Take a Guided Virtual Tour of CCM Village

Follow along as musical theatre graduate Madison Hagler provides a virtual look at CCM’s facilities

Visit UC’s nationally ranked and internationally renowned College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) from the comfort of your own home! Follow along as musical theatre graduate Madison Hagler (BFA, 2020) provides a virtual tour of the state-of-the-art facilities within the CCM Village complex. Visit several of the college’s major production, rehearsal and performance spaces in this walk-along video provided by CCM Admissions Counselor Emilee Suchomski, M.Ed.

The four buildings that comprise the CCM Village are unrivaled in the nation, providing students with comprehensive performance and educational spaces. CCM is integrated within UC’s main campus, which has been hailed as one of the most beautiful campuses in the world by Forbes magazine.

After you view CCM’s guided tour video, explore the rest of UC’s campus with a virtual visit.

Welcome to your next stage. Take your next step at ccm.uc.edu

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Featured image at top: The entrance to the CCM Atrium on UC’s campus. Photo/UC Creative + Brand.

CCM Announces Kristy Swift as New Assistant Professor of Musicology

CCM Dean Stanley E. Romanstein has announced the addition of musicologist and organist Kristy Swift, PhD and DMA, to the college’s roster of distinguished faculty members. Swift’s appointment as Assistant Professor of Musicology – Educator begins on Aug. 15, 2020. A two-time alumna of CCM, Swift (DMA Organ, ’98; PhD Musicology, ’13) is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Musicology – Educator.

Swift’s research interests include digital humanities, film music, historiography, identity and music, music history pedagogy, music of Cincinnati and opera. Her monograph Thinking About Music History: Textbooks and the Canon is forthcoming from Clemson University Press. She is a member of the CCM Cincinnati Sounds: Exploring a Musical City Through Digital Exhibits project team, which received the UC Strategic Collaborative Award.

Swift has presented her research at annual meetings of the American Musicological Society, Society for American Music, Music and the Moving Image and Music History Pedagogy Conferences. Her work has been published in the Journal of Music History Pedagogy, The Diapason and Music Research Forum. Swift has taught hybrid and traditional face-to-face courses in American opera, madness in opera, opera and disability, politics and opera, protest(ed) music, Copland, Handel, Verdi, Wagner, research and writing, and graduate and undergraduate music history surveys at CCM and at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

As soloist and accompanist, she has performed throughout the United States in venues ranging from local Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky sites to Carnegie Hall. She has also served as director of music and organist at churches in Ohio and Florida.

Swift earned a PhD in musicology and DMA in organ studying with Roberta Gary at CCM. She also received an MM in organ studying with William Bodine and BM in education from the University of Florida. She served on the organ committee at Newtown United Methodist Church in Cincinnati for the installation of the M. P. Rathke Opus 8 pipe organ.

“I am grateful to Musicology Search Committee Chair Jonathan Kregor and committee members Amy Beegle, Jenny Doctor, Scott Linford and Stephen Meyer for their collaborative effort on this successful search,” said Romanstein. “We look forward to welcoming Kristy Swift to her new position at CCM this fall.”

About CCM

Nationally ranked and internationally renowned, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is a preeminent institution for the performing and media arts. The school’s educational roots date back to 1867, and a solid, visionary instruction has been at its core since that time.

CCM offers nine degree types (BA, BM, BFA, MFA, MM, MA, AD, DMA, PhD) in nearly 120 possible majors. The synergy created by housing CCM within a comprehensive public university gives the college its unique character and defines its objective: to educate and inspire the whole artist and scholar for positions on the world stage.

CCM’s world-class facilities provide a highly creative and multidisciplinary artistic environment. In 2017, the college completed a $15-million renovation of its major performance spaces, ensuring that CCM’s facilities remain state-of-the-art.

The school’s roster of eminent faculty regularly receives distinguished honors for creative and scholarly work, and its alumni have achieved notable success in the performing and media arts. Learn more at ccm.uc.edu

CCM Announces Megan Steigerwald Ille as New Assistant Professor of Musicology

CCM Dean Stanley E. Romanstein has announced the addition of musicologist Megan Steigerwald Ille, PhD, to the college’s roster of distinguished faculty members. Steigerwald Ille’s appointment as Assistant Professor of Musicology – Educator begins on Aug. 15, 2020.

