by Jarrett Hoffman
IN THIS EDITION:
•Tonight: Kosower plays Bloch’s Schelomo with Cleveland Orchestra, YSU presents a faculty/alumnus guitar duo, and Oberlin combines orchestra and choir for music by R. Nathaniel Dett
•Interesting reads: digging deeper into Dett, and praise for Lawrence Brownlee
•Almanac: the Medieval-influenced contemporary music of Zana Clarke
HAPPENING TODAY:
Three events, all at 7:30.
At Severance Music Center, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider leads The Cleveland Orchestra in a concert that features Mark Kosower as soloist, in Ernst Bloch’s Schelomo – Hebraic Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra. (Kosower and Mike Telin discuss the work here.) Also on the program: Karim Al-Zand’s Lamentation On The Disasters of War and Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony. Tickets are available online. (Photo of Kosower by Roger Mastroianni.)
At Youngstown State’s Bliss Recital Hall, a faculty member (François Fowler) and an alumnus (Christopher Mrofchak) join forces as the Fowler/Mrofchak Guitar Duo. They’ll play works by J.S. Bach, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and Fowler himself — namely, his latest composition, Four Letters to Wormwood (after C.S. Lewis) for 2 guitars. Attendance is free.
And at Oberlin Conservatory’s Finney Chapel, another teaming-up will take place. As a preview for a performance at Carnegie Hall in January, Raphael Jiménez will lead The Oberlin Orchestra and three of the school’s choral ensembles — Gospel Choir, Musical Union, and Oberlin College Choir — in R. Nathaniel Dett’s oratorio The Ordering of Moses.
Soloists include members of the faculty (soprano Mathilda Edge, baritone Timothy LeFebvre), guest artists (mezzo-soprano Krysty Swann), and an alum (tenor Limmie Pulliam). The program also includes Brahms’ Tragic Overture and Iván Enrique Rodríguez’s A Metaphor for Power. It’s free, and there’s a livestream.
Speaking of that concert…