CCM and Carnegie Co-Production of ‘Parade’ Continues April 19-21

Local audiences have only three more opportunities to experience CCM and the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center‘s critically acclaimed co-production of Parade! Don’t miss your chance to see this transformational story of a country at odds with its declarations of equality, brought to life by the remarkable talent of CCM Musical Theatre!

The 1999 Tony Award winner for “Best Book” and “Best Score,” Parade‘s run concludes this weekend with performances April 19 – 21. Ed Cohen and Dee Anne Bryll direct, with musical direction by Stephen Goers.

CityBeat’s Annual ‘Best of Cincinnati’ Issue Spotlights CCM

We are delighted to be named “Best Place to Catch a Rising Star” in CityBeat‘s annual Best of Cincinnati issue, which is on newsstands (and available online) now! CityBeat‘s editors write:

UC’s College-Conservatory of Music is one of the top three musical theater programs in the nation. Every year hundreds of aspiring high school kids audition for one of 20 or so slots in the freshman class. (That’s more selective than most Division I sports teams.) Following graduation, they head straight for Broadway where multiple productions typically feature CCM alumni. It’s not unusual for one or two to be nominated for Tony Awards, such as Karen Olivo as Anita in the recent revival of West Side Story.

We are equally thrilled to report that CCM student Kris Rucinski was recognized for performing the year’s “Best Piano Concerto” during last November’s American Voices XV concert. Again, CityBeat‘s editors write:

At a November American Voices concert honoring great American Modernist composers, UC College-Conservatory of Music first-year graduate student Kris Rucinski wowed and thrilled an audience with his performance of Lou Harrison’s challenging, complicated Piano Concerto. The late Harrison wrote it for Keith Jarrett, an indication of just how demanding a work it is. By turns fiery and meditative, developing through four challenging movements, it is as much Cecil Taylor-ish eruptive Jazz as it is calm Classical, but Rucinski showed himself more than up for the task and ready to be Jarrett’s successor – or anyone’s. One only hopes there are more chances to see him while he is a student here and before he becomes an in-demand concert soloist.

We would like to congratulate all of our friends and partners also featured in this special issue of CityBeat, too!

High Praise for CCM’s Kurt Weill Festival

CCM presents ‘The Threepenny Opera.’ Photography by Mark Lyons.

This weekend is your last chance to catch CCM’s acclaimed productions of both The Threepenny Opera (March 8 – 10) and the brand-new Kurt Weill revue Into a Lamplit Room (March 10).

The critics have had high praise for both productions, with CityBeat’s Rick Pender calling The Threepenny Opera “authentic,” “compelling” and “visually stunning” and Seen and Heard International‘s Rafael de Acha calling Into a Lamplit Room “heavenly!”

See what the critics have said for yourselves here:

• Cincinnati Enquirer: “CCM’s Threepenny Challenging, Bold”
• Talkin’ Broadway: “The Threepenny Opera Review”
• CityBeat: “Threepenny Opera: CCM Shines with Historical Tale of Corruption, Greed”
• Seen and Heard International: “Heavenly Sampler of Kurt Weill”
  

CCM Slideshows: The Threepenny Opera

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CCM proudly presents The Threepenny Opera, running tonight, March 1, through Sunday, March 10, in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater. Tickets are on sale now. This production contains mature subject matter.

Learn more The Threepenny Opera here.

“[Stage Director Robin] Guarino fearlessly goes back to the musical satire’s socio-political roots in 1920s Berlin,” Jackie Demaline writes in her review for the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Everything about The Threepenny Opera carries out Guarino’s vision, as the cast prowl scenic designer John Arnone’s industrial set of catwalks, with the small orchestra (in costume) perched at the top. Musical director Roger Grodsky as always asks much and gets all from singers and musicians.”

Read Demaline’s full review here.

The Epic Theatre of CCM’s ‘The Threepenny Opera’

Sophomore Hannah Zazzaro as Sukey Tawdry and junior Max Clayton as Macheath. Photography by Mark Lyons.

CCM’s year-long Kurt Weill Festival resumes this month with a dynamic new production of the iconic musical The Threepenny Opera. Composed by Kurt Weill with book and lyrics by dramatist Bertolt Brecht (adapted into English by Marc Blitzstein), The Threepenny Opera weaves the riveting tale of notorious bandit and womanizer Macheath (“Mack the Knife”) and his seedy companions in London’s underworld. Weill’s innovative score invented a new form of musical theatre, leading the way for such shows as Chicago and Cabaret.

CCM’s Mainstage Series production of this jazz-infused musical is directed by Robin Guarino, with musical direction by Roger Grodsky, choreography by Patti James and scenic designs by Tony Award-winning guest artist John Arnone. The Threepenny Opera runs Thursday, Feb. 28, through Sunday, March 10, in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater. Tickets are on sale now. This production contains mature subject matter.