Steigerwald Ille is a musicologist whose research and teaching considers the intersections of operatic, popular and digital cultures in the 21st century in the United States and Canada. Her book-in-progress, Opera for Everyone: Experimenting with American Opera in the Digital Age, explores changing modes of spectatorship and performer labor in contemporary opera in the US through an in-depth ethnographic study of the LA-based experimental opera company called The Industry.

She has articles forthcoming in the Journal of the Society of American Music and The Opera Quarterly. Since 2018 she has served as a Postdoctoral Fellow of Digital Cultures in the American Culture Studies Program at Washington University in St. Louis.

Steigerwald Ille completed her PhD in Historical Musicology and a certificate in Ethnomusicology at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester.

“I am grateful to Musicology Search Committee Chair Jonathan Kregor and committee members Amy Beegle, Jenny Doctor, Scott Linford and Stephen Meyer for their work finding CCM’s next great musicology professor,” said Romanstein. “We look forward to welcoming Megan Steigerwald Ille to the CCM family.”

About CCM

Nationally ranked and internationally renowned, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is a preeminent institution for the performing and media arts. The school’s educational roots date back to 1867, and a solid, visionary instruction has been at its core since that time.

CCM offers nine degree types (BA, BM, BFA, MFA, MM, MA, AD, DMA, PhD) in nearly 120 possible majors. The synergy created by housing CCM within a comprehensive public university gives the college its unique character and defines its objective: to educate and inspire the whole artist and scholar for positions on the world stage.

CCM’s world-class facilities provide a highly creative and multidisciplinary artistic environment. In 2017, the college completed a $15-million renovation of its major performance spaces, ensuring that CCM’s facilities remain state-of-the-art.

The school’s roster of eminent faculty regularly receives distinguished honors for creative and scholarly work, and its alumni have achieved notable success in the performing and media arts. Learn more at ccm.uc.edu

CCM Announces Shelina Brown as New Assistant Professor of American Music

CCM Dean Stanley E. Romanstein has announced the addition of musicologist Shelina Brown to the college’s roster of distinguished faculty members. Brown’s appointment as Assistant Professor of American Music begins on Aug. 15, 2020.

Brown holds an MA and PhD from UCLA’s Department of Musicology. Her primary research project centers on experimental vocal practices and cultural resistance within underground music scenes. Brown’s dissertation project, “Yoko Ono’s Experimental Vocality as Matrixial Borderspace: Theorizing Yoko Ono’s Extended Vocal Technique and her Contributions to the Development of Underground and Popular Vocal Repertoires, 1968-Present,” focused on Yoko Ono’s extended vocal techniques of the late 1960s and early 1970s that came to influence a range of counter-hegemonic vocalists throughout the late 20th century.

Brown’s methodological approach draws upon contemporary feminist psychoanalytical theories, adapting these for the purpose of musical analysis of vocality and gendered subjectivization. In this vein, her theoretical approach to music studies aims to bring feminist psychoanalysis into dialogue with posthuman thought, queer studies and critical race theory.

A Canadian national raised in Kyoto, Japan, Brown also holds a Master’s in Comparative Literature specializing in modern Japanese literature. Prior to commencing studies in musicology, Shelina was employed as a sessional lecturer of modern Japanese literature at the University of Alberta, Canada.

Brown’s article “Scream from the Heart: Yoko Ono’s Rock ’n’ Roll Revolution” has been published in Sheila Whiteley’s compilation, Countercultures and Popular Music (Ashgate, 2014). She is currently preparing an article, “Of Insects and Interstices: Yoko Ono’s Experimental Short Film, Fly (1970) and the Synaesthetic Un-Mapping of the Abstract Female Nude,” which will be forthcoming in 2021. Brown has presented papers at annual meetings including SEM (Society for Ethnomusicology), IASPM (International Association for the Study of Popular Music), AAS (American Association for Asian Studies) and EMP (Experience Music Project).

A long-term participant in underground and independent music scenes, Brown has been active as a vocalist and instrumentalist in several new wave and garage rock bands over the past 10 years. She still maintains close ties to the Los Angeles underground, and looks forward to exploring music scenes across Ohio.

