by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Chamber music at the Aronson Festival, and three opening nights in opera and contemporary music
•Berta Rojas’ guitar is recovered, and the Guitar Society schedules a Community Celebration
•Almanac: Carl Nielsen and the personalities of the Copenhagen Wind Quintet
by Jarrett Hoffman
There’s a beloved type of small ensemble that is rarely heard in programs of chamber music: the a cappella group. For that reason, the appearance of Dallas-based Kings Return on this year’s roster for ChamberFest Cleveland is one of the most unique elements of the Festival’s 10th season.
Formed almost by accident in 2016 when Gabe Kunda gathered singers for his college graduation recital, the group has found fame through viral videos of their music-making, which spans a variety of genres. Their versatility is quite clear in their ChamberFest setlist — part of a program that pairs a cappella and instrumental music on Friday, June 17 at 7:30 pm in the Cultural Arts Center at Disciples Church. Tickets are available here. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Happening today: two organists help the Church of the Covenant conclude the season for the Tuesday Noon series, and the Lev Aronson Cello Festival pairs music with film
•Interesting read: a profile of Cleveland Orchestra principal horn Nathaniel Silberschlag in The New York Times
•Almanac: George Szell, Jaime Laredo, and Prince
by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•For your evening plans: a piano quintet, a solo guitarist, or a discussion about improvisation
•Two music camps and a family concert this month
•Knighthood for Stephen Hough
•And another Sir to celebrate: Edward Elgar, from graduation ceremonies to bassoon to facial hair
by Jarrett Hoffman
A surge of coronavirus in January forced The Cleveland Orchestra to postpone its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concert. Traditionally held around the time of MLK Day, this year the concert will take place not long from Juneteenth.
The Orchestra will honor Dr. King on Saturday, June 4 at 7:00 pm at Mandel Concert Hall with a program of music by several Black composers — Dolores White, Mary D. Watkins, Carlos Simon, Brian Raphael Nabors, William Grant Still, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and John Rosamond Johnson — as well as music in the African American spiritual tradition. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
One by one the guest list for a recent Zoom conversation grew, until it included — in order of appearance — a guitarist and a harpist, two dogs, and a composer.
I knew about the instrumentalists going in. CIM guitar department co-head Colin Davin was staying at the home of his friend and collaborator Emily Levin, principal harp of the Dallas Symphony. So it would only make sense to chat with them together about their Davin-Levin Duo program coming up on Friday, June 3 at 7:30 pm at CIM’s Kulas Hall, presented as part of the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival (tickets here). [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Organist Katherine Johnson at the Covenant at noon
•The League of American Orchestras commissions six women composers
•A new executive director for ChamberFest, and recent honors for Cleveland Chamber Choir and Dana students
•Almanac: the chamber music of Louise Farrenc, and the Tejano music of Lydia Mendoza
by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•A day of vocal music: art song master classes by pianist Craig Terry, an Oberlin “Pop-Up Opera,” and The Cleveland Orchestra’s Otello
•News from Severance: a change of soprano for tomorrow, and a new assistant conductor in the fall
•Interesting reads: Tiktok flipping the script on the music industry, and a review of Les Délices’ The White Cat from Early Music America
•Almanac: two musicians known for straddling popular and classical styles
by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Today’s schedule: Art Song Festival master classes, organ at the Covenant, “Honoring Black Composers,” and the premiere of a violin concerto with the composer on the podium.
•Oberlin digs up old photos of tenor and alum Limmie Pulliam, currently starring in The Cleveland Orchestra’s “Otello in Concert.”
•The strange and complicated story behind Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” Sonata
by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•In the news: Colin Davin heads off to Shenandoah Conservatory, Yo-Yo Ma wins the Birgit Nilsson Prize, and the League of American Orchestras announces its 2022 National Conference.
•Interesting reads: when Kyiv was a modernist musical hotbed, a classical radio station in Boston attracting young listeners, and a donkey making its Met debut.
•Almanac: an 1860s symphony by Alice Mary Smith, pianist-composer Linda Martinez’s collaborations with Destiny’s Child, and her score to the silent film The Rag Man.