CCM Alumnus Receives Prestigious Award from Solti Foundation

Alumnus Stefano Sarzani (CCM 2012-2013) is one of eight recipients of the 2018 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, a grant prize given to help up-and-coming conductors to further their careers.

Stefano Sarzani.

Now in its 14th year of assisting outstanding young conductors, the Solti Foundation U.S. has awarded more than $500,000 in grants and is the foremost organization in the United States dedicated exclusively to helping young conductors.

Sarzani recently worked at the Lyric Opera of Chicago through the Solti Foundation U.S.’ opera residency program; he returns this fall as an Assistant Conductor and member of the music staff. Previously, he was Associate Conductor of the Des Moines Metro Opera where, he conducted a production of Maria de Buenos Aires. His upcoming engagements include assisting at OperaMaine, and guesting with Symphony New Hampshire. Past guesting engagements include Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana (Italy), Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo (Italy), Boise Philharmonic Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra (CO), University of Memphis Opera and Orchestre Symphonique et Lyrique de Nancy. He has also collaborated with Atlanta Opera, Sarasota Opera, Den Jyske Opera (Denmark) and Opera National de Lorraine (France). In addition to the 2018 Career Assistance Award, Sarzani is also the recipient of a 2016 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, and 2nd prize in The American Prize 2012.

Lidiya Yankovskaya, who previously participated in CCM’s summer Opera Bootcamp program, also received the 2018 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award.

Learn more about the Solit Foundation at soltifoundation.us.

CCM Opera Bootcamp is three-week summer program designed to develop career skills for conductors, singers and collaborative pianists/opera coaches. This year’s Opera Bootcamp culminates this week with three free performances at CCM. More information is below:

7 p.m. Thursday, July 26
• CCM Summer Opera Bootcamp •
MOZART SCENES AND ARIAS
CCM’s Opera Bootcamp 2018 has attracted a talented pool of conductors, singers and pianists from across the country and abroad who will work intensely for three weeks immersed in the craft of opera. They will present scenes from popular Mozart operas. These workshop-style performances are fully staged with orchestra.
Location: Cohen Family Studio Theater
Admission: FREE
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7 p.m. Friday, July 27
• CCM Summer Opera Bootcamp •
FRENCH DOUBLE BILL: Le pauvre Matelot and L’lle de Tulipatan
CCM’s Opera Bootcamp 2018 will present fully staged performances of Milhaud’s Le pauvre Matelot and Offenbach’s L’lle de Tulipatan featuring singers, conductors and pianists from around the country and around the globe. These workshop style performances will be fully staged with orchestra.
Location: Cohen Family Studio Theater
Admission: FREE
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4 p.m. Sunday, July 29
• CCM Summer Opera Bootcamp •
DON PASQUALE
Featuring Vernon Hartman and student conductors and performers from CCM Summer’s Opera Bootcamp
Mark Gibson and Amy Johnson, artistic directors
CCM’s Opera Bootcamp presents Donizetti’s comedic love story “Don Pasquale”. Opera Bootcamp has attracted a talented pool of conductors, singers and pianists from across the country and around the globe who will work intensely for three weeks immersed in the craft of preparing an opera. This workshop style performance will be fully staged with orchestra.
Location: Corbett Auditorium
Admission: FREE

Learn more about CCM Summer’s Opera Bootcamp at ccm.uc.edu/opera-bootcamp.

‘Soul-Fege’ Documentary Shares CCM Music Education Professor’s Journey from Soulful Genres to the Classics

The Organization of American Kodály Educators recently released a documentary showcasing a collaboration between CCM Music Education Professor Eva Floyd and the award-winning Voices of Unity Youth Choir (VOUYC). “Soul-Fege” A Journey from Soulful Genres to the Classics shares the gospel choir’s experience and Floyd’s teaching techniques as they prepared to travel to Budapest, Hungary, for the 2016 Laurea Mundi International Honor Choir Festival.

Floyd is a specialist in the Kodály approach to choral music education, which is based on the internationally acclaimed Hungarian teaching system for music literacy and ear training. She used Kodály-inspired teaching techniques to show the youth choir how to bridge the stylist gap between gospel and classical music.

The Voices of Unity Youth Choir.

The Voices of Unity Youth Choir, which is based in Ft. Wayne, Indiana and directed by Marshall White, trained with Floyd for more than four months to prepare for the international honor choir festival. The singers were accustomed to singing “soulful” genres with intense expression, so, at first, they struggled to find how their experience could relate to the classical genre, Floyd says.

