by Mike Telin
Bryce Dessner’s musical world defies categorization. The Cincinnati native’s music has been commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Kronos Quartet, and Sō Percussion, to name a few.
His diverse roster of collaborators includes Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Paul Simon, Nico Muhly, Jonny Greenwood, Bon Iver, Jennifer Koh, Kelley O’Connor, and Taylor Swift as well as choreographer Justin Peck, and multimedia artist Ragnar Kjartansson.
The 45-year-old has won GRAMMY Awards for Best Chamber Music Performance (2016) for Murder Ballads, performed by Eighth Blackbird, and Best Alternative Music Album (2018) for Sleep Well Beast with the The National, which includes Dessner and his twin brother Aaron on guitar, piano, and keyboards.
On Friday, November 26 at 7:30 pm and Saturday at 8:00 pm in Mandel Hall at Severance, pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque will perform Dessner’s Concerto for Two Pianos with The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Gustavo Gimeno. The program also includes Ravel’s Suite from Ma Mère l’Oye (“Mother Goose”) and Franck’s Symphony in d. Tickets are available online.
As autumn finally slammed Northeast Ohio with colder temperatures, the Toronto Symphony’s new music director- designate Gustavo Gimeno led The Cleveland Orchestra in a stimulating and shining program for his Severance Hall debut on Friday, October 18. This concert featured an early, ecstatic overture by Samuel Barber, an Alberto Ginastera concerto starring principal cello Mark Kosower, and a melody-drenched warhorse by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
