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Magazine Magazine 8 8

NowNow thatthat CONTENTS CONTENTS Cristian Cristian Măcelaru Măcelaru has has 4 4 Directors Directors & Advisors & Advisors completed completed 7 7 Welcome Welcome his first his first season season as as 8 8 Cover Cover Story: Story: Come Come as You as You AreAre CSOCSO Music Music 12 12Spotlight: Spotlight: Why Why WeWe Give: Give: Music Music ForFor All Campaign All Campaign — — Director, Director, he paused he paused to reflect to reflect on the on the ThisThis is Your is Your CSO CSO highlights highlights of the of the yearyear past,past, including including timetime spent spent getting getting acquainted acquainted withwith 14 14Spotlight: Spotlight: LifeLife is Good is Good When When You’re You’re Surrounded Surrounded

by Music,

by Music, the the community community surrounding surrounding Music Music an Essay an Essay Hall, Hall, andand shares shares plans plans for the for the nextnext season season — one — one thatthat he hopes he hopes willwill 15 15Save Save thethe Dates: Dates: 2026 2026 Brady Brady Block Block Parties Parties represent represent the the bestbest of what of what our our 16 16Spotlight: Spotlight: “Studio “Studio Ghibli” Ghibli” Conductor Conductor Wilbur Wilbur Lin Lin on the on the th th country country has has to offer to offer in its in250 its 250 year, year, ArtArt of the of the FilmFilm Score Score pp. pp.

8–11.

8–11.

18 18Orchestra Orchestra Roster Roster 19 19Artistic Artistic Leadership: Leadership: Cristian Cristian Măcelaru, Măcelaru, John John Morris Morris Russell Russell 20 20Concerts Concerts in this in this Issue: Issue: • APR • APR 14: 14: TheThe Music Music of Studio of Studio Ghibli Ghibli (Pops) (Pops) • APR • APR 17 &1718: & Mendelssohn 18: Mendelssohn Symphony Symphony No.No. 3 (CSO) 3 (CSO) • APR • APR 24 24 & 25: & 25: Stravinsky’s Stravinsky’s Firebird Firebird (CSO) (CSO) • APR • APR 30:30: Stories Stories in Sound in Sound (Winstead (Winstead Chamber Chamber Series) Series) • MAY • MAY 1–3:1–3: TheThe Music Music of Star of Star Wars Wars (Pops) (Pops) • MAY • MAY 8 &89:&Beethoven 9: Beethoven & Tchaikovsky & Tchaikovsky (CSO) (CSO) • MAY • MAY 10: 10: CSYO CSYO Concert Concert Orchestra Orchestra andand CSYO CSYO Philharmonic Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra Spring Spring Concerts Concerts

58 58Financial Financial Support Support 64 64Administration Administration

12 12

Regardless Regardless of of whowho we are we are or where or where we we come come from, from, music music liveslives within within us all. us … all.This … This statement statement is a is guiding a guiding principle principle behind behind the the Orchestra’s Orchestra’s Music Music For For All Campaign All Campaign — an —opportunity an opportunity to to invest invest not not onlyonly in the in the CSOCSO but but alsoalso in in the the cultural cultural vibrancy vibrancy of Cincinnati, of Cincinnati, while while alsoalso ensuring ensuring thatthat the the CSOCSO remains remains a dynamic a dynamic andand relevant relevant force force in our in our community. community.

Read Read testimonials testimonials from from three three donors donors whowho havehave committed committed to the to the Music Music For For All All Campaign, Campaign, pp. pp.

12–13.

12–13.

ALL ALL

16 16 ONON THETHE COVER: COVER: Music Music Director Director Cristian Cristian Măcelaru Măcelaru (Credit: (Credit: Alex Alex Johnson) Johnson)

All contents All contents © 2025–26. © 2025–26.

Contents Contents cannot cannot be reproduced be reproduced in any in any manner, manner, whole whole or inor part, in part, without without written written permission permission fromfrom the Cincinnati the Cincinnati Symphony Symphony Orchestra Orchestra and and Cincinnati Cincinnati Pops.

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2 | 2025–26 2 | 2025–26 SEASON SEASON

Former Former CSOCSO Assistant Assistant Conductor Conductor Wilbur Wilbur Lin Lin returns returns to Music to Music HallHall to to leadlead the the Cincinnati Cincinnati Pops Pops in its in“The its “The Music Music of Studio of Studio Ghibli” Ghibli” concerts, concerts, featuring featuring music music of film of film score score composer composer Joe Joe Hisaishi, Hisaishi, April April 14. On 14. On pp. pp.

16–17 16–17 he shares he shares his insights his insights intointo the the art of artpresenting of presenting filmfilm music music for for a live a live audience audience andand the the intricacies intricacies of of the the music music itself. itself.

Immerse yourself in a captivating Festival experience powered by the beauty of hundreds of voices.

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 BOARD OF DIRECTORS COMMITTEES and MULTICULTURAL AWARENESS COUNCIL We thank our many partners who serve on the following CSO Board of Directors committees, as well as the Multicultural Awareness Council (MAC), as we collectively work to realize our vision to be the most relevant orchestra in America.

CSO Board of Directors Committees Audience Engagement Audit & Ethics Inclusion Executive Finance & Investment Learning Nominating & Governance

Non-Board Advisory Council Multicultural Awareness Council: Holly Bates Janet Bohne Rick Bohne Susan Carlson Andria Carter

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WE BELIEVE MUSIC LIVES WITHIN US ALL regardless of who we are or where we come from. We believe that music is a pathway to igniting our passions, discovering what moves us, deepening our curiosity and connecting us to our world and to each other.

Our mission is to seek and share inspiration, and we exist to serve our community. Our entire community. Reflecting our community and the world around at every level — on stage, behind-the-scenes and in neighborhoods throughout the region — is essential to our present and future and makes us a strong ensemble and institution.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops acknowledge that Cincinnati Music Hall occupies land that has been the traditional land of the Myaamia (Miami), Shawandasse Tula (Shawanwaki/Shawnee), and Wahzhazhe Manzhan (Osage) peoples, who have continuously lived upon this land since time immemorial. We honor past, present and future Indigenous peoples.

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Magazine Magazine WELCOME WELCOME to the toApril the April and and MayMay 20262026 issueissue of Fanfare of Fanfare Magazine.

Magazine.

DiveDive into into Cristian Cristian Măcelaru’s Măcelaru’s reflections reflections on working on working withwith the Orchestra the Orchestra during during the 2025–26 the 2025–26 season, season, and and catchcatch a glimpse a glimpse of what of what he told he told writer writer Hannah Hannah Edgar Edgar is in is store in store for the for 2026–27 the 2026–27 season season on pp. on 8–11. pp.

8–11.     On pp.

On12–13, pp. 12–13, writer writer Kit Gladieux Kit Gladieux spoke spoke withwith donors donors about about theirtheir experiences experiences Along Along withwith the the online onlinewithwith the CSO the CSO and and why why theythey havehave chosen chosen to support to support the Music the Music For All For All Campaign.

Campaign.

Their Their investments investments helphelp the CSO the CSO reach reach all Cincinnatians all Cincinnatians and and allowallow version version of Fanfare of Fanfare the Orchestra the Orchestra to continue to continue to evolve to evolve the concert the concert experience. experience.

Magazine, Magazine, the the CSO CSO Fanfare Fanfare Magazine Magazine continues continues to celebrate to celebrate the winners the winners of itsoffirst-ever its first-ever writing writing competition competition withwith second second placeplace winner winner Matthew Matthew Liversedge’s Liversedge’s essay, essay, “The“The hashas developed developed a a Sound Sound of Rain,” of Rain,” on pp. on14–15. pp. 14–15.

For this For competition, this competition, Fanfare Fanfare Magazine Magazine invited invited digital digital platform platform to to graduate graduate and and undergraduate undergraduate students students to respond to respond to Cristian to Cristian Măcelaru’s Măcelaru’s words, words, is good is good whenwhen you’re you’re surrounded surrounded by music.” by music.” deliver deliver concertconcert- “Life“Life Go behind Go behind the scenes the scenes to discover to discover whatwhat a conductor a conductor mustmust consider consider whenwhen specific specific content. content. conducting conducting film film scores scores for afor livea audience. live audience.

Writer Writer Ken Ken Smith Smith spoke spoke withwith former former CSOCSO Assistant Assistant Conductor Conductor Wilbur Wilbur Lin about Lin about the artistry, the artistry, as well as well as the ashurdles, the hurdles, of presenting of presenting suchsuch a concert a concert as The as The Music Music of Studio of Studio Ghibli, Ghibli, on pp. on16–17. pp. 16–17.

Please Please enjoyenjoy thesethese stories stories that that havehave beenbeen curated curated for you for in you Fanfare in Fanfare Magazine, Magazine, but also but also knowknow that that the Fanfare the Fanfare Magazine Magazine experience experience is notislimited not limited to a print to a print publication publication available available only only at Music at Music HallHall concerts. concerts.

You You can explore can explore Fanfare Fanfare FOLLOW FOLLOW US US Magazine Magazine at any at time any time via our via website our website at cincinnatisymphony. at cincinnatisymphony. on social on social media media for for org/fanfare-magazine, org/fanfare-magazine, where where you can you also can also find find web-webthe latest the latest updates! updates! exclusive exclusive articles. articles.

Along Along withwith the online the online version version of Fanfare of Fanfare Magazine, Magazine, Facebook: Facebook: @CincySymphony @CincySymphony the CSO the CSO has developed has developed a digital a digital platform platform to deliver to deliver @CincinnatiPops @CincinnatiPops concert-specific concert-specific content content to meet to meet the CSO’s the CSO’s ongoing ongoing commitment commitment to digital to digital storytelling, storytelling, innovation innovation and and Instagram: Instagram: accessibility. accessibility.

ThisThis digital digital platform platform offersoffers earlyearly access access to to @CincySymphony @CincySymphony exclusive exclusive concert-specific concert-specific content: content: full-length full-length program program YouTube: YouTube: notes, notes, artistartist biographies, biographies, feature feature stories, stories, up-to-theup-to-the@CincySymphony @CincySymphony minute minute information information and much and much more! more!

As a As bonus, a bonus, program program notesnotes and artist and artist biographies biographies for the forentire the entire TikTok: TikTok: season season will be willavailable be available on this on digital this digital platform platform in in @cincysymphony @cincysymphony advance advance of the ofseason-opening the season-opening concerts, concerts, allowing allowing you to you engage to engage withwith all the allcontent the content before before you arrive you arrive at Music at Music Hall.Hall.

Unlike Unlike a print a print magazine, magazine, this digital this digital platform platform is compatible is compatible withwith all smartphone all smartphone accessibility accessibility features. features.

The The *By texting *By texting to thistonumber, this number, CSO’s CSO’s digital digital platform platform is easily is easily accessible accessible — no — app no to app download to download you may youreceive may receive messages messages that that pertain pertain to theto organization the organization and and or subscription or subscription to manage. to manage.

To explore To explore our digital our digital content, content, its performances; its performances; msg &msg data& data cincinnatisymphony.org/DigitalProgram, cincinnatisymphony.org/DigitalProgram, text the textword the word rates may ratesapply. may apply.

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The The CSOCSO hopes hopes you find you find inspiration inspiration within within thesethese pages pages and and within within the the music music — past, — past, present present and and future future — that — that reverberates reverberates at Music at Music HallHall and and in the in the community. community.

Thank Thank you for youbeing for being withwith us! us!

Fanfare Fanfare Magazine Magazine |7 |7

COVER COVER STORY STORY

Come ComeAs AsYou YouAre Are

by HANNAH

by HANNAH EDGAR EDGAR

As As thethe United United States States celebrates celebrates a milestone a milestone anniversary, anniversary, Cristian Cristian Măcelaru Măcelaru reflects reflects on on what what it means it means to be to be thethe Music Music Director Director of an of an American American orchestra orchestra — and — and looks looks toward toward a 2026–27 a 2026–27 season season that that lives lives outout hishis ethos ethos of close of close listening listening andand collaboration. collaboration. he says. he says.

“I think “I think Programming Programming a a people people havehave season season cancan be an be an a pretty a pretty good good opaque opaque process. process. vision vision of what of what Usually, Usually, an an my my direction direction orchestra’s orchestra’s music music is: making is: making director director andand suresure thatthat the the administration administration relevance relevance we we work work together together seekseek is really is really to hash to hash out out represented represented in in repertoire, repertoire, the the diversity diversity andand orchestra orchestra thatthat we present.” we present.” musicians musicians findfind And, And, as as out out what’s what’s Măcelaru Măcelaru on their on their ownown has has stressed stressed seasons seasons around around to Fanfare to Fanfare the the same same timetime as as Magazine Magazine audiences. audiences. before, before, he thinks he thinks CSOCSO Music Music A scene A scene fromfrom Măcelaru’s Măcelaru’s first first rehearsal rehearsal as CSO as CSO Music Music Director, Director, withwith Concertmaster Concertmaster about about diversity diversity Director Director Cristian Cristian Stefani Stefani Matsuo Matsuo and and Principal Principal Second Second Violin Violin Gabriel Gabriel Pegis.

Pegis.

(Credit: (Credit: Charlie Charlie Balcom) Balcom) broadly. broadly.

That That Măcelaru Măcelaru is is includes includes diversity diversity of genre. of genre.

In May In May 2027, 2027, you’ll you’ll flipping flipping thatthat script. script.

Măcelaru Măcelaru conducts conducts orchestras orchestras findfind contemporary contemporary filmfilm composer composer Eunike Eunike Tanzil Tanzil — — all over all over the the world world andand hears hears suggestions suggestions from from Indonesian-born, Indonesian-born, LosLos Angeles-based Angeles-based — programmed — programmed various various musicians musicians — some — some obscure obscure andand many many (her(her Remembering) Remembering) alongside alongside Erich Erich Korngold, Korngold, who, who, thatthat these these musicians musicians are are itching itching to play. to play.

OneOne suchsuch in Măcelaru’s words, words, became became the the “OG” “OG” of Golden of Golden AgeAge suggestion suggestion opens opens a CSO a CSO program program thisthis fall:fall: the the tonetone in Măcelaru’s th Hollywood composers composers when when he emigrated he emigrated to the to the U.S.U.S. poem poem Lamia, Lamia, by the by the 20th20 -century -century British British composer composer Hollywood to flee to flee the the Holocaust.

Holocaust.

Dorothy Dorothy Howell.

Howell.

Măcelaru Măcelaru firstfirst metmet Tanzil Tanzil while while working working withwith “It’s“It’s absolutely absolutely insane insane howhow much much good good music music I’veI’ve violinist RayRay Chen Chen on Player on Player 1, a 1, recorded a recorded homage homage to to received received — it—would it would havehave taken taken me me 10 years 10 years to come to come violinist some of Chen’s of Chen’s favorite favorite music music from from video video games games to to up with up with all that all that music,” music,” Măcelaru Măcelaru says. says.

“If I“If amI am to to some television shows. shows.

(Chen (Chen is also is also featured featured in those in those MayMay really, really, truly truly be inclusive be inclusive andand promote promote not not onlyonly great great television concerts, playing playing Korngold’s Korngold’s Violin Violin Concerto, Concerto, which which music music but but alsoalso music music thatthat has has not not been been appreciated appreciated concerts, is a is centerpiece a centerpiece of Player of Player 1.) While 1.) While collaborating collaborating on on properly, properly, I just I just cannot cannot do itdobyitmyself. by myself.

I have I have my my Tanzil’s Tanzil’s Serenade Serenade for violin for violin andand orchestra, orchestra, Tanzil Tanzil andand ownown limitations.” limitations.”

Măcelaru Măcelaru hit it hitoffit immediately, off immediately, chatting chatting through through the the As aAs musician, a musician, music music director director andand person, person, entire recording recording session. session.

Măcelaru Măcelaru believes believes in inviting in inviting everyone everyone to the to the table, table, entire “She“She became became thisthis veryvery trendy, trendy, interesting interesting whether whether theythey sit in sitthe in the audience audience or onstage. or onstage.

Those Those composer, composer, especially especially for young for young people. people.

[I thought], [I thought], principles principles are are front front of mind of mind for Măcelaru for Măcelaru as he as he much much fun fun would would it beitto beintroduce to introduce someone someone to to prepares prepares for another for another season season withwith the the CSOCSO andand as he as he howhow genre?” genre?” he says. he says. considers considers howhow the the Orchestra Orchestra represents represents the the bestbest of of thisthis th th Măcelaru Măcelaru argues argues thatthat what what he’she’s planned planned for those for those what what our our country country has has to offer to offer in its in250 its 250 year. year.

MayMay 14 and 14 and 15 concerts 15 concerts “In “In some some ways, ways, thisthis isn’tisn’t new,new, in the in the broad broad is truly is truly the the firstfirst season season Subscribe Subscribe to the to the CSO’s CSO’s YouTube YouTube sweep sweep of music of music history. history. thatthat has has my my stamp stamp on on channel channel andand watch watch thethe three-part three-part He points He points to Mozart’s to Mozart’s the the whole whole season, season, eveneven docuseries: docuseries: Introducing Introducing Cristian Cristian Măcelaru.

Măcelaru.

Violin Violin Concerto Concerto No.No. 5 —5a— a more more so than so than my my first,” first,” 8 | 2025–26 8 | 2025–26 SEASON SEASON

@CincySymphony @CincySymphony

COVER COVER STORY STORY

standard standard of of thethe repertoire. repertoire.

InIn the the concerto’s concerto’sthird third movement, movement, however, however, there there is is a sudden a sudden pivot pivottoto a minor-key a minor-key Turkish Turkish melody, melody, cellos cellos and andbasses basses drumming drumming their their strings strings with with their their bows bowsininthe themanner manner of of thethe Ottoman Ottoman Empire’s Empire’s Janissary Janissary bands bands(the (theworld’s world’s first first recorded recorded military military marching marching bands), bands),which whichVienna Vienna was was fascinated fascinated with with during during Mozart’s Mozart’s time. time.

Referencing Referencing those those sounds sounds wasn’t wasn’t a aneutral neutralact actfor for Mozart.

Mozart.

Not Not only only were were the the bands bands associated associatedwith with everyday everyday lifelife onon the the street, street, rather rather than thanthe thehigh high artart of of thethe Viennese Viennese aristocracy, aristocracy, but but the theOttoman Ottoman and and Habsburg Habsburg empires empires had had a complex a complexhistory historyboth both of of conflict conflict and and cultural cultural exchange, exchange, and andthe thebands’ bands’ Turkish-sounding Turkish-sounding strains strains would would scan scanasasfamiliar familiaryet yet “foreign” “foreign” to to Viennese Viennese audiences audiences —— and andbebeseen seenasas provocative provocative forfor a violin a violin concerto. concerto.

“I think “I think soso much much about about what what people peopleatatthe thetime time must must have have thought,” thought,” Măcelaru Măcelaru says. says.

“I“Ithink thinkthe thegreat great composers composers and and performers performers didn’t didn’t have havethis thisdefinition definition of,of, ‘I only ‘I only play play classical classical music.’ music.’

That’s That’svery verylimiting. limiting.

I really I really think think thethe way way toto diversify diversify the theaudience audienceisistoto diversify diversify thethe genre genre a little a little bit.” bit.”

Just Just as as hehe will will bring bring film film composers composers ofofthe thepast past and and present present into into dialogue, dialogue, Măcelaru Măcelaru will willalso alsoplace place contemporary contemporary composer composer Errollyn Errollyn Wallen Wallenalongside alongside great great female female composers composers ofof the the past past —— Fanny Fanny Mendelssohn, Mendelssohn, Emilie Emilie Mayer Mayer and and Clara Clara Schumann Schumann—— during during concerts concerts onon March March 5 and 5 and 6.6.

On On January January8 8 and and 9, 9, Măcelaru Măcelaru also also brings brings into into dialogue dialoguethe themusic music of of Florence Florence Price Price and and Johannes Johannes Brahms Brahmswith withthe the modern modern composer composer Mark Mark Simpson’s Simpson’s Piano PianoConcerto, Concerto, written written forfor and and to to bebe played played byby Víkingur VíkingurÓlafsson. Ólafsson.

(Guest (Guestconductor conductorMarta MartaGardolińska Gardolińskachampions champions another anotherpioneer pioneerininher herApril AprilCSO CSOpodium podiumdebut, debut, with withorchestrations orchestrationsofofturn-of-the-century turn-of-the-centuryFrench French composer composerMélanie MélanieBonis’ Bonis’reflections reflectionson onthe thetragic tragic lives livesofofthree threeofofhistory’s history’smost mostinfluential influentialfemale female heroines heroines——Ophelia, Ophelia,Salome Salomeand andCleopatra.)

Cleopatra.)

“I“Ithink thinkit’s it’sreally reallybeautiful beautifulnot notto topigeonhole pigeonhole the theidea ideaofoffemale femalecomposers composersinto intoaatime timeperiod,” period,” Măcelaru Măcelarusays. says.“I’ve “I’veheard heardso somany manypeople peoplesay, say, ‘If ‘If they theywould wouldhave havebeen beengood goodenough, enough,music musichistory history [would [wouldremember rememberthem].’ them].’I’m I’mhere hereto todissect dissect that that statement statementfor foryou. you.……I’m I’mpresenting presentingmusic musicfrom from the the st st 2121 century centurythat thatIIstrongly stronglybelieve believein, in,and andlooking looking at at ititinincontext. context.Discovering Discoveringcomposers composersof ofthe thepast past tells tells the thetrue truestory storyofofwhat whathas hashappened.” happened.”

Depicting Depictinghistory historyas asititactually actuallyhappened happened is is crucial crucial for forMăcelaru.

Măcelaru.That’s That’swhy whyhe hecontinues continuesto tohave have such such an anenduring enduringaffinity affinityfor for— —and andlasting lastingfriendship friendship with with——composer composerand andtrumpeter trumpeterWynton WyntonMarsalis, Marsalis, one oneofofthe thegreat greatmusical musicaltruthtellers truthtellersof ofour ourtime. time.

When WhenMarsalis Marsaliswas wasseeking seekingco-commissioners co-commissioners for for his his Symphony SymphonyNo. No.5,5,Liberty, Liberty,Măcelaru Măcelaruclamored clamored for for the the CSO CSOtotojoin joinin. in.

“About “Aboutonce onceaadecade, decade,Wynton Wyntonmakes makesaastatement statement about aboutAmerica Americathat thatisisdeeply deeplymeaningful, meaningful,socially,” socially,” Măcelaru Măcelarusays, says,pointing pointingto toMarsalis’ Marsalis’Pulitzer Pulitzer Prize-winning Prize-winningoratorio oratorioBlood Bloodon onthe theFields Fieldsand and his his Symphony SymphonyNo. No.1,1,All AllRise.

Rise.“Liberty “Libertyisisthe thesymphony symphony for forthis thisdecade.” decade.”

The TheCSO CSOperforms performsLiberty Libertyon onopening openingnight, night, Oct. Oct.2.2.The Thefollowing followingevening, evening,ititteams teamsup upwith with Marsalis’ Marsalis’Jazz JazzatatLincoln LincolnCenter CenterOrchestra Orchestrafor for aa  

Cristian Cristian Măcelaru Măcelaru leads leads thethe Orchestra Orchestra in in hishis debut debut concerts concerts asasCSO CSOMusic MusicDirector, Director,October October2025.

2025.(Credit: (Credit:Mark MarkLyons) Lyons)

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SATURDAY 6:30PM CET SUNDAY 8:30PM CET ARTS

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unique unique account account of of Pictures Pictures at at anan Exhibition.

Exhibition.

The The CSO CSO and and JLCO JLCO will will trade trade offoff throughout, throughout, with with thethe CSO CSO playing playing thethe Mussorgsky/Ravel Mussorgsky/Ravel original original and and thethe JLCO JLCO playing playing Marsalis’ Marsalis’ big-band big-band arrangements. arrangements.

Unlike Unlike JLCO JLCO appearances appearances with with other other orchestras, orchestras, however, however, thethe CSO CSO version version brings brings both both orchestras orchestras closer closer together together than than ever ever before. before.

They They don’t don’t merely merely alternate alternate movements. movements.

They They alternate alternate sections, sections, then then bars, bars, before before eventually eventually uniting uniting in in anan explosion explosion of of ensemble ensemble technicolor. technicolor.

It’sIt’s notnot just just a dazzling a dazzling musical musical effect. effect.

ToTo Măcelaru, Măcelaru, it’sit’s a metaphor a metaphor forfor thethe musical musical omnivorousness omnivorousness he’s he’s trying trying to to nurture nurture at at thethe CSO. CSO. “I’m “I’m using using it to it to telltell thethe story story of of a very a very segregated segregated format format that that breaks breaks down down and and comes comes together together at at thethe end,” end,” hehe tells tells Fanfare Fanfare Magazine.

Magazine.

“I tell “I tell thethe Orchestra, Orchestra, thethe only only way way your your Strauss Strauss will will bebe better better is if is you if you find find a way a way to to play play it like it like a gospel a gospel choir choir sings sings onon Sunday Sunday morning. morning.

The The advantage advantage of of thethe Cincinnati Cincinnati Symphony Symphony Orchestra Orchestra is that is that they they dodo play play concerts concerts with with a gospel a gospel choir, choir, like like thethe CSO’s CSO’s Classical Classical Roots Roots Community Community Choir.

Choir.

So,So, they they know know what what I’mI’m talking talking about about when when I’mI’m saying saying that. that.

The The more more I can I can find find ways ways to to utilize utilize their their depth depth of of understanding understanding that that is not is not genre-specific, genre-specific, I I think think thethe better better thethe experience experience forfor thethe public.” public.”

