Music Inspired by Takashi Murakami and the Rest of the Classical Music to Catch This Week

Takashi Murakami at the Cleveland Museum of Art Credit: Emanuel Wallace

As we move into high summer, some classical music producing and presenting organizations are also shifting into high gear.

– Ohio Light Opera continues its season at The College of Wooster’s Freedlander Theatre. The opening performance of Herman Haller and Eduard Künneke’s The Cousin from Batavia is on Wednesday, July 23 at 2 pm (repeated on Sunday, July 27 at the same hour).

– On Thursday, July 24, OLO presents George and Ira Gershwin’s Tip-Toes at 2 pm and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel at 7:30 (repeated on Saturday, July 26 at 7:30). Friday, July 25 brings Noël Coward’s Bitter Sweet at 2 pm and Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience at 7:30. And on Saturday, July 26, catch Lerner and Loewe’s Brigadoon as it rises out of the Scottish mists at 2pm. Tickets here.
Piano Cleveland’s Piano Days – a celebration of all things piano.

– 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition Semi-Finalist Mirabelle Kajenjer returns to Cleveland to play two concerts celebrating her Ukrainian and Burundian heritage. On Wednesday, July 23 at 5:30, she’ll partner with faculty and students of Hryhory Kytasty Cleveland School of Bandura on the Wade Oval Series, and on Thursday, July 24 at 7:30 will play classical favorites along with pieces representing her Ukrainian and Burundian heritage in Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music (tickets available online).

– On Saturday, July 26 at 7:30 pm BLKBOK, the Detroit-based neoclassical pianist, inspired by rap and other contemporary music genres, will perform selections from his albums and various mixtape projects at Dobama Theatre (repeated on July 27 at 2 pm, tickets available online.)

– On Tuesday, July 29 at 12 Noon, in conjunction with the Cleveland Museum of Art’s sound installation, Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, Kotaro Fukuma, the 2003 Cleveland International Piano Competition First Prize Winner, will play works by Karen Tanaka, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Toru Takemitsu, inspired by the contemporary aesthetic of Murakami’s visual language in the Ames Family Atrium.

– The Cleveland Orchestra begins a busy weekend by accompanying the three finalists of the Cooper International Piano Competition as the young pianists move from rounds at the Oberlin Conservatory to vie for the top prizes on Thursday at 7:30 in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center under the baton of Samy Rachid. Tickets available online.

– On Saturday at 7 pm, guest conductor Jonathan Heyward, saxophonist Jess Gillam, and the Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra join the Orchestra at Blossom for Beethoven’s “Pastoral Symphony.” And on Sunday at 7, vocalist Cynthia Erivo collaborates with guest conductor Edwin Outwater in a program that includes her original songs. Tickets available online.

– And here’s an intriguing performance: on Thursday, July 24 at 7 pm, Renovare Music presents “A Hive’s Song: The Frequency of Sisterhood,” featuring string players and vocalists Lalia Mangione, Clara Prinston, and Rebecca Shasberger in an evening of instrumental music and original documentary songs written in collaboration with My Sistas Keeper, a collective of Black, female, urban beekeepers in Greater Cleveland. Honey-tasting reception to follow. Shalom & Tranquility Garden, 3789 W. 39th St., Cleveland. Free, but registration requested — RSVP online. Repeated on July 26 at 7:00 pm at Heights Theater, tickets available online.

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

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