Archives for July 2021

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

The Cleveland Orchestra returns to the stage this weekend at Blossom for identical Independence Day concerts on Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 pm. Led by Brett Mitchell, the all-American program features Michelle Cann in Florence Price’s Concerto in One Movement, Bernstein’s Overture to Candide, Mary D. Watkins’ Soul of Remembrance, Adolphus Hailstork’s An American Fanfare, and Aaron Copland’s Suite from Appalachian Spring.

As one member of the wind section posted on Facebook yesterday, “After 477 days apart, it is an incredible honor to be making music with The Cleveland Orchestra again!” Read a preview article here, and an interview with Michelle Cann here.

Americana is also on the agenda for Sunday’s 4:30 pm Encore Chamber Music Institute concert in Gates Mills. Copland’s Appalachian Spring will be featured, along with a bluegrass set by Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper. Read a preview article here.

Also, check out special online events from the Oregon Bach Festival (“Phenomenal Women Part 1”), London’s Voces8 (“A wide-ranging recital connecting natural and spiritual regeneration, recognizing loss, beauty, love and joy”), and pianist Min Kwon (“who has commissioned more than 70 composers including Terry Riley, Tania León, Nico Muhly, George Lewis, and more to each write a variation on America the Beautiful”). Details in our Concert Listings.

THIS WEEKEND’S ALMANAC:

On July 3, 1854, Czech/Moravian composer Leoš Janáček was born in Hukvaldy. Now seems a good time to recall one of his most remarkable works, the Sinfonietta, which was performed by Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra on January 10 of 2020. That was just weeks before the pandemic closed live Severance Hall concerts down and effectively banished wind players from the world’s concert halls.

I wrote about that evening in a review, and Roger Mastroianni captured the moment in a photo. Look at all those extra brass players!

[Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Live events today include a noontime Independence Day weekend carillon concert in University Circle by George Leggiero, and an Encore Chamber Music Institute Friday Classics concert, “Sparked by Albert” (Einstein) featuring violinist Jinjoo Cho and cellist Clive Greensmith.

Online, flutist and composer Hong-Da Chin (pictured)  plays original works on Chinese instruments in a concert sponsored by No Exit, and Nicole Keller makes an appearance on the American Guild of Organists’ Organfest 2021, playing the new Muller/Aeolian-Skinner/Skinner instrument in Trinity Cathedral and the new Paul Fritts organ in First Lutheran, Lorain.

Details in our Concert Listings.

NEWS BRIEFS:

On the latest Crain’s Cleveland’s Business Landscape podcast, Cleveland Orchestra CEO André Gremillet talks with Dan Poletta about the return of The Cleveland Orchestra.

Dutch composer Louis Andriessen died in a care home in North Holland on Thursday, July 1 at the age of 82. In an NPR story, Tom Huizenga wrote, “Celebrated for his eclecticism, Andriessen devised his own bold brand of minimalist-influenced music. He embraced the pulsating repetitions of his contemporaries Philip Glass and Steve Reich, but also wove elements derived from Igor Stravinsky’s music, big band jazz, popular styles and the rigid tenets of serialism into his compositions.” [Read more…]

by Mike Telin

TODAY’S EVENTS:

Although our concert calendar is void of performances today, there are plenty taking place during the long Fourth of July weekend. Visit our Concert Listings page here.

IN THE NEWS:

Season tickets go on sale today for the four concerts in the Kent Blossom Music Festival Faculty Series, featuring Kulas Visiting Artists Paul and Helen Huang (pictured), Demarre McGill, and Rodolfo Leone, plus the Miami String Quartet and members of The Cleveland Orchestra. This season’s concerts are offered in a hybrid format: in-person in Ludwig Concert Hall (limited to 200 guests), and by live stream. Read a preview here.

A quick reminder that tickets also go on sale today for Tuesday Musical’s performance by   Chanticleer at E.J. Thomas Hall on July 27 at 7:30 pm. The celebrated 12-voice male chorus from San Francisco will present “Awakenings,” with music by Monteverdi, Byrd, Vicente Lusitano, Villa-Lobos, Augusta Read Thomas, Ulysses Kay, Steven Sametz, Burton Lane, and a newly commissioned work by Ayanna Woods. Click here for ticket information.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Today marks the anniversaries of two births of note — German composer Hans Werner Henze in 1926 and American conductor Philip Brunelle in 1943.

We’ll begin with Henze whose extensive body of works incorporated neoclassicism, jazz, twelve-tone technique, serialism, as well as rock and some popular music. [Read more…]