CCM Dance Presents Five Exciting Works, Including Stravinsky’s Stunning ‘Les Noces,’ During Spring Concert

CCM’s Department of Dance presents its annual Spring Dance Concert, running Thursday, April 23, through Saturday, April 25, in Corbett Auditorium. CCM Dance Professors Jiang Qi and Michael Tevlin direct this concert of mixed repertoire, which features five exciting works choreographed by CCM faculty members as well as esteemed guest artists. Tickets are on sale now.

Highlights of this year’s concert include Igor Stravinsky’s Les Noces (The Wedding), a stunning dance cantata filled with joy and solemnity. Premiered in Paris in 1923, Les Noces captures the scenes and flavors of a Russian peasant wedding through the unique texture of four pianists, six percussionists, solo quartet and a 40 member chorus. For this piece, the Ballet Ensemble will be accompanied by the CCM Chamber Choir and student percussionists, along with CCM’s Eminent Scholar in Chamber Music James Tocco and members of his piano studio. Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies Earl Rivers conducts.

CCM Assistant Professor of Dance Andre Megerdichian.

Assistant Professor of Dance Andre Megerdichian creates an original adaptation of Les Noces using both Stravinsky and original choreographer Bronislava Nijinska’s concepts as a springboard. His cast of 18 dancers twists traditional perspectives on marriage, taking the audience on a Faustian journey of discovery.

“Stravinsky used traditional Russian peasant wedding songs and rituals as a base, and Nijinska focused on the gloom of arranged marriages. I’m looking at the idea of union in contemporary society. In a shifting landscape of gender roles, sexual orientation, alternative lifestyles and marriage opportunities, the real question is what happens when we lift the veil?” says Megerdichian.

Associate Professor of Dance Deirdre Carberry will restage excerpts from Raymonda with choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Alexander Glasunov. A ballet originally staged in three acts and four scenes with an apotheosis, Raymonda was first presented at the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre on January 19, 1898, in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Associate Professor of Dance Michael Tevlin displays his choreography in Prelude to Tomorrow with music by Sergei Rachmaninoff. This new ballet by Tevlin was inspired by Rachmaninoff’s Preludes and Etudes for Piano. Featuring many of the members of CCM’s Dance Department’s graduating class, Prelude to Tomorrow explores relationships and camaraderie in many forms. From bittersweet to brash, powerful to tender, Rachmaninoff’s sweeping music provides a perfect backdrop for a cast of 10 dancers.

Guest artist Anthony Krutzkamp choreographs the contemporary ballet Similar with music by Brian Crain and Chad Lawson. Based loosely on the various stages of a couple’s relationship, Similar is an exploration of movement that is different with a common theme that makes it similar.

Visiting scholar Tian Tian will choreograph Chiaroscuro. With music by Liu Sanzang, Chiaroscuro is based on the Chinese ancient philosophy, which reflects the dichotomy of the strong contrasts between darkness and light. An instructor from Beijing Dance Academy and a PhD candidate at the School of Arts at Peking University, Tian Tian is focusing on the production of dance performance at CCM.

Performance Times

• 8 p.m. Thursday, April 23
• 8 p.m. Friday, April 24
• 2 & 8 p.m. Saturday, April 25

Location
Corbett Auditorium, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Purchasing Tickets
Tickets to the Spring Dance Concert are $15 for general admission, $10 for non-UC students and FREE for UC students with valid ID.

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.

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: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

The Dance Department gratefully acknowledges the support of the Corbett Endowment at CCM.

CCM’s 2014-15 Mainstage Series Comes to a Close with Mozart’s Famed Opera ‘Cosi Fan Tutte,’ April 9-12

CCM concludes its 2014–15 Mainstage Series with a true powerhouse: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Così fan tutte. The celebrated opera buffa returns to the Patricia Corbett Theater stage at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 9, and plays through Sunday, April 12.

Director of Orchestral Studies Mark Gibson conducts and J. Ralph Corbett Distinguished Chair in Opera Robin Guarino directs. Assistant Conductor Yael Front conducts the matinee performance on Sunday, April 12. This production will be sung in Italian with English supertitles.

