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Akron Symphony Chorus: a conversation with assistant director Karen Ni Bhroin

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by Daniel Hathaway

Through a lucky series of encounters, Irish conductor Karen Ni Bhroin (pronounced Knee VRIN) found her way first to graduate studies at Kent State University, then to the assistant conductor’s position with the Akron Symphony Chorus, and most recently — the news came down just this morning — to her appointment as assistant conductor with the Winston-Salem Symphony.

In that second capacity, the 29-year-old conductor is preparing the Akron Symphony Chorus for its performance of the Mozart Requiem under Christopher Wilkins on Saturday evening, February 22 at E.J. Thomas Hall.

I reached Ni Bhroin by telephone to ask how that chain of events got started. “I had been freelancing in Dublin for five years after my undergraduate degree at Trinity College, and in 2013 I met Jungho Kim, who was finishing his doctorate at Eastman,” she said. “We were Facebook friends, and he posted in 2018 that he was looking for an assistant at Kent State, and that’s how it all started. I applied and I won the position. [Read more…]

Contemporary Guitar Duo FretX to play at Transformer Station 

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by Mike Telin

There are many reasons musicians decide to form an ensemble. For the contemporary guitar duo FretX, Mak Grgic and Daniel Lippel, it was the need to borrow an instrument. “I first met Mak through Peter Robles of Serious Music Media,” Lippel said during a telephone conversation. “He needed to borrow an electric guitar for a performance. I knew Peter and he hooked him up with me. We started talking and Peter suggested that we play a duo concert sometime and we thought it was a cool idea. The thing is, Mak lives in Los Angeles and I’m in New York, so this is a both coasts duo. The logistics have a way of framing the nature of the group, but it’s working out.”

On Monday, February 24 at 7:30 pm at Transformer Station, the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Performing Arts Series will present FretX. The concert will include works by Courtney Bryan, Laura Schwartz, Gity Razaz, Miroslav Tadić, Daniel Lippel, and Helmut Lachenmann. Tickets are available online.

Recognizing the fact that there were already plenty of great guitar duos in the United States, on the advice of Robles, the two guitarists decided to go in a different direction. [Read more…]

Coming to BW: musical theater songs of Daniel Ruffing, inspired by the Internet

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Internet memes as musical inspiration? Composer Daniel Ruffing has written musical theater songs based on viral videos like Kylie Jenner’s singsong greeting to her young daughter (“Rise and Shine”), a driver’s surprising reaction to a construction sign (“Road Work Ahead”), and one woman’s first impression of a new drink (“Kombucha Girl”).

Ruffing has also written songs inspired by the TV show The Good Place, and he’s working on a musical about YouTube celebrity Jenna Marbles — whose name graces an upcoming show of Ruffing’s music. “He’s Lost His Marbles” takes place on Sunday, February 23 at 7:00 pm at Baldwin Wallace’s Gamble Auditorium, presented by the University’s Arts Management Association. Tickets are available online.

Among the selections on that program will be one of Ruffing’s biggest hits: the hilarious, wacky, and adult-language-heavy I Want To Be Tall. One verse goes like this: 

[Read more…]

Canton Symphony & Youth Symphony to play side-by-side this weekend

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by Mike Telin

For those of us who had the good fortune to be part of a youth symphony system, we cherish those days fondly for the rest of our lives. We remember the first time when, while still young students, we were invited to join the ranks of a professional orchestra. All of a sudden, you realized that you had entered a whole new ballgame.

On Sunday, February 16 at 3:00 pm in Umstattd Hall, members of the Canton Youth Symphony will have that opportunity when they join with the Canton Symphony for side-by-side performances of Sibelius’ Finlandia and Walton’s Crown Imperial Coronation March, under the direction of Matthew Jenkins Jaroszewicz. The program will also include Nicolai’s Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”) performed by the Canton Symphony. A concert prelude with Jaroszewicz begins at 2:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

“I am very excited about this opportunity,” CYS concertmaster Karl Helmuth said in a conference call during his morning study hall at Hoover High School, where he is a junior. [Read more…]

Cleveland Classical Guitar Society to present Beijing Guitar Duo

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by Mike Telin

If you’re looking for something special to share with your significant other for Valentine’s Day, why not take in a classical guitar concert? On Saturday, February 15 at 7:30 pm at Plymouth Church, the Beijing Guitar Duo — Meng Su and Yameng Wang — will return to the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society stage with a program of music by J.S. Bach, Debussy, Tan Dun, Chen Yi, and Piazzolla. Buy your tickets in advance here. 

