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Cleveland Chamber Choir opens its second season with twin “Americana” concerts

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by Daniel Hathaway

clevelandchamberchoirhuddleCleveland Chamber Choir founding conductor Scott MacPherson has two things in mind for the beginning of the ensemble’s second season. “Our goal this year is to repeat concerts in a different venue,” he said in a recent phone call. “It’s a lot more fun that way. And since we’re a new group, we want to get as much exposure as we can.”

Thus CCC’s season’s opener at First Baptist Church in Shaker Heights on Saturday, October 22 at 7:30 pm will be repeated at John Knox Presbyterian Church in North Olmsted on Friday, October 28 at 8:00 pm.

MacPherson’s second idea is more topical and feeds directly into the repertoire for the ensemble’s fall concerts. “As early as last spring I was thinking about a program of American composers and genres, since it was going to be election season. Though it’s not going to be a flag-waving, patriotic program, it reflects the fact that one of the most important things we do as adults is to elect a new head of our government.” [Read more…]

Sayaka Shoji returns to CityMusic Cleveland for performances of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto

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by Mike Telin

SHOJI-SCityMusic Cleveland, under the direction of music director Avner Dorman, will kick off its season this week with a program featuring Dorman’s After Brahms — Three Intermezzi, Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with soloist Sayaka Shoji, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4. The first of five area performances will be presented on Wednesday, October 19 at 7:30 pm at Fairmount Temple. See our Concert Listings page for additional times and locations.

Prior to Shoji’s appearances with CityMusic in October of 2015, she spoke with ClevelandClassical.com and talked about her childhood, her passion for jazz, and her fascination with all things connected to the ‘70s. The following is a reprint of that interview.  [Read more…]

Cleveland Museum of Art to present Vijay Iyer & ICE in Radhe Radhe:
Rites of Holi, October 19

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by Mike Telin

vijayWhen asked to create a work commemorating the 2013 centenary of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (Le Sacré du printemps), composer Vijay Iyer began to think about what lay at the heart of Stravinsky’s groundbreaking ballet score.

“Given that Le Sacre is a fantasy of the folkloric springtime ritual from some mythic ancient past in Russia, I thought it was an opportunity for us to deal in a reality-based way with that transformative period of springtime as it is expressed, celebrated, and experienced in Indian culture,” Iyer said during a telephone conversation from Portugal.

On October 19 at 7:30 pm at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium, Vijay Iyer and the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) will perform Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holi, with film by Prashant Bhargava. The program will also include the premiere of an arrangement of The Rite of Spring by Cliff Colnot. The concert is presented in conjunction with the Museum’s exhibition, Art and Stories from Mughal India. [Read more…]

Les Délices ventures into jazz standards with its “Songs Without Words” concerts

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by Mike Telin

NAGY-Debra“Instrumentalists, especially during the last couple of decades of the 17th century, would often turn to vocal music as a source of repertory for their solo playing,” said Debra Nagy, Les Délices Artistic Director, during a recent interview. “This program uses that idea as its point of departure and brings the concept into the 20th century with jazz standards arranged for and improvised by the ensemble.”

On Saturday, October 15 at 8:00 pm at SPACES, and on Sunday at 4:00 pm at Herr Chapel, Plymouth Church, Les Délices will kick off its new season with a program titled “Songs Without Words.” The program will feature torch songs spanning the 17th to 20th centuries, including music by Michel Lambert, Marin Marais, Billy Strayhorn, and Nina Simone. [Read more…]

Sō Percussion to join UA Percussion Ensemble and Akron Symphony in concerts this week

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by Mike Telin

It’s all aboso-percussion-onstageut Sō Percussion in Akron this week. On Wednesday, October 12 at 7:00 pm in Guzzetta Recital Hall, Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, and Jason Treuting will team up with the University of Akron’s Percussion Ensemble for a performance of Steve Reich’s groundbreaking composition Drumming as part of Tuesday Musical’s FUZE series.

Then on Saturday, October 15 at 8:00 pm in E.J. Thomas Hall, Sō Percussion will join Christopher Wilkins and the Akron Symphony in Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang’s man made for percussion quartet and orchestra. The evening will also include Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Overture to The Wasps, Tan Dun’s Secret of Wind and Birds, and Gustav Holst’s The Planets. Lang and Wilkins will present the concert’s “Preview from the Podium” at 7:00 pm. [Read more…]

Sō Percussion to join Akron Symphony in David Lang’s man made on October 15

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by Mike Telin

so-man-made-with-langOn Saturday, October 15 at 8:00 pm in E.J. Thomas Hall, Sō Percussion will join Christopher Wilkins and the Akron Symphony in Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang’s man made for percussion quartet and orchestra. Lang and Wilkins will present the concert’s “Preview from the Podium” at 7:00 pm. The concert is presented in collaboration with Tuesday Musical Association.

