2022-2023 Season Announcement

On October 8, 2022, Cleveland Chamber Choir and BlueWater Chamber Orchestra join forces in their long-awaited collaborative concert Heaven and Earth. Originally scheduled for May 2020, but canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, both organizations will open their respective seasons with this concert. Drawing on their ability to present master choral works for chamber orchestra and chorus, the two groups will perform under the direction of both Gregory Ristow, Associate Professor of Conducting and Director of Vocal Ensembles at Oberlin College & Conservatory, and Daniel Meyer, Artistic Director of BlueWater Chamber Orchestra. This concert will feature Ludwig van Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, Op. 86 and American composer Gwyneth Walker’s emotionally intense The Golden Harp, featuring Ideastream Public Media’s John Mills as narrator.

Saturday, October 8, 2022 at 7:30pm at Church of the Covenant, 11205 Euclid Ave, Cleveland. 

Free-will donations accepted. A pre-concert talk will be presented by Charles Edward McGuire, PhD, from Oberlin College & Conservatory, 30 minutes before the performance. This concert is sponsored in part by Ohio Arts Council and the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation.

November 12, 2022 features an octet of the Cleveland Chamber Choir performing as part of the music series at St. Ambrose Parish. Words of Gratitude will explore choral music celebrating themes of life and gratitude. This concert will highlight singers from the ensemble that are also choral conductors. Featured composers include Ysaye Barnwell, Lisa Levine, Troy Robertson, Moira Smiley, Carol Barnett, and Mickey McGroarty.

Saturday, November 12 at 6:00pm at St. Ambrose Catholic Church, 929 Pearl Rd, Brunswick. FREE

December 16, 17, and 18, 2022 will bring Winter Carols and Lullabies, showcasing the Cleveland Chamber Choir under the direction of Jelani Watkins in a concert with more than two-thirds of the works being from the twentieth or twenty-first centuries. The central features of this concert will be the world premiere of newly-composed holiday carols by Ryan Farrell, a performance of two works by Dolores White, and a commissioned Hanukkah piece by Mickey McGroarty – all three Northeast Ohio composers. The concert will also intersperse Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols with carols arranged by 21st century composers. 

Friday, December 16 at 7:30pm at St. Sebastian Church, 476 Mull Ave, Akron.

Saturday, December 17 at 7:00pm at St. Peter Catholic Church, 1533 E. 17th St., Cleveland.

Sunday, December 18 at 4:00pm at Disciples Christian Church, 3663 Mayfield Rd, Cleveland Heights.

Free-will donations accepted. A pre-concert talk will be presented by Charles Edward McGuire, PhD, from Oberlin College & Conservatory, 30 minutes before each performance. This concert is sponsored in part by The Mandel Foundation and Local 4 Music Fund.

Of Sound Mind: From Darkness into Light is a concert devoted to exploring the universality of trauma, sorrow, and grief, and helping us embrace our common humanity in the struggles we individually and collectively experience. Centering around Aron Accurso’s You Are Enough: A Mental Health Suite, the subjects of these compositions are varied, but feature frank discussions within the framework of the composers’ specific experiences.

The world was united in shared trauma and collective grief by the COVID-19 pandemic. Those of us in the choral world were uniquely impacted. But through our art we are also uniquely able to tell our stories, to unmask our voices, to raise a song for those who have no song to raise, and lead our community to light and hope anew. Other featured composers on the concert include Lelia Adu-Gilmore, Giulio De Carlo, Elaine Hagenberg, Shawn Kirchner, Cecilia McDowall, Corey K. Rubin, and Eric Whitacre.

Saturday, February 18 at 7:30pm at St. Noel Church, 35200 Chardon Rd, Willoughby Hills.

Sunday, February 19 at 3:00pm at the Maltz Performing Arts Center, 1855 Ansel Rd, Cleveland.

Free tickets may be reserved at case.edu/maltzcenter

A portion of free-will donations will be directed towards Ghetto Therapy, a free and open to the public therapy program, targeted towards residents living in impoverished communities throughout Cleveland. A pre-concert talk will be presented by Charles Edward McGuire, PhD, from Oberlin College & Conservatory, 30 minutes before each performance. This concert is sponsored in part by Ohio Arts Council and Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

April 2, 2023 brings the final concert of the eighth season, and will be a collaborative concert with the Cleveland Composers’ Guild. Building off of our successful collaboration with CCG in our fourth season, Deep Like the Rivers: Songs of Heavenly Natures, Artistic Director Gregory Ristow curates a program that juxtaposes new works by Northeast Ohio’s premier choral composers with masterful works from the last five centuries. Following themes of renewal, nature, and deep belief, these works of diverse styles from many voices will excite, enthuse, and inspire our audiences.

Sunday, April 2 at 4:00pm at Drinko Hall, Cleveland State University, 2001 Euclid Ave, Cleveland.

Free-will donations accepted. A pre-concert talk will be presented by Charles Edward McGuire, PhD, from Oberlin College & Conservatory, 30 minutes before the performance.