By David E. Dix | Special to the Record-Courier
Classical music lovers from the Kent area were treated to musical treats and heartwarming tributes when they attended the Kent State University Blossom Music Festival faculty concert July 10 in Ludwig Hall on campus.
The Poeisis Quartet is a sensational quartet, extremely skilled and very young, who played late 20th and early 21st century works that subverted the usual chamber concert repertoire I have heard, with the only exception being Brahms’ ambitious late 19th century quartets.
All four — two violinists, a violist and a cellist — are in their 20s, graduated from Oberlin College’s Conservatory of Music and are members of the University of Cincinnati’s Graduate String Quartet. At Kent State, where they spent most of the week, the four mentored musicians from Blossom College, some of whom were older than they were.
Classical music is an acquired taste. I owe my appreciation for it to my mother, who for decades would take my siblings and I, not always happy, to family concerts at Severance Hall in Cleveland.
But what was just as pleasing to my ears as Poeisis’ music was the unexpected compliment about Kent.
Sarah Ying Marr, one of Poeisis’ two violinists, praised downtown Kent as she introduced the first half of the evening’s program.
“I can’t believe there is such a beautiful community in Ohio,” the 21-year-old violinist said as she walked through the city.
I wish all those who have worked so hard over the years to bring Kent back from its nadir in the early 1970s could hear her. I took a photo on my cell phone of the view my mother would have seen as she walked into Kent, looking west toward the Lefton Esplanade, the overpass that connects the campus to downtown, with the School of Architecture and the Wick Poetry Center on one side and the other.
Much has been achieved so far and more is to come.
The three-year reconstruction of Haymaker Parkway and East Main Street will create a tree-lined boulevard that will highlight the campus facade, streamline vehicular traffic and improve pedestrian safety. Construction on Kent City Hall is nearing completion and will occupy one of the most prominent locations in downtown Kent, welcoming visitors to the city.
North Water Street’s bustling Mill District has seen new additions, including the Sandford Building, which is home to Each + Every and Daisy Pops, Bar Lucci and North Water Brewery.
Highlights of the West River District today include Silk Mill, the law offices of Williams, Kratkoski, Griffin & Cann, the Kent Free Library on River Street, the Carlson Building, the Access Point, Bell Tower Brewery, and the LN Gross Building on Googler Avenue. Further north is River Merchant Restaurant on North Mantua Street. The restaurant overlooks the beautifully cleaned Cuyahoga River along with River Edge Park in downtown Kent and the Brady’s Leap improvement portion of the Hike & Bike Trail that runs south to Fred Fuller Park. Remember the construction of the Fairchild Bridge that replaced the Crane Avenue bridge?
Downtown, East Main and Erie Streets are bustling with restaurants, gift shops, art galleries, toy stores, Hometown Plaza, the renovated Franklin Hotel building, and the popular Kent Stage. Ron Barbick’s Acorn Alley is a success. Attorney John Flynn saved the beautiful post office building that opened in 1936 and then served briefly as the Kent Municipal Court until a new municipal court was built on East Main Street between the Kent Historical Society and the Martin Dental Office. Flynn transformed his building into an impressive law office complex. Franklin Avenue restaurants are thriving. The Kent Hotel and Conference Center, which opened 11 years ago, and its 1910 Restaurant are busier and better.
“I was born and raised in Portage County, grew up in Kent, and have worked in Kent and Ravenna as an adult. We often take our hometown for granted, but we don’t often think about all the changes and the efforts of the many people who made it possible. Sarah Ming Marr, a member of Poeisis, who had never visited Kent before her Blossom experience, said she was amazed to find such a beautiful town in Ohio.
Downtown Kent has come a long way since its dire state in the early 1970s and is improving, and violinist Ma’s praise has made me appreciate the journey even more.
David E. Dix is former publisher of The Record-Courier.
