Musical chairs: Professor Bruce mcclung has been appointed interim dean of CCM
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In Memoriam: Emeritus Faculty Member Ronald de Kant
Sad news from CCM
We are saddened to share news of the passing of Ronald Zecher de Kant, Emeritus Professor of Clarinet at CCM. Born in Lancaster, PA, on Oct. 30, 1931, de Kant passed away in Cincinnati on June 22, 2016. He is survived by his wife, Brenda Mitchell of Cincinnati, daughter Monique (Niki) of Vancouver, BC, and cousin Barrie Zecher (wife Leoma) of Lititz, PA.
CCM Professor Emeritus Ronald de Kant.
De Kant was professor of clarinet at CCM from 1987 until his retirement in 2004. During his tenure at CCM, he also served as chair of woodwinds and brass from 1989-2004. Many of his former students have held positions in major Canadian and US orchestras and military bands.
De Kant received the Artist Diploma from Juilliard in 1953, where he studied with Daniel Bonade. Following Juilliard, during his military service, he taught for two years at the U.S. Naval School…
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More scenes from May Festival
May Festival memories
It’s always a blur when it arrives — five concerts over two weekends. This time was especially poignant because James Conlon was stepping down after 37 years. It wasn’t until I said goodbye in the Green Room that I realized I had been covering him here for 25 years. And Music Hall closed its doors for a massive rehab, which began early Sunday morning, literally hours after that final Hallelujah Chorus. Here is a photo gallery from last month.
Music Hall’s last Hallelujah
Nadine Sierra delivers a radiant recital
Soprano Nadine Sierra had won the hearts of everyone in the room even before she sang her encores in Sunday’s recital for Cincinnati’s Matinée Musicale. Then she gave such a ravishing account of Puccini’s “O mio babbino caro,” that no one in the audience dared to breathe.
How lucky that Matinee Musicale, Cincinnati’s distinguished, 103-year-old daytime music series, was able to book Sierra, a stunning singer who seems poised on the brink of a major career. The 27-year-old made her Metropolitan Opera debut this year as Gilda in “Rigoletto.” Perhaps it’s no surprise to learn that she was the youngest ever to win the grand finals of both the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Marilyn Horne Competition.
So there was great anticipation for her recital, which she performed with an accomplished pianist Bryan Wagorn, who is an assistant conductor to James Levine at the Met, in the radiant surroundings of the Westwood First Presbyterian Church. Read More »
My diary: When James Levine visited Cincy in 2005
You probably saw the news that James Levine, 72, is stepping down as music director of the Metropolitan Opera after 40 years, for health reasons. He will finish the remainder of his very busy season, and continue as music director emeritus, the first ever position at the Met. He has struggled with Parkinson’s Disease for some time, and has had other severe health issues, as well.
Levine is a Cincinnati native, and having lived in Cincinnati for most of my adult life, I have learned that just about everyone here a) knew his parents b) heard him play piano as a child, or c) went to Walnut Hills High School with him. Read More »
CCM Alumnae Tamara Wilson and Amanda Woodbury Receive Major Awards from Richard Tucker Music Foundation
CCM operatic stars in the news
We are ecstatic to report that CCM alumnae Tamara Wilson (BM Voice, 2004) and Amanda Woodbury (MM Voice, 2012) have both received major awards from the prestigious Richard Tucker Music Foundation.
Wilson, a soprano who studied with Barbara Honn while attending CCM, has been named winner of the 2016 Richard Tucker Award. Dubbed the “Heisman Trophy of Opera,” the Tucker Award carries the foundation’s most substantial cash prize of $50,000, and is conferred each year by a panel of opera industry professionals on an American singer at the threshold of a major international career. Featuring such luminaries as Renée Fleming, Stephanie Blythe, Lawrence Brownlee, David Daniels, Christine Goerke and Joyce DiDonato, the list of past winners reads like a who’s who of American opera. Wilson is a previous recipient of the Foundation’s Sara Tucker Study Grant in 2008 and Richard Tucker Career Grant in 2011.
Barry Tucker, president of the…
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Concerts off the beaten track
In the past month — aside from my regular “beat” at Cincy Music Hall — I’ve heard concerts from New York to Atlanta. Here are a few observations.Read More »
CCM Alumnus Dominic Bogart Featured in Sundance Film Festival Favorite ‘The Birth of a Nation’
I’m always amazed at CCM grads… here’s another one!
Alumnus Dominic Bogart, recipient of the 2012 Julia Winter Cohen Career Excellence Award.
After receiving accolades at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for his lead role in the feature film I Am Not A Hipster, alumnus Dominic Bogart (BFA Drama, 2000) returned to the festival this month for the world premiere of TheBirth of a Nation.
After the film received a standing ovation at its premiere, Variety reports that The Birth of Nation landed the biggest deal in the history of the Sundance Film Festival: a $17.5 million payday from Fox Searchlight for global rights!
Bogart plays Hank Fowler in this biopic about enslaved preacher-turned-revolt leader Nat Turner, appearing on screen alongside Nate Parker (who also wrote, directed and produced the film) and Armie Hammer.
This is the latest success for Bogart, who appeared in no less than five feature films this year. He also recently appeared in Sympathy, Said the Shark
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