A Classical Revolution Comes To The Root Café

“When people think about the experience of hearing live classical music, they usually think of sitting in an expensive concert hall,” says Lakewood resident and concert pianist Shuai Wang. “It can be an intimidating atmosphere and sometimes people feel embarrassed if they do something wrong.”

In fact, hearing the world renowned Cleveland Orchestra in Severance Hall, for instance, is an experience any person should have. But Shuai is one of the leaders of a revolution that has been in progress for more than a decade—a Classical Revolution—whose aim is to bring live classical music and the elite musicians who play it, to popular local venues such as bars and coffee shops, where the dress is casual, the atmosphere is friendly and relaxed, and the goal is to have fun in a familiar place you share with neighbors and friends.

Classical Revolution began in 1996 when a group of string musicians began playing regularly at the Revolution Café, in the Mission District of San Francisco. Since then the revolution has spread to cities across the country and in Europe and Asia (see www.classicalrevolution.com).

In 2009, Classical Revolution-Cleveland was formed when Shuai and fellow Cleveland Institute of Music student William Johnston began gathering the regions’ finest musicians to play in the areas favorite neighborhood gathering places. When Johnston left to become principal violist for the Atlanta Opera, Shuai took up leadership of the project, and despite many other commitments as a teacher and performer she has turned Classical Revolution into a passion.

Under her stewardship Classical Revolution-Cleveland has found a home-base of sorts, at the Happy Dog on Detroit and 58th Street in Cleveland, with extraordinary live classical music performed there every third Tuesday of every month. Musicians are drawn from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and from the ranks of the regions symphony orchestras; in April, members of the Cleveland Orchestra played at Happy Dog. And in March, immediately following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Classical Revolution-Cleveland at Happy Dog raised more than $300 for Red Cross relief efforts.

But Shuai has also been determined to bring the revolution to Lakewood, and on Sunday, October 23 from 4-6 p.m., Classical Revolution-Cleveland will come to the Root Café. The program is still being formulated, but Shuai says she will be playing keyboards along with flutist Madeline Lucas (the two have performed together as a duo they call “Digital Birds”). Admission is free (a donation jar will be passed and contributions are welcome) and Shuai encourages people to bring their children.

She promises a good time, and Shuai is a true believer in the capacity of music to transform any experience in memorable ways. (Her emails are garnished with an epigraph from Pablo Casals: “It is music that will change the world.”) A native of Tianjin, China, she came to the United States when she was 14 and studied at Interlochen Arts Academy. She graduated this year from the Cleveland Institute of Music with a Doctorate in Musical Arts, (among other degrees) and now teaches at the Institute along with providing private lessons in her home.

She is principal keyboardist for the Canton Symphony Orchestra and substitute pianist for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; she has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C and the Lincoln Center in New York. She lives in Lakewood with her husband George Bertalan, a physician completing his residency in internal medicine.

Shuai notes that there has always been a tension, or pendulum-like fluctuation, between classical music as a high art form for connoisseurs and its more popular presentation to the general public. In the Renaissance, baroque music was performed in the court for royalty;, but beginning in the 18th century, instruments became less expensive and more accessible to commoners and performances began to be hosted in private homes for dances and parties.

It was only at the beginning of the 20th century that philanthropists began to build the grand concert halls—classical architecture, high ceilings and chandeliers—that we associate today with elite musical culture. Now, with the high price of tickets and the easy accessibility of CDs, digital recordings have become the way classical music is popularized.

But Shuai fears that the uniquely intimate experience of live performance will get lost. ““Music really touches a sixth sense, touches you spiritually,” she said. “We can never be without music in our lives, but most people think of live classical music as a luxury only for people who can afford to hear it in a concert hall. I want to allow the general public, including people who know little or nothing at all about classical music, to hear great music performed in a comfortable and popular location and to experience the fact that classical music can be as fun as hip hop or rock music.”

She urges everyone to visit the website at http://classicalrevolutioncle.com or on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ClassicalrevolutionCLE)  to keep up with events (on the 24th Classical Revolution-Cleveland will perform at the Velvet Tango Room).And Shuai believes Classical Revolution-Cleveland can in time take its place as another major regional attraction for people visiting the North Coast. “In the same way that people who come to Cleveland want to see the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall or the museums in University Circle, maybe they can also remember to check out the calendar at Happy Dog or the Root Café for great live classical music.”