April & May 2024 Fanfare Magazine

FANFARE MAGAZINE FANFARE MAGAZINE

RR AAPP

244 2 0 0 2 YY2 A A M //M

CINCINNATISYMPHONY.ORG CINCINNATISYMPHONY.ORG

APR / MAY 2024 APR / MAY 2024

FromLumenocity Lumenocityto to From JAN FEB 2024 Grand Finale JAN // FEB 2024 Grand Finale

Oxford proudly supports the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Oxford is independent and unbiased — and always will be.

We are committed to providing multi-generational estate planning advice and forward-thinking investment solutions to families and institutions.

ATLANTA F CHICAGO F CINCINNATI F GRAND RAPIDS F INDIANAPOLIS F MINNEAPOLIS F PALM BEACH 513.246.0800 F WWW.OFGLTD.COM/CSO Oxford is an investment advisor registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.

More information about Oxford’s investment advisory services and fees can be found in its Form ADV Part 2, which is available upon request. OFG-2308-1

Welcome 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.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops Orchestra’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is catalyzed by systemic injustice and inequality perpetuated by individuals and institutions. Our mission is to seek and share inspiration, and at its essence, the CSO exists to serve our community. Our entire community.

Reflecting our community and the world around at every level—on stage, behind-thescenes, and in neighborhoods throughout the region—is essential to the CSO’s present and future and makes us a strong ensemble and institution.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops acknowledges that Cincinnati Music Hall occupies land that has been the traditional land of the Hopewell, Adena, Myaamia (Miami), Shawandasse Tula (Shawanwaki/Shawnee), and Wahzhazhe Manzhan (Osage) peoples, who have continuously lived upon this land since time immemorial. We acknowledge that this land was unceded and stolen via methods of genocide and ethnic cleansing by colonizers.

We honor past, present and future Indigenous peoples.

APRIL/ APRIL/ MAY 2024 MAY 2024

CONTENTS

6

6

Part V, Part V, the last the last 4 Directors & Advisors installment of installment of our seasonour season& CEO 5 Welcome from the President & CEO long focus on long focus on Louis Langrée Grand Finale 6 Louis Langrée, Part V: Louis’ GrandLouis Finale Langrée and his and his remieres, 12Commissions Louis Langrée: A Legacy of Premieres, Commissions CSO tenure, CSO tenure, delves into the meaning delves into the behind meaning behind and Recordings Langrée’s programmatic Langrée’s programmatic choices for his final choices concerts for his final concerts , Rhyme and 16 Classical Reason Roots: Poetry, Verse, Rhyme and Reason and the messageand hethe hopes message the he hopes the Block Parties 19 Save the Dates: 2024 Brady Block Parties music brings to our musicaudience brings to our audience (plus a listing of his (pluspremieres, a listing of his premieres, Mason and 20 Katharina CSO Feature: Sheku Wincor: Kanneh-Masoncommissions and Katharina Wincor: andcommissions recordings), and recordings), Young Blazing Careers pp. 6–13. Louis’ final pp. 6–13. concerts Louis’ final concerts as as Music Director are Music May Director 10–12. are May 10–12.

Orchestra22Musicians Spotlight: Honoring Retiring Orchestra Musicians

24

Spotlight: Why We Give

26

Orchestra Roster

16

16

grée, John 27 Morris Artistic Leadership: Russell Louis Langrée, John Morris Russell

28

“Each year, we strive “Each year, to tell we strive new to tell new

Notes: 40 Concerts and CSO Program Notes: and different stories, and different getting stories,into getting into 20–21: CSOApr. Hadelich 19: Classical Roots & | Apr. 20–21: CSOglorious Hadelich & details the the and gloriousnuanced details and nuanced connections connections the thatBlack make the Black Chamber Series Holland “Spotlight | Apr. 25: Winstead Chamber Series “Spotlightthat make experience so meaningful experience so meaningful to to 26–27: CSOon Dvořák Winds and Strings” | Apr. 26–27: CSO Dvořák everyone,” says JMR everyone,” of Classical says JMR of Classical SYO Concert Symphony No. 8 | Apr. 28: CSYO Concert Roots concerts. With Roots concerts. special With special rmonic Orchestra Orchestra (7 (2 pm) pm) and Philharmonic | Orchestra (7 pm) | guest producer/rapper guest producer/rapper Hi-Tek, the Hi-Tek, the Classical Community Classical Roots Community Choir Choir & Dessner Premieres May 3–4: CSO Beethoven | 7 & Dessner PremieresRoots | and other artists with and other Cincinnati artists with Cincinnati Finale May 10–12: CSO Louis’ Grand Finale Financial Support

80

Administration

connections, this year’s connections, concert this year’s concert offers a convergence offers aof convergence musicofand music and words—poetry, gospel, words—poetry, hip-hop, gospel, hip-hop, and orchestral and andchoral orchestral works, and choral works, pp. 16–18. pp. 16–18.

20 20 ON THE COVER: CSO Music Director Louis or Louis Langrée.

Langrée.

Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, newly newly Bernstein’s Top:Symphonic Langrée conducting Suite Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Suite named the 2024 named MACthe Music 2024 MAC Music Leong). Middle: from On the Langrée Waterfront (Credit: JP Leong). Middle: Langrée Innovator, Innovator, debuts debuts ocity 2013 conducting (Credit: the CSO Mark during Lumenocity 2013 (Credit: Mark with the CSO, with the CSO, along withalong rising with rising he CSO Lyons). at the Bottom: 2017 Langrée Open conducts the CSO at the 2017 Open young conductor young conductor c Hall (Credit: House for Mark the newlyLyons) renovated Music Hall (Credit: Mark Lyons)

Katharina Katharina Wincor. They Wincor. They share theirshare their thoughts on thoughts on the program the program they’ll present, they’ll present, reproduced All in contents any©manner, 2023–24. Contents whole cannot be reproduced in any manner, whole including including e Cincinnati or in Symphony part, without written Orchestra permission from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops.

Kanneh-Mason’s Kanneh-Mason’s performance of Shostakovich’s performance of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. Cello1,Concerto pp. 20–21.

No. 1, pp. 20–21.

2 | 2023–24 SEASON

C

M

M

Y

Y

CM CM

MY MY

Guest Artist Biographies

74

C

CY CY

CMYCMY

K

K

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

A proud sponsor of the musical arts

 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Officers

CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA & CINCINNATI POPS Music Hall, 1241 Elm Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202 Box Office: 513.381.3300 hello@cincinnatisymphony.org Group Sales: 513.864.0196 groupsales@cincinnatisymphony.org TTY/TDD: Use TTY/TDD Relay Service 7-1-1 cincinnatisymphony.org cincinnatipops.org

FANFARE MAGAZINE STAFF: Managing Editor Tyler Secor Senior Editor/Layout Teri McKibben Graphic Design Stephanie Lazorchak CINCINNATI MAGAZINE: Advertising and Publishing Partners for Fanfare Magazine Publisher Ivy Bayer Production Director & IT Systems Administrator Vu Luong Advertising Designer Sophie Kallis Account Representatives Laura Bowling, Maggie Wint Goecke, Hilary Linnenberg, Chris Ohmer, Julie Poyer, Joe Hoffecker Operations Director Missy Beiting Business Coordinator Erica Birkle Advertising and Business Offices 1818 Race Street, Suite 301 Cincinnati, OH 45202 | 513.421.4300 Subscriptions: 1.800.846.4333 cincinnatimagazine.com

Dianne Rosenberg, Chair Robert W. McDonald, Immediate Past Chair Sue McPartlin, Treasurer and Vice-Chair of Finance Gerron McKnight, Esq., Secretary Timothy Giglio and Kari Ullman, Vice-Chairs of Volunteerism Anne E. Mulder, Vice-Chair of Community Engagement Charla B. Weiss, Vice-Chair of Institutional Advancement Melanie Healey, Vice-Chair of Leadership Development

Directors

Dorie Akers Heather Apple Michael P. Bergan Evin Blomberg Kate C. Brown Ralph P. Brown, DVM Trish Bryan* Otto M. Budig, Jr.* Andria Carter Andrea Costa Adrian Cunningham Gabe Davis Dr. Maria Espinola

 BOARD OF DIRECTORS DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION (DE&I) COMMITTEE, COMMUNITY ADVISORY COUNCIL and MULTICULTURAL AWARENESS COUNCIL In May 2020, the CSO created a 10-point DEI Action Plan to prioritize the Orchestra’s work to better represent and serve the entirety of the Cincinnati community. Action items included the continued amplification of BIPOC artists on stage and in education programs; a review of hiring and compensation practices; organization-wide implicit bias training; increased mentorship opportunities; and the creation of a standing CSO Community Advisory Council (CAC) to strengthen ties to the community. We thank our many partners on the CAC and on our standing DE&I committee who are helping us with this important work.

CSO Board of Directors DE&I Committee Charla B. Weiss, Lead Heather Apple Ralph Brown Andria Carter (MAC) Adrian Cunningham Maria Espinola Delores Hargrove-Young Lisa Kelly David Kirk* Gerron McKnight Lisa Lennon Norman Jack Rouse Lisa Sampson Stephanie Smith *Community Volunteer Primary Staff Liaison: Harold Brown Other Staff: Kyle Wynk-Sivashankar

You are welcome to take this copy of Fanfare Magazine home with you as a souvenir of your concert experience.

Alternatively, please share it with a friend or leave it with an usher for recycling. Thank you!

4 | 2023–24 SEASON

Mrs. Charles Fleischmann III* Lawrence Hamby Delores Hargrove-Young Francie S. Hiltz* Joseph W. Hirschhorn* Lisa Diane Kelly Edna Keown Florence Koetters Jonathan Kregor Peter E. Landgren John Lanni Shannon Lawson Spencer Liles* Will Lindner Holly Mazzocca James P. Minutolo Laura Mitchell Lisa Lennon Norman Bradford E. Phillips, III Aik Khai Pung James B. Reynolds* Jack Rouse* Lisa M. Sampson Patrick Schleker Valarie Sheppard Stephanie A. Smith Albert Smitherman David R. Valz Randolph L. Wadsworth, Jr.* *Director Emeritus

Community Advisory Council

Desiré Bennett, Design Impact Daniel Betts, Cincinnati Recreation Commission Jackie Taggart Boyd, Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau/CincyUSA Alexis Kidd, Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses

Candra Reeves, Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio John P. Scott, Community Engagement Partners Billy Thomas, Cincy Nice Staff: Key Crooms

Multicultural Awareness Council Holly Bates Susan Carlson Andria Carter Piper Davis Kori Hill Alverna Jenkins Beverley Lamb Kick Lee Quiera Levy-Smith RaeNosa Onwumelu Yemi Oyediran Aurelia “Candie” Simmons Nakia Smith Daphney Thomas Staff: Key Crooms

WELCOME FROM THE PRESIDENT AND CEO

©Roger Mastroianni

  

We’re at a very special moment in the history of the CSO, where we celebrate our Music Director Louis Langrée as he concludes his extraordinary 11-year tenure with us and assumes the role of Music Director Laureate.

Dear Friends of Music, We’re at a very special moment in the history of the CSO, where we celebrate our Music Director Louis Langrée as he concludes his extraordinary 11-year tenure with us and assumes the role of Music Director Laureate.

Since taking the helm as the 13th Music Director in 2013, Louis has championed bold programming and initiatives that have activated the commissioning of new music and brought new experiences, community-wide participation opportunities and global attention. He has commissioned a total of 65 new works during his tenure—more than any other Music Director in the Orchestra’s history—and conducted 31 premieres, expanding the extensive commissioning and premiering legacy of the CSO. He has led the Orchestra on successful European and Asian tours, as well as an appearance at Lincoln Center as part of the Great Performers series, and garnered two Grammy Award nominations for Best Orchestral Performance. He has presided over the Orchestra’s move from Music Hall during its major renovation, and, during the Covid-19 pandemic, catalyzed the Orchestra’s return to the stage in the fall of 2020 with a series of digitally streamed concerts that have garnered more than two million views to date.

Perhaps the most enduring of Louis’ achievements is within the Orchestra itself. During his tenure, Louis has appointed more than 40% of our Orchestra—an astounding 35 musicians, many of them in key leadership roles—which will undoubtedly underscore the sound of the ensemble for decades to come.

His achievements with the CSO alone are cause for a big celebration, but we also want to take a moment to celebrate Louis, his passion for creating and sharing music with as many people as possible, his thoughtful and humble way of living life, and the transformative impact he has had on our Orchestra and our community. This Orchestra—and the entire community of people who help run it—is forever changed by Louis. Therefore, we plan to share our deep gratitude and appreciation for Louis in the best way we know how—through music.

In addition to concerts with Louis spanning the final weeks of the season— Hadelich & Holland on April 20 & 21, Beethoven 7 & Dessner Premieres on May 3 & 4, CSO Proof: Wires on May 3, and the aptly named Louis’ Grand Finale May 10–12—we are pleased to announce our latest Fanfare Cincinnati release called American Dreams, a collection of American music that speaks to CSO history and celebrates excellent music-making with Louis. The album will be available across all streaming platforms beginning May 3, and a limited run of vinyl will be available for in-person purchases during the May CSO concerts.

We also share more about Louis and our Orchestra in the stories within Fanfare Magazine. Ken Smith shares his final story in our Louis Langrée series.

This installment delves into the meaning behind Langrée’s programmatic choices for his final concerts and the message he hopes the music brings to our audience. Hannah Edgar writes about our 2024 MAC Music Innovator Sheku Kanneh-Mason and what the residency entails, as well as his CSO debut. Dr. A. Kori Hill writes about this year’s Classical Roots program, highlighting Black voices in poetry, verse, rhyme and reason. Kit Gladieux talks with Associate Principal Trumpet Douglas Lindsay and cellist Theodore Nelson ahead of their retirements. And as we wrap up our season at Music Hall, we’re pleased to announce the dates and locations for this summer’s Brady Block Parties, a series of free community events anchored by outdoor CSO concerts in neighborhoods across the region.

Our mission has been, and continues to be, service to the community through music. It is through music that we seek and share inspiration, and it is through music that we make the most meaningful impact. Thank you for joining us. We are heartened by your attendance and ongoing support of our Orchestra, and we look forward to seeing you again soon.

Jonathan Martin

Fanfare Magazine | 5

LOUIS LANGRÉE, Part V

Louis’ Grand Finale

by KEN SMITH

Photo: Claudia Hershner

6 | 2023–24 SEASON

LOUIS LANGRÉE, Part V

Like anyone getting ready for a grand exit, Louis Langrée’s final weeks as Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra are filled with fond recollections and moments of looking ahead.

Langrée and the Orchestra have planned a final program to highlight a few fond recollections: Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which the CSO performed with Langrée on tour in Hong Kong in 2017, and the second suite from Ravel’s ballet Daphnis et Chloé, which had been included in the CSO’s all-French program that reopened Music Hall in 2018, after its extensive renovation.

“Musically, I think this is actually a perfect condensation of what we’ve done together in Cincinnati,” he explains. “We’re performing a great ballet of the early 20th century and also the Dukas tone poem, which might be famous because of Fantasia but really comes from a poem by Goethe. Musically, however, its dimensions are much bigger. Just as Strauss’ Alpine Symphony is a transcendental journey and not some touristic view of the mountains, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is more than Mickey Mouse with a broom. It’s one of the greatest orchestral

pieces ever written, a shimmering lava of sound that perfectly showcases our musicians both individually and collectively.”    Nothing looks ahead quite like new music, and on that front Langrée also looks back fondly at his years in Cincinnati, having conducted almost half of the 65 pieces commissioned by the CSO during his tenure. “I’m very proud of those achievements, whether they were world premieres, U.S. premieres or simply works new to Cincinnati,” he says. “I had many guides here who opened up wonderful worlds for me.”

One such guide was Bryce Dessner, a Cincinnati-born composer and member of the Grammy-winning rock band The National, who— perhaps not incidentally—now lives in France, dividing his time between Paris and the Basque Country. “I first met him in Brooklyn,” Langrée



Louis Langrée leads the Orchestra, with duo-pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque, in the U.S. premiere of Bryce Dessner’s Concerto for Two Pianos, September 2019. Credit: Lee Snow

Fanfare Magazine | 7

LOUIS LANGRÉE, Part V

smiles with a gleam of recognition. “Now he lives near where Ravel was born.”

That initial meeting proved quite fruitful for both sides. Since founding MusicNOW in 2006, Dessner had quickly made his recurring event a noted showcase for contemporary musicians from around the world. What MusicNOW soon gained, for several years, was a resident symphony orchestra.

In 2014, the CSO’s first MusicNOW appearance featured Dessner’s Murder Ballades with Eighth Blackbird and St. Carolyn by the Sea, a concerto for two electric guitars with Dessner performing with his twin brother Aaron, along with Scriabin’s The Poem of Ecstasy and the world premiere of Nico Muhly’s Pleasure Ground with baritone Nathan Wyatt. The next night featured both Penderecki’s Polymorphia and Johnny Greenwood’s 48 Responses to Polymorphia, as well as Prokofiev’s Scythian Suite and the world premiere of David Lang’s mountain.

“Looking back now, I can’t imagine how we did it,” Langrée says. “How did we rehearse

At left, Louis Langrée leads the CSO and the band The National in a 2015 MusicNOW festival performance. Below: Aaron and Bryce Dessner, electric guitars, take center stage for Bryce’s St. Carolyn by the Sea, in the Orchestra’s first MusicNOW concerts (2014), Louis Langrée conducting. Credit: Mark Lyons

8 | 2023–24 SEASON

LOUIS LANGRÉE, Part V

Louis Langrée leads members of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in a rehearsal for the virtual performance of Anthony Davis’ You Have the Right to Remain Silent, with clarinetist Anthony McGill.

all these new pieces in a single week? The joy, new concerto he wrote specifically for Alice Sara the energy of mixing those various styles was Ott. This is when musicians become part of the simply fantastic. And in the audience, you had creative process. They are not merely playing a people who came only to hear the Dessner piece, but have become the composer’s voice.” brothers and discovered Scriabin, and n n n those who came only for Prokofiev and found Perhaps even more directly, “The joy, the energy David Lang.” soprano Latonia Moore— of mixing those various Dessner’s new Piano Anthony Davis’ own choice styles was simply fantastic.

Concerto, which receives as soloist—will also become And in the audience, you had its U.S. premiere on May 2 his surrogate voice. And people who came only to and 3 with soloist Alice much like Dessner’s new hear the Dessner brothers and Sara Ott, is a natural— concerto, which caps his discovered Scriabin, and those perhaps inevitable—followrelationship with the CSO, who came only for Prokofiev up to his Concerto for Two the world premiere of and found David Lang.”

Pianos (which can be heard Davis’ song cycle evolved on May 3 as part of the CSO from a fruitful association with —Louis Langrée Proof concert, Wires), whose Langrée and the Orchestra.

2019 U.S. premiere Langrée also Langrée first discovered Davis’ conducted with the CSO and soloists clarinet concerto You Have the Right to Katia and Marielle Labèque. “Bryce’s new piece, Remain Silent during the Covid pandemic. In terms with its obsessive rhythm, is very much in the of a Davis revival, the CSO’s virtual performance same musical language as the piece he wrote was arguably second only to the composer’s for the Labèque sisters,” he says.

1986 opera X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X Much of that connection, Langrée posits, comes (originally premiered at New York City Opera) from the composer writing for specific musicians finally making it to the Metropolitan Opera in 2023. he knows well. “Bryce is very close friends with “It was during the pandemic that my assistant Katia and Marielle, which is also why he now has Tyler Secor brought me Anthony’s score and told a house in the country near them,” he says. “His me I should read the piece,” Langrée recalls. “In



Fanfare Magazine | 9

LOUIS LANGRÉE, Part V

Louis Langrée with composer Jennifer Higdon (left) and members of Eighth Blackbird, after their performance of Higdon’s On a Wire.

the beginning I thought, well, it was Covid. We were all silent. I found it very philosophical: Is music a form of silence? Can silence be music?

And Tyler said, ‘No, it’s not about that at all.’”

Rather, Davis’ 2010 piece recounts his experience in the 1970s being stopped by the police and held at gunpoint for 45 minutes because he matched the description of a robbery suspect. Davis immediately had a solo instrument and scenario in mind: “The idea is that the orchestra is interrogating the clarinet,” he explains. The piece later became the basis for the composer’s 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winning opera The Central Park Five.

“I thought, this piece is so strong, so powerful.

Why isn’t it performed more?” Langrée recalls. “I’m very proud that the New York Philharmonic has now programmed it, as has the Boston Symphony and several other orchestras. Through our presentation, the piece was given a second life.”

Much of the power in the CSO’s performance, Langrée claims, was due to the presence of former CSO musician Anthony McGill, now principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic. (“Anthony was still friends with the musicians, not a star soloist coming down from Olympus,”

10 | 2023–24 SEASON

he adds.) But Langrée gives even more credit to having the composer on hand during rehearsals.

“On a human level, Anthony is very generous and patient when something doesn’t work,” he says. “He’s also very pragmatic. Being a performer himself, he gives very simple and essential advice that brings you into his world with very few words. The Orchestra could respond to him both as a composer and jazz player. Let’s not forget that the CSO recorded an LP with Duke Ellington. One specific trait of this Orchestra is that they speak many musical languages fluently, without accent.” n n n CSO musicians and audiences look ahead with yet another new piece, with Langrée conducting former CSO resident composer Jonathan Bailey Holland’s Assemble on April 20 and 21, a week after he leads the piece’s world premiere with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. “Assemble is literally about assembling instrumental groups in the orchestra,” Langrée says, “starting with the percussion.”

Filling the program, though, is more unfinished business. After Schoenberg’s lush, post-Romantic Transfigured Night, the performance draws to a

LOUIS LANGRÉE, Part V

close with Augustin Hadelich performing Brahms’ Violin Concerto. “Augustin has always been an ideal partner,” Langrée claims, “because he considers himself a colleague of the orchestra.”

Hadelich’s first collaboration with Langrée and the CSO was Berg’s Violin Concerto in 2016, followed

by Barber’s Violin Concerto and Ravel’s Tzigane in 2019. The next year, the violinist returned with the Violin Concerto by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. “So, after covering the 20th and 18th centuries, we finally get around to filling in the 19th,” Langrée adds.

Filling the gaps in other CSO lineups, though, is Beethoven, which Langrée defines in part as classical music’s default programming.

“Beethoven is the root of any orchestral sound,” he says, “but given the German history here, it’s particularly the case in Cincinnati.”

The key question, though, is which Beethoven.

To match Dessner’s Mari and Piano Concerto, Langrée has chosen the Seventh Symphony “mostly for its driving rhythms.” For his final concerts, Langrée will open the program with the Leonore Overture No. 2. “First of all, this is the overture to an opera, and I have wonderful memories of performing opera with the Orchestra, from Hamlet most recently to La bohème with

Cincinnati Opera in 2017,” he says. “Second, it is about this particular opera.”

