CCM Students Advance to the Final Round of the 2016 Lotte Lenya Competition

We are elated to report that CCM students Talya Lieberman and Reilly Nelson have been named as finalists for the 2016 Lotte Lenya Competition. They have been selected alongside 13 other young singer/actors and will take part in the final round of the competition on Saturday, April 16.

Both Lieberman and Nelson also made strong showings in last year’s Lotte Lenya Competition. Nelson advanced to the semifinal round of the competition (along with three other CCM-trained singers), while Lieberman won the Lys Symonette Award for Outstanding Performance of an Individual Number during the final round.

Lieberman and Nelson are the latest in a long line of CCM students and alumni who have reached the final rounds of the Lotte Lenya Competition. CCM alumna Lauren Roesner (BFA Musical Theatre, 2013) took Third Prize in the 2013 installment of this prestigious international theatre singing contest. CCM alumna Caitlin Mathes (MM Voice, 2009; Artist Diploma in Opera, 2010) earned First Prize in 2011 and fellow alumna Alisa Suzanne Jordheim (BM Voice, 2008; MM Voice, 2010; DMA candidate) progressed to the final round of the competition that same year.

Selected from 31 semifinalists, this year’s finalists represent a diverse range of performers, ages 21 to 31, from across the United States, Canada, Europe and Israel. All will sing repertoire from the operatic, golden age and contemporary musical stages, and of course, the music of Kurt Weill, for a chance win the top prize of $15,000.

Semifinalist judges, Tony Award-winners Jeanine Tesori and Victoria Clark, adjudicated and coached the performers. Clark, who first judged the competition in 2008, noted that “I can feel the leap in overall talent from when I last judged the semifinals.”

Kurt Weill Foundation President Kim Kowalke stated that “this year’s finalists are the largest and most diverse group in the Competition’s 19-year history, with contestants currently working on- and off-Broadway, in national touring companies, and in major regional theaters and opera companies. Many are well on their way to distinguished careers.”

The final round takes place April 16 at Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. Each finalist will present a 15 minute program of four selections in the daytime round, 11:00-4:00. An evening concert, in which contestants sing only a segment of their programs, follows at 8:00. The concert concludes with the announcement of awards and prizes. Both the daytime round and evening concert are free and open to the public.

All finalists receive a minimum cash award of $1,000, with additional discretionary awards of $3,500 each, and top prizes ranging from $7,500 to $15,000. Total prizes will exceed $60,000.

Returning to judge for the tenth time, international opera legend Teresa Stratas leads the judges’ panel. The Lenya Competition remains the only vocal competition she has ever consented to adjudicate. Joining her on the jury are Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization President and former American Theater Wing Chairman Theodore S. Chapin (also returning for his tenth time), and Broadway (and Audra McDonald’s) music director, conductor and accompanist Andy Einhorn.

Past prize winners have gone on to appear on major theater, opera and concert stages around the world. Don’t miss the competition described by Opera News as “target[ing] today’s total-package talents, unearthing up-and-coming singers who are ready for their close-ups.”

About the Kurt Weill Foundation
The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc. is dedicated to promoting understanding of the life and works of composer Kurt Weill (1900-50) and preserving the legacies of Weill and his wife, actress-singer Lotte Lenya (1898-1981). The Foundation administers the Weill-Lenya Research Center, a Grant Program, the Kurt Weill Book Prize and the Lotte Lenya Competition, and publishes the Kurt Weill Edition and the Kurt Weill Newsletter. Learn more by visiting www.kwf.org.

CCM student Talya Lieberman.

About Talya Lieberman
Originally from Forest Hills, New York, soprano Talya Ilana Lieberman is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at CCM as a student of Professor William McGraw.

Recently described by Opera News as “poetically compelling,” “delectably stylish” and “technically refined,” Lieberman is equally at home with operatic, art song and musical theatre repertoire. Starting in September 2016 she will be seen frequently on stage at Komische Oper Berlin, where she will be assuming the soprano position in the Opernstudio. Her upcoming performances include debuts with Cincinnati Opera and Opera Columbus, as well as the title role in CCM’s Mainstage Series production of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen.

Lieberman returned to Cincinnati this fall after completing a summer as a Filene Young Artist with Wolf Trap Opera, where her ability to “make a point with the merest flick of a finger” (Washington Post) shined in a highly lauded run as Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. She also appeared in concert with Steven Blier at Wolf Trap in a program celebrating the Broadway legacy of the Rodgers family (The Rodgers Family – A Century of Musicals).

Lieberman is a convert from the orchestra pit and started singing after receiving her master’s degree in trumpet performance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts under the tutelage of Judith Saxton. She completed her BA at Duke University with highest distinction in linguistics (Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude). She is a two-time winner of full tuition and stipend—winning the Russell-Seybold and Italo Tajo Awards, respectively—at CCM’s Opera Scholarship Competition.

