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To•Day

DIARY: Monday, April 13, 2026

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

This evening at 7:30 the LCCC Signature Recital Series will present the Poiesis Quartet in 20th and 21st-century music in Cinema Hall at Lorain County Community College in Elyria.

For details of these and other classical events, visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced a change of conductor for its forthcoming performances of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem. Due to family reasons, Daniel Harding has withdrawn and Klaus Mäkelä will step in to lead the April 23, 25, and 26 performances by The Cleveland Orchestra, Chorus, and Children’s Chorus, and vocalists Tamara Wilson, Andrew Staples, and Ludwig Mittelhammer.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

Medieval French poet and composer Guillaume de Machaut died in April of 1377, presumably on this day. He ably straddled the worlds of sacred and secular music, as shown by two selections. Click here to listen to the Gloria from his Messe de Nostre Dame sung by the Gesualdo Six in Ely Cathedral. And Les Délice’s artistic director Debra Nagy channeled Machaut to create her Estampie Dame, vostre dous viaire for a live performance in January, 2018. Watch here. [Read More…]

Pre•Views & Features

Apollo’s Fire: O Jerusalem! Crossroads of Three Faiths — Part 2

by Mike Telin

This week, Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire will premiere a fresh version of their celebrated program O Jerusalem! Crossroads of Three Faiths. In this musical tour of the four quarters of Old Jerusalem (Jewish, Christian, Arab, and Armenian), surprising cross-influences emerge.

The program will be presented on Thursday, April 9 at The Bath Church UCC, on April 10 in Gartner Auditorium at the  Cleveland Museum of Art, and on April 11 at Congregation Mishkan Or, all at 7:30 pm. Pre-concert conversations will be presented by Daphna Mor and Ronnie Malley, one hour before each performance. Tickets are available online.

I caught up by telephone with Ronnie Malley, who, in addition to playing oud & accordion, served as the Arab musical and cultural consultant for this project. I asked him to talk about what he brought to the program.

Ronnie Malley: Jennette was very open to whatever I wanted to bring. And I thought, I am a Jerusalemite and I should  bring something from there. And the one thing that the city has always represented to me are the three Abrahamic faiths — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

[Read on…]

David Russell brings Don Quixote to Cleveland Classical Guitar Society

by Mike Telin

The Cleveland Classical Guitar Society International Series will host celebrated guitarist David Russell on Saturday, April 11 at 7:30 pm at the Maltz Performing Arts Center.

Russell’s program will feature works by Mauro Giuliani, Isaac Albéniz, J.S. Bach, Stephen Goss, and Gabriel Estarellas. Tickets are available online.

On Sunday, April 12 at 2:00 pm, Russell will present a masterclass at the CCGS offices at 7100 Euclid Avenue in Cleveland.

I caught up with the guitarist in San Francisco where he was in the middle of his annual residency at the San Francisco Conservatory. I began our Zoom conversation by welcoming him back to Cleveland.

[Read on…]

No Exit Presents: Either/Orchestra performs music from Ethiopia

by Mike Telin

Since playing their first show on December 17, 1985, at the Cambridge (MA) Public Library, the acclaimed Either/Orchestra has been thrilling audiences around the globe with their unique  combination of jazz, improvisation, and global musical influences.

This week, as part of the No Exit Presents series, Either/Orchestra will perform two different programs that feature Ethiopian music and Ethio-jazz.

On Friday, April 10 at 7:00 pm at Trinity Cathedral E/O will feature Ethiopian vocalist Bruck Tesfaye performing Mahmoud Ahmed and Nerses Nalbandian-associated songs.

And on Saturday, April 11 at 7:00 pm at The Bop Stop, the ensemble will be joined by vocalist Munit Mesfin. The program features Nerses Nalbandian songs, as well as songs by Teshome Mitiku, Bezunesh Bekele, and Mahmoud Ahmed. Both performances are free.

No Exit’s Laura King caught up with Either/Orchestra founder Russ Gershon and asked him about the ensemble’s long association with Ethiopian music, and what they have in store for audiences at this week’s concerts.

[Read on…]

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