by Daniel Hathaway
Bosnian composer and accordionist Merima Kljuo gave the Cleveland premiere of her work The Sarajevo Haggadah: Music of the Book at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2015 in a version for accordion and piano. Last week she returned to Cleveland with her new, vibrant orchestration of the piece, which celebrates the miraculous journey of an elegant medieval Jewish prayer book from Spain to Bosnia. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
“I have always been fascinated by the Sarajevo Haggadah, with its story and amazing history,” Bosnian-born accordionist and composer Merima Ključo told ClevelandClassical.com in a 2015 interview. “After reading Geraldine Brooks’s People of the Book, I became obsessed with the idea of a project that would musically and visually follow the Haggadah’s journey from Spain to Sarajevo.”
Dating from 14th-century Spain, the Jewish prayer book that became known as the Sarajevo Haggadah went through many hands before ending up in Bosnia, having been rescued from destruction by such unlikely figures as a Jesuit priest in Venice and a Muslim imam in Sarajevo — who hid it from the Nazis in the library of his mosque during World War II after it was smuggled out of the Bosnian National Museum by its chief librarian.
That project was presented at the Cleveland Museum of Art in its original scoring for accordion and piano in November of 2015. This week Merima Ključo will return to Cleveland for six free performances of her orchestrated version of the work with Avner Dorman and CityMusic Cleveland as part of the orchestra’s “Two Faiths: One Spirit” project. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
A native of Israel, Avner Dorman recognizes the conflict between the Jewish and Arab communities of the world, and the suffering they have felt. “And yet,” the music director of CityMusic Cleveland said in a recent interview, “I very much like all the people I know who are Muslim. Whenever we get into discussions, you really notice the commonalities more than the differences. We can’t forget that.”
This week, CityMusic Cleveland will present a series of concerts aiming to unite the Jewish and Arab communities, promote togetherness in Greater Cleveland, and emphasize the value of preserving the arts, regardless of culture. Titled “Two Faiths: One Spirit,” the series was inspired by stories of priceless religious texts that were rescued by people of other faiths.
Six free performances run from March 14-18 in Beachwood, Cleveland, Parma, Lakewood, and Elyria (see our Concert Listings for times and locations).
Needless to say, the series’ goal of unity means a lot to Dorman. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
Next week, a series of concerts by CityMusic Cleveland, led by music director Avner Dorman, will aim to unite the Jewish and Arab communities, promote togetherness in Greater Cleveland, and emphasize the value of preserving the arts — regardless of culture. Titled “Two Faiths: One Spirit,” the series was inspired by stories of priceless religious texts that were rescued by people of other faiths.
The musical centerpiece of the series is Bosnian-born Merima Ključo’s Sarajevo Haggadah: Music of the Book, featuring the composer on solo accordion. The work will receive its world premiere in a new orchestrated version commissioned by CityMusic Cleveland.
Also included on the program are works by Kareem Roustom, Behzad Ranjbaran, Tom Cohen, and Josef Bardanashvili — composers whose roots stretch from Syria to Iran, Georgia, and Israel. Six free performances run from March 14-18 in Beachwood, Cleveland, Parma, Lakewood, and Elyria (see our Concert Listings for times and locations).
by Neil McCalmont
“Dad, I think we should have a festival.” Recalling the words of his daughter Diana, Franklin Cohen related how ChamberFest Cleveland first got started. “We loved the way summer music festivals felt like a family,” he explained. “What a great way to reach the core of the average audience member.”
After more than a dozen thrilling concerts, the festival’s fifth season has come to a close. Though the number of artists and performances has grown since its 2012 inception, ChamberFest still holds this mission at its core: “To nurture a deep family-like connection between musicians and audiences of all ages.”
The father-daughter duo of Franklin and Diana Cohen founded and co-direct ChamberFest Cleveland. Diana is concertmaster of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, her father the principal clarinet emeritus of The Cleveland Orchestra. They set out to found a festival — partly inspired by their experiences at the Marlboro Music Festival — with the goal of “great players, great music-making, and great community.” [Read more…]
by Neil McCalmont
Before a performer set foot onstage at the United Methodist Church in Chagrin Falls on Monday, June 27, the solemn title to ChamberFest Cleveland’s “Last Words” set the tone for the evening — this was not going to be music you’d whistle along to. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
On Saturday evening, June 18 at the Maltz Performing Arts Center, Jewish patriarchs, matriarchs, and rabbis held works by Haydn, Kljuco, Britten, and Golijov in their embrace for a ChamberFest Cleveland concert titled “Isaac’s Dreams.” No matter how closely the pieces adhered to the theme, the performances were uniformly superb. [Read more…]
by Neil McCalmont
The fifth season of ChamberFest Cleveland — titled “Tales and Legends” — has officially begun, and the world-class festival of chamber music is off to a thrilling start.
WCLV listeners and audience members in Ideastream’s Smith Studio were treated to “Nosh at Noon,” an unofficial inaugural concert on Wednesday, June 15. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
The second in a series of articles highlighting ChamberFest artists
In October of 2015, the extraordinary accordionist and composer Merima Ključo mesmerized audiences at the Cleveland Museum of Art during the performance of her composition The Sarajevo Haggadah: Music of the Book.
On Thursday, June 16 at 8:00 pm in Mixon Hall, Ključo returns to Northeast Ohio for the first of four performances presented as part of the 2016 edition of ChamberFest Cleveland. The concert, titled “Schumann Fantasies,” will include works by Robert Schumann and György Kurtág, as well as three movements from Stephen Coxe’s A Book of Dreams for accordion, piano, and percussion. A pre-concert talk by festival speaker Patrick Castillo will begin at 7:15.
“Everywhere I go, people are surprised by what the accordion is capable of doing. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
The plangent sounds of Merima Ključo’s accordion, combined with an arsenal of musical effects from pianist Seth Knopp and evocative video art by Bart Woodstrup, told the affecting saga of a medieval Jewish prayer book last Wednesday evening in Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Read more…]