Eric Poe Archives - Cleveland Classical

GNASH: Graham Nash sings hits with Contemporary Youth Orchestra and Chorus

June 9, 2015 by Daniel Hathaway

by Jeremy Reynolds

Jogging onto the stage of Severance Hall, Liza Grossman wasted no time in launching the barefoot Contemporary Youth Orchestra and Chorus straight into the opening number of their annual “Rock the Orchestra” concert on Friday, June 5. After a slow, somber musical introduction from the students, singer-songwriter and philanthropist Graham Nash walked onstage, serenely and similarly unshod, to a standing ovation from listeners. He began GNASH — a concert celebrating his five-decade musical career — with a spirited rendition of “To the Last Whale” (Nash, David Crosby, 1975). [Read more…]

Preview: Contemporary Youth Orchestra to explore music of Pixar, Disney and Marvel on March 15

March 11, 2014 by Special to ClevelandClassical.com

by Daniel Hathaway

Those of us (of a certain age) who grew up watching the animated films (call them cartoons if you must) of the mid-twentieth century received a subliminal dose of well-crafted music that would hold up well in the concert hall — and probably turned us in a good musical direction as a result.

Now the film music of Disney, Pixar and Marvel has moved from celluloid into symphonic circles, as The Cleveland Orchestra has recently been proving in performances at Blossom. On Saturday, March 15 at 7 pm in Waetjen Auditorium at CSU, the next generation of orchestral musicians will tackle that repertory as Liza Grossman leads the Contemporary Youth Orchestra in its annual Music and Its Industry concert, “The Sound of Imagination: Music of Pixar, Disney and Marvel.”

The performance will mark the seventh time that Grossman has collaborated with Case Western Reserve University musicologist Daniel Goldmark in designing and providing narrative context for its midwinter concert. [Read more…]

VOCES8’s Oberlin debut: a delightful 20th anniversary program (Oct. 28)

by Stephanie Manning

VOCES8’s 20th anniversary called for plenty of celebration and plenty of humor.

When the British a cappella group visited the Oberlin Artist Recital Series on October 28, they brought a program of audience favorites that delighted the sold-out crowd in Finney Chapel. Known for their ethereal voices and crystal clear harmonies, the octet demonstrated all that and more as they bridged the sacred and secular in “Songs From 20 Years.”

This two-decade milestone gave good reason to celebrate not only the singers, but also their longtime arranger-in-residence, Jim Clements. Responsible for some of the group’s most requested pieces, Clements is like “the secret burger sauce in the Big Mac,” joked tenor Blake Morgan.

[Read on…]

Guitarist Leonela Alejandro makes engaging Cleveland debut at CCGS (Oct. 25)

by Stephanie Manning

When an artist is on tour for months at a time, it can be hard not to feel homesick. Leonela Alejandro knows that experience well. Her current cross-country tour — celebrating her win at the 2024 Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition — began in September and continues through next May.

That’s a lot of time away from Puerto Rico, where the 25-year-old guitarist grew up and began her musical education. So, as she explained to the audience at the Maltz Performing Arts Center on October 25, her Cleveland program brought a little bit of her home country with her. Presented by the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society, Alejandro’s local debut brought out her most engaging abilities as a performer, making the case that she is a young artist to watch. [Read on…]

No Exit opens season with “American Descent” at Praxis Fiber Workshop (Oct. 25)

by Mike Telin

There was not an open seat to be had at Praxis Fiber Workshop on Saturday, October 25 when the adventurous new music ensemble No Exit began their 17th season with a program of four thoroughly engaging works.

As a prelude to the program, James Rhodes presented two movements from Garth Knox’s Viola Spaces, a collection of eight etudes each of which focus on an extended technique.

No. 2, “Ghosts,” examines the technique of sul tasto — on the fingerboard. Beginning with a pitchless bowing on the strings, Rhodes brilliantly produced spooky, breathy, brushing sounds. In No. 6, “Harmonic Horizons,” Rhodes took listeners on a tour of the instrument’s harmonic series. Here he produced an interesting mix of straight-tones, double-stops, trills, and slides in every register of the viola.

[Read on…]

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