by Stephanie Manning
In the medieval era, musicians and poets had a different perspective on the process of creation. “They thought of composing as finding and seeking out words and notes that already exist,” Allison Monroe said in a recent phone interview. That’s why the artistic director named her ensemble Trobár — an Occitan-language word meaning “to find” or “to seek.”
“ That’s where the word ‘troubadour’ comes from, as well as ‘trouvère,’” she explained. “And that repertoire is really at the root of who we are as an ensemble.”
On March 19 at 7:00 pm, the medieval music ensemble will return to those roots by revisiting a program from Trobár’s earliest days, “Songbook for a King.” This concert draws its pieces from the “Manuscrit du Roi,” a famous thirteenth-century anthology of French music. Pay-what-you-can tickets for the performance at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church in Rocky River are available online. [Read more…]
Handel’s Messiah will come to life at Playhouse Square on March 20-21 in a co-production by Cleveland Ballet, BlueWater Chamber Orchestra, and Cleveland Chamber Choir. Gregory Ristow will conduct the live musical forces as the dancers perform the iconic two-hour oratorio, choreographed by Robert Weiss.
Chatham Baroque, Pittsburgh’s long-standing period instrument ensemble, will be featured on the Rocky River Chamber Music Society series on Monday, March 2 at 7:30 pm at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church. Violinist Andrew Fouts, violist da gamba Patricia Halverson, and theorboist and Baroque guitarist Scott Pauley will offer a program that Fouts said might be titled “Bach and Before.”