by Mike Telin
Founded in 2010 by violist Kim Kashkashian, the Boston-based non-profit Music for Food is a musician-led initiative for local hunger relief. On Sunday, November 8 at 2:00 pm, the newly-formed Cleveland chapter of Music for Food, spearheaded by noted cellist and educator Sharon Robinson, will present its inaugural benefit concert at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland, 2728 Lancashire Road in Cleveland Heights. There is no admission charge, but the freewill offering will benefit the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.
“Hunger knows no boundaries,” Robinson said during a recent conversation. “The Greater Cleveland Food Bank does an amazing job, and for every dollar we raise they can feed four people a good meal. I think if we all do our part we can help to relieve this terrible hunger crisis everywhere.” [Read more…]
It’s a cliché that Oberlin changes your life. Less overstated but no less true is the notion that singing in Collegium Musicum under the direction of
Having guest conducted the Masterworks Chorale of the Summit Choral Society in Haydn’s “Lord Nelson” Mass last spring, Marie Bucoy-Calavan will begin her official tenure as artistic director of the ensemble on Sunday, November 1 at 3:00 pm at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Akron. The program will include Mozart’s Requiem and Brahms’s Schicksalslied. (Tickets 
When we telephoned violinist Andrew Sords to chat about his recital on the Chagrin Concert Series next Sunday, he had just returned to Cleveland for thirty-six hours. “When I was nineteen,” he said, “I thought it would be great if I could play ten or so concerts a year.” A decade later, Sords sometimes finds himself playing that many performances in a month.
The Cleveland Museum of Art’s Performing Arts Series continues on Wednesday, October 28 at 7:30 with Merima Ključo’s “The Sarajevo Haggadah: Music of the Book,” a multimedia work for accordion, piano and video tracing the story of a precious Jewish prayer book’s journey from medieval Spain to 20th-century Bosnia — where it was hidden and rescued during World War II — to its restoration by the National Museum in Sarajevo after the 1992-1995 war.
“Nobody who comes to the performance will regret it. I promise,” Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks exclaimed during a telephone conversation. On Wednesday, October 28 at 7:30, the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Performing Arts Series will continue with Merima Ključo’s “The Sarajevo Haggadah: Music of the Book,” a multimedia work for accordion, piano, and video. The piece traces the story of a precious Jewish prayer book’s journey from medieval Spain to 20th-century Bosnia — where it was hidden and rescued during World War II — to its restoration by the National Museum in Sarajevo after the 1992-1995 war.
“When we leave conservatory, our available time to do things that are out of the routine of everyday life dwindles considerably,” pianist and Yellow Barn artistic director Seth Knopp pointed out during a telephone conversation. “Whether you’re a touring musician or piecing together a living, it’s hard to find time to dedicate yourself to one project. Our residencies are a chance for musicians to immerse themselves in their work.”
German violinist Christian Tetzlaff never shies away from a challenge. He made his debut with The Cleveland Orchestra at the age of 22, playing the daunting concerto by Arnold Schoenberg. Tetzlaff’s most recent area performance in May of this year, also with The Cleveland Orchestra, featured the violinist in Jörg Widmann’s concerto, a physically taxing work written for him in 2007.
“In the words of John Cage, Satie is indispensable,” No Exit artist director Tim Beyer said during a telephone conversation. “As iconic as Satie is, you don’t often see a concert presented in his honor.” On Friday, October 30 at Heights Arts, No Exit will launch their seventh season with what will be a year-long tribute to the music of Erik Satie.
Oberlin’s historical flute professor Michael Lynn has devised a whole day of events celebrating the little-known world of 19th century French flute music. On Saturday, October 31, Lynn will team up with flute professor Alexa Still, fortepianist David Breitman, the Conservatory’s music history department, the Conservatory Library, and the Frederick R. Selch Center for Music History, to shine light on a neglected subject through lectures, a concert and an exhibition.