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Music Hall hopes and concerns

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Music Hall's Springer Auditorium will look quite different when it reopens after a $130 million renovation. Photo from Enquirer files
Music Hall’s Springer Auditorium will look quite different when it reopens after a $130 million renovation. Photo from Enquirer files

Perhaps you saw the article about Music Hall, — which closes in five months for renovation — informing visitors of what to expect in the coming months. But there was a sidebar that never made print.

The Enquirer asked this question of local concertgoers, Music Hall stakeholders and resident companies via e-mail and on Facebook: “As we move to 2016 and Music Hall closes in June for a massive renovation, what are your thoughts, concerns, and/or hopes about the project?”

Here are some of the responses:

“My main concern, as always, is for the acoustics of Music Hall. As you well know, even the smallest physical change can have a major impact on the acoustics. Let’s cross our fingers and hope for the best!” – Pat Nott, College HillRead More »

CCM Welcomes Award-Winning Pianists Dror Biran and Ran Dank to Keyboard Studies Faculty

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These two fine pianists will fill the positions left by Eugene and Elisabeth Pridonoff

Curt Whitacre's avatarCCM VILLAGE NEWS ARCHIVES

Dean Peter Landgren has announced two new additions to CCM’s already-illustrious roster of piano faculty members. Acclaimed performers and pedagogues Dror Biran and Ran Dank have both been appointed to full-time faculty positions with CCM’s Division of Keyboard Studies.

“Both men have distinguished themselves internationally through numerous competition wins,” Landgren commented. “Their impressive artistry coupled with their vast teaching experience will make them excellent additions to our already exceptional piano faculty.”

Incoming CCM faculty member Dror Biran. Incoming CCM faculty member Dror Biran.

Dror Biran’s playing has been described as “powerful, but also beautifully sensitive,” by Die Bleed magazine. He is winner of the top prizes at the M.K. Ciurlionis International Piano Competition and the Cleveland International Piano Competition (where he also received a special prize for best performance of works by Chopin), along with other competitions in Spain, Israel and the US.

Biran joins CCM as Associate Professor of Piano in August 2016 after…

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Gunther Schuller and Cincinnati: Personal memories from a patron and a critic

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Gunther Schuller had lifelong ties to Cincinnati
Gunther Schuller had lifelong ties to Cincinnati

Gunther Schuller, a giant of American music, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and the man who defined the fusion of classical and jazz as “Third Stream,” died on June 21 at age 89. Many tributes note that he was the youngest French hornist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra early in his career (1943-45).

“It was a very rich and rewarding period in my life, a growing period because I was 17 to 19 (years old),” Schuller told me in an interview.

After concerts, he often continued playing in late-night jazz clubs in Cincinnati. However, his ties to Cincinnati continued for his entire life. In fact, he taught at the old College of Music, which is where he met his wife Marjorie. (Perhaps he was also their youngest-ever faculty member!)Read More »

‘Two Women’ channels Puccini, Hollywood in world premiere 

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Italian diva Anna Caterina Antonacci took her cue from Sophia Loren as the character Cesira in "Two Women"
Italian diva Anna Caterina Antonacci took her cue from Sophia Loren as the character Cesira in “Two Women”

Marco Tutino’s new opera “Two Women,” which takes place in war-torn Italy during World War II, has one stirring moment. Near the end of Act I, Rosetta (sung by Sarah Shafer), the 16-year-old daughter of Cesira, lifts her pure-toned soprano in a poignant prayer for peace. It becomes a touching anthem for the whole village, as they join her a lush chorus, singing “Father, do not abandon us,” as battles are growing closer to their village.

To a full War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco Opera presented the world premiere on Saturday of the hotly-anticipated opera, “Two Women” (“La Ciociara”) by Tutino, to his libretto with Fabio Ceresa. As the creators told us in a panel discussion on Friday, the opera is based on Alberto Moravia’s novel, but not so much on the 1960 movie from the novel, produced by Carlo Ponti and starring Sophia Loren.Read More »

Cincy World Piano Competition kicks off

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On Saturday at the Kingsgate Marriott, officials of the Cincinnati World Piano Competition unveiled the new tennis tournament- like bracket that will pit pairs of competitors against each other. They will continue in winners and consolation sides, as the field winnows  down. Check out the article in the Enquirer that explains it all.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, there should be 12 pianists remaining. Now the competition heats up.Read More »

CCM Alumnus Chris Fenwick’s Latest Project Wins Big at 2015 Tony Awards

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Curt Whitacre's avatarCCM VILLAGE NEWS ARCHIVES

We would like to extend our ecstatic congratulations to CCM alumnus Chris Fenwick (BM Piano, 2001), who serves as music director for the Broadway hit FunHome! At last night’s Tony Awards ceremony, Fun Home won a stunning five awards, including the Tony for Best Musical! Based on the popular graphic memoir by Alison Bechdel, the musical is also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize!

You can watch a performance from last night’s ceremony featuring the cast of Fun Home below.

Fenwick has served as musical director for a number of recent Broadway shows, including Rocky, The Addams Family and the 2007 revival of Grease. Congratulations Chris!

CCM alumnus Chris Fenwick with the cast and creative team for 'Fun Home' at the 2015 Tony Awards ceremony. CCM alumnus Chris Fenwick with the cast and creative team for ‘Fun Home’ at the 2015 Tony Awards ceremony.

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