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Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival: Petra Polácková recital and Final Round of the Stroud Youth Competition (June 7)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Born in the Czech Republic and now teaching in Weimar, Petra Polácková has become one of the most revered performers at the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival. Her choice of repertory and her elegant playing using three different instruments on Sunday afternoon, June 7 in Mixon Hall made for a splendid finale to the 2026 Festival.

Polácková began her program,“The Art of Polyphony” with two works by Luys de Narvaez, playing Cancion del Emperador with beautiful tone and phrasing and heartfelt ornamentation, and O Gloriosa Domina with wonderfully transparent passages of counterpoint. [Read more…]

Petra Polácková returns to her “second home”

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by Mike Telin

“I remember coming to the U.S. for the first time to play in the Cleveland Festival,” Petra Polácková recalled during a Zoom conversation. “That was twelve years ago. I remember Armin Kelly waiting for me at the airport — we were all super excited and of course, super nervous.”

On Sunday, June 7 at 4:00 pm in Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Polácková will make her tenth appearance at the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival. Jonathan Leathwood will give a free pre-concert talk at 3:00 pm. Tickets are available online.

In addition to the Festival, Polácková has also returned to record videos for Guitars International. “This might be my 12th time in Cleveland, so nowadays it’s like coming home for the annual meeting of the family. I can’t imagine not being in Cleveland at least once a year.”

The guitarist said that the origins of her setlist began to take shape when she was asked to play a Spanish program for a Rodrigo anniversary festival. [Read more…]

Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival: recitals by Alan Mearns, Laura Snowden & Petra Polácková (June 7 & 8)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Northern Ireland-born guitarist Alan Mearns, now based in North Carolina, gave the first of three very different recitals I heard at the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival. He performed on Saturday afternoon, June 7 in Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Following the plan he described in an interview, his solo recital largely featured transcriptions and arrangements of works not originally intended for the guitar, a topic he addressed in a lecture conversation with Jonathan Leathwood the day before.

The gist of that session, Mearns said, was that arrangers are really re-composing pieces that should sound as native as possible on new instruments, but need not slavishly include every note of the original. [Read more…]

Petra Poláčková dazzles at CICGF with a journey into Czech Music (June 9)

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by Max Newman

You will not hear many classical guitarists with a better feel for emotion, atmosphere, pace, and tone than Petra Poláčková. The talented Czech musician showcased all of these talents and more for the audience at the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Mixon Hall on Sunday afternoon June 9.

The performance, the penultimate event of the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival, spanned four exhilarating Czech works. On this particular afternoon, golden sunbeams streaked in through Mixon’s floor-to-ceiling windows, drenching the stage with a light that underscored the otherworldly quality of Poláčková’s playing. One would be hard-pressed to find a more musically exhilarating way of closing out this magnificent series. [Read more…]

Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival marks its 24th season this weekend at CIM

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by Daniel Hathaway

From Thursday, June 6 through Sunday, June 9 the Cleveland Institute of Music will host the 24th edition of the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival. Presented by Guitars International, the Festival features a rich mix of recitals, master classes, and lectures by eminent guitarists, bracketed by the fourth annual James Stroud Youth Competition. In a telephone conversation earlier this week, founder and artistic director Armin Kelly said, “It’s a lot of work and a lot of worry, but I love it.”

Considering the festival’s many moving parts, only one complication arose this time around that required quick action on Kelly’s part. “We did have one concert artist we were hoping to bring this year, who a week or two ago informed us that their U.S. visa had been denied. Fortunately, we had another guitarist who lives in Colorado we were planning on bringing next year who we were able to move up to this year.”

That problem having been solved, I asked Kelly what particularly excites him about this year’s lineup. “Obviously, the festival reflects my taste,” he said, “but the individual refinement of our artists is, I think, quite special.” [Read more…]

Petra Poláčková wows at Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival (June 5)

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by Mike Telin

Over the past few years Petra Poláčková has enthralled audiences at the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival, and on Sunday afternoon, June 5, at the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Kulas Hall, the young Czech musician demonstrated why she has become a Festival favorite.

Her program, “Canciones,” featured a set of songs by Narvaez, Dowland, Milano, and Cassado, arrangements of Catalan folk songs by Liobet, and six Schubert lieder. And from start to finish the performance had the “wow” factor we have come to expect from Poláčková — her technique was unblemished and her thoughtful interpretations were both reserved and expansive.  [Read more…]

Cleveland Classical Guitar Festival: Drew Henderson, joined later by Petra Poláčková (June 2)

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by Jacob Strauss

On Thursday June 2 in Kulas Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Drew Henderson (Canada) opened the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival with a program of Baroque and Romantic music.

This was the first time the festival had been in-person since the pandemic hit the world in March 2020. Henderson was grateful to be playing in front of an audience again, and he performed generously, his musicianship was thoughtful and earnest.

With his eight-string guitar propped up on a support rest, Henderson informed the audience that he would be adding to the program and begin by playing an unmeasured prelude by Sylvius Leopold Weiss, a preeminent composer for the lute, and a contemporary of J.S. Bach. [Read more…]

Classical Guitar Festival returns coupled with Stroud Competition: a conversation with Armin Kelly

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by Daniel Hathaway

When COVID-19 crashed the party in March of 2020, it arrived just as musical organizations were putting final touches on their summer festival plans.

The famously disruptive pathogen caused the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival to make major alterations in its annual event at the Cleveland Institute of Music that June. What may look like the most practical solution — taking a whole festival online — poses problems of its own.

“Early on, and learning on the spot, we resorted to videos,” founder and artistic director Armin Kelly said during a recent phone conversation. “We were proud of what we were able to do on such short notice, but nothing beats the camaraderie of a live performance.” [Read more…]

Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival: eight strings and YouTube with Drew Henderson

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Several things can stand in the way of a smooth musical arrangement, including the range of the instrument of destination.

“There used to be so many instances in arranging music when I said to myself, I wish I had some extra strings,” guitarist Drew Henderson said during a recent call from Toronto. So when an opportunity presented itself to purchase an eight-string guitar for a good price, he went for it. “And I haven’t looked back.”

Henderson will share the bill with Petra Polácková during a free, pre-recorded concert on Friday, June 4 as part of the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival. The Canadian guitarist will make use of the eight-string instrument for his own arrangement of the Prelude, Sarabande, and Boureés from J.S. Bach’s Fourth Cello Suite. His program also includes Joaquín Turina’s Sonata and Johann Kaspar Mertz’s arrangement of Schubert’s Lob der Tränen.

Henderson’s portion of the evening airs here at 7:30 pm, while Polácková will take the reins at 8:15 pm here with a program of music by John Dowland, Miguel Llobet, and Mertz. Admission is free, and donations can be placed here to support the artists.

[Read more…]

Armin Kelly talks about taking this year’s International Classical Guitar Festival online

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by Daniel Hathaway

Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival founder Armin Kelly was planning to celebrate the second decade of the event when the novel coronavirus crashed the party. “The 2020 shutdown was too close to our festival time to put an alternate plan together,” he said in a recent phone conversation. “So we put up one streamed concert, and that was our 20th anniversary season.”

That concert featured perennial festival favorites Jason Vieaux and Colin Davin performing from the audition room of Guitars International, the business Kelly runs out of his house. “It made me very happy to present them, because Jason and Colin had had all of their concerts cancelled and hadn’t been able to perform for anyone for a month or two,” Kelly said. He added that he had more fun than anyone else at his own party. “There was so much excitement behind the scenes. It really touched my heart.” [Read more…]

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