by Daniel Hathaway

WEEKEND CLASSICAL MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16

7 pm – Kent Keyboard Series: Giuseppe Guarrera in Ludwig Recital Hall | Apollo’s Fire: Ben Franklin in Paris, St. Raphael Church, Bay Village | 7:30 Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Mandel Concert Hall, Severance Music Center | CIM Orchestra in Kulas Hall | Cleveland Jazz Orchestra with percussionist Jamey Haddad at Maltz Performing Arts Center | University of Akron Symphony Orchestra in Guzzetta Recital Hall.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17

3 pm – University of Akron Guest Recital, Hojung Kim, cello & Hyunsoo Kim, piano, Guzzetta Recital Hall | 7:30 pm – Akron Symphony, E.J. Thomas Hall | Apollo’s Fire: Ben Franklin in Paris, Kulas Hall, Cleveland Institute of Music | Cleveland Classical Guitar Society: Berta Rojas, guitar & friends. Maltz Performing Arts Center | Cleveland Philharmonic, Disciples Christian Church, Cleveland Heights | Cleveland Pops Orchestra,  Mandel Concert Hall, Severance Music Center.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18

2 pm – University of Akron Brass: Student brass chamber ensembles, Akron-Summit County Library, Akron | 3 pm – Cleveland Philharmonic, Westlake Performing Arts Center | Heights Arts Close Encounters at a Shaker Heights Villa (ticket holders will receive exact address) | 4 pm – Firelands Symphony with vocalist Trica Tanguy, Sawmill Creek Convention Center, Huron | University of Akron Choirs: Tempus Live, Fairlawn Lutheran Church | 7:30 pm – Apollo’s Fire. Ben Franklin in Paris, Gartner Auditorium, Cleveland Museum of Art | 8 pm – Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project: Jessica Pavone, viola & SplinterMount, Calicchia Gallery Studio, Cleveland.

And on tour in Europe:

Franz Welser-Möst leads The Cleveland Orchestra in Richard Strauss’s Daphne (excerpts) and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony tonight in the Musikverein in Vienna (pictured).

WEEKEND ALMANAC:

On this date in 1621, Dutch organist and composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck died In Amsterdam, where he spent his entire career, although his fame spread elsewhere. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Tonight at 7:30 in First Methodist Church in Akron, Apollo’s Fire premieres its new program, “Ben Franklin in Paris” featuring orchestral works performed in Paris during his 9-year posting as ambassador to France, including Mozart’s “Paris” Symphony and highlights from a Rameau opera.

And two Oberlin events tonight at 7:30 feature the Oberlin College Choir in Warner Concert Hall, and a Faculty and Guest Recital by cellist Hojung Kim & pianist Hyunsoo Kim in Stull Recital Hall.

And on tour in Europe, Franz Welser-Möst leads The Cleveland Orchestra in Liszt, Martinů, and Brahms tonight in the Musikverein in Vienna (pictured).

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

German philosopher, philologist, poet, cultural critic and sometime composer Friedrich Nietzsche was born on October 15 in 1844. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Tonight at 7:30 the Cleveland Museum of Art hosts Hiromi: The Trio Project, with Hiromi, jazz piano, James Genus, bass, and Simon Phillips, drums, in Gartner Auditorium.

At the same hour in Oberlin’s Kulas Recital Hall, a Conservatory Guest Recital features Tallā Rouge (violists Lauren Spaulding and Aria Cheregosha).

INTERESTING READ:

from The New York Times
Steve Reich at 90: Still Composing and Thinking ‘Well, This Is New!’

Reich, whose music will be featured in birthday celebrations this month, said his latest work was “one of the best things I’ve done in a long time.” Read the article by Joshua Barone here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Composer Kaija Saariaho was born in Helsinki on October 14, 1952 but lived in Paris for thirty-some years until her passing in 2023.

When the BBC Music Magazine polled 174 composers about the greatest names in the history of their field, Bach landed 1st, and Saariaho 17th, the highest ranking among living composers. (Here are the results of the top 50.)

