REVIEWS | NEWS

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra: Jinjoo Cho soars in Barber Concerto
(Nov. 17, 2023)

November 28, 2023
In a pre-holiday offering, Bluewater Chamber Orchestra’s audience received gifts simple and somber, with intermittent thrills, on Friday evening, November 17. In an all-American program, the pleasures were many: Cindy McTee’s moving Adagio for strings, Barber’s firework of a Violin Concerto, and Copland’s wise portrait of rural America, Appalachian Spring. | READ MORE »

“(Jinjoo Cho’s) first musical entrance, a soaring line that sounds like the best kind of movie music, surprised us with its unabashed gorgeousness.”

— ClevelandClassical.com

Violinist Jinjoo Cho: Barber with BlueWater Preview
(Nov. 17, 2023)

November 14, 2023
Following up on her Tchaikovsky Concerto performance four years ago, violinist Jinjoo Cho will make a return appearance with BlueWater Chamber Orchestra. This time, the first prize winner of the 2014 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis will focus on the Concerto of Samuel Barber — part of an all-American program led by Daniel Meyer. | READ MORE »

WCLV interviews Artistic Director Daniel Meyer in anticipation of Season 14’s first concert—Yaron Kohlberg Plays Shostakovich
(Oct. 7, 2023)

September 30, 2023
WCLV Ideastream Public Media’s John Mills speaks with Maestro Meyer about BlueWater’s upcoming program featuring Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and Bach with guest piano soloist Yaron Kohlberg. | LISTEN TO INTERVIEW »

“Viva Latina!”— BlueWater Chamber Orchestra
(March 4, 2023)

March 14, 2023
Accordionist Hanzhi Wang held the Church of the Covenant audience in thrall on March 4 as she demonstrated mastery of the wild marvel that is her instrument in a performance of Piazzolla’s Bandoneon Concerto. The BlueWater Chamber Orchestra and conductor Daniel Meyer provided able accompaniment there, as well as lovely accounts of works by Arriaga and Copland in this Latin-tinged program. | READ MORE »

“The accordion piece put wings under my feet.”

— Audience Member, “Viva Latina!” (March 4, 2023)

“Heaven and Earth” at the Church of the Covenant
(Oct. 8, 2022)

November 3, 2022
Wonderful things can happen when two accomplished ensembles collaborate. Such was the case on Saturday, October 8, when the Cleveland Chamber Choir and the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra joined forces at the Church of the Covenant in a program titled “Heaven and Earth.” The result was spectacular. | READ MORE »

Jonathan Moyer & BlueWater in “Fantastical Machines” concert
(March 9, 2022)

March 9, 2022
BlueWater Chamber Orchestra’s concert at the Church of the Covenant on Saturday evening, March 5 checked all the boxes for a memorable concert experience. It lasted 80 minutes and nixed an intermission, developed a clever theme through unusual repertoire (although it didn’t take itself too seriously there), and featured an engaging soloist in organist Jonathan Moyer as well as a communicative conductor in Daniel Meyer, both of whom spoke briefly and informatively without simply recycling program notes. | READ MORE »

“BlueWater’s concert at the Church of the Covenant…checked all the boxes for a memorable concert experience.”

— ClevelandClassical.com

WCLV.com “Building Bridges Together” Interview with Artistic Director Daniel Meyer
(Nov. 21, 2020)

November 19, 2020
WCLV’s John Mills speaks with Daniel Meyer, Artistic Director of BlueWater Chamber Orchestra about their collaboration with Verb Ballets  called “Building Bridges Together.” | LISTEN TO INTERVIEW »

BlueWater & Verb Ballets collaborate — at a distance
(Nov. 21, 2020)

November 17, 2020
“Building Bridges Together” is a joint project between BlueWater Chamber Orchestra (Daniel Meyer, artistic director) and Verb Ballets (Margaret Carlson and Richard Dickinson, artistic directors). The program includes performances of Heinz Poll’s Adagio for Two Dancers, set to a famous piece attributed to Albinoni, and Michael Escovedo’s Broken Bridges, choreographed to Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony. In between, BlueWater will play Anton Webern’s Langsamer Satz. | READ MORE »

“BlueWater continues to make its mark on Cleveland’s musical landscape.”

