CCM Performs Claudio Monteverdi’s Large-Scale Masterwork ‘Vespers of 1610’ on Nov. 16

Guest artists and student soloists for CCM’s performance of Monteverdi’s ‘Vespers of 1610.’ Photography by Jay Yocis.

Next Sunday, CCM will present Claudio Monteverdi’s masterwork Vespers of 1610, featuring regional and national Early Music guest artists, the CCM Chamber Choir, Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra and student soloists with CCM’s Director of Choral Studies Earl Rivers conducting. The performance will be staged at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Cincinnati.

“Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 is the Beethoven 5th of Early Music,” Rivers explains. “Monteverdi retained many of the Renaissance traditions in the work but fused the older style with the advent of the new, florid Early Baroque style of music. Vespers of 1610 is a significant international repertory work that students will be performing throughout their careers.”

Anchoring the advent of music in the Baroque era as a large-scale masterwork, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 displays a range of lavish colors for vocal and instrumental soloists; six, seven, eight and 10-voice choral textures; and virtuosic embellishments and improvisations. The first major choral/orchestral repertory work of the early Baroque period, Vespers of 1610 features solo, chamber and ensemble music displaying the historic past of Renaissance polyphony and Gregorian chant, as well as music of the future in the form of Baroque chamber duets, concerted choruses and large-scale instrumental movements.

This lavish presentation will involve many participants such as Early Music guest and local artists including:

• Alexander Bonus and Stephen Escher, cornetto
• Christopher Canapa, Alex Krawczyk and Linda Pearse, sackbut

A Continuo Group comprised of:

• Adriana Contino, cello
• Dieter Hennings, theorbo
• Annalisa Pappano, lirone and viola da gamba
• Elizabeth Motter, Baroque harp
• Rodney Stucky, archlute and Baroque guitar
• Michael Unger, continuo organ and harpsichord

And featuring CCM student soloists:

• Grace Kahl and Jacqueline Stevens, soprano
• Paulina Villarreal, mezzo-soprano
• Allan Palacios Chan and Marcus Shields, tenor
• T. J. Capobianco, tenor (Duo Seraphim)
• Jacob Kincaide, bass
• Brandon Bell, bass-baritone (Laudate Pueri and Magnificat)

About Alexander Bonus, cornetto
Alexander Bonus maintains a varied career performing historic brass and keyboard instruments, in addition to his conducting, researching, and teaching activities. He has performed with ensembles including Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; Folger Consort; Tragicomedia; Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra; the Washington Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble; the Newberry Consort; and Chicago Opera Theater. Dr. Bonus also appeared onstage in the Boston Early Music Festival production of Lully’s Psyché, and is heard on BEMF’s recording of this work, released on the CPO label. He holds a PhD in Musicology from Case Western Reserve University as well as MM and BM degrees from the Eastman School of Music. His scholarship appears in the latest edition of the Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments and Oxford Handbooks online among other sources. Dr. Bonus is the Assistant Professor of Music at Bard College, where he directs the Bard Baroque Ensemble and teaches courses in music history, theory, and historical performance practices.

About Annalisa Pappano, viola da gamba and lirone
Artistic director of Catacoustic Consort, Annalisa Pappano performs throughout the United States and Europe. She is recognized for bringing together the best international talent to present groundbreaking programs and landmark performances. Pappano studied at Indiana University’s Early Music Institute (Wendy Gillespie) and at Oberlin Conservatory of Music (Catharina Meints).

She has performed throughout Belgium, England, Ireland, Colombia, Canada, and the U.S., has appeared on nationally syndicated radio and has played at the Berkeley and Vancouver Early Music Festivals and the Ojai Music Festival. Pappano is a member of Atalante (England) and has performed with numerous other ensembles including the Houston Grand Opera, the Cleveland Opera, the Portland Opera, the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Les Voix Baroques, Opera Atelier, the Toronto Consort, the Concord Ensemble, Cappella Artemisia (Bologna), the Dublin Drag Orchestra, Wildcat Viols, and Consortium Carissimi.

