Student-Created Documentary ‘The Fifth Mode’ Airs on Cincinnati’s CET Tonight

In early 2017, a team of UC Engineering students — one of only 27 teams to make the cut — participated in Elon Musk’s SpaceX Hyperloop Competition in Hawthorne, California. CCM E-Media students in UC’s Production Master Class captured their work in a new documentary The Fifth Mode, which airs at 10 p.m. tonight, June 26, 2019, on Cincinnati’s PBS station, CET.

The UC Hyperloop team featured in “The Fifth Mode.”

The concept of the Hyperloop is similar to the pneumatic tubes used at drive-through banks and pharmacies, although these trains will only travel horizontally. Passengers will occupy a car that travels through an enclosed tube, hovering inside of it due to magnetic repulsion. Theoretically, this train could travel at speeds upwards of 700 miles per hour, reducing a commute between Cincinnati and New York to under an hour, and doing so significantly more cheaply than current airfare prices. The Hyperloop competition encourages young engineers and designers to attempt to create this train system. To read more about the Hyperloop competition and UC’s participation, check out this UC Magazine article.

The 30-minute documentary about UC’s journey to the competition was created by CCM E-Media students in the Production Master Class, supervised by CCM professor and E-Media division head Kevin Burke and Emmy Award-winning producer Brian Leitten (BFA E-Media, 2001).

E-Media students filming “The Fifth Mode.” Left to Right: Kelsey Keiser, Laura Walters, Ben Vanden Eynden and Matt Harris.

Twenty-five students worked as editors, producers, music supervisors, audio mixers and graphic designers to create The Fifth Mode, including student producer Laura Walters, as well as Nate Carpenter, David Carrero, Jesse Circelli, La’nice Davis, Jason Gerz, Matt Harris, Kelsey Keiser, Nile Ross, Tanner Segbers, Max Vanden Eynden, Ben Vanden Eynden, Mitch Webb (who was also part of the Hyperloop team) and Becca Wheelen. All of these students completed their bachelor’s degrees in E-Media at CCM in Spring 2018.

UC’s Production Master Class is an experience-based learning initiative that provides students with the opportunity to work alongside faculty and professionals on film and TV productions designed for regional, national and international distribution. Since its inception in 2012, the class has completed five documentaries, which have all aired on television in the US, Canada, Italy, France and Russia and have appeared in film festivals on five continents. In April 2019, The Fifth Mode enjoyed a screening at the Canton Film Festival.

The Fifth Mode will air at 10 p.m. on Wednesday, June 26, as well as 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 30 and 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 17. Visit the CET website for more information.

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Story by CCM Graduate Student Alexandra Doyle

CCM Jazz Studies Named Inaugural College Affiliate of the Acclaimed Jazz at Lincoln Center

When the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis (JALCO) embarks on its next international residency, the world-renowned big band will be accompanied by nearly two dozen CCM students and faculty members.

CCM’s Department of Jazz Studies has been named Jazz at Lincoln Center‘s inaugural College Affiliate, a distinction reserved for the country’s top-ranked jazz programs. Led by Grammy Award-winning trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis, the JALCO will invite a premier student ensemble on tour for educational residencies through this new program.

Left to right: Scott Belck, Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Romanstein.

For the initial installment of this program, the CCM Jazz Orchestra directed by Professor Scott Belck, DMA, will join Marsalis and the JALCO for an international residency in São Paulo, Brazil, from June 22-30. The residency will provide participants with an unprecedented level of real-world performance and teaching experience in an international setting.

Nine undergraduate and 10 graduate students will participate in the trip, alongside Belck and fellow CCM faculty members Craig Bailey, Steve Allee and Kimothy Pensyl. During the intensive week-long program, CCM’s students and faculty will work with JALCO members, perform in São Paulo schools, perform at the US Consulate and serve as the opening band on a number of JALCO concerts at venues around the city.

“We want our students and faculty to be part of a global network of alumni and artists — to experience other cultures, other languages and other ways of looking at and creating art,” says CCM Dean Stanley E. Romanstein, PhD. “CCM is cultivating these opportunities so we can provide students with more hands-on learning experiences that prepare them to take the next steps in their lives and careers.”

