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March 1–April 10 Guest Artists
MARCH 1: DANIIL TRIFONOV IN RECITAL DANIIL TRIFONOV, piano Grammy Award-winning pianist Daniil Trifonov— Musical America’s 2019 Artist of the Year—is a solo artist, champion of the concerto repertoire, chamber and vocal collaborator, and composer, whose performances, which combine consummate technique with rare sensitivity and depth, are a perpetual source of wonder to audiences and critics alike. With Transcendental, the Liszt collection that marked his third title as an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, he won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Solo Album of 2018.
In the 2021–22 season, Trifonov releases Bach: The Art of Life (Deutsche Grammophon). He also makes several international concerto appearances, including a European tour with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and he gives the world premiere of Mason Bates’ Piano Concerto, composed for him during the pandemic, with the co-commissioning Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Israel Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony.
Trifonov won medals at three of the music world’s most prestigious competitions in 2010–11: Third Prize in Warsaw’s Chopin Competition, First Prize in Tel Aviv’s Rubinstein Competition, and both First Prize and Grand Prix in Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Competition. He studied with Sergei Babayan at the Cleveland Institute of Music. daniiltrifonov.com
MARCH 4–5: BRAHMS 1 & ELGAR CONCERTO DAVID DANZMAYR, conductor CSO DEBUT David Danzmayr is widely regarded as one of the most talented and exciting European conductors to emerge from his generation. Newly appointed as Music Director of the Oregon Symphony, Danzmayr began his tenure there at the start of the 2021–22 season. Danzmayr also stands at the helm of the versatile and innovative Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra Columbus—having been that ensemble’s Music Director for more than 10 years—and he holds the title of Honorary Conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, an orchestra with whom he served as Chief Conductor for four seasons.
Other career highlights include tenures as Music Director of the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra in Chicago, and Assistant Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Glasgow. In recent years Danzmayr has carved out his niche as an interpreter of a wide array of repertoire, with appearances in recent seasons across North America and overseas. Danzmayr is a prize winner of some of the world´s most prestigious conducting competitions, including the International Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition and the International Malko Conducting Competition. He has also been awarded the Bernhard Paumgartner Medal by the Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum. David Danzmayr received his musical training at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg where, after initially studying piano, he went on to study conducting in the class of Dennis Russell Davies. danzmayr.eu ALBAN GERHARDT, cello Having launched his career with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Semyon Bychkov in 1991, Alban Gerhardt has since gained recognition as one of the most versatile cellists, highly regarded for his performances, from solo Bach through the classical and romantic canon to collaborations with several contemporary composers. Notable orchestra collaborations include Concertgebouw Amsterdam, London Philharmonic, all of the British and German radio orchestras, Berliner Philharmoniker, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre National de France as well as the Cleveland, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago symphony orchestras. Gerhardt recently premiered a new cello concerto by Julian Anderson with Orchestre National de France, following on from the success of his performances of Brett Dean’s concerto premiered with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Berliner Philharmoniker and played with the Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and Swedish Radio Symphony ©Music Vine Arts Orchestra. This season he again performs the Anderson concerto and the Dean concerto, has a residency with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, and performs with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Konzerthaus Berlin and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Alban Gerhardt plays a Matteo Gofriller cello dating from 1710. albangerhardt.com
©Kaupo Kikkas
MARCH 5: LOLLIPOPS FAMILY CONCERT MICHELLE MERRILL, conductor CSO DEBUT Michelle Merrill has been inspiring audiences throughout the country with her sharply detailed and vibrant performances. A passionate and dynamic artist, she served four years as the Assistant and then Associate Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where she also carried the title of Phillip and Lauren Fisher Community Ambassador. In addition to her growing guest conducting schedule, Merrill currently serves as the Music Director of the Coastal Symphony of Georgia, where she has ignited the growth and expansion of the orchestra’s offerings both on and off the stage.
