by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

Seven events to choose from today.

No Exit Presents the Meridian Arts Ensemble (7 pm at the Bop Stop), the BW Symphonic Wind Ensemble plays at 7 (Gamble Auditorium), the Marian Consort (pictured) from Norwich, England sings “a program of sumptuous Renaissance polyphony from some of Scotland’s few surviving sixteenth-century manuscripts” (7:30 at St. John’s Cathedral).

Cleveland Classical Guitar Society hosts João Luiz (7:30 at the Maltz PAC), Carolyn Kuan leads the CIM Orchestra and soloist Natalie Brennecke in Penderecki’s Viola Concerto (7:30 at Severance Music Center), New York Philharmonic principal clarinet Anthony McGill joins Timothy Weiss and the Oberin Sinfonietta in Warner Concert Hall, and across Tappan Square, Oberlin Opera Theater presents the second of four performances of Jules Massenet’s Cendrillon (8 pm Hall Auditorium).

For details of these and other upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

On this date in 1890, Belgian-born French composer César Franck died in Paris, his demise partially attributed to the after effects of injuries he sustained when a cab he was riding in collided with a horse-drawn trolley. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

Tonight at 7, No Exit New Music hosts the Meridian Arts Ensemble in Daniel Grabois’ Drift, Moshe Shulman’s Subito, George Lewis’s Tightrope, Joseph Haydn’s Feldpartie, and David Sanford’s Credo, free at Trinity Cathedral.

The Cleveland Orchestra continues its Beethoven Piano Concerto Cycle with a repeat of Wednesday’s program: the Triple Concerto (Orion Weiss, piano, Augustin Hadelich, violin, and Julia Hagen, cello) and Concerto No. 3 (Sir Stephen Hough, soloist — pictured). 7:30 in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center.

And at 8 pm, Oberlin Opera Theater raises the curtain on the first of four performances of Jules Massenet’s Cendrillon (Cinderella), directed by Stephanie Havey, with James Feddeck conducting the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra (repeated in Hall Auditorium Friday & Saturday at 8 & Sunday at 2).

For details of these and other upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.

NEWS BRIEFS: 

The Violin Channel reports that “The principal performance space of the Opéra de Paris, the historic Palais Garnier, will close for at least two years to allow the organization to carry out urgent renovations on the building. [Read more…]

by Stephanie Manning

HAPPENING TODAY:

If you need an excuse to escape into the solace of live music today, thankfully there are a few options.

At 12:00 noon, Trinity Cathedral’s BrownBag Series presents “Opera by Day” with Jacqueline Josten and Kira McGirr. At the same time, organist Florence Mustric performs music by Charles-Marie Widor at Music Near the Market.

Tonight at 7:30, The Cleveland Orchestra kicks off their Beethoven Piano Concerto cycle with some new additions: conductor Daniel Reith and pianists Orion Weiss and Sir Stephen Hough. Read more about those personnel changes here; tickets available online.

And at 7:00 pm at Treelawn Music Hall, Piano Cleveland Live@50 presents Daria Rabotkina in collaboration with Yaron Kohlberg.

For more information, visit our Concert Listings.

ISSUE 55 PASSES:

Cuyahoga County’s arts and culture groups have something to celebrate this morning, as Issue 55 passed with almost 70% support. This raise on the cigarette tax provides them a dependable source of funding through 2035. Read more from Ideastream Public Media here. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

12 Noon – vocalist and harpist Anna O’Connell and pianist Lorenzo Salvagni perform on the Tuesday Noon series at the Church of the Covenant.

12:30 pm at the Cleveland Museum of Art — Chamber Music in the Atrium: opera singers perform selections from CIM’s production of Emmanuel Chabrier’s L’Étoile. Ames Family Atrium.

7:30 pm – Oberlin Baroque Orchestra. Edwin Huizinga and Rebecca Landell Reed lead this student group in Warner Concert Hall.

For details of these and other upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.

NEWS BRIEFS: 

On Monday, The Cleveland Orchestra announced major personnel changes for its Beethoven Concerto Cycle from November 6-17. See the article elsewhere on this page for details.

Quincy Jones, Giant of American Music, Dies at 91. “As a producer, he made the best-selling album of all time, Michael Jackson’s Thriller.” He was also a prolific arranger and composer of film music.” Read the New York Times obituary by Ben Ratliff here. [Read more…]

by Stephanie Manning

LOOKING AHEAD:

The first full week of November has arrived. Here’s a taste of what’s in store:

Starting mid-week, The Cleveland Orchestra kicks off their Beethoven Piano Concerto cycle featuring pianist Igor Levit. Oberlin Opera Theatre begins their performances of Jules Massenet’s Cendrillon, and No Exit presents the brass quintet Meridian Arts Ensemble in three different locations around the area.

For more information on these concerts and more, visit our Concert Listings.

NEW ALBUM RELEASES:

Some familiar names appear in the New York Times’ recap of recent classical albums. The first is Igor Levit, who joins The Cleveland Orchestra this week. The pianist’s latest release is the three-hour Brahms, with the Vienna Philharmonic and conductor Christian Thielemann — Zachary Woolfe praises Levit’s solos as “elegantly autumnal.” [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND: 

On Saturday, Sororii — cellist Carolina Borja and bassoonist Arleigh Savage — play instrumental grooves (2 pm at the Main Cleveland Library) the Cleveland Repertory Orchestra performs with violinist Ken Johnston (7 pm at Disciples Church), the Youngstown Symphony plays the score during a screening of Back to the Future (7:30 at Powers Auditorium, repeated Sunday at 7:30), and Tan Dun conducts The Cleveland Orchestra in his Water Concerto with percussionist Marc Damoulakis (8 pm at Severance Music Center).

