Janelle Gelfand Reviews CCM’s Latest Opera Fusion Workshop

The Cincinnati Enquirer‘s Janelle Gelfand shares her thoughts on our latest Opera Fusion workshop production, Morning Star, in today’s installment of the Arts in Focus blog. You can read her review here.

CCM and Cincinnati Opera presented public workshop performances of Ricky Ian Gordon and William M. Hoffman‘s Morning Star earlier this week. The workshop was filmed for a forthcoming documentary focusing on Opera Fusion: New Works, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. You can learn more about this documentary here.

Opera Fusion: New Works is generously funded by a $300,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

‘The News Record’ Covers CCM’s Fall Dance Concert

CCM’s Fall 2012 Dance Concert. Photography by Lauren Purkey.

Natalya Daoud and Lauren Purkey cover CCM’s Fall Dance Concert for the News Record, the thrice-weekly independent student news organization at the University of Cincinnati.

You can view Daoud’s coverage of the concert here and enjoy a slideshow of Purkey’s photography from the production here.

‘CityBeat’ Previews Next Opera Fusion Workshop

‘Morning Star’ composer Ricky Ian Gordon.

Anne Arenstein previews Opera Fusion‘s next workshop in this week’s issue of CityBeat. View the story online here.

CCM and Cincinnati Opera will present public workshop performances of Ricky Ian Gordon and William M. Hoffman‘s Morning Star Dec. 4 (at Memorial Hall in downtown Cincinnati) and Dec. 5 (at CCM’s Cohen Family Studio Theater). This workshop is being filmed for a forthcoming documentary focusing on Opera Fusion: New Works, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. You can learn more about this documentary here. Opera Fusion: New Works is generously funded by a $300,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Tickets for CCM’s presentation become available at noon on Monday, Dec. 3 – visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

Learn more about Morning Star here.

CCM Choirs Welcome the Holidays With Feast of Carols

Feast of Carols photography by Dottie Stover.

More than 300 voices will fill the stage of Corbett Auditorium with favorite holiday songs during CCM’s annual Feast of Carols on Dec. 8 and 9. The festivities will include treasured sounds of the season performed by CCM’s Chamber Choir, Chorale and Concert Orchestra, UC Men’s and Women’s Choruses, Cincinnati Children’s Choir and outstanding area guest choirs, including the May Festival Youth Chorus, School for Creative and Performing Arts Chorale and Winton Woods High School Varsity Ensemble.

Performances will take place on Saturday, Dec. 8, at 5 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 9, at 2 and 5 p.m. in UC’s Corbett Auditorium. Due to overwhelming demand, a small number of limited-view tickets will become available at noon on Monday, Dec. 3. Please contact the CCM Box Office for more information.

CCM and Cincinnati Opera Present New American Opera ‘Morning Star’ Dec. 4 and 5

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CCM’s Department of Opera teams up with Cincinnati Opera in the second of two installments of Opera Fusion: New Works 2012, a program offering composers and librettists the opportunity to workshop a new opera during a 10-day residency. CCM’s public workshop performance of Morning Star, composed by Ricky Ian Gordon with libretto by William M. Hoffman, will be presented at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 5 in UC’s Cohen Family Studio Theater.

The workshop will be directed by Ron Daniels, who staged the world premiere of the new American opera Il Postino at LA Opera in 2010. Metropolitan Opera regular Steven White will conduct the piece. Admission to Morning Star is free but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, Dec. 3 – visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

CCM’s Fall Dance Concert Spotlights Guest Choreographers Nov. 30 – Dec. 2

Experience the royal wedding of Prince Charming and Princess Aurora at CCM’s Fall Dance Concert. Photography by Rene Micheo.

The CCM Ballet Ensemble will present its Fall Concert Nov. 30 – Dec. 2 in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater. The concert will be a mixture of new works and restaged classics, featuring the efforts of two guest choreographers (including one recent alumnus) and a restaging by CCM’s renowned faculty.

CCM Reviews the ‘Revue’ with Special Musical Theatre Performances Nov. 30 – Dec. 1

CCM’s Department of Musical Theatre will present “The Revue Review: A Musical Redux Presentation” Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 in the master classroom (Mary Emery Hall room 3250). The revue, a popular form of entertainment in the early 20^th century, combined singing, dancing and acting, making it a perfect match for CCM’s “triple-threat” musical theatre students. Admission to “The Revue Review” is free, but reservations are required.

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Scenic Design of ‘Street Scene’

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CCM’s history-making production of Kurt Weill, Langston Hughes and Elmer Rice’s Tony-Award winning opera Street Scene opens tomorrow evening (Nov. 15) and runs through Sunday, Nov. 18 in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater.

With its mammoth cast, this highly theatrical opera has something for everyone: rising melodic lines, lively American jazz phrases and even a few Broadway style dance numbers. It is a story of love, passion, greed and death – all set in front of a tenement building in 1946 Manhattan.

Today, we provide a behind-the-scenes look at how this tenement building came to life, courtesy of Scenic Designer Brian Ruggaber and the rest of Street Scene‘s production staff.

Street Scene is the latest installment in CCM’s 2012-13 Kurt Weill Festival, which is funded in part by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc. Mark Gibson conducts with stage direction by Steven Goldstein. Street Scene will be sung in English without supertitles.

CCM Presents Kurt Weill’s ‘Street Scene’ Nov. 15-18

Second-year Artist’s Diploma student Meghan Tarkington as Rose Maurrant in CCM’s first-ever production of ‘Street Scene.’

CCM makes history this month as it proudly presents Kurt Weill, Langston Hughes and Elmer Rice’s Tony-Award winning opera Street Scene Nov. 15-18 in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater. The American opera in two acts presents a simple, yet dramatic story of a mid-century Manhattan neighborhood, and CCM’s performance combines the forces of hundreds of students across several departments. Due to Street Scene‘s incredible scale, CCM has never before presented this great American opera. This historic production is funded in part by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc. Mark Gibson conducts with stage direction by Steven Goldstein. Street Scene will be sung in English without supertitles.

CCM Celebrates Cage Centennial With November Events

American composer John Cage (1912–92)

CCM proudly presents performances and discussions throughout the month of November in honor of American composer John Cage’s 100th birthday.

The Cage Centennial Celebration commences with a week-long festival running Nov. 5-9, featuring unique collaborations between students and faculty from throughout CCM, along with a performance by Percussion Group Cincinnati. The celebration culminates on Thursday, Nov. 29, with the Philharmonia Orchestra’s annual “American Voices” concert.