by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Today: organist Florence Mustric at Trinity Lutheran, a “Pop Symphonic” program with the Youngstown Symphony, and the duo CelloGayageum (pictured) at CMA
•Announcements: Cuyahoga Arts & Culture’s Board of Trustees meets tomorrow
•Interesting reads: a music educator honored at the Grammys for her orchestra devoted to accessibility, and the nation’s first in-house wellness program at an opera company
•Almanac: Steven Mackey, Steven Stucky, Renée Fleming, and some sci-fi romance for your Valentine’s Day
HAPPENING TODAY:
One option in the afternoon.
At 12:15 pm, Trinity Lutheran Church presents its Wednesday Noon Organ Concert by Florence Mustric. “Two liturgical years” will feature excerpts from J.S. Bach’s Little Organ Book and from Jeanne Demessieux’s pieces based on Gregorian chant. A freewill offering will be taken up.
And two in the evening, both at 7:30.
The Youngstown Symphony will put on a program titled “Pop Symphonic with Guest Conductor David Perrico” at Powers Auditorium. On the menu are jazz, classic rock, pop, disco, and Beethoven, as well as Perrico’s Youngstown Steeltown, a tribute to his hometown. Tickets are available here.
And in Gartner Auditorium, the Cleveland Museum of Art will play host to CelloGayageum, the duo of cellist Sol Daniel Kim and gayageum (traditional Korean zither) player Dayoung Yoon. Inspired by Berlin’s Pavilion of Unity and the hope for a peaceful reunification of Korea, the duo’s all-original music blends musical styles including classical, traditional Korean, pop, and minimalism. Read a preview article here, and get tickets here.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Cuyahoga Arts & Culture will hold its Board of Trustees Regular Meeting on Thursday, February 15 at 4:00 pm at the Children’s Museum of Cleveland. The meeting, which is open to the public in addition to being live streamed on YouTube, will include a preview of plans for 2025 Project Support grantmaking. Click here to view the agenda and handout materials.
INTERESTING READS:
NPR shines a spotlight on Virginia-based Annie Ray, who received the Music Educator Award at the 2024 Grammys in recognition of her Crescendo Orchestra, aimed at students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Ray also created a parent orchestra “that teaches nearly 200 caregivers a year to play the same instrument as their child.” Read the article by Rachel Treisman here.
And San Diego Opera has become the first American opera company to launch an in-house wellness program — the brainchild of massage therapist and former jazz musician Brian Festa, who will provide hypnotherapy and massage for employees. “Staff and chorus are now able to book weekly half hour massages with Festa, which he reports has greatly increased morale, productivity and stress management amongst employees.” Read Sara Schabas’ article for Ludwig Van here.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
Today’s edition begins with anniversaries for two contemporary American composers: Steven Mackey was born on February 14, 1956, while Steven Stucky passed away of cancer on this date in 2016 at the age of 66.
Among Mackey’s interests is the electric guitar, which he plays and frequently writes for in combination with other groupings of instruments, including orchestra — as in the electric guitar concerto Tuck and Roll, which he premiered as soloist along with the New World Symphony. Listen to those same players in a recording of the opening movement, “Anthem,” here.
We can recognize Stucky by highlighting his Pulitzer Prize-winning Concerto for Orchestra No. 2, commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the opening season of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. With the piece, he aimed to showcase his musical influences, and thus it contains references to a range of works by Ravel, Oliver Knussen, Sibelius, Debussy, Brahms, and Stravinsky, as well as Stucky himself.
“What does this all mean for listeners and performers — for the ‘end users’ of the piece?” Stucky wrote. “Surely not that they should approach my new concerto as if it were a treasure hunt or a music history lecture, straining to catch musical souvenirs as they go by. (A good way to ruin a concert!) Instead, I hope that knowing something about my private hopes and allegiances can help others feel the security and freedom to listen and play their very best.”
Click here to listen to the opening movement — “Overture (With Friends)” — in a recording by the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic led by David Alan Miller.
We close with American soprano Renée Fleming, who was born on this date in 1959 in Indiana, Pennsylvania. In classical music alone she has a stellar resume, full of Grammys, world premieres, and performances at a “where’s-where” of opera houses around the world. But perhaps what makes her especially unique is her involvement in all kinds of artistic spheres. She has acted on Broadway, collaborated with jazzers and indie-rockers, and recorded for film soundtracks — plus, the ultimate pop-culture cherry on top: singing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl (she’s the only classical singer to have done so).
Considering today’s date, here’s a fitting example of Fleming’s work in film: the Alexandre Desplat song You’ll Never Know from Guillermo del Toro’s 2017 fantastical romance The Shape of Water. Whether you’re human or humanoid, may your Valentine’s Day be full of love.