CCM Partners with Cincinnati’s Freestore Foodbank on New Concert Series

Student and faculty performers will use their artistry to fight hunger through a new concert series at CCM. Working in collaboration with the Music for Food national hunger relief initiative, these chamber music concerts benefit Cincinnati’s Freestore Foodbank.

CCM’s Music for Food concert series commences at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 28, with a program of works by Bach, Brahms, Mahler and Mozart performed by CCM’s string quartet-in-residence, the Ariel Quartet, along with faculty artist Lydia Brown and graduate student Andrew Manea. The series continues at 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 3.

Both performances take place in Room 300 of CCM’s Dieterle Vocal Arts Center, an intimate space that provides the perfect setting for an afternoon of chamber music.

In lieu of paid admission, concert attendees are asked to provide non-perishable food items or a cash donation. All proceeds benefit the Freestore Foodbank.

CCM’s Music for Food concert series is coordinated by the members of the Ariel Quartet, along with Associate Professor of Opera Lydia Brown and Associate Professor of Voice Gwen Coleman Detwiler.

About Cincinnati’s Freestore Foodbank
The Freestore Foodbank is the largest emergency food and services provider to children and families in Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana. The organization distributes 20 million meals annually to low-income individuals and families. The Freestore Foodbank supports more than 250 community partners in 20 counties throughout Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, including food kitchens, homeless shelters, emergency food pantries and social service centers.

By providing emergency food distribution, the Freestore Foodbank responds to the issue of poverty and food insecurity in our community and provides an array of services (emergency clothing, housing services, SNAP assistance, Medicaid outreach and others) aimed at creating self-reliance. The Freestore Foodbank is a member of Feeding America and United Way.

The Freestore Foodbank is an independent nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more by visiting www.freestorefoodbank.org.

About Music for Food
Music for Food is a musician-led initiative for local hunger relief. The organization’s concerts raise resources and awareness in the fight against hunger, empowering all musicians who wish to use their artistry to further social justice.

Now in its sixth season, Music for Food has created over 250,000 meals through donations made at concerts on behalf of more than a dozen hunger-relief organizations. Started in Boston, Music for Food now has chapters in nine US cities. More than 100 artists and ensembles have performed for Music for Food worldwide.

Music for Food is a federally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization registered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Learn more by visiting www.musicforfoodboston.org.

Concert Repertoire for Feb. 28
BACH: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 – Jan Grüning, viola
MOZART: Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, K. 493 – Gershon Gerchikov, violin; Jan Grüning, viola; Amit Even-Tov, cello; Lydia Brown, piano
MAHLER: Selections from Rückert-Lieder – Andre Manea, baritone; Lydia Brown, piano
BRAHMS: String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 51, No. 2 – Ariel Quartet

Performance Time
4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28

Location
Room 300, Dieterle Vocal Arts Center
CCM Village, University of Cincinnati

Admission
Non-perishable food items or a donation to the Freestore Foodbank. Suggested donation: $20 general, $15 students.

Parking and Directions
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the campus of the University of Cincinnati. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.

For detailed maps and directions, please visit uc.edu/visitors. Additional parking is available off-campus at the new U Square complex on Calhoun Street and other neighboring lots.

For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.

CCM Announces Initial Concert Schedule for 2014-15

CCM is pleased to announce initial details on its 2014-15 Concert Series. From J.S. Bach and W.A. Mozart to Leonard Bernstein and Ray Charles, CCM’s student ensembles, faculty artists and guest performers will traverse the breadth and depth of the performing arts in this dynamic series of events.

Encompassing over 50 different concerts, this series begins with a performance by the internationally acclaimed Ariel Quartet with legendary guest artist Menahem Pressler on Sept. 9, 2014, and concludes with a number of performances by CCM’s Preparatory Department running May 1 – 9, 2015.

