Bonds: Credo

Mozart: Mass in C minor

Our season concludes with BlueWater Chamber Orchestra joining forces with our city’s premier Cleveland Chamber Choir. Margaret Bond’s Credo sets to music the profound text of W.E.B. DuBois, the pioneering sociologist, civil rights activist, and co-founder of the NAACP. Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor captivates with its timeless elegance and intricate arrangements. The program features soprano Katherine Jolly in both works, an accomplished singer who has appeared on opera stages throughout the country and is the winner of the prestigious Metropolitan Opera National Council Grand Finals. Together, these works explore themes of belief, struggle, and the transcendent power of the human spirit.

Charles Edward McGuire, PhD, from Oberlin College & Conservatory, will present a pre-concert talk, 45 minutes prior to the performance.

Hindemith: Five Pieces for String Orchestra

Mendelssohn: Konzertstück
Nos. 1 & 2 for clarinet and basset horn
Afendi Yusuf, Clarinet | BIO
Amy Zoloto, Basset Horn | BIO

Ginastera: Variaciones Concertantes

Join us for an evening of dynamic and diverse classical works, beginning with Paul Hindemith’s Five Pieces for String Orchestra, a vibrant exploration of harmony and texture that showcases Hindemith’s inventive spirit. Next, experience the charm and brilliance of Felix Mendelssohn’s Konzertstück Nos. 1 & 2, featuring virtuosic clarinet and basset horn solos —performed by The Cleveland Orchestra’s Afendi Yusuf and Amy Zoloto — that dance and sing with Mendelssohn’s signature lyrical warmth. Concluding the program is Alberto Ginastera’s Variaciones Concertantes, a powerful and colorful work steeped in Argentine folk rhythms, offering a rich tapestry of instrumental solos and orchestral grandeur.

Finzi: Love’s Labour’s Lost

Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
James Thompson, Violin

Haydn: Symphony No. 104 “London”

Native Clevelander, graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, and current performer with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York, violinist James Thompson joins us on Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending. Soaring with its ethereal violin solo, it evokes the beauty of the English countryside. The program opens with Finzi’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, a charming interpretation of Shakespeare’s playful comedy, brimming with lyrical warmth, and concludes with Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 “London,” a brilliant work filled with grandeur and wit, showcasing the composer’s virtuosity in his final symphonic masterpiece.