Guest conductor Ramón Tebar led the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Photos are by Phil Armstrong
An explosive standing ovation answered the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 conducted by Ramón Tebar at Saturday’s concert in Music Hall (April 11). The enthusiasm for Rachmaninoff’s arch-romantic symphonic masterpiece was not surprising. But this response went on for many minutes, calling Tebar back to the stage several times, until finally the conductor went into the orchestra to shake the hands of each principal player and acknowledge each section of the orchestra.
The gifted Spanish conductor made a welcome return to the orchestra with a program of emotional power and lyricism. He opened with the CSO’s first performance of American composer Margaret Brouwer’s “Pulse” and concluded with Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony in E Minor.
Equally engaging was the return of Canadian violinist James Ehnes in Max Bruch’s “Scottish” Fantasy. Just before launching into his encore (J.S. Bach’s Preludio from Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006), Ehnes spoke movingly about feeling nostalgic as he was turning 50 this year. The CSO was one of the first orchestras to support him early in his career, with his debut in 1995, he said, adding, “I’m grateful to be brought here.”
The orchestra has been sounding exceptional all season, and this was a concert that showcased their artistry.Read More »
An image from the live show of this program last March in Music Hall. Photo by Mark Lyons, provided by the CSO/Pops
The Cincinnati Pops announced the release of its newest recording led by Cincinnati Pops Conductor John Morris Russell, Harlem Renaissance, an homage to one of America’s most important artistic movements and the breadth of jazz styles it has nurtured.
The album features piano virtuoso Marcus Roberts in his own arrangement of James P. Johnson’s 1927 piano rhapsody, Yamekraw, based on the music and vibrant culture of Savannah, Georgia’s historically Black neighborhood in the roaring 1920s. In the hands of Marcus Roberts, Yamekraw exists as a living dialogue between Johnson’s original composition and the musical styles that have evolved since.
Harlem Renaissance features the jazz tone poem, Harlem, by Duke Ellington, an evocative soundscape of Manhattan’s legendary neighborhood. The album also includes the first commercial recording of Carlos Simon’s 2024 composition, Hellfighters’ Blues, inspired by World War I bandleader James Reese Europe’s 1919 recording of W.C. Handy’s Memphis Blues.
The album was recorded at Cincinnati Music Hall on March 21–23, 2025. Recording Producer is the Grammy Award winning Elaine Martone, Sonarc Music.
“Harlem Renaissance honors extraordinary Black composers and their kindred spirits — painters, poets, authors, sculptors and dancers — who together defined the ethos of 20th century American culture. We present these works not as museum-pieces but part of a continuum of style that continues to evolve a century later,” Russell said in a release.
“The album captures the nuance, power and virtuosity of the Cincinnati Pops, the thrilling and breathtaking improvisations of the Modern Jazz Generation and the sheer brilliance of Marcus Roberts and his trio. It was an absolute joy to perform these concerts live, and a delight to now share it with the world.”
Songs by Kurt Weill and Langston Hughes, Moisés Simons and Cab Calloway round out the album.
Seven-time Grammy award-winning recording producer and recent inductee into the Resonator Hall of Fame Elaine Martone continues her longstanding relationship with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops as producer for Harlem Renaissance.
Martone has collaborated with the Orchestra on more than 70 albums (Telarc and Fanfare Cincinnati labels), more than any other orchestra in her oeuvre.
Harlem Renaissance extends the Pops’ prolific recording legacy, which includes more than 100 commercial recordings that have sold millions of copies worldwide. Harlem Renaissance is the eighth Pops album led by Russell.
The album credits include Marcus Roberts piano; Marcus Roberts Trio with Marcus Roberts, piano; Jason Marsalis, drums; Marty Jaffe, upright bass; and the Modern Jazz Generation, led by Marcus Roberts Marty Jaffe, upright bass; Jason Marsalis, drums; Joe Goldberg, tenor saxophone & clarinet (Yamekraw); Tissa Khosla, baritone saxophone; Boyce Griffith, alto saxophone; Tim Blackmon, trumpet; Jianni Lazaga, trumpet; Etienne Charles, trumpet; Rashaan Salaam, trombone; and Mykal Kilgore and Tatiana Mayfield, vocalists.
Listeners can hear select tracks on the album beginning streaming on February 13 with Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady, February 20 with Ellington’s The Mooche and February 27 with W.C. Handy St. Louis Blues. The entire Harlem
Renaissance album will be available on all streaming platforms beginning March 13.
Harlem Renaissance is generously supported by gifts from Kelly Dehan & Rick Staudigel, Kathy Grote, Joan Wilson, Joe & Patricia Baker and an anonymous donor.
The Grammy Awards were announced today, and there are a few familiar names this year. The biggest news: Elaine Martone has won Producer of the Year, Classical for a host of recordings, including: Joy! (John Morris Russell & Cincinnati Pops). It is her sixth Grammy Award in her stunning career. Congratulations to Elaine, who produces the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops recordings. She is truly world-class. (Martone is married to Robert Woods, founder of Telarc Records, which was famous for the 100 or so Pops albums they recorded during the Erich Kunzel years … )
The other supporting works on her list are:
• Bartók: String Quartet No.3; Suite From ‘The Miraculous Mandarin’ (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra)
• The Book of Spells (Merian Ensemble)
• Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra)
• Divine Mischief (Julian Bliss, J. Eric Wilson & Baylor University Wind Ensemble)
• Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6 (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra)
• Schubert: The Complete Impromptus (Gerardo Teissonnière)
• Stranger at Home (Shachar Israel)
• Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra).
