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Classical Music
Janelle Gelfand on the classical music scene


Janelle's pen has taken her to Japan, China, Carnegie Hall, Europe (twice), East and West Coasts, and Florida. In fact, Janelle was the first Enquirer reporter to report from Europe via e-mail -- in 1995.

Janelle began writing for the Cincinnati Enquirer as a stringer in 1991 while writing a Ph.D. dissertation in musicology at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She joined the Enquirer staff in 1993.

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she graduated from Stanford University, Janelle has lived in Cincinnati for more than 30 years. In her free time, this pianist plays chamber music with her circle of musical friends in Cincinnati.

She covers the Cincinnati Symphony, May Festival and Cincinnati Opera, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, chamber music ensembles, and as many recitals and events at CCM and NKU as possible.

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Friday, August 24, 2007

Continue the conversation

Please keep chatting while I'm away from my desk for a few days. I'll be back after Labor Day.


Glammy Award: Best Fall Season Brochure


And the award goes to the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra and the very photogenic young maestro, Devlin Cassidy, 4, who perfectly illustrates the theme of the orchestra's concert season, "Let's Play." By the way, proud dad is JR Cassidy, KSO's music director.

Photo: Craig Weiglein


Honoring volunteers at the symphony


Remember when the CSO Women's Committee poured tea, sold subscriptions, raised money with Treasure Aisle and courted young patrons with the Friday Nighters? The orchestra is honoring 70 years of volunteerism at the symphony (for men, too), with a two-for-one deal on tickets for opening night Sept. 14, and a post-concert reception in Music Hall's Ballroom. Call the box office by Sept. 7 to reserve your tickets: 513-381-3300.

Photo: Jean Southern and Karen Kapella getting ready to party on New Year's Eve 1996


Thursday, August 23, 2007

Suburban performing arts and conference center in the works


It could be five years before ground is broken, but here's an update on a planned performing arts and conference center coming to Blue Ash.

"It would be wonderful to have a theater where we could create a residency. It would be another jewel in the Blue Ash crown," says Michael Chertock, music director of the Blue Ash/Montgomery symphony.

How it will be funded: Blue Ash voters approved a 0.25 percent earnings tax increase that will pay for the airport park project and $10 million expansion of the Blue Ash Recreation Center. The performing arts and conference center, however, will be funded separately with a combination of private naming rights, some public funding, and general sales and revenues, says David Waltz, Blue Ash City Manager.

As yet, no architect or theater consultants have been lined up for the project.

Rendering: Steed Hammond Paul, courtesy of the City of Blue Ash


Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Music in Schools

I got a phone call today saying that Schiel Primary School for Arts Enrichment has lost a two-year, $45,000 grant (per year) that paid for choir and keyboard lessons for kids in the K-3 school. Apparently, the school does not know where to look for funding for the program, and the kids are asking, "When do we start?"

These are kids whose families have no musical instruments at home, and teachers designed class programs with that in mind. With all of the arts and outreach money out there, I'm hoping that one of you will have a suggestion for them.


The Symphony and Music Hall


Even as planners prepare to unveil the consultants' recommendations for Music Hall's renovations -- including a possible reduction of seating -- orchestra management blogger Drew McManus makes this interesting observation:

"Wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the Cincinnati Symphony pegged some of their attendance woes on the size of their 3,400 seat Music Hall. Granted, that's a barn no doubt about it, but the fact remains that they are only selling 1,540 seats per concert which would still only amount to 77 percent capacity in a 2,000 seat venue. All in all, a figure that is a good 13 percent lower than an acceptable standard. As such, even if the organization eliminated 41 percent of their seats via a hall rehab, last season's sales figures would still fall short of acceptable attendance levels."


Monday, August 20, 2007

Search committee for CCM Dean

Louis Bilionis, dean of UC's College of Law, is chairing the search committee to find a new dean for CCM. Douglas Lowry, 56, got the seven-year-itch and resigned last spring to become dean of the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester (N.Y.).

What qualities should the committee look for in a new dean for the school?


