In lieu of its usual month-long Summermusik festival, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra has 13 virtual events on tap to enjoy at home, Aug. 8 through Aug. 29.
The Silver-Garburg Piano Duo
Three will be three “live” events — online performances in real time, with stars including the Silver-Garburg Piano Duo, who wowed us in person at the festival in 2019 (Aug. 9); the superb young cellist Coleman Itzkoff, a Cincinnati native and CCO principal violist Heidi Yenney’s son (Aug. 16); and pianist Alon Goldstein, one of the stars of the 2017 festival (Aug. 23).
Those “eConcerts” will be hosted by music director Eckart Preu, and you’ll have a chance to ask questions.
Other events include “virtual watch parties” with local collaborators, a special WGUC Music Cincinnati Broadcast (Aug. 16), and “CCO2GO Rewind” events that were taped around the region earlier this summer.
Best of all, it’s all FREE. Access begins on Aug. 8th on the CCO’s website, ccocincinnati.org. Here’s the full lineup.Read More »
The May Festival has canceled its entire season due to Covid-19.
It’s not surprising, but the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops Orchestra announced this morning that they are canceling all concerts and events through the remainder of the season due to the coronavirus.
In addition, the entire Cincinnati May Festival season is canceled, as well as performances by the professional chorus, the Vocal Arts Ensemble.
This year is the orchestra’s 125th anniversary season.
Of course, financially the effects of Covid-19 will be disastrous for all of Cincinnati’s major arts organizations. We await to learn whether Cincinnati Opera will be able to mount its much-anticipated 100th anniversary season, to open in June.
Here’s the CSO’s announcement with a listing of cancellations:
In compliance with Governor Mike DeWine’s standing mass-gathering prohibitions and the recent directive to stay at home, and given ongoing travel bans, international quarantines and the continued disruption of normal business activity caused by the Coronavirus, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra announced today the cancellation of all CSO, Cincinnati Pops and May Festival concerts and events through May 31, 2020.
The CSO had previously cancelled concerts and events through April 5. President Jonathan Martin said that in light of the deepening national health crisis, the organization had no choice.Read More »
The CSO and Pops are making recordings available online. Mark Lyons, photo
Here’s a list of things to do, thanks to ArtWave and other sources:
ArtsWave’s daily Mindful Music Moments This free online series offers 10 weeks of daily doses of guided meditation set to music by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Opera.
• Cincinnati Opera’s podcast with Evans Mirageas. You’ll learn about the life and work of everyone who brings opera to life, from performers and seasoned stage directors to rising contemporary composers.
• Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s Home Safaris Facebook Live events
• Classics for Kids. Click here to find podcasts, activity sheets, lesson plans and more. The 6-minute episodes are produced by Cincinnati Public Radio.
• Musical Mornings with Linton Chamber Music Peanut Butter and Jam
Sessions
• Sound Discoveries: Liz Wu instructs in musical instruments you can make at home.
• Virtual story times from the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton
County — including “Fiona’s Feelings”
Starling Chamber Orchestra: See Boyun Li play the Bruch Violin Concerto. Live recording from Starling Showcase of amazingly talented young students, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, conducted by François López-Ferrer. Recorded live on February 22, 2020 in Werner Recital Hall at CCM.
From a recent Linton Chamber concert. Linton has canceled concerts this weekend.
You’ve probably seen the cancellations across the country due to COVID-19 — of sporting events, parades and arts presentations in large theaters — from opera and ballet to “Hamilton” (canceled in San Francisco).
Just in: The Findlay Market Opening Day Parade on March 26 will be either canceled or postponed.
As far as the arts in Cincinnati, I’ve gotten official word that the Linton Chamber Music Series concerts on March 15-16 have been cancelled this weekend. In addition, there will be no “Peanut Butter & Jam Session” this week at Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church or next week at Sycamore Presbyterian Church. Information here.