Guarino is certainly no stranger to Così, as she has successfully directed the opera multiple times for the world-renowned Metropolitan Opera (the Met) in New York City. Notably, her September 2013 engagement with Così also marked the return of beloved conductor James Levine to the Met’s podium for the first time since May 2011. A Cincinnati native, Levine is a former pupil of LaSalle Quartet violinist and CCM Professor Emeritus Walter Levin.

In his review for the New York Times, Anthony Tommasini hailed the Met’s production of Così as the most “vibrant, masterly and natural performance” of the work he had ever heard. Tommasini especially lauded Guarino’s direction, calling it “effortlessly in sync” with Levine’s conducting.

Mozart’s opera, with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, follows the well-worn tread of light Classical Era opera. Officers Ferrando and Guglielmo are certain that their fiancées Dorabella and Fiordiligi (respectively) will always be true to them… a belief not shared by Don Alfonso, who, in his certainty that women can never be faithful and trustworthy, makes a wager with the two that he can prove within one day that their fiancées are fickle. To this end, he concocts a scheme with the soldiers: they will pretend to be called off to war, return disguised as “Albanians” and they will each attempt to woo the other’s fiancée.

Confusion, cross-dressing and romantic banter abound as the scheme unfolds, testing Dorabella and Fiordiligi’s resolve as well as Ferrando and Guglielmo’s skills in deception.

With enjoyable music and a lighthearted plot transported to mid-20th century America, Così fan tutte is the perfect way to welcome spring and say a fond farewell to CCM’s Mainstage Season!

The Company

• Ann Toomey as Fiordiligi*
• Jessica Faselt as Fiordiligi^
• Adria Caffaro as Dorabella*
• Eleni Antonia Franck as Dorabella^
• Joseph Lattanzi as Guglielmo*
• Simon Barrad as Guglielmo^
• Alec Carlson as Ferrando*
• Chris Bozeka as Ferrando^
• Grace Kahl as Despina*
• Jasmine Habersham as Despina^
• Derrell Acon as Don Alfonso*
• Tyler Alessi as Don Alfonso^

* – Performs Thursday, April 9 and Saturday, April 11
^ – Performs Friday, April 10 and Sunday, April 12

The Creative Team

• Mark Gibson, conductor
• Robin Guarino, stage director
• Lydia Brown, musical preparation
• Ryan Howell, scenic designer
• Caroline Spitzer, costume designer
• Wes Calkin, lighting designer
• Una Lin, wig & make-up designer
• Kevin Semancik, sound designer
• Sarah Stewart, stage manager
• Maria Fuller, Levi Hammer and Kihwa Kim, rehearsal pianists

Performance Times

• 8 p.m. Thursday, April 9
• 8 p.m. Friday, April 10
• 8 p.m. Saturday, April 11
• 2 p.m. Sunday, April 12

Location
Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Purchasing Tickets
Tickets to CCM’s Mainstage production of Così fan tutte are $31-35 adults, $20-24 non-UC students and $18-22 UC students with 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/cosi-fan-tutte-mainstage.

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

Mainstage Season Production Sponsor: Macy’s

Community Partner: ArtsWave

CCM Celebrates Keyboard Mastery with the Annual Bearcat Piano Festival and Pianopalooza Events

CCM explores the world of classical piano this spring with the sixth installment of its annual Bearcat Piano Festival, starting on Monday, March 23, and culminating with the 10th edition of Pianopalooza on Saturday, April 4.

Guest artist Stephen Hough. Photo copyright Andrew Crowley.

Launched in 2010 by CCM Professor of Piano Awadagin Pratt, this year’s festival features an exciting new joint collaboration with Xavier University, which brings internationally renowned pianist Stephen Hough to CCM’s Corbett Auditorium at 8 p.m. on Monday, March 30. This special occasion will also serve as Xavier’s inaugural Father John Heim Concert. An extraordinary pianist, composer, writer, teacher and painter, Hough was a 2001 MacArthur Fellowship recipient and received the honor of being named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the art of music in 2014. His performance will include works by Debussy and Chopin.

