UC Production Master Class Documentary Film Receives Regional Emmy Nomination

We are happy to report that the University of Cincinnati student-produced 2013 Gold Rush Expedition Race documentary film has been nominated for an Ohio Valley Regional Emmy Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences! The nomination is in the professional category of Best Documentary – Cultural/Topical.

A three-year project of the UC Production Master Class, the Gold Rush Expedition Race documentaries chronicle one of the foremost expedition races in the world. Each 90-minute documentary features an international field of 50 elite athletes tackling a grueling 275-mile course through the California wilderness as they test their mental and physical limits in the toughest competition in North America. All three films have aired nationally on NBC’s Universal Sports Network (you can view upcoming broadcast times here).

Since 2012, the UC Production Master Class has involved over 90 UC students hailing from the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) and the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences.

The project was conceived by CCM Division of Electronic Media Professor Kevin Burke and professional television director/producer and distinguished CCM alumnus Brian J. Leitten (BFA, 2001), who advise the project and provide professional guidance and feedback to the students during all phases of the documentaries development.

Student teams shoot, edit, script and produce the Gold Rush Expedition Race films on location in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. “Although there is professional mentoring and oversight during the project,” Burke explains, “it is primarily produced and edited by the students, which makes it a unique example of successful experiential learning and interdisciplinary collaboration.”

The UC Production Master Course was first funded by a three-year grant from the UC Forward Collaborative, an initiative that supports experiential learning and is part of the UC Academic Master Plan. Earlier this year, UC President Santa Ono pledged additional funding, which will allow the production to continue beyond its initial three-year grant period. The presidential investment represents Ono’s ongoing support of interdisciplinary digital media projects and experiential learning at the University of Cincinnati.

“We are delighted with this nomination and are grateful to President Ono, UC Provost Beverly Davenport and the UC Forward Collaborative for their support of yet another successful example of experiential learning at UC,” says Burke.

Burke and Leitten served as Executive Producers on the 2013 Gold Rush Expedition Race, alongside UC students Callie Peters and Ben Proctor.

The 51st Annual Ohio Valley Regional Emmy Awards will be held at the Keeneland Entertainment Center in Lexington, Ky. Winners will be announced on July 25. The Ohio Valley Region includes Cincinnati, Columbus, Louisville, Lexington, most of West Virginia, southern Indiana, southern half of Ohio and northern half of Kentucky. Learn more by visiting http://ohiovalleyemmy.org/awards.

CCM Alumnus Craig Phillips Receives GRAMMY Nomination

CCM alumnus Craig Phillips.

We are delighted to report that acclaimed bass-baritone and CCM alumnus Craig Phillips (MM Voice, 1998) has been nominated for his second GRAMMY Award as a member of the male vocal quartet New York Polyphony.

The group has been nominated for its 2014 Christmas album, Sing Thee Nowell. This is the group’s second consecutive nomination in the “Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance” category.

“Most of the music we sing was written before 1600, so it isn’t exactly ‘mainstream,’ even by classical music standards,” Phillips explains. “So receiving a GRAMMY nomination is very validating, on both a professional and personal level. We are very committed to what we do, and work hard to create performances that are passionate and compelling to modern ears. The GRAMMY nomination (now our second!) proves that we’ve managed to move the needle, so to speak.”

Selected by the New York Times for its “2014 Holiday Gift Guide,” Sing Thee Nowell has enjoyed robust sales, reaching the Top 10 on Billboard Magazine‘s Traditional Classical Album chart. The album, which is the group’s fifth release and third on BIS Records, follows last year’s critically acclaimed and GRAMMY-nominated Times Go By Turns.

The 57^th annual GRAMMY’s will be held on Sunday, Feb. 8^th. You can learn more about this year’s ceremony by visiting http://www.grammy.com.

