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ChamberFest Cleveland: a chat with mezzo-soprano Marjorie Maltais

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by Mike Telin

MaltaisThe third in a series of articles highlighting ChamberFest artists

Musical inspiration can be found in many forms, from the literary —  revolving around stories including the profane and the divine — to the spinning of dreams. For the 2016 edition of ChamberFest Cleveland, running from June 15 through July 2, the twelve concerts presented under the theme Tales & Legends will take listeners on journeys that will explore the fantastical, the mystical, and the obsessive.

This year’s Festival programs will feature many programmatic firsts, one of which is the inclusion of vocal music — and there’s no better way to tell a story than through words set to music.

When mezzo-soprano Lauren Eberwein was forced to withdraw for health reasons, ChamberFest was fortunate to be able to secure the services of the young Canadian mezzo Marjorie Maltais. [Read more…]

Ohio Light Opera’s first four shows include old favorites and a Kern revival from 1917

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by Kelly Ferjutz
Special to ClevelandClassical.com

OLO-Mikado

For Wooster’s Ohio Light Opera, it isn’t enough simply to choose seven great examples of lyric theater to comprise a season. No, it takes months, sometimes years to pull together all the pieces of the puzzle in order to put the very best production of each show on the stage of Freedlander Theater.

Cole Porter’s 1948 masterpiece Kiss Me, Kate will open OLO’s 38th season on Saturday, June 18 at 7:30 pm. As a play within a play, it looks back to Shakespeare, of course, and to The Taming of the Shrew. But it also looks forward to more modern days, with its consideration of women’s lib — recognizing Lilli as an equal participant in the story. First seen in the 1940s, it was Porter’s love letter to the theater, not only to the actors, dancers, and musicians, but also to the audiences who came to see it. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: meeting up with accordionist-composer Merima Ključo

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by Mike Telin

KljucoThe second in a series of articles highlighting ChamberFest artists

In October of 2015, the extraordinary accordionist and composer Merima Ključo mesmerized audiences at the Cleveland Museum of Art during the performance of her composition The Sarajevo Haggadah: Music of the Book.

On Thursday, June 16 at 8:00 pm in Mixon Hall, Ključo returns to Northeast Ohio for the first of four performances presented as part of the 2016 edition of ChamberFest Cleveland. The concert, titled “Schumann Fantasies,” will include works by Robert Schumann and György Kurtág, as well as three movements from Stephen Coxe’s A Book of Dreams for accordion, piano, and percussion. A pre-concert talk by festival speaker Patrick Castillo will begin at 7:15.

“Everywhere I go, people are surprised by what the accordion is capable of doing. [Read more…]

ChamberFest Cleveland: catching up with violinist Alexi Kenney

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by Mike Telin

Kenney-WeissThere will be an explosion of world-class chamber music when ChamberFest Cleveland kicks off its fifth season this week. In their directors’ message, Diana and Franklin Cohen say, “With Season 5, ‘Tales & Legends,’ we are offering more concerts and special events at some very cool venues that will delight and surprise you at every turn…not to mention a spectacular cast of musicians, vocalists, actors, and composers like none to date. The pieces that comprise ‘Tales & Legends’ spin tales from the profane to the divine…and in at least one instance, the controversial. Hold onto your hats as ChamberFest Cleveland takes you on one fantastical ride!”

This is the first in a series of articles highlighting ChamberFest artists. [Read more…]

ENCORE Chamber Music debuts this week: a conversation with director Jinjoo Cho

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by Mike Telin

CHO-Jinjoo250x250Founded in 1985 by David and Linda Cerone, the Encore School for Strings served as the summer session of the Cleveland Institute of Music until 2008 when the program was phased out following David Cerone’s retirement as president of CIM. The prestigious program’s alumni include violinists Ray Chen, Hilary Hahn, and Leila Josefowicz, to name only a few. Beginning on Monday, June 12 and continuing through Saturday, July 30, young string players from around the world will gather on the Gilmour Academy campus in Gates Mills to take part in the inaugural season of ENCORE Chamber Music. [Read more…]

ENCORE Chamber Music: a conversation with the Miró Quartet’s Daniel Ching

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by Mike Telin

Miro-Quartet“We had our roots right there in Northeast Ohio, so coming back to play is always a special thing for us,” Miró Quartet first violinist Daniel Ching said during a recent interview. “This time is extra special because we’ll be working with young players, so it brings back memories of when we were just starting out.”

