by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Today: Ohio Light Opera with H.M.S. Pinafore, and Athena String Quartet (pictured) in music by Mendelssohn, Beach & Still
•Announcements: Ohio Arts Council talks all-hazards planning, Kaboom Collective looks for a podcast-making team, and Cleveland Repertory Orchestra seeks board members
•Almanac: Thorvaldsdottir, Blomstedt, Gershwin
HAPPENING TODAY:
At 2:00 pm at Freedlander Theatre in Wooster, Ohio Light Opera performs Gilbert & Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore (tickets here). And at 7:00 at Cain Park’s Alma Theater, Local 4 Music Fund presents the Athena String Quartet in a free program of music by Felix Mendelssohn, Amy Beach, and William Grant Still.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The Ohio Arts Council’s webinar series continues on Thursday, July 13 at 2:00 pm with a focus on all-hazards planning — “why it’s vital for your organization or artistic practice’s survival and how it aids in preventing emergencies, reduces cost and impact, and speeds recovery and resumption of operations.” Register here.
The Kaboom Collective is putting together a podcast, and there are two open spots on the team of students working with industry experts to learn about audio engineering, interview techniques, and marketing and branding. Interested? Message the organization on Facebook.
And the Cleveland Repertory Orchestra is looking for candidates for its Board of Directors, particularly those with experience in finance/accounting/bookkeeping, community development, fundraising, legal assistance, PR/marketing, non-profits, and arts management — though anyone interested is encouraged to reach out. Contact clevelandrepertoryorchestra@gmail.com for more information or to send your resume.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir, one of the leading voices in contemporary music, turns 46 today. She is best known for her orchestral works, which have been commissioned and performed by major orchestras across the world, and which are often inspired by nature. As Flora Willson wrote in a recent article for The Guardian, “…it’s hard to resist the idea that Iceland’s stark, volcanic landscape has not only shaped these scores but also still lurks within them.” One of her recent orchestra pieces is ARCHORA, premiered by Eva Ollikainen and the BBC Philharmonic in August of 2022. Listen to that performance here.
Meanwhile, American-born Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt turns 96. “Blomstedt is effectively ensconced as the elder sage of the podium,” New Yorker music critic Alex Ross wrote in 2021 in an article that examines the conductor’s remarkable longevity and his interpretations of Beethoven — one of the composers with whom he’s most closely identified. Here, in a video from 2021, Blomstedt leads the Oslo Philharmonic in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.
And where we are lucky to have some musicians with us so long, others we lose far too soon. That category includes American composer George Gershwin, who died at 38 from a brain tumor on this date in 1937. An album from Riccardo Chailly and The Cleveland Orchestra pairs some of Gershwin’s more popular works, including Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, and Cuban Overture, as well as the lesser-known Lullaby for string orchestra (originally for string quartet). Here’s the Cuban Overture from that 1987 album.