by Mike Telin
During the pandemic, the anxiety caused by an unknown future and the longing to return to normal have been beautifully expressed by thousands of people around the globe who participated in the Global Vaccine Poem project. Lines from these poems served as the inspiration for British composer Cecilia McDowall’s On the Air (Dear Vaccine).
Commissioned by the Cleveland Chamber Choir, the work will receive its premiere on Saturday, February 26 at 7:00 pm at Amasa Stone Chapel and on Sunday, February 27 at 5:00 pm at Waetjen Auditorium under the direction of Scott MacPherson. The program, “Cecilia and Her World,” will feature nine of McDowall’s works along with music by composers who have influenced her style.
Joining CCC will be choirs from Cleveland, Kent, and Youngstown State Universities as well as Case Western Reserve University. A pre-concert talk, “In Conversation: Cecilia McDowall with Charles Edward McGuire,” will begin 45 minutes before each performance. Both concerts are free. Click here to download the program and here for COVID-19 protocols.
The Global Vaccine Poem project is the brainchild of David Hassler, director of Kent State University’s Wick Poetry Center, and Tyler Meier, executive director of the University of Arizona’s Poetry Center. So far, the project has received over 2,200 poems from people in 118 countries and every state in the U.S. [Read more…]
It was historical performance practice at its best this past Wednesday when the Cleveland Silent Film Festival presented a screening of the 1928 Buster Keaton classic comedy Steamboat Bill, Jr. at Oberlin’s historic Apollo Theater. Accompanied by the brilliant Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, the evening captured the allure of the “Golden Age” of film.
Think of works for trumpet and orchestra, and two pieces immediately come to mind. “When I tell someone that I’m playing a concerto, they always say — are you playing Haydn or Hummel?” Dasara Beta said during a recent telephone conversation. “This is a pretty popular piece for trumpet players, but if you don’t play the trumpet, you might not know it.”
HAPPENING TODAY:
Until recently, only a select few would have recognized the name John Stepan Zamecnik (1872–1953)
When we think of film composers, the names Miklós Rózsa, John Williams, and Randy Newman immediately come to mind. But who were the important composers from the silent era?
If you’re bummed that Punxsutawney Phil has predicted six more weeks of winter, you can shed those cold weather blues on Tuesday, February 8 at 7:30 pm in E.J. Thomas Hall, when Tuesday Musical presents celebrated violinist Joshua Bell and acclaimed soprano Larisa Martinez.
“When I was growing up in rural Mississippi my mother was very good about taking me to Jackson or New Orleans to see whatever the new, big art exhibition was,” composer and keyboardist 
At 7:00 pm Dave Becker will lead the BW Symphony Orchestra in a program to be announced at Gamble Auditorium at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory. The concert is free. Click
by Mike Telin