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.

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.

Announcing CCM’s 2014-15 Mainstage Series of Opera, Musical Theatre and Drama

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is pleased to announce initial details for its 2014-15 Mainstage Series of opera, musical theatre and drama productions.

The 2014-15 Mainstage Series features a dazzling collection of both classic and contemporary masterworks, including a gender-bending new production of Shakespeare’s gripping tragedy Macbeth, an extended run of the high-energy romantic-comedy Legally Blonde – The Musical and a magical production of the opera Hänsel and Gretel.

In early 2015, CCM’s student and faculty artists will also present Wendy Wasserstein’s Pulitzer Prize-winning and zeitgeist-dominating The Heidi Chronicles and a soaring musical production of Peter Pan. Mozart’s Così fan tutte will close out the series, with a new production directed by Robin Guarino, who recently staged this masterpiece at the Metropolitan Opera.

This year’s must-see Mainstage Series features six fully staged works guaranteed to fill audiences with delight, with performances scheduled from Oct. 1, 2014, through April 12, 2015. All performances take place in the Corbett Center for the Performing Arts on the University of Cincinnati campus.

Production and ticketing details are below. Priority subscription packages go on sale May 2014. Single tickets become available in August, but subscribing is the only way to guarantee your seats for these must-see shows!

Visit ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/subscribe to register for CCM’s mailing list, and the Box Office will provide you with additional information on this year’s subscription options.

Additional Information

Titles and dates are subject to change—rights pending. To order subscriptions, contact the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183. For additional information, visit ccm.uc.edu, email boxoff@uc.edu or call the Box Office.

Annunziata Tomaro Returns to the CCM Podium

Annunziata Tomaro and the Concert Orchestra at CCM’s 2012 Moveable Feast. Photography by Dottie Stover.

CCM welcomes Assistant Professor of Conducting Annunziata Tomaro back to the podium for a celebratory concert beginning at 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7, in Corbett Auditorium. Tickets are on sale now.

After a year and a half hiatus, Tomaro makes her homecoming debut conducting CCM’s acclaimed Concert Orchestra in an unforgettable evening of music, with works by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Édouard Lalo, featuring the winner of the CCM Cello Concerto Competition, Yang Liu. “It’s wonderful being with the students again,” Tomaro says. “They are playing their hearts out in this music!”

The opening piece of the program will be Modest Mussorgsky’s introduction to his opera Khovanshchina. Audience members will also be delighted to hear Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, “Pathétique,” his final completed symphony (Opp. 75–80 were published after Tchaikovsky’s death).

And lastly, audience members will be treated to Édouard Lalo’s Cello Concerto in D Minor, featuring  Cello Concerto Competition winner Yang Liu, a student of CCM Professor of Violoncello Yehuda Hanani. Lalo wrote his Cello Concerto in D minor in 1876, in collaboration with Parisian cellist Adolphe Fischer. The work was premiered the following year at the Cirque d’Hiver with Fischer as soloist.

CCM Student Thanapol Setabrahmana Achieves Second Place in National ‘American Prize’ Competition

CCM graduate student Thanapol Setabrahmana.

We are delighted to report that DMA candidate Thanapol Setabrahmana has achieved second place nationally in the band/wind ensemble division of The American Prize‘s 2013 Conducting Competition!

Setabrahmana was selected from applications reviewed this summer from all across the United States. One competition judge commented, “this is a first class musician. Good control over his scores and very solid technique.” Setabrahmana can next been seen at CCM conducting Morton Gould’s “West Point Symphony” as part of the CCM Wind Orchestra’s Sept. 27 concert.

The American Prize is a series of new non-profit competitions unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings. The American Prize was founded in 2009 and is awarded annually in many areas of the performing arts.

For a list of additional conducting and ensembles winners for 2013, please visit theamericanprize.blogspot.com.

CCM Doctoral Student Named Artistic Director of Dayton’s Musica Chamber Choir

CCM student Michael Fuchs will serve as new artistic director for Dayton, Ohio’s Musica.

Congratulations to CCM doctoral candidate Michael Fuchs on being named new artistic director of Musica, a Dayton-based professional choral ensemble.

Pam McGinnis recently profiled Fuchs for the Dayton Daily News. You can read her feature online here.

Fuchs is pursuing a doctoral degree in choral conducting at CCM, where he also conducts the UC Women’s Chorus and is co-director of the Collegium Vocale.

The UC Men’s and Women’s Choruses open their season on Tuesday, Nov. 5, with a concert of traditional and contemporary choral works featuring Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Gustav Holst’s Two Psalms.

Learn more about Choral Studies at CCM here.

CCM Student Profiled By South Carolina’s ‘Post and Courier’

Congratulations to CCM doctoral candidate and adjunct instructor Aik Khai Pung on his recent profile in Charleston, South Carolina’s Post and Courier!

Khai was the assistant conductor for the production of Matsukaze at this year’s Spoleto USA Music Festival. In addition, Khai also led members of the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra in a May 27 Intermezzo performance of works by Charles Ives, Aaron Copland and Igor Stravinsky.

For 17 days and nights each spring, Spoleto Festival USA fills Charleston, South Carolina’s historic theaters, churches and outdoor spaces with performances by renowned artists as well as emerging performers in opera; theater; dance; and chamber, symphonic, choral and jazz music.

You can read the full article here.

Janelle Gelfand’s ‘Arts in Focus’ Features CCM Alumna Xian Zhang

Earlier this week, the Cincinnati Enquirer‘s Janelle Gelfand profiled former CCM student and faculty member Xian Zhang.

Zhang made history as the first female music director of an Italian orchestra when she was named director of Milan’s Orchestra Verdi in 2009.

You can read Janelle’s entire post here.

CCM’s Choirs Celebrate the Life of Elmer Thomas on Sept. 30

Elmer Thomas at CCM for the occasion of his 80th birthday in October, 2010.

CCM’s Chamber Choir and Chorale, UC Men’s and Women’s Choruses, Cincinnati Children’s Choir and Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble combine at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 30 in Corbett Auditorium to celebrate the life of Elmer Robert Thomas, a pioneering choral director who left an enduring legacy in Cincinnati. Thomas died of respiratory failure at the age of 81 on June 13, 2012.

Professor emeritus Elmer Thomas founded CCM’s choral studies program over 45 years ago and built it into a program recognized far and wide for its excellence. His caring nature and passion for his art made him an admired mentor by his students and a revered colleague and friend by his peers. He remained director of the program until 1995.

CCM Conductor Leads Decades of Graduating Bearcats Through Pomp and Circumstance

CCM Professor of Music Terence Milligan.

Terence Milligan has played a unique role in the lives of tens of thousands of University of Cincinnati graduates on their special day, dating back to processionals in Nippert Stadium. He has conducted the University Commencement Band at every Commencement ceremony since June, 1980.

This spring will be his 33rd year behind the baton at Commencement directing 48 ceremonies, counting the three in June. Through each ceremony, his service has been all voluntary.