Join members of the Heights community to celebrate all things Heights, at the Grog Shop on Feb. 23, in support of FutureHeights on its 10th anniversary. Tickets to the event, featuring Heights-based classical musicians and local celebrity bartenders, are $10 ($5 with a student ID).
Poem for February 2012
Clevelanders--at least those who have survived more than one winter here--have perfected the science and the art of dressing for the weather.
Meredith Holmes
Ode to My Favorite Coat by Gail Bellamy
Internationally acclaimed Cleveland Heights pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi will perform as part of the Tri-C Classical Piano Recital Series at 2 p.m, Jan. 29 at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium, 11150 East Boulevard in University Circle.
The program, a keyboard extravaganza, features four emotional masterpieces. The first half of the program includes two Pre-romantic works: Carl Czerny’s Variations on a theme by Rode, “La Ricordanza,” and Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s powerful Sonata No. 5, Op.81, in F# minor. Romanticism dominates the second half with two keyboard titans: Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Variations on a theme by Corelli, Op. 42; and Franz Liszt’s "Vallée d'Obermann," "Au bord d'une source" and "Orage," from the first volume of “Années de Pèlerinage.”
Playwrights’ GYM, a program offered to local playwrights by Dobama Theatre, announces a series of workshops and full-length productions. The GYM comprises two parts—GYMworks, in its second year; and GYMrep, in its inaugural season. The goal of Playwrights’ GYM goal is to nurture new work in a safe environment, and to develop plays for future production at Dobama Theatre.
"Bicycle Dreams," the award-winning documentary about the Race Across America (RAAM), has its Cleveland premiere at the Coventry Big Dog Theater in Cleveland Heights on Thursday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. The Race Across America is an epic, 3,000-mile bicycle race from the Pacific to the Atlantic. First held in 1982, RAAM is considered the most challenging sporting event in the world. Top riders finish in under ten days, riding more than 300 miles each day and sleeping only a few hours each night.
At its Dec. 12 board meeting, the Cuyahoga Arts & Culture’s (CAC) board of trustees approved 66 general operating grants, totaling $13,980,960, to arts and cultural organizations in Cuyahoga County in 2012.
Heights-based organizations received a total of $301,563 in general operating support. Apollo’s Fire received $97,094; the Contemporary Youth Orchestra, $27,696; Dobama Theatre, $33,680; Heights Arts, $22,090, Heights Youth Theatre, $19,144; the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, $60,711; and Roots of American Music, $41,148.
Thrity Umrigar, author, neighbor and professor of English at Case Western Reserve University, said that a chance meeting with an old friend was the inspiration for her fifth and latest novel, The World We Found.
While on a visit to India in 2008, Umrigar encountered an old friend whom she had not seen in 25 years. During their conversation, the friend spoke about how the Hindu-Muslim riots of the early 1990s had changed her forever. The conversation lingered in Umrigar’s mind as she pondered how youthful idealism often changes over time, an idea she explores in her new novel.
The World We Found is the story of four women and the two men who loved them. All were university students, close friends and political activists during the 1970s, a time when the Indian government declared a state of emergency and suspended elections and civil liberties. The novel opens with the news that Armaiti, the friend who left India to study in the United States, married and later divorced her American husband, has developed a brain tumor.
This devastating news will bring the four women together once again. But this is not a book about only the women. What prevents this novel from falling into the “chick lit” category is that Umrigar develops her male characters as fully as her female ones.
Iqbal, the only Muslim in the group, has married Nishta against the wishes of both families, and has become a religious fundamentalist. The author describes his religious devotion with compassion and a deep understanding for what he has suffered for his faith.
“Iqbal rose from the floor. He could still feel the imprint of the cool tile of the masjid floor where he had prostrated himself a moment ago. The cool was a welcome comfort from the hot, busy thoughts that raced like red ants through his mind. So was the peace that he’d felt during the evening namaaz, as the sonorous, musical chanting and the repetition of prayer . . . fell like raindrops over his fevered brow.”
