by Mike Telin
During the past fifty years, The Cleveland Composers Guild, (CCG) one of the nation’s oldest new music organizations, has established an impressive record of supporting contemporary music. On Sunday, March 17 at 3:00 pm in Gamble Auditorium at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, CCG joins forces with the renowned Solaris Wind Quintet in a concert featuring works by CCG members.
In recent years the Guild has collaborated with the Cleveland Ballet, the Poets’ and Writers’ League of Greater Cleveland (now called The Lit), the Rocky River Chamber Music Society, and the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society. “One of several groups that was under consideration to approach about showcasing compositions by guild members’ music was Solaris,” says Cleveland Composers Guild president David Gooding. “In fact they were very high on our list so we contacted them, and they were interested.”
Sunday’s concert includes Mary Ann Griebling’s El Amor Para Le Tango, Margi Griebling-Haigh’s Casse–tête, William Rayer’s Dirac, Jeffrey Quick’s Light and Variable Winds, 20 mph & Jeffrey Mumford’s the play of intervening objects. “There is a nice variety of music and I’m sure it’s going to be a good program.”
Guild members were asked to submit compositions to Solaris who then chose the works to be performed on the program. “Pieces performed on CCG concerts are chosen by a submission committee, and we try to spread things around as evenly as possible amongst the members.” But Gooding points out that when CCG enters into a joint program such as this, “the other half is given an opportunity to select from the submitted works.”
Since its formation in 1976 as ensemble in residence at the University of Akron, Solaris has established a reputation as one of the foremost woodwind quintets in the United States. In addition to their regular concert series at the University of Akron, Solaris has toured Italy, Brazil, Sweden and the United States.
Their concerts in the Northeast Ohio area have included Music from Stan Hywet, the Wayne Center for the Arts, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Composers Guild, the Rocky River Chamber Series, Malone College, the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, the Cleveland Institute of Music, Severance Hall, and appearances on public television station WNEO/WEAO and NPR affiliate WCPN in Cleveland.
Published on ClevelandClassical March 12, 2013.
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