Tag: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Jazz harpist to perform at CCM

janellegelfand1 Comment
Park Stickney, jazz harpist/ Photo provided

Did you ever consider that the harp could be a jazz instrument? The world’s premiere jazz harpist, Park Stickney, is performing at 7:30 p.m. tonight, Feb. 28, in Werner Recital Hall at CCM.

Stickney lives in Switzerland and is on a six-state tour of the United States. He will be performing with local saxophonist James Bunte and bassist Teddy Mechley. The concert is free and no reservations are needed.

While in town, Stickney is spending time with students at CCM, SCPA and Walnut Hills High School.

“The concert will be a mix of my own compositions and jazz standards,” said Stickney. “I’m especially excited about revisiting my own pieces through this instrumentation. I often play them solo, but playing them in trio allows me to hear them completely differently, adds another dimension — and this in addition to the excitement of playing with Cincinnati jazz artists.”

The harpist divides his time between a farm in Switzerland, and Brooklyn, New York. Besides his concerts, he presents master classes and workshops at music festivals worldwide. His performance venues are as diverse as a performance at a mine in South Tyrol, at a New York Mcdonald’s, the White House and on the QE2 ocean liner.

He currently teaches at the Royal Academy of Music, London, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon, France, and the Milan Conservatory. Stickney graduated from the Juilliard School, and later completed a Ph.D. exploring extreme harp pedaling at the Trinity Laban Conservatory, London.
Stickney is a former Juilliard classmate of Gillian Benet Sella, principal harpist of the CSO, who organized the concert. It is co-sponsored by the local chapter of the American Harp Society, CCM Power and the School for Creative and Performing Arts through the Mayerson Foundation.

Bunte is professor of saxophone and Division Head of Performance Studies at CCM. He’s also a regular saxophonist with the Cincinnati Symphony, and has recorded eight discs with the Cincinnati Symphony and the Cincinnati Pops orchestras. Bunte is an experienced saxophonist, having performed with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Manhattan Transfer, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and many more.

Mechley plays both stand-up and electric bass at numerous Cincinnati jazz clubs. He’s currently pursuing a degree in jazz bass at CCM.
 
For more information, visit ccm.uc.edu/onstage.html, call the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183

Pops free livestreams

janellegelfandLeave a comment

Cincinnati Pops is streaming two of their popular holiday shows — 7:30 p.m. Saturday Dec. 9 and 2 p.m. Sunday Dec. 10. You’ll find them here, or on the CSO/Pops YouTube channel.

Led by John Morris Russell, Holiday Pops is always an entertaining potpourri of festive music performed by a host of choruses, vocalists, dancers and handbell ringers. This year, vocalists Capathia Jenkins and Rafael Moras are headliners. They’re joined by the May Festival Chorus, SCPA Chorale, Sycamore High School Select Ensemble, Winton Woods High School Varsity Ensemble, Q-Kidz Dance Team, Studio for Dance, and handbell ringers from the Cincinnati Collaborative Ringing Project.

Looking back on a month of music

janellegelfand1 Comment

‘Tis the season for lots of music. I hope you are all taking advantage of the wealth of holiday concerts and shows happening right now. Here are a few of my picks.

Between the CSO, which has had some amazing concerts lately, I also try to take in other shows. (Look for Cincinnati’s arts news and reviews — FREE to read on the Cincinnati Business Courier’s Arts Front.)

As I look back over the year, here are a few thoughts about four other excellent shows I’ve recently seen:Read More »

A tribute to Betty Glover

janellegelfand1 Comment

Betty Glover will be honored in concert Nov. 12

The CCM Brass Choir is planning a tribute to Betty Glover (1923-2022), who was the first female bass trombonist of a major orchestra in America. The concert will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday Nov. 12, at St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington.

She died Sept. 27, 2022 at the age of 99.
Quoting from the CCM tribute of her life, “Betty Glover’s 40 years of service to CCM helped shape the school’s widely acclaimed Brass Choir and inspired generations of young artists — especially women who sought to follow her example in shattering the glass ceiling to find success in the orchestral industry.”
Glover earned two degrees at CCM and taught at the college for 40 years from 1952-92. She served as principal bass trombone at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 1952-1985. During her time at CCM, Glover led the CCM Brass Choir and inspired generations of young artists.

