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Archives for November 2023

Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra: a new season of discoveries

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by Mike Telin

A challenge in programming for a young orchestra as talented as the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra is choosing repertoire that teaches them how to be a better 21st century ensemble while also being enjoyable to play.

On Sunday, November 12 at 3:00 pm at Severance Music Center, Daniel Reith will lead the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra in two well-known works, and two of Reith’s recent discoveries. Tickets are available online.

The concert will open with Johannes Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture. The work was written as a tribute to the University of Breslau, which had awarded him an honorary doctorate in philosophy. And like all good students, Reith said he was happy that the young musicians of  COYO are such a curious group.

“Telling them about the origins of the piece really caught their attention,” the conductor said during a Skype conversation. “ I thought it would be fun to do a piece that contains themes of famous student songs of Brahms’ time. And explaining the background to the song about a little fox who is annoying his parents by his curiosity, really fascinated them.”

The afternoon will continue with María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir’s Oceans, a work Reith said he discovered through lucky coincidence. “I was searching for pieces on the topic of water for one of our educational concerts last season. Sadly it didn’t fit that program, but it was a wonderful discovery that I thought would be a great piece for COYO.”

[Read more…]

DIARY: Wednesday, November 8, 2023

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by Jarrett Hoffman

IN THIS EDITION:

•Today: pianist Stewart Goodyear at CIM, and writer-activist Keith LaMar at CMA, remotely from the Ohio State Penitentiary

•In the news: student petition at CIM calls for new leadership

•Announcements and opportunities: Greater Cleveland Music Census, an Opera Roundtable from Cleveland Opera, an open position at ENCORE Chamber Music, and applications open for two summer festivals

•Almanac: César Franck, Rudolph Arnold Dolmetsch, and John Kirkpatrick

HAPPENING TODAY:

Tonight at 7:30 pm, you can catch pianist Stewart Goodyear in a recital at the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Mixon Hall, playing the U.S. premiere of his Mending Wall as well as works by J.S. Bach, Clara Schumann, and Beethoven (free, but reservations required). Read a preview article by Mike Telin here. 

Or you can visit the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium to hear Freedom First, the debut album from Cleveland-born poet, writer, and activist Keith LaMar (above, on-screen). LaMar will perform the album remotely from his cell at the Ohio State Penitentiary, where he has spent 30 years in solitary confinement on death row for a crime he testifies that he did not commit. He’ll be joined by Albert Marquès (piano), Chris Coles (alto sax), Zaire Darden (drums), and Jordan McBride (bass). Tickets are available here.

[Read more…]

Jazz Meets Classical: Grammy-nominated Dan Wilson on the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society Showcase

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by Zach Terrillion 

Classical guitar is a tradition dating back centuries. Such a long tradition is up for fresh twists and interpretations. That’s the case with this year’s Showcase Concert from the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society, which returns on Saturday, November 11 with the appearance of jazz guitarist Dan Wilson.

An Akron native, Wilson will be the first jazz musician to play at the showcase. I sat down with Wilson over Zoom to discuss his style, the surprising similarities and differences between classical and jazz guitar, George R.R. Martin, and what audiences should look forward to at Saturday’s show.

When it comes to style, Wilson considers himself a “musical omnivore,” tracing it to many different sources. His musical prowess emerged in the church with a love of gospel music. He has since taken inspiration from other genres like R&B, hip-hop, blues, and traditional jazz. He has performed with jazz greats like Joey DeFrancesco and his trio quartet, performing on his Grammy-nominated album Project Freedom, as well as with other luminaries like Van Morrison. A true omnivore, Wilson’s palate has been all-encompassing. “Whatever inspires me, I take it in.”

[Read more…]

DIARY: Tuesday, November 7, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Church of the Covenant organists take the Tuesday Noon audience under the hood of the Covenant’s organs. “Here’s your chance to finally see up close what is behind those amazing facade pipes. How does it all work? Bring your curiosity, questions, and walking shoes, as Jonathan Moyer and Oziah Wales perform a little “organ surgery!”

And this evening at 7:30 in Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall, Tuesday Musical Association presents the Akropolis Reed Quintet in works by Ravel & Gershwin, plus “selections from some of the most exciting voices of today.”

For details of these and other events, visit our Concert Listings.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

As part of The Unconscious, the next program in No Exit’s Surreality series, artists Leila Khoury and Kristen Newell have created a three-dimensional surrealist dreamscape at SPACES that will serve as an exhibit unto itself as well as a performing environment for the combined musicians of No Exit and Zeitgeist. The installation will be open to the public starting on November 10 and will run through December 15. [Read more…]

DIARY: Monday, November 6, 2023

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by Jarrett Hoffman

IN THIS EDITION:

•Today: organist Monica Csausz Berney at Trinity and a clarinet-cello-piano trio in Rocky River

•Announcements: Re:Sound Festival accepting proposals, Stroud Classical Guitar Competition applications, Heights Arts season details, and learning about CAC’s grantmaking process

•Almanac: Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone and more

HAPPENING TODAY:

Organist Monica Csausz Berney kicks off the evening schedule with a 7:30 recital at Trinity Cathedral, co-sponsored by the Cleveland Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. As Daniel Hathaway wrote in a preview, “Berney will make use of both the Cathedral’s 1977 Flentrop organ and its 2022 Skinner / Aeolian-Skinner / Mueller instrument in a program largely devoted to transcriptions of works originally written for other musical media” — including works by J.S. Bach, Johannes Brahms, Nikolai Kapustin, Sigfrid Karg-Elert, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

And at 7:30 at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, the Rocky River Chamber Music Society presents cellist Keith Robinson, pianist Hyunsoon Whang, and clarinetist Daniel McKelway in music by Samuel Barber, Sergei Prokofiev, and Johannes Brahms. The recital will also be streamed. Read Mike Telin’s interview with Robinson here.

