Chicago cultural weekend: Millennium Park

This year after opera season ended (watch for my season wrap-up this Sunday in the Enquirer) I decided to visit Chicago for a weekend as a cultural tourist. We got a good (for Chicago) weekend rate at the modern-esque Sofitel Water Tower, which is close to Michigan Ave. for those sudden urges to go shopping.

Visiting a free concert at the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago’s new Millennium Park was worth the five-hour car trip, alone. It’s the only free outdoor classical music festival with a professional orchestra and chorus left in the country. It started in 1931 with free band concerts meant to lift the spirits of Depression-era Chicagoans. The Grant Park Concerts started in 1935 with 66 concert of symphonic and band music. Today, the festival presents 10 weeks of programs, still paid for (mostly) by the city.

Mainly, I was curious to see how music would sound in the spectacular Frank Gehry-designed Pritzker Pavilion. Curling upwards from the theater like a festive birthday gift bow that has been caught by the wind, the stainless steel architectural wonder has become one of Chicago’s most important landmarks and a new reason to visit the city.

Question to Cincinnati’s movers and shakers: Could this idea, of hiring a signature architect to build an architectural icon for our orchestra work on the banks of the Ohio??

Besides the acoustics of the outdoor shell, I was also curious to see if anyone would show up to hear Bruckner, especially on a day in the 90s, with a heat index of 100 degrees.

James Palermo, the festival’s artistic and general director gave me a backstage tour before the show. Most of the backstage area is gray concrete block, with exposed heating and air ducts, because Gehry wanted to spend the real money on the exterior, I was informed. There was a beautiful choral rehearsal space, though, in warm wood of Douglas fir. The chorus has its own balcony, right over the orchestra.

The stage area has no right angles; it is all curves, with state-of-the-art lighting and sound system. Monitors feed sound out of the side walls to the orchestra, so the musicians can hear themselves. In addition, the orchestra is on risers that are meant to vibrate – so the violinists can actually feel the cellos and basses when they play.

The acoustical treatment, by Talaske of Oak Park, allows for acoustical adjustments – such as drawing curtains – to allow for changing brightness of sound. The idea, says Palermo – who, by the way, he did some of his training with our CSO in 1989 – is to produce perfect balance onstage, and reproduce it to the thousands of people in the pavilion and on the expansive Millennium Park lawn. Two systems are at work – one just for volume and another to add reverb to try to simulate the actual sound of a concert hall to the masses. A tall order – but would it work?

And what about those masses? As people began pouring into the area, Palermo noted that there’s easy access here – a train arrives directly underneath from Indiana, there are local commuter trains, and people pouring out of office buildings on foot. Since building the new theater, their attendance has more than doubled.

On average, they formerly had 4,000-5,000. Now, an average concert draws 10-11,000 -- even on weeknights. Last week, more than 12,000 turned out to hear Carmina Burana, literally hanging off the railings. (I must point out that Chicago has 3 million people and an overall regional population of 8 million.)

Frenchman Emmanuel Villaume led the Grant Park Symphony (whose music director is Carlos Kalmar, a frequent Cincinnati guest) on this night. The soloist was pianist Louis Lortie (also coming to the CSO this year) who treated the crowd with two Liszt blockbusters.

The orchestra consists of 25 players with the Lyric Opera, 25 local freelancers and the rest are national musicians with orchestras such as the LA Chamber Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony and the Met – who don’t have summer seasons.

Despite the record heat, the crowd came in droves, completely filling the lawn, the pavilion (which has patron seats in the front and the rest are completely open) and yes, hanging over the railings. By my eyeball, it was at least 9,000 – maybe more, on a Friday night.

Now for the sound. Lortie, a Canadian pianist, was playing Liszt’s Fantasy on Motives from Beethoven’s "The Ruins of Athens" (one of the splashiest pieces you’ve never heard) and the "Totentanz." His performance was powerful and extroverted, and he pushed the tempo and volume, sometimes at the expense of a few dropped notes. With all the ambient noise (sirens, traffic) one couldn’t hear much nuance. Still, it was a tour de force, as he performed great fistfuls of massive virtuosities, one after another. In the "Totentanz," his playing was most engaging, summoning power but never banging, and navigating fiendishly demonic passages.

