Next Installment of Student-Produced ‘Gold Rush Expedition Race’ Film Series Premieres on May 27 on the Universal Sports Network

The newest installment of the University of Cincinnati‘s student-produced Gold Rush Expedition Race documentary film series will receive its national broadcast premiere on NBC’s Universal Sports Network at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 27.

Created by UC’s Production Master Class, the 90-minute long documentary film is part of a three-year series about the Gold Rush Expedition Race, one of the world’s premier expedition races. The race features an international field of 50 elite athletes as they trek, mountain bike, climb and kayak along a grueling 275 mile course admits the beauty of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. The race is part of the Adventure Racing World Series.

The 2014 Gold Rush Expedition Race documentary will air 10 times on USN. The cable network aired the 2012 and 2013 installments of this action-packed documentary series last October. You can learn more about those initial broadcasts by visiting ccm.uc.edu/about/villagenews/notations-ovations/student-produced-film-series-airs-on-universal-sports-network.

The UC Production Master Class involves an interdisciplinary group of students and faculty who work with nationally recognized television and film professionals to produce digital media content that reaches a national and global audience.

Since 2012, it has involved three UC Professors, a UC alumnus, a cadre of media professionals and over 90 students from nine different academic programs at CCM, DAAP and the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences.

For more information about the 2014 Gold Rush Expedition Race documentary’s broadcast schedule, please visit goldrushracedoc.com/2014-premiere.

CCM Professor Awadagin Pratt Featured in New “Faces of UC” Video Series

This week, UC President Santa J. Ono launched a new video series celebrating the people who make the University of Cincinnati the #HottestCollegeinAmerica.

CCM’s very own Professor Awadagin Pratt is the focus of the first episode of Faces of UC. Watch his full video below.

While this video series takes its name from the popular hashtag that President Ono coined to describe UC’s momentum and spirit, it also complements the university-wide planning initiative, Creating Our Third Century, which President Ono launched in April 2014 and places a priority on investing in people.

In addition to viewing the video, members of the UC community can participate by:

• Viewing the Faces of UC website and watching the episodes.
• Suggesting a face to highlight in future episodes.
• Giving recognition to other deserving members of the UC community by submitting kudos.
• Posting selfies using the hashtag, #FacesofUC.
• Continuing to be great ambassadors of the university.

CCM’s Bearcat Piano Festival Presents Momoro Ono in Concert on Feb. 11

CCM presents guest artist Momoro Ono in concert on Feb. 11, 2014.

CCM’s Bearcat Piano Festival proudly presents guest artist Momoro Ono in a free concert performance at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 11, in the Robert J. Werner Recital Hall.

A Professor of Piano at Creighton University (and brother of UC President Santa J. Ono, PhD), Ono is scheduled to perform Brahms’ Caconne von J. S. Bach; Haydn’s Sonata in F Major, Hob. XVI:23; Schumann’s Kreisleriana, Op. 16; and Stravinsky’s Trois Mouvements de Pétrouchka.

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 Presents a Plethora of Piano Performances This February

CCM will celebrate the art of the piano with a series of special events this February. The fifth annual Bearcat Piano Festival presents master classes and guest artist concerts from Feb. 6 – 11 in the Robert J. Werner Recital Hall and the Mary Emery Hall Master Classroom, followed by the ninth edition of CCM’s Pianopalooza showcase at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 16, in Corbett Auditorium.

Launched in 2010 by CCM’s Piano Department Chair Awadagin Pratt, the Bearcat Piano Festival has grown into a veritable piano spectacular with several days of master classes and recitals by piano greats. This year’s Festival will feature a “Friends, Family and Favorites” theme:

• Performances by “friends” include Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Louisville Dror Biran and University of Michigan doctoral student pianists.
• The festival celebrates “family” as Professor Emeritus Frank Weinstock returns to the CCM stage, while Momoro Ono – Juilliard graduate and brother of UC President Santa J. Ono – makes his CCM debut.
• As for “favorites,” CCM presents performances by acclaimed pianist Boris Slutsky and 2013 World Piano Competition Gold Medalist Marianna Prjevalskaya (who also studied with Slutsky). This will mark the first time in the history of the World Piano Competition that the winner is presented in a public recital.

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, Pianopalooza IX, directed by CCM’s Division of Keyboard Studies Head Michael Chertock, will include songs of love and romance. The program showcases spectacular student pianists and features special appearances by CCM faculty artists including Awadagin Pratt, James Tocco and Chertock himself. Pratt will perform music by Rachmaninoff, Tschaikovsky, Schumann and celebrated jazz pianist (and Cincinnati native) Fred Hersch. Tocco and Chertock will present selections from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story.

Pianopalooza IX and the Bearcat Piano Festival promise to excite audiences with the beautiful sound and versatile styles that this popular and complex instrument has to offer — the perfect listening opportunity for music and keyboard enthusiasts of all ages.

Event Information
Please see individual listings below for additional information. The Boris Slutsky, Marianna Prjevalskaya and Pianopalooza IX concerts require paid admission. All other Bearcat Piano Festival events are free and open to the general public. All dates and programs are subject to change.

