by Mike Telin
During the past couple of years, No Exit has taken the online concert format to a new level. As ClevelandClassical.com’s Jarrett Hoffman noted: “Plenty of pre-recorded concerts have offered audiences some sort of new and compelling experience. But few organizations have mined that format with as much joy and silliness — and in general, personality — as Cleveland’s new music ensemble No Exit.”
Keeping that tradition alive, the ensemble chose to open their 2022-23 season with an online concert in collaboration with St. Paul-based Zeitgeist. “As far as the presentation goes it’s probably the best online concert we’ve ever done,” No Exit artistic director Timothy Beyer said during a recent telephone conversation.
The playlist includes Stephen Dembski’s Alta, Per Nørgård’s Night Descending, and the world premiere of Nasim Khorrassani’s Primary Call. That concert, released last week, is available for viewing on No Exit’s website. Click here to watch.
Beyer noted that beginning this week, the ensemble will put on its presenter hat. “I’m very excited about the next three events, because each one will be amazing. I know we’re always saying that, but it’s really true.”
“When we see an idea expressed in the language of art, our sensory reactions often open the heart and mind to interaction in ways that mere facts may not,” writes Yolanda Kondonassis, who is not only a celebrated harpist but also the founder and director of the 
On Thursday, October 20 at 7:30 pm, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Maxim Emelyanychev, will kick off Tuesday Musical’s 2022 season at E.J. Thomas Hall. The program features Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 (“Scottish”) and Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with Nicola Benedetti as soloist. The performance is part of the Orchestra’s current U.S. tour.
On Tuesday, October 18, London’s Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble will return to the Cleveland Chamber Music Series at Plymouth Church in Shaker Square to play works by Purcell, Brahms, and Enesco.
St. Martin’s has shared its real estate with the monument to Admiral Horatio Nelson after the Battle of Trafalgar in 1808, with the National Gallery of Art, completed in 1838, and until their eviction at the turn of the 21st century, with a flock of 35,000 feral pigeons, not to mention protesters demonstrating en masse for multiple causes (like the 100,000 Pakistanis who poured into Trafalgar Square one Sunday in the 1970s when I decided to visit St. Martin’s for the first time).
Since joining The Cleveland Orchestra as principal cello in 2010, Mark Kosower has thrilled audiences with his performances of concertos by Ginastera, Haydn, Dvořák, Barber, and Tchaikovsky.
Tonight at 7:30 pm at Severance Music Center, Carlos Kalmar will lead the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra in an eclectic program featuring
We all know that the pandemic forced many performing arts organizations to put their plans on hold. Case in point, the collaboration between BlueWater Chamber Orchestra and the Cleveland Chamber Choir that was scheduled for May of 2020. 
For nearly 150 years, Oberlin College and Conservatory’s Artist Recital Series has been a centerpiece in the musical offerings of Northeast Ohio. Now, after a two-year absence, the series returns with a noon performance in Finney Chapel on Tuesday, October 4 featuring musical trailblazer Rhiannon Giddens. The Grammy Award winner, MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient, and Oberlin alum will be joined by multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi. Click 
It’s no secret that many young people have had their professional careers sidelined because of the pandemic. Take, for example, the Balourdet String Quartet, which was formed as a student ensemble at Rice University in 2018.
There is no one path that a person follows to become a conductor. Raffaele Ponti’s early musical training came via the piano, violin, and later trumpet. That instrument led Ponti to the Cleveland Institute of Music where he was a student of Bernard Adelstein, the legendary principal of The Cleveland Orchestra — Ponti was also fortunate enough to play with that orchestra on numerous occasions. After graduating from CIM, he went to Italy to study conducting first in Siena, and later in Rome with Giuseppe Sinopoli.