Wynton Marsalis performs with CCM students during a visit to UC’s campus in the fall of 2008. Photo/UC Creative Services.

Throughout this landmark residency, the JALCO and CCM Jazz Orchestra will appear in performances, a Jazz for Young People concert, clinics, and workshops in performance halls and schools throughout São Paulo. The two orchestras will also demonstrate jazz’s rich history of collaboration by performing with Brazilian musicians and exploring the melding of Afro-Latin influences with improvisation and jazz harmony.

Education is central to JALC’s mission and its official College Affiliate ensembles will take part in education activities, master classes and performances throughout the selected residencies. Following a parallel schedule with the JALCO, the college affiliate ensemble will perform in educational and public performances. The program will culminate with the ensemble opening for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in concert.

The CCM students participating in this exciting international opportunity include:

• Christopher Glenn Andrews: graduate student from Columbia, SC
• Justin Daniel Dawson: undergraduate from Dayton, OH
• Thomas Hayden Floro: undergraduate from Dayton, OH
• Timothy Francis Fogarty: graduate from East Setauket, NY
• Hector John Gagnet: undergraduate from Dayton, OH
• Robert Conwell Gooch: undergraduate from Dublin, OH
• Wade Andrew Goodwin: graduate student from Greensburg, IN
• Zachary Robert Granger: graduate student from West Chester, OH
• Carly Elizabeth Hood: graduate student from Edgewood, KY
• Marcelo Invernizzi da Silveira: graduate student from Campinas, Brazil
• Simon Richard Carol Jansen: undergraduate from Cincinnati, OH
• Ryan Thomas Jones: graduate student from Bremen, KY
• Jacob Matthew Lemons: graduate student from Harlan, IA
• Spencer Merk: undergraduate from Cincinnati, OH
• Christian Joseph Paradiso: undergraduate from Liberty Township, OH
• Mitchell Thomas Parton: undergraduate from Chicago, IL
• John Thomas Phillips, Jr.: undergraduate from Trenton, OH
• Andrew Chapin Walits: graduate student from Valparaiso, IN
• Jonathan Lloyd Wiseman: graduate student from Concord, NC

About Jazz at Lincoln Center

Jazz at Lincoln Center is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, which is part of New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Founded in 1987, its mission is to entertain, enrich and expand a global community for jazz through performance, education and advocacy.

Representing the totality of jazz music, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s mission is carried out through four elements – educational, curatorial, archival, and ceremonial – capturing, in unparalleled scope, the full spectrum of the jazz experience. It produces an annual concert season in Rose Theater and the Appel Room and nightly concerts at Dizzy’s Club, all located in at Frederick P. Rose Hall on the 5th floor of the Time Warner Center in New York City’s Columbus Circle.

Hailed as the “finest big band in the world today” by The Telegraph, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, led by Wynton Marsalis, is made up of 15 of the finest soloists, ensemble players, and arrangers in jazz music today. Learn more by visiting www.jazz.org/about.

About the CCM Jazz Orchestra

The CCM Jazz Orchestra performs under the direction of Professor Scott Belck at the 2016 Moveable Feast gala fundraiser. Photo/UC Creative Services.

The CCM Jazz Orchestra is the CCM’s premier big band. Under the direction of CCM Professor of Jazz Studies Scott Belck, the acclaimed ensemble performs a wide variety of styles including historical swing, bebop, post-bop, fusion, Latin and avant-garde. Special emphasis is placed on the idiom’s great art-music composers such as Thad Jones, Bill Holman and Bob Brookmeyer. The ensemble also focuses on projects like the annual Essentially Ellington Festival sponsored by Jazz at Lincoln Center and on the performance of student arrangements.

Concerts have included historical tributes to Woody Herman and Stan Kenton, as well as composer residency programs featuring artists like Maria Schneider, Jim McNeely, Slide Hampton, Tim Hagans, Kenny Wheeler and many others as guest conductors and performers.

The CCM Jazz Orchestra has been invited to appear at numerous professional festivals and educational conferences, and has been featured on several radio broadcasts. Many internationally recognized artists have performed as soloists with the CCM Jazz Orchestra, including Eddie Daniels, John Fedchock, Frank Foster, Curtis Fuller, Kenny Garrett, Joe Henderson, Ahmad Jamal, Dave Liebman and Joshua Redman.

