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…]

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…]

by Mike Telin

HAPPENING TODAY:

At ​​7:30 pm it’s the Vanessa Rubin Quintet. Presented in partnership with Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland, Rubin will sing classics, ballads and blues on the Maiden Lane Stage, 51 E. Market St. in downtown Akron. In case of rain, the concert moves next door into the Musica Club. The event is free.

NEWS BRIEFS:

Cuyahoga Arts and Culture reports that while the wider economy is reopening, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to be devastating for local nonprofit arts organizations and creative workers.

According to a survey of 65 of General Operating Support grant recipients, steady job loss and revenue loss has continued in 2021. The organizations reported 1,636 total people laid off, furloughed or with reduced hours between January and June 2021.

And that after more than 15 months, 65 Cuyahoga County-based arts and culture nonprofits funded by Cuyahoga Arts & Culture continue to report layoffs as organizations operate with less capacity.

The survey finds that Federal funding is helping to make up some lost revenues and helping groups to adapt programming and connect with residents. But overall, the pandemic continues to negatively impact the creative economy and community quality of life.

From March 2020, when the 65 CAC-funded organizations began tracking, through June 30, 2021, the organizations reported:

• Total people laid off, furloughed, or hours reduced: 4,793
• Total revenue loss: $146,025,012
• Total federal funds (CARES Act, Shuttered Venue Operators Grants, etc.) received: $81,294,617
• Total revenue loss not recouped: $64,730,395

“The hard truth is that the creative economy will be one of the last to recover from the pandemic,” executive director of CAC, Jill M. Paulsen said. “Ohio’s creative industry continues to suffer from the highest unemployment rate among all sectors. CAC has accelerated payment of our grants and worked with Cuyahoga County to secure CARES Act funding, but it may not be enough for some organizations.”

Read the full report here. [Read more…]

by Mike Telin

HAPPENING TODAY:

​​At 6:30 pm, Stars in the Classics Summer Garden Concert features pianists Alexander Kostritsa, Cher Liu, Nikolay Pushkarev and John Simmons, violinists Maria Beyens, Victor Beyens, Maude Cloutier and Regina Laza, violist Brian Slawta, cellists Brendon Phelps and Mingyao Zhu, clarinetist Shihao Zhu, oboist Adrian Gonzalez, bassist Henry Samuels and vocalists Elizabeth Frey, and Isa Luchi. The program includes a selection of music by Russian, Czech, and Scandinavian composers. Socially distanced seating, prepackaged food and canned beverages included. Bring your own wine.. Private residence in Orange Village. Rain date: August 27. Tickets: $50 ($75 patron). RSVP here. If it’s sold out, there’s another performance on August 29.

NEWS BRIEFS:

Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year Festival returns this Friday and Saturday, bringing you online performances from the world-class ensembles nominated for the magazine’s 2021 Orchestra of the Year Award. Each concert begins at  2pm (EST), and will be available to watch for 24 hours on the Gramophone website, Facebook page and YouTube channel.

The Festival will feature performances by the Academy of Ancient Music, Accademia Bizantina, Bamberger Symphoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, The Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Philharmonia Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. Click here for more information.

Akron’s ArtsNow has released a new video that showcases Tuesday Musical’s Annual Scholarship Competition as part of the Akron Cultural Plan. Click here to listen to Oberlin graduate and Akron Symphony clarinetist Amer Hasan talk about how being a Tuesday Musical scholarship recipient has impacted his career in music.

And this morning Kirshbaum Associates announced that the Emerson String Quartet will retire at the end of summer 2023. Truly the end of an era.

TODAY’S ALMANAC: 

Today we wish Nico Muhly a happy 40th birthday. Born in Randolph, Vermont, the composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist grew up in Providence, Rhode Island where he sang in the choir at Grace Episcopal Church. After studying at the Wheeler School in Providence he went on to enroll in the dual-degree program at Columbia University and the Juilliard School.

While at Juilliard, Muhly worked for composer Philip Glass, first as an archivist, and later as an editor, conductor, and keyboardist.

Muhly’s musical influences are diverse, ranging from the Anglican choral tradition to minimalism. He has written for and collaborated with artists including Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, James McAlister, Björk, the indie rock band Grizzly Bear, Antony and the Johnsons, and toured with Irish songwriter, actor, vocalist and guitarist Glen Hansard.

He has received commissions from The Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Tallis Scholars and St. John’s College, Cambridge. His more than 100 works for the concert stage include the operas, Two Boys and Marnie, both of which were staged by the Metropolitan Opera. [Read more…]