Classical notes

Artist changes in concerts this weekend: The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has announced that both the scheduled conductor, Stéphane Denève, and the piano soloist, Boris Berezovsky, have canceled their appearances with the CSO this week for personal reasons. In addition, the announced replacement for maestro Denève, conductor Elvind Gullberg Jensen, canceled today due to illness.

So, assistant conductor Eric Dudley will step in to lead the program which includes Tchaikovsky’s Symphony Nov. 4. Pianist Alexander Korsantia, a native of Tbilisi, Georgia, will perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 . The concert has one program change: It will open with Norwegian composer Knut Vaage's "Tjat" (Chatter). Denève, whose first child is due this week, will reschedule his appearance with the orchestra. For information, call 513-381-3300, or visit www.cincinnatisymphony.org.

Musicians shunned? While catching up with my New York Times, I noticed a story that ran last Friday concerning New York Philharmonic principal oboist Liang Wang and associate conductor Xian Zhang (both pictured above), who had expected to be featured in concerts in mainland China. The schedule was changed, and the two only had one appearance in Hong Kong.

The New York Philharmonic is on a tour that includes an historic performance in North Korea.

The article speculates as to why the Chinese presenters might want to shun Chinese-born artists. Both artists have local connections. Wang was briefly oboist with the CSO before he moved on to the New York Philharmonic, and Zhang was on the faculty at CCM.

Organist featured on the Grand E.M. Skinner Concert Pipe Organ Monday: Mary Preston, acclaimed organist of the Dallas Symphony, will perform with CSO violinist Paul Patterson in the Rotunda of Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, 7:30 p.m. Monday. The duo will perform music by Walton, Vierne, Vitali, Rinck, Mendelssohn, Widor, Messiaen and Guilmant. The "Music in the Museum" series features internationally renowned organists performing on the 1929 E.M. Skinner Symphonic Concert Pipe Organ (pictured above with organist Tom Murray). Tickets: $18. 513-287-7001 or at www.cincymuseum.org.

Want to participate in next year's 20/20 Festival? The dates have been set for Sept. 26 through Oct. 15, 2008, for the seventh annual festival. Arts groups, neighborhood cultural districts and individual artists are invited to participate by visiting www.cincinnatiarts.com, or by contacting Kristin Suess at 513-621-4700 or ksuess@etastart.com. 20/20 spotlights Cincinati's unique and vibrant arts offerings for 20 days and 20 nights.

By the way, joining ETA (for full-time students), START (for under-30s) or getting a Passport Card (for everyone else) is a great way to enjoy the arts at a discount. Log onto www.etastart.com to get started.

All that Jazz:

Swan song for Acoustic Chamber Jazz Series: Cincinnati pianist Kraig Greff returns for the final performance of the jazz series, 3 p.m. Sunday at the First Unitarian Church, 536 Linton Street, Cincinnati (Avondale). It's Greff's first appearance here since he was a regular performer in the mid-80s. The concert also features his longtime colalborators, alto saxophonist Mike Campbell and vocalist Nancy Nolan.
Greff, who owns Tonal Vision Music in Baltimore, is aproducer, composer, arranger and performer. Campbell is a regular with the Blue Wisp Big Band, and Nolan is owner of Nolan Kerr Artists and founder of the Chamber Music Network, and a regular singer on Cincinnati's local jazz scene.

The series was founded in the early 90s by David Jackson and pianist/CCM prof Phil DeGreg, who is on sabbatical in Brazil working under a Fulbright grant.

Catch Pat Kelly at the Blue Wisp twice this weekend: Friday, Feb. 29, 8:30 p.m. -12:30 a.m. ($10.00 cover charge), it's The Pat Kelly Quartet, with Pat Kelly on piano, Steve Hoskins on saxophones, Mike Sharfe on bass and Anthony "T" Lee on drums, performing original tunes, standards and modern jazz compositions.

On Sunday, March 2, 7:30 p.m. -10:30 p.m. ($10.00 cover charge), it's Pat Kelly and The PsychoAcoustic Orchestra. Here's the lineup: Gary Winters, Jeff Folkens, Kim Pensyl - trumpets; Clarence Pawn, Paul Piller, Gary Langhorst - trombones; Rick VanMatre, Steve Hoskins, Garin Webb, Joe Gaudio - saxophones; Mike Sharfe - electric and acoustic bass; Marc Wolfley - drums; Pat Kelly - piano & keyboards. They do a diverse and eclectic repertoire of original arrangements, with great jazz improvisations.

New conductor at the CSO: The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra announced that Ken Lam will join the CSO conducting staff as an assistant conductor starting in August of 2008. The post was vacated by Tito Muñoz at the end of the 2006-2007 season. Lam's duties will include assisting the conductors of the CSO, Cincinnati Pops and May Festival, guest conductors as needed, as well as conducting the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Lam, 37, a native of Hong Kong, started with a very different career path. He graduated from Epson College in England and went on to get his masters in economics at the University of Cambridge. He worked for 10 years as a lawyer in London and Hong Kong, specializing in asset finance. Despite this successful legal career, he remained active in music and dreamed of being a full-time conductor.

In the fall of 2005, he enrolled in the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, studying with Gustav Meier and Markand Thakar. He is currently a doctoral candidate and a graduate assistant at Peabody. Lam has been Artistic Director of the chamber choir Hong Kong Voices since 2001. He has also been Principal Conductor of the Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra.

His recent conducting highlights are interesting: Assistant/Cover Conductor for Lorin Maazel (Britten's The Rape of Lucretia) and Gunther Herbig (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra). He will conduct the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center this June.