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Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble returns to CMA for four-concert series

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by Daniel Hathaway

Oberlin-CME-Mastroianni“Too frequently, new music gets performed without enough preparation. These meticulously rehearsed performances were confident and settled, yet sounded completely fresh. Any composer would be thrilled to have their music treated with the level of care that Timothy Weiss and the CME lavished on the four pieces we heard on Saturday.”

That’s what ClevelandClassical.com wrote about the first of five performances by the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble at the Cleveland Museum of Art during the 2014-2015 season. After a year’s absence from the Museum’s Performing Arts Series, Weiss and his young players will return to Gartner Auditorium on Saturday, November 5 at 2:00 pm for the first of four weekend concerts this season. [Read more…]

Oberlin Opera invites laugh-fest with titles by Donizetti & Poulenc this week

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by Mike Telin

oberlin-opera-poulenc-donizettiFarce and Surrealism will be center stage when Oberlin Opera Theater, Jonathon Field, director, presents a double-bill of Gaetano Donizetti’s satirical Viva la Mamma and Francis Poulenc’s outrageous Les Mamelles de Tirésias. Raphael Jiménez will conduct the student cast and the Oberlin Orchestra in performances beginning on Wednesday, November 2 at 8 pm in Hall Auditorium. The production continues through the weekend with 8 pm curtains on Friday and Saturday, November 4 and 5, and 2 pm on Sunday, November 6. Both operas will be sung in English, with English supertitles.

Is there a unifying theme between the two operas? “Sexual identity,” Jonathon Field said during a recent interview. “It is topical — is our identity determined by people who have knowledge of us, or is it determined by what we want it to be? The Poulenc certainly deals with that idea, and to a certain degree so does the Donizetti.” [Read more…]

Cellist Deborah Pae to give solo recital on LCCC Signature Series Nov. 3

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by Mike Telin

pae-deborahWhat does the dream classical music career look like? One example is that of cellist Deborah Pae. A member of the award-winning Formosa Quartet and Trio Modetre, she regularly performs as a soloist at festivals including Marlboro and Ravinia. She has shared the stage with Itzhak Perlman, Pamela Frank, Charles Neidich, and members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, and Takács Quartets. Later this year, her live recital recording will be released on the Outhere Music Label in partnership with Musiq3 Radio.

On Thursday, November 3 at 7:30 pm in Cirigliano Studio Theatre at the Stocker Center for the Arts, Deborah Pae will present a recital of solo cello works by J.S. Bach, Jeffrey Mumford, and Toshiro Mayuzumi. The concert is part of LCCC’s Signature Series. [Read more…]

Earth and Air: String Orchestra — conversations with Solomon Liang and Megan-Geoffrey Prins

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by Mike Telin

liang-prinsWhen we think of the works of Felix Mendelssohn, a few that immediately come to mind are his Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the “Italian Symphony,” and the Violin Concerto, as well as several pieces of chamber music.

On Friday, November 4 at 7:30 pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights, Earth and Air: String Orchestra, under the direction of David B. Ellis, will present a program of lesser-known but equally engaging works, “Mendelssohn String Symphonies — Part I” will include early symphonies by Mendelssohn, as well as the Concerto for Piano, Violin, and Strings, written when the composer was 14 years old.

“I knew that the concerto existed, but I didn’t know a lot about it until David asked me to play the solo part,” violinist Solomon Liang said during a recent telephone conversation. “I’m really excited to have the chance to perform it.” [Read more…]

Thomas J. Knab: an appreciation

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by ClevelandClassical.com Staff

knab-headsetThe passing of Grammy-winning audio engineer and information specialist Tom Knab on September 25 at the age of 61 was devastating not only to his family and friends, but also to a long list of colleagues, artists, ensembles, and institutions with whom he worked, and who treasured his expertise in recording and post-producing their music, both for distribution and for posterity. (Read an obituary in the Case Western Reserve University Daily, where he served as Chief Information Officer in the College of Arts and Sciences.)