They found a common foundation for music making hidden in the symbols and vocabulary of the music scores, which they used as cues from the composer to help bring the classical pieces to life with expression.

“They began to embrace singing a new genre with ownership and pride,” Floyd says. “Focusing on the expression markings in the music gave them confidence and helped foster a connection between reading music notation and singing with heart.”

The choir was very open to learning new techniques and new repertoire, Floyd says. They became leaders at the honor choir festival in Budapest. Floyd says that one of her favorite memories of the collaboration is from a rehearsal in Budapest. When the conductor asked the choir about the meaning of the Czech folk song they were singing, a singer raised her hand and explained the meaning with pride.

“The choir was very apt at digging into the core meaning and message of the songs,” Floyd remembers. “It was very important for them to sing with expression and emotion, and understanding the meaning of the text was the connecting point between singing soulful music and classical music.”

Eva Floyd

Floyd teaches choral methods, literature for school choir, history and philosophy of music education and Kodály musicianship classes for music education students at CCM. In 2015, she organized CCM’s first study abroad trip for the music education program, where students traveled to Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg and Paris on a 12-day adventure to deepen their appreciation and understanding of music. Floyd recently finished co-teaching a study abroad course “Vienna as a city of Music” with a mix of UC Honors students and CCM students, which she plans to offer again in two years.

The “Soul-Fege” A Journey from Soulful Genres to the Classics DVD-ROM includes preparation materials and lessons plans for the instructional unit Floyd created for the Voices of Unity Youth Choir. These materials can be utilized by any choral director who seeks to make classical music accessible to singers with a strong background in soulful music. The DVD is available for purchase through the Organization of American Kodály Educators website at https://www.oake.org/publications/.

“This experience has taught me that there are multiple pathways toward achieving artistry,” Floyd says. “I hope to help my CCM students learn that music education is most effective when it is multi-faceted, as we have opportunities to reveal the joy of learning about music in a variety of learning contexts.”

About Voices of Unity Youth Choir
The World Champion Voices of Unity Youth Choir (VOUYC) is Unity Performing Arts Foundation’s acclaimed Youth Choral Program. It is the premier soulful choral group comprised of youth ages 7 to 19 from various backgrounds in the Fort Wayne community and beyond. The program’s goal is to equip, educate, and empower youth to excel in the world before them. It prepares them to be successful leaders who will give back to their society and make a difference in their college life, adult life, and in their professional careers. Learn more at http://www.upaf.com/voices-of-unity/.

Alumni Showcase Spotlight: Conductor Christopher Allen

CCM highlights alumni guest artists who will return to campus for the Sesquicentennial Alumni Showcase in a series of alumni spotlight stories.

CCM Orchestral Conducting alumnus Christopher Allen (MM, 2011) leads the CCM Philharmonia in playing Strauss’s overture to Die Fledermaus, which opens an evening of special performances presented during the Sesquicentennial Alumni Showcase on Saturday, April 21, 2018, in Corbett Auditorium.

Christopher Allen.

The recipient of the 2017 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, Allen has been featured in Opera News magazine as “one of the fastest-rising podium stars in North America.” His conducting career was launched by the Bruno Walter Conducting Award and Memorial Career Grant and has been fostered by Plácido Domingo and James Conlon, who brought him to Los Angeles Opera as an Associate Conductor.

In the 2017-18 season, Allen returns to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis to conduct a new production of La traviata directed by acclaimed soprano Patricia Racette, and leads the North Carolina premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain at North Carolina Opera. He debuts at the Atlanta Opera leading La fille du régiment, featuring Stephanie Blythe, and returns to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts to helm Impressions de Pelléas, before conducting The Barber of Seville at the Aspen Music Festival.

Allen serves as music director of the Bel Canto Trio’s 70th anniversary tour, featuring today’s internationally acclaimed rising opera stars in the program originally toured by Mario Lanza, George London and Frances Yeend. Future engagements include a debut with Opera Philadelphia’s critically acclaimed Festival O leading a reimagined La voix humaine, and an all-Bernstein program with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Named the John L. Magro Resident Conductor for Cincinnati Opera, Allen returned in the summer of 2017 to conduct Barrie Kosky’s production of The Magic Flute. He has previously been seen conducting the new production of Tosca, the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s Morning Star and, for three seasons, the Cincinnati Opera’s Washington Park Concert leading the Cincinnati Symphony.

