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Cleveland Chamber Choir: In Four Voices (Dec. 3)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

Renaissance polyphony can bloom in resonant spaces, but the Donna and James Reid Gallery at the Cleveland Museum of Art presents particular challenges: hard surfaces and a long reverb tend to blur consonants into watercolor. The Cleveland Chamber Choir’s four-voice ensemble met those conditions head-on during its “In Four Voices” program on December 3. What emerged was an evening of consistently beautiful vocal timbre shaped by a group navigating the sonic characteristics of the room.

The concert, to be followed in January and March by appearances of various-sized ensembles, is part of a new development for the Cleveland Chamber Choir, called the Camerata Series — more information here.

To improve their chances of hearing one another, the quartet — soprano Lauren Vanden Broeck, mezzo-soprano Kira McGirr, tenor Joel Kincannon, and bass Dominic Aragon — stood in a traditional “part book” formation, like a diamond, facing inward. This meant that their sound was directed toward each other, rather than outward to the listeners around them. [Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Choir celebrates tenth birthday

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by Mike Telin

On Saturday, May 17 at 7:30 pm in Trinity Cathedral, BlueWater Chamber Orchestra and Cleveland Chamber Choir present “I Believe! Knitted Voices of Justice and Faith,” with conductor Daniel Meyer and soprano Katherine Jolly. The program includes Margaret Bonds’ Credo and Mozart’s “Great” Mass in c. Pay-what-you-wish tickets are available at the door and online.

The concert also marks the culmination of the tenth anniversary season for Cleveland Chamber Choir. We spoke to CCC’s president, Melissa Vandergriff, who helped found the Choir in 2015 along with the ensemble’s first artistic director, Scott MacPherson. We also spoke to ensemble member and executive director Kira McGirr as well as Gregory Ristow, who became the group’s second artistic director in August 2023. [Read more…]

Kira McGirr to solo with Cleveland Repertory Orchestra

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by Mike Telin

If you were to ask any mezzo-soprano which piece they would love to perform, the answer might very well be Edward Elgar’s Sea Pictures. “It is true that we all want to sing it,” Kira McGirr said during a telephone conversation. “I think it’s because it fits the mezzo voice so perfectly. And there’s something about it that just grabs you.”

On Saturday, May 25 at 7:00 pm at Rocky River Presbyterian Church, McGirr will join conductor Matthew Salvaggio and the Cleveland Repertory Orchestra in Elgar’s five-movement song cycle for mezzo-soprano and large orchestra. The program also includes Jessie Montgomery’s Overture and Barbara Harbach’s Symphony No. 10 (“Symphony for Ferguson”).

Harbach’s work pays tribute to the tenth anniversary of the civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri after the killing of Michael Brown during the summer of 2014. In an email Salvaggio said, “Harbach was living and teaching in St. Louis at the time, and the piece takes music familiar to people living in Ferguson (like Wade in the Water and Chester) and transforms them into a powerful reflection on the events of that summer from the perspective of someone living in that community.” The concert is free. Click here for advance registration.

Back to the Elgar, McGirr and I continued our conversation by delving further into the piece, beginning with the poems that make up its text.

Kira McGirr: There are five different poets, but I see the poems following a journey as opposed to being just five different poems. I will give acknowledgement to the wonderful Elgar scholar Charles McGuire, who presents the idea that there’s a narrative through the five poems. [Read more…]

Canton Symphony: Mozart Requiem (Mar. 23)

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As a whole, Mozart’s Requiem is a grandiose work, sublime in its evocation of salvation and eternal rest, and fearsome in its visions of the Last Judgment. The grand forces that meet the eye — four soloists, chorus, and orchestra — suggest drama and spectacle, even if the scoring is dark: the lighter hues of flutes and oboes are omitted in favor of basset horns (cousins of the clarinet), bassoons, a choir of trombones, and strings in their lower registers. Even trumpets and timpani are used less for their ceremonial qualities than as emulsifiers of the texture.

[Read more…]

Canton Symphony enters a new era:
a conversation with music director designate Matthew Jenkins Jaroszewicz

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by Mike Telin

When Matthew Jenkins Jaroszewicz was appointed Music Director Designate of the Canton Symphony in August of 2020, the plan was for him to assume the role of Music Director in 2026. But with the passing in June of Gerhardt Zimmermann, the Orchestra’s longtime Music Director, Jaroszewicz suddenly found himself tasked with filling some big shoes sooner than expected.

On Saturday, October 7 at 7:30 pm, the young conductor will lead the Orchestra’s season-opening concert at Zimmermann Symphony Center. The program, titled “Ode to Freedom,” includes Joan Tower’s Made in America, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, and two works that will feature Seohyun Kim, winner of the 2022 Thomas and Evon Cooper International Violin Competition: Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane and Jeff Scott’s Song of the Uirapuru, receiving its world premiere. Tickets are available online.

I caught up with Jaroszewicz by phone and began by asking him how he is managing during this period of transition.