Umrigar takes her time, allowing this engrossing tale to unfold at a leisurely pace. She has certainly done her homework, and the scenes in which Armaiti begins to experience new and frightening symptoms of her illness are among the most affecting and authentic in the book.
Armaiti, walking on the beach, turned to face the ocean, when suddenly “she felt something come loose inside her head. That’s how she remembered the feeling later.” The world around her, so sharp a moment ago, disappeared and became a fuzzy image. “The inclination was to panic, of course. Every cell, every electrical impulse in her body was ready for battle, to go into overdrive. And Armaiti gave into her fear, caught in its undertow. She blinked furiously and shut her eyes, but each time she opened them the world remained unclear.”
Of the book’s six main characters, some are more believable than others. Adish may seem a little too good to be true, but who wouldn’t want a spouse as understanding, loving and supportive as Umrigar presents him.
“Fine Lines” gallery show will open Friday, Dec. 9 at the South Wing Gallery in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church with an artist reception and open house from 5 to 7 p.m. The public is invited.
Featured artists are Howard Collier, charcoal drawings; Mike Gold, calligrapher; Gary Schmidt, sculptural pottery; and Kate Snow, relief prints.
The Art Spot, a student-run gallery exhibiting the works of Cleveland Institute of Art students, opens its inaugural exhibit Friday, Dec. 16, in space provided by The Wine Spot, a soon-to-open purveyor of wine and craft brews at 2271 Lee Rd.
Cleveland Heights resident Jeannette Sorrell and her band of international musicians will present a bold new holiday program, blending the ensemble’s early-music and folk-music wings for the first time.
Apollo’s Fire, The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, just returned from its second international tour, which played to standing ovations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Toronto, Boston, Bordeaux, Madrid and Lisbon. Despite the excitement of the tour (which included six sold-out concerts), Sorrell said she is joyful to be back in her Coventry home. She is also excited about her latest creation: a new holiday program titled Sacrum Mysterium: A Celtic Christmas.
Dobama Theatre announces the third show of its 52nd season—the Cleveland premiere of "The Seafarer" by Conor McPherson, which runs from Dec. 2–18.
"The Seafarer" takes place in the home of two aging bachelor brothers. One man is blind and on a bender; the other is unemployed and on the wagon. On Christmas Eve, they hold an all-night, liquor-soaked poker game with some friends. The arrival of a mysterious stranger drives the action of the game to the highest stakes imaginable. The play, a Tony award winner, is a tale of the sea, Ireland and redemption.
Parma resident Scott Conner is hoping to piece together part of his family’s history. His history is also part of Cleveland’s art history during the Depression. Conner’s grandfather, Earl J. Neff was a prominent painter and muralist and served as the director of the Cleveland Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Arts Project.
At its Nov. 14 board meeting, the trustees of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) approved 88 grants, totaling $1,029,164 for the 2012 Project Support (PS) cycle. The awards include traditional PSI grants and the new PSII, a small grant program that provides awards of up to $5,000.
Cleveland Heights-based organizations received $137,326 in grants. Among the larger organizations receiving PSI grants was the City of Cleveland Heights, which was awarded $28,700 for the Cain Park Arts Festival. Ensemble Theatre of Cleveland received $19,525, CityMusic Cleveland received $48,000, and Open Doors received $21,633.
The surroundings of the coffee shop quickly fade away as Boyagian considers the answer to my question: “My dad, Garbis Boyagian is my hero. He sang on the stages of the biggest opera houses in the world—the Met, the Wiener Staatsoper, Covent Garden and La Fenice to name a few . . . ”
Disney's most magical tale, "Beauty and the Beast," sweeps onto the Heights Youth Theatre (HYT) stage for the first time this holiday season.
Based on the Academy Award-winning 1991 animated film, this show is one of the most profound tales of love, magic and redemption ever told. A selfish, young prince is transformed into a hideous beast as the result of his own arrogance. Belle, a beautiful girl living outside a small French village, becomes a prisoner of the beast in exchange for her father's freedom. Thus begins this story of love's transformative powers.
