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Cleveland Orchestra Chorus returns with Brahms’ A German Requiem 

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by Mike Telin

Whether it was the passing of his mother in February 1865 or the death of Robert Schumann later that same year, no one is certain what motivated Johannes Brahms to compose his large-scale, non-liturgical Requiem in the German language.

On Thursday, October 28 at 7:00 pm, the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus under the direction of Lisa Wong will return to the Mandel Concert Hall Stage for a performance of Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem. The evening will feature soprano Andrea Carroll, baritone Chris Kenney, and pianists Daniel Overly and Carolyn Warner. Tickets are available online. Click here for COVID-19 protocols.

I spoke to Lisa Wong by telephone and began by asking her why she selected the Brahms for the first Chorus concert in over 18 months.

Lisa Wong: Part of it was thinking practically. When we were scheduling the season, the vaccines were just starting to roll out and we weren’t sure what the situation would be this fall. So we looked for a piece that would work with piano or organ — something that wouldn’t involve the full orchestra but would still be substantive for the chorus. So, we came to the two-piano version of the Brahms Requiem. That was the practical thinking behind the choice. [Read more…]

Saxophonist Gabriel Piqué makes Music From The Western Reserve debut

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by Mike Telin

It’s always interesting to hear how musicians come to choose their instruments. Some want to follow in the footsteps of a family member, while others prefer to chart their own path. “What drew me to the saxophone to begin with was my grandma,” Gabriel Piqué said during a recent telephone conversation. “It’s something you never want to hear your grandma say, but I brought one home and she said ‘Gabe, that instrument is sexy.’ I think I was in the 6th grade, and that’s when I decided that I didn’t want to play clarinet or flute, I wanted to play the saxophone.” 

On Sunday, October 31 at 5:00 pm at Christ Episcopal Church in Hudson, Gabriel Piqué and pianist Casey Dierlam Tse will perform a diverse selection of works as part of the Music From The Western Reserve series. Tickets are available online.

Piqué, who is the Assistant Professor of Saxophone and Jazz Studies at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, will begin his program with Fernande Decruck’s Sonata in c-sharp. 

“Decruck is probably best known in the saxophone community and this is her most famous piece,” Piqué said. “I played it on my masters’ recital and the piece provided a transformational moment for me. When I was an undergrad I was primarily a button pusher — a technician if you will. I had great technique but didn’t understand what music was about. My teacher at Eastman was the one who said, ‘You have emotions — you should try them.’ He was rather blunt. But this piece is the perfect vehicle for that. It doesn’t work if you’re not in-tune with your emotions.” 

[Read more…]

Piano Cleveland to debut video contest PianoFlicks

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by Mike Telin

If you ask a musician what new skill they learned during the past eighteen months, more often than not, the answer is video editing. And, in a relatively short amount of time, many became quite good at it.   

“Everyone we knew learned how to video-edit,” Marissa Glynias Moore, executive director at Piano Cleveland, said via Zoom. “So we thought, what would be a cool way for us to tap into that creativity?”

On Wednesday, October 27 at 7:00 pm, Piano Cleveland will debut PianoFlicks, a new video contest showcasing pianists as they creatively re-imagine how classical music is presented and enjoyed by audiences. Throughout the broadcast — which will air on the Piano Cleveland website — viewers will have the opportunity to cast their vote for the Audience Prize. They can also cast their votes over the course of the next week — details below. All participants will receive prize money for their participation in the contest.  

“Everything we do is about making classical music more accessible, not only for the audience, but for young pianists as well — making yourself and what you do accessible is an important part of being an artist in today’s world,” Moore said.

