CCM Showcases the Music of Composer-in-Residence Tom Cipullo on April 12

CCM’s Guest Artist Series showcases the music of award-winning composer Tom Cipullo with a free concert performance on Wednesday, April 12, in the Robert J. Werner Recital Hall.

Described by Opera News as “a shrewd dramaturge as well as a compelling composer,” Cipullo will spend three days in residence at CCM, coaching singers, pianists and instrumentalists from April 10-12, 2017.

Cipullo’s residency will culminate in a public performance featuring 26 of CCM’s stars-of-tomorrow. The concert’s program includes Cipullo’s Insomnia for vocal quartet and piano; The Husbands for soprano, baritone and piano; Late Summer for soprano and piano and the Entr’acte from Glory Denied for cello and piano, as well as other works. View full concert repertoire online here. 

Tom Cipullo at the Liguria Study Center in Bogliasco, Italy. Photo by Hedwig Brouckaert.

About Tom Cipullo
Hailed by the American Academy of Art and Letters for music of “inexhaustible imagination, wit, expressive range and originality,” composer Tom Cipullo is the winner of the 2016 Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize from SUNY/Potsdam. He is also the recipient of a 2012 Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2013 Sylvia Goldstein Award from Copland House and the 2013 Arts & Letters Award from the American Academy.

Cipullo has received commissions from dozens of performing ensembles and singers, and he has received fellowships and awards from Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, the Liguria Study Center (Italy), the Fundacion Valparaiso (Spain) and the Oberpfaelzer Kuenstlerhaus (Bavaria).

The New York Times has called his music “intriguing and unconventional,” and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has called him “an expert in writing for the voice.” Cipullo’s music is published by Oxford University Press and Classical Vocal Reprints and recorded on the Naxos, Albany, CRI, PGM, MSR, GPR, Centaur and Capstone labels.

Cipullo has composed orchestral works, solo piano pieces and a vast quantity of vocal music, including over 200 songs and several vocal chamber works. His song cycle Of a Certain Age won the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Art Song Award in 2008. Cipullo’s first opera, Glory Denied, has enjoyed numerous productions, and the Fort Worth Opera recording on Albany Records was cited by Opera News as among the best of 2014. Reviewers have hailed the work as “terrifically powerful… superbly written” (Fanfare), praising its “luminous score (Washington Post),” and noting “the dramatic tension was relentless (Opera News).” Cipullo’s second opera, After Life (libretto by David Mason), has been called “a finely wrought exploration of the role of art in times of grave crisis (Washington Post)” and “unfailingly inventive (Opera News).” Recorded on the Naxos label, After Life is the winner of the 2017 the Domenick Argento Chamber Opera Composition prize from the National Opera Association.

Cipullo received his Master’s degree in composition from Boston University and his B.S. from Hofstra University, Phi Beta Kappa with highest honors in music.

Performance Time
8 p.m. Wednesday, April 12

Location
Robert J. Werner Recital Hall, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Admission
Admission to this performance is FREE. Reservations are not required.

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 campus of the University of Cincinnati. 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.
____

CCM Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

CCM gratefully acknowledges the Philippe Fund for their generous support of Mr. Cipullo’s residency.

McKnight’s Senior Living Magazine Spotlights CCM Artist-in-Residence Program With Twin Towers

The McKnight’s Senior Living magazine and media brand has turned the spotlight on CCM’s new artist-in-residence program with the Twin Towers Senior Living Community.

As previously reported, this partnership offers free housing to two CCM graduate students on one of Twin Towers’ campuses for the duration of their degree programs. In return, these students will perform one recital per month and allow the community’s citizens unprecedented interaction through discussions and open rehearsals.

The inaugural artists-in-residence are soprano Annie Barr and collaborative pianist Alyssa Griffith, both of whom are first-year Master of Music students at CCM.

In the recently published McKnight’s article, Twin Towers Executive Director Jim Lay explores the surprises brought about through this intergenerational program:

“The simple vision that these students would provide pleasing musical entertainment for Twin Towers’ residents has blossomed into a depth of kinship and connection between unlikely acquaintances,” Lay observes. “When semester break led to the students heading home to be with their families for the holidays, their Twin Towers family anxiously anticipated their January return.”