Here are some other classical music awards, which also have a few Cincinnati connections:Read More »
Isabel Leonard will make her Cincinnati debut in recital on Dec. 1/photo by Sergio Kurhajec
Opera star Isabel Leonard has been wowing audiences and critics around the world. She’s about to make her Cincinnati recital debut.
The singer, a mezzo-soprano and New York native, was scheduled to perform one of her signature roles, Rosina, in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville during Cincinnati Opera’s 100th anniversary season in 2020. We all know what happened — Covid caused the whole season to be canceled. Nevertheless, she did a charming podcast with artistic director Evans Mirageas, available here.
Finally, we’ll have a chance to hear Leonard’s artistry in some of her signature operatic arias and much more when she performs a recital with collaborative pianist John Arida for Matinée Musicale Cincinnati on Dec. 1 at Memorial Hall. The concert is at 5 p.m.
Since making her Metropolitan Opera debut as Stéphano in Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette in 2007, she has sung on the world’s leading stages in a range of repertoire. This season (in June 2025), she’ll reprise Rosina in Damiano Michieletto’s production of Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Opéra National de Paris. She’s also performing Anita in a concert performance of Bernstein’s West Side Story, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.
In 2020, Leonard appeared with Louis Langrée and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in a staged production of Ravel’s one-act opera, L’enfant et les sortilèges (The Child and the Sorceries). Here’s my review of her enchanting performance. (She also won a Grammy for the recording of this piece.)
Her Cincinnati program will show some of that versatility. Of course, we can’t wait to hear her sing “Una voce poco fa” from Rossini’s Barber of Seville, or “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” from Bizet’s Carmen. There’s also a set of Spanish songs.
But for many in this audience, the icing on the cake will likely be her final set of Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein and a song by Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlan often performed by Kristin Chenoweth, “The Girl in 14G.”
Leonard has won three Grammy Awards — for Michael Tilson Thomas’ From the Diary of Anne Frank on SFS Media; Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges on Decca; and The Tempest from The Metropolitan Opera on Deutsche Grammophon.
Her list of television and movie credits includes an appearance in the Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, directed by Bradley Cooper, in the finale of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection.” She was just nominated for another Grammy for her performance in Maestro, alongside the London Symphony Orchestra led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, in the category Best Compilation Soundtrack.
Tickets: $15-$35; students $10. Call the box office at 513-977-8838 (Tues-Friday, 1-6 p.m.) or visit matineemusicalecincinnati.org.
David Klingshirn, board member Trish Bryan, right, and Nina Perlove, former Hall of Fame Executive Director, presenting Philip Glass his medallion during a Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra concert in 2014. Photo provided.
David Allan Klingshirn was one of Cincinnati’s biggest boosters, who loved the city and its arts. He was the founder of the Cincinnati-based American Classical Music Hall of Fame, which has recognized 165 individuals and institutions across the nation. Anxious to shine a light on classical music, which he believed received less recognition than sports, Mr. Klingshirn was fond of saying, “Cincinnati has major-league sports and major-league classical music.”
Mr. Klingshirn died at his home in Cincinnati on June 20. He was 84.
“David was a visionary who loved classical music and its ability to touch our souls and enrich our lives,” Gary Ingle, president of the Hall of Fame’s board of directors and CEO of the Music Teachers National Association. “He was a passionate advocate for classical music and guided the Hall of Fame tirelessly for these 27 years. The death of our founder is a deeply felt loss for all of us. Our hearts are heavy but filled with gratitude for David and the great legacy he leaves. His legacy will live on through the work we will continue to do together to advance the mission and goals of this very special organization.”
The Cincinnati businessman was the owner of Tischbein Pharmacies for 30 years. In 2004, he was ordained a Deacon for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and served at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral and St. Margaret’s Hall. Read More »
The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music announced yesterday the death of renowned pianist André Watts on July 12. The artist was 77. Mr. Watts, a frequent guest artist in Cincinnati, was distinguished professor of piano and the Jack I. and Dora B. Hamlin Endowed Chair in Music at the university. He joined the faculty there in 2004.
Mr. Watts was a brilliant statesman of the art form and a piano superstar, celebrated across the globe as a musical genius. At age 16 in 1962, Mr. Watts won a competition to play in Leonard Bernstein’s televised “Young People’s Concerts” series with the New York Philharmonic. A year later, he stepped in to play for Glenn Gould with the New York Philharmonic, launching a performance career that would span more than 60 years.
“André was first and foremost a gentleman who had a profound understanding of the human experience,” said Eugene Pridonoff, emeritus professor of piano at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. “His humility was genuine and he never let his fame define him. This was reflected in his music making that was always in service to the music and never about him. He will be greatly missed!”
Mr. Watts was beloved by Cincinnati audiences. He appeared in 17 subscription weekends with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, beginning in March of 1970, when he performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor. He also appeared with the Cincinnati Symphony at Carnegie Hall in 1977, performing Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 under the baton of Leonard Bernstein.Read More »
About two decades ago, I remember the world premiere of “Millennium Fantasy” for piano and orchestra by American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in music. The soloist was pianist Jeffrey Biegel, who performed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under Jesús López-Cobos. It was commissioned by a consortium of 27 orchestras — still a novel idea at the time. Zwilich became one of my favorite composers.
Now the talents of Jeffrey Biegel and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich have come together in the creation of “Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” honoring the late Supreme Court Justice. It will be premiered tonight by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya in Meyerson Symphony Center.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, photo provided
Zwilich’s new composition pays homage to and remembers Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the first anniversary of her death in September 2020. The new work will feature texts by poet/librettist Lauren K. Watel and will be performed by mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves – one of Justice Ginsburg’s favorite opera singers, who sang at her memorial – and pianist Jeffrey Biegel.Read More »
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.
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.
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 »
