by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Today: The Cleveland Orchestra, Apollo’s Fire, the U4U Band from Ukraine, Oberlin PI Ensembles, and the Oberlin College Choir and Chamber Singers
•Announcements: Blossom Festival Chorus auditions, Firelands School of Music teaching openings, and an event for artists to up their business knowledge
•Almanac: the forward-thinking electronic music of Ruth Anderson
HAPPENING TODAY:
You have five options, all at 7:30 pm.
Dalia Stasevska leads The Cleveland Orchestra in music by Jean Sibelius, Einojuhani Rautavaara, and Julia Perry, with mezzo-soprano Josefina Maldonado featured as soloist. Read an interview with Maldonado here.
Apollo’s Fire continues its musical voyage from Spain to the Americas with a program at St. Rocco Parish that will feature Sophia Burgos, soprano, and Jeremías García, flamenco guitarist and singer. Read an interview with Burgos here.
The U4U Band — whose members all came to the U.S. after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, and who have a passion for modern world music blended with Ukrainian culture — will give a performance at the Maltz Performing Arts Center.
Ensembles in Oberlin Conservatory’s PI program (Performance and Improvisation) will be joined by saxophonist, pianist, and composer Edmar Colón (pictured) at the Cat in the Cream Coffeehouse (free).
And the Oberlin College Choir and Oberlin Chamber Singers, led by Gregory Ristow, will perform music by Igor Stravinsky, Jeff Scott, John Corigliano, Dominick DiOrio, Brandon Waddles, and Marc-Antoine Charpentier at Warner Concert Hall (free).
See our Concert Listings for details and tickets.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Auditions for the Blossom Festival Chorus are now being scheduled for May 29 and June 1, by appointment only. This summer, Chorus members will perform Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances” from Prince Igor under the baton of Domingo Hindoyan, and the music of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King for an in-concert screening led by Ludwig Wicki. Hope to be considered for The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus as well? Either way, click here to learn more.
The Firelands Symphony is looking for instrumental instructors to join the orchestra’s School of Music. Those interested should send an email with their resume.
And Assembly for the Arts is partnering with the Greater Cleveland Partnership’s Council of Small Enterprise for “Art at Work,” an event on Tuesday, March 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the Beachland Ballroom. Artists and creative businesses will come together with the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem, with the goal of empowering artists to increase their business knowledge and strategic thinking to grow their artistic practice. RSVP here.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
Sharing a birthday on March 21st are 19th-century Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) and — our focus today — the late American composer, flutist, and orchestrator Ruth Anderson (1928-2019).
A native of Kalispell, Montana, Anderson is best known for her forward-thinking electronic music, and for founding an electronic music studio at Hunter College, where she taught for over 20 years.
Despite her status as a pioneer in her field, there are few available recordings of Anderson’s work. One of them is the album Here, which she was putting together in the months leading up to her passing, and which was released the following year.
The album includes a sampling of her most famous works, including the 1974 sound collage SUM (State of the Union Message), a seven-minute mash-up of sound clips from TV advertisements that is simultaneously political, nonsensical, jarring, and perhaps most of all, just plain funny. That entire album is available for streaming and download on Bandcamp.
To learn more about Anderson, ready her obituary in The New York Times.
Anderson photo by Manny Albam.