Merrill’s most recent and upcoming engagements include the National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Opera, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa), Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony, Symphoria (Syracuse), Princeton Symphony Orchestra, and the Round Top Music Festival Institute. In past seasons, she has conducted concerts with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Louisiana Philharmonic, Orlando Philharmonic, Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, Boise Philharmonic, New Music Detroit, and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, where she formerly served as the Assistant Conductor 2012–15. michelle-merrill.com
MARCH 11–12: MOZART & MAZZOLI PREMIERE JENNIFER KOH, violin Recognized for intense, commanding performances, delivered with dazzling virtuosity and technical assurance, violinist Jennifer Koh is a forward-thinking artist dedicated to exploring a broad and eclectic repertoire, while promoting equity and inclusivity in classical music. She has expanded the contemporary violin repertoire through a wide range of commissioning projects and has premiered more than 100 works written especially for her.
In addition to continuing her existing projects—Alone Together, Bach and Beyond, The
New American Concerto, Limitless, Bridge to Beethoven and Shared Madness—Koh unveils two new collaborations this season—Everything Rises with bass-baritone Davóne Tines and Bach 6 Solo with director Robert Wilson and choreographer Lucinda Childs. Additional highlights of Koh’s 2021–22 season are two new recordings on Cedille Records: Alone Together (from a commissioning project developed in response to financial hardships placed on many in the arts community during the coronavirus pandemic; commissioned artists were paid through Koh’s artist-driven nonprofit ARCO Collaborative) and the complete box set of her Bach & Beyond trilogy. Koh also continues to perform music from her Bridge to Beethoven project. Born in Chicago of Korean parents, Koh began playing the violin by chance, choosing the instrument in a Suzuki-method program only because spaces for cello and piano had been filled. She made her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 11. She was a top prize winner at Moscow’s International Tchaikovsky Competition, winner of the Concert Artists Guild Competition, and a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from Oberlin College and studied at the Curtis Institute, where she worked extensively with Jaime Laredo and Felix Galimir. jenniferkoh.com MISSY MAZZOLI, composer Recently deemed “one of the more consistently inventive, surprising composers now working in New York” (NY Times) and “Brooklyn’s post-millennial Mozart” (Time Out NY), Missy Mazzoli has had her music performed by the Kronos Quartet, LA Opera, eighth blackbird, the BBC Symphony, Scottish Opera, and many others. In 2018 she became one of the first two women, along with Jeanine Tesori, to receive a main stage commission from The Metropolitan Opera, and was nominated for a Grammy award in the category of “Best Classical Composition.” She is Composer-in-Residence at the Chicago ©Juergen Frank Symphony Orchestra, and from 2012 to 2015 was Composer-in-Residence with Opera Philadelphia. Recent commissions include works for Opera Philadelphia, the National Ballet of Canada, Chicago Lyric Opera and Norwegian National Opera. Her works are published by G. Schirmer. missymazzoli.com
©Marylene Mey
Vocal soloist information for the Mozart Mass was not available at press time. Their biographies will appear in the Fanfare Cincinnati program supplement available March 11–12, as well as online.
MAY FESTIVAL CHORUS Robert Porco, director Matthew Swanson, Associate Director of Choruses Heather MacPhail, Accompanist Matthew Swope, Conducting Fellow Kathryn Zajac Albertson, Chorus Manager Bryce Newcomer, Chorus Librarian The May Festival Chorus has earned acclaim locally, nationally and internationally for its musicality, vast range of repertoire and sheer power of sound. The Chorus of 125 professionally trained singers is the core artistic element of the Cincinnati May Festival as well as the official chorus of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops. Throughout a typical season the chorus members collectively devote more than 40,000 hours in rehearsals and performances.
