February 5, 2010

Amanda E. Garrett / Sun News

STRONGSVILLE — Hundreds of music lovers packed St. Joseph Church Thursday night for the city’s premier arts event. Arts in Strongsville hosted a free concert with CityMusic Cleveland as part of its mission to make the arts accessible to everyone.

CityMusic Cleveland performed three selections under the direction of Conductor Danail Rachev. CityMusic, founded in 2004, is a professional chamber orchestra that performs free concerts throughout Northeast Ohio

Parma resident Barbara Hermes was supposed to attend a Cleveland Orchestra concert Thursday night, but she opted to attend the CityMusic concert at the recommendation of her friend, Bay Village resident Dee Laurence.

“This is the first time I have heard this orchestra,” she told Sun News. “They are fantastic. They are very high quality musicians for such a young orchestra. I’m very glad I had the opportunity to come out tonight.”

Strongsville residents Marie Felice and Rose Thomas were especially impressed with the performance of cellist Matt Haimovitz of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1.

“He’s just a fantastic performer and he’s very energetic,” she said.

CityMusic also performed six German dances by Franz Schubert and Symphony No. 40 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

For a complete wrap-up of the concert pick up a Feb. 11 copy of the Sun Star-Courier.

by Amanda Garret

View article at Sun Star-Courier