Thu 10/15 @ 7:30PM
Fri 10/16 @ 7:30PM
Sat 10/17 @ 7:30PM
Sun 10/18 @ 4PM
All year we’ve been hearing about the celebrations, good and bad, around the U.S.’s 250th anniversary. Apollo’s Fire, Cleveland’s Baroque chamber orchestra, joins in the tribute to the country’s history by looking at the music that was in the air 250 years ago when Benjamin Franklin was sent to France in 1776 to raise money for the Revolutionary war effort. In addition to being a diplomat, Franklin was also a cultural maven who attended concerts, dances, operas and more.
The upcoming program, titled “Ben Franklin in Paris,” features music that was being performed in Paris during the nine years Franklin was living there, music he might have heard, including Mozart’s “Paris” symphony (Symphony No. 31, first performed in 1778). It also includes another Mozart piece from 1788, thr overture to the ballet Les Petits Riens, along with selections from Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Les Fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour; Joseph Boligne’s 1776 Sinfonie-Concertante, op. 13 no. 2, featuring Alan Choo and Chloe Fedor on violins; André Gretry’s Suite from Zemire et Azor & Le Caravan du Caire; and Contredanse “La Voltaire et La Franklein” (anonymous).
The ensemble will perform at the First United Methodist Church in Akron on Thursday; at St. Raphael Catholic Church in Bay Village on Friday; at the Cleveland Institute of music’s Kulas Hall on Saturday; and the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium on Sunday. There’ll be a pre-concert talk by clarinetist Dominic Giardino an hour before each performance. After Saturday’s performance, there’s an afterglow reception with treats, drinks and the chance to meet the musicians.
Get tickets HERE.
apollosfire.org/event/ben-franklin-in-paris/