João Luiz Archives - Cleveland Classical

João Luiz embraces a fresh perspective for his Cleveland solo outing

October 31, 2024 by Stephanie Manning

by Stephanie Manning

There’s a lot that’s new about the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society’s next concert, starting with the date. Instead of the usual Saturday, it’s a Friday — November 8, to be exact, at 7:30 pm. And although local audiences have only seen João Luiz as one half of the Brasil Guitar Duo, this time he’ll be taking the stage solo.

That’s just the beginning of the new things that await in the program “Brazil Meets Cuba.” The guitarist’s performance at the Maltz Performing Arts Center is chock full of premieres, all written for Luiz by composers Leo Brouwer, Sergio Assad, and Ronaldo Miranda.

“Those are such important composers for guitar,” Luiz said in a recent interview. “And I’m happy that I’ll be able to do that in Cleveland because I like this place, the Guitar Society, and its people so much. It’s going to be very special.” [Read more…]

Fabio Luisi leads Cleveland Orchestra in fascinating pairing of works by Colasanti and Bruckner (Feb. 13)

by Daniel Hathaway

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — An odd but fascinating pairing brought the U.S. premiere of Italian composer Silvia Colasanti’s Time’s Cruel Hand and the 1888 version of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 together on the same program in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center on Thursday, February 13. Fabio Luisi, music director of the Dallas Symphony, led resplendent performances of both works.

In addition to the striking contrast between their musical styles, the two pieces clock in at 20 and 65 minutes respectively — a conundrum for program planners, whose tasks would be much easier if composers would just format their orchestral works in neat, 30-minute packages.

[Read on…]

From “Jaws” to “Harry Potter,” Cleveland Orchestra performs John Williams’ iconic film scores (Feb. 14)

by Kevin McLaughlin

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — On Valentine’s Day evening, Keith Lockhart ignited the Cleveland Orchestra and wooed the packed house at Severance Music Center in a retrospective, The Music of John Williams.

Friday evening was an indulgence — a trip down movie lane and performances by an orchestra at its most vivid, thanks to Williams’ ingenious scoring and Lockhart’s energized conducting.

Lockhart’s close link to Williams through the Boston Pops Orchestra, having succeeded him there as music director 30 years ago, showed in his innate understanding of the music and sure-handedness on the podium. Excerpts from “Jaws,” “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones,” “E.T.” and “Harry Potter,” along with lesser-known Williams scores, made for an impressive showcase. Lockhart also engaged the audience with several amusing stories he had in his back pocket about Williams’ early days as a film composer.

[Read on…]

Youth orchestra, chorus deliver stunning Stravinsky, Brahms in Cleveland (Feb. 16)

by Daniel Hathaway

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Many shades of meaning are inherent in the adjective “youth,” some popular ones being “the quality or condition of being young, immature, or inexperienced.” Only the first of those labels applies to the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus, who gave an impressive joint Winter Concert in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center on Sunday afternoon, February 16.

Although these musicians are certainly young, under the direction of music director Daniel Reith they demonstrated musical maturity beyond their years and exuded remarkable confidence and professionalism. Perhaps we should re-label these organisms as an “apprentice” orchestra and chorus, because they polished their ensemble skills with Cleveland Orchestra mentors and conductors after having learned them from distinguished teachers in the community.

Sunday’s performance further advanced the collective gains that COYO showed in its November concert, most notably in the final work, a thrilling account of Stravinsky’s 1919 Firebird Suite. Reith guided the piece with a steady hand while still allowing its many wonderfully played solos to shine.

[Read on…]

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