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Ravel at 150: a conversation with Antonio Pompa-Baldi

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by Mike Telin

Born on March 7, 1875, Maurice Ravel without question is one of the most popular French composers to date. He is admired for his attention to form and craftsmanship and for his masterful orchestration. Although he is frequently associated with Impressionism, he famously rejected the term.

On Friday, March 21 at 7:30 pm in Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music, pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi will present “Ravel at 150: A Celebration.” The program will feature the composer’s Gaspard de la nuit and the Piano Trio in a, as well as Roberto Piana’s Ravel en Rêve. The evening will also include the world premiere of Luca Moscardi’s Theme and Variations on the name Maurice Ravel. The program is presented as part of CIM’s Insiders Series. The concert is free, but reservations are required.

[Read more…]

Vincent Dubois recital changes cathedrals from St. John’s to Trinity on March 18

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by Daniel Hathaway

French organist Vincent Dubois was appointed one of three titular organists of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris in 2016, sharing the post with his teacher, Olivier Latry, and long-time titular Philippe LeFebre.

Three years later, on April 15, the disastrous fire broke out in the roof of the 12th century building that miraculously spared the cathedral’s organ, but closed the structure for five years. That exiled Dubois and his colleagues from church and organ until a festive re-opening last December.

Dubois will return to Cleveland to play a solo recital on Tuesday, March 18 at 7:30. Ironically, the recitalist will be exiled this time from the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist — but not by fire.

In an email blast, director of music Thomas Fielding wrote, “Our Cathedral Holtkamp organ is unreliable at this point and slated for major renovation work starting right after Easter. This concert will be held, instead, at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.” [Read more…]

Suburban Symphony celebrates 70th anniversary

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by Mike Telin

Since its founding in 1955 by a group of eight musicians, all of whom were high school friends, the Suburban Symphony Orchestra has garnered the reputation of being one of Cleveland’s top-shelf community orchestras. And since turning 70 is always cause for celebration, this weekend the SSO is going to do just that.

On Sunday, March 16 at 2:00 pm at Severance Music Center, Domenico Boyagian will preside over “Seventy at Severance.”

The program opens with Jean Sibelius’ Karelia Suite. For the featured work, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Boyagian and the Orchestra will be joined by the Western Reserve Chorale and West Shore Chorale, and soloists soprano Emily Margevich, mezzo-soprano Quinn Middleman, tenor John Pickle, and baritone Young-Kwang Yoo. WCLV’s Bill O’Connell will emcee the event. Tickets are available online.

I caught up with Domenico Boyagian on Zoom.

Mike Telin: 70 years is cause for a celebration. It’s easy to imagine why you programmed Beethoven No. 9, but how did you come to choose the Sibelius?

Domenico Boyagian: It’s a piece that we’ve wanted to do for a long time. Every once in a while we like to feature certain sections of the orchestra. In this case it’s the horns and brass.

[Read more…]

Poiesis Quartet return to Northeast Ohio for a Cleveland composing celebration

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by Stephanie Manning

The long, rich history of string quartet music leaves today’s ensembles with plenty of classic works to explore. The Poiesis Quartet knows such standard repertoire well — their performances of Béla Bartók’s String Quartet No. 5 helped earn them their win at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, which skyrocketed the group’s career in 2023.

But you’re more likely to find the Cincinnati-based ensemble playing something new. So when Poiesis was offered the opportunity to perform seven different string quartets by members of the Cleveland Composers Guild, of course they said yes.

That concert on Sunday, March 16  — which will be held in Cleveland State University’s Drinko Hall at 3:00 pm — features both premieres and other contemporary selections from the local composers. [Read more…]

Oberlin Opera embraces the fun and games in La finta giardiniera

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by Stephanie Manning

The Oberlin Opera students have recently been learning to see their stage as a playground — literally.

In Mozart’s La finta giardiniera, “ these characters are sort of playing games in regards to their romantic relationships,” director Stephanie Havey explained. “ So we’ve incorporated different children’s games and playground activities into the action, as a metaphor for how they’re manipulating each other.”

This comedic Mozart opera from 1775, which boasts enough mistaken-identity plotlines to set one’s head spinning, will be presented this weekend at Oberlin’s Hall Auditorium. Conducted by Christian Capocaccia, the Thursday, March 6, Friday, March 7, and Saturday, March 8 performances are at 8:00 pm, while the Sunday, March 9 performance is at 2:00 pm. [Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Symphony puts its annual spotlight on composing’s next generation

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by Stephanie Manning

The Cleveland Chamber Symphony has changed plenty since its founding more than 40 years ago. But some things are still the same.

