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Archives for July 2024

Béla Fleck and Cleveland Orchestra wow Blossom Music Center with Rhapsody in Blue (July 6)

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by Kevin McLaughlin
This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — Appearing with the Cleveland Orchestra on Saturday evening July 6, Béla Fleck surprised the Blossom Music Center crowd not so much by the level of his playing — virtuosic as always — but by how well he adapted the solo piano part for the banjo in his transcription of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

His reworkings succeeded so well that the piece seemed not just suitable for the banjo but actually conceived for it.

With a reputation that preceded him — his 18 Grammys acknowledge his mastery of every genre from bluegrass to classical —the audience warmed to Fleck immediately and continued to lavish their attention on his playing, eager to hear what magic might happen next. [Read more…]

Divas reign at Tri-C JazzFest (June 21 & 22)

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by Peter Feher

The divas didn’t have to share the stage at Tri-C JazzFest this year. After a 2023 lineup that saw star singers paired with other performers or as part of larger projects, this summer’s schedule put the spotlight back on solo acts.

Creative freedom reigned in headlining sets by Cécile McLorin Salvant and Ledisi — two very different artists who could only come together here, under the big tent that is jazz. Both vocalists have a singular sensibility that somewhat transcends the limits of genre, although that’s where the similarities end. [Read more…]

Steven Daigle previews Ohio Light Opera July openers

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by Mike Telin

Now that the Ohio Light Opera is just past the midpoint of its 2024 season, there are still two titles to add to its repertoire. Franz Lehár’s The Count of Luxembourg opens on Thursday, July 11 at 2:00 pm, and the curtain rises on Lionel Monckton’s and Howard Talbot’s The Arcadians on Thursday, July 18 at the same hour. Both are staged by OLO’s artistic director Steven Daigle and will be conducted by Wilson Southerland.

“I always gravitate to operettas,” Daigle said during a telephone interview earlier this summer. “I think it’s because when I started here at OLO, my first show was Emmerich Kálmán’s The Gypsy Princess. Because of my background in directing opera and as an educator dealing mostly with classical music, it really represents the diffusion of all things wonderful about lyric theater.”

[Read more…]

Imani Winds captivate in Kent Blossom debut (July 3)

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by Stephanie Manning

Given Imani Winds’ active touring schedule, it’s not unusual to see the group revisit the same part of the U.S. within a few months. So while it might feel like the wind quintet was just here for their March performance in Oberlin, July 3 saw them return to Northeast Ohio to appear on the Kent Blossom Music Festival’s Faculty Concert Series in Ludwig Recital Hall. Thankfully, this proximity was no issue — Imani is a group worth hearing again and again.

The evening’s program, “Black and Brown II: A Celebration of Composers of Color,” was understandably similar to the one from March, although not without some notable changes. [Read more…]

DIARY: Wednesday, July 10, 2024

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by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

At 12:15 Noon, organist Florence Mustric will play Pachelbel and music by Americans Samuel Barber, Derek Healey, and Charles Ives on the Beckerath organ in Ohio City’s Trinity Lutheran Church, and Ohio Light Opera presents a 2 pm matinee performance of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Gondoliers at the College of Wooster.

Weather forecasts have forced a venue change for the Cleveland Museum of Art’s 7:30 City Stages concert by Pahua (Mexico), which now moves to the Museum’s Atrium.

And at 7:30 the Poiesis Quartet (pictured) will play the third Kent/Blossom Faculty Concert in Ludwig Recital Hall at Kent State, surrounding Johannes Brahms’ Third Quartet with contemporary works by Kevin Lau, Joe Hisaischi & Eleanor Alberga. Read a preview here.

For details of upcoming concerts, visit our Concert Listings page.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

The League of American Orchestras writes, “This summer, YMCA of the Rockies will host the inaugural Arts at Altitude Music Festival featuring the renowned Cleveland Pops Orchestra, led by founding conductor, Carl Topilow. [Read more…]

Backstage at Ohio Light Opera: it’s a team effort

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by Mike Telin & Daniel Hathaway

Over the years, we have written many previews and reviews of Ohio Light Opera productions. But we’ve never taken the opportunity to sit and chat with a selection of company members who represent the many areas of expertise needed to mount six productions in repertory.