More feedback

Thanks for all of your great comments to the question, below. Here's what two of Cincinnati's arts leaders had to say:

"Wow. I am not being facetious when I ask the following question: how important is it for Cincinnati to have Fortune 500 companies? Why not Fortune 1000? That should be good enough for us, right? Hope this adds to the discussion." - Ed Stern, Playhouse in the Park

"A great symphony orchestra is the equivalent measure of a city's worth as is a great opera company, a great museum and great theater and ballet companies-and, as far as I am concerned, a great hospital system, good schools, excellent police and fire departments-in other words, it is part of the essential quality of life that allows a city to say to the world, "we are a great place to live, to raise your children, bring your business." The presence of world-class arts organizations in a city says to business leaders contemplating investing in the city that we care about the minds and spirits of our citizens. Ask any top corporate recruiter and they will all say that those executives who make great businesses run are always going to want to know about the quality of the local arts organizations." -- Evans Mirageas, Cincinnati Opera


Friday, August 17, 2007

A question for readers


One of the editors at the paper asked me yesterday:

How important is it that Cincinnati maintain an excellent orchestra, anyway?

Here's the link to the story in Saturday's Enquirer.

Got answers?


Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The view from the Heartland

As we start the fall season in coming weeks, the symphony and Music Hall are on my mind! I'm copying a post I put on an ArtsJournal blog, "Classical Music: Best of Times or Worst of Times?" To see more, click here to see what other critics are saying. Here are some of my observations:

There are multiple issues here, from the perspective of orchestras and arts organizations, as well as that of the consumer. Let's look for a moment at the industry's impressive growth of regional orchestras and performing arts centers.

Here in Cincinnati, Ohio in the past dozen years, the region has seen the establishment or expansion of about a half-dozen regional orchestras, including one across the river in Northern Kentucky. There is now a plan for a performing arts center in the Cincinnati suburb of Blue Ash (home of the Blue Ash/Montgomery Symphony). A couple of years ago, a stunning new performing arts center opened in Dayton (home of the Dayton Philharmonic and Dayton Opera). Why is Dayton relevant? Because within a decade, census predictions are that the 50-mile stretch on I-75 between Cincinnati and Dayton will be solid suburban sprawl.

So, it would seem the best of times for the music-loving pubic, but one of the worst of times for the venerable Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, which used to be the only game in town (it's the nation's fifth oldest orchestra). It struggles to fill an enormous, 3,400-seat hall in a declining neighborhood on a weekly basis. Consumers, faced with so much choice right in their own neighborhood, seem to choose what is convenient (free parking, restaurants nearby) and safe (Over-the-Rhine is usually prefaced with the word "crime-ridden"). And tickets are cheaper.

Yet, under music director Paavo Jarvi, concerts haven't been so exciting since the Thomas Schippers era of the early '70s. The quality of the playing is undeniably improving and Jarvi's programming (I think) is a stimulating mix.

But what does "quality" mean to someone who may love downloading Mozart from iTunes, but who has had little other exposure to the art form?

This is also a town with a major music school, the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music. A couple of years ago, I attended a CCM Philharmonia rehearsal, where a show of hands indicated that none of these music majors had ever attended a Cincinnati Symphony concert. Is the problem a dumbing down or a general apathy of our culture?

I am optimistic, but I think major orchestras have some major selling and educating to do.

Got ideas?


The Grandin Festival


One of the gems of classical music is a little-known genre called vocal chamber music. It means singers with instrumentalists, and some of the most gorgeous music you never heard exists for such ensembles.

But here's your chance: CCM's 2007 Grandin Festival celebrates rarely performed music from the 19th century to the present in a series of FREE concerts beginning Monday.

"The stars of tomorrow " -- CCM students vocalists and instrumentalists -- have been in rehearsals with faculty and celebrity "coaches" Thomas Pastieri, a composer, and Warren Jones, pianist, since Aug. 11. Musical selections include Emmanuel Chabrier, Francis Poulenc, Gustav Mahler, Dominick Argento, George Crumb, Nicholas Maw, Pasatieri and others.

You may not know his name, but Pasatieri has written hundreds of songs performed and recorded by Janet Baker, Jane Eaglen, Sheri Greenawald, Frederica von Stade, Thomas Hampson and others. His production company has produced film orchestrations for "American Beauty, "The Little Mermaid," "Scent of a Woman," and other movies.

Warren Jones is one of the most famous collaborators of our time, performing with opera stars such as Denyce graves, Hakan Hagegard, James Morris, Ruth Ann Swenson and many others.

