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To•Day

DIARY: Wednesday, June 3, 2026

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

Tonight at 7:30 in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, The Cleveland Orchestra will play the live score during an HD screening of Matilda, based on the Roald Dahl book, conducted by David Newman, and hosted and narrated by Danny DeVito.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Jazz Journalists Association has announced winners in 49 categories of excellence in music and journalism at the 31st annual JJA Jazz Awards.

Among artists with Oberlin Conservatory connections, Billy Hart was named Traps Drummer of the Year, and his book Oceans of Time: The Musical Autobiography of Billy Hart (Cymbal Press) as told to Ethan Iverson, was named Book of the Year (Biography or Autobiography). And Sullivan Fortner was voted Pianist of the Year and named Duo of the Year along with vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

On June 3, 1929, German-born inventor Emile Berliner died in New York City of a heart attack at the age of 78. Like many second-wave innovators, Berliner has largely gone unmentioned for his pair of contributions to the classical music recording industry. [Read More…]

Pre•Views & Features

Italian Guitarist Nicolò Spera: An afternoon of new music

By Mike Telin

“The first thing I do before I contact a composer to ask them to write a piece is listen to their music. If it doesn’t speak to me, why would I spend the money and the time?” Italian guitarist Nicolò Spera said during a recent Zoom conversation. “And if it does speak to me, I think it can speak to anyone.”

On Sunday, June 7 at 1:00 pm in Mixon Hall at CIM as part of the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival, Spera will present a program of new works, four of which will be world premieres. Jonathan Leathwood will present a pre-concert lecture at 11:30 am. Tickets are available online.

Spera said that all of the composers on his program have two things in common — a dazzling imagination and a sense of refinement. “I find that I’m drawn to music that has this inner elegance, which to me carries depth. And all of these composers only write what is really important. If something is there just to show off, then it doesn’t become part of  their music. So this program isn’t meant to be a statement about new music, it’s just very beautiful, genuine music that happened to be written in the last few years, or in some cases, in the last few weeks.”

Spera will open his program with the world premiere of Roxana Panufnik’s Canto. The guitarist said that he was aware that Panufnik was extremely busy and that getting her to write a piece for one instrument might be difficult. But while looking through her catalogue he discovered Canto for solo viola. “I looked at it and I loved it so I thought I would ask her if she thought it could work on guitar and with her approval, I would like to play it. We worked together on the transcription and she liked it and I love it. So that’s how it happened.

[Read on…]

Studio Espressivo presents Masquerading Melodies

by Mike Telin

What do Colombina, Harlequin, Pantalone, Pierrot, and Pulcinella have in common? They are all characters of the commedia dell’arte. This weekend they will be brought to life musically when Studio Espressivo presents Masquerading Melodies.

Performances are on Saturday, June 6 at 3:00 pm & 8:00 pm, and Sunday June 7 at 3:00 pm at Studio Espressivo, 2026 Murray Hill Road #111. Pay-what-you-wish, tickets available Online.

Studio Espressivo concert series founders, pianist Allison Hillier and composer/pianist Chris Neiner, will open the program with Gabriel Fauré’s Overture from Masques et bergamasques for piano four hands.

“The overture is not even four minutes long, but it is so fun,” Neiner said during a Zoom call. “It was commissioned as incidental music for a theatrical entertainment for the Prince of Monaco in 1919. It was inspired by commedia dell’arte and designed to be first on a concert.”

Neiner will then take on Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Polichinelle in F-sharp minor. “The title is French for Punch, from Punch and Judy, which itself goes back to commedia dell’arte. So it’s very much a character piece.”

[Read on…]

Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival celebrates 26 years this June

by Mike Telin

With the flipping of the calendar next week, the summer festival season in Northeast Ohio is set to launch. Keeping with tradition, the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival will once again be leading the way.

Celebrating its 26th year, the Festival will run from June 4 through 7 at the Cleveland Institute of Music. This year CICGF will be highlighted by six concerts performed by internationally renowned guitarists and supporting musicians, six lectures, six master classes, private lessons, a demonstration of fine concert guitars, and the seventh annual James Stroud National Classical Guitar Youth Competition.

“Year 26, believe it or not,” Festival founder and artistic director Armin Kelly exclaimed during a recent telephone conversation. He noted that the six concerts are equally divided between solo and chamber music recitals. All performances will be held in Mixon Hall.

[Read on…]

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