Cleveland has a reputation as one of the epicenters of both classical music and rock 'n’ roll. Even though the former has a centuries-long head start, it struggles to gain the arena-rattling popularity of the latter. Two groups have been working for 15 years to change that and expose young people to the pleasures of everyone from J.S. Bach to Julian Bream.
Early music, today
Early music ensemble Les Délices started in 2009 thanks to a Cuyahoga Arts & Culture fellowship. Founder Debra Nagy remembers how she decided to mount that "small, but no less ambitious" first season.
“I was just finishing my doctorate at Case Western Reserve University and wondering what on earth I was doing in Cleveland,” said Debra Nagy, founder of Les Délices. “No offense to Cleveland. I'm a transplant, and I've been here now 20 years total.”
She committed to staying and started a group that was true to what she called her “strange specialty: early music and historical performance."
“I remember the very first performance," she said. "We could fit 45 chairs in there - and it was stuffed and it was stuffy and the energy was amazing."
For the next decade, the repertoire expanded to everything from Scottish Baroque to late medieval music, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Rather than shrinking, we made a very aggressive shift to virtual programming,” she said. “I think over the course of two years, we recorded 11 video concerts. It was actually a huge amount of creative productivity.”
Those virtual concerts, which included music as well as conversation, are being held live and in-person this season as SalonEra Sessions. Depending on the program, listeners might hear African American spirituals or Lebanese melodies meeting acoustic instruments like the cello or lute. The first program, Songs for Social Justice, is Sept. 23.
“What we're really trying to do… is bring the past into the present and have a conversation about these things,” she said. “The message of this particular program is the universality of the power of music… themes of struggle and sorrow and sometimes feeling empowered or uplifted as a result of working against forces that bear down on you.”
Another program this season, “The Pow’r of Musick,” mingles 17th century music from Henry Purcell with the work of living composers who have been underrepresented, such as Haitian-American Sydney Guillaume. The program includes visiting ensemble Kaleidoscope, which takes its name from the gender and racial diversity of its members. They’ll also conduct a 10-day residency at Cleveland School of the Arts. Nagy said part of their mission is arts education, which familiarizes students with classical music but also shows them a pathway to working in the field.
“There's very little exposure to most music - certainly to early music,” she said. “We want to make sure that our music and our ideas stay and feel relevant, so we don't want to exist in some kind of silo whereby students don't have exposure.”
Guitars for soothing, not shredding
The Cleveland Classical Guitar Society is working toward the same goal. For its 15th season, the opening acts will be drawn from the society’s partnership with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
“We're in the schools every day of the week,” said the society’s executive director, Erik Mann. “We provide guitars, supplies, curriculum, everything completely free of charge so that our students have no barriers to access.”
Mann said the program for grades 5-8 was established when he saw the difference in arts access for CMSD students versus those in the suburbs.
“We've had some incredible results,” he said. “One of our students, for example, is on a full scholarship at Oberlin Conservatory.”
He’s referring to Damian Goggans who, like many students, had never played any musical instrument before joining the program.
“The amazing thing about the guitar is that it bridges so many different cultures and styles,” said Mann. “In the schools, we’re mostly a classical guitar approach. But we also welcome all musical styles, and we treat them equally.”
The 11-year program has provided individual lessons for some students, and the learning support can even continue beyond eighth grade.
“If they are really dedicated, if they really want to continue, if they're really working hard, then we'll continue to give them lessons through high school,” he said. “In some cases… we'll even provide lessons while they're in college.”
Will there be another Damian Goggans on stage this year with the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society? The opening performers are being chosen now that school is underway. The students in the program will also get to work with the International Series artists who visit Cleveland this season, including Stephanie Jones from Australia and Tal Hurwitz from Israel. A concert on November 11 is a showcase of local performers, including Brazilian singer-songwriter Luca Mundaca and Akron guitarist Dan Wilson.
