From a recent Linton Chamber concert. Linton has canceled concerts this weekend.
You’ve probably seen the cancellations across the country due to COVID-19 — of sporting events, parades and arts presentations in large theaters — from opera and ballet to “Hamilton” (canceled in San Francisco).
Just in: The Findlay Market Opening Day Parade on March 26 will be either canceled or postponed.
As far as the arts in Cincinnati, I’ve gotten official word that the Linton Chamber Music Series concerts on March 15-16 have been cancelled this weekend. In addition, there will be no “Peanut Butter & Jam Session” this week at Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church or next week at Sycamore Presbyterian Church. Information here.
Because the University of Cincinnati is canceling in-person classes from March 14 through April 13, I’m hearing from faculty members that performances at the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) will be canceled through the end of the semester. It’s possible that some may be live-streamed, if you interpret the UC message below: Read More »
Danill Trifonov with the Ariel Quartet: For these performances, Trifonov collaborated with the celebrated Ariel Quartet, faculty quartet-in-residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. There was great anticipation to hear this 28-year-old Russian-born virtuoso, whose name is on everyone’s lips.
People often ask me why my reviews of local concerts are generally positive. The answer is this: The quality of Cincinnati’s performing arts compares favorably to anywhere I’ve traveled (and lived) in the world. It’s remarkable to consider the longevity of Cincinnati’s arts institutions, such as the Cincinnati Symphony, marking 125 this year, Cincinnati Opera, turning 100 this summer and the May Festival, founded in 1873.
It’s always difficult to pick just 10 memorable performances, because there were many more that should be included. You can read the list here.
There was also some arts news in 2019 — one even happened at the peak of the holiday season, when Cincinnati Opera announced that Chris Milligan will succeed Patty Beggs as general director and CEO. Click here to read the news.
And there was other arts news — such as the success of “Blink,” the four-day art and light festival in October. Looking back, several important people in the arts left us in 2019. Read that column here.
Cincinnati May Festival 2019
I hope you had a chance to catch some holiday shows this month. Some, such as Cincinnati Ballet’s magical Nutcracker, are still running. See the list here.
Handel’s ‘Messiah’ was given an intimate, authentic performance by Collegium Cincinnati.
I attended several shows. The performance I reviewed of Collegium Cincinnati’s “Messiah” performance illustrates the breadth and depth of local talent that we have across the region. Many of the performers were familiar as they appear with organizations such as Cincinnati Opera, CCM, the Vocal Arts Ensemble and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra.
Watch for my list of upcoming performing events as well as art exhibitions that you won’t want to miss in 2020.
Don’t forget that the Business Courier’s Arts Front page is sponsored by ArtsWave, and therefore FREE to read. I’ve you’ve read three stories, you may be asked to sign up for a free subscription.
A recent acoustical study determined that crowd noise from the FC Cincinnati stadium will infiltrate Music Hall’s Springer Auditorium, where concerts by the CSO, Opera, Ballet and others are held.
For the past week, there have been minute-by-minute reports on how the new $250 million stadium for FC Cincinnati will impact Music Hall, its tenants, and Cincinnati Ballet, which has its headquarters at Liberty and Central Parkway.
I’m publishing the statement from arts groups that arrived in my inbox today. For more, Chris Wetterich at the Business Courier is covering all the news at bizjournals.com/cincinnati. To read the latest news about City Council postponing its vote on FC Cincinnati’s development plan, click here.
JOINT STATEMENT FROM CINCINNATI ARTS ASSOCIATION, MUSIC HALL RESIDENT PERFORMING ARTS ORGANIZATIONS, and MUSIC HALL REVITALIZATION COMPANY
This morning the Arts Organizations entered into an agreement of cooperation and support with FC Cincinnati regarding specifically the relationship between the new stadium and Music Hall. The Parties in regard to Music Hall and Stadium Operations have agreed to work together as good neighbors and in good faith on concerns related to noise, parking, traffic, and scheduling. Our collective goal is to minimize the number of occasions where performances at Music Hall occur at the same time as FC Cincinnati home games, and to minimize the impact of the stadium’s noise on Music Hall on the occasions when there are simultaneous events.
Specifically, this will include minimizing the stadium’s noise impact on Music Hall through stadium design and other sound mitigation measures at Music Hall. Regarding parking, if FC Cincinnati manages the Town Center Garage on game days starting in March of 2021 per an agreement with the City of Cincinnati, the team has committed to making a substantial amount of parking in that garage available to audience members attending performances at Music Hall when games overlap with performances. To be clear, this agreement does not speak to the ongoing negotiations between Cincinnati Ballet and FCC regarding the Ballet Center.
