CSO Director Louis Langrée Presents Free Lecture at CCM on Nov. 24

The UC Fellows of the Graduate School Distinguished Speaker Series welcomes acclaimed conductor Louis Langrée for a special guest lecture at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 24.

Langrée serves as Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Chief Conductor of the Camerata Salzburg and Music Director of the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center in New York.

During the 2015-16 season, his concerts with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra will include a Brahms Festival and three world premiere Concertos for Orchestra by Sebastian Currier, Thierry Escaich and Zhou Tian. They will also perform in New York as part of the 50th anniversary season of Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series. With the Camerata Salzburg, Langrée will tour Germany and other guest engagements include the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (opening their annual Mendelssohn Festival) and performances of Così fan tutte with the Freiburger Barockorchester at the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

Langrée has worked with many other orchestras around the world including the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Santa Cecilia in Rome, Sao Paulo, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Budapest Festival orchestras. His festival appearances have included Wiener Festwochen, Salzburg Mozartwoche and Whitsun, BBC Proms and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. He has held positions as Music Director of the Orchestre de Picardie (1993-98) and Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège (2001-06).

Langrée was Music Director of Opéra National de Lyon (1998-2000) and Glyndebourne Touring Opera (1998-2003). He has also conducted at La Scala, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opéra Comique, Opéra-Bastille and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dresden Staatsoper, Grand Théâtre in Geneva and the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam.

Langrée’s first commercial recording with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra features Copland’s A Lincoln Portrait (narrated by Dr Maya Angelou) and world premieres by Nico Muhly and David Lang. Louis Langrée’s recordings have received several awards from Gramophone and Midem Classical. He was appointed Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2006 and Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2014.

His talk will address the challenges and rewards of a conductor in the 21st century.

Event Time
4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24

Location
Robert J. Werner Recital Hall, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Admission
Admission to this lecture is free and open to the general public. Reservations are not required.

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 more information on parking rates.

The Robert J. Werner Recital Hall is located on the 2000 level of CCM’s Mary Emery Hall. The recital hall’s lobby is directly accessible from level P3 of the CCM Garage. Enter CCM’s facilities through the garage entrances marked “Werner Recital Hall” (as opposed to “Corbett Center for the Performing Arts”) for easiest access to the hall’s lobby.

For detailed maps and directions, please visit uc.edu/visitors. Additional parking is available off-campus at the new 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 & Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

CCM Alumnus Max Clayton Cast in Broadway-Bound Revival of ‘Gigi’

CCM alumnus Max Clayton.

We are thrilled to report that CCM alumnus Max Clayton (BFA Musical Theatre, 2014) has just been cast in the Broadway-bound revival of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s Oscar and Tony Award-winning musical Gigi.

Gigi is set to play a pre-Broadway engagement in the Eisenhower Theater at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The show will officially open on Jan. 29, 2015, and will play a limited engagement through to Feb. 12, before moving on to the Great White Way later next year.

Clayton has kept busy since graduating just last spring. He was recently seen as Gabey in On the Town at the Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre in Chicago and as Slim in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of Oklahoma! The Chicago Tribune hailed Clayton’s performance in On the Town, calling him “an excellent lead.”

CCM audiences last saw Clayton as Don Lockwood in Singin’ in the Rain and as Macheath in The Threepenny Opera.

CCM Announces 2014 Opera Scholarship Competition Results

Five voice students were named winners of CCM 2014 Opera Scholarship Competition, which was held Saturday, March 15, in UC’s Corbett Auditorium. The annual competition welcomes current and incoming CCM voice students to compete for scholarships and cash prizes, and a panel of judges composed of opera industry professionals selects each year’s class of prizewinners.

The 2014 CCM Opera Scholarship Competition winners are:

Edward Nelson (Candidate – Artist Diploma)
From Saugus, Calif., studying with William McGraw
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the Corbett Award ($15,000)
This award is supported by the Corbett Foundation in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. This award also guarantees a stage audition with New York City Opera.

Talya Lieberman (Candidate – Artist Diploma)
From Forest Hills, N.Y., studying with William McGraw
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the Italo Tajo Memorial Award ($15,000)
This award is supported by the Italo Tajo Memorial Scholarship Fund (established by Mr. Tajo’s wife, Mrs. Inelda Tajo) in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Christopher Bozeka (Candidate – Master of Music)
From Akron, Ohio, studying with William McGraw
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the Andrew White Memorial Award ($12,500)
This award is supported by the Andrew White Memorial Scholarship Fund in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Alec Carlson (Candidate – Master of Music)
From Red Oak, Iowa, studying with Kenneth Shaw
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the Seybold-Russell Award ($10,000)
This award is supported by the Seybold-Russell Scholarship Fund in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Jasmine Habersham (Candidate – Artist Diploma)
From Macon, Ga., studying William McGraw
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the John Alexander Memorial Award ($10,000)
This award is sponsored by the John Alexander Memorial Scholarship Fund in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

The following students also received an award as part of the competition:

Jessica Faselt (Incoming – Master of Music)
From Iowa City, Iowa
Prize: Corbett Incentive Award for new Master of Music students ($2,000)
This award is supported by the Corbett Foundation in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Ann Toomey (Incoming – Master of Music)
From Shelby Township, Mich.
Prize: Corbett Incentive Award for new Master of Music students ($2,000)
This award is supported by the Corbett Foundation in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

The judges’ panel for CCM’s 2014 Opera Scholarship Competition included:

• Cori Ellison, Chief Dramaturg of the Glyndbourne Festival and Dramaturg at American Lyric Theatre in New York;
• Neal Goren, Artistic and General Director of the Gotham Chamber Opera in New York; and
• Craig Terry, Music Director of the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

About CCM Opera
The Department of Opera at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music boasts one of the most comprehensive training programs for opera singers, coaches and directors in the United States. Students at CCM work with some of the most renowned teachers and artists active in opera today.

