by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Today at Noon, the Trinity Cathedral Brownbag Concerts feature Cleveland Chamber Choir members. Dominic Aragon, baritone, Abigail Hakel-Garcia, soprano and violin, Adrian Murillo, theorbo, Kira McGirr, mezzo-soprano (pictured), and Gregory Ristow, harpsichord, in “Madness & Melancholy — including selections from Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, mad songs, and Italian and French laments.

And tonight at 7:30 in Gartner Auditorium, the Cleveland Museum of Art will host the Oberlin Sonny Rollins Jazz Ensemble, Bobby Ferrazza, director, in original works by members of the band and fresh arrangements of Rollins’ compositions, along with jazz standards.

For details of these and other classical events, visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings.

TODAY’S HEADLINE:

New York’s Met Opera announces ‘necessary’ layoffs and pay cuts

The Guardian reports that “The company is laying off 22 of its 284 administrative staffers, reducing pay for 35 of its top executives (including general director Peter Gelb and music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin), and dropping one production from next season’s schedule.”

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

On this date in 1575, Queen Elizabeth I granted English composers Thomas Tallis and William Byrd letters patent that gave them a monopoly over publishing music and music paper. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

In a free concert tonight at 7:30, the Oberlin Sonny Rollins Jazz Ensemble, Bobby Ferrazza, director, will play original works by members of the band and fresh arrangements of Rollins’ compositions along with jazz standards at the ’Sco (Dionysus Club) in Wilder Hall.

For details of these and other classical events, visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings.

INTERESTING READ:

The New York Times sent David Allen to sit in on rehearsals by The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Music Center in advance of their concerts this week at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Read How the Cleveland Orchestra Stays at the Top of Classical Music here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

By Jarrett Hoffman

Born on this date in 1895 in Coffeyville, Kansas, Eva Jessye is known as the first Black woman to achieve international recognition as a choral conductor. [Read more…]

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a federal holiday.

The Cleveland Orchestra’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Open House & Day of Music at Severance Music Center will feature  appearances by 10K Movement, Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers, Cleveland Classical Guitar Society, The Cleveland Orchestra Learning Ensembles, and The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra.

For details of these and other classical events, visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings.

The Diary & Almanac will return on Tuesday.

by Daniel Hathaway

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:

Here are our top classical music recommendations for this weekend, selected from our master concert listings calendar.

On Saturday evening at 7:30 at Severance Music Center, The Cleveland Orchestra led by Franz Welser-Möst, and the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus prepared by Lisa Wong, present Giuseppi Verdi’s Requiem, with Asmik Grigorian, soprano, Deniz Uzun, mezzo-soprano, Joshua Guerrero, tenor, and Tareq Nazmi, bass. Repeated on Sunday afternoon at 3.

On Sunday afternoon at 3 pm at the Hudson Library & Historical Society, Les Délices will celebrate the Scottish bard Robert Burns in A Red, Red Rose, a new program featuring his poetry and music with tenor James Reese.

On Sunday evening at 7pm,  CityMusic Cleveland will present its January Chamber Concert at Praxis Fiber Workshop. Erin Reidhead & Shreya Sachdev, violins, Anne Yu, viola, and Helen Hawersaat, cello, will play Jessie Montgomery’s Breakaway, Caroline Shaw’s Plan and Elevation & Valencia, and Samuel Barber’s String Quartet.

The weekend ends interestingly on Sunday evening at 7:30 with a visit from the Relic Ensemble (pictured above), who will bring the epic adventures of Homer’s Odyssey to life at Heights Theater through a dramatic curation of works by Handel, Monteverdi, Rameau, and others, performed on period instruments.

For details of these and other classical events, visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings.

WEEKEND ALMANAC:

Among those who have left their mark on the history of classical music who departed on January 16: [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Tonight at 7:30 at Severance Music Center, Franz Welser-Möst will lead The Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus in Giuseppi Verdi’s Requiem, with Asmik Grigorian, soprano (pictured), Deniz Uzun, mezzo-soprano, Joshua Guerrero, tenor, and Tareq Nazmi, bass (repeated on Saturday evening at 7:30 and Sunday afternoon at 3).

At the same hour at the Hermit Club, Les Délices will celebrate the Scottish bard Robert Burns in A Red, Red Rose, a new program featuring his poetry and music with tenor James Reese (repeated on Sunday at 3 at the Hudson Library & Historical Society.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Wer ein holdes Weib errungen,
Stimm’ in unsern Jubel ein!
Nie wird es zu hoch besungen,
Retterin des Gatten sein.

He who has won a lovely wife,
join our jubilation!
Never will she be praised too highly,
being the savior of her husband.

Those are the words that close Beethoven’s Fidelio, when the entire company celebrates the freeing of Florestan and other political prisoners through the intervention of his faithful wife Leonora.

Listening recently to the ebullient finale of the composer’s only opera — to be performed by The Cleveland Orchestra in May — made me wonder why the celebrations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy around his birthday on January 15 every year rarely mention his own faithful wife, Coretta Scott King, who continued his campaigns against racism and injustice after his assassination in Memphis on April 4, 1968. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY

Tonight at 6 pm, Piano Cleveland Live presents Spencer Myer, Chu-Fang Huang, Daria Rabotkina, and Dongni Xie, the members of the preliminary jury for The Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists, in recital at Sapphire Creek Winery & Gardens.