Looking Looking back back through through thethe 2025–26 2025–26 season, season, thethe CSO CSO audience audience reception reception farfar exceeded exceeded Măcelaru’s Măcelaru’s expectations. expectations.

The The 2026 2026 Martin Martin Luther Luther King, King, Jr.Jr.

weekend weekend concerts concerts especially especially stand stand out. out.

One One evening evening sold sold out; out; thethe other other came came close. close.

And And hehe found found thethe public public reaction reaction electric, electric, with with standing standing ovations ovations and and cheers. cheers.

Măcelaru, Măcelaru, certainly, certainly, hashas been been thinking thinking about about King King forfor years. years.

AtAt thethe toptop of of our our call, call, hehe told told meme about about a a recent recent trip trip to to thethe Civil Civil Rights Rights leader’s leader’s boyhood boyhood home home in in Atlanta.

Atlanta.

Though Though King King fought fought forfor thethe rights rights of of those those who who were were born born in in —— and and built built —— this this country, country, hishis lessons lessons resonate resonate in in thethe heart heart of of Măcelaru, Măcelaru, anan immigrant immigrant from from Romania.

Romania.

“The “The concert concert was was about about recommitting recommitting together together to to this this America, America, thethe America America that that I fell I fell in in love love with,” with,” Măcelaru Măcelaru says. says.

Măcelaru Măcelaru will will lead lead next next year’s year’s King King weekend weekend concerts concerts again, again, considering considering them them a priority a priority of of hishis CSO CSO tenure. tenure.

2027’s 2027’s iteration iteration is titled is titled “Come “Come as as You You Are,” Are,” taking taking itsits name name from from a newly a newly orchestrated orchestrated work work byby saxophonist saxophonist Steven Steven Banks, Banks, also also thethe concert’s concert’s soloist. soloist.

But But it doubles it doubles as as Măcelaru’s Măcelaru’s North North Star Star as as hehe continues continues hishis one-of-a-kind one-of-a-kind partnership partnership with with thethe CSO CSO and and thethe city city of of Cincinnati.

Cincinnati.

“The “The whole whole concept concept of of America America was was forfor everyone everyone to to come come as as you you are: are: to to bring bring who who you you areare to to thethe table, table, and and to to create create anan identity identity together together based based onon shared shared values,” values,” hehe says. says.  Explore Explore more more of of what what Măcelaru Măcelaru has has planned planned forfor thethe 2026–27 2026–27 season season at at cincinnatisymphony.org. cincinnatisymphony.org.

Cristian Cristian Măcelaru Măcelaru takes takes in the in the vast vast offerings offerings of Cincinnati’s of Cincinnati’s Findlay Findlay Market, Market, during during hishis first first days days as CSO as CSO Music Music Director.

Director.

Fanfare Magazine Fanfare Magazine | 11| 11

SPOTLIGHT SPOTLIGHT

ALL ALL Why WhyWe WeGive: Give: Music MusicFor ForAll All— —This ThisisisYour YourCSO CSO byby KIT KIT GLADIEUX GLADIEUX & CSO & CSO STAFF STAFF

homage homage to to one one of of America’s America’s most most important important artistic artistic For For more more than than 130 130 years, years, thethe Cincinnati Cincinnati Symphony Symphony movements movements and and thethe breadth breadth of of jazz jazz styles styles it has it has Orchestra Orchestra hashas sought sought to to seek seek and and share share inspiration inspiration nurtured. nurtured.

Their Their philanthropy philanthropy reflects reflects a core a core belief belief through through music. music.

Regardless Regardless of of who who wewe areare or or where where that that music music nourishes nourishes thethe spirit. spirit.

“Music “Music is good is good forfor wewe come come from, from, music music lives lives within within usus all.all.

WeWe believe believe soul; soul; there there is nothing is nothing like like it,”it,” Kelly Kelly explains. explains. that that music music inspires inspires our our community, community, music music belongs belongs to to thethe That That belief belief made made it an it an easy easy decision decision to to support support thethe allall who who live live here here and and music music is aisliving, a living, breathing breathing artart Music For For AllAll Campaign.

Campaign.

“Harlem “Harlem Renaissance Renaissance was was a a form form that that continues continues to to evolve. evolve.

These These beliefs beliefs drive drive our our Music terrific program, program, and and wewe simply simply couldn’t couldn’t pass pass upup thethe vision vision to to bebe thethe most most relevant relevant orchestra orchestra in in America.

America. terrific opportunity opportunity to to share share that that music,” music,” they they say. say.

“The “The songs, songs, Music Music For For AllAll goes goes beyond beyond sustaining sustaining thethe CSO. CSO. thethe voices voices and and thethe orchestral orchestral music music were were absolutely absolutely It’sIt’s about about expanding expanding what what is possible is possible byby enabling enabling good good medicine medicine forfor ourour ears ears and and ourour hearts.” hearts.” usus to to inspire inspire audiences audiences through through innovative innovative programming programming and and artistic artistic excellence, excellence, deepen deepen our our impact impact across across Greater Greater Cincinnati Cincinnati and and ensure ensure that that thethe transformative transformative power power of of music music is accessible is accessible to to all.all.

The The Music Music For For AllAll Campaign Campaign is an is an initiative initiative to to invest invest in in our our Orchestra’s Orchestra’s ability ability to to embody embody our our vision. vision.

Through Through thethe unmatched unmatched generosity generosity of of thethe Cincinnati Cincinnati community, community, thethe Music Music For For AllAll Campaign Campaign hashas made made remarkable remarkable progress, progress, and, and, with with your your support, support, we’ll we’ll make make it to it to our our goal. goal.

Your Your investment investment in in thethe Orchestra Orchestra is an is an investment investment in in thethe cultural cultural vibrancy vibrancy of of Cincinnati Cincinnati and and ensures ensures thethe CSO CSO remains remains a dynamic a dynamic and and relevant relevant force force in in our our community community forfor generations generations to to come. come.

Join Join usus as as wewe transform transform thethe future future of of music music forfor all,all, together. together.

Dianne Dianne and and David David Rosenberg Rosenberg Here Here areare a few a few of of thethe heartfelt heartfelt stories stories behind behind why why donors donors have have committed committed to to thethe Music Music For For Dianne Dianne Rosenberg’s Rosenberg’s connection connection to to thethe Cincinnati Cincinnati AllAll Campaign: Campaign: Symphony Symphony Orchestra Orchestra began began thethe first first time time sheshe visited visited Music Music Hall Hall as as a child, a child, where where sheshe was was “absolutely “absolutely Kelly Kelly Dehan Dehan and and Rick Rick Staudigel Staudigel mesmerized mesmerized byby thethe vastness vastness of of Music Music Hall Hall and and thethe sound sound of of thethe Orchestra.”

Orchestra.”

That That early early experience experience For For Kelly Kelly Dehan Dehan and and Rick Rick Staudigel, Staudigel, what what excites excites shaped shaped a relationship a relationship that that would would later later include include them them most most about about thethe Cincinnati Cincinnati Symphony Symphony leadership, leadership, service service and and a shared a shared commitment commitment to to thethe Orchestra’s Orchestra’s CSO’s CSO’s future future with with herher husband, husband, David.

David. future future is the is the Together, Together, thethe Rosenbergs Rosenbergs have have supported supported thethe leadership leadership Orchestra Orchestra with with their their time time and and energy, energy, as as well well as as guiding guiding it it th th through through philanthropic philanthropic giving. giving.

“For “For Dianne’s Dianne’s 70 70 forward. forward.

“Our “Our birthday,” birthday,” states states David, David, “we “we endowed endowed a chair a chair in in thethe conductors, conductors, First First Violin Violin section.” section.”

Also, Also, during during thethe renovation renovation of of Cristian Cristian Music Music Hall, Hall, thethe Rosenbergs Rosenbergs provided provided a significant a significant Măcelaru Măcelaru and and contribution contribution resulting resulting in in thethe naming naming of of thethe “Dianne “Dianne John John Morris Morris and and J. David J. David Rosenberg Rosenberg Green Green Room,” Room,” and, and, forfor thethe Russell, Russell, areare 125th 125th anniversary anniversary season season of of thethe CSO, CSO, thethe Rosenbergs Rosenbergs extraordinary, extraordinary, underwrote underwrote thethe commission commission of of Christopher Christopher Rouse’s Rouse’s and and thethe variety variety Sixth Sixth Symphony Symphony — — the the last last piece piece Rouse Rouse finished finished of of programming programming before before hishis death. death. truly truly appeals appeals After After Dianne’s Dianne’s three-season three-season tenure tenure concluded concluded to to thethe masses,” masses,” they they say. say.

“The “The entire entire staff, staff, from from as as thethe chair chair of of thethe CSO’s CSO’s Board Board of of Directors, Directors, David David CEO CEO Robert Robert McGrath McGrath on,on, areare bright, bright, caring caring and and wonderful wonderful people. people.

It’sIt’s inspiring inspiring to to seesee how how well well thethe organization organization is run.” is run.”

From From left: left: Kelly Kelly Dehan Dehan andand Rick Rick Staudigel Staudigel at the at the Conductor’s Conductor’s Circle Dinner Dinner in 2025. in 2025.

Music Music Director Director Cristian Cristian Măcelaru, Măcelaru, Kelly Kelly and and Rick Rick have have supported supported many many recent recent Pops Pops Circle Cheryl Cheryl Huddleston, Huddleston, Dianne Dianne Rosenberg Rosenberg andand J. David J. David concerts, concerts, including including one one that that ledled to to thethe Orchestra’s Orchestra’s Rosenberg Rosenberg (Credit: (Credit: Claudia Claudia Hershner).

Hershner).

Thea Thea Tjepkema Tjepkema andand Kathy Kathy Grote Grote at the at the Conductor’s Conductor’s Circle Circle Dinner Dinner in 2025. in 2025. most most recent recent recording, recording, Harlem Harlem Renaissance, Renaissance, anan 12 |122025–26 | 2025–26 SEASON SEASON

SPOTLIGHT SPOTLIGHT SPOTLIGHT

wanted wanted wanted to to do do to“something “something do “something significant” significant” significant” to to honor honor to honor her her her and andand the the two the twotwo became became became dear deardear friends. friends. friends.

“Bob “Bob“Bob took tooktook me me me service. service. service.

Together, Together, Together, they theythey established established established the the Dianne Dianne the Dianne and andand to to concerts concerts to concerts and andand taught taught taught me me so so memuch. much. so much.

That ThatThat was waswas the the the J. J. David David J. David Rosenberg Rosenberg Rosenberg Innovation Innovation Innovation Fund, Fund, Fund, which which which Dianne Dianne Dianne beginning beginning beginning of of my my of appreciation appreciation my appreciation and andand love lovelove for for classical classical for classical says sayssays is is designed designed is designed to to allow allow to allow the the CSO CSO the CSO “to “to experiment, experiment, “to experiment, music music music and andand this thisthis Orchestra.”

Orchestra.”

Orchestra.” take taketake risks risksrisks and andand expand expand expand the the boundaries boundaries the boundaries of of what’s what’s of what’s Some Some Some of of her her of most her mostmost powerful powerful powerful memories memories memories are are tied tied are tied possible possible possible in in orchestral orchestral in orchestral music.” music.” music.” to to moments moments to moments when when when music music music brought brought brought the the community community the community The TheThe Rosenbergs Rosenbergs Rosenbergs firmly firmly firmly believe believe believe that thatthat evolution evolution evolution is is is together. together. together.

She She She vividly vividly vividly remembers remembers remembers the the weekend weekend the weekend after afterafter essential essential essential to to the the to Orchestra’s Orchestra’s the Orchestra’s future. future. future.

“It’s “It’s“It’s not not the not the way way the way 9/11, 9/11,9/11, when when when Paavo Paavo Paavo Järvi JärviJärvi made made made his his debut debut his debut as as Music Music as Music it’s it’s always always it’s always been. been. been.

And AndAnd 10 10 years years 10 years from fromfrom now nownow it it won’t won’t it won’t be be be Director.

Director.

Director.

“The “The“The national national national anthem anthem anthem was waswas incredibly incredibly incredibly the the way way the way it it is is it today,” today,” is today,” Dianne Dianne Dianne says. says.says.

What What What matters matters matters most mostmost emotional,” emotional,” emotional,” she she says. she says.says.

“Then “Then “Then came came came aa beautiful beautiful a beautiful to to them them to them is is that that is that the the CSO CSO the CSO continues continues continues to to “look “look to “look over overover the the the performance performance performance of of Barber’s Barber’s of Barber’s Adagio Adagio Adagio for for Strings.

Strings. for Strings.

II felt feltI felt horizon horizon horizon — — to to—be betocutting cutting be cutting edge.” edge.” edge.” such suchsuch aa strong strong a strong connection connection connection to to the the to music, music, the music, the the Orchestra Orchestra the Orchestra and andand everyone everyone everyone in in attendance. attendance. in attendance.

It’s It’s something something It’s something II will will I will Kathy Kathy Kathy Grote Grote Grote never never never forget.” forget.” forget.”

Kathy Kathy Kathy is is inspired inspired is inspired by by the the by leadership leadership the leadership guiding guiding guiding the the the For For For longtime longtime longtime patron patron patron Kathy Kathy Kathy Grote, Grote, Grote, access access access to to free free to free Orchestra Orchestra today. today. today.

“Cristian “Cristian “Cristian Măcelaru Măcelaru Măcelaru and andand John JohnJohn Morris Morris Morris concerts concerts concerts sparked sparked sparked aa lifelong lifelong a lifelong love lovelove for for the the for Cincinnati the Cincinnati Cincinnati Orchestra Russell Russell Russell continue continue continue to to lead lead to lead the the Orchestra Orchestra the Orchestra to to its itstovery very its very Symphony Symphony Symphony best,” best,” best,” she she says. says. she says.

She She She is is particularly particularly is particularly proud proud proud of of the the of CSO’s CSO’s the CSO’s Orchestra.

Orchestra.

Orchestra. commitment commitment to to inclusion. inclusion. to inclusion.

“The “The“The Orchestra Orchestra Orchestra should should should be be be “In “In the the “In 1970s the 1970s 1970s commitment for everyone,” everyone,” for everyone,” she she explains. explains. she explains.

“I “I think think “I think the the organization organization the organization is is is and andand ’80s, ’80s,’80s, the the the for doing doing doing aa great great a great job job working working job working toward toward toward that thatthat goal.” goal.” goal.”

Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati When When When presented presented presented with withwith the the opportunity opportunity the opportunity to to sponsor sponsor to sponsor Symphony Symphony Symphony the the Pops Pops the Pops recording recording recording American American American Originals: Originals: Originals: Harlem Harlem Harlem Orchestra Orchestra Orchestra Renaissance Renaissance and and and commission commission commission “Hellfighters’ “Hellfighters’ “Hellfighters’ Blues” Blues” Blues” by by by hosted hosted hosted Concerts Concerts ConcertsRenaissance Carlos Carlos Simon, Simon, Simon, Kathy Kathy Kathy didn’t didn’t didn’t hesitate. hesitate. hesitate.

“I “I knew knew “I knew Carlos Carlos Carlos in in the the in Park,” the Park,” Park,” Carlos would would create create create aa wonderful wonderful a wonderful homage homage homage to to James James to James Reese Reese Reese recalls recalls recalls Kathy Kathy Kathy would Europe.

Europe.

I’m I’m also also I’m also aa huge huge a huge fan fan of of fan the the ofprevious previous the previous American American American Grote.

Grote.

Grote.

“I “I was was “I was Europe.

Originals Originals Originals productions, productions, productions, and and and II knew knew I knew JMR JMRJMR would would would in in my my in 20s 20s my 20s once onceonce again again again program program program aa fantastic fantastic a fantastic concert.” concert.” concert.”

For For Kathy, For Kathy, Kathy, and andand didn’t didn’t didn’t philanthropy philanthropy philanthropy is is about about is about participating participating participating in in something something in something have havehave much much much money, money, money, so so those those so those free freefree concerts concerts concerts meant meant meant larger larger larger than thanthan herself. herself. herself.

“It’s “It’s“It’s so so meaningful meaningful so meaningful to to me,” me,” to me,” she she says. says. she says. everything everything everything to to me.” me.” to me.”

At At one one At one performance performance performance in in in “I’m“I’m so so excited excited so excited to to be betopart part be part of of the the ofcreation creation the creation of of music.” music.” of music.”    Norwood, Norwood, Norwood, she she met she metmet Robert Robert Robert Howes, Howes, Howes, aa CSO CSO a CSO violist, violist, violist, “I’m

Join Joinusus asas wewe transform transform the the future future ofof music music forfor all,all, together. together.

cincinnatisymphony.org/MusicForAll cincinnatisymphony.org/MusicForAll cincinnatisymphony.org/MusicForAll

ALL ALL

THIS THIS IS IS YOUR YOUR Fanfare Fanfare Fanfare Magazine Magazine Magazine || 13 13 | 13

SPOTLIGHT

Life is Good When You’re Surrounded

by Music, an Essay To celebrate Music Director Cristian Măcelaru’s first season with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, we are using his words, “Life is good when you’re surrounded by music” as the theme for the magazine’s first-ever writing competition. Fanfare Magazine invited local undergraduate and graduate students to celebrate the power of music through words.

Students enrolled at colleges and universities in Ohio and Northern Kentucky submitted essays reflecting on the emotional, cultural, societal or personal significance of music in their lives.

The essay below is by second-place winner Matthew Liversedge. Look for more of the winning essays at cincinnatisymphony.org and in upcoming issues of Fanfare Magazine.

The Sound of Rain

by MATTHEW LIVERSEDGE, SECOND PLACE WINNER

I am a very young boy. I am sitting on the tiled floor of our porch and watching a wall of rain rush across the dark green tropical forest that seems to completely cover the valley separating our house from the president’s mansion. I feel a thrill as the massive torrent breaks into our yard and races toward our home. I think, “This must be what Noah felt like watching the rain approach the Ark.” One second later and — “tat-tattat!” — the rain pelts our tin roof, a deafening soundtrack for the night to come.

When the power fails, Mom and Dad light kerosene lamps and set them on the table. My brothers and sister bring books; I crack open The Silver Chair and listen as Puddleglum’s thin voice rises in my imagination above the roar of the rain: “A journey up north just as winter’s beginning, looking for a Prince that probably isn’t there, by way of a ruined city that no one has ever seen, will be just the thing.

If that doesn’t steady a chap, I don’t know what will.” When I glance up from the magical pages, the light flickers on the faces of people who love me. We are all here, together, swallowed up by a rainstorm that sounds like it might never stop.

And I am horribly happy.

I am seated on a cushion, leaning against the enormous frame of my father, peering over his arm at the pages of an old hymnal. Jonny, even smaller than me, is peering from his other side, but neither of us can yet read all the words. We are singing a hymn, learning it the way people did long before they had hymnals, repeating the melodies phrase by phrase until we can sing it all the way through.

The simple hymns are my favorite. They are invitations to feel peace: “Be still and know that I am God.” One of us sings the wrong word and we all laugh. I am in love with the way it feels to be together while singing.

I am growing up. I am walking, bowing, seating myself in front of an enormous room full of people. My hands are sweating. It is a moment for which I have practiced for months. I cannot see their faces for the bright lights, but in the inky black of the audience I know there are hundreds of people whose hearts I wish to touch. The conductor raises her baton. A deafening silence has blanketed the hall.

Like the moment before the rainstorm, I feel a thrill; my heart threatens to leap from my chest. The baton flashes; the strings burst from silence with thunderous fury. I wait for my cue, plant my bow on the largest string, and dive into a cello 14 | 2025–26 SEASON

SPOTLIGHT

concerto. For more than 10 glorious minutes, I tell the people in the inky black about the rainstorms in Cameroon and the adventures of Puddleglum and the Pevensies. Though I have not yet fallen in love, I sing to them about love I have learned to long for in the stories and songs my family cherishes.

I am no longer a child. I am walking down a long corridor with calming scenes hanging on the wall, passing one doorway after another. Most of them are closed, but through those that are open I glimpse a few people sitting around beds. The pleasant woman who gave me my badge is carrying a chair for me. She places it at the end of the hallway. “They should all be able to hear you from here,” she tells me.

I softly tune the strings and flip through the pages of Bach cello suites I have stored in my head. Some feel more fitting than others. I begin in G major. I am no longer a praying man, but I pray that I do not wake anyone who would rather be asleep.

Halfway through the first suite, a woman emerges from one of the rooms and glances in my direction. As she approaches, I see tracings of tears on her cheeks.

I stop playing and smile at her, invitingly. “My husband is in the room down the hallway. There’s a song he loves … I wonder if you might know it. It’s called ‘Give Me Jesus.’” I feel warmth well up inside me because I know this tune from my childhood, from a CD my mother would frequently play in the evenings. “I do know that one,” I tell her. The woman smiles, whispers “Thank you,” and returns to the room. Alone once more in the hallway, I sit for a moment in silence.

And in this moment, I realize that the music I am about to play will be sacred, not because it is religious, but because it will contain, bound up within a simple melody, the precious moments of a man’s life. Whether we realize it or not, the music that surrounds us also colors our lives with meaning, drawing us into unison with others continued, p. 17

SAVE THE DATES

2026 Brady Block Parties Join the CSO in neighborhoods around the city this summer.

Thursday, June 4: Pride Brady Block Party Location: ICON Festival Stage at Smale Park at The Andrew J. Brady Music Center® Pre-concert activities: 6:30pm | Concert: 7:45pm Saturday, June 13: Evanston Brady Block Party Location: Evanston Playground Pre-concert activities: 6:30pm | Concert: 7:45pm Community Partners: Cincinnati Recreation Commission and Evanston Community Council Sunday, June 21: West End Brady Block Party Location: Ezzard Charles Park Pre-concert activities: 6:30pm | Concert: 7:45pm Community Partners: Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses, Cincinnati Parks and Visit Cincy

Sunday, June 28: Madisonville Brady Block Party Location: Madisonville Recreation Center Pre-concert activities: 6:30pm | Concert: 7:45pm Community Partners: Cincinnati Recreation Commission and Madisonville Community Council Friday, July 17: Woodlawn/Lincoln Heights Brady Block Party Location: Woodlawn Community Center Fields Pre-concert activities: 6:30pm | Concert: 7:45pm Community Partners: Village of Woodlawn and Village of Lincoln Heights For the most up-to-date information, visit cincinnatisymphony.org/BlockParties.

Fanfare Magazine | 15

SPOTLIGHT

‘Studio Ghibli’ Conductor Wilbur Lin on the Art of the Film Score

by KEN SMITH

“I figured that, Just to be clear, there since Ann Arbor and will be no films shown Columbia are both on the Music Hall college towns, what stage at the upcoming was successful at the April & May 2026 University of Michigan Cincinnati Pops events. would probably work That notice may seem at the University of redundant, since the Missouri,” he says. program information “But it’s been a success both for the showcase everywhere, even in of Joe Hisaishi’s “The towns without much of Music of Studio Ghibli” an Asian population.

(April 14) and John People you’d never Williams’ “The Music of expect to be anime fans Star Wars” (May 1–3) know these films, and carefully states that audiences are hungry for no projections are things like this.” involved. But it bears Film music in the repeating, given the concert hall — both with CSO’s 2026–27 season and without the actual announcement that film — has blossomed includes three films, La in the past couple of La Land (September), decades, but not without Psycho (October) Wilbur Lin at a rehearsal of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra, controversy. Debates and Hook (January), where he is currently music director. (Credit: Notley Hawkins) have surfaced, both presented with live from the programming orchestra. and audience development perspectives, Lin says, In fact, not showing the Studio Ghibli or Star and continue on several fronts. “Some rightly say Wars movies for these programs is part of the point. it’s a great way to get people to a concert, but those “Hisaishi’s fan base may be smaller than John audiences don’t necessarily translate into ticket sales Williams’, but it’s just as devoted,” says former CSO for Mahler,” he says. “My argument, though, is that it Assistant Conductor Wilbur Lin, who returns to lead doesn’t really matter. Experiencing new music — and the Hisaishi program on April 14. (Pops Principal in the case of films with live orchestra, a new kind of Guest Conductor Damon Gupton conducts Williams’ art form — is in itself a worthy goal.”

Star Wars music in May.) “It doesn’t really matter For those unfamiliar with Hisaishi’s music, whether or not you show the films. People are there Lin offers a varied output, sampling scores from to hear the music.”

Kiki’s Delivery Service, Howl’s Moving Castle, For Lin, who left his native New Jersey for Taiwan Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro. “It’s like at age 6, Hayao Miyazaki’s feature films for Tokyo’s programming John Williams,” he says. “If you celebrated animation studio had been part of his showcase John Williams, you have to do Star Wars. personal filmgoing long before he ever thought of If you’re playing Hisaishi, Spirited Away has to be conducting the music Hisaishi composed for them. there. But they’re all a bit different.” Having started The scores first lured Lin to the podium in 2022, for in television, Hisaishi’s score to My Neighbor Totoro a program conceived by the Ann Arbor Symphony. sounds “more like commercial jingles than a proper After seeing the audience reaction, Lin brought film score,” Lin says. “As he grew with the films, his a revised version of the program to the Missouri music grew more connected to the stories and their Symphony, where he is now music director.

16 | 2025–26 SEASON

SPOTLIGHT

development. It even started to sound a lot like John Williams.” Though, he adds, it never totally lost its episodic quality.

“I may be reading too much difference here between East and West,” Lin observes, “but there isn’t the same sense of tension and release. The Ghibli films wouldn’t just point to a final conflict where things would emotionally burst. It’s just one new experience after another till you get to the end, which is all reflected in the music.”

