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Oberlin Artist Recital Series begins new season on September 17

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by Mike Telin

tco-finney-mastroianniSince presenting its first concerts in 1878, Oberlin College’s Artist Recital Series — one of the oldest continuing concert series in the United States — has showcased more than 1,000 of the world’s foremost musicians, conductors, orchestras, chamber ensembles, and composers. The stellar list of performers who have graced the stage of historic Finney Chapel includes Dave Brubeck, Alicia de Larrocha, Juan Diego Flórez, Glenn Gould, Denyce Graves, Jascha Heifetz, Vladimir Horowitz, Yo-Yo Ma, and Sergei Rachmaninoff, to name a few.

On Saturday, September 17 at 8:00 pm, the Artist Recital Series will kick off the 2016-2017 season with a performance by genre-versatile clarinetist Eddie Daniels. Known for performances in both the jazz and classical worlds, Daniels will be joined by his longtime jazz companions: bassist Darek Oles, pianist Alan Pasqua, and drummer Joe LaBarbera. [Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Music Society brings some favorites back for its 2016-2017 season at Plymouth Church

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by Daniel Hathaway

juilliard-quartet-2016-2For its 67th season, the Cleveland Chamber Music Society will present its customary lineup of seven world-class chamber music groups — plus a young artists showcase and a young artists competition. You won’t see the names of any new ensembles on the roster for 2016-2017, but there’s a major personnel change and an interesting realignment of musicians that will be of primary interest to chamber music lovers.

“I’m looking forward to the new configuration of the Juilliard String Quartet (pictured left),” said CCMS president Barbara Green in a telephone conversation last weekend. “It’s the first time the Juilliard have included a woman [cellist Astrid Schween, who replaces Joel Krosnick], and I’ve heard every permutation since the very beginning. And then there’s the Cleveland debut of the Montrose Piano Trio, which includes violinist Martin Beaver and cellist Clive Greensmith — the two remaining members of the Tokyo Quartet — plus pianist Jon Kimura Parker, who played for CCMS some years ago with the Berlin Philharmonic Woodwind Quintet.” [Read more…]

Quiet Trance Ensemble to hold Community Jam Session at SPACES on September 17

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by Mike Telin

auerbach-brown“Attending an experimental music concert is almost like a spectacle,” composer and instrumentalist Chris Auerbach-Brown said during a recent telephone conversation. “You watch and listen to the musicians do amazing things and play very difficult music, but there’s often a strong dividing line between the performers and the audience.” On Saturday, September 17 at 8:00 at SPACES Gallery, Auerbach-Brown will attempt to blur that line when he and his Quiet Trance Ensemble host their first Community Jam Session. The event is free, and all you need to do is bring a noise-making device of your choosing and be ready to make music.

“I want to get the audience involved with the creation of the music because it gives them an ownership of the process,” Auerbach-Brown said. “And the musicians I’ve chosen to work with are all great improvisers who can pretty much take any noise, and turn it into music.”   [Read more…]

Northeast Ohio gears up for a busy classical season during September

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by Daniel Hathaway

Daniels-EddieAs summer fades after the Labor Day weekend, the Northeast Ohio concert season begins a gradual crescendo. By the middle of September, concertgoers will once again have to make difficult choices among several attractive events.

Take Saturday evening, September 17 for example, when Burning River Baroque, a Bascom Little Fund anniversary concert, and season openers of BlueWater Chamber Orchestra and the Oberlin Artist Recital Series will be competing for your attention.

Burning River Baroque’s 7:00 pm program, “Twisted Fate: Famed and Forgotten Female Composers,” will take place at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights. Sopranos Malina Rauschenfels and Josefien Stoppelenburg, viola da gambist Phillip W. Serna, and harpsichordist Paula Maust will perform music by Hildegard von Bingen, Jacquet de la Guerre, Princess Anna Amalia, Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, Barbara Strozzi, Isabella Leonarda, and Martha Bishop.

Meanwhile, the Cleveland-based chamber music ensemble Panorámicos and friends will mark the 50th year of the Bascom Little Fund’s service to composers and new music. [Read more…]

Stephen Toombs: an appreciation

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by Steven Plank
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

ToombsIn a sadly pleasing strain
Let the warbling lute complain.

