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Ars Organi at St. Paul’s, Cleveland Heights: two recitals by Jaroslav Tůma (Sep. 15 & 16)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Tuma-JaroslavKarel Paukert invited his longtime friend and fellow Czech organist Jaroslav Tůma to open his ambitious Ars Organi series at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights with two recitals last weekend. The purpose of the seven-event festival is to celebrate the church’s music program and its distinguished collection of keyboard instruments. On Friday evening, September 15, Tůma took each of those four instruments out for a spin, and on Saturday afternoon, September 16, demonstrated his command of the art of improvisation in an hour-long program of symphonic scope. [Read more…]

Paukert plans Ars Organi to celebrate music program at St. Paul’s, Cleveland Hts.

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by Daniel Hathaway

PAUKERT-KarelBoth during his tenure as curator of musical arts at the Cleveland Museum of Art (1974-2004), and since 1979 as organist at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights, Karel Paukert has combined unerring musical taste with an uncanny ability to acquire splendid keyboard instruments. The three organs and harpsichord owned by St. Paul’s will be the subject of Ars Organi, a seven-event festival beginning on September 15 that matches the instruments with the particular interests of some of Paukert’s colleagues, friends, and students.

“I don’t want to say this is my swan song,” Paukert said in a telephone conversation,  “but I want to pay homage to St. Paul’s Church and its generous donors with this festival. They have maintained this music program all the way back to Walter Blodgett, who was kind of a legend here.”

St. Paul’s Church moved to the Heights from 40th and Euclid in 1928, but the Great Depression and World War II delayed its building plans beyond the construction of a parish hall until 1952. [Read more…]

Write for ClevelandClassical.com

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by Daniel Hathaway

WritingCatOur editorial team is always looking for fresh writing talent. If you know and love classical music and enjoy putting words on paper (or electrons on a screen), we’d be delighted to hear from you. Let us know something about your background in music, your writing experience, your particular expertise and interests, and tell us if you belong to any performing groups which might present a conflict of interest. We’re especially interested in writers who would like to cover chamber music, choral music, new music, and crossover forms. Please reply by email to the editor, Daniel Hathaway, or the executive editor, Mike Telin. We look forward to talking with you!

Credo brings The Cleveland Orchestra, CIM & Oberlin Conservatory together for Hurricane Harvey Benefit September 8

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by Daniel Hathaway

HelpAfterHarvey_Sept8_SeveranceMembers of The Cleveland Orchestra will join Credo Music, as well as students from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory for “Help After Harvey: an American Red Cross Benefit Concert” on Friday, September 8 at 7:00 pm in Severance Hall. Former Cleveland Orchestra Assistant Conductor and Oberlin graduate James Feddeck will conduct.

All seats are $20 ($10 for students), and all proceeds will benefit the American Red Cross for disaster relief services related to Hurricane Harvey. Reserve seats online or call the Severance Hall Box Office at 216.231.1111.

Executive Director Henry Peyrebrune said that the idea of a benefit concert originated in a Credo staff meeting a week ago. “We thought we should do something for the people of Houston. What if we organized a concert?” [Read more…]

“Five at Five” recital marks organist Dexter Kennedy’s return from Europe

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by Daniel Hathaway

Mueller-Organ-St-BavoAfter a whirlwind, six-week, ten-recital European tour that also included weeklong choral residencies at Westminster Abbey and Salisbury Cathedral, organist Dexter Kennedy is back at work as assistant organist at Christ Church in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, organ instructor at the College of Wooster, and guest organ teacher at his alma mater, the Oberlin Conservatory. On top of that, one of his first recitals of the season will open the “Five at Five” concert series at Akron’s Westminster Presbyterian Church on Sunday, September 10 at 5:00 pm.

Kennedy’s eclectic program on the church’s American classic-style Schantz organ will include Georg Böhm’s Praeludium in C, J.S. Bach’s Concerto in d after Vivaldi, BWV 596, Jehan Alain’s Première and Deuxième Fantaisies, Gabriel Pierné’s Trois Pièces pour Grand Orgue à Pédales, Op. 29, Ethel Smyth’s Choralvorspiel und fuge über O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid, and Maurice Duruflé’s “Toccata” (from the Suite, Op. 5). [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom with Cristian Măcelaru & Augustin Hadelich (Aug. 26)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Blossom-Lawn-082617Anyone who’s still roasting that old canard about the elitism of classical music should have witnessed the scene at Blossom on Saturday evening, August 26. The immense crowd that gathered on the lawn and in the pavilion had turned out to hear The Cleveland Orchestra doing what it does best — playing great works in the orchestral repertoire with depth and brilliance, on this occasion under the Romanian-born guest conductor Cristian Măcelaru and with the German-Italian violinist Augustin Hadelich. [Read more…]

Save the dates for September’s early season openers & special events

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by Daniel Hathaway

hradetzky_usa_oh_cleveland_st_paulsAfter the gradual spinning down of the summer concert season, September can sneak up on you. Here’s a list of early season openers and one-off events that Northeast Ohio music lovers should be sure to jot down in their calendars.

Ars Organi at St. Paul’s, Cleveland Heights

Organist Karel Paukert has created a festival to celebrate the collection of organs (and a harpsichord) that grace the music program at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights. The seven events in “Ars Organi” between September 15 and October 1 will feature the Walter Holtkamp Sr. instrument as well as the Vladimir Slajch chamber organ, the Gerhard Hradetzky Italian Baroque organ, and the Matthias Griewisch harpsichord — a fleet of keyboard instruments any church would be delighted to have at its disposal.

Performers include Prague organist Jaroslav Tuma (right) on Friday, September 15 at 7:30 jaroslav_tumapm and Saturday, September 16 at 4:00 pm (featuring his paraphrase of Smetana’s My Country); Oberlin professor James David Christie with members of Oberlin’s Collegium Musicum on Tuesday, September 19 at 7:30 pm; and University of Kansas professor James Higdon in a lecture and masterclass on Jehan Alain on Saturday, September 23 at 2:00 pm and a recital of Alain’s works on Sunday, September 24 at 4:00 pm. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom with Fabien Gabel & Juho Pohjonen (Aug. 19)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Pohjonen-GabelThe promotional material for The Cleveland Orchestra’s program on Saturday, August 19 may have shouted “Bolero!,” but a brilliant performance by Finnish pianist Juho Pohjonen of Sergei Prokoviev’s brash first concerto — presided over by French guest conductor Fabien Gabel — was the true headliner on this perfect summer evening at the Blossom Music Center. [Read more…]

Cleveland Philharmonic seeks concertmaster

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The Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra is holding concertmaster auditions for the 2017/2018 concert season.  General requirements include being able to lead as principal violinist, ability to interpret the Music Director’s ideas to the entire orchestra, and attend all rehearsals and performances. The role is a paid contract position within the orchestra. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra Summers@Severance with Mälkki & Chamayou (July 28)

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by Daniel Hathaway

MalkkiProving that concerts don’t need to be two hours long to be completely satisfying, Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki, French pianist Bertrand Chamayou, and The Cleveland Orchestra delighted a large crowd at the second Summers@Severance concert on Friday, July 28 with one concerto and one symphony. [Read more…]

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