CCM, Cincinnati Opera Co-host Free Performance of ‘Intimate Apparel’ Nov. 14

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and Cincinnati Opera’s Opera Fusion: New Works program presents a free performance of excerpts from new American opera Intimate Apparel at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, November 14 in the Cincinnati Club’s Oak Room.

‘Intimate Apparel’ composer Ricky Ian Gordon.

Tickets are available now though the Cincinnati Opera box office by calling 513-241-2742 or visiting cincinnatiopera.org.

Opera Fusion: New Works is currently providing a 10-day workshop for Intimate Apparel, which is composed by Ricky Ian Gordon to a libretto by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. The new opera is commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera/Lincoln Center Theater’s New Works Program.

The workshop is directed by Robin Guarino, CCM’s J. Ralph Corbett Distinguished Chair, and conducted by Timothy Myers, the artistic and music director of North Carolina Opera. Paul Cremo, dramaturg and director of opera commissioning programs for the Metropolitan Opera, will be the dramaturg for the workshop.

‘Intimate Apparel’ playwright, Lynn Nottage.

Adapted by Nottage from her prize-winning 2003 play of the same name, Intimate Apparel tells the story of Esther, a 35-year-old seamstress in 1905 New York City. Esther sews lingerie for a living, interacting with a wealthy Fifth Avenue wife, a Tenderloin prostitute, and a Jewish fabric merchant on the Lower East Side, with whom she shares a closeness that cannot be pursued further because of his religion. Esther embarks on a letter-writing relationship with a Panama Canal laborer, leading to marriage and ultimately heartbreak, but she maintains her strength of character and determination to make a better life for herself.

Learn more about Intimate Apparel at cincinnatiopera.org.

About Opera Fusion: New Works
Funded by a generous grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Opera Fusion: New Works is a groundbreaking joint program of Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music created in 2011 to foster the development of new American operas. The program offers composers or composer/librettist teams the opportunity to workshop an opera during a 10-day residency in Cincinnati, utilizing the talent, personnel and facilities of both organizations. The workshops are cast with a combination of CCM students and professional artists, and each workshop concludes with a public performance. The program is led by co-artistic directors Marcus Küchle, Director of Artistic Operations of Cincinnati Opera, and Robin Guarino, the J. Ralph Corbett Distinguished Chair of Opera at CCM. In 2015, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation renewed the program’s funding, allowing for a second cycle of six workshops over three years.

In 2011, Opera Fusion: New Works awarded its first workshop to composer Douglas J. Cuomo and librettist John Patrick Shanley in support of their new opera Doubt, which premiered at Minnesota Opera in January 2013. In 2012, Opera Fusion: New Works provided workshops for Champion, by composer Terence Blanchard and librettist Michael Cristofer, which premiered at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in June 2013; and Morning Star, by composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist William M. Hoffman, which premiered at Cincinnati Opera in June 2015. In 2013, the residency went to Fellow Travelers, by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Greg Pierce, which premiered at Cincinnati Opera in June 2016. In 2014, the program invited composer Jake Heggie and librettist Terrence McNally to workshop Great Scott, which premiered at the Dallas Opera in October 2015. For the final workshop of the original six-workshop grant, the residency was awarded to Meet John Doe, with music and libretto by the late Daniel Catán. The first workshop of the second grant cycle was given in October 2015 to Shalimar the Clown, by composer Jack Perla and librettist Rajiv Joseph, which premiered at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in June 2016.

Most recently Opera Fusion: New Works presented excerpts from new American opera Some Light Emerges on September 22, 2016. Composed by Laura Kaminsky to a libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed, Some Light Emerges was originally inspired by the creation of Houston’s iconic Rothko Chapel by philanthropist and art collector Dominique de Menil.

Opera Fusion: New Works Lab Presents
Intimate Apparel
Composed by Ricky Ian Gordon
Libretto by Lynn Nottage
Co-artistic Directors Robin Guarino and Marcus Küchle
Robin Guarino, director
Paul Cremo, Dramaturg
Timothy Meyers, conductor

Performance Time
7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14

Location
The Cincinnati Club’s Oak Room
30 Garfield Place, Cincinnati OH 45202

Reserving Tickets
Admission to Intimate Apparel is free, but reservations are required. Please contact the Cincinnati Opera box office for tickets by calling 513-241-2742 or visiting cincinnatiopera.org.
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CCM Season Presenting Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Opera Department Sponsor: Mr. & Mrs. Edward S. Rosenthal

Opera Production Sponsor: Genevieve Smith

Freshmen Acting Students find Bill Clinton during CCM Scavenger Hunt

Bill Clinton’s surprise visit to Graeter’s Ice Cream shop will likely leave a lasting impression on a few CCM Acting students who found him during an annual scavenger hunt Monday afternoon.

