Program in museum's Cloister will celebrate summer

7/28/2011

The Toledo Museum of Art will honor the season with a free program at 2 p.m. Aug. 7 in the Cloister. "Earth Mirrors Sky: A Celebration of Summer in Song and Dance," will feature musicians from Bowling Green State University, Jill Berkana and her dance group, Nightfire, for an imaginative and atmospheric event within the hushed surroundings of the medieval gallery.

Berkana says the story line is a young girl dreaming of dancing with a shooting star while sleeping on a summer night. Participants are invited to dress in a midsummer dream costume and join in the activity.

Joining her will be Chris Lennard and Katie Brown, percussion; Lindsay Foster, oboe, and dancers Claire Coder, Jenna Owens, Paula Frank, Frank McElhannon, and Elizabeth Clark Hall.

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The Maumee Community Band will perform three free concerts in August. Conductor Kevin Heidbredder will lead the band at 7 p.m. Aug. 6 in Village Park, Whitehouse; 7 p.m. Aug. 9 at the Maumee branch of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, and at 11 a.m. Aug. 20 during the Maumee Street Fair.

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The first rounds of the Cleveland International Piano Competition have started in the Cleveland Playhouse, where individual contestants perform 30-minute recitals starting at 1 and 7 p.m. through Friday. Second round recitals will be presented at 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, with the jury voting on eight winners at 10 p.m. Monday.

Those winners will then compete in the semi-finals, same time and place, Tuesday and Wednesday. The four finalists will each appear in a concerto solo with the Cleveland Orchestra at 8 p.m. Aug. 5 and 6 in Severance Hall.

For information on tickets and simulcasts check http://clevelandpiano.org/schedule.html.

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'Tis the week after Art Fair and all through Ann Arbor, the natives are resting from four days of creative labor.

Except at Kerrytown Concert House, 415 North Fourth Ave., where a few resilient and seasoned performers are celebrating yet another successful fair with music. Led by inspired pianist and opera expert Kevin Bylsma, a group of singers will present the Week After Art Fair Song Fest.

Event co-founder soprano Jane Schoonmaker Rogers will join Bylsma Thursday night at 8 for the opening recital, Eine Kleine Liederabend (A little evening song), with works by Schubert, Wolf, and Mahler. Joining the founders will be singers Caroline Helton, Leslie Smith, Liz Pearse, Deanna Relyea, Ellen Strba Scholl, Monica Swartout-Bebow, Christopher Scholl, and Errin Brooks. Tickets are $10 to $25.

Friday at 8 p.m. comes the big event, Singing Our Brains Out, a no-holds-barred cabaret evening featuring the Thursday voices as well as Deborah Gover, Sarah Flammer, Brian Pfaltzfraff, Gregory John Ashe, John Hopkins, Steve Mullan, and Tadd Sipes. Tickets are $10.

Something jazzy and a little cooler is promised at 8 p.m. Saturday with the Alberto Rojo Trio, vocals, guitar, bass, and drums played by Rojo, Andrew Kratzat, and Michael Gould performing music from Argentina. Tickets are $15 to $30 with student tickets $10.

Finally, cellist Katri Ervamaa and pianist Joel Hastings will be in the house for an 8 p.m. concert Wednesday with music by Chopin and Granados, Brubeck and Piazzolla. Tickets are $10 to $25. For tickets and information call 734-769-2999 or visit www.kerrytownconcerthouse.com.

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Lauren Tenney, a professional dancer with the Lexington (Ky.) Ballet Company, will lead a one-day workshop Aug. 20 at Ballet Theatre of Toledo, her dance alma mater. Intermediate students will take a class from 10-11:30 a.m. and advanced students will study from 12:30-2:30 p.m. in the school headquarters, 1124 Corporate Drive, Holland.

Tenney studied with company founders Nigel Burgoine and Anne Marie Getz, then attended the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts in Connecticut. She trained with Edward Ellison in New York City and won the bronze medal in the contemporary category at the Youth American Grand Prix regional competitions.

She was invited to attend the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow in 2008 and, since joining the Lexington company, also has performed with the Metropolitan Ballet of Topeka.

For more information on registration and classes, call 419-861-0895 or visit www.ballettheatreoftoledo.org.

Items for News of Music should be sent to svallongo@theblade.com at least two weeks in advance of the event.