Whether in its early incarnation as Leonore, which he led in Lausanne, or as Fidelio, which he conducted at Glyndebourne—or even alternating between the two, as he did at Paris’ Théâtre des Champs Élysées—Beethoven’s only opera has long been close to Langrée’s heart. “As either Leonore or Fidelio, the opera speaks about freedom and equality,” he says. “The mission of this Orchestra is not just to present beautiful music, but to give it meaning, to use music to bring people together. Beethoven uses music to address a humanistic message to the world.”

In that regard, he adds, Beethoven and Davis have much in common. “After so many decades, Anthony Davis’ music remains powerful because many of its social concerns are still valid,” he continues. “I would say the same about Beethoven. Great pieces stand the test of time because, even when the syntax changes, the message is still about the human condition.

Beethoven’s music still speaks to us today because our problems are still the same.” n

Violinist Augustin Hadelich, in his 2016 CSO debut, performing Berg’s Violin Concerto, Louis Langrée conducting. Credit: Lee Snow

Fanfare Magazine | 11

Louis Langrée: A Legacy of Premieres, Commissions and Recordings  Louis Langrée-conducted World Premieres with the CSO Nico MUHLY Pleasure Ground with Nathan Wyatt, baritone (March 2014) David LANG mountain (March 2014) André PREVIN Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra with Jaime Laredo, violin and Sharon Robinson, cello (November 2014) Caroline SHAW Lo with Caroline Shaw, violin (March 2015) Daníel BJARNASON Collider (March 2015) TJ COLE Elegy (November 2015) Jonathan Bailey HOLLAND Equality (November 2015) Kristin P. KUSTER Forgive (November 2015) Sebastian CURRIER FLEX (November 2015) Thierry ESCAICH Psalmos, Concerto for Orchestra with Thierry Escaich, organ (May 2016) ZHOU Tian Concerto for Orchestra (May 2016) Michael FIDAY Three for One (November 2016) Jonathan Bailey HOLLAND Stories from Home (October 2017) Emily COOLEY Abound (November 2017) Pierre JALBERT Passage (April 2018) Jonathan Bailey HOLLAND Ode (November 2018) Christopher ROUSE Symphony No. 6 (October 2019) William WINSTEAD Passages in Time (January 2020) with Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra

Christopher CERRONE A Body, Moving (April 2021) Sebastian CURRIER Track 8 (November 2021) KINDS OF KINGS Nine Mothers (March 2022) with Eighth Blackbird Julia ADOLPHE Paper Leaves on Fields of Clay (April 2022) Guillaume CONNESSON Les belles heures, concerto pour hautbois et orchestra with Dwight Parry, oboe (May 2022) Gabriela ORTIZ Tzam (May 2022) Samuel ADAMS Variations (March 2023) Courtney BRYAN House of Pianos with Courtney Bryan (May 2023) Anthony DAVIS Broken in Parts with Latonia Moore (May 2024)

 Louis Langrée-conducted US Premieres with the CSO Bryce DESSNER Réponse Lutosławski (March 2016) Bryce DESSNER Concerto for Two Pianos with Katia and Marielle Labèque, duo pianos (September 2019) Anna MEREDITH Anno (October 2021) with Charles Morey, violin and Eleanor Meredith, visuals Bryce DESSNER Piano Concerto with Alice Sara Ott, piano (May 2024)

CSO Music Director Louis Langrée with composer Jonathan Bailey Holland and commission underwriters Irwin and Melinda Simon following the October 2017 world premiere of Holland’s Stories from Home.

12 | 2023–24 SEASON

the

 Louis Langrée Commissions with the CSO

Solo Fanfares:

Orchestral Works:

Michael ABELS Salute in Solo (Christian Colberg, viola) Samuel ADAMS No Solo (Owen Lee, bass & Samuel Adams, piano) Marcos BALTER Evens (Michael Culligan, percussion) Daníel BJARNASON Same Yet Different (Daníel Bjarnason, piano) Peter BOYER Fanfare for Tomorrow (Elizabeth Freimuth, horn) Courtney BRYAN Fanfare for Moments of Courage (Ixi Chen, clarinet) Bryce DESSNER Pour les soignants (Ilya Finkelshteyn, cello) Du YUN The Rest is Our World (Gillian Benet Sella, harp) Rhiannon GIDDENS Viola Fanfare (Edna Pierce, viola) Ted HEARNE The Luminous Road (Nathalie Joachim, piccolo) Jonathan Bailey HOLLAND Trouble (Cristian Ganicenco, trombone) Gabriel KAHANE kiivetä kotin (Pekka Kuusisto, violin) Laura KARPMAN Front Lines: Fanfare for Solo Tuba (Christopher Olka, tuba) Missy MAZZOLI Fanfare for the Unimpressed (Stefani Matsuo, violin) Jeffery MUMFORD Let Us Breathe (Daniel Culnan, cello) Matthias PINTSCHER Vitres (fragment…)

(Dwight Parry, oboe) Carlos Rafael RIVERA A Fanfare for Stories Lost (Douglas Lindsay, trumpet) Caroline SHAW A Day at a Time (Charles Morey, violin) Tyshawn SOREY For Peter Evans (Apologies for the Brevity) (Robert Sullivan, trumpet) Georgia STITT Fanfare for the Ups and Downs (Christopher Pell, clarinet)

Samuel ADAMS Variations Julia ADOLPHE Equinox for Chorus with May Festival Chorus Julia ADOLPHE Paper Leaves on Fields of Clay Daníel BJARNASON Collider Daníel BJARNASON I Want to Be Alive— Trilogy for Orchestra Courtney BRYAN House of Pianos (Courtney Bryan, piano) Christopher CERRONE A Body, Moving Enrico CHAPELA Radioaxial Billy CHILDS Saxophone Concerto (Steven Banks, saxophone) TJ COLE Elegy Guillaume CONNESSON Les belles heures, concerto pour hautbois et orchestra (Dwight Parry, oboe) Emily COOLEY Abound Sebastian CURRIER FLEX Sebastian CURRIER Track 8 Anthony DAVIS Broken in Parts (Latonia Moore, soprano) Bryce DESSNER Piano Concerto (Alice Sara Ott, piano) Thierry ESCAICH Psalmos, Concerto for Orchestra (Thierry Escaich, organ) Michael FIDAY Three for One Jennifer HIGDON On A Wire with Eighth Blackbird Jonathan Bailey HOLLAND Equality Jonathan Bailey HOLLAND Stories from Home Jonathan Bailey HOLLAND Ode Jonathan Bailey HOLLAND Assemble Pierre JALBERT Passage FLUTRONIX (Nathalie Joachim & Allison Loggins-Hull) Black Being (Nathalie Joachim & Allison Loggins-Hull, Flutronix) KINDS OF KINGS Nine Mothers (Eighth Blackbird) Kristin P. KUSTER Forgive David LANG mountain Wynton MARSALIS Herald, Holler and Hallelujah!

Missy MAZZOLI Violin Concerto (Procession) (Jennifer Koh, violin) Nico MUHLY Pleasure Ground (Nathan Wyatt, baritone) Shara NOVA Look Around Gabriela ORTIZ Tzam Matthias PINTSCHER Assonanza (Leila Josefowicz, violin) André PREVIN Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra (Jaime Laredo, violin and Sharon Robinson, cello) Christopher ROUSE Symphony No. 6 Gunther SCHULLER Symphonic Triptych Caroline SHAW Lo (Caroline Shaw, violin) Caroline SHAW The Observatory Mark SIMPSON Violin Concerto (Nicola Benedetti, violin) Mark SIMPSON Piano Concerto Gabriella SMITH f(x) = sin2x – 1/x William WINSTEAD Passages in Time with Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra Julia WOLFE Fountain of Youth ZHOU Tian Concerto for Orchestra

 Louis Langrée Recordings with the CSO Albums: Hallowed Ground released in 2014 The Music of Lumenocity 2013 released in 2016 The Music of Lumenocity 2014 released in 2016 Concertos for Orchestra released in 2016 Grammy-nominated for Best Orchestral Performance Grammy-nominated for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for ZHOU Tian’s Concerto for Orchestra Transatlantic released in 2019 Grammy-nominated for Best Orchestral Performance

Singles: Beethoven Symphony No. 9 released online in 2013 as part of the One City, One Symphony Project Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 released online in 2014 as part of the One City, One Symphony Project man made by David Lang released in 2023 Christopher Rouse: Symphony No. 6 released in 2023

Fanfare Magazine | 13

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

stronger arts for a stronger region We don’t make the music you’ll hear on stage, but for nearly 100 years, we’ve been the primary way Cincy’s arts are funded. Your gift to ArtsWave ripples out across our communities to create a more vibrant future for everyone.

With tens of thousands of gifts from people like you, ArtsWave is proud to support the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, plus over a hundred other arts organizations and artists that make our region stronger.

Make your gift today at artswave.org

A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO OF ARTSWAVE

For the last three years, Cincinnati has placed in the Top 20 among 900 U.S. regions on SMU’s National Arts Vibrancy Index. One of the metrics behind their rankings is the dynamism and caliber of the artists contributing to a community’s cultural landscape.

Since 2013, Louis Langrée has served as Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. There is no doubt that Mr. Langrée’s imprint on our region’s arts profile has been a factor in our placement on this venerable list.

In fact, his tenure here realizes the vision of city founders in the late 18th and early 19th centuries that Cincinnati can, and should be, known as a world-class destination for the arts.

Often, we refer to an orchestra conductor as “Maestro.” Cincinnati felt comfortable addressing Langrée like any good friend, as simply “Louis.” When he was first introduced to the Queen City in 2012, Louis graciously joined me Alecia Kintner in a program for ArtsWave donors. He described his delight at discovering the President & CEO, ArtsWave people and places of Cincinnati, including Music Hall’s neighborhood of Overthe-Rhine. He said, “Growing up in Alsace, France, we could look ‘over the Rhine’ to Germany. I feel right at home already in Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati.”

The way that Louis and his wife Aimée made their family home here over the last decade—investing themselves personally in their neighborhood and their kids’ schools—is testament to an orchestra that believes it is part of, not detached from, its community. It was during his tenure that the CSO reimagined its mission to “seek and share inspiration,” with a corresponding vision to be “the most relevant orchestra in America.”

As the CSO’s 13th Music Director, Louis Langrée’s impact will long be remembered.

Numerous programming decisions and artistic embraces show Langrée pushing our historic orchestra confidently into the 21st century. Our global corporations regularly assert Cincinnati’s right-to-win in attracting and retaining top industry talent. Louis’ tenure with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra reminds us that our region is, indeed, able to attract the world’s top industry talent.

At the recent 2024 ArtsWave Community Campaign Kick-Off, local arts and business leaders paid tribute to Louis for his many artistic contributions to the region. In response, he challenged us to hold dear what is special about Cincinnati. “In many cities,” he said, “the most important building is the cathedral, the city hall, or the palace of justice. Here in Cincinnati, it is Music Hall. It is the temple of art.”

We all have our own favorite “Louis moments.” Mine were the two times he conducted Aaron Copland’s majestic Lincoln Portrait, a work which, incidentally, had its 1942 world premiere with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Under Louis’ baton, the inestimable Maya Angelou performed the role of Narrator—it was among her last public appearances.

(Louis shared with me that this performance was a high point for him, as well.) Last year, endearing actor George Takei offered his interpretation. Both performances were emotional, exuberant examples of how music can focus—or refocus—our sights on the sacred ideals of democracy and justice for all.

Our very best wishes and thanks, Louis, for giving us so many inspiring, thoughtful, joyful moments of connection through music. We look forward to welcoming you back to Cincinnati very soon!

Fanfare Magazine | 15

CLASSICAL ROOTS

Classical Roots Community Choir at the 2023 Classical Roots concert. Credit: JP Leong

Classical Roots: Poetry, Verse, Rhyme and Reason

by DR. A. KORI HILL

It’s easy to take Classical Roots for granted. Classical Roots was founded in 2001 with the leadership of Kathy Jorgensen-Finley, Anne CushingReid, John Morris Russell and community faith leaders to help diversify orchestral audiences, and bring music making to underserved and underrepresented areas in our region. Classical Roots is a yearly celebration of Black music and a Queen City institution. Since the concert’s move to Music Hall in 2011, the artists have been fairly constant—the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, John Morris Russell, the Classical Roots Community Choir (CRCC), members of the Nouveau Program and guest artists. But the programming continues to expand and grow more eclectic—a pointed reminder of the stylistic scope of Black culture.

“Classical Roots has always been about Black history, but it is too big a story to tell in a single concert, in the shortest month of the year,” John Morris Russell says. “We design our concerts to go deep. We can be really nerdy about the details we present, because this music, and this history, John Morris Russell Credit: Roger Mastroianni

16 | 2023–24 SEASON

CLASSICAL ROOTS

is too important. The connections we create in each concert link us historically from one generation to the next, and represent a runway to the future. Each year, we strive to tell new and different stories, getting into the glorious details and nuanced connections that make the Black experience so meaningful to everyone.”

Classical Roots 2024’s “glorious detail” is the convergence of music and words—through poetry, through gospel, through hip-hop and through orchestral and choral works. Headlined by this year’s guest Hi-Tek artist, the producer, emcee and Cincinnati son Hi-Tek, who closes a concert that mirrors the variety of early 20th-century classical music programs and pageants involving Black writers, musicians and intellectuals, all meant to educate through entertainment.

The first half of the program is dominated by classical and religious music, poetry and

a proclamation.

There’s the rousing audience participation performance of the Black national anthem, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” by brothers James Weldon and J. Rosamond Johnson; an excerpt from William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 1, Afro-American, and Danzas de Panama, and Samuel ColeridgeTaylor’s Othello Suite; Rosephanye Powell’s “The Word Was God”; “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee,” from Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony reimagined in the film Sister Act 2; Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “Ode to Ethiopia”; recitations

by Cincinnati and Mercantile Library Poet Laureate Yalie Kamara and Cincinnati Youth Poet Laureate Gabrielle Walker; Langston Hughes’ poem “The Weary Blues” performed with a jazz sextet; and a reading of a speech by lawyer and Congressman John Mercer Langston.

Multiple layers of significance are represented in the program’s first half: Dunbar and Coleridge-Taylor were not just contemporaries; they met in person, leaving Coleridge-Taylor inspired by Dunbar’s embrace of Black literary, linguistic and storytelling forms. Still quoted four of Dunbar’s poems for each of the four movements of his “Afro-American” Symphony; the last movement, heard at this year’s concert, quotes a portion of Dunbar’s “Ode to Ethiopia.”

Beethoven was inspired by Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” to the extent he did something folks rarely do in a symphony: he added a choir to sing the words—which has been given a new life in the gospel/funk incarnation that will be performed. And, perhaps most touchingly, we celebrate John Mercer Langston—the greatuncle of poet Langston Hughes, first African American lawyer in Ohio, first Representative of color for the state of Virginia—who stood on the stage of Springer Auditorium in 1889 at the

Yalie Kamara

Fanfare Magazine | 17



CLASSICAL ROOTS

African American Republican Meeting, urging and mainstream. But regardless of categorization, 5,000 men to exercise their unalienable right to his love of R&B and jazz-inflected lyricism, vote. This was one year before Langston would propulsive beats and evocative prose is clear. win a seat in the House of Representatives “As a kid, I listened to a lot of soul music, and (1890–1891). We will experience the power when I got to a point when I started making and timelessness of his oration, set to music of beats, I was inspired by a lot of New York Coleridge-Taylor. producers who introduced me to sampling jazz,” While there is weight to Classical Roots, there he explains. “When I approach my beats, I’m is also beauty, celebration and fierce dedication always looking for something that touches your to the craft of music-making. The latter is clear soul and sounds abstract, original and sonically to the Interim Resident Conductor of CRCC, different from your basic stock sounds.”

Jason Alexander Holmes. When Holmes moved As a producer, his work for major figures like to Cincinnati in 2019, he immediately 50 Cent, D12 (which featured Eminem), sought out a Black musical commuCommon and Anderson .Paak nity. He was a CRCC member required a balancing act: create Classical Roots 2024 before he was their conductor. songs that sound like the artist is also about the necessity “From performer to conducbut also sound like himself. of connection through tor was a major shift, beIt’s a challenge that comes collaboration, a necessity cause if something doesn’t naturally. “In most cases, that courses through the happen, it’s on you,” I’m already a fan of the repertoire and through how the Holmes shares. artist before I work with performers see themselves—the “There is not necessarily them,” he explains, “so it’s tradition, the history, not only a connection between the only natural to try to create of Classical Roots but in Black quality of music-making something that I think they musical practice, period. and whether you’re labeled would like. Sometimes an a professional or an amateur,” artist is just looking for me Holmes adds. “Especially in Black to be me, then they incorporate music, in Black church music, we see themselves into that, which becomes a lot of the formal music training being done a beautiful mesh. As far as keeping my unique by ‘non-professionals.’” In Holmes’ experience, stamp on it, it’s something unexplainable to be CRCC members see technical execution and honest. It’s a gift.” communicative success as inseparable. “We’re Classical Roots 2024 is also about the going to be honest if something does not move necessity of connection through collaboration, us,” he continues. “That’s what I appreciate about a necessity that courses through the repertoire the Classical Roots community. The feedback is and through how the performers see real…people are coming at it with really in-depth themselves—the tradition, the history, not only knowledge, which creates a push to be better of Classical Roots but in Black musical practice, from both sides. Sometimes it’s me saying, ‘No it’s period. It impacts how Hi-Tek sees hip-hop, this way,’ and sometimes it’s the choir saying, ‘No, not as an isolated development but part of a someone’s not doing this.’” centuries long tradition in Black communities This spirit of focus and collaboration is of weaving words and music together. “It’s very magnified in the second half of the concert. important,” Hi-Tek says, “because hip-hop is a The CRCC opens the second half by performing blend of all genres of music. Hip-hop is that rose Richard Smallwood’s Psalm 8, and the program that grew through the concrete…it has expanded closes with the rousing finale from The Color into so many different styles.”

Purple musical by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis Collaboration and connection also are and Stephen Bray. In between, it is all Hi-Tek. important to CRCC director Holmes, who notes, In a career that spans 30+ years, Hi-Tek has “In terms of the musical community, we are taking had every experience possible: he’s been a group care of each other, and it continues to be part of member (Cincy-based Mood and Reflection the energy for Classical Roots.”  Eternal with Talib Kweli), a producer and a solo artist. He’s been considered both underground

18 | 2023–24 SEASON

SAVE THE DATES

2024 Brady Block Parties Join the CSO in neighborhoods around the city this summer Thursday, June 6, 7:30pm: Pride Block Party Location: ICON Festival Stage at Smale Park at The Andrew J. Brady Music Center® Sunday, June 23, 7:30pm: West End Block Party Location: Ezzard Charles Park

Friday, July 19, 7:30pm: Avondale Block Party Location: North Avondale Recreation Center Thursday, August 1, 7:30pm: Woodlawn/Lincoln Heights Block Party Location: Woodlawn Community Center

Sunday, July 14, 7:30pm: Price Hill Block Party Location: Dunham Recreation Center For the most up-to-date information, visit cincinnatisymphony.org/BlockParties.

Conductor John Morris Russell leads the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at the 2023 Evanston/E. Walnut Hills Block Party in July 2023. Credit: JP Leong

Fanfare Magazine | 19

CSO FEATURE

Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Katharina Wincor: Young Blazing Careers

by HANNAH EDGAR

Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra debut this month (Apr. 26 & 27) celebrates a major milestone for both the esteemed British cellist and the Orchestra: Kanneh-Mason’s appointment as the 2024 MAC

Sheku Kanneh-Mason

20 | 2023–24 SEASON

Music Innovator, an outreach initiative of the CSO’s Multicultural Awareness Council (MAC).

The year-long appointment is granted to Black leaders in classical music and encompasses not just public performances but educational projects. Kanneh-Mason will give local masterclasses in conjunction with his April CSO concerts, as well as a short solo performance and Q&A on Thursday, April 25.

For his spring CSO concerts, led by the Austrian conductor Katharina Wincor, KannehMason plays the concerto that won him the 2016 BBC Young Musician of the Year competition at age 17: Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto. Lately, KannehMason has been concertizing on Shostakovich’s second concerto for the instrument; with that new perspective guiding his performances in Cincinnati, he says “it’s nice to come back” to the First after all that time away.

He still keeps the first two pages of the concerto, bearing his markings, framed on the wall of his London flat .

“Things have changed so much over the years. My hand has changed, so now if I have old fingerings [written in my part], I find them distracting. With bowing, too: maybe I took a few extra slurs back then, as I wasn’t able to sustain them in the way I can now,” Kanneh-Mason says. “It’s easier to work things out from scratch.”

For Kanneh-Mason, “over the years” means something far different than it does for his peers on the international stage. The cellist turns 25 in April—a veritable

CSO FEATURE: Kanneh-Mason and Wincor

youngster in the more-saltthan-pepper classical music biz.

Having already been in the solo spotlight for nearly a decade, Kanneh-Mason is wise beyond his years and ready to mentor still-younger musicians.

Kanneh-Mason recently became Katharina Wincor a visiting professor at his alma mater, the Royal Academy of Music, and has increasingly tied other touring opportunities to educational activities.

“I love to teach. I suppose, even when I was younger, I would give lessons to my younger sisters, much more informally,” Kanneh-Mason says. (Kanneh-Mason is one of seven children, all of whom are pianists or string players who have passed through the prestigious Royal Academy of Music.) “I find I learn a lot from those experiences. You have to think not only about the repertoire that the student is playing, but how to explain aspects of their technique in the most helpful, supportive way.”

Cincinnati area students will certainly find a supportive teacher in Kanneh-Mason. Fiery onstage, in person he’s incredibly soft-spoken; in conversation, one instinctively leans in to better hear him. He tends to curl his head toward his shoulder when he’s deep in thought—like when he plays cello. Last fall, Kanneh-Mason visited Philadelphia public schools as part of an engagement with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society; after smilingly harmonizing their scales, he relayed feedback to students, always in his gossamer-gentle voice.

Although there might seem to be a gulf separating Kanneh-Mason from the rookie string players he tutored in Philadelphia, he’s quick to point out that he’s still a student himself. Even as a globetrotting soloist, he carves out time for lessons with Hannah Roberts, his “wonderfully inspiring” teacher from his Royal Academy days, whenever he’s home in London.

“I come out of the lessons with lots of things to think about.

She pushes me a lot in every aspect of playing,” Kanneh-Mason says.

He also constantly absorbs knowledge from other musicians while on the road.

It’s not unusual for Kanneh-Mason to be the youngest person onstage when playing with major orchestras.

These concerts in Cincinnati, in fact, are striking in that both soloist and conductor are under 30.

(Wincor just turned 29.)

“When I’ve been performing in the profession, it’s usually with older musicians, because my career started relatively early. I’ve always loved trying to learn from people onstage and in rehearsal,” Kanneh-Mason says.

