Diamond Brass Quintet Archives - Cleveland Classical

Rocky River Chamber Music Society: Diamond Brass streamed (Oct. 12)

October 27, 2020 by Daniel Hathaway

by Daniel Hathaway

The Diamond Brass Quintet opened Rocky River Chamber Music Society’s new season on Monday, October 12 with nobody in the pews at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church. Like most performances these days, the concert was only attendable online. The players were widely-spaced on the stage, plexiglass shields were in place to cut down on aerosol transmissions, and the quintet took two intervals to go outdoors and let the air in the sanctuary refresh itself. (Rehearsals had been held outside as well.) [Read more…]

Rocky River Chamber Music Society opens season with Diamond Brass Quintet

October 6, 2020 by Jarrett Hoffman

by Jarrett Hoffman

After COVID struck, the Rocky River Chamber Music Society was one of the area’s first organizations to set up a live-streamed concert, the Society’s season finale in May.

One of the performers that night was trumpeter and board member Amanda Bekeny, who now brings her Diamond Brass Quintet colleagues to West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church to open the series’ 62nd season on Monday, October 12 at 7:30 pm.

Joining Bekeny will be trumpeter Nina Bell, hornist Greg Hills, trombonist David Mitchell, and tubist J.c. Sherman. Their program, live-streamed only, will include works by J.S. Bach, Victor Ewald, Stravinsky, Eric Ewazen, and Anthony DiLorenzo, and can be accessed on Facebook or YouTube.

Phenomenal player, great teacher, superstar freelancer: those are the words that RRCMS music director Dan McKelway used to describe Bekeny back in May.

I’ll add to that a few adjectives of my own. First, humble — the trumpeter gave a hearty laugh after I shared McKelway’s “superstar” compliment. And second, down-to-earth — after a very short delay at the start of our Zoom call, she explained that she hadn’t had the right TV show on for her 3-year-old. (Apparently, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood wasn’t good enough.)

[Read more…]

Pianist Yuja Wang creates magic with The Cleveland Orchestra (Nov. 28)

by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Thanksgiving weekend concerts by The Cleveland Orchestra often center around a big-ticket soloist or a popular piece.

This year’s program offers both, thanks to star pianist Yuja Wang and Maurice Ravel’s brilliant orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.”

On Friday November 28, the snow cleared just in time for the crowds to arrive at Severance Music Center for the evening event. Led by conductor Petr Popelka, the resulting concert equally displayed the prowess of Orchestra and soloist over the course of three fascinating works.

György Ligeti’s Piano Concerto stood out in contrast to the lush textures and easy-to-follow melodies of the works that surrounded it. Premiered in 1988, its dissonant and avant-garde music might have come from another world. But both Wang and the Orchestra rose to meet the challenge of its devilishly tricky rhythms with an assured confidence.

[Read on…]

Les Arts Florissants make Vivaldi’s Four Seasons feel fresh and inspired (Nov. 18)

by Stephanie Manning

Performing a work as ubiquitous as Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons requires a delicate balance. At its best, the musicality and intention must be crystal clear, so that the end result feels as fresh as it does familiar. It’s a high bar, but one that Les Arts Florissants cleared with the utmost ease.

On November 18, the renowned French baroque ensemble visited Tuesday Musical to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Vivaldi’s famous quartet of violin concertos. Soloist Théotime Langlois de Swarte led the spirited group in the Vivaldi-focused program, which also included works by Marco Uccellini and Claudio Monteverdi. [Read on…]

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra with violinist David McCarroll in Rocky River (Nov. 23)

by Daniel Hathaway

Let’s cut to the chase and simply say that it would be difficult to imagine a more perfect and moving performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto than the one David McCarroll gave with Daniel Meyer and BlueWater Chamber Orchestra on Sunday afternoon, November 23 at Rocky River Presbyterian Church. We’ll come back to that thought.

The straight-through performance preceded the Beethoven with works by Cleveland composer Margaret Brouwer and a youngish Aaron Copland.

Brouwer’s engaging and popular The Art of Sailing at Dawn evokes memories of growing up on the Great Lakes. A flute conjures sonic images of gulls, and subtle waves support a lovely oboe solo before the wind kicks up and dark clouds assemble. A storm erupts, but soon passes, leading to a quiet ending. [Read on…]

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