CCM student Reilly Nelson. Photography by Kate Lemmon (http://www.katelphotography.com).

About Reilly Nelson
Born in the coastal town of Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario, Canada, Reilly Nelson attended the Eastman School of Music where she received a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and CCM where she completed a Master of Music in Vocal Performance.

Nelson is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at CCM.

At CCM she performed Hansel in Hansel and Gretel and Mary in Ricky Ian Gordon’s Morning Star. She also performed Hansel, as well as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, at Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center.

The mezzo-soprano was a vocal fellow at the renowned Tanglewood Music Festival for the summers of 2014 and 2015, performing Les nuits d’été, Op. 7 and Folk Songs by Bernard Rands.

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Story by Curt Whitacre

CCM’s Bearcat Piano Festival Presents Guest Artists and Student Showcases March 29 – April 3, 2016

CCM showcases the world of classical piano this spring with the return of the annual Bearcat Piano Festival! The festivities begin on Tuesday, March 29, and conclude on Sunday, April 3 with the Piano-POW-Looza showcase featuring CCM’s own talented student performers. All events will take place in the intimate Robert J. Werner Recital Hall.

Launched in 2010 by CCM Professor of Piano and Artist-in-Residence Awadagin Pratt, this year’s festival invites several internationally acclaimed artists to the stage. Concert pianist Caroline Hong, hailed for her “expressive and powerful playing,” “formidable technique” and “keen sense of lyricism and the classical style” opens the series with a recital at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 29. Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award-winning composer John Corigliano referred to her as “one of the greatest pianists [he has] ever heard.”

Ann Schein performs a recital at 8 p.m. on April 1, followed by a master class at noon on April 2. “Thank heaven for Ann Schein,” the Washington Post observed of her talents, “what a relief it is to hear a pianist who, with no muss or fuss, simply reaches right into the heart of whatever she is playing—and creates music so powerful you cannot tear yourself away.” Stein served on the piano faculty of Peabody Conservatory from 1980-2001. In addition, she has been an artist-faculty member of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 1984, and served as a visiting faculty member at Indiana University from 2008-09.

This year’s Bearcat Piano Festival also sees the continuation of CCM’s collaboration with the University of Michigan’s doctoral piano program. This year, pianist and DMA student Azariah Tan performs at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 2. Tan is a highly acclaimed performer who has won top prizes at competitions including the American Prize in 2012, the WPTA International Piano Competition in 2013, the New York International Artists Association Piano Competition in 2014 and numerous others.

Finally, the 2016 Bearcat Piano Festival comes to a close with Piano-POW-looza at 7 p.m. on Sunday, April 3. Organized by Piano Department Chair Michael Chertock and curated by Andy Villemez and Sophie Wang the event spotlights the talents of a select few from CCM’s nearly 100 dazzling piano majors; these young artists will provide witty repartee and stunning performances in a triumphant conclusion to the series.

This series only happens once a year, so make sure to not miss out!
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2016 BEARCAT PIANO FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

8 p.m. Tuesday, March 29
CAROLINE HONG RECITAL
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
Location: Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
Admission: FREE

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2 p.m. Wednesday, March 30
CAROLINE HONG MASTER CLASS
Location: Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
Admission: FREE

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7 p.m. Wednesday Thursday, March 31
J.S. BACH: THE COMPLETE WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER BOOK II
Featuring CCM student pianists Jing’er Xu, Youkyoung Kim, Sanwei Zhang, SanSung Aum, Xuan Guo, Narae Lee, Jaesung Kim, Jordan Neiman, Brendan Jacklin, Dobin Park, Kseniia Polstiankina, Sejeong Jeong, Hanqing Chang, Jeffrey Anderson, Shing-Ming Liao, Julan Wang and Patrick Lechner
Location: Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
Admission: FREE
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8 p.m. Friday, April 1
ANN SCHEIN RECITAL
Beethoven: Sonata No. 26 in E-flat Major, Op. 81a
Schumann: Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6
Chopin: Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 58
Location: Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
Admission: FREE

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12 p.m. Saturday, April 2
ANN SCHEIN MASTER CLASS
Location: Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
Admission: FREE

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8 p.m. Saturday, April 2
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN STUDENT EXCHANGE RECITAL
Featuring Azariah Tan, DMA Candidate
Chopin: Two Nocturnes, Op. 62
Beethoven: Sonata in A-flat Major, Op. 110
Schubert: Sonata in A Major, D. 959
Location: Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
Admission: FREE

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7 p.m. Sunday, April 3
PIANO-POW-LOOZA: STUDENT SHOWCASE
Andrew Villemez and Sophie Wang, music curators
Celebrate April as CCM’s leading pianists shower the Robert J. Werner Recital Hall with cascades of notes, lightning-fast arpeggios and thunderous octaves. Selected from CCM’s nearly 100 piano majors, these young artists are already carving out their own places in the sun and will triumphantly help us conclude a week of special events in our annual Bearcat Piano Festival!
Location: Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
Tickets: $15 general, $10 non-UC students, UC students FREE.