While conducting to a projected film is much like ballet, where rhythmic precision and consistency are key, Lin compares film music concerts to opera.

“Once you hit the key points, the rest is artistic freedom,” he says. “The source material may be from film, but I treat it like classical repertory.”

The only difference, he explains, concerns audience familiarity with the music and their expectations. “If I’m doing music from Star Wars, where the tempo, the style, the ritardandos are pretty much set in our ears, I don’t stray too far. With Hisaishi, where most people haven’t seen the movie 10 times and don’t expect it to be the same, I take more artistic license.”

In contrast to ballet, where much of the musical repertory took time to reach the concert stage, film has made in-roads with symphonic ensembles in record time. “I think film music is not far from ballet now,” Lin says, citing programs pairing concert works and film music by Miklós Rózsa and

Erich Wolfgang Korngold, both European immigrants who helped shape the classic Hollywood sound. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s opening gala last year featured the Star Wars Suite alongside Conductor Wilbur Lin (Credit: Sarah Rachmaninoff’s Jane Photography) Symphonic Dances — a testament, Lin claims, both to how readily audiences have embraced film music and musicians have come to respect it.

“John Williams wrote his Star Wars music to be played in 30-second chunks. Once you stitch it together and play the whole thing, parts of it are as hard as a Wagner opera,” he says. “You can tell it’s becoming standard repertory, because whenever it’s on the program, you’re expected to play it without rehearsing. It shows how the orchestra world has matured, when even regional orchestras can perform the entire music from Star Wars. In the 1970s, that simply wasn’t imaginable.” 

Essay Contest Second Place Winner: ‘The Sound of Rain,’ cont. and reassuring us in moments of solitude that we are never truly alone. It turns our attention to the divine quality of life’s most ordinary moments and, in moments of deepest uncertainty, quietly reminds us of what makes life precious.

I place the bow on the string and begin to play.

Though I do not know this man’s story, I am singing about its beauty: about the sound of the rain and how it felt to feel his children’s tiny hands clasping his arms. I am singing, “This life was a good life.” I am singing, “Be at peace.”

Matthew Liversedge is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He grew up as a missionary kid in Cameroon and began

playing the cello after returning to the United States. The story in his essay took place while he was studying the cello at Vanderbilt University.

After finishing his degree in psychology and music, he spent several years working with young people in therapy and as an EMT during the Covid-19 pandemic before beginning his Matthew Liversedge medical degree. Liversedge plans to begin residency in Internal Medicine in 2026. He continues to love making music with his cello.

Fanfare Magazine | 17

CRISTIAN MĂCELARU, Music Director Louise Dieterle Nippert & Louis Nippert Chair

JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL, Cincinnati Pops Conductor Louise Dieterle Nippert & Louis Nippert Chair

Matthias Pintscher, CSO Creative Partner Damon Gupton, Pops Principal Guest Conductor Louis Langrée, Music Director Laureate Alex Amsel, Assistant Conductor Ashley and Barbara Ford Chair

Duo Shen, Assistant Conductor Ashley and Barbara Ford Chair

FIRST VIOLINS Stefani Matsuo

CELLOS Ilya Finkelshteyn

Felicity James

Lachezar Kostov*

Concertmaster Anna Sinton Taft Chair Associate Concertmaster Tom & Dee Stegman Chair

Philip Marten

First Assistant Concertmaster James M. Ewell Chair++

Eric Bates

Second Assistant Concertmaster Serge Shababian Chair

Principal Irene & John J. Emery Chair

CLARINETS Christopher Pell

Principal Emma Margaret & Irving D. Goldman Chair

Ona Hixson Dater Chair

Joseph Morris*

Karl & Roberta Schlachter Family Chair

Ixi Chen

[OPEN]

Drew Dansby§ Daniel Kaler

Peter G. Courlas– Nicholas Tsimaras Chair++

Associate Principal and E-flat Clarinet Robert E. & Fay Boeh Chair++ Vicky & Rick Reynolds Chair in honor of William A. Friedlander

Kathryn Woolley

Nicholas Mariscal

BASS CLARINET Ronald Aufmann

Anna Reider

Hiro Matsuo

BASSOONS Christopher Sales

Nicholas Tsimaras– Peter G. Courlas Chair++ Dianne & J. David Rosenberg Chair

Mauricio Aguiar§

Anne G. & Robert W. Dorsey Chair

Minyoung Baik‡

Jo Ann & Paul Ward Chair

James Braid

Marc Bohlke Chair given

by Katrin & Manfred Bohlke

Rebecca Kruger Fryxell Clifford J. Goosmann & Andrea M. Wilson Chair

Marvin Kolodzik & Linda S. Gallaher Chair for Cello Laura Kimble McLellan Chair++

Alan Rafferty

Ruth F. Rosevear Chair

Tianlu (Jerry) Xu BASSES Owen Lee

Principal Mary Alice Heekin Burke Chair++

Luis Celis*

Thomas Vanden Eynden Chair

Elizabeth Furuta Gerald Itzkoff

Stephen Jones**

Joseph Ohkubo Luo-Jia Wu Jonathan Yi

Boris Astafiev§ Michael Martin Gerald Torres Rick Vizachero

Jean Ten Have Chair

SECOND VIOLINS Gabriel Pegis Principal Al Levinson Chair

Yang Liu*

Harold B. & Betty Justice Chair

Scott Mozlin**

Henry Meyer Chair

Kun Dong

Trish & Rick Bryan Chair

HARP Gillian Benet Sella

Principal Cynthia & Frank Stewart Chair

FLUTES Randolph Bowman

Charles Gausmann Chair++

Principal Charles Frederic Goss Chair

Sheila and Christopher Cole Chair

Haley Bangs

Ida Ringling North Chair

PICCOLO Rebecca Pancner

Cheryl Benedict Evin Blomberg§ Rose Brown Rachel Charbel

Chika Kinderman Charles Morey Hyesun Park Michael Rau Stacey Woolley

Brenda & Ralph Taylor Chair++

VIOLAS Christian Colberg

Principal Louise D. & Louis Nippert Chair

Gabriel Napoli*

Grace M. Allen Chair

Julian Wilkison** Rebecca Barnes§ Christopher Fischer Stephen Fryxell

Melinda & Irwin Simon Chair

Caterina Longhi Denisse Rodriguez-Rivera Dan Wang Joanne Wojtowicz 18 | 2025–26 SEASON

Henrik Heide*

Principal Emalee Schavel Chair++

Martin Garcia*

Christy & Terry Horan Family Chair

Patricia Gross Linnemann Chair

OBOES Dwight Parry

Principal Josephine I. & David J. Joseph, Jr. Chair

[OPEN]*

Stephen P. McKean Chair

Emily Beare

ENGLISH HORN Christopher Philpotts

Principal Alberta & Dr. Maurice Marsh Chair++

TUBA Christopher Olka

Principal Ashley & Barbara Ford Chair

TIMPANI Patrick Schleker

Principal Matthew & Peg Woodside Chair

Joseph Bricker*

Morleen & Jack Rouse Chair

PERCUSSION David Fishlock

Principal Susan S. & William A. Friedlander Chair

Hugh Michie

Michael Culligan* Joseph Bricker

CONTRABASSOON Jennifer Monroe

Marc Wolfley+

HORNS Elizabeth Freimuth‡ Principal

David Alexander†

Acting Principal Mary M. & Charles F. Yeiser Chair

David Smith†

Acting Associate Principal Ellen A. & Richard C. Berghamer Chair

[OPEN]**

Sweeney Family Chair in memory of Donald C. Sweeney

Lisa Conway

Susanne & Philip O. Geier, Jr. Chair

Duane Dugger

Mary & Joseph S. Stern, Jr. Chair

Charles Bell

Donald & Margaret Robinson Chair

Carol J. Schroeder Chair Jane & David Ellis Chair

BASS TROMBONE Noah Roper

TRUMPETS Anthony Limoncelli Principal Rawson Chair

[OPEN]

Jackie & Roy Sweeney Family Chair

Alexander Pride†

Otto M. Budig Family Foundation Chair++

Christopher Kiradjieff

David C. Reed, MD Chair

TROMBONES Cristian Ganicenco

Principal, in memoriam Dorothy & John Hermanies Chair

Joseph Rodriguez**

Second/Assistant Principal Trombone Sallie Robinson Wadsworth & Randolph L. Wadsworth Jr. Chair

Morleen & Jack Rouse Chair

KEYBOARDS Michael Chertock

James P. Thornton Chair

Julie Spangler+

James P. Thornton Chair

LIBRARIANS Christina Eaton

Principal Librarian Lois Klein Jolson Chair

Elizabeth Dunning

Associate Principal Librarian

Cara Benner

Assistant Librarian

Citlalmina Hernandez Orchestra Library Intern

STAGE MANAGERS Brian P. Schott Phillip T. Sheridan Daniel Schultz Mike Ingram Andrew Sheridan § Begins the alphabetical listing of players who participate in a system of rotated seating within the string section. * Associate Principal ** Assistant Principal † One-year appointment ‡ Leave of absence + Cincinnati Pops rhythm section ++ CSO endowment only

AND

ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP

CRISTIAN MĂCELARU Music Director

JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL Cincinnati Pops Conductor

Louise Dieterle Nippert & Louis Nippert Chair

Louise Dieterle Nippert & Louis Nippert Chair

Grammy-winning conductor Cristian Măcelaru is Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Orchestre National de France, Artistic Director of the George Enescu International Festival and Competition, Artistic Director and Principal Alex Johnson Conductor of the Interlochen Center for the Arts’ World Youth Symphony Orchestra, Music Director and Conductor of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and Distinguished Visiting Artist at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. He also serves as Artistic Partner of the WDR Sinfonieorchester in Cologne, where he was Chief Conductor from the 2019–20 through 2024–25 seasons.

Măcelaru’s 2025–26 guest engagements include debuts with the Münchner Philharmoniker and Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, as well as returns with Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Czech Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony.

Măcelaru’s previous seasons include European engagements with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Concertgebouworkest, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Budapest Festival Orchestra and Wiener Symphoniker. In North America, he has led the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra. He is equally at home as a conductor of opera, with career highlights including productions of Don Giovanni with the Houston Grand Opera and Madama Butterfly with Opera Națională București.

In 2020, Măcelaru received a Grammy Award for conducting the Decca Classics recording of Wynton Marsalis’ Violin Concerto with Nicola Benedetti and The Philadelphia Orchestra. His highly anticipated recording of George Enescu’s complete symphonic works with the Orchestre National de France was released in April 2024 on Deutsche Grammophon.

September 2025 marks the release of Măcelaru’s and the Orchestre National de France’s Ravel Paris 2025 album on the naïve label, featuring the symphonic works of Maurice Ravel in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth.

John Morris Russell’s (JMR) embrace of America’s unique voice and musical stories has transformed how orchestral performances connect and engage with audiences. As conductor of the Cincinnati Pops since 2011, the wide range and diversity of his work as a musical leader, Mark Lyons collaborator and educator continues to reinvigorate the musical scene throughout Cincinnati and across the continent.

As Music Director of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina, JMR conducts the classical series as well as the prestigious Hilton Head International Piano Competition.

A Grammy-nominated artist, JMR has worked with leading performers from across a variety of musical genres, including Aretha Franklin, Emanuel Ax, Amy Grant and Vince Gill, Garrick Ohlsson, Rhiannon Giddens, Hilary Hahn, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Cynthia Erivo, Sutton Foster, George Takei, Steve Martin, Brian Wilson, Leslie Odom, Jr., Lea Salonga and Mandy Gonzalez.

For over two decades, JMR has led the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s wildly successful Classical Roots initiative honoring and celebrating Black musical excellence. Guest artists have included Marvin Winans, Alton Fitzgerald White, George Shirley, Common and Hi-Tek. JMR has contributed seven albums to the Cincinnati Pops discography, including 2023’s holiday album JOY!. In 2015, he created the “American Originals Project,” which has won both critical and popular acclaim and features two landmark recordings: American Originals (the music of Stephen Foster) and the Grammynominated American Originals 1918 (a tribute to the dawn of the jazz age). The 2020 “American Originals” concert King Records and the Cincinnati Sound with Late Show pianist Paul Shaffer honored legendary recording artists associated with the Queen City. In the 2024–25 season JMR took on the next installment of the project, offering a concert and recording (released March 2026) celebrating the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance, and presented a national PBS broadcast of Rick Steves’ Europe: A Symphonic Journey. JMR’s American Soundscapes video series with the Pops and Cincinnati’s CET public television station has surpassed one million views on YouTube since its launch in 2016.

©

©

For more information about Cristian Măcelaru and John Morris Russell, please visit cincinnatisymphony.org/about/artistic-leadership.

Fanfare Magazine | 19

Celebrating the brilliance that art brings to life.

PNC is proud to be the Pops Season Presenter and to support the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops. Thank you for mastering the art of making Greater Cincinnati a more brilliantly beautiful place.

Brilliantly Boring since 1865 is a service mark of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. ©2026 The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. All rights reserved. PNC Bank, National Association. Member FDIC.

THE MUSIC OF STUDIO GHIBLI | 2025–26 SEASON TUE APR 14, 7:30 PM | Music Hall

Wilbur Lin conductor Chika Kinderman narrator Symphonic Variation “Merry-Go-Round” from Howl’s Moving Castle

Joe Hisaishi

My Neighbor Totoro Orchestra Stories

Joe Hisaishi

Hey Let’s Go The Village in May Dust Bunnies Mother A Little Monster Totoro The Path of the Wind A Lost Child Cat Bus My Neighbor Totoro

INTERMISSION “A Town with an Ocean View” from Kiki’s Delivery Service Symphonic Suite*

Joe Hisaishi

Spirited Away Suite

Joe Hisaishi

One Summer’s Day Nighttime Coming The Gods View of the Morning The Bottomless Pit The Dragon Boy No Face The Sixth Station Reprise The Return

Program subject to change.

For insights into this program and film music in general, please read the article on p. 16, “Studio Ghibli Conductor Wilbur Lin on the Art of the Film Score.”

The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra is grateful to Pops Season Presenter PNC, Support Sponsor Asianati and Supporter Sponsor CinSei. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is grateful for the support of the Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund of the Greenacres Foundation, the Nina Browne Parker Trust, and the thousands of people who give generously to the ArtsWave Community Campaign, the region’s primary source for arts funding. This project was supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The CSO in-orchestra Steinway piano is made possible in part by the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trust.

Fanfare Magazine | 21

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MENDELSSOHN SYMPHONY NO. 3 | 2025–26 SEASON FRI APR 17, 11 AM | SAT APR 18, 7:30 PM Music Hall

Kristiina Poska conductor Lise de la Salle piano Julia Adolphe

Underneath the Sheen

(b. 1988)

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)

Concerto No. 2 in F Minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 21 Maestoso Larghetto Allegro vivace

INTERMISSION

Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847)

Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 56, Scottish Andante con moto. Allegro un poco agitato Vivace non troppo Adagio Allegro vivacissimo. Allegro maestoso assai

These performances are approximately 115 minutes long, including intermission.

The CSO is grateful to CSO Season Sponsor Western & Southern Financial Group.

These concerts are endowed by Martha Anness, Priscilla Haffner & Sally Skidmore in loving memory of their mother, LaVaughn Scholl Garrison, a long-time patron of the Orchestra.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is grateful for the support of the Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund of the Greenacres Foundation, the Nina Browne Parker Trust, and the thousands of people who give generously to the ArtsWave Community Campaign, the region’s primary source for arts funding. This project was supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Pre-Concert Talks are made possible by an endowed gift from Melody Sawyer Richardson.

WGUC is the Media Partner for these concerts. This concert will air on 90.9 WGUC on May 31, 2026, followed by 30 days of streaming at cincinnatisymphony.org/replay.

The CSO in-orchestra Steinway piano is made possible in part by the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trust.

Fanfare Magazine | 23

CONCERT PREVIEW ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Kristiina Poska, conductor

Kaupo Kikkas

©

The award-winning conductor Kristiina Poska is in high demand on the international music scene. She has held the post of chief conductor of the Flanders Symphony Orchestra since the 2019–20 season and principal guest conductor of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra since 2021–22, and she began her tenure as music director of Orchestre Français des Jeunes in summer 2025. She studied choral conducting at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn and orchestral conducting at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin. Poska was a finalist at the renowned Donatella Flick London Symphony Orchestra Competition in 2010 and at the Malko Competition in May 2012, where she also won the audience prize. She then went on to win the prestigious German Conductors’ Prize in April 2013.

This season’s highlights include several debuts — with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Colorado Symphony in North America, Orquesta Sinfónica de Euskadi and Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao in Spain, the Swedish Radio and Norwegian Radio symphony orchestras in Scandinavia, as well as Orchestre national de Montpellier, Lahti Symphony Orchestra and Grazer Philharmoniker.

During the concert season, she returns to the Orchestre National de France and Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and she tours with the Flanders Symphony Orchestra several times, performing in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Estonia. As the new music director of the Orchestre Français des Jeunes, she embarked on two European tours at the end of the summer of 2025.

Equally prolific in the operatic repertoire, Poska debuts at the Opéra de Dijon this season, conducting a double bill production featuring Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Strauss’ Metamorphosen directed by Dominique Pitoiset.

Together with the Flanders Symphony Orchestra, Poska is recording the complete Beethoven cycle for the label Fuga Libera. kristiinaposka.com

Lise de la Salle, piano

Philippe Porter

©

24 | 2025–26 SEASON

Lise de la Salle is an internationally recognized pianist with a career spanning over 20 years. Her award-winning recordings and international performances have made her a prominent figure among contemporary pianists.

Her 2025–26 season features collaborations with orchestras such as Staatskapelle Berlin, Wiener Symphoniker, Antwerp Symphony and Polish National Radio Symphony, as well as Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Shanghai Philharmonic, Enescu Philharmonic, Colorado Springs Philharmonic and the Gulbenkian Orchestra. She also tours with the Philharmonie zuidnederland.

Lise de la Salle has played with many leading orchestras across the globe, including the Chicago, Boston and Washington symphony orchestras; the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Philharmonia and BBC and London symphony orchestras; and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Münchner Philharmoniker, Dresden Staatskapelle, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Della RAI, Rotterdam Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and NHK Symphony Orchestra; and the Singapore and Tokyo Metropolitan symphony orchestras. She also conducts masterclasses in many of the cities in which she performs.

Her extensive discography on Naïve includes critically acclaimed recordings such as an all-Chopin album and a Liszt album, which was awarded a Diapason d’Or in Gramophone magazine. Her latest releases include When Do We Dance?, which explores a century of dance music, and Phantasmagoria, dedicated to Liszt and featuring his famous Sonata.

Lise de la Salle began playing piano at age 4 and gave her first concert at 9, broadcast live on Radio France. A graduate of the Paris Conservatoire, she studied with Pascal Nemirovski and was mentored by Geneviève Joy-Dutilleux. She won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York in 2004. lisedelasalle.com

CONCERT PREVIEW

n PROGRAM NOTES

Julia Adolphe: Underneath the Sheen  Composed: 2018  Premiere: September 27, 2018 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Walt Disney

Concert Hall, Gustavo Dudamel conducting

 Instrumentation: 2 flutes (incl. alto flute, piccolo), 2 oboes (incl. English horn),

2 clarinets (incl. bass clarinet), 2 bassoons (incl. contrabassoon), 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, crotales, maracas, marimba, suspended cymbals, tam-tam, tambour de Basque, temple blocks, tom-tom, vibraphone, harp, piano, strings  CSO notable performances: These are the first CSO performances of Underneath the Sheen.  Duration: approx. 8 minutes

Julia Adolphe’s music is performed across the U.S. and abroad by renowned orchestras and ensembles such as the Los Angeles and New York philharmonics; the Boston, Cincinnati and BBC symphony orchestras; Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Orchestre Métropolitain, Minnesota Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, the Sitkovetsky Trio, the Norwegian and Los Angeles chamber orchestras and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, as well as soprano Hila Plitmann and pianist Gloria Cheng, among others. Adolphe’s awards include a Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, an OPERA America Discovery Grant, an ASCAP Young Composer Award and a Charles Ives Scholarship from the Academy of Arts and Letters.

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, where she studied with Steven Stucky and Stephen Hartke.

Recent commissions include Chrysalis, a cello concerto for Seth Parker Woods and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and a large-scale choral work with celebrated poet Safiya Sinclair, to be announced. Other works include the violin concerto Woven Loom, Silver Spindle, also commissioned by the LA Philharmonic for Martin Chalifour; the orchestral work Makeshift Castle (2023), co-commissioned by the Boston Symphony and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig; Adolphe’s chorus and orchestra piece Crown of Hummingbirds (2023), a collaboration with Safiya Sinclair and commissioned by the Cincinnati May Festival; and her piano trio Etched in Smoke and Light, commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The Soraya and Arizona Friends of Chamber Music for the Sitkovetsky Trio.

Passionate about de-stigmatizing mental illness and dispelling the myth of the tortured artist, Adolphe is the creator and host of the podcast LooseLeaf NoteBook. juliaadolphe.com Of Underneath the Sheen, which was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, Adolphe wrote:

Born: May 16, 1988, New York, New York

Underneath the Sheen envisions the movement of light edging and shining through a canopy of leaves and branches as observed from the forest floor. The endurance and quiet omnipotence of California’s Redwood trees served as the source of inspiration.

Standing beneath these trees is a humbling and exhilarating experience, a stunning reminder of the simultaneous power and fragility of nature. The immense roots, twisting and turning, the mist hanging in the air, and the beams of light entering the forest ceiling create a striking enclosure, encasing the observer in an otherworldly realm. The music explores this oddly foreign yet deeply intimate atmosphere, a sense of a lost home, a state of vulnerability.

Fanfare Magazine | 25

CONCERT PREVIEW

Frédéric Chopin: Concerto No. 2 in F Minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 21  Composed: 1829  Premiere: March 17, 1830, Warsaw, Poland (Warsaw National Theatre), Frédéric

Chopin, piano

 Instrumentation: solo piano, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns,

2 trumpets, bass trombone, timpani, strings

 CSO notable performances: First: December 1897, Frank Van der Stucken

conducting; Richard Burmeister, piano. Most Recent: September 2014, Louis Langrée conducting; Emanuel Ax, piano.  Duration: approx. 32 minutes

Born: March 1, 1810, Żelazowa Wola, Poland Died: October 17, 1849, Paris, France

26 | 2025–26 SEASON

Success caught Frédéric Chopin off guard. On August 11, 1829, the 19-year-old gave a concert at the Kärntnertor Theatre in Vienna that featured an unpublished set of variations for piano and orchestra on the duet “Là ci darem la mano” (“There We Will Give Each Other Our Hands”), from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and a free fantasy on operatic and Polish themes. The choice mix of exotic, theatrical and local fare won over the Viennese, who induced Chopin to appear again a week later, when he performed (by popular request) the Mozart Variations and introduced his Rondo à la Krakowiak. On August 20, 1829, encouraged by his surprise success and inspired

by Vienna’s vibrant musical scene, Chopin left the city with hopes of conquering Europe as a virtuoso composer-pianist.

Although Chopin had substantial works for piano and orchestra in his compositional portfolio, he had yet to write a full concerto. Results came quickly: he presented the F Minor Concerto on March 17, 1830, as the anchor piece to his official public debut at Warsaw’s National Theatre, which also saw the premiere of his Potpourri on Polish Themes for piano and orchestra (later published as the Fantasia on Polish Airs, Op. 13). According to one newspaper report, over 800 people attended the event, and “it was agreed that he belongs among the greatest masters.” Less than seven months later, he was again on stage for a “farewell” concert that saw the premiere of another concerto, this time in E minor.

With two concertos in hand, Chopin planned a route established by many an aspiring virtuoso: impress Vienna (again), tour Italy and then aim for success in Paris and London. Yet, soon after arriving in Vienna in November 1830, a failed assassination attempt on Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich of Russia abruptly closed off the border to his homeland. With a return to Warsaw now impossible, Chopin found himself in Vienna alone and impoverished, cut off from the financial resources and professional networks that were essential to realizing his long-range plans. As a result, he had to rearrange much of his original itinerary, eliminating the Italian leg and instead proceeding, after many frustrating delays, to Paris by way of Munich and Stuttgart.

While the musical cognoscenti rallied around Chopin’s genius, the general press did not. Chopin’s anti-virtuosic style — intimate, introspective, inviting — clashed with the powerful, near-overwhelming personalities of Niccolò Paganini and Franz Liszt, whose onstage habits profoundly shaped the practice of modern public performance. With popular success unlikely, Chopin pivoted, building a studio of students drawn from some of Paris’ most elite families and offering a substantial back catalog of completed compositions to influential publishers. The piano concertos were among this first wave of compositions that Chopin released during his first years in Paris: the Piano Concerto in E Minor was published in June 1833 as Op. 11, while the Concerto in F Minor, although the first to be composed, appeared in 1836 as Chopin’s second.

Chopin’s F Minor Concerto shares much with the concerted works of the preeminent virtuosos of Chopin’s youth, but it also transcends them in several important ways. They had used embellishment techniques as melodic window dressing; with Chopin the techniques become essential tools for thematic development. For instance, after the piano’s dramatic entrance in the first

CONCERT PREVIEW

movement, it dutifully takes up the principal theme. Yet the phrase destabilizes as it progresses, on account of increased ornamentation in the right hand. Chopin’s employment of this approach for the entire first theme group makes the transition to the next section nearly seamless, thus creating the impression of organic, continuous growth and change.

