Sharon Isbin Archives - Cleveland Classical

Cleveland Classical Guitar Society: Sharon Isbin with Colin Davin (Nov. 4)

November 8, 2017 by Timothy Robson

by Timothy Robson

For reasons unknown, Sharon Isbin, one of the leading classical guitar virtuosos of our time, had never performed in Cleveland until Saturday evening, November 4, when she appeared in a recital for the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society at Plymouth Church of Shaker Heights. During the second half of the evening, she was joined by Cleveland native Colin Davin, a former Isbin student and current faculty member at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Baldwin Wallace University. [Read more…]

Classical Guitarist Sharon Isbin to make her Cleveland debut

October 31, 2017 by Mike Telin

by Mike Telin

In an appearance on the Tavis Smiley show, celebrated classical guitarist Sharon Isbin said that she came to the instrument by accident. “Our family was living in Italy when I was nine years old, and when an older brother said he wanted guitar lessons — and my parents learned there was a famous teacher who commuted to our village from Milan who was touring all over Italy and had studied with Segovia — they brought my brother for the interview. He said, ‘What? Classical? No, no, I want to be Elvis Presley.’ He bowed out before the first lesson, and out of family duty I volunteered to take his place.” The rest is history.

The winner of two Grammy Awards and Guitar Player magazine’s “Best Classical Guitarist,” Isbin has appeared as soloist with over 170 orchestras and has given sold-out performances in the world’s finest halls. Her documentary Troubadour has been viewed by millions of people on over 200 television stations.

On Saturday, November 4 at 7:30 pm at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society will present Sharon Isbin in her Cleveland debut as part of its International Series. [Read more…]

Oberlin Opera stages a Cendrillon of professional quality (Nov. 10)

by Daniel Hathaway

Any regional opera company would be popping its buttons with pride to have produced such an impressive performance of Jules Massenet’s Cendrillion (Cinderella) as Oberlin Opera did in Hall Auditorium on Sunday afternoon, November 10.

Imaginative staging by Stephanie Havey, skillful pacing by conductor James Feddeck, beautiful set design and costuming by Laura Carlson-Tarantowski and Chris Flaharty, respectively, plus dramatic and — for the fairies — enchanting lighting by Jeremy K. Benjamin provided a supportive environment for splendid singing by the cast and brilliant playing by the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra.

Literally thousands of versions of the Cinderella tale exist in cultures around the globe, but many of the details of Massenet’s opera date back to Charles Perrault’s 1697 Cendrillon ou la petite pantoufle de verre, which adds what have now become essential elements to the tale: a young girl mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters, who temporarily attracts the attention of a handsome prince at a royal ball and is eventually reunited with him to become a princess herself. [Read on…]

Seraph Brass dances through musical travels in Rocky River (Nov. 11)

by Stephanie Manning

Before Seraph Brass arrived in Ohio on November 11, the group’s fall touring season had taken them on the road to Missouri, Florida, New York, and even Peru. And at the Rocky River Chamber Music Society, they gave the audience a taste of the traveling life right from the first piece.

The “Prelude” from Edvard Greig’s Holberg Suite whisked listeners away to Norway, with a melody surely familiar to many. It was extra familiar to the brass quintet themselves, who launched into their opening number without sheet music. Playing memorized is part of the group’s trademark, and they smoothly alternated using music and no music throughout the evening. Either way, the wide-ranging program had those at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church spellbound.

Trumpet players Mary Elizabeth Bowden and Raquel Samayoa, horn player Layan Atieh, trombonist Lauren Casey-Clyde, and tuba player Robyn Black sounded equally comfortable in Romantic and contemporary repertoire, flipping between both with practiced ease. [Read on…]

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