Tag: music

Pops free livestreams

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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.

Happy Year of the Rat

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chinese new yearJoin the Cincinnati Chinese community in celebrating the Chinese New Year of the Rat with a special concert by the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, Friday, January 24th (the eve of the Chinese New Year) in Memorial Hall, Over-the-Rhine.

Festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. The evening will feature performances of traditional Chinese music by the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra at 8 p.m.

Founded in 1952, the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra highlights the history, legacy and influence of Chinese culture with a program of works performed on a mixture of Western and traditional Chinese instruments. The program, says spokesman Rudolph Tang, “represents its latest concept in showcasing the ancient Chinese music from the contemporary prism.”

Cincinnati is one of the seven concert stops during the orchestra’s U.S. tour. Others are the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Chicago’s Symphony Hall, Detroit’s Orchestra Hall, San Diego and Orange County, California.

The pre-concert celebration will include a Lion Dance, youth ensemble, an exhibition of Chinese photography and more.

Support comes from the Alliance of Chinese Culture and Arts USA.

Details:

When: January 24, 2020 

6:30pm  Celebration in the lobby and ballrooms (Lion dance, youth ensemble, Chinese photography  exhibits, and more)

8 p.m.  Concert by the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra 

Where： Memorial Hall (1225 Elm St. Cincinnati, OH 45202)

Price:  $15 (family balcony); $30; $55 (VIP) 

Visit memorialhallotr.com to purchase tickets.

 

The Alliance of Chinese Culture & Arts, USA is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization. Its mission is to build bridges for cultural diversity,  and connect people through various forms of the arts.

Impressive musical lineup to benefit Literacy Council

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Lit_Council1 image 2019Next Sunday, June 23, an impressive lineup of local classical musicians will come together for a concert to benefit the Literacy Council of Clermont & Brown Counties. Reach for the Stars will take place at 4 p.m. June 23 at Knox Presbyterian Church in Hyde Park.

Spearheaded by Suzanne Bona, host of the nationally broadcast public radio program “Sunday Baroque” and an accomplished musician, the concert aims to raise awareness and funds for adult literacy.

“With the upcoming 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, we thought it would be fun to feature music with astronomical themes such as Holst’s ‘Mars’ and Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata,” said Bona. “Plus, Reach for the Stars is what the clients of the Literacy Council do every day as they open up the world of possibilities reading can bring.”Read More »

CCM Jazz to honor John Von Ohlen

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John von ohlen provided
Provided photo: John Von Ohlen, co-founder of the Blue Wisp Big Band, was an adjunct instructor of jazz drums at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music.

I’m sharing this note I received from CCM director of Jazz Studies Scott Belck:

The CCM Jazz Orchestra proud to present Stan Kenton’s “West Side Story” Sunday night,  November 4th. The band will be paying homage to the thrilling music of the Stan Kenton Orchestra’s first Grammy Award winning album, all of the magnificent arrangements by Kenton stalwart Johnny Richards.
This concert will be dedicated to the memory of distinguished faculty member and Stan Kenton alumnus, John Von Ohlen.
Special guest conductor, Vaughn Wiester, a veteran of the Woody Herman Band and a Stan Kenton scholar, will also be presenting a Pre-Concert Lecture entitled: “Three Outsized Personalities.”
Belck says he expects this prestige event to sell quickly, so get your tickets soon.
Von Ohlen died early this month. Read more about his achievements in the jazz world in John Kiesewetter’s tribute on WVXU.
What: Stan Kenton’s “West Side Story”
CCM Jazz Orchestra
Scott Belck, music director
Vaughn Wiester, guest conductor
When: Sunday, November 4th at 7pm
Corbett Auditorium
CCM Jazz Orchestra , Scott Belck, musical director/conductor
Vaughn Wiester Pre-Concert Lecture “Three Outsized Personalities”
6:15 in Corbett Auditorium
Tickets: $20 general, $15 non-UC students, UC students FREE
CCM Box Office:  ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice
Phone: 513-556-6638

Kahane’s surprising encore in CSO appearance is unforgettable

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Jeffrey Kahane delivered a ravishing performance of the Ravel Piano Concerto in G Major with the CSO. Provided, CSO

Pianist Jeffrey Kahane wowed in Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. But it was his surprising encore that left the evening’s most indelible impression.

He made no announcement. But his somber, reflective improvisation on “America the Beautiful” felt like a memorial to the victims of the horrible events that had unfolded two days earlier in a Florida high school. The tune rested briefly in the minor mode before ending quietly. It was heartfelt and moving, and listeners stood in appreciation.Read More »

Joshua Bell, Beethoven’s Ninth to highlight CSO season

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“What I try is to have unity and diversity at the same time.” – CSO music director Louis Langrée

Music Director Louis Langrée
Music Director Louis Langrée

Violin superstar Joshua Bell, a phenomenal Russian pianist named Daniil Trifonov and renowned cellist Alisa Weilerstein are just a few of the stars in an exceptional lineup coming to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra next season.