The acoustics were mixed, starting out with a boomy bass and an uneven balance between piano and orchestra, which improved as the music progressed. (This is because engineers tweak the sound system as the concert is going on, Palermo told me earlier.)

Bruckner’s Seventh was exceedingly enjoyable, partly because Villaume is such a fine conductor and partly, perhaps, because the balance and sound quality seemed more settled. Villaume led with warmth and musicality, well-gauged tempos and a wonderful feel for the overall architecture. There were some beautifully phrased moments in the strings – I especially loved the simple beauty of the second movement’s landler, which reminded me of Mahler. The horns (including Wagnerian tubas) were round and glowing. I was less impressed with the winds; intonation was a bit off in the slow movement, and I thought phrasing might have had more color. Still, tackling Bruckner successfully was admirable for an ensemble that only plays together for the summer, and it speaks to the caliber of the average American musician these days.

We were out by 8:30 p.m., and decided to take one of those ubiquitous Chicago cabs to make our dinner reservation, at Bistro 110, close to the Water Tower. We had a lovely cool salad dinner, perfect in this heat. It’s a member of the Levy group of restaurants – more about that later, when I tell you about the Ravinia experience – and meeting up with maestro James Conlon!

For info: www.grantparkmusicfestival.com

Chicago cultural weekend: Conlon at Ravinia

On night two of my Chicago cultural weekend, I decided to take in a concert led by the Cincinnati May Festival’s James Conlon, who is music director of the Ravinia Festival outside of Chicago. Although we went by car (it’s about 20 miles north of Chicago), there’s a direct train from downtown and the round-trip "Ravinia Special" is just $5.

It was fun to arrive and see people loaded down with lawn chairs, Crate & Barrel picnic tables, coolers and even rosebud vases and candles, staking their claim on the grass. Lawn tickets are just $10 for adults; the down side is that you can’t see the stage, since the lawn slopes away from the pavilion. Still, the place was packed for a concert led by Conlon that included Erwin Schulhoff’s Symphony No. 1 and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 (yes, the one from the movie "Shine") with pianist Yefim Bronfman.

But first, dinner. We had 6 p.m. reservations (allowing for 7:30 p.m. concert time) at Mirabelle, a nice restaurant run, said one of my friends, by the Levy family of restaurants. You can get the full buffet or a la carte, and sit indoors or out. (The menus are on the Ravinia Web site, ravinia.org.) There are a variety of other cafes and restaurants on site, as well, so the choices are many. Our dinner outside was lovely but service was very slow. I’d allow plenty of time if you go.

Ravinia, summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, is one of the oldest and most prestigious of American summer classical festivals. Cincinnatian James Levine was its music director from 1971-93. This summer is Conlon’s second season as music director. He is introducing several new projects, such as exploring Mahler’s symphonies in chronological order, presenting all of Mozart’s piano concertos and championing music by composers who suffered at the hands of the Nazis, such as Schulhoff.

Conlon – wearing his tux but no jacket in the heat – spoke eloquently to the audience about Schulhoff’s Symphony No. 1 from 1928 – how he’d just finished his naughty boy period, had integrated jazz into his music before George Gershwin and was writing minimalism 50 years before the minimalists. Schulhofff, a Czech Jew, died in 1942 in a Nazi concentration camp.

The symphony, in three movements with no break, opened with bubbling, chortling ostinato passages with pentatonic themes floating above -- more inventive than anything we know as minimalism today. The first movement was clangy and joyous and reminded one a bit of Honegger’s "Pacific 231"; the second was impressionistic and rather amorphous. Although the sound of the strings was superb in the opening, I would have preferred more clarity of string sound in the slow movement, which nevertheless had moments of atmospheric beauty. It evolved into a quirky march for winds – almost like one of Mahler’s. The finale was Schulhoff’s least inspired movement, sort of Hollywoodish 40 years ahead of his time.

Acoustically, even though there was competition from the cicadas on this hot night, the sound of the orchestra was superb in the pavilion seats (which, incidentally, were sold out). Conlon led it all with conviction and nuance, and the musicians were wonderfully responsive.