CCM’s Bearcat Piano Festival and Pianopalooza Showcase Return Feb. 6 – 16, 2014

Next month, CCM celebrates the art of the piano with a star-studded series of master classes, guest artist concerts and more! Launched in 2010 by Piano Department Chair Awadagin Pratt, the 2014 Bearcat Piano Festival welcomes a plethora of visiting pianists this February, including:

• Professor Emeritus Frank Weinstock on Feb. 6.
• Peabody Conservatory Piano Chair Boris Slutsky on Feb. 7.
• 2013 World Piano Competition Gold Medalist Marianna Prjevalskaya on Feb. 8.
• University of Louisville Piano Professor Dror Biran on Feb. 9
• Juilliard graduate (and brother of UC President Santa J. Ono, PhD) Momoro Ono on Feb. 11.

The celebration culminates with the return of Pianopalooza on Feb. 16. In honor of the Valentine’s Day holiday, this year’s concert celebrates “Keys to Love and Romance!”

For a complete schedule of festival events and additional information, please visit ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/bearcatpianofestival. Some performances require paid admission.

Stay tuned for even more information about this exciting series of events!

CCM’s Britten Centenary Celebration Culminates with Birthday Concert on Nov. 22

Britten rehearsing ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ Op. 64, in Jubilee Hall in 1960. Image courtesy of http://www.britten100.org

CCM commemorates the 100th anniversary of the birth of composer, conductor and pianist Benjamin Britten with a celebratory concert on Friday, Nov. 22.

Under the baton of Mark Gibson, Professor of Music and Director of Orchestral Studies, the CCM Philharmonia will present Britten’s orchestral showpiece The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, narrated by special guest Santa J. Ono, President of the University of Cincinnati.

One of Britten’s best-known pieces, The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34 (1946), is a musical composition that was originally commissioned for an educational  documentary film called Instruments of the Orchestra, directed by Muir Mathieson and featuring the London Symphony. It is one of the three popularly used scores in children’s music education, along with Saint Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals and Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.

Audience members may recognize this showpiece from the 2012 Wes Anderson film Moonrise Kingdom. Music drawn from Britten’s opera for children, Noye’s Fludde, and his Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, played an integral role in the movie’s conception and can be heard throughout the film. Watch Anderson discuss Britten’s influence here.

The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra is not only one of Britten’s most played pieces but — in its original, 1940s film version — was a highly significant attempt to use the media of the day to introduce children to classical music. View a newly animated version of the showpiece below:

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The evening will also feature Britten’s Violin Concerto, Op. 15 (1939), a highly original piece that foreshadows the composer’s work on the famed opera Peter Grimes (1945).

In addition, the program includes Sir Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, the work that brought him to national prominence upon its production by Hans Richter at St. James’ Hall, London, in June of 1899. Like Britten, Elgar holds a place at the helm of his respective generation of British composers.

Cincinnati Enquirer’s Fall Arts Preview Highlights Upcoming CCM Performances

CCM’s concert production of Verdi’s Don Carlos (Sept. 22), Mainstage Series production of Singin’ in the Rain (Oct. 31 – Nov. 3), Fall Ballet Showcase (Nov. 16-17) and Benjamin Britten Centenary Concert (Nov. 22) are among the many exciting area arts events featured in the Cincinnati Enquirer‘s annual Fall Arts Preview. See what the Enquirer had to say about these upcoming events after the jump!

Single tickets to these events, and dozens of other performances, become available at noon on Monday, Sept. 9! Stop by the CCM Box Office or visit us online at ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice for more information!

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.

CCM Announces 2013-14 Mainstage Concert Series Schedule

Photography by Dottie Stover.

CCM is pleased to announce initial details on its 2013-14 Mainstage Series of concert performances. Encompassing more than 40 different concerts, this series begins with a production of Verdi’s grand opera Don Carlos on Sept. 22 and concludes with the annual concerto competition-winners concert on April 11.

The internationally acclaimed Ariel Quartet will present a complete tour of Beethoven’s string quartets as part of CCM’s upcoming season, with six concerts scheduled for January, February and March.

CCM’s 2013-14 concert series also features a rare staged performance of Bach’s St. John Passion presented in conjunction with the Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts, a year-long Britten Centennial Celebration, a jazz tribute to the Rolling Stones, a concert dedicated to Richard Wagner’s 200th birthday, a performance of John Adams’ opera-oratorio El Niño and much more.

Several popular concert productions are also returning, including the annual Feast of Carols, Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite featuring CCM’s Jazz Ensembles and Musical Theatre Dancers, the annual PRISM concert and the latest installment of Pianopalooza.

Event Information
All events listed below take place on the campus of the University of Cincinnati unless otherwise indicated. Please see individual event information for single-ticket prices and ordering information.

New subscription and flex ticket packages go on sale Monday, June 17, 2013. Single tickets go on sale beginning Monday, Sept. 9.

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.