Randy Jackson Archives - Cleveland Classical

Windborne’s Led Zeppelin at Blossom Music Festival (August 20)

August 30, 2016 by Robert Rollin

by Robert Rollin

Saturday night, August 20, at the Blossom Music Center, the rock quintet Windborne and the Blossom Festival Orchestra, conducted by Brent Havens, presented “The Music of Led Zeppelin, A Rock Symphony.” Havens arranged Zeppelin’s songs with an eye towards authenticity, so that longtime fans of the group would recognize the tunes in a tasteful orchestral tapestry that supported and augmented their original intent. Led Zeppelin at times used orchestral forces in its pieces, and Haven’s arrangements were consistently faithful to the originals. [Read more…]

Windborne’s “Music of Led Zeppelin” to visit Blossom Festival on August 20

August 8, 2016 by Mike Telin

by Mike Telin

When guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham formed the band Led Zeppelin in 1968, little did they know that their guitar-driven sound and music rooted in blues, psychedelia, and folk music would lead them to become one of the most successful rock groups in history.

On Saturday, August 20 at 8:00 pm at Blossom Music Center, conductor and arranger Brent Havens will lead the Blossom Festival Orchestra in Windborne Productions’ “Music of Led Zeppelin.” The evening will feature classic Zeppelin tunes, including Good Times Bad Times, Black Dog, All My Love, Kashmir, and of course, Stairway to Heaven. [Read more…]

Looking forward to the summer season: a conversation with Cleveland Orchestra artistic administrator Ilya Gidalevich

June 23, 2016 by Mike Telin

by Mike Telin

Now that summer is officially upon us, it’s time to locate the picnic basket, fill it with your favorite summer foods, and head to the Cuyahoga National Park with family and friends to enjoy a Cleveland Orchestra concert at Blossom Music Center. And, if anyone in your vehicle is under the age of 18, their seat on the lawn is free.

If you can’t make it to Blossom, the Orchestra has scheduled three early Friday evening concerts in its Summers@Severance series. Special “happy hour” drink prices will be offered one hour prior to each concert on Severance Hall’s front terrace. Attendees are encouraged to arrive early and enjoy the outdoor delights of University Circle.

“As usual the summer season is a mix of musical genres and artists,” Cleveland Orchestra artistic administrator Ilya Gidalevich said during a recent telephone conversation. [Read more…]

No Exit: New Season, New Sounds at SPACES Gallery (Oct. 19)

by Daniel Hathaway

No Exit New Music’s events are like carefully curated art shows, and come complete with printed programs that more resemble exhibition catalogs than what you’d normally be handed at the door of a concert venue.

It takes some space to present the often complex back stories of contemporary works, and the ensemble’s triad of October programs, simply titled “New Season, New Sounds” was accompanied by a colorful, artsy, 39-page booklet that could become a collector’s item.

I joined a good-sized and enthusiastic audience to attend the third performance at SPACES Gallery on Saturday evening, October 19. [Read on…]

Apollo’s Fire opens Bach-focused season with Brandenburgs (Oct. 18)

by Peter Feher

If it weren’t for J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, there might not be period-instrument ensembles like Apollo’s Fire. Cleveland’s Baroque orchestra, now in its 33rd season, opened its concert year with a solid program built around these staple pieces.

A lively performance of four of the concertos at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights on Friday, October 18 was the first of half a dozen outings for Apollo’s Fire this month (with slight changes in repertoire and personnel along the way).

Bach’s music, in all its consolations and complexities, could easily fill an ensemble’s entire schedule. In fact, that’s sort of what Apollo’s Fire has planned for 2024–25, with artistic director Jeannette Sorrell conceiving of the composer as a “guide star” for the season. The yearlong focus on Bach is set to conclude this spring in a “Bachanalia,” a full month of concerts and workshops around Northeast Ohio. [Read on…]

Les Délices conjures Arcadia in high quality (Oct. 20)

by Stephanie Manning

Arcadia: that mythological Eden, that utopian natural paradise. The members of Italy’s Arcadian Academy, established in the late 17th century, aimed to replicate that pastoral life via the arts. And on October 20, Les Délices sought to do the same, by performing the music of composers from the Academy and beyond.

“Arcadian Dreams,” a program featuring soprano Hannah De Priest, gave the Harkness Chapel audience a taste of the early music group’s next recording. In fact, the musicians were gearing up to get in the studio the very next day — and they delivered a suitably high-quality performance in the process. [Read on…]

See all reviews

Follow ClevelandClassical.com

Contact us