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Canton Symphony: from Gershwin swagger to the sublime depths of Swan Lake (Nov. 18)

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by Tom Wachunas

“Music of the People” was the theme of the November 18 Canton Symphony Orchestra program with works by George Gershwin and Pyotr Tchaikovsky. As stated in the press release for the concert, “the two composers…wrote music to touch the souls of the people of their respective countries.” What could be more “of the people” these days than national politics? Commenting on the evening’s opening selection — Gershwin’s overture to his 1931 satirical Broadway musical, Of Thee I Sing — a mischievously grinning Gerhardt Zimmermann explained that he intentionally scheduled the work to be performed on the heels of this country’s recent, highly contentious midterm elections. [Read more…]

Kent Blossom Music Festival: Miami Quartet with Spencer Myer (July 11)

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by Nicholas Stevens

If the Miami String Quartet’s performance with pianist Spencer Myer last week could have come with a motto, it might have been “never underestimate Haydn.” In a concert at the Kent Blossom Music Festival, where the Quartet’s members have long served as faculty, the opener — a quartet from the late 1790s — stole the show from Romantic and contemporary fare. Of course, the real stars of the evening were the performers, who more than won over an appreciative audience. [Read more…]

Kent/Blossom Music Festival to celebrate its 50th Anniversary

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by Daniel Hathaway

SepulvedaWith less than two weeks to go before students in the 50th Kent/Blossom Music Festival descend on the Kent State University campus for five weeks of rehearsals, master classes, and coachings, festival director Ricardo Sepulveda is close to solving the annual puzzle of scheduling daily activities for 43 students and 30 faculty members — mostly from The Cleveland Orchestra. “It keeps me up at night,” he said in a recent telephone conversation.

This summer’s students (16 of whom are international, hailing from Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Japan, and Colombia) will arrive on July 1 and begin their experience with a dinner for participants, faculty, donors, and host families who will house eight of the students. “Rehearsals, coachings, and lessons start right up the next day,” Sepulveda said.

Recruitment began in mid-winter. “I changed the process a bit, shortening it to end before the first of March. Instead of print, we did online promotion using the Violin Channel and Facebook, which allows us to reach people faster,” he said, noting that the Festival is now old enough that it’s fun to see students of former students applying. Once they settle in at Kent, there are busy days ahead. [Read more…]

CD Review — Brian Thornton: Brahms Cello Sonatas

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by Hannah Schoepe

Thornton-Brahms-CDCapturing the essence of human emotions, Brahms’s cello sonatas are undeniable gems. Cleveland Orchestra cellist Brian Thornton and pianist Spencer Myer share a beautiful interpretation of the sonatas in their new album Johannes Brahms Sonatas for Cello and Piano, released on the Steinway & Sons record label. The playing on the album is magnificent, and the balance between the players is beautiful. [Read more…]

CD Review
Spencer Myer: William Bolcom Piano Rags

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by Mike Telin

MyerBolcomRagsCDThe popularity of ragtime peaked during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, influencing composers like Erik Satie, Claude Debussy, and Igor Stravinsky. The genre experienced a resurgence during the early 1970s with the publishing of Joshua Rifkin’s and Gunther Schuller’s compilations of music by noted ragtime composer Scott Joplin. But it was the 1973 movie The Sting, and its soundtrack featuring Joplin tunes, that thrust the genre back into popular culture. It was during that same time that American composer William Bolcom published his first set of rags.   [Read more…]

Kent/Blossom Faculty Concert: Miami Quartet with Spencer Myer (July 6)

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by Neil McCalmont

Miami-Quartet-Spencer-MyerOn Wednesday evening, July 6, the Miami String Quartet and pianist Spencer Myer gave a thrilling concert in Ludwig Recital Hall at Kent State University. This installment of the Kent/Blossom Faculty Concert Series showcased two short but fiery string quartets — Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Serioso” in f, Op. 95 and Gabriela Frank’s Milagros (“Miracles”) — as well as Johannes Brahms’s Piano Quartet in g, Op. 25. [Read more…]

Macabre Magnificence from the Canton Symphony and pianist Spencer Myer (November 1)

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by Tom Wachunas

MEYER-SpencerConjuring the spirit of Halloween for just one more night, the November 1 program by the Canton Symphony Orchestra under the enchanted baton (or magic wand?) of Gerhardt Zimmermann, was frightfully delicious. Not that I favor socializing in the netherworld, but from beginning to end, the evening was a magnificent dance with the devil. [Read more…]

Kent/Blossom Faculty Concert (July 6): a conversation with pianist Spencer Myer

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by Mike Telin

MYER-Spencer“I have kind of a history of playing big programs with them,” pianist Spencer Myer said, recalling his past collaborations with the Miami String Quartet at Kent/Blossom. “The first year we played one of the Dvořák Piano Quintets, and the Mendelssohn C minor Piano Trio, so that was a big concert. Then one year we played both the Brahms and Schumann piano quintets, but this concert just might take the cake.”

On Monday, July 6 at 7:30 pm in Ludwig Recital Hall at Kent State University, Spencer Myer and the Miami String Quartet will present a Kent/Blossom Faculty Concert that will feature Ernest Chausson’s Piano Quartet in A, Op. 30, and Béla Bartók’s Piano Quintet. The concert will also include Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet No. 5 in f. [Read more…]

CD Review: Ravel — Intimate Masterpieces with Yolanda Kondonassis (Oberlin Music)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Ravel-CD-KondonassisWhat does an artist want you to experience when you listen to her CD? Harpist Yolanda Kondonassis is very clear about that in the liner notes for her latest recording. She wants you to be transported to “somewhere you’ve never been, but of which you might have dreamed.”

That somewhere is the special world of Maurice Ravel, charmingly miniaturized in the Oberlin Music release, Ravel: Intimate Masterpieces, a world Kondonassis first discovered through an LP of his music as a child in Oklahoma.

Joined by her fellow Oberlin Conservatory faculty members Alexa Still, flute and Richard Hawkins, clarinet; Oberlin alumni Ellie Dehn, soprano and Spencer Myer, piano; and Oberlin’s most recent ensemble in residence, the Jupiter String Quartet, Kondonassis explores four of Ravel’s exotic chamber works in performances vividly captured by recording engineer Paul Eachus. Sessions were held in Oberlin’s shining new Clonick Hall studio, expertly co-produced and edited by Erica Brenner. [Read more…]

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