It’s always amazing to look back at the wealth of Cincinnati’s arts that we enjoy every year. There were important new arts leaders and new and improved venues. In comings and goings, the new dean of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Peter Jutras, was busy hiring what seems like a record number of new faculty members. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, too, has hired many new musicians that we are all still getting to know. And early this month, the Contemporary Arts Center’s Christina Vassallo announced she will soon be departing from her role as director. She will become executive director of the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage in Philadelphia.

Among those who left us in 2025 was cellist Norman Johns, an inspiring musician, a trailblazer and a role model. He shared his gifts as a teacher, chamber music coach and mentor to legions of students in Cincinnati for most of the 50 years that he performed in the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Here is a small tribute to this musical giant.

Sadly, the Cincinnati Symphony also lost its much-admired principal trombonist Cristian Ganicenco. He was 58, and passed away on the eve of Cristian Măcelaru’s first concert as CSO music director. The two shared their homeland of Romania. Here is one of many tributes.

Below are some of my favorite performances, art exhibitions, newsmakers and more!

Welcoming new leaders

New maestro at the CSO –– In February, audiences had a taste of a new vision at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in a powerful performance of the familiar Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” under the baton of then-music director-designate Cristian Măcelaru. This season, 2025-26, audiences are getting to know the Romanian-American maestro in his first season as the CSO’s 14th music director.

New leadership at Cincinnati Ballet — For his first season since being named artistic director, Cincinnati Ballet’s Cervilio Miguel Amador curated selections that include four world premieres, the regional premiere of “The Great Gatsby,” the return of “Swan Lake” (coming up in February) and “Director’s Vision: Liberty in Motion,” celebrating the evolution of American choreography in honor of America’s 250th birthday. We can’t wait to see his vision moving forward.

A woman on the podium — This year, Cincinnati Ballet welcomed Alyssa Wang as its new music director, succeeding Carmon DeLeone, a local legend who retired after more than 50 years. I enjoyed watching her conduct “The Nutcracker” last week, and look forward to seeing more of her work.

Most Memorable Performances

Most original production — In March, CCM said farewell to opera director/professor of opera Robin Guarino, concluding her 18-year tenure with a production of Benjamin Britten’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” It was nothing short of out-of-this world.  A sci-fi spaceship teetered in a dystopian forest littered with bags of garbage, the detritus of a ruined planet. The space craft’s escape hatch popped open to reveal not aliens, but Oberon, King of the Fairies, and his queen, Tytania.

Bel canto star — At Matinée Musicale in March, opera tenor Lawrence Brownlee wowed in songs and arias by renowned composers of the bel canto style of singing, Donizetti, Rossini and Bellini. He performed his extensive program with collaborative pianist (and CCM alumnus) Donald Lee III. After multiple showstoppers, he added another one for an encore: “Ah! mes amis,” from Donizetti’s “Daughter of the Regiment,” powerfully nailing its nine high C’s.

Brilliant Beethoven  — Also in March, the Ariel Quartet, faculty quartet-in-residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), delivered a thrilling concert performance of Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 59, No. 2 (Razumovsky), as part of their own series. It was a stunning warmup for their just-released album, the second of three in a recording project of the complete Beethoven string quartets.

Most galvanizing  — In April, Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 with the expansive forces of 109 CSO musicians on the stage was as dramatic to watch as it was to hear, led by guest conductor Jaap van Zweden, making his Cincinnati Symphony debut.

Most captivating — At the May Festival, soprano Renée Fleming sang Georgia O’Keeffe’s words in “The Brightness of Light,” an orchestral song cycle by Kevin Puts. The cycle chronicled the ecstasy and pain of the renowned American painter’s relationship with her mentor, lover and eventual husband, the photographer Alfred Stieglitz, a role superbly interpreted by baritone Rodney Gilfry.  In addition to performing – twice – during the May Festival, Fleming was also this year’s festival director.  The star soprano also appeared on a panel discussion about the intersection of arts and health and presented a master class for aspiring singers.

Most convincing operatic performance — In Cincinnati Opera’s “Rigoletto” in June, there could not have been a finer, more inspired performance of the Duke’s jester than that of Michael Chioldi in the title role. Chioldi was utterly believable as the tormented jester, as he limped around the stage and fell to the ground stricken with each blow of the curse. He headed a dream cast conducted by the excellent John Fiori. Making her role and company debut as Gilda, Kathryn Lewek was a sensation. There was extra sizzle in her encounter with the Duke, the role performed by tenor Zach Borichevsky (Lewek’s real-life husband).

