ClevelandClassical.com Header
Ad
Ad
Ad
Ad
Ad

Pre•Views

Margi Griebling-Haigh’s The Higgler: a conversation with cast members

by

by Mike Telin

On Saturday, June 7 at 7:30 pm at Disciples Christian Church, Margi Griebling-Haigh’s tragi-comic chamber opera The Higgler will receive its world premiere, directed by Marla Berg and conducted by Steven Smith.

The production will be repeated on Sunday, June 8 at 3:30 pm. Tickets are available online.

I spoke with Brian Skoog, Elizabeth Frey, and Gabrielle Haigh on Zoom.

Mike Telin: Brian, you’re Harvey Witlow, aka The Higgler. And unlike the leads in Don Giovanni or Pelléas and Mélisande, you actually have the biggest part.

Brian Skoog: Good point — I pretty much don’t leave the stage. Margi said from the beginning that I was going to be in every scene and that turned out to be true.

[Read more…]

Margi Griebling-Haigh’s The Higgler: a conversation with director Marla Berg

by

by Mike Telin

The first time that composer Margi Griebling-Haigh read A.E. Coppard’s The Higgler, she knew the short story about life’s missed opportunities was fodder for an opera.

On Saturday, June 7 at 7:30 pm at Disciples Christian Church, Griebling-Haigh’s tragi-comic chamber opera The Higgler will receive its world premiere, directed by Marla Berg and conducted by Steven Smith.

The cast includes tenor Brian Skoog in the title role, soprano Gabrielle Haigh as Mary Sadgrove, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Frey as Mrs. Sadgrove, mezzo soprano Denise Milner Howell as Mrs. Witlow, and soprano Lisl Wangerman as Sophy Dawes. The production will be repeated on Sunday, June 8 at 3:30 pm. Tickets are available online.

I caught up with director Marla Berg by Zoom and began by asking her how she developed the concept for the new work.  [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland & Piano Cleveland partnership brings James (Zijian) Wei back to town

by

by Mike Telin

Not only did James (Zijian) Wei win First Prize at the 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition, he also won four special prizes, one of which was the ChamberFest Cleveland Prize. That prize was awarded for the first time during the 2024 CIPC and was the result of a new partnership between Piano Cleveland and ChamberFest Cleveland.

How did that partnership come about? “Yaron Kohlberg is one of my old friends from Israel, and ChamberFest has been wanting to collaborate with the Piano Competition for a long time,” pianist and ChamberFest co-artistic director Roman Rabinovich said during a Zoom conversation.

“We’re always exploring opportunities to bring our winners back to Cleveland and create partnerships with local organizations,” Piano Cleveland artistic director Yaron Kohlberg said by phone, “and ChamberFest is a natural fit.” [Read more…]

Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival: Armin Kelly reflects on 25 years at the helm

by

by Daniel Hathaway with Mike Telin

For a quarter century, the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival has brought some of the brightest stars in the classical guitar world to Cleveland for a weekend of concerts, masterclasses, and lectures. We caught up with Festival founder Armin Kelly on Zoom, who reflected on his 25 years as artistic director.

CC.com: Congratulations on 25 years. What inspired you to start a festival in the year 2000?

Armin Kelly: Even though I’m a dealer in fine classical guitars, my musical training was as a performer.  Although I never really pursued that, I certainly studied hard for 10 or 15 years. 

John Holmquist was then head of the Cleveland Institute of Music’s guitar department — he was a friend, and we started talking. He had a little stipend from CIM to bring artists in, and I was thinking that it’d be nice to start my own small series, maybe a couple of concerts a year. John had a graduate student who was interested in helping with something like this, and we decided to merge our efforts. And so we made a proposal to the then administration at CIM, and they were supportive but wary, as they should have been. [Read more…]

Margi Griebling-Haigh’s The Higgler to receive world premiere

by

by Mike Telin

When composer Margi Griebling-Haigh happened across English author A.E. Coppard’s The Higgler while in high school, she knew the short story about life’s missed opportunities was fodder for an opera.

On Saturday, June 7 at 7:30 pm at Disciples Christian Church Griebling-Haigh’s tragi-comic chamber opera The Higgler will receive its world premiere, directed by Marla Berg and conducted by Steven Smith.