Wincor agrees with that sentiment. The conductor last worked with the CSO for the 2022 May Festival; since then, her career has continued to ascend. When she connected with Fanfare Magazine, she was preparing to conduct the BBC Symphony for the first time—the same orchestra Kanneh-Mason played alongside for the BBC Young Musician competition. Wincor’s CSO concerts mark her professional debuts on all the program’s repertoire, too—more significant firsts for a blazing career on the rise.

“Whenever I perform with an older soloist, I feel like I can learn something about tradition from them that I cannot get somewhere else. On the other hand, when [I work with] someone young, or someone who maybe hasn’t played a particular piece very often, we can try out this or that,” Wincor says.

“We’re both still searching for answers, and it’s fun to do that together.”  Save the Date: Sheku Kanneh-Mason and sister/ pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason with give a recital on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 at Memorial Hall as part of Chamber Music Cincinnati.

Fanfare Magazine | 21

SPOTLIGHT

Honoring Retiring Orchestra Musicians

by KIT GLADIEUX

As we near the end of the 2023–24 season, the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra congratulates two musicians on their retirements: Associate Principal Trumpet Douglas “Doug” Lindsay and cellist Theodore “Ted” Nelson. They have served a combined 53 years within the Orchestra, performing in countless concerts, recordings and tours.

These retirees shared memories from their time with the CSO and what they’ll be doing next. The CSO is grateful for the unparalleled musicianship and dedication that Doug and Ted brought to Music Hall.

Douglas Lindsay Associate Principal Trumpet Jackie & Roy Sweeney Family Chair

Douglas Lindsay, Associate Principal Trumpet, Jackie & Roy Sweeney Family Chair

22 | 2023–24 SEASON

Doug Lindsay grew up in Cincinnati and takes great pride in having played the trumpet in his hometown orchestra. “It’s like a kid going to high school here and getting to play for the Reds,” he said.

Doug joined the CSO in 1991 after playing with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de la República Dominicana, the Dayton Philharmonic and the Charlotte Symphony. Some of his career highlights as a member of the Orchestra include his first recording, of Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony with Jesús López Cobos in 1992, and the 2023 May Festival performance of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, where he played principal trumpet. “James Conlon conducted, and it was a dream come true,” he reminisced.

In retirement, he plans to stay close to his family in Cincinnati. He will continue to teach as an adjunct professor at Miami University, where he helped start the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Brass Institute program. He’s looking forward to traveling with his wife, cycling, and hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

“I’m going to miss the great music, and some of my good friends,” said Doug. “This is a very rare brass section; we all get along so well. When we play the great repertoire, and we’ve had a lot of it this season, I say to myself, ‘I’m going to miss this.’”

SPOTLIGHT: Retiring Musicians

Theodore Nelson Cello Peter G. Courlas–Nicholas Tsimaras Chair Cellist Ted Nelson joined the CSO in 2004 after playing with the Toledo Symphony and the Kansas City Symphony. One of the first things he did with the Orchestra was go on a European tour in the fall of 2004. “The first concert I played on tour was Mahler’s Fifth Symphony in Vienna, which almost made my head explode. It was so cool.”

His career highlights extend beyond performances, too. “A lot of the things that were most meaningful to me were the opportunities that I had to serve the organization in different ways—as chair of the Orchestra Committee for a long time, serving on the CSO Board, doing other types of work besides just playing the cello—although that was also incredibly rewarding.”

After 26 years of performing full time, 19 of them with the CSO, Ted is entering a new chapter of his career. “I say that I’m just stepping across the hallway,” he laughed. He will be shifting his focus from performing to administration in his role as the Vice President of Operations & Artistic Planning with the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance.

“I’m going to miss the people,” said Ted. “Working 19 years with any group of people is really special. It doesn’t happen in a lot of industries. I’ll miss my colleagues both onstage and offstage.” He will also miss the stage itself. “Music Hall is an incredible building. It’s an amazing space, and I feel really lucky to have spent 19 years working and playing there.”

Theodore Nelson, Cello, Peter G. Courlas– Nicholas Tsimaras Chair

Fanfare Magazine | 23

SPOTLIGHT

Why We Give

by KEN SMITH

with the Cincinnati Symphony From full concerts

Orchestra. After

at Music Hall to

Langrée’s inaugural

small pop-up

appearance as Music

performances in

Director with the

local neighborhoods

performance of

and everything

Jennifer Higdon’s On

in between, our

a Wire (in November

generous and

2013), which Santen

dedicated donors,

and her husband

sponsors and

Harry had co-

concertgoers make

commissioned as

it all possible.

part of a consortium,

This article

the conductor marks

shares a special

his final program

story about one

at the helm with

important aspect

the world premiere

of our Orchestra’s

of another Santen

programming:

commission: an

commissioning

orchestral song

new works. Our

cycle by Anthony

donors and their

Davis titled Broken

inspiring stories

in Parts.

will ensure that the unique sound of the Cincinnati Symphony

“It makes a nice Composer Pierre Jalbert (left) and CSO Music Director Louis Langrée are joined by Ann Santen after the April 14, 2018 world premiere performance of Jalbert’s Passage, which Santen underwrote.

Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops will always resound.

You can join our family of donors online

bookend,” says the two-decade veteran head of WGUC-FM and

stalwart champion of Cincinnati’s classical music scene. “I’d started a commissioning

at cincinnatisymphony.org/donate or by

program at WGUC, and when I left the station

contacting the Philanthropy Department

in 1996 Harry and I just kept commissioning

at 513.744.3271. If you are interested in

new works. After Louis came, it kind of got out

underwriting the commissioning of a new work,

of hand.”

email development@cincinnatisymphony.org for more information.

ANN & HARRY SANTEN

By the end of his CSO tenure in May, Langrée will have conducted world premieres of 15 pieces commissioned by the Santens—a tally not counting the first part of Daníel Bjarnason’s

When Ann Santen turned 50, Elliott Carter—then

tripartite symphony, which missed the original

80 years old—composed Enchanted Preludes for

deadline and later appeared at the CSO under

flute and cello in her honor. For her 80th birthday,

a different conductor, or Mark Simpson’s Piano

she received Shimmer and Flow, a duet for

Concerto, which still awaits its premiere. Even

clarinet and cello by the composer Pierre Jalbert,

so, Davis’ song cycle duly celebrates Langrée’s

who had just turned 50.

remarkable relationship with Santen, who

It’s hardly surprising, then, that Santen brings a similar symmetry to Louis Langrée’s tenure 24 | 2023–24 SEASON

chaired the CSO search committee that originally recommended him for the job.

SPOTLIGHT: Why We Give

Santen traces her fascination with new music to her teenage years in Northern Kentucky, when the Louisville Orchestra launched its pioneering commissioning program, which generated dozens of new compositions each year. “It was an extraordinary

From left: CSO Concertmaster Stefani Matsuo, Ann & Harry Santen and CSO clarinetist Ixi Chen, March 2023.

Credit: Claudia Hershner

project,” she still recalls, “with every composer you’d ever heard

sounding so good under you, let’s commission a

of, and major pieces still being performed today.”

concerto for orchestra,’” Santen recalls. “He said,

Years later, after marrying and relocating to

‘That’s a wonderful idea! Let’s do three.’” The

Cincinnati, Santen and her husband first dipped

resulting trilogy (Sebastian Currier’s FLEX, Thierry

their toes in the new-music pond in the late

Escaich’s Psalmos and Zhou Tian’s Concerto for

1970s by co-commissioning Ned Rorem’s Double

Orchestra), premiered and recorded during the

Concerto for piano and cello—later retitled

2015–16 season, resulted in Grammy nominations

Remembering Tommy—soon after Rorem won the

for Best Orchestral Performance and Best

Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for Air Music (which the CSO

Contemporary Composition.

had premiered the year before). That initial splash

To date, Ann and Harry Santen have

became a full immersion once Santen came to

underwritten the commissioning of 24 new works

WGUC as music director and general manager.

for the CSO—most during Langrée’s tenure as

After Santen stepped down from WGUC in

Music Director. “The creation of new works for

1996, she and her husband continued the practice,

orchestra is at the heart of our mission to seek

initially on a smaller scale for the Linton Chamber

and share inspiration,” says Mary McFadden

Music Series. Their CSO relationship began with

Lawson, the CSO’s Chief Philanthropy Officer.

a piece by Jeffrey Mumford to celebrate their

“Underwriting these new works provides donors,

50th wedding anniversary in 2008. Then came

like Ann and Harry Santen, a unique opportunity:

five fanfares by various composers marking both

to see a new piece of music come to life. Ann and

WGUC’s 50th anniversary and former CSO Music

Harry’s steadfast support and championing of

Director Paavo Järvi’s 10 anniversary season.

new music has had a ripple effect—it has nurtured

When Santen introduced CSO administrators to

composers and musicians, provided the Orchestra

Cincinnati’s then-fledgling MusicNOW festival,

with new artistic endeavors, and encouraged

the couple wound up funding another four

other donors to underwrite future commissions.

commissions: Nico Muhly’s Pleasure Ground and

With donors like the Santens, the CSO will

David Lang’s mountain in 2014, Caroline Shaw’s

continue its long legacy of performing the music

Lo and Daníel Bjarnason’s Collider in 2015.

of our time.” 

th

Then came the CSO’s Concerto Project. “Early on, I’d gone to Louis and said, ‘This orchestra is

Fanfare Magazine | 25

LOUIS LANGRÉE, 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 Samuel Lee, Associate Conductor Ashley and Barbara Ford Chair

Daniel Wiley, Assistant Conductor Ashley and Barbara Ford Chair CLARINETS Christopher Pell

TUBA Christopher Olka

Joseph Morris*

TIMPANI Patrick Schleker

FIRST VIOLINS Stefani Matsuo

CELLOS Ilya Finkelshteyn

Felicity James

Daniel Kaler

Principal Emma Margaret & Irving D. Goldman Chair

Norman Johns**

Associate Principal and E-flat Clarinet Robert E. & Fay Boeh Chair++

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

Kathryn Woolley

Principal Irene & John J. Emery Chair Acting Associate Principal Ona Hixson Dater Chair Karl & Roberta Schlachter Family Chair

Drew Dansby§ Nicholas Mariscal Hiro Matsuo

BASS CLARINET Ronald Aufmann

Peter G. Courlas– Nicholas Tsimaras Chair++

BASSOONS Christopher Sales

Theodore Nelson‡

Dianne & J. David Rosenberg Chair

Alan Rafferty

Anne G. & Robert W. Dorsey Chair

[OPEN]

Mauricio Aguiar§ 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

Gerald Itzkoff

Jean Ten Have Chair

Charles Morey† Luo-Jia Wu

SECOND VIOLINS Gabriel Pegis Principal Al Levinson Chair

Yang Liu*

Harold B. & Betty Justice Chair

Scott Mozlin**

Henry Meyer Chair

Kun Dong Cheryl Benedict Evin Blomberg§ Rachel Charbel

Ida Ringling North Chair

Chika Kinderman Hyesun Park Paul Patterson

Ruth F. Rosevear Chair

BASSES Owen Lee

Principal Mary Alice Heekin Burke Chair++

Luis Arturo Celis Avila*

Thomas Vanden Eynden Chair

Stephen Jones**

Trish & Rick Bryan Chair

Boris Astafiev§ Gerald Torres Rick Vizachero

HARP Gillian Benet Sella

Principal Cynthia & Frank Stewart Chair

FLUTES Randolph Bowman

Principal Charles Frederic Goss Chair

Henrik Heide* Haley Bangs

Jane & David Ellis Chair

PICCOLO Rebecca Pancner

VIOLAS Christian Colberg

OBOES Dwight Parry

Brenda & Ralph Taylor Chair++

Principal Louise D. & Louis Nippert Chair

Gabriel Napoli

Acting Associate Principal 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

26 | 2023–24 SEASON

Principal Emalee Schavel Chair++

Martin Garcia*

Marvin Kolodzik & Linda S. Gallaher Hugh Michie Chair for Cello

Stacey Woolley

Charles Gausmann Chair++

Vicky & Rick Reynolds Chair in honor of William A. Friedlander

Laura Kimble McLellan Chair++

Nicholas Tsimaras– Peter G. Courlas Chair++

Anna Reider

Ixi Chen

Patricia Gross Linnemann Chair

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

Lon Bussell*

Stephen P. McKean Chair

Emily Beare

ENGLISH HORN Christopher Philpotts

Principal Alberta & Dr. Maurice Marsh Chair++

Principal Ashley & Barbara Ford Chair

Principal Matthew & Peg Woodside Chair

Joseph Bricker*

Morleen & Jack Rouse Chair

PERCUSSION David Fishlock

Principal Susan S. & William A. Friedlander Chair

Michael Culligan* Joseph Bricker

Morleen & Jack Rouse Chair

Marc Wolfley+

CONTRABASSOON Jennifer Monroe

KEYBOARDS Michael Chertock

FRENCH HORNS Elizabeth Freimuth

Julie Spangler+

Principal Mary M. & Charles F. Yeiser Chair

[OPEN]*

Ellen A. & Richard C. Berghamer Chair

Molly Norcross**

Acting Associate Principal 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

TRUMPETS Anthony Limoncelli Principal Rawson Chair

Douglas Lindsay*

Jackie & Roy Sweeney Family Chair

Alexander Pride†

Otto M. Budig Family Foundation Chair++

Christopher Kiradjieff TROMBONES Cristian Ganicenco

Principal Dorothy & John Hermanies Chair

Joseph Rodriguez**

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

BASS TROMBONE Noah Roper

James P. Thornton Chair James P. Thornton Chair

CSO/CCM DIVERSITY FELLOWS~ Lucas Braga, violin Melissa Peraza, viola Manuel Papale, cello Caleb Edwards, double bass Wendell Rosa, double bass LIBRARIANS Christina Eaton

Principal Librarian Lois Klein Jolson Chair

Elizabeth Dunning

Associate Principal Librarian

Cara Benner

Interim Assistant Librarian

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 ~ Funded by The Mellon Foundation

AND

ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP

LOUIS LANGRÉE, Music Director Louise Dieterle Nippert & Louis Nippert Chair In the 2023-24 season, Louis Langrée celebrates his final season with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, where he has been Music Director since 2013, and will become Music Director Laureate at the conclusion of this season. He continues as Director of Théâtre national de l’Opéra-Comique in Paris, Chris Lee 2021 an appointment that began in November 2021. Langrée ended his 20-year tenure as Music Director of the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center in the summer of 2023.

Two of his Cincinnati recordings were Grammy nominated for Best Orchestral Performance: Transatlantic, with works by Varèse, Gershwin and Stravinsky; and Concertos for Orchestra, featuring world premieres by Sebastian Currier, Thierry Escaich and Zhou Tian. On stage, his Pelléas et Mélisande trilogy contrasted settings

by Fauré, Debussy and Schoenberg. A multiseason Beethoven [R]evolution cycle paired the symphonies with world premieres, as well as recreation of the legendary 1808 Akademie. During the Covid pandemic, Langrée was a catalyst for the Orchestra’s return to the stage in the fall of 2020 with a series of digitally streamed concerts.

Between the start of his tenure and the conclusion of the CSO’s 2023–24 season, Langrée and the CSO will have commissioned 45 new orchestral works and he will have conducted 31 premieres from a wide range of composers, including Julia Adolphe, Daníel Bjarnason, Jennifer Higdon, Jonathan Bailey Holland, Kinds of Kings, David Lang, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, André Previn, Caroline Shaw and Julia Wolfe, and the world premiere of Christopher Rouse’s Symphony No. 6, Rouse’s final opus.

He has guest conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, NHK Symphony, Orchestre National de France and Leipzig Gewandhaus, as well as Orchestre des Champs-Elysées and Freiburg Baroque. He frequently conducts at the leading opera houses, including more than 50 performances at The Metropolitan Opera, and engagements with Vienna Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Bavarian Staatsoper, and at festivals including Glyndebourne, Aix-enProvence, BBC Proms, Edinburgh International and Hong Kong Arts.

A native of Alsace, France, he is a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur and Officier des Arts et des Lettres, and he is an Honorary Member of the Confrérie Saint-Étienne d’Alsace, an Alsatian winemakers’ brotherhood dating to the 14th century.

©

JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL Cincinnati Pops Conductor Louise Dieterle Nippert & Louis Nippert Chair John Morris Russell’s embrace of America’s unique voice and musical stories has transformed how orchestral performances can connect and engage with audiences everywhere.

In his 13th year with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the wide range and diversity of his work as a conductor, collaborator and educator invigorates the musical scene in Cincinnati and beyond. Russell is Music Director of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition, and he serves as Principal Pops Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, following in the footsteps of Marvin Hamlisch and Doc Severinsen. He served as Music Director of Ontario’s Windsor Symphony Orchestra from 2001 to 2012.

A popular guest conductor, Russell has worked with the leading North American orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Toronto Symphony and New York Philharmonic, the Boston Pops and the National Symphony.

For more than a decade, Russell has regularly led the National Orchestral Institute and Festival in College Park, Maryland, one of the nation’s premier training orchestras. Dedicated to sharing the American musical experience with the newest generation of players, he helped develop and conducted the LinkUP! educational concert series at Carnegie Hall and has piloted educational programs with the symphony orchestras of Cincinnati, Windsor and Hilton Head.

For over two decades, he has led the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s wildly successful Classical Roots initiative honoring and celebrating Black musical excellence, which has garnered recordbreaking in-person and online audiences.

Russell’s seven recordings with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra include 2023’s holiday album JOY! and the landmark recordings in the “American Originals Project”: American Originals (the music of Stephen Foster) and the Grammy-nominated American Originals 1918 (a tribute to the dawn of the jazz age).

John Morris Russell earned degrees from the University of Southern California and Williams College and has studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado and the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors in Hancock, Maine.

Fanfare Magazine | 27

GUEST ARTISTS: April–May, 2024 CLASSICAL ROOTS APR 19 JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL, conductor Turn to p. 27 for a biography of Cincinnati Pops Conductor John Morris Russell.

HI-TEK, producer & rapper Firmly entrenched as one of urban music’s most dynamic, respected and prolific producers, Hi-Tek was a 2022 inductee to the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame, joining fellow honorees Bootsy Collins, Dr. Charles Fold, Otis Williams and the Charms, and the Isley Brothers. Hi-Tek is the first and only hip-hop artist among these musical icons.

Hi-Tek has produced material for 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Anderson .Paak, among others. The Cincinnati-based maestro created the sound that catapulted the independent New York rap renaissance into the mainstream in the late 1990s through his work with Mos Def and Talib

Kweli as Black Star (“Definition,” “Respiration”) and with Talib Kweli as one-half of the group Reflection Eternal (Fortified Live, The Blast).

During this time, Hi-Tek also landed prime placements on the Lyricist Lounge compilations (Talib Kweli’s “The Manifesto”), and the Soundbombing series of albums (Common and Sadat X’s “1-9-9-9”) soon followed. In the midst of releasing a string of acclaimed Hi-Teknology solo albums throughout the next decade, the Ohioan crafted some of the most soulful yet bone-crushing work of Game (“Runnin’”), 50 Cent (“Best Friend”), G-Unit (“Eye for Eye,” “G-Unit”) and Snoop Dogg (“I Believe in You”), while also delivering innovative R&B material for Jonell (“Round and Round,” “Don’t Stop”), Dion and others.

In the midst of this work, Hi-Tek became a staff producer for Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment.

As Hi-Tek’s work in the studio progressed with Aftermath and other big-named artists, his biggest hit came from his collaboration with emerging rapper-singer-drummer Anderson .Paak. Hi-Tek produced his breakthrough single “Come Down,” which went gold and propelled .Paak’s Malibu LP to gold status, too. Additional work with Snoop Dogg, Lloyd Banks, D12, Xzibit, 213, Syleena Johnson, De La Soul and others soon followed.

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS WITH A CUSTOMER FOCUS

find out more www.jrhict.com

J RH Design | Build | Enhance

28 | 2023–24 SEASON

JRH Consultants is an Information Technology company specializing in delivering scalable services and solutions across Cyber Security Services, IT Application Development, and Modernization. Our commitment to serving clients is underscored by a team of skilled professionals dedicated to achieving excellence in every endeavor.

Our Services include:  Endpoint Security  Data Protection  Security Architecture  Intursion Detection/ Prevention  Penetration Testing  Vulnerability Management  Assessment & Authorization  Security Trainings

 Cloud Computing  Legacy System Upgrades  Application Modernization  Data Management & Analytics  Digital Transformation Services  Mobile Application Development  DevOps Implementation  Network Modernization

Office: 855-JRH-4ICT (855-574-4428) • 20 F St NW, 7th Floor, Washington D.C, 20001

APR–MAY GUEST ARTISTS

CLASSICAL ROOTS COMMUNITY CHOIR Jason Alexander Holmes, interim resident conductor Jason Alexander Holmes is a music educator and performer from Ridgeway, Virginia, and currently serves as the Artistic Director of the Cincinnati Boychoir, the director of Cincinnati’s MLK Chorale, and the Associate Musician for Children and Youth at Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati. Before coming to Cincinnati, he was Director of Educational Programming at the Boston Children’s Chorus. Prior to his time in Boston, Jason taught music at the elementary and secondary levels. He also led the University of Rochester Gospel Choir and the Eastman Young Children’s Chorus. Jason holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Ithaca College, where his mentors and teachers included Drs. Susan Wharton Conkling, William Weinert and Susan Avery.

Choirs under Jason’s direction are consistently praised for their energetic, unified tone and

engaging performances. He is known for innovative programming that celebrates the cultural context while encouraging singers and audiences alike to stretch their awareness by living in many different musical worlds. Pedagogically, Jason is committed to implementing culturally responsive practices in music education. He has given workshops and conference sessions on this topic at professional development seminars, schools and conferences.

At the core of Jason’s teaching and performing is the belief that we are all expressive and musical beings who deserve to witness and participate regularly in moments of truth and beauty.

Jason was recently named May Festival Associate Director of Choruses and Director of the Youth Chorus; his tenure begins this summer.

Classical Roots Community Choir. For two decades, Classical Roots has been a Cincinnati community staple, and what started as a small concert series in 2001 has grown into a diverse community of music lovers, united in celebration of the rich legacy of African American music and the African American experience. At its center is the all-volunteer Classical Roots Community Choir, led by Interim Resident Conductor Jason Alexander Holmes and made up of singers from



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.

Fanfare Magazine | 29

APR–MAY GUEST ARTISTS

more than 50 churches who perform in concerts and other collaborations throughout the year.

Community Choir Leaders this season are Jason Alexander Holmes, Interim Resident Conductor; Geneva Woode, Quinn Chapel AME Church; Marcellene Winfrey, Allen Temple AME Church; David Fowler, Church of the Resurrection

Catholic Church; Adrian Cunningham, New Jerusalem Baptist Church; and Ron Logan, Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church.