At its Nov. 14 board meeting, the Board of Trustees of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) awarded several Cleveland Heights-based organizations more than $89,000 in project grants. The CAC approved 88 grants, totaling $1,029,164 for the 2012 Project Support cycle. The awards include traditional PS I grants and the new Project Support II, a small grant program that provides awards of up to $5,000. Grants range in value from $625 to $49,333.
The Western Reserve Chorale (WRC) will kick off its 20th anniversary season with a performance of John Rutter’s "Gloria" with brass and organ, as well as seasonal selections by Handel, Lauridson, Whitacre and others on Sunday, Dec. 11, at Grace Lutheran Church, 1301 Cedar Road.
The chorale was formed in 1992 by a handful of people, including the current executive director and accompanist Joanne Poderis and conductor John Roberts, to present quality programs of classical choral repertoire free-to-the-public. WRC has grown from a group of 40 to the current 70 singers.
Nine years ago, a group of arts lovers volunteered to clean up a vacant Lee Road storefront to create a temporary pop-up gallery during the holiday season. Local artists came out of the woodwork to offer their work for sale, and the community flocked to the space to purchase local hand-made art. A gallery was born.
Those original arts lovers were early founders of the fledgling nonprofit community arts organization Heights Arts, which has rented the 900-square-foot storefront, strategically located a few steps from the Cedar Lee Theater, since that first holiday display closed. This summer, Heights Arts made another leap and tore down a wall to enlarge the gallery into the adjacent storefront abutting the Cedar Lee minipark
Dobama Theatre announces the second production of its 52nd season—the Cleveland premiere of “Tigers Be Still” by Kim Rosenstock. “Tigers” will playing from Oct. 21 to Nov. 13.
Rosenstock’s play is about Sherry Wickman, a young woman who expects her life to fall into place after she earns her degree, but instead finds herself underemployed, overwhelmed, and back home in the twin-sized bed she slept in as a child. Her mother refuses to emerge from the bedroom, her alcoholic sister has taken up residence on the couch, her boss won’t leave his gun at home, and a tiger has escaped from the local zoo. Critically acclaimed after its 2010 New York premiere, “Tigers Be Still” is a quirky and deliciously dark comedy.
The Cleveland Heights High School Instrumental Music Department’s Fall Concert will be held Saturday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m., in the school’s auditorium. The Symphonic Winds and Heights High Symphony will have as their special guests Alumni from The John F. Farinacci Era. The student groups will be conducted by Brett Baker and Dan Heim. The Alumni band and orchestra will be conducted by Lois Latnik ’58 and John Landis ’57, respectively. The concert will conclude with the combined organizations playing John Philip Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever, complete with the flag and piccolos and brass, as it was done in the Farinacci years.
An impending labor vote, a depressed economy, unemployment, war, freedom . . . America. No, it’s not October 2011; it’s October 1935. Ensemble Theatre opens its 32nd consecutive season, “Play Your Part!” with American master Clifford Odets’s 1935 call-to-action "Waiting for Lefty."
“'Waiting for Lefty' is truly an Ensemble play in every sense of the word,“ said artistic director Celeste Cosentino. Now in her second year at the helm of the Cleveland Heights-based professional theater, Cosentino was the driving force behind the theatre’s move back to the Heights after eight years in residence at the Cleveland Play House. Ensemble’s new performance space is in the former Coventry School building at 2843 Washington Blvd. “We are excited to be in our new space and are all set to welcome Heights residents back to Ensemble this season.” said Cosentino. "It feels good to be back."
CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra has been called “a potent force on the artistic scene in Northeast Ohio” by Donald Rosenberg in Symphony Magazine. “CityMusic Cleveland is unique," wrote Rosenberg. "It is an orchestra of exceptional quality, with internationally distinguished artistic leadership, and outstanding professional musicians. As always CityMusic is unorthodox, innovative, and successful as reflected in their new upcoming season, introducing audiences to superb soloists, conductors and great works of beloved composers making the programs accessible in beautiful, gemlike, churches in and around Cleveland drawing some 20,000 people each season.”