Hough is not the only internationally renowned performer to grace the CCM stage during the Bearcat Piano Festival this year. Russian pianist Sergei Babayan (Artist-in-Residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music) will perform in CCM’s Robert J. Werner Recital Hall at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25. A Laureate of Belgium’s Queen Elisabeth Music Competition and multiple time first-prize winner in competitions such as the Casadesus (Cleveland) and Hammamatsu (Japan), Babayan will showcase the works of Pärt, Liszt, Vladimir Ryabov, J. S. Bach, Chopin and Rachmaninov.

Additionally, the Festival will serve as a homecoming for another associate from Xavier. Polina Bespalko, Director of Xavier’s Classical Piano Series and a CCM alumna (AD Piano, 2005; DMA Piano, 2014), will return to Robert J. Werner Recital Hall at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 27, for a free performance highlighted by Franz Liszt’s monumental Sonata in B Minor.

Guest artists for this year’s Bearcat Piano Festival will also come from across the northeastern United States. New York will be on display at 8 p.m. on Monday, March 23, in the Robert J. Werner Recital Hall as Professors Jerome Lowenthal of the Julliard School and Ursula Oppens of CUNY and Brooklyn College give a free joint performance of diverse piano works. Also, University of Michigan doctoral student pianists will make a second consecutive trip to CCM for a free concert at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 29.

This series of performances ultimately leads to the tenth-annual installment of Pianopalooza, which takes the stage in Corbett Auditorium at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 4. Under the direction of CCM Associate Professor of Piano Michael Chertock, the event is a diverse cornucopia of CCM’s piano faculty and students as well as the CCM Concert Orchestra conducted by Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Aik Khai Pung. This eclectic event will focus on Sergei Rachmaninoff, showcasing three of his masterworks: the Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 1; Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43; and the Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30.

The Bearcat Piano Festival and Pianopalooza events never fail to excite and intrigue, and this year is no exception. Make sure to not miss out on seeing a plethora of local and international talents showcase the entire breadth of the keyboards!

Event Information
All events listed below take place on the campus of the University of Cincinnati unless otherwise indicated. Some events do require purchased tickets; please see individual event information for single ticket prices and ordering information. Visit ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/bearcatpianofestival for the most current information.

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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2015 BEARCAT PIANO FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

