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CICGF: a live-streamed recital from Jason Vieaux and Colin Davin

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by Jarrett Hoffman and Mike Telin

While the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival won’t be happening onsite at the Cleveland Institute of Music as usual, that doesn’t mean you should clear the Festival from your calendar entirely.

On Saturday, June 6 at 2:00 pm (Eastern Time), CICGF will offer a live-streamed concert featuring two mainstays of the Festival: Jason Vieaux and Colin Davin, who co-head the guitar department at CIM in addition to sharing numerous honors between them as performers. Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased online, with all proceeds directly benefiting the artists.

ClevelandClassical.com’s Jarrett Hoffman reached Colin Davin by Zoom to talk about his half of the program: Pedro Elías Gutiérrez’s Alma Llanera (arranged by Alirio Diaz), Leo Brouwer’s El Decameron Negro, Radamés Gnattali’s Brasiliana No. 13, Agustín Barrios Mangoré’s Julia Florida, and Fernando Bustamante Misionera (arranged by Jorge Morel).

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Anthony McGill begins #TakeTwoKnees movement

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by Jarrett Hoffman

In response to the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, and the killing of so many other black people in this country, clarinetist Anthony McGill has begun a call to action to #TakeTwoKnees “in the struggle for justice and decency.”

On Wednesday, May 27, the principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic posted to his Facebook page a powerful written message and a short video: his performance of a deeply sad arrangement of America the Beautiful. Since then, 70,000 people have watched that original video, and a countless number of musicians and other artists have responded by adding their voices in solidarity.

Hymns, spirituals, jazz, classical, folk songs, pop, new compositions, dance performances, visual art, or no art at all — the responses have been highly varied, though nearly all of them include the gesture of getting down on two knees in a moment of silence. The emotional experience of taking in these forms of expression cannot be put into words.

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Looking ahead: What’s on for the summer of 2020?

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by Daniel Hathaway

Memorial Day — which fell as early on the calendar as it possibly can this year — traditionally marks the transition to summer. As we look forward to June and beyond, what’s in the forecast for the classical music scene in Northeast Ohio?

The avalanche of pandemic cancellations that began in mid-March and effectively brought an end to live performances for the rest of 2019-2020 has been replaced with a long list of summer events that won’t take place as usual.

Apollo’s Fire’s Countryside Concerts? Cancelled. The Re:Sound new music festival and the Cleveland Trombone Seminar? Not happening. The Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival? Postponed, but see below. ChamberFest Cleveland? Moved to 2021. Ohio Light Opera? Dark for 2020, but offering the same lineup next summer.

Summer educational programs? Encore Chamber Music at Gilmour Academy — scheduled to take place in the school’s new performing arts center — has moved to 2021. Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute is being held online and reduced to one week. Kent/Blossom Festival is cancelled. The Sphinx Performance Academy has moved online from July 25-August 8. [Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Choir  appoints first Assistant Conductor

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On May 19 Cleveland Chamber Choir announced the appointment of Corey Fowler as the organization’s first Assistant Conductor. Now approaching their sixth season under Artistic Director and co-founder Scott MacPherson, Cleveland Chamber Choir has grown to include over ten performances and outreach programs each year, as well as frequent collaborations with other Northeast Ohio organizations, including BlueWater Chamber Orchestra, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Composers Guild, Cleveland State University, Kent State University, Oberlin Choristers, and Kent Roosevelt High School ChoralWorks.

“On behalf of the Board of the Cleveland Chamber Choir, I am delighted to announce the appointment of Corey Fowler as Assistant Conductor,” CCC Board President Melissa Vandergriff said in a press release. “Corey has been an invaluable member of the CCC family since our debut concert in 2015. He is well connected to our community as a Kent State University graduate, as well as being Director of Choirs at Kent Roosevelt High School and Director of Music at Kent United Church of Christ. His strong Ohio roots and links to the community will help CCC strengthen our commitment to being More than Music! in Northeast Ohio.” [Read more…]

Saxophonist Perry Roth joins Glauser School of Music faculty

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On May 27 Kent State University’s Glauser School of Music announced the appointment of saxophonist Perry Roth as an instructor of music. Roth begins in the upcoming fall 2020 semester, having previously served on the faculties of both The Hartt School at the University of Hartford and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. At Kent State, Roth will teach the classical saxophone studio as well as work with chamber music groups.

