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To•Day

DIARY: Thursday, August 13, 2026

by Daniel Hathaway

HAPPENING TODAY:

7:00 pm – The Cleveland Orchestra and Blossom Festival Chorus. Summers at Severance: A Night at the Opera. John Fiore, conductor, Latonia Moore, soprano (pictured with Franz Welser-Most), and Russell Thomas, tenor (replacing Brandon Jovanovich.) An evening of operatic highlights, including “Nessun dorma” from Puccini’s Turandot and the “Anvil Chorus” from Verdi’s Il trovatore.

7:00 pm – Cleveland Chamber Choir. A Night at the Cabaret. Gregory Ristow, conductor. A program of showstoppers, torch songs, and Broadway favorites at The Bop Stop.

INTERESTING READ:

Anthony Hopkins, composer? How the actor collaborated with Gustavo Dudamel on his debut album

“The music on the new record is vivid in its storytelling and unapologetically emotional, lyrical and expressive. Languid piano tunes give way to surging, keening tides of strings. Hopkins weaves in old Welsh folk tunes and nods to impressionistic inspirations like Vaughan Williams and Frederick Delius. “Life Is a Dream” is, essentially, a collection of love letters: to his wife Stella, to Margam, to the life he knows won’t last forever.”

Click here to read the Los Angeles Times article by Tim Greiving, and here to read a related article by Mark Swed.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

On this date in 1655, German instrument maker Johann Christoph Denner was born in Leipzig. [Read More…]

Pre•Views & Features

CIPC for Young Artists: Senior Division First Prize winner Chenxu Han

Chenxu Han, age 17 (China) — First Prize Senior Division

ClevelandClassical.com: What’s your favorite moment in Cleveland been?

Chenxu Han: I think my favorite moment, maybe it’s in the competition because I think the important thing is just never it’s a competition. We can know the friends and we can meet lots of people from all over the world. This is really wonderful experience. We practice together every day. We of course, compete every day, and we talk every day. We eat every day. This is really wonderful. I can learn a lot. I can meet lots of people from the world. And meet some new friends.

CC.com: You’re all living in the same building.

CH: Yeah. It’s really wonderful.

[Read on…]

CIPC for Young Artists: Junior Division First Prize winner Ryan Huang

Ryan Huang, age 15 (Canada/United States) — First Prize Junior Division and Audience Prize

ClevelandClassical.com: Thank you for taking the time to talk, and congratulations on the win and the audience prize. How did it feel when you realized that you had won?

Ryan Huang: When I heard the second place’s name announced I knew I had won and I couldn’t believe it. I was very surprised. Not because I didn’t think I played well, it’s because everybody here is just very talented, and I have such incredible peers as musicians, so it’s a very happy surprise to have won. To have my name be called as the first prize was a feeling of delight.

[Read on…]

CIPC for Young Artists: Rising Star First Prize winner Wilson Liu

Wilson Liu, age 12 (United States) —  First Prize, Rising Star Division, Classical Prize, and Romantic Prize

ClevelandClassical.com: Congratulations — fantastic playing.

Wilson Liu: Thank you.

CC.com: You’ve been in many competitions: How did you deal with your nerves? Do you get nervous? You didn’t look like it.

WL: I get nervous, but I also get excited at the same time. And I think I can deal with that nervousness, but I still do different techniques to help me reduce that nervousness. Like, I power pose sometimes in front of the mirror to make me feel big and more confident. I had a class with Jo from Mindful Opus who taught me these techniques and I’ve been trying to use them. And they’re pretty good, actually. [Demonstrates] You can do this like a starfish, and you could also do this like a boss, you know?

[Read on…]

See all previews

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