The CCM Jazz Orchestra’s recent recording projects have included original collaborations with modern creative innovators. In Search of Garaj Mahal is a recording of new original arrangements performed by student and alumni members of the CCM Jazz Orchestra with guitar virtuoso Fareed Haque, which was released on the Harmonized Record label in 2016. That same program was performed live at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in Jazz at Lincoln Center and was also featured as the opening night main stage performance at the Jazz Education Network’s international conference in 2016. Nobody Does it Better: The CCM Jazz Orchestra Does Bond featuring trumpeter, composer and arranger Steven Bernstein was released in 2017 to glowing reviews. Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite will be released later this year.

In 2012, the CCM Jazz Orchestra recorded a live concert performance for public television (An Evening with Gerald Wilson, National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master). This hour-long video special featured the CCM Jazz Orchestra with Wilson conducting, interspersed with commentary and anecdotes by the composer. Stream the entire video on demand below:

About CCM Jazz Studies

Offering both bachelor and master of music degrees, the Jazz Studies program at CCM teaches the fundamentals of classical music, stylistic elements of each historical jazz period, strategies for enhancing originality, techniques of electronic media and today’s cutting-edge trends that defy categorization.

By receiving a wide musical perspective and the command of a broad jazz language, the student is equipped to pursue a future in jazz music. At the same time, this thorough course of study serves as the best preparation for related careers in commercial music. Learn more at ccm.uc.edu/jazz.
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Featured image at top: The CCM Jazz Orchestra performs under the direction of Professor Scott Belck at the 2016 Moveable Feast gala fundraiser. Photo/UC Creative Services.

Hope After Hate: E-Media Professor Shares Father’s Holocaust Survival Story

Moniek’s Legacy captures the journey of a Holocaust survivor with lessons to inspire action against hatred and bigotry.

For decades Holocaust survivors have shared stories about the horrors they experienced during World War II in educational, historical and personal presentations. As the years pass, survivors rely more on their children and grandchildren to recount their narratives and ensure this history is not forgotten.

Hagit Limor and her father, Menachem “Moniek” Limor.

Inspired by her own father’s experience, CCM E-Media Professor Hagit Limor set out to create Moniek’s Legacy, a multimedia tool that captures the journey of a Holocaust survivor with lessons to inspire action against future acts of hatred. With support from the CCM Harmony Fund, Limor and 15 students in her fall 2019 Media Topics class will travel to Poland and Germany in October to work on the project.

“For years, I’ve watched as my father lost the words to a story that only grew in relevance,” says Limor. “Eventually he could no longer share his wisdom with students as he had for decades before. I want to create a mechanism for relating these lessons to outlive not only my father, but his daughter as well.”

WCPO-TV will air a special broadcast about the project titled “Hope After Hate” at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, June 17, 2019.

Moniek’s Legacy will create an immersive virtual reality experience, bringing viewers inside the survival story of Limor’s father through chapters such as Invasion, The Ghetto, Cattle Car Death Train, The Concentration Camp and Liberation. Each chapter will create a platform for civil discussion, challenging participants to consider their actions when confronted with acts of hatred and bigotry. Limor is working with UC’s Center for Simulations and Virtual Environments Research (UCSIM) to create a 360-degree virtual reality experience for Moniek’s Legacy.

Sponsored by the Cincinnati Museum’s Holocaust and Humanity Center, Moniek’s Legacy will serve as an online resource for educators to inspire engaging, civil discussions in classrooms and community groups. Cincinnati’s Jewish Innovation Fund awarded Limor a $25,000 grant to support the project in August 2017, and she has since raised more than $70,000 in additional funding.

The attic where Menachem Limor hid until he was discovered by Nazis during WWII.

CCM’s Harmony Fund awarded a generous grant to offset travel expenses for the 15 students who will participate in the study abroad trip for Moniek’s Legacy. They will travel from Cincinnati to Warsaw, Poland, then to Czestochowa, Poland, and to Frankfurt, Germany, to research and film the project from October 4 to 13, 2019.

