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DIARY: Thursday, August 10, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

6:30 pm – Canton Symphony Summer Serenades present a string quartet concert at Quail Hollow Park in Hartville. It’s free. Click here to visit the Concert Listings page for information about coming events.

NEWS BRIEFS:

Among the winners of the 2023 Cleveland Arts Prize is Oberlin Conservatory associate professor and bassoonist Dana Jessen. CAP winners will be honored at an October 26 awards event at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Read the story in Cleveland Magazine here.

Canton Symphony single tickets will go on sale August 15. Details here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

On the 10th of August, Michael Haydn (brother of Joseph) died in Salzburg in 1806, Russian composer Alexander Glazunov was born in St. Petersburg in 1865, French organist Marie-Claire Alain (sister of composer Jehan) was born in St. Germain-en-Laye in 1926, and American-Mexican composer Conlon Nancarrow (known for his player piano works) died in Mexico City in 1997. [Read more…]

DIARY: Wednesday, August 9, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

There are no performances on the calendar for August 9. Click here to visit the Concert Listings page for information about coming events.

SEMI-INTERESTING READ:

A review by David Allen in today’s print edition of The New York Times reports on Bard College’s current two-week festival devoted to a re-evaluation of the legacy of Ralph Vaughan Williams (pictured). Devotees of the British composer, who died in 1958, may have issues with Leon Botstein’s choice of repertory and the author’s conclusions. Read At Bard, a Festival Argues for the Music of Vaughan Williams here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

By Jarrett Hoffman

Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi passed away on August 9, 1988 in Rome, leaving behind a fascinating catalog of works that still sound quite fresh. [Read more…]

Cooper Piano Competition: Final Round with The Cleveland Orchestra (Aug. 4)

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by Daniel Hathaway

The winners with the Coopers and Oberlin Conservatory Dean William Quillen

Thanks to our not-so-friendly coronavirus, the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Piano Competition has been on hiatus for five years. It returned, fresh and energized, last week in Oberlin and Cleveland, fielding what many considered the most impressive group of young pianists in the history of the contest — which was inaugurated in 2010.

The week began with nineteen competitors who had made it to the semifinals in Oberlin. Three remained after the piano-with-piano concerto round on Wednesday and would go on to play concertos with David Robertson and The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Music Center on Friday evening.

Although the Friday event was a competition round, it could have stood alone as a memorable concert experience. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra partners with pianist Conrad Tao for a sublime, noteworthy performance of John Adams’ ‘Century Rolls’ (Aug 5)

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This article was originally published on Cleveland.com  

by Daniel Hathaway

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — If Conrad Tao and The Cleveland Orchestra were being paid by the note for their mind-boggling performance of John Adams’ “Century Rolls” at Blossom Music Center on Saturday evening, the Musical Arts Association might well have flirted with bankruptcy.

The centerpiece of a program that included Sarah Kirkland Snider’s “Something for the Dark” and Jan Sibelius’s “First Symphony,” Adams’ 1997 work was inspired by the 20th-century technology that fueled player pianos and other musical devices, from street organs to mechanically bowed violins.

Slots punched onto long rolls of heavy paper fed through a playing mechanism, pneumatically activating levers that produced notes. While pianists have only ten digits at their disposal, you can punch as many slots into a paper roll as you have notes to play them, and superhuman feats become possible.

Not only possible but astonishing in such a live performance by human musicians as this one — perfectly coordinated by the cool-headed conductor David Robertson. [Read more…]

DIARY: Tuesday, August 8, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

There are no performances on the calendar for August 8. Click here to visit the Concert Listings page for information about coming events.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra has openings for all strings sections and for substitute players on woodwind and brass instruments. Interested players should email personnel manager Tren Cheshier to arrange an audition time over the next 30 to 45 days.

