by Daniel Hathaway
IN THIS EDITION:
. Passings of Hazel Zehner (pictured) & Abdul Wadud, New York audiences slow to return to live performances
. Claude Debussy born in Paris suburb in 1862
TODAY’S EVENTS: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Radio Broadcast: Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music, Eric Charnofsky, host. Celebrating Claude Debussy’s birthday with his ballet score to La Boìte à joujoux (orchestrated by André Caplet) and music transcribed for harp featuring Yolanda Kondonassis, plus The Sea (Suite) by Frank Bridge, and music of Miklós Rózsa, and David Lang. WRUW, Case Western Reserve University. Click here to listen to the internet feed.
R.I.P. HAZEL ZEHNER
The Music Settlement has shared news of the passing of Hazel Zehner, who headed the school’s voice department for 27 years until 2016 and taught voice there for over four decades. “She was beloved by her students and valued by her colleagues. She will be deeply missed.” In 2012, she and her late husband Paul established the Hazel and Paul Zehner Endowed Fund for Voice to provide financial assistance to voice students.
Her funeral service will take place on Saturday, August 27 at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Westlake.
NEWS BRIEFS:
The New York Times has published an obituary for Cleveland-born cellist Abdul Wadud, who died in his hometown on August 10 at the age of 75. “He performed with classical ensembles, but he was best known for his work with cutting-edge composers and improvisers like Anthony Davis and Julius Hemphill.” Read the tribute by Seth Colter Walls here.
And the New York Times reports that challenges posed by the coronavirus have persisted as live performances resumed.
“A recent study of 143 performing arts organizations in North America by TRG Arts, an analytics firm, found that the number of tickets sold was down by 40 percent in the 2021-22 season, compared with before the pandemic, and ticket revenues were down by 31 percent. The firm attributed the decline to a variety of factors, including ongoing unease about the coronavirus and changing habits around attending live performances.”
Read Live Performance Is Back. But Audiences Have Been Slow to Return here.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
The big birthday to celebrate on August 22 is Claude Debussy’s in the Paris suburb of St.Germain-en-Laye in 1862. See Eric Charnofsky’s playlist for his WRUW radio program today (above), and click here to listen to a live broadcast of La Mer with The Cleveland Orchestra from Severance Hall led by George Szell in January of 1967.
