by Mike Telin
Conversations between two like-minded people over coffee can often inspire great ideas. Such was the case a year and a half ago when saxophonist Noa Even and cellist Sophie Benn got together to discuss ways to promote new music in Cleveland. The result of that meeting was a new addition to the area’s music scene — the Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project.
On Thursday, January 18 at the Bop Stop, CUSP will host “Toasty Tunes,” a winter fundraiser to support the organization’s Re:Sound New Music Festival, to be held from June 7-10 of this year. The doors will open at 7:00 pm for a meet-and-greet with the evening’s performers and the CUSP team. Performances by saxophone duo Ogni Suono (Noa Even and Phil Pierick) and saxophonist/composer Nick Zoulek will begin at 7:30 pm. Attendees can learn more about CUSP and Re:Sound during a conversation with the founders moderated by me, Mike Telin. Click here for tickets and event information. The evening will conclude with a late-night improv jam session at 10:00 pm. Bring your own instruments and join in — that session is free but donations will be appreciated.
Noa Even said during a recent telephone conversation that the timing of that meeting over coffee was fortuitous. [Read more…]
Eastman School of Music organ professor David Higgs inaugurated the restored 1926 E.M. Skinner organ in Youngstown’s Stambaugh Auditorium on September 18, 2011, when he appeared as soloist in the Poulenc Concerto and in the Saint-Saëns ‘Organ’ Symphony with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. This Sunday, April 12 at 4:00 pm, Higgs will return to Youngstown to play an eclectic recital on what has come to be recognized as one of the most distinguished organ restorations in the country, a project undertaken by the A. Thompson-Allen Company of New Haven, Connecticut.