Founded in 1873, the annual May Festival is the oldest, and one of the most prestigious, choral festivals in the Western Hemisphere. The annual Festival, now under the artistic leadership of Principal Conductor Juanjo Mena, boasts the May Festival Chorus—with choral preparation by Robert Porco—and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as anchors, hosts an international array of guest artists and presents two spectacular weekends of dynamic programming. James Conlon, who in 2016 brought to a close an unprecedented 37-year tenure as May Festival Music Director, was named Music Director Laureate upon his retirement. Many important choral works have received their World and American premieres at the May Festival, including Johann Sebastian Bach’s Magnifi cat, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, Benjamin Britten’s Gloriana, Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Death of the Bishop of Brindisi and Robert Nathaniel Dett’s The Ordering of Moses. mayfestival.com
A roster of May Festival singers will appear in the Mar 11–12 program supplement.
©Roger Mastroianni
ROBERT PORCO has been recognized as one of the leading choral musicians in the U.S., and throughout his career he has been an active preparer and conductor of choral and orchestral works, including most of the major choral repertoire, as well as of opera. A highlight of his career was leading an Indiana University student choral and orchestral ensemble of 250 in a highly acclaimed performance of Leonard Bernstein’s MASS as part of the Tanglewood Music Festival’s celebration of the composer’s 70th birthday. In 2011 Porco received Chorus America’s “Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art.” In 2016 he led the May Festival Chorus and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah for Chorus America’s National Conference.
Porco’s conducting career has spanned geographic venues and has included performances in the Edinburgh Festival; Taipei, Taiwan; Lucerne, Switzerland; Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel; and Reykjavik, Iceland; and at the May Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, Berkshire Music Festival, Blossom Festival and Grant Park Festival. He has been a guest conductor at the May Festival and with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra, among others.
The 2021–22 season is Robert Porco’s 33rd as Director of Choruses.
MARCH 18–20: POPS | ARETHA TRIBUTE BLAINE KRAUSS, vocalist TAMIKA LAWRENCE, vocalist COCO SMITH, vocalist
Vocal soloist biographies for the Aretha Tribute concerts were not available at press time. Their biographies will appear in the Fanfare Cincinnati program supplement available March 18–20, as well as online. Also read more about this concert on p. 10 of this edition of Fanfare Cincinnati.
MARCH 25–27: SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE eighth blackbird Launched by six entrepreneurial Oberlin Conservatory undergraduates, this Chicago-based super-group has gained international recognition since winning the 1998 Concert Artists Guild Competition. The group has commissioned and premiered hundreds of works by composers including Viet Cuong, Bryce Dessner, Jennifer Higdon, Amy Beth Kirsten, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Pamela Z and Steve Reich, whose Double
©Aaron Sepsey
Sextet won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize. A long-term relationship with Chicago’s Cedille Records has produced nine acclaimed recordings and four Grammy Awards for Best Small Ensemble/ Chamber Music Performance, most recently in 2016 for Filament. Eighth Blackbird was named Musical America’s 2017 Ensemble of the Year, were inaugural recipients of Chamber Music America’s Visionary Award, and garnered the prestigious MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. In 2017 they launched the Blackbird Creative Lab, a mentorship program for emerging artists. The name Eighth Blackbird derives from Wallace Stevens’ aphoristic poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.
The Ensemble: Matthew Duvall, Artistic Director; Lisa Kaplan, Executive Director; Lina Andonvoska, flutes; Zach Good, clarinets; Maiani da Silva, violin; Ashley Bathgate, cello; Matthew Duvall, percussion; and Lisa Kaplan, piano. eighthblackbird.org
Matthew Duvall proudly endorses Pearl Drums and Adams Musical Instruments, Vic Firth Sticks and Mallets, Zildjian Cymbals, and Black Swamp Percussion Accessories. Lisa Kaplan is a Steinway Artist.
KINDS OF KINGS, composer collective Founded in 2017, composer collective Kinds of Kings is a collective of multifaceted composers committed to building a positive and supportive community around the creation and experience of new music. The collective is focused on amplifying and advocating for the voices of historically marginalized people and expanding access for audiences and composers.