About Craig Phillips
Praised for his “handsome, elegant bass” by The New York Times, bass-baritone Craig Phillips is an established operatic and concert soloist. His operatic credits include performances with Glimmerglass Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Arizona Opera and Boston Lyric Opera. For his portrayal of Nardo in New York City Opera’s La finta giardiniera, the New York Sun singled-out Phillips as one of the “true lights of the production,” highlighting both his “clear lyric bass-baritone” and “great talent for physical comedy.”

On the concert stage, his credits include performances with the Washington Bach Consort, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Cathedral.

In addition to solo work, Phillips is an active performer in the early music scene, performing regularly with New York City-based ensembles such as Vox Vocal Ensemble, TENET and Clarion Music Society.

Below, take a behind-the-scenes look at the making of New York Polyphony’s GRAMMY-nominated Sing Thee Nowell:

CCM’s ‘Chess’ Receives Four League of Cincinnati Theater Nominations

“Chess” runs Oct. 25 – 28 in UC’s Corbett Auditorium. Photography by Mark Lyons.
Tickets on sale now! Visit ccm.uc.edu for more information. Photography by Mark Lyons.

CCM’s production of Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Tim Rice’s Chess has earned four nominations from the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT)! The LCT also distinguished the rock musical as a recommended production: Outstanding Production (musical), Ensemble, Lead Actor (Julian Decker) and Lead Actress (Aubrey Ireland). Congratulations to the entire creative team!

Loosely based on the lives of chess grandmasters Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov, Chess involves a romantic triangle between two top players (an American and a Russian) and the woman who manages one and falls in love with the other.

CCM Musical Theatre Alumnus Nominated For Astaire Award

Left to right: CCM Musical Theatre Alumni Garett Hawe and Ryan Breslin at a Newsies rehearsal.

Musical Theatre alumnus Ryan Breslin is a nominee for the 30th Annual Fred & Adele Astaire Award, which honors excellence in dance on Broadway and film. Breslin is nominated as Outstanding Male Dancer in a Broadway Musical for his work in the Disney production of Newsies. Congratulations!

Watch Breslin discuss his role in Newsies below:

The 2012 Astaire Awards will be held on June 4 at NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Watch footage of Breslin from CCM’s 2011 production of RENT after the jump!

CCM’s Ty Olwin Recognized with Acclaim Award Nomination for ‘Red Light Winter’

Congratulations to sophomore Ty Olwin, who has earned an Acclaim Award nomination for his role in Adam Rapp’s Red Light Winter. Olwin, who portrays Matt, was singled out in the category of leading performance by a non-Equity actor. Red Light Winter tells the story of college pals Matt and Davis, who hope to rekindle their friendship by spending a wild night together in Amsterdam’s Red Light District. But when the beautiful, young prostitute they meet there surprisingly returns to their lives a year later, a bizarre love triangle ensues, revealing harsh, emotional truths and the dangers of romantic obsession.

CCM’s Hope Shangle Garners Acclaim for ‘Our Town’

CCM Drama student Hope Shangle.

Congratulations to Hope Shangle, who earned an Acclaim Award nomination for her performance as Mrs. Gibbs in CCM’s recent production of Our Town. Shangle, a junior from Grand Rapids, Mich., was recognized in the category of supporting performance by a non-Equity actress. Among her previous CCM credits, Shangle counts roles in Bury the Dead  (in which she earned a 2009-10 Acclaim Award as part of the show’s principal ensemble), You Can’t Take It With You (in which Shangle offered another Acclaim Award-winning supporting performance as family matriarch Penny Sycamore), Blood Wedding and The Matchmaker.

CCM’s ‘Rent’ Earns Acclaim Award Nomination for Lighting Design

Our congratulations to Weston G. Wetzel, a second-year graduate student at CCM, who has earned his first Acclaim Award nomination. Wetzel has been singled out for his lighting design of CCM’s production of the groundbreaking rock musical Rent.

Acclaim Awards Smile Upon CCM’s “A Little Night Music”

The Acclaim Awards smiled twice upon the CCM’s studio production of A Little Night Music, recommending the show and rewarding it with nominations for its musical director Anthony De Angelis and supporting actress Michelle Berkowitz.