music

Not many think of composers getting fired, but it happened to George Frideric Handel, the composer of such great works as the Messiah, Water Music and Music for Royal Fireworks, when the Elector of Hanover ousted him in 1713. How and why it happened is the subject of the talk, “Politics in Early…

Music has a way to soothe the soul, and for many people from the LGBT community music has done that. Along the way, it gave rise to a type of music called queer music. New findings about this music tradition’s history is the topic of conference on queer music, hosted by Case Western Reserve…

The Center for Popular Music Studies and the Progressive Art Alliance are teaming up to bring hip-hop DJ and turntablist DJ Rob Swift to campus. Join Swift for an interactive presentation about the art of DJing during “Innovation in Modern Music: Understanding the Craft of the DJ/Turntablist” on…

Alan Light, former editor-in-chief of Spin and Vibe magazines, a frequent contributor to The New York Times and Rolling Stone, and the author of The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen and Jeff Buckley and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah,” will give the 18th Annual Music Masters Keynote Lecture…

Stephen Hefling, professor of musicology, will present a lecture on Gustav Mahler’s love letters—a topic about which he was prominently featured in The New York Times earlier this summer. Hefling hopes to publish a 59-page love letter from Mahler, a composer who was seen as fairly chaste, to one…

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and Case Western Reserve University will honor 1989 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees the Rolling Stones during the 18th Annual Music Masters series, “It’s Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It): The Music of The Rolling Stones,” Oct. 21-26 in…

David Ake, professor of musicology and an accomplished jazz scholar and musician, was appointed chair of the Department of Music at Case Western Reserve University. Since 2011, Ake has served as director of the School of the Arts at the University of Nevada, Reno. A member of the university’s…

Discover first hand the true harmony of art and music brought to life when a few dozen colorful, artistically decorated pianos appear throughout University Circle and other Greater Cleveland sites—all yours to play. Play Me, I’m Yours, an interactive, musical public art installation inspired by…

The “Play Me, I’m Yours” interactive art installation of 25 uniquely decorated pianos will kick off with a launch party Thursday, July 18, at 11:15 a.m. at Toby’s Plaza in Uptown. This is a great opportunity to view or play all of the pianos before they get disbursed throughout University Circle…

Cleveland native Mark Avsec’s big break in the music industry came in 1975, when he was asked to play keyboard on a new song by the Steubenville band Wild Cherry. That famous song, “Play That Funky Music (White Boy)” served as the jumping off point for Avsec’s long, successful career in the arena…