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Akron Symphony: Mahler’s emotional rollercoaster (Mar. 1)

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by Stephanie Manning

“Welcome to Mahler’s 2nd,” read the program leaflet I was handed while entering E.J. Thomas Hall on March 1. “You’re in for an emotional rollercoaster — big drama, quiet reflection, and an ending that will shake the walls (and maybe your soul).”

The Akron Symphony’s latest program certainly delivered on that promise. Most ensembles devote the entire evening to Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony, an almost 90-minute work, and Akron was no different. Conductor Christopher Wilkins led a stirring performance from the extra-large orchestra, together with the Akron Symphony Chorus, the Metropolitan Chorus of Summit Choral Society, soprano Sonya Headlam, and alto Amanda Lynn Bottoms. [Read more…]

Akron Symphony & Choruses in Verdi’s Requiem (May 5)

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by Daniel Hathaway

ASO Verdi ChorusThere are two varieties of concert Requiems — the comforting, consoling type (Brahms, Fauré, Duruflé) and the fiery Day of Judgment kind (Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi). The Akron Symphony chose one of the latter to close its season on Saturday, May 5. Led by music director Christopher Wilkins, the Akron Symphony Chorus and the Masterworks Chorale of the Summit Choral Society joined the Orchestra in Verdi’s Requiem, a thrilling choral conflagration that lit up E.J. Thomas Hall. [Read more…]

Canton Symphony: Feasting on Carmina Burana (Apr. 21)

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by Tom Wachunas

CSO OrffThanks to all the pre-publicity surrounding this season-ending performance from the Canton Symphony Orchestra, there wasn’t an empty seat in Umstattd Performing Arts Hall on April 21. We were promised a musical feast of epic proportions, to be served piping-hot by 86 instrumentalists, combined choirs numbering more than 100 voices, three solo vocalists, and a modern dance troupe. So we arrived hungry. [Read more…]

Akron Symphony announces Music Educator of the Year and new App

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Steven Cocchiola, orchestra director at the Brecksville-Broadview high school, has claimed the first Akron Symphony Music Educator of the Year Award. A versatile leader, Cocchiola conducts the school’s Concert Orchestra, String Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, and 7th & 8th grade orchestras beside his directorial duties and music theory classes. He is also on the artistic staff of the Summit Choral Society. [Read more…]

Summit Choral Society Candlelight Concerts to feature new carol

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by Daniel Hathaway

ahrends-mcgrowartyTradition reigns during the December holidays, but new infusions into what might be called “The Great Christmas Carol Book” can give new life to musical celebrations. Think of King’s College, Cambridge, whose choir annually commissions a new piece — often strikingly new — for its Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, broadcast live on Christmas Eve.

Summit Choral Society will include a new carol setting in its Candlelight Christmas Concerts at St. Bernard’s Church in downtown Akron on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evening, December 16, 17 at 18 at 7:30 pm. As part of the “Bells” section of the program, the Masterworks Chorale will perform a newly-commissioned setting of I heard the bells on Christmas Day written by University of Akron music major Mickey McGroarty.

In a telephone conversation, conducting fellow Anna Ahrens noted that Summit Choral Society artistic director Marie Bucoy-Calavan has adopted the mission of “Preserving and conserving — passing classical choral music on to younger generations. My position, our program of choral scholars, and the inclusion of young soloists are all part of that, as well as giving real-world experience to a student composer.” [Read more…]

Summit Choral Society Masterworks Chorale to perform Haydn’s The Creation November 6

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by Daniel Hathaway

Summit-Choral“It has sublime solos, jubilant choruses, and wonderful textures. And it’s very user-friendly,” Summit Choral Society music director Maria Bucoy-Calavan said in a recent telephone conversation. The subject was Joseph Haydn’s oratorio The Creation, to be performed by the Masterworks Chorale and Orchestra on Sunday, November 6 at 3:00 pm in Akron’s First Congregational Church. “It’s wonderful how Haydn is able to paint the creation story through music.”

According to the Scriptures, it took God only seven days to achieve that “glorious work.” It took Haydn a bit longer, but his efforts resulted in one of the most popular oratorios in circulation. The work was inspired by the composer’s visits to London in the early 1790s, where he heard George Frideric Handel’s oratorios for the first time, performed on a grand scale by large choruses. Haydn seemed to be particularly impressed by Israel in Egypt, with its graphic musical representations of the plagues visited on the Egyptians. [Read more…]

Summit Choral Society: “Dance with Me” at Tangier (April 10)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Marie-and-MCThe Summit Choral Society’s Masterworks Chorale earned high marks on Sunday afternoon, April 10 with its innovative end-of-season event at Akron’s Tangier Ballroom under the direction of Marie Bucoy-Calavan. The program of dance-inspired choral works combined singing, ballet, and ballroom dancing into an easy and delightful partnership, and even gave the audience the opportunity for some feet-on experience at the end. [Read more…]

Summit Choral Society concludes
season with dance-themed
program at Tangier

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by Daniel Hathaway

DancersChoral societies usually cap their seasons off with a big oratorio, but Summit Choral Society artistic director Marie Bucoy-Calavan has other plans for the 65 singers in her Masterworks Chorale this weekend. As the conclusion to her first season with the ensemble, Bucoy-Calavan will share her dual love of choral music and ballroom dancing with the audience at Akron’s event center Tangier on Sunday afternoon, April 10 at 3:00 pm. “Dance With Me” will feature dance-based choral music by Johannes Brahms, Carl Orff, and Cole Porter — and more.

In a telephone conversation, Bucoy-Calavan noted that she used to be a competitive ballroom dancer herself. “I thought it would be a cool idea to combine two of my passions in the same program. [Read more…]

Summit Choral Society: Candlelight Concerts at St. Bernard’s Church, Akron (December 18)

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by Daniel Hathaway

SummitChoralSocietySummit Choral Society presented the first of three luminous Christmas Candlelight Concerts in Akron’s St. Bernard Church on Friday evening, December 18. The evening featured the adult Masterworks Chorale, a double brass quintet with organ, and two ensembles from its Children’s Choir Program: the Performance Choir and Advanced Choir. (The Intermediate Choir and Beginning Singing ensembles would rotate, each singing a set of their own on Saturday and Sunday evening.) [Read more…]

Summit Choral Society at Holy Trinity Lutheran (November 1)

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by Daniel Hathaway

ChorusPerforming to a full house, the Masterworks Chorale of Summit Choral Society began its 26th season under the new leadership of artistic director Marie Bucoy-Calavan with warm, confident performances of Johannes Brahms’s Schicksalslied and Wolfgang Amadè Mozart’s Requiem on Sunday, November 1 in Akron’s Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. [Read more…]

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