In the 2016-17 season, Allen made his Washington National Opera debut in Donizetti’s La fille du régiment and Florida Grand Opera debut in Cuban-American composer Jorge Martín’s Before Night Falls. He led the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in a National Opera Association Award-winning production of Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas, and debuted at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in the new revised version of Ricky Ian Gordon’s Grapes of Wrath, named Opera of the Year by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Allen’s well-received Atlanta Symphony Orchestra debut, conducting a program of Wagner, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven, led to an immediate re-engagement.

Recently, Allen made his UK debut conducting The Barber of Seville at the English National Opera and debuted at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City in a production of The Elixir of Love directed by James Robinson. He was nominated as a finalist for 2015 International Opera Awards in London in the “Newcomer” category, and was named Musical America Artist of the Month in July 2015.

Allen made his Los Angeles Opera conducting debut in Patrick Morganelli’s Hercules vs. Vampires. He also returned to the company as Associate Conductor in La traviata with Plácido Domingo as Germont, and was in charge of musical preparation for The Ghosts of Versailles, which won a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. He made his debut with Opera Santa Barbara in Rigoletto and returned to Intermountain Opera Bozeman in Montana, to conduct a double-bill of Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica, as well as Don Giovanni.

Allen made his Asian debut conducting The Barber of Seville at the Daegu Opera House. He prepared I due Foscari for Theater an der Wien assisting James Conlon with Plácido Domingo as Francesco Foscari, and was the associate conductor to James Conlon on Lucia di Lammermoor, Falstaff, and the Britten Centennial Concerts at LA Opera. He returned to the Atlanta Symphony to assist Robert Spano on Britten’s War Requiem, as well as preparing a world premiere with Spano at the Ojai Music Festival. Other past assignments at LA Opera include productions of Don Giovanni, Tosca, Carmen, The Rape of Lucretia, Holdridge’s Dolce Rosa and Madama Butterfly.

The recipient of a 2016 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, Christopher Allen has also been a recipient of numerous piano awards which have led to debuts in venues such as Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Juilliard School and the Tenri Cultural Institute.

While a student at CCM, his production of Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw was awarded a National Opera Association prize. He returns to his alma mater to conduct in the CCM Sesquicentennial Alumni Showcase on April 21, 2018.

Learn more about the Sesquicentennial Alumni Showcase concert and view a complete list of guest artists at ccm.uc.edu/about/villagenews/save-the-date/sesquicentennial-alumni-showcase.

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SESQUICENTENNIAL ALUMNI SHOWCASE CONCERT

REPERTOIRE
STRAUSS: Overture to Die Fledermaus (1874); featuring the CCM Philharmonia led by Christopher Allen
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 82 “Emperor” (1811); featuring Anton Nel, piano
SAINT-SAENS: Violin Concerto No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 61; featuring Yang Liu, violin
WAGNER: “Mild und leise,” from Tristan und Isolde (1859); featuring Tamara Wilson, soprano
-Intermission-
Work for saxophone and jazz combo; featuring Janelle Reichman, saxophone
ROSSINI: “Cruda sorte,” from L’Italiana in Algeri (1813); featuring Helene Schneiderman, mezzo-soprano
SCHUMANN: Konzertstück for Four Horns, Op. 83 (1849); featuring Allene Hackleman, Julie Beckel Yager, Nathaniel Willson, Jennifer Paul, soloists
Musical Theatre numbers; featuring Betsy Wolfe, vocalist, with Roger Grodsky, conductor
STRAUSS: Champagne Song from Die Fledermaus

PERFORMANCE TIME
8 p.m. Saturday, April 21

Please note: UC’s Nippert Stadium will also host an FC Cincinnati game at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 21, 2018. The full FC Cincinnati Soccer game schedule can be found at www.fccincinnati.com/2018-schedule.

LOCATION
Corbett Auditorium, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

PURCHASING TICKETS
Tickets for CCM’s Sesquicentennial Alumni Showcase Concert are $20 general, $15 non-UC students, and FREE for UC students with a valid ID.

Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online through our e-Box Office! Visit ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice for CCM Box Office hours and location.

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 UC campus. Please visit uc.edu/parking for information on parking rates.