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Event Information
All events listed below take place on the campus of the University of Cincinnati unless otherwise indicated. The Piano-POW-looza Student Showcase concert requires paid admission. All other Bearcat Piano Festival events are free and open to the general public.

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

All event dates and programs are subject to change. Visit ccm.uc.edu or contact the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183 for the most current event information.

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.

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 and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

All-Steinway School Sponsor: The Corbett Endowment at CCM

CCM is proud to be an All-Steinway School

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Story by CCM graduate student Charlotte Kies and CCM alumnus Kevin Norton (DMA Saxophone, 2015)

CCM Announces 2016 Opera Scholarship Competition Results

Five voice students were named winners of CCM’s 2016 Opera Scholarship Competition, which was held on Saturday, March 12, in UC’s Corbett Auditorium.

Since its inauguration in 1976, 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 2016 CCM Opera Scholarship Competition winners are:

Kayleigh Decker (first year Master of Music student)
From Woodstock, Md., studying with William McGraw
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the Corbett Award ($15,000)
The Corbett Award is supported by the Corbett Foundation in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Christian Pursell (first year Master of Music student)
From Aptos, Calif., studying with Thomas Baresel
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.

Erica Intilangelo (second year Master of Music student)
From Fairfield, Conn., 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.

Murrella Parton (first year Master of Music student)
From Seymour, Tenn., studying with William McGraw
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the Seybold-Russell Award ($10,000)
The Seybold-Russell Award is supported by the Seybold-Russell Scholarship Fund in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Grace Newberry (first year Master of Music student)
From San Rafael, Calif., studying with 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 student also received an award as part of the competition:

Alexandra Schoeny (incoming Doctor of Musical Arts student)
From Cincinnati, Ohio
Prize: Corbett Incentive Award for new graduate 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 2016 Opera Scholarship Competition included:

• Michael Heaston, Director of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program and Advisor to the Artistic Director at Washington National Opera and Associate Artistic Director of Glimmerglass Festival
• Peter Kazaras, Professor of Music and Director of Opera at UCLA Herb Albert School of Music
  Stage Director
• Viswa Subbaraman, Artistic and Music Director of the Skylight Music Theatre in Milwaukee

About CCM Opera
The Department of Opera at CCM 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. As recently reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer, four singers with ties to CCM advanced to the semi-final round of this year’s Met Auditions.

In addition, 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 non-professional 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 2015-16 opera season concludes next month with Janáček’s classic The Cunning Little Vixen (April 8 – 10), conducted by Mark Gibson with stage direction by Vince DeGeorge. Learn more about the production at ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/mainstage/cunning-little-vixen.
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CCM Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

CCM Musical Theatre Presents Annual Senior Showcase March 17 and 19

CCM Musical Theatre’s class of 2016.

Cincinnati audiences will get a sneak peek of an original showcase created by the 2016 graduating class from CCM’s Department of Musical Theatre during the annual “Not Famous Yet” Showcase, which runs on March 17 (CCMpower benefit performance) and March 19 in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater.

The March 17 benefit performance starts at 7 p.m. and features dinner-by-the-bite and a post-performance celebration. Tickets for this benefit event are on sale now. For tickets and additional information, visit ccm.weshareonline.org/ws/opportunities/NotFamousYetShowcase2016.

The March 19 performances take place at 4 and 8 p.m. and are free, but reservations are required. Tickets for these free performances become available at the CCM Box Office at noon on Monday, March 14, 2016.

Each year, seniors from CCM’s musical theatre program travel to New York to present a showcase for the leading agents, casting directors and managers in the business. The show takes the format of a Broadway audition, with the actors showing off their solo and ensemble skills through song and dance numbers. This year’s work is created by the students themselves under the supervision of program chair Aubrey Berg, with musical direction by Julie Spangler and musical staging by Samantha Pollino.

This year’s performance is the 24th edition of the CCM “Not Famous Yet” showcase. The annual showcase began with the establishment of the Patricia A. Corbett Distinguished Chair of Musical Theatre in 1991. At the time of its inception, it was the only academic chair of its kind in the United States. Learn more about the Musical Theatre Class of 2016 here.