And at 7:30, ENCORE Chamber Music Institute presents Trio Seoul (pictured, Jinjoo Cho, violin, Brannon Cho, cello, and Kyu Yeon Kim, piano) in music by Joseph Haydn, Juri Seo, Franz Liszt, and Maurice Ravel at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

INTERESTING READ:

Can the American Oboe Sing Again?

“Building the instrument is hard enough. Turning a profit is a killer. But Jim Phelan is bent on reviving one of the great names in classical music. Read the NY Times story here.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

This edition of the Almanac complements today’s Interesting Read topic of …interesting reeds.

Several sources claim that the clarinet was invented by the German woodwind maker Johann Christoph Denner on this date in 1690 in Nürnberg. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

IN THE NEWS:

The Cleveland Orchestra welcomes three musicians to its roster. Gareth Zehngut, who has been a section violist with The Cleveland Orchestra since 2022, was appointed First Assistant Principal Viola and began the role in October. The Orchestra also welcomes Catherine Van Handel as Assistant Principal Bassoon, beginning in January 2026, and Sean Juhl as a section violist, beginning in May 2026. Read the press release here.

The Canton Symphony Orchestra Chorus invites singers to audition and become part of a welcoming, collaborative musical community. “To request an audition or attend an open rehearsal, please click here to fill out a form and we’ll be in touch.”

Akron’s Tuesday Musical is offering $10 off the ticket prices for certain upcoming performances. Read about the offer, which expires on January 14 here.

Cleveland.com reports that a nonprofit made up of supporters and former staff of Cleveland State University’s student radio station sued the university, President Laura Bloomberg and the school’s board of trustees on Monday. “The suit argues the station’s transfer to Ideastream is a violation of free speech, open government and property rights.” The switch “shocked students and loyal listeners Oct. 3, when the station suddenly started playing smooth jazz.”

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

by Mike Telin

According to the website Angel Number, the number 13 represents the combined energy of the numbers 1 and 3. It is a number with very strong symbolism and has great power.

The number 13 is a karmic number. If the power of this number is used for selfish reasons, this number can bring disaster and destruction to the person who misused its power, causing this person illness and disease. It is the fear of disaster and destruction that causes Triskaidekaphobia — the fear or avoidance of the number 13.

In honor of this date we’ve created a playlist of 13 works that contain the number 13 in the title. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

ARTICLE LINKS:

Washington National Opera Is Leaving the Kennedy Center (NY Times)

In Memoriam: Remembering the Extraordinary Artists We lost in 2025 (The Violin Channel)

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

by Mike Telin

Today marks the passing of American composer and conductor Arthur Shepherd (pictured) in 1958 in Cleveland. Born in Idaho on February 19, 1880, Shepherd entered the New England Conservatory at age 12 and upon graduation moved to Salt Lake City, leading a local orchestra for six years. He would later accept a teaching position at his alma mater. After serving as a bandmaster during World War I, at the invitation of Nikolai Sokoloff he was appointed The Cleveland Orchestra’s assistant conductor and program book editor. His tenure with the Orchestra lasted from 1920 until 1928. [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:

On Thursday at 7 pm, No Exit & Zeitgeist’s “An Evocation of Our Current Time” will premiere at Cleveland’s Trinity Cathedral, and will travel on Friday to SPACES and on Saturday to Heights Arts.

On Thursday at 7:30, The Cleveland Orchestra will play Wolfgang Amadé Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11, which have been subtitled “the Jupiter” and “The Year 1905” respectively. Read the program notes here to find out why. The program will be repeated on Friday and Saturday.

On Saturday at 1 pm, the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series will feature Vincenzo Bellini’s I Puritani in a number of local theaters, conducted by Marco Armiliato, with Lisette Oropesa, soprano, Lawrence Brownlee, tenor, Artur Ruciński, baritone, and Christian Van Horn, bass-baritone.

On Sunday at 4 pm, organist Kevin Jones will continue the long-standing January tradition of a complete performance of Olivier Messiaen’s La Nativité on the Holtkamp organ at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, in Cleveland Heights.

The weekend will conclude on Sunday at 7 pm in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center with another long-standing tradition: The Cleveland Orchestra’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Concert. This edition will be led by Taichi Fukumura, and features Latonia Moore, soprano, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Chorus.

For details of these and other classical events, visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings.

TODAY’S FEATURED ARTICLES:

Terence Blanchard to curate The Cleveland Orchestra’s fourth annual Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival May 15–24 (Orchestra Press Release)

Piano Cleveland to present Concerts Around Town (Web Page)

Semyon Bychkov Appointed Music Director of Paris National Opera (The Violin Channel)

Béla Fleck cancels Kennedy Center shows (NY Times) [Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

12:00 Noon – Trinity Cathedral Brownbag Concert. The Horizon Trio (Garrett Folger, trumpet & composer, Carmen Castaldi, drums & Anthony Fuoco, piano). Jazz at Trinity Cathedral.

TODAY’S HEADLINES (from Arts Journal):

Corporation or Public Broadcasting Has Officially Dissolved (The Guardian)

Ultimately, NPR Will Be Okay, Says Ari Shapiro (Substack)

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

French composer Francis Poulenc (pictured) was born on this date in 1899, making January 7 a good occasion to revisit his Flute Sonata. Demarre McGill plays it here with pianist Michael McHale, but you can simultaneously raise a glass to a second musician, Jean-Pierre Rampal, born on this date in 1922, with a performance of the work he recorded with pianist Robert Veyron-Lacroix.

His Gloria exemplifies his compositional style, aptly described by a YouTube commentator: “His ingenious ability to join the secular and the sacred, in this case, French cabaret and High liturgy is unmatched, except maybe for Mozart.” [Read more…]