Each year, CCM “Acting I” students are sent on a Labor Day weekend scavenger hunt to explore Cincinnati staples such as Findlay Market, Washington Park and Fountain Square. The student teams will create original theatrical compositions to present to the rest of the class based on their scavenger hunt experiences this week.

“Our students come to Cincinnati from across the U.S., and, rather than sitting in their dorms on their first holiday weekend, I want them to conquer Cincinnati together and learn that it is a place in which to play,” said CCM Professor of Acting Richard Hess. “A student who immerses herself in our city learns that artists must draw from the life that surrounds us.”

This year, students found an unexpected surprise and completed an unassigned stop on their scavenger hunt: Find a former U.S. President.

CCM Acting students Paige Lindsay Jordan and Matt Fox with former president Bill Clinton.

Freshmen Acting students Paige Lindsay Jordan, Nick King, Will Clark and Matt Fox found former U.S. President Bill Clinton at Graeter’s Ice Cream shop while he was in Cincinnati to support his wife Hillary Clinton’s local presidential campaign efforts.

Hess said the encounter was a shock to the students, who may incorporate the chance meeting in their original work to share with classmates.

McKnight’s Senior Living Magazine Spotlights CCM Artist-in-Residence Program With Twin Towers

The McKnight’s Senior Living magazine and media brand has turned the spotlight on CCM’s new artist-in-residence program with the Twin Towers Senior Living Community.

As previously reported, this partnership offers free housing to two CCM graduate students on one of Twin Towers’ campuses for the duration of their degree programs. In return, these students will perform one recital per month and allow the community’s citizens unprecedented interaction through discussions and open rehearsals.

The inaugural artists-in-residence are soprano Annie Barr and collaborative pianist Alyssa Griffith, both of whom are first-year Master of Music students at CCM.

In the recently published McKnight’s article, Twin Towers Executive Director Jim Lay explores the surprises brought about through this intergenerational program:

“The simple vision that these students would provide pleasing musical entertainment for Twin Towers’ residents has blossomed into a depth of kinship and connection between unlikely acquaintances,” Lay observes. “When semester break led to the students heading home to be with their families for the holidays, their Twin Towers family anxiously anticipated their January return.”

Barr and Griffith have expressed similar enthusiasm for the innovative new program.

“I loved the idea of living in the Twin Towers community, having more opportunities to perform and practice for the residents’ enjoyment,” Griffith says.

“I feel honored and thankful to have this opportunity,” Barr adds. “I love interacting with all of my neighbors, they’re all so sweet and kind. The neighborhood is a happy place to live.”

CCM Dean Peter Landgren views this new partnership as a natural extension of the college’s ongoing community engagement activities throughout Greater Cincinnati. “An important part of CCM’s responsibility as a training ground for the performing and media arts is to provide aspiring artists with opportunities to interact with and give back to their communities,” he says.

Read the complete McKnight‘s article online at www.mcknightsseniorliving.com/guest-columns/intergenerational-program-brings-nice-surprises/article/471691/.

Learn more about CCM’s partnership with Twin Towers at ccm.uc.edu/about/villagenews/notations-ovations/ccm-twin-towers-partnership.

Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra Taps CCM Dean and Alumni for New Leadership Positions

The Board of Trustees of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra has announced several changes in leadership, as well as the creation of two important artistic positions.

CCM Dean Peter Landgren will be joining the staff in the role of Director of Artistic Planning. He will be responsible for guiding the CCO’s artistic vision and direction of Summermusik 2016. He will work closely with the Artistic Advisor, and staff, board and musicians of the CCO to ensure a successful season.

CCM Dean Peter Landgren.

“I am thrilled that the CCO recognizes CCM’s desire to build collaborative and mutually beneficial relationships between Cincinnati’s arts organizations,” said Landgren. “I had the privilege of performing with the CCO under the leadership of their first music director, Paul Nadler, during my time as a student at CCM. I am honored that the CCO’s leadership feels that my background and perspective will lend a helping hand to this important year as they prepare for the final stages of a search for a new music director.”

