by Timothy Robson
The Cleveland Chamber Choir and BlueWater Chamber Orchestra combined forces under Choir conductor Scott MacPherson to play the first of two weekend concerts on Saturday, May 19 at First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland.
Re•Views
Jason Vieaux & Sasha Cooke on CCMS series at Plymouth Church (May 8)
by Daniel Hathaway
Two of Cleveland’s distinguished concert organizations — the Cleveland Chamber Music Society and the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society — put their resources and audiences together for a winning end-of-season concert by guitarist Jason Vieaux and mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke on Tuesday, May 8 at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights. Inspired by folk music, jazz, and Broadway, the repertoire may have seemed light compared to what string quartets bring to the CCMS series, but Vieaux and Cooke brought committed professionalism to each item on the menu. [Read more…]
Arts Renaissance Tremont: pianist Cicilia Yudha (May 6)
by Nicholas Stevens
Tradition or innovation, familiarity or freshness? These are and always have been false choices, as pianist Cicilia Yudha demonstrated in a concert last week. With a program spanning almost exactly three hundred years of music, Yudha concluded Arts Renaissance Tremont’s 27th season with a recital that sparkled and surprised. [Read more…]
Akron Symphony & Choruses in Verdi’s Requiem (May 5)
by Daniel Hathaway
There are two varieties of concert Requiems — the comforting, consoling type (Brahms, Fauré, Duruflé) and the fiery Day of Judgment kind (Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi). The Akron Symphony chose one of the latter to close its season on Saturday, May 5. Led by music director Christopher Wilkins, the Akron Symphony Chorus and the Masterworks Chorale of the Summit Choral Society joined the Orchestra in Verdi’s Requiem, a thrilling choral conflagration that lit up E.J. Thomas Hall. [Read more…]
Lés Delices and Quire Cleveland: “Let the Heavens Rejoice!” (Apr. 28)
by Mike Telin
A long-overdue collaboration between two of the area’s eminent chamber ensembles yielded divine results when Les Délices and Quire Cleveland came together on Saturday, April 28 at Lakewood Congregational Church for “Let the Heavens Rejoice!” The program showcased celebratory French Baroque psalms for 22 voices, 14 instruments, and a quartet of vocal soloists, all under the direction of guest conductor Scott Metcalfe.
Syndicate for the New Arts: An evening of improvisation (Apr. 21)
by Mike Telin
It’s one thing for a group of musicians to meet for the first time during the rehearsal of a work that is known to them all. It’s another thing for musicians to come together for the first time during a public improvised performance and create a cohesive musical trajectory on the spot. On Saturday, April 21 at Historic St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ohio City, Syndicate for the New Arts, in cooperation with New Ghosts, presented two groups who did just that. The results were thrilling. [Read more…]
Cleveland Chamber Music Society Young Artists: the Belka Quartet (May 6)
by David Kulma
Every year the Cleveland Chamber Music Society chooses an undergraduate string quartet from CIM to be its outreach arm. Alongside coachings from the Cavani String Quartet, the students perform educational concerts in local school districts. At the end of the season, they are then featured on CCMS’s free Young Artists Showcase. This year’s showcase at First Unitarian Church in Shaker Heights on May 6 showed off the excellent Belka Quartet. [Read more…]
Kent State New Music Ensemble: Frank Wiley retirement concert (Apr. 28)
by Robert Rollin
Last Saturday night, April 28 at Ludwig Recital Hall, the Kent State University New Music Ensemble presented a retirement concert for co-director Frank Wiley in celebration of his 38 years at Kent. Of the four Wiley works played, the two most recent were Rituals of Earth and Fire (1999) and the premiere of Violet Spirals at Twilight (2018).
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra season finale at Severance Hall (May 5)
by Robert Rollin
Last Saturday evening, May 5, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra presented its final concert of the season at Severance Hall under conductor Vinay Parameswaran. The evening’s highlight was 20th-century Polish composer Witold Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra, a massive, three-movement piece that filled the stage with young musicians. [Read more…]
Cleveland Opera Theater: Madama Butterfly at Maltz PAC (Apr. 27)
by Daniel Hathaway
After losing its previous performing venue — the Masonic Auditorium having been sold — Cleveland Opera Theater has found a new home in the Maltz Performing Arts Center at CWRU. On Friday, April 27, stage director Scott Skiba and conductor Domenico Boyagian brought the tragedy of Cio Cio San, alias Madama Butterfly, to life in an elegantly simple production on the wide stage of the former temple.