By contrast, the second movement owes its timeless appeal to an intensity of rhetorical expression shaped by an extraordinary array of melodic permutations and performative gestures. A sweeping pass through four-and-a-half octaves lands on an exposed, high E-flat, the first pitch of a melody long celebrated as an aria without words. The inspiration for such a dramatic scene came from the singer Konstancja Gładkowska, whom Chopin adored from afar for the better part of 1829 and into the early months of 1830. A blend of nocturne and dramatic recitative, the second movement is notable for its juxtaposition of anguished lyricism and brash, defiant octave outbursts, almost as if the teenage Chopin is trying to articulate his authentic voice before a distant beloved.

If the second movement offers a glimpse of Chopin as (hopeless) romantic, the finale projects his national identity. The main theme is indebted to the Polish mazurka, albeit colored by elements typically associated with the cosmopolitan waltz. Chopin’s designation of “Rondo” is also a bit misleading, as he infuses the genre’s traditional sectional design with extended episodes that take on developmental functions, thus tipping the movement’s formal paradigm toward the sonata. Notable, too, are the subtle rhythmic transformations that characterize the fulsome middle section, the overdue opportunities for members of the orchestra to add meaningfully to the sonic palette (e.g., col legno strings [drawing the wood stick of the bow across the strings], horn fanfare), and the rambunctious hemiolas [rhythmic hiccups] and harmonic asides that characterize the piano writing. Taken as a whole, the concerto is an astonishing testament to Chopin’s youthful genius and a harbinger of his many innovations to come.

— ©Jonathan Kregor, University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music

Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 56, Scottish  Composed: 1841–1842  Premiere: March 3, 1842, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Felix Mendelssohn

conducting

 Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets,

timpani, strings

 CSO notable performances: First: April 1895, Henry Schradieck conducting. Most

Recent: November 2021, Roderick Cox conducting.  Duration: approx. 40 minutes

A gifted prodigy, Felix Mendelssohn is remembered as one of the great German composers of the 19th century. Along with his talented sister Fanny, Felix demonstrated musical genius as a child, playing piano and violin, singing and skillfully practicing music theory and composition. He came into his own as a composer in the 1820s, fully launching his career just as Beethoven’s career ended.

Well-known for his orchestral, choral and pianistic writing, Mendelssohn’s musical style reflects the clarity of the Classical forms he studied as well as the dramatic musical aesthetics of Romanticism. One of his most frequently performed works, the Scottish Symphony No. 3, demonstrates his masterful skill in composing.

Much of Mendelssohn’s early life was spent in Berlin, where he received musical and general education from tutors and private teachers. Around 1819, he entered into an apprenticeship with Carl Friedrich Zelter, the director of the Berlin Singakademie, who taught the young Mendelssohn theory and compositional techniques. Mendelssohn soon pursued increasingly larger composition projects, including piano works, chamber music, choral works and Singspiels. He wrote his first symphony in 1824, and he composed his well-known Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1826.

Born: February 3, 1809, Hamburg, Germany Died: November 4, 1847, Leipzig, Germany

Fanfare Magazine | 27

CONCERT PREVIEW

In 1829, Mendelssohn decided to travel to England, Italy and France in a grand tour of conducting, performing and composing. This tour would also prove to be important for Mendelssohn to establish relationships and reunite with musical friends in the various cities he visited, bolstering his career and professional connections. He traveled to London in the spring of 1829 before returning to Berlin in December. He embarked for Italy in the spring of 1830, passing through Munich and Vienna before proceeding to Venice, Florence and finally Rome. After several months, he set out again, passing through several cities before arriving in Paris in December 1831. Mendelssohn returned to London in April 1832 and finally returned to Berlin in June.

Having completed his grand tour, Mendelssohn contemplated career prospects.

He took on a position as the Düsseldorf music director in October 1833, but he grew dissatisfied and pursued other opportunities. In September 1835, he began a new position as the municipal music director of Leipzig and conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. This transition proved to be a positive move, as Mendelssohn would maintain his affiliation with Leipzig for the rest of his life. In 1840, Friedrich Wilhelm IV succeeded his father as King of Prussia, and, as part of his plan to revive arts in Berlin, he appointed Mendelssohn as Kapellmeister. For the next several years, Mendelssohn traveled back and forth between Berlin and Leipzig, overseeing various aspects of musical life in Berlin, continuing his duties with the Gewandhaus and establishing a new conservatory in Leipzig. In May 1847, he learned the devastating news of his sister Fanny’s death. A few months later, his own health declined as he suffered a series of strokes, and he died in November 1847. A funeral service was held for Mendelssohn in Leipzig, and he was buried in Berlin next to Fanny’s grave.

Many great compositions make up Mendelssohn’s musical legacy, including the Scottish Symphony. Though published as Symphony No. 3, it was the last of the five symphonies Mendelssohn composed. A long period of time passed between his conception of the symphony and its completion. Mendelssohn decided to write his Scottish Symphony while visiting Scotland during his grand tour early in his career. When he traveled to London in 1829, Mendelssohn had free time after the Philharmonic Society’s season had ended, so he journeyed to Scotland with his friend, the poet Karl Klingemann. They visited Edinburgh, where the Holyrood Palace gave Mendelssohn the inspiration for the opening of his Scottish Symphony.

Their tour of the Highlands sparked the creativity of both men, as Klingemann wrote poetry and Mendelssohn sketched the landscapes. Upon reaching the western coast, they caught their first glimpse of the Hebrides. Seeing the cluster of islands and visiting Fingal’s Cave on the island of Staffa inspired Mendelssohn to compose his Hebrides Overture, a picturesque orchestral overture that captures the beauty of the islands and the sound of the sea. From there, they traveled to Glasgow and then Liverpool, at which point Klingemann returned to London and Mendelssohn continued on to Wales. The memorable trip through Scotland provided Mendelssohn with the musical ideas and motivation to compose his Scottish Symphony, though he ended up setting his work aside for a while. He returned to working on the symphony in 1841, completing it while performing his duties in Berlin early in 1842 and premiering it in Leipzig a couple months later.

Mendelssohn later premiered the symphony in London and dedicated the piece to Queen Victoria.

Although Mendelssohn often referenced his symphony as his “Scottish” or “Scotch” in his own writing and correspondence in 1829, he did not explicitly label it as such when he completed the work in 1842. He did not provide a descriptive title or program to accompany the symphony to suggest a Scottish narrative.

Nevertheless, for many listeners, the history of the piece and its rich orchestration evoke the picturesque landscapes of Scotland. Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 consists of four movements that are generally performed without pauses between

28 | 2025–26 SEASON

CONCERT PREVIEW

the movements. The first movement begins with a slow introduction, the initial theme presented in the dark colors of the viola and low-register winds. A new section begins with the clarinet and violins presenting the second theme. It begins softly and gently but grows in intensity to a more agitated style. Rapid bursts of agitation balance with smoother and calmer sections. The first movement closes with pizzicato strings before continuing into the second movement, a scherzo, in which the music moves quickly and with spirit and a lively clarinet theme evokes the style of Scottish folk music, in a pentatonic scale and the rhythm of the Scotch snap. This energy continues through to the third movement, a much slower Adagio that begins softly, highlighting an expressive violin melody followed by a stately and somber march of dotted rhythms. The final movement, Allegro guerriero (“warlike”), restores the agitated energy of the first movement, introducing a skipping theme in the violin that is passed around among the instruments. Mendelssohn includes an innovative coda to close the fourth movement, which almost serves as a fifth movement. The coda introduces a new majestic theme in the key of A major. This broad sweeping theme resolves the tension of the symphony, closing the piece with what we might imagine to be a depiction of the pastoral Scottish landscape.

—©Dr. Rebecca Schreiber

To view the Digital Program for exclusive content, such as full-length program notes and artist biographies, please text PROGRAM to 513.845.3024*, use your mobile device to scan the QR code or visit cincinnatisymphony.org/digitalprogram. *By texting to this number, you may receive messages that pertain to the organization and its performances; msg & data rates may apply. Reply HELP to help, STOP to cancel.

Fanfare Magazine | 29

CSO THANKS

THE CINCINNATI SYMPHONY CLUB 103 YEARS OF SUPPORT

STRAVINSKY’S FIREBIRD | 2025–26 SEASON FRI APR 24, 7:30 PM | SAT APR 25, 7:30 PM Music Hall

Cristian Măcelaru conductor Janni Younge director Gustav Mahler

Totenfeier

(1860–1911)

INTERMISSION

Igor Stravinsky

L’Oiseau de feu (“The Firebird”), complete ballet

(1882–1971)

These performances are approximately 105 minutes long, including intermission.

The CSO is grateful to CSO Season Sponsor Western & Southern Financial Group/ Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Series Sponsor Cincinnati Symphony Club, Presenting Sponsor Peter E. Landgren and Judith Schonbach Landgren and Performance Sponsor Rock Island Realty.

The Firebird is generously supported by the David C. Herriman Fund of Greater Cincinnati Foundation.

Peter E. Landgren and Judith Schonbach Landgren

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is grateful for the support of the Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund of the Greenacres Foundation, the Nina Browne Parker Trust, and the thousands of people who give generously to the ArtsWave Community Campaign, the region’s primary source for arts funding. This project was supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Pre-Concert Talks are made possible by an endowed gift from Melody Sawyer Richardson.

WGUC is the Media Partner for these concerts. This concert will air on 90.9 WGUC on June 21, 2026, followed by 30 days of streaming at cincinnatisymphony.org/replay.

The CSO in-orchestra Steinway piano is made possible in part by the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trust.

Fanfare Magazine | 31

CONCERT PREVIEW ABOUT THE PROGRAM with Cristian Măcelaru, Music Director

Alex Johnson

©

Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird is a marvel of musical storytelling. Even those who don’t know the ins and outs of the 1910 ballet — its central lovers, attempts by the evil sorcerer Kastchei to thwart them, and the lovers’ final triumph, with the help of a mystical Firebird — are moved by the vividness of Stravinsky’s musical language.

In these concerts, sonic lushness meets visual spectacle as director and puppeteer Janni Younge presents her contemporary take on the Firebird fable, with imagery inspired by her native South Africa.

According to Music Director Cristian Măcelaru, the “visually stunning” production is a perfect choice for CSO first-timers.

“It’s my way of inviting a much greater community, age-wise, to come to the concert, whether they’re 12 or 13 or inviting their grandparents,” he says.

We mostly hear The Firebird through its popular suite, now a mainstay on orchestra programs. Here, Younge’s troupe and the CSO present the ballet in its entirety. And who better to take on the entire opus than the CSO, which also serves as the pit orchestra for the Cincinnati Ballet?

“Stravinsky’s music was never intended to be abstracted from the story.

It’s actually a narrative, rather than just emotions,” Măcelaru tells Fanfare Magazine. “This music is helped tremendously by an orchestra that has the practice of defining characters in their musical gestures.”

In keeping with the concert’s themes of death and rebirth, Măcelaru pairs The Firebird with Gustav Mahler’s Totenfeier (“Funeral Rites”), a tone poem Mahler later adapted for the opening of his Symphony No. 2, Resurrection.

“I wanted to present something that balances the weight of Stravinsky’s music,” Măcelaru says. “I think those who know Mahler’s music will both recognize some things and be able to discover a new take on a composer that they’re familiar with.”

—Hannah Edgar

To view the Digital Program for exclusive content, such as full-length program notes and artist biographies, please text PROGRAM to 513.845.3024*, use your mobile device to scan the QR code or visit cincinnatisymphony.org/digitalprogram. *By texting to this number, you may receive messages that pertain to the organization and its performances; msg & data rates may apply. Reply HELP to help, STOP to cancel.

32 | 2025–26 SEASON

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ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Cristian Măcelaru, conductor A complete biography for Music Director Cristian Măcelaru can be found on p. 19.

Janni Younge, director Janni Younge is a director and producer of theatre with an emphasis on puppetry.

Younge’s work has been performed widely internationally in North and South America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and India.

Recognition for her work includes the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Theatre, four-time winner of the Fleur du Cap award for puppet design and best director at the I Festiwal małych Prapremier in Poland. In 2018, she was selected as the Grenada Artist-in-Residence at the University of California, Davis, where she designed and co-directed The Bluest Eye. The show went on to win four awards at the American College Theatre Festival.

A past director of Handspring Puppet Company, she currently runs Janni Younge Productions. She also directs UNIMA South Africa, a UNESCO-affiliated organization that works for the development and training of visual performance artists and focuses on social development through visual performance mediums.

Younge’s works include Hamlet and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye (Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival); puppet design and direction for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Tempest; Ouroboros (South Africa, France and India); The Firebird (U.S. venues including Ravinia and the Hollywood Bowl); and Take Flight, winner of the best director award at the I Festiwal małych Prapremier in Poland.

With Handspring, Younge also directed revivals of William Kentridge’s Woyzeck on the Highveld and Ubu and the Truth Commission, and she worked on War Horse and on the Bristol Old Vic’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Younge is a graduate of the French National School of Puppet Theatre and has a B.A. in Fine Art and an M.A. in Theatre. janniyounge.com

n PROGRAM NOTES

Gustav Mahler: Totenfeier  Composed: 1888  Premiere: March 16, 1896, by the Berlin Philharmonic, Mahler conducting  Instrumentation: 3 flutes (incl. piccolo), 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass

clarinet, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, crash cymbals, tam-tam, triangle, harp, strings  CSO notable performances: First: April 1991, Jesús Lopez Cobos conducting. Most recent: October 2007, Paavo Järvi conducting.  Duration: approx. 23 minutes

In August 1886, the distinguished conductor Arthur Nikisch appointed the 26-yearold Gustav Mahler as his assistant at the Leipzig Opera. At Leipzig, Mahler met Carl von Weber, grandson of the German Romantic composer Carl Maria von Weber, and the two worked on a new performing edition of the elder Weber’s virtually forgotten opera Die drei Pintos (“The Three Pintos”). Following the premiere of Die drei Pintos, on January 20, 1888, Mahler attended a reception in a room filled with flowers. That seemingly beneficent image played on his mind, becoming transmogrified into nightmares and waking visions, almost hallucinations, of himself on a funeral bier surrounded by floral wreaths.

Spurred by the startling visions of his own death (and almost immediately after completing his Symphony No. 1 in March 1888), he conceived a new work called Totenfeier (“Funeral Rite”). Although he inscribed his manuscript Symphony in C minor/First Movement, Mahler had no clear idea at the time what sort of music would follow Totenfeier, and he considered allowing the movement to stand as an independent composition. He completed the score on September 10, 1888.

The next five years were ones of intense professional and personal activity for Mahler. He resigned from the Leipzig Opera in May 1888 to take a new post in

Born: July 7, 1860, Kalist, Bohemia Died: May 18, 1911, Vienna, Austria

Fanfare Magazine | 33

CONCERT PREVIEW

Budapest. In 1891, he switched jobs again, leaving Budapest to join the prestigious Hamburg Opera as principal conductor. There he encountered the esteemed pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow, then director of the Hamburg Philharmonic concerts.

Encouraged by Bülow’s admiration of his conducting, Mahler asked for his comments on the still-unperformed Totenfeier. Mahler described their encounter: When I played my Totenfeier, Bülow fell into a state of extreme nervous tension, clapped his hands over his ears and exclaimed, “Beside your music, Tristan sounds as simple as a Haydn symphony!” We parted in complete friendship, I, however, convinced that Bülow considers me an able conductor but absolutely hopeless as a composer.

Mahler, who throughout his career considered his composition more important than his conducting, was deeply wounded by this behavior, but he controlled his anger out of respect for Bülow, who had extended him many kindnesses and become something of a mentor. Bülow did nothing to quell his doubts about the quality of his creative work, however, and Mahler, who had written nothing since Totenfeier three years before, was at a crisis in his career as a composer.

The year after Bülow’s withering criticisms, Mahler found inspiration to compose again in a collection of German folk poems titled Des Knaben Wunderhorn (“The Youth’s Magic Horn”). The following summer, when he was free from the pressures of conducting, he took rustic lodgings in the village of Steinbach on Lake Attersee in the lovely Austrian Salzkammergut, near Salzburg, and it was there that he resumed work on the Second Symphony, five years after Totenfeier had been completed.

Without a clear plan as to how they would fit into the Symphony’s overall structure, he used two of the Wunderhorn songs from the preceding year as the bases for the internal movements of the piece then newly composed the Andante, added a setting of the anonymous poem Urlicht (“Primal Light”) for contralto solo and revised Totenfeier as the first movement. He retained almost all of Totenfeier’s musical content and structure, but thoroughly revised its orchestration, nearly doubling its

PPRESENTING R E S E NTI N G SPONSORS S P O N SO R S

OF STRAVINSKY’S FIREBIRD | April 24 & 25

OF MOZART & BRUCKNE R Peter Landgren and

Peter E. Landgren and Judith Schonbach Landgren Judith Schonbach Landgren

who enthusiastically support the musicians of the CSO and Music Director CRISTIAN MACELARU. MӐCELARU. ˘ Music Director CHRISTIAN are excited to welcome a new era with

34 | 2025–26 SEASON

CONCERT PREVIEW

woodwind and brass contingents, augmenting the percussion and adding a second harp and off-stage trumpets and horns.

By the end of the summer of 1893, the first four movements of the Second Symphony were complete, but Mahler was still unsure about the work’s ending — the finality implied by the opening Funeral Rite seemed to allow no logical progression to another point of climax. As a response to the questions posed by the first movement, he envisioned a grand choral close for the work, much in the manner of the triumphant ending of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Still, no solution presented itself — until the 1894 memorial service for Bülow, who had died suddently at Cairo on February 12, 1894. There Mahler had heard children singing Klopstock’s profound poem Auferstehen (“Resurrection”) and knew that he had found the basis for the finale of the Second Symphony.

On June 29, 1894, three months later, Mahler completed his monumental Symphony No. 2, Resurrection. He premiered the complete symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic on December 13, 1895; he conducted Totenfeier three months later, on March 16, 1896 in Berlin, as an independent work. The piece was not performed again until the score of the original version was published in 1988, the centenary of its composition.

Mahler wrote of Totenfeier: We stand by the coffin of a well-loved person. His life, struggles, passions and aspirations once more, for the last time, pass before our mind’s eye. — And now in this moment of gravity and of emotion which convulses our deepest being, when we lay aside like a covering everything that from day to day perplexes us and drags us down, our heart is gripped by a dreadfully serious voice which always passes us by in the deafening bustle of daily life: What now? What is this life — and this death? Do we have an existence beyond it? Is all this only a confused dream, or do life and this death have a meaning? — And we must answer this question if we are to live on.

—©Dr. Richard E. Rodda

Igor Stravinsky: L’Oiseau de feu (“The Firebird”), complete ballet  Composed: 1910  Premiere: June 25, 1910, Palais Garnier in Paris by the Ballets Russes  Instrumentation: 3 flutes (incl. piccolo), piccolo, 3 oboes, English horn, 3 clarinets

(incl. clarinet in D), bass clarinet, 3 bassoons (incl. contrabassoon), contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, bass drum with attached cymbal, chimes, crash cymbals, glockenspiel, orchestra bells, suspended cymbals, tam-tam, tambour de Basque, triangle, xylophone, 3 harps, celeste, piano, strings  CSO notable performances: (complete ballet) First: November 1945, at a special concert with The Russian Ballet. Most recent: October 1981, Michael Gielen conducting. Other (suites): Igor Stravinsky conducted the CSO in the 1919 Firebird Suite in March 1925; several CSO performances of the various Firebird Suites (1911, 1919 and 1945) have occurred since 1920, with one notable performance in 1944, when Leonard Bernstein led the CSO in the 1919 Suite on tour in Parkersburg, West Virginia.  Duration: approx. 44 minutes

The Russian ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev, equal parts dictator and devil, charmer and charlatan, had a reputation for eccentricity and remorseless ambition, yet his first season with the Ballets Russes, in 1909, at the height of the Parisian mania for all things Russian, dazzled audiences with breathtaking dancing and stunning visual designs. Only the music had come under criticism in the press for its lack of novelty, so Diaghilev went in search of a composer (four had already turned him down), working his way through the Who’s Who of Rimsky-Korsakov’s students before he found a willing volunteer: Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky was a driven young man who had not yet established himself and stood to benefit from the opportunity and the recognition the impresario offered. Thus, in December of 1909, Stravinsky joined the production team.

Their choice of title for their new production was a brilliant marketing strategy, because it cashed in both on common perceptions of “Russian-ness” and associations with the avant garde in artistic circles. Prior to coming to Paris, Diaghilev had

Born: June 17, 1882, Oranienbaum, Russia Died: April 6, 1971, New York City

Fanfare Magazine | 35

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CONCERT PREVIEW

helmed one of St. Petersburg’s most prominent art journals, Mir Iskusstva (“The World of Art”), which championed an “art for art’s sake” philosophy that its critics declared decadent. It favored style and affect over realism, folktales over social critique, beauty and sensuality over virtue and raw emotion over reason. It sought to integrate music, theatre and visual design into an innovative form of expression that would reflect the essence of ancient Russia in a fresh, new way. Diaghilev chose the symbol of that movement as the title of his new ballet, a recognizable character from Slavic folklore that embodied magic, beauty and rebirth: Zhar-ptitsa, translated into French as L’Oiseau de feu — “The Firebird.”

Like all the best theatrical works of the period, this Gesamtkunstwerk* relied on close collaboration among a team of creators. The plot was primarily crafted by the choreographer Michel Fokine (1880–1942), an exceptional young dancer who had trained under some of Russia’s most famous masters. He cut and pasted elements from several children’s fables into a pastiche calculated to appeal to Parisian orientalism, in which a Prince Charming figure, Ivan Tsarévich, engages the magical Firebird to help him win over Princess Nenaglyadnaya-Krasa (“Unearthly Beauty”) by freeing her and 12 other princesses from the evil sorcerer, King KashcheyBessmertnïy (“Kastchei the Immortal”).

Stravinsky worked one on one with Fokine, who, like many dance masters, insisted that the music be tailored to the choreography, rather than the other way around. He later recollected how Stravinsky … … brought me a beautiful Russian melody for the entrance of Ivan-Tsarévich. I suggested not presenting the complete melody all at once, but just a hint of it, by means of separate notes, at the moments when Ivan appears at the wall, when he observes the wonders of the enchanted garden, and when he leaps over the wall … … Stravinsky played, and I acted out the role of Tsarévich, the piano itself substituting for the wall. I climbed over it, jumped down off it, and crawled around in fear, looking around — my living room. Stravinsky, watching, accompanied me with patches of the Tsarévich melodies, playing mysterious tremolos as background to depict the garden of the sinister Kastchei the Immortal. …

As the least experienced member of the production team, Stravinsky had little license to assert his own ideas, and most of his early sketches for the ballet had to be discarded as the production developed. Yet, he had learned from his teacher and mentor, Rimsky-Korsakov, how to use music to help the audience distinguish the elements of the story. Exotic permutations of chromatic scales and harmonies represented supernatural forces, while simpler, white-key melodies and folk tunes depicted human characters.

This is apparent already from the first sepulchral notes of the introduction. A crescendo–decrescendo flutters through the orchestra as the Firebird flies through the garden, pursued by Ivan Tsarevich. The Firebird’s dance follows and ends in her capture (easily recognized from the suite Stravinsky published in 1919). A sensual dance with English horn and viola follows, punctuated with cellos and basses hitting their strings with the wood of the bow, col legno. The garden games of the 13 princesses follow, set to some of the most illustrative music of the ballet in the tremolo strings and cymbal.

A solo horn introduces the moment when Ivan reveals himself, followed by a round dance that quotes a Russian folk song. The kiss between Ivan and the

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CONCERT PREVIEW

youngest princess is interrupted by a trumpet call, and the timpani announce Kastchei’s entrance. The bass rumbles as Kastchei begins to turn Ivan into stone, but the fluttering music signals the return of the Firebird, who uses her power to make Kastchei and his henchmen leap and spin to harsh accents and disorienting syncopation.

Kastchei and his minions dance to exhaustion and fall into a deep sleep as the Firebird begins her lullaby, accompanied by an ethereal bassoon melody. The orchestra lurches as Ivan crushes the egg holding Kastchei’s soul and then builds to an electrifying finale. The brass section reiterates the Firebird’s leitmotif in broad, triumphant chords, bringing the story to its conclusion.

Although Diaghilev and Fokine dictated many of Stravinsky’s compositional choices throughout the creative process, Stravinsky reportedly won one battle. The original production ended with a remarkable tableau in which the corps de ballet stood on stage, motionless except for the slowly rising hand of Ivan Tsarévich, while the music — not the dancing — narrated the ending of the story for the audience.

One of the star dancers of the Ballets Russes, Vaslav Nijinsky, once wrote in his diary: “Diaghilev cannot live without Stravinsky, and Stravinsky cannot live without Diaghilev. They understand each other.” Indeed, even if the partnership between Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Diaghilev was ultimately a toxic one, it was nonetheless productive, producing monuments such as Petrushka, Les noces and Rite of Spring that would come to define the early 20th century.

—©Dr. Scot Buzza *Gesamtkunstwerk means “total work of art“ or “synthesis of the arts.“ The term was developed by the German writer and philosopher K.F.E. Trahndorff in 1827, but the term was popularized in the field of music discourse through descriptions of Richard Wagner’s operas. The basic premise of Gesamtkunstwerk is that the work of art was conceived as a combination of different art forms into a single cohesive whole.

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STORIES STORIES ININ SOUND SOUND | 2025–26 | 2025–26 SEASON SEASON TUE TUE APR APR 30, 30, 7:30 7:30 PM PM Music Music Hall Hall Ballroom Ballroom

Gernot Gernot Wolfgang Wolfgang (b.(b.