Pappano has taught at Viola da Gamba Society of America national conclaves, the Viola da Gamba Society Pacific Northwest and Northeast chapters, the San Diego Early Music Workshop, Viols West, the Madison Early Music Workshop and has been a guest lecturer at numerous universities.

She led the Catacoustic Consort to win the grand prize in the Naxos / Early Music America Live Recording Competition and recorded a program of Italian laments on the Naxos label. Pappano completed a performance practice orchestra workshop at Miami University in Ohio. She is currently teaching viola da gamba at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

About Linda Pearse, sackbut
Canadian-born Linda Pearse is recognized as a specialist in the exquisite musical repertoire of early seventeenth-century Italy. Dr. Pearse is Assistant Professor of Brass at Mount Allison University (New Brunswick) and Lecturer for Baroque trombone at Indiana University Bloomington. Following studies at McGill University, a career in Europe included regular performances with the Stuttgart Philharmoniker, Stuttgart Opera House, the Basel Symphony, La Cetra, piano possible and the Stuttgart Musical Theater. Pearse is the Artistic Director of the San Francisco Early Music Summer Baroque Workshop and directs the award-winning ensemble ¡Sacabuche!

Recent performances include a twelve-concert tour to Beijing with the interdisciplinary program “Matteo Ricci: His Map and Music” (Dec 2010), a tour to Hong Kong and Macau China (June 2013), and tours to Victoria, Nanaimo, and Salt Spring Island, Vancouver, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, New York, San Francisco, Bloomington (IN), Madison (WI), Kansas City and Houston. Her most recent project “Venetia 1500” is inspired by the Barbari Aerial Woodcut of Venice from 1500 and creates a conversation between new music, early music, texts and images, that finds resonances with Maritime cultures in decline. Her critical edition of Seventeenth-Century Italian Motets with Trombone is published with A-R Editions (April 2014).

Performance Time
5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16

Location
Christ Church Cathedral
Fourth & Sycamore Streets
Cincinnati, OH 45202

Purchasing Tickets
Tickets to Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 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 at ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/monteverdi-vespers. Visit ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice for CCM Box Office hours and location.

Tickets will also be available beginning at 4 p.m. on the day of the performance at Christ Church Cathedral; cash and checks only at the door.

Parking and Directions
For more information on Cathedral hours and parking, please visit www.christchurchcincinnati.org.
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CCM Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Community Partner: ArtsWave

CCM’s production of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 is made possible by funding from the Cambridge Charitable Foundation and CCM’s Tangeman Sacred Music Center.

CCM Review Round-Up: ‘Les Misérables’ and ‘El Niño’

The critics can’t stop talking about CCM’s productions of Les Misérables and El Niño! Catch up with the latest “buzz” in today’s review round-up!

CCM proudly presents a new production of the iconic musical “Les Misérables,” playing Feb. 27 – March 9, 2014. Photography by Mark Lyons.

• Rick Pender calls CCM’s new production of Les Misérables “magnificent” in his CityBeat review, concluding, “Peeled back to its raw essence, CCM’s staging of Les Misérables is powerful and memorable, one of the best musical theater productions on a Cincinnati stage this season.” Read the full review here.

• Paige Malott reviews the production for iSPYCiNCY and observes, “Capturing the larger-than-life Les Misérables with perfection, CCM put on a better-than-Broadway performance that is guaranteed 2-4-6-0-fun.” Read the full review here.

• In his Talkin’ Broadway review, Scott Cain explains, “Musicals presented at… CCM always feature splendidly talented student performers who rarely disappoint. Their current production, Les Misérables, is no exception and does showcase many stunning voices and meticulously detailed acting.” Read the full review here.

• In his review for The Sappy Critic, Kirk Sheppard suggests, “I’ve seen a lot of shows in Cincinnati over the last couple of years… [and] CCM’s Les Misérables just might be the greatest production I’ve ever seen.” Read the full review here.