On Saturday, June 18 at 8:00 pm in Gilmour Academy’s Our Lady Chapel, the Miró Quartet, Daniel Ching and William Fedkenheuer, violins, John Largess, viola, and Joshua Gindele, cello, will present the Opening Night Celebration of the inaugural ENCORE Chamber Music Institute. The program will feature works by Haydn, Beethoven, and Brahms.   [Read more…]

McCalmont’s List 4: Chopin: “Raindrop” Prelude, Op. 28, No. 15 (1839) & “Winter Wind” Étude, Op. 25, No. 11 (1836)

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by Neil McCalmont

ChopinGenres: Prelude — a short piece meant as an introduction. Étude — a piece intended for study purposes and to improve technique
Scoring: Piano
Era: Early Romantic
Length: 4-5 minutes each
Will you recognize them? You’ll get the feeling you do
Recommended Recordings: Arthur Rubinstein for “Raindrop” and Maurizio Pollini for “Winter Wind” or Martha Argerich for both

Composer: Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849). Chopin (pronounced SHO-pan) established his reputation as the “poet of the piano,” as all of his works incorporate the instrument, and most of them are solo pieces. [Read more…]

Milt Hinton Institute convenes at Oberlin & Milt Hinton Day scheduled for June 16

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by Mike Telin

Hinton-MiltFor seven decades, bassist Milt Hinton played with the most influential artists in American music. While doing so, Hinton chronicled his experiences through the lens of his ever-present camera. This week the Oberlin Conservatory will celebrate its ties to the late performer with the Milt Hinton Institute for Studio Bass, a biennial summer program for developing musicians that takes place on the Oberlin campus from June 12 to 19.

Designed for bass students ages 13-21 of all ability levels, the Institute consists of a week of master classes, performances, bass ensembles, studio sessions, lectures, and workshops. [Read more…]

Opera Circle Cleveland: Jorge Pita Carreras and Christina Carr talk about their first plunges into opera

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by Mike Telin

CARR-CARRERAS“What do I enjoy about singing Verdi? Oh my gosh, everything about it,” tenor Jorge Pita Carreras exclaimed during a recent interview. On Saturday, June 11 at 7:30 pm at the Ohio Theatre in Playhouse Square, Carreras will perform the role of Manrico in Opera Circle Cleveland’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Il trovatore. Mezzo-soprano Christina Carr, who will perform the role of Azucena, shares Carreras’s feelings about the composer’s music. “There’s just something about the way Verdi approaches the emotional side of his music that brings you along. It’s just wonderful,” she said during a separate interview.

Based on a Spanish play by Antonio Garcia Gutierrez adapted by Verdi’s librettist Salvatore Cammarano, the opera is the middle child in the trio of popular titles Verdi produced in the early 1850s, preceded by Rigoletto and followed by La traviata. Joel Smirnoff will conduct the Opera Circle Orchestra and a cast that will also include baritone Kevin Wetzel as Il Conte di Luna, soprano Dorota Sobieska as Leonora, bass Nathan Resika as Ferrando, tenor Brian Skoog as Ruiz, and soprano Lauren Wright as Inez. [Read more…]

Violists, trombonists, and lutenists to gather in Northeast Ohio in June

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by Daniel Hathaway

JasperSQSummer is the time when musical birds of a feather decide to flock together. During the month of June, critical masses of violists, trombonists, and lutenists will convene for festivals and seminars at the Oberlin Conservatory, Cleveland State University, and Case Western Reserve University.

It all starts with the American Viola Society, who will offer four public concerts in conjunction with their convention this week in Oberlin. On Wednesday, June 8 at 7:30 pm, the Jasper String Quartet (left) will open the series in Warner Concert Hall with guest violist Liz Freivogel and music by Beethoven, Missy Mazzoli, Donnacha Dennehy, and Brahms.

A Warner Concert Hall event on the following evening, June 9 at 7:30 pm, will celebrate the career achievement of Robert Vernon, principal viola of The Cleveland Orchestra, with a program of music by Max Bruch, Robert Schumann, and Gabriel Fauré performed by Vernon, violinist Elmar Oliveira, cellist Ralph Curry, and pianist Carolyn Warner.   [Read more…]

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