by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY

Tonight at 6 pm, Piano Cleveland Live presents Spencer Myer, Chu-Fang Huang, Daria Rabotkina, and Dongni Xie, the members of the preliminary jury for The Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists, in recital at Sapphire Creek Winery & Gardens.

And at 7:30, ENCORE Chamber Music Institute presents Trio Seoul (pictured, Jinjoo Cho, violin, Brannon Cho, cello, and Kyu Yeon Kim, piano) in music by Joseph Haydn, Juri Seo, Franz Liszt, and Maurice Ravel at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

INTERESTING READ:

Can the American Oboe Sing Again?

“Building the instrument is hard enough. Turning a profit is a killer. But Jim Phelan is bent on reviving one of the great names in classical music. Read the NY Times story here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

This edition of the Almanac complements today’s Interesting Read topic of …interesting reeds.

Several sources claim that the clarinet was invented by the German woodwind maker Johann Christoph Denner on this date in 1690 in Nürnberg. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

IN THE NEWS:

The Cleveland Orchestra welcomes three musicians to its roster. Gareth Zehngut, who has been a section violist with The Cleveland Orchestra since 2022, was appointed First Assistant Principal Viola and began the role in October. The Orchestra also welcomes Catherine Van Handel as Assistant Principal Bassoon, beginning in January 2026, and Sean Juhl as a section violist, beginning in May 2026. Read the press release here.

The Canton Symphony Orchestra Chorus invites singers to audition and become part of a welcoming, collaborative musical community. “To request an audition or attend an open rehearsal, please click here to fill out a form and we’ll be in touch.”

Akron’s Tuesday Musical is offering $10 off the ticket prices for certain upcoming performances. Read about the offer, which expires on January 14 here.

Cleveland.com reports that a nonprofit made up of supporters and former staff of Cleveland State University’s student radio station sued the university, President Laura Bloomberg and the school’s board of trustees on Monday. “The suit argues the station’s transfer to Ideastream is a violation of free speech, open government and property rights.” The switch “shocked students and loyal listeners Oct. 3, when the station suddenly started playing smooth jazz.”

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

by Mike Telin

According to the website Angel Number, the number 13 represents the combined energy of the numbers 1 and 3. It is a number with very strong symbolism and has great power.

The number 13 is a karmic number. If the power of this number is used for selfish reasons, this number can bring disaster and destruction to the person who misused its power, causing this person illness and disease. It is the fear of disaster and destruction that causes Triskaidekaphobia — the fear or avoidance of the number 13.

In honor of this date we’ve created a playlist of 13 works that contain the number 13 in the title. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

ARTICLE LINKS:

Washington National Opera Is Leaving the Kennedy Center (NY Times)

In Memoriam: Remembering the Extraordinary Artists We lost in 2025 (The Violin Channel)

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

by Mike Telin

Today marks the passing of American composer and conductor Arthur Shepherd (pictured) in 1958 in Cleveland. Born in Idaho on February 19, 1880, Shepherd entered the New England Conservatory at age 12 and upon graduation moved to Salt Lake City, leading a local orchestra for six years. He would later accept a teaching position at his alma mater. After serving as a bandmaster during World War I, at the invitation of Nikolai Sokoloff he was appointed The Cleveland Orchestra’s assistant conductor and program book editor. His tenure with the Orchestra lasted from 1920 until 1928. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:

On Thursday at 7 pm, No Exit & Zeitgeist’s “An Evocation of Our Current Time” will premiere at Cleveland’s Trinity Cathedral, and will travel on Friday to SPACES and on Saturday to Heights Arts.

On Thursday at 7:30, The Cleveland Orchestra will play Wolfgang Amadé Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11, which have been subtitled “the Jupiter” and “The Year 1905” respectively. Read the program notes here to find out why. The program will be repeated on Friday and Saturday.

On Saturday at 1 pm, the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series will feature Vincenzo Bellini’s I Puritani in a number of local theaters, conducted by Marco Armiliato, with Lisette Oropesa, soprano, Lawrence Brownlee, tenor, Artur Ruciński, baritone, and Christian Van Horn, bass-baritone.

