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…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Today at Noon, Yaron Kohlberg, president of PianoCleveland and second prize winner in the 2007 Cleveland International Piano Competition will play a one-hour concert in the Atrium of the Cleveland Museum of art, and just around the corner, organist Oziah Wales will play J.S. Bach, J.C. Bach, and Johann Pachelbel at the Church of the Covenant (the Covenant recital will also be live streamed).

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

NEWS BRIEFS:

Byron Janis, 95. The Hollywood Reporter notes that “Byron Janis, the celebrated classical pianist who studied with Vladimir Horowitz, recorded previously unknown Chopin waltzes from manuscripts he unearthed and became a cultural hero in the U.S. after performing in the Soviet Union during the Cold War, has died.” Read the obituary here.

NEW HENLE PRIZE FOR CIPC

PianoCleveland writes that “G. Henle Verlag, publisher of the world’s most authoritative editions of classical sheet music, has announced it will sponsor an award named the G. Henle Verlag Urtext Prize for the 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition (CIPC). [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Nothing’s happening today in the classical music calendar, but look ahead here and plan your next two weeks.

NEWS BRIEFS:

British journalist Norman Lebrecht wrote in yesterday’s Slipped Disc that “Mark Jackobs of the Cleveland Orchestra has responded in dignified fashion to his peremptory dismissal by the turbulent Cleveland Institute of Music.” (Pictured: Jackobs & CIM viola studio.) Read the story here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

An interesting collection of milestones, first performances, &  happenings to note on the eighteenth day of March. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

FEATURED SOLOISTS: Garrick Ohlsson in Mozart’s last piano concerto with The Cleveland Orchestra (Sat. at 8 & Sun. at 3 at Severance Music Center), violinist Laura Hamilton with CityMusic Cleveland (Sat. at 7:30 at St. Stanislaus & Sunday at 4 at St. Noel), harpist Yolanda Kondonassis and soprano Amanda Powell with BlueWater Chamber Orchestra (Sat. at 8, Church of the Covenant) & pianist Eric Charnofsky with Heights Chamber Orchestra (Sunday at 3 at the Maltz).

OPERA: Oberlin Opera Theater (pictured) stages Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, the first opera ever from 1605 (Sat. at 8 & Sun. at 2, in Hall Auditorium).

PIANO RECITALS: No Exit presents pianist Shuai Wang in PianoDada (Sat. at 7, at Heights Arts) and Donna Lee performs on the Kent Keyboard Series (Sun. at 5 in Ludwig Recital Hall).

OTHER ENSEMBLES: Choral Arts Cleveland celebrates over 400 years of choral music (Sat. at 7 at Disciples), Oberlin Jazz Ensemble (Sat. at 8 in Finney Chapel).

EXPERIMENTAL: CUSP presents Jessica Ackerley & Jeremy Bible (Sat. at 8 at Convivium 33 Gallery).

For details, visit our Concert Listings.

NEWS BRIEFS:

Alan Choo increases the reward for the return of his stolen violin and writes about “the mysterious power of music” in a Facebook post. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Shuai Wang will be featured in No Exit’s “Piano Dada” at Kent State, the Baldwin Wallace Men’s Chorus sings at St. John’s Cathedral, CityMusic Cleveland moves “Rediscovered Classics” to Lakewood Congregational, pianist Jackie Warren (pictured) celebrates the centennial of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with Cleveland Jazz Orchestra at the Maltz, and Oberlin Opera Theater continues its run of Claudio Monteverdi’s 1605 L’Orfeo in Hall Auditorium.

For details, visit our Concert Listings.

NEWS BRIEFS:

Esa-Pekka Salonen announced on Thursday that he would step down as music director of the San Francisco Symphony when his contract expires next year. [Read more…]