by Nicholas Stevens
That time of year has come: lawns turn white with snow as day arrives late, puddles freeze over when night comes early, and Northeast Ohioans glance outside with the knowledge that this is only the beginning. In this season, when the world outside seems to reject us with what feels like personal hostility, it takes real incentives to lure listeners to concert halls. Fortunately, the area offers many such tempting opportunities, and last weekend, a program by BlueWater Chamber Orchestra made the trip outside well worth it. [Read more…]
The average classical musician’s biography is a thinly veiled list of names. A performer’s teachers, schools, venues, festivals, grants, and roles may impress when dressed up in prose, but they sit side by side haloed by auras of significance, like hieroglyphs. How refreshing, then, to read a bio that sums up the appeal of a group in plain terms by the third sentence: “Since its inception, the ensemble has been defined by its unique sound, appealing as much through the personality of each timbre as it does through the color and the uniformity of the voices.” This honesty in advertising is hardly the only thing for which Northeast Ohioans can thank Vox Luminis, the Baroque-focused vocal ensemble who performed in Cleveland last week.
Concerts that feature multiple players on a single instrument come with a risk: the consistency of tone across the evening can come across as a lack of variety. Some instruments, such as the piano, evade this thanks to centuries’ worth of diverse repertoire. Classical guitarists have additional advantages: their community boasts a strong tradition of writing new transcriptions and original works, and each great player has a unique sound. Both of those were in full evidence at last weekend’s Showcase Concert for the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society.