Summer cancellations Archives - Cleveland Classical

Looking ahead: What’s on for the summer of 2020?

May 27, 2020 by Daniel Hathaway

by Daniel Hathaway

Memorial Day — which fell as early on the calendar as it possibly can this year — traditionally marks the transition to summer. As we look forward to June and beyond, what’s in the forecast for the classical music scene in Northeast Ohio?

The avalanche of pandemic cancellations that began in mid-March and effectively brought an end to live performances for the rest of 2019-2020 has been replaced with a long list of summer events that won’t take place as usual.

Apollo’s Fire’s Countryside Concerts? Cancelled. The Re:Sound new music festival and the Cleveland Trombone Seminar? Not happening. The Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival? Postponed, but see below. ChamberFest Cleveland? Moved to 2021. Ohio Light Opera? Dark for 2020, but offering the same lineup next summer.

Summer educational programs? Encore Chamber Music at Gilmour Academy — scheduled to take place in the school’s new performing arts center — has moved to 2021. Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute is being held online and reduced to one week. Kent/Blossom Festival is cancelled. The Sphinx Performance Academy has moved online from July 25-August 8. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra’s MLK Celebration Concert lifted spirits with affirming reflection (Jan. 11)

by Kevin McLaughlin

Photo by Roger Mastroianni

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — In a political moment that might have provoked heaviness or solemn reflection, The Cleveland Orchestra’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Concert chose affirmation instead.

Led by assistant conductor Taichi Fukumura before a full Mandel Concert Hall, the Orchestra, soprano Latonia Moore, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Chorus, under Dr. William Henry Caldwell, lifted spirits — and even got the audience to sing along.

[Read on…]

Cleveland Orchestra: Welser-Möst leads two symphonies with The Cleveland Orchestra (Jan. 9)

by Daniel Hathaway

Franz Welser-Most conducts the Cleveland Orchestra on Thursday evening. Human Artist Photography + Cinema / Yevhen Gulenko

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio – What makes a piece a symphony? That label invokes the ancient Greek notion of musicians playing together harmoniously, but in actual usage, “symphonies” are just containers into which composers pour their orchestral inspirations, with few common features from one work to another.

This was obvious on Thursday evening, January 8 at Severance Music Center, when music director Franz Welser-Möst led The Cleveland Orchestra in wildly dissimilar Symphonies by Wolfgang Amadé Mozart and Dmitri Shostakovich.

[Read on…]

Apollo’s Fire delights in second decade of Praetorius’ Christmas Vespers (Dec. 18)

by Peter Feher

The German composer Michael Praetorius never had a Christmas hit on the level of, say, O Tannenbaum — an early version of which, circa 1600, is attributed to his contemporary Melchior Franck.

But in the 21st century, Praetorius has found seasonal success thanks to a team of savvy producers. Apollo’s Fire and artistic director Jeannette Sorrell have championed the composer for two decades now, fashioning his music into an enduring, historically informed holiday program. Christmas Vespers isn’t a single piece from the Praetorius catalog but rather a unique “best of” compilation that Cleveland’s Baroque orchestra unveiled in 2005 and last presented in 2015.

Who says a liturgical service can’t be popular? Apollo’s Fire once again drew sold-out crowds to church venues across Northeast Ohio with these concerts, including a packed Trinity Cathedral on Thursday evening, December 18. And for anyone who still can’t get enough Praetorius, the ensemble plans to release a video recording of the 2025 Trinity performances — not instead of, but in addition to, the group’s 2007 CD. [Read on…]

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