the group. They call the space their “Instrumentarium,” and composers who collaborate with them can go there to survey their wide and varied options.

One of those visitors has been Andrew Rindfleisch, professor of composition at Cleveland State University. His years-long collaboration with Clocks in Motion continues on Monday, September 23 at 8:00 pm, when the ensemble will visit CSU’s Drinko Recital Hall to premiere his Chroma.

[Read more…]

Jason Vieaux and Adam Barnett-Hart open Tuesday Musical season 

by

by Mike Telin 

When guitarist Jason Vieaux and the Escher String Quartet first performed together at Music@Menlo in 2007, the musicians knew they needed to keep the collaboration going. “Since then the Quartet has played with him many times,” Escher first violinist Adam Barnett-Hart said during a telephone interview. “We’ve performed some duos as part of the Quartet programs,” Vieaux said during a separate conversation, “but next week will be the first full concert as a duo.”

On Tuesday, September 24 at 7:30 pm at E.J. Thomas Hall, Jason Vieaux and Adam Barnett-Hart will open Tuesday Musical’s 2019-20 MainStage season. Audience members can get to know the performers during the Concert Conversation at 6:30 p.m. in E.J.’s Flying Balcony Club. Accessible by elevator, the Club features lounge seating and libations. Tickets are available online.

Putting together an evening-length program for guitar and violin is not without challenges. “There isn’t a huge amount of music that’s written for that combination,” Barnett-Hart noted. “You need to be creative about finding pieces, and come up with enough variety in the music.”

[Read more…]

Akron Symphony to open season with an all-Russian program

by

by Mike Telin 

When inclement weather forced the cancelation of the Akron Symphony’s January 2019 concert, they were  fortunate that both guest conductor and soloist were available to open the ASO’s 2019-2020 season this weekend. The following preview, originally published in January, has been edited for content. 

****

There are certain pieces of music that, no matter when they were written, always sound new. And in the eyes and ears of Alexander Korsantia, Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 is one that holds that distinction. “It is an eternally fun concerto,” the pianist said during an interview. “It was written almost one hundred years ago but it still feels like it is aiming to the future.”

On Saturday, September 21 at 8:00 pm in E.J. Thomas Hall, the Georgian-born pianist will perform that concerto with the Akron Symphony under the direction of guest conductor Benjamin Zander. The all-Russian program will also include Glinka’s Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila, Mussorgsky’s “Dawn on the Moscow River” from Kovantchina, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. Tickets are available online.

[Read more…]

Meints and friends to play all 15 of Purcell’s fantasias for viol consort 

by

by Daniel Hathaway

Oberlin Conservatory viola da gamba and cello professor Catharina Meints has invited former and current students to join her in performing Henry Purcell’s 15 fantasias for consorts of three to seven viols on Friday, September 13 at 7:30 pm in Oberlin’s Kulas Recital Hall.

The seven gambists will play instruments from the collection assembled by Meints and her late husband James Caldwell, most of them having been made during Purcell’s own lifetime (he died in 1695).

People who take up the viola da gamba, that Renaissance and Baroque instrument that comes in different sizes, looks like a cello, has frets like a guitar, and which inspired the film Tous les Matins du Monde, quickly fall in love with the instrument and its repertoire.

“It’s relatively easy to play, there’s a massive amount of accessible but intellectually interesting music that’s been written for it, and most of that is consort music to be played with friends,” Meints said in a conversation in her Oberin studio. “ [Read more…]

Follow ClevelandClassical.com

Contact us