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Cleveland Chamber Choir: Winter Carols & Lullabies 

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by Mike Telin

At this time of year, light takes on an important role in our lives. Hanukkah is known as the Festival of Lights. The Winter Solstice marks the beginning of longer days and shorter nights. And festive lights are always in abundance during the Christmas season. “The question behind the programmatic choices for this concert was: What does light truly sound like?” Jelani Watkins said during a recent telephone conversation.

On Friday December 16 at 7:30 pm at St. Sebastian Church in Akron, Watkins will lead the Cleveland Chamber Choir in Winter Carols and Lullabies. The concert features old and new works that offer hope during the holiday season. The program will be repeated on Saturday at 7:00 pm at St. Peter’s Church in Cleveland and Sunday at 4:00 pm at Disciples Christian Church in Cleveland Heights. The performances are free.

“In various religions, traditions, and cultures, light is often used to symbolize hope,” Watkins said, “and I wanted to explore the many concepts of light, and how those concepts are told through stories and music during the holiday season. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra: a conversation with Vasily Petrenko   

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  by Mike Telin

“I’ve been looking forward to this visit to Cleveland for quite a while,” an enthusiastic Vasily Petrenko said during a recent conversation. “I had a visit planned but it couldn’t happen because of COVID. So I am excited to see the Orchestra — it’s one of my favorites in the world.”

Tonight, Thursday, December 1 at 7:30 pm at Severance Music Center, Petrenko will return to the Cleveland Orchestra podium to lead Elgar’s Cockaigne (“In London Town”), Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Behzod Abduraimov as soloist, and Walton’s Symphony No. 1. The program will be repeated on Friday at 11:00 am and on Saturday at 8:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

Petrenko, who made his Cleveland Orchestra debut at Blossom in 2017 and returned the following summer, currently serves as music director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, chief conductor of the European Union Youth Orchestra, conductor laureate of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and associate conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León.

I caught up with him via Zoom at his home in London — he had just returned from leading  concerts in Germany with Radio Symphony Berlin and the SWR (The Southwest German Radio Orchestra). I began by reminding him that the last time we spoke he was in Wyoming at the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra. [Read more…]

Quire Cleveland — Carols for Quire XII: Angels and Shepherds

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by Mike Telin

For the past eleven years, Quire Cleveland’s Carols for Quire concerts have become a holiday tradition. Over the years, the program — which began with pairing old and new carols — has explored numerous facets of the festive songs that are sung around the world during the Christmas season.

“Carols for Quire VI” featured French Noëls while “Carols VIII” presented a multitude of languages including Finnish, Abenaki, Afro-Portuguese, Mohawk, and Wendat, as well as English, Latin, and Spanish. The ninth edition was titled “Carols of Yore,” and the tenth highlighted the “O Antiphons.” This year the program will examine the Christmas story from the point of view of the angels and shepherds.

On Thursday, December 1 at 7:30 pm at Our Lady of Peace Church in Cleveland, Jay White will conduct the ensemble in “Carols for Quire XII: Angels and Shepherds.” The program will be repeated on December 2 at 8:00 pm at St. John Cantius Church in Tremont, and on December 3 at 8:00 pm at St. Paschal Baylon Church in Highland Heights. The concerts are free. Click here to view the program booklet.

“Last year we focused on Mary,” White said during a telephone conversation. “We haven’t left Joseph out of the story — he’s been there every so often. But when I was looking at possible topics for this year, I started thinking about who received the message” — the news of the birth of Jesus — “after Mary had figured it out and she and Joseph went to Bethlehem. And it was the shepherds who received it from the angels. I was also thinking of how amazing it must have been for the shepherds to have witnessed this celestial event, with the angels telling them it was happening and they should go see it.” [Read more…]

Genkin Philharmonic wows at the Bop Stop (Nov. 4) 

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by Mike Telin

We’ve all heard the hype —  “Trust me, you’ve never heard anything like this before.” At long last that cliché proved to be correct on November 4 when the Buffalo-based Genkin Philharmonic presented a jaw-dropping, undefinable show for a capacity audience at the Bop Stop .

What makes this ten-piece electroacoustic chamber ensemble distinct from other contemporary music ensembles? It’s what they play. The evening’s repertoire included brilliant arrangements by Genkin founder and trumpeter Jon Nelson of music by Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa, classical compositions of Bartók and Prokofiev, as well as works written for the group by composers who are still very much alive.

[Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra: a conversation with Thomas Søndergård    

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by Mike Telin

Upon congratulating conductor Thomas Søndergård on making his Cleveland Orchestra debut, he had a quick and enthusiastic response — “Amazing isn’t it. Growing up, if you were interested in classical music you knew about Cleveland. It’s an orchestra with a rich history, and has made so many amazing recordings, and you feel that history in the walls. So it’s an institution with incredible pride for very good reasons.”