“I send my gratitude to our search committee comprised of Jonathan Kregor (chair), Stefan Fiol, Jeongwon Joe, Matthew Peattie and Shauna Steele for their work in finding CCM’s next great professor of American music,” said Romanstein. “We look forward to welcoming Shelina Brown this fall.”

About CCM

Nationally ranked and internationally renowned, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is a preeminent institution for the performing and media arts. The school’s educational roots date back to 1867, and a solid, visionary instruction has been at its core since that time.

CCM offers nine degree types (BA, BM, BFA, MFA, MM, MA, AD, DMA, PhD) in nearly 120 possible majors. The synergy created by housing CCM within a comprehensive public university gives the college its unique character and defines its objective: to educate and inspire the whole artist and scholar for positions on the world stage.

CCM’s world-class facilities provide a highly creative and multidisciplinary artistic environment. In 2017, the college completed a $15-million renovation of its major performance spaces, ensuring that CCM’s facilities remain state-of-the-art.

The school’s roster of eminent faculty regularly receives distinguished honors for creative and scholarly work, and its alumni have achieved notable success in the performing and media arts. Learn more at ccm.uc.edu

CCM Announces Joe Miller as New Director of Choral Studies

UC College-Conservatory of Music Dean Stanley E. Romanstein has announced the addition of choral conductor Joe Miller, DMA, to the college’s roster of distinguished faculty members. A leading authority in the field of choral conducting, Miller is also a two-time graduate of CCM (MM, ‘92; DMA, ‘97). His appointment as professor and director of CCM’s lauded Choral Studies program begins on Aug. 15, 2020, pending approval of the University’s Board of Trustees.

Since 2006, Miller has served as conductor of two of the most renowned choral ensembles in the US: the Westminster Choir and the Westminster Symphonic Choir. He has also served as director of choral activities at Westminster Choir College of Rider University. In addition to his responsibilities at Westminster, Miller has been artistic director of choral activities for the renowned Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, since 2007. He has also served as conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra Symphonic Choir since 2016.

“CCM has a distinguished history of choral performance and conductor training, and our alumni occupy leadership positions throughout the world,” said Romanstein. “Joe Miller has worked with the world’s leading ensembles, conductors and artists and I am proud to welcome him back to CCM as a colleague. Joe has a firm grasp of the immense opportunities available to 21st century artists and he will serve as a worthy successor to our illustrious colleague Professor Earl Rivers, who retires this spring after a nearly 50-year tenure at CCM.”

“As an alumnus, I owe much to this great institution,” said Miller. “My education at CCM has provided deep roots that have enabled me to grow a diverse and wide-reaching career, and I am honored to help lead the next chapter of this fine institution. I am excited to partner with my new CCM colleagues to find new ways to connect the dots between our ever-changing technology-minded world and our need for shared human experiences.”

Miller’s appointment concludes a national search that began when Earl Rivers, CCM’s long-time director of choral studies, announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2019-20 academic year. “I am grateful to our search committee chair Mark Gibson and committee members L. Brett Scott, Gwendolyn Coleman, Robyn Lana, Marie-France Lefebvreand Daniel Weeks for their work finding CCM’s next great ensembles and conducting professor,” said Romanstein.

About Joe Miller

Miller’s recent seasons leading the Westminster Choir have included concert tours in Beijing, China and in Spain, as well as participation in the World Symposium on Choral Music in Barcelona and groundbreaking performances of Julia Wolfe’s Pulitzer Prize winning Anthracite Fields at the historic Roebling WireWorks as part of Westminster’s Transforming Space project.

After viewing a staged performance of Joby Talbot’s demanding Path of Miracles at the 2019 Spoleto Festival USA, D.C. Theatre Scene wrote, “Joe Miller is a fearless artist. His bold leadership and trust in these young singers enabled his choristers to forego the ‘stand and deliver,’ score-bound habits of their genre and ‘walk with him’ on this special journey. Not only did the singers need to memorize their parts, no mean feat, but follow his baton’s bid from any part of the auditorium and sing in any body position. Miller constantly challenged them in the process and inspired them to work confidently, well outside their comfort zone.”