Other highlights of CCM’s 2014-15 concert series include:

• a performance of Brahms’ Concerto for Violin and Cello featuring the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s Timothy Lees and Ilya Finkelshteyn,
• choral concerts celebrating the Shakespearean Quadricentennial,
• a Wind Orchestra tribute to Leonard Bernstein,
• a guest artist recital by renowned German countertenor Andreas Scholl,
• a joint faculty artist recital by CCM’s two Naumburg gold medalists Awadagin Pratt and Soyeon Kate Lee,
• a rare stateside performance by the Cambridge-based Academy of Ancient Music,
• jazz concerts celebrating the music of Ray Charles and Duke Ellington,
• a guest artist recital by renowned pianist Stephen Hough co-presented with the Xavier University Classical Piano Series,
• a CCM Ballet Ensemble production of Stravinsky’s Les Noces,
• and much more!

Several perennial favorites are also returning this season, including the Feast of Carols holiday concert, the Steel Drum Band’s annual performance, the 18th PRISM showcase and the 10th installment of PIANOPALOOZA, which celebrates the piano concerti of Rachmaninoff.

Art of the Piano Concert Series Continues Tonight With Awadagin Pratt and Dennis Thurmond Joint Recital

CCM faculty member and World Piano Competition Artistic Director Awadagin Pratt.

CCM’s Art of the Piano summer festival and concert series continues at 7 p.m. this evening with a joint recital featuring Tai Chi of Improvisation author Dennis Thurmond and World Piano Competition Artistic Director (and CCM Artist-in-Residence) Awadagin Pratt.

Thurmond and Pratt’s program promises to be a true blending of genres, as the duo present the world premiere of “VII Structures” for two pianos, bass and percussion, which has influences from Bill Evans to Sergei Prokofiev to Keith Jarrett to Olivier Messiaen.

Pratt also promises that the concert will feature a rousing Fourth of July encore!

CCM Professor Brett Scott Named Director of Cincinnati’s Musica Sacra Chorus

We are happy to report that CCM Assistant Professor of Ensembles and Conducting L. Brett Scott has been appointed as Music Director of Cincinnati’s Musica Sacra Chorus.

Scott was nominated by Dr. Helmut J. Roehrig, who founded Musica Sacra in 1965. Dr. Roehrig will now assume the title and duties of Music Director Emeritus, and will continue to be involved in some decision-making aspects of the Chorus.

Scott has been a faculty member at CCM since 2007. He conducts the CCM Chorale and the Opera D’Arte undergraduate operas, and is also director of Cincinnati Camerata.

He is currently Vice President of the National Collegiate Choral Association, and has conducted, taught and lectured in Canada, Portugal and Cuba as well as throughout the United States. At the recent 2013 Portugal International Choral Festival, he conducted the ESML Chamber Choir to Gold and a first place finish in their category.

CCM Performances and Collaborations Highlighted on Several “Best of 2013” Lists

As we ring in a new year, several local arts writers have released their “year in review” lists for 2013. Rafael de Acha, Mary Ellyn Hutton, Kirk Sheppard, Rick Pender and Janelle Gelfand help us take a look back at the year that was:

In his “best of” roundup for Music for All Seasons, Rafael de Acha commented, “(CCM) consistently achieves professional level in its numerous productions of operas, musicals and concerts which approached the four-digit mark this past year.” Last spring’s original production of Into a Lamplit Room: The Songs of Kurt Weill and the recent concert production of Verdi’s Don Carlos, along with CCM’s Mainstage Series productions of Singin’ in the Rain and Owen Wingrave, all received special mention in de Acha’s review.

Mary Ellyn Hutton presented her top 16 performances for Music in Cincinnati, which included three CCM productions: Verdi’s Don Carlos, Bach’s St. John Passion and Britten’s Owen Wingrave. Of Verdi’s Don Carlos, Hutton commented, “This gets my vote as perhaps the single finest concert of 2013 in Cincinnati.”

Compiled for The Snappy Critic, Kirk Sheppard‘s list of favorite theatre productions of 2013 included last spring’s Mainstage production of The Threepenny Opera and the Studio production of Parade produced in collaboration with the Carnegie in Covington. This past fall’s CCM productions of Carrie and Singin’ in the Rain also made Sheppard’s list.

