by Daniel Hathaway

R.I.P. Michel Debost

Oberlin College and Conservatory have announced the passing of Michel Debost, the internationally celebrated flutist who taught at Oberlin from 1989 until his retirement in 2011. He died on May 2 in his native France at the age of 92.

“He was the longtime principal flutist of the Orchestre de Paris from its founding in 1967 until 1989, a legendary soloist, and a revered professor at the Paris Conservatory, where he succeeded fellow luminary Jean-Pierre Rampal. He recorded a wealth of flute repertoire for EMI and a variety of other labels.”

HAPPENING TODAY:

Tonight at 7:30 at Severance Music Center, Franz Welser-Möst leads The Cleveland Orchestra in Sergei Prokofiev’s First Symphony, the U.S. premiere of Olga Neuwirth’s Zones of Blue with clarinetist Jörg Widmann, and excerpts from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

On May 7, 1747, Johann Sebastian Bach paid a visit to King Frederick II (“The Great”) of Prussia at his palace in Potsdam — where his son Carl Philipp Emanuel was a court musician. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

At 12 noon, Trinity Cathedral Brownbag Concerts presents Edward Vogel, baritone (pictured) with Jenny Parker, piano, in Palace in the Wild: Journeys in British Art Song.

At 7 pm, The Stars of Summer Masters presents Beyond the Notes: Two Sonatas, Seven Portraits, with violinist Emilio Llinas, and pianist Halida Dinova in Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

And at 7:30, Timothy Weiss conducts the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble in music by Steven Mackey, Brian Raphael Nabors, and Melinda Wagner and premieres of works by Soomin Kim, Isaac Santos, and Zola Saadi-Klein in Warner Concert Hall.

INTERESTING READ:

The recent uproar at the Boston Symphony over the non-renewal of music director Andris Nelsons’ contract has prompted a response from the editorial board of the Boston Globe. 

“If the BSO needs a role model, perhaps it should stop looking to LA, with its shiny new concert hall, plus its outdoor 17,000-seat Hollywood Bowl and a huge population center from which to draw patrons and donors. Instead it might look to Cleveland, which also ranks among the nation’s Big Five orchestras. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

NEWS BRIEFS:

Marlene Rosen Memorial Concert:

On Sunday evening, May 10 at 7:30, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music will host a memorial tribute concert for Marlene Rosen, who served on its voice faculty for 40 years before her passing on August 5, 2025. The event in Warner Concert Hall will feature performances and remarks by former students and colleagues, followed by a reception in Warner Lobby. Read Oberlin’s remembrance of Rosen here.

Tuesday Musical announces prize winners:

Fifteen musicians competed in the Final Round/Winners Concert of Akron’s Tuesday Musical 2026 Scholarship Competition in Guzzetta Recital Hall at the University of Akron on Sunday afternoon, May 3. First prize of $2,000 went to flutist Dylan Masariego, a master’s degree student at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and second prize of $1,000 was won by classical guitarist Solis Dornan, a student at Oberlin Conservatory. Violinist Christoforos Petridis, also an Oberlin student, claimed the People’s Choice Award of $500. Read more here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

May 4 in classical music history marks some important beginnings that ultimately led to the modern grand piano, the phonograph record, and the international orchestral tour. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:

MAY 1 – FRIDAY

Cleveland Orchestra Family Concert. James Feddeck leads Mo Willems’s Because, a sensory-friendly concert designed for ages 7-12, with illustrations by Amber Ren and music by Jessie Montgomery. (7:30 in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, repeated on Sunday).

Oberlin Collegium Musicum. Steven Plank, director, leads the choir (pictured) in William Cornysh’s elaborate, pre-reformation polyphony from the Eton Choirbook, John Sheppard’s compline responsories, and anthems and motets by William Byrd (7:30 in Fairchild Chapel, repeated on Saturday).

MAY 2 – SATURDAY

Jörg Widmann conducts The Cleveland Orchestra in his own works plus Felix  Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony (7:30 in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center).

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra presents Rustic Reverie, Daniel Meyer, conducting, with Midori Marsh, soprano, in Canteloube’s Songs of the Auvergne, Douglas Moore’s Farm Journal, and Haydn’s Symphony No. 99 (7:30 at the Church of the Covenant in University Circle, repeated on Sunday at 3 in Morley Musical Hall in Painesville).

MAY 3 – SUNDAY

Oberlin College Choir and Musical Union with Oberlin Brass Ensemble. Gregory Ristow conducts Paul Hindemith’s Apparebit repentina dies and Joseph Jongen’s Mass (2:30 in Finney Chapel).

MAY 5 – TUESDAY

This weekend spills over into next week as Canadian virtuoso pianist Marc-André Hamelin returns to Severance Music Center for a “blockbuster recital” featuring works by Haydn, Beethoven, Weinberg, and Rachmaninoff, including the composer’s Second Piano Sonata, “the perfect vehicle for Hamelin’s astonishing technique.” (7:30 in Mandel Concert Hall).

WEEKEND ALMANAC:

Today’s honorees include Austro-Hungarian operetta composer Franz Lehár (born on April 30, 1870 in Komárom, now Komárno, Slovakia), American conductor Robert Shaw (born on this date in 1916 in Red Bluff, Iowa), and American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (who entered the world in Miami on this date in 1939). [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Three events all begin tonight at 7:30. Jörg Widmann (pictured) conducts The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Music Center in his own works plus Felix Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony. Timothy Weiss leads the Oberlin Sinfonietta with faculty soloists Alexa Still, flute, Drew Pattison, bassoon, and Martha Guth, soprano, in pieces by Stephen Jaffe, Stephen Hartke, and Katharina Mueller in Warner Concert Hall. And the Canton Symphony hosts the soul band Apostle Jones in its Divergent Sounds series at the Auricle.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Today’s honorees include Austro-Hungarian operetta composer Franz Lehár (born on April 30, 1870 in Komárom, now Komárno, Slovakia), American conductor Robert Shaw (born on this date in 1916 in Red Bluff, Iowa), and American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (who entered the world in Miami on this date in 1939). [Read more…]