The class is open to all UC students. It includes students from CCM’s Acting and E-Media programs as well as students who study history, political science, international affairs, journalism and other disciplines. Each student can teach and learn from their peers, giving them an engaging cross-collegiate experience.

In March, Limor and Jodi Elowitz, Director of Education at the Holocaust and Humanity Center, traveled to Europe on a scouting trip to plan for the study abroad class. They retraced her father’s journey of horror and survival through multiple stops in Poland and Germany. They saw where Limor’s father hid from Nazis in the attic of a Polish ghetto, the Treblinka extermination camp where her grandmother and uncle were murdered and the concentration work camp where her father was taken when he was 12 years old.

Moniek’s Legacy will be filmed on-site at various locations during the study abroad trip. After Limor and the students return to Cincinnati, they will work on editing the footage and putting in the production elements. Limor says that it will most likely take a year to complete Moniek’s Legacy. When the project is completed the Cincinnati Museum’s Holocaust and Humantiy Center will use Moniek’s Legacy in its educational outreach. In the meantime, Limor is working with CCM Acting Professor Susan Felder to write a script for an interactive play about the project.

My personal motivation for this project has to do with my students and son, and the world into which they are growing. There is so much disappointment with some of the hatred and bigotry in media, politics and the world stage right now. This project seeks to fight hatred wherever it exists. It is not political at all. It is about humans caring for other humans.

Tune In: Watch WCPO’s “Hope After Hate” Special

Limor will talk about Moniek’s Legacy in a 30-minute special broadcast on WCPO-TV at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, June 17, 2019. The “Hope After Hate” special will feature Moniek’s Legacy, the study abroad class and the CCM Harmony Fund.

When: 7:30 p.m. on Monday, June 17, 2019

Where: WCPO-TV Channel 9 or download the free WCPO 9 On Your Side mobile app from the Apple Store or Google Play.

About the CCM Harmony Fund

Founded in 2002, the CCM Harmony Fund supports artistic works that fight hate and prejudice through the performing arts by bringing together audiences of different backgrounds around controversial topics and situations with the goal of inspiring meaningful conversations. This special fund was created as both an acknowledgement of the continuing existence of hate and prejudice within our world and, more importantly, the ability of the arts to help us better understand and transcend these emotions. The goal of any Harmony Fund project is to inspire imaginative thinking, encourage conversations, present contrasting attitudes and help us examine our own viewpoints. The Harmony Fund supports the students and faculty at CCM to explore these issues and encourage them to find a voice. Past Harmony Fund-supported performances include The Laramie Project, Tan Dun’s Water Passion After St. Matthew, Dadaab Theatre Project, Sphinx Virtuosi Orchestra, Falsettos and more.

Support the CCM Harmony Fund by giving online

Featured Image: Monument in the Czestochowa Warta train station by Paweł “pbm” Szubert

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and CCM Announce 2019-21 Class of Diversity Fellows

Five outstanding string players have been selected for the next class of the prestigious Diversity Fellowship program.

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) have selected five outstanding musicians for the next class of CSO/CCM Diversity Fellows. Born out of a mutual desire to make American orchestras more inclusive, this prestigious performance fellowship program was launched in 2015 with a generous grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Foundation approved a renewal grant of $850,000 in 2017, providing funding for the innovative program through June 2021.

With this collaborative Fellowship program, CCM and the CSO hope to provide new opportunities for underrepresented musicians, while simultaneously fostering a more inclusive environment in the orchestral industry.

“Reflecting our community and the world around us at every level — on stage, around the office, in the board room, and in neighborhoods throughout the region — is one of our highest priorities,” said CSO President Jonathan Martin. “We welcome the new class of Fellows, look forward to the artistic contributions of the continuing class, and congratulate the Fellows who are now completing the program after two years.”

Here is the incoming class of CSO/CCM Diversity Fellows:
• Magdiell Antequera, 23 (violin)
• Jordan Curry, 24 (violin)
• Cristian J. Diaz, 28 (viola)
• Michael Martin, 24 (double bass)
• Denielle Wilson, 23 (cello)

“The CSO/CCM Diversity Fellowship embodies the University of Cincinnati’s commitment to experience-based learning and community partnerships,” said CCM Dean Stanley E. Romanstein. “Our five newest Fellows possess enormous talent, and we are delighted to welcome them to Cincinnati. Once you have an opportunity to see the Fellows perform, you will understand why we boast that ‘Next Lives Here.’ We are grateful for the ongoing generosity of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, through which CCM and the CSO can continue to work together to make the arts more inclusive.”