ASL INTERPRETERS Karen Arnold Laverne Rutledge

CLASSICAL ROOTS COMMUNITY CHOIR Anita Anderson Archie Armstrong Clemmie Armstrong Patty Bachman Peggy Bell-Lohr Cornelia Binford Donita Binford Yvonne Brantley Rev. David J. Brentley Deanna Brown Coeany Bryant Carol Cargile Tristan Cargile Carolyn Carter Janet Carter Ron Carter Timothy Carter Lenora Castleberry Maia Chess Robert Chess Alynn Chezem Brenda Clark Charles Collins Frank Collins Betty Connors Joyce Cooper Cynthia Cummins Carol Dantley Carol DeGreg

June Eddings Keith Edmondson Praise Ekeng Faith Fallings Carol Fiel Cassandra Fowler Mary Franklin Bernadine Franklin-Stokes Marqueta Freeman Amanda Gast Tony Gast Eudora Gause Levi Gause Zach Gause Joy Gazaway Linda Gentry Janet Gibson* Amber Greer Brandon Hare Ciara Harper* Sonia Harper* Jeannette Harrison Natalie Hayes Charity Hinton Rosemary Holder Crystal Holliday Margaret Irons Dawann Jackson Trudy Jackson

Yvette Jackson Dora Jefferson-Gaynor Jacqueline Johnson Jerome Johnson Dante Keeling Kai Lattimore Juls Lawrence Hattie Lawson Kathye Lewis Norman Robert Lomax Hycinthe Marshall Christina Mayrhofer Dav’e McCoy D McGruder Barbara McMullen Brenda McMullen Jamaal McMullen Carolyn Mitchell-O’Bryant Khala Moss Dawn Mundy Margaret O’Leary Tim Oliver Shari Palmer Gloria Parker-Martin Mary Patton* Bridalveil Powell Brian Reilly Bonnie Richardson Deborah Riley

Anna Russell Sherry Scott Della Scott Calvin Singleton Eric Smith Janene Sonnega Mildred Stallworth Stephanie Starkey Lesa Stricklen Pamela Suttles Nikita Taggart Anjela Turnbow Enairs Turnbow Debra Tyus Miriam Valley Noël Walton* Willie Watkins Yvonne Watkins Jan Weiler Donna Welch Esther Williams Rita Winters* Donte Woods Debra Woolfolk as of March 8, 2024 *soloists

Classical Roots Community Choir singers represent the following area churches and choirs: Abundant Life Apostolic Church Allen Temple AME Bethel AME Church Lockland Bethel Baptist Church Black Family Reunion Choir Brown Chapel AME Calvary Missionary Baptist Church Canaan Early Church of God in Christ Charles and the Charles Fold Singers Christ Emmanuel Christian Fellowship Christ the King Church Church of the Resurrection Cincinnati Bible Way Church Cincinnati BoyChoir City Gate Church Clifton United Methodist Church College Hill Presbyterian Church Corinthian Baptist Church Crossroads Community Church Dominion Center Church for All Nations Every Nation Cincinnati First Baptist Walnut Hills First Church of Christ Scientist Anderson Township Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church Anderson Township Holy Name Church Auburn Ave House of Hope House of Joy Lee Chapel AME Life Spring Christian Church Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church

30 | 2023–24 SEASON

May Festival Chorus Miriam Vocal Ensemble MLK Coalition Chorale Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church (Glendale) MUSE Musica Sacra New Covenant Community Church New Jerusalem Apostolic Temple New Jerusalem Baptist Church New Mission Baptist Church New Nazarene Baptist Church New Prospect Baptist Church New Vision United Methodist Church Ninth Street Baptist Church Covington KY Overflow Ministries Covenant Church Phillipian Missionary Baptist Church Power and Faith Ministries Quinn Chapel AME Revelation Missionary Baptist Church Mt. Healthy Revive City Church Rockdale Baptist Church St John Fisher Catholic Church St. Andrews Episcopal Church The Way Community Church The Well Union Baptist Church Willing Spirit Baptist Church Young Professionals Choral Collective Zion Baptist Church as of March 8, 2024

APR–MAY GUEST ARTISTS

LAUREN EYLISE, vocalist

ALAN B. JONES, narrator

Lauren Eylise staked her spot in the music industry with the release of her debut EP Life/Death/Life in 2017; however, music has been this singersongwriter’s heart and soul for as long as she can remember. Her genredefying music can only be accurately categorized as eclectic-soul, as an array of influences make up her sound while each song is born from lessons of the soul.

Eylise has opened stages for artists such as Patti LaBelle, Erykah Badu, Jidenna, Tank and The Bangas, Yasiin Bey, Talib Kweli, Train, John Legend, Matt Kearney, Raheem DeVaughn, Tank and others, and she has appeared as a front woman for P&G’s Secret Deodorant #AllStrengthNoSweat campaign, collaborated with Adobe Design for a livestreaming concert and has also been featured on NPR for her standout Tiny Desk Contest performance of her original song “Peaks & Valleys” from her most recent album release, This is Personal.

Lauren Eylise is the recipient of awards including City Beat’s Musician of the Year (2021) and Golden Donut Award’s Album of the Year and Song of the Year (2020). She is also a voting member of The Recording Academy.

Her most recent Tiny Desk Contest submission of her upcoming single “Rose Days” has already snagged highlight coverage from NPR, and she intends to release new music this summer. laureneylise.com

Alan Bomar Jones is the producing artistic director for Town Hall Theatre, acting class instructor at Wright State University, a SAG/AFTRA film actor and a professional international Equity Theatre stage actor.

As an award-winning musical theatre director, Jones has helmed more than 75 productions.

As an actor, he has appeared in more than 85 professional productions, including nine of August Wilson’s 10-play cycle and a variety of musicals, dramas and comedies. He is a recipient of the Blackburn Award of Excellence for Best Actor, three years nominated for best supporting actor in Tampa Bay, Florida, and a recipient of two Pittsburgh Onyx Awards for Best Equity Actor sponsored by the African American Council of the Arts. His recent film credits include Criminal Activities, White Boy Rick, Native Son and Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. Jones has worked with movie greats such as John Travolta, Jackie Earle Haley, Matthew McConaughey, Ashton Sanders, Nick Robinson, Jim Parsons, Lily Collins, Bill Camp, Eddie Marsan and Zac Efron.

NOAH HAWES, narrator/rapper Noah Hawes is an emcee, music producer and visual artist based in Cincinnati. He began his journey as a musical artist in the 10th grade by becoming a member of Elementz Hip Hop Cultural Arts Center. Some of his accomplishments include releasing four studio albums, performing with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, creating artwork for Procter & Gamble, hosting a podcast on NPR and opening for acclaimed drummer and composer Mark Lomax, II. Listen to Noah’s newest EP, Uneasy Lies The Head. noahhawesraps.com

YALIE SAWEDA KAMARA, Poet Laureate of Cincinnati Yalie Saweda Kamara, Ph.D. is a Sierra LeoneanAmerican writer, educator and researcher from Oakland, California and the 2022–23 Cincinnati and Mercantile Library Poet Laureate (two-year term).

She joined the English Department of Xavier University as an assistant ©JP Leong professor in the fall of 2023.

Winner of the 2022–23 Jake Adam York Prize, Kamara’s debut full-length poetry collection, Besaydoo, will be published by Milkweed Editions in 2024. She is also the editor of the anthology What You Need to Know About Me: Young Writers on Their Experiences of Immigration (The Hawkins Project, 2022) and the author of A Brief Biography of My Name (Akashic Books/African Poetry Book Fund, 2018), which is part of the New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set (Tano), and When the Living Sing (Ledge Mule Press, 2017).

She has received fellowships from the Vermont Studio Center, the National Book Critics Circle



Fanfare Magazine | 31

2024-25 Season

SEASON TICKETS NOW ON SALE cincinnatisymphony.org/subscribe

APR–MAY GUEST ARTISTS

Emerging Critics Fellow and Callaloo (poetry) and is the winner of the 2023 Meridians Journal Elizabeth Alexander Award for Poetry.

In addition to being a featured poet at the 2020 Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, Kamara’s poetry, fiction, interviews and translations have either appeared or are forthcoming in The Adroit Journal, Callaloo, A Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters, Furious Flower: Seeding the Future of African American Poetry, Black Camera: An International Journal, Puerto del Sol and elsewhere.

A Taft Dissertation Completion Fellow and Philanthropic Educational Organization Named Scholar, she received her doctorate in Creative Writing (poetry) and English Literature at the University of Cincinnati, and she earned an MFA in Creative Writing (poetry) from Indiana University and an MA in French Culture and Civilization from Middlebury College. yaylala.com

J.PERIOD, DJ/producer J.PERIOD’s resume boasts collaborations with Grammy winners The Roots, Nas, Mary J. Blige, Busta Rhymes, Queen Latifah, Q-Tip, Common, Lauryn Hill, comedian Dave Chappelle and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda on the Billboard No. 1 album, The ©Richard Bord Hamilton Mixtape.

These collaborations, combined with a visionary approach to musical storytelling, have earned J.PERIOD comparisons to both DJ Khaled and Ken Burns, and prestigious cultural appointments at The Kennedy Center and Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC).

As a performer, J.PERIOD’s acclaimed “Live Mixtape” series has been featured at The Roots Picnic, Lincoln Center, Blue Note Jazz Festival, The Kennedy Center, Smithsonian NMAAHC, Brooklyn Academy of Music and Sony Hall, recording one-of-a-kind mixtapes live on stage with hip-hop legends including Black Thought, Rakim, Mos Def, Queen Latifah, Busta Rhymes, Rick Ross For more and others. information about our guest artists, As a producer, please text PROGRAM J.PERIOD’s debut to 513.845.3024*. album, Story to *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.

Tell (Chapter One), broke new ground with its “musical storybook” format. J.PERIOD Presents Story to Tell (Chapter Two) is available now. jperiod.com

GABRIELLE WALKER, Youth Poet Laureate of Cincinnati Gabrielle Walker is the 2023–24 Youth Poet Laureate of Cincinnati, selected by WordPlay Cincy. A current senior at The Seven Hills School, Walker is the city’s second Youth Poet Laureate, succeeding Rimel Kamran of Mason, Ohio, a rising freshman at The Ohio State University. Walker was selected by a committee of experts in the sectors of creative youth leadership; library sciences; literary arts; secondary, post-secondary and graduate education; and community arts.

Much of Walker’s work examines identity pertaining to her Cameroonian-American heritage, as well as the intersections of race, gender, nationality, ethnicity and class.



REGIONAL MUSICAL REVIVAL

JUNE 8 – 30

HANDS ON A HARDBODY book by Doug Wright lyrics by Amanda Green music by Trey Anastasio & Amanda Green

Start. Your. Engines.

SEASON FUNDER

www.ensemblecincinnati.org

OPERATING SUPPORT

Fanfare Magazine | 33

APR–MAY GUEST ARTISTS

Previously, Walker has also received awards in the statewide speed writing competition, “Power of the Pen,” and the National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. This past summer, she received a national gold medal for her essay “How to Make Ends Meet: Metamorphosis and Safeguarding Tradition in Jamaica Kincaid’s ‘Girl.’”

THE NOUVEAU PROGRAM Marion Peraza, Artistic Advisor and Coach The Nouveau Program supports increased participation in classical music by African American and Latine student musicians by providing equitable opportunities for music study and performance. The Nouveau Program includes several groups, and students must audition to participate. Nouveau members receive weekly chamber coaching, perform throughout the season, and participate in ageappropriate workshops and activities. Nouveau ensembles include Novice, Apprentice, Chamber Players and Winds. The Nouveau Program is supported by the D’Addario Foundation; the CSO’s Multicultural Awareness Council; Queen City (OH) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated; PricewaterhouseCoopers; and The Wohlgemuth Herschede Foundation.

34 | 2023–24 SEASON

Violinist and Nouveau Program coach Marion Peraza began her musical career as a member of Venezuela’s Youth Orchestra System, El Sistema. As a member of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, she toured Japan, France, Spain, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, among others, and performed on seven recordings. She owns the Peraza Music Workshop (PMW), where she teaches private violin lessons, coaches awardwinning chamber ensembles and offers theory classes. The PMW is a Founding School of the Carnegie Hall Royal Conservatory Achievement Program. As a guest teacher/clinician, she has taught at the Western Springs Suzuki Talent Education and Elmhurst College in Chicago, the University of Vermont, University of Louisville, University of Southern Maine, Bermuda Music School, Conservatorio de Bogotá and Simón Bolívar Conservatory in Venezuela. Peraza is also the director and founder of the Encore Advanced Chamber Orchestra, a summer program at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of

APR–MAY GUEST ARTISTS

Music. Her principal teachers are José Francisco Del Castillo (Simón Bolívar Conservatory), Margaret Pardee (Juilliard School), the Tokyo Quartet and the Vermeer Quartet. Peraza will join the string faculty at Miami University in 2023 teaching violin and viola.

MEMBERS OF THE NOUVEAU PROGRAM Violin I Cello Nicole Heinz Urgilez Caleb Griffin Aurora Henry-Jones Shaylin King Alyssa Lehmann Dominic Lehmann Sarah Perpignan Nathan Lehmann John Opalinski Violin II Jayden Thrasher Carmen DeAtley-Rosales Kallea Willingham Julia Lancman Cecilia Lehmann Bass Grace Oyediran Matteo Meli Viola Christina Lehmann Trinity Thrasher Kasinda Willingham

CSO APR 20 & 21: Hadelich & Holland LOUIS LANGRÉE, conductor Turn to p. 27 for a biography of CSO Music Director Louis Langrée.

AUGUSTIN HADELICH, violin Known for his phenomenal technique, insightful and persuasive interpretations, and ravishing tone, Augustin Hadelich opened the 2023–24 season with summer festival concerts at the BBC Proms, as well as in Aspen, La Jolla, Verbier, Tsinandali, Bucharest and Salzburg, and his residency ©Suxiao Yang at the Konzerthaus Berlin.

Hadelich performed the German premiere of Donnacha Dennehy’s Violin Concerto, composed for him, together with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin as part of Musikfest Berlin. Other appearances this season include the Orchestre National de France and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; debuts with Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and the NDR Radiophilharmonie; and further appearances with prominent orchestras of Europe, North America and Asia. He also gives solo recitals in Italy, Germany and the U.S. Hadelich’s catalogue of recordings covers a wide range of the violin literature. In 2016, he received a “Best Classical Instrumental Solo” Grammy for his recording of Dutilleux’s L’Arbre des songes. His recordings for Warner Classics, for

whom he is an exclusive artist, include Paganini’s 24 Caprices, the Brahms and Ligeti concertos, the Opus Klassik Award-winning Bohemian Tales with Dvořák’s violin concerto, the Grammy-nominated Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas, and his most recent album, Recuerdos, featuring works by Britten, Prokofiev and Sarasate.

A dual American-German citizen born in Italy to German parents, Hadelich studied with Joel Smirnoff at The Juilliard School. He achieved a major career breakthrough in 2006 by winning the International Violin Competition in Indianapolis. His accomplishments continued with the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2009, a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in 2011, an honorary doctorate from the University of Exeter (UK) in 2017, and being named Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America in 2018.

In 2021, Augustin Hadelich was appointed Professor in the Practice of Violin to the faculty of the Yale School of Music. He plays a violin by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù from 1744, known as “Leduc, ex Szeryng,” on loan from the Tarisio Trust. augustinhadelich.com

CSO APR 26 & 27: Dvořák Symphony No. 8 KATHARINA WINCOR, conductor Austrian conductor Katharina Wincor is a force on the podium and quickly establishing an international reputation.

In the 2023–24 season, she returns to Museumsorchester Frankfurt, Dresdner Philharmonie, Cincinnati Symphony ©Andrej Grilc Orchestra, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Reflektor and OFUNAM. Debuts include WDR Sinfonieorchester, Staatsorchester Darmstadt, NFM Wrocław Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Tucson Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, Queensland Symphony and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony.

Recent highlights include guest engagements with ensembles such as Deutsches SymphonieOrchester Berlin, Bruckner Orchester Linz, Grazer Philharmoniker, Seattle Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, North Carolina Symphony and Utah Symphony.

Wincor’s early experiences with the Arnold Schoenberg Choir in Vienna make working with singers come naturally. Since leading



Fanfare Magazine | 35

APR–MAY GUEST ARTISTS

Bernstein’s Candide at the Cincinnati May Festival in 2022, she has conducted a production at the Salzburger Landestheater and a children’s opera at the Salzburg Festival.

Wincor attracted international attention as Assistant Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, working with Music Director Fabio Luisi. In 2020, she was a prize winner at the Mahler Competition in Bamberg and invited to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s Ammodo masterclass with Iván Fischer, who subsequently brought her on as an assistant for several projects with the Budapest Festival Orchestra.

Having grown up in Upper Austria, Wincor studied conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and the Zurich University of the Arts. She has participated in masterclasses with Riccardo Muti, Jaap van Zweden, Robert Spano and David Zinman.

Kanneh-Mason is a graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Music, where he studied with Hannah Roberts and, in 2022, was appointed as the Academy’s first Menuhin Visiting Professor of Performance Mentoring. He is an ambassador for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Future Talent and Music Masters. Kanneh-Mason was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year’s Honours List.

Sheku Kanneh-Mason appears by arrangement with Enticott Music Management; he records exclusively for Decca Classics. He plays a Matteo Goffriller cello from 1700, which is on indefinite loan to him. shekukannehmason.com

SHEKU KANNEH-MASON, cello 2024 MAC Music Innovator

FELIPE MORALES-TORRES, CSYO Concert Orchestra conductor (2 pm)

After winning the BBC Young Musician competition in 2016, cellist Sheku KannehMason’s performance at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Windsor Castle in 2018 was watched by two billion people worldwide.

Highlights of the 2023–24 ©Ollie Ali season include the Last Night of the Proms with the BBC Symphony and Marin Alsop, as well as performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orquesta Nacional de España, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Oslo Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Gävle Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic on tour in Germany, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony and San Francisco Symphony. With his sister, Isata, he appears in recital in Japan, Singapore and South Korea, in addition to an extensive European recital tour. Kanneh-Mason will also perform a series of duo recitals with guitarist Plínio Fernandes, as well as continuing his solo cello recital tour in the U.S. and Canada. He returns to Antigua, where he has family connections, as an ambassador for the Antigua and Barbuda Youth Symphony Orchestra.

A Decca Classics recording artist, his 2022 album Song showcases his innately lyrical playing in a range of arrangements and collaborations.

His 2020 album Elgar reached No. 8 in the overall Official UK Album Chart, making him the first-ever cellist to reach the UK Top 10.

36 | 2023–24 SEASON

CSYO APR 28: 2 pm, Concert Orchestra, “Walkabouts” | 7 pm, Philharmonic Orchestra, “Spartacus”

Felipe Morales-Torres is an award-winning conductor and educator with a passion for inspiring the next generation of musicians. In addition to his role as Conductor of the CSYO Concert Orchestra, Morales is the Assistant Director and Program Manager with the Bornoff Foundation for the Advancement of String Education (FASE) and previously served as Orchestra Director for Anderson High School and Winton Woods City Schools. He is also an active guest conductor and clinician for student orchestras in the U.S. and Latin America, traveling to Costa Rica each summer to teach and conduct for the Foundation for the Advancement of Strings Education (FASE). He was a recent guest of the National Symphony Orchestra of Chile, where he conducted and studied alongside its director, Leonid Grin.

As a Latin-American teaching artist, Morales is driven to engage diverse student musicians and to make quality opportunities accessible to them. He has played a part in several community music programs, including the Louisville Youth Orchestra and the Dayton Philharmonic’s Q The Music, an El Sistema-inspired outreach program.

Morales started his musical life as a violist, and later pursued bassoon studies as an undergraduate at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. In 2019, he completed a master’s degree in Music Education and Orchestral Conducting, earning the University’s Excellence in Teaching Award for his work with undergraduate music education majors.

APR–MAY GUEST ARTISTS

SAMUEL LEE, conductor, CSYO Philharmonic Orchestra conductor (7 pm) Samuel Lee, first prize winner of the BMI International Conducting Competition in Bucharest and the International Conducting Competition in Taipei, was appointed Assistant Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, beginning in the 2022–23 season, and was promoted to Associate Conductor in August 2023.

In addition to several recent guest conducting engagements throughout Europe and Asia, Lee was also a Conducting Fellow with the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in 2021 and 2022, where he worked with conductors Cristian Măcelaru, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Octavio MásArocas and Marin Alsop.

Since 2016 Samuel Lee has been the chief conductor of the C.P.E. Bach Musikgymnasium orchestra Berlin. He and the orchestra have been regularly invited to the Berlin Philharmonie and Konzerthaus Berlin for subscription concerts. He also served as a viola professor at Hochschule für

Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy” in Leipzig, Germany until 2022.

As a violist, Lee was invited to perform with orchestras throughout Europe and Asia. From 2009 until 2017, he was the violist of Novus String Quartet, and he was the second prize winner of the 61st International Music Competition of ARD Munich and first prize winner of the Salzburg International Mozart Competition.

Lee is an alumnus of Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin, where he studied viola with Prof. Tabea Zimmermann (BM, MM, Konzertexamen), and orchestral conducting with Prof. Christian Ehwald (BM, MM). Lee completed Konzertexamen in orchestral conducting from Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg (Prof.

Ulrich Windfuhr).

VIVIAN CHANG, violin Vivian Chang, age 16, is a junior at William Mason High School. Since the age of four, she has been studying violin with Hong Cheng. Chang has served in the leadership roles of concertmaster, soloist and section principal in the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestras, her school orchestra and in OMEA’s regional and all-state orchestras. In the summer of 2023, Chang joined Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra NYO2 and took part in NYO2’s international debut in the Dominican Republic.

Chang’s accomplishments in young artist and concerto competitions have earned featured soloist opportunities in public concerts with the Dayton Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, Blue Ash and Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, Mason Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra. In the American Protégé International Concerto Competition, Chang won first place and the Judges’ Distinction Award. She is also the 2023 state winner of the MTNA Senior Strings competition, 2022 winner of the Senior Strings Division in the Fiorito International Music Festival, three-time state winner of the OMTA Buckeye Auditions, top prize winner of the 2022 Maestro of Tomorrow Competition by Cincinnati Public Radio, and 2021 winner of the Young Talent Search by Dayton Public Radio Discover Classical.

In 2023, for her achievement and services in bettering the community with her talent, Chang was recognized as a Congressional Award gold medalist, Congress’ highest honor for American youth.



Fanfare Magazine | 37

FESTIVAL 2024

MAY 17 -25 • MUSIC HALL

A FESTIVAL FULL OF NEW DISCOVERIES Season tickets on sale NOW! mayfestival.com • 513.381.3300

2024 Festival Sponsor

Christy and Terry Horan

May Festival Season Sponsor

May Festival Presenting Sponsor

Annual Support

APR–MAY GUEST ARTISTS

CSO MAY 3 & 4: Beethoven 7 & Dessner Premieres

CSO MAY 10–12: Louis’ Grand Finale

LOUIS LANGRÉE, conductor

Turn to p. 27 for a biography of CSO Music Director Louis Langrée.

