by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

Tonight at 8 pm, ChamberFest Cleveland presents Canadian violinist Kerson Leong in “Phenomenon.” He’ll play solo works by Francisco Tárrega, Alessandro Marcello, Eugène Ysaÿe, Agustín Barrios, and Johann Sebastian Bach. A social hour with CFC artistic directors and musicians begins at 7 in Dunham Tavern.

INTERESTING READ:

Interview with Conductor Ryan Wigglesworth On What The Classical Music World Is Now (The Guardian)

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Composer Richard Strauss was born on June 11 in 1864 in Munich, an anniversary date he shares with Polish composer and pianist Alexander Tansmann (1897 in Lodz), American composer George Frederick McKay (1899 in Harrington, WA) and American opera composer Carlysle Floyd (1926 in Latta, SC). [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

ANNOUNCEMENT:

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced a guest artist update to its America at 250 concert at Blossom Music Center on Friday, July 3. “Tenor Russell Thomas (left) has graciously agreed to join the program, singing a selection of traditional spirituals and narrating Copland’s gripping Lincoln Portrait, in his Cleveland Orchestra debut.”

Thomas replaces the late Limmie Pulliam (right), “an artist with extraordinary vocal power and sincerity” who made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in 2022, stepping into the title role in Verdi’s Otello. “He deepened his connection with our musicians and audiences through Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West and, most recently, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde.

“Thomas wishes to dedicate his performance to the memory of his friend Limmie Pulliam.”

HAPPENING TODAY: 

Tonight at 7:30 in CIM’s Kulas Hall, ChamberFest Cleveland launches its 2026 season, “Global Fanfare.” Eleven of the festival artists will present works by Weedie Braimah, Steve Reich, Yang Baozhi, Miguel del Águila, Matthew Hindson, and Johannes Brahms.  Executive director Jessica Peek Sherwood presents the pre-concert festival welcome at 6:30 pm

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

English composer Frederick Delius died on this date in 1934 in Grez-sur-Loing, near Paris, blind and paralyzed by syphilis. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

Today at Noon, organist Jonathan Moyer will play a Tuesdays at the Covenant program of music by British composers using both organs at the Church of the Covenant in University Circle.

STARTING UP THIS WEEK:

ChamberFest Cleveland will present four concerts from Wednesday through Saturday, ENCORE Gates Mills Music & Ideas Festival will host performances on Friday and Saturday, and Ohio Light Opera will open its season of six shows in Freedlander Theater at the College of Wooster with a matinee performance of My Fair Lady on Saturday. There are more concerts to enjoy — visit our Concert Listings for details.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Danish composer Carl Nielsen was born on this date in 1865 in Norre-Lyndelse. The BBC “Workshop” Series chronicled his life and career in the 1970s in Espansiva: a Portrait, leading one viewer to write, “The BBC used to do this kind of thing very well back in the day, and since there weren’t many channels to choose from, many people had to learn new things despite themselves.”

Watch that documentary here, and enjoy a memorized and choreographed performance of his woodwind quintet by the Denmark-based Carion Quintet (who played on the Latvian Concert Association series in Cleveland several winters ago, and will appear on the Cleveland Chamber Society series next season). And here’s a video of his Flute Concerto from a CIM Master’s Degree recital in November, 2018. Moisés López-Ruiz is the soloist, and Yohan Kwon conducts the CIM Orchestra.

by Daniel Hathaway

WEEKEND CLASSICAL MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS:

This weekend’s schedule offers a rich mix of stand-alone events — some with multiple performances — and intriguingly programmed festival concerts.

On Friday, the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival (download the program book here) hosts the Kaleido Guitar Duo (Hao Yang and Kevin Loh, 7:30 in CIM’s Mixon Hall), and ENCORE Chamber Music Institute (pictured) presents an al fresco celebration with a dancer and full string ensemble at 7:30 at the Grove Amphitheater in Mayfield).

JUNE 6 – SATURDAY

On Saturday afternoon, the Guitar Festival presents Muxin Li (3 pm in Mixon Hall), and this evening welcomes the Davin-Levin Duo (Colin Davin, guitar, and Emily Levin, harp, 7:30 in Mixon Hall).

Also on Saturday afternoon, Renovare Music combines original songs written by refugee storytellers with Afghani and South African instrumentals (2 pm at Visible Voice Books in Cleveland,) while Studio Espressivo features pianists Allison Hillier and Chris Neiner performing tunes inspired by commedia dell’arte (3 pm at Studio Espressivo, repeated Saturday at 8 pm and on Sunday at 8.)

And for its Saturday evening event, ENCORE has given its artistic director Jinjoo Cho carte blanche, and she’s picked music by Aino Sibelius, Jörg Widmann, Jean Sibelius, and Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht for her 7:30 program at Federated Church in Chagrin Falls.

JUNE 7 – SUNDAY

There are three concerts to highlight on Sunday at the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival. Guitarist Nicolò Spera joins flutist Christina Jennings, and violist Matthew Dane, viola, in music by Theofanidis (2 pm in Mixon Hall) and Petra Polácková plays works by J.S. Bach, Collins, Dowland, Narvaez, and Torroba (4 pm in Mixon). The day of Classical guitar music ends with the final round of the James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition in which young musicians ages thirteen to eighteen will perform before the public and a panel of internationally acclaimed judges. Prizes will be announced. (6:30 in Mixon Hall. Watch the live stream here).

For details of these and other classical music events, please visit the ClevelandClassical.com concert listings.

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Today belongs to classical guitarists. At 9:45 am & 1:30 pm, the semifinal round of the James Stroud Classical Youth Guitar Competition will bring young artists ages thirteen to eighteen to CIM’s Mixon Hall to perform before the public and a panel of internationally acclaimed judges. Free.

