Category: classical music

Musica Sacra offers streamed concert, rehearsed and recorded live

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Musica Sacra in St. Boniface Church, Northside, in a previous concert

Cincinnati’s Musica Sacra community choral group is streaming a special performance of Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, and his “Cantique de Jean Racine,” Nov. 25 through Dec. 4. The most unique aspect of this performance is that it was rehearsed and recorded live with orchestra, with its performers masked and socially distanced at St. Boniface Church in Northside earlier in November.

You may recall that early in the pandemic, it was determined that singing in a chorus could be among the most dangerous things one could do, because of the spread of aerosols while singing. Musica Sacra found a beautiful sanctuary that was also large enough for adequate spacing in St. Boniface Church, which also has a modern HVAC system.

The choir, currently led by music director L. Brett Scott, associate professor of Ensembles and Conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), has been rehearsing in person this fall, following guidance from the American Choral Directors Association and an aerosol study performed by the International Coalition of Performing Arts.

Musica Sacra in a recording session for the livestream, tomorrow through Dec. 4. Provided by Musica Sacra

Members of the chorus wore special ‘singers’ masks, sat at the recommended distance apart, and sang for only 30 minutes at a time in small groups.  A 25-minute break between groups allows for the air to be cleared.Read More »

James Conlon adds advisory title

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James Conlon

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) announced on Oct. 17 the appointment of James Conlon, conductor laureate of the Cincinnati May Festival, as its Artistic Advisor. Conlon will begin his role in September 2021, following the conclusion of BSO Music Director Marin Alsop’s historic 14-year tenure.

Conlon has affirmed that he is not a candidate in the BSO’s upcoming Music Director search. The orchestra plans a “multi-year, international search” of visiting conductors beginning in its 2021-22 season.

Conlon will be leading three concert weeks per year in each of the 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 seasons, and will fill duties off the podium, such as fill orchestral vacancies. Ironically, his first appearance will mark his debut with the Baltimore Symphony.Read More »

Hamilton, Matinee Musicale postponed due to Covid

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The race has heated up for a Covid vaccine. But that hasn’t stopped the postponement and cancellation of cultural offerings this season, one after another.

The latest is the much-anticipated return of “Hamilton” to the Aronoff Center this March. Today, I received this statement from Broadway in Cincinnati:

Broadway in Cincinnati has announced that due to the challenges of scheduling touring Broadway shows across the country during this unprecedented time, an additional change must be made to the upcoming season.

The Cincinnati engagement of HAMILTON, originally scheduled for March 2 – 28, 2021, has been postponed. New dates will be announced at a later time.

Season Ticketholders for this show will retain their same seats for the rescheduled engagements and will be notified when those dates have been set.

Nicole Cabell

And my inbox also had this update about Matinee Musicale. Due to ongoing concerns around the COVID-19 health crisis, Matinée Musicale has rescheduled the remaining recitals for their 2019-2020 season in Memorial Hall.

  • Nicole Cabell postponed from January 2021 to early 2022, exact date to be announced.
  • Christina Nam postponed to 2022-2023 season, exact date to be announced

Matinee hopes that Pene Pati’s recital will go on as planned June 6, 2021 but will notify ticket holders of any change.

If you are a ticket holder for Nicole Cabell and/or Christina Nam, please call the Memorial Hall box office (513-977-8838) before December 15, to either donate the cost of your tickets to Matinée Musicale or to receive a refund. Box office hours are Tuesday – Friday, 1:00-6:00 pm.

Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony presents Veterans Day concert

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Michael Chertock

A wonderful tribute to United States Veterans is available online today and for the next 48 hours. The Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michael Chertock, presents an inspiring Veterans Day ceremony and concert, all performed and recorded for the streamed program using Covid-19 safety precautions.

The orchestra sent out this announcement: “No Town Square Celebration. No marching band. No traditional community luncheon. This year, Veterans Day will have a new look!  But, it doesn’t mean we won’t be able to acknowledge or celebrate Veterans Day!”

The orchestra is joined by local Veterans, performing onstage in the orchestra and as soloists, as well as through narrative.  You will hear moving stories, poems read by the students from EH Greene school as well as The Armed Forces Medley, Victory at Sea, God Bless America and other patriotic selections. It is funded by The City of Blue Ash.

One of the soloists is U.S. Navy veteran Jim Cannon, who performs Debussy’s “Clair de lune,” recorded live in his recent — and very impressive — piano recital in Werner Recital Hall for the master’s degree in piano performance at CCM.

During his career, Cannon flew the P-3 Orion, primarily an anti-submarine aircraft, in the 1980s.Read More »

Three Halloween shows — from virtual to in-person

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KSO musicians

J.R. Cassidy, music director of the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, wins the prize for most creativity during Covid in finding an indoor venue big enough for a live orchestra concert with social distancing.

The KSO will be opening its 29th season on Halloween night in an industrial warehouse in Hebron, KY.

“Keeping musicians employed and playing during the Covid crisis requires following safety guidelines that are nearly impossible to enact within traditional auditorium settings,” says Cassidy, in his release.

A warehouse is the concert hall this weekend for the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra

So the resourceful conductor looked for an unconventional space. Verst Group Logistics generously offered the Symphony the use of its Hebron warehouse. It has the square footage of a football field and 40-foot high ceilings to address adequate distancing and circulation concerns.

But that’s not all. An orchestra needs rehearsals. The City of Bellevue helped out for a single rehearsal at the former Joe’s Crab Shak.