The New York Times described the Westminster Choir’s 2014 Festival performance of John Adams’ El Niño as “superb” and wrote, “Meticulously prepared … the chorus was remarkable for its precision, unanimity and power.” The Wall Street Journal praised the same performance, crediting “the fine Westminster Choir and the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra, under the direction of Joe Miller.” The Post and Courier wrote about their performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, “This was an evening of near-flawless execution and many moments of ravishing beauty and power. It will go down as a highlight (maybe even THE highlight) of this year’s festival, and, I think, as the work with which Joe Miller established his credentials to lead an extended choral/orchestral masterwork, not just recreating Bach’s music but also putting his own interpretive stamp on the whole.”

Miller has made four recordings with the Westminster Choir. American Record Guide wrote about the choir’s newest CD, Frank Martin: Mass for Double Choir, “This is gorgeous singing … with perfect blend, intonation, diction, ensemble and musicality.” The Heart’s Reflection: Music of Daniel Elder was hailed by Minnesota Public Radio’s Classical Notes as “simply astounding.”  Miller’s debut recording with the ensemble, Flower of Beauty, received four stars from Choir & Organ magazine and earned critical praise from American Record Guide, which described the Westminster Choir as “the gold standard for academic choirs in America.”

As conductor of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, Miller has collaborated with some of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, earning him critical praise. The New York Timeswrote about Symphonic Choir’s performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Cleveland Orchestra, “Joe Miller’s Westminster Symphonic Choir was subtle when asked and powerful when turned loose.” Recent seasons have included performances with the Philharmoniker Berliner and Sir Simon Rattle; The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin; and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and Gustavo Dudamel.

Prior to his time at Westminster Choir College, Miller served on the faculty of Western Michigan University, California State University and Whitman College. He is the 2016 recipient of the Maynard Klein Award for Distinguished Service to Choral Music, which is presented by ACDA-Michigan in recognition of artistic excellence and a lifetime of leadership in the field of choral music.

Miller received his DMA in Choral Conducting with a cognate in Voice from CCM in 1997. He received his MM in Choral Conducting from CCM in 1992. In 1987, he graduated cum laude from the University of Tennessee with a BS in Music Education and Voice.

About CCM Choral Studies

Recognized by US News and World Report as one of this country’s leading conducting programs, CCM’s Department of Choral Studies is widely known for its excellence in training conductors for successful, lifelong careers in the choral arts.

CCM’s Master of Music and Doctor of Music Arts programs provide professional-level experiences in rehearsals and performances, developing musicianship and technique, and acquiring knowledge of styles, performance practices and repertoire.

MM and DMA graduates of CCM’s Choral Studies programs are conducting and administrating highly successful professional, collegiate, symphonic, secondary, children’s and church choir programs throughout the world.

For more information about CCM, please visit us online at ccm.uc.edu.

CCM Announces the Winners of Its 2020 Opera Scholarship Competition

NOTE: Winners List Updated on April 15, 2020

Twenty-six current and incoming students competed for five coveted full-tuition scholarships and $65,500 in additional awards during the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s 2020 Opera Scholarship Competition.

Since its inauguration in 1976, this annual competition welcomes current and incoming CCM voice students to compete for scholarships and cash prizes. A panel of judges composed of opera industry professionals selects each year’s class of prizewinners.

Six students won awards in this year’s competition, which was conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To maintain social distancing, each participating singer was asked to select two arias. Each singers’ assigned pianist then recorded a piano reduction of the chosen arias and provided audio files, which served as virtual accompaniment for the competing vocalists.

Singers were required to record their performance on their smart phones and submit their recordings back to CCM. These recordings were then shared with the competition’s panel of distinguished judges.

The Winners of CCM’s 2020 Opera Scholarship Competition

Michael Pandolfo, baritone, first-year Master of Music student from Fort Worth, Texas; studying at CCM with William McGraw
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the Corbett Award ($15,000)
The Corbett Award is supported by the Corbett Foundation in cooperation with CCM.

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Teresa Perrotta, soprano, first-year Artist Diploma student from Orlando, Florida; studying at CCM with Gwendolyn Coleman
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the Italo Tajo Memorial Award ($15,000)
This award is supported by the Italo Tajo Memorial Scholarship Fund (established by Mr. Tajo’s wife Inelda Tajo) in cooperation with CCM.