And at 7:30 pm, the 26th Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival gets underway in Mixon Hall with a recital by headliner Jason Vieaux (pictured) of works by Barrios, Morel, Orbon, Ponce, Pujol, and others. Jonathan Leathwood will give a free, pre-concert lecture at 6:00 pm.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Cleveland Chamber Choir will present four major concerts next season as well as performances by smaller ensembles. Gregory Ristow conducts Trinity Cathedral’s resident ensemble. Read the press release here.

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced performers for its 2026-2027 recital series   in Mandel Concert hall at Severance Music Center. Performers include pianist Lang Lang Lang (September 12), Violinist Lisa Batiashvili, cellist Gautier Capuçon, and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet (October 19), and pianists Stephen Hough (January 26), Garrick Ohlsson (March 16) and Nobuyuki Tujii (April 20).

In conjunction with the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists in August, Piano Cleveland will host a series of solo recitals at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History from July 21 through August 1. Read the Cleveland.com article here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

On June 4, 1951, Russian-American conductor Serge Koussevitzky, who led the Boston Symphony for a quarter of a century, died in Boston. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Tonight at 7:30 in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, The Cleveland Orchestra will play the live score during an HD screening of Matilda, based on the Roald Dahl book, conducted by David Newman, and hosted and narrated by Danny DeVito.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Jazz Journalists Association has announced winners in 49 categories of excellence in music and journalism at the 31st annual JJA Jazz Awards.

Among artists with Oberlin Conservatory connections, Billy Hart was named Traps Drummer of the Year, and his book Oceans of Time: The Musical Autobiography of Billy Hart (Cymbal Press) as told to Ethan Iverson, was named Book of the Year (Biography or Autobiography). And Sullivan Fortner was voted Pianist of the Year and named Duo of the Year along with vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

On June 3, 1929, German-born inventor Emile Berliner died in New York City of a heart attack at the age of 78. Like many second-wave innovators, Berliner has largely gone unmentioned for his pair of contributions to the classical music recording industry. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

At 12 Noon at the Church of the Covenant in University Circle, organist Steven Kuerbitz will play J.S. Bach’s arrangement of Vivaldi’s Double Violin Concerto in d minor, BWV 596, the Leipzig chorale Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, BWV 654 and two settings of Nun komm der heiden Heiland, BWV 659 & 661, as well as César Franck’s Prélude, Fugue et Variation, Op. 18. Kuerbitz began organ study at the age of 15, interrupted by a distinguished career in medicine, and a stroke in 2006 from which he continues to recover. He resumed his organ studies with the Covenant’s organist, Jonathan Moyer. Read the program notes here.

COMINGS & GOINGS:

The Poiesis Quartet has announced that violinist Coco Mi will join the ensemble beginning in June 2026. Mi will replace founding member Max Ball, who was a member of the quartet for three years. Read the Violin Channel story here.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Cooper International Violin Competition Names 2026 Semifinalists

The 18 semifinalists will perform at the in-person competition, which will be held on the campus of Oberlin College and Conservatory from August 6-10. Read the Violin Channel article here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

by Jarrett Hoffman

The headliner for June 2 is Edward Elgar, who was born on this date in 1857 in Lower Broadheath, England, outside of Worcester. Among classical musicians, two of his most famous works are the orchestral Enigma Variations (heard here in a 1957 live recording by William Steinberg and The Cleveland Orchestra) and the oratorio The Dream of Gerontius. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

BUSTING OUT ALL OVER

The first month of summer promises an explosion of music in Northeast Ohio, with rollouts of numerous festivals that we’ll be previewing and reviewing in June. They include, in launch order, the Cleveland Classical Guitar Festival (artists pictured) and James Stroud Youth Competition (June 4), ENCORE Gates Mills Chamber Music & Ideas Festival (June 5), ChamberFest Cleveland (June 10), Ohio Light Opera in Wooster (June 13), and Kent Blossom Music Festival (June 24), All of those happen before The Cleveland Orchestra takes over at the beginning of July with performances both at Severance Music Center and Blossom.

Additionally, there’s a whole galaxy of individual events to attend and enjoy. Keep track of all this music making through our Concert Listings, and enjoy!

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Two future piano makers entered the world on June 1: Ignaz Joseph Pleyel in 1757 near Vienna, and Carl F.W. Bechstein in Gotha in 1826. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

CLASSICAL MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS:

MAY 29 – FRIDAY

No Exit presents Songs, Soundscapes and Sonnets with Anika Kildegaard, soprano. The program includes three pieces for voice and ensemble: the world premiere of Robert Honstein’s Sonnets, Annika Socolofsky’s Don’t say a word, and Timothy Beyer’s Malekhamoves (7 pm at the Bop Stop, repeated on Saturday at Heights Arts, Free).

MAY 31 – SUNDAY

Renovare Music presents Journeys of Home, featuring original songs written collaboratively with refugee & immigrant storytellers from Syria, South Africa, and Peru, and instrumentals by Afghani composer Babrak Wassa, Layale Chaker, and South African traditionals. (2:30 at Young Latino Network, 2085 W. 114th St., Cleveland. Free, but RSVPs requested.)

CityMusic Cleveland presents its Brass Quintet performing James Stephenson’s Fanfare for an Angel, Nicole Piunno’s Monterey Sketches, Margaret Brouwer’s Timespan, and James Johnston’s Yale Quick March and Two-Step. (7 pm at the Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus, Free).

For details of these and other classical music performances, please visit our Concert Listings.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz was born on this date in Camprodón. [Read more…]