by Peter Feher
Accent’s holiday concert at the Cleveland Museum of Art on December 8 was a hometown affair, even if the six members of this all-male a cappella ensemble had collectively traveled thousands of miles to be there.
The audience in Gartner Auditorium on Friday night cheered on bass Evan Sanders, a South Euclid native who, as the group’s lowest voice, has grounded this far-flung collaboration for more than a decade now.
by Peter Feher
If you had stopped by the Cleveland Museum of Art on Wednesday, Oct. 25, you would have experienced an evening fit for a king. Members of Le Poème Harmonique, the French early music ensemble led by Vincent Dumestre, presented a sophisticated concert in Gartner Auditorium that centered around the tastes and decrees of Louis XIV.
And you couldn’t have asked for a better setting. The dazzling program featured mezzo-soprano Eva Zaïcik and a small group of period instrumentalists in more than a dozen selections that could have been heard during the early years of the Sun King’s reign — when he hadn’t yet moved to Versailles and still kept his court at the Louvre.
The connections with the Museum didn’t stop there. Before the concert, Gabe Pollack, CMA’s Director of Performing Arts, reminded listeners that “French culture is on full display” this fall with the special exhibition Degas and the Laundress: Women, Work, and Impressionism. [Read more…]
by Kevin McLaughlin
At 93, the great Cuban vocalist Omara Portuondo knows a few things. She knows the value of her own experience, though she defies her age in stamina and enduring vocal ability. By now physically frail, on November 1 in Gartner Auditorium she was led to her high-backed wicker chair where she ensconced herself to offer a distillation of a lifetime of music-making.
Her quartet of skilled players — José Portillo, piano, Ramses Rodriguez, drums, Lino Piquero, bass, and Degnis Bofill, Latin percussion — were mindful of the honor, though none was old enough to hear the Cuarteto d’Aida from her Tropicana days, or her Batista-era LPs sold to tourists on the Plaza de Armas in Havana. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
If you had to pick one thing that symbolizes Mahani Teave — pianist, cultural ambassador, and environmental activist — an easy choice would be the Rapa Nui School of Music and the Arts, the first music school on that remote island 2,000 miles off the coast of mainland Chile, with a population of 8,000.
Co-founded by Teave, the school brings together the studies of classical music and of the traditional music of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island. It’s also a symbol of conservationism, built out of recycled tires, bottles, and cans, and made self-sustainable thanks to rainwater collectors and solar panels.
It says a lot that when Teave received the attention of just about the entire classical music world in 2021 with her debut album, Rapa Nui Odyssey, she found herself not so much overwhelmed by the attention, or basking in the glow of fame, but rather grateful for the opportunity to spread the word about her school and help keep it going — not an easy endeavor.
Now she is in the midst of a North American tour in which she is largely playing selections from that album — and the tour is bringing her back to Northeast Ohio, where she studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
by Max Newman
Really good concerts will allow you to enjoy the music on show; the best ones will allow you to live inside of it. Tuareg musician Bombino’s performance at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium on Wednesday, October 11 was certainly an example of the latter. The concert was magical from start to finish.
For someone known as the “Sultan of Shred,” Bombino started off with rather subtle, serene instrumentation: Bombino himself on acoustic guitar, Kawissan Mohamed Alhassan on a more quiet, textural electric guitar, Corey Wilhelm on a large hand drum, and, most interestingly, Djakrave Dia on a seemingly hollow wooden dome, loudly mic’d, that made a water drop-esque noise when softly hit.
by Max Newman
If you are looking for a combination of pure emotional power and stylistically blended sonic bliss, look no further than Bombino, one of Africa’s brightest musical stars.
The talented songwriting virtuoso, who recently became the first ever Grammy-nominated artist from Niger, will be wowing audiences this Wednesday, October 11 at 7:30 pm in Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tickets are available online.
Bombino graciously agreed to answer questions about his upcoming performance and musical philosophy via email.
Bombino was born into a Tuareg settlement near Agadez, Niger, in 1980 — the Tuareg are an ethnic group based primarily in Niger and Mali in Africa’s Sahara region. As a Tuareg musician, the feeling of pride and responsibility he has for his people is instantly clear. “In our culture musicians have a very important role. We carry with us our traditions to pass on, but also we do act as the voice of the people, to talk about the good and bad things going on in the world. Governments will target musicians in times of conflict because we inspire people to come together and to feel united. So this carries a great power in our society. [Read more…]
by Kevin McLaughlin
It’s certainly not something you hear every day: a concert-lecture of Korean traditional music played on the modern violin. Can this kind of thing work? Should it?
It turns out the answer to both questions is absolutely, yes. Born and raised in Korea, and a violin graduate of Peabody Institute and the Cleveland Institute of Music, Soh-Hyun Park Altino was the perfect guide and persuader during her concert at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Friday afternoon, September 29.
by Mike Telin
“When we see an idea expressed in the language of art, our sensory reactions often open the heart and mind to interaction in ways that mere facts may not,” writes Yolanda Kondonassis, who is not only a celebrated harpist but also the founder and director of the Earth at Heart foundation. “Action is the goal, but a visceral call to engagement can be the catalyst. There is not a minute to lose in our battle to protect the future of our planet, and an inspired commitment can make all the difference.”
On her latest recording, Five Minutes for Earth, Kondonassis asked fifteen composers to write five-minute works for solo harp that “expressed our Earth in some condition or atmosphere.”
Released in April 2022 on Azica Records, the album features music by Jocelyn C. Chambers, Chen Yi, Michael Daugherty, Daniel Dorff, Reena Esmail, Keith Fitch, Patrick Harlin, Stephen Hartke, Nathaniel Heyder, Takuma Itoh, Aaron Jay Kernis, Philip Maneval, Máximo Diego Pujol, Gary Schocker, Arturo Sandoval, and Zhou Long.
On Sunday, October 23 at 7:00 pm at Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium, Kondonassis will present a program that includes the world-premiere live performances of all fifteen works along with recently composed pieces, poetry, and visual art. Tickets are available online.
by Jarrett Hoffman
In Hindu tradition, there is a sacred site near Allahabad, India, where three rivers meet: the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati, thought to be invisible or perhaps underground. The confluence of those three rivers is known as Triveni Sangam — a name that three virtuosos of Indian classical music have borrowed to describe their new collaboration and the confluence of styles it represents.
On Wednesday, April 20 at 7:30 pm, the Cleveland Museum of Art will receive a visit from the newly formed Triveni, a trio which blends Hindustani and Carnatic (North and South Indian) musical traditions.
On the violin, and representing the North Indian raga tradition, is Kala Ramnath. On the veena, in particular the lute-like Saraswati veena from South India, is Jayanthi Kumaresh. And on the tabla, mixing rhythmic traditions from North and South to form a bridge on which the violin and veena can meet, is Zakir Hussain.
by Peter Feher
The Cleveland Museum of Art showed off a new piece last week, though one that didn’t hang on a wall. The musical work in question — Stacy Garrop’s In a House Besieged — had its world premiere at Gartner Auditorium on Friday, March 25.
From conception to instrumentation, the score was crafted with CMA in mind. The performance (brought together by the museum’s director of performing arts, Tom Welsh) honored the late Robert G. Schneider, combining the two musical passions of that Cleveland choir director and organist. In fact, Friday’s entire program, which featured the Philadelphia-based chamber choir The Crossing, made the most of Gartner Auditorium’s organ. [Read more…]