1957) 1957)

New New York York Moments Moments East East River River Funk Funk After After Hours Hours Avenue Avenue AA and and 2nd 2nd Christopher Christopher Philpotts, Philpotts, oboe oboe and and English English horn horn Ronald Ronald Aufmann, Aufmann, clarinet clarinet Nicholas Nicholas Mariscal, Mariscal, cello cello Julie Julie Spangler, Spangler, piano piano

Bohuslav Bohuslav Martinů Martinů (1890–1959) (1890–1959)

LaLa revue revue dede cuisine, cuisine, H.H. 161161 Prologue Prologue Tango Tango Charleston Charleston Final Final Stefani Stefani Matsuo, Matsuo, violin violin Hiro Hiro Matsuo, Matsuo, cello cello Christopher Christopher Pell, Pell, clarinet clarinet Martin Martin Garcia, Garcia, bassoon bassoon Anthony Anthony Limoncelli, Limoncelli, trumpet trumpet Kimberly Kimberly Russ, Russ, piano piano

INTERMISSION INTERMISSION

Johannes Johannes Brahms Brahms (1833–1897) (1833–1897)

Piano Piano Trio Trio No. No. 22 inin CC Major, Major, Op. Op. 8787 Allegro Allegro moderato moderato Andante Andante con con moto moto Scherzo: Scherzo: Presto Presto Finale: Finale: Allegro Allegro giocoso giocoso Charles Charles Morey, Morey, violin violin Alan Alan Rafferty, Rafferty, cello cello Dror Dror Biran, Biran, piano piano

This This performance performance is is approximately approximately 9595 minutes minutes long, long, including including intermission. intermission.

YOU’RE YOU’RE INVITED INVITED toto greet greet the the musicians musicians after after the the concert. concert.

The The Winstead Winstead Chamber Chamber Series Series is is endowed endowed byby a generous a generous gift gift from from the the estate estate ofof former former CSO CSO musician musician WILLIAM WILLIAM WINSTEAD. WINSTEAD. 4040 | 2025–26 | 2025–26 SEASON SEASON

CONCERT CONCERT PREVIEW PREVIEW PROGRAM PROGRAM NOTES NOTES

Gernot Gernot Wolfgang: Wolfgang: New New York York Moments Moments  Composed:  Composed: 2008 2008  Premiere:  Premiere: October October 31, 31, 2008 2008 at at Bargemusic Bargemusic in Brooklyn, in Brooklyn, New New York York byby thethe Tapestry Tapestry

Ensemble Ensemble

 Duration:  Duration: approx. approx.

18 18 minutes minutes

Grammy-nominated Grammy-nominated composer composer Gernot Gernot Wolfgang Wolfgang (gernotwolfgang.com) (gernotwolfgang.com) hashas so so farfar received received more more than than 5050 commissions commissions from from organizations organizations and and individuals individuals such such as as thethe LosLos Angeles Angeles Chamber Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra, Santa Santa Barbara Barbara Chamber Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra, European European Broadcasting Broadcasting Union, Union, Verdehr Verdehr Trio, Trio, and and LosLos Angeles Angeles Philharmonic Philharmonic principals principals David David Breidenthal Breidenthal (bassoon), (bassoon), Joanne Joanne Pearce Pearce Martin Martin (keyboard) (keyboard) and and Michele Michele Zukovsky Zukovsky (clarinet). (clarinet).

HeHe hashas received received awards awards and and grants grants from from thethe American American Born: Born: 1957, 1957, Bad Bad Gastein, Gastein, Austria Austria Composers Composers Forum, Forum, American American Music Music Center, Center, Berklee Berklee College College of Music, of Music, Billboard Billboard Magazine, Magazine, BMI BMI and and thethe Fulbright Fulbright Commission.

Commission.

Wolfgang, Wolfgang, who who lives lives in in Santa Santa Fe,Fe, New New Mexico, Mexico, also also works works as as anan orchestrator orchestrator in in thethe LosLos Angeles Angeles film film and and TVTV music music industry. industry.

HeHe is aisformer a former associate associate artistic artistic director director of of HEAR HEAR NOW NOW —— A Festival A Festival of New of New Music Music by by Contemporary Contemporary LosLos Angeles Angeles Composers.

Composers.

Wolfgang Wolfgang wrote wrote thethe following following about about New New York York Moments: Moments: New New York York Moments Moments was was commissioned commissioned in in 2008 2008 by by thethe CSU CSU Mike Mike Curb Curb College College of of thethe Arts, Arts, Media Media and and Communication Communication in in Northridge, Northridge, California California forfor thethe Tapestry Tapestry Ensemble.

Ensemble.

When When I learned I learned that that thethe premiere premiere of the of the piece piece was was going going to to be be at at Bargemusic Bargemusic in in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, thethe good good times times that that I had I had spent spent over over thethe years years in in New New York York City City immediately immediately came came to to mind. mind.

AsAs I started I started writing, writing, locations locations and and memories memories of certain of certain events events became became thethe inspiration inspiration forfor thethe three three individual individual movements. movements.

East East River River Funk Funk is aistribute a tribute to to thethe waterway waterway onon which which thethe venue venue of the of the premiere, premiere, Bargemusic, Bargemusic, is located. is located.

ItsIts musical musical backbone backbone is aissteady a steady funk funk rhythm, rhythm, which which forms forms thethe base base forfor a virtuosic a virtuosic oboe oboe solo. solo.

The The movement movement proceeds proceeds through through a quieter a quieter groove groove into into a contemplative, a contemplative, contrapuntal contrapuntal section section featuring featuring thethe winds winds and and thethe cello. cello.

Nearing Nearing its its conclusion, conclusion, thethe original original theme theme reappears. reappears.

After After Hours Hours reminds reminds of the of the wee wee hours hours of the of the morning morning in Manhattan, in Manhattan, when when most most businesses businesses and and restaurants restaurants areare closed, closed, when when traffic traffic is light is light and and thethe citycity is not is not quite quite awake awake yet.yet.

The The clarinet clarinet paints paints thethe picture picture of aofrelaxed a relaxed late-night-feel late-night-feel in this in this jazzy jazzy ballad. ballad.

Avenue Avenue A& A 2nd & 2nd is the is the location location where where I have I have stayed stayed during during most most of my of my visits visits to to New New York.

York.

The The apartment apartment at this at this address address was was bustling bustling with with lifelife at all at all times times —— three three jazz jazz musicians musicians were were living living there, there, oneone of them of them in in thethe living living room room —— and and thethe movement movement reflects reflects onon thethe energy energy and and sometimes sometimes insanity insanity (in(in thethe good good sense sense of of thethe word) word) of things of things going going onon there. there.

The The piano piano is clearly is clearly thethe solo solo instrument instrument in in this this movement, movement, romping romping through through a quasi-swing a quasi-swing groove groove and and accompanied accompanied —— or or disrupted disrupted —— by by percussive percussive woodwind woodwind accents. accents.

New New York York Moments Moments is published is published by by TrevCo TrevCo Music.

Music.

Bohuslav Bohuslav Martinů: Martinů: LaLa revue revue dede cuisine, cuisine, H.H. 161161  Composed:  Composed: 1927 1927  Premiere:  Premiere: (concert (concert suite) suite) January January 5, 1930, 5, 1930, Paris Paris  Duration:  Duration: approx. approx.

15 minutes 15 minutes

After After hishis move move from from Prague Prague to to Paris Paris in in 1923, 1923, Bohuslav Bohuslav Martinů Martinů spent spent a lot a lot of time of time listening listening to to jazz, jazz, which which inspired inspired oneone of his of his most most frequently frequently performed performed works works —— thethe ballet ballet TheThe Kitchen Kitchen Revue.

Revue.

The The work work was was commissioned commissioned by by Božena Božena Nebeská, Nebeská, thethe wife wife of aofprominent a prominent Czech Czech artart expert expert living living in in Paris Paris (after (after hishis arrival arrival in in thethe French French capital, capital, thethe composer composer lived lived with with thethe Nebeskýs Nebeskýs forfor fivefive years). years).

Jarmila Jarmila Kröschlová, Kröschlová, a pioneer a pioneer of modern of modern dance dance in in Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovakia, wrote wrote thethe script, script, created created thethe choreography choreography and and performed performed thethe ballet ballet with with herher troupe troupe in in Prague.

Prague.

Born: Born: December December 8, 8, 1890, 1890, Polička, Polička, In In this this work, work, Martinů’s Martinů’s interest interest in in jazz jazz goes goes hand hand in in hand hand with with hishis taste taste forfor all all Bohemia Bohemia things things grotesque. grotesque.

Kröschlová’s Kröschlová’s libretto, libretto, about about thethe amorous amorous entanglements entanglements of pots of pots

Died: Died: August August 28,28, 1959, 1959, Liestal, Liestal, Switzerland Switzerland Fanfare Fanfare Magazine Magazine | 41| 41

CONCERT PREVIEW

and pans in a kitchen, is a quintessential product of les années folles (the “crazy years,” as the 1920s were widely known).

In his book on Martinů, musicologist Miloš Šafránek summarized the plot as follows: The marriage of Pot and Lid is in danger of being broken up by the restless, change-craving Twirling-stick, the most active character in the plot. Pot succumbs to the seductions of Twirling-stick and is so inflamed by passion that Lid, who sits on his head, falls off it and rolls away in a corner. Had it not been for the orderly Broom, Dish-cloth would have taken advantage of the situation to lure Lid from the path of virtue. But Broom challenges Dish-cloth to a duel, which sends Twirling-stick into an ecstasy, thus kindling still more the passions of the two belligerents, who eventually retire from the dueling-ground with broken limbs. Twirling-stick again turns her attention to Pot, but Pot longs for Lid, and Lid is nowhere to be found. Then somebody’s enormous foot appears before the footlights and kicks Lid on the stage, to the great joy of all. Broom takes Lid back to Pot, Twirling-stick and Dish-cloth break into a dance. Broom, Pot and Lid are the happiest trio in the world.

Three years after the Prague premiere, Martinů arranged the ballet score into a concert suite that contains most of the music from the show.

—©Peter Laki

Johannes Brahms: Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87  Composed: 1880 and 1882  Premiere: 1882, Frankfurt am Main, Johannes Brahms, piano  Duration: approx. 29 minutes

Born: May 7, 1833, Hamburg, Germany Died: April 3, 1897, Vienna, Austria

42 | 2025–26 SEASON

Johannes Brahms’ Op. 87 is the most joyous of his three piano trios. He composed it during one of the happiest periods of his life, when the success of each new composition was virtually assured. He wrote the first movement in the summer of 1880, during his vacation in the Austrian town of Bad Ischl, about 170 miles from his home in Vienna. He completed the remaining three movements in 1882 at the same location. Brahms adored the quiet pleasures of Ischl, where he could enjoy daily walks and relax with friends. Although he was on vacation and claimed to one friend that he was loafing around, those summers were remarkably productive: in addition to the Op. 87 Trio, he composed the widely popular Academic Festival Overture and the beautiful String Quintet, Op. 88. Brahms’ close friend Theodor Billroth, who heard the first movement of the Op. 87 Trio shortly after it was composed, praised the work as a product of “effortless creativity.”

Uncharacteristically, Brahms himself told his publisher he was quite pleased with it.

The outer movements of the trio each present the main themes in an economical way, offering little transitional material between each statement. Although both are more concise than the movements in Brahms’ earlier Op. 8 Piano Trio (from 1853– 54), they display quite contrasting moods, with the Finale being more exuberant than the first movement. Its energy arises from the cooperation between the instruments, in contrast to the rhythmic tensions between the piano and strings that animate the first and second movements. The inner movements are predominantly quiet. The slow, second movement is a theme with five variations, but only the third variation features striking loud chords. The Scherzo turns quietness into mystery through low repeated notes and ghostly flourishes from the piano. Its spectral atmosphere is dispelled by the ebullient Finale, whose grand fortissimo closing chords crown the work Clara Schumann declared to be “magnificent!”

—©Heather Platt, Sursa Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts, Ball State University

THE MUSIC OF STAR WARS | 2025–26 SEASON FRI MAY 1, 7:30 PM | SAT MAY 2, 7:30 PM | SUN MAY 3, 2 PM Music Hall

Damon Gupton conductor 20th Century Fox Fanfare

Alfred Newman

“Main Theme” from Star Wars

John Williams

“The Flag Parade” from The Phantom Menace

John Williams

“Anakin’s Theme” from The Phantom Menace

John Williams

“Battle of the Heroes” from Revenge of the Sith

John Williams

“Obi-Wan” from Obi-Wan Kenobi

John Williams

“Jyn Erso and Hope” from Rogue One

Michael Giacchino

“Here They Come” from A New Hope

John Williams

“Princess Leia’s Theme” from A New Hope

John Williams

“The Asteroid Field” from The Empire Strikes Back

John Williams

“Yoda’s Theme” from The Empire Strikes Back

John Williams

“Imperial March” from The Empire Strikes Back

John Williams

INTERMISSION The Mandalorian Theme

Ludwig Göransson

“Luke and Leia” from Return of the Jedi

John Williams

“The Forest Battle” from A New Hope

John Williams

“Rey’s Theme” from The Force Awakens

John Williams

“Duel of the Fates” from The Phantom Menace

John Williams

“The Rise of Skywalker” from The Rise of Skywalker

John Williams

“The Jedi Steps” from The Force Awakens

John Williams

“Throne Room” and “End Title” from A New Hope

John Williams

Program subject to change.

The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra is grateful to Pops Season Presenter PNC, Presenting Sponsor The Rendigs Foundation and Show Sponsor Thompson Hine LLP. The Rendigs Foundation

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is grateful for the support of the Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund of the Greenacres Foundation, the Nina Browne Parker Trust, and the thousands of people who give generously to the ArtsWave Community Campaign, the region’s primary source for arts funding. This project was supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The CSO in-orchestra Steinway piano is made possible in part by the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trust.

Fanfare Magazine | 43

MUSIC OF STAR WARS

CONDUCTOR BIOGRAPHY

Damon Gupton, Pops Principal Guest Conductor Damon Gupton is the Principal Guest Conductor of the Cincinnati Pops. A native of Detroit, he served as American Conducting Fellow of the Houston Symphony and held the post of assistant conductor of the Kansas City Symphony. His conducting appearances include the Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Detroit Symphony, Boston Pops, National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Florida Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Princeton Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, Chineke!, NHK Orchestra of Tokyo, Orquesta Filarmonica de UNAM, Charlottesville Symphony, Brass Band of Battle Creek, Brevard Music Center, and Sphinx Symphony as part of the 12th annual Sphinx Competition. He led the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra on two national tours with performances at Carnegie Hall, and he conducted the finals of the Seventh Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition and the 2021 Classic FM Live at Royal Albert Hall with Chineke!.

Gupton received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Michigan. He studied conducting with David Zinman and Murry Sidlin at the Aspen Music Festival and with Leonard Slatkin at the National Conducting Institute in Washington, D.C. An accomplished actor, Gupton is a graduate of the Drama Division of The Juilliard School. He has had a number of roles in television and film, including in the Paramount+ series Happy Face and the film Lear Rex with Al Pacino, as well as on stage.

He is represented by Harden Curtis Kirsten Riley Agency (HCKR), SMS Talent and Brookside Artist Management.

Connecting the World, Celebrating the Arts!

As a proud partner of the CSO and Pops, CVG values all the ways that the arts take our community to new heights.

Feel the excitement crescendo.

Plan your journey at CVGairport.com.

44 | 2025–26 SEASON

BEETHOVEN & TCHAIKOVSKY | 2025–26 SEASON FRI MAY 8, 11 AM | SAT MAY 9, 7:30 PM Music Hall

Roderick Cox conductor Stephen Hough piano Jennifer Higdon

Fanfare Ritmico

(b. 1962)

Ludwig van Beethoven

Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 73, Emperor

(1770–1827) Allegro Adagio un poco mosso— Rondo: Allegro

INTERMISSION

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36

(1840–1893)

Andante sostenuto—Moderato con anima Andantino in modo di canzona Scherzo: Pizzicato ostinato Finale: Allegro con fuoco

This performance is approximately 125 minutes long, including intermission.

The CSO is grateful to CSO Season Sponsor Western & Southern Financial Group.

The appearance of Roderick Cox is generously supported by the Janice W. and Gary R. Lubin Fund for Black Artists.

The appearance of Stephen Hough is made possible by an endowed gift from the Fund for Great Artists by Fred L. and Katherine H. Groll.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is grateful for the support of the Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund of the Greenacres Foundation, the Nina Browne Parker Trust, and the thousands of people who give generously to the ArtsWave Community Campaign, the region’s primary source for arts funding. This project was supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.

WGUC is the Media Partner for these concerts. This concert will air on 90.9 WGUC on June 7, 2026, followed by 30 days of streaming at cincinnatisymphony.org/replay.

The CSO in-orchestra Steinway piano is made possible in part by the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trust.

Fanfare Magazine | 45

CONCERT PREVIEW ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Roderick Cox, conductor

©Dennis Weber

Roderick Cox has built a reputation for thoughtful artistry and a diverse repertoire that encompasses symphonic, operatic and contemporary works.

As of the 2024–25 season, Cox serves as music director of the Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie, making him the youngest in the orchestra’s history.

Cox has made guest appearances with many of the world’s leading ensembles across North America, Europe and beyond, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, and the major orchestras of Atlanta, Detroit, Seattle and Montreal, as well as Staatskapelle Dresden, Rotterdam Philharmonic, WDR Symphony, BBC Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Halle Orchestra. His international profile also includes debuts in Asia and Australia with the Sydney Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic.

Highlights of the 2025–26 season include his debuts with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, MDR Leipzig, Orchestre National de Belgique and Kansas City Symphony, as well as return engagements with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He also conducts the Chineke!

Orchestra on a major European tour, including performances in London, Paris, Dublin, Dortmund and Antwerp.

On the opera stage, Cox debuted with English National Opera in 2024, conducting Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. He has also led productions with San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, Finnish National Opera and Opéra national de Montpellier.

In 2019, Cox founded the Roderick Cox Music Initiative, a program dedicated to nurturing young musicians of color and expanding access to classical music education. A native of Georgia, Cox studied at the Schwob School of Music and Northwestern University before undertaking early career fellowships at Aspen, Chautauqua and the Chicago Sinfonietta. He served as associate conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä from 2016 to 2019 and is a recipient of the 2018 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award. roderickcox.com

Stephen Hough, piano

©Jiyang Chen

Named by The Economist as one of Twenty Living Polymaths, Sir Stephen Hough combines the distinguished career of a concert pianist with those of a composer and writer. In recognition of his contribution to cultural life, he became the first classical performer to be given a MacArthur Fellowship and was awarded a Knighthood for Services to Music in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2022.

In a career spanning over 40 years, Hough has played regularly with most of the world’s leading orchestras, and he has been a regular guest of recital series and festivals worldwide.

Sir Stephen Hough opens his 2025–26 season at the Elbphilharmonie, launching the Hamburg Staatsorchester’s season under its new music director Omer Meir Wellber. He also gives more than 60 concerts across three continents, appearing with leading orchestras in the U.S., Europe and Asia and in recital at Wigmore Hall in London and Klavierfestival Ruhr in Germany.

As a composer, Hough has written several works on commission from, among others, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Musée du Louvre,

To view the Digital Program for exclusive content, such as full-length program notes and artist biographies, please text PROGRAM to 513.845.3024*, use your mobile device to scan the QR code or visit cincinnatisymphony.org/digitalprogram. *By texting to this number, you may receive messages that pertain to the organization and its performances; msg & data rates may apply. Reply HELP to help, STOP to cancel.

46 | 2025–26 SEASON

CONCERT PREVIEW

National Gallery of London, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, Wigmore Hall, the Genesis Foundation, Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation, BBC Sounds and the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet. This season, his piano quintet, Les Noces Rouges, inspired by an episode in American novelist Willa Cather’s My Ántonia and commissioned by the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society in 2024, receives its European and U.K. premieres at the National Concert Hall in Dublin and Southbank Centre in London, and his piano concerto, The World of Yesterday, premieres with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, followed by its Korean premiere with Symphony S.O.N.G. Hough’s discography of over 70 recordings has garnered awards including the Diapason d’or de l’année, several Grammy nominations and eight Gramophone Awards. Among his recent releases for Hyperion is a 2025 album of Hough’s own Piano Concerto with the Hallé Orchestra and Sir Mark Elder.

He is an Honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple, an Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society, an Honorary Fellow of Cambridge University’s Girton College, the International Chair of Piano Studies and a Companion of the Royal Northern College of Music, and is on the faculty of The Juilliard School in New York. stephenhough.com

PROGRAM NOTES

Jennifer Higdon: Fanfare Ritmico  Composed: 1999–2000  Premiere: March 2000 by the Women’s Philharmonic, San Francisco  Instrumentation: 3 flutes (incl. piccolo), 3 oboes, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet,

2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, harp, piano, strings  CSO notable performances: First: May 2005, Paavo Järvi conducting. Most recent: March 2025 as part of a Young People’s Concert, Samuel Lee conducting. Recording: Released in 2011 on American Portraits, Paavo Järvi conducting.  Duration: approx. 7 minutes

Jennifer Higdon is one of America’s most acclaimed figures in contemporary classical music, receiving the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, a 2010 Grammy for her Percussion Concerto, a 2018 Grammy for her Viola Concerto and a 2020 Grammy for her Harp Concerto. Higdon’s first opera, Cold Mountain, won the International Opera Award for Best World Premiere and the opera recording was nominated for two Grammy Awards. Her work, All Things Majestic, written for the Grand Teton Music Festival, is part of that national park’s visitor center experience. The Library of Congress has added the recording of her Percussion Concerto to the National Recording Registry.

In 2018, Higdon received the prestigious Nemmers Prize, awarded to contemporary classical composers of exceptional achievement who have significantly influenced the field of composition. Most recently, she was inducted into the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Higdon enjoys several hundred performances a year of her works, and her music has been recorded on more than 90 CDs. Her music is published exclusively by Lawdon Press. jenniferhigdon.com Fanfare Ritmico was commissioned by the San Francisco-based Women’s Philharmonic and premiered in March 2000. It was part of an initiative called “The Fanfares Project” that was part of The Women’s Philharmonic’s drive for “the promotion of women composers, conductors and performers.” A wind ensemble version, commissioned by the Alpha Lambda Chapter of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity at Illinois Wesleyan University, received its world premiere in April 2002 by the Illinois Wesleyan Wind Ensemble, Steven W. Eggleston, conducting.

Higdon describes Fanfare Ritmico as follows:

Born: December 31, 1962, Brooklyn, New York

Fanfare Ritmico celebrates the rhythm and speed (tempo) of life. Writing this work on the eve of the move into the new Millennium, I found myself reflecting on how all Fanfare Magazine | 47

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things things havehave quickened quickened as time as time has has progressed. progressed.

OurOur liveslives nownow move move at speeds at speeds much much greater greater thanthan what what I believe I believe anyone anyone would would havehave everever imagined imagined in years in years past.past.

Everyone Everyone follows follows the beat the beat of their of their ownown drummer, drummer, andand those those drummers drummers are beating are beating faster faster andand faster faster on many on many different different levels. levels.

As we Asmove we move along along day day to day, to day, rhythm rhythm plays plays an an integral integral partpart of our of our lives, lives, fromfrom the individual the individual heartbeat heartbeat to the to lightning the lightning speed speed of our of our computers. computers.

ThisThis fanfare fanfare celebrates celebrates thatthat rhythmic rhythmic motion, motion, of man of man andand machine, machine, andand the energy the energy which which permeates permeates every every moment moment of our of our being being in the in new the new century. century.

Ludwig Ludwig vanvan Beethoven: Beethoven: Concerto Concerto No.No. 5 in5E-flat in E-flat Major Major for for Piano Piano andand Orchestra, Orchestra, Op.Op. 73,73, Emperor Emperor  Composed:  Composed: 18091809  Premiere:  Premiere: November November 28, 1811 28, 1811 in Leipzig, in Leipzig, Johann Johann Philipp Philipp Christian Christian Schulz Schulz conducting conducting

the Gewandhaus the Gewandhaus Orchestra; Orchestra; Friedrich Friedrich Schneider, Schneider, piano piano

 Instrumentation:  Instrumentation: solosolo piano, piano, 2 flutes, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 horns,

2 trumpets, 2 trumpets, timpani, timpani, strings strings

 CSO  CSO notable notable performances: performances: First: First: March March 1897, 1897, Frank Frank VanVan der der Stucken Stucken conducting; conducting;

Teresa Teresa Carreño, Carreño, piano. piano.

Most Most recent: recent: MayMay 2019, 2019, Louis Louis Langrée Langrée conducting; conducting; Daniil Daniil Trifonov, Trifonov, piano. piano.  Duration:  Duration: approx. approx.

38 minutes 38 minutes

TheThe beauty beauty andand sensitivity sensitivity thatthat pervade pervade Beethoven’s Beethoven’s FifthFifth Piano Piano Concerto Concerto seem seem to to contradict contradict contemporary contemporary portraits portraits of the of composer, the composer, in which in which he appears he appears brooding brooding andand resentful, resentful, withwith ragerage festering festering just just below below the surface. the surface.

In the In year the year 1809, 1809, Beethoven Beethoven certainly certainly hadhad plenty plenty to betodisgruntled be disgruntled about. about.

Europe Europe waswas in the in throes the throes of the of the Born: Born: baptized baptized December December 17, 1770, 17, 1770, Napoleonic Napoleonic warswars andand Austria Austria hadhad declared declared warwar on France. on France.