For the 2019–20 season, Kinds of Kings was an Artist-in-Residence at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, New York. Described as “distinguished young creators who work in diverse styles” (The
New Yorker), the collective’s 2019–20 concert series, Equilibrium and Disturbance, featured Rubiks Collective (Melbourne, Australia), ~Nois saxophone quartet (Chicago), Isabelle O’Connell (New York), Nouveau Classical Project (New York), and Real Loud (New York). Kinds of Kings has previously had portrait concerts with New York-based chamber groups Metropolis Ensemble and Desdemona Ensemble, the ZAFA Collective in Chicago, and the St. Louis Symphony as part of the orchestra’s Pulitzer Series. In March 2022 the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Grammy-winning ensemble Eighth Blackbird will premiere a new concerto by the collective.
Kinds of Kings is Gemma Peacocke (New Zealand/Brooklyn, NY), Shelley Washington (United States/Brooklyn, NY), and Maria Kaoutzani (Cyprus/Chicago, IL). kindsofkings.com
WINTON MARSALIS, composer Wynton Marsalis is an internationally acclaimed musician, composer, bandleader, educator, and a leading advocate of American culture. By creating and performing an expansive range of brilliant new music for quartets to big bands, chamber music ensembles to symphony orchestras, tap dance to ballet, Marsalis has expanded the vocabulary for jazz and created a vital body of work that places him among the world’s fi nest musicians and composers. Wynton Marsalis is the world’s fi rst jazz artist to perform and compose across the full jazz spectrum from its New Orleans roots to bebop to modern jazz. He has also composed a violin concerto and four symphonies to introduce new rhythms to the classical music canon. March 25–27 the CSO will perform his orchestral fanfare Herald, Holler and Hallelujah, a CSO co-commission. wyntonmarsalis.org
©Clay McBride
MARCH 29: POPS | CYNTHIA ERIVO CYNTHIA ERIVO, vocalist
A biography of Ms. Erivo was not available at press time; it will appear in a Fanfare Cincinnati program supplement available March 29, as well as online. Also read more about the concert on p. 10 of this edition of Fanfare Cincinnati.
STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE
For over 120 years, Willis Music and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra have been serving the Greater Cincinnati area with music, culture and music education. STEINWAY.CINCINNATI.COM
Willis Music Kenwood Galleria 8118 Montgomery Road | Cincinnati, OH 45236 (513)252-0445 | kenwoodpiano@willismusic.com
APRIL 1–2: BARTÓK & PROKOFIEV 5 KAZUSHI ŌNO, conductor CSO DEBUT
Kazushi Ōno’s musical influence and vision span and connect continents and cultures, with roles as Music Director of Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra (TMSO) and Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC) and as Artistic Director of the New National Theatre Tokyo (NNTT).
Passionate about new music, he has commissioned many works and projects, such as MarkAnthony Turnage’s Hibiki, which premiered at Suntory Hall before featuring at the 2017 BBC Proms. He instigated NNTT’s first commissioning scheme, dedicated to Japanese composers.
Ōno established himself internationally with orchestras such as London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Seoul Philharmonic and Houston Symphony Orchestra.
From 2008 to 2017, Ōno served as Principal Conductor of Opéra National de Lyon, attracting international acclaim with landmark performances of works such as Prokofiev’s The Gamblers, Berg’s Lulu and Wagner’s Parsifal.
Before being appointed in Lyon, Ōno was Music Director of Theatre Royal de la Monnaie (2002–08). In 2017 he was awarded Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres by French cultural minister Françoise Nyssen, adding to the prestigious Asahi Prize received in January 2015 for his contribution to the development and progress of Japanese society. ©Luca Trascinelli
SEONG-JIN CHO, piano CSO DEBUT
With an overwhelming talent and innate musicality, Seong-Jin Cho has made his mark as one of the consummate talents of his generation. Seong-Jin Cho was brought to the world’s attention in 2015 when he won ©Christoph Kostlin the First Prize at the Chopin International Competition in Warsaw. In January 2016, he signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon.
