by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Today: Mourning [A] BLKstar, an Oberlin Faculty Recital, Cleveland Orchestra & Youngstown Symphony
•News: Tri-C JazzFest announces 2023 lineup
•Interesting read: a profile of former Cleveland Orchestra associate conductor Vinay Parameswaran
•Almanac: John Corigliano and his Symphony No. 1, memorializing friends lost to AIDS
HAPPENING TODAY:
You have four options tonight for your listening pleasure.
At 7:00 pm at Beachland Ballroom, Local 4 Music Fund presents Cleveland’s own Mourning [A] BLKstar, “a multi-generational, gender and genre non-conforming amalgam of Black Culture dedicated to servicing the stories and songs of the apocalyptic diaspora.” The group consists of James Longs, LaToya Kent, and Kyle Kidd (vocals), Dante Foley (drums), Theresa May (trumpet), Pete Saudek (guitar/keys), William Washington (trombone), and RA Washington (samplers/bass). The concert is free.
The next three are all at 7:30. A free Oberlin Faculty Recital at Kulas Recital Hall will feature David Bowlin (violin), Kirsten Docter (viola), Dmitry Kouzov (cello), and Tony Cho (piano) in works by Albert Roussel, including his string trio and both violin sonatas. The concert will also be live streamed here.
Moving over to Severance Music Center, Herbert Blomstedt leads The Cleveland Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 18, which will feature Emanuel Ax as soloist. Performances continue Friday and Saturday. Tickets are available here.
And at Powers Auditorium, André Raphel will lead the Youngstown Symphony in a program titled “Blockbuster Broadway,” which includes songs from Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera, Annie, Jersey Boys, The Sound of Music, Chicago, Cats, The Lion King, and A Chorus Line. Joining the orchestra will be a cast of acclaimed vocalists from New York. Get tickets here.
TRI-C JAZZFEST 2023:
Cuyahoga Community College has announced the lineup for the 44th annual Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland, set to take place June 22-24 at Playhouse Square.
The indoor schedule includes vocalist Angélique Kidjo with bassist Richard Bona, bassist Christian McBride with vocalist Samara Joy, saxophonist/bassist Gerald Albright, guitarist Dan Wilson with trumpeter/vocalist Jennifer Hartswick, trumpeter Dominick Farinacci with the fusion group Triad and saxophonist/vocalist Braxton Cook, pianist Herbie Hancock, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and the New Orleans brass band Orleans Avenue, and the jazz fusion group Vital Information led by drummer Steve Smith.
Festival passes are available here, and individual tickets go on sale in April through the Playhouse Square box office. JazzFest also includes free outdoor concerts on June 23 and 24.
INTERESTING READ:
Former Cleveland Orchestra associate conductor Vinay Parameswaran (pictured) is profiled in San Francisco Classical Voice. Speaking with Lou Fancher, he discusses his musical bucket list, his early musical experiences, his general philosophy when approaching a score, how he goes about working with an orchestra for the first time, his background as a pianist and percussionist, what he learned from Franz Welser-Möst, classical music in the post-pandemic era, and more. Read here.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
American composer John Corigliano turns 85 today. Born in New York City, Corigliano continues to teach there at Lehman College, the Graduate Center for the City University of New York, and the Juilliard School. His awards include a Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, the Grawemeyer Award, and an Oscar.
Among his most acclaimed works is his Symphony No. 1, written in the late ‘80s during his residency at the Chicago Symphony (which was a first for any composer with that orchestra). According to Mark Adamo’s book John Corigliano: A Monograph, the composer had “long resisted the notion of a contemporary symphony…for what he felt was its egotistical elevation of the composer’s need to express himself over the needs of the performer or audiences”. But he turned to that form for another reason: to memorialize a number of friends and colleagues lost to the AIDS pandemic. Click here to listen to the first movement, “Apologue: Of Rage and Remembrance.”