Tonight, November 25 at 7:30 pm, Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård will make his Cleveland Orchestra debut at Severance Music Center. The concert will feature Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto with Stefan Jackiw as soloist, and Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird (complete ballet). The program will be repeated on Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sunday at 3:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

Speaking with the conductor by phone in Cleveland this past Wednesday, I began our conversation by telling him that I had a wonderful conversation with Stefan Jackiw, who was singing his praises (read the article here). Especially how sensitive the conductor’s ear is with regards to color, which Jackiw noted is quite important in the concerto’s passacaglia. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra: a conversation with violinist Stefan Jackiw

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by Mike Telin

“I’m so excited about coming back to Cleveland,” violinist Stefan Jackiw said by phone from his home in New York. “I can’t wait to play the Britten with The Cleveland Orchestra in Severance Hall. It doesn’t get more luxurious than that.”

On Friday, November 25 at 7:30 pm, Jackiw will perform Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto with The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Thomas Søndergård. The concert also includes Stravinsky’s The Firebird (complete ballet). The program will be repeated on Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sunday at 3:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

I began our conversation by bringing up Jackiw’s last visit to Cleveland, in the summer of 2021 at Blossom, when he played Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2.

Mike Telin: This time you’re bringing the Britten, which is quite different from the Prokofiev. 

Stefan Jackiw: Oddly there are some similarities. They are both Spanish-influenced. Prokofiev partially wrote the 2nd while he was living in Spain. And Britten was a pacifist and had strong feelings about the violence that happened during the Spanish Civil War and the looming WWII.

MT: And Britten wrote the concerto in 1938 and 1939.

SJ: He did, and it’s a piece that is reflective of its time. It’s at times mournful and almost violently virtuosic. Sometimes hopeful, but guardedly so and sometimes whaling. And you hear its Spanish influences both in some of the rhythmic elements — there’s a moment that always reminds me of castanets — and there’s a seductive Spanish-tinged second theme in the Scherzo [Read more…]

CIM Opera Theater:
Cendrillon with Cara Consilvio

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by Mike Telin 

For centuries the tale of Cinderella has been told and retold around the world. This week the magical fairytale will be brought to life when CIM Opera Theater presents Jules Massenet’s charming Cendrillon on Friday, November 11 at 7:30 pm and Sunday afternoon at 3:00 pm in Kulas Hall. Cara Consilvio is the guest director and Harry Davidson conducts the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra. Click here to read a synopsis and to purchase tickets.

Cara Consilvio leads a multifaceted career as a director and producer of opera, theater, and film as well as dance and choreography. She has produced and directed numerous tribute videos, promotional videos, and behind the scenes mini-docs for the NEA Opera Honors, the NEA Jazz Masters videos, OPERA America, and the American Composers Orchestra.

I caught up with the director by phone and began our conversation by asking her about the opera.

Cara Consilvio: This is my first Cendrillon and it’s always exciting to direct a piece for the first time. It’s a new world that will unfold as you begin researching, but you don’t really understand how the piece works until you’re in the rehearsal room putting it up on its feet.

[Read more…]

Oberlin Opera Theater:
a double bill of Offenbach & Rossini 

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by Mike Telin 

If you’re looking for some extra laughter in your life, Oberlin Opera Theater has the perfect ticket when they present the Oberlin premieres of a pair of one-act comedies. 

Romance and deception will take center stage in Offenbach’s Le mariage aux lanternes (“The Wedding by Lantern Light”) and Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro (“Opportunity Makes the Thief”), both sung in the original languages with English supertitles. Jonathon Field directs and Joseph Mechavich conducts the Oberlin Orchestra. Performances take place on November 10, 11, and 12 at 8:00 pm and November 13 at 2:00 pm at Hall Auditorium. Click here for tickets.

Simply put, the Offenbach is a love story with songs that everyone will enjoy, and the Rossini is a comedic farce during which identities and affections are swapped between two pairs of would-be lovers. 

[Read more…]

“Heaven and Earth” at the Church of the Covenant (Oct. 8)

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by Mike Telin

Wonderful things can happen when two accomplished ensembles collaborate. Such was the case on Saturday, October 8, when the Cleveland Chamber Choir and the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra joined forces at the Church of the Covenant in a program titled “Heaven and Earth.” The result was spectacular.

The program featured Gwyneth Walker’s The Golden Harp (1999) and Beethoven’s Mass in C. At first glance the two works appear to have little in common: Walker sets the words of Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore and Beethoven sets the text of the Latin mass. Still, the colorful, expressive music in each provides a directness to the text that takes the listener on an emotional journey.

[Read more…]

No Exit to host Genkin Philharmonic

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by Mike Telin

No Exit’s season-opening trifecta of concerts concludes on Friday, November 4 at 8:00 pm at the Bop Stop with the Genkin Philharmonic, a ten-piece electroacoustic chamber ensemble based in Buffalo. The concert is free.

Founded in 2000 by trumpeter Jon Nelson, the group was originally conceived as a class at the University at Buffalo — a class that would provide an opportunity to study and perform contemporary music that draws on multiple genres as well as improvisation. Today the Genkin draws its membership from a pool of musicians including UB Faculty and alumni, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Hallwalls Arts Collective.

What makes the Genkin Philharmonic distinct from most contemporary music ensembles is what they play. Their repertoire includes arrangements that preserve the technical virtuosity of music by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa, the creation of original works by living composers, and arrangements of works from the classical canon that remain faithful to the composers’ scores.

“We’re kind of different from everything else out there,” Nelson said during a telephone conversation. [Read more…]

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