by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Tonight at 7:30, composer John Adams conducts The Cleveland Orchestra with organist James McVinnie and saxophonist Timothy McAllister in Gabriella Smith’s Breathing Forests, Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, and his own City Noir.

At the same hour at The Auricle in Canton, the Canton Symphony’s Divergent Sounds Series hosts Alla Bora, the band specializing in near-extinct Italian folk music, and in Warner Concert Hall, conductor Timothy Weiss, violinist Hannah Hurwitz, baritone Timothy LeFebvre, and the Oberlin Sinfonietta launch Oberlin Conservatory’s “Oclipse” series, anticipating next Monday’s solar event.

INTERESTING READ:

Van Magazine, the European weekly online journal simultaneously published in English and German, is taking Easter Week off, but offers reprints of some of its popular articles, including Benjamin Poore’s February 22 piece, “Inhabiting the Curve: How assistant conductors keep orchestras running.” [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

At Noon, organist Mark Slatter will play works by Thomas Tompkins, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Georg Böhm, Louis Vierne & Edward Elgar on both organs at the Church of the Covenant. Attend in person, or click here for the live stream.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

ChamberFest Cleveland has announced details for its 12th season, which runs from June 12-29. Co-artistic directors Diana Cohen, Franklin Cohen, and Roman Rabinovich (pictured above) write, “This year’s theme of “Sacred + Profane” is a timeless concept: We as humans have this necessity to transcend, to reach for the divine, and we also have bodies that exist in the real world, that hug and hurt and hear beautiful music.” Click here for complete programs and ticket information.

INTERESTING READ:

In a New York Times feature last Sunday, Hugh Morris writes that “Gustav Holst composed The Planets with crucial help from others. Firsthand accounts and the score reflect how collaborative its creation was.” Click here to read “The Team Effort Behind One of Classical Music’s greatest hits. [Read more…]

NEWS BRIEFS:

On Thursday, March 28 during a CIM Orchestra concert, the Cleveland Institute of Music officially announced that its multi-purpose Kulas Hall will close for fifteen months beginning in May to undergo a complete $22 million renovation, the first since the hall was inaugurated along with the Institute’s new building in 1961.

A press release notes that “The project entails raising the ceiling some 30 feet to the roof deck, rerouting a complex network of ductwork, installing acoustical panels above the stage and acoustical banners throughout the hall, reshaping the side walls, and constructing an enhanced stage and orchestra pit.

“In addition, 460 new seats selected by CIM’s students, faculty, staff, and guests will be installed, along with new state-of-the-art theater lighting and technology.”

Read a Plain Dealer article by Steven Litt here. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

Only a handful of Classical performances are scheduled for Easter weekend.

Celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2024, the redesigned Cleveland International Piano Competition continues this weekend with first rounds at Baldwin Wallace on Thursday at 12 Noon, and Friday at 8 am and 1:15 pm. (By the way, Thursday, the 88th day of the year, is Piano Day, an international event established in 2015.)

Also on Thursday, frequent guest conductor JoAnn Falletta (pictured) will return to Kulas Hall to lead the CIM Orchestra and mentor student conductors Clancy Ellis and Jake Taniguchi in Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1, “Classical,” Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol, and Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

And on Saturday evening, the Music, Dance, and Visual Arts Departments of the Cleveland School of the Arts, with guest pianists Emanuela Friscioni and Ralitsa Georgieva-Smith, will bring some of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection to life in “Arts Live: A Night at the Museum.” It’s free at 7 pm in Gartner Auditorium.

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

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Apollo’s Fire’s Summer Countryside Concerts, scheduled for July 17-21, 26 and August 13, will offer three versions of the ensemble’s Four Seasons Rediscovered program, pairing Vivaldi’s violin concertos with songs about nature by Purcell and Morley featuring soprano Andréa Walker, tempestuous Italian arias sung by Amanda Forsythe, or other instrumental works. Concerts will be presented under a tent-canopy at Holden Arboretum, and indoors at Avon Lake and Bath Churches. Details here.