The cast includes tenor Brian Skoog in the title role, soprano Gabrielle Haigh as Mary Sadgrove, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Frey as Mrs. Sadgrove, mezzo soprano Denise Milner Howell as Mrs. Witlow, and soprano Lisl Wangerman as Sophy Dawes. The production will be repeated on Sunday, June 8 at 3:30 pm. Tickets are available online.

I caught up with conductor Steven Smith and began by asking him how he prepares to conduct the premiere of a new work.

[Read more…]

Resonance Project presents: Songs of Nature

by

by Mike Telin

With the mission to make classical music accessible for first-time listeners by engaging with the audience in ways that extend beyond normal concert settings, The Resonance was the first classical music series on Seattle’s Eastside associated with a dedicated performance space, Resonance at Soma Towers.

Now based in Cleveland, The Resonance Project will continue that audience engagement  on Sunday June 1 at 5:00 pm in Forest Hill Church with  “Songs of Nature.” Baroque instrumentalists join West African drummer and vocalist Assane M’Baye for a program combining Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in g, “Summer,” with Senegalese folk song. Also on the playlist is Davide Perez’s Sinfonía, “La tempestad del Mar,” and Jean-Féry Rebel’s Les Élémens. Pay-what-you-can, tickets are available online.

[Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire to feature flamenco guitarist Jeremy Garcia in ¡HISPANIA! concerts

by

by Mike Telin

On Wednesday, May 28 at 7:30 pm in Harkness Chapel, Apollo’s Fire will present a send-off concert of their popular program ¡HISPANIA! before traveling to Puerto Rico to perform at the Casals Festival.

When they return, the ensemble will bring a new version of that program to the Holden Arboretum in Kirtland for five performances from June 5–8 and to Avon Lake United Church of Christ for a single performance on June 9. Tickets are available online.

This all-instrumental version of ¡HISPANIA! led by Jeannette Sorrell features the lively dance rhythms of “tangos and fandangos” from Spain and Argentina. An 11-piece ensemble explores the influence of Arab-infused flamenco dance music on Spanish Baroque composers – including Diego Ortiz, Gaspar Sanz, and Santiago de Murcia.

[Read more…]

No Exit: The International Sounds of The Collective

by

by Mike Telin

Big things are happening for the innovative new music ensemble No Exit. In June they will embark on a two-week European tour that will include stops in Greece, Italy, Poland, and the Netherlands.

If you’re unable to follow the ensemble to Europe, but want to hear their tour program, you’re in luck. On Wednesday, May 28 in Gartner Auditorium, Cleveland Museum of Art, No Exit will play works by members of The Collective, an international consortium of composers that includes Agata Zubel, Mathew Rosenblum, Douglas Knehans, Spiros Mazis, Amy Kaplan, Constantine Koukias, Edward Smalldone, and Timothy Beyer. The program will be repeated on Friday, May 30 at The Bop Stop and Saturday, May 31 at Heights Arts. All concerts begin at 7:00 pm and are free.

No Exit’s Laura King spoke to Spiros Mazis and Agata Zubel. The interviews are reprinted with the permission of No Exit. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland Season 13 — “Lost and Found”

by

by Mike Telin

Programming a summer music festival is not easy. There are so many pieces of the puzzle — not all of them artistic — that need to fit together.

But undaunted, ChamberFest Cleveland artistic directors Diana Cohen, Franklin Cohen, and Roman Rabinovich, along with executive director Jessica Peek Sherwood, have assembled what promises to be the most interesting Festival to date. With the theme of “Lost and Found,” season thirteen runs from June 11–28. Click here for tickets and more information.

[Read more…]

Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival to celebrate 25th anniversary at CIM June 5–8

by

by Daniel Hathaway

For a quarter century, Armin Kelly’s Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival has brought some of the brightest stars in the classical guitar firmament to Cleveland for a weekend of concerts, masterclasses, and lectures.

As founder and artistic director Kelly writes in his 2025 invitation:

This June we look forward to sharing art music: solo and ensemble, old and new with old friends and new from around the USA and beyond. Featured events include: 6 concerts by internationally renowned guitarists and supporting musicians, performance premieres, 6 lectures, 5 master classes, private lessons, a demonstration of fine concert guitars, and the 6th annual James Stroud National Classical Guitar Youth Competition. [Read more…]

Follow ClevelandClassical.com

Contact us