Highlights of Seong-Jin Cho’s 2021–22 season include debuts with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Bamberger Symphoniker and Mozarteumorchester. He returns to the LA Philharmonic
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and New York Philharmonic, as well as Orchestre National de France and Konzerthausorchester Berlin. Cho also embarks on several international tours, including with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonia.
Cho’s fi rst Deutsche Grammophon recording (2016) features Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Four Ballades with the London Symphony Orchestra. A solo Debussy recital CD (2017) and a Mozart album with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (2018) followed. Cho’s latest albums include The Wanderer (2020), featuring works by Schubert, Berg and Liszt, and Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and the Scherzi (August 2021).
Born in 1994 in Seoul, Seong-Jin Cho started learning the piano at the age of six and gave his fi rst public recital at age 11. In 2009, he became the youngest-ever winner of Japan’s Hamamatsu International Piano Competition. In 2011, he won Third Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow at the age of 17. From 2012 to 2015 he studied with Michel Béroff at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and has been mentored by Alfred Brendel. seongjin-cho.com
APRIL 3: MAY FESTIVAL AT THE BASILICA MAY FESTIVAL CHAMBER CHOIR Robert Porco, conductor
Please refer to p. 28 of this edition of Fanfare Cincinnati for a biography of the May Festival Chorus and Robert Porco. Members of the Chamber Choir will be listed in the program supplement for the April 3 concert.
David Kirkendall,
Accompanist and Assistant Director Dr. Eva Floyd, Musicianship Instructor Kathryn Zajac Albertson, Chorus Manager The May Festival Youth Chorus connects, inspires and educates young people through the study and performance of choral music. Since its founding in 1987, the Youth Chorus has appeared annually at the May Festival to perform choral-orchestral works with the May Festival Chorus, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and internationally renowned conductors and soloists. In addition, the Youth Chorus presents its own concert series and collaborates with cultural institutions and organizations throughout greater Cincinnati.
CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Louis Langrée, Music Director
THANK YOU
Bartok & Prokofiev 5 is generously supported by our Presenting Sponsor, the Ladislas and Vilma Segoe Family Foundation.
Highlights of the Youth Chorus experience include a broad range of repertoire; annual commissions and world premieres; free professional voice instruction; access to free and discounted tickets to the May Festival, CSO and Pops concerts; frequent concert appearances with the CSO and Pops at Music Hall and Riverbend Music Center; and a community of enthusiastic and skilled peer musicians from across the tristate. Notably, the Youth Chorus is tuition-free; acceptance is based solely on ability. mayfestival.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY CHOIR Dr. Matthew Swanson, director Students from a broad range of academic programs comprise the Xavier Choir, the primary choral ensemble in Xavier University’s Department of Music and Theatre. The choir performs frequently on campus, around Cincinnati, and across the country. A highlight of the current academic year was a performance at the installation of Xavier’s 35th president, Dr. Colleen Hanycz. Ensembles in Xavier’s Department of Music and Theatre combine to reach approximately 10,000 people each year, and their activities are rooted in the University’s fervent tradition of service to others. Xavier University is a Jesuit Catholic University in Cincinnati, annually ranked among the nation’s best universities. Founded in 1831, Xavier is the oldest Catholic College in Ohio. Its four colleges offer 90+ undergraduate majors, 60+ minors and 40+ graduate programs to approximately 7,000 total students, including 5,000 undergraduates. xavier.edu
MATTHEW SWANSON is the Associate Director of Choruses and the Director of the Youth Chorus at the Cincinnati May Festival. He annually prepares the May Festival Chorus and Youth Chorus for performances with the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestras, and for their featured appearances at the May Festival.
Under his leadership, the May Festival has instituted an annual Youth Chorus commissioning project; the May Festival Community Chorus; the presentation of community choral concerts at Music Hall during the May Festival; a robust program of professional voice instruction, free to Chorus and Youth Chorus members; the Festival’s community choral podcast “Sing the Queen City”; and free in-school choral clinics for area high schools.
