By Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. Bach Fest at Trinity, Brent Kirby in Rocky River

. Steven Hough remembers his childhood in a new book

. The Almanac remembers Imogen Holst

HAPPENING TODAY:

12 Noon – Trinity Cathedral begins its spring Bach Fest with a concert by violinist Mari Sato and organist Todd Wilson that includes the E-major Violin Partita and the c-minor trio sonata. It’s free.

1:30 pm – Local #4 Music Fund/Haff-Paluck Chamber Series: Brent Kirby, guitar. Rocky River Senior Center, 21014 Hilliard Blvd. Free. [Read more…]

By Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. WRUW fundraiser

. Terrence Blanchard’s Champion at The Met

. Almanac: Pulitzer and the music prizes, first performances & births

HAPPENING TODAY:

Today’s edition of Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music, hosted by Eric Charnofsky, is the special annual telethon edition fundraiser for WRUW. Featured music: Gabriel Fauré’s Ouverture from Masques et Bergamasques, Gabriel Pierné’s Fantaisie-Ballet (piano and orchestra), Teresa Carreño’s String Quartet in b, Arnold Bax’s The Happy Forest (tone poem for orchestra), Dolores White’s Crystal Gazing (orchestra), Roberto Sierra’s Sonata No. 2 for Cello and Piano & Lukas Foss’s American Landscapes (excerpt, for guitar). Click here to listen to the internet feed from 2 pm to 4pm or tune in to 91.1 FM in the greater Cleveland area.

INTERESTING READ:

Terrence Blanchard’s Champion, an opera in jazz opens today at the Metropolitan Opera for nine performances. Click here to read Mike Silverman’s story in AP News about adapting the piece for The Met following its debut at Opera St Louis. An excerpt: [Read more…]

By Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. A short but eclectic mix of musical offerings

. Almanac: historical links with a weekend Cleveland Orchestra concert

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

APRIL 7 – FRIDAY

7:30 pm – Québecois trio É.T.É brings a mix of Gaelic jazz, folk, and step dancing, performances on fiddle, cello, and bouzouki, and vocal harmonies. Maltz Center for the Performing Arts,1855 Ansel Rd, Cleveland. Click here for tickets.

7:30 pm – Apollo’s Fire: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Rediscovered, Jeannette Sorrell, direction & harpsichord, featuring Francisco Fullana & Alan Choo & Emi Tanabe, violins. Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Concerto for Two Cellos & La Folia. West Shore Unitarian Universalist, 20401 Hilliard Blvd, Rocky River, 44116. The program will be repeated on Saturday at the Federated Church, 76 Bell St., Chagrin Falls. Tickets available online.

7:30 am – Trinity Good Friday Concert: Trinity Cathedral Choir, Todd Wilson, conducting, Elizabeth DeMio & Anne Wilson, pianists, Jacqueline Josten, soprano, Edward Vogel, baritone. Johannes Brahms’ Ein Deutsche Requiem with accompaniment for piano four hands arranged by the composer. 6:45 pre-concert talk by Charles McGuire, Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Trinity Cathedral, 2230 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. Freewill offering. [Read more…]

By Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. More music for these Jewish and Christian Holy Days

. Remembering Louis Spohr & Sébastien Érard

MUSIC FOR THESE HOLY DAYS:

With no live performances to note, today, let’s renew the search we began on Monday for interesting recordings of music for Passover and Holy Week.

The central event in Jewish history is Israel’s deliverance from bondage in Egypt, which established the observance of Passover and is celebrated in Psalm 113 (or 114 depending on your numbering system), which has come over into the Christian tradition as well.

Apollo’s Fire presented the debut of Jeannette Sorrell’s edition of Handel’s oratorio, Israel in Egypt last year, which trimmed the piece to a more concise length but preserves the colorful representations of the plagues and the escape through the Red Sea for which the composer is famous. The video is available on Vimeo. Directions here.

