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No Exit presents trombone virtuoso John Faieta

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by Mike Telin

After taking up the trombone as a nine-year-old, John Faieta went on to carve out a diverse, career as a teacher — he has served on the faculties of Boston University, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and Berklee College of Music — as well as performing with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, the the Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra.

He has also worked with jazz and commercial ensembles including The Rebirth Brass Band, John Allmark Big Band, the Hot Tamale Brass Band, Manuel Kaufman’s Jazz Orchestra and the Skatch Andersson Orchestra.

On Friday, February 14 at 7:00 pm in Kent State’s Ludwig Recital Hall, Faieta will present a recital of solo works including Leonard Bernstein’s Elegy for Mippy II (1959), Bernard Rands’ Memo 2 (1973), Enrique Crespo’s Improvisation No. 1 (1983), David Felder’s Boxman (1986), and the World Premiere of Marti Epstein’s Abluvion (2022).

As part of the No Exit Presents series, the program will be repeated at 7:00 pm on Friday, February 21 at Heights Arts, and on Friday, February 28 at 7:00 pm at Trinity Cathedral. All performances are free.

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Chamber Music Societies Join To Celebrate Music from Spain

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By Mike Telin

Unlike other groups that the Cleveland Chamber Music Society presents, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is not a single standing ensemble but rather a collection of talented musicians who come together around a specific project or program.

On Tuesday, February 11 at 7:30 pm at The Cultural Arts Center at Disciples Church,  CCMS continues their 75th Anniversary season with the Lincoln Center ensemble’s “Spanish Journey.” The program features works by Fernando Obradors, Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Fernández Arbós, Manuel de Falla, Pablo de Sarasate, Joaquín Rodrigo, and Joaquín Turina performed by guitarist Jason Vieaux, pianist Soyeon Kate Lee, violinist  Kristin Lee, soprano Vanessa Becerra, and cellist Clive Greensmith. Tickets are available online.

We caught up with violinist Kristin Lee by phone in the lobby of Alice Tully Hall after the group had just completed their dress rehearsal for the premiere performance of the program before taking it on tour.

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The Cleveland Orchestra: A Conversation with Thomas Guggeis

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by Mike Telin

“Franz Welser-Möst was one of my first big supporters,” conductor Thomas Guggeis said during a telephone conversation. “I was his assistant at the Salzburg Festival early in my career, so it’s a real honor for me to be making my American orchestral debut with his amazing orchestra.

On Friday, February 7 at 7:30 pm in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, Guggeis will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in Richard Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra, Henri Dutilleux’s Tout un monde lointain…, with principal cello Mark Kosower as soloist, and Maurice Ravel’s La valse. The program will be repeated on Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sunday at 3:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

Born in 1993 in Dachau, Bavaria, Thomas Guggeis has served as general music director of Oper Frankfurt and artistic director of the Frankfurt Museum Concerts since the 2023–24 season. He made his debut in Frankfurt in May 2021 with Mozart’s Requiem, followed by Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos. Guggeis made his first North American appearance in 2023 at the Metropolitan Opera leading Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer. The same year he conducted the work for Santa Fe Opera.

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When Grammy nominees are also friends: chatting with Elaine Martone & Erica Brenner

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by Mike Telin

This year’s Grammy Awards recognize the best recordings, compositions, and artists from September 16, 2023, to August 30, 2024, as chosen by the members of the Recording Academy.

While Cleveland artists have been well-represented at the Grammys for some time, when the 67th award ceremony is held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 2 and broadcast at 8 pm EST on CBS, there will be two special reasons to pay attention.

Elaine Martone (left) and Erica Brenner (right), who have been among past Grammy nominees and winners, have both been nominated this time around for Producer of the Year, Classical (Category 82).

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CIM Opera Theater: Direct from the Headlines — Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters

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by Mike Telin

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the CIM Opera Theater’s performances of  Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters on February 1 and 2, 2025, at the Cleveland Museum of Art have been canceled. Refunds are being issued to all ticket holders.

“As an artistic and stage director who enjoys telling stories, this is a very compelling work and something that our students can sink their dramatic teeth into. It’s also a piece that audiences can get lost in, and ask questions about as the story goes along.”