Rach 3 is one of the piano repertoire’s most fiendishly difficult pieces. Two things made me very happy from the outset: 1) Bronfman was masterfully up to the task from the first note and 2) the piano’s amplified sound in the outdoor venue didn’t sound tinny.

This was, if anything, the most probing performance of the Third Concerto I have ever heard. Bronfman managed to make sense of a piece that is a bit disjunct, and to make every note its full-blown romanticism meaningful.

As a technician, the pianist plays with depth, color and absolute control, voicing even the most massive chords beautifully. Perhaps most importantly, he gauged the piano’s orchestral-like buildups perfectly, so as not to reach the summit too early. His first-movement cadenza was a breathtaking journey that, pianistically, was akin to climbing up Mount Everest. When the piano took a back seat, he created gorgeous color as he accompanied orchestral soloists with pianissimo ripples in the piano.

His intensely passionate entrance to the slow movement evolved into one of the most poetic and beautifully interpreted love themes of the kind only Rachmaninoff could write. The scherzo was truly demonic, but Bronfman’s touch sparkled, and he managed to illuminate glowing themes amid all the power and fire. The finale was electrifying, with the pianist standing in his seat for the final drive to the finish, and the crowd on its feet roaring like I have never seen in Chicago.

Conlon was the ideal partner, pulling back or pushing ahead, seemingly with eyes in the back of his head, so in tune was he with the soloist. His orchestra turned in a burnished, wonderfully fresh performance.

I went backstage with a group of Cincinnatians to say hello to Conlon, who was surprised to see the Cincinnati contingent. After Sunday, he’s off to spend some time working at Aspen, before he opens the Los Angeles Opera season in September, his first season as music director there.

When we left, many of the lawn folks were still there, enjoying the final courses of their candlelit dinners.

By the way, another Cincinnati maestro makes an annual visit here: Popsmeister Erich Kunzel will conduct the Ravinia Festival Orchestra’s Labor Day concerts on Sept. 4-6.

Ravinia info: www.ravinia.org or 847-266-5100.

Best or worst of times?

Douglas McLennan, editor of artsjournal.com, has posed the question, "Is the this best or worst of times for classical music?" in a blog running this week. He was inspired by a May column by Allan Kozinn in the New York Times calling this the golden period for classical music, a time when great recordings and performances are more accessible by the general public than ever.

What do you think? I'm participating (I hope to contribute at least once daily), with other national critics, including Peter Dobrin, Philadelphia Inquirer; Andrew Druckenbrod, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Klaus Heyman, Naxos; Barbara Jepson, Wall Street Journal; Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle; Allan Kozinn, The New York Times; and Frank Oteri, NewMusicBox. The blog ends Wednesday night. You can visit www.artsjournal.com, or here's the link.

Ainadamar: A Fountain of Tears for the Ages

Photo by Ken Howard, courtesy of Santa Fe Opera (2005 production). Note the spectacular scenic design by Gronk.

Below is my review of "Ainadamar" from last summer's (August 2005) performance at Santa Fe Opera. Cincinnati Opera will bring it here in 2009. Here's the season announcement.
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After Cincinnati Opera's season ended, I visited another summer festival -- Santa Fe Opera -- to see "Ainadamar," a stunning new opera by Argentinean composer Osvaldo Golijov and author David Henry Hwang. Powerful, moving and exquisitely crafted, "Ainadamar" is just the kind of new work that Cincinnati Opera might aspire to present, especially given a growing Hispanic population in the region.

Opening night was sold out weeks before its Santa Fe premiere last Saturday, and had the audience (more than half from out of state) on its feet cheering at its conclusion.

Part of the magic of going to Santa Fe is the opera house's breathtaking outdoor setting, poised like a giant ship nestled in the mountains at 7,000 feet. (They keep oxygen in the wings for the singers.) In the deepening evening sky, the twinkling lights of Los Alamos can be seen through the set.

More than 55,000 opera lovers annually attend its five productions under general director Richard Gaddes. John Crosby, who founded the company 49 years ago, died in 2002.

