by Mike Telin
Have you ever wished you could enjoy a concert while lying on a soft mattress instead of sitting in an uncomfortable chair or pew? Dear People, the opportunity will arrive when 51XO (Five One Experimental Orchestra) presents “Gentle Darkness” on Saturday, November 18 at 8:00 pm at The Original Mattress Factory, 4930 State Road, Cleveland. The concert is free.
Described as “a 21st Century Dreamscape showcasing the modern nocturne, lullaby and musical trance in a fully immersive nighttime event,” the program will feature Ananda Sukarian’s Gentle Darkness, Alessandro Amato’s Berceuse No. 3, Sullivan Boecker’s {0}, Steve Kuhn’s Trance, and the premieres of K. Krummenauer’s Born Sleeping and John HC Thompson’s re-imagination of the George Shearing classic Lullaby of Birdland. In keeping with the sleepytime theme, milk and cookies will be provided. [Read more…]
Like many musicians, British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor’s career received a jump start after winning a competition. “I won the keyboard section of the BBC Young Musician in 2004, and this began my performing career,” Grosvenor said in an email. “Obviously I was very young at that point and did not play very much, but the attention from the competition brought me concerts.” The pianist later became part of BBC’s Radio 3 New Generation Artist Scheme, which he said was “particularly important for my career, leading to opportunities such as performing at the BBC Proms as well as giving vital recording experience and the possibility to develop relationships with the BBC orchestras.”
Enjoying the natural beauty of Lake Erie has always been part of composer Margaret Brouwer’s life — she grew up spending summers at her family’s lake cottage in Huron. But when dangerous levels of algae blooms in the Lake’s western basin caused a water crisis in Toledo in 2014, the ensuing national conversation about environmental pollution and the state of the country’s drinking water became the source of inspiration for Brouwer’s latest composition, 
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, as epitomized by Euripides’ infamous character Medea. After her husband Jason rejects her for another woman in order to further his political career, she will stop at nothing to get revenge, including murdering her own children.