Turn to p. 27 for a biography of CSO Music Director Louis Langrée.

ALICE SARA OTT, piano One of classical music’s most creative minds, in the 2023–24 season Alice Sara Ott appears as Artistin-Residence at London’s Southbank Centre and Paris’ Radio France; gives the worldwide premieres of a new piano concerto composed for her by Bryce Dessner ©Pascal Albandopulos (with Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Munich Philharmonic and Deutsches Sinfonieorchester Berlin, in addition to this weekend’s Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra concerts); embarks upon an extensive Asia tour with her project Echoes of Life; and releases two major new albums on Deutsche Grammophon (Beethoven and Echoes of Life Deluxe, a follow-up to Echoes of Life, Ott’s widely successful 10th album), for whom she is an exclusive recording artist.

2023–24 also sees Alice Sara Ott on tour with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Antonio Pappano and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Kazuki Yamada. She debuts with the New York Philharmonic performing Ravel’s G Major Concerto with Karina Canellakis conducting.

Ott’s Echoes of Life project is built around Chopin’s Preludes, Op. 28 and features works from the likes of Chilly Gonzales, Francesco Tristano, Arvo Pärt and György Ligeti. A digital video installation accompanying the recital takes the audience on their own virtual journey to create a unique concert experience.

Her Beethoven album project, with Karina Canellakis and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, was born as a collaboration with Apple Music, with the album released exclusively upon launch of the new Apple Music Classical app.

Ott also expresses her creativity through design and brand partnerships beyond classical music. She was personally requested to design a line of high-end leather bags for JOST, has been global brand ambassador for Technics, and has collaborated with luxury brands Chaumet (part of LVMH group) and Wempe. alicesaraott.com

LOUIS LANGRÉE, conductor

LATONIA MOORE, soprano Considered one of the greatest sopranos in the world today, Latonia Moore opened the 2023–24 season of the Metropolitan Opera as Sister Rose in Dead Man Walking. During the 2023–24 season she sings Mefistofele at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, reprises Billie in Fire Shut Up in My Bones at the Met and sings Verdi’s Requiem with BBC. She opened the 2021–22 Metropolitan Opera season as Billie in the New York premiere of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones, a role she reprised for her debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Internationally acclaimed for her Aida, she performed this role for her debut with LA Opera.

She performed Emelda Griffith in the New York premiere of Blanchard’s Champion. Additional operatic highlights include appearances as CioCio-San in Madama Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera; Liù in Turandot at Royal Opera Covent Garden; the title role in Tosca and Elisabeth in Don Carlo with Opera Australia; Tosca with Washington National Opera; Cio-Cio-San and Mimi in La bohème with Semperoper Dresden; Cio-Cio-San at the Hamburg State Opera; Micaëla in Carmen; Liù, Elvira in Ernani and Lucrezia in I due Foscari in Bilbao; Desdemona in Otello at Bergen National Opera; Serena in Porgy and Bess at both English National Opera and Dutch National Opera; and an appearance on the 50th Anniversary Gala of the Metropolitan Opera.

Orchestral highlights include the role of Lady Macbeth in a recording of Macbeth with Edward Gardner (Chandos) and of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Vienna Philharmonic and Gilbert Kaplan (Deutsche Grammophon), as well as performances as Vivetta in L’arlesiana and Fidelia in Edgar with the Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall and as Bess in Porgy and Bess with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.  FOR MORE INFORMATION about our guest artists, please text PROGRAM to 513.845.3024*. *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 | 39

Support is always a good IDEA. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s Fifth Third Foundation IDEA Series highlights three Orchestra initiatives that promote Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access.

We are proud to support the CSO in celebrating Black and African American artistry and creating programming with authentic representation.

Fifth Third Bank, National Association. Member FDIC. 23-8_CRO_AD

CLASSICAL ROOTS | 2023–24 SEASON FRI APR 19, 7:30 pm Music Hall

JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL, conductor HI-TEK, producer & rapper CLASSICAL ROOTS COMMUNITY CHOIR, Jason Alexander Holmes, interim resident conductor VERONDA “VEE” GIBSON, CIARA HARPER, SONIA HARPER, MARY PATTON, NOËL WALTON and RITA WINTERS, chorus soloists MEMBERS OF THE NOUVEAU PROGRAM, Marion Peraza, artistic advisor and coach LAUREN EYLISE, vocalist NOAH HAWES, narrator/rapper ALAN B. JONES, narrator YALIE SAWEDA KAMARA, Poet Laureate of Cincinnati J.PERIOD, DJ/producer GABRIELLE WALKER, Youth Poet Laureate of Cincinnati Excerpt from Ode to Ethiopia

Paul Lawrence Dunbar

Finale from Symphony No. 1, Afro-American Symphony Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing (Text on p. 43)

William Grant Still James Weldon Johnson

Original Poem by the Poet Laureate of Cincinnati The Word Was God

Yalie Saweda Kamara Rosephanye Powell

“Military March” from Othello Suite

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, text: John Mercer Langston

The Weary Blues

Langston Hughes

Original Poem by the Youth Poet Laureate of Cincinnati

Gabrielle Walker

“Cumbia y Congo” from Danzas de Panama

William Grant Still

Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee

Ludwig van Beethoven

INTERMISSION continued

The CSO is grateful to IDEA Series Sponsor Fifth Third Foundation, Artist Series Sponsor The Lazarow Schwartz Family Fund and Performance Sponsor JRH Consultants. Digital Access Partner: CVG Airport Authority.

The Lazarow Schwartz Family Fund JRH Consultants

The Classical Roots concert was made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Louise H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation, Inc. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is grateful for the support of the Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund of the Greenacres Foundation and the Nina Browne Parker Trust, and for the thousands of people who give generously to the ArtsWave Community Campaign. 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 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in-orchestra Steinway piano is made possible in part by the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trust.

Louise H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation, Inc.

Steinway Pianos, courtesy of Willis Music, is the official piano of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops.

Listen to selections from this program on 90.9 WGUC June 16, 2024 at 8 pm, followed by 30 days of streaming at cincinnatisymphony.org/replay.

Fanfare Magazine | 41

CLASSICAL ROOTS 2024

Psalm 8

Richard Smallwood, arr. Panion

Selections with Hi-Tek: Respiration/The Sun God/Round and Round Music for Life Move Something/The Blast/Come Down

Various, orch. Derrick Hodge

“The Color Purple” from The Color Purple Revival *

Brenda Russell

Program subject to change NOTE: Portions of this performance include adult themes and language.

For more information about this program, please text PROGRAM to 513.845.3024*. *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.

*The Color Purple Revival is presented through special arrangement with and all authorized performance materials are supplied by Theatrical Rights Worldwide 1180 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 640, New York, NY 10036. www.theatricalrights.com

THANK YOU —

Artist Sponsor

THE LAZAROW SCHWARTZ FAMILY FUND

42 | 2023–24 SEASON

CLASSICAL ROOTS 2024

LIFT EV’RY VOICE AND SING Lift ev’ry voice and sing, ‘Til earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on ‘til victory is won.

THANK YOU

CLASSICAL ROOTS

SUPPORTERS

—

Visit Cincy TriHealth d.e. Foxx and Associates, Inc. The Voice of Your Customer Clark Schaefer Hackett American Red Cross African American Chamber of Commerce

Fanfare Magazine | 43

FORT WASHINGTON INVESTMENT ADVISORS PROUD PARTNER OF THE

CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Bradley J. Hunkler Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Western & Southern Financial Group

Kate C. Brown, CFP® Managing Director, Fort Washington, CSO Board Member

John F. Barrett Chairman, President & CEO, Western & Southern Financial Group

Maribeth S. Rahe President & CEO, Fort Washington

Tracey M. Stofa Managing Director, Head of Private Client Group, Fort Washington

Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc., a member of Western & Southern Financial Group, is honored to help advance the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s mission to seek and share inspiration.

Learn how we can work together. fortwashington.com

HADELICH & HOLLAND | 2023–24 SEASON SAT APR 20, 7:30 pm SUN APR 21, 2 pm Music Hall

LOUIS LANGRÉE, conductor AUGUSTIN HADELICH, violin Jonathan Bailey HOLLAND

Assemble CSO CO-COMMISSION

(b. 1974)

Arnold SCHOENBERG

Verklärte Nacht (“Transfigured Night”), Op. 4

(1874–1951)

INTERMISSION

Johannes BRAHMS (1833–1897)

Concerto in D Major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 77 Allegro non troppo Adagio Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace. Poco più presto

These performances are approximately 125 minutes long, including intermission.

The CSO is grateful to CSO Season Sponsor Western & Southern Financial Group, Presenting Sponsor Cincinnati Symphony Club and Concert Sponsor Johnson Investment Counsel.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra co-commissioned, CSO premiere of Assemble by Jonathan Bailey Holland is made possible by a generous gift from Melinda and Irwin Simon.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is grateful for the support of the Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund of the Greenacres Foundation and the Nina Browne Parker Trust, and for 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.

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

Listen to selections from this program on 90.9 WGUC May 19, 2024 at 8 pm, followed by 30 days of streaming at cincinnatisymphony.org/replay.

Fanfare Magazine | 45

APR 20–21 PROGRAM NOTES JONATHAN BAILEY HOLLAND Born: February 27, 1974, Flint, Michigan

Assemble CSO CO-COMMISSION Assemble is composer Jonathan Bailey Holland’s seventh work commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, where he served as composer-in-residence during the 2018–19 season. His commissions and performances have also included the orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, BBC, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kalamazoo, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Philadelphia, San Antonio and South Bend, and the New World Symphony, among others, as well as the Abeo Quartet, Da Capo Chamber Players, der/gelbe/klang, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Network for New Music, Present Music, Radius Ensemble, Plymouth Music Series and more.

He is currently the dean of the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Jonathan Bailey Holland

n Composed: 2024 n Premiere: April 12–14,

2024, Louis Langrée conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic (cocommissioner). n Instrumentation: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons (incl. contrabassoon), 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, claves, quad toms, sandpaper blocks, snare drum, 2 suspended cymbals, tam-tam, vibraphone, wind chimes, wood block, harp, strings n CSO notable performances: First: These are the first CSO performances of Assemble. n Duration: approx.

13 minutes

Music, as well as the Kay Davis Professor of Music, at Northwestern University. A recipient of a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, Holland has been awarded the Fromm Commission from the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University, a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship, a Brother Thomas Award and a Live Arts Boston grant from the Boston Foundation, among other honors and awards. His work can be heard on recordings by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (American Portraits, Paavo Järvi conducting), University of Texas Trombone Choir, Radius Ensemble and Transient Canvas, as well as pianist Sarah Bob and flutist Christopher Chaffee.

Holland holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied composition with Ned Rorem, and a PhD from Harvard University, where he studied with Bernard Rands, Mario Davidovsky, Andrew Imbrie and Yehudi Wyner.

Holland writes the following about Assemble: Rhythm, harmony and melody are basic musical building blocks. These elements are often interwoven to create a layered musical landscape.

In this work, each of these elements is introduced individually, one emerging from the energy produced by the one before. By the end you will have heard the rhythm, harmony and melody separately, but you will have also heard the piece in its entirety through the presentation of the individual parts…which are, of course, interdependent, and not always easy to separate.

ARNOLD SCHOENBERG Born: September 13, 1874, Vienna, Austria Died: July 13, 1951, Brentwood, California

Verklärte Nacht (“Transfigured Night”), Op. 4 At the age of 16, in 1890, Arnold Schoenberg decided to become a professional musician, having already dabbled in composition, taught himself to play the violin and cello, and participated in some chamber music concerts with friends. His father’s death in 1889 had thrown him into rather serious financial distress, however, and he had to scratch out a livelihood after leaving school in 1891 by working in a bank and conducting local choruses and theater orchestras for a few schillings per performance.

In 1893, he met Alexander Zemlinsky, who had already established a

46 | 2023–24 SEASON

PROGRAM NOTES

Viennese reputation as a composer, conductor and teacher though he was only two years Schoenberg’s senior. Schoenberg showed his new friend some of his manuscripts and Zemlinsky was so impressed with his talent that he offered to take him on as a counterpoint student (this instruction turned out to be Schoenberg’s only formal study) and secured him a position in the cello section of the Polyhymnia Orchestra to help earn a little money. Zemlinsky assumed the role of guardian to Schoenberg, introducing the young musician to his circle of professional colleagues and constantly offering advice and encouragement. In 1901, Schoenberg married Zemlinsky’s sister, Mathilde.

During the summer of 1899, Schoenberg and Zemlinsky were on holiday in the mountain village of Payerbach, south of Vienna, and it was there that Schoenberg began a work for string sextet based on a poem by Richard Dehmel: Verklärte Nacht (“Transfigured Night”), which had appeared three years earlier in a collection called Weib und Welt (“Woman and World”). (Schoenberg was familiar with Dehmel’s work by at least 1897, when he set several of the poet’s verses.) Dehmel was one of the most distinguished German poets of the day, whose verses bridged the sensuous Impressionism of the preceding generation and the intense spirituality of encroaching Expressionism. Verklärte Nacht matches well the Viennese fin-de-siècle temperament, when Sigmund Freud was intellectualizing sex with his systematic explorations into the subconscious and Gustav Klimt was painting full-length portraits of his female subjects as he imagined they would look totally nude before applying layers of elaborate, gold-flecked costumes to finish the canvas. The following translated excerpt from Dehmel’s poem appears in

Arnold Schoenberg

n Composed: Written for

string sextet in 1899; scored for string orchestra in 1917, revised in 1943. n Premiere: Sextet premiered March 15, 1902 in Vienna; orchestral version premiered on June 3, 1919 in Vienna, conducted by the composer. n Instrumentation: strings n CSO notable performances: First: March 1923, Fritz Reiner conducting. Most Recent: February 2013, Pinchas Zukerman conducting. n Duration: approx.

32 minutes

Schoenberg’s printed score: Two people walk through the bare, cold woods; the moon runs along, they gaze at it. The moon runs over tall oaks, no cloudlet dulls the heavenly light into which the black peaks reach. A woman’s voice speaks: “I bear a child, but not by you. I walk in sin alongside you. I sinned against myself mightily. I believed no longer in good fortune but still had mighty longing for a full life, mother’s joy and duty; then I grew shameless, then horror-stricken, I let my sex be taken by a stranger and even blessed myself for it. Now life has taken its revenge: Now I have met you, you.”

She walks with clumsy gait. She gazes upward; the moon runs along.

Her somber glance drowns in the light. A man’s voice speaks: “The child that you conceived be to your soul no burden. Oh look, how clear the universe glitters! There is a glory around All, you drift with me on a cold sea, but a peculiar warmth sparkles from you in me, from me in you. It will transfigure the strange child you will bear for me, from me; you brought the glory into me, you made myself into a child.”

He holds her around her strong hips. Their breath kisses in the air. Two people walk through the high, light night.

Schoenberg glossed this richly emotional poem with music influenced

by Wagner’s lush Tristan chromaticism, the intellectual rigor of Brahms, and the intense expression of Romanticism to create a vast onemovement work for strings that is virtually a programmatic tone poem.

—Richard E. Rodda Fanfare Magazine | 47

Join Barbara Kellar as she showcases artists and cultural leaders from the Greater Cincinnati community.

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

www.CETconnect.org Emmy Award Winner Regional - Interview/Discussion Program

Showcase Emmy NEW Barbara photo-02.indd 1

7/12/2023 10:57:35 AM

PROGRAM NOTES

slow second movement, but here it is accompanied by the horn and the other winds. Whereas the solo violin enters with an energetic solo in the first movement, in the second it takes up the oboe’s melody, gently ornamenting it in a lyrical, touching rhapsody. Despite the dazzling For more information about this program, please text PROGRAM to 513.845.3024*. *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.

virtuosity of the outer movements, early commentators, including those who had heard the London premiere, drew attention to the beauty of this movement, suggesting it would be the most popular of the three.

The lively finale greatly pleased the first audience in Leipzig. Its fiery, dance-like Hungarian style is another homage to Joachim, whose family was Hungarian. Joachim used the same style in the finale to his Second Violin Concerto (1857), which he both dedicated to Brahms and played under Brahms’ baton. In contrast to many other 19th-century concertos that are characterized by shows of flashy but meaningless virtuosity, Brahms’ and Joachim’s concertos are characterized by a type of structural integrity and gravitas inspired by the piano and violin concertos of Beethoven, and it is this characteristic that has ensured the continued success of Brahms’ concerto.

—Heather Platt, Sursa Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts

WELCOME TO APR–MAY GROUPS! (as of February 23, 2024) Classical Roots: Apr. 19 Baldwin Grove Kennedy Heights Presbyterian Church Lincoln Cincinnati Recreation Center Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church Mt. Zion Baptist Church New Jerusalem Baptist Church New Vision United Methodist Church Queen City (OH) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated Ms. Rochelle Sandidge The Greater New Hope Missionary Baptist Church Thelma Thomas Zion Baptist

CSO Beethoven 7 & Dessner Premieres: May 3–4 Alyssa Allen Barrington of Oakley Christian Village at Mason Cincinnati Country Day School Maple Knoll Village George and Margaret McLane Foundation Otterbein Retirement Community Peebles High School The Kenwood by Senior Star The Knolls of Oxford Twin Lakes at Montgomery

CSO Hadelich & Holland: Apr. 21 Seasons Retirement Community

CSO Louis’ Grand Finale: May 10–12 Alliance Française Charles Schwab George Rogers Clark High School Bob Rogers Travel Seasons Retirement Community

CSO Dvořák Symphony No. 8: Apr. 26–27 Alleghany High School Central High School EKU Model Laboratory Schools Gahanna Lincoln High School

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 50 | 2023–24 SEASON

THANK YOU —

Presenting Sponsor of

HADELICH & HOLLAND

SE E TH E POTEN TI A L OF WH AT YOUR WEA LTH C A N DO. The best investment advice should provide confidence in the future—for you, your family, and the organizations you care about. At Johnson Investment Counsel, we are independent and employee-owned, and our experienced advisors provide fee-only advice.

WEALTH MANAGEMENT

TRUST COMPANY

FAMILY OFFICE SERVICES

ASSET MANAGEMENT

JOHNSONINV.COM

Fanfare Magazine | 51

SPOTLIGHT ON WINDS & STRINGS | 2023–24 SEASON THU APR 25, 7:30 pm Harry T. Wilks Studio, Music Hall

Erwin SCHULHOFF

Concertino for Flute, Viola and Contrabass

(1894–1942) Andante con moto Furiant: Allegro furioso Andante Rondino: Allegro gaio

Haley Bangs, flute Rebecca Barnes, viola Boris Astafiev, contrabass

Carl REINECKE

Trio in A Major for Clarinet, Viola and Piano, Op. 264

(1824–1910) Moderato Intermezzo: Moderato Legende: Andante Finale: Allegro moderato

Ronald Aufmann, clarinet Molly Norcross, horn Dror Biran, piano

Aram KHACHATURIAN

Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano

(1903–1978) Andante con dolore, con molt’espressione Allegro Moderato

Christopher Pell, clarinet Felicity James, violin Anna Vinnitsky, piano

INTERMISSION

Robert SCHUMANN

String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 41, No. 1

(1810–1856) Introduzione. Andante espressivo—Allegro Scherzo. Presto Adagio Presto

Felicity James, violin Rebecca Kruger Fryxell, violin Caterina Longhi, viola Nicholas Mariscal, cello

TIMING OK

Program notes for this concert will be on a printed insert available during the performance.

This performance is approximately 120 minutes long, including intermission.

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

The Winstead Chamber Series is endowed by a generous gift from the estate of former CSO musician WILLIAM WINSTEAD.

52 | 2023–24 SEASON

FIVE FOR 95 — OUR 95TH SEASON Takács Quartet

Isidore Quartet and Jeremy Denk

“… one of the best available [Beethoven] cycles, possibly the finest…”

—Gramophone

“Mr. Denk, clearly, is a pianist you want to hear, no matter what he performs.”

—New York Times

Tuesday, September 24, 2024 • 7:30 p.m.

“The Isidore’s total commitment to the piece, and to its fine-tuned ensemble, made for a convincing performance.”

—The Strad

Cuarteto Casals “The immediately striking thing is the sound … performances of fleet-footed conviction.”

—Gramophone

Thursday, March 6, 2025 • 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, November 13, 2024 • 7:30 p.m.

Jerusalem Quartet

Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cello Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano

“Unity of sound and purpose is a given in any performance by the extraordinary Jerusalem Quartet.”

—New York Times

“… the sort of lofty emotional peak you’d have expected from a du Pré or a Navarra.”

—Gramophone Tuesday, December 10, 2024 • 7:30 p.m.

“The richness and weight of the Jerusalem Quartet’s sound spreads sensuality over the whole work …”

—Gramophone Thursday, May 1, 2025 • 7:30 p.m.

Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason

Jerusalem Quartet

All concerts at Memorial Hall. Early Bird Subscriptions $125 on sale now at CincyChamber.org or call Memorial Hall at 513-977-8838. Single tickets on sale this summer. Students under 18 admitted free, 18 and over $10, if available, on the day of performance.

Next this season: Randall Goosby • April 7 and 9

• Decca recording artist • 2023 and 2025 Cincinnati Symphony Soloist • "… Randall Goosby has everything …" —NPR

CHAMBER MUSIC CINCINNATI

DVOŘÁK SYMPHONY NO. 8 | 2023–24 SEASON FRI APR 26, 7:30 pm SAT APR 27, 7:30 pm Music Hall

KATHARINA WINCOR, conductor SHEKU KANNEH-MASON, cello Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH

Festive Overture, Op. 96

(1906–1975)

Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH

Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 107

Allegretto Moderato Cadenza Allegro con moto

INTERMISSION

Antonín DVOŘÁK

Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88

(1841–1904) Allegro con brio Adagio Allegretto grazioso. Molto vivace Allegro ma non troppo

These performances are approximately 110 minutes long, including intermission.

The CSO is grateful to CSO Season Sponsor Western & Southern Financial Group, Encore Sponsor Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP and IDEA Series Sponsor Fifth Third Foundation.

The appearance of Sheku Kanneh-Mason is generously supported by the Janice W. and Gary R. Lubin Fund for Black Artists.

Janice W. and Gary R. Lubin Fund for Black Artists

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is grateful for the support of the Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund of the Greenacres Foundation and the Nina Browne Parker Trust, and for 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.

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

Listen to this program on 90.9 WGUC May 26, 2024 at 8 pm, followed by 30 days of streaming at cincinnatisymphony.org/replay.