• Rafael de Acha reviews the production for Seen and Heard International and writes, “Keeping the entire undertaking tightly reined in and mercifully devoid of any Broadway clichés, [Aubrey] Berg delivers a fresh and finely-wrought production.” Read the full review here.

• Emily Begely reviews Les Misérables for UC’s News Record and concludes, “An exemplary cast, a familiar plot and simple props created an unforgettable work of art.” Read the full review here.

Earl Rivers leads the CCM Philharmonia in a rehearsal for John Adams’ EL NINO. Photography by Lisa Ventre/University of Cincinnati.

• Janelle Gelfand reviews CCM’s “powerful” performance of John Adams’ El Niño for the Cincinnati Enquirer, and observes, “[Earl] Rivers balanced the work’s intimate emotions against powerful ones, propelled tempos well and drew excellent playing from the orchestra.” Read her full review here.

• Mary Ellyn Hutton reviews El Niño for ConcertoNet and writes, “John Adams’ oratorio El Niño had its regional premiere in Cincinnati March 2, and it couldn’t have been in better hands. ” Read the full review here.

Performances of Les Misérables resume this evening (Tuesday, March 4) and run through Sunday, March 9. Learn more by visiting ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/lesmiserables.

CCM Presents Contemporary American Masterpiece ‘El Niño’ in Concert This Sunday, March 2

This Sunday, March 2, CCM’s American Voices Concert Series proudly presents John Adams’ El Niño in concert.

According to the Wall Street Journal this stunning oratorio, “capture[s] the intimacy, mystery and apocalyptic nature of the Nativity story in a thoroughly contemporary idiom, fusing [Adams’] well-known minimalist style with a rich blend of text in English, Spanish, and Latin for an effect ultimately as timeless as the story itself.”

According to the New York Times, “John Adams’ celebration of the Nativity bears so many gifts that the senses stagger under the load.”

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. Tickets are on sale now.

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 American Voices Concert Series Proudly Presents John Adams’ ‘El Niño’ on March 2

“Mujer de Mucha Enagua, Pa’Ti Xicana” painting courtesy of Yreina D. Cervántez; Serigraph (SHG), 1999

The CCM Philharmonia Orchestra, Chamber Choir, Chorale and Cincinnati Children’s Choir proudly present a stirring rendition of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John 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 Director of Choral Studies Earl Rivers conducts.

“John Adams’ El Niño is a joyous composition,” says Rivers. The text of El Niño retells the traditional biblical story of the birth of Jesus. Although this composition is about a specific event, the true subject is larger and widely relate-able: the inexhaustible miracle of birth. “The opening movement of El Niño pulsates with repetitive, engaging rhythms,” Rivers explains. “The strong rhythmic drive of the opening sets the stage for the unfolding of the work.”

A piece told in three languages, El Niño was originally a co-commission by four major arts organizations: the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Lincoln Center in New York City and the Barbican Center in London. It was created to be performed as either an oratorio or a staged production. CCM will be presenting the work as an oratorio.

CCM and Constella Festival Present Bach’s ‘St. John Passion’ This Sunday

The Cincinnati Enquirer has named CCM’s Sunday, Nov. 3, staging of J. S. Bach’s St. John Passion as its “top pick for the weekend!”

According to the preview, “it should be one of the most moving events of the entire fall season.” Tickets are still available for this unique staged performance at Cincinnati’s Christ Church Cathedral.

Learn more about CCM’s production of this cherished Baroque masterwork here.

CCM Presents a Grand Recreation of a Beloved Bach Masterpiece on Nov. 3

Graduate student Conor McDonald performs the role of Jesus in CCM’s production of J.S. Bach’s ‘St. John Passion,’ presented at Christ Church Cathedral on Nov. 3. Photography by Dottie Stover.

