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Tuesday Musical launches season with “Because of You,” a tribute to Tony Bennett

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by Mike Telin

For more than three decades, pianist/singer/arranger/educator and historian Michael Feinstein has dedicated himself to bringing the music of the Great American songbook to the world. And of the many interpreters of that musical genre, the name Tony Bennett stands above most others.

On Tuesday, October 22 at 7:30 pm at E.J. Thomas Hall in Akron, Tuesday Musical will launch their new season with Michael Feinstein’s “Because of You,” a tribute to the iconic singer featuring the Carnegie Hall Big Band. Tickets are available online.

I caught up with Feinstein by phone.

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Tuesday Musical hosts Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis (Apr. 20)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

On April 29, the world will celebrate Duke Ellington’s musical mastery on the 125th anniversary of his birth. A sophisticated giant of American music, Ellington wrote and performed as leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 until his death in 1974.

It was a double privilege, then, to experience the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis in EJ Thomas Hall on Saturday, April 20. First, to hear the JLCO again in Akron “after forty years” (according to Marsalis), and second, to hear this ensemble perform the Ellington book at the very highest level of technical skill and as mindful stewards of jazz tradition.

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Tuesday Musical to host Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

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by Mike Telin

“It’s Duke Ellington’s 125th anniversary and the Akron concert is dedicated to Duke’s music,” saxophonist Ted Nash said during a telephone conversation.

On Saturday, April 20 at 7:30 pm at E.J. Thomas Hall, Tuesday Musical will present the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. The evening of large-ensemble jazz led by a beloved jazz master will showcase fifteen of the finest soloists, ensemble players, and arrangers in jazz today. Tickets are available online.

Saturday’s program will include Ellington’s music from the late ‘20s through the ‘70s, including movements from his later suites. “We’ll also be playing music from his films, like Paris Blues,” Nash said.

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Tuesday Musical: Kyiv Virtuosi Symphony Orchestra Tour of Peace

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by Mike Telin

This week the Kyiv Virtuosi Symphony Orchestra will embark on its first North American tour. Under the direction of Dmitry Yablonsky, the “Tour of Peace” will stop in Akron for a performance at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, March 12 at E.J. Thomas Hall.  Presented by Tuesday Musical, the program will include music by Myroslav Skoryk, Ignaz Moscheles, Felix Mendelssohn, Baruch Berliner, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets are available online.

Born in Moscow to a musical family, Dmitry Yablonsky was accepted into the Central Music School for gifted children at the age of six, where the cello became his instrument of choice. “I have to thank my mother, who took me out of the Soviet Union in the 70s,” Yablonsky said during an interview. Growing up in New York City, he went on to study cello at the Juilliard School of Music. During graduate school at Yale University he studied conducting with OttoWerner Muller.

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Tuesday Musical: Akropolis Reed Quintet (Nov. 7)

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by Peter Feher

It’s not every concert where the bass clarinetist steals the show. But by now, the five close-knit members of the Akropolis Reed Quintet must look forward to that moment in any program when they start Marc Mellits’ Splinter and those first grainy low notes boom out.

The quirky Detroit-based ensemble opened its November 7 performance for Akron’s Tuesday Musical series with this piece, and it was a way to let the audience at E.J. Thomas Hall in on everything they needed to know.

There’s a reason that Mellits’ 2014 composition has become the surest introduction to this novel type of chamber group. [Read more…]

Pianist Martín García García  to perform for Tuesday Musical

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by Mike Telin

Since winning first prize at the 2021 Cleveland International Piano Competition and 3rd Prize at XVIII International Chopin Piano Competition, as well as the special award for the best concerto performance, Spanish pianist Martín García García’s world has — in his words — changed drastically.

On Tuesday, March 7, at 7:30 pm in Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall, Tuesday Musical will welcome García García back to Northeast Ohio. His program includes Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13 and Brahms’ Sonata No. 3 in f. Tickets are available online.

I caught up with the pianist by phone and began our conversation by asking him why he chose two large works rather than presenting a selection of smaller showpieces?

Martín García García: These are two great abstract works from the past which have not more musical value but more transcendent value.

