by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Today: events from OLO, ChamberFest, Tri-C JazzFest, and CIPC for Young Artists
•Announcements: Guitar Society job listings, Les Délices SalonEra deadline, and Severance restoration work
•Almanac: Pears, Mumford, Milhaud, and a Saariaho premiere
HAPPENING TODAY:
One event in the afternoon, three in the evening.
At 2:00 pm, Ohio Light Opera presents the opening matinee of No, No, Nanette at Freedlander Theatre in Wooster. At 7:30, ChamberFest Cleveland taps into “Brahms, Bagatelles, and Brews” at Forest City Brewery’s Waldorf Beer Hall (free, 18+ with ID), Tri-C JazzFest presents Angélique Kidjo and Richard Bona (pictured) with the ASANTE Trio featuring pianist Osmany Paredes and drummer ÍIario Bell at Playhouse Square, and CIPC for Young Artists begins its First Round Broadcasts (head to Beachwood Community Center beginning at 5 pm for a free Watch Party).
Tickets and other details in our Concert Listings.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The Cleveland Classical Guitar Society is looking for a Director of Education (the ideal candidate should have experience with management and music education — guitar skills are helpful but not required) and an Office Coordinator (experience with organizing digital systems). More information here.
You have until the end of June to catch any of the seven episodes of Les Délices’ SalonEra Season 3 — full video episodes disappear on July 1. (Podcast episodes, including the four special episodes on Les Délices’ 2022-23 Concert Series, will remain available on all podcast platforms.) Watch here.
And The Cleveland Orchestra announced that restoration work to the stone façade of the 92-year-old Severance Music Center has begun, and is expected to last through September.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
English tenor Peter Pears was born on this date in 1910 in Farnham. Pears was the partner of Benjamin Britten, both personally and professionally, and the composer wrote frequently with him in mind — Pears sang important roles in many Britten operas. They were also well-known for their recitals, in particular their performances of Lieder by Schubert and Schumann, and for co-founding the Britten-Pears School and the Aldeburgh Festival (along with librettist/producer/director Eric Crozier). In this video from 1968, Pears and Britten give beautiful performances of selections from Schubert’s Winterreise, in addition to discussing the work.
American composer Jeffrey Mumford came into the world on June 22, 1955 in the nation’s capital. A Distinguished Professor at Lorain County Community College, Mumford’s decorated resume includes a slew of commissions and high-profile performances, as well as awards from the American Academy of Arts & Letters, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the ASCAP Foundation.
Click here to listen to an interview with Frank J. Oteri in which they discuss Mumford’s compositional philosophies and his longtime interest in clouds as inspiration — dating back to when he planned to become a painter. And, perhaps related, click here to listen to his “through the filtering dawn of spreading daybright,” recorded by violist Eliesha Nelson and bassist Scott Dixon on the album through a stillness brightening.
And French composer Darius Milhaud died on this date in 1974. A hugely prolific member of Les Six, the group of composers known for reacting against both German romanticism and French impressionism, Milhaud created a brand of modernism characterized by an interest in polytonality and influences of jazz and Brazilian music. A great example is his 1921 set of dance suites Saudades do Brasil. Click here to listen to a performance by pianist Antonio Barbosa.
Finally, the late Kaija Saariaho’s Circle Map for orchestra and electronics was premiered by Susanna Mälkki and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on this date in 2012. As the composer wrote in her program note, texts by 13th-century poet Rumi served both as inspiration and as compositional material — read aloud as part of the work’s electronic element.
“Reading these six verses in their English translations, taking in their essence and vivid, yet simple imagery provided me with immediate inspiration. Yet, when studying the recordings of the poem we made, read in the original Persian by Arshia Cont, the abstract rhythm and musicality of the texts themselves struck me.”
Click here to watch a performance by Mälkki and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2015.