Melinda Doolittle Archives - Cleveland Classical

Cleveland POPS brings in the New Year with Melinda Doolittle at Severance Hall (Dec. 31)

January 3, 2017 by Special to ClevelandClassical.com

by Mario Buchanan, Special to ClevelandClassical.com

On December 31 the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, under the direction of Carl Topilow, performed their annual New Year’s Eve concert at Severance Hall. Above the partygoers’ heads in the Grand Foyer were two nets filled with blue and white balloons waiting to welcome the new year, and attendees were required to grab a party horn from the table for the concert. In the auditorium, “2017” was spelled out with balloons above the stage. Clearly, this was going to be a night to remember. [Read more…]

Cleveland POPS New Year’s Eve: meet vocalist Melinda Doolittle

December 19, 2016 by Mike Telin

by Mike Telin

“Some of my favorite shows are singing with pops orchestras,” vocalist and American Idol winner Melinda Doolittle said during a recent telephone conversation. “It’s such an exhilarating feeling. There’s nothing like having a massive orchestra behind you playing the songs you love. And this is my very first New Year’s Eve symphony show, so I’m even more excited.”

On Saturday, December 31st at Severance Hall, Carl Topilow and the Cleveland POPS Orchestra will ring in 2017 with their 21st Annual New Year’s Eve Celebration. The festivities begin at 9:00 pm with a two-hour concert featuring Melinda Doolittle and the Orchestra performing Broadway songs, contemporary pops and jazz hits, and a tribute to some of the great American soul singers — Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Tina Turner, Gloria Gaynor, and Marvin Gaye. [Read more…]

VOCES8’s Oberlin debut: a delightful 20th anniversary program (Oct. 28)

by Stephanie Manning

VOCES8’s 20th anniversary called for plenty of celebration and plenty of humor.

When the British a cappella group visited the Oberlin Artist Recital Series on October 28, they brought a program of audience favorites that delighted the sold-out crowd in Finney Chapel. Known for their ethereal voices and crystal clear harmonies, the octet demonstrated all that and more as they bridged the sacred and secular in “Songs From 20 Years.”

This two-decade milestone gave good reason to celebrate not only the singers, but also their longtime arranger-in-residence, Jim Clements. Responsible for some of the group’s most requested pieces, Clements is like “the secret burger sauce in the Big Mac,” joked tenor Blake Morgan.

[Read on…]

Guitarist Leonela Alejandro makes engaging Cleveland debut at CCGS (Oct. 25)

by Stephanie Manning

When an artist is on tour for months at a time, it can be hard not to feel homesick. Leonela Alejandro knows that experience well. Her current cross-country tour — celebrating her win at the 2024 Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition — began in September and continues through next May.

That’s a lot of time away from Puerto Rico, where the 25-year-old guitarist grew up and began her musical education. So, as she explained to the audience at the Maltz Performing Arts Center on October 25, her Cleveland program brought a little bit of her home country with her. Presented by the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society, Alejandro’s local debut brought out her most engaging abilities as a performer, making the case that she is a young artist to watch. [Read on…]

No Exit opens season with “American Descent” at Praxis Fiber Workshop (Oct. 25)

by Mike Telin

There was not an open seat to be had at Praxis Fiber Workshop on Saturday, October 25 when the adventurous new music ensemble No Exit began their 17th season with a program of four thoroughly engaging works.

As a prelude to the program, James Rhodes presented two movements from Garth Knox’s Viola Spaces, a collection of eight etudes each of which focus on an extended technique.

No. 2, “Ghosts,” examines the technique of sul tasto — on the fingerboard. Beginning with a pitchless bowing on the strings, Rhodes brilliantly produced spooky, breathy, brushing sounds. In No. 6, “Harmonic Horizons,” Rhodes took listeners on a tour of the instrument’s harmonic series. Here he produced an interesting mix of straight-tones, double-stops, trills, and slides in every register of the viola.

[Read on…]

See all reviews

Follow ClevelandClassical.com

Contact us