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An interview about interviewing: Debra Nagy on SalonEra Episodes 4-6

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by Jarrett Hoffman

SalonEra is off and running, continuing into its fourth, fifth, and sixth episodes over the next several weeks with “Strike The Viol” (October 5), “Latin Baroque” (October 19), and “Schubertiade” (November 2).

I reached out to Les Délices artistic director Debra Nagy to learn more about these three very different programs, but also to talk about the new role she’s taken on for this series: interviewer. And whether you’re Conan O’Brien or Debra Nagy, there’s a lot that goes into that.

For Nagy, it starts with a “discovery call” with someone she’d like to bring on the show: “a very open phone call that is maybe as much as an hour long,” she said during our own recent call over Zoom. Of course, she’ll already know in advance what someone’s specialty is, “but also, people surprise me,” she said. From there, and sometimes with a second phone call to further refine a topic, she can begin to weave a web that ties together different discussions and performances (all to be pre-recorded).

During the final taping of each episode, Nagy has enjoyed the challenge inherent in any interview: steering a conversation so that it’s both substantive and concise. The interviewee, of course, plays a part in that as well: both sides have to come together in a sort of dance that’s simultaneously organic and prepared.

[Read more…]

No Exit launches new season online October 2

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by Mike Telin

The show must go on! Although the 19th-century phrase was originally associated with circuses, its spirit lives on to this day as performing arts groups across Northeast Ohio and around the world figure out how to bring their shows to the public.

On Friday, October 2 at 7:00 pm, the area’s premier new music ensemble, No Exit, will present the debut performance of their 12th season online. The program will feature William Grant Still’s mystical Seven Traceries (solo piano), Villa-Lobos’ Deux Chôros (violin and piano), Harald Genzmar’s Sonata (solo flute), Adam Roberts’ Bell Threads (solo viola), and the world premiere of Downfall by No Exit percussionist Luke Rinderknecht. Listeners can access the free, pre-recorded concert and download the concert program by visiting the ensemble’s website or Facebook page.

“COVID-19 has forced us all to rethink how we live, work, and go about our lives,” No Exit artistic director Tim Beyer said during a recent telephone conversation. “At the moment, the members don’t feel comfortable playing together as a group, and since I am one to err on the side of safety, that’s where the idea for solo pieces came from.”  

Although a program of mostly solo works is a little out of the ordinary, Beyer sees it as the perfect opportunity to showcase each of the ensemble’s musicians. “About mid-summer we commissioned some talented composers to write solo works for all of the members of the group. So as we move forward, we’ll have a healthy supply of new music to present.”

[Read more…]

The Legacy of Black Musicians: Entertainer Josephine Baker 

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by Lilyana D’Amato

In the decade following the First World War, French popular culture was dominated by images of negrophilia: the disconcerting obsession with and seizure of Black — specifically African — culture. 

Introduced to African folk art through global imperialism and colonialism, the French became fascinated with racialized depictions of the “savage” Black body, fetishizing Blackness through painting, sculpture, film, and performance. In the early 1920s, avant-garde Parisian artists began appropriating Black culture as a means of exploring what they saw as the juxtaposition between the “primitive” and changing notions of modernity. 

When entertainer Jospehine Baker, the hugely influential African American expatriate, arrived in Paris in 1925, she became the face of this racialized mania. Her body and persona came to signify the exotic, used to satisfy colonialist sexual fantasies.

[Read more…]

“Gather Around the Music” at Riverside Park with ENCORE

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by Mike Telin 

With the local weather forecast predicting a sunny 78 degrees with zero percent chance of rain on Friday, September 25, why not pack a picnic, put your lawn chairs and blankets in the car, and head to Riverside Park in Chagrin Falls for a 6:00 pm family-friendly concert presented by ENCORE Chamber Music.

The program, “Gather Around the Music,” will feature classical favorites and American popular music performed by artistic director and violinist Jinjoo Cho, faculty violist Eric Wong, and a pair of ENCORE alums: violinist Kiarra Saito-Beckman and cellist Maya Enstad.

ENCORE staff will enforce social distancing via designated sitting areas on the park lawn. Audience members are asked to bring their masks and be considerate of their fellow listeners’ personal space.

“We think of this concert as a contribution to the community that has embraced us over the years,” Jinjoo Cho said during a recent telephone conversation. “We wanted to give something back that would bring people together in a safe way, and Riverside Park is the perfect venue to do that. We’ll perform in the small courtyard, and people will be able to sit in the Park’s large open area — social distancing tapes will mark the available spots.”

[Read more…]

Trinity’s third summer live stream: John McElliott on Britten’s Canticle II

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by Daniel Hathaway

“Britten is such a master of theater that his Canticle II is like a little 17-minute opera,” countertenor John McElliott said in a telephone conversation. “Any chance I have to sing this music is such a great joy that I savor every one.”

In fact, McElliott has had many opportunities to savor Benjamin Britten’s “Abraham and Isaac” together with his colleagues, tenor JR Fralick and pianist Todd Wilson. “We’ve performed it many times both at the Church of the Covenant and at Trinity Cathedral. At this point, it’s become an old friend.”

McElliott, Fralick, and Wilson will renew that friendship in the third of Music and Art at Trinity’s live streamed concerts this summer, an episode that will air in real time with no audience present on Friday, September 18 at 7:00 pm. The program, “Music by Three B’s,” will include Nadia Boulanger’s Three Improvisations, played by organist Nicole Keller, and Brahms’ Violin Sonata in A, performed by Andrew Sords with pianist Elizabeth DeMio. The event is free, but donations are welcome toward a COVID-19 musicians relief fund.

