Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony presents Veterans Day concert

November 11, 2020 janellegelfandLeave a comment

A wonderful tribute to United States Veterans is available online today and for the next 48 hours. The Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michael Chertock, presents an inspiring Veterans Day ceremony and concert, all performed and recorded for the streamed program using Covid-19 safety precautions.

The orchestra sent out this announcement: “No Town Square Celebration. No marching band. No traditional community luncheon. This year, Veterans Day will have a new look! But, it doesn’t mean we won’t be able to acknowledge or celebrate Veterans Day!”

The orchestra is joined by local Veterans, performing onstage in the orchestra and as soloists, as well as through narrative. You will hear moving stories, poems read by the students from EH Greene school as well as The Armed Forces Medley, Victory at Sea, God Bless America and other patriotic selections. It is funded by The City of Blue Ash.

One of the soloists is U.S. Navy veteran Jim Cannon, who performs Debussy’s “Clair de lune,” recorded live in his recent — and very impressive — piano recital in Werner Recital Hall for the master’s degree in piano performance at CCM.

During his career, Cannon flew the P-3 Orion, primarily an anti-submarine aircraft, in the 1980s.Read More »

“Live from Linton” — Linton Chamber Music to return, livestreamed and with small audiences

September 8, 2020September 8, 2020 janellegelfandLeave a comment

Sharon Robinson and Jaime Laredo, married duo and co-artistic directors of the storied Linton Music Series

Linton Chamber Music will return to its devoted fans. But, like everything else these days, the 2020-21 season has been “re-imagined.”

Live performances will be streamed online from the Linton stage at First Unitarian Church. Besides that, Linton Chamber Music will be making a small, limited amount of seating available to subscribers and donors.

CSO concertmaster Stefani Matsuo, principal cellist Ilya Finkelshteyn and CCM faculty member pianist Sandra Rivers

Starting Oct. 4, concerts will be streamed Live on Sundays at 4 pm on the Linton Chamber Music YouTube Channel, with audio engineering performed by WGUC (90.9) FM. Artists include co-artistic directors Sharon Robinson and Jaime Laredo, violinist Jennifer Koh, the return of the New York Philharmonic Quartet, the Miami String Quartet, faculty members from CCM and principal players from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

The musical lineup — as always — is enticing, including an all-Bach program for solo violin (Jennifer Koh), piano trios by Mendelssohn and Schumann, Bartok “Contrasts,” the Beethoven Septet in E-flat major and the Cincinnati premiere of a work by Richard Danielpour, String Quintet, A Shattered Vessel.”

You’ll be able to view programs on your flat-screen TV or your computer. Scroll to the end of this post for instructions.

The online performances are FREE. Donations are welcome, with a support button for each program on the website.

More about the programs:Read More »

Cincinnati Song Initiative to go virtual this season

August 19, 2020August 19, 2020 janellegelfandLeave a comment

Cincinnati Song Initiative participants around the piano from a previous season (L-R): Alex Hurd, Ahyoung Jung, Samuel Martin, Ivy Walz, Kenneth Griffiths, Marie Marquis

I’ve enjoyed some of the most engaging programs in memory by Cincinnati Song Initiative, a series of programs devoted to art song. Founded five years ago by Sam Martin, it features rising stars — many of them CCM alumni — and CCM faculty in impeccable performances of music we don’t often hear.

This year, it’s all digital, thanks to Covid-19. That doesn’t mean that it’s programs aren’t just as compelling. Concerts can be streamed through CSI’s new online platform, CSI Digital. You can
access the concerts as they stream live and re-watch them as many times as you wish. You’ll also have access to extras, such as Composers & Cocktails happy hour chats, Beyond the Song webinars, Coffee Convos roundtable discussions, and CSI’s complete video concert archives.

The season includes its largest commissioning project to date. Cincinnati Song Initiative will commission a single song from ten composers for its grand finale in May.

Here’s the schedule:Read More »

In memoriam Atarah Jablonsky

July 20, 2020July 27, 2020 janellegelfandLeave a comment

Atarah Jablonsky was a legendary music educator: Atarah Jablonsky is remembered as a dedicated piano teacher who was beloved by several generations of students, and an accomplished musician.