[Read more…]

DIARY: Tuesday, October 19, 2021

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by Mike Telin

HAPPENING TODAY:

At 12:00 pm, Tuesday Noon Organ Plus Concerts will feature James Kealey (Rochester, NY) in a program featuring both The Newberry and Chancel Organs. The playlist includes J.S. Bach’s Prelude & Fugue in G, BWV 550 & Cecilia McDowall’s Church bells beyond the stars. César Franck’s Pièce Héroïque, Calvin Hampton’s Lullaby (Suite II) and Louis Vierne’s Final (Symphony No. 6, Op. 59). Church of the Covenant, 11205 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. Freewill offering.

At 7:30 pm the Dana Symphony Orchestra will perform works by Chris Pilsner, Kenji Bunch, Johan Halvorsen & Florence Price. Powers Auditorium, De Yor Performing Arts Center, Federal Plaza West, Youngstown. Tickets available online.

Also at 7:30 pm, Tuesday Musical launches its new season with VOCES8, U.K. a cappella ensemble (pictured). Presented in cooperation with the University of Akron’s Kulas Concert Series, “Choral Dances: from Bach to Irving Berlin,” includes Byrd’s Sing Joyfully, Britten’s Choral Dances from Gloriana, Nat King Cole’s Straighten Up and Fly Right, Irving Berlin’s Cheek to Cheek, Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson, Rachmaninoff’s Bogoroditse Devo, Jake Runestad’s Let My Love Be Heard, Palestrina’s Magnificat Primi Toni, J.S. Bach’s Bourée (arr. Swingle), Thomas Weelkes’ As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending, Orlando di Lasso’s Dessus la Marche D’Arras, Jerome Kern’s I Won’t Dance and Van Morrison’s Moondance E.J. Thomas Hall, University of Akron, 198 Hill St. Tickets available online. Click here to read our preview article.

Today we thought we’d revisit Jarrett Hoffman’s Daily Diary contribution from last year. It’s an interesting piece that’s well worth another look.  

MUSICAL SCULPTURES:

Four hundred years after his birth on this date in 1605, English polymath Thomas Browne was commemorated by his adopted home city of Norwich with a series of sculptures commissioned in his honor. One of those was a large, marble brain — perfect as a representation of that famous thinker, but also as a resting spot for pigeons, who apparently can be seen drinking rainwater from its folds.

That got me wondering about other fun sculptures — especially ones that are right out in the open, and that are related to music. Locally, among all the beautiful statues in the Cultural Gardens is Romanian composer George Enescu. Then there’s the ROCK BOX, a collection of loudspeakers along E. 9th St. that play music from Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees. [Read more…]

SalonEra: “The Phoenix of Mexico” premieres Monday, Oct. 18

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by Mike Telin

In Greek mythology the nine Muses were the source of knowledge and inspiration for poets, musicians, and philosophers. “They inspired everybody,” bassoonist Catalina Guevara Víquez Klein, said during a telephone interview. “That’s the reason Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz is called the 10th Muse, because she too inspired everybody.”

In the next episode of Les Délices’ SalonEra, Catalina Klein will be joined by violinist Karin Cuellar Rendon, and mezzo-soprano Raquel Winnica Young, who delve into their personal connections to Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and explore her legacy as a poet, composer, and protofeminist. “The Phoenix of Mexico,” premieres on Monday, October 18 at 7:30 pm, and will be available on-demand afterwards. Click here to register.

Born Doña Inés de Asuaje y Ramírez de Santillana in 1648 in San Miguel Nepantla, Mexico, she was an enthusiastic reader as a child. She composed her first poem at eight years old and by age thirteen had studied Greek logic, and taught Latin to young children. She also spoke and wrote in the Aztec language of Nahuatl. As a young woman who was not interested in marriage, only in furthering her studies, she entered the Convent of the Discalced Carmelites of St. Joseph, but soon moved to the more liberal Convent of the Order of St. Jérôme, where she would remain until her death. [Read more…]

Cellist Alisa Weilerstein to give Cleveland premiere 
of Joan Tower’s A New Day

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by Mike Telin

There are a few reasons why this week’s program from Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra is particularly special. One, it marks the first time that the ensemble will return in full force to Severance Music Center since March 2020.