CCM students frequently advance to the final rounds of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Furthermore, CCM’s Mainstage and Studio Series of Opera have received some of the National Opera Association Production Competition’s highest honors throughout the years, taking home six of the 18 nonprofessional prizes awarded in 2010 and four prizes in 2011.

CCM Opera graduates have performed on the stages of the world’s greatest opera companies, including Cincinnati Opera, Metropolitan Opera (New York), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Royal Opera (London), La Scala (Italy) and more.

CCM’s 2013-14 opera season concludes next month with Donizetti’s beloved Don Pasquale (April 3-6), conducted by Mark Gibson with stage direction by Omer Ben-Seadia. Learn more about that production by visiting ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/donpasquale.
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CCM Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

CCM Opera Scholarship Competition Brings Bright Young Artists to the Stage on March 15

Corbett Auditorium

CCM invites local audiences to hear tomorrow’s opera stars today during its prestigious national competition from 10 a.m. until approximately 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 15, in UC’s Corbett Auditorium.

Twenty-five current and incoming young artists will compete for approximately $100,000 in tuition grants and $65,500 in other named awards, including the Corbett Award, Italo Tajo Memorial Award, Andrew White Memorial Award, Seybold-Russell Award and John Alexander Memorial Award. Each contestant will be judged on the basis of voice, acting, language, musicianship and style in a complete dramatic performance of an aria.

A panel of judges composed of world-renowned opera industry professionals will select the winners. The judges’ panel for this year’s competition includes:

• Cori Ellison, Chief Dramaturg of the Glyndbourne Festival and Dramaturg at American Lyric Theatre in New York;
• Neal Goren, Artistic and General Director of the Gotham Chamber Opera in New York; and
• Craig Terry, Music Director of the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The winners will be announced on Saturday afternoon, March 15, following the conclusion of the competition.

CCM Opera Scholarship Competition Brings Bright Young Stars to the Stage on March 16

CCM invites local audiences to hear tomorrow’s opera stars today, as CCM hosts its prestigious scholarship competition beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 16, in UC’s Corbett Auditorium. Admission to this event is free, and reservations are not required. Audience members may enter and exit Corbett Auditorium at appropriate times throughout the day.

Twenty-three current and incoming young artists will compete for approximately $100,000 in tuition grants and $62,500 in other named awards, including the Corbett Award, Italo Tajo Memorial Award, Andrew White Memorial Award, Seybold-Russell Award and John Alexander Memorial Award. Each contestant will be judged on the basis of voice, acting, language, musicianship and style in a complete dramatic performance of an aria.

A panel of judges composed of world-renowned opera-industry professionals will select the winners. The judges’ panel for this year’s competition includes:

• Peter Kazaras, Director of Opera at UCLA, Professor of Music at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and Artistic Director of the Seattle Young Artists Program
• Kevin Murphy, Professor of Practice and Head Opera Coach at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Opera Theater and director of music administration at the New York City Opera
• Lenore Rosenberg, Associate Artistic Administrator of the Metropolitan Opera

The winners will be announced on Saturday afternoon, March 16, following the conclusion of the competition.

CCM Alumna To Star in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s New Production of ‘Oklahoma!’

CCM alumna Ashley Brown. Photography by Jimmy Asnes.

CCM alumna Ashley Brown (BFA in Musical Theatre, 2004) will star as Laurey Williams in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s new production of Oklahoma!, to be presented in May under the direction of Gary Griffin. Brown previously played Magnolia in Lyric Opera’s production of Show Boat and was seen in the title role of the original Broadway production of Disney’s Mary Poppins.

The new production of Oklahoma! includes the original choreography by Agnes De Mille. Learn more here.

Cincinnati Enquirer Reviews Opera Fusion Workshop Performance of ‘Champion’

The Cincinnati Enquirer‘s Steven Rosen was in attendance at Saturday’s public workshop of Champion, the new American opera composed by Terence Blanchard with a libretto by Michael Cristofer.

In his review of the performance, Rosen states, “Judging from the enthusiastic audience response, the opera may become a champion in more ways than one. One person asked, to general overall approval, if he would have to go all the way to Saint Louis to see the full opera, wishing Cincinnati Opera would itself stage it. (Several of the CCM students will be in the Saint Louis production.)”

You can read Rosen’s review in its entirety here.

Opera Fusion: New Works Lab Presents Terence Blanchard and Michael Cristofer’s ‘Champion’ This Weekend

This weekend, CityBeat recommends the Opera Fusion: New Works Lab performance of Terence Blanchard and Michael Cristofer‘s Champion.

CCM will host a public performance of this new American opera at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27 in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater. Cincinnati Opera will host a performance 3 p.m. performance on Sunday, Oct. 28 at Cincinnati’s School for Creative and Performing Arts. Champion contains mature subject matter and adult language.

You can read Anne Arenstein’s entire preview here.

CCM Opera and Cincinnati Opera Select Works for Two Fall 2012 Opera Fusion Residencies

CCM Opera and Cincinnati Opera are pleased to announce the selection of two new American operas, Champion and Morning Star, for the Opera Fusion: New Works program’s second year of residencies. The operas were selected through a national application process from a pool of more than 30 applicants.

CCM Voice Students Receive Competition Honors

Six CCM voice students were named winners of CCM’s 2011 Opera Scholarship Competition, which was held Saturday, April 2 in CCM’s Corbett Auditorium. The annual competition welcomes current and incoming CCM voice students to compete for scholarships and cash prizes, and a panel of judges composed of opera industry professionals selects each year’s class of prizewinners. See the full list of 2011 winners after the jump.