Written for Sō Percussion, man made was commissioned by London’s Barbican Center and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The ensemble premiered the work at the Barbican with the BBC Symphony in May of 2013. The American premiere was given in October of 2014 by Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic. During the 22-minute piece, Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, and Jason Treuting will snap twigs and strike everything from wine bottles to a steel drum, a trap set, xylophones, and “found” instruments. View a trailer here. [Read more…]

Cleveland Classical Guitar Society: a conversation with Marcin Dylla

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by Mike Telin

Dylla-IMG_5703When Polish guitarist Marcin Dylla performed in Cleveland in April of 2013, James Flood, writing for this publication, said that “Dylla is a player of the utmost refinement. His tone is beautiful, his phrasing lovely and heartfelt.” On Saturday, October 15 at 7:30 pm at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, the award-winning artist will return to the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society stage.

His program will feature Mauro Giuliani’s Sonata in C, Op. 15, Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Five Preludes, Roberto Sierra’s Sonata, Manuel Maria Ponce’s Theme, Variations and Fugue on Folia de España, and Benjamin Britten’s Nocturnal, Op. 70. Click here for more information. [Read more…]

CIPC Gold Medalist Nikita Mndoyants to play first area recital in Hudson October 16

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by Daniel Hathaway

Nikita-Mndoyants-2When 27-year-old Russian pianist Nikita Mndoyants won first prize in the 2016 Cleveland International Piano Competition in August, he walked off with a handsome cash prize. Even more valuable, perhaps, was the rest of his award package, which included a future CD recording, a New York debut at Carnegie Hall, and three years of concert engagements and management.

Mndoyants will play his first area post-competition recital on the Music From The Western Reserve Series on Sunday, October 16 at 5:00 pm in Christ Episcopal Church in Hudson. The program includes works that helped him rise to the top of the Cleveland competition: Joseph Haydn’s Sonata in E, Hob. XVI:31, Franz Schubert’s Sonata No. 19 in c, and Sergei Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 7 in B-flat, Op. 83, “Stalingrad.” [Read more…]

Belcea Quartet to bring Schubert & Shostakovich to Cleveland Chamber Music Society Series

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by Mike Telin

Belcea-QuartetIn his review of the Belcea Quartet’s 2014 Cleveland Chamber Music Society performance, Daniel Hathaway of ClevelandClassical.com wrote, “Whether they were playing spooky motives … or crafting wonderful climaxes, … the Belcea were both sonically and visually riveting, playing with complete immersion and dedication.”

On Tuesday, October 18 at 7:30 pm, the Belcea Quartet — Corine Belcea and Alex Shacher, violins, Krzysztof Chorzelski, viola, and Antoine Lederlin, cello — will return to the CCMS stage at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights.

“This year our season’s theme is the music of Schubert and Shostakovich,” Krzysztof Chorzelski said during a telephone conversation from London. “We wanted to play our favorite music by these two composers because we feel they have something in common.” [Read more…]

Music for Food concert to benefit Cleveland Kosher Food Bank Nov. 13

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by Mike Telin

music-for-foodIn a recent study published by the United States Department Agriculture Economic Research Service, an estimated 12.7% of American households were food insecure at least sometime during 2015, meaning they lacked access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. “The statistics are shocking, and it is a problem in all communities,” said violist Kim Kashkashian, who founded Music for Food, a Boston-based, musician-led non-profit for local hunger relief.

On Sunday, November 13 at 3:00 pm at a private residence in Cleveland Heights, Kashkashian will be part of a benefit concert for the Cleveland Kosher Food Bank. The event, titled “Sharing the Bounty,” is sponsored by the Cleveland Chapter of Music for Food, which was founded in 2015 by noted cellist Sharon Robinson. The concert will feature Kashkashian, Robinson, violinist Jaime Laredo, violist Yu Jin, and the Cavani Quartet in performances of works by Bartók, Schulhoff, and Brahms. Seating is limited and the deadline for reservations is Sunday, October 30. Click here for further information. [Read more…]

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