Two, the concerts will mark the final performances of Joela Jones as the Orchestra’s principal keyboard, finishing up a 54-season tenure. Click here to read an interview.

And three, the program will feature Alisa Weilerstein in the Cleveland premiere of Joan Tower’s A New Day for cello and orchestra.

The concerts, titled “New Beginnings,” take place on Thursday, October 14 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, October 17 at 3:00 pm, and will also include Richard Strauss’ Macbeth and Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5. Click here for ticket information.

[Read more…]

Joela Jones reflects on 54 years with The Cleveland Orchestra

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by Mike Telin 

With a program titled “New Beginnings,” Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra will return in full force to Severance Music Center on Thursday, October 14 at 7:30 pm, for the first time since March 2020. The evening will feature Richard Strauss’ Macbeth, Joan Tower’s A New Day (for cello and orchestra) with Alisa Weilerstein, and Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5. The program will be repeated on Sunday, October 17 at 3:00 pm. Click here for ticket information.

The concerts will also be bittersweet as they mark the final performances of Joela Jones as the Orchestra’s principal keyboard. Jones, whose tenure has spanned 54 seasons, will be presented with the Orchestra’s 25th Distinguished Service Award on Thursday evening. Click here to watch a special video about Jones and listen to a playlist of her most memorable performances.

Joela Jones made her first appearance with The Cleveland Orchestra as a concerto soloist for a Summer Pops concert in 1966. The following year she gave the world premiere of a new concerto under the direction of George Szell, who asked her to join the ensemble soon after. Her name first appeared on the printed roster with the opening season of Blossom Music Center in 1968, and in 1972 she was officially designated as the Orchestra’s principal keyboard player. She has held the Rudolf Serkin Endowed Chair since its creation in 1977.

I spoke to Jones via Zoom and began by asking her about being tapped as a prodigy by Ernst von Dohnányi.

[Read more…]

DIARY: Thursday, October 7, 2021

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by Mike Telin

HAPPENING TODAY:

Available beginning today: Les Délices: Song of Orpheus, Hannah De Priest, soprano, Jonathan Woody, baritone, Shelby Yamin, violin, Debra Nagy, oboe, Rebecca Reed, gamba & cello & Mark Edwards, harpsichord. Woody and De Priest recount the story of Orpheus’ descent to the underworld, his charming of Hades, and his attempt to bring Eurydice back to the land of the living in rarely-heard cantatas by Jean-Philippe Rameau and Philippe Courbois. By Much Love Betray’d, a new instrumental work by Woody, reimagines the powerful magic of Orpheus’ lyre. Online only, available for 30 days after premiere. Click here for tickets, here for an interview with Woody, and here for an advance review.

At 7:00 pm, Birch Browning leads the CSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble in concert in Waetjen Auditorium at Cleveland State University, 2100 Euclid Ave. Free.

At 7:30 pm David Ellis leads the Case Camerata Chamber Orchestra in J.S. Bach’s Contrapuncti 1, 3, 5 & 11 (Art of Fugue) & Grieg’s Holberg Suite. Maltz Performing Arts Center, 1855 Ansel Road in University Circle, Cleveland. Tickets available online.

TODAY’S ALMANAC: 

Today we celebrate cellist, cultural ambassador, and humanitarian Yo-Yo Ma (pictured above), born on this date in 1955 in Paris. Since his days as a child prodigy, Ma has carved out a remarkably diverse career — one need to look no further than his expansive discography to understand why he is a household name around the world.

Ma is a person who enjoys building relationships and finding common ground with everyone he meets. Perhaps his best-known example of using music to find that common ground is The Silk Road Project, a collaborative enterprise to promote artistic exchanges between cultures, named after the 4,000-some miles of ancient trade routes that for two millennia linked parts of Asia with Europe and encouraged the trading of art, knowledge, philosophy and religion — as well as silk and other commercial goods.

