Zoë Madonna Archives - Cleveland Classical

Oberlin student wins Rubin Institute prize

November 11, 2014 by Daniel Hathaway

Madonna San Francisco, November 10. Zoé Madonna, a fourth-year Oberlin student majoring in East Asian studies, has won the $10,000 Rubin Institute for Music Criticism prize.

Seventeen students from Oberlin, Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley, the San Francisco Conservatory and Yale University were chosen to be Rubin Fellows. Madonna, a current member of the Oberlin Introduction to Music Criticism class taught by Donald Rosenberg, Mike Telin and Daniel Hathaway, joined three of last year’s students to participate in the five-day event in San Francisco, which involved writing overnight reviews of live concerts to be critiqued by a panel of distinguished critics (read Mike Telin’s blog posts here.) [Read more…]

Rubin Institute 2014: Key notes from San Francisco — a continuing series

November 7, 2014 by Daniel Hathaway

On Wednesday, November 5 in San Francisco, four Oberlin students joined colleagues from four other conservatories and universities for the second Stephen and Cynthia Rubin Institute for Music Criticism, an intensive five-day experience in critiquing performances by the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera, Cal Performances and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.

Each morning, the Rubin Institute Fellows will submit reviews of the previous evening’s concert to be critiqued in private workshops and public sessions by the Writers Panel, which includes noted American critics Anne Midgette, Tim Page, John Rockwell, Alex Ross, Heidi Waleson and Stephen Rubin (president and publisher of Henry Holt & Co., a frequent feature writer for The New York Times who founded and is principal funder of the Institute). [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra’s holiday concerts return with plenty of festive cheer (Dec. 11)

by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — If the twinkling lights, leafy green garlands and festive poinsettias didn’t already clue you in, the holidays have arrived at Severance Music Center. ‘Tis the season for annual traditions — including The Cleveland Orchestra’s holiday concerts, which began on Wednesday evening.

Running through December 22, the programs feature plenty of seasonal classics plus some potential new favorites. The first performance proved that this mix is a delightful recipe for festive cheer.

“Look at you all, out on a school night!” conductor Sarah Hicks proclaimed joyfully from the podium. Just as many concertgoers donned red outfits to get into the spirit, Mandel Concert Hall was also decked out with decorations and stage lighting effects.

[Read on…]

Oberlin Conservatory convincingly tells Omar’s story (Dec. 8)

by Stephanie Manning

The Cleveland premiere of Rhiannon Giddens’ and Michael Abels’ Pultizer Prize-winning opera Omar on December 8 at the Maltz Performing Arts Center proved that concert productions of opera can succeed without sets, elaborate costumes and extensive staging. Indeed, the Oberlin Conservatory presentation offered more than enough to keep the audience in the crowded house enthralled.

The Opera, which was also presented at Oberlin’s Finney Chapel two days earlier, is based on the 1831 autobiography of Muslim scholar Omar ibn Said, the only such work written by an enslaved person during their enslavement, and the only such document written in Arabic.

Rhiannon Giddens’ brilliant libretto chronicles the life of ibn Said, beginning in present-day Senegal and following him through his capture, journey via the Middle Passage, and enslavement in North and South Carolina. [Read on…]

Kirill Gerstein is captivating on piano as Cleveland Orchestra recital series continues (Dec. 4)

by Daniel Hathaway

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — There’s no dearth of first-class piano performances to enjoy in Northeast Ohio, but Kirill Gerstein’s contribution to the collective wealth Wednesday night was extraordinary both in concept and execution.

Playing as part of the Cleveland Orchestra’s ongoing recital series at Severance Music Center, Gerstein wove an overarching narrative from the 21 little masked ball portraits in Robert Schumann’s “Carnaval.” Then he helped composer Francisco Coll blow up the idea of the waltz in two striking, brand new pieces written for Gerstein and joined Maurice Ravel in redefining that most civilized of dances in a cataclysmic performance of “La valse.”

[Read on…]

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