That’s how CIM Opera Theater’s interim artistic director JJ Hudson characterized Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters in a telephone interview. In his synopsis, the composer notes that the 2009 work — his first opera — follows one woman’s dangerous attempt to escape her life as a member of the FLDS Church (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints), a sect that split from mainstream Mormonism in the early 20th Century, largely because of the LDS Church’s renunciation of polygamy. [Read more…]

Cooper International Violin Competition Moves from Summer to January

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By Mike Telin

Now that the new calendar year is upon us, it’s interesting to see which of the area’s classical music organizations are going to be leading the way into 2025.

When it comes to competitions, that honor goes to Oberlin’s Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition, which alternates annually between piano and violin.

Usually held in August, due to construction at the Conservatory this year’s violin competition needed to find an alternative time period. “We wanted the competition to happen so we moved it to January as a one-time thing,” competition director and jury chair Sibbi Bernhardsson said during a telephone conversation.

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Cleveland Chamber Choir: “Little Match Girl Passion”

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by Mike Telin

Cleveland Chamber Choir will present a program centered around David Lang’s Little Match Girl Passion on December 20 and 21 at the Cleveland School of the Arts. Artistic Director Gregory Ristow has curated a playlist of Christmas music to precede Lang’s piece — a modern day retelling of the 1845 Hans Christian Andersen story influenced by J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion — and followed by his own arrangement of Good King Wenceslas, the classic Christmas Carol about supporting those in need.

In a recent interview Ristow said, “The Little Match Girl Passion has become a piece that’s performed a lot around the holidays — a time that a lot of us take a moment to stop and think about people who are in need and our and society’s role in supporting them.” The concerts are presented in partnership with Northeast Ohio Food Bank. Register for free tickets for the 7:30 pm performances here.

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Vocalist Jimmie Herrod joins The Cleveland Orchestra to celebrate the Holiday Season

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by Mike Telin

“This is a really positive moment for me career-wise,” vocalist Jimmie Herrod said during a recent telephone conversation. “Not just performing with any orchestra, but one of the Big Five. It’s beyond prestige and I’m really looking forward to it.”

On Wednesday, December 11 at 7:30 pm, Herrod will join conductor Sarah Hicks, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, and the Blossom Festival Chorus for the first of twelve holiday concerts at Severance Music Center. Performances run through December 22. Tickets are available online.

Herrod said that although a handful of songs he will sing are ones that everyone knows, there are a few that are lesser-known. “We’re doing a version of ‘Jingle Bells’ that was famously done by Barbara Streisand. It’s all over the place tempo-wise and it keeps changing keys. We’re also doing ‘My Grown-Up Christmas List.’”

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David Robertson to lead The Cleveland Orchestra in a program of Americana

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by Mike Telin

While many performing organizations take time off during the Thanksgiving weekend, The Cleveland Orchestra will continue its tradition of playing concerts on Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoon at Severance Music Center. “I think this is a wonderful program to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday,” guest conductor David Robertson said during a Zoom call.

On Friday at 7:30 pm, Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sunday at 3:00 pm, Robertson will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in an All-American program that includes Aaron Copland’s Suites from Appalachian Spring and The Tender Land. Pianist Marc-André Hamelin will be the featured soloist in George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Duke Ellington’s New World A-Comin’. A free concert preview with James O’Leary, Associate Professor of Musicology at Oberlin College and Conservatory, takes place in Reinberger Chamber Hall one hour before each performance. Tickets are available online.

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Tuesday Musical presents “Kings ReJoyce!” with Joyce DiDonato, Kings Return, and Craig Terry

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by Mike Telin

With the month of December almost upon us, it’s always interesting to see which of Northeast Ohio’s music organizations will lead the way with holiday programs.

On Tuesday, December 3 at 7:30 pm at E.J. Thomas Hall, Akron’s Tuesday Musical will present “Kings ReJoyce!” with celebrated mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, the sensational a capella group Kings Return, and pianist Craig Terry. The Akron performance is the first stop on a seven-city tour. Tickets are available online.

DiDonato’s first-ever holiday show features a treasure trove of seasonal favorites, including “Carol of the Bells,” “Christmas Waltz,” “O Holy Night,” “Sleigh Ride” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” as well as a Motown medley, two versions of “Ave Maria,” and a vocalized “Nutcracker Suite.”

Because of time zone conflicts we were unable to connect with Joyce DiDonato by phone, but she graciously agreed to answer questions by email.

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