Almost all the great composers have works like these. They don’t take any of the imagination away from their shorter pieces. But composers always put so much effort into the bigger works — the symphonies, sonatas, and operas — and I tend to lean toward these kinds of pieces.

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Tuesday Musical: “Our Song, Our Story” (Feb. 2)

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by Stephanie Manning

At first glance, the sheer number of pieces on the program for “Our Song, Our Story” looked a little intimidating. The concert, which was presented by Tuesday Musical and traced the musical output of Black Americans, offered listeners all kinds of categories: spiritual songs, opera, and lieder, just to name a few. But on February 2, what was printed on the paper was more of a guide for the performers to pick-and-choose, letting them present their songs, their way.

At the center of the program was composer and pianist Damien Sneed, who accompanied the small set of performers while also presenting some of his own works. Talkative and affable towards the audience in E.J. Thomas Hall, Sneed provided both personal and compositional context throughout the evening. He also explained a crucial last-minute change: originally-scheduled soprano Brandie Inez Sutton had just been called up for an opportunity at the Met, leaving Jacqueline Echols to step in on very short notice.

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Tuesday Musical:
The Rodney Marsalis
Philadelphia Big Brass

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Do you prefer your holiday programs to span several genres — and to have that special glint in the sound that only an array of brass can provide? Trumpeter Rodney Marsalis and the Philadelphia Big Brass will check both boxes when they visit Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall on Tuesday, December 13 at 7:30 pm as part of the Tuesday Musical series. Tickets are available here.

The band’s holiday mix is wide-ranging: there’s swing, classical, big band, musical theater, carols, and R&B, ranging from Messiah and Nutcracker selections to Silent Night, When the Saints Go Marching In, and a medley from Earth Wind & Fire. Not just any old holiday program, as I pointed out to Marsalis when we spoke last year over Zoom. (The group’s 2021 visit to Northeast Ohio was canceled.)

Jarrett Hoffman: Bringing together different genres is something that’s been intentional about this group from the start, is that right?

Rodney Marsalis: Yes, we do it with all of our programs. We’ve had a chance to test out this holiday program over the last few years. It’s not just Christmas music, but it’s in the spirit of Christmas, so that’s been our goal.

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Tuesday Musical: Scottish Chamber Orchestra to feature Anna Clyne’s Stride on Oct. 20 

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by Mike Telin

On Thursday, October 20 at 7:30 pm, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Maxim Emelyanychev, will kick off Tuesday Musical’s 2022 season at E.J. Thomas Hall. The program features Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 (“Scottish”) and Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with Nicola Benedetti as soloist. The performance is part of the Orchestra’s current U.S. tour.

A Concert Conversation between local theater aficionado Ian Haberman and Scottish Chamber Orchestra CEO Gavin Reid will begin at 6:45 pm in EJ’s Flying Balcony Club. Complimentary refreshments and wine will be provided. Tickets are available online.

Thursday’s program also includes Anna Clyne’s Stride, which is inspired by Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in c (“Pathétique”). “I was fortunate to be the SCO’s associate composer from 2019 until 2022,” Clyne said during a recent telephone conversation. “During that time I wrote several commissions for them, one of which was Stride, so I’m very happy they picked it up for their U.S. tour.”

An eleven-minute work for string orchestra, Stride was a co-commission by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. [Read more…]

Nu Deco Ensemble brings Classical with a Twist to Tuesday Musical (May 4)

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by Peter Feher

Tuesday Musical has been straying from its usual formula in a way that seems to be working. The Akron concert series brought its season to a close last Wednesday with a performance that exemplified the “classical with a twist” style the presenter has hit upon lately.

Nu Deco Ensemble, a Miami-based group that has gone on the road a couple times, took the stage at EJ Thomas Hall on May 4, bringing a setup that was part orchestra and part rock band. Jacomo Bairos conducted the ensemble, which included a string quartet, a medium-sized wind section, and a handful of players on guitars, keyboards, and percussion — all amplified.

Nu Deco can cover a range of genres with this instrumental variety. One mode the group easily adopts might be called “classical music reinvigorated,” in the vein of crossover projects like Mannheim Steamroller or the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. [Read more…]

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