Poem for October 2011
The most difficult thing about a friend’s illness is, at first, knowing what to say.
-- Meredith Holmes
Uninvited Guest
by Bunny Breslin
Leapin’ lizards! The timeless tale of Little Orphan Annie is back, giving a whole new generation the chance to experience this classic musical about never giving up hope. Boasting one of Broadway’s most memorable scores, including “It’s the Hard-Knock Life,” “Easy Street,” “N.Y.C.” and the ever-optimistic “Tomorrow,” Annie is a delightful theatrical experience for the entire family.
Soul singer Marvin Gaye did it; R&B superstar Michael Jackson did it; disco Bee Gees heartthrob Barry Gibb did it; pop phenomenon Prince did it; rocker Robert Plant did it. They have all flung their voices into canary heaven at moments of musical passion.
Tom Olson still remembers his first guitar. "It was the worst thing you’ve ever seen in your life," he said with a broad smile. "We all start with these awful things."
As a child, however, he didn’t see the shortcomings of a particular instrument—he saw instead world of possibilities. Dozens of guitars and several decades later, Olson’s enthusiasm is still there.
Heights Chamber Orchestra (HCO) starts its 29th season with a new concertmistress, Emily Cornelius, a player with an impressive record as soloist and a large teaching studio at the Fairmont School of the Performing Arts. She replaces Gino Raffaelli, who, on his retirement after 28 years of service, was named Concertmaster for Life.
In those 28 years, Raffaelli appeared 16 times as soloist with the orchestra, performing, among other works, concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Lalo, Mendelssohn and the American composer Samuel Barber. "Mr. Raffaelli’s generous sharing of his professional expertise and his superb musicianship has been a true blessing," said principal violist Luane Lasky, “and we’re happy that his positive influence will continue as he takes on a new post as board member."
All Heights High band and orchestra alumni are invited to return and make music together at a November concert in the high school's auditorium. The concert will be part of a weekend reunion of Heights instrumental music department alumni from 1949 to 1964, who will gather from all over the country to honor John F. Farinacci, former instrumental music department director.
To begin its 52nd season, Dobama Theatre presenting the world premiere production of Grizzly Mama by George Brant. The play opens on September 9 and runs through October 2, with preview performances on September 6 and 8.
Larry Rakow’s lifelong love affair with books has taken him from reader to librarian and from collector to bookseller. Specializing in children’s literature, Rakow now operates an independent venture, Wonderland Books, from his home in Cleveland Heights. He will soon be showing his wares at the Cleveland Antiquarian Book and Paper Show, Sunday, October 2 at the Cleveland Skating Club in Shaker Heights. Book fairs remain one of the most important ways for independent sellers to connect with customers, find new stock, and keep a foothold in the changing market.
Four people get a word and then have a week to write a true story from their lives using that word as inspiration. They read those stories in front of a live audience and a group of five improvisers, who, in turn perform a comedy show based on these stories. That is This Improvised Life, running Saturdays at 9 p.m. through Aug. 27 at Big Dog Theater (2781 Euclid Heights Blvd.). All tickets are $5.
Besides providing a unique evening of entertainment, the theater also donates money from this show to charity. Money from the first two shows in August will benefit organizations picked from a hat, based on audience suggestions. Money collected at the third and fourth weeks’ shows will go to local charities Shaking with Laughter and Milestones Autism Organization.
Sometimes a pickup truck, especially if survives long past the warranty, seems to take on the personality of its owner.
-- Meredith Holmes
Pa’s Truck
By Lynn Porcello
was faded black and red with rust.
He had it since the war.
Ma waited for him,
and they got hitched after World War II.