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

For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.
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CCM Season Presenting Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

CCM Welcomes Thomas Gamboa as Assistant Director of Wind Studies

CCM Interim Dean bruce d. mcclung has announced the addition of esteemed conductor and educator Thomas Gamboa as the college’s new Assistant Director of Wind Studies. Gamboa’s appointment begins on Aug. 15, 2018.

Originally from San Diego, Gamboa earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education and Music Performance in bassoon from UCLA. He also earned a Masters of Music degree in Conducting from Northwestern University, where he studied with Mallory Thompson. Additional conducting studies include work with Tom Lee, Donald Neuen, Victor Yampolsky, Craig Kirchhoff, Kenneth Kiesler, Neal Stulberg, Jerry Junkin, David Effron, David Loebel, Donald Hunsberger, Michael Votta, Kevin Sedatole, Gary Hill and Mark Davis Scatterday. This spring, he will complete his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Wind Conducting from the University of Michigan, where he is studying with Michael Haithcock.

An accomplished conductor, Gamboa previously held the rank of Captain and served active duty as Conductor and Commander of the United States Air Force Band at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. He later served as Associate Conductor and Flight Commander of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe Band at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. He earned his commission from Officer Training School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama in February 2011.

Gamboa traveled with the Band of the Air Force Reserve on numerous national and international tours including Spain, Germany, Turkey, Qatar and Kuwait. He also helped plan, execute and edit the band’s final television broadcast Holiday Notes from Home 2011, which featured country music group Little Big Town and singer/songwriter Lee Ann Womack as guest artists. The Band of the Air Force Reserve celebrated a historic second nomination for an Emmy Award in Entertainment Programming for this broadcast, which was viewed by 1.1 million people in 174 countries.

A seasoned educator, Gamboa taught and served as the Instrumental Music Director and Music Department Chair at West Adams Preparatory High School in the Pico-Union neighborhood of Central Los Angeles. During his tenure, he founded and conducted the high school’s marching band, wind ensemble, chamber orchestra and symphonic orchestra. He was also a conducting and chamber music instructor for the National High School Music Institute, where he served as Assistant Conductor for the Wind Ensemble. Additionally, Gamboa taught drum major camps with the United Spirit Association during the summer for more than 15 years. In addition to teaching, he designed the conducting curriculum and trained instructors throughout his time with the drum major camps.

On the announcement of CCM’s new Assistant Director of Wind Studies, mcclung commented:

“Current and future students will benefit from Professor Gamboa’s extensive experience as a conductor and educator. He makes an excellent addition to CCM’s Division of Ensembles and Conducting, and I am grateful to Wind Studies Search Committee Chair Terence Milligan and committee members James Cully, Kevin Holzman, Ann Porter and Aik Khai Pung for their efforts with this successful search.”

Please join us in welcoming Professor Gamboa to the CCM Family!

Alumnus Christopher Allen Receives $30K Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award

The Solti Foundation U.S. recently announced that CCM Alumnus Christopher Allen (MM Orchestral Conducting, 2011) is the recipient of the $30,000 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award — the largest grant awarded to young American conductors in the U.S.

“We are most pleased to announce Christopher Allen will receive this year’s Solti Conducting Award,” stated Penny Van Horn, Board Chair of the Solti Foundation U.S. “Christopher, previously recognized with a Career Assistance Award in 2016, exemplifies our objective of supporting talented young American Conductors as they continue to develop their orchestral and operatic conducting skills. His exceptional young career promises to fulfill our goal and extend Sir Georg’s legacy.”

This year, the Solti Foundation U.S. increased the monetary value of the Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award from $25,000 to $30,000 to help “ensure that our young conductors have the opportunity to demonstrate their musicianship, leadership and full potential to the broadest possible audience,” Van Horn said.

Recipients may use the financial grant in various ways to further his or her career, whether it be further studies, purchases of scores, travel, etc. The Award also brings door-opening introductions within the industry and valuable access to mentors. The Foundation’s Board of Directors comprises experts from all areas of the classical music industry.

Christopher Allen.

Recently named the John L. Magro Resident Conductor for Cincinnati Opera, Allen is rapidly gaining attention as a rising conductor on the operatic and symphonic stages. His 2016-17 season highlights include debuts with the Washington National Opera conducting Donizetti’s La fille du regiment, with Florida Grand Opera conducting Cuban-American composer Jorge Martin’s Before Night Falls, and with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis leading the new revised version of Ricky Ian Gordon’s Grapes of Wrath. He also made his Atlanta Symphony Orchestra debut conducting a program of Wagner, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven, and guested at the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he led Catan’s Florencia en el Amazonas. Recently, he made his UK debut conducting The Barber of Seville at the English National Opera.

