by Daniel Hathaway

NEWS BRIEFS;

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced that this season’s Summers at Severance concerts will take place on July 10, 17, 31 and August 21.

Conductors will include Marie Jacquot, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Christoph Koncz, and Dima Slobodeniouk. Violinist Randall Goosby and pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii will be the featured soloists.

Read a press release here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

This is one of those rare days without any live classical events in Northeast Ohio to promote. But there are four historic figures in classical music to raise up, and an important first performance to put into context.

American composer Roy Harris was born on this date in 1898 in Chandler, Oklahoma. With the help of Aaron Copland, Harris studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, and went on to write numerous works on American themes. His big breakthrough was his Third Symphony, captured here in a live performance by Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra in 2010. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

At 5:30 pm, saxophonist Tyler Young, and pianist William Hueholt play a free Rush Hour Concert of Music by Paganini, Saint-Saëns, and Jacob Nance (a world premiere) at Fairmount Presbyterian in Cleveland Hts.

And this evening at 7:30, Cleveland Chamber Music Society hosts the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at Disciples Church for a program of Spanish music in collaboration with the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society (pictured: guitarist Jason Vieaux with soprano Vanessa Becerra).

For details of upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

by Mike Telin

On February 11, 1847, inventor Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. Of course, Edison is responsible for inventing many things that make our lives more pleasant, including the incandescent light bulb, the motion picture camera, and the fluoroscope, as well as improving the telegraph and telephone. Click here to view a list of his numerous patents. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

St. Olaf Choir stops in at Severance Music Center on its annual tour tonight at 7:30. Conducted for nearly four decades by Anton Armstrong, the Northfield, Minnesota college choir preserves the rich tradition of Scandinavian Lutheran choral ensembles. The choir will be assisted by faculty violinist and violist Charles Gray and the St. Olaf Chamber Orchestra.

For details of upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

At Saturday’s Tri-C performance by jazz organist Matthew Whitaker, festival director Terri Pontremoli announced the indoor lineup for the 46th Annual Tri-C JazzFest to be presented by KeyBank from June 26 – 28 in Playhouse Square. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND: 

On Saturday: Tri-C presents Hammond B-3 virtuoso Matthew Whitaker (pictured, Eastern Campus, 7:30), Gospel Meets the Akron Symphony (E.J. Thomas, 7:30), Apollo’s Fire plays virtuoso concerti (St. Paul’s, Cleveland Hts., 7:30), Robert Beckstrom leads the Lorain Civic Orchestra (LCCC, Elyria, 7:30), and cellist Mark Kosower solos with Thomas Guggeis & The Cleveland Orchestra (Severance, 8 pm).

On Sunday: The Cleveland Orchestra repeats Friday’s program (3 pm at Severance), Apollo’s Fire does the same (St. Paul’s, Cleveland Hts., 4 pm), pianist Spencer Myer plays on Music From the Western Reserve series (Christ Church, Hudson, 5 pm), flutist Bart Feller performs at the U. of Akron (Guzzetta Hall, 5:30 pm), and organist David Blazer plays original music for Charlie Chaplin’s 1928 silent film The Circus (West Shore U-U Church, 7 pm)

For details of upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.

INTERESTING READ:

Independence, MO-based organist Jan Krabill writes on her website:

Back for the 26th year! As always, my annual Super Bowl Sunday organ concert will begin at 2pm and conclude by 3:30, giving us all plenty of time to view all of the big game. And, as always, when our Kansas City Chiefs are in the Super Bowl, I’ll open the concert with a special piece in their honor. And, as always, this concert is FREE admission, and casual dress is fine. Come enjoy the fun! [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

Tonight at 7:30, Apollo’s Fire’s latest itinerary continues at Rocky River Presbyterian before moving on to St. Paul’s Episcopal in Cleveland Hts. (Feb. 8 at 7:30 & Feb. 9 at 4). The topic is virtuosic Baroque works by Georg Philipp Telemann and Antonio Vivaldi, and the virtuosi include Daphna Mor, recorder, and Alan Choo, Emi Tanabe & Chloe Fedor, violins.

Also at 7:30, The Cleveland Orchestra is back home at Severance Music Center to begin a three-concert set led by Thomas Guggeis and featuring principal cello Mark Kosower in Henri Dutilleux’s Tout un monde lointain… Read Mike Telin’s interview with Guggeis here.

And tonight at 8, in a concert presented by Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project, sound artist Ipek Eginli gets together with harpist Stephan Haluska & cellist Liam Battle at Calicchia Gallery Studio in Cleveland. 

