The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra opens its summer series this weekend
The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, led by James R. Cassidy, will open its three-concert summer series with a nostalgic 1970s Trumpet-palooza on July 10 & 11 in Devou and Tower Parks in Northern Kentucky.
“This marks the 27th Summer that the KSO has provided free family-friendly culture and entertainment for Tri-state residents. Forty percent of those attending drive from Hamilton County,” says J.R.
Talented trumpeters for this program — Matthew Anklan, Joshua Kauffman, Rob Parton, John Zappa and Hank Mautner — will recreate the sounds of of the ’70s as performed by trumpeters Maynard Ferguson, Doc Severinsen, Don Ellis, Bill Chase and Chuck Mangione. They’ll appear with the KSO’s own jazz orchestra.
Volunteers will be taking people on guided tours inside Music Hall again soon. Photo Credit: Joanne Grueter
I hope you have been able to see a live show, recital or art exhibition now that things are reopening, post-pandemic. This week, Friends of Music Hall, the volunteer support organization for Music Hall, is announcing that they will resume in-person tours of the 1878 venue on July 9.
Designed by legendary architect Samuel Hannaford, the spectacular hall was the envy of countless cities in the 19th century. Today it’s the cornerstone of the 21st-century renaissance of Cincinnati’s cultural heart in historic Over-the-Rhine.
Friends of Music Hall’s knowledgeable volunteer tour guides will offer tours at 1 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays and on Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. After August 23, check back for weekly dates.
Music Hall has been slowly reopening, since the CSO began in-person concerts for limited audiences this winter.
Also, outside tours of Music Hall’s remarkable Victorian High Gothic exterior are regularly offered at 4 p.m. on Thursdays and at 10 a.m. Saturdays.
Tickets ($15 per person; $5 children under age 12) can be purchased at cincinnatiarts.org or by calling (513) 621-2787 up until three hours before a specific tour start time. Tickets must be purchased in advance.
Groups of 30 or more and student groups should book tours through the Friends of Music Hall office by emailing musichalltour@friendsofmusicall.org.
The Friends of Music Hall continue to follow the guidance of the CDC, state, and local health departments for COVID-19 safety measures. Visitors are urged to check our website at FriendsofMusicHall.org for up-to-date health and safety requirements.
The College-Conservatory of Music at UC has been busy adding faculty members recently. Dean Stanley Romanstein announced these prominent new profs this week:
Kristin Lee has been appointed Assistant Professor of Violin beginning Aug. 15, 2021. She is a recipient of the 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant, as well as a top prizewinner of the 2012 Walter W. Naumburg Competition and the Astral Artists’ 2010 National Auditions.
Brian Newman, a CCM alumnus, with Lady Gaga in Las Vegas, is podcast guest on June 14.
A new podcast created by UC College-Conservatory of Music alumni takes listeners inside the entertainment industry with stories and advice from Broadway performers, television actors, movie producers, make-up artists and more.
“School, Stage & Screen” is a revealing 11-episode podcast about success stories and fantastic failures from the entertainment industry — as experienced by graduates of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Producer Brian J. Leitten (BFA E-Media, ’02) and Broadway performer Dylan Mulvaney (BFA Musical Theatre, ’19) delve into the differences between college and the real world with other CCM alumni like Diana Maria Riva (actor from Netflix’s Dead To Me), Andrea Stilgenbauer (producer of Kidding and The Affair on Showtime) and Brian Newman (Jazz Musician and Bandleader/Arranger for Lady Gaga’s Vegas Residency “Jazz & Piano Show”).
Episode 2, which dropped this week is a conversation about big breaks and national tours by original and current cast members of Hamilton on Broadway; Andrew Chappelle (BFA Musical Theatre, ’09) discusses the difficulties of finding his voice as an artist, while Raven Thomas (BFA Musical Theatre, ’16) dishes about losing hers mid-show.
Pene Pati performing as Romeo in San Francisco Opera’s production of Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette. Cory Weaver/provided by Matinée Musicale.
