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Apollo’s Fire: Bach’s B-Minor Mass at St. Raphael, Bay Village (Apr. 14)

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by Daniel Hathaway

In the third of four back-to-back performances of J.S. Bach’s “Great Catholic Mass” on Sunday afternoon, April 14 in St. Raphael Church in Bay Village, the musicians of Apollo’s Fire showed no signs of fatigue despite heavy physical and musical demands. Led by artistic director Jeannette Sorrell, soloists, chorus, and instrumentalists gave uniformly brilliant performances of a musical monument that the composer was only able to hear in bits and pieces during his lifetime. [Read more…]

No Exit: premieres by Cleveland composers at SPACES (Feb. 16)

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by Nicholas Stevens

In a Northeast Ohio music world recently energized amid multiple anniversary seasons, ensembles have faced the challenge of honoring their histories while plunging headlong into the future. Leave it to No Exit new music ensemble, ten years young this season, to prove itself among the most forward-thinking of all. In a concert of world premieres on Saturday, February 16, the chamber collective played a program defined more by promise than by pomp.

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Margaret Brouwer’s Voice of the Lake, revised version at CIM (Oct. 19)

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by Daniel Hathaway

On October 19, almost a year after its debut, Margaret Brouwer’s ambitious oratorio Voice of the Lake, chronicling the most recent environmental assaults on Lake Erie, was revived in an updated version in Kulas Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music. The affecting and nearly flawless performance conducted by Domenico Boyagian, involved soloists (Angela Mortellaro, soprano, Sarah Beaty, mezzo-soprano, Brian Skoog, tenor, and Bryant Bush, bass), the 15-member Blue Streak Ensemble and 12 voices of the Blue Streak Ensemble Chamber Singers, and the 21-voice Cleveland Institute of Music Children’s Choir. [Read more…]

CD Review: Veil,
Chamber Music of Greg D’Alessio
Ars Futura • Navona Records

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by Hannah Schoepe

To be “veiled” suggests a loss of orientation, dimmed sight, and a shadowy sense of mystery — ideas that are captured in Cleveland-based Ars Futura Ensemble’s newest album, Veil. Released by Navona Records on September 14, the playlist consists of five multifaceted, many-hued works by Cleveland State University faculty member Greg D’Alessio. [Read more…]

Time Canvas & Archie Green go acoustic at St. John’s (Aug. 11)

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by David Kulma

With the power out in Ohio City around W 25th St and Detroit Ave on Saturday night, August 11, Time Canvas gave a fascinatingly engaging — and unexpectedly unplugged and candlelit — final concert in their three-part Home Not Home series. Titled “Hip Hop and Minimalism,” this program at Historic St. John’s focused on the Black American experience represented by local emcee and mental health advocate Archie Green. The main project of the night was mashups: using classic minimalist music by four composers as the backing tracks for Green’s eloquent rapping of righteous, warranted indignation. [Read more…]

No Exit and Patchwork combine at SPACES (Apr. 27)

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by David Kulma

PatchworkNoExitSurrounded by eclectic new art in Ohio City’s SPACES gallery, No Exit and Patchwork came together on Friday, April 27 to sound the musical cutting edge. With half the works from 2018 and most of the composers under 40, this night was a cross section of current trends in the world of new classical music. [Read more…]

NEOSonicFest: No Exit at Heights Arts (April 6)

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by David Kulma

No Exit Heights ArtsThis year’s NEOSonicFest — the new music festival presented by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony — held its second concert on Friday, April 6th with a program by the venturesome ensemble No Exit at Heights Arts. The musicians of No Exit and two guest trumpeters were in top form for this potpourri of chamber music. [Read more…]

No Exit and Zeitgeist at SPACES (January 14)

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by Mike Telin

No Exit Zeitgeist SpacesNo Exit kicked off the new year with a series of concerts that also marked the contemporary music group’s third collaboration with the excellent St. Paul-based ensemble Zeitgeist. I attended the performance on Sunday, January 14 at SPACES. [Read more…]

Ars Futura: works by D’Alessio and Rindfleisch at Drinko Hall

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by Nicholas Stevens

Ars-Futura-2017In a series of letters around the turn of the 20th century, playwright Anton Chekhov advised colleagues on a key dramatic principle of his: if one directs the audience’s attention toward a loaded gun on the stage in Act I, then the weapon should fire by the end of the play. A performance by Ars Futura last week recalled this rule. [Read more…]

No Exit at SPACES Gallery (Sept. 30)

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by Mike Telin

NoExitMontageThe inventive new music ensemble No Exit launched their ninth concert season with three identical concerts featuring world premieres by Ohio composers. I attended the September 30 performance at the acoustically pleasing SPACES Gallery. The evening was defined by works that creatively explored the use of layered rhythms, ranging from the violent to the enchanting, that were deftly performed by the seven-member ensemble. [Read more…]

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