by Mike Telin
Since their debut on NBC’s America’s Got Talent, The Texas Tenors have amassed a list of awards including three Emmys for their PBS special You Should Dream. On Friday, October 4 at 8:00 pm at Severance Hall, opera singer John Hagen, country music singer JC Fisher, and pop singer Marcus Collins will open The Cleveland POPS’ season under the direction of Carl Topilow. The program will feature selections from their latest album, THE TEXAS TENORS: A Collection of Broadway & American Classics. Tickets are available online.
Prior to the Trio’s October 2017 performance at Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown, we spoke with tenor John Hagen. The following article has been edited for content.
“It’s fun to see people stretch their musical tastes in opposite directions,” Hagen said. “You take the fan who’s at one end of the spectrum, either classical or country, and hear how they have come to appreciate other genres of music that they haven’t listened to very often, if at all.”
For many years, Jesse Jones has led a double musical life. In one, he serves on the composition faculty at the Oberlin Conservatory and has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Rome Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship. His works have been performed by ensembles including the American Composers Orchestra, the Spokane Symphony, the Juilliard String Quartet, the Argento Chamber Ensemble, and 
While violinist 
When guitarist Jason Vieaux and the Escher String Quartet first performed together at Music@Menlo in 2007, the musicians knew they needed to keep the collaboration going. “Since then the Quartet has played with him many times,” Escher first violinist Adam Barnett-Hart said during a telephone interview. “We’ve performed some duos as part of the Quartet programs,” Vieaux said during a separate conversation, “but next week will be the first full concert as a duo.”
When inclement weather forced the cancelation of the Akron Symphony’s January 2019 concert, they were fortunate that both guest conductor and soloist were available to open the ASO’s 2019-2020 season this weekend. The following preview, originally published in January, has been edited for content. 
If you don’t know the outstanding vocalist Quiana Lynell, you need to.
After a grueling three rounds at Oberlin’s Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition, on Friday evening, July 26 at Severance Hall, 18-year-old violinist Eric Charles Chen from Princeton, New Jersey was awarded the grand prize of $20,000. Earning second place and $10,000 was 14-year-old Shihan Wang of Beijing, China, while Sixteen-year-old Isabella Brown of Gurnee, Illinois, earned third place and $5,000.