The Heights Observer will co-sponsor this week’s Summer Music & Movie series event, Aug. 4. Local band, oldboy, will provide the night’s music at 7:30 p.m., and the movie “The Princess Bride” will be shown when it gets dark, around 9 p.m.
The award-winning, PG-rated film, “The Princess Bride,” is a classic fairy tale, with swordplay, giants, an evil prince and a beautiful princess. Released in 1987, the film was directed by Rob Reiner and stars: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin and Robin Wright.
Filming for the upcoming major motion picture, I, Alex Cross, is taking place in Cleveland Heights.
A film crew will be shooting in a house in the Roxboro area for seven days this month, according to a resident of the house.
Fencepiration, a temporary public art project of Heights Arts, is in full bloom through the month of August. For a second summer, artists Carol Hummel and Debbie Apple Presser are transforming the utilitarian construction fence that runs along Cedar Road, at the site of the now-razed Cedar Center, into an eye-catching and unexpected landscape, using recycled materials.
The idea for Fencepiration was hatched by Peggy Spaeth, Heights Arts director, at a meeting with the Coral Company in early 2010. Spaeth suggested, “While you’re waiting to build, why don’t we do something with the fence?” The group liked the idea, and Heights Arts recruited Carol Hummel and Debbie Apple Presser, professional artists who use nontraditional materials in site-specific installations. In spring 2010, their collaborative efforts resulted in a vision for Fencepiration, and the project was launched.
On Friday, Aug. 5, Heights Arts and Dobama Theatre will present “High Noon Haiku,” a slam for Haiku poets. Kathleen Cerveny, the 2009 haiku master, will defend her title, and several other poets, including Geoff Landis, 2009 Runner-Up, will vie for the championship. Here is a haiku sampler- traditional, contemporary, profound, silly, and touching. The haiku is infinitely versatile.
The Cleveland Heights Bicycle Coalition is co-sponsoring a showing of a movie of special interest to bicyclists, "Breaking Away," which is a 1979 Academy Award-winning, classic film that is also ranked eighth in an American Film Institute list of the 100 most inspiring movies.
July 15 was a typical weekend night on Coventry Road—couples walking arm in arm, restaurant patrons enjoying the night air, and a throng of people gathered outside the Grog Shop.
Yet, July 15 was special. The crowd was gathered to see their own friends, neighbors and former classmates perform. The night was third in the series, "Once Again Cleveland Heights Throwback Artists Showcase," a concert featuring Heights High graduates. Like the first concert in April, the night featured a heavy hip-hop line-up, with excursions into pop, jazz, and even comedy.
A young woman walked into Winds of Change recently, eager to find an outfit for a date that night. The boutique’s managers matched her enthusiasm, helping her choose the right dress, accessories and boots.
“She was excited about a special time in her life and we got to be a part of it,” said manager Drew Walker. “Our clients are not just customers, they are people we spend time with and get to know individually.”
A sense of hospitality and love of retail is evident in Coventry Road’s newest boutique. Opened in June, the name Winds of Change (WOC) comes from Mayan philosophy and the study of light and magnetic wind. The boutique’s intimate décor channels Urban Outfitters gone Boho, and fits the eclectic style of the neighborhood. Tie-dyed ribbons dangle from the ceilings, as stacked vintage aluminum cans with the WOC logo and repurposed wood-pallets add earthy tones.
Film crews were at work in Coventry Village, July 5, in preparation for filming the Paramount Pictures movie "Fun Size." The crew plans to shoot portions of the film in Coventry the nights of July 5 and 6.
Large trucks lined the streets and studio trailers filled the parking lot as workers unloaded props and prepared the scenery.
Set for release in 2012, "Fun Size" is about “a sarcastic teenage girl who is forced to take her little brother trick-or-treating on Halloween, then loses him and must find him before their mother finds out,” according to a press release from the Greater Cleveland Film Commission. Nickelodeon's Victoria Justice will star in the film, directed by Josh Schwartz, producer of "The O.C.", "Gossip Girl" and "Chuck".
