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Cleveland Classical Guitar Society: Stephanie Jones & pandemic premieres

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by Jarrett Hoffman

The shift online for concerts over the past year has included world premieres. And as amazing as it can be to gather in a room with other people and hear something that’s never been heard before, there’s a positive side to the new format. When the player has a history of not only winning solo competitions, but also creating impressive and stylish videos, perhaps a new piece can sail off into the world with a little extra propulsion.

That might well be the case with the next program from the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society. In a free, pre-recorded recital on Saturday, February 27 at 7:30 pm, Stephanie Jones will introduce the world to Kevin Callahan’s The Whiskey Tales. The Australian-born, German-based guitarist — who has won first prize at the Hannabach Guitar Competition, among other awards — also makes her Cleveland debut. [Read more…]

Black History Month at Oberlin:
a conversation with Jeff Scott
(first of two articles)

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by Mike Telin

“What a series of events — Oberlin really has pulled out all the stops,” associate professor of horn Jeff Scott said during a telephone conversation. “Even more than just showcasing the arts, there are so many talks and conversations happening — moments when you can just listen to perspectives about history and current events. It’s important to combine all of that because it’s more than just a month, it’s a long continuous conversation that this country needs to have.”

On Thursday, February 25 at 7:30 pm, Oberlin Black History Month: A Celebration of Black Artistry continues on Stage Left with a pre-recorded program hosted by Jeff Scott. The evening features three of his own compositions as well as works by Ulysses Kay and Duke Ellington. In addition to Scott, performers include Mark Dover (clarinet/keys), Drew Pattison (bassoon), James Howsmon (piano), the Verona Quartet, and the Oberlin Orchestra. The concert is free. Click here at start time.

Although this is his first year on the Oberlin faculty, Scott has spent a lot of time in Ohio as a member of the acclaimed Imani Winds. “We’ve been all over the state many times and during those twenty-some odd years, there are a few places we call our second home — and Akron’s Tuesday Musical is one of them. It’s great to have presenters who aren’t afraid to take risks with artists,” Scott said. [Read more…]

Skinner organ transplants are well underway at Trinity

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by Daniel Hathaway

When three trucks from Croton, Ohio’s Muller Organ Company pulled up to Trinity Cathedral in downtown Cleveland on January 11, the Cathedral’s history of distinguished pipe organs opened a new chapter.

Those vehicles were delivering renovated parts of several E.M. Skinner organs, to be installed in chambers above the Cathedral chancel, where Trinity’s first instrument had been located when the building was consecrated in 1907.

“We’re very close to hearing some sounds,” Trinity music director Todd Wilson (left, among the pipes) said today in a Zoom conversation. “They’ll be doing rough tuning for several days, then start real voicing.”

That 1907 organ, Skinner’s Opus 140, served the Cathedral and its organist-choirmaster, Edwin Arthur Kraft (right), until the 1970s, when its outdated mechanism had deteriorated beyond the point of renovation.

After a long process, contracts were signed with Flentrop Orgelbouw in Zaandam, the Netherlands, for two mechanical action instruments in the Dutch 18th-century style — a moveable, two-manual Choir Organ (delivered in 1976 but later sold) and a three-manual Great Organ at the rear of the nave (pictured below, dedicated in December 1977).

The remains of the Skinner were finally removed in advance of the construction of Trinity Commons in 2002, and salvageable pipework was donated to other organ projects. [Read more…]

Has the Pandemic Changed the Definition of Live Music?

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by Max Shain

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the shape of the live music industry, impacting musicians, audiences, curators, managers, venue owners, festival directors, and recording engineers. Not only have revenue streams shifted, but it has caused many to rethink their definition of live music.

I spoke with six people from different sectors of the music industry to find out how their perception and experience of live music — as well as their expectations for its future — have changed over the past year. I also spoke to a few of my friends who served as proxy “Jane and Joe” audience members.

[Read more…]

Les Délices: Aesop’s Fables & “making lemonade out of lemons”

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Thursday’s program on Les Délices’ Concert Series is an interesting combination of imagination and circumstance: a creative recipe composed of recordings the ensemble had at hand in the fridge, or rather the archives.

“Games and Grounds” — which premieres online on February 18 at 7:30 pm and remains available on-demand until a Closing Reception on March 1 at that same hour — combines musical versions of Aesop’s Fables with virtuosic ground-bass variations by such composers as Rebel, Marais, and Rameau.

Tenor Jason McStoots and soprano Elena Mullins (above) will take turns telling the stories of an ant and a grasshopper, a lion and a rat, a tortoise and a hare, and a tortoise and an eagle. Those texts will be heard here set to simple airs and popular tunes from 1730s France, but in new English translations commissioned from Larry Rosenwald.

And Mullins will top off the program with her own new choreography for Rebel’s Caractères de la danse — one of a couple pieces that continue the thread of narrative, but in a more subtle way than the fables. See the full program here, and purchase tickets here.