Upcoming 2017 summer engagements include leading the Cincinnati Opera’s Washington Park concert for the second year in a row and conducting Barrie Kosky’s production of Die Zauberflote. Next season, Allen returns to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis to conduct a new production of La traviata directed by acclaimed soprano Patricia Racette. He will also conduct the North Carolina premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain and make his Atlanta Opera debut conducting La fille du regiment.

Allen’s previous honors include a Bruno Walter Conducting Award and Memorial Career Grant, which launched his career. He was then fostered by Placido Domingo and James Conlon, who brought him to Los Angeles Opera as an Associate Conductor. He is also a recipient of a 2016 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award. As a CCM student, his production of Benjamin Britten’s Turn of the Screw was awarded a National Opera Association prize.

“It is with special joy that the Artistic Committee has chosen Christopher Allen for this year’s larger Solti Conducting Fellowship award,” said Elizabeth Buccheri, Artistic and Awards Committee Chair of the Solti Foundation U.S. “Christopher has already successfully begun his journey into both the operatic and symphonic worlds. Sir Georg Solti would indeed be pleased.”

About The Solti Foundation U.S.
Now in its thirteenth year of assisting outstanding young U.S. conductors to further develop their talent and careers, The Solti Foundation U.S. is the foremost organization in the United States dedicated exclusively to helping young conductors.

Established in 2000 to honor the memory of Sir Georg Solti by lending significant support to career-ready young American musicians, in 2004, the Foundation concentrated the focus of its award program to exclusively assist talented young American conductors early in their professional careers (its original mission was of a more general arts nature). Since then, it has awarded over $412,500 in grants to American conductors.

The Foundation endeavors to seek out those musicians who have chosen to follow a path similar to that followed by Sir Georg himself. In keeping with the spirit of Sir Georg’s active approach to his career, young conductors must apply to be considered for the awards.

While dedicated to identifying and assisting young conductors early on, the Foundation is also concerned with the long-term development of its award recipients, continuing to offer support and maintaining a constant interest in their growth and achievements.

The Foundation currently awards the following grants annually:

The Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award – The largest grant currently given to American conductors in the formative years of their careers, the prestigious $30,000 grant is given annually to a single promising American conductor 38 years of age or younger. The Award, also known as The Solti Fellow, includes door-opening introductions, ongoing professional mentoring, and introductions to two of Chicago’s most prestigious performing organizations: Lyric Opera of Chicago and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Past recipients include Karina Canellakis, Vladimir Kulenovic, Cristian Macelaru, James Feddeck, Case Scaglione, Eric Nielsen and Anthony Barrese.

The Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award – The amount of the Career Assistance Awards varies.

Opera Residency Program – Introduced in the 2014-15 season, the program places former award recipients with a distinguished opera house for one-on-one mentoring and coaching of an opera during the company’s professional season. Conductors cannot apply, but are instead selected by the Artistic and Awards Committee.

The Foundation is currently the only American Foundation to grant these kinds of awards each year to young American conductors. Citizens or permanent residents of the United States who are career-ready artists in the field of conducting are eligible to apply.

For more information on the Solti Foundation U.S., visit soltifoundation.us.

Maestro Mark Gibson Unveils An Upbeat Conducting Compendium

CCM Director of Orchestral Studies Mark Gibson recently released the paperback edition of The Beat Stops Here: Lessons on and off the Podium for Today’s Conductor, which not only discusses conducting techniques but also provides lessons on score study, musical analysis and the many roles of the modern conductor.

“It is part score analysis, part scholarly thoughts on musical matters, part humorous,” Gibson says. “There is something in it for any and every musician.”

This isn’t Gibson’s first time writing a book; he has collaborated with Elizabeth A. H. Green to produce several editions of The Modern Conductor, an essential conducting text. The Beat Stops Here is less of a textbook and more of Gibson’s personal take on the nuances of his craft, and it stems from his blog of the same name.

“I have accumulated a lot of ideas and writings about conducting and music, many going against conventional wisdom, and I just felt I needed to get them out there.”