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Amber Monroe, soprano, first-year Artist Diploma student from Youngstown, Ohio; studying at CCM with William McGraw
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the Andrew White Memorial Award ($12,500)
This award is supported by the Andrew White Memorial Scholarship Fund in cooperation with CCM.

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Brittany Logan, soprano, second-year Master of Music student and incoming Artist Diploma student from Garden Grove, California; studying at CCM with Gwendolyn Coleman
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the Seybold-Russell Award ($10,000)
This award is supported by the Seybold-Russell Scholarship Fund in cooperation with CCM.

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Amanda Olea, soprano, first-year Doctor of Musical Arts student from Mexico City, Mexico; studying at CCM with Gwendolyn Coleman
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the John Alexander Memorial Award ($10,000)
This award is supported by the John Alexander Memorial Scholarship Fund in cooperation with CCM.

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Christina Hazen, mezzo-soprano, second-year Master of Music student from Loveland, Colorado; studying at CCM with Gwendolyn Coleman
Prize: Norman Treigle Award ($3,000)
This award is supported by the Norman Treigle Opera Scholarship Competition Award Fund in cooperation with CCM.

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The judges panel for CCM’s 2020 Opera Scholarship Competition included:

• Evans Mirageas, the Harry T. Wilks Artistic Director of Cincinnati Opera
• Peggy Kriha Dye, general director and CEO of Opera Columbus
• Amanda Woodbury, an award-winning soprano and CCM alumna (MM Voice, ’12)

About CCM Opera

The Department of Opera at CCM boasts one of the most comprehensive training programs for opera singers, coaches and directors in the United States. Students at CCM work with some of the most renowned teachers and artists active in opera today.

CCM students frequently advance to the final rounds of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, which is widely considered to be the nation’s most prestigious vocal competition. In 2019, soprano Elena Villalón (BM Voice, ’19) was named a Grand Finals Winner at the competition while she was still finishing her undergraduate degree at CCM. CCM’s other recent Grand Finals Winners include Jessica Faselt (MM Voice, ’16) in 2018, Amanda Woodbury (MM Voice, ’12) and Yi Li (AD Opera, ’13) in 2014 and Thomas Richards (MM Voice, ’13) in 2013. At least two CCM singers advanced to the Upper Midwest Regional Auditions in this year’s Met National Council Auditions: artist diploma students Amber Monroe and Teresa Perrotta.

CCM singers also recently won awards in other prestigious national competitions. Jessica Faselt won a $10,000 award and Alisa Jordheim (DMA Voice, ’15; MM Voice,’ 10) won a $1,000 Encouragement award at the 2020 George London Foundation Awards Competition for young American and Canadian opera singers. Jasmine Habersham (AD Opera, 2015; MM Voice, 2013) won the silver medal in the 2020 American Traditions Vocal Competition. Edward Nelson (BM Voice, 2011; MM Voice, 2013) won first prize at the 2020 Glyndebourne Opera Cup. Perrotta also advanced to the finals of the 2020 Lotte Lenya Competition.

In addition, CCM Opera productions have received some of the National Opera Association Production Competition’s highest honors throughout the years, taking home six of the 18 non-professional prizes awarded in 2010 and four prizes in 2011.

CCM Opera graduates have performed on the stages of the world’s greatest opera companies, including Cincinnati Opera, Metropolitan Opera (New York), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Royal Opera (London), La Scala (Italy) and more.

CCM Opera is also part of Opera Fusion: New Works, a dynamic partnership with Cincinnati Opera that offers composer/librettist teams the opportunity to workshop an opera during a 10-day residency in Cincinnati.

Created in 2011 to foster the development of new American operas and generously funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Opera Fusion: New Works has grown into a nationally recognized collaboration which is not only advancing the repertoire, but also serving as an inspiring example of a successful joint venture between an educational institution and a professional performing arts organization.

For more information about CCM, please visit us online at ccm.uc.edu.

Enjoy a Classic Jazz Performance from CCM’s Video Archives

Although the theaters and concert halls at the University of Cincinnati’s nationally ranked and internationally renowned College-Conservatory of Music are temporarily silent, audiences can still experience world-class performances through CCM’s new CCMONSTAGE Online video series. This week’s release features a classic jazz performance from CCM’s video archives.