CCM’s Chamber Choir and Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra join forces to perform a unique staged production of Johann Sebastian Bach’s visceral rendering of the St. John Passion as the next installment in CCM’s 2013-14 Prestige Concert Series. The monumental work will be presented at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3, at Christ Church Cathedral under the direction of Earl Rivers, staged by Omer Ben-Seadia, and in conjunction with the Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts.

Bach composed his St. John Passion for the congregations of Leipzig, Germany for Good Friday services in April 1724. The story is narrated by the character of the Evangelist and emphasizes the conflict of Pontius Pilate. “Bach’s interpretation provides us with a dramatic and physiological account,” explains stage director and Artist Diploma directing student Omer Ben-Seadia. “The staging will portray the drama through symbolic elements and light. The text and historical reflection are just as pungent today as ever – and the staging confronts these truths head on.” Ben-Seadia will also direct CCM’s Mainstage Series production of Don Pasquale in April 2014.

“Performances of Bach’s Passions, particularly in light of the attention that Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ received, present an opportunity for Christians and Jews to confront issues of religious intolerance, and the role of the arts and how the arts might, advertently or inadvertently, promote intolerance,” explains conductor and Director of Choral Studies Earl Rivers. “By exploring these issues, we will know the music better and we will know each other better.”

The concert will be performed at the magnificent setting of Christ Church Cathedral, which enjoys a long tradition of great choral music and is hosting the collaboration between CCM’s Chamber Choir and Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra and the Constella Festival for a second year. In 2010, the CCM Chamber Choir and Philharmonia Orchestra presented the 400th Anniversary of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 at the downtown location, and the Cathedral presents a wide variety of performances throughout the year.

CCM alumnus and Joseph and Frances Jones Poetker Visiting Artist Jeffrey Thompson, tenor, will sing the role of the Evangelist. CCM graduate voice majors Conor McDonald and Jeffrey Byrnes, baritones, perform the roles of Jesus and Pilate, respectively. The roles of aria soloists will be sung by CCM graduate voice majors Danielle Adams, soprano; Laurin McAlister, mezzo-soprano; Alec Carlson, tenor; Jonathan Cooper, baritone; and Stefan Egerstrom, bass. Guest Artist Adriana Contino, cellist, plays continuo cello and Michael Unger, Assistant Professor of Harpsichord and Organ, is featured as harpsichordist. Student obbligato soloists include Haoli Lin and Yang Liu, violin; Xue Su and Carol Joe, flute; and Katelyn Kyser and Martha Peck, oboe.

CCM Jazz Presents Duke Ellington’s First Sacred Concert On April 29

CCM's jazz ensembles and Chamber Choir welcome special guest Bobby Floyd on Sunday, April 29.

CCM’s Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Lab Band and Chamber Choir welcome virtuoso B-3 organist Bobby Floyd for a rare performance of Duke Ellington’s first Sacred Concert at 7 p.m. this Sunday, April 29 in Patricia Corbett Theater.

Conducted by Scott Belck, Earl Rivers and Dominic Marino, this unforgettable night of inspirational music is sponsored in part by CCM’s Tangeman Sacred Music Center.

A Video Preview of Bach’s ‘St. Matthew Passion’

CCM Electronic Media student Greg Shurts provides us with a video preview of this weekend’s staged production of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.

Tickets for the Nov. 20 performance at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral are on sale now and you can save $5 off of general admission by ordering your tickets in advance! Contact the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183 or boxoff@uc.edu for more information.

CCM’s Staged ‘St. Matthew Passion’ a First in the Midwest

Shawn Mlynek, tenor, as one of the Evangelists in CCM's rare staged performance of Bach's 'St. Matthew Passion.'

CCM’s Chamber Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra and Cincinnati Children’s Choir combine for an afternoon featuring one of the timeless masterworks of choral music: J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. This massive staged undertaking, the first of its kind in the Midwest, will be held at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral (Eighth and Plum Street, Downtown Cincinnati) at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 20.