CCM Alumna Marie Speziale to Receive Pioneer Award at International Women’s Brass Conference

CCM alumna Marie Speziale (BM, 1964).

We are thrilled to report that CCM alumna and former faculty member Marie Speziale (BM, 1964) will be presented with a Pioneer Award at the International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 4, at Northern Kentucky University’s Greaves Hall.

Acknowledged as the first woman trumpeter in a major symphony orchestra, Speziale served as Associate Principal Trumpet with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for 32 years, from 1964 until her retirement in November of 1996. At this year’s conference, she will be honored as a musician whose career and spirit exemplifies the goals and traditions of the IWBC. Congratulations!

At each IWBC, beginning with the first in 1993, the IWBC has recognized women who have been pioneers in the top levels of brass performance, breaking down barriers and living their lives effecting change for those who followed. A full list of past award recipients may be found on the IWBC web site at myiwbc.org/about/iwbc-pioneers.

CCM’s Sandra Rivers Performs at Steinway Hall This Thursday

Photography by Jay Yocis.

Professor of Collaborative Piano Sandra Rivers continues CCM’s 2010-11 Steinway Hall Series of Concerts this Thursday, Dec. 9. Her program will include Beethoven’s Sonata Op.54 in F Major, Chopin’s Ballade in A-flat Major; Rachmaninoff’s Etudes Tableaux Op. 39 Nos. 8 and 9 and Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes. The concert is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at Steinway Hall, 109 West 57th Street in New York City. The CCM Steinway Hall Series is open to the general public, but seating is limited. The next installment of this concert series will occur on Thursday, Jan. 13 and will feature Hitomi Koyama, a doctoral student of Elisabeth and Eugene Pridonoff.