Alexander Pope’s memorable couplet from his Ode on St. Cecilia’s Day poetically voices the doleful propensity of the lute, and with the news of the death of Stephen Toombs on August 17, it also seems to voice the Cleveland musical community’s deep sense of loss. In his 28 years as the music librarian at Case Western Reserve University, Stephen combined a love of scholarship and the diverse sources that bring it to life with a passion for the music that was dearest to his heart: Renaissance and Baroque music for the lute.

The intertwining of these strands was deep-rooted in his training as musicologist, librarian, and lutenist, and given the high distinction of the performance practice program at the University, this meant that at his arrival there, both the school and its new librarian could rejoice in a match most felicitously made. [Read more…]

McCalmont’s List 14: Claude Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (1894)

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by Neil McCalmont
Last in McCalmont’s List Series

DebussyGenre: Symphonic Poem — an orchestral work based on a narrative
Scoring: Orchestra
Era: Late 19th century / Impressionist
Length: c. 10 minutes
Will you recognize it? The opening flute solo is a staple of classical music
Recommended Recordings: Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, or Bernard Haitink and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Composer: Claude Debussy (1862-1918). Debussy was a maverick of Western music clashing with tradition even as a student. Many of his professors found his early works far too dissonant and experimental. Though scholars largely associate him with the Impressionist movement in the visual arts, Debussy rejected the term for his own music. [Read more…]

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra to make its Blossom debut on August 27

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by Mike Telin

Orpheus-Chamber-Orchestra

Founded in 1972 by Julian Fifer and a group of like-minded musicians, the Grammy Award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has been recognized for performances that combine the intimacy and warmth of a chamber ensemble with the grandness of an orchestra.

Most importantly, the conductorless ensemble has been recognized for its collaborative leadership style in which the musicians collectively decide on their interpretations of musical scores. On Saturday, August 27 at 8:00 pm, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra will make its long-awaited debut at Blossom Music Center with a program featuring Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 3, 5, 6, and 2.

[Read more…]

Robert Page, 89

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by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

RobertPageMendelssohnChoir

‘Legacy’ might be the most overused word in the English language. But no word is more appropriate to describe American conductor Robert Page, who passed away at his home in Pittsburgh on Sunday, August 7. He was 89.

Born in Abilene, Texas on April 27, 1927, Page went on to become a beloved figure in Cleveland. He served as director of choruses for The Cleveland Orchestra from 1971 to 1989; assistant conductor of the Orchestra for 12 of those years; and chorus master of Cleveland Opera for 6 years. His work with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus on their recording of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana won him a Grammy Award — one of his two.

[Read more…]

McCalmont’s List 13: Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (1913)

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by Neil McCalmont
Part of McCalmont’s List Series

StravinskyGenre: Ballet — a dance work accompanied by music, usually with costumes and scenery
Instrumentation: Large orchestra
Era: Early 20th century
Length: c. 35 minutes
Will you recognize it? From Disney’s Fantasia (1940)
Recommended Recordings: Pierre Monteux and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, or Pierre Boulez and The Cleveland Orchestra (1969 recording)

Composer: Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971). Stravinsky was one of the most versatile and influential composers of the 20th century, and many compare his impact on music to Picasso’s on art. Having lived with and studied composition under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov until the latter’s death in 1908, Stravinsky rose to fame with his innovative ballets, The Firebird and Petrushka, culminating in the groundbreaking Rite of Spring. [Read more…]

Cleveland Opera Theater to sing al fresco at the Dunham Tavern Museum

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by Mike Telin

Dunham-Tavern-FacadeWhy should tailgating parties be limited to sporting events — how about opera tailgating? On Sunday, August 14, gather your friends and family, pack up your blankets and lawn chairs, and head to Cleveland’s Midtown area for an evening of opera favorites presented by Cleveland Opera Theater at the Dunham Tavern Museum. The performance is part of the company’s Summer Series.

Hosted by WCLV’s “Queen of the Morn,” Jacqueline Gerber, the free concert will feature opera and light opera favorites performed by sopranos Rachel Copeland, Rebecca Freshwater, and Marian Vogel, tenor Timothy Culver, and baritone Brian Keith Johnson, assisted by pianist Judith Ryder. [Read more…]

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