CCMpower Benefit Performance
The opening performance of the Musical Theatre Showcase on March 17 is part of a benefit for CCMpower. The event begins at 7 p.m. and includes dinner by the bite.

CCM alumna Lisa Howard.

This event also includes the presentation of the Musical Theatre Young Alumni Award, which recognizes outstanding professional achievement by graduates of CCM’s musical theatre program from the past two decades. This year’s recipient is Lisa Howard (BFA Musical Theatre, 1997).

A native of Akron, Ohio, Howard began her performing career with the ETC All American Youth Show Choir and Firestone High School’s performing arts department before heading to CCM.

She has worked at prominent regional theaters across the country including the St. Louis MUNY, Kansas City Starlight, the Olney Center, Goodspeed Opera House, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and Barrington Stage Company. She has performed in the national touring company of Les Misérables.

On Broadway, Howard has been seen as Diva 1 in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Missy Hart in 9 to 5, Head Nurse in Lincoln Center’s TONY award winning revival of South Pacific and – most notably – as Rona Lisa Peretti in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, for which she won a Drama Desk Award for Best Ensemble Performance.

In the concert scene, Howard has performed in “Broadway Today” produced by the Spot-On Entertainment Co. and in the Kaufman Center’s Broadway Close-up Series in “Stephen Schwartz: Magic To Do” and William Finn’s “More Infinite Joy” and “Even More Infinite Joy” at Merkin Hall. She has sung with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops. At Town Hall in NYC, Howard has performed in “Broadway Unplugged,” “A Night At The Operetta” and the popular “Broadway By The Year” series.

Howard’s debut solo CD, Songs of Innocence and Experience: the Music of William Finn was released in the Spring of 2011. Her TV and film credits include Ugly Betty and the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II.

Tickets for the March 17 benefit are:

• Patron Tickets: $100 each; includes a pre-show patron reception with Lisa Howard at 6 p.m. in the Baur Room of the Corbett Center for the Performing Arts, general performance seating, dinner-by-the-bite, wine and garage parking.
• General Public Tickets: $75 each; includes general performance seating, dinner-by-the-bite, wine and garage parking.
• CCMpower Member Tickets: $50 each; includes general performance seating, dinner-by-the-bite, wine and garage parking.
• Young Professional (40 and under) and CCM Alumni Tickets: $35 each; includes general performance seating, dinner-by-the-bite and garage parking.

Dinner-by-the-bite will follow the performance at 8 p.m. in the CCM Atrium. Proceeds benefit student career development grants and scholarships. Seating is limited. To reserve a ticket, call CCM External Relations at 513-556-2100 or visit ccm.weshareonline.org/ws/opportunities/NotFamousYetShowcase2016.

CCM Hosts FREE Performances of the Showcase on March 19
Admission to the Musical Theatre Showcase at 4 and 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 19, is FREE. Seating is limited and reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, March 14; please visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to make a reservation. Limit two tickets per order.

Performance Times

• 7 p.m. Thursday, March 17 — CCMpower Benefit
• 4 & 8 p.m. Saturday March 19

Location
Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

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.

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 and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

Introducing the 2016 TRANSMIGRATION Festival’s New Works

Running March 10-12, this year’s TRANSMIGRATION festival will feature six original dramas: A Brief Eternity, Colony Collapse Disorder, The Elephant in the Room, Vices, Elliot Popkin and The Home.

Audience members will have the opportunity to customize their theater-going experience by choosing to watch up to four different productions, which are performed simultaneously and in non-traditional spaces throughout CCM’s Corbett Center for the Performing Arts.

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A Brief Eternity, TRANSMIGRATION 2016.

A BRIEF ETERNITY
History repeats itself. History repeats. History.
Highly dangerous and experimental technology has provided us (and you) the opportunity of a lifetime: to visit the past, future and perhaps even the alternate present. From the comfort of our transporter you’ll be able to safely observe dinosaurs, historical events happening in the flesh and perhaps even your own birth. Why wonder, when you can see it with your own eyes? You’re sure to lose your senses and you just might find yourself along the way. Warning: possible side effects include dizziness, time radiation and general incidents. Must be at least 40 inches tall to ride.
Featuring: Ethan Finder, Alison Sluiter, Madeleine Page-Schmit, Isaac Hickox-Young, Rupert Spraul, Ryan Garrett, Michaela Tropeano, Colleen Ladrick
Location: Corbett Center 4735

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Colony Collapse Disorder, TRANSMIGRATION 2016.

COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER
Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
Bees are an intrinsic and beautiful part of our environment. However, these bees are not immune to danger. Spores from a parasitic fungus called cordyceps may infiltrate their bodies, and their minds. It’s infected brain directs the bee back to the hive to spread the infection further. Those afflicted, if they’re discovered by the worker bees, are quickly taken and dumped far away from the hive. It may seem extreme, but if they are unable to stop the infected bee, the hive may collapse.
Featuring: Sarah Durham, Jacqueline Daaleman, Landon Hawkins, James Egbert, Clare Combest, Sydney Ashe, Hannah Kornfeld, Bartley Booz, and Devan Pruitt.
Location: Corbett Center 4735

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The Elephant in the Room, TRANSMIGRATION 2016.

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
It’s a play about an elephant ghost.
A young, bright-eyed actor trying to make it in the big city—Milwaukee is the big city—has booked the dream job of a part on long-running local children’s show, Oofa Moobooz. Entering the jungle-themed studio with nervous excitement, he joins an endearing cast of local stars, all with their own funny quirks… and secrets.
Featuring: Colin Edgar, Andrew Iannacci, Spencer Lackey, Katie McDonald, Andrew Ramsey, Joshua Reiter, Graham Rogers, Sara Haverty
Location: Corbett Center 3705

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Vices, TRANSMIGRATION 2016.

VICES
The freaks come out at night.
Cocaine. Neon. Drag. Rum. A dirty women’s bathroom and a crime gone wrong. Welcome to 1990 South Beach, Miami, where the days are full of sun and sand, and the nights are full of energy and excess. Another day, another deal, but what happens when “just another night out” could be your last?
Featuring: Rachel Baumgarten, Arielle de Versterre, Emily Walton, Julia Netzer, Carissa Cardy, Mafer Del Real, Derek Kastner, Jabari Carter
Location: Corbett Center 3705

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Elliot Popkin, TRANSMIGRATION 2016.

ELLIOT POPKIN
The best friends I never had
An 8-year-old boy has some classmates over for a play date. When it comes to third graders, you never know what you’re gonna get.
Featuring: Alice Skok, Keisha Kemper, Katie Langham, Olivia Passafiume, Nicholas Heffelfinger, Meg Olson, Gabriella DiVincenzo
Location: Corbett Center 4755

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The Home, TRANSMIGRATION 2016.

THE HOME
Who wants it more?
When Tod and Karen Fazzari learn of their grandfather’s sudden death, they each see a promising opportunity to change their fate. But conflict arises when the siblings realize they aren’t alone in their endeavors. Trapped between a rock and a hard place, the Fazzari kids have a difficult choice to make. Sure, family is great, but diamonds are forever.
Featuring: Lauren Carter, Laura McCarthy, Kenzie Clark, Owen Alderson, Carter LaCava, and Sydney Martin, Annie Grove
Location: Corbett Center 4755

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Performance Times

• 7 p.m. Thursday, March 10
• 7 p.m. Friday, March 11
• 7 p.m. Saturday, March 12

Location
Various locations around CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Reserving Tickets
Admission to CCM’s TRANSMIGRATION Festival is free, but reservations are required. Visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

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.

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 and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

Drama Studio Series Sponsors: Neil Artman & Margaret Straub

CCM Drama Holds Annual Senior Showcase and Dolly Awards on March 18, 2016

CCM Drama’s class of 2016.

CCM’s Department of Drama presents its 2016 Senior Showcase at 2 and 7 p.m. on Friday, March 18, in Patricia Corbett Theater. The annual DOLLY Awards ceremony follows the 7 p.m. showcase performance and includes the recognition of an outstanding alumnus of the program. These events are free and open to the public. Reservations are not required.

The showcase performance will consist of a variety of scenes by graduating seniors in CCM’s Drama program, demonstrating the depth and breadth of the acting skills they have honed during their undergraduate training at CCM. The Senior Showcase will be the first presentation of a performance that the students will be taking on the road to exhibit their talent in New York and Los Angeles. You can learn more about the Drama Class of 2016 by visiting ccm.uc.edu/theatre/drama/seniorshowcase-classof2016.

Hosted by Professor Richard E. Hess, CCM’s A.B., Dolly, Ralph and Julia Cohen Chair of Dramatic Performance, the annual CCM Drama DOLLY Awards recognize the outstanding achievements and performances of students in the Department of Drama. Awards are given for Excellence in Performance and Excellence in Ensemble Performance from the 2015-16 CCM Drama season, which included the productions TRANSMIGRATION 2015, You’re Welcome: A Cycle of Bad Plays, Pentecost, The Hunchback of Seville and Ah, Wilderness!.

CCM Drama alumnus Michael Littig in Africa in 2011.

The highlight of the Dolly Awards ceremony will be the presentation of the 2016 Julia Winter Cohen Career Excellence Award to a graduate of CCM Drama. This year’s honoree is alumnus Michael Littig (BFA Drama, 2005).

