Klezmer Madness opens BGSU series

9/20/2012
BY SALLY VALLONGO
SPECIAL TO THE BLADE
Gary Puckett performs to a large crowd.
Gary Puckett performs to a large crowd.

What a way to end the High Holidays: Klezmer Madness, the hard-charging band based in New York City, will open the Bowling Green State University 2012-2013 Festival Series with an 8 p.m. concert Sept. 29 in Kobacker Hall of the Moore Musical Arts Center.

Founded by clarinetist David Krakauer, his musicians mix traditional klezmer music with contemporary genres including jazz of various styles. His band comprises accordion, guitar, drums, and bass.

Krakauer has performed in the past with the Klezmatics, a slightly more traditional group, and the Kronos Quartet -- which is due to make its Toledo debut Jan. 17 at the Valentine, by the way.

Tickets for the Klezmer Madness concert and/or the entire series and information are available at 419-372-8171.

Also happening at BGSU in the coming week will be a guest artist recital by trumpeter James Achley at 8 p.m. Monday in Bryan Hall, and a Jazz Spotlight performance by Sean Jones, trumpet, at 8 p.m. Sept. 27. Both of these events are free to the public.

"Woooommmmmann, ohohohoohhh," sang Gary Puckett in the 1960s, backed by his band, the Union Gap. Their recordings won Top 10 Billboard slots and gold records with its innuendo-laden macho sound.

Puckett and his pipes -- but not his band -- will be in town Sept. 29 to set hearts aflutter again in the opening concert of the Toledo Symphony's KeyBank Pops Series, 8 p.m. at the Stranahan Theater. Resident conductor Jeffrey Pollock will lead the symphony as backup band.

Puckett appears post-intermission. The evening will open with Victor Herbert's American Fantasie, plus selections from the Broadway hit show Oliver! and other works. Tickets are available at 419-246-8000 or www.toledosymphony.com.

The Toledo Symphony's Blade Chamber Series also is to open that weekend with a full and challenging evening of works for strings at 7 p.m. Sept. 30 in the Toledo Club. Schubert and Schubert will be on the program, specifically String Quartet in A minor (Rosamunde) and the Piano Quintet in A Major (Trout).

Providing some big contrast will be R. Murray Schafer's String Quartet No. 5 (Rosalind), written in 1989 by the Canadian-born composer as a commission for a Toronto businessman.

Tickets and information for this popular series, where the setting is casual but the music is intense, are at 419-246-8000 or www.toledosymphony.com.

Just a reminder that the chamber choir from the Liszt School of Music in Weimar, Germany, will make its Toledo debut at 3 p.m. Sunday to kick off the Cathedral Music Series at Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral, 2535 Collingwood Blvd. The concert is free.

The Fayette Opera House will open its 2012-2013 concert series at 3 p.m. Sunday with a recital by Canadian organist Rodney Jantzi on the refurbished reed organ in the historic hall. Tickets are $10-$12 at the door. A reception will be held after the program. For more information, call 419-237-3111.

The Adrian Symphony Orchestra will open its new season with a 3 p.m. concert Sept. 30 in Dawson Auditorium at Adrian College. Music director John Thomas Dodson will lead the professional group in a program titled Epic Journey offering music by Smetana, Sibelius, and Rachmaninoff.

Pianist Cecile Licad will do the solo honors in the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2. (being performed this weekend by the Toledo Symphony).

Aspects of travel are clearest in the Smetana work, the nationalistic tone poem "The Moldau," with its rippling theme and soaring melodies. The Sibelius Symphony No. 1 reflects the Finnish heritage of the composer, notes Dodson, adding, "It reflects the vastness of his country, the loneliness of its landscapes and its struggles for identity."

Licad began playing piano at age 3 and made her debut in her native Philippines at age 12. She moved to the U.S. to continue study at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and won the Leventritt Gold Medal. she has since maintained a busy career playing with major orchestras around the globe.

For tickets and information call 517-264-3121 or visit www.adriansymphony.org.

The Christian Festival Choir invites area singers to join them in preparation for their annual Christmas benefit concert on Dec. 6 at Whitmer High School. Rehearsals are 9 a.m.-noon Saturdays at Calvary Assembly of God, 5025 Glendale Ave., starting Sept. 29. Information: www.toledoexaltation.org, 419-865-5795, or 419-260-8284.

The Toledo Ballet will sponsor a special one-day class by New York dancer Susan Haefner for advanced dancers from 4:15-5:45 p.m. Oct. 3 at its Franklin Park headquarters. Haefner is touring the country with a production of Billy Elliott The Musical, and has performed in other Broadway productions. Dancers age 11 and up may sign up to participate. Cost is $20 for Toledo Ballet dancers and $25 for those not enrolled. For more information, call 419-471-0049.

More Music for the High Holidays is promised by WGTE-FM during a one-hour program starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at FM91.3 and affiliates. NPR host Naomi Lewin has written and produced the program, which offers a highlight of violinist Itzhak Perlman performing a new Kol Nidre.

Items for news of Music should be sent to svallongo@theblade.com at least two weeks ahead of the event. Mailed items should be sent at least three weeks in advance.