54 | 2023–24 SEASON

APR 26–27 PROGRAM NOTES DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Born: September 25, 1906, Saint Petersburg, Russia Died: August 9, 1975, Moscow, Russia

Festive Overture, Op. 96

Dmitri Shostakovich

n Composed: 1954 n Premiere: November 6,

1954 at the Bolshoi Theatre n Instrumentation: 2 flutes, piccolo, 3 oboes, 3 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, crash cymbals, snare drum, triangle, strings n CSO notable performances: First: September 1971 in Eden Park, Erich Kunzel conducting. First Subscription Concert: November 1983, Jorge Mester conducting. Most Recent: (Pops) January 2018, John Morris Russell conducting; (CSO Subscription) March 1993, Jesús López Cobos conducting. Recording: 1988 Symphonic Spectacular, Erich Kunzel conducting. n Duration: approx.

6 minutes

This delightful short work falls chronologically between two of Shostakovich’s most serious symphonies: the Tenth, which contains a diabolical scherzo reputed to be a “portrait of Stalin,” and the Eleventh, which commemorates the bloody events of the 1905 revolution.

Shostakovich whipped it off, literally in one day, in response to Vassili Nebolsin, a conductor at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, who urgently needed a festive piece for November 7, the anniversary of the October Revolution of 1917.

“Shostakovich composed the Festive Overture before my very eyes,” recalled Shostakovich’s friend, musicologist Lev Lebedinsky, who happened to be in the composer’s apartment when a desperate Nebolsin arrived to announce an emergency. Lebedinsky watched as Shostakovich sat down to compose the overture.

This amazing effortlessness can be heard in the light and carefree tone of the music, yet the quality of the musical ideas and the craftsmanship with which they are presented never let us suppose that the composer had no time at all to plan or even think about the piece.

What Shostakovich did here is as close to improvisation as a symphonic composer can ever come: the conception and the realization of the piece were virtually simultaneous.

Of course, Shostakovich had the classical sonata-form model to fall back on: after an introductory fanfare, he duly presents his two themes (the first consists mainly of rapid eighth-note passages, while the second has an expressive, singing character). The subsequent development, recapitulation and return of the opening fanfares as a concluding section were all part of the traditional framework that Shostakovich could well take for granted, like so many composers before him. But the freshness of the materials that fill in that framework, the brilliant orchestration and the effervescence of the whole piece are true signs of genius. They explain why the Festive Overture, originally written to help a colleague in a pinch, has entered the standard repertoire and held its place there for 70 years.

—Peter Laki

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 107 Shostakovich enjoyed a special friendship and artistic partnership with Mstislav Rostropovich for many years. The cellist was a teenager when he first met the composer, who was his senior by 21 years, in 1943. Enrolled at the Moscow Conservatory as a student of both cello and composition, Rostropovich took Shostakovich’s orchestration class. His admiration for his teacher knew no bounds, and after Shostakovich had heard the young man play, the admiration became mutual. During the 1950s, the two played Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata (1934) in concert tours all over Russia, and their friendship deepened. Throughout those years, Rostropovich was dreaming of a concerto Shostakovich might one day write for him, but the composer’s wife advised him never to bring it up in conversation.

Fanfare Magazine | 55

PROGRAM NOTES

Rostropovich followed this advice, however reluctantly. And then one day in 1959, the concerto suddenly materialized. The ecstatic cellist committed the entire piece to memory in just four days, astounding the composer when the two got together at Shostakovich’s summer home on August 6, 1959.

Rostropovich proceeded to play the work from memory with the pianist he had brought with him, to the utter delight of the composer and a small number of friends who had gathered in the music room. Afterward, they celebrated with a festive dinner. Everyone knew they had witnessed a historic moment.

The first public performance, two months later, was enthusiastically received and was soon followed by an international triumph, establishing the work as the most significant addition to the cello concerto literature in a long time. Shostakovich, inspired by an exceptional instrumentalist with whom he had bonded deeply, had written a work that combined immediacy of expression with formal perfection, and Romantic passion with Classical balance—a fusion of qualities we don’t find very often in the music of the 1950s. Nor had music ever communicated with an audience more directly or more sincerely.

Once you have heard the concerto’s opening motif, played by the cello, you are unlikely to ever forget this four-note theme. (It is immediately recognizable when quoted in Shostakovich’s Eighth String Quartet of 1960.) Varied, developed and taken into successively higher registers of the solo instrument, this little motif dominates the entire movement—and more. An insistent second theme appears a little later, and the music gradually gains in excitement and in technical virtuosity. The solo cello plays almost without intermission, although it is joined by the clarinet and especially by the horn as “assistant” soloists. The end of the movement returns to the opening theme in its original low register.

The remaining three movements are played without pause. First, we hear a slow movement (actually, the tempo is moderato), featuring—after a dreamy introduction—a very simple, folk-like melody. The introductory material is heard again, followed by a more passionate new idea, leading to a climax and a return of the folk-like theme in high-pitched cello harmonics.

The third movement is a lengthy, unaccompanied cadenza, beginning slowly and becoming faster and faster. Russian critic Lev Ginzburg aptly called it a “monologue-recitative.” The movement, although exceedingly hard to perform, is not a mere display of technical difficulties but, in Ginzburg’s words, a piece of “deep meditation, reaching philosophical heights.” It leads directly into the exuberant finale, which opens with a dance tune—not an ordinary dance tune, though, but one spiced with many chromatic half-steps that give it a striking, sarcastic overtone. The theme is introduced by the oboe and the clarinet, giving the soloist a respite after the exhausting cadenza. The solo cello soon re-enters, however, repeating the dance-tune, followed by a second dance. The latter unexpectedly morphs into the memorable opening theme from the first movement, providing the material for the energetic conclusion of the concerto.

As a kind of private joke, Shostakovich concealed in this movement some distorted fragments of a folksong from Georgia in the Caucasus, Stalin’s birthplace; the song, “Suliko,” had reportedly been the late dictator’s personal favorite. But even Rostropovich confessed: “I doubt if I would have detected this quote if Dmitri Dmitriyevich hadn’t pointed it out to me.”

—Peter Laki

56 | 2023–24 SEASON

Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major n Composed: 1959 n Premiere: October 4,

1959 at the Leningrad Conservatory with the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Yevgeny Mravinsky conducting and Mstislav Rostropovich, cello n Instrumentation: solo cello, 2 flutes (incl. piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons (incl. contrabassoon), horn, timpani, celeste, strings n CSO notable performances: First: April 1982, Erich Bergel conducting with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Most Recent: November 2017, Louis Langrée conducting with cellist Truls Mørk. n Duration: approx.

30 minutes

For more information about this program, please text PROGRAM to 513.845.3024*. *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.

INVEST ENGAGE INNOVATE LEAD

Program Spotlight: POETRY OUT LOUD Ohio Poetry Out Loud State Champion Hiba Loukssi of Xenia High School (Greene County) reciting a poem at the 2023 state finals. She competed at the national finals in Washington, D.C. Image credit: Terry Gilliam

Investing state and federal dollars, the Ohio Arts Council funds and supports quality arts experiences for all Ohioans to strengthen communities culturally, educationally, and economically.

Learn more about our grant programs and resources, find your next arts experience, or connect: OAC.OHIO.GOV.

PROGRAM NOTES

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK Born: September 8, 1841, Nelahozeves, Bohemia Died: May 1, 1904, Prague

Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 “Gentlemen, in Bohemia the trumpets never call to battle— they always call to the dance!”

(Czech conductor Rafael Kubelik during a rehearsal of the trumpet fanfare opening the last movement of Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony) Something remarkable happened in the history of music during the 19th century: composers of symphonic music increasingly turned away from happy or cheerful feelings in favor of dramatic or even tragic ones.

Lightness was gradually pushed to the periphery of classical music Antonín Dvořák and relegated to new popular genres (for instance, operetta), while n Composed: August 26– large-scale symphonic works increasingly emphasized high passion and November 8, 1889 brooding melancholy. n Premiere: February 2, There were two significant exceptions to this general trend: 1890 in Prague, conducted by the composer Mendelssohn in the first half of the century, and Dvořák in the second half. n Instrumentation: 2 flutes Both had the unusual gift of writing radiantly happy music in an era where (incl. piccolo), 2 oboes (incl. such an approach was often taken for either conservatism or naïveté. It English horn), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, was neither; it was merely a sign of a different artistic personality.

2 trumpets, 3 trombones, Dvořák’s cheerfully optimistic Eighth opens with an expressive melody tuba, timpani, strings in G minor followed by a playful idea in G major first given to the solo n CSO notable flute. A dynamic sonata exposition soon gets underway. The development performances: First: January 1933, Eugene section works up quite a storm, but it subsides when the playful main Goossens conducting. theme returns.

Most Recent: October The second movement (“Adagio”) begins with a simple melody in 2014, Kazem Abdullah conducting. Recording: darker tonal regions (E-flat major/C minor) that soon reaches a bright 1954, Thor Johnson C major, where it remains. The main theme spawns various episodes, in conducting. turn lyrical and passionate.

Other: Iván Fischer The third movement (“Allegretto grazioso”) begins with a languid waltz conducting, 1991 and 1993. n Duration: approx. melody; its second, functioning as a “trio,” sounds more like a Bohemian 34 minutes folk dance. After the return of the waltz, Dvořák surprises us with a fast (“Molto vivace”) coda, consisting of the same notes as the “trio” melody, only in a faster tempo. (In the third movement of his Second Symphony, Brahms had transformed his “trio” theme in the same way.)

A resounding trumpet fanfare announces the fourth movement (“Allegro ma non troppo”), a complex theme-and-variations with a central episode that at first sounds like contrasting material but is in fact derived from the main theme. The ending seems to be a long time coming, with an almost interminable series of closing figures. When the last chord finally arrives, it still sounds delightfully abrupt due to its Dvořák’s summer residence, where he composed the Symphony No. 8. unusual metric placement.

—Peter Laki

58 | 2023–24 SEASON

2023–24 SEASON

CSYO CONCERT ORCHESTRA SUN APR 28, 2 pm, Music Hall WALKABOUTS FELIPE MORALES-TORRES, conductor Gabriela Lena FRANK

Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout

(b. 1972)

Aaron COPLAND

I. Toyos IV. Chasqui VI. Coqueteos

An Outdoor Overture

(1900–1990)

Michael MARKOWSKI

City Trees

(b. 1986)

Ferde GROFÉ Grand Canyon Suite (1892–1972) Sunrise Sunset

The Painted Desert On the Trail

Cloudburst

CSYO PHILHARMONIC SUN APR 28, 7 pm, Music Hall SPARTACUS SAMUEL LEE, conductor VIVIAN CHANG, violin Aram KHACHATURIAN

Spartacus Suite No. 2

(1903–1978)

Pablo SARASATE

Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia Entrance of Merchants, Dance of a Roman Courtesan, General Dance Entrance of Spartacus, Quarrel, Treachery of Harmodius Dance of the Pirates

Carmen Fantasy

(1844–1908)

INTERMISSION

Igor STRAVINSKY

The Firebird Suite

(1882–1971) Introduction— Variations of the Firebird Round of the Princesses Khorovod

Infernal Dance of King Katschei Berceuse— Finale

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

The Charles H. Dater Foundation The Unnewehr Foundation

Support provided by The Charles H. Dater Foundation and The Unnewehr Foundation.

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.

Fanfare Magazine | 59

CSYO CONCERT ORCHESTRA ROSTER 2023–24 FIRST VIOLIN Tabitha Sabitelli, co-Concertmaster Julia Lancman, co-Concertmaster Grace Barnett, Assistant Principal Carmen DeAtley-Rosales+ Lara Goodall Allyson Kim Joshua Koo Cecilia Lehmann Julia Li Sarah Perpignan Jubilee Shang Alex Tran Arjun Verma Alexander Wang Kenneth Wu Raina Yang Elizabeth Yeoh Irene Zhang SECOND VIOLIN Clara Schmid, Principal Will Oertel, Assistant Principal Thanh-Tu Buchholz+ Youngwoo Choi Levin Hobson Nathan Lee Jerry Li Brianna Luo Elaine Peng Rain Qin Sarang Srikanth Mia Wang

Kevin Wen Iris Xu Joshua Yamaguchi Clairette Yang Angela Zhang Jenna Zhang VIOLA Lainie Stautberg, Principal Kasinda Willingham, Assistant Principal Ethan Goehring+ Amber Huff Adah Muck Isabella Wang Alina Zhang CELLO Sonya Moomaw, Principal William Yeoh, Assistant Principal Andrew Chung+ Sieun Ghim Kevin Kim Nathan Lehmann Reign Matu Vivian Niu John Opalinski Anish Patil Kallea Willingham Brandon Yang BASS Loki Wirman, Principal Evan Butler+ Matteo Meli

FLUTE Mona Allen Francesca Harper3 Sam Waspe1 Sammi Wong2 OBOE Sophia Cheng3 August Hagen Simon Huth1,2 ENGLISH HORN Simon Huth3 CLARINET Christopher Larsen1,3 Jonathan Niese Evelyn Shin Liheng Wang Katherine Wen2 BASS CLARINET Evelyn Shin3 BASSOON Isabella Loberg1 Zachary Pinnick2 Marian Rose3 HORN Alisha Ankola1 Charles Healy3 Meghan McGuire2 Eden Proctor Madelyn Ryan Kristen Schutte

TRUMPET Hunter Chermerly2,3 Wesley Dentinger Samuel Goetz1,3 TROMBONE Tvasta Gajjar1 Colin Van Niman2 Conner Perkins3 TUBA Seth Dossa Owen Kearney HARP Abel Mooney-Bullock PIANO & CELESTE Oliver Szabo PERCUSSION Adolphus McCullom II John Troyer +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.

1 2 3

Copland Markowski Grofé

CSYO PHILHARMONIC ROSTER 2023–24 FIRST VIOLIN Christy Kim, Concertmaster Vivian Chang, Assistant Concertmaster Hollis Chan+ Angelina Chen Andrew Cheng Anna Christos Stephen Dorsey Marley Feng Julia Li Paul Ku Edward Li Mara Seppala Ian Shang Isabelle Tardivon Claire Wolford Jillian Wu Emily Zhao SECOND VIOLIN Madeline Dugan, Principal Erica Nam, Assistant Principal Julie Anderson+ Evelyn Gao Yuhan Gu Sophia Hamel Hyori Han Annie Li Norika Oya Santhosh Rajan Angela Tang Kyle Wang Ethan Yao Yeming Yu Alisha Zhao

VIOLA Grace Yu, Principal Benedict Cecilio, Assistant Principal James Bingcang+ Cuong Diep Maeve Henderson Noah Huber Seth Israel Christy Kim Emma Zhao Julia Zhu CELLO Paul Orth, Principal Autumn Rinaldi, Assistant Principal Lorelai Gartside+ Jayden Lu Krish Subramanian Shin-Yi Wang Kate Wells Howard Weng Jihye Woo BASS Aaron Scott, Principal Josiah Eriksen Noah Hinton FLUTE Grace Kim1,2 Aperna Nambirajan3 Riya Tummala Lance Zhang Mingjia Zhang PICCOLO Riya Tummala

60 | 2023–24 SEASON

OBOE Arjuna Lee Joseph Mitchell1,2 Jill Peterson3 Isaac Scott ENGLISH HORN Isaac Scott CLARINET Morgan Cloud3 Matthew Drasnin1,2 Hannah Huh Jerry Xu BASSOON Lincoln Gully3 Emma Laude1,2 Gunnar Pellissier HORN Lucas Elmore Ahan Prasad Jordan Reid Alex Riley1,2 Lily Wheatley3 TRUMPET Katie Koziel3 Thomas Stricker1,2 Trent Stricker

TROMBONE Zachary Bowden Karna Gajjar1,2,3 Benjamin Kreitemeyer TUBA Gino Calipo Matthew Lyons HARP Karma Fecher Veronika Stanicha PERCUSSION Knox Dowell Jonathan Kaseff Justin Melvin Benjamin Schuler +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.

1 2 3

Stravinsky Khachaturian Sarasate

The CSYO CCM Conducting Fellow for 2023–24 is Pablo Martinez Pegalajar

BEETHOVEN 7 & DESSNER PREMIERES | 2023–24 SEASON FRI MAY 3, 11 am SAT MAY 4, 7:30 pm Music Hall

LOUIS LANGRÉE, conductor ALICE SARA OTT, piano Bryce DESSNER

Mari

(b. 1976)

Bryce DESSNER

Piano Concerto CSO CO-COMMISSION, US PREMIERE

How to Dance How to Breathe How to Feel

INTERMISSION

Ludwig van Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 BEETHOVEN Poco sostenuto—Vivace (1770–1827) Allegretto Presto Allegro con brio

These performances are approximately 125 minutes long, including intermission.

The CSO is grateful to CSO Season Sponsors Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc. and Western & Southern Financial Group.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra co-commissioned, U.S. priemere of Piano Concerto by Bryce Dessner is made possible by a generous gift from Kari and Jon Ullman.

Thomson Family Foundation

This concert is lovingly donated to the memory of Laura Gamble Thomson from the Thomson Family Foundation.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is grateful for the support of the Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund of the Greenacres Foundation and the Nina Browne Parker Trust, and for 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.

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

Listen to this program on 90.9 WGUC during the 2025 radio season.

Fanfare Magazine | 61

MAY 3–4 PROGRAM NOTES BRYCE DESSNER Born: 1976, Cincinnati, Ohio

Mari Bryce Dessner, a vital and rare force in new music, has won Grammy Awards as a classical composer and with the band The National, of which he is founding member, guitarist, arranger and co-principal songwriter.

He is regularly commissioned to write for the world’s leading ensembles and is a high-profile presence in film score composition, with credits including The Revenant, for which he was Grammy- and Golden Globenominated, Fernando Meirelles’ The Two Popes, Mike Mills’ C’mon C’mon and Bardo by Alejandro González Iñárritu.

Dessner collaborates with some of today’s most creative and respected artists, including Philip Glass, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Paul Simon, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Sufjan Stevens, Fernando Meirelles, Thom Yorke, Bon Iver, Nico Muhly and Steve Reich, who named Dessner “a major voice of his generation.” Dessner’s orchestrations can be heard on the latest albums of Paul Simon, Bon Iver and Taylor Swift.

He has had works commissioned and premiered by today’s leading conductors, including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gustavo Dudamel, Semyon Bychkov and Santtu-Matias Rouvali.

Dessner’s major works include Concerto for Two Pianos, premiered by Katia & Marielle Labèque and the London Philharmonic Orchestra; Violin Concerto, premiered and performed internationally by Pekka Kuusisto; Trombone Concerto for Jörgen van Rijen and commissioned by the Dallas Symphony and l’Orchestre National d’Île de France; Voy a dormir for mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor and Orchestra of Saint Luke’s and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; Skrik Trio for Steve Reich and Carnegie Hall; the ballet No Tomorrow co-written with Ragnar Kjartansson; Wires for Ensemble intercontemporain; The Forest for large cello ensemble, Gautier Capuçon and Fondation Louis Vuitton; and Triptych (Eyes of One on Another), a major theatre piece integrating the photographs of Robert Mapplethorpe and premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Dessner also scored the music—involving full orchestra and a 200-member choir—for the Louis Vuitton show at the Louvre in Paris as part of Paris Fashion Week 2020.

Also active as a curator, Dessner is regularly requested to program festivals and residencies around the world. He co-founded and curates the festivals MusicNOW in Cincinnati, HAVEN in Copenhagen, Sounds from a Safe Harbour, and PEOPLE. Dessner has written the following about Mari, which was commissioned and performed by Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchester, Czech Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony Orchestra: During the pandemic of 2019–2021, with most of the world shut down and concerts cancelled, I thought a lot about the impermanence of so many things that we imagine to be eternal. An orchestra can sometimes seem like the most lasting form of performance: every major city has an orchestra and the masterpieces they perform seem like eternal pillars of our culture. But what if those orchestras never played again? What if these great works of art become but mere echoes, gradually fading in our memory? These are the thoughts I had during this year when the orchestras fell silent and the musicians and audiences stayed home. At the outer reaches of our memory would the sounds of those works combine into a kind of woven tapestry of fragments and recollections? Could it all slow down into a beautiful 62 | 2023–24 SEASON

Bryce Dessner

n Composed: 2020 n Premiere: February 3,

2021 at the Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic by the Czech Philharmonic, Semyon Bychkov conducting n Instrumentation: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cowbells, crotale, glockenspiel, light snare, low bells, marimba, snare drum, tam-tam, tom-tom, triangle, 2 vibraphones, xylophone, 2 harps, celeste, strings n CSO notable performances: These are the first CSO performances of Mari. n Duration: approx.

18 minutes

PROGRAM NOTES

Dessner Piano Concerto n Composed: 2023,

for Alice Sara Ott; cocommissioned by TonhalleGesellschaft Zürich AG, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Southbank Centre and Philharmonia Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Philzuid Netherlands, Bozar, Brussels Philharmonic, Ars Musica and Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. n Premiere: January 18 & 19, 2024, Kent Nagano conducting the TonhalleOrchester Zürich; Alice Sara Ott, piano. These CSO performances are the work’s U.S. premiere. n Instrumentation: solo piano, 2 flutes (incl. piccolo), oboe, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, bassoon, 4 horns, trumpet, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, tom-tom, vibraphone, snare drum, bass drum, marimba, xylophone, gong, crotale, tam-tam, orchestra bells, harp, strings n CSO notable performances: These are the work’s first CSO performances n Duration: approx.

25 minutes

aquatic drone? I thought about how the act of composing, conjuring sounds from one’s mind or imagination, is very similar to this feeling. A kind of reverence for a world of music we have shared, how memories combine into something original, a spark of creativity or imagination or a dialogue with something that came before. Semyon Bychkov, for whom this piece is written and dedicated, lives just minutes from me on the Basque coast of France, but we did not see each other for several months during the pandemic. On many long walks through these beautiful forests and mountains, I imagined him reflecting on those great pieces in his own vast repertoire and how the sounds of the forest and the quiet of the beautiful natural world might intertwine with his own musical memories. My orchestral composition Mari is a reflection on the pastoral, and it weaves together several textures and fragments of material from historic works through a kind of abstraction and altered context to something new, most audibly a melody from the first movement of the New World Symphony by Dvořák and textures from the fourth movement of Mahler’s sublime Symphony No. 3. My work is named after the Basque goddess of the forest, Mari.

As a concert opener, it felt appropriate to let these notes pass through my fingers and open a new doorway through which my own voice could emerge. The music of Dvořák and Mahler feels timeless but also distinctly modern, especially now as we emerge again into a new world and listen for what comes next.

BRYCE DESSNER

Piano Concerto CSO CO-COMMISSION, US PREMIERE I spent most of 2023 composing my new piano concerto for Alice Sara Ott. The piece is very much inspired by her beautiful playing, and I wanted to write something that would both challenge her and draw out her unique qualities as an artist. I am truly grateful to her for working so closely with me on the concerto. As I wrote the music I was also thinking of the sound of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and the other wonderful orchestras who have commissioned the piece.

