Bombino Brings Guitar Wizardry to the Art Museum and the Rest of the Classical Music to Catch This Week

Classical concerts are in full swing this week. Here’s a selection.

– Bombino, the first ever Grammy-nominated artist from Niger, will demonstrate his guitar wizardry at the art Museum on Wednesday at 7:30 (read a preview article here), at the same hour as Jake Taniguchi leads the CIM Orchestra in music by Coleridge-Taylor, Still, and Stravinsky in Kulas Hall .

– On Thursday, No Exit new music ensemble launches its season-long survey of surrealism with the first of three concerts in Ludwig Hall at Kent State (repeated on Friday at Heights Arts, and Saturday at SPACES). All begin at 7 pm. Read a preview article here.

– Also on Thursday, at 7:30, baritone Simon Keenlyside joins Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra in an all-Mahler concert including solo songs and the Seventh Symphony, repeated on Friday at 7:30.

– Apollo’s Fire presents “Splendour in London: Handel’s Water Music and Other Royal Festivities” on Thursday at 7:30 at St. Paul’s in Akron, on Friday at 7:30 at Lakewood Methodist, on Saturday at 8 at Federated Church in Chagrin Falls, and on Sunday at 5 at Church of the Gesu in University Hts.

– Led by Don Verkuilen, The Singers Club surveys its male chorus repertoire in “The Music We Sing” at First Baptist in Shaker Heights on Friday at 7.

– Also on Friday, CityMusic Chamber Series presents British chamber music at Praxis Fiber Workshop at 7, and the Oberlin Artist Recital Series hosts the all-female Seraph Brass in Finney Chapel at 7:30.

– Two organizations will mark Hispanic Heritage Month on Saturday: Sammy DeLeon y su Orquesta at Severance at 7, and the Youngstown Symphony under Francisco Noya in “Latin Fire” at 7:30.

– The first of two Cleveland Philharmonic concerts led by Victor Liva with violin soloist Andrew Sords will take place at West Shore Unitarian Universalist on Saturday at 7:30, repeated on Sunday at 3 at Cleveland State University.

– And on Saturday at 8 at Disciples Church, Cleveland Chamber Collective plays two performances of the fourth program in its Music of America series, including music by Claude Bolling, Jeff Scott, Ty Alan Emerson, and traditional Brazilian chorinho, repeated Sunday at 8 at the Pivot Center.

– This week’s packed Sunday afternoon schedule also includes concerts by the Parma Symphony (with pianist Michael Lu) at 3, the Meta4 String Quartet at the College of Wooster, also at 3, Heights Chamber Orchestra with violin soloist Emily Cornelius at First Baptist in Shaker Hts. at 3:30, the CIM New Music Ensemble in Mixon Hall at 4 (a Joan Tower 85th birthday celebration), and the University of Akron choirs at Fairlawn Lutheran at 4.

– Ending the week with a special gathering of friends at Severance Music Center, soprano Renée Fleming will collaborate with the Emerson String Quartet and pianist Simone Dinnerstein in a program of music by Beethoven (Quartet No. 14), Philip Glass (Etude No. 6), and André Previn (his Penelope, narrated by Merle Dandridge).

Click here to visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings page for more information.

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