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Andrew Sords plays Vivaldi with Snowbelt Symphony

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by Mike Telin

It is easy to assume that a violin concerto by Antonio Vivaldi was written during his tenure at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, however, that’s not always the case. In fact, the origins of a few of his concertos for the instrument have and continue to baffle musicologists. One example is the Violin Concerto in e, RV 278 which is not part of any collection published during the composer’s lifetime.

On Sunday October 22 at 4:00 pm at the New Promise Church in Kirtland, Andrew Sords will perform that concerto with the Snowbelt Symphony under the direction of Greg Hillis. The program, Brilliant Baroque, will also include music by J.S. Bach, Handel, and Boyce. Tickets are available online.

“Not a lot is known about the concerto,” Sords said during a telephone conversation. [Read more…]

CUSP to host Jaap Blonk

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by Mike Telin

The self-taught Dutch composer, vocalist, poet, and visual artist Jaap Blonk will present a unique program on the Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project series at Convivium 33 Gallery on Friday, October 20 at 8pm.

I reached the sound poet by Skype at his home in Arnhem, Netherlands and began by asking him what the audience can expect to hear on Friday.

Jaap Blonk: I’ll do two sets. The first will be me interpreting some poetry from the history of Dada. And the second will be my own work for voice with some electronics. [Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Choir: Considering Matthew Shepard

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by Mike Telin

Statement from President Joe Biden on the 25th Anniversary of the Tragic Death of Matthew Shepard:

October 12, 2023

Twenty-five years ago today, Matthew Shepard lost his life to a brutal act of hate and violence that shocked our nation and the world. The week prior, Matthew had been viciously attacked in a horrific anti-gay hate crime and left to die – simply for being himself.

Matthew’s tragic and senseless murder shook the conscience of the American people. And his courageous parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard, turned Matthew’s memory into a movement, galvanizing millions of people to combat the scourge of anti-LGBTQI+ hate and violence in America.

On October 6, 1998 Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, accepted a ride home from two men at the Fireside Lounge in Laramie. Instead, Shepard was driven to a remote area where he was pistol-whipped, tortured, tied to a fence, and left for dead. Shepard died six days later from brain damage.

Shepard’s murder would later become the inspiration for Craig Hella Johnson’s fusion oratorio Considering Matthew Shepard.

[Read more…]

Returning to Cleveland, pianist Mahani Teave talks about building her island’s first music school and fighting the climate crisis

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by Jarrett Hoffman

If you had to pick one thing that symbolizes Mahani Teave — pianist, cultural ambassador, and environmental activist — an easy choice would be the Rapa Nui School of Music and the Arts, the first music school on that remote island 2,000 miles off the coast of mainland Chile, with a population of 8,000.

Co-founded by Teave, the school brings together the studies of classical music and of the traditional music of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island. It’s also a symbol of conservationism, built out of recycled tires, bottles, and cans, and made self-sustainable thanks to rainwater collectors and solar panels.

It says a lot that when Teave received the attention of just about the entire classical music world in 2021 with her debut album, Rapa Nui Odyssey, she found herself not so much overwhelmed by the attention, or basking in the glow of fame, but rather grateful for the opportunity to spread the word about her school and help keep it going — not an easy endeavor.

Now she is in the midst of a North American tour in which she is largely playing selections from that album — and the tour is bringing her back to Northeast Ohio, where she studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

[Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus welcomes Eric Whitacre

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by Mike Telin

“What if our departed loved ones are not truly gone, but are closer than we think? How can we mourn those we have lost while still moving forward? We have all experienced the loss, in one way or another, of someone or something we have loved deeply. How do we know when it’s time to move forward?”

-Charles Anthony Silvestri

Written in 2018, The Sacred Veil — with music by Eric Whitacre (pictured left) and text by Charles Anthony Silvestri — tells a story of love, loss, and grief. Silvestri’s wife, Julie, died of ovarian cancer at age 36 in 2005, leaving behind two young children. “It’s an extensive, twelve-movement work that is just beautiful,” Lisa Wong, The Cleveland Orchestra’s Director of Choruses, said during a telephone conversation.

On Friday, October 20 at 7:30 pm at Severance Music Center, Whitacre will lead the 140-member Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and 14 singers from the College of Wooster in The Sacred Veil for SATB choir, solo cello, and piano — his most recent collaboration with Silvestri. The concert also includes Reena Esmail’s When the Violin for chorus and cello, based on a 14th-century text by Persian poet Hafiz, conducted by Wong. Tickets are available online. [Read more…]

Renée Fleming and friends join in special Severance concert

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by Mike Telin

On Sunday, October 15 at 7:00 pm, the celebrated soprano Renée Fleming will host a gathering of friends in a Severance Music Center concert featuring the late André Previn’s unfinished — but now completed — final work. Penelope celebrates Homer’s heroine in The Odyssey, who faithfully waited 20 years for her husband, Odysseus, to return from the Trojan War while fending off more than a hundred suitors.