These five exceptional string players will officially join the two-year fellowship program in August 2019 bringing the total number of CSO/CCM Diversity Fellows to nine for the 2019-20 academic year and performance season.

The second class of Diversity Fellows, which is comprised of Anita Graef (cello), Ian Saunders (double bass), Weiyi Shao (violin), and Dan Wang (viola) recently completed the program at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season.

“The combination of performing with a major professional orchestra while getting a graduate degree from a top conservatory provides the ideal combination of educational and professional development,” said Yan Izquierdo, who will begin his second year in the CSO/CCM Diversity Fellowship in the fall. “I believe this Fellowship has significantly enriched my career and I highly recommend it to any music student, particularly those seeking opportunities in American orchestras.”

CSO/CCM Diversity Fellow Ian Saunders, CCM Dean Stanley Romanstein and CSO Instructional Programs Manager Carol Dunevant recently stopped by WVXU’s Cincinnati Edition to discuss the fellowship program with host Michael Monks. Listen to the full segment at www.wvxu.org.

How the Fellowship Works

The CSO/CCM Diversity Fellowship Program is open to exceptional violin, viola, cello, and double bass players coming from historically underrepresented populations in classical music.

The program’s tagline — “Bravos Without Barriers” — gets to the heart of its mission: eliminating obstacles that can prevent extraordinary musicians from achieving their full potential.

Fellows perform the equivalent of five weeks per season with the CSO while enrolled in a two-year Master of Music (MM) or Artist Diploma (AD) graduate degree program at CCM. Each class of Fellows is selected through a rigorous series of auditions, which saw hundreds of graduate-level musicians audition for CCM faculty members. Select players were invited back to Cincinnati for a final round of auditions judged by CSO musicians in Springer Auditorium at Cincinnati Music Hall on March 16, 2019.

Each Fellow receives full tuition scholarship support from CCM, in addition to a $10,000 per year graduate stipend and a one-time Graduate School Dean’s Excellence Award of $3,000. Each Fellow also receives compensation of $8,000 per season while performing with the CSO.

Meet the Incoming Fellows

Magdiell Antequera, Master of Music (MM) student, Violin
Venezuelan violinist Magdiell Antequera, 23, made his first debut as a soloist in with the Falcon Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela at the age of 10 and has continued to play as a guest soloist in various orchestras in South America and the United States. His work has been praised by legendary violinists including Midori Goto, Margaret Batjer, and Glenn Dicterow. Antequera has participated in multiple master classes and private lessons with acclaimed professors from a number of conservatories including the Juilliard School, and has won and received recognition from important competitions such as the Solo Competition at the Academia Latinoamericana de Violin (Venezuela), Thursday Musical Competition (Minnesota), Schubert Club Competition (Minnesota), Texas Rising Stars, Rodolfo Lipizer International Violin Competition (Italy), and others.

Antequera attended Shattuck-St. Mary’s School as a member of the Pre-Conservatory Program from 2012–15, where he studied with Sally O´Reilly at the University of Minnesota. In 2015 he was awarded a full scholarship to the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied with Brian Lewis and kept an active solo career.

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Jordan Curry, Artist Diploma (AD) student, Violin
Jordan Curry, 24, resides in West Olive, Michigan. He began playing violin at the age of six using the Suzuki method. A graduate of West Ottawa High School in Holland, Michigan, Curry continued to play violin and study music throughout his formative years.

He has participated in the Illinois Chamber Music Festival at Illinois Wesleyan University, the Michigan All-State Orchestra, and the Holland Area Youth Orchestra. Curry furthered his studies with Korean violinist Young Shin and Mihai Craioveanu, professor of violin at Hope College.

He received his bachelor’s degree in violin performance at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo under the instruction of professor Renata Artman Knific. Curry plays a violin from famed maker Mario Miralles on loan from acclaimed violin soloist Tai Murray. He recently received his master’s in violin performance the University of Denver under Linda Wang.

