CityMusic Cleveland's Free March Concerts and the Rest of the Classical Music to Catch This Week

Catch free shows from the group this weekend Credit: Courtesy CityMusic Cleveland

There’s an interesting mix of classical music programs to recommend this week.

– At Trinity Cathedral for the Wednesday noon Brownbag series, mezzo-soprano Kira McGirr will sing a tribute to British contralto Clara Butt (1872-1936) featuring Edward Elgar’s Sea Pictures with pianist Shiloh Roby. Oberlin College & Conservatory Professor Charles McGuire – an expert on Butt’s life and music – will discuss her career and the profound impact she had on music-making in Great Britain and early vocal recording. It’s free.

– On Thursday, CityMusic Cleveland’s free March Orchestra concerts present pianist Roman Rabinovich in Felix Mendelssohn’s Concerto No. 1 (7:30 at Fairmount Presbyterian Church, repeated March 21 at 7:30 at East Mount Zion Baptist Church, March 22 at 7:30 at the Shrine of St. Stanislaus, and March 23 at 4:30 at Our Lady of Angels in Rocky River).

– On Friday, Trobár Medieval explores the music and experience of medieval nuns from both western and eastern traditions, who renounced their earthly lives. A pay-what-you-can donation gets you in the door for “Mothers and Sisters of the Veil,” (7:30 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Cleveland Heights, repeated March 22 at 7 pm at St. James Catholic Church in Lakewood, freewill offering).

– On Friday, Cleveland Institute of Music Insiders Series explores Maurice Ravel at 150 with faculty performers Antonio Pompa-Baldi, piano, Ilya Kaler, violin & Si-Yan Darren Li & Annamarie Wellems, cellos (7:30 in Mixon Hall at CIM, free, but reservations required.)

– Also on Friday, Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project hosts the Tendrils Bassoon Trio (Katherine Young, Dana Jessen, and Ben Roidl-Ward) for Eric Wubbels’ Altarpiece H. af K. for amplified bassoons, and Ryan Carter performs live electronic music that responds to real-time inputs from a video game controller. (7:30 at Calicchia Gallery Studio, free, but suggested donation $15).

– On Saturday, No Exit Presents Patchwork and Anika Kildegaard in “a series of transcendent works written for voice and saxophone” (free at 7 pm at Praxis Fiber Workshop).

– Also on Saturday, Yuja Wang plays Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra (8 pm at Severance Music Center, repeated on Sunday at 8. Tickets available online.)

– And on Sunday, Music from the Western Reserve presents Les Délices in “The Poet & the Prodigy,” connecting two titans of the Baroque: J.S. Bach & François Couperin. (5 pm at Christ Church Episcopal, Hudson. Tickets available online).

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

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