On Sunday at 4 pm, organist Kevin Jones will continue the long-standing January tradition of a complete performance of Olivier Messiaen’s La Nativité on the Holtkamp organ at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, in Cleveland Heights.

The weekend will conclude on Sunday at 7 pm in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center with another long-standing tradition: The Cleveland Orchestra’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Concert. This edition will be led by Taichi Fukumura, and features Latonia Moore, soprano, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Chorus.

For details of these and other classical events, visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings.

TODAY’S FEATURED ARTICLES:

Terence Blanchard to curate The Cleveland Orchestra’s fourth annual Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival May 15–24 (Orchestra Press Release)

Piano Cleveland to present Concerts Around Town (Web Page)

Semyon Bychkov Appointed Music Director of Paris National Opera (The Violin Channel)

Béla Fleck cancels Kennedy Center shows (NY Times) [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

12:00 Noon – Trinity Cathedral Brownbag Concert. The Horizon Trio (Garrett Folger, trumpet & composer, Carmen Castaldi, drums & Anthony Fuoco, piano). Jazz at Trinity Cathedral.

TODAY’S HEADLINES (from Arts Journal):

Corporation or Public Broadcasting Has Officially Dissolved (The Guardian)

Ultimately, NPR Will Be Okay, Says Ari Shapiro (Substack)

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

French composer Francis Poulenc (pictured) was born on this date in 1899, making January 7 a good occasion to revisit his Flute Sonata. Demarre McGill plays it here with pianist Michael McHale, but you can simultaneously raise a glass to a second musician, Jean-Pierre Rampal, born on this date in 1922, with a performance of the work he recorded with pianist Robert Veyron-Lacroix.

His Gloria exemplifies his compositional style, aptly described by a YouTube commentator: “His ingenious ability to join the secular and the sacred, in this case, French cabaret and High liturgy is unmatched, except maybe for Mozart.” [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

Tuesday Musical announces 70th Scholarship Competition deadlines

The Violin Channel reports more Trump-Kennedy Center cancellations

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

In Western Christian communities, January 6 marks the Feast of the Epiphany or the visit of astrologers from the East to worship the infant Jesus, bringing symbolic gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The story, told only in the Gospel according to Matthew, has spawned a rich mythology and inspired multiple works of art.

Visit the YouTube playlist of 130 titles of music for the Epiphany here, including Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantata Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen, Peter Cornelius’s Die Könige, and Gian Carlo Menotti’s 1951 made-for-television opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Pierre Boulez, who died on this date in 2016, is considered one of the most — if not the most — important figures in classical music from the latter half of the 20th century. That reputation derives from all aspects of his work: composer, conductor, writer, and administrator.

Contained under that large umbrella is a decades-long relationship with The Cleveland Orchestra: his American professional debut at Severance Hall in 1965 led to more than 220 concerts with the Orchestra. He became its first principal guest conductor in 1969, served as musical advisor for two seasons after the death of George Szell in 1970, and made many recordings with the Orchestra, including five that received Grammy Awards.

Longtime principal keyboardist Joela Jones memorably described his personality in an interview in 2015 with Mike Telin, as the Orchestra prepared to celebrate Boulez’s 90th birthday: “…to me it’s amazing that somebody who is so great, so brilliant, and so gifted, could also be so humble and modest. He just makes you feel so comfortable, like you are his equal, which of course you’re not. And, if you have enough intelligence you know that.” [Read more…]

The daily Diary is on holiday and will resume on Monday, January 5.

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

7:00 pm – Apollo’s Fire: Michael Praetorius’ Christmas Vespers at Trinity Cathedral & Burning River Brass: Christmas Around the World at The Bath Church, Akron.

7:30 pm – The Cleveland Orchestra Holiday Concert in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

By some calendars, the first Saturnalia festival was held on this date in Rome in 497 BCE, just one of the ancient Winter Solstice-centered events that might have influenced modern Christmas celebrations way down the line, including such traditions as the Christmas card, the first example having been commissioned on this date in 1843 by Henry Cole, founder of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. [Read more…]