Littig has worked as an actor, teaching artist and theatre maker. As an actor, his US credits include NYSF/Public Theater, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey, Portland Stage Company, Los Angeles Theater Center, Z Space, Hangar Theater, the Utah Shakespeare Festival and the Hippodrome Theatre as a resident company member.

Internationally, Littig has performed in A Dreamplay (United Arab Emirates), Juárez: A Documentary Mythology (Mexico/UAE/Lebanon), HEARTPIECE (Mongolia) and Hamlet/Ur Hamlet (UAE) as an associate artist with New York/Abu Dhabi-based Theater Mitu. In addition, Littig has diligently continued various global research initiatives towards a continuous development and articulation of Theater Mitu’s training methodology of “Whole Theater.”

Littig has served on faculty at the NYU Graduate Actor Training Program, Shakespeare Society, Stella Adler Conservatory and is a co-founder of the Patrick Page Studio in New York. His awards and recognition include a NEA Arts Works grant, a NEFA Touring grant and a Fulbright Fellowship to examine the relationship between a shaman and an actor in Mongolia.

Littig is the founder of the Great Globe Foundation and the Dadaab Theater Project. The work of the Great Globe Foundation has facilitated artistic collaborations with the United Nations High Council for Refugees, US State Department, Save the Children and FilmAid International. At present time, the Dadaab Theater Project continues in Africa in collaboration with Real Life Poets, a poetry exchange program between Alabama students and refugees living in Kenya.

Performance Times
2 and 7 p.m. Friday, March 18

Location
Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Admission Details
Admission to the CCM Drama Senior Showcase and DOLLY Awards Ceremony 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.

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 and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

CCM’s Opera d’arte Series Presents Tragic Tale ‘Maria Stuarda,’ March 11-13

‘Maria Stuarda’ crown illustration by DAAP student Marcus McDowell.

CCM’s acclaimed Opera d’arte series returns this week with a new production of Gaetano Donizetti’s tragic Maria Stuarda, which runs March 11-13 in the Cohen Family Studio Theater. The opera, which showcases the talent of CCM’s undergraduate performers, features music direction by Associate Professor of Ensembles and Conducting Brett Scott and stage direction by Assistant Professor of Voice Amy Johnson. Admission to this production is free, but reservations are required through the CCM Box Office.

In this dramatic adaptation of Friedrich Schiller’s play Maria Stuart, Donizetti and librettist Giuseppe Bardari tell a fictional tale of the rivalry between Queen Elizabeth of England and Mary, Queen of Scots. Seeking refuge in England after her kingdom is overthrown, Mary finds herself imprisoned by her calculating cousin, Queen Elizabeth, who fears Mary’s claims to the English throne. Jealous beyond reason, Elizabeth fears the foreign queen has stolen the heart of her beloved Roberto, Earl of Leicester.

Fighting for her life, Mary implores Roberto for an audience with Elizabeth to plead her innocence. Blinded by her insecurities, Elizabeth is only further enraged by Roberto’s advocacy on Mary’s behalf. In a tragic conclusion, Elizabeth is tasked with granting or denying mercy for the defenseless Mary.

“The Department of Voice Performance has an exceptional talent pool this year,” says director Amy Johnson. “This opera was chosen to suit our students’ needs and our pedagogical goals. The production will teach our cast about bel canto style and performance practice.”

Professor of Voice Kenneth Shaw serves as producer for this opera and has guided the Opera d’arte Series for many years. He is particularly excited about the program’s collaboration with UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) and Professor Brian Schumacher, as well as with CCM’s Department of Theatre Design and Production. “Our student-designed set reflects our collaborators’ expertise and standard of excellence,” he says.

“Maria Stuarda is by far the most advanced project we’ve tackled to date,” says Shaw, “and it is a testament to the quality of our students that we are able to produce this opera and even double cast it with undergraduate singers.”

CCM is proud to present this classic tale of a fight for love, life and country.

Principal Cast for March 11 and 13

• Sarah Vautour as Maria Stuarda
• Elizabeth Gorrie as Elizabeth I
• Stephanie Rampton as Anne Kennedy
• John Humphrey as the Earl of Leicester*
• Daniel Illig as Lord Cecil
• Bernard Khalil as Talbot

Principal Cast for March 12

• Madeline Jentsch as Maria Stuarda
• Page Michels as Elizabeth I
• Brianna Bragg as Anne Kennedy
• TJ Capobianco as the Earl of Leicester*
• Olusola Fadiran as Lord Cecil
• Tyler Resto as Talbot

Chorus

• Christina Bilz
• Sophie Blatt
• Dara Brown
• Desiree Dawson
• Clayton Edwards
• Rebecca Finkelshteyn
• Charlotte Green
• Grant Jackson
• Mackenzie Jacquemin
• Vidita Kannikeswaran
• Shannon Keegan
• Jake Kolesar
• Sam Krausz
• Hayley Maloney
• Maria Miller
• Gregory Miller
• Holly Reckers
• Jared Slothower
• Elena Villalon

* denotes masters student

Performance Times

• 8 p.m. Friday, March 11
• 8 p.m. Saturday, March 12
• 2 p.m. Sunday, March 13

Location
Cohen Family Studio Theater, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Admission
Admission is free, but reservations are required. Please contact the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

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.

