Roland Gjernes Archives - Cleveland Classical

Time Canvas at Zygote Press (Nov. 4)

November 22, 2017 by Mike Telin

by Mike Telin

It’s not unusual these days for instrumentalists, especially string players, to play period and modern instruments or to engage in the practice of free improvisation. However, it is rare for an ensemble to combine the three disciplines during a single performance. On Saturday, November 4 at Zygote Press, Time Canvas — violinist Chiara Fasani Stauffer, guitarist and theorbist Joshua Stauffer, and cellist Roland Gjernes — did exactly that during their stunning 70-minute program titled “Silence, Space & Sound.”

[Read more…]

Time Canvas to present
“Silence, Space & Sound”

October 31, 2017 by Mike Telin

by Mike Telin

One of the newer ensembles to emerge in the Northeast Ohio music scene is Time Canvas — Chiara Fasani Stauffer, violin, Joshua Stauffer, guitar and theorbo, and Roland Gjernes, cello — a group that brings together Baroque and contemporary repertoire, along with free improvisation.

This weekend they will present their most recent project, “Silence, Space & Sound,” on Friday, November 3 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ohio City and on Saturday, November 4 at Zygote Press. Both performances begin at 8:00 pm. The program includes modern works by Piazzolla and Bogdanovic, as well as a world premiere by Jeremy Allen, alongside Baroque works by Böddecker, Mealli, and Stradella. Click here to reserve a seat.

“The project is designed to emulate an art installation,” Joshua Stauffer said during a telephone conversation. [Read more…]

Singers’ Club of Cleveland: To Dwell in Harmony (Dec. 9)

by Kevin McLaughlin

The Singers’ Club of Cleveland brought the joy of the season to Trinity Cathedral on Tuesday evening with a program titled To Dwell in Harmony, a holiday offering both polished and good-humored. The venerable all-male chorus — whose lineage stretches back to 1891 and includes collaborations with conductors from Beryl Rubinstein to Robert Shaw — now finds itself under new leadership.

Christopher Clark, appointed in August as Artistic Director (while serving concurrently as Director of Choirs at Case Western Reserve University), led his first Singers’ Club concert with easy command. The chorus appeared to trust him from the first downbeat, and the audience received him just as warmly.

Trinity Cathedral, whose acoustics can flatter or expose a chorus in equal measure, proved an asset. The evening opened with one of its most effective moments: Veni, Veni Emmanuel in John Englert’s arrangement. Clark placed the choir on three sides of the audience, creating a surround-sound of chant that was silky and assured — a confident beginning. [Read on…]

Les Délices welcomes the festive season with “Noel, Noel” (Dec. 7)

by Stephanie Manning

Once December kicks in, an almost overwhelming number of holiday programs pop up around Northeast Ohio. But Les Délices’ offering should draw your attention.

While other festive concerts may create the atmosphere of a bustling party by the fireplace, “Noel, Noel” is like observing a snowy evening from the warmth of the indoors. This is music best enjoyed in quiet contentment, and especially live — so it’s no surprise that the early music ensemble brought back this signature program for three performances this month.

On December 7 at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, the six-member group presented a lovely ninety-minute program, which is also available on CD and via streaming until the end of the year. [Read on…]

Cleveland Chamber Choir: In Four Voices (Dec. 3)

by Kevin McLaughlin

Renaissance polyphony can bloom in resonant spaces, but the Donna and James Reid Gallery at the Cleveland Museum of Art presents particular challenges: hard surfaces and a long reverb tend to blur consonants into watercolor. The Cleveland Chamber Choir’s four-voice ensemble met those conditions head-on during its “In Four Voices” program on December 3. What emerged was an evening of consistently beautiful vocal timbre shaped by a group navigating the sonic characteristics of the room.

The concert, to be followed in January and March by appearances of various-sized ensembles, is part of a new development for the Cleveland Chamber Choir, called the Camerata Series — more information here.

To improve their chances of hearing one another, the quartet — soprano Lauren Vanden Broeck, mezzo-soprano Kira McGirr, tenor Joel Kincannon, and bass Dominic Aragon — stood in a traditional “part book” formation, like a diamond, facing inward. This meant that their sound was directed toward each other, rather than outward to the listeners around them. [Read on…]

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