by Jarrett Hoffman
MUSIC — AND ANIMALS — WITH THE ASO:
The Akron Symphony’s Interlude Season of free, small-scale performances throughout the area will debut on Friday, August 21, when principal harp Jody Guinn performs at the Summit County Historical Society.
Guinn will play from 11 am to 1 pm as part of Farm Friday, an educational program whose focus that day will be a very solemn matter — baby farm animals. That segment starts at 10:30.
One special adult will also be celebrating an important milestone. Rudy, one of the border collies with a talent for herding sheep there on Mutton Hill in Akron, is turning 13 (that’s in human years). Expect cake, a singalong birthday number with Guinn accompanying on harp, and even a herding demonstration led by shepherdess (and music therapist) Edie Steiner.
Bring a mask, your best social distancing, and a blanket or chair for the lawn.
TODAY ON THE WEB AND AIRWAVES:
At noon from WCLV and The Cleveland Orchestra, hear a pairing of Haydn and Debussy with the Austrian’s 100th Symphony in G (“Military”) and the Frenchman’s La Mer. And tonight at 7:30, the Met Opera offers a 2017 performance of Tchaikovksy’s Eugene Onegin. Check our Concert Listings for details.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, and conductor George Enescu was born on this date in 1881 in what was then a village known as Liveni — later renamed “George Enescu” following the musician’s death in 1955. If that’s not enough indication of his importance to his home country, take a walk down to the Romanian Cultural Garden in Cleveland to see his life-sized likeness in bronze (photo by Stuart Spivack).
Hear “The Fiddler” from Enescu’s Impressions d’enfance in a solo recital by violinist Yura Lee at Transformer Station in 2016 as part of ChamberFest Cleveland. Marvel at the music, her playing, the dramatic canvases behind her, and the sight of a crowd of people packed into a building, happily.