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 and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

 

CCM Drama Students Present Original Works at Annual TRANSMIGRATION Festival

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This week, CCM proudly presents its TRANSMIGRATION Festival of Student-Created New Works. Students from CCM’s Department of Drama are assigned to teams and given full creative license in this annual festival, which runs March 10 – 12 in CCM Village. Admission is FREE, but reservations are required.

The TRANSMIGRATION Festival offers the opportunity for CCM Drama students to flex their writing, producing, designing and directing muscles while building 25-minute original plays from the ground up.

“The creative teams are chosen totally at random,” says producer and Assistant Professor of Drama Brant Russell. “Essentially everyone gets together on the first day of the semester and counts off one through six.”

The student groups are then left to their own devices to figure out a theme, assign roles and produce an entirely new piece of theater. Russell explains, “Department Chair Richard Hess and I are the producers, so we help them coordinate the festival, but we are fairly hands off… and that is on purpose, pedagogically speaking. We guide our students and nudge them one way or the other and give feedback, but they really build it.”

“In the contemporary theatre landscape, it would be irresponsible of us to turn out brilliant actors who only know how to wait by the phone for an audition and don’t know how to create their own work,” Russell suggests.

One of the goals of TRANSMIGRATION is to assist the students in finding their artistic voice. “Every voice is unique and every voice is so clearly articulated in these pieces,” says Russell. One of those voices is senior Bartley Booz whose group has chosen an unorthodox subject to write about: bees.

“Bees are an intrinsic and beautiful part of our environment,” Booz observes while explaining his team’s new play, Colony Collapse Disorder. “However, these bees are not immune to danger. Spores from a parasitic fungus called cordyceps may infiltrate their bodies and their minds,” he suggests. Although bees and their maladies are not usually fodder for new plays, one of the unique and exciting aspects of this festival is that students are given free reign to create, which means that unconventional ideas are not only tolerated, they are encouraged and are often the most enjoyable for the audience. When asked about the motivations to write his piece, Booz offers: “Desperation. Isolation. Bees.” Now that’s a unique voice.

Also on the docket for this year’s festival is The Home, a slightly more traditional show from sophomore Lauren Carter and her team. Carter describes the play as being about two siblings and their friends who sneak into a morgue to recover their grandfather’s valuable ring before his funeral. “Conflict arises when the siblings realize they aren’t alone in their endeavors,” she says, “and the stakes are raised when they discover they’re stuck inside the funeral home.”

The Home was actually idea number two for Carter and her group; Carter explains, “We decided on a concept very early on, then this past week we realized the direction we were headed wasn’t right. We put that idea aside and decided we would take aspects of it and turn it into the show we are currently working on. TRANSMIGRATION is a great opportunity to learn when to say yes and when to say no if it just isn’t working.”

Each of the six groups has their own story of creation and will present vastly different and daring plays at the end of the process. According to Russell, this is a point of pride for he and the faculty.

“My favorite part of this whole thing is that you get to see work from students that you never suspected would come out of their mouths, it’s so cool, their personalities emerge,” Russell says.

Audience members will have the opportunity to customize their evening of theatre experiences by choosing to watch as many as four different productions, which are performed simultaneously in non-traditional spaces throughout CCM’s Corbett Center for the Performing Arts.

Performance Times

• • 7 p.m. Thursday, March 10
• • 7 p.m. Friday, March 11
• • 7 p.m. Saturday, March 12

Location
Various locations around CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Reserving Tickets
Admission to CCM’s  TRANSMIGRATION Festival is free, but reservations are required. Visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

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.

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 and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

Drama Studio Series Sponsors: Neil Artman & Margaret Straub

CCM Slideshows: Green Day’s American Idiot

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CCM’s Mainstage Series continues tonight through next Sunday, March 13, with a raucous production of Green Day’s hit rock opera, American Idiot.

Directed by Aubrey Berg with musical direction by Steve Goers, American Idiot portrays a disaffected generation’s search for meaning in a post-9/11 America.

• Read Kirk Sheppard’s review of the show for The Sappy Critic here.
• Read Rick Pender’s preview of the show for Cincinnati CityBeat here.
• Listen to a preview of the production courtesy of WVXU here.
• Check out our behind-the-scenes look at the set design for American Idiot here.

