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Akron Symphony traverses the cosmos in “The Planets” (Oct. 19)

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by Stephanie Manning

Just before the Akron Symphony began their October 19 concert with Charles Ives’ The Unanswered Question, the audience was suddenly presented with a question of their own. Why were the musicians leaving the stage right after tuning?

Although bemused clapping and laughter followed, this conundrum luckily had an easy answer. Ives specifies that the string orchestra be hidden, which left only the four flute players and conductor Christopher Wilkins visible. So E.J. Thomas Hall darkened even further, leaving only the music stand lights and the haze diffused from backstage. In other words, it was an auspicious start to a concert with some deep ideas about the cosmos. [Read more…]

Quince Ensemble at CIM: patience pays off (Oct. 16)

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by Stephanie Manning

The Quince Ensemble doesn’t specialize in instant gratification. The vocal quartet likes “slow music,” as soprano Amanda DeBoer Bartlett has explained in interviews, and she repeated that sentiment onstage on October 16. “Not slow in tempo, but slow in development.”

That ethos can also form the arc of entire programs, as Quince demonstrated to its audience at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Before the concert in Mixon Hall reached its apex with Courtney Bryan’s Requiem, the quartet built up to the finale by demonstrating just what their voices can do.
[Read more…]

DIARY: Wednesday, October 23, 2024

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by Stephanie Manning

HAPPENING TODAY:

At 12:00 noon, hear organist Robert Myers perform reformation music” by J.S. Bach, Buxtehude, Kaufmann, and more at Trinity Lutheran Church. As always, the Music Near the Market series is free.

And tonight at 7:00 pm, hear some chamber music at the Cleveland Museum of Art from the young musicians of Stars in the Classics (pictured). “An Enchanted Program” is themed around the Halloween season. This free performance takes place in the Ames Family Atrium.

For more information, visit our Concert Listings.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Ohio Light Opera has unveiled the six shows on their summer 2025 calendar: Carousel, Brigadoon, Tip-Toes, Patience, Bittersweet, and The Cousin from Batavia. The performances will run from June 14 to August 3 at the College of Wooster. Check out the calendar and learn more about the shows here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

by Daniel Hathaway

Russian choral director and composer Alexander Andreyevich Archangelsky was born on (or near) this date in 1846. A niche figure in the greater stream of Russian music, he mainly wrote Russian Orthodox Church music, including an All Night Vigil and masses, and led a choir that made successful tours of Russia and Europe, eventually transitioning from all-male voices to male and female singers. [Read more…]

Jorge Caballero tries something new for the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society

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by Stephanie Manning

Playing an entire symphony on classical guitar? It’s more possible than you’d think. And it’s become second nature for Jorge Caballero, known for performing transcriptions of works like Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

But Caballero’s upcoming program with Cleveland Classical Guitar Society is something a bit different. “For me, it’s somewhat of a departure from what I’ve been doing recently,” he said in a recent interview. True, his setlist at the Maltz Performing Arts Center includes Antonín Dvořák’s entire Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”). But not just because it’s a technical achievement — it’s also part of a broader thematic connection between Black spirituals and Western classical music.

The concert on Saturday, October 26 begins at 7:30 pm, and tickets are available online. And a free prelude event, “Strings of the Spirit,” takes place at Karamu House on Thursday, October 24 at 7:00 pm. Learn more here. [Read more…]

DIARY: Monday, October 21, 2024

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by Stephanie Manning

HAPPENING TODAY:

It’s a rare Monday with some concert options — one each on the west and east side.

At West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, the Rocky River Chamber Music Society presents the Gropius String Quartet (pictured) in a free program of Mendelssohn, Haydn, and Dvořák. That’s at 7:30 pm. At the same time and across town, Apollo’s Fire continues their run of Brandenburg Concerto concerts at Harkness Chapel. Note that tonight’s performance replaces Brandenburg No. 2 with Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3. Tickets available online.

For more details and to check out what the rest of the week holds, visit our Concert Listings.

INTERESTING READ:

If you keep up with Deutsche Grammophon, you might recognize the name María Dueñas. The Spanish violinist’s debut album, Beethoven and Beyond, made waves in 2023, and her Paganini: 24 Caprices recording arrives next year. The New York Times recently profiled Dueñas, talking with her collaborators about what makes this young musician stand out. She’ll join the Cleveland Orchestra during their Miami residency in January — so maybe we’ll see her at Severance Hall sometime soon? Read the NYT article here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

by Daniel Hathaway

On October 21, 1896 American composer and conductor Howard Hanson was born in Wahoo, Nebraska, 26 years after its founding by Czech, German, and Scandinavian settlers (and named after the eastern wahoo, a shrub indigenous to the area). [Read more…]

DIARY: Wednesday, October 16, 2024

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by Stephanie Manning

HAPPENING TODAY:

Two lunchtime and three evening concerts round out the mid-week.