Gibson’s musical reach extends well beyond CCM. He is currently the Principal Guest Conductor of the Sichuan Conservatory Symphony Orchestra and a guest conductor and consultant with the China National Opera. Prior to arriving at CCM, Gibson served as the principal conductor of the Alabama Symphony, visiting director of orchestral studies at the Eastman School of Music and music director of the New York City Opera National Company, among many other positions.

“Every time I teach — be it in writing, in class, in rehearsal, in lesson, in guest master classes — I learn,” he says. “That is one of the joys and blessings of teaching.”

The Beat Stops Here: Lessons on and off the Podium for Today’s Conductor is published by Oxford University Press and is available on Amazon in paperback for $29.95 or as a Kindle e-book for $19.99.  It will be available in hardcover for $99.00 on Thursday, Feb. 23.

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Story by CCM Graduate Student Alexandra Doyle

CCM Conducting Alumni Receive Prestigious Award from the Solti Foundation

We are honored to announce that two conducting alumni of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) were among 11 musicians recently announced as recipients of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Awards, a grant prize given to help up-and-coming conductors further their careers.

Christopher G. Allen (MM Orchestral Conducting, 2011) and Stefano Sarzani (CCM 2012-2013) join a group of only 46 conductors to receive this award since it was founded by the Solti Foundation in 2004. As the foremost organization in the United States dedicated exclusively to helping young composers, the Solti Foundation is currently the only American organization to grant such awards annually.

Christopher Allen.

Both alumni are in high demand worldwide. Allen, who is currently the John L. Margo Resident Conductor for the Cincinnati Opera, is also the Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Opera. His conducting credits include Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Santa Barbara Montana’s Intermountain Opera and South Korea’s Daegu Opera House and the Atlanta Symphony. Along with the Solti prize, Allen was nominated as a finalist for the 2015 International Opera awards in London in the “Newcomer” category.

Stefano Sarzani.

Sarzani was recently been appointed Associate Conductor of the Des Moines Metro Opera for their Summer 2016 season. His collaborations include the Boise Philharmonic Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra of Colorado, Atlanta and Sarasota Operas, and numerous orchestras in Italy including Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo and Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana. A recent finalist for the New World Symphony’s 2015-16 conducting fellowship, he is also highly decorated from numerous competitions, most notably taking second prize in The American Prize competition in 2012.Please join us in congratulating these gifted young conductors on their accomplishment!

Please join us in congratulating these gifted young conductors on their accomplishment!

About the Solti Foundation U.S.

Now in its twelfth year of assisting outstanding young U.S. conductors to further develop their talent and careers, The Solti Foundation U.S. is the foremost organization in the United States dedicated exclusively to helping young conductors.

Established in 2000 to honor the memory of Sir Georg Solti by lending significant support to career-ready young American musicians, in 2004, the Foundation concentrated the focus of its award program to exclusively assist talented young American conductors early in their professional careers.

The Foundation endeavors to seek out those musicians who have chosen to follow a path similar to that followed by Sir Georg himself. In keeping with the spirit of Sir Georg’s active approach to his career, young conductors must apply to be considered for the awards.

While dedicated to identifying and assisting young conductors early on, the Foundation is also concerned with the long-term development of its award recipients, continuing to offer support and maintaining a constant interest in their growth and achievements.

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Story by CCM graduate Kevin Norton (DMA Saxophone, 2015)

CCM Student Olivier Ochanine Takes First Prize at Inaugural Antal Doráti International Conducting Competition

We are thrilled to announce that CCM student Olivier Ochanine has returned home from Budapest with first prize in hand from the inaugural Antal Doráti International Conducting Competition. Ochanine is currently pursuing his doctoral degree in orchestral conducting under the tutelage of CCM Professor Mark Gibson.

In addition to a cash prize of €1.500, Ochanine has been offered a career-advancing contract proposal with Contempoars International Artists Agency.

This exciting new competition for conductors is open to all ages and nationalities. Over the course of six days competitors advanced through five rounds in total. While the eliminatory round welcomed an unlimited number of applicants, jurors only advanced 30 people to the first round. By the end of the competition, jurors eliminated all but three outstanding contestants who advanced to the final round.

In the final round, contestants rehearsed for 60 minutes with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV. Each rehearsed two pieces, Béla Bartók’s Hungarian Peasant Songs Sz.100, and either Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 movement I, Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 movement IV or Claude Debussy’s Prélude à l’après midi d’un faune. Directly following the rehearsal each contestant performed a work from their assigned repertoire in concert for a public audience.

