by Kevin McLaughlin
The high-ceilinged, cozy barn of Dunham Tavern and Museum on a Sunday afternoon was a perfect setting to bask in the company and expertise of the Omni Quartet, who delivered a delightful program of Haydn, Shaw, and Mendelssohn. As the sun lowered and the excellence of the playing and geniality of the players took hold, a glow of contentment began to fill the space.
Founded in 2009, Omni Quartet members Amy Lee and Alicia Koelz (violins), Joanna Zakany (viola), and Tanya Ell (cello), all members of The Cleveland Orchestra, were convivial hosts, guiding the audience with verbal introductions to each work and brief excerpts by way of guideposts. While this can be overdone, here it was just enough to help the listener stay on the path. The commentaries and demonstrations worked out ahead of time were the most effective.
In her remarks about Haydn’s Quartet in F, Op. 77, No. 2, violinist Alicia Koelz emphasized the humor and elements of surprise present in the work. Sure enough, Haydn made us laugh, even when we knew the comedy was coming. Whether in the harmonic meanderings, the startling unison tremolo in the first movement, the rhythmic hijinks in the Minuet (a 2/4 march embedded in 3/4), or similar tugs of two against three in the final Vivace, the Omni told every joke with perfect timing and drollery. Koelz, playing first violin, amazed in the Rossini-like barnburner of a finale. Speed and rhythm were kept exact in both soft and loud passages. And is it possible that after the last chord I smelled smoke?
Violist Joanna Zakany’s introduction to Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte (2011) included this composer note: “Entr’acte is an homage to the second movement (minuet) of Haydn’s Op. 77, No. 2, but in a kind of absurd, subtle, technicolor transition…[taking] you to the other side of Alice’s looking glass.”
Every once in a while, a concertgoer is treated to an evening where all of the hoped-for elements are in place: the playing is first-rate, the performers exude warmth and ease, the audience is engaged, the program is a mix of familiar and unusual — in other words, a concert with Carnegie Hall electricity but summer festival 
Soprano Jennifer Rowley and pianist Jason Aquila brought an unmistakable love for bel canto singing to Gamble Auditorium at Baldwin Wallace the evening of February 13. In a recital entitled “Inspirazione,” Rowley acknowledged her indebtedness to the mostly bel canto composers on the program and to the conductors and collaborators who have thus far aided her career. She hoped to repay the debt in kind to the excited BW voice students listening from the balcony.
On February 6, the Butler Piano Trio (Sandy Yamamoto, violin, Joshua Gindele, cello, and Colette Valentine, piano), treated the West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church audience to a compelling evening of generous and potent music making.
With a glint of polished silver and a showman’s flair, trumpet soloist Brian Neal highlighted the Youngstown Symphony’s Classical Exploration concert on January 29 at Stambaugh Auditorium with a stirring performance of Joseph Haydn’s 
The Cleveland Classical Guitar Society’s International Series made an auspicious start to 2023 with a recital by Cuban-born guitarist René Izquierdo on January 28. In a program of Cuban and Spanish composers, Izquierdo — who ranks among his country’s great exponents of classical guitar — did not disappoint the near-capacity audience at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights.
The Canton Symphony thrilled and captivated in two portrayals of the story of Scheherazade and a masterfully played piano concerto on a snowy evening at the Zimmermann Symphony Center on January 22.
The Akron Symphony Orchestra was particularly well represented by its string section on Saturday, January 14, as it continued to put on display both the strength of its players and its capacity for varied and engaging programming.