‘From the Top’ Names New Co-hosts with CCM Connection

Two CCM-affiliated musicians will join the team of NPR’s popular classical music program From the Top as co-hosts and creatives. Congrats to violinists Tessa Lark and Charles Yang, who both took lessons with CCM Professor of Violin Kurt Sassmannshaus!

Lark from Richmond, Kentucky, participated in Sassmannshaus’ Starling Preparatory String Project at CCM. Since then, Lark has attended the New England Conservatory and the Juilliard School. She has been awarded a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Lark was the winner of the 2012 Naumburg International Violin Competition and the silver medalist at the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis.

Yang also studied violin with Sassmannshaus. Yang was the recipient of the 2018 Leonard Bernstein Award and is a member of the crossover string band Time for Three. Yang also attended Juilliard, and has performed as a soloist with orchestras and in concert in the U.S., Europe, Brazil, Russia, China and Taiwan.

Lark and Yang were previously featured in From the Top’s show 286, which was recorded in CCM’s Corbett Auditorium in April 2014. The episode featured a performance by the Starling Chamber Orchestra and young musicians from the Starling Preparatory String project along with “The Starling/From the Top Alumni Trio,” comprised of Lark, Yang and Jonathan Miron.

The hiring of Lark and Yang is part of larger changes at From the Top. Pianist Peter Dugan has been named the new permanent host of the program, starting with the 2020-21 season. Violinist Vijay Gupta and clarinetist Alex Laing join Lark and Yang as co-hosts, and pianist Orli Shaham will solo guest host.

All will interview and collaborate with the From the Top young musicians and will serve as mentors to the From the Top musicians. They will also be actively involved in leadership training, community engagement and career development programs. As strategic and collaborative partners, their insight and experience will help to inform future development of From the Top.

For the past 20 years, From the Top has featured performances and stories of young classically-trained musicians, and continues to provide a national platform that showcases and supports the next generation of emerging classical artists, from live concert tapings to leadership training and community engagement programs.

About From the Top

From the Top is an independent non-profit organization that supports, develops, and shares the artistic voices and stories of young classically-trained musicians. Through its primary platform, a weekly one-hour NPR radio broadcast, and nationally-recognized arts leadership programs, From the Top amplifies the hope, passio, and discipline of today’s extraordinary young musicians.

From the Top provides young musicians with live performance opportunities in premier concert venues across the country, national exposure to nearly half a million listeners on its weekly NPR show, leadership and community engagement preparation and more than $3 million in scholarships since 2005.

From the Top’s programs are made possible in part by an award from the National Endowment of the Arts, a grant from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, generous contributions from individuals and institutions and partnerships with radio stations nationwide.

About the Starling Preparatory String Project

Founded in 1987 by CCM Professor Kurt Sassmannshaus, the Starling Preparatory String Project is a specialized honors program training young string students. The program is generously funded through a grant by the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation. The superbly talented musicians perform as the Starling Chamber Orchestra and are selected by audition.

Students receive one hourly lesson per week, and take music theory, chamber music and orchestra each Saturday. Instructors include CCM faculty and graduate students specially trained and chosen by Professor Sassmannshaus. Most of the students are from the greater Cincinnati area, and many others commute on Saturdays from other states. SCO has a concert series at Robert J. Werner Recital Hall at CCM and tours regularly. For more information on the Starling Preparatory String Project, visit www.starling.org.

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Story by CCM Graduate Student Alexandra Doyle

CCM Brings NPR’s Hit Show ‘From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley’ to UC on April 2

CCM is pleased to announce that From the Top with Host Christopher O’Riley, the preeminent showcase for young musicians, will come to UC’s Corbett Auditorium to record a radio broadcast on Wednesday, April 2, 2014.

Heard weekly in the Greater Cincinnati area on WGUC 90.9 FM, the popular NPR radio program features the amazing performances and captivating personal stories of extraordinary young classical musicians from across the country. The From the Top episode recorded on April 2 will be presented by CCM to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Starling Chamber Orchestra, the college’s premier preparatory string ensemble.

The show will feature the Starling Chamber Orchestra, with conductor and CCM Violin Chair Kurt Sassmannshaus, and will include solo performances by several current and past Starling Chamber Orchestra participants. Twelve-year-old violinist Skye Park from Lexington, Kentucky, is a participant in the Starling Chamber Orchestra and previously appeared on From the Top in 2012 from a special show taped at CCM’s Great Wall Academy in Beijing, China.

Violinist and 2012 Naumburg Competition-winner Tessa Lark, 24, and violinist Jonathan Miron, 21, both Starling Orchestra alumni, will perform “Romance” by Joseph Hellmesberger, along with From the Top alumnus Charles Yang.