Landgren began his tenure as Dean of CCM in September of 2011. During his initial appointment, he secured the internationally acclaimed Ariel Quartet as CCM’s string quartet-in-residence, initiated a number of collaborations with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (including the collaboration with the Cincinnati World Piano Competition and the CSO/CCM Diversity Fellowship program), partnered with faculty search committees to hire over 20 new full-time tenure-track faculty members, participated in the UC Provost’s Cluster-Hire initiative through the Digital Media Collaborative, enhanced the college’s community engagement efforts through key staff hires and grant support, and much more. He also refocused CCM’s vision and mission for the 21^st century through the “ONECCM” initiative. In June of 2015, the UC Board of Trustees unanimously approved Landgren’s reappointment to a new seven-year term, extending his tenure at CCM through June 30, 2023.

Prior to his appointment at CCM, Landgren served as Conservatory Director at Baldwin-Wallace College from 2007 – 2011 after having spent the previous twenty-nine years as a musician with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and twenty-six years as a faculty member of the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University. From 2005-2006, Landgren served the Peabody Institute as the Interim Director. He also led Peabody in an institute-wide Change Initiative from 2003-2005 that was responsible for examining the institute in a quest to increase Peabody’s preeminence amongst its peers. In the spring of 2003, Landgren received the Excellence in Teaching award from The Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association. This was the second time Landgren had been awarded this honor as a Peabody faculty member.

Landgren became a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra when he was 21 years old, before completing his undergraduate training at CCM. Three years later he made his professional solo debut with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Joseph Silverstein. Landgren has performed with Summit Brass, the Melos Ensemble and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has also performed as Principal Horn with the Cincinnati, Houston and Columbus Symphony Orchestras. An alumnus of CCM, Landgren won the college’s concerto competition three times and regularly performed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera and Cincinnati Ballet during his time as a student.

CCM alumnus Isaac Selya has been named as Artistic Advisor for Summermusik 2016. He will work with the Director of Artistic Planning and the CCO staff and musicians to ensure the artistic quality of the highly successful Chamber Crawl festival performances. Isaac will also serve as Associate Conductor, working with the four finalist music director candidates who will be conducting the four Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra concerts at SCPA during Summermusik 2016.

A musician of remarkable versatility, Isaac is a conductor, pianist, vocal coach, cellist and singer. He is the founder and Artistic Director of Queen City Chamber Opera, where he has coached and conducted Walküre Act I and Siegfried Acts I and II from Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Der Schauspieldirektor, Bastien und Bastienne, Zaide, Abu Hassan, and L’amore dei tre re. As of March 2015, he has conducted all of Mozart’s German-language operas. He joined Cincinnati Opera in 2014 as a coach/accompanist, and in September of 2014 he was the featured new artist of the month in Musical America. In the summer of 2015, he joined the Glimmerglass Festival as Assistant Conductor.

Equally at home in the symphonic repertoire, Isaac debuted with the National Symphony of Guatemala in September 2014 with two programs focusing on Beethoven Symphonies 5 and 6.

He holds a BA from Yale College, where he studied conducting with Toshiyuki Shimada. He holds a doctorate from CCM.

CCM alumna LeAnne Anklan has been named General Manager of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. LeAnne joined the staff of the CCO in 2012 in the position of artistic and orchestra operations manager. She was promoted to acting general manager in July, 2014.

Her professional background includes experience as senior marketing coordinator for FRCH Design Worldwide, public relations manager for the Contemporary Arts Center, and marketing associate for the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra. In 2011, she held the position of festival manager for the successful inaugural season of the Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts. LeAnne serves as vice president of the board of the not-for-profit Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, which she helped to found. She is also a Board member of Cincy Emerging Arts Leaders.

A Cincinnati native, LeAnne holds three degrees from the University of Cincinnati: Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing and International Business, Master of Business Administration, and Master of Arts in Arts Administration. A lifelong musician, she also serves as vice president of the UC Band Alumni Association and plays flute and piccolo regularly with the Alumni and Community Bands at UC.

Wes Needham has been elected by the CCO board to succeed Jennifer Funk as board president and assumes his new role November 15, 2015. Wes has been a board member since 2012, and has served this past year as first vice-president, secretary and chair of the music director search committee. He is the Lead Engineer for Distribution Design with Duke Energy and a resident of Northern Kentucky.

“I am honored and humbled to assume the role of board president with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra,” said Needham. “Since becoming a part of the CCO board in 2012, I have come to care passionately about the success of this remarkable organization and about chamber music in Cincinnati. This is a time of exciting change for the CCO and I look forward helping the CCO continue its longstanding tradition of musical excellence.”

About the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra
The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra is an independent ensemble of 32 professional musicians that celebrated its 40th anniversary season in 2014 and launched the critically acclaimed summer music festival Summermusik in August, 2015. The CCO offers a vibrant and fresh musical experience in an intimate and informal setting, for both the seasoned and novice concert patron. The CCO’s size allows for flexibility and creativity in programming, the ideal ensemble for presenting orchestral works ranging from the Baroque and Classical eras to commissioned works by contemporary composers. Collaborations have become a hallmark of the CCO, including ongoing partnerships with VAE: Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble and Madcap Puppets.

