Music lovers have a diverse menu to sample
3/7/2013The week ahead in music promises a liberal mix of styles, periods, and ensembles.
● Tonight at 7, a peek inside the busy dance studio of Alison Reny from the Toledo School for the Arts will reveal what’s billed as Limitless Dance, Looking Back. Moving Forward. The concert is at the Valentine Theatre, where tickets are $8-$14.
● On Saturday, Janice Schemenauer, a retired Toledo Public Schools teacher and French hornist, will introduce herself in a debut recital at 1:30 p.m. at Monroe Street United Methodist Church, 3613 Monroe St. Schemenauer, who studies with Toledo Symphony principal hornist Sandra Clark, will perform music by Saint-Saens, Grazioli, Damas, and Alec Wilder. Accompanying Schemenauer will be pianist Gayle McClellan.
Joining Schemenauer for some duets will be another hornist, retired engineer John Wilson. Admission is free.
● Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor will advance its World Music series with a performance at 8 p.m. Saturday by two Michigan performing groups, Sumkali and Wisaal, in a program of Arabic and Indian Fusion. Sumkali comprises 10 musicians playing various percussion, keyboards, the sitar and kirtan, and singing. Wisaal is a sextet using clarinet, oud, mandolin, percussion, and double bass. The evening will include each group performing, then joining for a big fusion finale.
Tickets for the concert are $5-$25 at www.kerrytownconcerthouse.com or 734-769-2999. The historic home repurposed as a hall is smallish, so reservations are suggested. Kerrytown is at 415 N. Fourth Ave., Ann Arbor, not far from Zingerman’s Deli.
● Sunday’s events include the Toledo Symphony’s annual Bruckner symphony performance in Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral, 2561 Collingwood Blvd., at 4 p.m. Principal conductor Stefan Sanderling will lead Symphony No. 2, the 1877 version by German composer Anton Bruckner. Tickets are $35 plus $6 handling fees at www.toledosymphony.com or $35 at the door.
The Bel Canto Choir of the Children’s Choir of Northwest Ohio will perform at 3 p.m. in the Toledo Museum of Art Great Gallery. Lisa Alleman will conduct with Nancy Honaker accompanying. The group, now in its sixth year, encourages choral singing for children ages 8 and older. The Bel Canto group is the older singers, fifth through tenth grade. Works on the program were selected to reference art in the TMA. The concert is free.
● Monday’s music highlight will be the Bowling Green State University Music at the Forefront series, which will introduce the region to the amplified contemporary sounds of the Dither Guitar Quartet.
During the 8 p.m. concert at the Clazel Theater, 127 N. Main St., Bowling Green, the New York-based group will reveal its virtuosic take on contemporary classical works. Members are David Linaburg, Josh Lopes, James Moore, and Taylor Levine.
The group also will perform at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Bryan Hall of the Moore Musical Arts Center. Both concerts are free.
● The Toledo symphony will present a Regional Concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Founder’s Hall of Sauder Farm and Craft Village, Rt. 2, Archbold. Resident conductor Jeffrey Pollock will lead a program of classical music and traditional American works by conductors including Mozart, Strauss, Mendelssohn, Hailstork, and Hayman.
Tickets are $15 in advance at the Sauder Village Welcome Center and $18 at the door. The Black Swamp Arts Council is a co-host for the concert.
● A final highlight will be March 15-17 when the Opera Ensemble from the University of Toledo department of music presents three intimate performances of the Claudio Monteverdi opera, L’Orfeo, in the Toledo Museum of Art Cloister.
Denise Ritter Bernardini of the UT voice faculty is artistic director for the production, which comprises soloists, chorus, dancers, and small orchestra. Don Bernardini is stage director and Robert Mirakian will conduct the orchestra. The Bernardinis translated the medieval Italian text to English.
One of the oldest operas still performed, L’Orfeo, written in 1607, tells the Greek story of Orpheus and his travels through the underworld in search of his wife, Eurydice.
Soloists will include Sasha Noori, Molly Bock, Lauren Kerr, Brad Lieto, Spencer Wilhelm, Wesley Forney, and Devin Desmond.
The March 15 performance will begin at 7 p.m.; start times for March 16 and 17 will be 2 p.m.
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Auditions for a part in the trideaDANCE production at the Ritz Theatre are to take place at 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the historic hall, 30 S. Washington St., Tiffin. Kathy Miller of trideaDANCE, a professional dance collaborative in residence at the Ritz, will run the auditions. Male and female dancers age 14 and up are eligible to try out. The performance will take place April 20 at the Ritz. Auditioners should use the Riverside Drive entrance.
Items for News of Music should be sent to svallongo@theblade.com at least two weeks ahead of performance date.