by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Today’s concerts: organist Wesley Hall at Church of the Covenant, and tenor Lawrence Brownlee on CCMS series
•A discussion of one-hit wonders, from raw data to subjectivity, and from classical to pop (including a Chumbawamba reference)
•A Chicago-born almanac, from Margaret Bonds to organists in baseball
by Daniel Hathaway
IN THIS EDITION:
•Online: Eric Charnofsky’s Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music and Les Délices’ SalonEra 2.12
•Announcements from Tri-C JazzFest
•In the Almanac: Marco Enrico Bossi & John Knowles Paine
TODAY’S EVENTS:
Eric Charnofsky’s Monday program from CWRU (2-4 pm) features Charles Griffes’ Piano Sonata, Wilhelm Berger’s Variations and Fugue on an original theme for large orchestra, David Liptak’s solo guitar piece The Sighs, an organ sonata of Felix Mendelssohn, and the Suite for String Orchestra by Frank Bridge. Click here to listen to the internet feeds. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
If you thought the cimbalom was only used in Eastern European folk music, think again. “I got my start on it with the LA Philharmonic,” percussionist Chester Englander said during a recent telephone call. “They hired me to play a piece by Frank Zappa called Yellow Shark and it uses the cimbalom in ‘The Girl in the Magnesium Dress.’” From then on Englander has been on a mission to expand the instrument’s repertoire.
On Friday, April 22 at 7:30 pm at Kent State’s Ludwig Recital Hall, Englander will join No Exit in a concert they’re calling “The Big Cimbalom Thing.” The program will feature music by Per Nørgård and world premieres of works by Douglas Knehans, Hong-Da Chin, and Edward Smaldone — and it will be repeated on April 28 at 8:00 pm at Cleveland State’s Drinko Hall, April 29 at 8:00 pm at SPACES, and April 30 at 7:00 pm at Heights Arts. All the concerts are free. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
THIS WEEKEND’S EVENTS:
There are many things to talk about this weekend, including two memorial events, the reappearances on the schedule of an orchestra and a pianist after long absences, a delayed Mardi Gras celebration, a rare program starring the cimbalom, and two concerts featuring single reed soloists. And one performance that isn’t going to happen thanks to visa snags, although the artist is sending his electrons for a master class. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Oberlin’s Messiaen Mini-Festival begins at noon (note the time correction), and The Cleveland Orchestra plays Shostakovich and Sibelius
•The San Antonio Symphony terminates its contract with music director emeritus Sebastian Lang-Lessing (pictured)
•Almanac: Handel’s Royal Fireworks Music, and a royal disaster of a premiere
by Mike Telin
Tonight, Thursday April 21 at 7:30 pm at Severance Music Center, violinist Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider will join The Cleveland Orchestra and guest conductor Klaus Mäkelä in Sibelius’ Violin Concerto. The evening also includes Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10. The program will be repeated on Friday at 7:30 pm and Saturday at 8:00 pm. Tickets are available online.
I caught up with the violinist by telephone yesterday just after the rehearsal had ended.
Mike Telin: I hope the rehearsal went well. But this is a concerto you know quite well.
Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider: It did and it is. I’ve played it an awful lot — a wonderful awful lot. It’s one of the earliest pieces that I learned when I started playing.
It’s also one of those pieces that I don’t recall saying “I need a few years rest from it.” I’m always happy when it’s on the program. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
In a message posted on Sunday, April 26, 2020, Arts Renaissance Tremont board president Fred Calatrello wrote:
It is with great regret and a heavy heart that I must inform you that Chris, our friend, colleague and the moving spirit behind ART, passed away last night with her husband at her bedside.
I don’t have to tell any of you what a great loss this is not only for us but also for her many former students, her numberless friends in the musical community and, indeed, anyone who had the good fortune to know and work with her over the many years she lived in and served this community.
We all know that in addition to husband, family and friends, Chris’ great passion over the past three decades has been ARTS RENAISSANCE TREMONT; not only did she create the organization but she worked year in and year out to secure funding and artists so that each year we could bring great music to audiences in N.E.Ohio. For Chis, this was truly a labor of love.
On Saturday, April 23 at 3:00 pm at Trinity Cathedral, Arts Renaissance Tremont invites the community to celebrate the life of Christine Haff-Paluck during a Memorial Concert and Gala Benefit. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
A clarinet and a string quartet are the traditional components of a clarinet quintet, an instrumentation that has spawned widely performed works by composers such as Mozart, Brahms, and Coleridge-Taylor.
But after CityMusic Cleveland clarinetist Ellen Breakfield-Glick reached out to Margaret Brouwer about the possibility of writing a new clarinet quintet, the composer considered the possibilities, noting to herself that she had already written one in 2005.
“I’m all about sounds and colors,” Brouwer said during a recent interview. “That’s one reason I wanted to have percussion — I thought it would give me a lot of new colors.”
Commissioned by CityMusic and inspired by the theme for the ensemble’s 2021-22 season — “Justice, Equality, Hope” — Brouwer’s Justice March for the unconventional combination of clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and percussion will receive its premiere on Saturday, April 23 at 7:00 pm at Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus.
by Mike Telin
After an absence of nearly 25 years, pianist Evgeny Kissin will return to Severance Music Center to perform a solo recital on Sunday, April 24 at 7:30 pm.
The program will feature J.S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in d (arr. Carl Tausig), Mozart’s Adagio in b, K. 540, Beethoven’s Sonata No. 31 in A-flat, Op. 110, and seven of Chopin’s Mazurkas as well as the Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante in E-flat, Op. 22. Tickets are available online.
Since being recognized as a child prodigy at the age of six, Evgeny Kissin has enjoyed a celebrated international career as a recitalist, soloist with orchestras, and recording artist. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
Yes, it is possible for one song to change your life.
Growing up in Fontainebleau, France, Stephane Wrembel began studying classical piano at the age of four. By his mid-teens his musical inspirations were found on the guitar — and in rock.
“I told my teacher, who was a great Django player, that I wanted to study jazz. He said, ‘Let’s start with a couple of Django songs.’ He started to play, and I was like, wow!” The song Wrembel’s teacher played was Django Reinhardt’s classic Minor Swing. And from then on, Wrembel never looked back. Today, he is perhaps the most celebrated guitarist in the world specializing in the style of Django Reinhardt.
On Sunday, April 24 at the Bop Stop, Wrembel will be joined by his longtime bandmates Josh Kaye (guitar), Ari Folman-Cohen (bass), Nick Anderson (drums), and Daisy Castro (violin) for shows at 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm. The setlist will include Wrembel’s original compositions as well as music from his latest release, The Django Experiment VI. Tickets are available online.