For additional information on the CCO, visit www.ccocincinnati.org.

CCM Hosts Gathering of Midwestern “El Sistema” Inspired Programs This Weekend

This Saturday, May 9, CCM will welcome “El Sistema” inspired programs from throughout the region for the Fourth Annual Midwestern Seminario.

Hosted by CCM’s Preparatory Department and Office of Community Engagement, the event will draw nearly 200 young performing artists who are involved in programs inspired by “El Sistema,” Venezuela’s National Network of Youth and Children Orchestras. Over the past 35 years, El Sistema has evolved into a world-renowned youth development program, which uses music as a vehicle for social change. El Sistema’s success in helping children build better futures has led to the creation of similar programs in over 30 countries around the world.

Participating programs include North Limestone Music Works (Lexington, KY), Shift: Englewood Youth Orchestra (Chicago), Q the Music (Dayton, Ohio), MYCincinnati (Cincinnati) and the Avondale Youth Orchestra (Cincinnati).

The Seminario‘s guest speakers will include CCM Dean Peter Landgren and UC President Santa J. Ono.

The program on Saturday, May 9, will culminate with a participant’s concert at 4 p.m. in CCM’s Corbett Auditorium. The concert is free and open to the general public!

The concert will be conducted by CCM alumni Eddy Kwon (BM Jazz Studies, 2011) and Isaac Selya (DMA Orchestral Conducting, 2014), along with Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras Artistic Director Daniel Chetel.

“We believe in the power of the arts to bring people together to create a strong, vibrant community,”  explains CCM Director of Community Engagement Anne Cushing-Reid. “This gathering reflects our ongoing commitment to community engagement and collaboration. We are also proud to support the efforts of the CCM students and alumni who are working locally with MYCincinnati, through a grant provided by ArtsWave.”

You can learn more about the other community engagement initiatives fueled by ArtsWave’s grant support here.

CCM Welcomes John Martin as Assistant Dean of Preparatory and Community Engagement

CCM Dean Peter Landgren has announced the appointment of John William Martin to the position of Assistant Dean of Preparatory and Community Engagement at CCM. Martin comes to CCM shortly after finishing his tenure as Executive Director of the Brookline Music School, a preparatory-style, community arts education institution in Brookline, Massachusetts.

John William Martin.

In addition to Brookline, he has built a long career as a music administrator dating back to the 1980s: director of admissions and founding director of the Community Music School at Michigan State University; coordinator of music services, director of the Celebrity Artists Series and instructor in the Music Administration program at the University of Alabama; director of the Wausau Conservatory of Music in Wisconsin; and arts coordinator for the Jefferson County School system in Florida.

As a flutist, Martin’s performing career has also been impressive. He served as principal flutist of the Wausau (WI) Symphony Chamber Orchestra and associate principal flutist with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra. He has also had several engagements as a teacher: flute instructor for the University of Wisconsin-Marathon Center, visiting lecturer for the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point and an artist-in-residence for the state arts councils of Florida, Wisconsin and Alabama.

Martin is currently a board member of the National Guild for Community Arts Education and has served as chairperson of the Guild’s Central Great Lakes Chapter, as well a member of the Council of School Directors and the membership committee. He has served as a consultant to numerous community and university arts programs throughout the country and has been a participant in the National Guild’s Management Assessment Training Program.

A native of Charleston, South Carolina, John William Martin received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Montevallo (AL). He then earned a master of music degree in flute performance from Florida State University, where he studied under Charles DeLaney.

Martin’s other interests have included collaborations as both performer and composer with numerous dance companies including Happendance (Michigan’s oldest, continuing professional company), Children’s Dance Touring Theatre of Florida and dancers from the Martha Graham Company. He served as an officer on the board of directors and production manager of the Children’s Ballet Theatre of Michigan, 2003-09.

Martin’s appointment reflects CCM’s ongoing commitment to enhancing its already innovative educational and community outreach programs. Martin officially joins CCM on Monday, April 13, 2015. Please join us in welcoming him to the CCM family!

Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra Commissions Work by CCM Student

Ty Niemeyer performing with the CCM Philharmonia in 2013. Photography by Dottie Stover.

WCPO Cincinnati recently profiled CCM student composer and percussionist Ty Niemeyer!

