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Apollo’s Fire: “O Jerusalem” at St. Paul’s, Cleveland Heights (Nov. 12)

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by David Kulma

Over the course of two weekends from November 10 to 18, Apollo’s Fire celebrated the multicultural heritage of the Holy Land with “O Jerusalem!: Crossroads of Three Faiths.” This exploration of music of Jews, Christians, and Muslims was conceived and directed by artistic director Jeannette Sorrell as a sequel to their successful “Sephardic Journey” program first done in 2014. I attended the second concert on November 12 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights. [Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire Countryside Concert: “Tarantella!” in Hunting Valley (June 8)

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by Alice Koeninger

AF Tarantella_previewThe Baroque Music Barn and its three-sided seating make for an intimate setting, which was perfect for the Friday, June 8 concert by Apollo’s Fire titled “Tarantella!” Soprano Amanda Powell, plucked instrument musician and tenor Brian Kay, and artistic director Jeannette Sorrell invited the audience to join them on an energetic and emotional tour of “Rhythms of the Old Mediterranean.” This fantastical journey was dramatically narrated by Powell, and talks by Kay, Sorrell, and ensemble member Daphna Mor added to the experience.
 [Read more…]

Music at the Meeting House — “Beyond Boundaries: Songs of the People”

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by Mike Telin

Powell-Amanda“I’m excited about this particular program because I’ve been doing the ‘Beyond Boundaries’ project for many years,” vocalist Amanda Powell said during a telephone conversation. In the past the project has focused heavily on jazz. “I’ve always wanted to create an iteration of it that included some folk artists. And this program is the beginning of that leg of my exploration.”

On Sunday, May 13 at 4:00 pm at First Church in Oberlin, Music at the Meeting House will present Amanda Powell, lutenist Brian Kay, and bassist Dave Morgan in a free concert titled “Beyond Boundaries: Songs of the People.”

Powell said that she and her colleagues came up with the idea for Sunday’s program when they were creating another project for Apollo’s Fire. [Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire: “Christmas on Sugarloaf Mountain” (Dec. 9)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Sugarloaf1The five sold-out performances of “Christmas on Sugarloaf Mountain” this month attest to the popularity of Apollo’s Fire’s crossover shows. Heard on Saturday, December 9 at First Baptist Church in Shaker Heights, the holiday sequel to “Sugarloaf Mountain: an Appalachian Gathering” was just as alluring and infectious as its predecessor, even if some of its elements were still in the process of settling in. [Read more…]

CD Review
Ayreheart: Barley Moon

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by Jeremy Reynolds

ayreheart_-_barley_moonFar from being an outdated or even obsolete instrument, the lute makes a stirring pitch for its continued relevance in the hands of the ensemble Ayreheart, which released Barley Moon in June 2016 on the Sono Luminus label. In this album, four modern day troubadours with lutes and drum and sweet, sweet voices harken for an hour to a simpler musical era. [Read more…]

Renaissance band Ayreheart at the Bop Stop (April 7)

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by Mike Telin

AyreheartOn Thursday, April 7 at the Bop Stop, the Renaissance band Ayreheart presented a  concert titled “Will You Walk the Woods so Wild.” The captivating program — performed by Ronn McFarlane, lute, Brian Kay, vocals and lute, Will Morris, colascione, and Mattias Rucht, percussion — explored the intersection between folk music and art music in 16th- and 17th- century England, Scotland, and Wales. It also highlighted the intersections of Renaissance folk music and classic rock. [Read more…]

Ayreheart to play two area performances this weekend

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by Mike Telin

AyreheartOn Thursday, April 7 at 8:00 pm at the Bop Stop, the band Ayreheart (Ronn McFarlane, lute, Brian Kay, vocals and lute, Will Morris, colascione, and  Mattias Rucht, percussion) will present a concert titled “Will You Walk the Woods so Wild.” The concert will be repeated on Friday, April 8 at Kent Unitarian Universalist Church in Kent, also at 8:00 pm.

“We do call ourselves a band, but we’re hard-pressed to figure out what kind of band we are,” Ronn McFarlane joked during a recent telephone conversation while en route to Michigan to start Ayreheart’s ten-day, nine-concert tour. “We formed to play original music that I was writing for lute, and songs with lute and other instruments like percussion and bass. But we also love the old music, so even when we have concerts focused on the new we always play a good bit of old.”   [Read more…]

Understanding Spiritual Nationality: Apollo’s Fire — Sephardic Journey (Feb. 5)

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by Christine Jay

sephardic_group_700One of the most remarkable elements of mankind is its ability to endure. History is filled with stories of people struggling, failing, succeeding, and surviving, but few have endured the centuries of exile and forced displacement experienced by the Jews. Performing an inspired program devised by artistic director Jeannette Sorrell, soprano Nell Snaidas, baritone Jeffrey Strauss, and cellist René Schiffer, Apollo’s Fire gave a sensational concert on February 5 at St. Paul’s Church in Cleveland Heights. [Read more…]

CD Review: Apollo’s Fire — Sugarloaf Mountain, an Appalachian gathering

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by Daniel Hathaway

Sugarloaf-Mountain-CDWhen summer arrives, Apollo’s Fire lets its hair down and goes off to visit Baroque music’s country cousin — the music of Appalachian America. The ensemble’s previous show, “Come to the River,” now has a prequel: “Sugarloaf Mountain,” an equally irresistible collection of tunes from the old and new worlds chronicling the passage of immigrants from the British Isles to their new homes in the American south — in the shadow of Sugarloaf Mountain. [Read more…]

Apollo’s Fire’s 2014 Countryside Concerts turn to Appalachian music in “Glory on the Mountain”

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by Mike Telin and Daniel Hautzinger

AF-Countryside-Sorrell“I’m excited because I feel like it might be one of the better things that I’ve put together,” Apollo’s Fire artistic director Jeanette Sorrell exclaimed about her new program during a recent interview. While putting together her previous Appalachian-inspired program, “Come to the River,” Sorrell said, “I was pretty much a newcomer to the field. This time I feel I’m starting from a deeper place.”

Beginning on Thursday, June 12, and continuing through Sunday, June 22, at venues throughout the area (see our concert listings page for times and locations), Apollo’s Fire will present “Glory on the Mountain: An Appalachian Journey.” The concerts will feature the mixture of fiddle tunes, ballads, shape-note hymns, and spirituals that typify Appalachian music. (An extra performance on Saturday, June 14 at 3:00 pm has just been announced.)

“With ‘Come to the River’ I spent two years researching fiddle tunes and ballads from Appalachia and it was a wonderful introduction into that repertoire. I had heard some lovely ballads when I was in the Shenandoah Valley as a teenager, but it was not the music that I was performing and studying as my profession,” Sorrell recalled. [Read more…]

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