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BlueWater Chamber Orchestra meditates on the passage of time (Oct. 5)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

On October 5 at the Church of the Covenant, artistic director Daniel Meyer led the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra in an engaging program of new and familiar works, including David Biedenbender’s River of Time, with former BlueWater principal trumpet and co-artistic director Neil Mueller as soloist.

As a glorious opener, the Cleveland School of the Arts R. Nathaniel Dett Concert Choir (Robert McCorvey, director) and the BlueWater Orchestra combined forces during four spiritual and gospel arrangements. CSA also supplied select string players from the school to sit alongside the professionals, adding tonal depth and youthful energy. [Read more…]

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra begins its 15th season: a conversation with Neil Mueller

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by Mike Telin

When Carlton Woods was set to retire from his post at Michigan’s Midland Symphony Orchestra in 2007, the longtime music educator and conductor, along with his wife Ladonna, set his sights on Cleveland.

Why Cleveland? “I wanted to come where I could hear the best orchestra in the country and one of the greatest in the world every week,” Woods told The Plain Dealer in a 2015 interview. Once here, Woods quickly recognized the wealth of professional musicians living in the area who were looking for more opportunities to perform. In a sense, Woods seized the moment, and in 2010 with the tagline “From Cleveland for Cleveland,” the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra was born.

On Saturday, October 4 at 7:30 pm at the Church of the Covenant, the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra will kick off its fifteenth anniversary with “Threads of Time, Struggle, and Hope.” [Read more…]

Fall Preview: Anniversaries & New Beginnings

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by Daniel Hathaway

While compiling our master calendar for 2024-2025, we noted some milestones to celebrate among Northeast Ohio’s musical organizations and at least one new arrival on the scene to mention.

The Cleveland Women’s Orchestra (pictured in 1938) begins its 90th season this year, with a November concert at the Maltz Performing Arts Center, a holiday concert at Judson Manor in December, and an anniversary performance at Severance Music Center in March.

For its 75th season, Cleveland Chamber Music Society will host only six ensembles at Disciples Church rather than the usual seven, but No. 6, the Jerusalem Quartet, will perform all 15 of Dmitri Shostakovich’s string quartets in five April concerts at the Cleveland Museum of Art. CCMS’s season begins with Chanticleer on September 24 and includes concerts by the Imani Winds with pianist Michelle Cann, Cuarteto Casals, flutist Emmanuel Pahud with pianist Alessio Bax, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. [Read more…]

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra: Jason Vieaux plays Vivaldi & Dorman

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by Mike Telin

“I’m really looking forward to this concert because the last time I played with BlueWater was around ten years ago, when I played Rodrigo’s Concierto Aranjuez with them,” guitarist Jason Vieaux said during a telephone conversation. “The Vivaldi concerto is very popular and well-known to audiences, and I think it will pair well with Avner Dorman’s concerto.”

On Saturday, May 4 at 7:30 pm at the Church of the Covenant, Vieaux will join the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra in performances of Vivaldi’s Concerto in D, RV 93 and Avner Dorman’s How to Love. Under the direction of Daniel Meyer, the program also includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. The concert is presented in partnership with the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society. Pay-what-you-wish tickets are available online. [Read more…]

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra: a remarkable program with Kondonassis (Mar. 16)

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by Peter Feher

The Carnival of the Animals is missing a movement. You could easily believe this listening to Koholā Sings, an enchanting new piece by Takuma Itoh, which uses a harp to conjure up the voice of a humpback whale.

In a sensitive solo turn, harpist Yolanda Kondonassis gave the world premiere of Itoh’s work at University Circle’s Church of the Covenant on March 16, joined by BlueWater Chamber Orchestra and conductor Daniel Meyer. Their collaboration was the highlight of a program that was all-around remarkable for its delicate touch.

