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BlueWater Chamber Orchestra crosses the pond without ever leaving Cleveland (Nov. 23)

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By Peter Feher

On Saturday, Nov. 23 at University Circle’s Church of the Covenant, the outstanding BlueWater Chamber Orchestra transported listeners across the Atlantic with a pleasantly English program of Gerald Finzi, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Franz Joseph Haydn. Artistic director Daniel Meyer described his affinity for this repertoire — and explained how Haydn happens to qualify as an “honorary Englishman” — in several amiable asides throughout the evening.

Yet the focus of this concert was undoubtedly on the exceptional caliber of musician that one can find right here in Cleveland.

Violinist James Thompson — a Northeast Ohio native, graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, as well as BlueWater’s guest concertmaster this season — was the star of the night. He soared while soloing in Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, that sentimental favorite that somehow never loses its shine.

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BlueWater Chamber Orchestra: James Thompson reflects on Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending

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by Mike Telin

Two personal interests of composer Ralph Vaughan Williams were poetry and the violin, both of which are magically entwined in his work for violin and orchestra, The Lark Ascending, inspired by George Meredith’s poem of the same name. The composer’s wife Ursula wrote that in the work Vaughan Williams had “taken a literary idea on which to build his musical thought…and had made the violin become both the bird’s song and its flight…”

On Saturday, November 23 at 7:30 pm at the Church of the Covenant, violinist James Thompson will join the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra in Vaughan Williams’ethereal, single-movement work. Under the direction of Daniel Meyer, the English-themed program — Interlaced Brilliance and Love — also includes Gerald Finzi’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, and Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 (“London”). The program will also be presented on Friday the November 22 at Rocky River Presbyterian Church. (Pay-what-you-wish format).

During a recent telephone conversation, Thompson, who is BlueWater’s guest concertmaster this season, said that he understood that the work was under consideration when he was asked to join the ensemble. “I know Daniel is excited to include it on the program, so in a lot of ways, mathematically and logistically, it fits the bill. And it’s actually going to be a first performance for both of us. I’ve not had the opportunity to play the piece either, so we’ll be discovering it together this week.”

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BlueWater Chamber Orchestra meditates on the passage of time (Oct. 5)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

On October 5 at the Church of the Covenant, artistic director Daniel Meyer led the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra in an engaging program of new and familiar works, including David Biedenbender’s River of Time, with former BlueWater principal trumpet and co-artistic director Neil Mueller as soloist.

As a glorious opener, the Cleveland School of the Arts R. Nathaniel Dett Concert Choir (Robert McCorvey, director) and the BlueWater Orchestra combined forces during four spiritual and gospel arrangements. CSA also supplied select string players from the school to sit alongside the professionals, adding tonal depth and youthful energy. [Read more…]

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra with guitarist Jason Vieaux at the Covenant (May 4)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Saturday evening, May 4 found the excellent Blue Water Chamber Orchestra wrapping up their 14th season with guitarist Jason Vieaux playing Vivaldi and Avner Dorman, and the orchestra finishing up with Beethoven 7 at the Church of the Covenant under Daniel Meyer.

Blue Water comprises musicians and features soloists who live in Northeast Ohio, asks its audiences to “Pay what you wish,” and has committed itself to straight-through programs that normally run less than 90 minutes.

Grammy-winner Jason Vieaux, the featured soloist in a collaboration between BlueWater and the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society, is both an international touring artist and a local hero, who treated the capacity audience to an elegant performance of Vivaldi’s D-major concerto — originally for lute — with a fine sense of pacing and crisp articulations. [Read more…]

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra: a remarkable program with Kondonassis (Mar. 16)

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by Peter Feher

The Carnival of the Animals is missing a movement. You could easily believe this listening to Koholā Sings, an enchanting new piece by Takuma Itoh, which uses a harp to conjure up the voice of a humpback whale.

In a sensitive solo turn, harpist Yolanda Kondonassis gave the world premiere of Itoh’s work at University Circle’s Church of the Covenant on March 16, joined by BlueWater Chamber Orchestra and conductor Daniel Meyer. Their collaboration was the highlight of a program that was all-around remarkable for its delicate touch.