8 p.m. Monday, March 23
BEARCAT PIANO FESTIVAL GUEST ARTIST RECITAL
Jerome Lowenthal and Ursula Oppens, piano
The Big Apple comes to CCM as esteemed artists Jerome Lowenthal (The Julliard School) and Ursula Oppens (CUNY and Brooklyn College) visit for an evening of diverse piano works, with a program featuring:
RZEWSKI: Four Hands
SCHUBERT: Four Impromptus, Op. 90
FAURÉ: Nocturne No. 6 in D-flat Major, Op. 63
FRANCK/CORTOT: Sonata for piano and violin (arr. for solo piano)
FAURÉ: Dolly Suite, Op. 56
Location: Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
Admission: FREE
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8 p.m. Wednesday, March 25
BEARCAT PIANO FESTIVAL GUEST ARTIST RECITAL
Sergei Babayan, piano
Artist-in-Residence at CIM, Sergei Babayan is acclaimed for the immediacy, sensitivity and depth of his interpretations. His philosophy that a recital should reveal a spiritual dimension results in playing that sustains a captivating intensity. A student of such legendary musicians as Gornostayeva, Naumov, Pletnev and Vlasenko at the Moscow Conservatory, Babayan won consecutive first prizes in several major international competitions, including the Casadesus and Hammamatsu. Since that time, he has appeared in recital internationally in the most important venues, and with the world’s best orchestras. Additionally Babayan is a frequent two piano collaborator with Martha Argerich.
Location: Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
Tickets: $15 general, $10 non-UC students, UC students FREE.
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8 p.m. Friday, March 27
BEARCAT PIANO FESTIVAL GUEST ARTIST RECITAL
Polina Bespalko, piano
Pianist and Xavier University professor Polina Bespalko returns to her alma mater to present the works of Prokofiev, Kapustin, Gubaidulina, Pärt and the monumental Liszt Sonata.
Location: Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
Admission: FREE
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4 p.m. Sunday, March 29
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PIANISTS
Guest artists from the University of Michigan perform as part of the sixth annual Bearcat Piano Festival!
Location: Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
Admission: FREE
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8 p.m. Monday, March 30
BEARCAT PIANO FESTIVAL GUEST ARTIST RECITAL
Stephen Hough, CBE, piano
Presented in cooperation with the Xavier University Classical Piano Series
The Inaugural Father John Heim, S.J. Concert
CCM’s Bearcat Piano Festival welcomes extraordinary pianist, composer, writer, teacher, painter and 2001 MacArthur Fellowship-recipient Stephen Hough to the stage for the inaugural Father John Heim Concert. Hough’s program will include Debussy’s La plus que lente, Estampes, L’isle joyeuxand Children’s Corner and Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23, Ballade No. 2 in F Major, Op. 38, Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major, Op. 47 and Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52. Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2014 for his services to the art of music, Hough’s concert appearance is being presented in cooperation with the Xavier University Classical Piano Series, directed by Polina Bespalko.
Location: Corbett Auditorium
Tickets: $25 general, $15 non-UC/Xavier University students, $10 for UC and Xavier University students.
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8 p.m. Saturday, April 4
PIANOPALOOZA X
Michael Chertock, director
Featuring the CCM Concert Orchestra
Aik Khai Pung, conductor
Celebrate the art of the piano with the tenth installment of this popular concert, showcasing CCM’s most spectacular student pianists, with special appearances by CCM’s faculty artists. In honor of the tenth annual Pianopalooza, the Concert Orchestra will join CCM’s pianists for performances of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 1; Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43; and Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30.
Location: Corbett Auditorium
Tickets: $15 general, $10 non-UC students, UC students FREE.
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Programs and dates are subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, please visit us online at ccm.uc.edu.

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.

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.

‘Cincinnati Enquirer’ and ‘News Record’ Preview CCM’s Fall Dance Concert

‘The Kingdom of the Shades’ photography by Will Brenner.

Both the Cincinnati Enquirer and the News Record provide extensive previews of this weekend’s Fall Dance Concert, featuring George Balanchine’s Serenade and other masterworks. Running Nov. 16 and 17, this concert kicks off CCM Dance’s 50th anniversary celebration!

Learn more about the history of Serenade courtesy of David Lyman and the Cincinnati Enquirer here.

Learn more about the rest of the Fall Dance Concert’s program courtesy of Emily Begley and the News Record here.

CCM Dance Kicks-Off Anniversary Season with Fall Dance Concert Nov. 16 and 17

Photograph from ‘Serenade’ by Rene Micheo. Choreography by George Balanchine, copyright The George Balanchine Trust.

CCM’s Department of Dance opens its 50th Anniversary Season with a demanding and impressive Fall Dance Concert on Saturday, Nov. 16, and Sunday, Nov. 17, in Corbett Auditorium. Department Chair and Professor of Dance Jiang Qi directs. As part of the department’s yearlong anniversary celebration, CCM Dance welcomes honored guests from Cincinnati Ballet for a special performance on Sunday.

The concert features George Balanchine’s ballet Serenade, restaged by guest répétituer and pre-eminent Balanchine scholar Joysanne Sidimus. Sidimus studied under Balanchine at the School of American Ballet and later joined him as a dancer at the New York City Ballet. This is the first ballet that Balanchine choreographed in the United States and is considered to be a masterpiece of 20th century choreography.

