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Akron Symphony goes for glory in Handel’s Messiah (Nov. 15)

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by Peter Feher

The holiday season got off to an early start at E.J. Thomas Hall over the weekend, with the Akron Symphony and Chorus reveling in a performance of Handel’s Messiah.

In truth, it’s tradition for this great oratorio — which embraces the New Testament theme of Jesus as savior — to arrive ahead of schedule. Handel intended the work to be presented each year during Lent, when theaters were otherwise closed and only entertainment of the most ennobling character was allowed. But in the centuries following its 1742 premiere, Messiah crept up the concert calendar to become a Christmas favorite.

Never mind that the famous “Hallelujah” Chorus comes from Part 2 of the oratorio, which recounts Christ’s death and resurrection. Part 1 includes the Nativity, and it was to this opening section that the Akron Symphony and music director Christopher Wilkins devoted themselves on Saturday, November 15.

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Akron Symphony plays Mahler 1 (Sept. 20)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

The Akron Symphony opened its season Saturday night, September 20 at E.J. Thomas Hall, with a program that combined geniality, youthful cheek, and grand ambition. Under the direction of Christopher Wilkins the orchestra sounded happy to be back and playing before an excited house.

Brahms’s Academic Festival Overture is a thank-you note written to honor a university that gave him an honorary degree. As Wilkins reminded us, Brahms never went to college, but here he donned the cap and gown like a puckish undergrad, weaving together student songs more often heard in beer halls than lecture halls. Under Wilkins, the piece carried both dignity and delight. The opening had the sincerity of ceremony, then the tunes tumbled in like students fresh from hijinks on the quad. The orchestra answered with warmth, rhythmic lift, and good humor. When the final tune arrived, it rose like an alma mater — or a sudsy cheer — echoing fondly across the years. [Read more…]

Akron Symphony concludes season with a grand Verdi’s Requiem (May 10)

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by Peter Feher

The Akron Symphony is ready to stage a full opera in some upcoming season, judging by the spectacular success of the orchestra’s performance of Verdi’s Requiem on May 10 at E.J. Thomas Hall.

All of the elements essential for a winning production were present. A sense of drama, a compelling cast of vocal soloists, and a stage packed with extra choristers and instrumentalists made the evening feel like a thoroughly theatrical event. It was a grand way for the Symphony to conclude its 2024-25 concert year.

That a sacred piece should seem so lavish and entertaining is the glorious crux of Verdi’s Requiem. Classical composers going as far back as the 15th century have set the Latin Mass for the dead with a certain creative flourish and delight in excess, but Verdi’s contribution represents the operatic peak of the tradition.

His realization was always intended for a concertgoing audience. The work was first conceived in 1868 as part of a tribute to the late leading opera composer Gioachino Rossini but only completed in 1873 following the death of Italian writer and politician Alessandro Manzoni.

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Clarinetist Amer Hasan celebrates Mozart with the Akron Symphony

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by Stephanie Manning

When Amer Hasan introduced himself to the Akron Symphony in 2019, he did so with the opening movement of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. “ It was the first piece that I played for Maestro Wilkins in my audition, behind the screen,” Hasan recalled in a recent interview. “So the first three minutes of the concerto is not only the first music I associate with auditions, but also with the Akron Symphony.”

Six years on from that fateful performance, which helped earn Hasan the principal clarinet position, he and the orchestra are set to create some new memories with that same Mozart work. Music director Christopher Wilkins will lead Hasan and the Akron Symphony in a performance of the full, three-movement concerto on Saturday, March 29.

The 7:30 pm concert in E.J. Thomas Hall also features Joseph Bologne’s Overture to The Anonymous Lover, Jessie Montgomery’s Five Freedom Songs, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1. Tickets are available online. [Read more…]

Akron Symphony: Mahler’s emotional rollercoaster (Mar. 1)

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by Stephanie Manning

“Welcome to Mahler’s 2nd,” read the program leaflet I was handed while entering E.J. Thomas Hall on March 1. “You’re in for an emotional rollercoaster — big drama, quiet reflection, and an ending that will shake the walls (and maybe your soul).”

The Akron Symphony’s latest program certainly delivered on that promise. Most ensembles devote the entire evening to Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony, an almost 90-minute work, and Akron was no different. Conductor Christopher Wilkins led a stirring performance from the extra-large orchestra, together with the Akron Symphony Chorus, the Metropolitan Chorus of Summit Choral Society, soprano Sonya Headlam, and alto Amanda Lynn Bottoms. [Read more…]

Akron Symphony: “Autochthonous”-ly American (Jan. 18)

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by Stephanie Manning

The subtitle of William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 4, “Autochthonous,” made for a little vocabulary lesson at the Akron Symphony last weekend.

Meaning “indigenous, or belonging to a particular place by birth or origin,” the composer used the word to describe a distinctly American composition — one including not only African American musical styles, but also those from a variety of American cultures. The Akron Symphony’s January 18 concert was this celebration of our country’s music writ large. [Read more…]

Akron Symphony traverses the cosmos in “The Planets” (Oct. 19)

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by Stephanie Manning

Just before the Akron Symphony began their October 19 concert with Charles Ives’ The Unanswered Question, the audience was suddenly presented with a question of their own. Why were the musicians leaving the stage right after tuning?

Although bemused clapping and laughter followed, this conundrum luckily had an easy answer. Ives specifies that the string orchestra be hidden, which left only the four flute players and conductor Christopher Wilkins visible. So E.J. Thomas Hall darkened even further, leaving only the music stand lights and the haze diffused from backstage. In other words, it was an auspicious start to a concert with some deep ideas about the cosmos. [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.

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Cirque de la Symphonie at Blossom: conversations with vocalists Hugh Panaro & Morgan James

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by Mike Telin

What can audiences expect to see and hear this weekend at Blossom Music Center? “Dizzying acrobatic heights and eye-popping feats together with top Broadway hits from Les Misérables, Frozen, Wicked, Chicago, and more…the perfect way to close out the summer.”

On Saturday, August 31 and Sunday September 1 at 7 pm, Cirque de la Symphonie joins the Akron Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Lucas Waldin in a show featuring Broadway stars Morgan James and Hugh Panaro. Tickets are available online.

I spoke with Hugh Panaro by Zoom at his country home in Connecticut.

Hugh Panaro: It’s a tiny farm town with deer, cows, and goats. Having grown up in Philadelphia, it’s not anything I would have imagined for myself.

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Akron Symphony Celebrates Thirty years of Gospel Meets Symphony (Feb. 10)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

For the past 29 years, the Akron Symphony’s “Gospel Meets Symphony” concert has brought together African American and European classical music traditions. During the 30th edition at E.J. Thomas Hall on February 10, which involved the Gospel Meets Symphony choir, junior gospel choir, soloists, rhythm section, and the Akron Symphony Orchestra, the power and joy of the gospel repertoire outmatched the classical — and the exuberance from choirmaster Jonathon Turner and his ensembles eclipsed everybody.

ASO music director Christopher Wilkins was a genial host, downplaying his conducting role even while he did it skillfully. “The way to conduct these concerts is just to light the fuse,” he said. He spoke easily and warmly, an unabashed advocate of the program, eager to introduce the music and enjoy it along with the rest of us.

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