by Tom Wachunas
On one level, the January 28 concert by the Canton Symphony Orchestra, billed as “A Night in Vienna,” was unarguably a dazzling homage to Strauss family waltzes and polkas. But on quite another, it was an unprecedented occasion for some memorable shenanigans on the part of music director Gerhardt Zimmermann. [Read more…]
Since 2008, the Jubilation Church Choir Festival has celebrated the unique contribution choirs make to their communities of worship. No longer a competition, the 10th Anniversary edition of the Festival, is open to all church choirs in Northeast Ohio. [Read more…]
by Mario Buchanan, Special to ClevelandClassical.com
On December 31 the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, under the direction of Carl Topilow, performed their annual New Year’s Eve concert at Severance Hall. Above the partygoers’ heads in the Grand Foyer were two nets filled with blue and white balloons waiting to welcome the new year, and attendees were required to grab a party horn from the table for the concert. In the auditorium, “2017” was spelled out with balloons above the stage. Clearly, this was going to be a night to remember. [Read more…]
by Tom Wachunas
At one early point on the blustery evening of November 19, the opening lines of the holiday classic Let It Snow crossed my mind a few times while driving: “Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful…” We did indeed have a place to go — Umstattd Hall — and a fire to gather ‘round, provided by the Canton Symphony Orchestra. [Read more…]
by Joshua Rosner
Special to ClevelandClassical.com
Between the looming election and Cleveland’s depressing defeat in the World Series, it can become increasingly appealing to remain home away from the noise of the city. But on Sunday night, November 6, a performance by Ensemble Pa mplemousse and MocRep at the Bop Stop provided a well-needed refuge with a very different noisiness. [Read more…]
by ClevelandClassical.com Staff
The passing of Grammy-winning audio engineer and information specialist Tom Knab on September 25 at the age of 61 was devastating not only to his family and friends, but also to a long list of colleagues, artists, ensembles, and institutions with whom he worked, and who treasured his expertise in recording and post-producing their music, both for distribution and for posterity. (Read an obituary in the Case Western Reserve University Daily, where he served as Chief Information Officer in the College of Arts and Sciences.)
Erica Brenner was one of Knab’s closest colleagues in the recording industry. They first met at Telarc, when she and Tom were “off hours” editors long before that company was sold and changed its emphasis. “We often handed projects off to each other,” she said in a recent conversation. [Read more…]
by Tom Wachunas
The October 1 concert by the Canton Symphony Orchestra was billed as “You Asked For It!” Last year, concertgoers were given a list of three works in three categories from which to choose for this season’s opening program. As Music Director Gerhardt Zimmermann reminded us at evening’s start, we chose well. I’m also happy to report that Zimmermann asked his colleague, Eric Benjamin, to compose a new work for the occasion. [Read more…]
by Steven Plank
Special to ClevelandClassical.com
In a sadly pleasing strain
Let the warbling lute complain.
Alexander Pope’s memorable couplet from his Ode on St. Cecilia’s Day poetically voices the doleful propensity of the lute, and with the news of the death of Stephen Toombs on August 17, it also seems to voice the Cleveland musical community’s deep sense of loss. In his 28 years as the music librarian at Case Western Reserve University, Stephen combined a love of scholarship and the diverse sources that bring it to life with a passion for the music that was dearest to his heart: Renaissance and Baroque music for the lute.
The intertwining of these strands was deep-rooted in his training as musicologist, librarian, and lutenist, and given the high distinction of the performance practice program at the University, this meant that at his arrival there, both the school and its new librarian could rejoice in a match most felicitously made. [Read more…]
The fourth chair of The Cleveland Orchestra’s first violin section will be occupied from August 29 by newly appointed assistant concertmaster Jessica Lee. A graduate of Curtis and Juilliard, and a long-time member of the Johannes String Quartet, Lee has most recently served on the faculty at Rutgers and Vassar.