In 2001, the Cedar Fairmount Business Association decided to show its appreciation to its neighbors and patrons by hosting a street festival, with free activities and lots of good food.
Ten years later, the Discover Cedar Fairmount Summer Festival has developed into a fun-filled, family-friendly event that includes many fine arts and crafts people.
On Friday, June 17 teens gathered at the Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Park to attempt to break a world record by having the most people dressed up as video game characters in one area. Cleveland Heights resident Keith Curry organized the attempt, which unfortunately fell short of its goal.
Filming will take place in Cleveland Heights over the next month for a Paramount Pictures movie called "Fun Size," according to Susanna Niermann O’Neil, Cleveland Heights assistant city manager.
Set for release in 2012, "Fun Size" is about “a sarcastic teenage girl who is forced to take her little brother trick-or-treating on Halloween, then loses him and must find him before their mother finds out,” according to a press release from the Greater Cleveland Film Commission. Nickelodeon's Victoria Justice will star in the film, directed by Josh Schwartz, producer of "The O.C.", "Gossip Girl" and "Chuck".
Frank Langella, Glynnis O’Connor and Tom Hulce star in Michael Pressman’s 1980 film, "Those Lips, Those Eyes", an affectionate remembrance of 1950s summer stock theatre that was filmed largely in Cain Park. The 1980 movie, which has never been released on DVD, will receive a rare theatrical screening on Saturday, Aug. 6, 7 p.m. at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque, 11141 East Boulevard in University Circle.
Coventry Village, the street known for its eclectic mix of merchants and patrons, will host a number of fun-filled events this summer designed to celebrate the artist and free spirit in all of us. The Coventry Village Special Improvement District (SID) will sponsor two arts festivals, a music and movie series, and a pie fight.
Though underground comic book writer Harvey Pekar died last July, his works continue to be released posthumously. His latest book, Huntington, West Virginia "On the Fly" (Random House) was released April 26 and will be celebrated June 2 at an event at Mac’s Backs on Coventry.
The book chronicles Pekar’s encounters with a variety of characters in his everyday life, including a chapter titled “Neighborhood Spark Plug,” devoted to Steve Presser, owner of Coventry’s Big Fun.
Poem for June 2011
The trees are finally in full leaf, and the Cleveland Indians have the best record in major league baseball. We dare to hope, and the stadium fills. Not so fast, warns the poet, it’s early in the season.
--Meredith Holmes
Shakespearean Baseball Sonnet #105
by Michael Ceraolo
Noble Road Presbyterian Church continues its annual tradition with its Strawberry Festival, June 10, 6-8 p.m.
Cleveland has been a hotbed of rock and roll for more than five decades. “Visual Music: Northeast Ohio Photographers Look at Rock and Roll” presents the work of a dozen photographers who lived and worked in Northeast Ohio since the 1960s. Among them are three photographers who live and work in Cleveland Heights: G.M Donley, Aaron Mendelsohn, and Anastasia Pantsios, who is organizing and curating the show.
The show opens at the Zaller Building Gallery at 16006 Waterloo Road, in the Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland, a block from the Beachland Ballroom, on Saturday, June 11, with a reception from 7 to 11 p.m. It’s free and open to the public. It will run through Saturday, June 25, concluding with an all-day open house from noon-8 p.m., to coincide with the Waterloo Arts Festival.
Over the years, the talented photographers in this show have documented Cleveland’s vibrant music scene from the Beatles to Bruce Springsteen to the White Stripes. Longtime Coventry Village resident Anastasia Pantsios has been shooting for 40 years, since she came to town to attend college. She currently has a show at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum titled "Girls on Film: 40 Years of Women in Rock."
Heights Arts has been envisioning an arts center for more than ten years. In the beginning, we imagined converting the former stables on the Severance property into such a facility, but realized that as a new organization we needed to build our own infrastructure rather than rebuild a physical structure. Then, the library offered us space in its newly acquired YMCA, which was slated to be developed into a community art space. As we waited several years for that construction to be approved and finished, we settled into a 900-square-foot storefront near the Cedar Lee Theatre—not exactly what one might envision as an arts center, but it became one as we developed programs that connected our community with its creative residents. When the library space finally became available, we kept our Lee Road gallery and added art classes and workshops at the library.
