Credit: Courtesy CityMusic Cleveland
Three years ago the Cleveland Museum of Art presented Merima Ključo’s Sarajevo Haggadah, a multimedia work for accordion, piano, and video tracing the story of a Jewish prayer book’s eventful journey from medieval Spain to 20th-century Bosnia — where it was hidden and rescued during World War II — to its restoration by the National Museum in Sarajevo after the 1992-1995 war. The piece will be revived in Cleveland this week by Avner Dorman and CityMusic Cleveland in the composer’s new version for accordion and orchestra as part of the program “Two Faiths: One Spirit.” The free concert — to be presented six times around metro Cleveland — will also include Bardanashvili’s Elegy for Strings, Ranjbaran’s Seven Passages, Roustom’s Dabke, and Cohen’s Warzawat. Performances are from March 14-18 in Beachwood, Euclid, Parma, Lakewood, Cleveland, and Elyria. Schedule and locations can be found here.

Cellist Alisa Weilerstein, who grew up in Cleveland and now lives in Berlin, will make the most of her visit this weekend, soloing with guest conductor Alan Gilbert and The Cleveland Orchestra in Samuel Barber’s Concerto and joining her teacher Richard Weiss and colleagues in the Cleveland Cello Society’s annual extravaganza, i Cellisti. Her Severance Hall performances are Thursday, March 15 at 7:30 pm, Friday, March 16 at 11:00 am, Saturday, March 17 at 8:00 pm, and Sunday, March 18 at 3:00 pm. (Gilbert will also lead music by Dvořák, tickets here). i Cellisti — with its grand finale for a massed ensemble of cellos — takes place on Friday, March 16 at 8:00 pm at Harkness Chapel on the CWRU campus (tickets are $25 at the door).

Scottish classical guitarist Paul Galbraith returns to the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society Series at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights on Saturday, March 17 at 7:30 pm, performing on his unique 8-string guitar — played like a cello that sits atop a resonating box. The program features Galbraith’s own arrangements of keyboard works by J.S. Bach, Scriabin, Albéniz, and Haydn. Purchase tickets in advance here.

There are two almost simultaneous events to choose from at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Sunday, March 18. At 2:00 pm, French pianist Lise de la Salle will play love-themed music by Schumann, Wagner, and Prokofiev on the free Tri-C Classical Piano Series in Gartner Auditorium. Downstairs, at 3:00 pm in the Recital Hall, Scott MacPherson will direct a small ensemble from his Cleveland Chamber Choir in “March Madrigal Madness,” a musical version of this month’s NCAA lunacy in which the audience can vote on their favorite from a “Sweet Sixteen” list of Renaissance and Victorian partsongs. (The list may be sweet, but some of the amorous lyrics are spicy.) Tickets can be ordered here.

The Vernal Equinox coincides with Johann Sebastian Bach’s 333rd Birthday, and there are two celebrations on the calendar. On Sunday, March 18 at 3:00 pm at Pilgrim Church, Arts Renaissance Tremont will mark the event with a free concert of Bach’s solo cello music played by Cleveland Orchestra principal cello Mark Kosower. Then on Tuesday, March 20 at 7:30 pm, Trinity Cathedral music director Todd Wilson will join violinist Jinjoo Cho in a candlelight concert that features Bach’s organ Prelude and Fugue in b and Violin Partita No. 2 in d. Tickets include a post-concert reception and art exhibit at the Cathedral.

Check out details of these and many other classical music events on our Concert Listings page.

This article appears in Mar 14-20, 2018.