In addition to the Symphony’s performing work, founder Edwin London “firmly believed that it could be an educational tool as well,” music director Steven Smith said. So in 1983, the Young & Emerging Composers Concert was born — an annual opportunity for the ensemble to play an entire program of new works by local student composers.

This tradition is set to continue on Saturday, March 8 during the Symphony’s “NEOSonicSpring” program, presented at 4:00 pm in Baldwin Wallace Conservatory’s Gamble Auditorium. [Read more…]

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra turns fifteen! (Part 1)

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by Mike Telin

Conductor Carlton Woods led the Midland, Michigan Symphony from 1997 to 2007 while teaching at Central Michigan University. When he and his wife Ladonna retired, they chose to relocate to Westlake, where they spent their first year soaking up all that Northeast Ohio’s classical music scene had to offer.

“We had season tickets to everything — The Cleveland Orchestra, Apollo’s Fire — and we went to concerts at CIM, Baldwin Wallace, Oberlin, and Cleveland State University,” Ladonna said during a Zoom conversation.

Describing her late husband as the quintessential promoter in the world of classical music, Ladonna Woods said that after spending a lifetime in music, during that first year of retirement she could see that her husband was getting bored. Then one day he asked her what she would think if he started a chamber orchestra.

“I thought, ‘Oh, no, here we go.’ I knew that he wasn’t asking my permission, he was telling me that he had already worked all out. So I told him, ‘I think you’re crazy, and I was really looking forward to us just going places and being a normal everyday couple.’ The interesting thing was that he had so much fun conducting. It was his love. And he kept saying, ‘Ladonna, someday they’re going to find out how much fun I’m having.’ When he said that, I thought, ‘Well, this is a done deal.’”  [Read more…]

Tuesday Musical presents the Isidore Quartet and pianist Jeremy Denk

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by Mike Telin

If something is meant to be, even a global pandemic can’t keep it from happening. Case in point: the Isidore String Quartet. “Technically we formed at Juilliard in 2019, but we were sent home shortly afterwards. We had not even played together for a full semester.” cellist Joshua McClendon recalled.

After reforming at Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival during the summer of 2021, McClendon and his colleagues — violinists Adrian Steele & Phoenix Avalon and violist Devin Moore — went on to win the 14th Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2022. In 2023 the group was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Tuesday Musical will host the Isidore String Quartet and pianist Jeremy Denk on Tuesday, March 4 at 7:30 pm at E.J. Thomas Hall in Akron. The program includes Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet in F, Gabriella Smith’s Carrot Revolution, and Johannes Brahms’ Quintet for Piano and Strings in f. Tickets are available online.

I caught up with Joshua McClendon via Zoom in Dallas, where the Quartet is the Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence at Southern Methodist University. I began our conversation by asking him about the program they’re bringing to Akron.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Choir to feature works by Salamone Rossi

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by Daniel Hathaway

Cleveland Chamber Choir will devote its midwinter concerts to the music of the prolific Italian Jewish composer and violinist Salamone Rossi, a transitional figure who bridged the Renaissance and Baroque periods and was equally at home in the worlds of Jewish liturgical and Italian secular music. Like his contemporary Claudio Monteverdi, he was employed at the court of the Gonzaga family in Mantua.

Artistic director Gregory Ristow will lead the Chamber Choir and youth choir HaZamir in “Synagogue and Salon” on Saturday, March 1 at 8:00 pm at Congregation Mishkan Or in Beachwood, and Sunday, March 2 at 4:00 pm at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church in Rocky River. Admission is pay-what-you-can.

[Read more…]

“Voices from the Other Side:” a conversation with Margi Griebling-Haigh

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by Mike Telin

When composer Margi Griebling-Haigh was asked to write a companion piece for Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, for cello octet and soprano, little did she know that her 1999 work, Voices From the Other Side, a setting of three poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay, would resurface years later as inspiration for a recording project.

The album, “Voices From the Other Side,” was released in September 2024 on Navona Records.

On Tuesday, February 25 at 7:00 pm at Federated Church in Chagrin Falls, the album will be presented live when conductor Steven Smith leads soprano Gabrielle Haigh and the Erie Coast Cellists in Arvo Pärt’s Fratres and L’abbé Agathon, Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, and Margi Griebling-Haigh’s Cantilena and Voices from the Other Side. Tickets are available online.

During a recent telephone conversation, Griebling-Haigh said that when she composed “Voices,” she had no idea that her daughter would go on to become a singer. “She was a little girl when I wrote that piece. She inherited my love for the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay.”

[Read more…]

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