Concert schedule:

Monday, August 20, 7 p.m., Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
"L'Invitation au Voyage," coached by Barbara Honn, festival co-founder and CCM voice professor

Wednesday, August 22, 7 p.m., Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
"Meditation," coached by Donna Loewy

Thursday, August 23, 1:30 p.m., 3250 Mary Emery Hall
Brown Bag Concert, coached by Barbara Honn

Friday, August 24, 7 p.m., Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
The Poets Speak, coached by Thomas Pasatieri

Saturday, August 25, 7 p.m., Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
The Power of Chant and Ritual, coached by Patrice Pastore

Monday, August 27, 7 p.m., Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
By Footpath and Stile, coached by Barbara Paver

Tuesday, August 28, 1:30 p.m., 3250 Mary Emery Hall
Brown Bag Concert, coached by Barbara Honn

Wednesday, August 29, 7 p.m., Cohen Family Studio Theater
Distant Voices, coached by Allen Otte

Friday, August 31, 7 p.m., Robert J. Werner Recital Hall
Final Honors Concert, coached by Warren Jones

Admission: FREE

For more information: 513-556-6638 or www.grandinfestival.com

Photo: Elizabeth Pojanowski, CCM student, performing in a master class last year with Martina Arroyo. Joseph Fuqua/Enquirer


Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Orchestra business model

Do orchestras have a viable business model any more? My question is prompted from news out of Detroit this week that the musicians of the DSO are contemplating a strike. The orchestra posted a $2.2 million annual deficit last year. Meanwhile, its payroll includes about 100 musicians at $98,800 for current minimum salary, plus extras (article says they are the 10th highest paid in the country). Musicians have taken concessions and now want a raise. ... talks have broken down between their union and symphony management, who says this contract is their final offer.

In Detroit, the coming season is now in jeopardy.

In Cincinnati, the current minimum annual salary is $88,260 plus $3,640 for recordings. Most make more.

I'm wondering how many orchestras across the country in similar markets are running deficits, and getting by somehow, year after year? Can this business model go on indefinitely?


Friday, August 10, 2007

Opera feedback




Here's a nice message from Hayward, California about Cincinnati's Opera season:

During a visit to relatives in the Cincinnati area, we attended the opera Aida. Having been to operas around the world from St. Petersburg to Buenos Aires to Beijing to San Francisco we must say that performance was tops. It was stunning. Congratulations! If we are in the vicinity again, we will not miss the Cincinnati Opera.
Cheers!
Thomas A. Geisler
Hayward, CA

What did you think of opera season this year? (Click here to read the season wrap-up story.)


Thursday, August 09, 2007

Paavo sightings


Paavo Jarvi is on the cover of La Scena Musicale's July/August issue, for a lengthy interview about his music making. If you check here, it looks like his 10th cover story. (Click on the cover to read the entire story.)

At the end, critic Norman Lebrecht added some recommendations of recordings, in which he praises Jarvi and the CSO's Bartok/Lutoslawski recording, and also the Tubin/Sibelius disc:

"Paavo has converted me to the music of Erkki-Sven Tuur and reaffirmed my admiration for the symphonies of Eduard Tubin... The Fifth Symphony, coupled with Sibelius' Second, is quite outstanding."

Meanwhile, Paavo has been touring North America with one of his other bands, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, performing a Beethoven symphony cycle. Writing about Louis Langree and the festival orchestra at the Mozartly Mozart Festival in Lincoln Center, Jim Oestreich wrote "But for sheer vitality, they will be hard put to match what Paavo Jarvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen put out in the Rose Theater ..."

Reportedly, the Beethoven recordings he's making for RCA with this group are being released here as we speak. As soon as I get my hands on one, you'll get a review.


Coming soon, to a theater near you .... Opera!


The Metropolitan Opera has signed an agreement with National CineMedia for an encore performance of its high-def opera transmissions to movie theaters across the country. This year's series of operas coming live from the Met will be expanded from six to eight transmissions.

And this year, my contacts tell me, we might even have a theater in Cincinnati participating. Last year, opera fans had to travel to Columbus and Kettering to see them. The groundbreaking HD transmissions played to 325,000 people, worldwide.

The opera-goes-to-the-movies season opens Dec. 15, with Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, starring Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon (pictured) and conducted by Placido Domingo.