Among local performances of her work, hear Oliver Herbert play the Sept Papillons (“Seven Butterflies”) for solo cello during the 2017 edition of ChamberFest Cleveland. And check out her interview with Tom Welsh as part of the “Behind the Beat” series from The Cleveland Museum of Art.

Maurice Martenot, the inventor of the electronic instrument known as the ondes Martenot, was born in Paris on this date in 1898. Cynthia Millar, described by The Guardian as the “unchallenged sovereign” of the instrument, describes its nature and its importance to Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie here. And moving to the world of popular music, listen to this collection of ondes Martenot-heavy excerpts from the band Radiohead, whose lead guitarist and keyboardist became a fan of the instrument after hearing Turangalîla as a teenager.

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Today at 12 noon, Ethan Morris plays music by J.S. Bach and Feliks Nowowiejski on the Tuesday Organ Plus series at the Church of the Covenant. Click here for the live webcast.

And tonight at 7:30, the Cleveland Chamber Music Society presents The Escher Quartet (Adam Barnett-Hart & Bryan Lee, violins, Pierre Lapointe, viola, and Brook Speltz, cello) in works by Joseph Haydn, Erich Korngold, and Johannes Brahms in the Cultural Arts Center at Disciples Church.

INTERESTING READ:

from The Guardian
Choral Evensong, A Long Tradition In Britain, Is Threatened By Many Different Pressures. Read the article by Jonathan Davies here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

German violinist, clarino trumpet player and composer Johann Christoph Pezel departed this life on October 13, 1694, having served as Stadtpfeifer and Stadtmusicus (a member of the municipal wind band) in Leipzig and Bautzen. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Tonight at 7:30, the Atlantic Brass Quintet — Tim Leopold & Micah Killion, trumpets, Ben Wulfman, horn, John Faieta, trombone, and John Manning, tuba — play works by Jan Bach, Marti Epstein, Reena Esmail, Andrew Rindfleisch, and Jeff Scott in Drinko Recital Hall at Cleveland State University.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

On this date in 1872, Ralph Vaughan Williams was born in Down Ampney, Yorkshire, a village after which the British composer named one of the popular hymn tunes he wrote while serving as editor of The English Hymnal, published in 1906. (Listen to an arrangement made and played by Todd Wilson with the choir and instrumentalists of First-Pilgrim Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 2014.) [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:

SATURDAY — Oberlin Faculty & Guest Recital, Emily Cornelius & Ross Karre, violin and percussion duo (pictured), 2 pm, Allen Memorial Art Museum | Studio Espressivo Studio Series, Secret Masterpieces. 3 pm and 8 pm, 2026 Murray Hill Road #111, Cleveland | Joseph Min, carillon, 4 pm, McGaffin Carillon, University Circle | Oberlin Faculty Recital, Autumn: Masterworks Written at the End of Composers’ Lives, 4 pm, Kulas Recital Hall | Canton Symphony, Maurice Cohn, conductor, Hanzhi Wang, bandoneón. 7:30 pm in Umstattd Hall | The Resonance Project, Ten Kings of Hell with Anna Rathbun, soprano, Irwin Shung, piano, and Qin Ying Tan, harpsichord, 7:30 pm, Forest Hill Church.

SUNDAY — Tri-C Classical Piano Series, Duo-pianists Antonio Pompa-Baldi & Emanuela Friscioni play both of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Suites, 2 pm in Tri-C Metro Auditorium | Parma Symphony, Randolph Laycock, conducting, 4 pm at Valley Forge High School, Parma Heights | Studio Espressivo Studio Series, 3 pm at 2026 Murray Hill Road #111, Cleveland | Heights Chamber Orchestra, Travis Jürgens, conducting, with Emily Cornelius, violin, and Ross Karre, percussion, 3:30 pm, St. Paul’s Episcopal, Cleveland Hts. | Barbara O’Brien & Julie Gough, flute duets, 4 pm, St. Sebastian Church, Akron | CIM New Music Ensemble. Keith Fitch, director, with Sheila Browne, viola, 4 pm in Mixon Hall | Trinity Cathedral Chamber Choir & Covenant Chancel Choir, 4 pm, Church of the Covenant | Medina Concert Series Autumn Impressions & Dances, 4 pm in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Medina.