On May 22, 2011, the CCM Jazz Ensemble was joined by Grammy Award-nominee, National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master and Kennedy Center “Living Legend of Jazz” Gerald Wilson (1918-2014) for an unforgettable evening of big band music. The concert also featured the talents of Mary Ellen Tanner (1946-2014), a renowned jazz vocalist who taught at CCM for many years.

An acclaimed composer, arranger and band leader of modern jazz who was in his 92nd year at the time of this recording, Wilson’s talent was legendary among jazz insiders. His classic compositions include “Blues for Count Basie” written for Basie while Wilson was in his band and “Blues for Yna Yna,” which was the second jazz waltz ever written.

“Gerald Wilson is a living legend and a part of the golden age of the big band as a writer, arranger and trumpet player,” CCM Professor and Jazz department head Scott Belck commented in 2011, adding that Wilson was also “one of the most interesting cats you will ever meet.” Wilson passed away in Los Angeles in September 2014.

Wilson’s groundbreaking compositions, intricate arrangements and immediately recognizable sound put him in a league of his own. In his prolific seven-decade career as composer and arranger, Wilson was behind some of the greatest names in jazz, including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Carter, Nancy Wilson and Bobby Darin. Beyond his jazz accomplishments, Wilson’s symphonic compositions were performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta. He even scored a top 40 pop hit with El Chicano’s 1970 version of his “Viva Tirado,” a song that has been recorded in at least 18 different versions, including a hip-hop rendition by Latino rapper Kid Frost.

This concert was originally streamed online with support provided by the Corbett Endowment for CCM and the Franklin L. Folger Trust. The performance was later broadcast on CET Cincinnati Public Television.

Receive updates on future CCMONSTAGE Online performances by subscribing to our mailing list at https://ccm.uc.edu/subscribe

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Featured image at top: The CCM Jazz Ensemble in a March 2012 rehearsal. Photo/Dottie Stover/UC Creative Services.

Coronavirus COVID-19 Update

Although there have been no documented cases of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus within our campus community, the University of Cincinnati is making needed preparations to be able to quickly respond if COVID-19 is detected.

Based on the latest updates from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and following the University of Cincinnati’s updated public health practices, all CCM public performances scheduled March 12 through May 31, 2020, have been canceled or rescheduled.

As of March 17, 2020, all student recitals are also canceled until further notice.

Any ticket purchaser affected by a paid performance cancellation can contact the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183 to request a refund.

This is an extremely fluid situation and guidelines are subject to change. Additional updates regarding CCM performances will be published at ccm.uc.edu and ccmonstage.universitytickets.com as they become available. General information updates and resources can be accessed at uc.edu/publichealth.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. The health and safety of our students, faculty, staff, patrons and communities remain our highest priority. Please do not hesitate to reach out to the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183 if you have any additional questions or concerns. Please note that CCM’s Box Office will be closed due to UC’s Spring Break from March 15-22, 2020. We are grateful for your ongoing support and look forward to seeing you at a CCM performance in the near future.

CCM Announces Michael Mergen as New Associate Professor of Trumpet

CCM Dean Stanley E. Romanstein has announced the addition of acclaimed trumpeter/cornetist Michael Mergen to the college’s roster of distinguished performance faculty members. Mergen’s appointment as Associate Professor of Trumpet begins on Aug. 15, 2020.

Known for his strong and beautiful sound, Mergen is currently a member of the trumpet/cornet section of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. He also performs with the Blossom Festival Band in Ohio and is a founding member of Valor Brass. In addition, Mergen has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., the Washington Symphonic Brass, the Singapore Symphony in the Republic of Singapore, the Harrisburg Symphony in Pennsylvania and the Choral Arts Society of Washington. He was a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts, and attended the Aspen Music Festival. He has worked with conductors Seiji Ozawa, Leonard Slatkin, Osmo Vanska, John Williams and Bramwell Tovey.

Dedicated to education, Mergen currently serves as guest artist and applied faculty at the Penn State Honors Music Institute teaching trumpet. In addition, he has given numerous master classes at world-class institutions including The Juilliard School, University of Michigan, Eastman School of Music, University of Illinois and many others. He has brought his passion for music education to middle and high schools in the Washington D.C. area as part of the Marine Band’s “Music in the Schools Initiative,” formulating a rich program for brass quintets, which he has led in numerous performances. Mergen also maintains a studio of private trumpet students.