“She was not only a music educator but a life educator. She was wonderfully open minded, an optimist, and accepting of others,” said Roxanne Engle, who taught with her at the Peaslee Neighborhood Center and Evendale Cultural Arts Center. “Atarah was inspirational in developing her own unique way to bring musicality and expression into playing the piano. Teaching and performing were in her thoughts up to the end. She was looking at the score of the Beethoven Pastorale Sonata in her last few weeks and asked me, ‘When will we teach piano again?'”

Mrs. Jablonsky, a longtime resident of Wyoming, OH, died on July 14 at Wellspring Health Care Center. She was 92.

A noteworthy teacher, she was adjunct assistant professor of music at the College of Mount St. Joseph from 1970 to 2001. She taught piano from 1958-70 at the University Cincinnati, where she was also an adjudicator from 1970 to 2001. She also was a lecturer at Edgecliff College (1972-74).Read More »

Art of the Piano to be virtual this year

June 16, 2020 janellegelfandLeave a comment

Awadagin Pratt established Art of the Piano 10 years ago at CCM

It comes as no surprise that Art of the Piano, the festival of pianists and piano music founded by Awadagin Pratt, will be virtual — or “Onlive!” — this year-of-the-covid.

The festival will begin at 6 p.m. June 23 with a live-streamed concert by a superstar pianist to be named “once the ink is dry on the corona-revised contract,” Pratt says. The festival runs through July 27 with weekly concerts and lectures by both distinguished and emerging artists.

The website is under construction in preparation, so check back for news at artofthepiano.org.

Here is Awadagin’s statement regarding diversity with his announcement:Read More »

Covid-19 update: Digital resources to calm and entertain

March 21, 2020 janellegelfandLeave a comment

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.

• Baker Hunt Art & Cultural Center’s daily online art project

• The Children’s Theater of Cincinnati podcast and performance of
“Suffragettes: With Liberty and Voting For All”

• Cincinnati Art Museum online collection

• Cincinnati Museum Center’s Wonder Zone videos (starting with Kellogg the Corn Snake

• 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

• Online classes with Clifton Cultural Arts Center

• Hear a live recording of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in Concert

• Watch the Cincinnati Pops perform American Soundscapes: Star Trek

• Classics for Kids. Click here to find podcasts, activity sheets, lesson plans and more. The 6-minute episodes are produced by Cincinnati Public Radio.

• On-demand streaming from Know Theatre of Cincinnati (tickets required)

• 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.

Watch for updates: Coronavirus causing cancellations in Cincy’s concert season

March 12, 2020March 12, 2020 janellegelfandLeave a comment

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 »

Podcasts add insights to Beethoven’s 250th birthday

February 17, 2020 janellegelfandLeave a comment

In honor of Beethoven’s 250th birthday year (2020), local pianist Michael Chertock and Tom Hughes have produced a series of audio podcasts entitled “Beethoven: A Personal Look at the Man Behind the Masterpieces”.

Written, narrated, and with musical excerpts performed by Michael, five podcasts take the listener through Beethoven’s life from his childhood through his final works.

They might be enlightening for those who will be attending the Beethoven Akademie 1808 concerts at the CSO later this month.

Karin Pendle, a pioneering scholar of women in music and a mentor to many

January 27, 2020January 28, 2020 janellegelfand8 Comments

She was a soloist with Cincinnati May Festival and edited “A City that Sings” on Cincinnati’s choral history

Karin Swanson Pendle was a pioneer in the scholarship of women in music and a professor who inspired legions of students at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

For many, she was a mentor. Personally, it was through her groundbreaking course on women in music at CCM that I became acquainted with the breadth and depth of women’s contributions to music. It became a passion that continues to this day. Although Dr. Pendle was a demanding and sometimes formidable professor, she was also fiercely supportive even while pushing her students to achieve their highest potential. If we ever displayed self-doubt, she was quick to remind us that “you have a brain,” always encouraging us to think, dig deeper and find our own answers.

“Her praise was rare, but precious,” said musicologist Jennifer Thomas.

Dr. Pendle died on Dec. 9 at Twin Towers in College Hill, Cincinnati. She was 80.

Dr. Pendle edited and wrote a chapter for “Women and Music: A History,” one of the first textbooks ever printed on women’s roles in music when it was published in 1991 by Indiana University Press. She also edited the textbook’s second edition, published in 2001.

It remains an invaluable survey of women’s activities in music performance, composition, teaching and patronage from the time of ancient Greece to the present day, illuminating achievements by women that have been largely invisible through the centuries.Read More »

Year in review: Lists and more lists

December 26, 2019 janellegelfandLeave a comment

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.

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.