CCM Alumnus David Daniels Profiled in April 2013 issue of ‘Opera News’

Photographed by Michal Daniel as Orfeo in the Minnesota Opera production of Orfeo ed Euridice, 2010
© Michal Daniel 2013

CCM alumnus David Daniels (BM, 1990) is profiled in the April issue of Opera News, which is on newsstands now. As previously reported, the acclaimed countertenor is a 2012 Opera News Award-winner.

In the lengthy profile, Opera News editor Adam Wasserman writes, “Daniels has the uncanny ability to bridge the gap and make us believe that the composer’s note barely had time to dry on the page before it came forth from his mouth. It seems to me that the highest compliment one can pay Daniels — now in the third decade of an unprecedented career in opera — is that the music he sings sounds both strikingly contemporary and as though it were written precisely for his voice.”

Read the entire profile here.

Daniels will be singing the title role in the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Giulio Cesare this month. The production is scheduled to be broadcast as a part of the Met’s “Live in HD” Series on April 27, 2013.

CCM Students Named Finalists in 2013 Lotte Lenya Vocal Competition

Congratulations to current CCM student Lauren Roesner (BFA Musical Theatre, 2013) and alumna Heather Phillips (BM Voice, MM Voice, 2002-08) on being named finalists in the 2013 Lotte Lenya Vocal Competition! Held annually by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music and celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, the Lotte Lenya Competition is an international theater singing contest that recognizes talented young singer-actors, ages 19-32, who are dramatically and musically convincing in a wide range of repertoire, and emphasizes the acting of songs and arias within a dramatic context.

The Kurt Weill Foundation awards special prizes at the finals in addition to the top prizes and we are delighted to report that current CCM students Conor McDonald (MM Voice, 2014), Katie Wesler (BFA Musical Theatre, 2014) and Sofia Selowsky (MM Voice, 2014) were awarded Emerging Talent Awards. Current Artist Diploma candidate Charles Z. Owen (MM, 2012) received the 2013 Grace Keagy Award for Outstanding Vocal Promise.

Congratulations to our two finalists and our four award-winners!

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.

A New Sneak Peek at the Scenic Design of ‘The Threepenny Opera’

Assistant to the Scenic Designer Alexandra Kuntz provides these previews of ‘The Threepenny Opera.’

CCM’s acclaimed Mainstage Series resumes this week with Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s epic musical The Threepenny Opera. Today, we are happy to provide a preview of the show’s set, courtesy of Alexandra Kuntz, a sophomore in CCM’s Scenic Design program and Assistant to Guest Scenic Designer John Arnone on this production.

Learn more about this dynamic new production, which features set designs by Tony Award-winner John Arnone.

“Set in the mid-19th century, Macheath (otherwise known as ‘Mack the Knife’) runs the town with his rag tag band of ruffians and gets what he wants,” Kuntz explains. “His latest want just happens to be Polly Peachum, daughter of the Beggar’s Lord of London (Johnathan Jeremiah Peachum), who doesn’t take too kindly to Mack the Knife’s interest in his daughter. Doing anything to keep them apart, Peachum uses broads, bribes and blackmails to get Mack out of the picture, while Macheath’s life hangs in the balance.”

This production contains mature subject matter.

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 Presents the Iconic Musical ‘The Threepenny Opera’ Feb. 28 – March 10

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

Someone sneaking ’round the corner. Is the someone Mack the Knife? Find out for yourself when CCM presents The Threepenny Opera, Feb. 28 through March 10, 2013!

With The Threepenny Opera, composer Kurt Weill and playwright Bertolt Brecht weave the riveting story of notorious bandit and womanizer MacHeath (“Mack the Knife”) and his seedy companions in London’s underworld, inventing a new form of musical theatre in the process!

Influencing shows like Chicago and Cabaret, this jazz-infused musical comes to life in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater for two consecutive weekends courtesy of CCM’s stars of tomorrow!