THE ALMANAC will return on Monday, April 1.

by Daniel Hathaway

In this edition:

. Cleveland International Piano Competition begins first rounds & Jury fields questions at Happy Dog

. Count Basie Orchestra at Tri-C

. Tuesday Musical awards $34,550 in scholarships

. Almanac remembers Rostropovich, Grofé & Johanessen

HAPPENING TODAY:

Celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2024, the redesigned Cleveland International Piano Competition gets started this week with first rounds at Baldwin Wallace and next week at the Paris Conservatory.

Following quarter-finals, semi-final and chamber music rounds this summer — amid a whirl of 88-keyed activities — the competition will culminate in the final round in August when four survivors will play concertos with The Cleveland Orchestra. (Pictured: the 2021 finalists with Jahja Ling.) [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Organist Nataly Pak (pictured) will play an all-Johann Sebastian Bach program at the Church of the Covenant today at noon at the Church of the Covenant. You can watch a live stream here.

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

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez was born on March 26, 1925 in Montbrison, while Renaissance composers Heinrich Isaac and Antonio de Cabezon, and German composer Ludwig van Beethoven took their final bows in 1517, 1566, and 1827 in Florence, Madrid, and Vienna, respectively. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Two events are on the agenda at 7:30 this evening.

In Gamble Auditorium at Baldwin Wallace, faculty mezzo soprano Nancy Maultsby will join the Poiesis Quartet in Cleveland Orchestra trombonist Richard Stout’s Songs Of Correspondence, and Poiesis will  play faculty composer Clint Needham’s String Quartet No. 2.

And on Jeffrey Mumford’s Signature Series at Lorain County Community College’s Studio Theater in Elyria, solo violist Jordan Bak will be featured in a program ranging from J.S. Bach and Telemann to Vieuxtemps, Mumford, Tyson Davis, and Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti.

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

SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT:

Encore Chamber Music Institute has announced programs for its ninth Gates Mills Music & Ideas Festival. “Planet Earth” will feature classical favorites and music by Scandinavian composers paired with works by living and underrepresented composers in six venues from June 2-24. Click here for the schedule and ticket information.

A TRIO OF OBITUARIES: [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

Apollo’s Fire’s “¡Hispania! A Voyage from Spain to the Americas” wraps up its run (Saturday at 8, St. Paul’s, Cleveland Hts.), as does The Cleveland Orchestra’s Nordic program (Saturday at 8 at Severance), and Baldwin Wallace Opera’s The Merry Widow (Saturday at 3 & 8 and Sunday at 3 in Gamble Auditorium.)

Heights Arts Close Encounters will feature Cleveland Orchestra members (Sunday at 3 at Dunham Tavern), Arts Renaissance Tremont will present Cleveland Orchestra principal cello Mark Kosower (pictured) with Tatiana Lokhina, piano & the Cavani String Quartet (Sunday at 4 at St. Wendelin), Factory Seconds Brass — Cleveland Orchestra second chair players Jack Sutte, trumpet, Jesse McCormick, horn & Richard Stout, trombone — will play on Hudson’s Music from the Western Reserve Series (Sunday at 5 in Christ Church), and the Los Angeles-based contemporary music ensemble Wild Up will showcase music by Julius Eastman in Mixon Hall at CIM (Sunday at 7:30).

For details of these and other events, visit our Concert Listings. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

CONTINUING SERIES: Apollo’s Fire’s “¡Hispania! A Voyage from Spain to the Americas,” featuring soprano Sophia Burgos & flamenco guitarist & singer Marija Temo (7:30 at St. Paul’s, Cleveland Hts.), The Cleveland Orchestra with guest conductor Dalia Stasevska & mezzo-soprano Josefina Maldonado (pictured, 7:30 at Severance), & Baldwin Wallace Opera presents Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow (8 at Gamble Auditorium).

SINGLE EVENTS: CityMusic Chamber Series featuring clarinetist Daniel Gilbert, violinist Kiarra Saito-Beckman, cellist Anna Kuo & pianist Donna Lee in Stravinsky’s L’histoire du soldat (7 at Praxis Fiber Workshop), and Local #4 Music Fund presents tenor saxophonist Drew Hosler & pianist Eric Charnofsky (7 at Disciples).

For details of these and other events, visit our Concert Listings. [Read more…]