CCM Celebrates Film Music With Special Concert on Jan. 27!

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CCM presents a special treat for fans of film music this Sunday, as the acclaimed Philharmonia Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble go to the movies for the evening, celebrating the sounds of the cinema in UC’s Corbett Auditorium!

The Jan. 27 program will open with selections from classic film scores such as A Streetcar Named Desire before moving on to the work of singer/songwriter, arranger, film scorer and distinguished UC alumnus Randy Edelman (CCM ’69, HonDoc ’04)!

The Jan. 27 concert will also include Edelman’s symphonic piece Transcontinental: A Mad Musical Dash Across the USA, which was premiered by the Cincinnati Pops several years ago and which will be dedicated to the loving memory of Maestro Erich Kunzel.

CCM Announces Spring 2013 Calendar of Major Events

CCM is delighted to announce its spring schedule of performances. The largest single source of performing arts events in the state of Ohio, CCM presents more than 100 major public performances from Jan. 12 through May 19, ranging from faculty and guest artist concerts to fully supported opera, drama and musical theatre productions.

CCM’s spring semester performance schedule includes the return of Cincinnati’s premiere fundraiser “A Moveable Feast” on Jan. 18, an evening of motion-picture music featuring acclaimed film composer and distinguished UC alumnus Randy Edelman on Jan. 27, a celebration of Giuseppe Verdi’s sacred masterwork Requiem on Feb. 1 and 2, a monumental “Mahler Marathon” on March 2, the Ariel String Quartet’s inaugural season finale on April 9, a guest artist recital by acclaimed tenor Lawrence Brownlee on April 13 and the eighth installment of CCM’s popular Pianopalooza concert on April 21.

Also this spring, CCM’s Division of Electronic Media presents the 10-part Global Lens Film Series (Jan. 14 – April 15), Cincinnati Children’s Choir celebrates its 20th anniversary (March 9), the Classical Guitar Department celebrates its 40th anniversary (April 6) and CCM’s year-long Kurt Weill Festival continues with a variety of unique concerts and productions (Feb. 28 – March 12).

Download a digital copy of CCM’s Spring 2013 Calendar of Major Events today.

Event Information
All events listed below take place in CCM Village on the campus of the University of Cincinnati unless otherwise indicated. Admission is free to many CCM performances, although some events do require purchased tickets or reservations. Please see individual event information for details and ordering information.

All event dates and programs are subject to change. Visit ccm.uc.edu or contact the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183 for the most current event information.

CCM Alumna Featured on Good Morning America

CCM alumna Mia Gentile on the set of ‘Good Morning America.’

The buzz continues to grow around CCM alumna Mia Gentile‘s recent YouTube video “The Stanley Steemer Variations!” A 2011 graduate of our Musical Theatre program, Gentile created the viral video with local musician/producer/CCM Beatles expert extraordinaire Roger Klug.

CityBeat’s Rick Pender featured the video on his blog last month – you can read his original post here – and Gentile has since been featured on Good Morning America in support of the video! Experience “The Stanley Steemer Variations” for yourself after the jump!

‘CityBeat’ Reviews CCM’s Nov. 29 American Voices Concert

First year Master of Music in Piano Performance student Kristofer Rucinski.

Steven Rosen shares his thoughts on the Nov. 29 conclusion to CCM’s month-long Cage Centennial Celebration in a recent CityBeat blog post, writing:

I attended the crowded event to see the group I had featured, Percussion Group Cincinnati, perform Cage’s Music for Three while the CCM Philharmonia played Cage’s Renga. It was as charming and strange, as enigmatically mysterious, as one expects of Cage.

But what was completely unexpected — and absolutely, breathtakingly, thrilling — was the performance before that, CCM student Kris Rucinski’s mastery of the four movements of Lou Harrison’s Piano Concerto.

You can read Rosen’s review of the concert here and his original feature here.

‘CityBeat’ Previews Next Opera Fusion Workshop

‘Morning Star’ composer Ricky Ian Gordon.

Anne Arenstein previews Opera Fusion‘s next workshop in this week’s issue of CityBeat. View the story online here.

CCM and Cincinnati Opera will present public workshop performances of Ricky Ian Gordon and William M. Hoffman‘s Morning Star Dec. 4 (at Memorial Hall in downtown Cincinnati) and Dec. 5 (at CCM’s Cohen Family Studio Theater). This workshop is being filmed for a forthcoming documentary focusing on Opera Fusion: New Works, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. You can learn more about this documentary here. Opera Fusion: New Works is generously funded by a $300,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Tickets for CCM’s presentation become available at noon on Monday, Dec. 3 – visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

Learn more about Morning Star here.