Also featured on the show will be 17-year-old pianist Yilun Xu from New York City and 17-year-old horn player Avery Roth-Hawthorne from Oakland, California.

For tickets and information, contact the CCM Box Office at boxoff@uc.edu or 513-556-4183, or visit ccm.uc.edu/fromthetop.

From the Top may be heard locally on WGUC 90.9 on Saturdays at 9 a.m.; this episode will air nationally the week of May 5.

LISTEN: WVXU Previews CCM’s Concert Production of John Adams’ ‘El Nino’

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WVXU contributor Anne Arenstein recently spoke with CCM Director of Choral Studies Earl Rivers about our upcoming concert production of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Adams’ American oratorio El Niño.

You can listen to audio of the full interview here.

The CCM Philharmonia Orchestra, Chamber Choir, Chorale and Cincinnati Children’s Choir proudly present a stirring rendition of Adams’ El Niño at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 2, in UC’s Corbett Auditorium. CCM welcomes guest artists Michael Maniaci, Eric Jurenas and Steven Rickards for this performance.

CCM’s Bearcat Piano Festival Presents 2013 World Piano Competition Gold Medalist Marianna Prjevalskaya in Concert on Feb. 8

World Piano Competition : Gold winner Marianna Prjevalskaya of Spain performs during The World Piano Competition in the final round in the Corbett Auditorium Theater at the College Conservatory of Music on the University of Cincinnati campus. Courtesy of Enquirer Media.

CCM proudly presents 2013 World Piano Competition Gold Medalist Marianna Prjevalskaya in concert at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8, as part of the fifth annual Bearcat Piano Festival. Tickets for this performance are on sale now.

This concert marks the first time in the history of the World Piano Competition that the winner is presented in a public recital. You can listen to CCM Piano Department Chair Awadagin Pratt speak to the novelty of this exciting performance courtesy of Cincinnati Public Radio here.

Prjevalskaya will perform Debussy’s Preludes Book II, along with the following works by Rachmaninoff:

• Etude-Tableau in D Minor, Op. 33, No. 4
• Variations on a Theme by Corelli, Op. 42
• Etude-Tableau in C-sharp Minor, Op. 33, No. 8
• Prelude in D-flat Major, Op. 32, No. 13

Cincinnati Public Radio, Cincinnati Enquirer and Gramophone Magazine Preview CCM’s February Performances

The latest installment of WVXU’s Around Cincinnati features a number of upcoming CCM performances! First up, guest artist D. Lynn Meyers gives Jim Stump a preview of this week’s Mainstage Production of Metamorphoses (Feb. 5 – 9). You can listen to their full conversation here.

Later on in the program, Brian O’Donnell speaks with CCM faculty members Awadagin Pratt and Michael Chertock about the Bearcat Piano Festival and Pianopalooza (Feb. 6 – 16). You can listen to the interview here.

The Cincinnati Enquirer‘s list of Top Arts Picks for February is also filled with CCM happenings, including the Bearcat Piano Festival, Metamorphoses, and Les Misérables (Feb. 27 – March 9). Read the full preview here.

Even Gramophone Magazine’s latest podcast features an upcoming CCM performance, as James Jolly speaks with guest artist Gerald Finley about his current tour with pianist Julius Drake, which comes to CCM’s Corbett Auditorium on Feb. 5! You can download the podcast here.

CCM’s Concert Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble Sample ‘The Sounds of Stan Getz’ in Annual Collaborative Concert

CCM welcomes guest artist Jeff Rupert on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014.

CCM’s Concert Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble present “The Sounds of Stan Getz – Pioneer of Bossa Nova and Modern Jazz” in this annual collaborative concert where jazz and orchestra meet at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 26, in Corbett Auditorium under the direction of Annunziata Tomaro and Scott Belck. This performance features guest artist Jeff Rupert on tenor saxophone.

American jazz saxophonist Stan Getz (1927-91) took on the moniker “The Sound” because of his warm, lyrical tone and is perhaps best known for popularizing bossa nova in the Grammy award-winning single “The Girl from Ipanema” (1964).

Audiences will enjoy such cool jazz favorites as “Night Rider” and “Pure Imagination,” as well as several pieces arranged by guest artist Jeff Rupert. One such piece, sure to be a highlight of the evening, is Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Desafinado” for which Getz won the Grammy for Best Jazz Performance of 1963.

CCM Announces Spring 2014 Calendar of Major Events

Download CCM’s Spring 2014 Calendar Booklet today.

UPDATED March 7, 2014: CCM is delighted to announce its spring 2014 schedule of major events. The largest single source of performing arts events in the state of Ohio, CCM presents nearly 150 major public performances from Jan. 12 through May 18, ranging from faculty and guest artist concerts to fully supported opera, musical theatre, drama and dance productions.

