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Cleveland Chamber Music Society: a multifaceted “Spanish Journey” (Feb. 11)

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by Stephanie Manning

Ever since Punxsutawney Phil popped his head out to predict six more weeks of winter, Clevelanders have seen no respite from the cold and snowy weather. So February 11 was as good a winter day as any to escape to sunny Spain, via the latest concert from the Cleveland Chamber Music Society.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center visited Disciples Church in Cleveland Heights for “Spanish Journey,” a program in collaboration with the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society. While a celebration of Spanish music would not be complete without its characteristic dance styles, the evening’s focus on sensitive, romantic selections created a nicely balanced sampling of what that culture has to offer. [Read more…]

Chamber Music Societies Join To Celebrate Music from Spain

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By Mike Telin

Unlike other groups that the Cleveland Chamber Music Society presents, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is not a single standing ensemble but rather a collection of talented musicians who come together around a specific project or program.

On Tuesday, February 11 at 7:30 pm at The Cultural Arts Center at Disciples Church,  CCMS continues their 75th Anniversary season with the Lincoln Center ensemble’s “Spanish Journey.” The program features works by Fernando Obradors, Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Fernández Arbós, Manuel de Falla, Pablo de Sarasate, Joaquín Rodrigo, and Joaquín Turina performed by guitarist Jason Vieaux, pianist Soyeon Kate Lee, violinist  Kristin Lee, soprano Vanessa Becerra, and cellist Clive Greensmith. Tickets are available online.

We caught up with violinist Kristin Lee by phone in the lobby of Alice Tully Hall after the group had just completed their dress rehearsal for the premiere performance of the program before taking it on tour.

[Read more…]

CCMS: CMS Front Row National
features clarinetist David Shifrin

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Through a partnership with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Cleveland Chamber Music Society is offering the steamed CMS Front Row National series free of charge.

The latest such program, which premiered on January 29 and remains available through today, February 2, centers around clarinetist David Shifrin. It ties together three performances from the past five years at two Lincoln Center venues, including one outing that’s truly in the can’t-miss category.

[Read more…]

A guide to staying home and streaming videos of concerts

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Live streams, re-broadcasts, digital archives, and YouTube channels — here are some videos of performances to keep you occupied during social distancing.

Beginning locally, some performances are still taking place via live stream, without an audience. On Thursday, March 19 at 4:30 pm, Oberlin Conservatory will stream a faculty and guest concert from Stull Recital Hall. Flutist Alexa Still, cellist Mihai Tetel, and pianist Evan Hines come together in Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Assobio a Játo (“Jet Whistle”) and Valerie Coleman’s 2019 Amazonia.

Piano Cleveland, the presenting organization of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, has announced a new weekly series called The Quarantine Concerts, to be streamed every Thursday at 7:30 pm from Steinway Piano Gallery Cleveland. The first concert, on March 19, will feature pianist Yaron Kohlberg as well as the piano duo of Natsumi Shibagaki and Irwin Shung. Online audience members have the opportunity to offer their support directly to these artists by donating to Piano Cleveland’s Musicians’ Fund.

[Read more…]

Tuesday Musical: Chamber Music from Lincoln Center (Mar. 12)

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by Nicholas Stevens

Depending on how presenters and performers discuss it in concerts, music history can be a portal to deeper understanding or a padlock. Especially hazardous is the tracing of artistic lineage. If you talk engagingly about teacher-to-student “family trees,” the concert may gain in vitality and direction. If you list them dryly, you risk making textbook fodder of vibrant art.