At 12:00 noon, the “Feel Good Music” group Gruve Tonic entertains Trinity Cathedral as part of their Brownbag Concert Series, while organist Robert Myers plays reformation music at Trinity Lutheran Church’s Music Near the Market.

And tonight, 7:30 pm concerts abound at three local educational institutions. At CIM, the four female vocalists of the Quince Ensemble (pictured) present a variety of contemporary repertoire; at Oberlin, Maurice Cohn leads the Oberlin Orchestra in a program featuring Schoenberg’s Cello Concerto; and Tri-C’s Metropolitan Campus hosts the Amina Figarova Sextet as they join forces with the Matsiko World Orphan Choir, an ensemble of at-risk Liberian children.

For more details on these and more, visit our Concert Listings.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

by Jarrett Hoffman

English-born violist and composer Rebecca Clarke died on this date in 1979 in New Dutch composer-organist Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck died on this date in music history (1621), as did German composer and lutenist Silvius Leopold Weiss (1750). [Read more…]

DIARY: Monday, October 14, 2024

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by Stephanie Manning

LOOKING AHEAD:

On this rainy, gloomy Monday with no events on the horizon, let’s do a rundown of some bright spots in this otherwise-packed week. The Cleveland Chamber Music Society hosts the Imani Winds and Michelle Cann, while CIM presents the Quince Ensemble. The season continues for Les Délices and begins for No Exit and Apollo’s Fire, and The Cleveland Orchestra puts on a massive performance of Mahler 3.

For more details on these and more, visit our Concert Listings.

IN MEMORIAM:

The Grammy-winning classical music producer Adam Abeshouse (pictured) passed away on Thursday. The 63-year-old was diagnosed with bile duct cancer last spring. As his condition recently worsened, NPR reported on an at-home farewell concert organized by some of his closest collaborators. Quoted from that article:

“What he said to us before we saw him last is a reflection of how he is selfless,” said violinist Nick Kendall. “Before we left, he said, ‘Boys, just continue listening to each other.’ That hit us huge, and will always live with us.”

NEWS BRIEFS:

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Astral Artists — the Philly-based arts group that represents a number of young, up-and-coming musicians — will soon shut down. The board cited unstable finances as one of the primary reasons for the decision. [Read more…]

Caleb Hudson pushes his limits in upcoming Apollo’s Fire concerts

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by Stephanie Manning

For trumpet player Caleb Hudson, practicing J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 can feel like training for the Olympics.

“You kind of have to clear your schedule in terms of your repertoire,” Hudson said in a recent interview. “Not only does it take a lot of time to develop that endurance, but it’s just such a specialized piece that requires so much energy — it’s so nerve wracking.”

But Hudson loves the challenge, and Brandenburg No. 2 has become one of his signature pieces. The trumpeter has performed it with orchestras around the country and during the decade he spent as a member of the Canadian Brass. And he’s once again putting his Olympic training plan in action, as he gears up to perform the work with Apollo’s Fire on October 18, 19, 20, and 22. [Read more…]

Recording review: Poiesis Quartet fearlessly forges something new (Bright Shiny Things)

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by Stephanie Manning

Creating something new can come with a lot of expectations. Founding an ensemble. Releasing a debut album. Recording a world premiere, or two. But whatever you might expect from the Poiesis Quartet, they want you to take them exactly as they are.

It might sound like quite the proclamation for the young string quartet, founded two years ago at Oberlin Conservatory by violinists Sarah Ma and Max Ball, violist Jasper de Boor, and cellist Drew Dansby. But their debut recording, as we are — to be released on October 18 — sees the four players completely confident in themselves and the music they’re performing.

The name “Poiesis,” from the ancient Greek ποιεῖν, refers to this act of making what has never been made before. Accordingly, the two pieces on the album are each world premiere recordings (though each have had multiple live performances). Both works also have strong ties to Northeast Ohio, with one by Baldwin Wallace composer-in-residence Clint Needham and the other by Cleveland Orchestra trombonist Richard Stout. [Read more…]

Daniel Harding leads Cleveland Orchestra in wide-ranging and satisfying symphonic showcase (Oct. 3)

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by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Given that symphonies have been a staple in the orchestral repertoire for 300 years, it would be impossible to cover their entire history in one evening. Even so, the three works on The Cleveland Orchestra’s October 4 program gave listeners a taste of the styles of composers writing in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

Fittingly, the evening opened with music by Franz Joseph Haydn, the “Father of the Symphony.” With 106 symphonies to choose from, the Orchestra selected No. 92, nicknamed “Oxford,” even though it was commissioned by the comte d’Ogny for performance in Paris in 1789. Guest conductor Daniel Harding, who happened to be born and raised in Oxford, led the performance with precision and without unnecessary dramatics.

[Read more…]

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