I composed and dedicated this work to my sister, Jessica Reese Dessner. My sister, who is an exceptional artist, has been my greatest inspiration since I was very young, and she has been a huge artistic influence on me and my brother, Aaron. For several years, she has been courageously battling cancer and has continued to inspire me as she confronts this health crisis with courage and grace. As a kid, I learned so much about art and music from her, and we have collaborated on many projects together over the years. Each movement of my piano concerto takes direct inspiration from my sister, her life and her artistic practice.

The three movements of the concerto each had a working title during the months I was composing, which reflect specific sources of inspiration I learned from my sister. The first movement is called HOW TO DANCE. So many of my early memories of orchestral music are from watching my sister dance in the Cincinnati Ballet as a child. Much of the music that I love was originally written to be danced to (Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Cage, Reich).

Later, through her I discovered contemporary music through the vibrant dance scene of New York City, where I saw works by Merce Cunningham, William Forsythe, Pina Bausch and Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker. My sister, who had a long career as a choreographer and modern dancer, and I created several works together in the late 90s and early 2000s that would be fundamental to my development as a composer, and I believe that all of my written music is influenced by her choreographic sense.

Fanfare Magazine | 63

PROGRAM NOTES

The fluid motion and physicality of dance influences much of my music, and this first movement has a baroque dance feel throughout. The bass line that is the central melody of the first movement turns around like a baroque continuo, and the ostinato patterns in the right hand are light and floating, tracing the arc of a dancer’s motion.

The second movement is titled HOW TO BREATHE and it has a gentle quality and stillness in the music. In the relentless rush of life and career, my sister has always encouraged me to find calm and to breathe, and to take things slowly and re-connect to the fundamental beauty of making art.

This music comes from a natural place, and gives a sensation of emerging from the sea or the forest. The notes are spare and then layered and fast, but always with a sense of breath. The orchestra provides various horizons, brass giving way to the winds and strings shifting perspectives. Moments of dissonance or interruption create a counterpoint to the soloist.

The third movement and finale, which I have called HOW TO FEEL, is the most varied of the three and also the most virtuosic. It returns to the dance-like motion of the first movement, but with more intensity. The material shifts between lyrical slower moments and then the intense joyful patterns of the faster sections. The music, as with the other movements, is deeply inspired by my sister, and the title says it all.

—Bryce Dessner

LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN Born: December 16, 1770, Bonn, Germany Died: March 26, 1827, Vienna, Austria

Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 In the autumn of 1813, Johann Nepomuk Mälzel, the inventor of the metronome, approached Beethoven with the proposal that the two organize a concert to benefit the soldiers wounded at the recent Battle of Hanau—with, perhaps, two or three repetitions of the concert to benefit themselves. Beethoven was eager to have his as-yet-unheard A Major Symphony of the preceding year performed, and thought the financial reward worth the trouble, so he agreed. The concert consisted of this “Entirely New Symphony” by Beethoven, marches by Dussek and Pleyel performed on a “Mechanical Trumpeter” fabricated by Mälzel, and an orchestral arrangement of Wellington’s Victory, a piece Beethoven had concocted the previous summer for yet another of Mälzel’s musical machines, the clangorous “Panharmonicon.” The evening was such a success that Beethoven’s first biographer, Anton Schindler, reported, “All persons, however they had previously dissented from his music, now agreed to award him his laurels.”

The Seventh Symphony is a magnificent creation in which Beethoven displayed several technical innovations that were to have a profound influence on the music of the 19th century: he expanded the scope of symphonic structure through the use of more distant tonal areas, he brought an unprecedented richness and range to the orchestral palette, and he gave a new awareness of rhythm as the vitalizing force in music.

It is the last of these characteristics that most immediately affects the listener, and to which commentators have consistently turned to explain the vibrant power of the work—Richard Wagner called the Seventh Symphony “the apotheosis of the Dance in its highest aspect...the loftiest deed of bodily motion incorporated in an ideal world of tone.”

A slow introduction, almost a movement in itself, opens the symphony.

This initial section employs two themes: the first, majestic and unadorned, is passed down through the winds while being punctuated by long, rising scales in the strings; the second is a graceful melody for oboe. The 64 | 2023–24 SEASON

Ludwig van Beethoven

n Composed: 1811–12 n Premiere: December 8,

1813 in Vienna, under the composer’s direction n Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings n CSO notable First: December 1898, Frank Van der Stucken conducting.

Most Recent: May 2018, Louis Langrée conducting. n Duration: approx.

36 minutes

Donate to the CSO by buying yourself a new piano.* STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE For over 120 years, Willis Music and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Have been serving the greater Cincinnati area with music, culture, and music education.

STEINWAY.CINCINNATI.COM

Willis Music Kenwood Galleria

8118 Montgomery Road Cincinnati, Oh 45236 (859) 396-4485 pianos@willismusic.com *Willis Music will give a donation to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for every piano that a Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra patron purchases.

PROGRAM NOTES

transition to the main part of the first movement is accomplished by the superbly controlled reiteration of a single pitch. This device both connects the introduction with the exposition and also establishes the dactylic rhythm that dominates the movement.

The Allegretto scored such a success at its premiere that it was immediately encored, a phenomenon virtually unprecedented for a slow movement. In form, the movement is a series of variations on the heartbeat rhythm of its opening measures. In spirit, however, it is more closely allied to the austere chaconne of the Baroque era than to the light, figural variations of Classicism.

The third movement, a study in contrasts of sonority and dynamics, is built on the formal model of the scherzo, but expanded to include a repetition of the horn-dominated Trio (Scherzo–Trio–Scherzo–Trio–Scherzo).

In the sonata-form finale, Beethoven not only produced music of virtually unmatched rhythmic energy (“a triumph of Bacchic fury,” in the words of Sir Donald Tovey), but did it in such a manner as to exceed the climaxes of the earlier movements and make it the goal toward which they had all been aimed. So intoxicating is this music that some of Beethoven’s contemporaries were sure he had composed it in a drunken frenzy. An encounter with the Seventh Symphony is a heady experience. Klaus G. Roy, the former program annotator for The Cleveland Orchestra, wrote, “Many a listener has come away from a hearing of this symphony in a state of being punch-drunk. Yet it is an intoxication without a hangover, a dopelike exhilaration without decadence.” To which the composer’s own words may be added: “I am Bacchus incarnate,” boasted Beethoven, “appointed to give humanity wine to drown its sorrow.... He who divines the secret of my music is delivered from the misery that haunts the world.”

—Dr. Richard E. Rodda

For more information about this program, please text PROGRAM to 513.845.3024*. *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.

CINCINNATI OPERA at MUSIC HALL

NEW PRODUCTION!

Don Giovanni June 13 & 15

La Traviata

June 27, 28 & 30 WORLD STAGE PREMIERE!

Paul McCartney’s

Liverpool Oratorio

July 18, 20, 21 & 27

All productions feature the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

SUMMER 2024FESTIVAL

cincinnatiopera.org Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio Lead Sponsor:

Season Funders:

Patricia A. Corbett Estate and Trust

66 | 2023–24 SEASON

Harry T. Wilks Family Foundation

LOUIS’ GRAND FINALE | 2023–24 SEASON FRI MAY 10, 7:30 pm SAT MAY 11, 7:30 pm SUN MAY 12, 2 pm Music Hall LOUIS LANGRÉE, conductor LATONIA MOORE, soprano Ludwig van BEETHOVEN

Leonore Overture No. 2 in C Major, Op. 72a

(1770–1827)

Anthony DAVIS

Broken in Parts CSO COMMISSION, WORLD PREMIERE

(b. 1951)

I.

Words by Quincy Troupe II. III. IV.

INTERMISSION

Paul DUKAS

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

(1865–1935)

Maurice RAVEL

Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2

(1875–1937) Daybreak Pantomime General Dance

These performances are approximately 110 minutes long, including intermission.

The CSO is grateful to CSO Season Sponsors Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc. and Western & Southern Financial Group, Presenting Sponsor HORAN Wealth, Encore Sponsor Messer Construction and Show Sponsor Thompson Hine.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra world priemiere commission, Broken in Parts by Anthony Davis, is made possible by a generous gift from Ann and Harry Santen.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is grateful for the support of the Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund of the Greenacres Foundation and the Nina Browne Parker Trust, and for 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.

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

Listen to this program on 90.9 WGUC June 9, 2024 at 8 pm, followed by 30 days of streaming at cincinnatisymphony.org/replay.

Fanfare Magazine | 67

MAY 10–12 PROGRAM NOTES LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN Born: December 16, 1770, Bonn, Germany Died: March 26, 1827, Vienna, Austria

Leonore Overture No. 2 in C Major, Op. 72a The decade (1804–14) that Beethoven devoted to his only opera, Fidelio, was an unprecedented amount of time to spend perfecting such a work during the early 19th century. Given the same 10 years, Rossini dispensed 31 (!) operas between 1810 and 1820, and Donizetti cranked out 35 (!!) specimens of the genre from 1827 to 1837. Even Mozart launched seven operas during his decade in Vienna. For Beethoven, however, Fidelio was more than just a mere theatrical diversion—it was his philosophy set to music. This story of the triumph of justice over tyranny, of love over inhumanity was a document of his faith. To present such grandiose beliefs in a work that would not fully serve them was unthinkable, and so Beethoven hammered and rewrote and changed until he was satisfied.

The most visible remnants of Beethoven’s extensive revisions are the quartet of overtures he composed for Fidelio. The first version of the opera, written between January 1804 and early autumn 1805, was initially titled Leonore after the heroine, who courageously rescues her husband from his wrongful incarceration. For that production, Beethoven wrote the Overture in C Major now known as the Leonore No. 1, incorporating themes from the opera. The composer’s friend and early biographer Anton Schindler recorded that Beethoven rejected this first attempt after hearing it privately performed at Prince Lichnowsky’s palace before the premiere.

(Another theory, supported by recent detailed examination of the paper on which the sketches for the piece were made, holds that this work was written in 1806–07 for a projected performance of the opera in Prague that never took place, thus making Leonore No. 1 the third of the Fidelio overtures.) He composed a second C major overture, Leonore No. 2, and this piece was used at the first performance, on November 20, 1805.

(The management of Vienna’s Theatre an der Wien, site of the premiere, insisted on changing the opera’s name from Leonore to Fidelio to avoid confusion with Ferdinando Paër’s Leonore.) The opera foundered. Not only was the audience (largely populated by French officers of Napoleon’s army, which had invaded Vienna exactly one week earlier) unsympathetic, but there were also problems in Fidelio’s dramatic structure. Beethoven was encouraged by his aristocratic supporters to rework the opera and present it again. That second version, for which the magnificent Leonore Overture No. 3 was written, was presented in Vienna on March 29, 1806, but met with only slightly more acclaim than its forerunner.

In 1814, some members of the Court Theater approached Beethoven, by then Europe’s most famous composer, about reviving Fidelio. The idealistic subject of the opera had never been far from his thoughts, and he agreed to the project. The libretto was revised yet again, and Beethoven rewrote all the numbers in the opera and changed their order to enhance the work’s dramatic impact. The new Fidelio Overture, the fourth he composed for his opera, was among the revisions.

Although they are similar in scale, thematic material, instrumentation and expressive intent, the Leonore Overture No. 2 has long been overshadowed by the Leonore No. 3, one of Beethoven’s best-known and most powerful utterances. Both distill the essential dramatic progression of the opera into purely musical terms: the triumph of good over evil; the movement from darkness to light, from subjugation to freedom. Both use Florestan’s Act II aria as the material for a slow introduction, and both create much of their musical substance from elaborations of the same 68 | 2023–24 SEASON

Ludwig van Beethoven

n Composed: 1805 n Premiere: November 20,

1805 in Vienna, conducted

by Ignaz von Seyfried under the composer’s supervision n Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, strings n CSO notable performances: First: December 1916, Ernst Kunwald conducting. Most Recent: November 2015, Louis Langrée conducting. n Duration: approx.

13 minutes

PROGRAM NOTES

arch-shaped main theme. Both preview the joyous climax of the opera with the trumpet call that signals the overthrow of evil and a jubilant coda.

They differ, however, in the proportions of their structures: the Leonore No. 2 has a longer introduction and plunges directly into the coda after its trumpet call rather than recapitulating its themes to create a full sonata form, as does the Leonore No. 3. There is also in the Leonore No. 3 a concentrated, driving, explosive force for which, in retrospect, Beethoven seems to have used the Leonore No. 2 as a testing ground. Even so, the Leonore No. 2 is an important document of Beethoven’s genius, evidence of his endless quest to perfect his art and a stirring musical essay in its own right.

—Dr. Richard E. Rodda

ANTHONY DAVIS, Words by Quincy Troupe Born: February 20, 1951, Paterson, New Jersey

Broken in Parts CSO COMMISSION, WORLD PREMIERE

Anthony Davis, ©Michele Zousmer

n Composed: 2024 n Premiere: These

performances by the CSO are the work’s world premiere. n Instrumentation: soprano soloist, 2 flutes, oboe, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, trombone, bass trombone, timpani, drum set, marimba, vibraphone, xylophone, harp, strings n Duration: approx.

25 minutes

Anthony Davis is recognized internationally not only for his pioneering work in opera but also as a distinguished composer of symphonic, choral and chamber works. He has been on the cutting edge of improvised music and jazz for more than four decades and continues to explore new avenues of expression while retaining a distinctly original voice.

Davis has composed eight operas. X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, with a libretto by Thulani Davis, was the first of a new American genre: opera on a contemporary political subject. A 1992 recording of the opera (Gramavision) earned a Grammy nomination for “Best Contemporary Classical Composition.” In May 2022, the Detroit Opera debuted a new production that traveled to the Metropolitan Opera in November 2023.

Other operas include Under the Double Moon, Tania, Amistad, Wakonda’s Dream, Lilith and Lear on the 2nd Floor, along with The Central Park Five, for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 2020.

In addition to his work in opera, Davis currently has two music theater works in development: Shimmer, with Sarah Schulman and Michael Korie, based on Schulman’s novel about an aspiring reporter who is lesbian and an aspiring playwright who is Black, trying to get ahead in the McCarthy Era, and Tupelo, based on the life of Elvis Presley, written with Arnold Weinstein.

Anthony Davis has composed numerous works for orchestra and chamber ensemble on commissions from the San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, Kansas City Symphony and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also composed the music for the Broadway production of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Part One, which premiered in May 1993, and for Kushner’s companion piece Part Two, Perestroika, which debuted in November 1993.

Davis’ catalogue also includes two choral works, Voyage Through Death to Life Upon These Shores, a harrowing tale about the slave trade and the fateful Middle Passage based on Robert Hayden’s poem “Middle Passage,” and Restless Mourning, an oratorio for mixed chorus and chamber ensemble with live electronics, which sets the poetry of Quincy Troupe and Allan Havis as well as the 102nd Psalm of David in a powerful evocation of the 9/11 tragedy.

Fanfare Magazine | 69

PROGRAM NOTES

A 1975 graduate of Yale University, Davis is currently a distinguished professor of music at the University of California, San Diego. In 2008, he received the “Lift Every Voice” Legacy Award from the National Opera Association acknowledging his pioneering work in opera. In 2006, Davis was awarded a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and has also been honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the New York Foundation of the Arts, the National Endowment of the Arts, the Massachusetts Arts Council, the Carey Trust, Chamber Music America, Meet-the-Composer Wallace Fund, the MAP fund with the Rockefeller Foundation, and OPERA America. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2020 and has been an artist fellow at the MacDowell Colony, Civitella Ranieri and at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center in Italy.

Anthony Davis’ music is published by Episteme Music and administered worldwide by Schott Music.

Davis has written the following about Broken in Parts: I first got to know Quincy Troupe when we were both colleagues at the University of California, San Diego. He had just completed the autobiography of Miles Davis and he was a charismatic figure in San Diego. We collaborated on a number of projects together, including live performances featuring his poetry with my improvisations and compositions for piano. I still hear his voice, relentless, an avalanche of images and metaphors, barely taking a breath as the power of his language was surreal and dramatic, with a rhythm like Elvin Jones performing with John Coltrane. I set several of his poems to music, including “Bells” and “Sound, Breaking Away,” both for bass-baritone and piano. On the evening after 9/11 my wife and I were invited for dinner at Quincy’s home. He was already feverishly writing an epic poem about the day, titled “9/11: Emergency Calls Coming into Manhattan.” Later that week, Tim Koch from the Carolina Chamber Chorale called me about writing a piece about 9/11. I immediately thought of Quincy, and his poem became the text for the first movement Blue and the third movement Things Will Never, Ever Be the Same. His harrowing and courageous text for the piece allowed me to explore 9/11 from wildly different points of view.

Broken in Parts is our most recent collaboration. The poem addresses the issues of language itself, the breakdown of communication and meaning. How do we reclaim our voice? Can our severed tongue be restored by summoning all our resources from the past, from our history, from the ancient and mystical. The poem presented many musical challenges. The images and metaphors, literally, never stop.

There are no periods in the poem, every idea morphs into the next.

I always came back to hearing Quincy’s voice, exploring a rhythmic language where the speech rhythms become more Thelonious Monk or Miles Davis with the jagged edge of syncopation and, yet, discovering how lyricism can peak through allowing the voice to soar. I am so excited to work with the wonderful soprano Latonia Moore, who is one of the great singers today. She always brings passion and a searing beauty to everything she does. It is also an honor to work with Louis Langrée again. His performance during the pandemic of my clarinet concerto You Have the Right to Remain Silent with Anthony McGill and Earl Howard was a remarkable ray of light in a dark time.

70 | 2023–24 SEASON

For more information about this program, please text PROGRAM to 513.845.3024*. *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.

PROGRAM NOTES

TEXT: Broken in Parts: A Healing Song for Saxophone & Voice for Oliver Lake & Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) 1941–1998 I. broken in parts, broken in parts, the earth fractured & fissured is broken in parts, voices censored, broken off in space, in their place the silent ooze of breathing, pulsating between worlds between place parts of syntax floating on surfaces of speech like islands floating in the middle of rivers, in the middle of nowhere & everywhere zigzagging omens waving flags of menace like flapping tongues, everything seemingly coming apart in a sea of wreckage, someone is drowning we don’t hear or see, threads suddenly gone, clues, beliefs suddenly torn asunder by sawblading teeth, hemorrhaging a life chewed up between jackhammering jaws, as a razor cuts through a living tongue & it is bleeding speech cannot form itself again around words, when language we once knew but now hear as garbled is broken in parts II. what to do then, when men and women cannot speak, when meaning is sawed off clean & language becomes a chimney chute through which sound sweeps as ash coating everything with a sooty pallor, before syllables can form in the cave of the spirit that issues words, cadences, that used to roll out like musical notes off the sweetness tongues suddenly cut clean to blooming silence, dumb screams there now, oozing blood, where the silver steel flashed red underneath Halloween street lamps, flies swarming around a gaggle of slit throats & in the middle of it all a chewed up black pencil of a man, who stands holding his tongue between his hands,

silence surrounding him like a mourning shawl, the tongue in his hands now was once a saxophone when whole, was a blur of fingers whooshing through golden keys of his voice belling like charlie parker burning riffs quick as michael johnson cruising solo, lickety-split his turbo-driven voice used to turn flips, somersaults, turn around in midair like great Olympic figure skaters, their bodies doing twists, the moment there alive, fused with magic, probed limits of the tongue, unpredictable as mystery, it once moved to recreate itself, again & again through improvisation, sought to push the edge of its creation out beyond boundaries of what anything would allow, the vocabulary flowing back & forth, like a mantra, before silence cut through its song, turned it into ripples on the surface of a river, gone after a rock dropped through its shimmering, wet skin, through a vortex, where the eye now catches a language of shadows, once lengthening, now they are breaking apart in waves of fragmentation III. but we can speak with our eyes, can fashion them into a tongue, can turn that tongue into a living voice that conjures up song, conjures up spirits, the drumbeat of strong hearts goosing everything along, like a great drummer keeping time, evenly kept, pulsating breath, strong, sluicing through the tempo of the lungs, through death we can travel backward to ancestors through our spirits, through our mind’s juju, we can go down to the station of resurrection, wait for the underground train marked with vévés to arrive there, we can board that train, dream ourselves into magic through imagination, can walk inside history longside power sleeping deep down inside us, now, deeper still, deeper than the limits of fear ever allowed us to travel, because our black cat’s bone knows the mojo spirit is listening, knows the mojo bone can rest in our hands if we dream ourselves deeper, deep enough to dream ourselves into beauty, deeper still, go down deeper, so we can conjure up the power of that black mojo hand, deeper, so we can restore speech to a severed tongue cut off in a storm by buzz saw slivers of glass propelled through the dark, by the awesome power of a tornado’s wind, or cut off by evil, unhuman men, who think love is a gun, a bloody knife, we can conjure up the power of a black mojo hand, can reconnect flesh with flesh, expression, can beat human madness with our own magic, voodoo, can reconnect these islands of words floating through broken sentences, fractured and fissured, broken apart, words floating like drowned faces bloated after a sudden flood brought death, Fanfare Magazine | 71

PROGRAM NOTES

we can reconnect these words & fashion a language out of silence and space, a language of fragments that can float in the air like chords, echoing the music of monk’s genius, we can feel it if we listen, can reconnect that pencil-thin black man’s tongue, once a saxophone’s voice, can stitch that voice back together again into song, into music again with a needle stitching love, can weave magic fashioned there out the bone of a mojo-hand, can put it all back together agin if we listen & feel love, sluicing poetry & voodoo out of a mojo hand,

within the spirit of healing, magic & mystery, the song becoming beauty, so listen to beauty beating in your own human hearts, listen to the healing powers fashioned from bone of our own mojo hand Paul Dukas

IV. & the music is jabber-walking across space & air & comes whispering a whispering comes carrying the burden of silence with it for so very long, beyond this whispering of echoes, is a wish to reconnect language, this tongue broken in parts, broken articulation, beliefs, clues, broken into islands of words, phrases, isolated beyond meaning, now silence breaking into sound that is guttural, blues seeded, inside timbre of the voice rising now to form some kind of language, it is reaching for beauty, trying to unify fragments into complete sentences, though broken apart it is trying to coalesce, come back together again, for love, for beauty, for family, so listen for words that float up from the abyss into recognizable sound that evokes familiar faces, that pulled out of a raging, flooded river, see recognition now in those blinking eyes, magic unfolding in language rising up from there, now guttural but pure, is reborn here as the tongue’s restored, reconnected, speech returned to voice inside the mouth & new words form that roll off the tongue, carry faces carved from history, faces that string themselves together to fashion a memory, a memory that is a necklace of love beads draped around our necks, imagine those faces as metaphors now, seeds for love songs whispering, tonguing now just outside your ear, imagine those words as possible healing powers, a healing love song, whispering now whispering, inside your ear From the Collection: CHORUSES (1999) published by Coffee House Press. Quincy Troupe’s poem “Broken in Parts” reprinted by permission.