Musical mavericks — In August, the visionary Kronos Quartet headlined a program of “Trailblazers” led by Eckart Preu with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. The Kronos, entering its sixth decade as champions of the music of now, performed the premiere of “Starlings,” a Summermusik co-commission, and Terry Riley’s “The Sands,” a tribute to their longtime collaborator and pioneer of minimalism.

Elgar and Yo-Yo Ma –– Small wonder this special concert in November sold out in about an hour. Besides moments of stunning virtuosity, Ma’s playing throughout this concerto was heartfelt and emotional. You could read every mood and feeling on his face: pain, love, joy, tragedy. All of it was reflected in his music making.

Most radiant –– The CSO’s Dec. 5th performance of Handel’s “Messiah” under the baton of music director Cristian Măcelaru was an inspiring start to the holiday season. Măcelaru assembled an intimate ensemble of symphony musicians, along with the May Festival Chorus and soloists, for this warmly conducted, historically informed performance in Music Hall. Much of the praise must go to the May Festival Chorus, prepared by its director Matthew Swanson.

There was so much more — such as the breathtaking artistry and precision of the Jerusalem Quartet at Chamber Music Cincinnati in May. The superbly acted and directed revival of “Next to Normal” directed by D.Lynn Meyers at Ensemble Theatre left a deep impression.  In October, I was awestruck by a concert on Music in the Museum at Cincinnati Museum Center. The excellent organist Vincent Dubois, now titular organist of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, performed a substantial program on the great E.M. Skinner concert organ built in 1929, the year Union Terminal began construction.

In the out-of-the-box category, pianist Conrad Tao described his recital for piano and “Lumatone” at Music Hall as all about “harmony and color.” It was that, and also about experimentation and pushing boundaries.

A few of my favorite things in Visual Art

Turner at the Taft –An exhibition at the Taft Museum of Art, “J.M.W. Turner: Watercolor Horizons,” offered a rare opportunity to see 12 watercolors by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), one of Britain’s greatest landscape painters and an influential master of the art of watercolor. The exhibition was part of a worldwide celebration of the artist’s 250th birthday.

Farm to Table at CAM — Cincinnati Art Museum’s spectacular “Farm to Table: Food and Identity in the Age of Impressionism” was a feast from beginning to end, starting with art depicting the Siege of Paris. The French artists represented in the exhibition’s more than 60 paintings and sculptures included Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Vincent van Gogh.

Newsworthy

One of the world’s finest young string quartets is right here in Cincinnati. On Aug. 31, the Poiesis String Quartet, right, graduate string quartet-in-residence at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, won the Grand Prize in the prestigious 15th Banff International String Quartet Competition. The prize includes $500,000 CAD in cash, prizes, and career development opportunities. I hope to sit down with them soon!

Cincinnati Public Radio got a gorgeous new home with its own stunning concert hall for live performances. At the open house, it was inspiring to see its halls, airy offices, performance spaces and grounds packed with people and many families enjoying food trucks and instrument petting zoos. Outside, Cincinnati Public Radio President, GM and CEO Rich Eiswerth was directing traffic. Inside, I heard Matthew Swanson lead members of the May Festival Chorus in “Everything’s Coming up Roses,” and indeed, it was.

One of my favorite stories was the $51 million renovation of the Emery Theater in Over-the-Rhine as a new home for Cincinnati Children’s Theater. The historic Emery, built in 1911, was the home of the Cincinnati Symphony for about two decades early in the century, and has near-perfect acoustics.

Not least, Memorial Hall supporters raised $1.1 million for the hall’s continuing upkeep, thanks to the visionary Bill Baumann, below left, and his board. “We are going to make sure that it never falls back into that state of neglect, the deterioration that happened in the second half of the 20th century. We are going to be sure to maintain this building and preserve it for the future,” said Baumann, longtime former chair of the nonprofit Cincinnati Memorial Hall Society. He spearheaded the current campaign as well as the private donor and foundation campaign that secured $2.5 million of the $11.2 million initial total.