CCM Professor Brett Scott Named Director of Cincinnati’s Musica Sacra Chorus

We are happy to report that CCM Assistant Professor of Ensembles and Conducting L. Brett Scott has been appointed as Music Director of Cincinnati’s Musica Sacra Chorus.

Scott was nominated by Dr. Helmut J. Roehrig, who founded Musica Sacra in 1965. Dr. Roehrig will now assume the title and duties of Music Director Emeritus, and will continue to be involved in some decision-making aspects of the Chorus.

Scott has been a faculty member at CCM since 2007. He conducts the CCM Chorale and the Opera D’Arte undergraduate operas, and is also director of Cincinnati Camerata.

He is currently Vice President of the National Collegiate Choral Association, and has conducted, taught and lectured in Canada, Portugal and Cuba as well as throughout the United States. At the recent 2013 Portugal International Choral Festival, he conducted the ESML Chamber Choir to Gold and a first place finish in their category.

CCM Spotlights Talented Young Performers and Acclaimed Guest Artists During Summer 2014 Performance Series

Marianna Prjevalskaya, 2013 World Piano Competition Gold Medalist. Photography by David Rafie.

Young artists from all corners of the globe will make their way to Cincinnati this summer to work with CCM’s world-class faculty and renowned guest artists while in residence at the state-of-the-art CCM Village.

CCM offers a wide array of high caliber summer programs, and the general public can experience the artistry themselves during a series of nearly 50 public performances and guest artist recitals running Monday, June 9, through Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014.

A complete schedule of summer performances is listed below, with highlights including the World Piano Competition’s Finalists Concert featuring the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on June 28, the Art of the Piano’s Guest Artist Recital Series (curated by CCM faculty member and World Piano Competition Artistic Director Awadagin Pratt) running June 27 – July 11, the Classical Guitar Workshop’s Concert Series running July 13 – 19 and a semi-staged production of Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore (The Elixir of Love) on Aug. 9.

CCM’s Preparatory Department also hosts a number of workshops and immersion programs at CCM Village and at various off-campus locations throughout the summer, including the Cincinnati Young Artist Chamber Music Workshop Series, which features performances by Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra cellist and CCM faculty member Alan Rafferty, CCM Professor of Viola Catharine Carroll and CCM string quartet-in-residence the Ariel Quartet. Other highlights include the Centerstage Workshop production of Hoodie playing June 27 – 28 at UC Blue Ash’s Muntz Theater and the Cincinnati Children’s Choir’s summer concert on Aug. 2.

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 Summer 2014 Performance Calendar by clicking here.

CCM Alumnus Brandon Dean Receives Gustavus Adolphus College’s Award for Teaching Excellence

CCM alumnus Brandon Dean (DMA, 2011).

CCM alumnus Brandon Dean (DMA, 2011) has received Gustavus Adolphus College’s 2014 Swenson-Bunn Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence. The award is nominated and selected by students and has been presented annually since 1990. Congratulations!

Dean joined the Gustavus faculty in 2011, after completing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting at CCM. At CCM, he also served as the conductor of the UC Women’s Chorus from 2008-2011.

An Assistant Professor of Music ad Gustavus, he conducts the Choir of Christ Chapel, Lucia Singers and St. Ansgar’s Chorus, and teaches courses in music theory and music history.

CCM Featured on NPR’s ‘Morning Edition’

Kanniks with the choir at St. Johns Unitarian Church in Cincinnati in 2004.

Earlier this week, NPR’s Morning Edition spoke with CCM Musicology adjunct faculty member Kanniks Kannikeswaran and freshman Music Education/Music History major Vidita Kannikeswaran about the award-winning Greater Cincinnati Indian Community Choir (and Indian choral music in general)!

You can listen to the entire Morning Edition segment here.

Kanniks Kannikeswaran is a pioneer of the Indian American choral movement. His far reaching work in this area has led to the founding of Indian community choirs in not only Cincinnati, but also Washington, D.C.; Houston; Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Allentown, Pa.; Toronto; and, most recently, The Hague.

He has collaborated with artists such as Lakshmi Shankar, Mallika Sarabhai, with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and with institutions such as the National University of Singapore in producing crisp innovative works that convey the message of universal connectedness.

His magnum opus Shanti – A Journey of Peace has personally touched the lives of over 900 performers and has been seen by over 9000 even as many more communities are gearing towards performing this work.

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 Prep’s Spring Event Series Showcases Young Artists

CCM’s Preparatory Department will present a number of end-of-season performances between April 24 and May 19. Tickets for these events are available now (and admission to several of these events is FREE).

Date, time, venue and admission information is below.

CCM Drama, Dance, Choral, Piano, Musical Theatre And More On Display This Weekend!

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CCM’s stars of tomorrow will be shining bright in a wide variety of concerts and productions running this weekend!

CCM’s 2012-13 Studio Series concludes with a production of Emily Mann’s powerful docu-drama Execution of Justice, running through April 20 in UC’s Cohen Family Studio Theater. Admission is free, but reservations are required. This production contains mature subject matter. Learn more about this production here.

CCM’s Ballet Ensemble also presents its annual Spring Dance Concert this weekend, with performances running through April 20 in Patricia Corbett Theater. This year’s program features unique collaborations with CCM’s Chamber Choir and Chamber Players. Learn more about this production here.

At 8 p.m. this Saturday, April 20, the CCM’s Chorale and Concert Orchestra join forces with a variety of special guests to present Benjamin Britten’s Spring Symphony and other works in Corbett Auditorium! Learn more about this performance here.

CCM’s annual celebration of the art of the piano returns at 7 p.m. this Sunday, April 21, as Pianopalooza VIII showcases our most spectacular student pianists! Learn more about this performance here.

CCM Ensembles Join with Xavier University Concert Choir and Cincinnati Children’s Choir to Perform Britten’s ‘Spring Symphony’

‘Spring Symphony’ composer Benjamin Britten, circa 1949. Photography by Roland Haupt; courtesy of http://www.britten100.org.

CCM’s Chorale and Concert Orchestra join forces with the Xavier University Concert Choir and Bel Canto Choir of the Cincinnati Children’s Choir for a performance of Benjamin Britten’s Spring Symphony and other works at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 20, in UC’s Corbett Auditorium. The program will also include Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis for string orchestra and Edward Elgar’s concert overture In the South. Tickets are on sale now.

Britten’s Spring Symphony, Op. 44, was commissioned and dedicated to Serge Koussevitsky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which shared the 1949 premiere with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in July (in Amsterdam) and August (with the BSO at Tanglewood). This choral symphony was written just four years after Britten’s widely acclaimed Peter Grimes opera when the composer was 35.

Cincinnati Children’s Choir Celebrates 20th Anniversary with March 9 Concert

Cincinnati Children’s Choir, Ensemble-In-Residence at CCM Prep.

CCM is proud to present the Cincinnati Children’s Choir‘s 20th anniversary concert at 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 9, in Corbett Auditorium.

This special event performance will celebrate 20 years of choral artistry and education by the Cincinnati Children’s Choir (CCC). More than 300 young voices will take part, joined by special guest Cincinnati Collaborative Ringing Project. The concert will feature works commissioned to celebrate the CCC’s anniversary in addition to classical, folk and world music repertoire.