Corbett Foundation’s Final Gift Benefits UC’s College-Conservatory of Music

The Corbett Foundation, established in 1955 by J. Ralph and Patricia Corbett, has donated $1 million to the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) to benefit the J. Ralph Corbett Distinguished Chair in Opera. The gift is the final one to be dispersed by the Corbett Foundation, which closed its doors in August.

“This final act of generosity by the Corbett Foundation, which announced its closure earlier this fall, will strengthen an already unparalleled opera program at CCM,” said Peter Landgren, Dean and Thomas James Kelly Professor of Music at CCM.

“For decades, the Corbetts’ support has helped to usher countless students from the CCM stage to the stages of some of the world’s most famous opera houses and concert halls,” said Landgren. “This gift will ensure that generations of students enrolled in CCM’s opera program will follow in the footsteps of some of CCM’s most accomplished alumni. We are eternally grateful to the Corbett Foundation.”

The internationally renowned opera department at CCM boasts one of the most comprehensive training programs for opera singers, coaches and directors in the United States. In 1982, the Corbett Foundation made a gift to establish the J. Ralph Corbett Distinguished Chair in Opera, which was the first chair of its kind at any university in the United States.

The chair provides scholarships for graduate students studying voice and coach accompanying, support for touring productions, an archive and partial funding of a distinguished professional in opera. Accomplished Metropolitan Opera stage director Robin Guarino has held the position since August 2008.

“CCM ranks among the top schools for performing arts in the nation, and its success is thanks in large part to donors like the Corbett family,” said UC President Santa J. Ono. “I am thankful for the Corbetts’ support and proud of the achievements of our faculty, staff, alumni and students who inspire us onstage and behind-the-scenes with their talents.”

The Corbett Foundation has left an incredible legacy that will be felt for years to come at UC. Over the years its gifts to the university have created the Corbett Center for the Performing Arts, Corbett Auditorium, Patricia Corbett Theater, the J. Ralph Corbett Audio Production Center, the Robert J. Werner Recital Hall, several distinguished chairs and an endowment for the theatre design and production program.

“The Corbett family is a tremendous example of the impact private support can have not only on UC but on the entire Greater Cincinnati community,” said Rodney Grabowski, UC Foundation president. “Thank you to everyone who has been involved with the Corbett Foundation over the years. UC is stronger because of you.”

J. Ralph Corbett, founder of the electrical manufacturing company NuTone and later the Corbett Foundation, was a staunch patron of the performing arts, medicine and education. In 1963, he was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from UC and was recognized with a Great Living Cincinnatian award in 1970. He passed away in 1988, but his legacy lives on at CCM and the Cincinnati arts community.

Combined, the foundation has donated more than $70 million to Cincinnati arts organizations including CCM, Music Hall, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Riverbend Music Center & PNC Pavilion, CET programming and a theater and string quartet-in-residence at Northern Kentucky.

For more information, please visit the UC Foundation’s website.

UC’s College-Conservatory of Music Receives $1 Million Gift from the Corbett Foundation

Patricia Corbett was named a great Living Cincinnatian in 1994. She died on January 28, 2008, and was honored with a special memorial concert at Music Hall performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the CCM Musical Theatre program.

We are honored to announce that the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) has received a $1 million gift from the Corbett Foundation, designed to enhance the Patricia A. Corbett Distinguished Chair of Musical Theatre, the first chair of its kind in the world.

“CCM cannot be more grateful to the Corbett Foundation for this significant gift,” says Peter Landgren, Dean and Thomas James Kelly Professor of Music at CCM. “This gift will allow the musical theatre program to increase existing focus on student scholarship, enhance relationships with professionals in the field by bringing them to campus for master classes and support the senior showcase experience in New York City, which is the most important audition for graduating seniors in our musical theatre program.”

When Mrs. Corbett established the Patricia A. Corbett Distinguished Chair of Musical Theatre more than 20 years ago, it was the first chair of its kind in the United States. Mrs. Corbett allowed CCM to “do it first and do it best.” Her vision has guided musical theatre students to audition in New York City, to compete successfully on Broadway and national touring stages, and ultimately to win the coveted Tony, Drama Desk and Fred Astaire Dance Awards.

“I wish to extend a personal word of gratitude to Karen McKim, Executive Director of the Corbett Foundation, for her stewardship of the love and support that the Corbett’s have showered upon CCM for many decades,” says Landgren.

About the Patricia A. Corbett Distinguished Chair of Musical Theatre at CCM
Since its establishment in 1991, the Patricia A. Corbett Distinguished Chair of Musical Theatre has provided invaluable support for the Musical Theatre Program at CCM. At the time of its inception, it was the only academic chair of its kind in the United States, the American equivalent of the Chair in Musical Theatre endowed by Cameron Macintosh in honor of Stephen Sondheim at Oxford one year later.