Britten wrote his five Canticles between 1947 and 1974. Though the titles suggest liturgical works, they’re more like little cantatas for various combinations of voices and instruments. Three of them were crafted as memorials, and all five reflect the composer’s knack for setting fine examples of English literature to highly expressive music. [Read more…]

Arts at Holy Trinity: Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin for guitar and voice

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Like many song cycles, Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin — originally for high voice and piano — has been transposed for different vocal ranges. And like other beloved works of any genre, it has taken on different forms through arrangements by musicians eager to experience it and lend a new perspective.

On Sunday, September 20 at 4:00 pm, Akron’s Arts at Holy Trinity will present Die schöne Müllerin in a recently-recorded, virtual performance by baritone Michael Kelly and guitarist David Leisner. Adding another touch of interpretation, visual artist Kevork Mourad will offer prepared animation and imagery to accompany the music. Click here to register to attend.

During a recent Zoom call with Leisner, who made the arrangement, and who chairs the guitar department at the Manhattan School of Music, I asked about the inspiration behind moving this cycle into the world of the guitar.

[Read more…]

Harpist Parker Ramsay releases Debut CD: Bach’s Goldberg Variations 

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by Mike Telin

“To transcribe the music of Bach is to undertake the spirit of Bach,” harpist Parker Ramsay said during a Zoom interview. “He would often transcribe his own music for other instruments, as well as music of other composers.”

On Friday, September 18, Ramsay’s debut recording, Bach: Goldberg Variations, will be released on the King’s College Recordings label. The album will be available on CD and to stream and download via all major digital music services. Recorded in King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, England, the album includes liner notes by Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic Tim Page and leading Bach scholar Burkhard Schwalbach.

Ramsay noted that people have been transcribing Bach’s music for many years for a variety of instruments including the Moog synthesizer. “I love Wendy Carlos’ Switched-on Bach,” he said. “It’s just incredible.” In his recent New York Times essay, Ramsay muses on Bach, transcriptions, and instrumentation.

When asked why he chose such an iconic work for his debut recording, Ramsay said that he wanted to present the harp as an instrument that is not just capable of playing new music or idiomatic music, but one that is worthy of the great works in the classical canon. “I also wanted to highlight all the different types of education that I have had.” [Read more…]

Shapiro begins third Beethoven cycle this Sunday on Hudson’s MFTWR Series

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by Daniel Hathaway

“The first time I did the whole thing within a month — two a week for four weeks. That was kind of crazy. The second time it was one concert per month, which is what I’m hopefully doing now.”

“Now” refers to the current season, when pianist Daniel Shapiro begins his third expedition into Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas on Sunday, September 13 with a 5:00 pm performance on the Music From The Western Reserve series at Christ Church in Hudson. Because COVID-19 has precluded live audiences at the beginning of the season, Shapiro is pre-recording his recital this week for streaming on Sunday.

In a telephone conversation, Daniel Shapiro noted that he had played that first “kind of crazy” cycle in 1995 when he was teaching at the University of Iowa, and the second in 2001-2002 after he had joined the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music. The third will be spaced throughout 2020-2021 at several area venues, details still to be announced. [Read more…]

Violinist Wendy Case joins faculty of YSU’s Dana School of Music

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by Daniel Hathaway

Although this is not an optimal moment to start a new job, violinist Wendy Case is enjoying her new position on the faculty of the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University.

“So far it’s been fantastic. We’re doing all the classes online, and private lessons and chamber groups in person, both indoors and outside, where we have some spaces we can use.”

Case, who studied at the University of Michigan, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and SUNY Stony Brook, has recently held teaching positions in Chattanooga, Tennessee at Berry College, Covenant College, and Chattanooga State. Founding violinist of the Brahms’ Ghost Piano Trio, she has served as artistic director of the Scenic City Chamber Society and performed with the Tetris Duo, the Pitch Pipe Foundation, the Nashville Opera, and the Atlanta Symphony. Her current projects include recordings and a series of presentations on the interplay of advanced string technique and acoustical physics.

Originally a Michigander, Case says she’s excited to move back North. “I’m glad to be here. I’ve loved Northeast Ohio for a really long time.” [Read more…]

M.U.S.i.C. offers “Garden Concerts” featuring Arseniy Gusev premiere

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Fresh from Piano Cleveland’s online Virtu(al)oso Competition, where he played one of his own works in the final round en route to winning Second Prize, Russian-born Arseniy Gusev will have another opportunity to showcase his dual musical abilities in September, this time with a live performance and a new piece.

On September 10 and 12 at 5:00 pm at a private location in Orange Village, M.U.S.i.C. – Stars in the Classics will host two “Garden Concerts” featuring the premiere of Gusev’s Rondellus for piano and violin. That’s part of a program devoted to Russian and Scandinavian composers, including Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Arensky, Glinka, and Grieg, in addition to a work of Danish folk music.

These outdoor, socially-distanced concerts are the last of the year in M.U.S.i.C.’s garden series. Click here for the address to the venue, rain dates, masking requirements, food and drink options, ticketing, and RSVP. [Editor’s note: both evenings are now sold out.]

Joining Gusev to perform Rondellus will be Victor Beyens, to whom the piece is dedicated. “He’s a wonderful violinist and a good friend of mine,” the composer said by email. “I was very grateful for the opportunity to work on the commission for such a fine musician, even though the piece was meant to be rather short.”

[Read more…]

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