Matinée Musicale has announced that the renowned Samoan tenor Pene Pati is returning to the Memorial Hall stage, with pianist Ronny Michael Greenberg, for not one, but two, long-awaited live performances: 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 4 and 2 p.m. Sunday, June 6.
Local fans are still talking about his Cincinnati debut in March of 2019. His trip from his home in Auckland, New Zealand, to Cincinnati took two full days, and was complicated by last-minute visa problems and a spring snowstorm in Cincinnati. Pati’s impressive performance resulted in standing ovations, encore after encore, and an outcry for his rapid return.
However, due to Covid, his return engagement had to be postponed.
Pati will be performing the same program for both performances (to be announced). If his last recital is any indication, audiences are in for a rare treat. Here’s the review from that concert.
After recent debuts as Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at San Francisco Opera — with Cincinnati favorite Nadine Sierra as Juliet — and Alfredo in Verdi’s La traviata at Moscow’s historic Bolshoi Theatre, Pati has been hailed “the most exceptional tenor discovery of the last decade” (Opéra-Online). In the upcoming seasons, Pati will make debuts at Staatsoper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli and Opéra National de Paris.
Here’s what I wrote after I was privileged to hear Pati and Nadine Sierra in San Francisco:
“Pati’s singing was the picture of elegance, and he remained fresh until his dying breath in Act V. Romeo’s famous cavatina, “Ah! Lève-toi, soleil” (“Arise, oh sun”) was deeply felt, a feat that combined both beauty of line and ardent, exciting top notes.”
This marks the return of live recitals presented by Matinée Musicale after more than a year. The 107-year-old music series is one of the first small performing arts organizations in our city to return to live, in-person performances.
Covid safety measures at Memorial Hall include wearing of masks and social distancing.
CSO audiences and musicians have been greatly socially distanced for this spring’s in-person shows.
I am one of the lucky people who has been able to see live, in-person concerts at Music Hall as organizations have begun opening up now that Covid appears to be waning.
Cincinnati is one of the first cities in the nation to welcome people back into the concert hall, albeit with plenty of Covid mitigation. I have to admit, for my first visit back to Music Hall — even before the vaccine became available to most people — I had some trepidation. But the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, as well CAA, which oversees Music Hall, have taken excellent precautions. With all of the social distancing in a 2200+ seat hall, an audience of 300 seemed pretty sparse. And with 90-minute concerts and no intermission, I barely encountered anyone at all. Just parked the car, donned a mask, saw the concert and left.
I loved this concert featuring Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde.” And how great that the orchestra made it available free for streaming a few weeks later.
Mandy Gaines
Now that the state is allowing 30% of hall capacity to be seated, it is nice to see up to 500 people. It really does make a difference, and I’m sure it does to the musicians, as well. Here’s my review of the Pops last weekend with Cincinnati treasure Mandy Gaines and that terrific singer Darius de Haas.
Melissa White made her subscription debut in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3, “Strasbourg.”
And here’s my report of Louis Langrée’s Mozart festival with the CSO, the first time nearly 500 were allowed attend.
Thankfully, we have had our art museums to visit over the pandemic. Now, we can look forward to the May Festival — a slimmed-down version of that massive choral experience, of course. Read about it here.
And Cincinnati Opera will return as well, although not in Music Hall but at Summit Park, on land that was formerly the Blue Ash Airport. (Years ago, I met a relative there, who was delivering us a cello on his private plane… ) Here’s the story.
And yes, theater is returning too. Playhouse in the Park will seat reduced audiences for two productions this spring, and also offers some outdoor events. Here’s the announcement.
Cincinnati Ballet will begin moving into its new, $30.8 million home in Walnut Hills this June. (Click here to read about it.) The company has done an admiral job presenting both outdoor and indoor performances during the pandemic.
All of these organizations have had to toss out their planned seasons and re-imagine them with new productions and concert programs.
I admire CCM for putting together an imaginative performance series online. I have enjoyed myriad virtual shows over the past year. But there is nothing like experiencing a performance live and in person.
