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Stars in the Classics cabaret: a melting pot of music, visual art, and dance

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by Stephanie Manning

If you’ve driven past the Cleveland History Center, you’ve likely spotted a memento from Euclid Beach Park. The large, colorful carousel visible through the glass windows entertained visitors at the lakefront amusement park until its closure in 1969.

Jodi Kanter has fond memories of visiting as a child. “My grandfather and my father worked there as teenagers,” she said. “And I think my father ran the carousel at one time.”

For the past year, Kanter has been helping memorialize the Park through music, via a commission from composer Chris Neiner. And on Saturday, September 28 at 4:00 pm, M.U.S.i.C. – Stars in the Classics will present the world premiere of the final movement at Praxis Fiber Workshop. [Read more…]

DIARY: Weekend, September 6-8, 2024

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by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

On Friday and Saturday, The Cleveland Orchestra winds up its European Tour with concerts in Vienna’s Musikverein.

On the home front, on Friday at 12 Noon, the Cleveland Institute of Music continues its series of Museum Melodies, free, one-hour programs initially featuring pianists on Thursdays and Fridays in the visitors hall of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

On Saturday at 7:30 at Severance Music Center, Helen Welch channels Karen Carpenter in “Superstar – The Songs. The Stories. The Carpenters,” and at 8 pm, Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project presents multimedia artists Paige Naylor & Haruhi Kobayashi, plus Cleveland-based musician Naomi Columna in the Calicchia Gallery Studio.

On Sunday at 3 pm, violinist Julia Kuhn and pianist Caroline Oltmanns (pictured) open the University of Akron’s Kulas Concert Series with Beethoven sonatas. And at 5 pm, Music from the Western Reserve presents saxophonist Perry Roth and pianist Hana Chu at Christ Church in Hudson.

Visit our Concert Listings for details of these and other performances.

WEEKEND ALMANAC:

September 6:

Born on this date in 1938 in New Rochelle, New York, composer Joan Tower spent some of her formative years in Bolivia, Chile, and Peru before returning to the U.S. as a college student. [Read more…]

Cheers, gasps, and laughter fill Blossom as “Cirque Goes Broadway” (Aug. 31)

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by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com.

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — “Cirque Goes Broadway” takes its song titles literally.

Acrobats soar high above the stage during “Defying Gravity.” A vocalist belts “I must not fall” while a contortionist carefully balances on one hand. And the opening orchestral number, “That’s Entertainment!” lets the audience know what it’s in for.

On August 31, conductor Lucas Waldin led the Akron Symphony Orchestra at Blossom Music Center in an evening of Broadway hits combined with acrobatics from the Big Top.

[Read more…]

DIARY: Labor Day Weekend, August 30 — September 2, 2024

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by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

Beginning on Saturday at 2:30, The Hingetown Jazz Festival showcases both skilled veterans who have graced the stage for years as well as young and upcoming talents who are redefining the jazz landscape in Northeast Ohio. Support local businesses while immersing yourself in Cleveland’s rich jazz scene. Sponsored by the Local 4 Music Fund, this free festival takes place at Transformer Station, Bop Stop, and Jukebox. Click here for more information.

And on Saturday and Sunday at 7 pm, Cirque de la Symphonie joins the Akron Symphony Orchestra, Lucas Waldin, conductor, and vocalists Morgan James and Hugh Panaro at the Blossom Music Center. Read a preview article here. Tickets available online.

Elsewhere, Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra continue their European Tour in Switzerland with a concert on Sunday at the Lucerne Festival that includes Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony and Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto with Víkingur Ólafsson. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra weathers the storm with Tchaikovsky’s Fifth at Blossom (Aug. 17)

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by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com.

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — The Cleveland Orchestra hasn’t had much luck with the weather lately.

Last week’s performance with John Legend started late, got put on pause, and was eventually canceled after strong storms moved over Blossom Music Center. August 17 presented another uncertain forecast, but the Orchestra was determined to forge ahead if possible. And this time, they weathered the storm.

The turbulent weather — which delayed the concert by 30 minutes — made the marquee work feel especially fitting for the occasion. Written during a tempestuous period in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s life, his Symphony No. 5 explores the composer’s inner turmoil and his struggles against the forces of Fate.