Directed by Robin Guarino, with musical direction by Roger Grodsky, choreography by Patti James and set designs by Tony Award-winning guest artist John Arnone, The Threepenny Opera is the must-see theatre event of the year! Learn more here.

This production contains mature subject matter.

LISTEN: CCM’s ‘Kurt Weill Festival’ Featured on WVXU’s Around Cincinnati

Theatre composer Kurt Weill in New City, ca. 1945 (photo: Engel). Image courtesy of the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music.

Anne Arenstein discussed CCM’s year-long celebration of Kurt Weill with faculty members Robin Guarino and bruce mcclung on the latest edition of WVXU’s Around Cincinnati.

If you missed the broadcast, you can listen to audio of the entire interview here.

CCM’s Kurt Weill Festival resumes this month with the Mainstage Series production of Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera (running Feb. 28 – March 10). This spring’s festival events will also include concert performances of Weill’s Kiddush (Prayer of Sanctification) and the a capella madrigal “Ho, Billy, O!” from the Weill musical Love Life. View a full schedule of festival events here. Learn more about The Threepenny Opera after the jump.

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Scenic Design of ‘The Threepenny Opera’

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The Cincinnati Enquirer recently featured CCM’s upcoming Mainstage Series production of The Threepenny Opera (Feb. 28 – March 10) as one of “13 Performances that Promise to Melt Your Heart” this winter.

Jackie Demaline writes, “Before there was Cabaret or Chicago, there was Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s ‘opera’ that is intent on setting opera on its ear. Also a jabbing political satire of its era, The Threepenny Opera is all about wicked bandit and womanizer Macheath (Mack the Knife) and his adventures in London’s underworld. Expect CCM Musical Theatre to sing the show to the rafters under the direction of CCM Opera department chair Robin Guarino.”

A part of CCM’s year-long Kurt Weill Festival, The Threepenny Opera is set in an anachronistic Victorian London envisioned by Tony Award-winning guest scenic designer John Arnone and brought to life by CCM’s theatre design and production students.

The Threepenny Opera is directed by Guarino with musical direction by Roger Grodsky and choreographer Patti James. This production includes mature subjct matter.

You can read Demaline’s full roundup of “hot” winter performances here.

The CCM Drama Dadaab Theater Project and the Great Globe Foundation Host Symposium on Jan. 17

In June of 2011, six current and former students from CCM Drama traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, for five intense days of theatre-making with refugees from the Dadaab Refugee Camp. The outcome of that trip will be explored in a special symposium hosted by the CCM Drama Dadaab Theater Project and the Great Globe Foundation from 3-6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 17, in UC’s Cohen Family Studio Theater.

Titled “How the Hurt Helped and How the Help Hurt and Why Go Through It All Again,” the afternoon discussion will explore the successes and challenges faced by artists who engage in international outreach and exchange. The symposium is free and open to the public. CCM Professor of Drama Michael Burnham will moderate.

‘Examiner’ Interviews CCM Alumna Joélle Harvey

CCM Alumna Joélle Harvey.

The Examiner‘s Elijah Ho interviews soprano Joélle Harvey (BM ’07, MM ’09) in anticipation of the CCM alumna’s performance of Handel’s Messiah with choral director Ragnar Bohlin and the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus Dec. 13 – 15.

A native of Bolivar, New York, Harvey is the recipient of a 2011 First Prize Award from the Gerda Lissner Foundation, a 2009 Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation and a 2010 Encouragement Award (in honor of Norma Newton) from the George London Foundation.

While at CCM, Harvey performed the roles of Amor in Cavalli’s L’Egisto, Emmie and Flora in, respectively, Britten’s Albert Herring and The Turn of the Screw, Poppea in The Coronation of Poppea, Sophie in Massenet’s Werther, and Nannetta in Falstaff. She continues to study with CCM Professor of Voice Karen Lykes.

You can read the full interview here.

Learn more about Harvey’s upcoming performance of Handel’s Messiah here.