The competition was judged by some of Europe’s finest conductors:

• Tamás Vásáry (Hungary), president of the jury
• György Lendvai, managing director of Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV
• Pietro Borgonovo (Italy), artistic director of Giovine Orchestra Genovese and chief conductor of Orchestra Sinfonica di Savona
• Vittorio Parisi, teacher of orchestra conducting at the Conservatorio G. Verdi in Milan
• Márton Rácz (Hungary), conductor, music director, Eszterháza Centre of Culture, Research and Festivals, Esterházy Castle; Szigligeti Theatre, Szolnok

CCM doctoral student Olivier Ochanine.

About Olivier Ochanine
Regularly praised for his charisma on and off the podium as well as for his breadth of orchestral repertoire, Olivier Ochanine is the youngest music director of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra in the orchestra’s history.

A native of Paris, Ochanine began music studies in France. He continued his studies in the US, and expanded his focus to orchestral conducting, taking up graduate studies and attending master classes with some of the best conducting mentors, including Mark Gibson, Gustav Meier, Marin Alsop, Larry Livingston, Robert Baldwin, John Barnett, John Farrer and Achim Holub. He obtained his Master of Music degree in Conducting from the University of Southern California (USC), where he was given the Conducting Department Award in 2003. In 2009, he began his doctoral studies in orchestral conducting at CCM.

A flutist and bassist, Ochanine earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Kentucky. He has also played as bassist for the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra.

Ochanine has been invited to the California Conductors Institute several times. In 2009, Ochanine was among a handful of conductors nationally to be invited by Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Music Director Marin Alsop to conduct in the Cabrillo Music Festival in Santa Cruz, California and to participate in a conducting workshop. He has also been a participant in CCM’s prestigious conducting workshops.

Ochanine’s term with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, the nation’s leading orchestra, started with the 2010-11 performance season. Under his leadership, the orchestra has performed numerous Philippine premieres. In the Philippines, Ochanine is an active clinician, leading chamber music master classes at schools; he has also led conducting master classes for the Cultural Center of the Philippines. As part of his outreach mission, Ochanine serves as head visiting conductor for the Orchestra of the Filipino Youth, a program geared toward talented youth that stem from severely unfortunate financial backgrounds. Ochanine is a strong believer in advocacy and heritage, and recently won a campaign he spearheaded to save the best performance hall in Manila – the Philamlife Theater – from demolishment by a large commercial developer.

Olivier is second prizewinner in the 2015 London Classical Soloists International Conducting Competition, where he conducted the orchestra in various Beethoven symphonies. He was also selected as semi-finalist for the American Prize (2015) in the Professional Orchestra Conducting division. Finalists are announced later in the year.

Guest conducting appearances have led him to the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, CCM orchestras and regular engagements with the Sichuan Philharmonic Orchestra. Upcoming engagements include a return to the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra and a Russian debut with the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra.

Learn more about Olivier Ochanine by visiting www.olivierochanine.com.

Learn more about CCM’s Department of Orchestral Studies by visiting ccm.uc.edu/music/orchestra.

 

CCM Alumnus Tung-Chieh Chuang Wins Prestigious Solti Conductor’s Competition

Alumnus Tung-Chieh Chuang conducting at CCM.

CCM alumnus Tung-Chieh Chuang (MM Orchestral Conducting, 2009) was one of two second prize winners at the seventh Sir Georg Solti International Conductors’ Competition in Frankfurt this February. Chuang took second prize for his incredible conducting of the concert version of Leonard Bernstein‘s Overture to Candide. German conductor Elias Grandy also took a second prize award. No first prize was awarded.

Chuang was also awarded the competition’s Audience Prize, which was given for the first time in the history of the competition. Audiences were invited to vote on their favorite competitor and Chuang was the clear winner with a vote of more than 59%. Chuang was presented with an original Sir Georg Solti baton from his Frankfurt era and also received 10,000 Euro for his second prize award.

In addition, Chuang will be invited to conduct concerts with Frankfurter Opern- und Museum sorchester and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony. Further orchestras such as Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe, Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, and Polish Chamber Symphony Sopot, may offer guest engagement or assistance positions.

The Solti Conductor’s Competition was organized as Solti saw an urgent need to create a forum where young talents can present themselves and receive competent assessment of the standards they have reached.