Rick Pender included two CCM productions in his 2013 round up of theatre in Cincinnati for CityBeat. Last spring’s co-production of Parade with the Carnegie and the recent Mainstage production of Singin’ in the Rain received special attention.

Janelle Gelfand also included CCM’s massive concert production of Don Carlos in her list of “Top 13 Classical Music Shows in 2013” for the Cincinnati Enquirer. In addition to her performance-specific list, she published a summary of “arts highlights” for the year, which included the work of the MYCincinnati after-school program in East Price Hill (learn more about CCM’s connection to the organization here) and the new partnership between Cincinnati’s World Piano Competition, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and CCM.

What were your favorite performances of 2013? What are you looking forward to most in 2014? Get a first look at what’s coming up at CCM in 2014 here!

CCM and Constella Festival Present Bach’s ‘St. John Passion’ This Sunday

The Cincinnati Enquirer has named CCM’s Sunday, Nov. 3, staging of J. S. Bach’s St. John Passion as its “top pick for the weekend!”

According to the preview, “it should be one of the most moving events of the entire fall season.” Tickets are still available for this unique staged performance at Cincinnati’s Christ Church Cathedral.

Learn more about CCM’s production of this cherished Baroque masterwork here.

Recently Retired CCM Professor Roberta Gary Honored with Special Conference

Join us for a celebration of recently retired faculty member Roberta Gary’s career on Oct. 25 and 26, 2013.

CCM helps pay tribute to beloved faculty member Roberta Gary on the occasion of her retirement with a conference entitled “For the Love of Teaching,” running Oct. 25-26 at North Presbyterian Church, Lakeside Presbyterian Church and CCM’s Corbett Center for the Performing Arts.

A full schedule for “For the Love of Teaching” is listed below. The conference will include performances by students, faculty and alumni of CCM, along with guest lectures and master classes. Conference guests include Gregory Crowell, Martha Folts, William Porter, Michael Bauer and Barbara Conable. All events are free and open to the public, save for the 7 p.m. banquet on Friday, Oct. 25.

Please see individual listings below for additional information on the conference’s public events, including pricing information for Friday’s banquet.

About Roberta Gary
A Professor of Organ and Chair of the Department of Keyboard Studies at CCM, Gary retired from UC this August. She had been a member of CCM’s faculty since 1967 and served as Keyboard Studies Division Head from 1989 until her retirement. During that time, she also taught organ, a graduate seminar in organ literature and organ pedagogy.

An alumna of CCM, Gary completed a Bachelor of Music in Piano and a Master of Music in Organ at what was then the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM would merge with the University of Cincinnati in 1962). Gary completed her Doctorate of Musical Arts and Performer’s Certificate in Organ from the Eastman School of Music.

Gary studied piano with Olga Conus and organ with Wayne Fisher, David Craighead, Arthur Poister, Bernard Lagacé, William Porter, Harald Vogel and Edward Parmentier.

CCM Presents a Grand Recreation of a Beloved Bach Masterpiece on Nov. 3

Graduate student Conor McDonald performs the role of Jesus in CCM’s production of J.S. Bach’s ‘St. John Passion,’ presented at Christ Church Cathedral on Nov. 3. Photography by Dottie Stover.

CCM’s Chamber Choir and Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra join forces to perform a unique staged production of Johann Sebastian Bach’s visceral rendering of the St. John Passion as the next installment in CCM’s 2013-14 Prestige Concert Series. The monumental work will be presented at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3, at Christ Church Cathedral under the direction of Earl Rivers, staged by Omer Ben-Seadia, and in conjunction with the Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts.

Bach composed his St. John Passion for the congregations of Leipzig, Germany for Good Friday services in April 1724. The story is narrated by the character of the Evangelist and emphasizes the conflict of Pontius Pilate. “Bach’s interpretation provides us with a dramatic and physiological account,” explains stage director and Artist Diploma directing student Omer Ben-Seadia. “The staging will portray the drama through symbolic elements and light. The text and historical reflection are just as pungent today as ever – and the staging confronts these truths head on.” Ben-Seadia will also direct CCM’s Mainstage Series production of Don Pasquale in April 2014.

