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The Cleveland POPS opens season with The Texas Tenors on October 4

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by Mike Telin 

Since their debut on NBC’s America’s Got Talent, The Texas Tenors have amassed a list of awards including three Emmys for their PBS special You Should Dream. On Friday, October 4 at 8:00 pm at Severance Hall, opera singer John Hagen, country music singer JC Fisher, and pop singer Marcus Collins will open The Cleveland POPS’ season under the direction of Carl Topilow. The program will feature selections from their latest album, THE TEXAS TENORS: A Collection of Broadway & American Classics. Tickets are available online.

Prior to the Trio’s October 2017 performance at Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown, we spoke with tenor John Hagen. The following article has been edited for content.

“It’s fun to see people stretch their musical tastes in opposite directions,” Hagen said. “You take the fan who’s at one end of the spectrum, either classical or country, and hear how they have come to appreciate other genres of music that they haven’t listened to very often, if at all.”

[Read more…]

Music from The Western Reserve enters a new era under Bognár

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by Mike Telin

For 36 seasons, Music from The Western Reserve has presented chamber music concerts of a variety of genres performed by Northeast Ohio’s brightest talent. The organization is now entering a new era as it embarks on season number 37 with a new general manager, and a new lineup of performances.

After Elisabeth Hugh made the decision to retire following over a decade of leadership, Music from The Western Reserve and its board of directors recently announced that Zsolt Bognár, pianist and host of the award-winning film series Living the Classical Life, would succeed Hugh as Artistic Director and General Manager.

In a press release, Chair of the search committee Linda McDonald said that “Zsolt brings energy and passion to his work. We interviewed so many talented people for the position, but Zsolt’s skills and experience were the best fit as the organization moves to its next stage.” [Read more…]

Cleveland POPS: “Now, That’s Italian” (Apr. 13)

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by Daniel Hathaway

“Everyone’s Italian tonight,” host and conductor Carl Topilow exclaimed, greeting the capacity Cleveland POPS audience at Severance Hall on Saturday, April 13. With the engaging assistance of soprano Alyson Cambridge, tenor John Cudia, and the POPS Chorus — not to mention a special green, white, and red clarinet, assembled from Topilow’s multichromatic collection of instruments — the Orchestra lined up and checked off 21 of everyone’s favorite selections from Italian opera, leaving few corners of the repertoire unexplored. [Read more…]

Cleveland Pops with Capathia Jenkins (Mar. 9)

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by David Kulma

A golden age in American popular music began about a century ago. Lasting four decades and pervading musical theater, sound recordings, film, radio, and jazz stylings, it left a body of music that has never gone out of circulation and is regularly trumpeted as one of America’s best collective creations. We now call it “The Great American Songbook.”

[Read more…]

Carl Topilow and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra play “John Williams: Cinema’s Greatest Music”

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by Jarrett Hoffman

The music of the prolific film composer John Williams was a staple of Carl Topilow’s programming long before he launched the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. “We were doing Star Wars medleys in the late ‘70s with the Denver Symphony — now the Colorado Symphony,” the conductor told us during an interview in January of 2016.

On Saturday, February 2 at 8:00 pm at Severance Hall, Topilow and the Cleveland Pops will honor Williams “and his incredible contributions to the world of music,” as the conductor told us recently over email. Tickets are available here.

“In the span of six decades, John Williams has composed some of the most popular, inspiring, and recognizable film scores in cinematic history,” Topilow said. “Whether drama, science fiction, patriotism, action, adventure, comedy, or despair, he always finds the perfect mood. It is a great joy to perform his music, and we look forward to a wonderful concert.”

[Read more…]

Ring in 2019 with the Cleveland POPS: a conversation with special guest Erich Bergen

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by Mike Telin

For the past 22 years, Carl Topilow and the Cleveland POPS Orchestra have hosted the best New Year’s Eve party in Cleveland. That tradition will continue on Monday, December 31 beginning at 9:00 pm in Severance Hall with “The Hollywood Songbook: Songs from the Big and Small Screen,” featuring singer Erich Bergen. Then at 11:00 pm you can party and dance into 2019 with the No-Name Band and the Cleveland POPS Jazz Ensemble. Enjoy cash bars, refreshments, and desserts for purchase, and a fabulous balloon drop at midnight. Tickets are available online.

Erich Bergen is a man of many talents. He starred in the Clint Eastwood film Jersey Boys, reprising his role as Bob Gaudio in the Tony Award-winning stage production. He made his Broadway debut starring opposite Katharine McPhee in the hit musical Waitress. He performed the role of Randy Kroll in the 2018 film Humor Me, and currently stars as Blake Moran on the hit CBS television drama Madam Secretary. A critically acclaimed singer/musician, he performs in concert venues around the world.

I got in touch with Erich Bergen by phone and began by asking him if he has worked with Carl Topilow in the past.

[Read more…]

Carl Topilow’s retirement marks the end of an era at CIM

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by Mike Telin

CIM-Orchestra-TopilowOn Wednesday, April 11 at 8:00 pm at Severance Hall, Carl Topilow will lead the CIM Orchestra for the last time before his retirement from the conservatory, after 36 years as the director of CIM’s orchestra and orchestral conducting program.

The concert will include Topilow’s own arrangement of Verdi’s Fanfare from Act III of Otello, Barber’s Overture to The School for Scandal, Korngold’s Violin Concerto with Aaron Chan as soloist, and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 6. The performance is free, but tickets are required. The event will be broadcast live over WCLV 104.9 and wclv.com.

Although Topilow is leaving CIM, marking the end of an era at the school, he will remain in his positions as music director and conductor of the National Repertory Orchestra, the Firelands Symphony, and The Cleveland Pops Orchestra. [Read more…]

Cleveland Pops: Tony DeSare in “I Love a Piano” (March 25)

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by Mike Telin

DeSare-TopilowOn the off-chance that somebody didn’t “love” the piano before attending the Cleveland Pops concert on March 25 at Severance Hall, pianist, singer-songwriter, and arranger Tony DeSare provided more than enough reasons to have a change of heart during his new show, aptly titled I Love a Piano. [Read more…]

Cleveland POPS brings in the New Year with Melinda Doolittle at Severance Hall (Dec. 31)

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by Mario Buchanan, Special to ClevelandClassical.com

doolittle-melindaOn December 31 the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, under the direction of Carl Topilow, performed their annual New Year’s Eve concert at Severance Hall. Above the partygoers’ heads in the Grand Foyer were two nets filled with blue and white balloons waiting to welcome the new year, and attendees were required to grab a party horn from the table for the concert. In the auditorium, “2017” was spelled out with balloons above the stage. Clearly, this was going to be a night to remember. [Read more…]

Cleveland POPS New Year’s Eve: meet vocalist Melinda Doolittle

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by Mike Telin

doolittle-melinda“Some of my favorite shows are singing with pops orchestras,” vocalist and American Idol winner Melinda Doolittle said during a recent telephone conversation. “It’s such an exhilarating feeling. There’s nothing like having a massive orchestra behind you playing the songs you love. And this is my very first New Year’s Eve symphony show, so I’m even more excited.”

On Saturday, December 31st at Severance Hall, Carl Topilow and the Cleveland POPS Orchestra will ring in 2017 with their 21st Annual New Year’s Eve Celebration. The festivities begin at 9:00 pm with a two-hour concert featuring Melinda Doolittle and the Orchestra  performing Broadway songs, contemporary pops and jazz hits, and a tribute to some of the great American soul singers — Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Tina Turner, Gloria Gaynor, and Marvin Gaye. [Read more…]

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