by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Today: a pair of free concerts from pianist Nathan Carterette and the Choir of Notre-Dame Cathedral
•Announcements: CIM, BW & Cleveland Opera Theater recognized for Digital Excellence in Opera, and two upcoming events at BW — “Queer Arts in Northeast Ohio” and a conversation with Eric Whitacre
•Interesting reads: findings from studies on gender imbalance at opera companies and arts & economic prosperity
•Almanac: Wynton Marsalis, Howard Shore, Charles Gounod, and Gussie Lord Davis — the first Black songwriter to reach Tin Pan Alley fame
HAPPENING TODAY:
At noon, pianist Nathan Carterette will play music by Alexander Scriabin and Sergei Rachmaninoff in a Trinity Cathedral Brownbag Concert.
And at 7:30, the Choir of Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris, France (pictured), directed by Henri Chalet and featuring organist Yves Castagnet, will play works by Jehan Alain, Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Duruflé, Louis Vierne, César Franck, Francis Poulenc, and Castagnet himself at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. The performance is part of the Helen D. Schubert Concert Series.
A freewill offering will be taken up at both events.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
On Monday, OPERA America announced the finalists for its second annual Awards for Digital Excellence in Opera. And in the category of University/Conservatory Projects, Northeast Ohio can lay claim to both finalists — Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas: A Cinematic Opera from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Operas [in Place] festival from Baldwin Wallace Conservatory in collaboration with Cleveland Opera Theater and New York City’s On Site Opera.
Winners will be announced in an event at OPERA America’s National Opera Center on December 4 from 7-8 pm. Tickets are available to attend in person, and there will also be a free livestream — registration required. Find out more here, and read an article from CIM’s Newsroom here.
On October 24 from 4-5:30 pm, Baldwin Wallace University’s Knowlton Center will play host to an Arts Innovation Summit titled “Queer Arts in Northeast Ohio,” where you can learn about “the intersection of arts organizations and LGBTQIA+ individuals and organizations” in the area. The event is produced in partnership between BW Arts Management & Entrepreneurship, BW LaunchNET, LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, and Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. It’s free. More information here.
Also at BW, the composition and choral music education departments will host composer and conductor Eric Whitacre for a 90-minute session of conversation and Q&A on Friday, October 20 beginning at 11:00 am in Fynette Kulas Music Hall.
INTERESTING READS:
The most recent Arts & Economic Prosperity study from the nonprofit Americans for the Arts was released last week, and an article by Steven Litt for Cleveland.com outlines the study’s findings — including that “Cuyahoga County’s nonprofit arts and culture industry generated $533,156,171 in economic activity” last year. Read the article here.
Another recent study shows that in American opera, women have been drastically underrepresented not only on the podium, but also in other important creative roles such as directing, set design, lighting design, and costume design. Click here to read Marc Tracy’s New York Times article “Stark Gender Imbalance at U.S. Opera Companies Extends Beyond Podiums.”
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
Wish a happy birthday to the legendary Wynton Marsalis, who turns 62. Among the many accomplishments of that trumpeter, composer, educator and Jazz at Lincoln Center artistic director, he wrote the first jazz composition to receive the Pulitzer Prize.
That honor came in 1997 for Blood on the Fields, his oratorio about the history of slavery in the United States. Listen to “Work Song” from that piece here, as performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, vocalists Paula West and Kenny Washington, and pianist Eric Reed under the direction of Marsalis in 2013.
Turning 77 is Canadian composer Howard Shore, a three-time Academy Award winner for his scores to the film trilogy of The Lord of the Rings. Click here to listen to the Prague Film Orchestra and conductor George Korynta play music from The Fellowship of the Ring.
French composer Charles Gounod, who passed away on October 18, 1893, is most famous for his twelve operas, including the popular Faust. Listen to the “Ballet Music” from that work, played here by Yondani Butt and the London Symphony.
Another passing to honor is that of Dayton-born songwriter Gussie Lord Davis, who died on this date in 1899. Rejected from Cincinnati’s now-defunct Nelson College of Music because of his race, Davis received private lessons in exchange for low-wage janitorial work, and went on to become the first Black songwriter to reach fame in New York’s Tin Pan Alley scene. Head to YouTube to listen to his first song, published in 1880 and sung here by Vernon Dalhart: We Sat Beneath The Maple On The Hill.