She’ll be joined by actress Merle Dandridge (The Last of Us), the Emerson String Quartet — Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer (violins), Lawrence Dutton (viola), and Paul Watkins (cello) —  and pianist Simone Dinnerstein. In addition to Penelope, musical selections include Philip Glass’s Etude No. 6 and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 14. Tickets are available online.

Although the score was left unfinished at the time of Previn’s death on February 28, 2019, it was completed by David Fetherolf, Previn’s longtime editor. The monodrama received its world premiere at Tanglewood on July 24, 2019.

Fleming graciously agreed to answer questions by email.

Mike Telin: Who originally had the idea for this project?

Renée Fleming: The Emerson Quartet and I shared a friendship with André Previn. (André had composed the opera of A Streetcar Named Desire, which I premiered, as well as some concert works and song cycles.) We decided to try to commission him to compose something for us. I knew that one of André’s good friends was playwright Tom Stoppard, of whom I am also a great fan. I thought, ‘Well you never know, why not ask them?’ It turned out that they both liked the idea, and they had already discussed writing something for my voice. I believe it was Tom who suggested Penelope, the classical heroine, as a subject.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Music Society: solving an annual programming puzzle

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by Daniel Hathaway

The Cleveland Chamber Music Society’s concert brochure presents information about its seven-concert season, neatly organized to include one concert each month, and all of them scheduled for Tuesday evenings.

This season, the Society has invited the Belcea Quartet, the Danish String Quartet, the Takács Quartet with pianist Marc-André Hamelin, cellist Steven Isserlis with pianist Connie Shih, the Pavel Haas Quartet, tenor Matthew Polenzani with pianist Julius Drake, and solo pianist Garrick Ohlsson to perform at Disciples Church in Cleveland Heights.

How did this series of concerts come together? We went right to the source, programming committee chair Steve Somach, for insights into the selection process. We spoke this week by phone.

Daniel Hathaway: I thought it would be interesting to write an article about how CCMS puts a season together, especially since you’ve got over twenty people on your board. 

Steve Somach: That’s for sure.

DH: It’s always like solving a jigsaw puzzle, but I think in your case, it’s kind of a special one.  [Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire begins new season: a conversation with Jeannette Sorrell

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by Mike Telin

Apollo’s Fire is moving full steam ahead into their 2023-24 season, which opens this week with four Northeast Ohio performances of their program “Splendour in London.” The concerts also mark the beginning of a busy fall for the musicians and for the ensemble’s founder and artistic director, Jeannette Sorrell. In fact, with all the forward motion that Apollo’s Fire has experienced over the past couple of years, Sorrell can certainly be described as a person on the go.

I caught up with her via Zoom in Chicago while she was literally in transit and began our wide-ranging conversation by asking her to reflect on Apollo’s Fire’s recent European tour.

Jeannette Sorrell: It was a wonderful experience. That was our Exile program, which we first took to Chicago, New York City, and San Francisco. The New York concert was especially fun — it was at the Met Museum and we were sold out two weeks in advance. When you have an audience that really wants to be there, there’s always a special energy.

[Read more…]

Surreality: No Exit explores the irrational, illogical, and inexplicable

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by Mike Telin

What does someone mean when they say, “Now that was surreal.” Well, that depends. “One of the things about surrealism is that it’s really an ideology,” No Exit artistic director Timothy Beyer said during an interview. “It’s not a style that is attached to a methodology, therefore you can apply it to almost anything.

To celebrate their 15th anniversary No Exit has created their most ambitious project to date. Enter Surreality, a season-long series that encompasses a range of artistic media to present an immersive, multidisciplinary exploration of surrealism as expressed in music, art, film, poetry, literature and performance art. “We hope people will enjoy exploring the irrational, illogical, inexplicable, strange, and utterly fantastical world that is surrealism.”

If you think this may be too academic, not to worry, “It’s an experiential thing,” Beyer said. “Whether you know a lot or nothing, you should be able to enjoy it. We even say in our program note: ‘this will tell you everything or nothing that you need to know to comprehend the following events.’ Surrealism does cover the gamut of the arts and more, and I think that has been a big part of its lasting relevance.” [Read more…]

An Evening with Bombino: A Joyful Cacophony

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by Max Newman

If you are looking for a combination of pure emotional power and stylistically blended sonic bliss, look no further than Bombino, one of Africa’s brightest musical stars.

The talented songwriting virtuoso, who recently became the first ever Grammy-nominated artist from Niger, will be wowing audiences this Wednesday, October 11 at 7:30 pm in Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tickets are available online.

Bombino graciously agreed to answer questions about his upcoming performance and musical philosophy via email.

Bombino was born into a Tuareg settlement near Agadez, Niger, in 1980 — the Tuareg are an ethnic group based primarily in Niger and Mali in Africa’s Sahara region. As a Tuareg musician, the feeling of pride and responsibility he has for his people is instantly clear. “In our culture musicians have a very important role. We carry with us our traditions to pass on, but also we do act as the voice of the people, to talk about the good and bad things going on in the world. Governments will target musicians in times of conflict because we inspire people to come together and to feel united. So this carries a great power in our society. [Read more…]

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