In the video feature Niemeyer discussed his composition iublio, a fanfare for brass and percussion, which was composed in honor of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra‘s 50th anniversary and performed at a recent CSYO concert.

“It’s not often an organization like this asks you to write a piece, so it’s definitely a very nice opportunity to have, especially for an organization I was involved with in high school,” Niemeyer says.

View the video and learn more about Niemeyer by visiting WCPO.com.

ONECCM – The Path Forward

Dear CCM Community,

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music is excellent in so many ways – we have unparalleled faculty, the magnificent CCM Village, generations of successful alumni and so much more. CCM truly is a premiere performing and media arts institution. Continuing this excellence requires us to set our sights even higher. To do this requires us to ask ourselves challenging and probing questions, and we need your participation to be successful.

ONECCM – The Path Forward is our way of asking critical questions of each other and of leaving no stone unturned. We need your assistance and voice in this process, and we are asking for input from every willing faculty, staff and student of the college, of alumni, friends and community members. Our goal is to have 100% participation from CCM’s faculty and staff. ONECCM – The Path Forward will be the way we differentiate ourselves as a premiere performing and media arts institution.

For more information about ONECCM – The Path Forward, please visit ccm.uc.edu/about/oneccm. You can also complete the ONECCM Survey by clicking here:

This survey will take no more than ten minutes and is your opportunity to have a voice in creating the Path Forward for CCM. There will be other opportunities to participate in focus groups later in the academic year. This is a participatory process and the survey data is being collected anonymously by our strategic partners. Thank you in advance for participating. Having as many voices as possible will create a robust vision for our future.

This is a critical moment in our history. Change is happening all around us, and CCM is adapting to those changes, so please assist us in this quest to become an even more excellent CCM.

Respectfully yours,

Peter Landgren, Dean
Thomas James Kelly Professor of Music
College-Conservatory of Music
University of Cincinnati

CCM Featured on NPR’s ‘Morning Edition’

Kanniks with the choir at St. Johns Unitarian Church in Cincinnati in 2004.

Earlier this week, NPR’s Morning Edition spoke with CCM Musicology adjunct faculty member Kanniks Kannikeswaran and freshman Music Education/Music History major Vidita Kannikeswaran about the award-winning Greater Cincinnati Indian Community Choir (and Indian choral music in general)!

You can listen to the entire Morning Edition segment here.

Kanniks Kannikeswaran is a pioneer of the Indian American choral movement. His far reaching work in this area has led to the founding of Indian community choirs in not only Cincinnati, but also Washington, D.C.; Houston; Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Allentown, Pa.; Toronto; and, most recently, The Hague.

He has collaborated with artists such as Lakshmi Shankar, Mallika Sarabhai, with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and with institutions such as the National University of Singapore in producing crisp innovative works that convey the message of universal connectedness.

His magnum opus Shanti – A Journey of Peace has personally touched the lives of over 900 performers and has been seen by over 9000 even as many more communities are gearing towards performing this work.

CCM Student Marie Bucoy-Calavan Named As Inaugural May Festival Choral Conducting Fellow

Marie Bucoy-Calavan has been named the inaugural recipient of the May Festival Choral Conducting Fellowship. She will enter her third year of studies in CCM’s DMA in Choral Conducting program this fall.

We are delighted to report that DMA candidate Marie Bucoy-Calavan has been named the inaugural recipient of the May Festival Choral Conducting Fellowship. This new position was established thanks to the incredible foresight and generosity of Ginger Warner and was created as part of an ongoing collaboration between the May Festival and CCM’s Department of Choral Studies. Each year, a May Festival Fellow will be selected from CCM’s pool of Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting students and will serve as the Assistant Conductor of the May Festival Chorus.

“The new May Festival Choral Conducting Fellowship provides unique professional training for CCM’s doctoral choral conducting students,” explains Director of Choral Studies Earl Rivers, “providing them opportunities to conduct rehearsals, as well as to attend May Festival Board and Artistic Planning meetings to learn how a world-renowned Choral Festival is successfully produced.”

Bucoy-Calavan will begin her duties with the May Festival Chorus next fall. As Assistant Director she will be responsible for running select rehearsals and smaller sectional rehearsals. In addition Bucoy-Calavan will conduct some concerts within the community. Commenting on her appointment, Bucoy-Calavan says, “I am very excited and honored at the chance to have a mentorship with [May Festival Director of Choruses] Robert Porco. I attended the Conducting Masterclass that the May Festival held a year ago, and was inspired by his musical insights and skill for teaching conducting. I look forward to the fall and to the prospect of working with the May Festival Chorus.”

Learn more about the May Festival Choral Conducting Fellowship.