Many are familiar with the song, "Granada," romanticized by Spanish tenor Placido Domingo. But "Ainadamar" deals with the violent death there of Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, as seen through the eyes of his principal interpreter, actress Margarita Xirgu(pronounced SHIR-gu). Ainadamar, which means "fountain of tears," was the place where Fascists executed Lorca at age 32, the first of thousands killed in Granada during the Spanish Civil War.

The opera was a mesmerizing intersection of true history, the fantastic imagination of Hwang and the musical genius of Golijov, who is known for weaving Latin melodies and rhythms and Eastern European klezmer music into his scores.

Although the one-act opera premiered unsuccessfully at Tanglewood in 2003, it underwent massive revisions up to, literally, last week. Now 75 minutes in length, it is an inspired collaboration between four major artists: Golijov, whose "St. Mark Passion" swept up the music world in 2000; Hwang, who won a Tony for "M. Butterfly"; director Peter Sellars, known for works such as John Adams' "Nixon in China" (coming to Cincinnati Opera in 2007); and Gronk, a Los Angeles-based painter and performance artist.

Sung in Spanish, the piece is divided into three seamless "images," including Margarita's flashback to her role in Lorca's play about Mariana Pineda, a 19th-century Spanish revolutionary martyr.

In the final image, the dying actress, who kept Lorca's plays alive while in exile in Latin America, passes on Lorca's legacy to her student, Nuria (sung with great beauty by Jessica Rivera).

Gronk's set design was nothing short of spectacular -- Guernica-like painted murals covering three walls and the stage floor, a surreal canvas of seeds, flames and body parts.

The opera opened with the sound of water -- the fountain -- followed by a remarkable counterpoint of Spanish rhythms and toreador fanfares. Not only is Golijov’s music an entertaining tapestry of jazzy, earthy rhythms, his gift for melody is extraordinary. His rapturous melodies, he says, were inspired by the three major cultures of Spain: Arab, Jewish and Christian, as well as Gypsy-flamenco elements.

Cantorial-like, they were tinged with Eastern-European pathos. At times, the singer was accompanied solely by flamenco guitar. In the more jarring moments, hate speeches by Spanish generals were broadcast, "to have the violence of the speeches as a bombing raid," said Sellars in a panel discussion earlier.

It all unfolded, dreamlike. Dawn Upshaw was completely absorbing as Margarita. Her persona could be radiant or tragically dark, and the depth of her emotion was profound. "My eyes are dry because I have wept a river of tears," she sings.

A chorus of young women in simple black dresses encircled the principal singers in a graceful, almost mystical choreography, first as little girls singing a charming ballad, later wailing and imitating tolling bells with their arms. The ballad returns in each tableau, a haunting, unifying theme.

Because the Tanglewood cast was all female, Lorca is a "pants" role, richly sung by mezzo Kelley O'Connor, a member of Santa Fe's apprentice program. In a new scene -- the opera's most lighthearted moment -- Margarita begs Lorca to flee with her to Havana in a sensuous, carefree duet. Lorca refuses, saying, "Spain is a bull that is burning alive."

Lorca's execution, along with a teacher and a bullfighter, is a flamenco fugue of gunshots, disturbingly repeated over and over, "like seeing it three times a day on CNN," Sellars explained.

The end is a dreamlike episode, in which the dying Margarita confronts a soldier with an improvisatory melody, "I am freedom," that is sadly defiant. The chorus returns with "It was a sad day in Granada," and we are left with the sound of water and tolling bells.

Rising star conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya led the orchestra wonderfully.

Note: This summer (2006) is Santa Fe Opera's 50th anniversary season. Tickets: (800) 280-4654 or www.santafeopera.org.

Hoffmann's Girls

Left to right: Sarah Coburn (Olympia); Nathalie Paulin (Antonia); Milena Kitic (Giulietta). Photo by Phil Groshong/Cincinnati Opera; cute dresses courtesy of Federated Dept. Stores, Macy's at Kenwood.