Additional affiliations have included the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center (New York), Schola Antiqua (Chicago), and the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain. He was previously an instructor in the Early Music Lab and the Division of Music Education at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), as well as the chorus master of CCM Opera. He currently leads the choral program at Xavier University.
A native of southeast Iowa, Swanson earned an undergraduate degree in trumpet performance and American Studies at the University of Notre Dame; master’s degrees in choral conducting and choral studies from CCM and King’s College, Cambridge, respectively; and a doctorate of musical arts in conducting from CCM. He was awarded the May Festival Choral Conducting Fellowship in 2015.
MICHAEL UNGER, organist Originally from Toronto, Canada, Michael Unger is an award-winning performer who appears as a soloist and chamber musician in North America, Europe, Japan and South Korea. Since 2013, he is the Associate Professor of Organ and Harpsichord at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He is a laureate of the National Young Artists’ Competition of the American Guild of Organists, the International Organ Competition Musashino-Tokyo, and the International Schnitger Organ Competition (The Netherlands). Recent solo recitals include performances for national conventions of the American Guild of Organists, Organ Historical Society and Historical Keyboard Society of North America, “Five Continents—Five Organists” Festival at Seoul’s Sejong Center, Internationale Orgelwoche Nürnberg—Musica Sacra, and numerous international and regional recital series. Recent harpsichord collaborations include Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Collegium Cincinnati, Catacoustic Consort, and Publick Musick. He has released recordings on the Naxos and Pro Organo labels, and his performances have been broadcast on North American and European radio.
Michael Unger holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts with Performers’ Certificate from the Eastman School of Music and is a Gold Medal graduate of the University of Western Ontario. He currently serves as organist of Cincinnati’s historic Isaac M. Wise—Plum Street Temple.
APRIL 8–9: BRONFMAN & LA MER YEFIM BRONFMAN, piano Internationally recognized as one of today’s most acclaimed and admired pianists, Yefim Bronfman stands among a handful of artists regularly sought by festivals, orchestras, conductors and recital series. His commanding technique, power and exceptional lyrical gifts are consistently acknowledged by the press and audiences alike.
In the wake of worldwide cancellations beginning in spring 2020, his 2020–21 season began in January 2021 with the Concertgebouworkest, followed by Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic and London’s Philharmonia in special programs recorded for streaming. Concerts in North America continued with Dallas, Philadelphia, New York, Atlanta, Houston and Pittsburgh orchestras, despite restrictions imposed by Covid-19, followed by summer in Vail (Philadelphia Orchestra), Aspen, Tanglewood (Boston Symphony) and Grand Tetons. As 2021–22 Artist-in-Residence with the Concert-
gebouw Amsterdam, his season began on tour with the orchestra in Europe and concludes with the world premiere of a concerto commissioned for him from Elena Firsova. Additional concerts this season have him performing with orchestras across the U.S., as well as in recital in the U.S., Italy, Russia, Spain and Germany. Born in Tashkent in the Soviet Union, Yefi m Bronfman immigrated to Israel with his family in 1973, where he studied with pianist Arie Vardi, head of the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University. In the U.S., he studied at The Juilliard School, Marlboro School of Music, and the Curtis ©Dario Acosta Institute of Music, under Rudolf Firkušný, Leon Fleisher and Rudolf Serkin. yefi mbronfman.com
JULIA ADOLPHE, composer Julia Adolphe’s music is described as “alive with invention” (The New Yorker), “colorful, mercurial, deftly orchestrated” (The New York Times) displaying a “remarkable gift for sustaining a compelling musical narrative” (Musical America). Her works ©Stephen Busken are performed across the
THE CINCINNATI SYMPHONY CLUB Presents An April Affair: We’ve Got Our Rhythm Back
April12,2022, 10am,atKenwoodCountryClub Boutique Shopping, Raffles, FashionShowandLuncheon AllproceedsbenefittheCincinnatiSymphonyOrchestra and CincinnatiPops
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U.S. and abroad by renowned orchestras and ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Verona Quartet, soprano Hila Plitmann, and pianist Gloria Cheng, among others.