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Cristian J. Diaz, Master of Music (MM) student, Viola
Cristian Diaz, 28, is a violist from Colombia who holds a bachelor’s degree in violin performance from Colombia’s National University- Conservatory of Music, and a master’s degree in chamber music from Kent State University. His former professors include members of the acclaimed Miami String Quartet, Keith Robinson and Cathy Meng Robinson, and his viola professor Joanna Patterson Zakany, member of the prestigious Cleveland Orchestra.

Diaz has been part of many orchestras across the globe, and was runner up in the Kent State University concerto competition (2017), he was selected to become part of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra Academy 2018 in Dortmund, Germany, winner of the inaugural Diversity Fellowship of the CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, and is also a member of the Efferus String Quartet.

He has attended the XI Cartagena Music Festival (Colombia, 2017), the first and second International Festival of String Quartets (Colombia, 2015 and 2016), III Bogota’s Viola Festival (Colombia, 2015), Santa Catarina Music Festival FEMUSC (Brazil, 2012), and also the Kent Blossom Music Festival (2019). Diaz will begin his master’s degree at CCM in the fall of 2019 where he will study with professor Catharine Lees.

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Michael Martin, Artist Diploma (AD) student, Double Bass
Raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Michael Martin, 24, began his study of the double-bass with local Suzuki pedagogue Domenick Fiore in early high school, after years of playing in school ensembles and teaching himself at home. Quickly finding that he had a deep love of the bass and music, he joined the Philadelphia Sinfonia and Young People’s Philharmonic youth orchestras in the area, and began further studies with Joseph Conyers of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

An alum of Oberlin Conservatory (B. Mus., 2017) and Northwestern University (M. Mus.,2019), Martin studied with renowned bass pedagogues Tracy Rowell (Oberlin Conservatory, CIM Mari Sato Preparatory Program) and Andrew Raciti (Milwaukee Symphony, Northwestern University). Other mentors have included Peter Dominguez (Oberlin Conservatory) and Scott Dixon (the Cleveland Orchestra). In addition to his studies with Rowell and Raciti, Martin spent his summers as an undergraduate studying the method of bass virtuoso Francois Rabbath at the Domaine Forget International Academy in Charlevoix, Quebec. He has also been an Orchestra Fellow at the Emmanuel and Helen Olshan Texas Music Festival Orchestra Institute in Houston, Texas.

Martin plays a modern instrument made especially for him by Christopher Savino, and a bow by acclaimed Canadian bow maker Reid Hudson.

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Denielle Wilson, Master of Music (MM), Cello
Denielle Wilson, 23, is a cellist from Lithonia, Georgia. She currently lives in Evanston, Illinois, plays in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and maintains a studio of private cello students. She completed an undergraduate degree at Northwestern University in 2017, having majored in cello performance and music education. Her musical mentors have included Hans Jørgen Jensen, Joel Dallow, and Nan Kimberling. She has spent summers at the Meadowmount School of Music, Bowdoin Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and School, and the Grant Park Music Festival. She plays in a piano trio with her siblings, and they enjoy sharing classical and religious music with their local community.

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Learn more about the CSO/CCM Diversity Fellowship by visiting ccm.uc.edu/chance2perform.

CCM Alumni in 4 Tony-Nominated Productions

The nominees for the 73^rd Annual Tony Awards have been announced, and the results are in: CCM’s stars shine bright on Broadway! CCM alumni are working on stage and behind-the-scenes in at least four Tony Award-nominated productions.

Sun Hee Kil (MFA Sound Design, 2009) was the associate sound designer for the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre’s production of Choir Boy, which was nominated for Best Play and Best Sound Design of a Play.

Two productions nominated for Best Musical feature CCM alumni. Adam Monley (BFA Musical Theatre, 2000) is a swing in the Marquis Theatre’s production of Tootsie, and the Winter Garden Theatre’s production of Beetlejuice features choreography by Connor Gallagher (BFA Musical Theatre, 2006), as well as performances by Leslie Kritzer (BFA Musical Theatre, 1999) as Delia, Ryan Breslin (BFA Musical Theatre, 2011) as an ensemble member and Sean Montgomery (BFA Musical Theatre, 2007) as a swing.

