Category: Grammy Awards

CSO, Pops nominated for two Grammy Awards

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Both the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Pops are in the list of 2020 Grammy nominations released today by the Recording Academy. And there are several other Cincinnati-tied nominations this year, too.

Music director Louis Langrée, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra are nominated for Best Orchestral Performance for “Transatlantic.” This album includes the world premiere recording of the critical edition of George Gershwin’s An American in Paris. The CSO also gave the world premiere performance of this new edition at La Seine Musicale in Paris in 2017.

The award goes to both the conductor and to the orchestra.

And John Morris Russell and the Cincinnati Pops, as well as producer Elaine Martone, are nominated for “American Originals 1918” in the category of Best Classical Compendium. Performers on the album include collaborators Rhiannon Giddens, Steep Canyon Rangers and Pokey LaFarge.

Other local ties include violinist Tessa Lark, who studied at CCM, for her recording of Torke’s “Sky” Violin Concerto with David Alan Miller and the Albany Symphony, in the category of Best Classical Instrumental Solo.

Cincinnati-born jazz pianist extraordinaire Fred Hersch has received yet another nod for Best Instrumental Composition for “Begin Again” on the album, Fred Hersch & The WDR Big Band” conducted by Vince Mendoza.

And from Northern Kentucky University, the recording of a composition by NKU School of the Arts faculty member Kurt Sander, The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, is nominated for Best Choral Performance. The double-CD set features the PaTRAM Institute Singers led by Peter Jermihov, conductor. The 90-minute piece is one of the first English-language settings of the Eastern Orthodox liturgy.

And two choral conductors associated with the Vocal Arts Ensemble are up for Best Choral Performance: Craig Hella Johnson and Donald Nally.

Other names spotted:

Blanton Alspaugh, producer of the Vocal Arts Ensemble’s “Canticle” – released on the CSO’s Fanfare Cincinnati label – as well as Sander‘s The Divine Liturgy Of St. John Chrysostom, is nominated for “Producer of the Year, Classical.”

In the same list, under nominated producer James Ginsburg, I spotted brothers Anthony McGill, clarinetist, and Demarre McGill, flutist and CCM professor… 

Randy Brecker to visit Caffe Vivace

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It’s a chance to see a world-class trumpeter in a venue not much bigger than your living room, says Brent Gallaher, co-owner of Caffe Vivace in Walnut Hills.

Caffe Vivace, the hip new coffee house by day, jazz venue by night, is hosting Grammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter Randy Brecker in its listening room next weekend. He’ll play four sets over two nights — Feb. 15 and 16 — with two different groups of outstanding local musicians.Read More »

Salonen to lead SF Symphony; Bryce Dessner to have role

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Esa-Pekka Salonen has been named as the next music director of the San Francisco Symphony, succeeding Michael Tilson Thomas. And in what seems to be a trend, the orchestra will take on the new approach of having an artistic leadership team with a group of eight collaborative members, who will “reimagine” the role of the orchestra.

Aaron and Bryce Dessner performed Bryce Dessner’s “St. Carolyn by the Sea” with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Photo courtesy of CSO

One of those is Cincinnati native Bryce Dessner, of the band The National. Of course, most of us know that he is also an excellent classical composer and curator, whose music has been premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony.

The Finnish conductor Salonen will serve as Music Director Designate for the next year and half, and will become the 12th Music Director in the illustrious 107-year history of the San Francisco Symphony.

His tenure as Music Director will begin in September 2020 following the conclusion of Thomas’ remarkable 25-year tenure.

In a statement, the orchestra says that “Esa-Pekka values a collaborative approach to artistic leadership and music making. Together, the SFS and Esa-Pekka Salonen will reimagine the role of a symphony orchestra in our community and in today’s world.”

The new partners come from a variety of cultural disciplines. They are pianist, film producer, and composer of award-winning film scores Nicholas Britell; soprano and curator Julia Bullock, who has made social consciousness and activism fundamental to her work; flutist, educator, and advocate for new and experimental music Claire Chase; composer, new music curator, and member of The National Bryce Dessner; violinist, musical director, and artistic trailblazer Pekka Kuusisto; composer and genre-breaking collaborator Nico Muhly; artificial intelligence entrepreneur and roboticist Carol Reiley; and jazz bassist, vocalist, and undefinable artist Esperanza Spalding.

Salonen will lead the orchestra in concerts on January, 18, 19, and 20, 2019.

Classical Roots hosts its first artist-in-residence

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Kelly Hall-Tompkins is the first artist-in-residence for the CSO’s Classical Roots program.

Violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins, winner of the Honorarium Prize in the 2003 Naumburg International Violin Competition and a career grant from the Concert Artists Guild, is the inaugural artist-in-residence for Classical Roots, an outreach program of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

During her residency this week, the violinist will visit City Gospel Mission, where she and CSO musicians will perform Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale” for clients. The performance is inspired by her not-for-profit Music Kitchen, which takes live classical music to homeless shelters in New York City.Read More »

The National wins Grammy for ‘Sleep Well Beast’

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The homegrown band The National has won a Grammy Award for “Best Alternative Music Album” in early awards at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards, broadcast Sunday night from New York’s Madison Square Garden. The brothers Bryce and Aaron Dessner thanked the Recording Academy via Twitter for the honor.

Hear NPR’s recording of “Sleep Well Beast” here.

Both the CSO and composer Zhou Tian, pictured, were nominated for the Concertos for Orchestra album and Zhou Tian’s composition on that disc. Photo provided/CSO

Among the other nominees with Cincinnati ties, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra did not win its first Grammy with maestro Louis Langrée, although it was nominated for two for its album recorded live in Music Hall, Concertos for Orchestra. The classical awards always trickle out during the day. After learning that the Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra won the Grammy for Best Orchestra Performance (Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 and Barber Adagio) as well as Best Engineered Album: Classical, Langree tweeted his “warm congratulations.”

Neither did Cincinnati-born jazz icon Fred Hersch make a win this year. But all agreed that they were thrilled to receive the recognition.

CSO, other locals hope for Grammy win

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The CSO has been nominated for two Grammy Awards

Louis Langrée and The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra will be waiting and watching on Sunday (Jan. 28) to see whether they win their first Grammy Award together when the Grammys air live on CBS from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The 60th Grammy Awards airs from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. on CBS, in the first Grammy telecast from New York in 15 years.

The orchestra is up for two Grammy Awards for the groundbreaking album, “Concertos for Orchestra,” recorded live in Music Hall (before the renovation). It is nominated in the “Best Orchestral Performance” category, as well as for “Best Contemporary Classical Composition” for Zhou Tian’s score on the album.Read More »

Clip and save: What to see this winter

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The incomparable Jamie Barton performs Jan. 26 at Memorial Hall

Baby it’s cold outside – but Winter is the season when the arts heat up. In the coming weeks, there are many tempting concerts and events to warm you up. So, bundle up, because there are a few that you won’t want to miss.

Jan. 11-12: Canticle. The Vocal Arts Ensemble reprises Kile Smith’s gorgeous “Canticle,” a setting of the biblical Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs), 7:30 p.m. Jan. 11 and 12 in Memorial Hall. Tickets start at $25. 513-381-3300, vaecinci.org.

Jan. 12-13: Conlon returns. James Conlon, music director laureate of the Cincinnati May Festival, returns to conduct the CSO in Schubert’s Rosamunde Overture and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. Violinist Jennifer Frautschi is soloist in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Music Hall. Tickets: 513-381-3300, cincinnatisymphony.org.

James Conlon at the 2016 May Festival
Photo provided

Jan. 19: Star soloist at Moveable Feast. CCM’s biggest fundraiser, this year on Friday, Jan. 19, will feature a performance by alumnus and star trumpeter Brian Newman, who will solo with the CCM Jazz Orchestra as the “opening course” in the CCM Village.  Read More »

Finding a niche: Memorial Hall’s Longworth-Anderson Series

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The newly renovated Memorial Hall is a gem of a theater

The Memorial Hall Society’s Longworth-Anderson Series was such a hit last winter, it’s coming back for a second season. The winter lineup is impressive: Grammy Award-winning band Los Lobos (Best Mexican-American/Tejano Music Performance), the all-girl folk band I’m With Her and country star Marty Stuart.

Longworth-Anderson has found a niche. Its concept is both diverse and non-traditional, presenting artists from multiple genres, including rock, pop, folk, bluegrass and jazz.  Last year, the series – held in Memorial Hall’s intimate jewel box of a theater — sold out four out of six events, held winter and spring.

Marty Stuart, Country Music Hall of Famer

Even though Rosanne Cash was a headliner, it wasn’t guaranteed that the fledgling series would take off. Read More »

This just in: Grammy nominations tap CSO, The National and Fred Hersch

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The CSO has been nominated for two Grammy Awards

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is up for two Grammy Awards for its groundbreaking album recorded live in Music Hall, Concertos for Orchestra. The orchestra, led by Louis Langrée, was nominated today for Best Orchestral Performance, as well as Best Contemporary Classical Composition for Zhou Tian’s score, which he called “a love letter” for the CSO.

Jazz pianist Fred Hersch is nominated — twice — for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for his latest album, Open Book, a lush, ravishing collection of solo piano improvisations. And his tune “Whisper Not” on the same album is nominated for Best Improvised Jazz Solo.

The National, the band whose members grew up in Cincy, is up for Best Alternative Music Album for Sleep Well Beast.

Of note to opera lovers, the great Siberian baritone who just died, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, was also nominated for Sviridov: Russia Cast Adrift with the St. Petersburg State Symphony, for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. See the complete list here.

The Grammys will air live on CBS from Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday, Jan. 28.