There are YouTube videos of performances of Psalm 114 (“In exitu Israel”) by Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville (Les Arts Florissants conducted by William Christie), by Czech composer Jan Dismas Zelenka (Ensemble Inégal & Prague Baroque Soloists under the direction of Adam Viktora), and by English composer Samuel Wesley (double choir motet, Choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, conducted by Barry Rose, from a live BBC broadcast). [Read more…]

By Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. Some live performances

. Holy Week listening (James MacMillan, pictured)

. Comings and goings

HAPPENING TODAY:

From 2 pm to 4 pm, Eric Charnofsky hosts the latest edition of Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music, featuring Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Quintet No. 1 (string quartet and piano on the composer’s birthday), David Chesky’s Violin Concerto, James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross (chorus and string orchestra) & Marcel Tournier’s By the Brook in the Woods (harp). Click here to listen to the internet feed: or tune in to 91.1 FM in the greater Cleveland area.

[Read more…]

By Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. Uncommon music both on the airwaves and in concert

. Alisa Weilerstein’s Fragments project and Ravenna High School band kids

. Remembering Mistislav Rostropovich, Ferde Grofé, and Grant Johanneson (pictured)

HAPPENING TODAY:

From 2 pm to 4 pm, Eric Charnofsky continues his forays into Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music with Darius Milhaud’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 295 No. 4, Libby Larsen’s Try Me, Good King: Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII (soprano and piano), Steven Burke’s Spring Fever for Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano, Vincent d’Indy’s Tableaux de voyage (orchestrated), Leoš Janáček’s Little Queens (girls’ choir) & Amy Williams’ Cineshape 4 (solo piano). Click here to listen to the internet feed: or tune in to 91.1 FM in the greater Cleveland area.

8:00 pm – Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project presents Wisconsin-based percussionist Noah Depew & sound and visual designer Jon Muller at Convivium 33 Gallery, 1433 E 33rd St, Cleveland. Suggested donation $15. Click here for more information.

[Read more…]

by Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. Concerts and more concerts

. Stroud Classical Guitar Competition names young semifinalists (pictured), Music Settlement announces summer camps

. Almanac: royal dedications and the “Brandenburg Concertos,” Béla Bartók topics, forensic clues from Beethoven’s hair

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

Here’s a selection of performances from this weekend’s packed schedule. For a complete list and details visit our Concert Listings page.

On Friday at 7 pm, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, the Cleveland Cello Society will present i Cellisti! 2023, featuring Cleveland Orchestra principal Mark Kosower in solo works by Hans Werner Henze and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, and in a rarely-heard ensemble transcription of the Lalo Cello Concerto for six cellos. Read a preview article here. Tickets available online. [Read more…]

By Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. Charnofsky unveils more underplayed music

. Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project reveals plans for RE:Sound Festival in June

. J.S. Bach’s birthday and the first day of spring inspire a listen to two of his secular cantatas

HAPPENING TODAY:

2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music: hosted by Eric Charnofsky. Featured music —Augusta Read Thomas’s Angel Tears; Earth Prayers (saxophone and organ), Arnold Bax’s selected art songs for baritone and orchestra, Melinda Wagner’s Concerto for Flute, Strings, and Percussion, George Rochberg’s String Quartet No. 5 & Annie Gosfield’a The Harmony of the Body-Machine (cello and static/machine noise). Click here to listen to the internet feed: or tune in to 91.1 FM in the greater Cleveland area.

IN THE NEWS:

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced details of its 2023-2024 Severance Music Center Season. Click here to view the schedule.

Following its annual Scholarship Competition on March 17, Tuesday Musical has announced the winners of its 2023 awards. Click here to read the announcement. [Read more…]

By Daniel Hathaway

IN THIS EDITION:

. Weekend performances feature clarinetist Daniel Gilbert (pictured) & Bernstein’s score to West Side Story

. Piano Cleveland announces “Dynamic Duos,: CIM to honor Anne Midgette at Commencement

. Almanac: a varied list of people & performances to commemorate, including George Crumb’s Voice of the Whale

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND: 

Multiple performances: Dan Gilbert is featured with CityMusic Cleveland in “The Visionary Clarinet” (Fri. in Lakewood, Sat. at St. Stanislaus, Sun. in Willoughby Hills) & led by Brett Mitchell, The Cleveland Orchestra plays Leonard Bernstein’s score along with screenings of West Side Story (complete film, Fri., Sat. & Sun.) [Read more…]