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No Exit welcomes Meridian Arts Ensemble back to Cleveland for three concerts

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by Mike Telin

For over three decades the Meridian Arts Ensemble has been enthralling audiences with their virtuosic performances of envelope pushing repertoire. This week the Meridian — Jon Nelson and Matthew Onstad (trumpets), Daniel Grabois (horn), Faustino Díaz Mendez (trombone), and Tom Curry (tuba) — will return to Cleveland courtesy of No Exit.

Performances are on Thursday, November 7 at Trinity Cathedral, Friday, November 8 at The Bop Stop, and Saturday, November 9 at Baldwin Wallace University’s Kulas Music Hall. The program will include Daniel Grabois’ Drift (2021), Moshe Shulman’s Subito (2009), George Lewis’s Tightrope (2023), Franz Joseph Haydn’s Feldpartie (1780), and David Sanford’s Credo (2021). All performances begin at 7:00 pm and are free.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra announces major changes to November’s Beethoven Concerto Cycle

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by Daniel Hathaway

On Monday morning, The Cleveland Orchestra announced that both its music director and the featured soloist for its forthcoming Beethoven Concerto Cycle have withdrawn from the seven-concert series at Severance Music Center, scheduled for November 6-17.

In a press release, the Orchestra wrote that “Franz Welser-Möst will be unable to conduct the upcoming three weeks of performances in Cleveland due to ongoing medical treatment. The Cleveland Orchestra family greatly looks forward to his return to the podium when he is fully recovered.

“Following Franz Welser-Möst’s cancellation, pianist Igor Levit withdrew from his planned performances of the Beethoven piano concertos.”

Five pianists — Sir Stephen Hough, Yunchan Lim, Garrick Ohlsson, Minsoo Sohn, and Orion Weiss — will now be featured in the five concertos and Triple Concerto. Assistant Conductor Daniel Reith will conduct. The previously announced programs will remain the same.

Here is the revised schedule for the Beethoven Concerto Cycle. [Read more…]

Oberlin Opera Theater to stage Massenet’s Cendrillon

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by Mike Telin

“This is one of those stories that just lingers through one’s life,” conductor James Feddeck said during a telephone conversation. “And I think in this particular telling of the story what is so interesting is how absolutely human and relatable these characters are.”

Whether you know her as Cendrillon, Aschenbrödel, La Cenerentola, La Cenicienta, Soluschka, or, most likely, Cinderella, the story of that downtrodden stepchild is an irresistible fairy tale. It’s been turned into many operas, but perhaps most magically by Jules Massenet.

On Thursday, November 7 at 8:00 pm, Oberlin Opera Theater will present Massenet’s Cendrillon in Hall Auditorium. Stephanie Havey directs and James Feddeck conducts the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra. Performances continue on Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sunday at 2:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

[Read more…]

Cellist Julia Hagen to make Cleveland Orchestra debut in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto

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by Mike Telin

“When I think about playing with the Cleveland Orchestra, it still sounds like a dream,” cellist Julia Hagen said during a recent Zoom conversation. “It still feels surreal, but it’s going to be such an honor to share the stage with an orchestra that has so much history —  and I’m very excited to get to meet them and to work with them.”

On Wednesday, November 6 at 7:30 pm, Hagen will make her Cleveland Orchestra debut at Severance Music Center when she joins pianist Orion Weiss and violinist Augustin Hadelich for a performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto.

Under the direction of Daniel Reith, the evening will also include Sir Stephen Hough as soloist in the composer’s Piano Concerto No. 3. The program, which will be repeated on November 7 at 7:30 pm, is the first of three that feature all six of Beethoven’s concertos for the instrument. The series runs through November 17. Tickets are available online.

Hagen, the 2024 winner of the UBS Young Artist Award, said that although she has not previously worked with Hadelich, she is a huge fan of his playing. “I can’t wait to meet him and because the two string parts in the Triple Concerto have so many things to work on before we meet with the orchestra, I’m very curious to see how that process will go.”

[Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra begins Beethoven Piano Concerto Cycle with Triple Concerto

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by Mike Telin

Since making his Cleveland Orchestra debut at Blossom Music Center in 2009, Augustin Hadelich has gone on to become a Cleveland audience favorite. Last November, the violinist was greeted with a standing ovation when he walked on stage to play the Tchaikovsky Concerto.