Because the University of Cincinnati is canceling in-person classes from March 14 through April 13, I’m hearing from faculty members that performances at the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) will be canceled through the end of the semester. It’s possible that some may be live-streamed, if you interpret the UC message below: Read More »
Danill Trifonov with the Ariel Quartet: For these performances, Trifonov collaborated with the celebrated Ariel Quartet, faculty quartet-in-residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. There was great anticipation to hear this 28-year-old Russian-born virtuoso, whose name is on everyone’s lips.
People often ask me why my reviews of local concerts are generally positive. The answer is this: The quality of Cincinnati’s performing arts compares favorably to anywhere I’ve traveled (and lived) in the world. It’s remarkable to consider the longevity of Cincinnati’s arts institutions, such as the Cincinnati Symphony, marking 125 this year, Cincinnati Opera, turning 100 this summer and the May Festival, founded in 1873.
It’s always difficult to pick just 10 memorable performances, because there were many more that should be included. You can read the list here.
There was also some arts news in 2019 — one even happened at the peak of the holiday season, when Cincinnati Opera announced that Chris Milligan will succeed Patty Beggs as general director and CEO. Click here to read the news.
And there was other arts news — such as the success of “Blink,” the four-day art and light festival in October. Looking back, several important people in the arts left us in 2019. Read that column here.
Cincinnati May Festival 2019
I hope you had a chance to catch some holiday shows this month. Some, such as Cincinnati Ballet’s magical Nutcracker, are still running. See the list here.
Handel’s ‘Messiah’ was given an intimate, authentic performance by Collegium Cincinnati.
I attended several shows. The performance I reviewed of Collegium Cincinnati’s “Messiah” performance illustrates the breadth and depth of local talent that we have across the region. Many of the performers were familiar as they appear with organizations such as Cincinnati Opera, CCM, the Vocal Arts Ensemble and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra.
Watch for my list of upcoming performing events as well as art exhibitions that you won’t want to miss in 2020.
Don’t forget that the Business Courier’s Arts Front page is sponsored by ArtsWave, and therefore FREE to read. I’ve you’ve read three stories, you may be asked to sign up for a free subscription.
Paul Bartel playing his Stradivarius violin, made in 1680
Paul Bartel was passionate about strings and equally passionate about sharing his love of classical music with students. The violinist, music educator, owner of the Baroque Violin Shop and founder of the Wyoming Fine Arts Center is remembered by Cincinnati’s music community as being generous, humble and always supportive.
‘He was a guy who was larger than life, always giving, always caring, always seeming to have boundless energy,” said Milan Dukic, executive director of the Wyoming Fine Arts Center since 2008. “In the early days of the center, if there was a shortfall, Paul wrote a check. He believed in the mission of having a community center and of having kids learn music.”
Mr. Bartel died on July 27 after a long battle with cancer. He was 67.
Mr. Bartel often spoke about how playing the violin in school became the inspiration for what he would become, Dukic said.
He was born in Columbus, OH. A 1972 graduate of Miami University, Mr. Bartel taught violin students and repaired instruments on the side while still a student in Oxford, OH. He taught strings at Finneytown School District for seven years, continuing to repair musical instruments in his spare time.
Paul Bartel in his workshop at the Baroque Violin Shop
With a vision to support young string players and school music programs by providing high quality instruments at low cost, he resigned from teaching to devote himself full-time to the Baroque Violin Shop, then in his Finneytown home.
As the business expanded, Mr. Bartel purchased the historic, 1805 Carrie-Jessup House in Finneytown in 1990, and spent six months restoring it. Over the years, the shop’s musical instrument rentals, repairs and sales have boomed, making the business one of the largest in the country, with a substantial inventory of stringed instruments.
The shop rents and sells violins, violas, cellos and basses to thousands of students and professionals in 50 states. There are 7,000 to 9,000 rental instruments in use at any given time, said CFO Stephen Heck, Mr. Bartel’s son-in-law.
