Every third Tuesday the Happy Dog hosts Classical Revolution Cleveland. This is a group of classically trained musicians who love to share their talents in nontraditional spaces. As a cellist myself I was very excited to attend the September performance. The night started out with Carlyn Kessler on cello and Beiyao Yi playing piano. They performed a Mendelsohn piece and a blues lullaby from Gershwin. Gershwin’s music ranges from classical to jazz, perfectly suited for the classical-meets-bar-scene theme. Carlyn recently played in an orchestra accompanying a rock band called Seafair at the House of Blues. Beiyao ended their set with a powerful piano piece by Chopin. Playing in a talkative bar can make it difficult for musicians focus on dynamics but Beiyao conquered this obstacle wonderfully.
The next group was more revolution than classical. Alexandra and the Pretty Little Things, all-girl alternative chamber music project focused on re-contextualizing classic rock tunes written by and about men. They will be playing at Survival Kit on October 16th if you would experience them for yourself. The lead singer, Meagan Elk, is a classically trained singer and has a project of cabaret music called Miss Alexandra Hunnington. Doug Wood closed the night with a few original compositions on guitar. His pieces are inspired by his time traveling and hiking. Doug has another project called Cellocentric featuring Classical Revolution regular, Tara Hanish. Doug will be performing at The Heights Music Hop along with other Classical Revolution Performers September 19th.