We’ve all missed all of it, terribly. I feel grateful to live in a city where arts leaders are creatively and safely reopening to allow in-person experiences.
Socially distant seating at a concert earlier this year by the Cincinnati Pops
Up to 500 seats are now available for all in-person CSO and Pops performances at Music Hall. In accordance with the expanded capacity for indoor events ordered by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, the orchestra has added availability for all in-person events this spring.
In-person concerts at Music Hall continue this weekend with two different programs of Mozart with soloists Conrad Tao (Mozart Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major) and violinist Melissa White in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3, in G Major, “Strasburg,” MAR 12-14 in Music Hall.
A CSO concert viewed from the balcony earlier this year.
From personal experience, I have felt very safe with all of the protocols that are in place. Concerts are about 70 to 80 minutes in length with no intermission.
I’ve been told that some concerts have added performances due to demand. Now that more people are getting vaccinated, I’m very optimistic that the demand will increase.
Don’t forget, I’m reviewing concerts again. You’ll find them on the Cincinnati Business Courier’s Arts Front (it’s free to read). Last week’s performance of Mahler’s “The Song of the Earth” was unforgettable. Click here to read about it.
The historic Austin Pipe Organ at Covenant-First Presbyterian Church
Covenant-First Presbyterian Church downtown is hosting its third annual organ festival this Sunday and Monday, March 7 and 8.
Todd Wilson, organist at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland, and head of the organ department at Cleveland Institute of Music, will be presenting a free recital at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 7. His program will include J.S. Bach’s Passacaglia in C minor, Three Cincinnati Impressions by Gerre Hancock, Soliloquy by David Conte; and Sonata on the 94th Psalm by Julius Reubke (1834-58).
Todd Wilson/photo by Sam Hubish
Wilson will conclude with his own “Improvisations on a submitted theme,” always a showstopper.
The church hasn’t been able to hold its series since exactly one year ago, when Alan Morrison was the guest artist one week before the nation shut down due to Covid-19.
I’m told they are ready with all the Covid safety protocols—masks, fresh air flowing, social distancing. The historic and beautiful sanctuary is very large, so it works for live music at a safe distance.
On Monday, Wilson will stay in town for a master class at the church, and some of Michael Unger’s CCM students will be participating.
The concert is free and open to the public.
Details: Covenant-First Presbyterian Church, 717 Elm Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Due to the impending snowstorm, the funeral of Paul Stanbery, music director emeritus of the Butler Philharmonic, has been moved to Feb. 18.
A family-only funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m. Feb. 18 at Immaculate Heart of Mary, and will be live-streamed at www.ihom.org. (click on picture of church, click on Stanbery Funeral.)
A few years ago, Paul John Stanbery, conductor of the Butler Philharmonic, endured chemotherapy, radiation and finally, proton therapy to tackle what began as a sore in his mouth that wouldn’t heal. The cancer was eradicated. An elated Stanbery was going to Carnegie Hall.
“Conducting your own music in Carnegie Hall after having beaten cancer – it just doesn’t get any better than that,” Stanbery told the Cincinnati Business Courier in 2018.
Unfortunately, cancer doesn’t always cooperate, and it returned. Mr. Stanbery died at his home on Feb. 6. He was 66.
He did get to Carnegie Hall to conduct his own “Music for Mass” in June, 2018. The performing forces included the Butler Philharmonic Orchestra Chorus in the choir of 200 singers from around the country and the New England Symphonic Ensemble. It was, for him, a personal and artistic triumph.
Christopher Scott Wyatt, who performed as tenor soloist in the Mass and is now director of the Butler Philharmonic Chorus, recalled, “We got a standing ovation and people were yelling. It was a wonderful climax and the audience loved it.”
As a result, the presenters, MidAmerica Productions, commissioned Mr. Stanbery to compose a new work to be premiered at Carnegie Hall in 2022, Wyatt said. “They wanted a patriotic work, in the powerful sense of people coming to America trying to fulfill the American dream.”Read More »