Don’t forget to turn your clocks back at 2 am. Sunday’s calendar is overflowing with ten events: Heights Arts’ Music for Winds by Women of the Gilded Age (3 pm at Heights Theater), the Euclid Symphony with bassist Derek Zadinski (3 pm at Shore Cultural Center), Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel (3 pm at the Maltz PAC), CIM New Music Ensemble with Marilyn Shrude (4 pm  in Mixon Hall), organist Jack Mitchener (4 pm at St. Paul’s, Cleveland Heights), Paragon Brass Ensemble (pictured) with organist Abby Haake  (4 pm at Holy Trinity Lutheran, Akron), Urban Troubadour with a Cleveland Orchestra horn quartet (4 pm at Cuyahoga Falls Sheraton), Kent Keyboard Series with Kenny Werner (5 pm in Ludwig Recital Hall), Appalachian Chamber Music Players (5:30, Guzzetta Recital Hall, U. of Akron) and a repeat of Saturday’s Youngstown Symphony screening (7:30, Powers Auditorium).

For details of these and other upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.

NEWS BRIEFS: 

The Cleveland Orchestra will present its 28th Distinguished Service Award to cultural arts activist Nancy McCann before the evening’s concert on November 7 at Severance Music Center. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

Tonight at 7, Cleveland Orchestra clarinetist Daniel McKelway (pictured) will be featured in the Mozart concerto with the Baldwin Wallace Symphony Orchestra in Gamble Auditorium.

Four events all begin tonight at 7:30:

Cleveland Jazz Orchestra celebrates Sean Jones in “The Sean is You” (Maltz PAC),

The Cleveland Orchestra led by Lawrence Loh marks Hallowe’en with a screening of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (Severance Music Center),

The Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, Timothy Weiss, conductor, presents harpist Rosanna Moore, cellist Nick Photinos, percussionist Ross Karre, and the Oberlin Percussion Group in works by Han Lash, Pamela Z, Christopher Stark, and Carlos Carrillo (Warner Concert Hall, live stream available), and

The Resonance Project hosts mezzo-soprano Kameryn Lueng and pianist Irwin Shung in “Dreams and Disillusionment: Songs of Love” (Forest Hill Presbyterian Church).

For details of these and other upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.

NEWS BRIEFS: 

The Violin Channel reports that soprano Renée Fleming has been named director of Cincinnati’s 2025 May Festival. The article includes the interesting news that since its founding in 1873, “…choral works that have premiered at the Festival include J.S. Bach’s Magnificat, Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, and Britten’s Gloriana. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

Chinese-born American composer Tan Dun leads The Cleveland Orchestra tonight at 7:30 at Severance Music Center in original works — his Water Concerto & Concerto for Orchestra — plus Igor Stravinsky’s Fireworks, and Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes. Marc Damoulakis (pictured), the Orchestra’s principal percussion, will be featured in the Water Concerto, and the program will be repeated on Saturday at 8. Damoulakis previews the piece in a Cleveland Orchestra video here.

For details of these and other upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.

NEWS BRIEFS:

“The Baltimore Sun has dissolved its entire features section, reassigning some of its most celebrated writers to news departments and leaving the paper without any culture coverage for the first time since 1888,” the paper’s guild announced Tuesday on Yahoo News. [Read more…]

by Stephanie Manning

HAPPENING TODAY:

We’re halfway through the week, with two concerts to celebrate. At 12:00 noon, hear organist Shane Brandes perform at Trinity Lutheran Church for Music Near the Market.

Or, at 6:00, hear students from the CIM Guitar Studio perform at the Cleveland Museum of Art (pictured). This free concert takes place in Gallery 212, Baroque Painting and Sculpture.

For more information, visit our Concert Listings.

ANOTHER NEW DISCOVERY:

First Mozart, now Chopin — it’s been a big year for unearthing music by long-dead composers. That’s right — a previously unknown waltz by Frédéric Chopin has emerged from the collection at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City. The brief, though complete, manuscript is said to be from when the composer is in his early 20s. Read more about it and hear a performance from the pianist Lang Lang here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

by Daniel Hathaway

On this date in 1864, American music patroness and composer Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge was born in Chicago. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY: 

At 12 Noon, Tuesdays at the Church of the Covenant in University Circle presents harpsichordist Mikhail Grazhdanov (pictured) in suites by Jean-Philippe Rameau & George Frideric Handel.

At 5:30 pm, a Rush Hour Concert at Fairmount Presbyterian Church presents soprano Lauren Vanden Broeck, pianist Adam Whiting, and guests in a program featuring J.S. Bach’s Cantata 51.

And tonight at 8 pm – Oberlin hosts a Warner Concert Hall guest recital by The Ize Trio (pianist Chase Morrin, cellist Naseem Alatrash, and percussionist George Lernis), who combine the American art form of Jazz with Middle Eastern traditions.

For details of these and other upcoming events, visit our Concert Listings.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMPOSERS:

The Violin Channel reports that “The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) has advertised five opportunities for composers, including calls for scores and composer residencies. At the heart of these is the ACO’s Earshot Call for Scores, in partnership with the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music.”

TODAY’S HEADLINES FROM ARTSJOURNAL:

[Read more…]