I reached Les Délices director Debra Nagy by telephone to discuss all of that, beginning where else but with Aesop’s Fables. Those got us talking about childhood, specifically Nagy’s upbringing as a first-generation American. [Read more…]

Arts @ Holy Trinity celebrates Mardi Gras with Guy Van Duser & Billy Novick

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by Jarrett Hoffman

A guitarist walks up to a clarinetist and asks, “You play any jazz?” What sounds like the start of a bad joke was actually the start of a musical relationship that hits 45 years this month.

That makes two reasons to celebrate. Both that milestone and the festival of Mardi Gras will be in the air when guitarist Guy Van Duser and clarinetist Billy Novick visit Akron’s Arts @ Holy Trinity series on Fat Tuesday, February 16 at 7:00 pm.

For the occasion, they’ve put together a pre-recorded concert largely built around classic New Orleans jazz, a staple of their repertoire. The playlist includes works by Jelly Roll Morton, George Gershwin, Andy Razaf, Hoagy Carmichael, Scott Joplin, Jimmie Noone, and Duke Ellington, as well as an original by Novick.

[Read more…]

Gremillet announces Cleveland Orchestra changes

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Cleveland Orchestra CEO André Gremillet announced on Wednesday afternoon that in-person performances at Severance Hall have been cancelled through June due to the continuing health risks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Watch a video of his announcement here.

A new series of recorded concerts will be available on the Orchestra’s Adella platform beginning in March for subscribers, ticket holders, and donors who have supported the ensemble above $300 for the year.

Looking forward to summer, Gremillet noted that the Orchestra is planning a ten-concert season at Blossom Music Center in July and August, which will operate at reduced capacity.

Oberlin Conservatory Honors Black History Month 

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by Mike Telin

Beginning this week, Oberlin Conservatory will honor Black History Month with a series of events titled To Be Young, Gifted, and Black. It begins on Thursday, February 4 at 7:30 pm with a series overview hosted by Chris Jenkins, the Conservatory’s associate dean for academic support and liaison to the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. The programs, which continue throughout the month, will be broadcast live on Oberlin Stage Left. A calendar of events can be found at the bottom of this article. 

Saturday, February 6 at 1:30 introduces “Decentering the Canon in the Conservatory.” Moderated by Chris Jenkins, the symposium is the result of conversations held by Conservatory faculty over the summer of 2020 — talks dedicated to responding to the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and other tragedies linked to systemic racism. The event is presented as part of the Richard Murphy Musicology Colloquium.

What is the canon and what does decentering the canon mean? “The panelists have written extensively on this topic,” Jenkins said during a recent interview. “Although they come at it from different points of view, they agree that the canon has centered esthetically and conceptually on the idea of whiteness and on works by white composers. Beethoven and Brahms have certainly been elevated by the quality of their work, but just as much because of the obsession with Germanic culture that characterized American classical music in the 20th century. The panelists are talking about music that is other, which has its roots in cultures of people of color, and has been systematically excluded for reasons other than quality.”

[Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra: In Focus: Episode 5 — Looks can be deceiving 

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by Mike Telin

While the music on the next installment of The Cleveland Orchestra’s In Focus series may appear uncomplicated in the score, assistant conductor Vinay Parameswaran cautions listeners that looks can be deceiving.

Debuting on Thursday, January 28 at 7:00 pm, “Musical Patterns” juxtaposes the magic of modern minimalism with Baroque splendor. The program, available only on the Adella app — click here for information — will include music by Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt, John Adams, and J.S. Bach, and will feature pianist Marc-André Hamelin and associate concertmaster Jung-Min Amy Lee. The stream will be accessible on demand until April 28, 2021.

Philip Glass said that Glassworks — released in 1982, originally as a six-movement chamber music work to be enjoyed on a Walkman — “was intended to introduce my music to a more general audience than had been familiar with it up to then.” It is the first movement, “Opening” (reworked by Christian Badzura for piano and strings), that will be performed during the In Focus concert.

“It’s only six or seven minutes long, and if you look at the piano part it is quite delicate,” Parameswaran said during a telephone conversation. “Only at the climax does it become loud and use the full range of the piano.” [Read more…]

No Exit presents “New Year, New Works — a Virtual Concert + Commentary Experience”

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by Mike Telin

“Like for a lot of ensembles, this season turned out differently than what we had imagined it would be,” No Exit artistic director Timothy Beyer said during a recent telephone conversation. “All of the music we had planned, we couldn’t do. They were all ensemble pieces, and we are not getting together as an ensemble this season, so we had to commission solo pieces on the quick — we needed to find composers who would not only write something good but also deliver it on time.”

On Friday, January 29 at 7:00 pm, No Exit will present “New Year, New Works — a Virtual Concert + Commentary Experience.” The program will feature world premieres by Tyler Adamthwaite, Inga Chinilina, and Jeremy Rapaport-Stein as well as music by Iannis Xenakis and Giancinto Scelsi. The free performance and program book are available on the ensemble’s website and Facebook page.

“Tyler, Inga, and Jeremy are very gifted and wrote some interesting pieces,” Beyer said. “I’m sure that listeners are going to really enjoy what they experience.” [Read more…]

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