TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Only one birth and one death to memorialize on the seventeenth day of November.

American composer and arranger Hershey Kay was born in Philadelphia on this date in 1919. He studied at the Curtis Institute, where he was a classmate of Leonard Bernstein, who entrusted the scores of On the Town, Peter Pan, and Candide to Kay for orchestration (only rarely do composers take that task on themselves).

Among Kay’s other products was the reconstruction and orchestration of Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s Grande Tarantelle, choreographed by George Balanchine and famously performed by New York City Ballet’s Patricia McBride and Edward Villela. Watch them dance the score here.

And on November 17, 1959, Brazilian composer, pianist, and conductor Heitor Villa-Lobos died in Rio de Janeiro at the age of 72. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:

On Friday at 7:30, Robert Walters steps out in front of The Cleveland Orchestra to play the U.S. premiere of Geoffrey Gordon’s Mad Song for English horn and orchestra. (Read our preview interview here.) Also on the program: Gustav Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. Tugan Sokhiev conducts at Severance Music Center. Repeated Saturday at 7:30. Tickets available online.

Also on Friday, Cleveland State University presents Boulez 100: Celebrating the Pierre Boulez Centenary, with Andrew Rindfleisch, director, Shuai Wang, piano, and the Boulez 100 Ensemble. Pierre Boulez’s Incises for solo piano, Dérive 1 for six players, and Dérive 2 for eleven players. 7:30 in Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tickets available online.

On Saturday, Cleveland Classical Guitar Society hosts Duo Noire, Thomas Flippin and Christopher Mallett, guitars, in world premieres of works by Bryan Senti, Casimir Liberski, and Layale Chaker, plus arrangements of music by J.S. Bach, Nathaniel Dett, and more. 7:30 at the Maltz Performing Arts Center. Tickets available online.

And on Sunday, the Tri-C Classical Piano Series presents Elliot Wuu (pictured), performing Claude Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 31 No. 3, “The Hunt,” and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s  Daisies, Op. 38 No. 3, Preludes Op. 23 No. 4 & 8, and Sonata No. 2. 2:30 at the Tri-C Metropolitan Campus Auditorium. Free, but tickets required — register online.

For details of these and other classical events, visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings.

WEEKEND ALMANAC:

Paul Hindemith — that celebrated composer of the first half of the 20th century who was also a violist, conductor, and important music theorist and compositional pedagogue — was born on this November 14, 1895 in Hanau, Germany. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Tonight at 7:30, Robert Walters steps out in front of The Cleveland Orchestra to play the U.S. premiere of Geoffrey Gordon’s Mad Song for English horn and orchestra. (Read our preview interview here.) Also on the program: Gustav Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. Tugan Sokhiev conducts at Severance Music Center.

NEWS BRIEFS:

In a November 12 news release, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture reports that “The Board of Trustees … has approved grants totaling $12.9 million to support more than 300 Cuyahoga County nonprofit organizations of all sizes in 2026. To date, CAC has invested more than $270 million in more than 500 organizations. The Board approved grants for general operating support and project support during a public meeting on Thursday, November 12, 2025.

The Violin Channel reports that “the Verona Quartet [the ensemble-in-residence at the Oberlin Conservatory] has recently begun its Arts-in-Education Residency with the Fischoff National Chamber Music Association, which will see them undertake a wide variety of outreach programming across Indiana’s St. Joseph and Elkhart Counties. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

NEWS BRIEFS:

Baldwin-Wallace Establishes Kiteley Memorial Scholarship Fund

In an email, BW writes: “The Strongsville Community Band and the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of the Performing Arts celebrated the life and career of musician George Kiteley at a Sunday, November 9 concert that featured the announcement of a new Baldwin Wallace University scholarship in his name. Created by an anonymous donor, The George L. Kiteley Memorial Scholarship will assist percussion students at BW with demonstrated financial need in perpetuity.

“Kiteley, who passed away on September 10, became the first full-time professor of percussion at Baldwin-Wallace College in 1971 and remained in this position until his retirement in 2000. He also directed the Jazz Band for 20 years and founded Battu, a BW ensemble-in-residence focusing on world music.” Read an obituary here.

Oberlin Alums Among 2025 Grammy Nominees

Oberlin’s Campus Digest reports today that “The 2026 Grammy nominations have been announced, and Oberlin is well represented across multiple genres and categories. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Today at Noon, harpist Juan Riveros and violist Danny Jordan play works by Franz Schubert and Arnold Bax on the Tuesday series at the Church of the Covenant in University Circle.

This afternoon at 5, Senegalese master drummer Papa Assane M’baye plays a Rush Hour concert at Fairmount Presbyterian in Cleveland Heights.

Tonight at 7:30, Cleveland Chamber Music Society hosts one of its perennial favorites, the Takács Quartet (pictured, Edward Dusinberre & Harumi Rhodes, violins, Richard O’Neill, viola, and András Fejér, cello) in a program of works by Joseph Haydn, Béla Bartók, and Antonín Dvořák at Disciples Christian Church.