Barr and Griffith have expressed similar enthusiasm for the innovative new program.

“I loved the idea of living in the Twin Towers community, having more opportunities to perform and practice for the residents’ enjoyment,” Griffith says.

“I feel honored and thankful to have this opportunity,” Barr adds. “I love interacting with all of my neighbors, they’re all so sweet and kind. The neighborhood is a happy place to live.”

CCM Dean Peter Landgren views this new partnership as a natural extension of the college’s ongoing community engagement activities throughout Greater Cincinnati. “An important part of CCM’s responsibility as a training ground for the performing and media arts is to provide aspiring artists with opportunities to interact with and give back to their communities,” he says.

Read the complete McKnight‘s article online at www.mcknightsseniorliving.com/guest-columns/intergenerational-program-brings-nice-surprises/article/471691/.

Learn more about CCM’s partnership with Twin Towers at ccm.uc.edu/about/villagenews/notations-ovations/ccm-twin-towers-partnership.

The Ariel Quartet’s CCM Concert Series Continues on Jan. 27

The internationally acclaimed Ariel Quartet continues its concert series at CCM on Tuesday, Jan. 27, with a performance featuring works by Schubert, Stravinsky and Schulhoff. Tickets for this performance are on sale now.

The Ariel Quartet is comprised of Alexandra Kazovsky, violin; Amit Even-Tov, cello; Gershon Gerchikov, violin; and Jan Grüning, viola. The Quartet was formed in Israel 16 years ago when its members were young students, and they have been playing together ever since. Recently awarded the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, the Quartet serves as the string quartet-in-residence at CCM, where they direct the chamber music program and perform their own annual series of concerts – a remarkable achievement for an ensemble so young.

Last season, the Quartet performed its first complete Beethoven Cycle at CCM, a feat that the Cincinnati Enquirer‘s Janelle Gelfand characterized as “a challenge like climbing Mount Everest, and you could only marvel at their musicianship each step of the way.” You can watch excerpts from last season’s concert series by visiting www.arielquartet.com/video.

“The Cycle” proved so popular that the Ariel Quartet was invited to perform another complete cycle of Beethoven’s string quartets for New York City audiences at the SubCulture music venue on Bleeker Street.

Last month, the Wall Street Journal‘s Barrymore Laurence Scherer praised the Quartet members for their “vigorous aplomb” and their “palpable joie de vivre born of understanding and affection for the works channeled through their own consummate musicianship.”

Repertoire
SCHULHOFF: Divertimento for String Quartet, Op. 14
STRAVINSKY: Three Pieces for String Quartet
SCHUBERT: String Quartet in G Major, D. 887

Performance Time
8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27

Location
Corbett Auditorium, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Purchasing Tickets
Tickets are $20 for general admission, $15 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.
____________________

CCM Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

The Ariel Quartet’s 2014-15 CCM concert series is made possible by the generous contributions of The Corbett Foundation, Dr. & Mrs. Randolph L. Wadsworth, Mr. & Mrs. William A. Friedlander, Mr. & Mrs. Harry H. Santen, Mr. & Mrs. Thomas E. Stegman and Mr. & Mrs. J. David Rosenberg.

CCM Welcomes Jesse Blumberg and Martin Katz for Schubert Residency in February

CCM alumnus Jesse Blumberg, baritone.

Next month, CCM welcomes alumnus Jesse Blumberg, baritone (MM, ’03), and renowned collaborative pianist Martin Katz for FREE performances of Franz Schubert’s two great Lieder cycles!

Blumberg and Katz will perform Shubert’s Die schöne Müllerin at 8 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 11 and Winterreise at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 13. Both song cycles will be performed in CCM’s Robert J. Werner Recital Hall and are open to the general public. Reservations are not required.

Below, watch Blumberg and Katz perform “Der Wegweiser” from Winterreise at the inaugural Collaborative Works Festival in Chicago.

This residency is made possible by support from the Jeannine Philippe Art Song Fund. Learn more about that fund’s namesake, CCM Professor Emeritus of Voice Jeannine Philippe, here.

