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DIARY: Sunday, April 19, 2020

April 19, 2020 by Daniel Hathaway

DIARY: Saturday, April 18, 2020

April 18, 2020 by Daniel Hathaway

DIARY: Friday, April 17, 2020

April 17, 2020 by Daniel Hathaway

DIARY: Thursday, April 16, 2020

April 16, 2020 by Daniel Hathaway

DIARY: Wednesday, April 15, 2020

April 15, 2020 by Daniel Hathaway

DIARY: Tuesday, April 14, 2020

April 14, 2020 by Daniel Hathaway

DIARY: Monday, April 13, 2020

April 13, 2020 by Daniel Hathaway

DIARY: Sunday, April 12, 2020

April 12, 2020 by Daniel Hathaway

DIARY: Saturday, April 11, 2020

April 11, 2020 by Daniel Hathaway

DIARY: Friday, April 10, 2020

April 10, 2020 by Daniel Hathaway

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Apollo’s Fire: Winter Sparks from Bach & Vivaldi in Rocky River (Feb. 1)

by Daniel Hathaway

Apollo’s Fire runs on a steady supply of 17th- and 18th-century music, but when artistic director Jeannette Sorrell is really out to fan the flames, her accelerant of choice is inevitably the music of Antonio Vivaldi.

On Sunday afternoon, February 1, at Rocky River Presbyterian, in a program curated by associate artistic director and concertmaster Alan Choo, Cleveland’s Baroque Orchestra featured members of the ensemble and guests in “Winter Sparks,” three of the 500-some concertos Vivaldi wrote for the orchestra of young abandoned women over the three decades he served as music director of the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice.

For a warmup, Choo led the ensemble in Vivaldi’s Sinfoni in g, RV 157, which began with a cheerful allegro featuring the percussive articulation that a band of Baroque violinists can achieve. By way of contrast, the following Largo received lovely, lyrical treatment from Choo, his second violinist Emi Tanabe, and violist Nicole Divall. The concluding Allegro was punctuated by bursts of sonic thunder. [Read on…]

Rocky River Chamber Music Society: Africa→West Percussion Trio (Jan. 26)

by Kevin McLaughlin

On Monday evening, January 26 at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, the Rocky River Chamber Music Society offered listeners a kind of gentle shock: a stage transformed into what looked like a percussionist’s greenhouse — a whole garden of instruments, some recognizable, many not, brightly colored and often hard to name.

Africa → West Percussion Trio (Jamie Ryan, Ryan Korb, and Josh Ryan) made an evening out of that abundance, blending West African and Afro-Caribbean traditions with their Western classical and jazz training. The playing was expert, but the trio’s real gift was making the unfamiliar feel accessible — and joyful. [Read on…]

Akron Symphony looks forward to 2026 with composers new and old (Jan. 17)

by Stephanie Manning

The musical journey of a concert can’t always be summed up by its title. The Akron Symphony’s January 17 performance certainly delivered on its promise of “Beethoven’s Seventh” with a dignified reading of that famous work. But the headline did not hint at the more intriguing pieces on offer — nor the idea that this program aimed to spark enthusiasm about the year ahead.

“Hope and optimism” were the words that conductor Christopher Wilkins used to describe the musical choices to the audience in E.J. Thomas Hall on Saturday.

This idea of looking toward the future appeared right away with a piece by Sarah Hegenderfer, a composition student at The University of Akron. Her lovely little gem of a piece, Clearing of Snow, paints a winter scene at sunset in lush textures.

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