American Idiot contains mature subject matter, including references to drug use, sexual content and profanity. Tickets are still available for select performances. Learn more about the production here.

Performance Times

• 8 p.m. Friday, March 4
• 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 5
• 2 p.m. Sunday, March 6
• 8 p.m. Thursday, March 10
• 8 p.m. Friday, March 11
• 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 12
• 2 p.m. Sunday, March 13

Location
Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Purchasing Tickets
Tickets to American Idiot are $31-35 for adults, $20-24 for non-UC students and $18-22 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 at ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/mainstage/american-idiot.

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.

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 and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Mainstage Season Production Sponsor: Macy’s

Community Partner: ArtsWave

American Idiot is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019 | Phone: 212-541-4684 | Fax: 212-397-4684 | http://www.MTIShows.com

CCM Welcomes Acclaimed Violinist Augustin Hadelich for Master Class on March 12

Award winning violinist Augustin Hadelich.

CCM hosts world-renowned violinist Augustin Hadelich for a master class at 11 a.m. next Saturday, March 12, in Watson Hall. The Grammy Award-winning musician will work with CCM string students during the two hour session, which is open to the general public.

The visit coincides with Hadelich’s weekend engagement with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, which will see him perform the famed Violin Concerto by Expressionist composer Alban Berg with the CSO on March 11, 12 and 13.

Hadelich will also join CSO Music Director Louis Langrée for a “Stories in Concert” event at Music Hall at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 13. For more information about the events with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, please visit http://cincinnatisymphony.org.

About Augustin Hadelich
Within months after being awarded the inaugural Warner Music Prize, Augustin Hadelich has just won a 2016 Grammy in the category “Best Classical Instrumental Solo” for his recording of the Dutilleux Violin Concerto, L’arbre des songes, firmly establishing him as one of the great violinists of his generation. His remarkable consistency throughout the repertoire, from Bach and Beethoven to Ligeti and Adès, is seldom encountered in a single artist.

Highlights of Hadelich’s 2015-16 season include debuts with the Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in Carnegie Hall and the Finnish Radio Orchestra, as well as return performances with the London Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra and the symphonies of Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Louisville, Milwaukee, New Jersey, Oregon, Seattle, Utah and Vancouver. He has also previously collaborated with such renowned conductors as Roberto Abbado, Marc Albrecht, Marin Alsop, Herbert Blomstedt, Lionel Bringuier, Justin Brown, James Conlon, Christoph von Dohnányi and Jaap van Zweden, among numerous others.

Also an enthusiastic recitalist, Hadelich’s numerous appearances include Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), The Frick Collection (New York), Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.), Kioi Hall (Tokyo), the Louvre and the chamber music societies of Detroit, La Jolla, Philadelphia, Seattle and Vancouver. His chamber music partners have included Inon Barnatan, Jeremy Denk, James Ehnes, Alban Gerhardt, Richard Goode, Gary Hoffman, Kim Kashkashian, Robert Kulek, Cho-Liang Lin, Midori, Charles Owen, Vadim Repin, Mitsuko Uchida, Joyce Yang, along with the members of the Guarneri and Juilliard quartets.

Hadelich’s first major orchestral recording, featuring the violin concertos of Jean Sibelius and Thomas Adès (Concentric Paths), with Hannu Lintu conducting the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, was released to great acclaim in March 2014 on the AVIE label. The disc was nominated for a Gramophone Award and was listed by NPR on their Top 10 Classical CDs of 2014. He has recorded three previous albums for AVIE: Flying Solo, a CD of masterworks for solo violin; Echoes of Paris, featuring French and Russian repertoire influenced by Parisian culture in the early 20th century; and Histoire du Tango, a program of violin-guitar works in collaboration with Pablo Villegas. A recent recording of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and Bartók’s Concerto No. 2 with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra under Miguel Harth-Bedoya was released on AVIE in the spring of 2015.  For the Seattle Symphony with Ludovic Morlot, Mr. Hadelich has recorded Dutilleux’s Violin Concerto, “L’arbre des songes,” on Seattle Symphony MEDIA.

The 2006 Gold Medalist of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, Hadelich is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant (2009), a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in the UK (2011), and Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award (2012). Most recently, he has been named winner of the first Warner Music Prize (2015).

The son of German parents, Hadelich was born and raised in Italy. A resident of New York City since 2004 and now an American citizen, he holds an Artist Diploma from the Juilliard School, where he was a student of Joel Smirnoff.  He plays on the 1723 “Ex-Kiesewetter” Stradivari violin, on loan from Clement and Karen Arrison through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

For more information, please visit http://augustin-hadelich.com.