CCM Presents Acclaimed Flutist Molly Alicia Barth and Guitarist Dieter Hennings In Concert This Week

CCM’s Guest Artist Series proudly presents Grammy Award-winning flutist (and CCM alumna) Molly Alicia Barth and acclaimed guitarist Dieter Hennings in concert at 8 p.m. this Thursday, Jan. 24, in the Cohen Family Studio Theater. Tickets to this performance are free. Reservations are not required.

Barth and Hennings’ Jan. 24 performance is scheduled to include a performance of CCM Associate Professor of Composition Michael Fiday‘s Five Haiku for alto flute and guitar, along with Philippe Hurel’s Loops, Juan Trigos’ From Partita, André Jolivet’s Ascèses, Herbet Vazquez’s El jardín del pasaje púrpura, David Lang’s Vent, Jean Micahel Damase’s Quatre Facettes and Toru Takemitsu’s Toward the Sea.

Grammy Award-winning flutist Molly Alicia Barth.

About Molly Alicia Barth
Described as “ferociously talented” by The Oregonian, Grammy-Award winning flutist Molly Alicia Barth is an active solo, chamber and orchestral musician, specializing in the music of today. As a founding member of the new music sextet eighth blackbird, Barth toured extensively throughout the world, recorded four CDs with Cedille Records, won a 2008 Grammy (“Best Chamber Music Performance”) and was granted the 2000 Naumburg Chamber Music Award, first prize at the 1998 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, the 1998/2000/2002 CMA/ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, first prize at the 1997 Coleman Chamber Music Competition and first prize at the 1996 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

‘The News Record’ Covers CCM’s Fall Dance Concert

CCM’s Fall 2012 Dance Concert. Photography by Lauren Purkey.

Natalya Daoud and Lauren Purkey cover CCM’s Fall Dance Concert for the News Record, the thrice-weekly independent student news organization at the University of Cincinnati.

You can view Daoud’s coverage of the concert here and enjoy a slideshow of Purkey’s photography from the production here.

CCM’s Fall Dance Concert Spotlights Guest Choreographers Nov. 30 – Dec. 2

Experience the royal wedding of Prince Charming and Princess Aurora at CCM’s Fall Dance Concert. Photography by Rene Micheo.

The CCM Ballet Ensemble will present its Fall Concert Nov. 30 – Dec. 2 in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater. The concert will be a mixture of new works and restaged classics, featuring the efforts of two guest choreographers (including one recent alumnus) and a restaging by CCM’s renowned faculty.

Cincinnati Enquirer Reviews Opera Fusion Workshop Performance of ‘Champion’

The Cincinnati Enquirer‘s Steven Rosen was in attendance at Saturday’s public workshop of Champion, the new American opera composed by Terence Blanchard with a libretto by Michael Cristofer.

In his review of the performance, Rosen states, “Judging from the enthusiastic audience response, the opera may become a champion in more ways than one. One person asked, to general overall approval, if he would have to go all the way to Saint Louis to see the full opera, wishing Cincinnati Opera would itself stage it. (Several of the CCM students will be in the Saint Louis production.)”

You can read Rosen’s review in its entirety here.

Opera Fusion: New Works Lab Presents Terence Blanchard and Michael Cristofer’s ‘Champion’ This Weekend

This weekend, CityBeat recommends the Opera Fusion: New Works Lab performance of Terence Blanchard and Michael Cristofer‘s Champion.

CCM will host a public performance of this new American opera at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27 in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater. Cincinnati Opera will host a performance 3 p.m. performance on Sunday, Oct. 28 at Cincinnati’s School for Creative and Performing Arts. Champion contains mature subject matter and adult language.

You can read Anne Arenstein’s entire preview here.

Announcing CCM’s 2012-13 Studio Series of Opera, Musical Theatre and Drama

‘Champion’ composer and five-time Grammy winner Terence Blanchard.

CCM is pleased to announce details for its 2012-13 Studio Series of opera, musical theatre and drama.

The series opens in October with a revival of the comedy-horror-rock musical Little Shop of Horrors and concludes in April with an extended run of the Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning musical Parade, co-produced with the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center.

CCM’s 2012-13 Studio Series also includes public workshop performances of two new American operas produced in collaboration with Cincinnati Opera, a pair of socially relevant and emotionally powerful dramas, and a fresh take on one of Georges Bizet’s earliest operas.

Please see the listings below for full production and ticketing details.