Kritzer was awarded CCM Musical Theatre’s 2011 Young Alumni Award, and her role in Beetlejuice has also earned her nominations for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical and a Chita Rivera Award for Outstanding Female Dancer in a Broadway Show.

Preston Truman Boyd (BFA Musical Theatre, 2008) and Christine Cornish Smith (BFA Musical Theatre, 2013) are both in the ensemble for Studio 54’s Kiss Me, Kate, which was nominated for Best Revival of a Musical.

This year’s Tony Awards will be hosted by James Corden at 8 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, June 9 on CBS. For more information, visit tonyawards.com.

Are you a CCM alum with news? Stay in touch by sharing your story with us!

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Story by CCM Graduate Student Alexandra Doyle

CCM Grand Uses Arts to Strengthen Bonds Between Grandparents and Children

The University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music Preparatory and Community Engagement (CCM Prep) is thrilled to announce CCM Grand, its first intergenerational arts program for families. Creativity has no age limit in this summer workshop, which runs from July 24-26, 2019.

Alumni grandparents and their grandchildren (ages 8-13) are invited to return to UC for a unique, fun-filled arts experience. This camp is designed to create lasting memories and strengthen the special bond that exists between generations.

CCM Grand offers grandparents the opportunity to spend quality time embedded within a rich and creative learning environment with their grandchildren. Grandparents who previously attended UC can explore and re-familiarize themselves with our inspiring campus, which is among the world’s most beautiful campuses according to Forbes Magazine.

During this camp, attendees will actively participate in engaging arts workshops taught by renowned CCM Prep and collegiate faculty, tour the UC campus and experience life on campus at the newly renovated Marian Spencer Hall. Tuition is $350 per person, which includes all activities, on-campus housing and six meal vouchers for the campus dining hall.

Register for CCM Grand online at: https://bit.ly/2EhxS6m

For more information, call the CCM Prep office at 513-556-2595 or email Amy Dennison at Amy.dennison@uc.edu.

Looking for more summer arts opportunities for your family? CCM Prep offers a variety of music, dance and theatre arts programs for youth, teens and adults. Learn more about CCM Prep’s Summer 2019 offerings.

Emmy Award-Winning Producer Donald Hancock is Named Assistant Professor of Film and Television Production at CCM

CCM Dean Stanley E. Romanstein has announced the appointment of Donald Hancock to the position of Assistant Professor of Film and Television Production in CCM’s Division of E-Media. Hancock joined CCM’s faculty as an adjunct in 2012. His new appointment will begin on Aug. 15, 2019.

Hancock is an Emmy Award-winning producer, professor and an active member of the media community. He has an MA in Film and Television from Savannah College of Art and Design and a BFA in E-Media from CCM. Hancock currently works as a producer at CET, Cincinnati’s PBS Member Station. He has produced “The Art Show,” CET’s weekly art magazine program, since 2013. He also produces content for a variety of partners with CET, including ArtsWave and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Hancock won a Regional Emmy Award for “Cincinnati’s Music Hall: The Next Movement,” a 60-minute documentary that he co-wrote, produced and shot. The documentary details the historic $150 million renovation of Cincinnati’s National Historic Landmark. Watch a promotional spot for the documentary below.

In 2013, Hancock was chosen as one of 25 producers from around the country to participate in the PBS/CPB Producer’s Academy, whose goal is to engage a talented pool of diverse producers in public broadcasting. Hancock has also partnered with WGBH and PBS to produce content around national programming including “Finding Your Roots,” “American Experience” and “Downton Abbey.”

For the past seven years, Hancock has been an adjunct professor at CCM, teaching Digital Video and Integrated Media Production courses to sophomore and junior-level students. In his spare time, he serves on the Executive Board for the UC Center for Film and Media Studies, as well as the community advisory board at Elementz Urban Arts Center. He is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, a member of the Broadcast Education Association and volunteers as a Big Brother in the Big Brother Big Sisters Program.

Dean Romanstein thanked search committee members Kevin Burke (chair), Peter DePietro, John Hebbeler, Tondra Holt and Hagit Limor for their work on finding CCM’s new Assistant Professor of Film and Television Production.

Please join us in congratulating Donald Hancock on his new appointment!