— ClevelandClassical.com

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra at Plymouth Church
(Feb. 1, 2020)

February 17, 2020
During Daniel Meyer’s short tenure as artistic director and conductor of BlueWater Chamber Orchestra, the ensemble has risen to a new level of quality. On Saturday, February 1 at Plymouth Church, Meyer and his ensemble performed an excellent program titled “A Classical Feast,” focusing on music from the late 18th century. | READ MORE »

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra at Pilgrim with Jinjoo Cho
(Nov. 24, 2019)

December 3, 2020
BlueWater Chamber Orchestra played the second of two identical weekend programs on Sunday afternoon, November 24 on the free Arts Renaissance Tremont series, a performance that featured violinist Jinjoo Cho in a spirited reading of the Tchaikovsky Concerto, and rarely heard works by Robert Schumann and Thomas Adès with Daniel Meyer at the helm. | READ MORE »

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra at The Temple-Tifereth Israel
(Sep. 15, 2019)

September 24, 2019
Last Sunday afternoon, September 15, the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra, under conductor and artistic director Daniel Meyer, opened its season with an imaginatively varied concert at The Temple-Tifereth Israel. Amitai Vardi was featured in Srul Irving Glick’s The Klezmer’s Wedding, a delightful one-movement piece for clarinet and string orchestra. | READ MORE »

“The playing was refined, alert and sensitive… BlueWater trademarks.”

— Cleveland Plain Dealer | Cleveland.com

Conductor Daniel Meyer eager to begin work with BlueWater, Lakeside orchestras
(May 22, 2019)

May 22, 2019
Conductor Daniel Meyer didn’t land just one prominent job in Northern Ohio this spring. He got two.

In a rare stroke of musical good luck, the Brunswick native this season was named director of two groups in succession: BlueWater Chamber Orchestra and the Lakeside Symphony Orchestra. Almost overnight, an artist known primarily here as a guest became a fixture on the scene.

“It takes an enormous amount of organization and energy management,” said Meyer of his newly packed calendar. “But I think it’s invigorating.” | READ MORE »

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra Tells Tales at Plymouth
(May 4, 2019)

May 7, 2019
BlueWater Chamber Orchestra entered an exciting second era with the final concert of its 9th season on Saturday, May 4 at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights. Last month, conductor Daniel Meyer was named the orchestra’s artistic director, so now this important Northeast Ohio institution can chart a course into its second decade. | READ MORE »

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra at Plymouth Church
(Feb. 2, 2019)

February 11, 2019
Variety can be the salvation or the undoing of a concert. A century and a half ago, most Americans would have heard what we now think of as the bedrock repertoire of the classical tradition in bewildering shows that often included comedy and drama as well. In recent decades, however, even diversity of historical period and musical style — let alone type of entertainment — has become optional, rather than expected. In a recent concert led by Daniel Meyer, BlueWater Chamber Orchestra successfully embraced stylistic pluralism, mixing new music and a rarity with standard audience favorites. | READ MORE »

“A showcase for some of Cleveland’s most talented musicians.”

— ClevelandClassical.com

BlueWater Chamber Orchestra with Chang & Neubert
(Nov. 10, 2018)

November 20, 2018
That time of year has come: lawns turn white with snow as day arrives late, puddles freeze over when night comes early, and Northeast Ohioans glance outside with the knowledge that this is only the beginning. In this season, when the world outside seems to reject us with what feels like personal hostility, it takes real incentives to lure listeners to concert halls. Fortunately, the area offers many such tempting opportunities, and last weekend, a program by BlueWater Chamber Orchestra made the trip outside well worth it. | READ MORE »