“Performances of Bach’s Passions, particularly in light of the attention that Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ received, present an opportunity for Christians and Jews to confront issues of religious intolerance, and the role of the arts and how the arts might, advertently or inadvertently, promote intolerance,” explains conductor and Director of Choral Studies Earl Rivers. “By exploring these issues, we will know the music better and we will know each other better.”

The concert will be performed at the magnificent setting of Christ Church Cathedral, which enjoys a long tradition of great choral music and is hosting the collaboration between CCM’s Chamber Choir and Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra and the Constella Festival for a second year. In 2010, the CCM Chamber Choir and Philharmonia Orchestra presented the 400th Anniversary of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 at the downtown location, and the Cathedral presents a wide variety of performances throughout the year.

CCM alumnus and Joseph and Frances Jones Poetker Visiting Artist Jeffrey Thompson, tenor, will sing the role of the Evangelist. CCM graduate voice majors Conor McDonald and Jeffrey Byrnes, baritones, perform the roles of Jesus and Pilate, respectively. The roles of aria soloists will be sung by CCM graduate voice majors Danielle Adams, soprano; Laurin McAlister, mezzo-soprano; Alec Carlson, tenor; Jonathan Cooper, baritone; and Stefan Egerstrom, bass. Guest Artist Adriana Contino, cellist, plays continuo cello and Michael Unger, Assistant Professor of Harpsichord and Organ, is featured as harpsichordist. Student obbligato soloists include Haoli Lin and Yang Liu, violin; Xue Su and Carol Joe, flute; and Katelyn Kyser and Martha Peck, oboe.

CCM Announces 2013-14 Mainstage Concert Series Schedule

Photography by Dottie Stover.

CCM is pleased to announce initial details on its 2013-14 Mainstage Series of concert performances. Encompassing more than 40 different concerts, this series begins with a production of Verdi’s grand opera Don Carlos on Sept. 22 and concludes with the annual concerto competition-winners concert on April 11.

The internationally acclaimed Ariel Quartet will present a complete tour of Beethoven’s string quartets as part of CCM’s upcoming season, with six concerts scheduled for January, February and March.

CCM’s 2013-14 concert series also features a rare staged performance of Bach’s St. John Passion presented in conjunction with the Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts, a year-long Britten Centennial Celebration, a jazz tribute to the Rolling Stones, a concert dedicated to Richard Wagner’s 200th birthday, a performance of John Adams’ opera-oratorio El Niño and much more.

Several popular concert productions are also returning, including the annual Feast of Carols, Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite featuring CCM’s Jazz Ensembles and Musical Theatre Dancers, the annual PRISM concert and the latest installment of Pianopalooza.

Event Information
All events listed below take place on the campus of the University of Cincinnati unless otherwise indicated. Please see individual event information for single-ticket prices and ordering information.

New subscription and flex ticket packages go on sale Monday, June 17, 2013. Single tickets go on sale beginning Monday, Sept. 9.

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.

ON SALE NOW: Subscription and Flex Ticket Packages For CCM’s 2013-14 Season

CCM presents a “must-see” series of performing arts events in 2013-14. Subscription and flex ticket packages are on sale now!

Subscriptions and flex ticket packages for what the Cincinnati Enquirer has dubbed CCM’s 2013-14 “mega-season” go on sale at 12 noon today!

Featuring over 50 major concerts and theatre arts productions, CCM’s 2013-14 season spans the spectrum of the performing arts.

Learn more about our Mainstage Series of Opera, Musical Theatre, Drama and Dance here.

Learn more about our schedule of Chamber Music, Choral, Jazz, Orchestral, Winds and Special Event Concerts here.

Secure your seats before these must-see performances sell out!

For more information, contact the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183 or boxoff@uc.edu. You can also visit us online at ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice.

Download a copy of our 2013-14 Season-at-a-Glance now!

Stay tuned to this site for more information about the exciting things we have planned for 2013-14!