Zoe Sorrell Archives - Cleveland Classical

Syndicate for the New Arts to perform music of Rust Belt composers at Survival Kit on November 20

November 17, 2015 by Daniel Hathaway

by Mike Telin

SORRELL Committed to championing works by composers based in the Rust Belt, The Syndicate for the New Arts will celebrate the region’s creativity on Friday, November 20 at 9:00 pm at Survival Kit as part of 78th St. Studios’ Third Fridays events. “In keeping with the theme of Third Fridays, our performance will resemble an art gallery,” Syndicate founder Joshua Rosner said in an email. “Each piece will be performed in a different space of the room, allowing the audience to move around the room and experience the work from different perspectives.”

The evening of Rust Belt compositions will include John Sokol’s 3 thin-slices for solo cello, Jeffrey Mumford’s Echoes from within Brightening Fabric for harp and vibraphone, Jessie Downs’ Noticing and Truth-Telling: a musical sermon after Mary Hammond for scordatura harp, Sivan Silver-Swartz’s Untitled V for 4-20 pitched, sustaining instruments (world premiere), and two pieces by Judy Jackson — Strip Tease, a graphic score for solo bass, and Mental Games, a video score for harp, percussion, violin, guitar, and electronics. [Read more…]

Pianist Yuja Wang creates magic with The Cleveland Orchestra (Nov. 28)

by Stephanie Manning

This article was originally published on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Thanksgiving weekend concerts by The Cleveland Orchestra often center around a big-ticket soloist or a popular piece.

This year’s program offers both, thanks to star pianist Yuja Wang and Maurice Ravel’s brilliant orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.”

On Friday November 28, the snow cleared just in time for the crowds to arrive at Severance Music Center for the evening event. Led by conductor Petr Popelka, the resulting concert equally displayed the prowess of Orchestra and soloist over the course of three fascinating works.

György Ligeti’s Piano Concerto stood out in contrast to the lush textures and easy-to-follow melodies of the works that surrounded it. Premiered in 1988, its dissonant and avant-garde music might have come from another world. But both Wang and the Orchestra rose to meet the challenge of its devilishly tricky rhythms with an assured confidence.

[Read on…]

Les Arts Florissants make Vivaldi’s Four Seasons feel fresh and inspired (Nov. 18)

by Stephanie Manning

Performing a work as ubiquitous as Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons requires a delicate balance. At its best, the musicality and intention must be crystal clear, so that the end result feels as fresh as it does familiar. It’s a high bar, but one that Les Arts Florissants cleared with the utmost ease.

On November 18, the renowned French baroque ensemble visited Tuesday Musical to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Vivaldi’s famous quartet of violin concertos. Soloist Théotime Langlois de Swarte led the spirited group in the Vivaldi-focused program, which also included works by Marco Uccellini and Claudio Monteverdi. [Read on…]

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra with violinist David McCarroll in Rocky River (Nov. 23)

by Daniel Hathaway

Let’s cut to the chase and simply say that it would be difficult to imagine a more perfect and moving performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto than the one David McCarroll gave with Daniel Meyer and BlueWater Chamber Orchestra on Sunday afternoon, November 23 at Rocky River Presbyterian Church. We’ll come back to that thought.

The straight-through performance preceded the Beethoven with works by Cleveland composer Margaret Brouwer and a youngish Aaron Copland.

Brouwer’s engaging and popular The Art of Sailing at Dawn evokes memories of growing up on the Great Lakes. A flute conjures sonic images of gulls, and subtle waves support a lovely oboe solo before the wind kicks up and dark clouds assemble. A storm erupts, but soon passes, leading to a quiet ending. [Read on…]

See all reviews

Follow ClevelandClassical.com

Contact us