by David Kulma
On Friday, August 31 with a jam-packed lawn and many toy lightsabers, The Cleveland Orchestra’s final Blossom Music Center program with assistant conductor Vinay Parameswaran was a certifiable hit. This first of three screenings of George Lucas’s original Star Wars film with live orchestra showed off the many virtues of both John Williams’s iconic score and the Orchestra’s luxurious playing, most notably the power and grandeur of the brass. [Read more…]
by David Kulma
With the power out in Ohio City around W 25th St and Detroit Ave on Saturday night, August 11, Time Canvas gave a fascinatingly engaging — and unexpectedly unplugged and candlelit — final concert in their three-part Home Not Home series. Titled “Hip Hop and Minimalism,” this program at Historic St. John’s focused on the Black American experience represented by local emcee and mental health advocate Archie Green. The main project of the night was mashups: using classic minimalist music by four composers as the backing tracks for Green’s eloquent rapping of righteous, warranted indignation. [Read more…]
by David Kulma
Wind players take every opportunity to play Mozart, and when they are musicians at the highest level, it’s easy to come away smiling. That was the case on the Kent Blossom faculty concert on Wednesday, July 25 in Kent State’s Ludwig Recital Hall, where an array of Mozart’s works for winds made for a splendid evening.
by David Kulma
Time Canvas continued its three-part “Home Not Home” concert series on Saturday, July 7 at Historic St. John’s in Ohio City. Meditating on the music of historically displaced people, this second event focused on the tradition of 15th-century Sephardic Jews in Spain before their expulsion in 1492. The 46 songs, played by violinist Chiara Fasani and guitarist Joshua Stauffer, were arranged and dressed up as Aires de Sefarad by the late Jorge Liderman, an Argentine-American composer of Jewish descent. [Read more…]
by David Kulma
ENCORE Chamber Music’s final Sunday Unplugged concert of the summer on July 8 focused on composers of “diverse cultural backgrounds.” Its title, “Imagine No Country,” paraphrased a line from John Lennon’s peace anthem Imagine. The international music featured was by four composers: two living — American Richard Danielpour and Argentine Osvaldo Golijov, both of Jewish descent — and two deceased — Japanese Tōru Takemitsu and Romanian George Enescu. [Read more…]
by David Kulma
Cleveland Orchestra principal cellist Mark Kosower and his regular collaborator, pianist Jee-Won Oh, inaugurated both the 50th year of the Kent Blossom Music Festival and the newly-laid stage floor of Kent State University’s Ludwig Hall on Tuesday, July 3. This marvelously-played faculty concert featured four B’s: sonatas by Frank Bridge and Samuel Barber bookended by Beethoven at his silliest and solo Bach at his most eloquent. [Read more…]
by David Kulma
ENCORE Chamber Music continued its third season on Friday, June 29 in CIM’s Mixon Hall with an enjoyable concert celebrating “music written and inspired by fiery female artists” and entitled “Nasty Women.” This reference is to Donald Trump’s ad hominem attack on Hillary Clinton during the third presidential debate, which many liberal women immediately adopted as a badge of honor. [Read more…]
by David Kulma
A rare operatic treat graced the Ohio Theatre at Playhouse Square on Saturday, June 16: a single performance of Stanisław Moniuszko’s 19th-century, Polish-language gem Straszny dwór. Designed to celebrate the centenary of Polish independence, this traditionally-staged production with Cleveland Ballet added up to an uneven evening. [Read more…]
by David Kulma
The Syndicate for the New Arts has evolved from its origin as a contemporary classical ensemble and has slowly become a local presenting organization in the genreless underground music scene. With the most recent offering on Tuesday, June 19 at Historic St. Johns in Ohio City, wholly pre-composed music fit the new curating Syndicate’s zeitgeist, but even with some raucous weirdness, this evening was one of its tamest. [Read more…]
by David Kulma
The Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project’s first Re:Sound New Music Festival was an ear-opening experience for the musically adventurous in eight events across four days in five venues from June 7 through 10. Featuring 56 musicians performing 26 sets and 50 pieces created by 45 composers and improvisers, this intense weekend of staggering, high-quality performances showed the virtues of a performer-oriented festival where each act is fully invested in its own chosen music. [Read more…]