“What I really respected about him was that he was quiet about his generosity. Most things people never knew about, because he didn’t want himself to be a focus,” Heck said. “He never did things to enhance his business. That was only secondary and never the focus.”Read More »
View of the stage on Opening Night at the May Festival
Here are last weekend’s reviews:
Friday night’s review of Mark Simpson’s “The Immortal” is published on the national website, Classical Voice North America, free to read by clicking here.
And Saturday’s review is published locally by the Cincinnati Business Courier. Remember that the Arts Front is always free, but you may need to register for a FREE subscription. Click here for the review, and click here to read the season preview.
Tonight, May 23:Craig Hella Johnson leads Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble in a performance of his own oratorio, “Considering Matthew Shepard.” The work provides “a space for reflection, consideration and unity around (Matthew Shepard’s) life and legacy,” Johnson says. Rod Caspers, stage director. 7 p.m., Corbett Auditorium, CCM. (Note the show is moved from PCT due to ticket demand.)
Herald trumpets hail the season
Friday, May 24: Music director laureate James Conlon returns to the Festival for the first time since 2016 to lead Mussorgsky’s Prologue and Farewell Scene from “Boris Godunov,” Boito’s Prologue from “Mefistofele” and Mahler’s “Das Klagende Lied,” with soloists Morris Robinson, Sarah Vautour, Taylor Raven, Richard Trey Smagur, John Siarris and Donnie Ray Albert. Conlon gives the preconcert lecture at 7 p.m. in Springer Auditorium.
NOTE THE EARLY START TIME, Saturday, May 25: Juanjo Mena leads J.S. Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” with soloists Berit Norbakken Solset, Carlos Mena, Werner Güra, James Newby, Andrew Stenson and Hanno Müller-Brachmann and the May Festival Youth Chorus. 7 p.m., Music Hall (Note the early start time).
Roomful of Teeth played the Woodward Theater for the May Festival. Photo provided/Lee Snow
It’s hard to categorize Roomful of Teeth, a vocal octet that calls itself a “vocal project.” On Wednesday, the singers — Abigail Lennox and Martha Cluver, sopranos; Alexandra Colaizzi and Virginia Kelsey, altos; Eric Dudley, tenor (former assistant conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra); Avery Griffin, baritone; Thann Scoggin, bass-baritone, and Cameron Beauchamp, bass — amazed a sold-out house with their vocal pyrotechnics at the Woodward Theater in Over-the-Rhine.
There were about 150 music lovers, with a space for standing room, for this sold-out “extra” concert, a first at the 146-year-old Cincinnati May Festival.
It’s safe to say that their style of singing is unusual, if not revolutionary. Their musical palette — some of which was showcased in their first number, Caroline Shaw’s Partita for 8 Voices — included whispering, throat singing, bending of tones, yodeling and possibly some Bulgarian belting, one of their specialties. It was performed with amplification, but nothing, I’m told, was electronically manipulated — which made the feats they achieved even more stunning.Read More »
Mary Ellyn Hutton wrote music criticism for 23 years for the Cincinnati Post.
Mary Ellyn Hutton will be remembered as a journalist with unflagging dedication to Cincinnati’s musical arts. The longtime classical music critic for the Cincinnati Post continued to cover the classical scene for more than a decade after the demise of Cincinnati’s afternoon newspaper in 2007.
She died surrounded by her family on May 28 after a battle with lung cancer. The Hyde Park resident was 77.Read More »
Classical Roots Community Mass Choir Photo provided
This year’s “Classical Roots” concert will explore Music Hall’s history as a gathering place for a wide spectrum of Cincinnati’s society.
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s “Under One Roof,” led by Pops conductor John Morris Russell, will take place at 7:30 p.m. on April 20 in Music Hall. The program will illuminate Music Hall’s history — both as a great concert venue for the orchestra in the main hall and as a community gathering place that hosted many of the greatest jazz, soul, rock and R&B artists of the 20th century in the Greystone Club. Today that space in the South Hall is known as the Music Hall Ballroom.Read More »
