CCM E-Media Division Head Marjorie Fox Retires

Electronic Media Division Head Marjorie Fox joined the faculty in 1988. She retires this summer.

CCM Electronic Media Division Head Marjorie Fox has announced that she will retire this June. Fox joined the faculty of the University of Cincinnati in 1988 as an adjunct instructor.

After getting her start as a TV reporter in Peoria, Illinois, Fox spent the early part of her career in television with the Chicago NBC affiliate WMAQ-TV, working as a writer, field producer, newscast producer, assignment editor and eventually executive producer.

Although she did not have plans to become a professor initially, Fox became acquainted with longtime E-Media Division Head Manfred Wolfram through their mutual friend the late Henry Meyer, who was himself a distinguished professor of violin at CCM and founding member of the world-renowned LaSalle Quartet.

Fox explains, “I met with Dr. Wolfram and he arranged for me to teach a journalism class as an adjunct and I loved it. I felt that this is what I should be doing.” Fox soon became a visiting assistant professor and was hired for a tenure-track position in 1990.

CCM Student Among 10 Finalists in Met Opera National Council Auditions

We are pleased to report that bass-baritone Thomas Richards, a student of William McGraw at CCM, will be singing onstage at the Metropolitan Opera in the Grand Finals Concert of the Metropolitan Opera District Council Auditions this Sunday!

The public concert will be accompanied by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and will be broadcast nationwide on the Metropolitan Opera Radio Network.

Learn more courtesy of Janelle Gelfand and the Cincinnati Enquirer.

CCM Announces Partnership with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and World Piano Competition

2012 World Piano Competition Gold Medal Winner Alexander Yakovlev.

Cincinnati’s World Piano Competition, an annual classical piano competition featuring top performers from across the globe since 1956, is undergoing an expansion with two exciting new collaborations and instituting a variety of changes aimed at enhancing the quality of the event and making Cincinnati a truly world-class destination for classical piano performance.

Primary among the changes at the re-imagined competition, already a highly respected event, are partnerships with two of the city’s cultural cornerstones – the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO). Beginning with the July 2013 competition, finalists in the Artist Division will have the distinct honor of performing with the world-renowned CSO, made up of some of the world’s finest musicians and an ensemble that regularly collaborates with classical music’s premier performing artists. The performances featuring the finalists  will be led by CSO Associate Conductor Robert Treviño. The event will also move to CCM, one of the nation’s top performing and media arts conservatories, where the acclaimed faculty will oversee upgrades to the competition’s jury system.

Learn more about this exciting new partnership in today’s issue of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

‘Cincinnati Enquirer’ Previews CCM’s March 2 Mahler Marathon

The CCM Philharmonia.

Janelle Gelfand provides an in-depth preview of CCM’s Mahler Marathon for the Cincinnati Enquirer. If you missed the feature in the Enquirer‘s Feb. 24 issue, you can find it online here.

CCM’s Concert Orchestra presents Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in G Major, along with selections from his Des knaben Wunderhorn, at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 2.

After a program break for dinner, the CCM Philharmonia will be joined by choirs from throughout the region at 8 p.m. for Mahler’s massive Symphony No. 3 in D Minor.

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.

‘Music in Cincinnati’ Hails CCM Students Debut Album As ‘Phenomenal’

Mary Ellyn Hutton reviews CCM student Carmine Miranda‘s debut solo album (Bach: 6 Cello Suites) for Music in Cincinnati, calling the recording “phenomenal.”

She writes, “Miranda’s approach is virtuosic and musically persuasive. Tempos tend to be brisk (if not pushed now and then), but he brings to bear interpretive insights — his term is “folkloric” — which make the set as a whole a delight.” You read Hutton’s full review here.

Read our recent profile of Miranda here. Bach: 6 Cello Suites is available digitally on iTunes, Amazon and elsewhere.

CCM Student’s Solo Debut To Be Released By Centaur Records

Centaur Records releases CCM student Carmine Miranda’s solo debut recording.

Already an accomplished cellist, CCM doctoral candidate Carmine Miranda (BA, 2010; MM, 2012) is now making his professional solo recording debut!

Two years ago, Miranda recorded Bach’s six solo suites for cello at age 22. Now, his recording is being released under Centaur Records, and is already available digitally on iTunes, Amazon and elsewhere.

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.

CCM Spring 2013 Calendar of Major Events – Updates

Please note the following updates to CCM’s schedule of major events for the spring:

• The Jan. 23 Faculty Artist Concert featuring Karen Lykes and Kenneth Griffiths has been cancelled.

• Tickets for CCM’s March 7 – 9 Student Dance Showcase are free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, March 4 – please visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

• Oscar Ghiglia‘s guest artist recital (originally scheduled for Sunday, March 10) has been cancelled due to a scheduling conflict and will be rescheduled for CCM’s Fall 2013 semester. Ticket holders can contact CCM’s Box Office at 513-556-4183 for a refund or exchange.

You can always find the most up-to-date information on CCM’s calendar of events at ccm.uc.edu.

The CCM Blog: 2012 In Review!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

19,000 people fit into the new Barclays Center to see Jay-Z perform. This blog was viewed about 110,000 times in 2012. If it were a concert at the Barclays Center, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.