I thought you'd like to see parts of interviews I did with the three singers who will perform in Cincinnati Opera's "The Tales of Hoffmann" next week. (I apologize for interrupting the birthday party of Milena's 5-year-old son!) Be sure to read the Enquirer charticle in A&E on Sunday.

Sarah Coburn, who is singing the high-flying role of Olympia the doll, is an Oklahoma girl.

"My formal training was mostly in graduate school," Coburn says. "I went to college for a music education degree to teach music. I loved singing, but I thought it wasn’t something I could do professionally. I was always getting in trouble for being too loud (laughs).

"I was working on arias and art songs, but I didn’t take myself so seriously as a singer. For grad school, ended up at Oklahoma City University. That was great, because I did a lot of roles that I don’t think I would have in a huge conservatory, and I had a great teacher.

"I was in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2001, and that opened doors for me. I was pretty clueless. But it really got me motivated to improve my technique and really learn the craft. With that kind of affirmation, with an organization as prestigious as the Met telling you, "We think you have something special here," that told me that I had the potential. I always needed someone telling me, "yes you can do this."

"I made my professional debut in 2002 in Miami with Sandy Bernhard directing, as Norina in Don Pasquale.

"Then I went to Seattle Opera Young Artist program, and I was at Glimmerglass, and then I pretty much dove right in. My manager said, why don’t you move to New York and give it shot and see what happens? Knock on wood, things have been pretty great. I feel very fortunate to have been working since then.

"The highest note that actually comes out of me is an F. But the big high note in the aria is an E-flat. So it’s touched upon, but not sat upon. (Laughs.) It’s a crazy aria; it’s a little stressful. But it’s a lot of fun when it goes well. Which I’m hoping for! Now I’m doing all the body movements and mechanical gyrating while singing it, and adding a lot of different layers.

"Being in the moment is fun. This role takes a lot of concentration for me in order to get all the layers correct and multi-task. Multi-task – that’s what we do all the time.

(Speaking of multi-tasking, she's also singing Oscar the King's page in "Un Ballo in Maschera" this week!)

"Most recently, I was in Chicago, doing Blondchen (Blondie) in "Abduction from the Seraglio." One of my favorite memories (this season) was at Washington Concert Opera in Washington DC, Anthony Walker's company, of Rossini's opera Tancredi, with mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe. It was such a fun night of singing, it was priceless, which doesn’t happen often that you feel great about every aspect of the evening."

(In the audience that night: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a big opera fan.)

Cincinnati impressions: I have shopped, I went to a Reds game (see her photo below!) Kings Island, and not much else. I went to the Brass Armadillo Antique Mall; that was fun. I’ve just been touring around in my little rental car. This is my first trip to Cincinnati, and I think it’s beautiful. It makes me sad that the downtown area is so deserted around here, but I love the architecture and the rolling hills."

How does such a petite girl have such a big voice? "Well, I do have a large head (laughs). I think I have a lot of resonance in my head. The size of your body doesn’t really matter. I have a good teacher (Rita Shane) who teaches me to sing with a bright technique and try to cut through the orchestra and keep things natural and healthy."

Will she ever sing Queen of the Night? "No, I have no desire to sing the Queen of the Night. There’s so much repertoire available for my voice type. That’s one of those stressful roles that the whole audience comes to just hear your top F.
And then it’s over. Yeah, and that's not the kind of singing I like to do!"

Milena Kitic is singing Giulietta, the courtesan. The Yugoslavian mezzo says, "I've
lived in Germany, Amsterdam, Italy, now finally I live in California for the last five years. I live in Newport Beach and Pasadena, both places.

I first became interesting in singing when I met Biserka Czejic when I was in high school. She’s one of the most famous Yugoslav mezzo artists, spent seven years at the Met singing with Tebaldi and so on, and 11 years with the Vienna State Opera, so I was lucky to meet her. She developed my love for opera. I was studying ethnology at the University of Philosophy, and when I met her my life path changed.

