Fri 11/13 @ 8PM
Sat 11/14 @ 8PM
Sun 11/15 @ 4PM
Tue 11/17 @ 7:30PM
Music is melodic sound, an expression of emotions. And when thoughtful musicians come together to harmonize and blend, the effect is magical. This is the case with Apollo’s Fire, Cleveland’s baroque orchestra. Their season is upon us, and you may want to explore this classical musical group, which is starting to get international attention after performances at renowned festivals such as Tanglewood in Massachusetts and the London’s BBC Proms. Under the leadership of founding artistic director Jeannette Sorrell, Apollo’s fire has won critical acclaim.
Next on the Apollo’s Fire schedule is Beowulf: The Medieval Legend, performed by musician/storyteller Benjamin Bagby and presented for three performances by Apollo’s Fire. It was chosen as one of the best concerts of 2014 by The New York Times. The Tolkien-esque drama will blow you away at these locations: St Paul’s Church in Cleveland Heights on Fri 11/13; Reinberger Chamber Hall at Severance Hall Sat 11/14, and Akron’s First United Methodist Tue 11/17.
Plan to join in Afterglow, a new-concept, post-concert party with wine, sparkling cider, appetizers, and desserts after select concerts. Each Afterglow will be different and themed after the performance. There’s an Afterglow scheduled following the Friday night performance of Beowulf, where concertgoers can enjoy refreshments and meet Bagby and Sorrell.
On Sun 11/15 at Baldwin Wallace University’s Gamble Auditorium, the company will perform The Power of Love: Passions of Handel and Vivaldi with soprano Amanda Forsythe. Having been the orchestra behind Forsythe’s solo debut album, the event launches the new album and the tour send-off, with Apollo’s Fire joining Forsythe for a series of concert dates. An Afterglow party will following that concert as well, to celebrate the CD release and give guests a chance to get their CD signed by Forsythe.
Coming up during the holiday season: enjoy Apollo’s Fire from 12/9-13 when they perform Sacrum Mysterium: A Celtic Christmas, now a best-selling CD and DVD, a mix of British Isles traditions, including Celtic fiddle dance music and Scottish Gregorian chants, a medieval festival of music with roots in Vesper services.
The performance features guitarist Steve Player and soprano Meredith Hall, with Player joining the Ensemble La Nef of Montréal in dance. Also being performed at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for the second time, we can experience this at Christ Presbyterian Church in Canton, First Baptist Church in Shaker Heights and St. Noel Church in Willoughby Hills.
The music of Michael Practorius is featured in Christmas Vespers during the weekend of 12/17-20. Catch 17th-century songs in a Vespers service woven by Sorrell with sopranos Molly Quinn, Nell Snaidas & Amanda Powell and tenors Oliver Mercer and Karim Sulayman, along with the treble youth choir (Apollo’s Musettes) and Apollo’s Singers at Bath Church, First Baptist Church in Shaker Heights and St. Christopher Church in Rocky River.
Apollo’s Fire was founded in 1992 by harpsichordist/conductor Sorrell, who named her group after the Greek god of fire. And that’s what is delivered — fire. Sorrell has been hailed for her “inspired leadership” (The Independent, London) as she and her dedicated musicians revive the true spirit of baroque music with period instruments and passionate voices that connect with emotional impact.
Sorrell and her musicians have built one of the largest baroque audiences of any baroque orchestra in North America, with many of the concerts selling out. The performances are dramatic, moving and transformative. Since its London debut in 2010, the troupe has made appearances all over Europe, and has appeared at North American venues, including the sold-out 2015 debut at the Tanglewood Festival. We’re fortunate to be able to witness this powerful testimony to classical baroque music here in Cleveland.
Apollo’s Fire has released 21 commercial CDs thus far, five of which have been best sellers. Apollo’s Singers, like Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra, was founded in 1992 by Jeannette Sorrell and frequently tours with the orchestra. And the performances take place in beautiful spaces all around northeast Ohio. Find out more at Apollosfire.org/.
Cool Cleveland contributor Claudia Taller loves anything creative—Medieval music and the Dead, Picasso and Monet, Isabel Allende and John Irving — and any of the many artistic and almost-impossible art that Cleveland’s artistic community puts out and encourages others to create.
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