CCM seniors Ellyn McCarthy, Christine Humbach, Olivia Lafrenz, Kelly Korfhage and Martin Roosaare, as well as junior dance major Trevor Misplay and exchange student Haojun Xie from the Beijing Dance Academy, will be featured in Serenade. It is a wonderfully energetic piece set to Tchaikovsky’s composition of the same name: Serenade for String Orchestra in C Major, Op. 48. The audience will be delighted by the extensive corps work and enchanted by the poise and mastery of the dancers.

Remembering the University of Cincinnati’s Wilson Auditorium

UC’s Wilson Auditorium.

This month, the University of Cincinnati says goodbye to the 81-year-old Wilson Auditorium, the debut venue for CCM’s Musical Theatre program (with the 1969 production of Sweet Charity) and the onetime home of CCM’s Department of Drama.

Originally opened in December of 1931, the building was constructed in remembrance of Obed J. Wilson, a local self-made businessman and arts advocate. At the time of its opening, the building featured then cutting-edge amenities including a projection room for “motion-and-sound pictures” with the capability of relaying radio broadcasts.

Vacant for the past decade and a half, Wilson Auditorium’s demolition was approved in 2006 and is scheduled to be completed this fall.

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To mark the end of an era, CCM Drama Chair Richard E. Hess looks back on the impressive legacy of Wilson Auditorium:

CCM Announces Fall 2013 Calendar of Major Events

Download a copy of CCM’s Fall 2013 Calendar Booklet today!

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is delighted to announce its fall schedule of major events. The largest single source of performing arts events in the state of Ohio, CCM presents more than 120 major public performances from Sept. 4 through Dec. 14, ranging from faculty and guest artist concerts to fully supported opera, musical theatre, drama and dance productions.

View a digital copy of CCM’s Fall 2013 Calendar Booklet today by visiting on.uc.edu/CCMFall2013. Refer to the listings below for more details.

Event Information
All events listed here will take place in CCM Village on the University of Cincinnati campus unless otherwise indicated. Admission is free to many CCM performances, although some events do require purchased tickets or reservations. Please see individual event information for details and ordering information.

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.

CET Cincinnati Public Television Broadcasts Premiere of ‘Monteverdi From CCM’ on May 12

From left-to-right: Vivian Montgomery, harpsichord; vocalists: James Onstad, Derrell Acon and Xi Wang; Jennifer Roig-Francoli, Baroque violin; and Annalisa Pappano, viola da gamba. Photography by Dottie Stover.

CET Cincinnati Public Television will premiere Monteverdi from CCM at 8 p.m. on Sunday, May 12, on the CET Arts channel. This program is part of an exciting new collaboration between CCM and CET, which will bring CCM’s world-class performances to PBS viewers throughout the Greater Cincinnati viewing area.

You can read more about this collaboration here.

Monteverdi from CCM was shot on location in CCM Village in November of 2012. The performance features CCM’s Chamber Choir, Early Music faculty members, students and guest artists presenting highlights from Claudio Monteverdi’s Madrigals of Love and War and Selva Morale e Spirituale.

You can learn more about the November performance here.

Monteverdi from CCM is scheduled to air on the CET Arts channel during the following times:

LCT Awards ‘S.L.U.T.’ Top Prize in CCM’s TRANSMIGRATION Series

Panelists for the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) have recognized S.L.U.T. as the best production at CCM’s 2013 TRANSMIGRATION Festival, the Drama department’s annual presentation of student written and produced work. Panelists awarded second place to Sentenced, and honorable mentions to 2122 Michigan Avenue and The Sherwin Williams Effect. Congratulations to all involved!

The fifth-annual festival allows the audience to experience half-hour works produced by small groups of Drama majors, who create and design all aspects of their productions from start to finish. The festival is an exciting event for both guests and the presenters, as audiences get the opportunity to see up to four very different pieces of new theatre in a single night and the students premiere works that are entirely their own. This year, six shows were presented. “TRANSMIGRATION teaches our actors to be entrepreneurs,” says Richard Hess, chair of CCM’s Drama Department and director of the TRANSMIGRATION Festival. “There are absolutely no holds barred, with the exception of the thirty-minute time limit, allowing our students to learn to express from within.”