367 young conductors aged between 19 and 35 years from 64 countries applied to this year’s competition. Of those 367, 20 applicants were invited to Frankfurt to participate in the first round and semifinal held from February 17-20, where they conducted the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and Frankfurter Opern-und Museumsorchester.

You can view the announcement of this year’s competition results here.

About Tung-Chieh Chuang
Prize winner at the Gustav Mahler Competition Bamberg and the Jeunesses Musicales Bucharest International Conducting Competition, Taiwan-born conductor Tung-Chieh Chuang displayed musical talent at a young age. Born in a family of musicians, Chuang learned to play piano and horn and had his first concerto appearance at age of 11.

Since winning the Mahler Competition in 2013, Chuang has attracted numerous world-wide engagements. Hailed for his command of musical tones and structures and rich palette of expressions, Chuang has worked with Die 12 Cellisten der Berliner Philharmoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker, Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bermen, National Symphony Orchestra (Taiwan), Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Jenaer Philharmonie, Filarmonica George Enescu, Filarmonica de Stat Sibiu, Severočeské filharmonie Teplice, among others.

In 2010, Chuang was the recipient of the Edwin B. Garrigues fellowship at Curtis Institute of Music. That same year he co-organized the Curtis Japan Benefit Concert in Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, where all proceeds were donated to Red Cross Japan for the 311 earthquake relief. In 2012, he organized the first-ever orchestra-flashmob performance in Taiwan, in which he led the National Taiwan University Symphony Orchestra as their principal conductor.

Learn more about CCM’s award-winning alumni by visiting ccm.uc.edu/about/villagenews/alumni.

Award-Winning Conductor and Educator Aik Khai Pung is Named Assistant Professor of Orchestral Studies at CCM

Aik Khai Pung, Assistant Professor of Music in Orchestral Conducting at CCM.

CCM Dean Peter Landgren has announced the appointment of Aik Khai Pung to the position of Assistant Professor of Music in CCM’s Department of Orchestral Studies. Pung first joined CCM’s faculty on a visiting basis in 2014. His new appointment becomes effective on August 15, 2015.

An all-around conductor and educator, Pung is music director of the CCM Concert Orchestra, NANOWorks Opera and Café MoMus, CCM’s contemporary music ensemble.

An alumnus of CCM, Pung (MM Orchestral Conducting, 2009; DMA Orchestral Conducting, 2014) studied under Mark Gibson, Annunziata Tomaro, Xu Xin, Zhang Yi and Ulrich Nicolai. He has also worked with Gustav Meier and JoAnn Falletta. Pung holds a BA from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing in addition to his degrees from CCM.

Prior to his engagement at CCM, Pung taught at Earlham College in Indiana, Akademie der Chinesische Bunte Blätter in Munich and Peking University in Beijing. He has served as head instructor of the Orchestral, Choir and Opera Conducting Workshop in Malaysia, and was a clinician for Montclair State University John J. Cali School of Music Orchestra Festival in New Jersey.

On top of his passion for teaching, Pung is actively involved in music festivals around the world such as Lincoln Center Festival (New York), Spoleto Festival USA (Charleston, S.C.), CCM Spoleto (Spoleto, Italy), Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca (Lucca, Italy), Georgetown Festival (Penang, Malaysia) and Luminato Festival (Toronto, Canada) where he conducts and assists opera productions as well as symphonic concerts.

As a multi-instrumentalist, Pung plays the piano, violin, Er-hu (Chinese traditional fiddle), Chinese dulcimer and viola da gamba. On top of instrumental music, he is equally involved with vocal music. He programs and performs new operas as the music director of NANOWorks Opera. Aside from the music from the Classical and Romantic eras, Pung has conducted his research on the music of Guo Wenjing, Toshio Hosokawa, Nico Muhly, John Adams, Philip Glass and young composers such as CCM alumna Jennifer Jolley (MM Composition, 2009; DMA Composition, 2012), Danny Clay, Eric Knechtges, Li ShaoSheng and Marie Incontrera, among others.

Pung won second prize in the Taiwan Chinese Orchestra (TCO) International Conducting Competition (2015) and was the Special Award winner for Conducting Chinese Music at the First Hong Kong International Conducting Competition (2011).

He was the first international conducting student to be accepted to the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music, the top conservatory in China, where he was awarded outstanding student in 2005.

You can learn even more about Aik Khai Pung by clicking here. Please join us in congratulating him on his new appointment.