IN EUROPE THIS WEEKEND, The Cleveland Orchestra will play the fifth and sixth concerts in their 15-performance international tour in Reduta Hall, Bratislava, Slovakia (Saturday at 7:30, Liszt, Martinu & Brahms) and in the Brucknerhaus, in Linz, Austria (Sunday at 3, Mozart, Deutsch & R. Strauss)

WEEKEND ALMANAC:

Camille Saint-Saëns was born on October 9, 1835 in Paris. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING  TODAY:

This evening, The Cleveland Orchestra will play the fourth concert in their 15-performance international tour in the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Belgium (pictured). Franz Welser-Most will lead Franz Liszt’s Orpheus, Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs with soprano Golda Schultz, and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 2.

TODAY’S HEADLINES: 

Piano Cleveland to Partner with Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music (Violin Channel)

Cleveland Institute of Music, Kinhaven Announce New String Quartet Fellowship (CIM News Release)

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

German composer Heinrich Schütz was born in Bad Köstritz on this date in 1585. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING  TODAY:

At 12 Noon, Trinity Cathedral Brownbag Concerts present Lea Marra & The River Boys, a high-energy bluegrass/folk band performing songs about life in the Rust Belt of Cleveland. Lunches welcome, free.

At 6 pm – The Cleveland Museum of Art hosts Chamber Music in the Galleries featuring young artists from Case Western Reserve University’s Historical Performance Practice Program. And at 7:30 in Gartner Auditorium, the museum presents The Bad Plus on its farewell tour.

And at 7:30 in Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music, CIM Virtuosi features guitarist Jason Vieaux. Free, but tickets required.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

by Mike Telin

Today we celebrate cellist, cultural ambassador and humanitarian Yo-Yo Ma, born on this date in 1955 in Paris. Since his days as a child prodigy, Ma has carved out a remarkably diverse career — one need look no further than his expansive discography to understand why he is a household name around the world. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING  TODAY:

This evening, The Cleveland Orchestra will play the third concert in their 15-performance international tour in the Philharmonie de Paris (pictured). Franz Welser-Most will lead Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs with soprano Golda Schultz and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 8. Catch the performance live on Adella at 2 pm.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

At 12 Noon, organist Christa Rakich (faculty, Oberlin Conservatory) will play the Tuesday Noon Organ Plus concert at the Church of the Covenant in University Circle. Music by J.S. Bach, Three Anonymous Variations on Daphne from the Camphuysen Ms. (c. 1652), Henry Purcell’s selections from Dido & Aeneas, & works by Carson Cooman & Anna Amalia, Princess of Prussia. Church of the Covenant, 11205 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. Freewill offering. Watch a webcast here.

FROM TODAY’S HEADLINES:        

Nashville Symphony Receives $10 Million Lifeline From Oracle

The symphony announced last week that it was pausing the rest of the season after disclosing financial trouble. The concerts are back on now, thanks to a tech company gift. New York Times.  

Soaring Instrument Prices Could Stop the Music at Many Schools

Many schools rely on inexpensive beginner instruments that are made largely in China. When a single cello can cost $1,000 and a tuba $9,000, tariffs are straining meager band and orchestra budgets. New York Times. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING  TODAY:

This afternoon at 4, Cleveland Messiah Chorus will host a Messiah Sing Along at Forest Hill Church.

This evening at 7:30, Rocky River Chamber Music Society opens its new season with the Ciompi String Quartet and baritone Robert Sims, in a program honoring America’s 250th anniversary at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church.

And tonight at 8, The Cleveland Orchestra will play the second concert in their 15-performance international tour in the Phlharmonie Luxembourg (pictured). Franz Welser-Most will lead Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs with soprano Golda Schultz and the Symphonia domestica.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

American composer and pianist Eleonor Sandresky was born on this date in 1957. She describes herself on her website as “piano goddess, composer, inventor of the Wonder Suit, producer of film with live orchestra concerts, founder of the MATA Festival, and pianist with the Philip Glass Ensemble since 1991.”

Wonder Suit? She explains that further. [Read more…]