For details of upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Piano Cleveland has announced its collaboration with the Kent State University College of the Arts in creating a new Arts Entrepreneurship Residency Program designed to help emerging artists develop an entrepreneurial mindset to enhance their careers.  [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

Tonight at 7:30, Apollo’s Fire’s latest itinerary begins at First Methodist in Akron, then moves on to Rocky River Presbyterian (Feb. 7) and St. Paul’s Episcopal in Cleveland Hts. (Feb. 8 at 7:30 & Feb. 9 at 4). The topic is virtuosic Baroque works by Georg Philipp Telemann and Antonio Vivaldi, and the virtuosi include Daphna Mor, recorder, and Alan Choo, Emi Tanabe & Chloe Fedor, violins. Tickets are available online.

For details of upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.

HEADLINES IN THE NEWS:

Paul Plishka, Prolific Soloist at the Met, Dies at 83 (NY Times)

Known for his liquid bass tones and flawless diction, he appeared in 88 roles, many of them comic, over 1,672 performances at the Metropolitan Opera.

Daniel Barenboim Announces He Has Parkinson’s Disease (NY Times)

“I am planning to maintain as many of my professional commitments as possible,” the conductor said. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

At 12 noon, Trinity Cathedral’s free Brownbag Concert series will host Case Western Historical Performance Ensembles. Those musicians will reassemble at 6 pm this evening for a Chamber Music in the Galleries concert in the Donna and James Reid Galleries at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Also this evening at 6 pm, Piano Cleveland Live will present pianist Arseniy Gusev and violinist Shannon Lee (photo by Olivia Crumm) in a sneak peek at their new album Witraż (Stained Glass) at the Forest City Brewery.

For details of upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

From an email on Tuesday: “The Cleveland Orchestra is pleased to announce that Music Director Franz Welser-Möst will return to Cleveland earlier than expected to lead an additional subscription week on February 27-28 and March 1. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

At noon, organist Jonathan W. Moyer plays North German music by Matthias Weckmann, Wilhelm Karges, Heinrich Scheidemann, and Dietrich Buxtehude at the Church of the Covenant in University Circle.

Tonight at 7:30, the Gateways Brass Collective, the resident ensemble of the Rochester-based Gateways Music Festival, performs music by Kevin McKee, Margaret Bonds, George Walker, Herbert T. Smith, and others in Mixon Hall at CIM.

And the Oberlin Artist Recital Series continues at 7:30 in Finney Chapel with New York Philharmonic clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Emanuel Ax performing works by Robert Schumann, Jessie Montgomery, Franz Schubert, Ludwig van Beethoven, Florence Price, James Lee III, and Leonard Bernstein.

For details of upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced two upcoming program changes. On February 20 and 22, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke will step in for Kelley O’Connor in Thomas Adès’s America: A Prophecy. And for the concerts on May 8, 9, and 10, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, the previously-unnamed new work written by Allison Loggins-Hull, the Orchestra’s Daniel R. Lewis Composer Fellow, now has a title: Grit. Grace. Glory. On that same program, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 3 will be replaced by Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 4. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Grammy Awards: The L.A. Times has compiled a list of all the 2025 Grammy Award winners. Congratulations to Elaine Martone, who won Producer of the Year – Classical. Click here to read the story (which looks as though it’s behind a paywall, but you can navigate past the pop-up).

Tuesday Musical has extended the deadline for applications for its 2025 scholarship competitions to 11:59 pm on February 7. Details here.

HAPPENING TODAY / TODAY’S ALMANAC:

With no live classical performances scheduled for today, let’s honor a famous composer whose birth anniversary comes up in our Rolodex.

On February 3, 1809, German composer and conductor Felix Mendelssohn began his short tenure in the world in Hamburg, where he also passed on in 1847 at the age of 38. Historically famous for reviving J.S. Bach’s Matthew-Passion in a performance in Berlin at the age of 20, he revisited that work at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig a dozen years later, revising some of his earlier revisions (read a Gramophone review here). [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

First, two events that are not happening: a pair of CIM Opera Theater presentations of Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters on Saturday and Sunday afternoon at the Art Museum have been canceled.

On Saturday: ChamberFest Cleveland presents an InterACTIVE Music Series at East Cleveland Public Library from 1:00 to 3:30 pm, and Music at Main hosts jazz pianist Theron Brown at the downtown library. Concerts tonight at 7:30 include Cleveland Pops Orchestra in Music of Motown at Severance Music Center, and cellist Ian Maksin brings his Cello for Peace Tour to the Maltz PAC.

On Sunday: Arts at Holy Trinity Lutheran in Akron presents the University of Akron Jazz Ensemble, the Church of the Western Reserve presents a recital by organist Mario Buchanan (pictured), both at 4 pm, and Oberlin’s Technology in Music and Related Arts department shares creative work by students in its Berlin Winter Term Project in Stull Recital Hall.

For details of upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Cliburn Competition has named the 77 pianists who have been invited for screening auditions as the Forth Worth, Texas contest begins a new cycle. Read the story on The Violin Channel. [Read more…]