A freewill offering will be taken up at both events. Program details can be found in our Concert Listings.

[Read more…]

Stewart Goodyear to make Cleveland debut at CIM

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by Mike Telin

“This will be my first time in Cleveland,” Canadian pianist and composer Stewart Goodyear said by phone from Toronto, where he serves as Artist in Residence at the Royal Conservatory. “Toronto is so close, I don’t know why it took me so long, but I am excited about my visit.”

Goodyear will make his Cleveland debut on Wednesday, November 8 at 7:30 pm in Cleveland Institute of Music’s Mixon Hall. The program will include works by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Clara Schumann, and Goodyear himself. The concert is part of CIM’s Perspective Series. The event is free but reservations are required.

How did this debut come about? “I just received a call from the Cleveland Institute of Music asking me if I would be interested in doing a mini residency that would be a combination of lessons, a lecture, and a recital.”

[Read more…]

DIARY: Weekend, November 4-5, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

Saturday afternoon, Daniel Reith will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in a “sensory friendly” concert at Severance Music Center specially designed for attendees on the autism spectrum. Activities include an instrument petting zoo, coloring stations, and photo opportunities.

Also on Saturday afternoon, Les Délices (pictured) will celebrate the release of two CDs at Bottlehouse Brewery. The period instrument ensemble will also perform on the Music From the Western Reserve series in Hudson Sunday at 5.

Saturday evening includes a Baldwin Wallace alumna recital by soprano Jennifer Rowley, a Cleveland Jazz Orchestra performance at the Maltz featuring trumpeter and vocalist Bria Skonberg, an Oberlin Jazz Ensemble concert, a Canton Symphony Pops concert with the Labra Brothers, and the third of four performances of Britten’s Albert Herring by Oberlin Opera Theater (final performance on Sunday afternoon).

The Verona Quartet will play on the Wooster Chamber Music Series Sunday afternoon, and other performances include the Contemporary Youth Orchestra (with Tri-C Film Academy),  and vocalists and cellists on the Sounds of St. James series in Lakewood. [Read more…]

DIARY: Friday, November 3, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Four events at 7 pm: Cleveland Jazz Orchestra plays at BLU Jazz+ in Akron, The Gesualdo Six (pictured) from the U.K. sing at Christ Presbyterian in  Canton, Les Délices celebrates the release of two new CDs at Waterloo Arts & the Baldwin Wallace Symphonic Wind Ensemble plays Clint Needham’s “Liturgy” in Gamble Auditorium.

The Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble performs in Warner Concert Hall  at 7:30, and at 8, Oberlin Opera Theater continues a four-performance run of Benjamin Britten’s comic opera, Albert Herring, in Hall Auditorium. Read a preview here.

For details of these and other events, visit our Concert Listings. [Read more…]

Oberlin Opera to return to Britten’s only comic title (or is it really?)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Oberlin Opera Theater produced memorable performances of Benjamin Britten’s only comic opera in March of 2014 (pictured). Albert Herring returns to the stage of Hall Auditorium this week for performances from Thursday evening, November 2 through Sunday afternoon, November 5 with a new stage director, a new conductor, and — thanks to the regular turnover of student populations — a pair of new casts. (Click here for tickets.)

Populated with stock British characters who might have stepped right out of an Agatha Christie novel, Britten’s three-acter was adapted by librettist Eric Crozier from Madame Husson’s Rosier, a story by Guy de Maupassant, and relocated from France to Suffolk. The opera debuted in 1947 at Glyndebourne in front of audiences who were grateful for some comic relief after the long slog of World War II.

Here’s what happens.

As the curtain rises, the fictional village of Loxford is in a tizzy because none of the candidates for May Queen measure up to the formidable Lady Billow’s exacting moral standards. As a compromise, the village committee decides to switch to a May King and nominates Albert Herring, son of a widowed greengrocer whose apron strings have kept him so tightly bound that he’s oblivious to temptation. [Read more…]

Rocky River Chamber Music Society: a conversation with cellist Keith Robinson

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by Mike Telin

While it is common to discover that a trio of musicians all attended the same conservatory or university, it is not so common to discover that the trio all attended the same high school. “Hyunsoon and I were in high school together at the North Carolina School of the Arts,” cellist Keith Robinson said during a recent phone call. “In fact, Dan went there too.”

On Monday, November 6 at 7:30 pm at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, Robinson will be joined by pianist Hyunsoon Whang and clarinetist Daniel McKelway in a concert that includes Samuel Barber’s Cello Sonata in c, Sergei Prokofiev’s Cello Sonata in C, and Johannes Brahms’ Intermezzo in A, Op. 118, No. 2 as well as his Clarinet Trio. The free concert is part of the Rocky River Chamber Music Society series. Click here for the livestream.

Robinson, who is a founding member of the Miami String Quartet, noted that Monday’s concert will be his debut performance of the Prokofiev Sonata. “Hyunsoon and I have played the Barber and Rachmaninoff sonatas together and we were thinking about doing the same. Then we said, ‘Wait, let’s learn a new piece’ — it just makes it interesting for us.”

The cellist said that he has found the Prokofiev to be “really enchanting,” and that it complements Barber quite well. “They’re pretty close in age — Barber wrote his in 1932 and Prokofiev was in the late ‘40s. The Barber is dark and brooding, and the Prokofiev can be pretty funny at times. You can tell the Barber is heavily influenced by Brahms, and because it’s in the key of c-minor, it is dark.”

[Read more…]

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