A rendering of the stadium site on the West End near Central Parkway/courtesy Business Courier
One of the most interesting stories I have had the privilege to write for the Business Courier was about 10 up-and-coming young arts patrons who will be guiding our great Cincinnati arts institutions in the decades to come. For as long as I’ve covered the arts here, there has been hand-wringing over who will replace those great philanthropists and board leaders who have gone before. The Nipperts and Corbetts are just two of most well-known names from the previous generation, among many others.
Cincinnati has a great history of generosity and stewardship that goes back more than a century. You only need to consider this:
The CSO turns 125 in 2020
Cincinnati Opera turns 100 in 2020
Art Academy of Cincinnati turns 150 in 2019
UC’s College-Conservatory of Music is celebrating its 150th this year.
That kind of legacy takes leadership and creativity. And it takes changing with the times. Who could have imagined that an arts event called Blink could bring a million people downtown last year?
These young leaders already hold some of the city’s most important board roles. I think the arts are and will be in very good hands.
Where to find arts news and reviews: Visit the new Arts Front at bizjournals.com/cincinnati. It’s free, but you may need to register for a free subscription. For the latest CSO review of Beethoven’s Ninth, click here.
As always, Cincinnati offers myriad choices of things to do in the fall season. Here are just a few options that you might want to try.
Cincinnati Ballet’s “Peter Pan,” with a charming musical score composed by Carmon DeLeone, honors the maestro in its performances this weekend for his unprecedented 50 years as the Ballet’s music director. The dancing crocodile is one of my personal favorites. Thursday through Sunday in Music Hall. Tickets: cballet.org or call 513-621-5282.
Christian McBride. Photo provided
The great jazz bassist Christian McBride has shared the stage with jazz legends like Sonny Rollins, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock or Pat Metheny; pop giants like James Brown, Sting andThe Roots; and classical artists like Kathleen Battle, Edgar Meyer or the Shanghai Quartet. He visits the Xavier Jazz Series, 8 p.m. Oct. 27 in Gallagher Theater on the XU campus. Tickets: xavier.edu/musicseries
Cincinnati native and rising conductor Isaac Selya has just returned from making his debut with the Deustche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (yes, Paavo’s orchestra).
Next, he says, “I’m jumping straight into the next Queen City Opera program.” This one will be operatic selections featuring 11 emerging artists, accompanied by full orchestra. Eight of them trained at CCM; the other three trained at Indiana University, University of Kentucky, and Miami University in Oxford.
The concert will also feature the Xavier University Concert Choir,Isaac Selya
singing in “Habanera” from Carmen. There will be a rare chance to hear the Council Chamber Scene from Simon Boccanegra, which ends with a soft entreaty for peace.
Just one performance: 3 p.m. Sunday, October 28 at the Sanctuary at Community Matters (2110 Saint Michael Street, 45204). To read the details on the repertoire and the performers click here.
Tessa Lark
Violinist Tessa Lark returns to the Queen City (where she trained at CCM) to star in Matinee Musicale’s 106th season, 2 p.m. Nov. 1 at the Anderson Center, 7850 Five Mile Road. Since her concerto debut with the Cincinnati Symphony at age 16, the Kentucky native is the recipient of a coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant and was silver medalist in the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and winner of the 2012 Naumberg International Violin Competition. She recently acquired a very special new violin from the Stradivari Society of Chicago. Read about it here. Andrew Armstrong collaborates at the piano. Here’s the program:
Suite Italienne……………………Igor Stravisky (1882-1971)
Appalachian Fantasy…………….Tessa Lark
Sonata in A major………………..César Franck (1822-1890)
Sonata No. 9, Op. 47 “Kreutzer”.. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Visit matineemusicalecincinnati.org for tickets or purchase at the door.
Kristi A. Nelson, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Cincinnati, today announced the appointment of Stanley E. Romanstein, PhD, as Dean of the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).
Romanstein’s appointment becomes effective July 1, 2018, pending approval of the University’s Board of Trustees.
The CCM graduate returns to CCM from Georgia State University’s Creative Media Institute, where he has served as a professor of practice/music and the arts for the past four years. He was President and CEO of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (2010-14), among other posts.
Romanstein earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Carson-Newman College in 1976. He then came to CCM to earn a Master of Music in Choral Conducting in 1980 and a PhD in Music in 1990. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Israel in 1985-86 and in Japan in November-December 1998.
Michael Leopold performing on the theorbo. Photos courtesy of Stephen Winter
My musical experiences last weekend ranged from hearing Early Baroque music played on the theorbo to attending Cincinnati Ballet’s groundbreaking “Carmina Burana” in Music Hall.Read More »
Visitors hear an opera performance in the beautifully restored Corbett Tower during a free open house at Music Hall in October
If you missed the free community open house when Music Hall reopened in October, you’ll have another chance during ArtsWave’s upcoming campaign. Music Hall will be open to all on March 24. It’s just one of 12 Saturdays of free fun spanning the entire ArtsWave campaign.