As an active soloist, Mergen’s solo performances include numerous appearances with the “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band and most recently with the Allentown Band, which was televised in Pennsylvania. He sounded Taps for the White House moment of silence in observance of 9/11 in 2018 and 2019 as well as the 2017 nationally televised Memorial Day Concert at the US Capitol. He also co-commissioned Hanging by a Thread, a four-movement work for solo trumpet and solo tuba with wind ensemble by James Stephenson and with his brother Paul gave the U.S. premiere with the DePauw University Concert Band in 2018. Recordings of his solo performances can be heard on both the “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band YouTube channel and website. Additional non-solo recordings include numerous volumes of the U.S. Marine Band’s annual recording as well as the Valor Brass recording Inaugural.

Mergen began his musical journey at age nine. His early studies included The Juilliard School Pre-College and the Kinhaven Music School summer program. He received his Bachelor in Music degree in both Trumpet Performance and Music Education from the University of Michigan, his Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance from Eastman School of Music, and he completed the Doctor of Music Arts degree in Performance from The Catholic University of America in 2008. He is honored to have studied with Charles Daval, Charles Geyer and the late Armando Ghitalla.

A lifelong learner, when not performing or teaching, Mergen further channels his passion for music into creating arrangements for brass quintet and trumpet ensemble, and exploring the history of the trumpet and cornet.

“Michael Mergen is a superb addition to our faculty and a wonderful successor to our distinguished colleague Professor Alan Siebert, who retires this spring after a nearly 30-year tenure at CCM,” said Romanstein. “Michael’s expertise as both an international performing artist and an accomplished educator will help us continue to prepare future generations of students for positions on the world stage. I am grateful to Trumpet Search Committee Chair Scott Belck and committee members Sandra Rivers, Denise Tryon, Timothy Anderson and Timothy Northcut for their work finding CCM’s next great trumpet professor.”

Please join us in welcoming Professor Mergen to the CCM family!

About CCM

Nationally ranked and internationally renowned, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is a preeminent institution for the performing and media arts. The school’s educational roots date back to 1867, and a solid, visionary instruction has been at its core since that time.

CCM offers nine degree types (BA, BM, BFA, MFA, MM, MA, AD, DMA, PhD) in nearly 120 possible majors. The synergy created by housing CCM within a comprehensive public university gives the college its unique character and defines its objective: to educate and inspire the whole artist and scholar for positions on the world stage.

CCM’s world-class facilities provide a highly creative and multidisciplinary artistic environment. In 2017, the college completed a $15-million renovation of its major performance spaces, ensuring that CCM’s facilities remain state-of-the-art.

The school’s roster of eminent faculty regularly receives distinguished honors for creative and scholarly work, and its alumni have achieved notable success in the performing and media arts.

For more information about CCM, please visit us online at ccm.uc.edu.

CCM’s Music Theory and Musicology Society Hosts Student Conference April 3-4, 2020

CCM’s Music Theory and Musicology Society (MTMS) hosts its eighth biennial student conference on April 3 and 4, 2020.

Entitled “Conversations in Music,” the conference is designed to engage both UC students and students from other institutions in the broad field of music scholarship.

The conference features keynote speakers Danuta Mirka (Northwestern University) and Daniel Goldmark (Case Western Reserve University). It will be held in conjunction with the long running Joseph and Frances Jones Poetker Thinking About Music Lecture Series at CCM.

This year’s conference will also include a workshop led by ethnomusicologist and CCM faculty member Scott Linford, PhD, inviting conference participants to engage in an interactive analysis of conversations among musical cultures.

Interested in attending? Register for the conference online. Please e­mail all inquiries to MTMS Executive Board Members Bryce Newcomer and Carly Barnes at ccm.mtms@gmail.com.

About MTMS
CCM’s Music Theory and Musicology Society engages all interested members of the UC community to discuss issues relating to music theory and musicology. The MTMS regularly maintains forums for the purpose of discussing theoretical, historical and cultural topics in music. Past MTMS Conference programs are available online.