Arts

Tuesday Musical begins new season with a cappella group Cantus

Tuesday Musical, a Knight Arts grantee, has been doing its musical thing for 125 years and is starting up a new one – with a new executive director. To begin things once again will be the nine-member, male, a cappella group Cantus on September 24.

Cantus is hailed, according to Tuesday Musical officials, as the “premier vocal ensemble in the United States.”

It has also been acknowledged around the world for its programmatic versatility, artistic excellence and charismatic personality” as a group. The young men’s program includes classical music, orchestral-vocal repertoire, folk music, art song, popular songs, spirituals, and newly commissioned works. That certainly is a lot of variety, and can make for a seemingly fast-paced concert experience when things change a bunch.

Canus, a cappella voice ensemble. Photo courtesy of Tuesday Musical

After this concert, the season will be off and running. On Friday, October 18, there will be the annual visit from the Cleveland Orchestra with guest conductor Jackub Hrusa, a young maestro who has been described as being on the verge of greatness. He’s the music director and chief conductor of the Prague Philharmonia, among other conductor spots.

Bela Fleck and Brooklyn Rider (a banjo and string quartet group) will appear in a performance on Tuesday, November 12. Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is a 14-time Grammy Award winner who was named after three classical composers – Béla Bartók, Antonin Dvorak and Leoš Janáček.

According to TM, he plays a wicked banjo. He will perform his new quintet for banjo and string quartet with Brooklyn Rider, a group that are part of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble.

On Tuesday, February 4, the performance will be American pianist Jeremy Denk, who performed for TM as recently as 2010 with violinist Joshua Bell. A writer about music as well as a performer of it, Denk is described as having a broad and thought-provoking repertoire.

A Far Cry, a chamber orchestra that will perform with cellist Matt Haimovitz on March 11, is a tightly knit group of 17 young musicians who expand the boundaries of orchestral repertoire and experiment with the ways music is prepared, performed and experienced. Sounds funky and fun.

On April 10, mezzo-soprano Susan Graham will perform with pianist Bradley Moore. Graham is one of the world’s foremost stars of opera and recital. She is said to consistently captivate audiences with her expressive voice, tall and graceful stature, and engaging acting ability in both comedy and tragedy.

Cantus will kick off Tuesday Musical’s new season with a performance at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 24, at E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, 198 High St., Akron; 330-972-7570; www.tuesdaymusical.org. Tickets are $25-$55 (students with voucher are admitted free).