We asked OLO artistic director Steven Daigle to suggest a group of colleagues who would be willing to participate in an informal roundtable discussion about how all the moving parts come together for a summer of lyrical theater.

After seeing the second performance of Guys and Dolls on June 12, we returned to Freedlander Theatre later that evening to meet up with music director Michael Borowitz, choreographer, director & cast member Spencer Reese, returning cast member Maggie Langhorne, first-summer cast member Kate Bilenko, and assistant production manager & scenic designer Daniel Hobbs.

[Read more…]

Conductor Oksana Lyniv to make Cleveland Orchestra debut

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by Mike Telin

Conductor Oksana Lyniv has been riding a wave of firsts during the past few years. In July 2021, she became the first woman to lead a performance at the Bayreuth Festival. In 2022, she became music director of the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Italy, the first woman to serve in that position. And this past February, she became the first Ukrainian to conduct at the Metropolitan Opera.

This week, Lyniv will continue her string of firsts when she makes her Cleveland Orchestra debut on Thursday, July 11 at 7:00 pm at Severance Music Center. The program, which is part of the Summers at Severance series, includes Leoš Janáček’s Suite from The Cunning Little Vixen, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Inon Barnatan as soloist, Borys Lyatoshynsky’s Grazhyna, and Igor Stravinsky’s Suite from The Firebird. Tickets are available online.

[Read more…]

Kent Blossom faculty concerts continue with Poiesis Quartet

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by Daniel Hathaway

The Poiesis Quartet, founded during Oberlin Conservatory’s Advanced Quartet Seminar program in fall 2022, has been on an award-winning roll beginning with the Grand Prize in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition (2023) as well as Fischoff’s Senior Strings Gold Medal and the Lift Every Voice prizes, and the Gold Medal and BIPOC Prize at the 2023 St. Paul String Quartet Competition.

Most recently, they won the Louis & Susan Meisel Competition, which put them on the Concert Artists Guild roster for management in North America.

The Quartet — violinists Sarah Ma & Max Ball, violist Jasper de Boor & cellist Drew Dansby — have also been appointed to the faculty of the Kent Blossom Music Festival, and will hold master classes and give a 7:30 recital on Wednesday, July 10 in Ludwig Recital Hall at Kent State University. [Read more…]

DIARY: Tuesday, July 9, 2024

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by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

At 2:00 pm The Ohio Light Opera presents Guys and Dolls — Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser — in Freedlander Theatre at the College of Wooster. Tickets are available online.

For details of upcoming concerts, visit our Concert Listings page.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

Bartók is a new digital release by The Cleveland Orchestra under music director Franz Welser-Möst, recorded at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center. The new album features two works by the Hungarian composer: his String Quartet No. 3 (arranged for string orchestra by Cleveland Orchestra assistant principal viola Stanley Konopka), and his Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin.

Stream and download the album here. Access the digital booklet here.

NEWS BRIEF:

In a historic event, two girls from St. Paul’s Cathedral School formally joined London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir for the first time in its 900-year history. Read the Violin Channel story here. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra revives Summers at Severance series

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by Stephanie Manning

Four years on from pandemic disruptions, some ensembles are still working on returning to 100% of their pre-2020 programming. Case in point from this summer: The Cleveland Orchestra, which is reviving its Summers at Severance series for the first time in five years.

“As we’ve been coming back to ‘normal,’ there is definitely an appetite for more of our classical offerings during the summer,” artistic administrator Michael Gandlmayr said in a recent interview. While the Orchestra’s home at this time of year is unquestionably Blossom Music Center, performing a few times at Severance Music Center gives audiences more options to enjoy their programming. “It’s also a great opportunity for us to see some new and returning faces, both on the podium as well as soloists.”

[Read more…]

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