[Read more…]

DIARY: Weekend, August 16-18, 2024

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by Stephanie Manning

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

Continuing to preview their European tour, The Cleveland Orchestra presents a program anchored by Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony at Blossom Music Center (Saturday at 7:00 pm). Music director Franz Welser-Möst leads, and pianist Víkingur Ólafsson (pictured) joins for Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto. Tickets available online.

This is a sneak peak at the group’s programs on tour — Ólafsson will appear with them again in Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia, and Austria.

For details on this and all other classical events, visit our Concert Listings.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Canton Symphony Chorus has announced audition openings starting September 9. They rehearse Monday evenings and vocalists of all skill levels are welcome (though they must have graduated from at least high school). Those interested can fill out the audition form here.

On September 14, Severance Music Center will host its annual Hispanic Heritage Month concert. Sammy DeLeon y su Orquesta returns from last year, with Mariachi Sirenas as the opening act. The event is free but does require general admission tickets — reserve them here. [Read more…]

DIARY: Weekend, August 2-4, 2024

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by  Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND

The Semi-Final Round of the Cleveland International Piano Competition continues this weekend in Reinberger Chamber Hall at Severance Music Center.

Six competitors will each play 25-30 minute solo recitals, followed by the performance of a trio of their choice with violinist Maria Ioudenitch and cellist Gabriel Martins. Attend in person or watch a live stream (tickets and details here).

Here is the schedule for the weekend sessions of the Semi-Finals:

Friday, August 2 at 7 PM:
Jonathan Mamora, (29, United States) & Zhu Wang (27, China) [Read more…]

DIARY: Weekend, July 26-28, 2024

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by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND: 

It’s a busy three days in Northeast Ohio. We’ll organize events by their organizers.

The Cleveland International Piano Competition moves forward with its Grand Piano Playoff on Sunday at 6 at the Hanna Theater, when the sixteen Quarter-Finalists will play transcriptions of 80s and 90s pop songs  (SOLD OUT). Before that, the CIPC Concert Truck will bring portable performances by the competitors to Cleveland City Hall (Friday at Noon) & North Union Farmers Market in Shaker Square (Saturday  at 10).

Stage crews will be busy in Freedlander Theatre at the College of Wooster, changing sets for five of Ohio Light Opera’s six summer shows: The Sound of Music (Friday at 2), The Arcadians (Friday at 7:30), The Gondoliers (Saturday at 2), The Count of Luxembourg (Saturday at 7:30), and Guys and Dolls (Sunday at 2).

Apollo’s Fire “rediscovers” Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and programs stormy Italian arias sung by soprano Amanda Forsythe on Friday at 7:30 in Avon Lake, and at the same hour, a Cleveland Chamber Choir octet celebrates the Queens of England in Oberlin’s Kulas Recital Hall.

The Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra opens for The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom on Saturday at 6. The 7 pm side-by-side concert that follows, led by Hannu Lintu, will feature Mark Kosower in William Walton’s Cello Concerto and the combined orchestras in Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony.

The Akron Symphony plays an outdoor summer concert at Forest Lodge Park on Sunday at 7:30, at the same hour when Oberlin Piano Festival faculty recitalist Carl Cranmer plays indoors in Clonick Hall.

For details of upcoming concerts, visit our Concert Listings page. [Read more…]

The Concert Truck brings CIPC talent to Edgewater Beach (July 23)

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by Stephanie Manning

’Tis the season for outdoor concerts, and after a beautifully mild weather pattern swept in last weekend, this may be one of the best weeks this year to enjoy them. In other words: July 23 was the perfect day for a concert on the beach.

To be fair, the Concert Truck wasn’t actually on the sand at Edgewater Beach, but it was close — parked right outside the Beach House and facing the water. Beachgoers and locals gathered on a bright sunny day for the lunchtime concert, presented by the Cleveland International Piano Competition. [Read more…]

Kent Blossom closes out Faculty Concert Series with two classics (July 17)

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by Stephanie Manning

With a program of only two pieces, both of them staples in chamber music repertoire, creating the conditions for a standout performance might be more difficult than usual. But the musicians in Kent Blossom Music Festival’s final entry in this year’s Faculty Concert Series knew what to do.

“Friendship is a requirement to open up and enjoy this piece,” clarinetist Afendi Yusuf said of the opener, Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet — though this sentiment could equally apply to Schubert’s Octet that followed. The July 17 performance in Kent State University’s Ludwig Recital Hall proved that the group had the friendship element in spades. [Read more…]

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