[Read more…]

Chamber Music from Lincoln Center on Tuesday Musical series (January 23)

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by Daniel Hathaway

TMAJan23During Tuesday Musical’s pre-concert chat at E.J. Thomas Hall on January 23, one of the members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center referred to the touring ensemble who were appearing as part of the Clara I. Knight Young Artists Series as “Wu Han and the boys.” Afterwards, the seasoned chamber music pianist teamed up with her younger colleagues — pianist Michael Brown, violinists Chad Hoopes and Paul Huang, violist Matthew Lipman, and cellist Dmitri Atapine — for fresh, riveting performances of works by Johannes Brahms and Antonín Dvořák that melded experience with youthful exuberance. [Read more…]

Tuesday Musical to present Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society

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by Mike Telin

TMAJan23

“I love playing chamber music, and CMS concerts are some of the highlights of my season,” violinist Chad Hoopes said by telephone from New York. “You’re playing some of the greatest music and traveling with wonderful people, which is fun because you’re not alone.”

On Tuesday, January 23 at 7:30 pm in E.J. Thomas Hall, Hoopes will join his Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center colleagues — Wu Han and Michael Brown, piano, Paul Huang, violin, Matthew Lipman, viola, and Dmitri Atapine, cello — in a concert presented by Akron’s Tuesday Musical Association. The program juxtaposes music by two giants of Romanticism — Antonín Dvořák and Johannes Brahms. Click here for program details and ticket information.

[Read more…]

Save the dates for some January concert highlights

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by Daniel Hathaway

Westminster ChoirClassical music begins stirring from its long holiday nap during the first two weeks of January, revving up from adagio to allegro by mid-month.

The Westminster Choir — the flagship ensemble of Westminster Choir College, now part of New Jersey’s Rider University, will make a stop at the Church of the Covenant in University Circle on Saturday, January 6 at 7:30 pm during its winter tour. Joe Miller will conduct the ensemble in Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Choir (1926), György Ligeti’s Lux Aeterna (1966), and music by Joel Phillips, Tim Brent, Edward C. Bairstow, Ailo Alcala and Randall Thompson.

Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra will make a big splash the weekend of January 11 with Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 and a new work by Austrian composer Johannes Maria Staud. Stromab (“Downstream”) is inspired by what Staud calls “one of the finest horror stories of all time,” Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows, a tale of two young people who canoe down the Danube and discover a lonely island where weird things swirl around them. Mahler 9, the composer’s last symphony, has been described by Herbert von Karajan as “music coming from another world, from eternity.” There are performances on Thursday the 11th at 7:30 pm and on Friday and Saturday the 12th and 13th at 8:00 pm.

Another major work will be featured the following week when soprano Golda Schultz, tenor Maximilian Schmidt, and baritone Thomas Hampson join Welser-Möst, The Cleveland Orchestra, and the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus in Haydn’s The Seasons. Performances are scheduled for Thursday, January 18 at 7:30 and Saturday, January 20 at 8:00 pm. In between, Welser-Möst and the Orchestra will play all-Beethoven on Friday, January 19 at 8:00 pm — Symphonies 1 and 3 and the Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus. [Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Music Society: Piano Quartets from Lincoln Center (Jan. 17)

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by Daniel Hathaway

ccms-011717The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center launched a seven-city tour of Piano Quartets with its January 17 concert at Plymouth Church for the Cleveland Chamber Music Society. Large-scale, early works by Gabriel Fauré and Johannes Brahms received masterful performances from pianist Alessio Bax, violinist Ani Kavafian, violist Yura Lee, and cellist Paul Watkins. [Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Music Society: a chat with CMS pianist Alessio Bax

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by Mike Telin

Alessio-Bax-Lisa-Marie-MazzuccoWhether it’s a sports team or a chamber music ensemble, it’s all about assembling the perfect combination of people who together can achieve the highest performance standards. “This is a dream team,” pianist Alessio Bax said of his Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center colleagues during a recent telephone conversation. “I’ve worked with each of them separately on many occasions, but to have them all together for these concerts is amazing. They are all fantastic musicians, great people, and we all like each other, so it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

On Tuesday, January 17 at 7:30 pm at Plymouth Church, Bax will be joined by violinist  Ani Kavafian, violist Yura Lee, and cellist Paul Watkins for a Cleveland Chamber Music Society concert that will feature piano quartets by Brahms and Fauré. [Read more…]

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