Matthew Jenkins Jaroszewicz: It’s been difficult for a lot of reasons. Obviously, in six years serving as Gerhardt’s assistant and then associate, I built a professional and personal relationship with him, and with his wife Sharon as well. The plan was for me to take over as Music Director in 2026, and after that Gerhardt would still be around as the Music Director Emeritus for five more years. So to not only be thrust into the role three years early, but to not have Gerhardt there as someone I could lean on as a mentor was a shock.

[Read more…]

“Heaven and Earth” at the Church of the Covenant (Oct. 8)

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by Mike Telin

Wonderful things can happen when two accomplished ensembles collaborate. Such was the case on Saturday, October 8, when the Cleveland Chamber Choir and the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra joined forces at the Church of the Covenant in a program titled “Heaven and Earth.” The result was spectacular.

The program featured Gwyneth Walker’s The Golden Harp (1999) and Beethoven’s Mass in C. At first glance the two works appear to have little in common: Walker sets the words of Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore and Beethoven sets the text of the Latin mass. Still, the colorful, expressive music in each provides a directness to the text that takes the listener on an emotional journey.

[Read more…]

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra 
& Cleveland Chamber Choir — 
together again at last 

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by Mike Telin 

We all know that the pandemic forced many performing arts organizations to put their plans on hold. Case in point, the collaboration between BlueWater Chamber Orchestra and the Cleveland Chamber Choir that was scheduled for May of 2020. 

Now, after a long wait, the two ensembles will come together on Saturday, October 8 at 7:30 pm at the Church of the Covenant for a performance of Beethoven’s Mass in C and American composer Gwyneth Walker’s emotionally intense The Golden Harp, featuring Ideastream Public Media’s John Mills as narrator. A pre-concert talk will be presented by Oberlin Conservatory musicologist Charles Edward McGuire 30 minutes before the performance. The concert is free.

The performance will be under the direction of both Gregory Ristow, Associate Professor of Conducting and Director of Vocal Ensembles at Oberlin, and Daniel Meyer, Artistic Director of BlueWater.

I caught up with Ristow and Meyer via Zoom and began by asking them how they came to pair the Walker with the Beethoven.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Choir: “A Season of Thanksgiving”

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by Jarrett Hoffman

This year and last, Thanksgiving has taken on an additional meaning, something that the Cleveland Chamber Choir will recognize in a free program to open its seventh season on Saturday, November 6 at 7:00 pm at St. Ambrose Parish in Brunswick.

Celebrating life and gratitude as a way of recognizing all that musicians and audiences have gone through over the last eighteen months, “A Season of Thanksgiving” brings together sacred music by Kerry Andrew, Gwyneth Walker, Kevin Allen, Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, Susan LaBarr, and Jose Elberdin, as well as arrangements by Sarah Quartel, Mark Butler, and Kevin S. Foster. (Click here to learn about CCC’s safety practices related to COVID-19.)

The Choir will be represented by an octet made up of sopranos Jackie Josten and Anna E. White, altos Katie Fowler and Kira McGirr, tenors Joel Kincannon and Peter Wright, and basses Jelani Watkins and Corey Fowler — CCC’s assistant conductor, who will also be directing the ensemble.

On that note, when I reached Fowler last Friday during a break in his teaching at Roosevelt High School, where he is Director of Choirs, we began our conversation on the topic of leading a group while also singing within it.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Choir:
“Madrigals of All Times” 

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by Mike Telin

When you hear the word madrigal, for many what first comes to mind are those dinners where the performers and guests dress in Renaissance costumes. While those events continue to flourish, especially during the Yuletide season, on Saturday, May 15 at 7:30 pm the Cleveland Chamber Choir will remind us that the writing of these part-songs has never stopped.

“Madrigals of All Times” features works by European and American composers from the 16th century to today and includes premieres of madrigals by Dolores White and Adolphus Hailstork. The pre-recorded concert can be viewed on Facebook and YouTube and following the premiere, will remain available on-demand.

In a recent conference call, CCC artistic director Scott MacPherson and managing director Kira McGirr noted that this is not the first time the Choir has presented madrigals with an updated twist. The first was “March Madrigal Madness” in 2019 where the program was organized in a bracket like the famed collegiate basketball tournament. “It was super successful,” MacPherson said. “The singers and I had a lot of fun putting it together.” [Read more…]

Cleveland Chamber Choir responds to COVID-19 and releases a new video 

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by Mike Telin

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and ban on mass gatherings, Cleveland Chamber Choir and BlueWater Chamber Orchestra have canceled their May 2 performance of “With Heaven and Earth.”

In response to the overwhelming loss of work that area musicians have experienced, the Cleveland Chamber Choir has created the More than Music Artist Relief Fund to support local performing musicians impacted by the crisis. Click here to donate and here to apply for funding.

In a recent telephone conversation, mezzo-soprano and CCC managing director Kira McGirr said that she became aware that some organizations had indicated whether or not they would be able to pay their musicians for cancelled performances. “I thought it would be a nice gesture if we offered our singers at least a portion of their fee as a thank-you and acknowledgment of the struggles that we are all experiencing. The Board unanimously agreed.”

After McGirr sent the email to CCC members notifying them of the May 2 cancellation and the Board’s intent to pay a partial fee, she immediately received messages from singers saying that they preferred to have the organization keep the money. [Read more…]

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