“We’re looking forward to being back in Cleveland,” Meng Su said by telephone from Knoxville, Tennessee, the sixth stop on their month-long, twelve-city tour. I began our conversation by asking her about their eclectic program. 

Mike Telin: You and Yameng are getting down to business from the beginning with Bach’s “Chaconne.”

Meng Su: Yes. This arrangement is after the Busoni arrangement for piano — he added a lot of harmonies and made it more Romantic, but kept the essence of Bach’s writing. The arrangement we’re playing is by the German guitarist Ulrich Stracke. It works very well. We’ve been playing it for many years. The “Chaconne” is such a big task but as you get older you begin to understand it more. Now that Yameng has become a mother — she has a two-month old daughter — and I have started teaching in Hong Kong at the Academy for the Performing Arts, I think we have a deeper understanding of it. I’m sure we will be playing it for the rest of our lives.

[Read more…]

Conductor Philippe Herreweghe to debut with The Cleveland Orchestra

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Philippe Herreweghe’s musical career began with a focus on Renaissance music and Bach. Later he explored the French Baroque. Still musically curious, he began to examine the Classical and Romantic eras through the lens of period instruments.

More recently, Herreweghe has been brought in regularly by modern orchestras, like the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, to conduct Romantic music in a “new” way — one informed by his experience in early music and historical performance.

One of the latest such invitations has come from The Cleveland Orchestra, with whom the Belgian conductor will make his debut this week. His program at Severance Hall includes Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony and two works by Beethoven: the Overture to Egmont and the Violin Concerto, featuring Isabelle Faust as soloist.

[Read more…]

Phaeton Piano Trio from Germany up next on Rocky River Series Feb. 10

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by Daniel Hathaway

Only nine years younger than its East Side counterpart, the Rocky River Chamber Music Society will continue its 61st season with a concert by Germany’s Phaeton Piano Trio on Monday, February 10 at 7:30 pm. The performance at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church is free, but donations are welcome.

While violinist Friedemann Eichorn, cellist Peter Hörr, and pianist Florian Uhlig have been performing together and with colleagues in various combinations for 20 years, the Phaeton Trio is a relatively recent development. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra: a conversation with violinist Leila Josefowicz

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by Mike Telin

Over the past ten years the adventurous violinist Leila Josefowicz and The Cleveland Orchestra have treated Northeast Ohio audiences to captivating performances of contemporary masterpieces. 2010 saw Thomas Adès’ Violin Concerto, which was followed by John Adams’ Violin Concerto (2011), Thomas Adès’ Concentric Paths (2016), and Adams’ Scheherazade.2 (2018).

On Thursday, February 8 at 7:30 pm, Josefowicz will return to Severance Hall to join conductor Susanna Mälkki in paying tribute to their mentor and friend Oliver Knussen with a performance of the late composer/conductor’s Violin Concerto. The concert will also include Sibelius’ En Saga and Symphony No. 1. The program will be repeated on Saturday, February 8 at 8:00 pm. [Read more…]

Conductor Susanna Mälkki returns to Severance Hall 

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by Mike Telin 

When Susanna Mälkki made her Cleveland Orchestra debut in April of 2015, the Finnish conductor was well on her way to becoming a star in the international conducting firmament. Since that time Mälkki has clearly established herself as one of the leading conductors of our time.

Mälkki is currently in her fourth season as Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and her third season as Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In December of 2016 she made her debut at The Metropolitan Opera leading the premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s L’Amour de loin. A recipient of the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland in 2016, the following year she was named Musical America’s Conductor of the Year.

On Thursday, February 6 at 7:30 pm, Mälkki will return to the Severance Hall podium to lead The Cleveland Orchestra in Sibelius’ En Saga and Symphony No. 1.

[Read more…]

Gospel Meets Symphony in Akron: talking to new choirmaster Jonathon Turner

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by Jarrett Hoffman

If you heard about someone sneaking into a rehearsal, you might be forgiven for asking, “Don’t you mean out?” But twelve years ago, a program called Gospel Meets Symphony came across the radar of 16-year-old Jonathon Turner, and he was curious. He asked his uncle to drive him and a friend, Dinareo Hill, to a church on the west side of Akron.

“We kind of snuck in the back, sat in the last row of the sanctuary, and just listened,” Turner, 28, said during a recent phone call. “It was like, oh my God. We had never heard a sound like that, with both gospel music and classical music.”

[Read more…]

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