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BlueWater Chamber Orchestra: a conversation with harpist Yolanda Kondonassis

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by Mike Telin

“I think everybody who plays an instrument has a piece that when they heard it for the first time, they said — this is what I want to do with my life because I want to play this piece as many times as I can,” harpist Yolanda Kondonassis said during a Zoom call.

On Saturday, March 16 at 7:30 pm at Church of the Covenant, Kondonassis will perform Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro with the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra. Under the direction of Daniel Meyer, the program will also include the world premiere of Takuma Itoh’s Kohola Sings for harp and chamber orchestra, Roland’s Suite by Lully, and selections of Fauré’s Incidental Music to Pelléas et Mélisande with soprano Amanda Powell. Tickets are pay-what-you-wish.

Kondonassis recalled hearing the Ravel live for the first time at the Cleveland Institute of Music while she was still in high school at the Interlochen Arts Academy. “My teacher at Interlochen brought me to Cleveland with her on spring break. She was a student of Alice Chalifoux — who would become my mentor and teacher. I stayed with Alice and would go with her to CIM when she taught. I happened to go to somebody’s degree recital and I remember hearing the Ravel in The Pavilion, where Mixon Hall is now, and thinking it was the most phenomenal ear candy I had ever experienced.”

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BlueWater Chamber Orchestra: Jinjoo Cho soars in Barber Concerto (Nov. 17)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

In a pre-holiday offering, Bluewater Chamber Orchestra’s audience received gifts simple and somber, with intermittent thrills, on Friday evening, November 17. In an all-American program, the pleasures were many: Cindy McTee’s moving Adagio for strings, Barber’s firework of a Violin Concerto, and Copland’s wise portrait of rural America, Appalachian Spring.

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Violinist Jinjoo Cho: Barber with BlueWater & writing a book

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Following up on her Tchaikovsky Concerto performance four years ago, violinist Jinjoo Cho will make a return appearance with BlueWater Chamber Orchestra on Friday, November 17 at 7:30 pm at Church of the Covenant.

This time, the first prize winner of the 2014 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis will focus on the Concerto of Samuel Barber — part of an all-American program led by Daniel Meyer that will also include Cindy McTee’s Adagio for String Orchestra and Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring: Suite for Full Orchestra. Pay-what-you-wish tickets are available here. [Read more…]

“Viva Latina!” —
BlueWater Chamber Orchestra (Mar. 4) 

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by Kevin McLaughlin

Accordionist Hanzhi Wang held the Church of the Covenant audience in thrall on March 4 as she demonstrated mastery of the wild marvel that is her instrument in a performance of Piazzolla’s Bandoneon Concerto. The BlueWater Chamber Orchestra and conductor Daniel Meyer provided able accompaniment there, as well as lovely accounts of works by Arriaga and Copland in this Latin-tinged program.

The Symphony in D by Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, written in 1825 when the composer was just seventeen, is cast in the Haydn-Mozart mold. The performance revealed a deftly crafted work — exciting, tuneful, and blustery. After the Haydnesque slow introduction that prepares the listener for a D-major Allegro, the orchestra leaned into the unexpected d-minor with stormy energy and dynamic contrasts. Meyer kept fast tempos under control, battling acoustically challenging circumstances — distinctions of timbre and precision of attacks were frequently lost in the cavernous space.

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“Heaven and Earth” at the Church of the Covenant (Oct. 8)

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by Mike Telin

Wonderful things can happen when two accomplished ensembles collaborate. Such was the case on Saturday, October 8, when the Cleveland Chamber Choir and the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra joined forces at the Church of the Covenant in a program titled “Heaven and Earth.” The result was spectacular.

The program featured Gwyneth Walker’s The Golden Harp (1999) and Beethoven’s Mass in C. At first glance the two works appear to have little in common: Walker sets the words of Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore and Beethoven sets the text of the Latin mass. Still, the colorful, expressive music in each provides a directness to the text that takes the listener on an emotional journey.

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