Program highlights of the 2018-19 season are just as attractive. Louis Langrée’s Beethoven cycle will continue with Beethoven’s great Symphony No. 9, Choral. The repertoire includes Stravinsky’s earthy, primitive ballet score “The Rite of Spring,” Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” Mozart’s Requiem and Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.Read More »

CSO’s ‘Pictures’ impresses at Music Hall

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img_9135
A large crowd was on hand to hear the popular “Pictures at an Exhibition”

A crowd-pleasing program and a rare trumpet soloist added up to an electric evening at the Cincinnati Symphony orchestra on Saturday.

Music Hall was fairly full for Saturday’s concert, which was highlighted in the second half by a magnificent performance of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” in the well-known Ravel orchestration. There was also a remarkable performance by Norwegian trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth, who made her Cincinnati debut in Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto in A-flat Major.

But first, the program, led by guest maestro Andrey Boreyko, opened with another rarity: Stravinsky’s Funeral Song of 1908.  Read More »

A drum legend branches out… to piano

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2003.0108.10.2--BLUE WISP--Steve Schmidt, piano, Larry Dixon, sax (center left), John Von Ohlen, drums, and Mike Sharfe, string bass play with the Blue Wisp Big Wednesday, January 8, 2003 at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club. Photo by Craig Ruttle/Cincinnati Enquirer
The jazz community hopes to raise $5,000 by Dec. 12 through Kickstarter to pay for studio and production costs for John Von Ohlen’s album, “The Pond.”

John Von Ohlen has recorded an album of piano musings — a surprise for someone who made his mark as drummer for Stan Kenton. Of course, we all know him as the co-founder and anchor of the Blue Wisp Big Band, which still plays every Wednesday night at the Urban Artifact in Northside.

“It’s not avant-garde or cutting edge, but it’s unique in the true sense of the word,” Von Ohlen says in an interview about his project on Kickstarter.

His original tunes are warm, lovely to hear and grounded in lush jazz harmonies. He also puts his own spin on a few standards. CCM jazz prof Kim Pensyl — himself a pianist, trumpeter, and prolific jazz recording artist — heard him play one day, and arranged to get him in the studio to record his collection.

Josh Moore is designing the cover art and a tee shirt featuring the famous cracked cymbal.

Now the jazz community is hoping to raise $5,000 by Dec. 12 through Kickstarter to pay for studio and production costs for the album, called “The Pond.”

Click here to make a pledge.

 

 

Review: Pops’ American Originals looks back a century

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Steep Canyon Rangers
Steep Canyon Rangers stole the show at the Pops. Lee Snow, photo

The Cincinnati Pops’ American Originals concert on Friday was a trip down memory lane to America’s musical roots a century ago.

For Vol. 2 of his Americana project, Pops maestro John Morris Russell brought together an eclectic  group  of guests, ranging from the sensational bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers to the extraordinary singer and MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Rhiannon Giddens.

Like the first edition, the show was recorded live in Music Hall for an album on the Pops’ Fanfare Cincinnati label by the Grammy-winning producer Elaine Martone and engineer Michael Bishop.Read More »

Bookmark this: Janelle’s picks this month

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ClaireHuangci_CR_Mateusz_Zahora
Claire Huangci performs Prokofiev and Chopin for Matinee Musicale Nov. 9. Photo provided

It’s already November? Yes, and the fall classical music season is in full swing.  Some of these offerings, such as “Candide,” are hot tickets, so you’d better make plans soon.  Here are a few of my favorite things.

Nov. 4-5: J.S. Bach’s B Minor Mass. Earl Rivers leads the CCM Philharmonia, the CCM Chamber Choir and CCM soloists  in Bach’s supreme masterpiece. “The Mass in B Minor is a synthesis of every stylistic and technical contribution Bach made to music,” Rivers says. The concert takes place at 4 p.m. Saturday in Christ Church Cathedral, Downtown, and 5 p.m. Sunday, Knox Church, 3400 Michigan Ave. in Hyde Park, while CCM’s Corbett Auditorium undergoes its own renovation. Tickets: 513-556-4183, ccm.uc.edu.

Nov. 9: Matinee Musicale presents. Award-winning pianist Claire Huangci performs a recital for the storied, 105-year-old music series. Her program includes numbers from Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” – an added treat if you saw Cincinnati Ballet last week –as well as all 24 Chopin Preludes. 11 a.m. at the Anderson Center in Anderson Township. Tickets may be purchased at the door. Matineemusicalecincinnati.org.Read More »