The other operas: Hansel and Gretel, Macbeth, Manon Lescaut, Peter Grimes, Tristan und Isolde, La Boheme and La Fille du Regiment.

New this year, the Met is offering advance tickets, starting Oct. 19 for Met opera members, and to the public on Nov. 9. Tickets are $22; $20 seniors and $15 children. For info, visit www.metopera.org/hd or call 1-800-638-6737.

Stay tuned for names of theaters.


Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Pops disc debuts at No. 9 on Billboard


The new Cincinnati Pops album "Masters and Commanders: Music from Seafaring Film Classics," has debuted at No. 9 on Billboard's classical chart. The album is Erich Kunzel's 84th recording with the Pops for Telarc.

The disc features film scores from recent Hollywood swashbucklers such as "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest," which starred Johnny Depp as the pirate Jack Sparrow. There's also music from "Mutiny on the Bounty," "Captains Courageous" and "Master and Commander."


And the answer is....


Former mayor Roxanne Qualls. Click here to read the news.


Mr. Cincinnati to leave City Council


What do you think of the news that Hiz Honor the Vice Mayor Jim Tarbell is leaving City Council? Tarbell has been a tireless voice for the arts. How truly effective he was, I'm not sure. But now the arts, especially those downtown, have lost an important advocate who had an influential platform. Who will be the Voice of the Arts on Council now? I've lived here more than 30 years, and I don't remember as staunch an arts supporter, EVER, in a public office in this city!


It's 100 degrees in the shade



Be cool – and stay cool – in the smoke-free environment of the Blue Wisp Jazz Club, downtown. The internationally famed Blue Wisp Big Band performs at 8:30 p.m. tonight, 318 E. Eighth Street, downtown. Whether it's "Take the 'A' Train" or "Love for Sale," their selections are spontaneous. "It's always up for grabs," says Joe Gaudio, saxophonist. Cover charge: $8. 513-241-9477, www.bluewisp.net.


Monday, August 06, 2007

Cincy Blues Fest photo gallery







The Blues Festival had four stages and big crowds for its 15th season showcasing the blues at Sawyer Point. Here's a little story we ran Sunday. I'm hearing more about Friday's show, which was an all-star King Records tribute that also included Philip Paul, who played with Otis Williams and did more than 350 sessions for King Records. He is one of the few living survivors of that era, and is still playing. You can catch him with that amazing pianist Billie Walker at the Cincinnatian Hotel, weekends in the Cricket Lounge.

The last pic shows how folks cooled off at the fountain near One Lytle Place.


Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Cincinnati Opera breaks records with Aida


Here's the student ticket line before the final performance of Cincinnati Opera's Aida last night at Music Hall! It was taken early in the evening, and the line got longer later on, the opera reports.

On a Tuesday night, the opera broke all records with attendance of 3,347, a full 20 percent above projections. Overall, the company set a record for the most people seeing an opera production since they moved indoors from the Zoo to Music Hall.

In total, 12,595 people saw Aida's four performances.

Faust, Cosi fan tutte, Nixon in China and Aida -- What was your favorite opera?


Cell phones at the Opera

I went to two performances of Aida last week, and at EACH ONE, a cell phone went off during the opera. The first time was literally minutes after hearing the speech to turn off all of your stuff.

OK, you know who you are.

Here's a Youtube video of musicians' revenge while a man talks on his phone...


Concert Hall Renovations


Just when Music Hall renovations appear to be stalled because no one seems to be in charge -- here's a story out of Denver about the overhaul of that city's concert hall -- Boettcher Concert Hall.

Denver Post arts critic Kyle MacMillan says that a task force recommended a $100 million makeover, with plans to expand the 29-year-old hall. The problems sound familiar: "inadequate public spaces, inferior backstage amenities and troubled acoustics."

They plan a wraparound, multistory glass lobby and -- get this -- a reconfiguration of the facility's 2,634 seats.

It's deja vu all over again!

Here's an interesting coincidence: Fisher Dachs Assoc. designed the hall, the same theater consultant on the Music Hall project.

Read the story to see how MacMillian says it will be funded -- by bond issues and increased taxes. Also, the Colorado Symphony has agreed to provide $30 million in private funding.

Photo: Fisher Dachs Associates



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