Award-Winning Conductor and Educator Aik Khai Pung is Named Assistant Professor of Orchestral Studies at CCM

Aik Khai Pung, Assistant Professor of Music in Orchestral Conducting at CCM.

CCM Dean Peter Landgren has announced the appointment of Aik Khai Pung to the position of Assistant Professor of Music in CCM’s Department of Orchestral Studies. Pung first joined CCM’s faculty on a visiting basis in 2014. His new appointment becomes effective on August 15, 2015.

An all-around conductor and educator, Pung is music director of the CCM Concert Orchestra, NANOWorks Opera and Café MoMus, CCM’s contemporary music ensemble.

An alumnus of CCM, Pung (MM Orchestral Conducting, 2009; DMA Orchestral Conducting, 2014) studied under Mark Gibson, Annunziata Tomaro, Xu Xin, Zhang Yi and Ulrich Nicolai. He has also worked with Gustav Meier and JoAnn Falletta. Pung holds a BA from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing in addition to his degrees from CCM.

Prior to his engagement at CCM, Pung taught at Earlham College in Indiana, Akademie der Chinesische Bunte Blätter in Munich and Peking University in Beijing. He has served as head instructor of the Orchestral, Choir and Opera Conducting Workshop in Malaysia, and was a clinician for Montclair State University John J. Cali School of Music Orchestra Festival in New Jersey.

On top of his passion for teaching, Pung is actively involved in music festivals around the world such as Lincoln Center Festival (New York), Spoleto Festival USA (Charleston, S.C.), CCM Spoleto (Spoleto, Italy), Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca (Lucca, Italy), Georgetown Festival (Penang, Malaysia) and Luminato Festival (Toronto, Canada) where he conducts and assists opera productions as well as symphonic concerts.

As a multi-instrumentalist, Pung plays the piano, violin, Er-hu (Chinese traditional fiddle), Chinese dulcimer and viola da gamba. On top of instrumental music, he is equally involved with vocal music. He programs and performs new operas as the music director of NANOWorks Opera. Aside from the music from the Classical and Romantic eras, Pung has conducted his research on the music of Guo Wenjing, Toshio Hosokawa, Nico Muhly, John Adams, Philip Glass and young composers such as CCM alumna Jennifer Jolley (MM Composition, 2009; DMA Composition, 2012), Danny Clay, Eric Knechtges, Li ShaoSheng and Marie Incontrera, among others.

Pung won second prize in the Taiwan Chinese Orchestra (TCO) International Conducting Competition (2015) and was the Special Award winner for Conducting Chinese Music at the First Hong Kong International Conducting Competition (2011).

He was the first international conducting student to be accepted to the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music, the top conservatory in China, where he was awarded outstanding student in 2005.

You can learn even more about Aik Khai Pung by clicking here. Please join us in congratulating him on his new appointment.

‘Music in Cincinnati’ Recaps Nico Muhly’s Recent Visit to CCM

Last month, composer Nico Muhly visited CCM in conjunction with the 2012 Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts. Music in Cincinnati‘s Mary Ellyn Hutton takes a look back at Muhly’s visit this week.

You can read her full recap here.

CCM Contemporary Music Ensemble Presents Works by Renowned Young Composer Nico Muhly

Visiting Composer Nico Muhly.

CCM’s Café MoMus: Contemporary Music Ensemble presents the music of celebrated composer Nico Muhly at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 10, in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater. Featuring guest artists Tatiana Berman, violin, and Grant Knox, tenor, the performance is presented in conjunction with the Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts. Admission to the concert is free.

CCM Announces Fall 2012 Calendar of Major Events

CCM is delighted to announce its fall schedule of performances. The largest single source of performing arts events in the state of Ohio, CCM presents more than 100 public performances this fall, ranging from faculty and guest artist concerts to fully supported opera, drama and musical theatre productions.

This fall’s schedule includes a Beethoven Festival (Sept. 14 – Oct. 12), a Kurt Weill Festival (Oct. 19 – March 10) and a Cage Centennial Celebration (Nov. 5 – Nov. 29). CCM also collaborates with Cincinnati Opera on public workshop performances of two new American operas (Oct. 27 – 28 and Dec. 4 – 5) and presents a pair of concerts in conjunction with the Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts (Oct. 10 and Oct. 28).

Download a digital copy of CCM’s Fall 2012 Calendar of Major Events today. Physical copies are also available at the CCM Box Office in the Corbett Center for the Performing Arts.

CCM Hosts A Conversation With Philip Glass and Matt Haimovitz On March 29

Tomorrow afternoon, CCM welcomes composer Philip Glass and cellist Matt Haimovitz for a special talk presented by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Led by CSO assistant conductor William White, the panel will delve into the topics of personal stye and inspiration and how one goes about preparing to perform a brand new concerto by this giant of American music.

“A Conversation with Philip Glass and Matt Haimovitz” takes place at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 29 at CCM’s Robert J. Werner Recital Hall. Space is limited and reservations are required. Contact the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Box Office at 513-381-3300 to reserve.