Bert Stratton, the leader of the klezmer band Yiddishe Cup, performs "Klezmer Guy," an original prose-and-music show at Nighttown on Tuesday, June 14, at 7:30 p.m.
Cleveland Heights resident Marsha Dobrzynski was selected as a 2011 Cleveland Arts Prize recipient for her role as executive director of Young Audiences. Since 1994, her work has inspired young people in Northeast Ohio through arts and education.
Remember purchasing your first VCR and having to choose between Beta and VHS formats? While VHS dominated the consumer market, Beta became the preferred format among video professionals worldwide.
But it didn’t end there. Both here and overseas, dozens of other formats developed, along with DVD technology; and the situation couldn’t be more confusing. There are source formats (what comes out of the camera), editing formats, sharing formats, and archiving formats.
High Noon Haiku, a haiku poetry showdown featuring the region’s toughest Haiku poets, takes place one night only on Friday, May 20 at Dobama Theater, 2340 Lee Road, in Cleveland Heights. The event is produced jointly by Heights Arts and Dobama Theatre. Open mike and social hour start at 7 p.m., Haiku competition at 8 p.m.
Marcus Bales, poet and general arts impresario, reprises his role in the 2008 Haiku Death Match as master of ceremonies. (In deference to the Japanese survivors and victims of the March earthquake and tsunami, the contest was re-named “High Noon Haiku.”)
The defending champion, Haiku Master of the 2009 Haiku Death Match, is Kathleen Cerveny, of Shaker Heights. Geoffrey Landis, a prolific haiku poet, science fiction writer, and NASA scientist, was Kathleen’s main competition in the 2009 match, but will not be competing this year. High Noon Haiku organizers expect a lot of fresh talent to vie for the—well, there is no prize, just a good firm handshake from the m.c. and the adulation of the crowd.
For its next performance series, CityMusic Cleveland, whose mission is to expose non-traditional audiences to classical music and to break down the barriers to enjoyment through its free concert series performed in local venues throughout Northeast Ohio, is teaming up with Grammy Award nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz, who has built a reputation as a musical pioneer and inspired countless classical music lovers and new listeners by bringing his artistry to an array of novel venues.
Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) mined the databases of large arts organizations, such the Ohio Arts Council, to provide a snapshot of where Cleveland-area artists are living. CPAC's “Putting Artists on the Map” study looks at the top artist districts by categories (musician, visual arts, literary), their educational attainment, and even alternative modes of transportation—how many artists bike or walk to work.
Every year, the Heights High Jazz Ensemble puts on a rousing spring concert, featuring about two hours of the music the group has perfected during the year. This year’s show is Friday, May 13, at 7 p.m. in the Cleveland Heights High School auditorium. Tickets are $5.
The first Mother's Day, proclaimed in 1870 by Julia Ward Howe, was a passionate demand for disarmament and peace, according to Kathy Baker, spokesperson for the 4th annual Mother's Day Peace Party. The event will be Sunday, May 11, from 2 to 4 p.m, at the India Cultural Garden in Cleveland's Rockefeller Park.
Soprano Nell Snaidas, a favorite with Cleveland audiences from her many appearances with Apollo’s Fire, will return in June to sing tunes from the British Isles in a program called “Plaine & Saucy.” Sharing the stage with her will be the Apollo’s Fire Countryside Players and Apollo’s Fire artistic director and conductor Jeannete Sorrell, along with guests from the Baltimore Consort. We recently chatted with Snaidas.
The Ensemble Theatre is back in the Heights and offering area youth an opportunity to learn acting and theater skills this summer. After many years at the Cleveland Play House, the theater is opening in its new home in the former Coventry School with a summer and fall camp program.