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Cleveland Classical Guitar Society: Showcase Concert (Sept. 14)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

The Cleveland Classical Guitar Society kicked off its new season at the Maltz Performing Arts Center on Saturday, September 14 with its “2024 Showcase,” highlighting outstanding Cleveland talent and a rising star.

As is customary, an alumnus of CCGS’ Citizens Leadership Academy began the evening. Damien Goggans gave a superb and poised performance, evidence of his own talent and bestowing reflected glory on the educational arm of CCGS.

Goggans, who is a classical guitar performance major at Oberlin Conservatory, has already enjoyed triumphs at Severance Music Center and on national television and radio. Selecting three of Thomas Flippin’s 14 Études on the Music of Black Americans to play (III. “Don’t Let Nobody Turn You ’Round,” XIII. “Wake Up, Jacob,” and XII. “Don’t Be Weary, Traveler”), he sang the three spiritual melodies with an easy and clear voice before playing the etudes on guitar alone. Goggans’ guitar playing was an extension of his singing voice: sensitive, technically secure, and dignified. [Read more…]

A peaceful afternoon at Classically Lake View (July 7)

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by Stephanie Manning

Choosing a mausoleum as a concert venue might imply a more somber occasion, but the atmosphere was distinctly lighthearted at the Classically Lake View concert on July 7. Held in the Lake View Cemetery’s Community Mausoleum on a sunny Sunday afternoon, a string quartet of Cleveland Orchestra members and an Oberlin student guitarist presented a spirited program of chamber music by Black composers.

First violinist Liyuan Xie confidently led the quartet as they kicked things off with two movements from Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges’ String Quartet No. 3, Op. 1. Despite the unconventional indoor space, the small stage helped with projection and the blend between the four musicians kept a balanced timbre. (Probably best not to add any wind instruments into the mix with that echo, though.) [Read more…]

Classically Lake View chamber series celebrates Justin Holland — Cleveland’s forgotten composer

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by Mike Telin

Set on 285 acres on Cleveland’s East Side, Lake View Cemetery’s wonderful landscapes, beautiful gardens, and artful monuments make it a serene final resting place as well as a tranquil retreat for the living to reconnect with nature.

On Sunday, July 7 at 3:00 pm in the Community Mausoleum, the recently created Classically Lake View chamber music series will present “Cleveland’s Forgotten Composer, Guitar Hero, and Abolitionist, Justin Holland.”

Under the artistic direction of Cleveland Orchestra violinist Isabel Trautwein, the program spans over 280 years of chamber music by Black composers, including Joseph Bologne, Justin Holland, Scott Joplin, Florence Price, William Grant Still, George Walker, and Thomas Flippin. Performers include guitarist Damian Goggans, violinists Liyuan Xie and Isabel Trautwein, violist Eliesha Nelson, and cellist Tanya Ell. The emcee will be Jennifer Coleman, Program Director for Creative Culture and Arts at the Gund Foundation. Tickets are available online.

[Read more…]

MusiCLE Yours to present social justice-themed “Porchestra Concert” at Cozad-Bates House

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Last summer, according to Cleveland Orchestra violinist Isabel Trautwein, musicians from the Orchestra played 90-100 outdoor events. “These were driveway concerts and porch concerts with friends and students,” Trautwein said by telephone from her farm in Geneva (where she recently put on a program called Barnegie Hall.) “We thought, why don’t we give that a name, so that it has more of an impact, and so we all know we’re part of something larger.”

That something larger has become MusiCLE Yours, an initiative by a group of Orchestra members to share solo and chamber music — particularly but not exclusively by under-represented composers — with a range of communities throughout the area.

They started with recordings posted on YouTube, including a few that were filmed at the Crawford Auto Aviation Museum at the Cleveland History Center, with vintage cars visible in the background.

The next undertaking from MusiCLE Yours takes place at another venue off the beaten path, this time live, outdoors, and themed around social justice. “I can’t help with all the woes in our world, but I think we musicians — we must tackle the social justice issues surrounding our art form, especially classical music,” Trautwein said.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Classical Guitar Society: Raphaël Feuillâtre at Plymouth (Oct. 5)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Concluding a week-long residency, 23-year-old French guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre played the opening concert of the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society’s International Series on Saturday evening, October 5. His program of works by Paraguayan, Spanish, French, Cuban, Brazilian, and Russian composers — some written for the instrument, some transcribed — covered a broad range of styles and introduced one of the bright young lights of the guitar world to a good-sized audience in Plymouth Church. [Read more…]

Cleveland Classical Guitar Society Ana Vidović Recital (Oct. 20)

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by Nicholas Stevens

Concerts can inspire a range of moods: passionate engagement at best, shades of frustration or offense at worst. One such mood, rare and therefore precious, arises when it dawns on the listener that something amazing is happening onstage, and the sheer quality of the performance prompts rapt absorption. Audience members at guitarist Ana Vidović’s concert for the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society last week would eventually solicit an encore with a high-volume ovation. During the main program, however, near-silence descended over the pews of Plymouth Church, dozens straining to hear each masterful nuance. [Read more…]

Cleveland Classical Guitar Society: Les Frères Méduses at Plymouth (Feb. 24)

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by Robert Rollin

LesFreres022418Last Saturday night February 24, Les Frères Méduses (The Jellyfish Brothers) completed their Cleveland residency with a concert at Shaker Heights’ Plymouth Church focusing on 21st Century music for two guitars. The Duo, Frenchman Benoit Albert and Ohio native Randall Avers, featured their own improvisations, which were tossed off with flair and impeccable ensemble. [Read more…]

CIM Names Inaugural Minority Artist Fellows

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The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) has announced that guitarist Damian Goggans and cellist Evan Rowland-Seymore will be the first recipients of CIM’s Minority Artist Fellowship (MAF). The program aims to provide opportunities for diverse students between grades 7-9 looking to engage seriously in music. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Classical Guitar Society: a new season of concerts and educational programs

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by Mike Telin

CCGS-Showcase-2017To launch its International Series, the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society puts on an annual showcase concert. This year’s edition on Saturday, September 16 at 7:30 pm at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights will feature Jeremy Collins, Stephen Aron, and the Gruca White Ensemble — Robert Gruca, guitar, and Linda White, flute. The event is free, but donations are welcome.

During the concert, CCGS will present three awards: Volunteer of the Year to Simeon Brown, Student of the Year to Damian Goggans, and the Cleveland Guitar Award to Loris Chobanian, honoring an individual who has made a tremendous impact on the classical guitar in the Cleveland community.

[Read more…]

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