Cleveland Chamber Symphony: Music That Dares to Explore

Wilson: Mvt II (Desolate Plains) from The American Traveler Suite
Evans: Pastorale
Xenia Beckstrom: Leth
Jesse Limbacher: Wanderings
Corey Rubin: Broken Pearls
Jung Yoon Wie: Flying in Winter
The Cleveland Chamber Symphony* at The Music Settlement
Steven Smith, conductor

Some people who know me will tell you that I don't like "new" music ("new" in the sense of classical, not all of the other genres of music, but I digress) -- and to an extent it's true, for a large portion of the field it's difficult for me to become as engaged with or to understand some of the vocabulary or composers' intentions. I don't like being surprised by it, but when it's expected -- like with a Cleveland Chamber Symphony program -- it can be a nice diversion from the usual.

Tonight's program featuring six pieces by six young composers -- all students of Ohio institutions -- in the span of about an hour was a nice sampler and look at the talent being cultivated in our area.

Opening the program, Desolate Plains, the second movement from University of Akron student Kevin Alexander Wilson's The American Traveler Suite. Though desolate is in the title the music was anything but conveying the sense of adventure of crossing the plains for the first time [missing the scattered urban areas] without being overly dramatic.

Next by College of Wooster student Frederick Evans, Pastorale was the more disjointed sound that I usually associate with new music but had a flow underlying the somewhat ephemeral and atmospheric sounds and carried the piece forward.

A quartet, the third piece on the program, Leth, came to us from Ohio State student Xenia Beckstrom was introduced as the movement in a piece following convoluted earlier movements and as something light and refreshing. Great to listen to it started bright and happy but turned dark and I got a sense of mourning or loss, yet it certainly wasn't depressing.

Jessie Limbacher, a third year student at the Cleveland Institute of Music, brought us Wanderings, the first movement of a piece that is as yet unfinished and arguably the most abstract of the evening, but also I think featuring the strongest playing.

Corey Rubin, a Cleveland State University student, brings us Broken Pearls a reference both in title -- and according to the composer musically -- to Baroque music who's name is derived from that of a misshapen pearl, a term applied by early detractors referring to misshapen pearls. I have to admit that I didn't really get the baroque impression from this piece, perhaps because that vernacular was not fresh in my mind.

Finishing out the program, Jung Yoon Wie, originally from Seoul, Korea and currently a sophomore at the College of Wooster, brings us Flying in Winter which moved speedily and had a decidedly wintry sound.

And the variety of music tonight was a reminder that the spectrum of new music is as broad as the artists composing and performing it.


Lincoln
(*- Susan Britton, Jiah Chung, Amber Dimoff, Cara Tweed, violins; Lisa Whitfield, James Rhodes, viola; Nick Diodore, Julie King, cello; Diana Richardson, bass; Sean Gabriel, flute; David McGuire, oboe; Lisa Antoniou, clarinet; Mark DeMio, basoon; Bill Hoyt, horn; Al Couch, trumpet; Andy Pongracz, percussion; Nancy Paterson, harp)

CPH Happy Hour and Cleveland Chamber Symphony: Music That Dares to Explore

I found myself in University Circle for two events this evening -- starting with another Cleveland Play House Happy Hour and finished with a Cleveland Chamber Symphony Concert.

Part 1. The Happy Hour. At Uptowne in University Circle (on the corner of Mayfield and Euclid), I walked into a standing-room only bar. Some familiar faces from the last Happy Hour, and similarly good--tending toward better--appetizers. Good conversation. Generally a fun event, but in keeping with my policy* of not reporting personal conversations there's not much else to say. One major difference: The sales pitch (from a gentleman who's name I did not catch) was even shorter than Michael Bloom's previous record-holder.

Part 2. The Concert. After excusing myself from the Happy Hour I made it to the Cleveland Chamber Symphony's concert at the Music Settlement. The program cover declares "Music that Dares to Explore"...
Man: Maroon (2005)
Mumford: a garden of flourishing paths (2008)
Stucky: Boston Fancies (1986)
Steven Smith, conductor; Sean Gabriel, flute/alto flute; Andrew Pongracz, precussion; Stuart Raleigh, piano; Susan Britton, violin; Laura Shuster, viola; Heidi Albert, cello.

"New Music" is a quite distinct category. Despite a name that implies primarily a temporal focus, the structure of these pieces is distinct from most music including traditional classical structures. It's music that I struggle with -- though not so much as, say, country or metal -- but music that doesn't, as a whole suck, me in. The three pieces on tonight's concert were all relatively short and moved at a brisk pace.

As part of Cleveland Chamber Symphony's Meet the Composer series, the composers for the first two pieces on the program were in attendance. Fang "Mindy" Man's Maroon was inspired by sounds she associated with the color, and she hesitated to comment on what she was trying to evoke, instead wanting the audience to let the music work on their imaginations as it may. To me, perhaps predisposed based on the piece's program note and my recent return from Las Vegas the beginning of the piece evoked images of the desert -- Arizona to be specific -- but that imagery faded as the end of the piece approached.

Jeffrey Mumford's a garden of flourishing paths consisted of eight individual and very short movements inspired by the West Garden Court of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC -- perhaps not having a visual context of that garden, none of the movements was long enough to appreciate individually and as a whole it didn't move me.

Finally, Stucky's Boston Fancies--seven movements alternating in tempo. The first movement (Ritornello 1.) struck me, of all thing, as a film noir overture, and the remainder of the movements flowed naturally.

Of course, the performances were well-executed, including some unconventional playing... and it's worth remembering that even Beethoven was new at this point. Support new music now and who know what will be being said 100 years from the present.

Lincoln

*-Though I tend to cringe when referred to as a "critic" or "journalist" -- titles I'm wholly unworthy of I do have a set of ethics guidelines that I try to adhere to. One of them is that I get consent before blogging about the contents of any one-on-one conversation.

Cleveland Chamber Symphony: October 25th

This afternoon I found myself at the Cleveland Chamber Symphony concert at the Music Settlement -- a first for both.

I went in with no expectations -- other than a generally vague understanding of how "Chamber Music" is different than other music. It turns out that that had little to do with the performance I was about to enjoy.

I was pleasantly surprised in most regards and the turnout was impressive; while not a large venue every seat and then some was occupied. The "Meet the Composer" format was interesting -- both to hear the composers' comments on their works and to hear questions from audience members.

Of the three pieces on the program, the 3rd and final movement of the 3rd piece (music director Steven Smith's String Quartet) was the one I found most enjoyable both in tempo and sound. Most interesting, to me, were the almost percussive sounds made among the four stringed instruments, but I'll get back to that.

Jing Jing Luo's Lagrimas Y Voces was a little too jarring and disjointed for my tastes but certainly exhibited some unusual methods of playing the instruments included in the piece, certainly pushing boundaries.

The first piece on the program, Frank Wiley's For Alexander Calder held my interest; the first two movements I could certainly visualize Alexander Calder's works... the 3rd movement I'm not so sure about. Wiley's comments after his piece certainly added value and understanding.

All in all it was a fantastic way to spend an afternoon and hear some music that's a little bit more adventurous and isn't a staple of "traditional" programming.