The Canton Symphony invites visual artists to apply for its Artist in Residence  program, which gives Northeast Ohio artists a chance to have pieces commissioned by a professional orchestra while also creating a visually engaging experience for its audiences in the CSO gallery. Applications are due by August 21. More information here. [Read more…]

DIARY: Monday, August 7, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Today from 2-4pm, WRUW airs Eric Charnofsky’s weekly broadcast, Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music. Today’s edition spotlights Karel Husa’s Five Poems (woodwind quintet), Albert Glinsky’s Toccata-Scherzo (violin and piano), Bohuslav Martinů’s Symphony No. 4, Maurice Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin (arr. for brass quintet), Julia Wolfe’s Oxygen, for 12 flutes & Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Three Russian Songs for Chorus and Orchestra. Click here to listen to the internet feed: or tune in to 91.1 FM in the greater Cleveland area.

Click here to visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings page for more information.

NEWS BRIEFS:

Cleveland Chamber Choir will present three pairs of concerts next season, led by its recently-named artistic director Gregory Ristow. Read a press release here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Czech-American composer Karel Husa (pictured above) was born in Prague on August 7, 1921. [Read more…]

Two share top prize at the 2023 Cooper International Piano Competition

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from an Oberlin Conservatory news report
by Shelly Rasmussen

History was made this evening as Pyotr Akulov and Sophia Shuya Liu were both named champions for the Cooper International Competition for Piano. (Photo by Yevhen Gulenko.)

For the first time in the history of the Cooper Competition for Piano, the top prize was awarded to two participants. Pyotr Akulov and Sophia Shuya Liu were named co-champions following the Concerto Concert with The Cleveland Orchestra Friday evening.

Akulov opened the concert performing Liszt’s Concerto No. 1 in E-flat. Liu followed next, performing Saint-Saëns’ Concerto No. 2 in g. Second place winner Taige Wang ended the concert with a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

All three finalists performed with The Cleveland Orchestra, under the direction of David Robertson. [Read more…]

DIARY: Weekend, August 4-6, 2023

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By Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

The Cooper International Piano Competition final round takes place on Friday at 7:30 at Severance Music Center, when the three remaining contestants (pictured) will perform concertos with The Cleveland Orchestra, David Robertson, conducting. Tickets are available online, where you can also link to a live stream.

On Saturday, the Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra will join David Robertson & The Cleveland Orchestra in a 7 pm side-by-side concert at Blossom Music Center, featuring pianist Conrad Tao in John Adams’ Century Rolls. That will be preceded by a 6 pm prelude concert by the Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Reith, conducting. The two ensembles will combine for Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Something for the Dark & Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1.

And on Saturday at 8 pm at Convivium 33 Gallery, the Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project (CUSP) will present a concert by keyboardist Eli Wallace, who specializes in improvised music for the prepared piano.

Click here to visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings page for more information. [Read more…]

Cooper International Piano Competition: Seven Perform in Concerto Round (Aug. 2)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Andrew Sijie Li, 15, from Boston, Canada & Hong Kong, led off the Wednesday afternoon piano-with-piano session with an assured performance of Beethoven’s Concerto No. 3 in c. The opening movement was grand, the slow movement had a lovely vocal quality, and he kept in close contact with his collaborator Annie Lin. [Read more…]

Cooper International Piano Competition: Three to Play with The Cleveland Orchestra

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from an Oberlin Conservatory news report
by Shelly Rasmussen

The three days of semi-final performances that have taken place in Warner Concert Hall culminated Wednesday evening in the selection of three pianists chosen to move on to the Concerto Finals at Severance Hall on Friday evening. (Photo with the jury by Adan Caldera Quintero.)

Pyotr Akulov, (16), of Moscow, Russia, Sophia Shuya Liu, (14), of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and Taige Wang, (13), of New York, New York, United States have advanced to the Concerto Finals.

On Friday, each finalist will perform with the Cleveland Orchestra, under the direction of David Robertson. The Concerto Finals will also be available via livestream. The concert will feature Liu performing Saint-Saëns’ Concerto No. 2 in g, Op. 22, Wang performing Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, and Akulov performing Liszt’s Concerto No. 1 in E-flat, S. 124. [Read more…]

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