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Al Fresco events take off
in Northeast Ohio

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by Daniel Hathaway

Apollo’s Fire sold out all seven of its outdoor “Tuscan Sun” concerts last week, and now patrons of Akron’s Tuesday Musical “Music al fresco: Passport 2020” have snapped up all the available seats — socially distanced, of course — for its three Sunday afternoon performances in September and October at historic Barder House in West Akron.

That’s a nice problem to have, and TMA has solved it by adding an extra 1:00 pm performance to the existing 3:00 pm performances on September 6 (Russian Duo), September 20 (Black Squirrel Winds), and October 11 (Found Sounds: Ghana, Trinidad, Brazil).

Executive Director Cynthia Snider wrote in a press release, “We have carefully designed Music al fresco: Passport 2020 to provide a safe entertainment option for audiences in Northeast Ohio where most live arts events have been canceled for months because of COVID-19.”

Snider added that strict safety protocols will be in force in coordination with Summit County Public Health. [Read more…]

Russian Duo plays ragtime at Nighttown

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by Mike Telin

“I wrote my Free Spirit Rag around 1985,” composer and pianist Brian Dykstra said during a telephone conversation. “I guess Terry Boyarsky heard a recording of it on WCLV, and got the idea of arranging it for balalaika and piano. You can imagine my surprise when I heard this back in the fall of 2017.”

On Thursday, March 28 at 7:30 pm at Nighttown, Russian Duo (Oleg Kruglyakov, balalaika and vocals, and Terry Boyarsky, piano) will present a program that includes the Duo’s arrangement of Dykstra’s Free Spirit Rag, as well as variations on Russian folk melodies, classical music, and Soviet compositions. Prior to the performance there will be a screening of director Chris Bohan’s and cinematographer Steve Hacker’s short film You Go First, which features music performed by Russian Duo. Tickets are available online.

Dykstra did send the music to Boyarsky and Kruglyakov, and gave them permission to make the arrangement. “Some months later Terry invited me to her house for dinner,” Dykstra said. “

[Read more…]

Russian Duo to appear on John Knox Performance Series

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by Mike Telin

Russian-Duo“Russian Duo is an international project, and this program will show that,” balalaika virtuoso Oleg Kruglyakov said during a recent telephone conversation along with his longtime artistic partner, pianist Terry Boyarsky. On Friday, April 28 at 7:00 pm at John Knox Presbyterian Church in North Olmsted, Russian Duo will present a concert that features Russian folk music, romances, classical music, gypsy melodies, bluegrass, ragtime, tango, film scores, and Soviet songs. The free concert is part of the John Knox Performance Series.

“In this program audiences will hear everything from Handel to tango. It also shows the range and versatility of this school of Russian composers. As always, we’ll tell stories about the music so the audience can feel a part of the history and musical journey.” [Read more…]

John Knox Performance Series to launch third season with Cleveland Chamber Choir

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by Mike Telin

cleveland-chamber-choir-marie-taylorFor hundreds of years some of the greatest music ever written was composed for houses of worship — think of composers such as Palestrina, J.S. Bach, and Moses Hogan. “It’s no mystery why music is so important in the life of a church, but people here can’t seem to get enough of it,” said Geoffrey Peterson, Director of Music and the Arts at John Knox Presbyterian Church in North Olmsted.

On Friday, October 28 at 8:00 pm, the John Knox Performance Series will kick off its third season with a performance by the Cleveland Chamber Choir under the direction of Scott MacPherson. The program, titled “Americana,” will include music by William Billings, Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, John Cage, Samuel Barber, and Stephen Foster, as well as folk songs and spirituals. Read a concert preview here. [Read more…]

Musical life after the holidays:
a cornucopia of January concerts

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by Daniel Hathaway

Bronfman-FWM-TCONow that winter has finally arrived and the excitement of the holidays has subsided, it’s tempting to burrow in and hibernate for a few weeks. But there’s plenty to do during January. Let’s have a look at some of what the month has to offer, beginning with orchestra concerts.

Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra are back at work early in the month with a round of all-Beethoven concerts from January 7-9 featuring pianist Yefim Bronfman (left) in the third piano concerto, and Bronfman and the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus in the Choral Fantasy. Soprano Barbara Hannigan will be featured in the U.S. premiere of Hans Abrahamsen’s let me tell you on January 14 and 15, sharing a program with Dmitri Shostakovich’s fourth symphony. On Saturday the 16th, Robert Porco will lead the annual Martin Luther King Jr Celebration, followed by a Severance Hall Open House on Monday the 17th from 12 Noon to 5 pm. Community ensemble performances will be bracketed by the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus (12:30) and Youth Orchestra (4:15). The Cleveland Philharmonic will host its own MLK Observance at Tri-C Metro Auditorium on Sunday, January 17. [Read more…]

Russian Duo to celebrate new CD release, Interplay, at Nighttown on June 7

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by Mike Telin

INTERPLAY-CDOn Russian Duo’s latest CD, Interplay, pianist Terry Boyarsky and balalaika virtuoso Oleg Kruglyakov present a thirteen-track feast of music that beautifully marries traditional folk-tunes with classical elegance. On Sunday, June 7 at 7:00 pm, audiences can hear the music from the album performed live when Russian Duo hosts a CD release party at Nighttown.

“At the beginning we saw ourselves as being strictly classical,” Boyarsky and Kruglyakov agreed during our recent Skype conversation. “But now we’re incorporating musical styles like tango, bluegrass and even some movie scores into our performances.” The album’s title, Interplay, is juxtaposed with the Russian word for interaction, взаимодействие, and is subtitled “traditional tunes / classical elegance.” [Read more…]

Preview: Russian Duo kicks off Music by Nature series in Cuyahoga Valley National Park on June 9

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by Mike Telin

Russian-DuoOn Sunday, June 9 beginning at 6:30 pm at the Happy Days Lodge in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Music By Nature presents Russian Duo, Oleg Kruglyakov, balalaika & Terry Boyarsky, piano in a concert featuring Russian, classical, Soviet & folk music. As always, Music By Nature audiences are invited to picnic on the grounds beginning at 5 pm, and a dessert reception follows the performance.

Although the combination of balalaika and piano may seem a bit unusual, Terry Boyarsky and Oleg Kruglyakov think the variety of musical styles that are included in their nature-inspired program highlight the range of possibilities the combination of instruments are capable of producing. “I think the idea is that we are taking music from different parts of the planet and blending them [together] with these instruments and it does sound like nature re-united, like the United Nations,” says Kruglyakov. [Read more…]

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