Highlights of CCM’s spring concert series include the return of Cincinnati’s premiere fundraiser “A Moveable Feast” on Jan. 17, the Ariel Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle running Jan. 23 – March 29, a performance of Schubert’s Winterreise song cycle by guest artists Gerald Finley and Julius Drake on Feb. 5, the fifth annual Bearcat Piano Festival running Feb. 6 – 11, the 17th annual PRISM concert on Feb. 23, a performance of John Adams’ El Niño on March 2 and a celebration of the music of jazz legend Thelonius Monk on March 9.

CCM’s Mainstage Series also continues in early 2014 with a production of Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses, directed by guest artist D. Lynn Meyers, running Feb. 5 – 9; the CCM debut of the iconic musical Les Misérables, running Feb. 27 – March 9;  Donizett’s comedic opera Don Pasquale, running April 3–6; and the quintessential romantic ballet Giselle, running April 17–19.

Learn more about these and dozens of other performing and media-arts events by referring to the list below. You can also view a digital copy of CCM’s Spring 2014 Calendar Booklet here.

CCM Featured on NPR’s ‘Morning Edition’

Kanniks with the choir at St. Johns Unitarian Church in Cincinnati in 2004.

Earlier this week, NPR’s Morning Edition spoke with CCM Musicology adjunct faculty member Kanniks Kannikeswaran and freshman Music Education/Music History major Vidita Kannikeswaran about the award-winning Greater Cincinnati Indian Community Choir (and Indian choral music in general)!

You can listen to the entire Morning Edition segment here.

Kanniks Kannikeswaran is a pioneer of the Indian American choral movement. His far reaching work in this area has led to the founding of Indian community choirs in not only Cincinnati, but also Washington, D.C.; Houston; Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Allentown, Pa.; Toronto; and, most recently, The Hague.

He has collaborated with artists such as Lakshmi Shankar, Mallika Sarabhai, with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and with institutions such as the National University of Singapore in producing crisp innovative works that convey the message of universal connectedness.

His magnum opus Shanti – A Journey of Peace has personally touched the lives of over 900 performers and has been seen by over 9000 even as many more communities are gearing towards performing this work.

CCM Student Matthew Phelps Places Third in National Pipe Organ Performance Competition

Choral Conducting DMA Student Matthew Phelps.

We are happy to report that Choral Conducting DMA candidate Matthew Phelps has placed third in the Rodgers North American Classical Organ Competition. Finals were held at the Rodgers Instruments Corporation on Friday, Oct. 4, in front of a live audience.

Phelps was also featured on this week’s episode of NPR’s Pipe Dreams. He and trumpeter Lorraine Cohen performed “Trumpets of Light” by Dan Locklair at the Reformed Church of Bronxville.

At CCM, Phelps studies Choral Conducting with Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies Earl Rivers. He is also director of the Xavier University Concert Choir and is the Minister of Music at Assumption Church in Mount Healthy. In 2012 he was a finalist for the American Prize in Choral Conducting, and his Chancel Choir at the Reformed Church of Bronxville was a finalist for the American Prize in the Ensemble division.

As an organist, Phelps is regularly engaged across the eastern United States. He is the Artist-in-Residence at Saint Frances Xavier Church in New York, NY, and is a regular guest recitalist at Saint Mary the Virgin Times Square, in New York, NY. He is currently studying with CCM Assistant Professor of Organ and Harpsichord Michael Unger.

CCM and Constella Festival Present the Music of Missy Mazzoli on Oct. 16

Constella Festival Composer-in-Residence Missy Mazzoli.

Café MoMus, CCM’s new music ensemble, explores the work of Constella Festival Composer-in-Residence Missy Mazzoli in a free concert performance at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 16, in CCM’s Patricia Corbett Theater.

Described by the New York Times as “one of the more consistently inventive, surprising composers now working,” Mazzoli is a composer of chamber, orchestral and operatic works. Her music has been played the world over by performers as varied the Kronos Quartet, eighth blackbird, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, violinist Jennifer Kohn, violist Nadia Sirota, Dublin’s Crash Ensemble and her own group, Victoire.

Victoire’s debut album, titled Cathedral City, was named one of 2010′s best classical albums by the New York Times, the New Yorker and NPR. Her opera, Song from the Uproar, premiered in New York in 2012. The original cast recording was released in November.

Mazzoli joins CCM’s new music ensemble, led by music director Jing Huan, for a special performance as part of the 2013 Constella Festival. On Sunday, Nov. 3, CCM and the Constella Festival will also co-present a unique staged performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. John Passion. You can learn more about that performance here.