Read More »

Audra McDonald concert with Pops rescheduled

janellegelfandLeave a comment

This just in:

AUDRA MCDONALD WITH THE CINCINNATI POPS ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8 RESCHEDULED TO

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2024

Due to illness, Audra McDonald is unable to perform with the Cincinnati Pops on Sunday, October 8, as previously scheduled. All tickets will be automatically transferred to the new concert date: Sunday, February 4, 2024, 7:30pm at Music Hall. For alternative ticket options, we request that ticket holders contact the CSO Box Office at 513.381.3300 beginning Monday, October 9 at 10am for assistance.

CSO adds last-minute guest conductor in special concert

janellegelfandLeave a comment

Ramn Tebar last April with CSO. Photo by Tyler Secor/CSO

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has just announced a last-minute addition to the 2023-24 season. Guest conductor Ramón Tebar will be leading a full program on Oct. 18 in Music Hall. Tebar’s program includes John Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine; Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the superb pianist Jonathan Biss; and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.

It’s an interesting addition, considering that the CSO is in the middle of a search for its next music director.

Tebar is currently principal conductor with the Orquesta de Valencia and artistic director of Opera Naples. He was previously artistic director of the Florida Grand Opera and principal guest conductor of Valencia’s Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia. He has conducted in the pit of Cincinnati Opera a number of times, most recently for “Carmen” outdoors at Summit Park in 2021 during the pandemic.

Here’s my impression of the concert he led last April in Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” in the Ravel orchestration. Tebar’s style is elegant and confident. He knew how to inspire energy in the dramatic moments, but this was also a performance that breathed, sometimes with lingering pauses between numbers, as if allowing the observer to ponder that picture in the gallery before moving on.

The concert is at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 13. Tickets: 513-381-3300, cincinnatisymphony.org

David Klingshirn, founder of the American Classical Music Hall of Fame, dies at 84

janellegelfandLeave a comment

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 »

André Watts remembered as ‘a pianist’s pianist’

janellegelfand1 Comment

André Watts

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 »

Cincinnati Ballet expects to shatter attendance records in ‘Nutcracker’

janellegelfand1 Comment

Cincinnati Ballet photos provided

Cincinnati Ballet predicts it will shatter attendance records for its annual production of “The Nutcracker,” Dec. 15-24 in Music Hall. The company projects more than 25,000 patrons will see the holiday favorite over the course of the production run. Several performances are nearly sold out, the company said in a release today.

There is lots to enjoy in the sumptuous production staged in 2011 by former Artistic Director Victoria Morgan, featuring dancing cupcakes, a battle of mice and a poodle ensemble dancing the “Dance of the Mirlitons.” Fiona the Hippo continues to appear in the production. This year, audiences should play close attention to the second act for a special nod to her new baby brother, Fritz. 

In the charming tale, Clara embarks on a dreamy journey to the Land of Sweets after receiving a nutcracker as a gift on Christmas Eve. The large cast includes dozens of local performers alongside Cincinnati Ballet’s superb professional company.

Part of the joy of this production is hearing the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in the pit, performing Tchaikovsky’s score conducted by the legendary Carmon DeLeone. Times vary. Tickets: 513-621-5282; cballet.org.

For more holiday favorites coming next month, visit my 10 picks on the Business Courier’s Arts Front.

Artist change at CSO this weekend

janellegelfandLeave a comment

Conrad Tao appeared last year over Thanksgiving weekend with Roderick Cox conducting. Photo provided by CSO.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is performing this Thanksgiving weekend, and it’s always fun to take those  out-of-town guests to Music Hall. The program features Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Elgar’s “Enigma Variations.”

The CSO issued a statement on Monday that pianist Khatia Buniatishvili has been forced to withdraw from this weekend’s performances.

The pianist Conrad Tao will step in for performances on November 26 & 27.  Ironically, he appeared exactly a year ago on Thanksgiving weekend.

Elim Chan, a graduate of the University of Michigan, is guest conductor.

Tickets: 513-381-3300, cincinnatisymphony.org