by Max Newman
Pianist Theron Brown wants you to be able to hear his own personality in his music. “I try not to think about it too much. My music is part of me, and I try to be authentic and true to myself within it. I want people to listen and be like, ‘Oh, that’s Theron.’ It’s real, it’s honest.”
This heart-on-sleeve philosophy will come to the fore on Saturday, February 28 at 1:00 pm as Brown’s jazz trio performs at the downtown Cleveland Public Library. The show, organized in celebration of Black History Month, is part of the CPL’s “Music at Main” series, a genre-bending concert series held in the Library’s third flood lobby.
The subtitle of William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 4, “Autochthonous,” made for a little vocabulary lesson at the Akron Symphony last weekend.
The Akron Symphony pulled off an exceptional concert at E.J. Thomas Hall on January 13 that would have stretched any other ensemble to its limit.
One of the latest instrumental ensembles to announce a new season of concerts, BlueWater Chamber Orchestra began 2021-2022 with an imaginative program on November 20 at the Breen Center at St. Ignatius High School in Ohio City. The time was unusual — Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm.
“I’m really excited about the kinds of concerts that we’re making happen,” Urban Troubadour flutist and artistic director Jane Berkner told me during a recent conversation. “They’re not only cultural events, they’re also social events. I’m finding that our audiences are enjoying meeting each other over a glass of wine and cultural activity.”