TheThe city city waswas under under Bonn, Germany Germany bombardment, bombardment, andand Viennese Viennese nobility nobility hadhad fled fled the city the city for safer for safer territory, territory, withwith the the Bonn, Died: Died: March March 26, 1827, 26, 1827, Archduke Archduke Ferdinand, Ferdinand, Beethoven’s Beethoven’s pupil pupil andand financial financial backer, backer, among among them. them.

Vienna, Vienna, Austria Austria In Vienna, In Vienna, under under the occupation the occupation of French of French troops, troops, living living conditions conditions hadhad begun begun to deteriorate. to deteriorate.

TheThe locallocal population population waswas required required to foot to foot the cost the cost of soldier of soldier upkeep, upkeep, which which drained drained the resources the resources for food for food andand dailydaily necessities. necessities.

In addition, In addition, Austria Austria waswas heldheld responsible responsible for reparations for reparations as well as well as heavy as heavy taxes. taxes.

Beethoven Beethoven wrote wrote to to acquaintances acquaintances in Leipzig, in Leipzig, “We“We are lacking are lacking money money herehere — we —need we need twice twice as much as much as as usual usual — damned — damned war!” war!” andand later, later, “We“We no longer no longer eveneven havehave decent, decent, edible edible bread.” bread.”

TheThe composer composer hadhad initially initially expressed expressed admiration admiration for Napoleon for Napoleon andand waswas eveneven considering considering the music the music director director postpost in Kassel in Kassel at the at court the court of Bonaparte’s of Bonaparte’s brother, brother, Jérôme.

Jérôme.

But But during during the siege the siege andand bombardment, bombardment, huddled huddled in the in cellar the cellar of his of brother his brother Kaspar’s Kaspar’s lodgings lodgings withwith pillows pillows pressed pressed to his to ears, his ears, his attitude his attitude soured soured andand his loyalty his loyalty to Germany to Germany deepened. deepened.

Evidence Evidence of Beethoven’s of Beethoven’s patriotism patriotism surfaces surfaces in the in preparatory the preparatory scribblings scribblings made made during during the early the early stages stages of the of Fifth the Fifth Concerto.

Concerto.

TheThe music music paper paper on which on which he worked he worked out out his ideas his ideas for the for concerto the concerto alsoalso contains contains preliminary preliminary sketches sketches for afor musical a musical setting setting for choir for choir andand orchestra orchestra of the of poem the poem Östreich Östreich [sic][sic] überüber allesalles (“Austria (“Austria Above Above All”)All”)

by Heinrich

by Heinrich Joseph Joseph von von Collin, Collin, a patriotic a patriotic writer writer whose whose political political songs songs resulted resulted in persecution in persecution by the

by French. the French.

Further Further evidence evidence of Beethoven’s of Beethoven’s feelings feelings toward toward Bonaparte Bonaparte show show up in upthe in manuscript the manuscript to the to concerto, the concerto, at the at beginning the beginning of the of second the second movement movement where where the composer the composer scribbled, scribbled, Östreich Östreich [sic][sic] löhne löhne Napoleon Napoleon — “Austria — “Austria pay pay Napoleon Napoleon back!” back!”

LikeLike Mozart Mozart andand other other Viennese Viennese musicians musicians before before him,him, Beethoven Beethoven hadhad written written his his firstfirst fourfour concertos concertos as vehicles as vehicles showcasing showcasing his dual his dual rolesroles as pianist as pianist andand composer. composer.

By By the premiere the premiere of the of Fourth the Fourth Concerto Concerto in 1807, in 1807, his hearing his hearing hadhad already already degenerated degenerated significantly, significantly, andand his status his status as aas performing a performing artist artist waswas slipping. slipping.

Knowing Knowing thatthat his his FifthFifth Concerto Concerto would would needneed to betoperformed be performed by someone by someone else,else, he kept he kept the composer the composer in the in spotlight the spotlight but but stripped stripped the pianist the pianist of the of autonomy the autonomy thatthat soloists soloists hadhad previously previously enjoyed. enjoyed.

TheyThey hadhad traditionally traditionally supplied supplied theirtheir ownown embellishments, embellishments, improvised improvised fillerfiller for certain for certain passages, passages, andand inserted inserted personalized personalized cadenzas cadenzas toward toward the end the end of of eacheach movement movement to “finish” to “finish” the piece the piece for the for audience, the audience, much much in the in same the same wayway thatthat an interior an interior decorator decorator completes completes the work the work of the of architect. the architect.

In his In Fifth his Fifth Concerto, Concerto,

Fanfare Fanfare Magazine Magazine | 49 | 49

CONCERT CONCERT PREVIEW PREVIEW

Beethoven Beethoven took took thisthis liberty liberty from from thethe performer performer in two in two ways: ways: first, first, he he inserted inserted cadenza cadenza passages, passages, meticulously meticulously written written down down to the to the lastlast note, note, intointo thethe opening opening of of thethe firstfirst movement. movement.

Then, Then, at the at the conclusion conclusion of the of the movement movement where where audiences audiences were were primed primed to expect to expect improvisation, improvisation, Beethoven Beethoven dictated dictated in the in the score, score, Non Non si fa si una fa una cadenza, cadenza, mama s’attacca s’attacca subito subito il seguente il seguente — “Do — “Do notnot play play a cadenza, a cadenza, butbut immediately immediately go go on on to the to the following.” following.”

Because Because thethe composer composer waswas no no longer longer thethe soloist, soloist, hishis most most effective effective economic economic strategy strategy waswas to publish to publish thethe concerto concerto before before it had it had even even premiered, premiered, firstfirst in 1810 in 1810 in in London, London, then then in 1811 in 1811 in Leipzig. in Leipzig.

Unlike Unlike thethe other other concertos, concertos, thisthis publication publication waswas geared geared to dilettantes, to dilettantes, so Beethoven so Beethoven wrote wrote outout a full a full reduction reduction of the of the orchestral orchestral part part forfor thethe soloist soloist instead instead of the of the customary customary figured figured bass bass line. line.

In addition In addition to simplified to simplified alternatives alternatives (ossia) (ossia) forfor thethe more more difficult difficult passages, passages, he he gave gave exceptionally exceptionally precise precise instructions instructions forfor articulations, articulations, expression expression marks marks andand pedal pedal indications. indications.

A private A private premiere premiere took took place place in January in January 1811 1811 at the at the Viennese Viennese palace palace of Prince of Prince Joseph Joseph Lobkowitz Lobkowitz with with thethe Archduke Archduke Ferdinand Ferdinand as soloist, as soloist, followed followed by abypublic a public premiere premiere in the in the Leipzig Leipzig Gewandhaus Gewandhaus thethe following following November.

November.

Viennese Viennese audiences audiences firstfirst heard heard it initFebruary in February 1812 1812 when when Beethoven’s Beethoven’s pupil pupil Carl Carl Czerny Czerny performed performed thethe solosolo part. part.

Among Among hishis piano piano concertos, concertos, it isitthe is the only only oneone thatthat thethe composer composer never never performed. performed.

TheThe opening opening of the of the firstfirst movement movement thwarts thwarts all all previous previous conventions: conventions: with with no no tempo tempo andand no no meter, meter, grand grand orchestra orchestra chords chords kick kick off off flowery flowery piano piano interjections. interjections.

After After thethe main main tune tune appears appears in the in the violins, violins, thethe clarinet clarinet andand bassoon bassoon take take up up thethe contrasting contrasting second second theme theme in ainminor a minor key.key.

A chromatic A chromatic flourish flourish introduces introduces thethe piano’s piano’s solosolo exposition exposition before before thethe music music migrates migrates unexpectedly unexpectedly to B tominor B minor andand thethe soloist soloist develops develops thethe themes themes in dialogue in dialogue with with thethe orchestra orchestra throughout throughout a series a series of tonalities. of tonalities.

Beethoven Beethoven reintroduces reintroduces thethe main main themes themes andand extends extends them them with with a a brilliant brilliant climax: climax: thethe firstfirst written written fortississimo fortississimo dynamic dynamic (fff)(fff) in music in music history. history.

TheThe original original tempo tempo marking marking of movement of movement two, two, Andante Andante un un poco poco moto, moto, waswas later later changed changed to Adagio to Adagio by the by the composer, composer, resulting resulting in an in an unusually unusually wide wide margin margin of tempo of tempo choices choices forfor thisthis movement movement among among modern-day modern-day pianists. pianists.

TheThe movement movement opens opens with with muted muted strings strings playing playing a chorale a chorale in B inmajor B major over over a pizzicato a pizzicato bass. bass.

TheThe piano piano enters enters presenting presenting a new a new musical musical idea idea thatthat drifts drifts through through several several keys keys before before a chain a chain of of trills trills brings brings back back thethe keykey of Bofmajor.

B major.

Beethoven Beethoven transitions transitions seamlessly seamlessly intointo thethe lastlast movement: movement: bassoons bassoons change change their their lastlast note note by abyhalf-step a half-step andand pass pass it off it off to the to the horns horns while while thethe piano piano foreshadows foreshadows thethe theme theme of the of the final final rondo. rondo.

TheThe soloist soloist makes makes twotwo unsuccessful unsuccessful attempts attempts at the at the tune, tune, andand finally, finally, on on thethe third third try,try, succeeds succeeds in launching in launching thethe finale. finale.

TheThe Rondo Rondo opens opens notnot with with thethe fullfull orchestra, orchestra, butbut with with thethe pianist pianist playing playing a joyful a joyful ascending ascending motif motif to thunderous to thunderous chords chords in the in the bass. bass.

Beethoven Beethoven conforms conforms to early to early 19th19 - thcentury century Viennese Viennese tradition tradition in merging in merging thethe structure structure of his of his Rondo Rondo with with thatthat of the of the classical classical sonata. sonata.

This This strategy strategy tends tends to suit to suit thethe composer composer more more than than thethe soloist, soloist, as it as it allows allows forfor a more a more sophisticated sophisticated treatment treatment of themes, of themes, more more innovation innovation andand greater greater room room forfor ingenuity ingenuity than than thethe simpler simpler Rondo.

Rondo.

In the In the final final coda coda Beethoven Beethoven presents presents thethe audience audience with with another another novelty: novelty: a duet a duet between between piano piano andand timpani timpani thatthat slows slows andand fades fades away. away.

TheThe piano piano explodes explodes with with a final a final burst burst of energy of energy punctuated punctuated with with three three triumphant triumphant final final chords. chords.

TheThe appeal appeal of this of this concerto concerto waswas in no in no small small part part duedue to recent to recent changes changes in piano in piano construction construction associated associated with with thethe industrial industrial revolution. revolution.

Beethoven Beethoven hadhad lobbied lobbied throughout throughout hishis career career forfor bigger, bigger, louder louder andand more more sensitive sensitive instruments; instruments; by the by the year year 1811, 1811, innovations innovations in instrument in instrument design design andand manufacture manufacture enabled enabled a greater a greater range range of of articulation articulation andand expression, expression, providing providing thethe composer composer with with an an instrument instrument worthy worthy of of masterworks masterworks such such as his as his Piano Piano Concerto Concerto No.No. 5, his 5, his Hammerklavier Hammerklavier Sonata, Sonata, Op.Op. 106, 106, andand hishis Diabelli Diabelli Variations, Variations, Op.Op. 120.

120.

—©Dr. —©Dr. ScotScot Buzza Buzza

50 50 | 2025–26 | 2025–26 SEASON SEASON

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CONCERT PREVIEW

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36  Composed: 1877–1878  Premiere: February 22, 1878, in Moscow, Nikolai Rubinstein conducting  Instrumentation: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns,

2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, crash cymbals, triangle, strings

 CSO notable performances: First: November 1896, Frank Van der Stucken

conducting. Most recent: October 2023, Ramón Tebar conducting.  Duration: approx. 44 minutes

Born: May 7, 1840, Votkinsk, Russia Died: November 6, 1893, St. Petersburg, Russia

52 | 2025–26 SEASON

The Fourth Symphony was a product of the most crucial and turbulent time of Tchaikovsky’s life — 1877, when he met two women who forced him into a period of intense introspection. The first was the sensitive, music-loving widow of a wealthy Russian railroad baron, Nadezhda von Meck. Mme. von Meck had been enthralled by Tchaikovsky’s music, and she first contacted him at the end of 1876 to commission a work. She paid him extravagantly, and soon an almost constant stream of notes and letters passed between them: hers contained money and effusive praise, his contained thanks and an increasingly greater revelation of his thoughts and feelings. She became not only the financial backer who allowed him to quit his irksome teaching job at the Moscow Conservatory to devote himself to composition, but also the sympathetic sounding-board for reports on the whole range of his activities — emotional, musical, personal. Although the two never met, her place in Tchaikovsky’s life was enormous and beneficial.

The second woman to enter Tchaikovsky’s life in 1877 was Antonina Miliukova, an unnoticed student in one of his large lecture classes at the Conservatory who had worked herself into a passion over her young professor. Tchaikovsky paid her no special attention, and he had quite forgotten her when he received an ardent love letter professing her unquenchable desire to meet with him. Tchaikovsky (age 37), who should have burned the thing, answered the letter of the 28-year-old Antonina in a polite, cool fashion, but did not include an outright rejection of her advances. He had been considering marriage for almost a year in the hope that it would give him both the stable home life he had not enjoyed in the 20 years since his mother died, as well as to help dispel the all-too-true rumors of his homosexuality.

He believed he might achieve both those goals with Antonina. He could not see the situation clearly enough to realize that what he hoped for was impossible — a pure, platonic marriage without its physical and emotional realities. Further letters from Antonina implored Tchaikovsky to meet her and threatened suicide out of desperation if he refused. A welter of emotions gripped his heart when, just a few weeks later, he proposed marriage to her. Inevitably, the marriage crumbled within days of the wedding amid Tchaikovsky’s searing self-deprecation.

It was during May and June of 1877 that Tchaikovsky sketched the Fourth Symphony, finishing the first three movements before Antonina began her siege.

The finale was completed by the time he proposed. Because of this chronology, the program of the symphony was not a direct result of his marital disaster. All that — the July wedding, the mere 18 days of bitter conjugal farce, the two separations — postdated the actual composition of the symphony by a few months, though the orchestration took place during the painful time from September to January when the composer was seeking respite in a half dozen European cities, from St. Petersburg to San Remo. What Tchaikovsky found in his relationship with this woman (who by 1877 already showed signs of approaching the door of the mental ward in which, still legally married to him, she died in 1917) was a confirmation of his belief in the inexorable workings of Fate in human destiny. He later wrote to Mme. von Meck, “We cannot escape our Fate, and there was something fatalistic about my meeting with this girl.” The relationships with the two women of 1877,

CONCERT PREVIEW

Mme. von Meck and Antonina, occupy important places in the composition of this symphony: one made it possible, the other made it inevitable, but the vision and its fulfillment were Tchaikovsky’s alone.

After the premiere, Tchaikovsky explained to Mme. von Meck the emotional content of the Fourth Symphony: The introduction [stentorian brasses heard immediately in a motto theme that recurs throughout the work] is the kernel of the whole symphony. This is Fate, which hinders one in the pursuit of happiness. There is nothing to do but to submit and vainly complain [the melancholy, syncopated shadow-waltz of the main theme, heard in the strings]. Would it not be better to turn away from reality and lull one’s self in dreams? [The second theme is begun by the clarinet.] But no — these are but dreams: roughly we are awakened by Fate.

[The brass fanfare over a wave of timpani begins the development section.] Thus we see that life is only an everlasting alternation of somber reality and fugitive dreams of happiness. The second movement shows another phase of sadness.

How sad it is that so much has already been and gone! And yet it is a pleasure to think of the early years. It is sad, yet sweet, to lose one’s self in the past. In the third movement are capricious arabesques, vague figures which slip into the imagination when one has taken wine and is slightly intoxicated. Military music is heard in the distance. As to the finale, if you find no pleasure in yourself, go to the people. The picture of a folk holiday. [The finale is based on the Russian folk song “A Birch Stood in the Meadow.”] Hardly have we had time to forget ourselves in the happiness of others when indefatigable Fate reminds us once more of its presence. Yet there still is happiness, simple, naive happiness. Rejoice in the happiness of others — and you can still live.

—©Dr. Richard E. Rodda

Celebrating those who elevate our community’s vibrant cultural scene.

Taftlaw.com

Fanfare Magazine | 53

2025–26 SEASON

CSYO CONCERT ORCHESTRA SUN MAY 10, 2 PM, Music Hall | COMMON GROUND DR. ANTOINE T. CLARK conductor Martin Hebel

For program notes, please visit our digital program by texting PROGRAM to 513.845.3024.

Fanfare for Common Ground

(b. 1990)

Jordan Jinosko

Three Sketches of Unblemished Earth

(b. 1994) Water • Woodlands • Heights

Ching-chu Hu

TRIP/TIC

(b. 1969)

Angélica Negrón

Tornasol

(b. 1981)

Harry T. Burleigh

From the Southland

(1866–1949) Through Moanin’ Pines • The Frolic • In de Col’ Moonlight • arr. Stig Junge A Jubilee • On Bended Knees • A New Hidin’ Place

CSYO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA SUN MAY 10, 7 PM, Music Hall | THE MIDNIGHT EXHIBITION DUO SHEN conductor MARIO YNGA-ORELLANA clarinet Anna Clyne

This Midnight Hour

(b. 1980)

Claude Debussy

Première rapsodie for Clarinet and Orchestra

(1862–1918)

INTERMISSION

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Ballade in A Minor, Op. 33

(1875–1912)

Modest Mussorgsky

Pictures at an Exhibition

(1839–1881) orch. Maurice Ravel

Ellen and Richard Berghamer Foundation The Charles H. Dater Foundation The Unnewehr Foundation

54 | 2025–26 SEASON

Introduction: Promenade • I. Gnomus | Promenade • II. Il vecchio castello • Promenade • III. Tuileries • IV. Bydlo • Promenade • Ballet of Little Chicks in Their Shells • VI. Two Polish Jews • VII. Limoges—Le Marché • VIII. Catacombae—Sepulcrum romanum • Cum mortuis in lingua mortua • IX. Baba Yaga • X. The Great Gate of Kiev

Support provided by the Ellen and Richard Berghamer Foundation, The Charles H. Dater Foundation, The Unnewehr Foundation and Chemed Corporation.

The Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestras is a program of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and receives generous support in the form of rehearsal space from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and Walnut Hills High School.

CSYO CONCERT ORCHESTRA ROSTER 2025–26 FIRST VIOLIN Alexander Wang, Concertmaster Grace Barnett Elessar Dehoff Bella Duhaime Emma Leong Julia Li Eric Liu Lukas Meinken Ella Shadix Sarang Srikanth Stacy Villo Mia Wang Kevin Wen Ethan Yao Ethan Yuan Angela Zhang Jenna Zhang SECOND VIOLIN Andrew Zhang, Principal Alice Chi Kathryn Dillman Soham Gudsoorkar Joy Jang Jiffannie Fredy Daniel Kong Nathan Lee Brianna Luo Rishi Pamparti Noah Stulberg Sarah Wang Luke Wright Iris Xu Clairette Yang

VIOLA Lucia Schartung, Principal Sungwoo Choi Ryley From Andrew Jee Henrik Reinsalu Annabel Schulte John Vasconcelos Adele Williams CELLO Eliot Brown, Principal Cynthia Li, Assistant Principal Alexander Berger Sieun Ghim Marie Godarova Zoe Lee Jason Liew Gabriel Shin Ethan Wang James Yeoh Emma Zhu Alex Zhuang DOUBLE BASS Jonathan McGrath, Principal Joel Bierkan Jameson Hornsby Miles Manning Darcy McMahon Christopher Southern

FLUTE/PICCOLO Ethan Li5 Yuxin Liu2 Penny Schackmann3 Samantha Wong4 OBOE/ENGLISH HORN Sophia Cheng4 Gary Forsyth3 Sab Rajan2 Isabella Vilanueva5 CLARINET Lucian Chang3 Vincent Dicicco2 Ian Duff4 Evelyn Shin5 BASSOON Justus Chapman3,4 Scott Singleton2,5 HORN Nathan Barkley5 Zoey Little2 Maxwell Nelson3 Eden Proctor4 Akio Wiese1 TRUMPET Elijah Flores1,3 Benjamin Holloway5 Emma Ogden2,4

TROMBONE Tvasta Gajjar3 Mikayla November5 Colin Van Niman1,2,4 BASS TROMBONE Jessica Ries TUBA Evan Moore PERCUSSION Murray Cummings Chloe Dick Adolphus McCullom II HARP Magdalena Milroy +Begins the alphabetical listing of players who participate in a system of rotated seating within a string section.

All wind players are considered principals and rotate between pieces.

Principal Players 1 Hebel 2 Jinosko 3 Hu 4 Negron 5 Burleigh

CSYO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA ROSTER 2025–26 FIRST VIOLIN Angela Tang, Concertmaster Youngwoo Choi+ Anna Christos Marley Feng Yuhan Gu Hyori Han Andy Li Annie Li Madeline Mozlin Sarah Perpignan Clara Schmid Ian Shang Jubilee Shang Eva Cate Wesley Raina Yang Elizabeth Yeoh SECOND VIOLIN Paul Ku, Principal Andrew Cheng+ Carmen DeAtely-Rosales Maren Heisler Eli Hu Grace Kim, Julia Lancman Cecilia Lehmann Elaine Peng Santhosh Rajan Ben Truong Kenneth Wu Irene Zhang

VIOLA Grace Yu, Principal Christy Kim, Co-Assistant Principal Kasinda Willingham, Co-Assistant Principal Samuel Butler+ Anna Cameron Goehring, Ethan Simon Park Blake Roberts Lainie Stautberg Isabella Wang Alina Zhang CELLO Sonya Moomaw, Principal Autumn Rinaldi, Assistant Principal Lillian Duhaime+ Adhi Nayak, Kallea Willingham William Yeoh DOUBLE BASS Matteo Meli, Co-Principal Aaron Scott1, Co-Principal Evan Butler+ Josiah Eriksen Gerrit Johnson

FLUTE/PICCOLO Mona Allen2 Camille Kolar1 Allison Sayles Riya Tummala

TRUMPET Ryan Metsker Trent Stricker1 Thomas Stricker2 Benjamin Yoby

OBOE/ENGLISH HORN Lydia Banzhof1 August Hagen Eden Potterton2 Gwendolyn Stapp

TROMBONE Jack Izor2 Connor Perkins1

CLARINET Edward Riddle1 Jackson Runtenelli Liheng Wang Mario Ynga-Orellana2 BASSOON Sean Hayes2 Josie Youtsler1 HORN Josh Baxter Lucas Elmore Eva Fuller1 Cate Mahoney Lucas Monjot2

BASS TROMBONE Douglas Jacobo TUBA George Kaiser PERCUSSION Braeden Brown Benjamin Hofmann +Begins the alphabetical listing of players who participate in a system of rotated seating within a string section.

All wind players are considered principals and rotate between pieces.

Principal Players 1 Clyne 2 Mussorgsky

The CSYO CCM Conducting Fellow for 2025–26 is Moyue Zhou.

Fanfare Magazine | 55

CONCERT PREVIEW n ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

CSYO Concert Orchestra DR. ANTOINE T. CLARK, conductor Dr. Antoine T. Clark is an award-winning conductor and educator dedicated to nurturing young musicians and expanding equitable access to classical music. He was appointed conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra Concert Orchestra in 2025 and brings to the role more than a decade of experience leading youth, collegiate and professional ensembles. Clark previously served as associate conductor of the Northern Ohio Youth Orchestra’s Philharmonia Orchestra, which was invited to perform at the 2025 Ohio Music Education Association Professional Development Conference. His honors include the 2024 Columbus Symphony Music Educator Award, the 2024 Artists Elevated Award from the Greater Columbus Arts Council and Third Prize in the 2024 Los Angeles Conducting Workshop and Competition. He is also a 2025 national finalist for The American Prize in four categories, including conducting, orchestral performance, programming and the performance of American music.

In addition to his work with the CSYO, Clark is the founding artistic and music director of the Worthington Chamber Orchestra in Ohio. He also served as associate conductor of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra and assistant conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta, and he recently completed a visiting professorship as orchestra director at Denison University. A committed music educator, he serves on the Columbus Symphony Orchestra’s education committee and is the founder of the Music Academy of Worthington.

Clark is committed to fostering inclusion and community through music. In 2022, he served as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s MAC Music Innovator, leading performances and school residencies across the community. He has been a featured speaker and panelist on inclusive practices and youth engagement for the International Conductors Guild, the Washington Musical Pathways Workshop: Career in Music Panel and the Columbus Symphony Youth Orchestras’ Workshop Academy, among other national initiatives.

As a guest conductor, Clark has appeared with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Symphony Tacoma and Dayton Philharmonic, among others.

He has participated in prestigious festivals and fellowships, including the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the Monteux School and Music Festival, and Chicago Sinfonietta’s Project Inclusion Conducting Freeman Fellowship.

CSYO Philharmonic DUO SHEN, conductor

©Cathy Lyons

56 | 2025–26 SEASON

Dr. Duo Shen, named Assistant Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra starting with the 2025–26 season, also is associate conductor of the Grand Rapids Symphony — a role held by only two individuals in the orchestra’s 95-year history.

During his three seasons with the Grand Rapids Symphony, Shen curated and conducted over 90 performances, spanning masterworks and chamber concert series, family and educational concerts, film/pop productions and run-out concerts. His 2024–25 season highlights included a subscription debut at DeVos Performance Hall with double bass virtuoso Joseph Conyers that was praised for its artistry and energy.

