The BlueWater Chamber Orchestra announces the death earlier this week of its founder and music director, Carlton R. Woods.
Woods created the Orchestra ten years ago after retiring from his previous post at Central Michigan University and moving to Cleveland.
A memorial service will be held on Sunday, March 5th at 2:00 PM at the Avon Lake United Church of Christ, 32801 Electric Blvd., Avon Lake, OH. A reception will follow. Read BlueWater’s appreciation of Woods here.
by Mike Telin
“When a composer writes a piece of music, they don’t really picture someone with a stick telling the musicians what to do,” BlueWater Chamber Orchestra concertmaster Ken Johnston said during a recent telephone conversation. On Saturday, February 18 at 7:30 at the Breen Center for the Performing Arts, Johnston and his BlueWater colleagues will go conductorless when they perform works by Aaron Copland, Richard Wagner, and Benjamin Britten.
Johnston said that as concertmaster, he is always leading and communicating with the players. “I don’t think this is going to be a huge stretch from what I’m used to doing. And with a group this good, the leadership is going to be shared.” [Read more…]
by Robert Rollin
Last Saturday evening, May 14, as its final subscription concert of the season, the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra presented a lively and interesting program at the beautiful Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights. Guest conductor Raphael Jiménez replaced artistic director Carlton R. Woods, who was indisposed. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
BlueWater Chamber Orchestra welcomed guest conductor Charles Latshaw to the podium at the Breen Center in Ohio City on Saturday, February 27. The concert featured two of its own members, violinist Emily Cornelius and cellist Linda Atherton, in the double concerto by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. An Arriaga overture and a Beethoven symphony completed the 70-minute performance, played without intermission. [Read more…]
by J.D. Goddard
On Saturday, November 14, BlueWater Chamber Orchestra presented a program at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights that could be described as a showcase for some of Cleveland’s most talented musicians. Led by founder and conductor Carlton Woods, the ensemble performed three sublime and challenging works by Gabriel Fauré, Giuseppe Maria Cambini, and Francis Poulenc. These high-energy pieces, calling for technical bravado and some for lush romanticism, seemed to be joined at the hip, and made for an evening that was both serene and breathtakingly beautiful. [Read more…]
by Timothy Robson
BlueWater Chamber Orchestra occupies a unique place in the current musical scene in Cleveland: an orchestra committed to imaginative programming, including unusual works by famous composers as well as new works by emerging composers. Saturday evening’s program, featuring Grammy-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux and conducted by artistic director Carlton R. Woods, was no exception in its exploration of music of Hispanic heritage. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
Since its founding in 2010, BlueWater Chamber Orchestra has quickly immersed itself into the cultural fabric of the community. The orchestra’s neighborhood-based programs bring classical music directly to listeners’ doors. One such program is BWCO’s residency at St. Ignatius High School — a partnership which unites students with professional musicians.
On Saturday, September 12 at 7:30 pm in the Breen Center for the Performing Arts, BlueWater Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Carlton Woods, will present a Spanish/Latin-inspired concert which will include the music of de Falla, Revueltas, and Márquez. The concert will also feature Grammy-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux in Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez. The concert will last approximately 70 minutes and will be performed without intermission.
by Nicholas Jones
May Wine is a delightful spring punch made out of a bit of everything — the fruitiness of Riesling, the bubbly of Prosecco, the tart bite of strawberries, and the sweet pungency of the flowers and leaves of woodruff (also wonderfully known as sweet-scented bedstraw), blooming now in northern Ohio. For their final concert of their fifth season, the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra served up a bowl of musical May wine, more than welcome on one of the first warm evenings of the season. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
“Deterioration can mean many things,” composer Jason Thorpe Buchanan said when asked about the title of his new work. “I’m interested in the sounds that can be produced by literally breaking down the instruments.” On Saturday, May 9 at 7:30 pm at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra under the direction of the composer will present the world premiere of de/ter| |ior.ation. The program will also include Paul Dukas’s Villanelle for horn and orchestra with Ken Wadenpfuhl as soloist, Libby Larsen’s Full Moon in the City for bassoon and strings featuring George Sakakeeny as soloist, and Schubert’s Symphony No. 3, under the direction of BWCO music director Carlton R. Woods. The 75-minute concert will be played without intermission.
by J.D. Goddard
On Saturday evening, February 28 at the Breen Center for the Performing Arts, the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of guest conductor Raphael Jiménez, performed a sumptuous program of two works by giants of the Romantic era, Gabriel Fauré and Johannes Brahms. [Read more…]