For some reason, "The Tales of Hoffmann" was the beginning of my career. This is how I started singing as Nicklausse, when I was about 23. Then I sang Guilietta in Essen, Germany. I was Guilietta again at LA Opera in 2002. You can see it all on my Web site, milenakitic.com

"This role is written very high and sometimes it’s sung by a soprano, and I’m a mezzo-soprano, who has a big range and who also sings, besides this kind of role, Amneris, and other roles which use a low register. So for me, I just have to think lighter. I have to think as a soprano. Because it’s composed very high. (The highest note is ) a high B. It’s not only about that particular note, it’s about the whole tessitura, where the whole role lies, in fact. Because if it lies in the second octave, then it’s very high."

Is it mental or physical? "It’s more of a physical thing, because of the vocal cords. Those are the muscles, so we singers have to work physically have to work to produce sound, so it physically is very demanding.

"Every opera is memorable, and we always give our best whatever we sing. Or course, if you get to sing roles like Carmen, those are memorable moments, because you’re singing a title role. I have sung Carmen probably around 150 times, and including the Metropolitan last Sept. and Oct. It was Franco Zeffirelli production, a gorgeous produciton with live animals in it, and donkeys, horses, dogs, and snow falling on the stage -- and the musicians, not to mention the orchestra that doesn’t even look at the conductor, but looks up onstage and plays like heaven.

"It was also memorable when I was in Germany in '98. I was proclaimed by the German reviewers and audience and the opera magazine's young best mezzo at the time in the role of Carmen. I will never forget those moments."

(She received the German music critic's award as Performer of the Season after performances as Carmen with the Essen Opera."

Nathalie Paulin is singing Antonia for the first time (her role debut). She also appeared as Laoula in "L'Etoile."

"I think music came to get me," says Nathalie Paulin, a native of a small town in New Brunswick, Canada. "I’m from a non-musician family. My parents always sang; there was music in my household growing up, but never classical music. It was not something my parents would listen to. I come from a very humble family.

"I knew music would be part of my life, but I didn’t think I’d have what one needs to become a performer. To my great surprise, I entered a few competitions, and I just happened to win everything in Canada. One was with the Montreal Symphony, and other things brought me to Europe. I thought, maybe I’ll hold off with the doctorate, and I’ll just try a career and see what happens. And this is where I am. I’ll keep discovering. I can’t be happier. It’s a wonderful life, I have to say.

Winning contests "surprised me, it scared me, I had mixed emotions. I had no idea what I was getting into. I spoke no English. But then, I was part of a young opera program in Toronto right after my master’s degree. I lived in Toronto for eight years, and that was my immersion into English.

"I was extremely shy, and one would think if you’re shy you don’t belong in this business. You have to like people and love performing, but it’s even more than that. Everybody has some qualities that are different, that reaches people, attracts people to them, sometimes you can’t put your finger on it.

"Of course I’ve heard Beverly Sills sing the role, and she has a light voice, but traditionally in the last years, they’ve used heavier voices for this role. So it’s a challenge for me. (Antonia) is young, and I have to remind myself to keep it lighter.

"I have a light lyric voice, and I've done a lot of Baroque music, and Mozart. I sang Susanna in "Marriage of Figaro" (Cincinnati Opera) in 2002 with Jane Glover conducting.

"Mozart is my big favorite. I think it suits my voice very well. Also French repertoire. But this is all testing ground for me, as well, to see where I’m going. You do have to be a little flexible sometimes. There's not a lot of jobs in North America, compared to Europe, so it’s a good thing to be flexible in style. I love contemporary music as well. And I love French art song, my first love, especially Faure."

A Masked Ball

Have you noticed the pre-opera announcements about turning off your cell phones and unwrapping your candy before the show starts? Evans Mirageas has been recording them according to the language of the opera. So Tosca was in Italian and L'Etoile was in French.

Guess what language he'll use for "A Masked Ball"? Apparently, he's been getting private coaching for this one! (I will personally be checking his pronunciation, to see if it's authentic...)

Above, Akron native Kim Josephson sings the role of Anckarstrom, the king's secretary, and Richard Margison is the King.

Watch for a story on Thursday's A&E page in the Enquirer.

And here's the review.

Classical notes

Where has the summer gone? Here is some music news of the past month from musicians around town. (PS: E-mail me your music news and photos and I’ll post them here!)

