by Daniel Hathaway
HAPPENING TODAY:
Tonight, the Singers Club of Cleveland presents a musical game-show concert (7 pm at First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland), and Trobár Medieval (pictured) performs music from 14th-century Italy (7 pm at St. Paul’s in Cleveland Hts.)
The Cleveland Orchestra hosts guest conductor David Afkham and pianist Beatrice Rana (7:30 pm at Severance Music Center), Apollo’s Fire performs J.S. Bach’s Easter Oratorio and Easter Cantata (7:30 at St. Raphael, Bay Village), Cleveland Jazz Orchestra features bassist and vocalist Richard Bona (7:30 at the Maltz), the Oberlin Artist Recital Series presents the Silkroad Ensemble in “Uplifted Voices” (7:30 in Finney Chapel), and Erik Ochsner conducts a collaboration between the Youngstown Symphony and The Vindys (7:30 at Powers Auditorium).
ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM CUYAHOGA ARTS & CULTURE:
CAC’s Board of Trustees will hold a special open-to-the-public meeting on Monday, April 29, 2024 at 4:30 pm (to be livestreamed here. The purpose of the meeting is to vote on a Resolution regarding a tax levy to support Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. View the agenda and handout materials for more information.
CAC will offer a 2025 Grant Opportunities Workshop, both virtually on Thursday, May 2 at 3:00 pm (register here) and in-person at Literary Cleveland on Thursday, May 9 at 3:00 pm (register here).
Join an upcoming workshop to meet the grantmaking team, learn more about CAC Project Support funding in 2025, and receive information about the Eligibility Check process and requirements.
This year, CAC will accept applications for 2025 Project Support — grants ranging between $1,000 – $20,000 for arts and culture projects taking place in Cuyahoga County in 2025. General Operating Support and Cultural Heritage are not accepting applications this year.
FEATURED VIDEO:
This year’s Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival included the premiere of a commissioned work by faculty composer Clint Needham. Click here to watch the performance of Cantata by BWV: Cleveland’s Bach Choir and string orchestra conducted by festival director Dirk Garner.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
April 26, 1941 brought the first performance of live organ music at a Major League Baseball game. The performer was Ray Nelson, and the locale was Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs.
In a 2016 article for Boston’s public radio station WBUR, two stadium organists — Josh Kantor (Boston Red Sox) and Bobby Cressey (pictured right, San Diego Padres) — go back and forth on the history of this tradition. One interesting tidbit: the discussion of musical choices, whether a tune that has just recently gone viral, or something fitted to the opponent.
“Last week, we played the Cardinals, so I played the theme to Angry Birds,” Cressey said. “And people are like, ‘Whoa, Angry Birds!’ And they don’t realize, and then I’m like, ‘Yeah, we’re playing the Cardinals.’ And then people are, like, ‘Genius.’”
For an update on the status of ballpark organ music, click here to read a Scripps News story from 2017.
