Kathy Henkel Archives - Cleveland Classical

Preview: Dana New Music Festival XXX to feature music by Swedish composer Lars Bröndum

April 28, 2014 by Special to ClevelandClassical.com

by Daniel Hathaway

Soon after arriving at the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University, composers Robert and Gwyneth Rollin founded the Dana New Music Society and the New Music Festival. This week, the Festival celebrates its thirtieth anniversary with a series of performances and premieres on Wednesday, April 30 and Thursday, May 1.

The free performances begin with a Music at Noon concert on Wednesday at the Butler Institute of American Art, followed by a gala concert in Bliss Recital Hall on Wednesday evening featuring Robert Rollin and the Festival Orchestra. Guest pianist Holly Roadfeldt will play a solo recital on Thursday evening in Bliss Recital Hall (see the calendar listings for details).

Swedish composer and performer Lars Bröndum (above) and California-based composer Kathy Henkel will be the featured artists this year, each of them premiering a new work. Bröndum will be returning to the university where he first matriculated as a guitar major but soon encountered the new music scene. “When they introduced us to the curriculum as freshmen,” he said in a telephone conversation, “they warned us about taking a certain course because it was all ‘strange music’.” [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra’s holiday concerts return with plenty of festive cheer (Dec. 11)

by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — If the twinkling lights, leafy green garlands and festive poinsettias didn’t already clue you in, the holidays have arrived at Severance Music Center. ‘Tis the season for annual traditions — including The Cleveland Orchestra’s holiday concerts, which began on Wednesday evening.

Running through December 22, the programs feature plenty of seasonal classics plus some potential new favorites. The first performance proved that this mix is a delightful recipe for festive cheer.

“Look at you all, out on a school night!” conductor Sarah Hicks proclaimed joyfully from the podium. Just as many concertgoers donned red outfits to get into the spirit, Mandel Concert Hall was also decked out with decorations and stage lighting effects.

[Read on…]

Oberlin Conservatory convincingly tells Omar’s story (Dec. 8)

by Stephanie Manning

The Cleveland premiere of Rhiannon Giddens’ and Michael Abels’ Pultizer Prize-winning opera Omar on December 8 at the Maltz Performing Arts Center proved that concert productions of opera can succeed without sets, elaborate costumes and extensive staging. Indeed, the Oberlin Conservatory presentation offered more than enough to keep the audience in the crowded house enthralled.

The Opera, which was also presented at Oberlin’s Finney Chapel two days earlier, is based on the 1831 autobiography of Muslim scholar Omar ibn Said, the only such work written by an enslaved person during their enslavement, and the only such document written in Arabic.

Rhiannon Giddens’ brilliant libretto chronicles the life of ibn Said, beginning in present-day Senegal and following him through his capture, journey via the Middle Passage, and enslavement in North and South Carolina. [Read on…]

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