Current commissions include an orchestral work for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a violin concerto for the LA Philharmonic featuring concertmaster Martin Chalifour. Adolphe’s comic opera for all ages, A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears, based on the novel by Jules Feiff er with libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann, received initial workshops directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer at National Sawdust and Boston Court Pasadena in 2019. Adolphe’s 2017 orchestral work, White Stone, premiered by the NY Philharmonic, followed on the heels of the NY Philharmonic’s 2016 premiere of Unearth, Release, Adolphe’s viola concerto composed for Cynthia Phelps, and Dark Sand, Sifting Light, featured during the 2014 NY Phil Biennial.
A native New Yorker living in Nashville, Adolphe holds a Master of Music degree in music composition from the USC Thornton School of Music and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University. juliaadolphe.com
APRIL 10: ITZHAK PERLMAN IN RECITAL ITZHAK PERLMAN, violin Undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. Beloved for his charm and humanity as well as his talent, he is treasured by audiences throughout the world who respond not only to his re©Lisa Marie Mazzucco markable artistry, but also to his irrepressible joy for making music.
Having performed with every major orchestra and at concert halls around the globe, Perlman was granted a Presidential Medal of Freedom— the Nation’s highest civilian honor—by President Obama in 2015, a Kennedy Center Honor in 2003, a National Medal of Arts by President Clinton in 2000, and a Medal of Liberty by President Reagan in 1986. Perlman has been honored with 16 GRAMMY® Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Kennedy Center Honor, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Genesis Prize.
In 2021–22, Perlman opens the Baltimore Symphony season, performs at the NY Philhar-
CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Louis Langrée, Music Director
THANK YOU
The CSO extends its sincere appreciation to the Harold C. Schott Foundation, Francie and Tom Hiltz, Trustees for making Itzhak Perlman’s appearance possible.
monic’s 2021 Season Gala, appears in recital at venues including Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Jones Hall in Houston, and he brings his new program titled “An Evening with Itzhak Perlman,” which captures highlights of his career through narrative and multi-media elements intertwined with performance, to San Francisco, Seattle, East Lansing, West Palm Beach, Ft. Myers and Tallahassee.
Most recently, Perlman launched an exclusive series of classes with Masterclass.com, the premier online education company that enables access to the world’s most brilliant minds including Gordon Ramsay, Wolfgang Puck, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Helen Mirren, Jodie Foster and Serena Williams, as the company’s only classical music presentation. itzhakperlman.com
ROHAN DE SILVA, piano Rohan De Silva’s partnerships with violin virtuosos Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, ChoLiang Lin, Midori, Joshua Bell, Benny Kim, Kyoko Takezawa, Vadim Repin, Gil Shaham, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Julian Rachlin, James Ehnes and Rodney Friend have led to acclaimed performances at recital venues and festivals all over the world. He has performed chamber music in Beijing with the American String Quartet and has appeared in recital worldwide with Itzhak Perlman. Alongside Perlman, De Silva has performed multiple times at the White House, most recently in 2012 at the invitation of President Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama for Israeli President and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Shimon Peres, and at a State Dinner in 2007, hosted by President George W. Bush and Mrs. Bush for Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. A native of Sri Lanka, De Silva was invited in 2015 by the Prime Minister of his country to perform at a luncheon for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on his historic visit to Sri Lanka.
He has been on the faculty of the Juilliard School since 1991.
The stage is set.
All we need is you.
The Healing Power of Music
March 13/14, 2022
Music reveals its power to heal through two wrote his autobiographical Piano Trio to help overcome his grief after losing his child. Two Black Churches by distinguished UC-CCM attacks, decades apart.
Tour de Force for Four
April 3/4, 2022
Nokuthula Ngwenyama joins the KalichsteinLaredo-Robinson Trio as violist and composer to perform the world premiere of Elegy as well as a Piano Quartet by Johannes Brahms. This work helped to establish him as the “heir of Beethoven” with its rousing Hungarian