Mrs. Corbett’s generosity has helped scores of students with scholarship aid, enabled the program to invite master teachers to campus, established New York and Chicago showcases for graduating seniors and underwritten admission-free Studio productions, CCM’s gift to the Cincinnati theatre-going community.

‘Theatre Reviews Limited’ Profiles CCM Chair of Musical Theatre Aubrey Berg

Theatre Reviews Limited has published a profile of CCM’s Distinguished Chair of Musical Theatre Aubrey Berg.

Berg discusses his career at length with Rafael de Acha and provides a preview of what audiences can expect from CCM Musical Theatre during the 2013-14 performance season!

Read the feature-length profile here.

Rick Pender Hails CCM’s ‘Into the Woods’ As ‘The Season’s Best Musical’

Rick Pender takes a look back at Cincinnati’s 2011-12 theatre season in the current issue of CityBeat and singles out CCM’s Into the Woods as “the season’s best musical.” Congratulations to everyone involved with this production, which also received a record number of awards from the League of Cincinnati Theatres!

CCM Voice Students Receive Competition Honors

Five CCM voice students were named winners of CCM’s 2012 Opera Scholarship Competition, which was held Saturday, March 31, in CCM’s Corbett Auditorium. The annual competition welcomes current and incoming CCM voice students to compete for scholarships and cash prizes. A panel of judges composed of opera industry professionals selects each year’s class of prizewinners.

The 2012 CCM Opera Scholarship Competition winners are:

CCM’s Opera Scholarship Competition Celebrates Excellence in Vocal Performance

CCM will provide local audiences with a first glimpse of tomorrow’s opera stars during the 2012 Opera Scholarship Competition running from 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 31 in Corbett Auditorium on the University of Cincinnati campus. Admission is free and open to the general public.

CCM Musical Theatre’s ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ Present Senior Showcase March 29-31

CCM Musical Theatre's Class of 2012.

Cincinnati audiences will get a sneak peak of an original showcase created by the CCM Musical Theatre 2012 graduating class during the annual Musical Theatre Showcase, which runs from March 29 (Friends of CCM benefit performance) – March 31 in the Patricia Corbett Theater.

The March 29 Friends of CCM benefit starts at 7 p.m. and features a post-performance celebration and dinner by the bite. The March 30 and 31 performances take place at 8 p.m. and are free, but reservations are required.

CCM’s ‘Into the Woods’ Receives a Record Nine League of Cincinnati Theatres Awards

CCM presents INTO THE WOODS, Feb. 23 - March 4, 2012. Photography by Mark Lyons.

CCM’s production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods has earned nine awards from the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT)! The fairytale adventure turns traditional stories of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk and others upside down, examining the “after” in these happily-ever-after tales.

LCT panelists praised nearly every aspect of the production, which was described as “fitting CCM like the golden slipper on Cinderella’s foot.” Awards were given in the following categories:

CCM Slideshows: Into the Woods

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The reviews are in and CityBeat‘s Rick Pender calls Into the Woods a “remarkably mature and thoroughly entertaining production,” while the Cincinnati Enquirer‘s Jackie Demaline writes: “Delights include first-rate work from graduating seniors and a show of great promise from freshmen in the wonderful storybook world created by the design team.”

Find out for yourself what happens after “happily ever after” when CCM presents Stephen Sondheim’s award-winning Into the Woods, running this Thursday through Sunday, March 4, 2012 in CCM’s Patricia Corbett Theater.

Discussing ‘Into the Woods’ Wigs and Make-Up with Student Designer Kaitlyn Adams

Kaitlyn Adams with INTO THE WOODS' Witch, played by Victoria Cook.

Into the Woods Wig & Make-Up Designer Kaitlyn Adams recently sat down with CCM Public Information Assistant and Arts Administration student Jenifer Thomas to discuss the work that went into this monumental production. Kaitlyn is handling wig and make-up design for this production alongside CCM faculty member Kelly Yurko.

Jenifer Thomas: Hi Kaitie! Tell me a little bit about yourself.

Kaitlyn Adams: I’m a Senior from Cincinnati. I went to high school at Seton on the West side.

JT: Local girl, huh? So what got you into wigs and make-up?

KA: My mom is actually a wig master and make-up artist, so I’ve grown up with it.

JT: And why’d you choose CCM?

KA: There are only two schools in the country that teach wigs and make-up. The other school focuses primarily on wigs and make-up for film, and that wasn’t where I was interested. I want to do stage work.

JT: So when you found out you were assigned to design Into the Woods, what did you do?