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Apollo’s Fire opens 35th season with “Ben Franklin in Paris”

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by Mike Telin

When America’s Founding Fathers needed to drum up French support for the Revolution, they sent 70-year-old Ben Franklin to Paris as their ambassador, where he immersed himself in the cultural life of the capital.

That period of time became the fodder for Jeannette Sorrell’s “Ben Franklin in Paris,” a program of orchestral works that were performed during his 9-year stay. The new program will kick off Apollo’s Fire’s 35th season on Thursday, October 15 at 7:30 at First United Methodist Church in Akron. A pre-concert talk with clarinetist Dominic Giardino will begin one  hour before each performance. Concerts run through October 18 — click here for times and locations. Tickets are available online.

I spoke with Jeannette Sorrell by phone to learn more about the program.

[Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire and violinist Alan Choo hear the “Echoes of Ireland”

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by Stephanie Manning

Over the past few summers, it’s become increasingly likely to find Apollo’s Fire performing at Holden Arboretum.

“It’s kind of become our summer home,” violinist Alan Choo said about the venue, which sprawls across more than 3,600 acres of green space in Kirtland. “I love taking a walk between shows or before rehearsal. It’s always so refreshing and gives me new inspiration.”

Next week, Apollo’s Fire will return to the botanical garden for four outdoor performances of this year’s Countryside Concerts. “Echoes of Ireland” focuses on the life and music of harper Turlough O’Carolan. The program runs from June 16-21, including concerts at Avon Lake UCC, The Bath Church UCC, and Lakeside Chautauqua. Tickets and more information are available online.

“Echoes of Ireland” will be the group’s first folk program directed by Choo, who has expanded his role over the years as the associate artistic director. “Apollo’s Fire really introduced me to the music of so many different cultures, so I’m really excited and very grateful for the opportunity,” he said. [Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire revives the beautiful “O Jerusalem!” (Apr. 10)

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by Stephanie Manning

Every performance of “O Jerusalem! Crossroads of Three Faiths” is guaranteed to be a little different. Not only are there plenty of opportunities for the performers to improvise, but Apollo’s Fire has also made tweaks to the music selections in the years since the first performances.

Even so, “much has changed since I created this program in 2018,” artistic director Jeannette Sorrell acknowledged in the program book and onstage on April 10. Music that brings together Israeli and Palestinian performers feels heavier in 2026, two-and-a-half years after war erupted in the Gaza strip.

The concerts presented this April approached this reality with both seriousness and joy, a blend both true to the spirit of the original program and respectful of the current moment. I heard the Friday performance at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium. The two musical and cultural consultants, Daphna Mor (Jewish) and Ronnie Malley (Arab), worked with Sorrell to add some new repertoire for this revival. [Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire: O Jerusalem! Crossroads of Three Faiths — Part 2

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by Mike Telin

This week, Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire will premiere a fresh version of their celebrated program O Jerusalem! Crossroads of Three Faiths. In this musical tour of the four quarters of Old Jerusalem (Jewish, Christian, Arab, and Armenian), surprising cross-influences emerge.

The program will be presented on Thursday, April 9 at The Bath Church UCC, on April 10 in Gartner Auditorium at the  Cleveland Museum of Art, and on April 11 at Congregation Mishkan Or, all at 7:30 pm. Pre-concert conversations will be presented by Daphna Mor and Ronnie Malley, one hour before each performance. Tickets are available online.

I caught up by telephone with Ronnie Malley, who, in addition to playing oud & accordion, served as the Arab musical and cultural consultant for this project. I asked him to talk about what he brought to the program.

Ronnie Malley: Jennette was very open to whatever I wanted to bring. And I thought, I am a Jerusalemite and I should  bring something from there. And the one thing that the city has always represented to me are the three Abrahamic faiths — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

[Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire revives O Jerusalem! Crossroads of Three Faiths — Part 1

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by Mike Telin

This week, Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire will premiere a fresh version of their celebrated O Jerusalem! Crossroads of Three Faiths. In this musical tour of the four quarters of Old Jerusalem (Jewish, Christian, Arab, and Armenian), surprising cross-influences emerge.

The program will be presented on Thursday, April 9 at The Bath Church UCC, on April 10 in Gartner Auditorium at the  Cleveland Museum of Art, and on April 11 at Congregation Mishkan Or, all at 7:30 pm. Pre-concert conversations will be presented by Daphna Mor (recorder, shawm, ney, and vocals) & Ronnie Malley (oud & accordion), one hour before each performance. Tickets are available online.

In addition to performing, Daphna Mor also served as the project’s Jewish musical and cultural consultant. Dedicated to the music of the Jewish diaspora, Mor is the founder and director of Beineinu Mitzvah, a New York-based initiative cultivating Jewish cultural expression through modern, inclusive practice. She regularly performs and teaches liturgical music, and was invited to Mumbai to lead a workshop on Jewish diaspora melodies while learning local traditions.

[Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire and Alan Choo find riches in “Palace of Versailles” (Mar. 6)

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by Peter Feher

In 1715, the French composer Jean-Féry Rebel had the shrewd idea of combining the most popular Baroque dances of his day into a single crowd-pleasing piece. Les Caractères de la Danse was a hit with Parisian audiences, thanks in large part to the thrill that accompanies recognition.

Modern listeners can surely relate, even if they might struggle to tell a minuet from a musette or a gigue from a gavotte. Take Rebel’s concept, but swap in the music and moves of “Y.M.C.A.” or “Kung Fu Fighting,” and you have “Evolution of Dance,” one of the first viral videos in internet history.

[Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire: a celebration of music from the Palace of Versailles

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by Mike Telin

This week, Apollo’s Fire takes audiences on an excursion to 17th and 18th century France with a program celebrating the music created for the Palace of Versailles under the reign of the Sun King, Louis XIV. Led by Associate Artistic Director Alan Choo, the program features works by Charpentier, Leclair, Lully, Rameau, and Rebel.

Performances begin on Thursday, March 5 at 7:30 pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Akron. The program will be repeated on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights and Sunday at 4:00 pm at Rocky River Presbyterian Church. Tickets are available online.

We caught up with oboist Gaia Saetermoe-Howard by Zoom, who will be giving a pre-concert lecture one hour before each performance. I began by asking her what the earliest piece on the program will be.

[Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire: Alan Choo shines light on Winter Sparks from Bach & Vivaldi

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By Mike Telin

Logging onto Zoom from Singapore, Apollo’s Fire concertmaster and assistant artistic director Alan Choo was in high spirits. “We just finished a dress rehearsal with Red Dot Baroque, Singapore’s first professional Baroque orchestra. It’s been around since 2018.”

Choo was especially excited to talk about his upcoming Apollo’s Fire concerts. He said what unifies the six works on “Winter Sparks” is that the composers take their works’ thematic material and pass it around to different soloists.

“Sometimes the music feels like a friendly conversation, sometimes it feels like a love duet, and sometimes it feels like a duo that is exploring the rhetoric of the conversation between soloists, which I think is quite interesting.”

On Thursday, January 29 at 7:30 pm at First United Methodist Church in Cuyahoga Falls, Apollo’s Fire will debut Winter Sparks from Bach & Vivaldi. The program will be repeated at 7:30 on January 30 & 31 at 7:30 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights and Federated Church in Chagrin Falls, and at 4:00 pm on February 1 at Rocky River Presbyterian Church. A pre-concert conversation with oboist Debra Nagy, hosted by Alan Choo, will take place one hour before each performance. Tickets are available online.

[Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire delights in second decade of Praetorius’ Christmas Vespers (Dec. 18)

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by Peter Feher

The German composer Michael Praetorius never had a Christmas hit on the level of, say, O Tannenbaum — an early version of which, circa 1600, is attributed to his contemporary Melchior Franck.

But in the 21st century, Praetorius has found seasonal success thanks to a team of savvy producers. Apollo’s Fire and artistic director Jeannette Sorrell have championed the composer for two decades now, fashioning his music into an enduring, historically informed holiday program. Christmas Vespers isn’t a single piece from the Praetorius catalog but rather a unique “best of” compilation that Cleveland’s Baroque orchestra unveiled in 2005 and last presented in 2015.

Who says a liturgical service can’t be popular? Apollo’s Fire once again drew sold-out crowds to church venues across Northeast Ohio with these concerts, including a packed Trinity Cathedral on Thursday evening, December 18. And for anyone who still can’t get enough Praetorius, the ensemble plans to release a video recording of the 2025 Trinity performances — not instead of, but in addition to, the group’s 2007 CD. [Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire to bring back Praetorius Christmas Vespers

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by Mike Telin

On Friday, December 12 at 7:00 pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Akron, Apollo’s Fire will revive its popular Praetorius’ Christmas Vespers under the direction of Jeannette Sorrell.

Soloists include sopranos Rebecca Myers, Andréa Walker, and Molly Netter, countertenor Doug Dodson, tenors Michael Jones and Matthew Newhouse, and bass Matthew Dexter along with Apollo’s Singers, and members of Apollo’s Musettes (Treble Youth Choir). The program will be repeated at 7:00 pm on the 18th and 19th at Trinity Cathedral, 7:00 pm on the 20th at First Baptist Church, and at 4:00 pm on the 21st at St. Raphael Catholic Church. Tickets are available online.

I caught up with Jeannette Sorrell on Zoom and began our conversation by asking her when she first created the program.

Jeannette Sorrell: Exactly 20 years ago. So, we’re bringing it back on the 20th anniversary of the premiere. [Read more…]

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