The goal for this year’s 2018 “Make Waves” campaign will be announced early on Thursday.
ArtsWave, the nation’s oldest and largest community arts fund, previously offered an Arts Sampler Weekend of live performances, art and more.
The new concept, ArtsWave Days, will feature events at different venues with different themes on each Saturday between February 3 and April 21. In all you’ll find more than 100 free community performances throughout the campaign.Read More »
Carmon DeLeone reads “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” on Around Cincinnati Christmas
A holiday tradition continues with the 13th annual Around Cincinnati special airing at 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Here’s the lineup of stories and music from producer/host Lee Hay:
Readings:
A new reading of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” from the Cincinnati Ballet’s longtime conductor, Carmon DeLeone.
A new Memories from the Hills of Home story from Katie Laur.
Our theater contributor Rick Pender reads the story ‘Postage.”
CCM Professor Michael Burnham recites “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.”
Music:
The late Katie Reider’s beautiful rendition of “Silent Night.”
Rosemary’s Clooney’s iconic “White Christmas” is featured
Maysville, Kentucky native Rosemary Clooney‘s performance of “White Christmas.”
Native American musician Douglas Blue Feather performs “Angels We Have Heard on High.”
Local Grammy nominee Zak Morgan sings ‘O Come All Ye Faithful.”
Hamilton, Ohio’s world group The Klaberheads perform their “Christmastime in Margaritaville.”
Cincinnati’s Keith Little (The Cincinnati Blues Man) with his rendition of “The Christmas Song.”
Adagio Trio (harp, flute, cello) performs “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
Finally, it’s the Steve Schmidt Organ Trio with “Merry Christmas, Baby.”
Around Cincinnati Christmas will air at 7 p.m. on December 24 on 91.7 WVXU, 88.5 WMUB, wvxu.org, and on the free WVXU mobile app.
Melissa Gelfin and Cervilio Miguel Amador were stunning in the leading roles of Cincinnati Ballet’s “Romeo and Juliet” over the weekend.
Cincinnati Ballet’s production of “Romeo and Juliet” over the weekend offered another chance to hear Music Hall’s new acoustics from a different perspective – in a ballet set-up.
Much as before the renovation, the best experience for concertgoers in terms of the sound depends upon where one sits. But you must also consider the “configuration” of the hall for the type of show that is being mounted.
For the ballet at the Sunday matinee, the orchestra was in the pit – as it will also be for Cincinnati Opera productions. It was a treat to hear the orchestra playing Prokofiev’s magnificent score to “Romeo and Juliet,” which I’ve heard many times as an orchestral suite in concert. It was led with a sure hand by ballet maestro Carmon DeLeone and superbly played by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
Artistic director Victoria Morgan’s production was gorgeous in every way. As Juliet, Melissa Gelfin delivered a ravishing performance and her Romeo, Cervilio Miguel Amador, was the perfect romantic hero. But I was also curious about David Lyman’s comment in his excellent review for The Enquirer about “the many drawbacks of seeing ballet in Music Hall.”
From the gallery, the ballet performance onstage indeed seemed far away from the audience. The entire show took place behind the proscenium arch, with a very large orchestra pit in front of the stage. To me, the large pit detracted from the viewer’s focus on the stage.
The orchestra sounded magnificent but the large pit made the performers seem far away.The view of final bows from the gallery (second balcony)
But it’s ironic that this configuration – with the orchestra in the pit — offered the best sound I’ve heard this season for the listener. I sat in the GALLERY for the first time since the hall opened on Oct. 6.
Gone was the muddiness of previous weeks. The brass and winds were exceptionally clear and powerful. The string sound was much better, except in big climaxes, where it was easy for the brass to overpower.
The focus of the sound was also better. I recalled a comment from a retired musician, who thought that the orchestra needed a more embracing acoustical shell surrounding them on three sides. In fact, the walls of the pit may have actually provided that, perhaps the reason for a better sound.
Other impressions: The city has doubled the cost of parking in Town Center Garage this year, to $10. Parking in Washington Park Garage, owned by 3CDC, is now $15 for shows. I parked behind Music Hall and walked around to the front of the building. The weather was cold and raw, and I felt badly for the older people and children that I saw trying to get across the four lanes of Central Parkway to get to the front door. There were no police officers assisting, as there have been for CSO concerts.
It’s too bad that the ballet matinee was so sparsely attended. Whether the poor attendance was a result of not enough marketing, uncertainty about parking or the cold weather, I hope it’s not a harbinger of audiences to come. Especially now, in the beautifully freshened and updated hall, the dancers – and the orchestra – deserve to have a full house every time.
From a recent Linton Chamber concert. Linton has canceled concerts this weekend.
Where to find arts news and reviews: Visit the new Arts Front at bizjournals.com/cincinnati. It’s free, but you may need to register for a free subscription. For the latest CSO review of Beethoven’s Ninth, 