Without a doubt, Ma is committed to bringing people together through music. In a 2013 interview with this publication, Ma said, “I do believe totally in what I’m trying to do, and I feel incredibly grateful — especially during these hard economic times. The world is changing so quickly and there are people left out. But we want to make sure that while things are changing, we have a sense of where we are going that we can all mutually work towards.”

He went on to say that culture and the arts are effective because as artists you are always working toward something bigger than yourself. “It’s not just about interest groups but rather that we have common interests. And sometimes the common interests get lost when we’re only saying ‘wait, you’ve got to look at me.’”

The cellist is also a firm believer in the power of education. In a 2013 interview prior to Silk Road’s appearance in Akron, Galician bagpipes player Christina Pato pointed out that the importance of education is very strong and the ensemble is constantly scheduling educational activities. “Watching Yo-Yo work has been an inspiration to all of us. He is constantly there worrying about everything,” Pato says. “Even in the middle of a long tour, he arrives at schools at 9 am to make things happen. He works with all the children and brings joy and happiness. It’s great to have a mentor like him.” [Read more…]

Les Délices to premiere Jonathan Woody’s Much Love Betray’d on Orpheus program

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by Mike Telin

No mythological character has inspired musicians more than Orpheus. Legend has it that his music was so powerful that trees and mountains bowed in his presence — his song so beautiful that he convinced the ruler of the underworld to allow him to bring his love Eurydice back from the underworld.  

The legend will be brought to life on Thursday, October 7, when Les Délices debuts “Song of Orpheus” on Marquee TV. The program features rarely-heard cantatas by Jean-Philippe Rameau and Philippe Courbois performed by Hannah De Priest, soprano, Jonathan Woody, baritone, Shelby Yamin, violin, Debra Nagy, oboe, Rebecca Reed, gamba and cello, and Mark Edwards, harpsichord. The program will also include the premiere of Woody’s cantata Much Love Betray’d. The online-only event will remain available on demand through November 6. Click here for tickets.

Woody’s performance resumé includes two national tours with Apollo’s Fire, and appearances as soloist with period groups including the Boston Early Music Festival, Tafelmusik, Trinity Wall Street, New York Polyphony, Bach Collegium San Diego, and New York Baroque Incorporated. But he is also a leader in the historical performance performer/composer movement.

During a recent telephone conversation, Woody said that his dedication to keeping the early music canon alive can be traced back to when he was a student of musicologist and historical performance pioneer Bruce Haynes. “I was lucky enough to have him as a professor at McGill University, and he definitely engendered the mentality that the canon of early music could remain alive, and that we had the power to continue to add to it and make it something that wasn’t just stuck in the past.”

[Read more…]

DIARY: Thursday, September 30, 2021

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by Mike Telin

NEWS BRIEFS:

The biggest news in American music occurred this past Monday with the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Terrance Blanchard’s Fire Shot Up in My Bones (above, New York Times photo of Blanchard on the Met stage by Wayne Lawrence as published on The Hub (League of American Orchestras).

Yes it was the first performance on the Met stage in 18-months, but more importantly it was the first time the company has staged an opera by a Black composer (Blanchard), a Black librettist (Kasi Lemmons), a Black co-director for a main-stage production (Camille A. Brown), as well as an almost entirely Black cast, chorus and dance troupe. The Opera is based on a 2014 memoir by New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow, recounting his turbulent upbringing in rural Louisiana.

Writing for NPR, Nate Chinen says that “Blanchard’s music for Fire is glowingly consonant but full of subtle harmonic and timbral surprises (along with strategic flickers of dissonance). He goes on to say: “Strikingly, given Blanchard’s profile as a jazz artist, Fire eludes description as a ‘jazz opera.’ Its language is avowedly classical, with elements drawn from the canonical composers, like Puccini, that defined Blanchard’s early exposure to the art form.” [Read more…]

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