by Timothy Robson
It was March 20, 2020, when The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst gave their last concert as a complete ensemble before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down live performances for more than a year. The Orchestra, with guest conductor Brett Mitchell, returned triumphantly to Blossom Music Center on July 3 and 4 to celebrate Independence Day. I attended on July 4.
by Mike Telin
Composer and flutist Hong-Da Chin has carved out a unique career. His music is influenced by folk music from his native Malaysia as well as Chinese and Indian cultures. A specialist in contemporary music, he is equally at home on modern and traditional Chinese flutes.
by Peter Feher
ChamberFest Cleveland’s simplest concert this season was also its most daunting. The 90-minute program on June 18 at St. Paschal Baylon involved only one performer and one piece — pianist Roman Rabinovich in Bach’s Goldberg Variations. If the listener is in the right frame of mind, this is challenging but ultimately rewarding music.
by Timothy Robson
It was with a sense of relief and anticipation that I attended last Thursday’s third-to-last concert of ChamberFest Cleveland 2021, after a complete pandemic cancellation of its 2020 season. This musical star of Cleveland summers returned along with many performers from past seasons, plus talented younger musicians in CFC’s Rising Star program. As usual, the performances were top-notch. [Read more…]
by Stephanie Manning
After a year with no shortage of pre-recorded performances, watching musicians play together live and unmasked — even through a computer screen — feels like a breath of fresh air.
Though there was no audience in the room, the energy was palpable as the musicians of the Local 4 Music Fund’s She Scores concert series came together on Sunday for an afternoon of music at the Pilgrim UCC. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
The weather on Sunday morning, June 13, was bright and sunny but not too hot — perfect for a ChamberFest lawn concert. Not to miss out on the occasion, a multitude of people, lawn chairs in hand, made their way down Guilford Road in Cleveland Heights to hear a wonderfully varied program titled Bach and More. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
On Wednesday, June 16 at 7:00 at The Grove Amphitheatre, ChamberFest’s theme of the evening was Luscious Soundscapes and included music by Richard Strauss and Amy Beach.
However, it was pianist Shai Wosner’s imaginative interweaving of sonatas by Italian Baroque composer Domenico Scarlatti with sonatas by American composer Frederick Rzewski that got things off to a fascinating start. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
What has happened to June? The sudden flood of openings and return to in-person performances has made the month fly past, but also left some unfinished business — like a review of The Cleveland Orchestra’s In Focus Episode 12, subtitled “Celestial Serenades” that features works by Aaron Jay Kernis and Josef Suk.
The video captures a moment when the live concert world was still on hiatus, and face masks were more than merely de rigueur. Though we have moved on from that point in several ways, it’s good to have a reminder that the pandemic will remain with us for some time into the future, and that we’re not through with pondering mortality and creating memorials quite yet. [Read more…]
by Cait Winston
In her pre-concert introduction, ENCORE artistic director Jinjoo Cho praised the Cavani String Quartet for their tradition of music-making that is rooted in friendship, selflessness, and a strong sense of community.
These principles were in full effect in the June 20th Sparked by Rosa concert, where the quartet’s synergy and graceful musical dialogue helped them to move effortlessly through a wide variety of musical styles. [Read more…]
by Cait Winston
Nature Emerging, the June 19 installment of ChamberFest Cleveland’s Together Again! created a space where audience members could meditate on and celebrate the beauty of nature, and the many sonic forms it can take. While rain prevented the concert from being held outdoors at The Grove amphitheater, natural scenery could still be appreciated through the many windows of St. Paschal Baylon church.
To begin a program intended to provide “wildly diverse portraits of natural elements,” clarinetist Frank Cohen and pianist Roman Rabinovich performed a set of four songs by Franz Schubert. [Read more…]