Last month, the Cincinnati Metropolitan Orchestra, a volunteer orchestra based at Seton High in Price Hill, traveled to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to put on a benefit program for Jackson Hole’s Community Children’s Project. The program, hosted by Lyle Waggoner, played to a nearly sold-out crowd. Conductor David Allen (Elder High School music teacher) led show and movie tunes and earned three encores.

The orchestra just celebrated its 10th anniversary season. Catch the group in a free summertime concert: 7 p.m. Aug. 8, President’s Park in Edgewood, Ky., or 7 p.m. Aug. 15, Tower Park in Fort Thomas. Lawn chairs, blankets, food and drinks are welcome. In case of bad weather the concert will be held at a nearby indoor venue. Hotline: 513-941-8956 or visit www.gocmo.org.

Bravos for kids: Katherine Alexander, an Indian Hill High School grad, received the first annual Dr. Catherine Roma Scholarship. The award was established this year to honor Catherine Roma’s 20 years of service as minister of music at St. John’s Unitarian Universalist Church. The $500 scholarship will be given annually to a graduating high school senior who exemplifies outstanding qualities in the arts, academics and social justice and who will perpetuate the work of Dr. Roma. She is the "founding mother" of the women’s choral movement, and founder of MUSE Cincinnati Women’s Choir.

Tom Turner, a senior at Lakota West High School, has won the second annual David L. Belew Solo Competition. Turner, a bassoonist, received a $1,000 cash award and will perform a solo with the Hamilton Fairfield Symphony Orchestra’s Tillmann Concert, conducted by maestro Paul Stanbery, on Nov. 19.

The West Chester teen is a member of Lakota West’s Symphonic Winds, Jazz Ensemble and the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra. Belew, for whom the contest is named, is a longtime Hamilton arts lover, patron and trustee of the orchestra.

In national news: Former University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music faculty member Peter Oundjian was appointed principal guest conductor and artistic adviser for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He’ll fill in while the orchestra conducts a search to replace Neeme Järvi (papa of Paavo), who stepped down in 2005.

Oundjian, who is former first violinist of the Tokyo String Quartet, is also music director of the Toronto Symphony.

Violinmasterclass.com, the largest and most complete web site for teaching violin in the world, has won the Best Music Site award from BTDesign. CCM prof Kurt Sassmannshaus created and launched the site in 2004, and ever the visionary, he has developed a version in Chinese, too. He’s planning a German version next.

The ground-breaking, $1 million project includes things such as learning the techniques of violin playing through streaming media. In the first year, the site attracted 22 million users, worldwide, and here’s the best part: It is entirely free.

An idea for The New Fountain Square? When San Francisco Opera tried its first ever free live outdoor simulcast of Puccini’s "Madama Butterfly" in May, more than 8,000 people turned out to see opera at the Civic Center Plaza. The event ushered in a new era for the company under general director David Gockley.

Summer wine tasting to benefit CSO

CSOEncore! the young professionals group of the Cincinnati Symphony, is teaming with the Bacchanalian Society for a summer wine tasting, 7 to 10 p.m., July 20 at Cintas Center Schiff Family Conference Center, 1624 Herald Ave.

The Bacchanalian Society idea is for teams of three people to bring three bottles of the featured wine, as admission (plus $10 suggested donation). The bottles are then wrapped for a blind tasting and audience voting. There's also going to be a chocolate tasting, courtesy of Marble Hill Chocolatier in O'Bryonville.

(Like to party? The CSO party people will also be at Kona Bistro for a kickoff party on July 14.)

All proceeds will benefit the symphony. For info, call the Bacchanaliann Society at 513-455-7600 or the CSOEncore at 513-744-3356 or visit www.oncincy.com/bacchanaliansociety or www.csoencore.org.

Evans Mirageas' muffin recipe

By popular demand:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 ½ cups bran flakes or 100 percent Bran Cereal

2 T sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 ¼ tsp. baking soda

2 cups buttermilk

1 egg

1/2 cup dark molasses

2 Tb. melted butter

Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl. Combine egg (beaten first), buttermilk, butter, molasses. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just enough to combine. Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Cheers,

Evans