“I am very excited and honored to be joining the faculty at Kent State,” Roth said in a press release. “I look forward to working with the wonderful students, faculty and staff in the fall.”

Throughout his performance career, Roth has built an impressive roster of collaborative partnerships with some of the country’s leading ensembles and composers of contemporary classical music, including the JACK Quartet and American Modern Ensemble as well as performing premieres of works by Martin Bresnick, Joel Love, and David MacBride. Since 2017, he has also held the tenor saxophone chair with the Barkada Quartet, an all-saxophone ensemble focused on exploring unique artistic collaborations.

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Classical music in a sitcom: NBC’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Here’s a trivia question: what current television series references Mahler, the oboe, and the recorder, and occasionally features one actor’s real operatic singing voice?

It might surprise you that the answer is a cop comedy — NBC’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which recently finished its seventh season and has been picked up for an eighth. The show is about the fictional 99th precinct in Brooklyn, NY, and the group of oddball police officers who work there, including two with a fondness for classical music.

One of them is Detective Norm Scully (played by Joel McKinnon Miller). He’s one of the two “magnificent oafs” of the precinct — a best-friend pairing of older cops whose main interests are greasy food and comfy chairs. But going against trope, Scully also sings opera.

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“At Home with Hawkins” — conversations on music and clarinet

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by Jarrett Hoffman

In almost every interview with a musician, there’s some special piece of conversation that later falls flat when put on a page. For those elusive moments — some inflection of voice, some bit of body language, or a laugh that’s nice and genuine — you can’t beat long-form interviews captured on video.

And when the interviewer and guest share a warm chemistry, and both are musicians at the top of their field, the result is a conversation that gives off a special sense of human connection and more nuggets of wisdom than you can count.

That’s what Oberlin Conservatory clarinet professor Richard Hawkins has captured in his new series of interviews, “At Home with Hawkins.” Episodes stream live on Facebook — some on the page of Backun Musical Services, others on Clarineat: The Clarinet Podcast.

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Piano Cleveland announces summer Virtu(al)oso Competition

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by Daniel Hathaway

Having postponed its Cleveland International Piano Competition until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Piano Cleveland has come up with a clever placeholder for the summer of 2020 that will allow 30 pianists, ages 18-30, to compete in a worldwide virtual contest while providing participants with across-the-board financial support.

In a recent telephone conversation, Piano Cleveland CEO Yaron Kohlberg said the idea for Virtu(al)oso grew out of the success of their Quarantine Concerts, a quickly-organized series of eight Thursday evening performances that came together only a few days after Governor DeWine’s stay-at-home order went into effect. Streamed from Steinway Piano Gallery Cleveland between March 19 and May 7, the concerts featured local artists and gave viewers the opportunity to contribute to a Musicians’ Fund.

“It surpassed our goals,” Kohlberg said. “We went into the series not knowing really what to expect. We just knew that we wanted to react as quickly as possible and try to support our musicians. People were so kind and generous, and responded so well.” [Read more…]

Rocky River Chamber Music Society: “Chamber Music in the Pandemic”

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by Jarrett Hoffman

When live music as we know it came to a halt at the start of the pandemic, clarinetist and Rocky River Chamber Music Society board member Daniel McKelway knew he wanted to do something for concertgoers who live in retirement communities in the area.

“I immediately had a sense that these people are not going to have the connections that are so important to their lives and their happiness in their later years,” McKelway said during a recent telephone call. “These are people who have not been able to have contact with their children and their grandchildren, and who are at greater risk than younger people if they do get the virus.”

His idea was to put on a live concert of chamber music, with generous measures of social distancing to be followed by the performers, and without a live audience in attendance, to be viewed for free over the web. That’s exactly what the Rocky River Chamber Music Society will present on Monday, May 18 at 7:15 pm.

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Cleveland Institute of Music to offer Summer Intensives

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by Jarrett Hoffman

While summer festivals around the world are being cancelled due to the threat of the novel coronavirus, the Cleveland Institute of Music is offering virtual Summer Intensives in nine areas during the months of May and June.

The series, taught by CIM faculty, is aimed at anyone preparing for conservatory or music school auditions, seeking a professional job, or simply honing their performance skills. The faculty members have curated a mix of master classes, demonstrations, discussions, and private lessons to be conducted exclusively online (and notably, CIM has two decades of experience with distance studio teaching).

Want to watch, but not play? Each session is also open to observers for a separate tuition rate, but only participants will receive lessons and the opportunity to perform in master classes.

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