On Wednesday, November 6 at 7:30 pm, Hadelich will return to Severance Music Center to join pianist Orion Weiss and cellist Julia Hagen for a performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. Under the direction of Daniel Reith, the evening will also include Sir Stephen Hough in the composer’s Piano Concerto No. 3. The program, which will be repeated on November 7 at 7:30 pm, is the first of three that feature all six of Beethoven’s concertos for the instrument. The series runs through November 17. Tickets are available online.

During a recent Zoom call from Stockholm, Hadelich said that he’s excited to return to Cleveland and to collaborate with his colleagues. [Read more…]

João Luiz embraces a fresh perspective for his Cleveland solo outing

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by Stephanie Manning

There’s a lot that’s new about the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society’s next concert, starting with the date. Instead of the usual Saturday, it’s a Friday — November 8, to be exact, at 7:30 pm. And although local audiences have only seen João Luiz as one half of the Brasil Guitar Duo, this time he’ll be taking the stage solo.

That’s just the beginning of the new things that await in the program “Brazil Meets Cuba.” The guitarist’s performance at the Maltz Performing Arts Center is chock full of premieres, all written for Luiz by composers Leo Brouwer, Sergio Assad, and Ronaldo Miranda.

“Those are such important composers for guitar,” Luiz said in a recent interview. “And I’m happy that I’ll be able to do that in Cleveland because I like this place, the Guitar Society, and its people so much. It’s going to be very special.”  [Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Choir begins 10th season with “Meditations and Mysticism”

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by Mike Telin

In a recent Zoom conversation, Gregory Ristow said, “We talk so much about how music heals. And that idea provided me with threads into how composers engaged with the notion of music as a centering device — as a way of finding one’s own place in the world or observing the broader context of the world beyond oneself.”

On Saturday, October 26 at 7:00 pm at Trinity Cathedral, Ristow will lead the Cleveland Chamber Choir in “Meditations and Mysticism.” The program celebrates the healing power of music. The concert, presented in partnership with the award-winning mental health program, Ghetto Therapy, will launch the ensemble’s tenth anniversary season.

The program will be repeated on Sunday at 4:00 pm at First Lutheran Church in Lorain. Oberlin College & Conservatory Professor Charles Edward McGuire will present a pre-concert talk 45 minutes prior to each performance. Click here to register for a “pay what you will” ticket.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Pops Orchestra: Season 28 begins with Broadway’s Best

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by Mike Telin

What do you do when you’re programming a concert and you’re curious to know what your audience wants to hear? “We sent a survey to our subscribers asking them to tell us their favorite Broadway show and favorite song,” Carl Topilow said during a telephone conversation. “People were interested in participating. We had a nice return and came up with a lot of great possibilities.”

On Friday, October 25 at 7:30 pm at Severance Music Center, the Cleveland Pops Orchestra will launch its 28th season when Topilow leads “Broadway’s Best.” The evening will feature music from hit musicals including Hello Dolly, Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Hamilton, and Les Misérables. Tickets are available online.

Topilow said that he looks forward to having three wonderful guest vocalists join him and the orchestra onstage. [Read more…]

Jorge Caballero tries something new for the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society

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by Stephanie Manning

Playing an entire symphony on classical guitar? It’s more possible than you’d think. And it’s become second nature for Jorge Caballero, known for performing transcriptions of works like Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

But Caballero’s upcoming program with Cleveland Classical Guitar Society is something a bit different. “For me, it’s somewhat of a departure from what I’ve been doing recently,” he said in a recent interview. True, his setlist at the Maltz Performing Arts Center includes Antonín Dvořák’s entire Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”). But not just because it’s a technical achievement — it’s also part of a broader thematic connection between Black spirituals and Western classical music.

The concert on Saturday, October 26 begins at 7:30 pm, and tickets are available online. And a free prelude event, “Strings of the Spirit,” takes place at Karamu House on Thursday, October 24 at 7:00 pm. Learn more here. [Read more…]

Tuesday Musical launches season with “Because of You,” a tribute to Tony Bennett

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by Mike Telin

For more than three decades, pianist/singer/arranger/educator and historian Michael Feinstein has dedicated himself to bringing the music of the Great American songbook to the world. And of the many interpreters of that musical genre, the name Tony Bennett stands above most others.

On Tuesday, October 22 at 7:30 pm at E.J. Thomas Hall in Akron, Tuesday Musical will launch their new season with Michael Feinstein’s “Because of You,” a tribute to the iconic singer featuring the Carnegie Hall Big Band. Tickets are available online.

I caught up with Feinstein by phone.

[Read more…]

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