And marking Veterans’ Day, tonight at 7:30 at Severance Music Center, the Cinematic Symphony Orchestra and Choir will play selections from iconic and heroic film scores featuring members of the 101st Airborne Division US Army Band.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Never to be forgotten, “The Great War” (to end all wars) ended rather messily with the signing of an armistice at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, having “claimed the lives of 116,000 Americans, through combat, disease and other causes, and killed millions more people around the world.” [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Tonight at 7:30, the Rocky River Chamber Music Society presents the Phaeton Piano Trio (Friedemann Eichhorn, violin, Peter Hörr, cello, and Florian Uhlig, piano) at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church (live stream available)

JEAN GEIS STELL, 99:

We’ve just been informed of the July 25th death of Jean Geis Stell, 99, the concert pianist who founded the Rocky River Chamber Music Society in 1958 with five other professional musicians. A memorial service was held on November 8. Read an obituary here

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

On this date in 1483, German theologian, religious reformer and composer Martin Luther was born in Eisleben. Author of more than 30 hymns in the German vernacular, Luther joined composer Johann Walther to publish the first protestant hymn book in 1524. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:

We have operas at CIM and Oberlin and an Apollo’s Fire world premiere to recommend to you this weekend. All of them open on Friday and some get repeated.

Apollo’s Fire presents Mozart’s Requiem and Eric Gould’s 1791: Requiem for the Ancestors (World Premiere), directed by Jeannette Sorrell, with Sonya Headlam, sopranos, Guadalupe Paz, mezzo-soprano, Jacob Perry, tenor, Kevin Deas, bass-baritone, Apollo’s Musettes treble youth choir, and Apollo’s Singers professional chamber chorus. 7:30 pm at at St. Bernard Catholic Church, 44 University Ave., Akron, repeated on Saturday at 7:30 in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, 11001 Euclid Ave., Cleveland.

CIM Opera Theater presents Puccini’s one-acts Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. Dean Southern, director, and Harry Davidson, conductor. 7:30 in Kulas Hall, 11021 East Blvd., Cleveland. Repeated on Sunday at 3.

Oberlin Opera Theater presents L’amant anonyme by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George. Fenlon Lamb, director, and Kelly Kuo, conductor. Premiered in 1780, this two-act opéra comique is the only Bologne opera to survive to the present day. 8 pm in Hall Auditorium, 67 N. Main St., Oberlin. Tickets available online. Repeated Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 2.

For details of these and other classical events, visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings.

NEWS BRIEFS:

Houston Grand Opera announced on Thursday that James Gaffigan will serve as the fifth music director in its 70-year history. He replaces Patrick Summers, who announced last year that he would step down as artistic and music director at the end of the 2025-26 season. Although HGO doesn’t mention it in its press notice, Gaffigan has served as assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING  TODAY:

Tonight at 7:30 The Cleveland Orchestra presents An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma, featuring the renowned cellist in Antonîn Dvořák’s Concerto in a program that includes Johann Strauss, Jr.’s Overture to Die Fledermaus, Wolfgang Amadé Mozart’s Overture to Don Giovanni, and Dvořák’s Carnival Overture. James Feddeck is on the podium at Severance Music Center.

And tonight at 8 pm, Oberlin Opera Theater begins a four-performance run of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George’s L’amant anonyme in Hall Auditorium, directed by Fenlon Lamb, and conducted by Kelly Kuo. Premiered in 1780, this two-act opéra comique (run time: 90 minutes, no intermission) is the only Bologne opera to survive to the present day.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

by Jarrett Hoffman

This date in music history has brought with it the deaths of German composer and organist Heinrich Schütz (1672 in Dresden), Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1893 in St. Petersburg), and French composer Edgar Varèse (1965 in New York), as well as the births of Belgian instrument inventor Adolphe Sax (pictured, 1814 in Dinant) and American composer and conductor John Philip Sousa (1854 in the nation’s capital). [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

At 6:00 pm, the Cleveland Museum of Art hosts young musicians from Case Western Reserve University’s Historical Performance Practice Program in the Donna and James Reid Gallery

Tonight at 7 pm, CityMusic Cleveland plays its November chamber concert at Praxis Fiber Workshop.

And at 7:30 pm, Joshua Gersen conducts The Cleveland Orchestra in Bernard Hermann’s score to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, performed live-to-picture at Severance Music Center.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

On this date in 1494, German Meistersinger Hans Sachs was born in Nuremberg. A shoemaker by trade, he wrote over 4,000 Meisterlieder, poems, tragedies, comedies, fables, and religious tracts, having become an enthusiastic follower of Martin Luther. That earned him the opprobrium of the town council — until Nuremberg signed on to join the Reformation. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

At 12 Noon, organist Owen Metz will play works by Nicolaus Bruhns and Maurice Duruflé on the Tuesday Noon series at the Church of the Covenant in University Circle.

And tonight at 7:30, CIM “Insiders” Si-Yan Darren Li, cello, Steven Banks, saxophone, Stephen Tavani, violin, Wesley Collins, viola, and Anita Pontremoli, piano, will perform works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Hildegard von Bingen, and Antonín Dvořák in Kulas Hall.

NEWS BRIEFS:

Pianist Retires from Performing

The Violin Channel reports that the 81-year-old Portuguese pianist Maria João will officially step away from the stage.

Pernambuco Wood Ban

In another story today, the Violin Channel reports that musicians are petitioning governments to oppose Brazil’s Proposed Ban on an essential material for bow making.

Pierre Boulez Centenary at CMA

The Cleveland Orchestra, Museum of Art and Cleveland State University will celebrate Pierre Boulez’s centenary with a free concert on Nov. 14 at the Museum. Alex Darus previews the event on Cleveland.com that will feature modernist compositions and honor the renowned French composer. [Read more…]