Summer is Fading – Be Consoled by Music for Miles

The chamber concert series founded at Waterloo Arts in memory of Waterloo enthusiast Miles Kennedy are now in their fourth season, thanks to a very fruitful partnership with the Cleveland Federation of Musicians and the support of the Friends of Waterloo Arts.

As always, the Sunday afternoon series presents a variety of music against a background of the current Waterloo Arts gallery show, further enhanced by the attractions of the neighboring Callaloo Café. And all the concerts are free.

Concerts begin at 4 pm and last about 80 minutes, with a brief intermission, during which many audience members like to visit the café. This is chamber music in a real chamber, intimate and informal. Come for the whole concert, or for only part, if you’re pressed for time. Bring your children, provided they’re quiet. Enjoy a glass of wine or a cup of tea. Stay after for a West Indian Sunday lunch in the Callaloo.

September 14: Amelia String Quartet

The season begins on September 14 with The Amelia String Quartet(Diana Pepelea, violin; Amelia Giles, violin; Laura Shuster, viola; Julie King, cello), who first met in Opera Cleveland. Since then, they have gone on to perform with a multitude of musical groups including The Pittsburgh Symphony, The Blossom Festival Orchestra, The Cleveland Chamber Symphony, The Cleveland Pops, Blue Water Chamber Orchestra, CityMusic Cleveland, The Akron Symphony, The Canton Symphony, and Playhouse Square Broadway Shows. The Amelia Quartet is extremely active in theCleveland music scene, and chances are that when you attend a concert in the area, at least one of them will be on stage.

On September 14, The Amelia Quartet will perform some of their favorite dances: Mozart Divertimento #1, Tchaikovsky Sleeping Beauty Waltz and Pas de Deux from "SwanLake," Mozart Divertimento #3, Respighi Balletto, Strauss Tales from the Vienna Woods, Joplin Country Club Rag and Gardel Tango por una Cabeza.

During this concert, the gallery will be showing “De Materia,” works with a focus on the real materials of art, rather than on an instant, consumable experience. Bruce Checefsky, Gianna Commito, Sarah Kabot, Paul O’keeffe, Katy Richards, Charles Tucker, Barry Underwood and Nikki Woods.

October 12: Amethyst String Quartet

This concert will be a real crowd pleaser – a trip round the world with the magical strings. The playlist includes music from various countries: Gypsy music from Hungary, Italian Opera selections/Bocelli's Time to say Goodbye, a tune from The Godfather, Irish selections including Danny Boy and lively Celtic tunes, good old American favorites including Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Fiddler on the Roof, Phantom of the Opera – and if that’s not enough, the players will leave time at the end of the program for requests. 

November 9: The Unconventional Trio

Sean Gabriel, flute; Jack Brndiar, trumpet and Debra Comedica, piano – via Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music.

In 2010, Debra and long-time collaborator Jack Brndiar founded “the unconventional trio” with flutist Sean Gabriel, to perform “concerts of diverse solo and chamber music."

Sean Gabriel is the current principal flutist of the Blue Water Chamber Orchestra and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, and has played in a number of memorable recordings, some of which were written for him. He has played for ballet and staged opera productions, and at the Baldwin Wallace Bach Festivals and the Bach and Handel Society of Cleveland. He also serves as flute instructor in the Department of Music at The Cleveland State University.

John Brndiar is lecturer in trumpet and director of the Brass Choir at Baldwin-Wallace College, and has played trumpet with most of the Cleveland-area orchestras, as well as on tours in Europe and China, in touring Broadway shows – and in numerous radio and TV commercials, and pop music hits. In the jazz field, he has performed with the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, the Jazz Unit, and the Hot Jazz Seven.

Debra Feaver Comodeca teaches and performs at Baldwin Wallace, and is an active collaborative pianist, organist and chamber musician in the Cleveland area, including performances with the Bach-Handel Society and Tromba Due, and graduate recitals for C.I.M./Case, The University of Akron, and Ohio State University students. Deb has also been a liturgical musician for many years.

M4M concerts are presented with the support of Local 4 Music Fund, the Music Performance Trust Fund, the Arts Collinwood Friends’ Committee, Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, and Ohio Arts Council.

After a two-month break, the series will open its Spring program in March.

Waterloo Arts is at 15605 Waterloo Road, corner of E156. waterlooarts.org; 216-696-9500.