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.