[Read more…]

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra: a conversation with harpist Yolanda Kondonassis

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by Mike Telin

“I think everybody who plays an instrument has a piece that when they heard it for the first time, they said — this is what I want to do with my life because I want to play this piece as many times as I can,” harpist Yolanda Kondonassis said during a Zoom call.

On Saturday, March 16 at 7:30 pm at Church of the Covenant, Kondonassis will perform Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro with the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra. Under the direction of Daniel Meyer, the program will also include the world premiere of Takuma Itoh’s Kohola Sings for harp and chamber orchestra, Roland’s Suite by Lully, and selections of Fauré’s Incidental Music to Pelléas et Mélisande with soprano Amanda Powell. Tickets are pay-what-you-wish.

Kondonassis recalled hearing the Ravel live for the first time at the Cleveland Institute of Music while she was still in high school at the Interlochen Arts Academy. “My teacher at Interlochen brought me to Cleveland with her on spring break. She was a student of Alice Chalifoux — who would become my mentor and teacher. I stayed with Alice and would go with her to CIM when she taught. I happened to go to somebody’s degree recital and I remember hearing the Ravel in The Pavilion, where Mixon Hall is now, and thinking it was the most phenomenal ear candy I had ever experienced.”

[Read more…]

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra: Jinjoo Cho soars in Barber Concerto (Nov. 17)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

In a pre-holiday offering, Bluewater Chamber Orchestra’s audience received gifts simple and somber, with intermittent thrills, on Friday evening, November 17. In an all-American program, the pleasures were many: Cindy McTee’s moving Adagio for strings, Barber’s firework of a Violin Concerto, and Copland’s wise portrait of rural America, Appalachian Spring.

[Read more…]

Violinist Jinjoo Cho: Barber with BlueWater & writing a book

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Following up on her Tchaikovsky Concerto performance four years ago, violinist Jinjoo Cho will make a return appearance with BlueWater Chamber Orchestra on Friday, November 17 at 7:30 pm at Church of the Covenant.

This time, the first prize winner of the 2014 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis will focus on the Concerto of Samuel Barber — part of an all-American program led by Daniel Meyer that will also include Cindy McTee’s Adagio for String Orchestra and Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring: Suite for Full Orchestra. Pay-what-you-wish tickets are available here. [Read more…]

“Viva Latina!” —
BlueWater Chamber Orchestra (Mar. 4) 

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by Kevin McLaughlin

Accordionist Hanzhi Wang held the Church of the Covenant audience in thrall on March 4 as she demonstrated mastery of the wild marvel that is her instrument in a performance of Piazzolla’s Bandoneon Concerto. The BlueWater Chamber Orchestra and conductor Daniel Meyer provided able accompaniment there, as well as lovely accounts of works by Arriaga and Copland in this Latin-tinged program.

The Symphony in D by Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, written in 1825 when the composer was just seventeen, is cast in the Haydn-Mozart mold. The performance revealed a deftly crafted work — exciting, tuneful, and blustery. After the Haydnesque slow introduction that prepares the listener for a D-major Allegro, the orchestra leaned into the unexpected d-minor with stormy energy and dynamic contrasts. Meyer kept fast tempos under control, battling acoustically challenging circumstances — distinctions of timbre and precision of attacks were frequently lost in the cavernous space.

[Read more…]

“Heaven and Earth” at the Church of the Covenant (Oct. 8)

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by Mike Telin

Wonderful things can happen when two accomplished ensembles collaborate. Such was the case on Saturday, October 8, when the Cleveland Chamber Choir and the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra joined forces at the Church of the Covenant in a program titled “Heaven and Earth.” The result was spectacular.

The program featured Gwyneth Walker’s The Golden Harp (1999) and Beethoven’s Mass in C. At first glance the two works appear to have little in common: Walker sets the words of Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore and Beethoven sets the text of the Latin mass. Still, the colorful, expressive music in each provides a directness to the text that takes the listener on an emotional journey.

[Read more…]

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