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Conrad Tao to premiere Adam Roberts’ Book of Flowers on Kent Keyboard Series

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by Daniel Hathaway

A new collection of solo piano miniatures by Kent State University composition professor Adam Roberts will be unveiled by its dedicatee, Conrad Tao, during his upcoming solo recital on the Kent Piano Series on Sunday afternoon, October 6, at 5:00 pm in Ludwig Recital Hall.

Book of Flowers is a collection of sixteen character pieces for piano. Roberts writes in his composer notes that “each piece aims to capture a particular energy, from the playful and rhythmic, to the fragile and breakable, to the brutal and ferocious.”

I arranged for a recent Zoom conversation with the composer and the pianist to learn more about the project. Adam Roberts was in his studio at Kent State, and Conrad Tao was on tour in Iowa.

Daniel Hathaway: How did Book of Flowers come about?

Adam Roberts: I don’t usually just write pieces randomly, but I had written a couple of miniatures and for a long time I had yearned to write a book of my own piano music to see if I could get my language into that form. [Read more…]

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra begins its 15th season: a conversation with Neil Mueller

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by Mike Telin

When Carlton Woods was set to retire from his post at Michigan’s Midland Symphony Orchestra in 2007, the longtime music educator and conductor, along with his wife Ladonna, set his sights on Cleveland.

Why Cleveland? “I wanted to come where I could hear the best orchestra in the country and one of the greatest in the world every week,” Woods told The Plain Dealer in a 2015 interview. Once here, Woods quickly recognized the wealth of professional musicians living in the area who were looking for more opportunities to perform. In a sense, Woods seized the moment, and in 2010 with the tagline “From Cleveland for Cleveland,” the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra was born.

On Saturday, October 4 at 7:30 pm at the Church of the Covenant, the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra will kick off its fifteenth anniversary with “Threads of Time, Struggle, and Hope.” [Read more…]

Les Délices opens its season with “Moonlit Mozart” Serenades

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by Mike Telin

It’s delightful to read that Wolfgang Amadè Mozart, whose music has charmed so many ears, could surprise and charm himself. He wrote in a letter to his father from Vienna on his name-day, November 3, 1781:

“At eleven o’clock at night I was treated to a serenade performed by two clarinets, two horns and two bassoons — and that of my own composition. These musicians asked that the street door might be opened and, placing themselves in the center of the courtyard, surprised me, just as I was about to undress, in the most pleasant fashion imaginable with the first chord in E-flat.”

This week, Les Délices will open their season with “Moonlit Mozart.” Oboists Debra Nagy and Kathryn Montoya, clarinetists Eric Hoeprich and Madison Vienna, bassoonists Stephanie Corwin and Clay Zeller-Townson, hornists Nathanael Udell and Sadie Glass, and double bassist Sue Yelanjian will perform selections from The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni, the Adagio from the Serenade in E-flat, K. 375, and the Serenade in C minor, K 388.

[Read more…]

Severance in Recital: Pavel Kolesnikov Plays J.S. Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations

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by Mike Telin

“I think the Goldberg Variations are one of the greatest achievements of the human mind and human soul of all times. And it is one of the most astonishing architectural creations in music — it’s like a wonder of the world,” pianist Pavel Kolesnikov said during a recent telephone conversation. “And hearing it live is just a tremendous experience that you cannot explain in words.”

On Tuesday, September 24 at 7:30 pm in Reinberger Chamber Hall at Severance Music Center, the Siberian-born, London-based pianist will perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s Aria and Thirty Variations, aka “The Goldberg Variations,” in a recital sponsored by The Cleveland Orchestra. Tickets are available online.

I caught up with the pianist in England where he was serving on the jury of the Leeds International Piano Competition. I began our conversation by asking him what it was like to move from being a competitor to a juror.

[Read more…]

Thinking Outside the Box: Takács Quartet and Julien Labro bring their collaborative program to the Artist Recital Series

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Reposted with the permission of Oberlin Conservatory

by Stephanie Manning

Twirling tango music, or maybe the composer Astor Piazzolla, might come to mind when you think of the word “bandoneon.” Or maybe nothing does. After all, the accordion-like instrument often flies under the radar within the classical and jazz scenes.

“It’s going to take some time until my instruments are household names of either genre,” says Julien Labro, who plays both the bandoneon and its musical cousin, the accordion. “I don’t necessarily think it’s going to happen, but at the same time, I’m very optimistic about the trajectory that they’ve taken in the last 50 years—it’s amazing to witness.”

[Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Music Society: Chanticleer to open 75th Season

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by Mike Telin

In 1949 a small group of like-minded individuals came together to bring ensembles of the highest quality to Cleveland for chamber music performances. And thus, the Cleveland Chamber Music Society was born.

On Tuesday, September 24 at 7:30 pm at The Cultural Arts Center at Disciples Church,  CCMS will launch its 75th anniversary season with a concert by the celebrated all-male vocal ensemble Chanticleer. “Music of a Silent World,” will feature Majel Connery’s The Rivers are Our Brothers, a new arrangement of Tom Petty’s Wildflowers, Lawrence’s The Weather, and I miss you like I miss the trees by the ensemble’s composer-in-residence Ayanna Woods. A gala reception will follow the performance. Tickets are available online.

I caught up with tenor and assistant music director Matthew Mazzola and baritone Matthew Knickman on Zoom and began our conversation by asking why they are excited about this nature inspired program.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra: A conversation with violin soloist Frank Peter Zimmermann

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by Mike Telin

After a six-year absence, violinist Frank Peter Zimmerman will return to the Severance Music Center stage on Thursday, September 19  to play Robert Schumann’s concerto with Osmo Vänskä and The Cleveland Orchestra in the first performance of the new season. The program will be repeated on Sunday the 22nd at 3:00 pm.

“I’m extremely happy to be returning to Cleveland. It’s my favorite orchestra in the States and maybe the world, and the public is also special,” the violinist said in a telephone conversation from his home in Germany. “I have a long relationship with them —  I think my first concerts were in 1987 with Christoph von Dohnányi  — and I have many friends there. So it’s going to be a joy to come back for the season opener.”

The Schumann concerto is a musically complicated piece with an intriguing history. He wrote it very late in his career for Joseph Joachim, and although the violinist was in possession of the manuscript for the rest of his life, he never performed the Concerto. It finally received its premiere by George Kulenkampff and the Berlin Philharmonic on 26 November 1937.

[Read more…]

Fall Preview: Anniversaries & New Beginnings

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by Daniel Hathaway

While compiling our master calendar for 2024-2025, we noted some milestones to celebrate among Northeast Ohio’s musical organizations and at least one new arrival on the scene to mention.

The Cleveland Women’s Orchestra (pictured in 1938) begins its 90th season this year, with a November concert at the Maltz Performing Arts Center, a holiday concert at Judson Manor in December, and an anniversary performance at Severance Music Center in March.

For its 75th season, Cleveland Chamber Music Society will host only six ensembles at Disciples Church rather than the usual seven, but No. 6, the Jerusalem Quartet, will perform all 15 of Dmitri Shostakovich’s string quartets in five April concerts at the Cleveland Museum of Art. CCMS’s season begins with Chanticleer on September 24 and includes concerts by the Imani Winds with pianist Michelle Cann, Cuarteto Casals, flutist Emmanuel Pahud with pianist Alessio Bax, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. [Read more…]

Stars in the Classics cabaret: a melting pot of music, visual art, and dance

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by Stephanie Manning

If you’ve driven past the Cleveland History Center, you’ve likely spotted a memento from Euclid Beach Park. The large, colorful carousel visible through the glass windows entertained visitors at the lakefront amusement park until its closure in 1969.

Jodi Kanter has fond memories of visiting as a child. “My grandfather and my father worked there as teenagers,” she said. “And I think my father ran the carousel at one time.”

For the past year, Kanter has been helping memorialize the Park through music, via a commission from composer Chris Neiner. And on Saturday, September 28 at 4:00 pm, M.U.S.i.C. – Stars in the Classics will present the world premiere of the final movement at Praxis Fiber Workshop. [Read more…]

Cirque de la Symphonie at Blossom: conversations with vocalists Hugh Panaro & Morgan James

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by Mike Telin

What can audiences expect to see and hear this weekend at Blossom Music Center? “Dizzying acrobatic heights and eye-popping feats together with top Broadway hits from Les Misérables, Frozen, Wicked, Chicago, and more…the perfect way to close out the summer.”

On Saturday, August 31 and Sunday September 1 at 7 pm, Cirque de la Symphonie joins the Akron Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Lucas Waldin in a show featuring Broadway stars Morgan James and Hugh Panaro. Tickets are available online.

I spoke with Hugh Panaro by Zoom at his country home in Connecticut.

Hugh Panaro: It’s a tiny farm town with deer, cows, and goats. Having grown up in Philadelphia, it’s not anything I would have imagined for myself.

[Read more…]

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