Shen has served as assistant conductor to esteemed conductors such as Marcelo Lehninger, JoAnn Falletta, Carlos Kalmar, Vinay Parameswaran, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Ruth Reinhardt, Tianyi Lu, Nicholas McGegan, David Robertson and Robert Spano. In 2022, immediately upon graduation, he was hired as a staff conductor at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he served as prep-conductor and cover conductor for guest artists while also leading subscription concerts. Additionally, Shen has been a cover conductor for the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra.

CONCERT PREVIEW

Shen’s conducting mentors include Vinay Parameswaran, Carlos Kalmar, JoAnn Falletta, Marcelo Lehninger, Carl Topilow and Michael Jinbo. He has collaborated with orchestras such as the Grand Rapids Symphony, Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, CIM Orchestra, New Symphony Orchestra (Bulgaria) and Pazardjik Symphony Orchestra (Bulgaria). Known for reimagining classical works in projects like “A New Imagination of Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony” and “A Day with Symphony” at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, he has earned praise for the projects’ accessibility and creativity. Local Spins lauded him as “passionate” and “a talented individual.”

Shen holds a professional studies diploma in orchestral conducting from CIM, a Doctor of Musical Arts in Violin from the University of Maryland, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Delaware.

MARIO YNGA-ORELLANA, clarinet 2026 CSYO Concerto Competition 2nd Place Winner Mario Ynga-Orellana is a sophomore at Walnut Hills High School. Raised in Mexico, Spain and Germany, he grew up surrounded by music through his family traditions from Bolivia. After exploring piano and accordion, he discovered the clarinet, drawn to its elegance and the colors in music written for the instrument

by French turn-of-the-century composers. He is the principal clarinetist of the OMEA All-State Band, a CSYO Norman E. Johns Chair awardee and an Overture Awards finalist with the Cincinnati Arts Association. He studies with Dr. Laura Sabo. Besides music, Orellana is a mathematics enthusiast and the proud older brother of twins. ©Tyler Secor

Lead the Music Scene!

If you have a passion for the arts and want to raise awareness about the Orchestra with your peers, this program is for you!

Student Brand Ambassadors work closely with CSO administrative staff to promote membership for Student Access Plus (the CSO’s student ticket program) and increase student attendance at concerts. The SBA program provides a unique volunteer opportunity and perks such as free merch, a complimentary Student Access Plus membership, experience for your resume and more!

Apply to be a CSO Student Brand Ambassador.

Applications for the 2026/27 season are open now.

To be a Student Brand Ambassador you must be a student enrolled in a university or community college in the Greater Cincinnati region.

Fanfare Magazine | 57

2025–26 Financial Support  INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT Local and national foundations, businesses, and government agencies are integral to the Orchestra’s vibrant performances, community engagement work, and education activities. We are proud to partner with the following funders. To join this distinguished group, contact Sean Baker at 513.744.3363 or sbaker@cincinnatisymphony.org.

ANNUAL SUPPORT

SEASON AND SERIES SPONSORS

Foundation Pops Season Presenter

IDEA Series Sponsor

Lollipops Series Sponsor

CSO Season Sponsor

PLATINUM BATON CIRCLE ($50,000+)

CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE ($10,000–$14,999)

Anonymous ArtsWave Ellen and Richard Berghamer Foundation Charles H. Dater Foundation The Fifth Third Foundation Local Initiative for Excellence Foundation The Jeffrey & Jody Lazarow and Janie & Peter Schwartz Family Fund H.B., E.W. & F.R. Luther Charitable Foundation Dr. John & Louise Mulford Fund for the CSO National Endowment for the Arts Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund of the Greenacres Foundation Ohio Arts Council The Oliver Family Foundation PNC Bank Margaret McWilliams Rentschler Fund of Greater Cincinnati Foundation Nina Browne Parker Trust Robert H. Reakirt Foundation Equities Harold C. Schott Foundation / Francie and Tom Hiltz, Trustees The Unnewehr Foundation Western & Southern Financial Group

Bartlett Wealth Management Chemed Corporation CVG Airport Authority Crosset Family Fund Graeter’s Ice Cream JRH Consultants Messer Construction Co. The Daniel & Susan Pfau Foundation Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP YOT Full Circle Foundation Metro

GOLD BATON CIRCLE ($25,000–$49,999)

Duke Energy Foundation Dinsmore & Shohl LLP Hispanic Chamber Cincinnati USA HUB International Learning Links Fund of Greater Cincinnati Foundation NAMI Urban Greater Cincinnati Charles Scott Riley III Foundation Southern Grace Eats Visit Cincy

Anonymous The Cincinnati Symphony Club HORAN Wealth Louis H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation Inc. George and Margaret McLane Foundation The Ladislas & Vilma Segoe Family Foundation United Dairy Farmers & Homemade Brand Ice Cream SILVER BATON CIRCLE ($15,000–$24,999)

Roger and Jan Ames BlaCkOWned™ BT Rise Kelly Dehan and Rick Staudigel Johnson Investment Counsel Millstone Fund The Procter & Gamble Company The Rendigs Foundation Scott and Charla Weiss Wodecroft Foundation

CONCERTMASTER’S CIRCLE ($5,000–$9,999) GBBN Architects Interact for Health The Andrew Jergens Foundation Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL Richard and Carmen Kovarsky Medical Mutual New Music USA Queen City (OH) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated The Willard & Jean Mulford Charitable Fund Rock Island Realty Katherine and Tim Stautberg Thompson Hine LLP WOW Windowboxes

ARTIST’S CIRCLE ($2,500–$4,999)

BUSINESS & FOUNDATION PARTNERS (up to $2,499) AARP Ohio African American Chamber of Commerce Asianati Albert B. Cord Charitable Foundation American Red Cross, Greater Cincinnati-Dayton Region The Blue Book of Cincinnati Cinsei William G. and Mary Jane Helms Charitable Foundation Hixson Architecture Engineering Interiors Journey Steel Robert A. & Marian K. Kennedy Charitable Trust The Kroger Co. League of American Orchestras Frances L. P. Ricketts Sullivan Memorial Fund The Voice of Your Customer

 2026 ARTSWAVE PARTNERS

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops acknowledge the following partner companies, foundations and their employees who generously participate in the Annual ArtsWave Community Campaign at the $100,000+ level. Thank you! $2 million+ P&G $1 million to $1,999,999 Fifth Third Bank and Fifth Third Foundation $500,000 to $999,999 GE Aerospace $250,000 to 499,999 The Cincinnati Insurance Companies The H.B., E.W. and F.R. Luther Charitable Foundation, Fifth Third Bank, N.A., Trustee Western & Southern Financial Group

58 | 2025–26 SEASON

$100,000–$249,999 altafiber Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati Reds Dinsmore & Shohl LLP The E.W. Scripps Company and Scripps Howard Foundation The Enquirer | Cincinnati.com Great American Insurance Group Greater Cincinnati Foundation The Kroger Co. Messer Construction Co. PNC

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

 PERMANENT ENDOWMENTS

Endowment gifts perpetuate your values and create a sustainable future for the Orchestra. We extend our deep gratitude to the donors who have provided permanent endowments in support of our programs that are important to them. For more information about endowment gifts, contact Kate Farinacci, Director of Special Campaigns & Legacy Giving, at 513.744.3202.

ENDOWED CHAIRS

Grace M. Allen Chair Ellen A. & Richard C. Berghamer Chair Robert E. & Fay Boeh Chair The Marc Bohlke Chair given by Katrin & Manfred Bohlke Trish & Rick Bryan Chair Otto M. Budig Family Foundation Chair Mary Alice Heekin Burke Chair Michael L. Cioffi & Rachael Rowe— the Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones Chief Inclusion Officer Sheila and Christopher Cole Chair Peter G. Courlas– Nicholas Tsimaras Chair Ona Hixson Dater Chair The Anne G. & Robert W. Dorsey Chair+ Jane & David Ellis Chair Irene & John J. Emery Chair James M. Ewell Chair Ashley & Barbara Ford Chair for Assistant Conductor Ashley & Barbara Ford Chair for Assistant Conductor Ashley & Barbara Ford Chair for Principal Tuba Susan S. & William A. Friedlander Chair+ Charles Gausmann Chair Susanne & Philip O. Geier, Jr. Chair+ Emma Margaret & Irving D. Goldman Chair Clifford J. Goosmann & Andrea M. Wilson Chair Charles Frederic Goss Chair Jean Ten Have Chair Dorothy & John Hermanies Chair Christy & Terry Horan Family Chair Lois Klein Jolson Chair Josephine I. & David J. Joseph, Jr. Chair Harold B. & Betty Justice Chair Marvin Kolodzik & Linda S. Gallaher Chair+ Al Levinson Chair Patricia Gross Linnemann Chair+ Alberta & Dr. Maurice Marsh Chair Stephen P. McKean Chair Laura Kimble McLellan Chair The Henry Meyer Chair

The Louise Dieterle Nippert & Louis Nippert Chairs Rawson Chair David C. Reed, MD Chair The Vicky & Rick Reynolds Chair in honor of William A. Friedlander+ Ida Ringling North Chair Donald & Margaret Robinson Chair Dianne & J. David Rosenberg Chair+ Ruth F. Rosevear Chair The Morleen & Jack Rouse Chair+ Emalee Schavel Chair Karl & Roberta Schlachter Family Chair Carol J. Schroeder Chair Serge Shababian Chair Melinda & Irwin Simon Chair+ Tom & Dee Stegman Chair+ Mary & Joseph S. Stern, Jr. Chair+ Cynthia & Frank Stewart Chair The Jackie & Roy Sweeney Family Chair The Sweeney Family Chair in memory of Donald C. Sweeney Anna Sinton Taft Chair Brenda & Ralph Taylor Chair James P. Thornton Chair Nicholas Tsimaras– Peter G. Courlas Chair Thomas Vanden Eynden Chair Sallie Robinson Wadsworth & Randolph L. Wadsworth Jr. Chair Jo Ann & Paul Ward Chair Matthew & Peg Woodside Chair Mary M. & Charles F. Yeiser Chair

Fred L. & Katherine H. Groll Fund for Musical Excellence Fred L. & Katherine H. Groll Fund for Great Artists Fred L. & Katherine H. Groll Trust Pianist Fund The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation Endowment Fund Anne Heldman Endowment Fund** Mr. and Mrs. Lorrence T. Kellar+ Lawrence A. & Anne J. Leser* Mr. & Mrs. Carl H. Lindner** Janice W. & Gary R. Lubin Fund for Black Artists PNC Financial Services Group The Procter & Gamble Fund Vicky & Rick Reynolds Fund for Diverse Artists+ Whitney Rowe and Phillip Long Fund for Emerging Artists Melody Sawyer Richardson* Rosemary and Mark Schlachter Endowment Fund*+ The Harold C. Schott Foundation, Francie and Tom Hiltz Endowment Fund+ Peggy Selonick Fund for Great Artists Dee and Tom Stegman Endowment Fund*+ Mr. & Mrs. Joseph S. Stern, Jr. Fund for Great Artists U. S. Bank Foundation* Sallie and Randolph Wadsworth Endowment Fund+

ENDOWED PERFORMANCES & PROJECTS

Educational Concerts

Eleanora C. U. Alms Trust, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee Rosemary and Frank Bloom Endowment Fund*+ Cincinnati Bell Foundation Inc. Mr. & Mrs. Val Cook Nancy & Steve Donovan* Sue and Bill Friedlander Endowment Fund*+ Mrs. Charles Wm Anness*, Mrs. Frederick D. Haffner, Mrs. Gerald Skidmore and the La Vaughn Scholl Garrison Fund

Rosemary & Frank Bloom * Cincinnati Financial Corporation & The Cincinnati Insurance Companies The Margaret Embshoff Educational Fund Kate Foreman Young Peoples Fund George & Anne Heldman+ Macy’s Foundation Vicky & Rick Reynolds*+ William R. Schott Family** Western-Southern Foundation, Inc. Anonymous (3)+

OTHER NAMED FUNDS

Ruth Meacham Bell Memorial Fund Frank & Mary Bergstein Fund for Musical Excellence+ Jean K. Bloch Music Library Fund Cora Dow Endowment Fund Corbett Educational Endowment** Belmon U. Duvall Fund Ewell Fund for Riverbend Maintenance Linda & Harry Fath Endowment Fund Ford Foundation Fund Natalie Wurlitzer & William Ernest Griess Cello Fund William Hurford and Lesley Gilbertson Family Fund for Guest Pianists The Mary Ellyn Hutton Fund for Excellence in Music Education Josephine I. & David J. Joseph, Jr. Scholarship Fund Richard & Jean Jubelirer & Family Fund* Anne C. and Robert P. Judd Fund for Musical Access The Kosarko Family Innovation Fund Elma Margaret Lapp Trust The Richard and Susan Lauf Fund Jésus López-Cobos Fund for Excellence Mellon Foundation Fund Nina Browne Parker Trust Dorothy Robb Perin & Harold F. Poe Trust Rieveschl Fund Thomas Schippers Fund Martha, Max & Alfred M. Stern Ticket Fund Mr. & Mrs. John R. Strauss Student Ticket Fund Anna Sinton & Charles P. Taft Fund Lucien Wulsin Fund Wurlitzer Season Ticket Fund CSO Pooled Income Fund CSO Musicians Emergency Fund

*Denotes support for Annual Music Program Fund **Denotes support for the 2nd Century Campaign +Denotes support for the Fund for Musical Excellence

 GIFT OF MUSIC: December 16, 2025–February 3, 2026 The following people provided gifts to the Gift of Music Fund to celebrate an occasion, to mark a life of service to the Orchestra, or to commemorate a special date. Their contributions are added to the Orchestra’s endowment. For more information on how to contribute to this fund, please call 513.744.3271.

In honor of Larry Hamby Kathryn Sullivan In honor of Cristian Măcelaru’s First Season Marie Speziale

In honor of Maribeth and Martin Rahe James L. & Linda F. Miller

In honor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Staff Anonymous

In memory of Reverend James Metzger Susan Laffoon Mr. George H. Niesen

In honor of Mrs. Angela Reed Richard & Margaret Kuck

In memory of Eleanor McCombe Alison Posinski

In memory of Judith Moorman Nancy C. & Patricia M. Wagner Gary & DeeDee West

Fanfare Magazine | 59

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

 HONOR ROLL OF CONTRIBUTORS The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops are grateful to the following individuals that support our efforts by making a gift to the Orchestra Fund. We extend our heartfelt thanks to each and every one and pay tribute to them here. You can join our family of donors online at cincinnatisymphony.org/donate or by contacting the Philanthropy Department at 513.744.3271.

PLATINUM BATON CIRCLE

Gifts of $50,000 and above

Mr. and Mrs. Frederick E. Bryan, III § Sheila and Christopher C. Cole § David C. Herriman Fund of Greater Cincinnati Foundation Robert W. Dorsey § Healey Liddle Family Foundation, Mel & Bruce Healey Harold C. Schott Foundation, Francie & Tom Hiltz Dr. Lesley Gilbertson and Dr. William Hurford § Dr. and Mrs. Stephen Joffe Florence Koetters Marvin P. Kolodzik and Linda S. Gallaher § Jo Anne and Joe Orndorff Vicky and Rick Reynolds Irwin and Melinda Simon § Dee Stegman § Jackie and Roy Sweeney Family Fund* Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Ullman Mr. Randolph L. Wadsworth Jr. § Ginger Warner Scott and Charla Weiss §

GOLD BATON CIRCLE

Gifts of $25,000–$49,999

Jan and Roger Ames Joe and Patricia Baker Dr. and Mrs. John and Suzanne Bossert § Robert and Debra Chavez Stephen J. Daush Mr. and Mrs. Tom Evans Dr. and Mrs. Carl G. Fischer Ashley and Bobbie Ford § The Garber Family Tom Hardy § Ms. Barbara Johnson Calvin and Patricia Linnemann Susan McPartlin & Michael Galbraith Carolyn Baker Miller Dianne and J. David Rosenberg Moe and Jack Rouse § Ann and Harry Santen § Carol B. Striker Sarah Thorburn Anonymous

SILVER BATON CIRCLE Gifts of $15,000–$24,999

Michael P. Bergan and Tiffany Hanisch Mr. and Mrs. Larry Brueshaber Mr. Gregory D. Buckley and Ms. Susan Berry-Buckley Mr. and Mrs. Joseph W. Hirschhorn § Patti and Fred Heldman Mrs. Andrea Kaplan Mrs. Erich Kunzel Peter E. Landgren and Judith Schonbach Landgren Will and Lee Lindner Mark and Tia Luegering

Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Maloney Joseph A. and Susan E. Pichler Fund* Mark S. and Rosemary K. Schlachter § Brent & Valerie Sheppard Jacqueline Sifri DeeDee and Gary West § Mr. and Mrs. James M. Zimmerman § Anonymous

CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE Gifts of $10,000–$14,999

Access Audio, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Akers Michael L. Cioffi & Rachael Rowe § Mrs. Thomas E. Davidson § Dianne Dunkelman and Clever Crazes for Kids David and Kari Ellis Fund* Emory P. Zimmer Insurance Agency Dr. G. Russell and Renee S. Frankel Lynne Friedlander and Jay Crawford John B. and Judith O. Hansen Laurent Huguenin and Elizabeth Warner Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey Keenan John and Molly Kerman Michael and Marilyn Kremzar § John and Ramsey Lanni Phillip Long Alan Margulies and Gale Snoddy David L. Martin § Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. McDonald Linda and James Miller James and Margo Minutolo Mike and Digi Schueler Mr. Lawrence Schumacher In Memory of Bruce R. Smith Dr. Jean and Mrs. Anne Steichen In memory of Mary and Joseph S. Stern, Jr Ralph C. Taylor § Nancy C. Wagner and Patricia M. Wagner Ms. Diana Willen § Anonymous (4)

CONCERTMASTER’S CIRCLE

Gifts of $5,000–$9,999

Mr. Nicholas Apanius Heather Apple and Mary Kay Koehler Thomas P. Atkins Mrs. Thomas B. Avril Kathleen and Michael Ball Robert and Janet Banks Louis D. Bilionis and Ann Hubbard Sharon Ann Kerns and Mike Birck Robert L. and Debbie Bogenschutz Thomas A. Braun, III § The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation Ms. Melanie M. Chavez Emma Compton Sally and Rick Coomes George Deepe and Kris Orsborn Bedouin and Randall Dennison Dennis W. and Cathy Dern

Dean and Catherine Moulas, Michael Bergan, Heather Apple and Mary Kay Koehler at the Artist’s Circle Dinner. Credit: Claudia Hershner 60 | 2025–26 SEASON

Dr. and Mrs. Stewart B. Dunsker Mrs. Diana T. Dwight In Loving Memory of Diane Harrison Zent Ann A. Ellison Dr. and Mrs. Alberto Espay Estate of E.J. and Jean Krabacher Mr. and Mrs. James T. Fitzgerald Marlena and Walter Frank Dr. and Mrs. Harry F. Fry L. Timothy Giglio Jim and Jann Greenberg Kathy Grote in loving memory of Robert Howes Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Hamby Ms. Delores Hargrove-Young William and Jo Ann Harvey Dr. James and Mrs. Susan Herman Ms. Sandra L. Houck § John M. and Lynda Hoffman Jeep for their 50th anniversary Barbara M. Johnson Robert Johnson Mrs. Barbara Kellar in honor of Mr. Lorrence T. Kellar Holly King Marie and Sam Kocoshis Mr. and Mrs. Richard Kovarsky The Lewis and Marjorie Daniel Foundation Adele Lippert Mrs. Robert Lippert Mark Mandell-Brown, MD and Ann Hanson Elizabeth and Brian Mannion Mr. and Mrs. Donald Marshall Mandare Foundation Barbara and Kim McCracken § Robert and Heather McGrath Mr. and Mrs. David W. Motch Ms. Mary Lou Motl § Dean and Catherine Moulas The Patel-Curran Family Poul D. and JoAnne Pedersen § David and Jenny Powell Drs. Marcia Kaplan and Michael Privitera Ellen Rieveschl § Elizabeth and Karl Ronn § Dr. E. Don Nelson and Ms. Julia Sawyer-Nelson Dr. and Mrs. Michael Scheffler Sandra and David Seiwert Rennie and David Siebenhar Michael and Donnalyn Smith Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Stautberg Brett Stover § Christopher and Nancy Virgulak Donna A. Welsch § Mr. Donald White Cathy S. Willis Ronna and James Willis Wright Brothers, Inc. Anonymous (4)

ARTIST’S CIRCLE

Gifts of $3,000–$4,999

Dr. Charles Abbottsmith Mr. and Mrs. Gérard Baillely Pamela & Jeffrey Bernstein Ms. Marianna Bettman John Beyer Mr. and Mrs. James Bilbo Glenn and Donna Boutilier Kate and Pete Brown Dr. Ralph P. Brown Chris and Tom Buchert Daniel A. Burr Janet and Bruce Byrnes Peter G. Courlas § Marjorie Craft Jim and Elizabeth Dodd David and Linda Dugan Hardy and Barbara Eshbaugh Mr. Thomas Price Ferrell Mrs. Amy Forte Yan Fridman Linda P. Fulton § TJ Gale and Victoria Hafner Frank and Tara Gardner Naomi T. Gerwin Dr. and Mrs. Ralph A. Giannella Lesha and Samuel Greengus

Mrs. Elizabeth Lovett Grover Esther B. Grubbs § Mr. and Mrs. Byron Gustin Dr. and Mrs. Jack Hahn Catherine K. Hart Mr. and Mrs. Robert R. Heidenreich Mr. Fred Heyse Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Hicks Ruth C. Holthaus In Memory of Benjamin C. Hubbard § Mr. and Mrs. Bradley G. Hughes Mr. and Mrs. Michael C. Hughes Heidi Jark and Steve Kenat The Marvin Jester Family Karolyn Johnsen Dr. Richard and Lisa Kagan Dr. Robert W. Keith and Ms. Kathleen Thornton Don and Kathy King Rachel Kirley and Joseph Jaquette § Lynn Keniston Klahm Frank and Ann Kromer Carol Louise Kruse Mary Mc and Kevin Lawson Mr. Shannon Lawson Richard and Nancy Layding Merlanne Louney Luke and Nita Lovell Mr. Jonathan Martin Glen and Lynn Mayfield Holly and Louis Mazzocca The Allen-McCarren Trust John and Roberta Michelman Ms. Sue Miller Mr. and Mrs. David E. Moccia § George and Sarah Morrison III Phyllis Myers and Danny Gray § Alice Perlman Rev. Dr. David V. Schwab Michael and Katherine Rademacher Dr. and Mrs. Robert Reed Sandra Rivers James Rubenstein and Bernadette Unger Carol J. Schroeder § Mr. Rick Sherrer and Dr. Lisa D. Kelly Sue and Glenn Showers § Stanley and Jane Shulman Elizabeth C. B. Sittenfeld § William A. and Jane Smith Nancy Steman Dierckes § Ellen K. Stillpass Elizabeth A. Stone Peggy and Steven Story Emily Terwilliger Mr. and Mrs. J. Dwight Thompson Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Tinklenberg Dr. Barbara R. Voelkel Dr. and Mrs. Matthew and Diana Wallace Mrs. Paul H. Ward § Dr. and Mrs. Galen R. Warren Jonathan and Janet Weaver Jim and George Ann Wesner Stephen and Amy Whitlatch Jo Ann Wieghaus Steve and Katie Wolnitzek Carol and Don Wuebbling Irene A. Zigoris § Anonymous (5)

SYMPHONY CIRCLE

Gifts of $1,500–$2,999

Jeff and Keiko Alexander § Judy Aronoff and Marshall Ruchman Ms. Laura E. Atkinson Dr. Diane S. Babcock § Beth and Bob Baer Mr. and Mrs. Carroll R. Baker Ms. Henryka Bialkowska-Nagy David and Elaine Billmire § Neil Bortz Dr. Leanne Budde Gay Bullock Tom Carpenter and Lynne Lancaster Stephen and Karen Carr Dr. Alan Chambers James Civille James Clasper and Cheryl Albrecht Carol C. Cole § Mr. and Mrs. Philip K. Cone Randy K. and Nancy R. Cooper Charles and Kimberly Curran § Mark Dauner and Geraldine Wu Robert B. Dick, Ph.D.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

David Rosenberg, Harry Santen and Jack Rouse at the Symphony Circle Reception. Credit: Claudia Hershner Tom and Leslie Ducey Mr. and Mrs. John G. Earls § Barry and Judy Evans § Dr. and Mrs. William J. Faulkner Ms. Barbara A. Feldmann Mr. Robert Ferrell Philip Ficks Anne and Alan Fleischer Mrs. Charles Fleischmann Mr. and Mrs. John Freeman Richard Freshwater § Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Fricke Carol S. Friel Anne E. Mulder and Rebecca M. Gibbs Louis and Deborah Ginocchio Mr. Mark W. Glogowski Donn Goebel and Cathy McLeod Dr. and Mrs. Glenn S. Gollobin Bill and Christy Griesser § Mary and Phil Hagner Mrs. Jackie Havenstein Mrs. Betty H. Heldman § Karlee L. Hilliard § Mrs. Carol H. Huether Mr. and Mrs. Paul Isaacs § Andrew MacAoidh & Linda Busken Jergens § Ms. Sylvia Johnson Christopher and Felecia Kanney Holly H. Keeler Mr. and Mrs. Woodrow Keown, Jr. Bill and Penny Kincaid Mr. Dennis G. King Jack & Sharon Knapp In Memory of Jeff Knoop Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Kraimer Pat and Randy Krumm § Everett and Barbara Landen Evelyn and Fred Lang Charles and Jean Lauterbach Mrs. Jean E. Lemon § Dr. Carol P. Leslie Andi Levenson Young and Scott Young Mr. Peter F. Levin § Mr. and Mrs. Lance A. Lewis Mr. and Mrs. Clement H. Luken, Jr. Mr. Gerron McKnight Ms. Nancy Menne Mr. and Mrs. David A. Millett Mrs. Sally A. More Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Newcomer Susan E. Noelcke Mr. Arthur Norman and Mrs. Lisa Lennon Norman Nan L. Oscherwitz Mark and Kim Pomeroy Dr. Aik Khai Pung In Memory of Daniel H. Reigle Stephen and Betty Robinson Laurie and Dan Roche Amy and John Rosenberg Ross Charitable Trust Marianne Rowe Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Schleker Mr. & Mrs. Peter A. Schmid Ms. Martha Slager Susan and David Smith Mark M. Smith (In memory of Terri C. Smith) Stephanie A. Smith Stephen and Lyle Smith Albert and Liza Smitherman Standard Insurance Company Marian P. Stapleton Bill and Lee Steenken § Susan M. and Joseph Eric Stevens Mrs. Donald C. Stouffer Mr. and Mrs. Richard Stradling, Jr.