Erica Brenner was one of Knab’s closest colleagues in the recording industry. They first met at Telarc, when she and Tom were “off hours” editors long before that company was sold and changed its emphasis. “We often handed projects off to each other,” she said in a recent conversation. [Read more…]

John Knox Performance Series to launch third season with Cleveland Chamber Choir

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by Mike Telin

cleveland-chamber-choir-marie-taylorFor hundreds of years some of the greatest music ever written was composed for houses of worship — think of composers such as Palestrina, J.S. Bach, and Moses Hogan. “It’s no mystery why music is so important in the life of a church, but people here can’t seem to get enough of it,” said Geoffrey Peterson, Director of Music and the Arts at John Knox Presbyterian Church in North Olmsted.

On Friday, October 28 at 8:00 pm, the John Knox Performance Series will kick off its third season with a performance by the Cleveland Chamber Choir under the direction of Scott MacPherson. The program, titled “Americana,” will include music by William Billings, Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, John Cage, Samuel Barber, and Stephen Foster, as well as folk songs and spirituals. Read a concert preview here. [Read more…]

Boulez Legacy continues at CIM with Ars Futura program October 26

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by Mike Telin

arsfutura2016The Boulez Legacy will continue on Wednesday, October 26 at 8:00 pm in Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music with a faculty recital featuring the new music ensemble Ars Futura. The program, titled “Boulez the Modernist II,” will feature works by Pierre Boulez, John Cage, Mario Davidovsky, György Ligeti, and Olivier Messiaen.

“I’m honored to be a part of this series, and I learned a lot about Boulez when choosing this repertoire, pianist Shuai Wang said during a recent conference call that included flutist Madeline Lucas Tolliver. “I remember hearing a concert Boulez conducted with The  Cleveland Orchestra when I first came to CIM to study — it was amazing,” Wang said. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra concert to mark Centenary of Rotary Foundation

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by Daniel Hathaway

arch-c-klumphA hundred years ago, Cleveland businessman, civic leader and accomplished flutist Arch C. Klumph founded the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, with a vision of “Doing Good in the World.” Rotarians from around the world will flock to Cleveland next weekend to celebrate the centenary of Klumph’s dream with a special concert by The Cleveland Orchestra on Sunday, October 23 at 3:00 pm in Severance Hall, followed by a Centennial Celebration Dinner that will see new members inducted into the Arch Klumph Society.

“This is a huge celebration, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Michael Johns of Rotary International said in a telephone conversation. “The Rotary Foundation is celebrating a hundred years of service to the community and to the world. We’re delighted to be partnering with The Cleveland Orchestra to bring this celebration to Cleveland, where Arch Klumpf was a member of the Cleveland Rotary Club.”

[Read more…]

Bass-baritone Mark S. Doss to sing benefit recital at Phillis Wheatley

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by Daniel Hathaway

doss-markBorn and raised in Cleveland, bass-baritone Mark S. Doss now enjoys an opera and recital career that takes him all over the world. The Grammy-winning bass-baritone will return to his hometown on Saturday, October 22 at 7:00 pm for a special concert at the Phillis Wheatley Association, 4450 Cedar Ave., sponsored by ARTS in Central.

Doss will join his longtime pianist Jerry Maddox in a program of opera arias, art songs, and spirituals to benefit the after-school and summer youth programs of Foluké Cultural Arts Center, Inc. Tickets at $40 include pre-concert cocktails and a post-concert reception, but concert tickets alone run from $10 to $25. Details and ticketing information here. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra to premiere Briggs’ Fountain of Youth

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by Mike Telin

briggs2The first in a series of articles highlighting the world premiere of Roger Briggs’ Fountain of Youth.

The prospect of performing a newly-composed work is always exciting. On Friday, November 18 at 8:00 pm at Severance Hall, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (COYO) under the direction of Brett Mitchell will have that opportunity when they present the world premiere of Roger Briggs’ Fountain of Youth, commissioned by COYO. The program will also include Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 (“Romantic”).

Premiering Briggs’ eighteen-minute tone poem is especially exciting for Brett Mitchell. “It’s impossible to overestimate the impact Roger Briggs had on me,” the conductor said during a telephone conversation. “If it weren’t for the opportunities he provided me, I wouldn’t be here now.” [Read more…]

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