by Jarrett Hoffman
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Western Reserve Chorale invites interested vocalists to join for the remainder of the season, which includes performances of Brahms’ Ein Deutches Requiem in March and a program of American choral music in June. The ensemble rehearses on Tuesday evenings, 7:15-9:30 at Church of the Saviour in Cleveland Heights, resuming on January 9.
“WRC is a non-auditioned community chorus. Our repertoire does require prior musical experience and a willingness to spend time learning the music. We encourage interested singers to come to a rehearsal or two in order to determine if you would enjoy singing with the Chorale.” Send an email to let the ensemble know that they should expect you in January and what vocal part you sing.
Apollo’s Fire’s board president, Charles Bittenbender, has been nominated as a 2023 Notable Nonprofit Board Leader from Crain’s Cleveland Business. Read here.
INTERESTING READS:
An article in Wine Enthusiast delves into the intersection of A.I. and criticism — in this case wine criticism. On one hand, Jason Wilson notes how unnerving it is that artificial intelligence is doing “things we thought were innately human—to write, create art, make music… and perhaps now ‘taste’ wine.” On the other, he suggests that perhaps the astounding accuracy of A.I. wine identification “can free up the sommelier or critic to focus more on the emotional, romantic side…By leaving the blind tasting and quantifications to the robots, perhaps we can reclaim what’s human about wine.” Read here.
In another peculiar handshake between arts and technology, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra recently performed with soprano Maria Callas — 46 years after her passing — and Tim Byrne reviewed it for The Guardian. Click here to read “Maria Callas’s hologram concert: ersatz simulacrum of a dead diva is weird and depressing.”