Mr. Mark Stroud Rich and Nancy Tereba Susan and John Tew In Memory of Mr. William T. Bahlman, Jr. Ms. Nita Walker Michael L. Walton, Esq Ted and Mary Ann Weiss Virginia Wilhelm Rev. Anne Warrington Wilson Judith A. Wilson Rebecca Seeman and David Wood David and Sharon Youmans Dona & Roland Young Anonymous (7)

CONCERTO CLUB

Gifts of $500–$1,499

Christine O. Adams Drs. Frank and Mary Albers Lisa Allgood Mr. Thomas Alloy & Dr. Evaline Alessandrini Patricia A. Anderson Paul and Dolores Anderson § Dr. Victor and Dolores Angel Nancy J. Apfel Lynne & Keith Apple, Honoring our Family James Babb Mrs. Mary M. Baer Mrs. Gail Bain Jerry and Martha Bain Mr. Sean D. Baker Jack and Diane Baldwin Scott Balmos Terry Bangs Glenda Bates Drs. Carol and Leslie Benet Fred Berger Dr. Allen W. Bernard Barbara and Milton Berner Dr. David and Cheryl Bernstein Glenda and Malcolm Bernstein Karina Biehl Milt and Berdie Blersch Randal and Peter Bloch Margaret Blomer Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Bloomer Michael and Pamela Boehm Ron and Betty Bollinger William Bonansinga Clay and Emily Bond Dr. and Mrs. Kevin Bove David & Madonna Bowman William & Mary Bramlage Ms. Susan Brengle Joan Broersma Kathryn L. Brokaw Harold and Gwen Brown Jacklyn and Gary Bryson Bob and Angela Buechner Barbie Wagner Tom & Nancy Bunnell Lawrence and Faye Busse Angie & Gary Butterbaugh Jack and Marti Butz Drs. Alan B. Cady and Anne K. Nestor Ms. Deborah Campbell § Joseph P. Cardone Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Carothers The Castellini Company Mike and Shirley Chaney Gordon Christenson Dee and Frank Cianciolo Fund* Mr. and Mrs. John Clapp Bob Clary Alfredo Colas Castellote and Maria Gullon

Lee and Martha Schimberg with Music Director Cristian Măcelaru at the Symphony Circle Reception. Credit: Claudia Hershner Fred W. Colucci Marilyn Cones Janet Conway Andrea D. Costa, Esq. § Robin Cotton and Cindi Fitton Dennis and Pat Coyne Martha Crafts Tim and Katie Crowley Susan and John Cummings Adrian and Takiyah Cunningham Jacqueline Cutshall Gabriel A. and Princess J. Davis Ronda Deel Loren and Polly DeFilippo Stephen and Cynthia DeHoff Nancy and Steve Donovan Douglas & Kathy Dougherty Meredith and Chuck Downton Judy Doyle in Memory of James Johnson § Ms. Andrea Dubroff Tom and Dale Due Mrs. Shirley Duff Mr. Corwin R. Dunn Edgar J. and Elaine J. Mack Fund Dale & Kathy Elifrits Mrs. Joyce Elkus Ron Ellis Sally Eversole Mr. Douglas Fagaly Ms. Kate Farinacci Mrs. Michelle Finch Ilya Finkelshteyn and Evin Blomberg Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Fischer William and Carol Fisher Mr. and Mrs. James Foreman Janice and Dr. Tom Forte Mr. and Ms. Bernard Foster Dr. Charles E. Frank and Ms. Jan Goldstein Guy and Marilyn Frederick § Harriet and Bill Freedman Mr. Gregrick A. Frey Mr. and Mrs. James Fryman Marjorie Fryxell Dudley Fulton Mark S. Gay Drs. Michael and Janelle J. Gelfand Dr. and Mrs. Freidoon Ghazi Kathleen Gibboney Patricia and Donald Gilb Dr. Jerome Glinka and Ms. Kathleen Blieszner Dr. and Mrs. Charles J. Glueck Dan Goetz Susan Goldman Mr. and Mrs. Jim Goldschmidt Ms. Arlene Golembiewski Ellen Grabois William J. Gracie and Daniel Fairbanks John and Carolyn Grant Anita J. and Thomas G. Grau Robert and Cynthia Gray Carl and Joyce Greber Mary Grooms Nina Gross Kurt and Joanne Grossman Janet C. Haartz and Kenneth V. Smith Ham and Ellie Hamilton Walter and Karen Hand Roberta Handwerger, in memory of Dr. Stuart Handwerger Mr. and Mrs. William Hardie James and Sally Harper Dr. Donald and Laura Harrison Mariana Belvedere and Samer Hasan Dr. Deborah Hauger

Mr. John A. Headley Amy and Dennis Healy Janet Heiden Angie Heiman Howard D. and Mary W. Helms Donald and Susan Henson Mr. Jeff Herbert Herman & Margaret Wasserman Music Fund* Michelle and Don Hershey Janet & Craig Higgins Mr. and Mrs. William A. Hillebrand Susan and Jon Hoffheimer Timothy and Constance Holmen Richard and Marcia Holmes Kevin Logeman & Joseph Hoskins Ben Houck Deanna and Henry Huber Melissa Huber Karen and David Huelsman Dr. Edward & Sarah Hughes Tom and Susan Hughes § Nada Christine Huron Mr. Michael Ilyinsky Judith Imhoff Caroline Isaacs Ms. Idit Isaacsohn Dr. Maralyn M. Itzkowitz Mrs. Charles H. Jackson, Jr. Ruth and Frederick Joffe Ms. Anna R. Johnson Mrs. Marilyn P. Johnston Mr. Andrew Jones Elizabeth A. Jones Scott and Patricia Joseph Jay and Shirley Joyce § Mr. and Mrs. Robert Judd § Rabbi Kenneth Kanter and Dr. Toni Kanter Marilyn and Joseph Katz Dr. James Kaya and Debra Grauel Dr. and Mrs. Richard Kerstine Larry Kissel Mr. and Mrs. Dave Kitzmiller Paul and Carita Kollman Carol and Scott Kosarko § Ken and Sue Kramer Kathleen B. and Michael C. Krug Fund* Mark and Elisabeth Kuhlman Maggie and Eric Kuhn Mrs. John H. Kuhn § Janice Kummer Pinky Laffoon Patricia Lambeck § Angel Landeros Asher and Kelsey Lanier Ms. Sally L. Larson Janet R. Schultz Mrs. Julie Laskey Joe Law and Phil Wise Ms. Katy Leitch Ms. Presley Lindemann Mr. Arthur Lindsay Mitchel and Carol Livingston Mrs. Marianne Locke Fred and Johna Lucas JP and Footie Lund David and Katja Lundgren Larry and Mary Geren Lutz Lyme House Creative Timothy and Jill Lynch Edmund D. Lyon Mrs. Mary Reed Lyon Marshall and Nancy Macks Jenea Malarik Barry and Ann Malinowski Ms. Cheryl Manning 

Fanfare Magazine | 61

FINANCIAL SUPPORT Ms. Wendy Marshall Mr. and Mrs. Dean Matz Ms. Mary Jane Mayer In memory of Bettie Rehfeld Ms. Elizabeth McCracken Dr. Janet P. McDaniel Tim and Trish McDonald Mark McKillip and Amira Beer Stephanie & Arthur McMahon Art and Stephanie McMahon Stephanie McNeill Charles and JoAnn Mead Michael V. Middleton Mr. Bradley Miller Terence G. Milligan Sonia R. Milrod Leslie and Michael Minutolo Mr. Steven Monder Eileen W. and James R. Moon Mr. and Mrs. Fred Moore Mr. Edward Moran Regeana and Al Morgan Janet Mott Dr. and Mrs. M. J. Mueller Mr. Scott Muhlhauser Kevin and Lane Muth Alan Flaherty and Patti Myers § Hochwalt Naumann Fund Amy Paul and Jerry Newfarmer Cheryl and Roy Newman Ms. Jane Nocito Northern Cincinnati Foundation Jane Oberschmidt § Richard and Mary Oertel Steven Olson Gary Oppito Mr. Gerardo Orta Ms. Sylvia Osterday Ms. Eileen Ostrowski Gaye Overton Anthony Paggett Ms. Beth A. Palm John A. Pape Rozelia Park and Christopher Dendy Leslie D. Payne Ms. Catherine J. Pearce Carol and Jim Pearce Barbara Persons

Ms. Kristin M. Peter Mr. and Mrs. Paul Piazza Ann and Marty Pinales Mr. James Quaintance II and Mrs. Catherine Hann Jerry Rape James W. Rauth § Mrs. Genie Redman Allan Reeves Kenneth and Danielle Revelson Dr. Robert Rhoad and Kitsa Tassian Rhoad Becky and Ted Richards Stephanie Richardson Drs. Christopher and Blanca Riemann Mr. David Robertson Mr. Brian Robson Dr. Anna Roetker Ms. Jeanne C. Rolfes Catherine Calko Dr. and Mrs. Gary Roselle Tina and Bruse Ross Mr. and Mrs. G. Roger Ross Dr. Deborah K. Rufner Mr. Tom Samuels Dr. Richard S. Sarason and Ms. Anne S. Arenstein Cindy Scheets Ms. Carol Schleker Dr. and Mrs. Michael Schmerler Mr. and Mrs. William C. Schmidter, III Alice and Charles Schneider George Palmer Schober Tim and Jeannie Schoonover Glenda C. Schorr Fund* Dr. Joseph Segal and Ms. Debbie Friedman Elaine Semancik Ms. Kay Shaner Mick and Nancy Shaughnessy The Shepherd Chemical Company Alfred and Carol Shikany Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Shoop, Jr. Jacqueline M. Mack and Dr. Edward B. Silberstein Ms. Joycee Simendinger Doug and Laura Skidmore

Nancy McGaughey and Sally Skillman Alice E. Skirtz Jennifer S. Smith Phillip and Karen Sparkes Mrs. John A. Spiess St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross Mary Stagaman and Ron Kull Dr. Jeffrey Stambough Dana A. Stang Jason M. Steffen Mary M. Stein Christopher and Meghan Stevens Mr. and Mrs. Richard Stevie Stephanie and Joseph Stitt Nancy and Gary Strassel Ms. Susan R. Strick Mr. George Stricker, Jr. Tom and Keri Tami Dr. Alan and Shelley Tarshis Maureen Taylor Mr. Fred Tegarden Carlos and Roberta Teran Linda and Nate Tetrick Dale and Yana Thatcher Marcia and Bob Togneri James and Susan Troutt Dr. Nicolette van der Klaauw Mr. D. R. Van Lokeren Dr. Judith Vermillion Jim and Rachel Votaw § Mrs. Barbara J. Wagner Ms. Barbara Wagner Mr. and Mrs. James L. Wainscott Jane A. Walker Rosemary Waller Sarella Walton Ping Wang Claude and Camilla Warren Mrs. Louise Watts Wendell & Mary Webster Doug and Joan Welsh Mr. and Mrs. Frank Welsh Jeff & Arlene Werts Janice T. Wieland Mr. Bruce Williamson Mr. Dean Windgassen and Ms. Susan Stanton Windgassen

Craig and Barbara Wolf Donald and Karen Wolnik Judith R. Workman Linda Wulff Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wylly III Mr. John M. Yacher Edith and Leo Yakutis Drs. Marissa S. Liang and Y. Jeffrey Yang Judy and Martin Young Mr. David Youngblood and Ms. Ellen Rosenman Janice Zahn Cheryl Zalzal Mr. and Mrs. John Zeller Moritz and Barbara Ziegler Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Zierolf Mr. Richard K. Zinicola and Ms. Linda R. Holthaus David and Cynthia Zink Matthew Zory and Shelly Reese Daniel & Susmita Zuck Mrs. Beth Zwergel Anonymous (27) List as of January 22, 2026

GIFTS IN-KIND

Graeter’s Ice Cream Hispanic Chamber Cincinnati USA Southern Grace Eats The T Shirt Co. The Voice of Your Customer WOW Windowboxes Carlos Zavala List as of January 26, 2026 * Denotes a fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation. § Denotes members of The Thomas Schippers Legacy Society. Individuals who have made a planned gift to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Pops Orchestra are eligible for membership in the Society. For more information, please contact Kate Farinacci at 513.744.3202.

Welcome to APR–MAY Groups! as of March 10, 2026

POPS The Music of Studio Ghibli | APR 14 Cynthia Tisue Friends & Family UC Medical Symphony

David and Jessica Thielen Friends & Family James Lawson High School Mike and Barbara Burns Friends & Family

CSO Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3 | APR 17 & 18

CSO Beethoven & Tchaikovsky | MAY 8 & 9

Barrington of Oakley Butler Tech Christian Village of Mason Garfield Middle School Lighthouse Christian Academy Maple Knoll Village Otterbein Retirement Community Twin Lakes at Montgomery Wilson Middle School The Kenwood Seasons Retirement Community The Knolls of Oxford

CSO Stravinsky’s Firebird | APR 24 & 25 Ken Wetstein & Friends Twin Lakes Little Miami Middle School

POPS The Music of Star Wars | May 1–3 Batavia Middle School Choice Music Tours George Rogers Clark High School

62 | 2025–26 SEASON

Barrington of Oakley Christian Village of Mason Maple Knoll Village Otterbein Retirement Community Twin Lakes at Montgomery The Kenwood Seasons Retirement Community The Knolls of Oxford

ENJOY THE MUSIC, TOGETHER! • Groups of 10+ save 20% on most concerts and seniors and students save even more!

• Curate your own event with a private reception, guided tour or meet and greet — the possibilities are endless.

Contact CSO Group Sales: 513.744.3252 or wmarshall@cincinnatisymphony.org cincinnatisymphony.org/groups

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

 THE THOMAS SCHIPPERS LEGACY SOCIETY Thomas Schippers was Music Director from 1970 to 1977. He left not only wonderful musical memories, but also a financial legacy with a personal bequest to the Orchestra. The Thomas Schippers Legacy Society recognizes those who contribute to the Orchestra with a planned gift.

We thank these members for their foresight and generosity. For more information on leaving your own legacy, contact Kate Farinacci at 513.744.3202.

Mr. & Mrs. James R. Adams Jeff & Keiko Alexander Mrs. Robert H. Allen Dr. Toni Alterman Paul R. Anderson Carole J. Arend Donald C. Auberger, Jr. The B & C Family Legacy Fund Dr. Diane Schwemlein Babcock Henrietta Barlag* Peggy Barrett* Jane* & Ed Bavaria David & Elaine Billmire Walter Blair Dr. John & Suzanne Bossert Dr. Mollie H. Bowers-Hollon Ronald Bozicevich Thomas A. Braun, III Joseph Brinkmeyer Mr. & Mrs. Frederick Bryan, III Harold & Dorothy Byers Deborah Campbell & Eunice M. Wolf Catharine W. Chapman Michael L. Cioffi & Rachael Rowe Mrs. Jackson L. Clagett III Lois & Phil* Cohen Leland M.* & Carol C. Cole Sheila & Christopher Cole Jack & Janice Cook Mr. & Mrs. Charles Cordes Ms. Andrea Costa Peter G. Courlas & Nick Tsimaras* Mr. & Mrs. Charles E. Curran III Amy & Scott Darrah, Meredith & Will Darrah, children Caroline H. Davidson Harrison R.T. Davis Ms. Kelly M. Dehan Amy & Trey Devey Robert W. Dorsey Jon & Susan Doucleff Ms. Judith A. Doyle Mr. & Mrs. John Earls Mr. & Mrs. Barry C. Evans Linda & Harry Fath Alan Flaherty Ashley & Barbara Ford Guy & Marilyn Frederick Rich Freshwater & Family Mr. Nicholas L. Fry Linda P. Fulton H. Jane Gavin Edward J. & Barbara C.* Givens Kenneth A. Goode Clifford J. Goosmann & Andrea M. Wilson Mrs. Madeleine H. Gordon J. Frederick & Cynthia Gossman Kathy Grote Esther B. Grubbs, Marci Bein, Mindi Hamby William Hackman Vincent C. Hand & Ann E. Hagerman Tom & Jan* Hardy William L. Harmon Mary J. Healy Frank G. Heitker Betty & John* Heldman Karlee L. Hilliard Michael H. Hirsch Mr. & Mrs. Joseph W. Hirschhorn Daniel J. Hoffheimer Kenneth L. Holford

George R. Hood Mr. & Mrs. Terence L. Horan Sandra L. Houck Mrs. Benjamin C. Hubbard Susan & Tom Hughes Dr. Lesley Gilbertson & Dr. William Hurford Mr. & Mrs. Paul Isaacs Julia M. F. B. Jackson Michael & Kathleen Janson Andrew MacAoidh Jergens Jean C. Jett Jay & Shirley Joyce Anne C. & Robert P. Judd Margaret H. Jung Mace C. Justice Dr. & Mrs.* Steven Katkin Rachel Kirley & Joseph Jaquette Jay & Shirley Joyce Carolyn Koehl Marvin Kolodzik & Linda Gallaher Carol & Scott Kosarko Marilyn & Michael Kremzar Randolph & Patricia Krumm Theresa M. Kuhn Warren & Patricia Lambeck Peter E. Landgren & Judith Schonbach Landgren Susan J. Lauf Owen & Cici Lee Steve Lee Mrs. Jean E. Lemon Mr. Peter F. Levin Janice W.* & Gary R. Lubin Mr.* & Mrs. Ronald Lyons Margot Marples David L. Martin Allen* & Judy Martin David Mason Barbara & Kim McCracken Laura Kimble McLellan Dr. Stanley R. Milstein Mrs. William K. Minor Mr. & Mrs. D. E. Moccia Mary Lou Motl Kristin & Stephen Mullin Christopher & Susan Muth Patti Myers Ms. Phyllis A. Myers Susan & Kenneth Newmark Dr. & Mrs. Theodore Nicholas Jane Oberschmidt* Marja-Liisa Ogden Julie & Dick* Okenfuss Dr. & Mrs. Richard E. Park, MD Charlie & Tara Pease Poul D. & JoAnne Pedersen Sandy & Larry* Pike Mrs. Harold F. Poe Anne M. Pohl Irene & Daniel Randolph James W. Rauth Barbara S. Reckseit Mrs. Angela M. Reed Melody Sawyer Richardson Ellen Rieveschl Elizabeth & Karl Ronn Moe & Jack Rouse Ann & Harry Santen Rosemary & Mark Schlachter Carol J. Schroeder Mrs. William R. Seaman Dr. Brian Sebastian

Mrs. Robert B. Shott Sue & Glenn Showers Irwin & Melinda Simon Betsy & Paul* Sittenfeld Sarah Garrison Skidmore* Denis & Lisa Skowronski Adrienne A. Smith David & Sonja* Snyder Marie Speziale Mr. & Mrs. Christopher L. Sprenkle Barry & Sharlyn Stare Bill & Lee Steenken Tom* & Dee Stegman Barry Steinberg Nancy M. Steman John & Helen Stevenson Mary & Bob Stewart Brett Stover Dr. Robert & Jill Strub Patricia M. Strunk Ralph & Brenda* Taylor Conrad F. Thiede Minda F. Thompson Carrie & Peter Throm Dr. & Mrs. Thomas Todd Nydia Tranter

Dick & Jane Tuten Thomas Vanden Eynden* & Judith Beiting Mr. & Mrs. Robert Varley* Mr. & Mrs. James K. Votaw Mr. & Mrs.* Randolph L. Wadsworth Jr. Nancy C. Wagner Patricia M. Wagner Mr. & Mrs. Paul Ward Jo Anne & Fred Warren Mr. Scott Weiss & Dr. Charla Weiss Donna A. Welsch Anne M. Werner Gary & Diane West Charles A. Wilkinson Ms. Diana Willen Susan Stanton Windgassen Mrs. Joan R. Wood Dr. Mark* & Irene Zigoris Alison & Jim Zimmerman * Deceased New Schippers members are in bold

Fanfare Magazine | 63

Administration SHARED SERVICES & SUBSIDIARIES. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s business model is unique within the orchestral industry because it provides administrative services for other nonprofits and operates two subsidiary companies — Music & Event Management, Inc. and EVT Management LLC. With the consolidation of resources and expertise, sharing administrative services allows for all organizations within the model to thrive. Under this arrangement, the CSO produces hundreds of events in the Greater Cincinnati and Dayton regions and employs hundreds of people annually.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM Robert McGrath President & CEO Harold Brown The Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones Chief Inclusion Officer John Clapp Chief Orchestra & Production Officer Felecia Tchen Kanney Chief Marketing & Communications Officer Mary McFadden Lawson Chief Philanthropy Officer Gregory Lee Chief Financial Officer Anthony Paggett Chief Artistic Officer Kyle Wynk-Sivashankar Chief People Officer EXECUTIVE OFFICE Shannon Faith Executive Assistant to the President & CEO ARTISTIC PLANNING Julia Gaines Artistic Planning Intern Theresa Lansberry Manager of Artistic Planning & Artist Servicing Shuta Maeno Manager of Artistic Planning & Assistant to the Music Director Sam Strater Senior Advisor for Cincinnati Pops Planning COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Key Crooms Director of Community Engagement Pamela Jayne Volunteer & Community Engagement Manager Andrea Saavedra Ferreira Community Engagement Intern

FINANCE, IT & DATA SERVICES Julian Cann Accounting Clerk Leia Chan Finance Intern Kathleen Curry Data Entry Clerk Elizabeth Engwall Accounting Manager Matt Grady Accounting Manager Sharon Grayton Data Services Manager Marijane Klug Staff Accountant Shannon May Accounting Clerk

MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS & DIGITAL MEDIA Charlie Balcom Social Media Manager Leon Barton Website Manager Hannah Boettcher Marketing Intern KC Commander Director of Digital Content & Innovation Maria Cordes Video Editor Jon Dellinger Growth Marketing Manager Drew Dolan Box Office Manager

PHILANTHROPY Sean Baker Director of Institutional Giving Angelina Bush Philanthropy Intern Ashley Coffey Foundation & Grants Manager

Kristina Pfeiffer Director of Finance

Kaitlyn Driesen Digital Media & Label Services Manager

Judy Simpson Director of Finance

Jensen Fitch Publicity Manager

Tara Williams Data Services Manager

Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Publications Manager

HUMAN RESOURCES & PAYROLL Megan Inderbitzin-Tsai Director of Payroll Services

Daniel Lees Assistant Box Office Manager

Catherine Hann Assistant Director of Individual Giving

Michelle Lewandowski Director of Marketing

Rachel Hellebusch Corporate Giving Manager

Tina Marshall Director of Ticketing & Audience Services

Leslie Hoggatt-Minutolo Director of Individual Giving & Donor Services

Wendy Marshall Group Sales Manager

Quinton Jefferson Research & Grants Administrator

Madelyn McArthur Audience Engagement Manager

Ethan Mann Individual Giving Manager

Nyla Nawab Communications Intern

D’Anté McNeal Special Projects Manager

Amber Ostaszewski Director of Audience Engagement

Emma Steward Leadership Giving Manager

Monica Lange Payroll & Human Resources Assistant Natalia Lerzundi Human Resources Manager LEARNING Hollie Greenwood Learning Department Coordinator Kyle Lamb School Programs Manager Jack Obermeyer Youth Orchestras Manager Anja Ormiston Learning Department Coordinator Hannah Ross Director of Learning

Maddie Denning Institutional Giving Coordinator Kate Farinacci Director of Special Campaigns & Legacy Giving

Devon Pine Subscription Marketing Manager

PRODUCTION Laura Bordner Adams Director of Operations

Tyler Secor Director of Communications & Content Development

Shawnta Hunter Production Intern

Alexis Shambley Audience Development Marketing Manager Lee Snow Digital Content Technology Manager Elise Wells Digital Content Intern

64 | 2025–26 SEASON

Patron Services Representatives Hannah Blanchette, Lead Jacob Forte, Lead Grace Mattina, Lead Marian Mayen, Lead Gregory Patterson, Lead Andy Demczuk Craig Doolin Abby Dreith Ebony Jackson Scott Molnar Kathleen Riemenschneider Mekhi Tyree

Alex Magg Production Manager Isabella Prater Production Coordinator Brenda Tullos Director of Orchestra Personnel Rachel Vondra Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager

CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA & CINCINNATI POPS

WELCOME TO THE

2026-27

SEASON SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW! cincinnatisymphony.org/2627