by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Today: Ohio Light Opera doubles up with Arizona Lady and Camelot, and the Canton Symphony goes outdoors with wind quintet music
•Announcements: Gerhardt Zimmermann Memorial Concert details, Heights Chamber Orchestra string auditions, and Karamu House fellowships
•Almanac: American composer Michael Gordon
HAPPENING TODAY:
Ohio Light Opera bookends today’s schedule, with Arizona Lady at 2:00 and Camelot at 7:30 (tickets here). In between, the Canton Symphony continues its Summer Serenades series with a free woodwind quintet concert at Deer Creek Reservoir at 6:30 pm.
NEWS BRIEFS:
The Canton Symphony has announced details about the Gerhardt Zimmermann Memorial Concert, which will take place on September 10 at 3:00 pm. The program includes music by Wagner, Brahms, Mahler, Johann Strauss Jr., John Williams, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, and Elgar. Tickets are $15, and additional donations will go toward the Gerhardt Zimmermann Memorial Campaign.
“We will perform his favorite pieces and have them conducted by friends and colleagues who are able to join us. It will feature the full orchestra and images from his life will be projected on stage. Part of this celebration will include testimonials from all who shared with us during this difficult time.” If you have yet to share your testimonial, email boxoffice@cantonsymphony.org to be included.
The conductors will include JoAnn Falletta, Stefan Sanders, John Russo, Peter Wilson, Wes Schulz, and Matthew Jenkins Jaroszewicz, while the guest artist roster is made up of violinist Nathan Olson, pianists Norman Krieger and Sara Davis Buechner, and soprano Jacque Culpepper. Tickets and program details are available here.
Heights Chamber Orchestra will hold string auditions on Monday, August 21. Sign up and download excerpts here.
And applications are open until August 18 for Karamu House’s 2023 Room in the House fellowships. Eight awards are available in visual arts, another eight in performing arts. Learn more here.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
American composer Michael Gordon turns 67 today. One of the co-founders and co-artistic directors of the Bang on a Can collective, Gordon has a widely varied compositional output, but one of his key interests is the intersection of underground rock music and classical composition. On that note, check out his Potassium, written for the Kronos Quartet and incorporating effects pedals to create, as he writes in his program notes, “a mysterious and charged sound.” You’ll know what he means after only a moment of listening.
Another area of focus for Gordon has been multimedia, particularly video. One notable recent example is his Campaign Songs, made up of eight short pieces written to help turn out the vote in the 2020 election. It also represents another collaboration with the Kronos, who recorded it in isolation as individuals. The first piece in the set is a dark-hued arrangement of God Bless America featuring video by Joshua Higgason evoking the George Floyd protests. Watch here and be transported back to a moment in history that was equal parts transformative and somber.
Michael Gordon photo by Peter Serling.