The program, “Strings Noir,” is a Halloween mix of string classics that should provide a good scare for musicians and audience alike, Cassidy says. The music includes Ottorino Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No.3; Arnold Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht (1943 revised); Bernard Hermann’s Suite from Pyscho; and Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge.Read More »

Impressions of the CSO’s “Live from Music Hall”

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Louis Langrée leads the CSO and violinist Augustin Hadelich in a rarely heard violin concerto for “Live from Music Hall.”

Question: How is recording a concert for livestream different from a regular recording session or an orchestra rehearsal?

“It’s a very strange, weird experience,” said CSO maestro Louis Langrée, during a recording session at Music Hall last week. “Because, when it’s a recording, you record bits, and you might do a run-through and make patches on what didn’t work. There is all this editing. We can’t do that. So we run it twice, and if there are places, or some movement where either I need to do it again, or the film director needs to do it again, we run it a third time.”

You may have noticed that the orchestra is facing the acoustical shell, with backs to the hall — not only to hear each other better but because the visuals looking out into the hall are pretty on film. The musicians are widely spaced, with Plexiglas between the winds. Playing without an audience is odd for the musicians and maestro.Read More »

Unusual choral concert tonight on Purple People Bridge

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A previous gig by the YPCC at Rhinegeist Brewery

The Young Professionals Choral Collective (YPCC) kicks off its 9th season with an unconventional, in-person performance on the Purple People Bridge at 6 p.m. today (Friday) October 16th. Their concert takes place in perhaps the most unusual venue ever used by a local arts organization — although they have come up with a number of other creative places to sing.

Produced in partnership with The Carnegie’s Creative Disruption Committee, Building Bridges – Keep the Arts Alive’ will be one of the first in-person, public choral performances in Cincinnati since March and demonstrates the importance of continuing to support the arts through the pandemic.

Repertoire features two original works by Jacob Stone, commissioned by YPCC through the Young Professional Composers Project. The performance also features an arrangement of Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water, signifying what the arts are to so many people during COVID-19 times.

(You  may recall this mention when I interviewed YPCC’s new director Danielle Cozart Steele for this story about how choruses can safely rehearse.)

Performers will be fully masked and socially distanced for the duration of the performance, lasting approximately 25 minutes. YPCC singers will be joined by select members of the Cincinnati Boychoir for a portion of the program.

What to expect: This event is free and open to the public. Masked-singers will be situated along the thinner, “walking” portion of the bridge, and socially distanced spots will be marked on the wider portion for audience members to occupy.Read More »

Cincinnati arts in top 20 of U.S. communities

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CCO musicians performing at Pyramid Hill sculpture park, Hamilton
May Festival Chorus

A new report from the National Center for Arts Research names Cincinnati in the top 20 of large communities for arts vibrancy. The report takes “a data-driven approach to assessing characteristics that make up a community’s vibrancy rather than base the ranking on our own opinion about locations or on a popular vote.” Four measures were analyzed: supply, demand, and public support for arts and culture on a per capita basis.

It’s interesting that such a report would come out during a pandemic, when most arts organizations closed their doors in March, and have been struggling to survive ever since. The reason, the report says, it offers the report “as a celebration and reminder of the arts’ enduring importance, resiliency, and vibrancy.

“We should not forget the essential role that the arts play in fueling community development, emotional health, cultural literacy, social cohesion and integration, and creative expression. Ultimately, the communal nature of arts participation will be a strength to communities hungry to come together again and affirm existential meaning after prolonged isolation, trauma, and polarization.”

Indeed.Read More »

Local classical music focuses on music by African American composers

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Anthony McGill performing at the Linton Music Series recently/ photo by Tina Gutierrez

 

Something good has come out of all the turmoil this summer. Arts organizations are programming music and even entire seasons devoted to the music of African American composers. It is music long neglected in our country. From the King of Ragtime Scott Joplin, whose “Maple Leaf Rag” appears on the Pops’ digital program on Oct. 3, to Florence Price, whose elegant symphonies, concertos and piano pieces are enjoying a revival, it is wonderful music that deserves study by scholars and performances by our major institutions. And now, that is happening at the Cincinnati Symphony, the Cincinnati Pops, the Cincinnati Song Initiative and others.

The Cincinnati Symphony and Pops are programming a free “digital season,” seven livestreamed concerts recorded in Music Hall, kicking off at 8 p.m. this Saturday, Sept. 26.Read More »

“Live from Linton” — Linton Chamber Music to return, livestreamed and with small audiences

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Sharon Robinson and Jaime Laredo, married duo and co-artistic directors of the storied Linton Music Series

Linton Chamber Music will return to its devoted fans. But, like everything else these days, the 2020-21 season has been “re-imagined.”

Live performances will be streamed online from the Linton stage at First Unitarian Church. Besides that, Linton Chamber Music will be making a small, limited amount of seating available to subscribers and donors.

CSO concertmaster Stefani Matsuo, principal cellist Ilya Finkelshteyn and CCM faculty member pianist Sandra Rivers

Starting Oct. 4, concerts will be streamed Live on Sundays at 4 pm on the Linton Chamber Music YouTube Channel, with audio engineering performed by WGUC (90.9) FM. Artists include co-artistic directors Sharon Robinson and Jaime Laredo, violinist Jennifer Koh, the return of the New York Philharmonic Quartet, the Miami String Quartet, faculty members from CCM and principal players from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

The musical lineup — as always — is enticing, including an all-Bach program for solo violin (Jennifer Koh), piano trios by Mendelssohn and Schumann, Bartok “Contrasts,” the Beethoven Septet in E-flat major and the Cincinnati premiere of a work by Richard Danielpour, String Quintet, A Shattered Vessel.”

You’ll be able to view programs on your flat-screen TV or your computer. Scroll to the end of this post for instructions.

The online performances are FREE. Donations are welcome, with a support button for each program on the website.

More about the programs:Read More »