PAUL DUKAS Born: October 1, 1865, Paris, France Died: May 18, 1935, Paris, France

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Paul Dukas spent his entire life in Paris as a greatly respected teacher and composer. He showed his musical aptitude early, teaching himself to play piano, and entered the Conservatoire in 1882, where he proved to be an excellent student, winning the second Prix de Rome in 1888. Although he had to abandon his formal training for a time to serve in the army, he turned that period to good use by studying many of the classical works of music, the basis upon which he later built his own compositions. (He later edited several volumes of works by Rameau, Beethoven, Couperin and Scarlatti.) After his stint in the military, he completed the overture Polyeucte, his first work to be performed publicly. The Symphony in C Major followed in 1896, and he gained international recognition a year 72 | 2023–24 SEASON

n Composed: 1897 n Premiere: May 18, 1897

in Paris, conducted by the composer n Instrumentation: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, bass drum, crash cymbals, glockenspiel, suspended cymbals, triangle, harp, strings n CSO notable performances: First: March 1904, Frank Van der Stucken conducting.

Most Recent: (Pops) October 2018, Damon Gupton conducting; (CSO Subscription) February 2007, Tito Muñoz conducting. Recording: (Pops) 1985 Orchestral Spectaculars, Erich Kunzel conducting and (CSO) 1999 Dukas: Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Symphony in C, La Péri, Jesús López Cobos conducting. n Duration: approx.

10 minutes

PROGRAM NOTES

Maurice Ravel

n Composed: 1909–12 n Premiere: June 8, 1912 in

Paris, coducted by Pierre Monteux n Instrumentation: 2 flutes (incl. piccolo), piccolo, alto flute, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, bells, castanets, crash cymbals, military drum, side drum, snare drum, suspended cymbals, tambour, tambourine, triangle, 2 harps, celeste, strings n CSO notable performances: First: (Tour) March 1906, Toronto, Canada, Fritz Reiner conducting; (CSO Subscription) November 1925, Fritz Reiner conducting. Most Recent: September 2018, Louis Langrée conducting.

Recording: 2004 Ravel: Suite No. 2 from Daphnis & Chloe, Pavane pour une infante défunte, La valse, Ma mère l’Oye, Bolero, Paavo Järvi conducting. n Duration: approx.

18 minutes

later with The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Dukas held important positions throughout his life as an instructor at the Conservatoire and as a critic, and he was awarded the Legion of Honor in 1906. Stern self-criticism of his compositions led him to destroy all his unpublished manuscripts before his death, however, so his small musical legacy comprises only three overtures, a symphony, an opera (Ariane et Barbe-bleue), a ballet (La Péri), a half-dozen piano works (though one is a monumental, 45-minute sonata), a short Villanelle for horn, and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is based on Goethe’s 1796 ballad Der Zauberlehrling, which in turn was derived from the dialogues of the 2nd-century Greek satirist Lucian. The tale tells of a naive apprentice to a wizard, who overhears the magic incantation used by his master to animate the household broom into a water-carrier. In the sorcerer’s absence, the neophyte tries the spell on the broom, and—to his delight— it works. The broom marches smartly between well and water basin until the latter is full, then overflowing, then flooding—the apprentice never bothered to learn the magic words to stop his wooden servant!

Not knowing what to do, he axes the broom in half, only making matters worse—now there are two water-carriers instead of one. More chopping produces more brooms. Just before the novice drowns in his own mischief, the sorcerer returns and, with a sweep of his hand and a muttered word, quiets the tumult.

Dukas captured perfectly the fantastic spirit of this poem in his colorful tone poem. The quiet, mysterious strains of the beginning depict the wizard and his incantations, while the apprentice scurries about to lively phrases in the woodwinds. When the door slams behind the departing sorcerer (a loud whack on the timpani), the tyro is left in silence. A rumble in the low instruments signals the first stirring of the enchanted broom. The rumble becomes a galumphing accompaniment, over which the bassoons give out the main theme of the work. This melody, combined with a quicker version of the incantation theme and brass fanfares, is used to suggest the aquatic havoc being wrought in the wizard’s absence. At the height of the confusion, the magician bursts through the door (the mysterious music of the opening returns to indicate his presence), and he orders the flood to subside. When peace has been restored, the apprentice receives a swift boxing of the ears to end this jovial musical tale.

—Dr. Richard E. Rodda

MAURICE RAVEL Born: March 7, 1875, Ciboure, France Died: December 28, 1937, Paris, France

Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2 The Ballet Russe descended on Paris in 1909 with an impact still reverberating through the worlds of art, music and dance. Its brilliant impresario, Sergei Diaghilev, went shopping among the artistic riches of the French capital, and soon had gathered together one of the most glittering arrays of creative talent ever assembled under a single banner: Falla, Picasso, Nijinsky, Fokine, Bakst, Monteux, Stravinsky, Massine, Debussy, Matisse, Prokofiev, Pavlova, Poulenc, Milhaud. Early in 1910, Diaghilev approached Maurice Ravel with a scenario by Fokine for a ballet based on a pastoral romance derived from the writings of the 5th-century Greek sophist Longus. In his 1928 autobiographical sketch, Ravel wrote: I was commissioned by the director of the Russian Ballet to write Daphnis et Chloé, a choreographic symphony in three movements. My Fanfare Magazine | 73

PROGRAM NOTES

aim in writing it was to compose a vast musical fresco, and to be not so much careful about archaic details as loyal to my visionary Greece, which is fairly closely related to the Greece imagined and depicted by Watteau and other French painters at the end of the 18th century.

Daphnis had a lukewarm reception at its premiere at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on June 8, 1912, but Ravel’s score was greeted with enthusiasm and immediately entered the repertory of the world’s orchestras.

Daphnis et Chloé opens in a meadow bordering a sacred wood on the island of Lesbos. Greek youths and maidens enter with wreaths and flowers to place at the altar of the Nymphs as the shepherd Daphnis descends from the hills. His lover, Chloé, crosses the meadow to meet him. The girls are attracted to the handsome Daphnis and dance seductively around him, inciting Chloé’s jealousy. Chloé, in her turn, becomes the object of the Set design for Act I from Daphnis and Chloé, 1912. Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton men’s advances, particularly a Library, Harvard University. crude one from the clownish goatherd Dorcon. Daphnis’ jealousy is now aroused and he challenges Dorcon to a dancing contest, the prize to be a kiss from Chloé. Dorcon performs a grotesque dance and he is jeered by the onlookers. Daphnis easily wins Chloé’s kiss with his graceful performance. The crowd leads Chloé away, leaving Daphnis alone to lapse into languid ecstasy. Daphnis’ attention is suddenly drawn to the clanging of arms and shouts of alarm from the woods. Pirates have invaded and set upon the Greeks. Daphnis rushes off to protect Chloé, but she has been captured.

In Scene Two, set on a jagged seacoast, the brigands enter their hideaway laden with booty. Chloé, hands bound, is led in. She pleads for her release. When the chief refuses, the sky grows dark and the god Pan, arm extended threateningly, appears upon the nearby mountains. The frightened pirates flee, leaving Chloé alone.

Scene Three is again set amid the hills and meadows of the ballet’s first scene. It is sunrise. Herdsmen arrive and tell Daphnis that Chloé has been rescued. She appears and throws herself into Daphnis’ arms. The old shepherd Lammon explains to them that Pan has saved Chloé in remembrance of his love for the nymph Syrinx. In gratitude, Daphnis and Chloé re-enact the ancient tale, in which Syrinx is transformed into a reed by her sisters to save her from the lustful pursuit of Pan, who then made a flute from that selfsame reed—the pipes of Pan—upon which to play away his longing. Daphnis and Chloé embrace and join the joyous dance that ends the ballet.

From the complete ballet, Ravel extracted two suites comprising some two-thirds of the work’s length. The Second Suite parallels the action of the ballet’s final Scene: Daybreak, Pantomime of the adventure of Pan and Syrinx, and the concluding General Dance.

—Dr. Richard E. Rodda

74 | 2023–24 SEASON

Congratulations, Louis on a fabulous tenure as the Orchestra’s Music Director!

Your legacy is a symphony of inspiration that will resonate in CSO history, forever.

HORAN Wealth is a proud sponsor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. www.horanwealth.com | 513.745.0707

Building better lives for our customers, communities, and each other.

Messer Construction Co. is proud to sponsor The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Louis Grand Finale Concert Thank you, Louis Langrée, CSO Music Director, for 11 years of unforgettable performances enriching Cincinnati.

@messerwearebldg messer.com

Fanfare Magazine | 75

2023–24 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.

ANNUAL SUPPORT

SEASON AND SERIES SPONSORS Pops Season

IDEA Series

Lollipops Series

CSO Season

PLATINUM BATON CIRCLE ($50,000+)

CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE ($10,000–$14,999)

ArtsWave Charles H. Dater Foundation The Thomas J. Emery Memorial Trust The Fifth Third Foundation The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation David C. Herriman Fund of Greater Cincinnati Foundation H.B., E.W., F.R. Luther Charitable Foundation The Mellon 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 PNC Bank Margaret McWilliams Rentschler Fund of Greater Cincinnati Foundation Nina Browne Parker Trust Harold C. Schott Foundation / Francie and Tom Hiltz, Trustees The Unnewehr Foundation The Louise Taft Semple Foundation Western & Southern Financial Group Anonymous

Bartlett Wealth Management Chemed Corporation Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center The Crosset Family Fund of Greater Cincinnati Foundation CVG Airport Authority Entrepreneurs’ Organization Kelly Dehan and Rick Staudigel Graeter’s Ice Cream Messer Construction Co. The Daniel & Susan Pfau Foundation Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP

GOLD BATON CIRCLE ($25,000–$49,999)

The Cincinnati Symphony Club Louise H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation Inc. The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati George and Margaret McLane Foundation Oliver Family Foundation The Ladislas & Vilma Segoe Family Foundation The Lazarow Schwartz Family Fund United Dairy Farmers & Homemade Brand Ice Cream The Wohlgemuth Herschede Foundation SILVER BATON CIRCLE ($15,000–$24,999)

HORAN Wealth Johnson Investment Counsel Peter E. Landgren and Judith Schonbach Landgren League of American Orchestras The Procter & Gamble Company The Rendigs Foundation Scott and Charla Weiss Wodecroft Foundation

CONCERTMASTER’S CIRCLE ($5,000–$9,999) Interact for Health JRH Consultants Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL The Willard & Jean Mulford Charitable Fund Pyro-Technical Investigations, Inc. Queen City (OH) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated Thompson Hine LLP YOT Full Circle Foundation

ARTIST’S CIRCLE ($2,500–$4,999) D’Addario Foundation d.e. Foxx and Associates, Inc. Richard Freshwater L. Timothy Giglio Charles Scott Riley III Foundation Visit Cincy Kyle Wynk-Sivashankar and Siva Shankar

BUSINESS & FOUNDATION PARTNERS (up to $2,499) African American Chamber of Commerce Albert B. Cord Charitable Foundation Clark Schaefer Hackett Earthward Bound Foundation Hixson Architecture Engineering Interiors Journey Steel Robert A. & Marian K. Kennedy Charitable Trust The Kroger Co. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Frances L. P. Ricketts Sullivan Memorial Fund The Voice of Your Customer TriHealth Toi and Jay Wagstaff

Join this distinguished group!

Contact Sean Baker at 513.744.3363 or sbaker@cincinnatisymphony.org to learn how you can become a supporter of the CSO and Pops. This list is updated quarterly.

2023 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. $2 million+ P&G $1 million to $1,999,999 Fifth Third Bank and Fifth Third Foundation $500,000 to $999,999 altafiber GE Aerospace $250,000 to 499,999 Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center The Cincinnati Insurance Companies Western & Southern Financial Group

76 | 2023–24 SEASON

$100,000–$299,999 Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation Cincinnati Business Courier Cincinnati Reds Duke Energy The E.W. Scripps Company and Scripps Howard Foundation The Enquirer | Cincinnati.com Great American Insurance Group Greater Cincinnati Foundation The H.B., E.W. and F.R. Luther Charitable Foundation, Fifth Third Bank, N.A., Trustee The Kroger Co. Messer Construction Co. PNC U.S. Bank

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 Diversity & Inclusion Officer 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 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 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 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+ 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

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)+

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

Educational Concerts

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* The Kosarko Family Innovation Fund Elma Margaret Lapp Trust 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: January 4–February 20, 2024 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 Mr. & Mrs. Robert Van Stone Mary Moskal

In memory of Anne Heldman Mr. Thomas Bergman Jeff & Debbie Dalin Stewart & Ellen Dunsker The Greater Cincinnati Foundation Joseph & Marilyn Hirschhorn Brian Lofft

Dr. Douglas Magenheim, MD Mrs. Sherri Tieger Larry Goetz & Sherrie Rutherford J. David & Dianne Rosenberg Moe Rouse Mrs. Ethel Zemsky

In memory of Lois Jolson Dr. Richard Jolson In memory of Betty Schulenberg Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Rogers In memory of Marguerite Stowe John and Jane Mueller

Fanfare Magazine | 77

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

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

Mr. and Mrs. Larry Brueshaber Mr. Gregory D. Buckley and Ms. Susan Berry-Buckley Stephen J Daush Dianne Dunkelman and Clever Crazes for Kids CCI Design, Molly and Tom Garber Tom and Jan Hardy § Mr. and Mrs. Joseph W. Hirschhorn § Marvin P. Kolodzik and Linda S. Gallaher § Mrs. Erich Kunzel Peter E. Landgren and Judith Schonbach Landgren Alan Margulies and Gale Snoddy In memory of Bettie Rehfeld Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. McDonald Joseph A. and Susan E. Pichler Fund* In memory of Mary and Joseph S. Stern, Jr Mrs. Anne Drackett Thomas GOLD BATON CIRCLE Sarah Thorburn Gifts of $25,000–$49,999 Dr. and Mrs. John and Suzanne Bossert § DeeDee and Gary West § Mrs. James W. Wilson, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Frederick E. Bryan, III § Mr. and Mrs. James M. Zimmerman § Robert and Debra Chavez Anonymous (1) Michael L. Cioffi & Rachael Rowe

Gifts of $50,000 and above

Robert W. Dorsey § Healey Liddle Family Foundation, Mel & Bruce Healey George L. and Anne P. Heldman Fund* § Harold C. Schott Foundation, Francie & Tom Hiltz Florence Koetters Jo Anne and Joe Orndorff Marilyn J. and Jack D. Osborn § In Memory of Laura Gamble Thompson Vicky and Rick Reynolds Ann and Harry Santen § Irwin and Melinda Simon Tom and Dee Stegman Jackie and Roy Sweeney Family Fund* Mr. Randolph L. Wadsworth Jr. § Scott and Charla Weiss Anonymous (1)

Sheila and Christopher C. Cole Dr. and Mrs. Carl G. Fischer Ashley and Bobbie Ford § Dr. Lesley Gilbertson and Dr. William Hurford Mr. and Mrs. Paul Isaacs Dr. and Mrs. Stephen Joffe Mrs. Andrea Kaplan Edyth B. Lindner Calvin and Patricia Linnemann Mark and Tia Luegering Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Maloney Susan McPartlin & Michael Galbraith G. Franklin Miller and Carolyn Baker Miller Dianne and J. David Rosenberg Moe and Jack Rouse § Mark S. and Rosemary K. Schlachter § Mrs. Theodore Striker Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Ullman Nancy C. Wagner and Patricia M. Wagner § Anonymous (1)

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

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Akers Jan and Roger Ames Joe and Patricia Baker Michael P Bergan and Tiffany Hanisch Ms. Melanie M. Chavez Mrs. Thomas E. Davidson § Kelly Dehan and Rick Staudigel Dr. and Mrs. Alberto Espay Mr. and Mrs. Tom Evans Mrs. Charles Fleischmann John B. and Judith O. Hansen William and Jo Ann Harvey John and Ramsey Lanni Whitney and Phillip Long Holly and Louis Mazzocca Mr. Bradford Phillips III Melody Sawyer Richardson § Bill and Lisa Sampson Martha and Lee Schimberg Mr. Lawrence Schumacher Dr. Jean and Mrs. Anne Steichen Ralph C. Taylor § Mr. and Mrs. JD Vance In Loving Memory of Diane Zent

Donors attending the CSO Open Rehearsal on Feb. 7. Credit: Claudia Hershner

78 | 2023–24 SEASON

CONCERTMASTER’S CIRCLE

Gifts of $5,000–$9,999

Dr. Charles Abbottsmith 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 Robert L. and Debbie Bogenschutz Thomas A. Braun, III § The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation Sally and Rick Coomes K.M. Davis Bedouin and Randall Dennison Dennis W. and Cathy Dern Laura Doerger-Roberts & Peter Roberts Mrs. John C. Dupree Mrs. Diana T. Dwight Mr. and Mrs. Richard Fencl Mr. and Mrs. James T. Fitzgerald Marlena and Walter Frank Dr. and Mrs. Harry F. Fry L. Timothy Giglio Thomas W. Gougeon Kathy Grote in loving memory of Robert Howes § Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Hamby Ms. Delores Hargrove-Young Dr. Donald and Laura Harrison Mr. and Mrs. Brian E. Heekin Dr. James and Mrs. Susan Herman Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Hicks Karlee L. Hilliard § Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey Keenan Mrs. Barbara Kellar in honor of Mr. Lorrence T. Kellar Holly King Mr. and Mrs. Richard Kovarsky Michael and Marilyn Kremzar Richard and Susan Lauf Will and Lee Lindner Adele Lippert Mrs. Robert Lippert Elizabeth and Brian Mannion David L. Martin Mr. Jonathan Martin Mandare Foundation Barbara and Kim McCracken § Linda and James Miller James and Margo Minutolo Ms. Mary Lou Motl Mr. Arthur Norman and Mrs. Lisa Lennon Norman The Patel-Curran Family Poul D. and JoAnne Pedersen Alice Perlman David and Jenny Powell Ellen Rieveschl § Elizabeth and Karl Ronn § James and Mary Russell Dr. E. Don Nelson and Ms. Julia Sawyer-Nelson Mr. Dennis Schoff and Ms. Nina Sorensen Mike and Digi Schueler Brent & Valerie Sheppard Sue and Glenn Showers § Rennie and David Siebenhar Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Skidmore § Michael and Donnalyn Smith Brett Stover § Mr. and Mrs. David R. Valz Christopher and Nancy Virgulak Mrs. Ronald F. Walker Mrs. Paul H. Ward § Donna A. Welsch Cathy S. Willis

Andrea K. Wiot Irene A. Zigoris Anonymous (4)

ARTIST’S CIRCLE

Gifts of $3,000–$4,999

Mr. and Mrs. Richard N. Adams Mr. and Mrs. Gérard Baillely Ms. Marianna Bettman Glenn and Donna Boutilier Peter and Kate Brown Dr. Ralph P. Brown Janet and Bruce Byrnes Gordon Christenson Susan and Burton Closson Lois Cohen § Peter G. Courlas § Marjorie Craft George Deepe and Kris Orsborn Jim and Elizabeth Dodd Connie and Buzz Dow Dr. and Mrs. Stewart B. Dunsker David and Kari Ellis Fund* Ann A. Ellison Hardy and Barbara Eshbaugh Ms. Amy McDiffett Yan Fridman Frank and Tara Gardner Dr. and Mrs. Ralph A. Giannella Anne E. Mulder and Rebecca M. Gibbs Lesha and Samuel Greengus Dr. and Mrs. Jack Hahn Mr. and Mrs. Robert R. Heidenreich Donald and Susan Henson Ruth C. Holthaus In Memory of Benjamin C. Hubbard § Mr. and Mrs. Bradley G. Hughes Mr. and Mrs. Michael C. Hughes Mr. Marshall C. Hunt, Jr. Karolyn Johnsen Dr. Richard and Lisa Kagan Dr. Robert W. Keith and Ms. Kathleen Thornton Don and Kathy King Lynn Keniston Klahm Marie and Sam Kocoshis Mr. Frank P. Kromer Mr. Shannon Lawson Richard and Nancy Layding Mrs. Jean E. Lemon § Merlanne Louney Larry and Mary Geren Lutz Mr. and Mrs. Donald Marshall Glen and Lynn Mayfield Allen-McCarren Becky Miars Ms. Sue Miller Mrs. Patricia Misrach Mr. and Mrs. David E. Moccia § George and Sarah Morrison III David and Beth Muskopf Phyllis Myers and Danny Gray Mark and Kim Pomeroy Drs. Marcia Kaplan and Michael Privitera Mr. Aftab Pureval Michael and Katherine Rademacher Sandra Rivers James Rubenstein and Bernadette Unger Mr. & Mrs. Peter A. Schmid Rev. Dr. David V. Schwab Sandra and David Seiwert Mr. Rick Sherrer and Dr. Lisa D. Kelly Elizabeth C. B. Sittenfeld § Doug and Laura Skidmore William A. and Jane Smith Elizabeth A. Stone Peggy and Steven Story Mr. and Mrs. J. Dwight Thompson Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Tinklenberg Neil Tollas and Janet Moore Dr. Barbara R. Voelkel

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Ann and Harry Santen at a Board of Directors event honoring Louis Langrée on NOV 8. Credit: Claudia Hershner Dr. and Mrs. Galen R. Warren Jonathan and Janet Weaver Jim and George Ann Wesner Jo Ann Wieghaus In Memory of Bruce R. Smith Ronna and James Willis Steve and Katie Wolnitzek Carol and Don Wuebbling Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Zierolf Anonymous (4)

SYMPHONY CIRCLE

Gifts of $1,500–$2,999

Jeff and Keiko Alexander § Lisa Allgood Judy Aronoff and Marshall Ruchman Dr. Diane S. Babcock § Beth and Bob Baer Mrs. Gail Bain William and Barbara Banks Glenda and Malcolm Bernstein David and Elaine Billmire Neil Bortz William & Mary Bramlage Mrs. Jo Ann C. Brown Ms. Jaqui Brumm Rachelle Bruno and Stephen Bondurant Chris and Tom Buchert Dr. Leanne Budde Daniel A. Burr Ms. Deborah Campbell § Ms. Barbara Caramanian Tom Carpenter and Lynne Lancaster Dr. Alan Chambers Beverly Kinney and Edward Cloughessy Carol C. Cole § Randy K. and Nancy R. Cooper Andrea D. Costa, Esq. Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Curran, III § Mr. Louis M. Dauner and Ms. Geraldine N. Wu Mrs. Shirley Duff David and Linda Dugan Mr. and Mrs. John G. Earls § Barry and Judy Evans Gail F. Forberg § Dr. Charles E. Frank and Ms. Jan Goldstein Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Fricke Linda P. Fulton § Dudley Fulton Kathleen Gibboney Mrs. Jay N. Gibbs Louis and Deborah Ginocchio Donn Goebel and Cathy McLeod Dr. and Mrs. Glenn S. Gollobin Drew Gores and George Warrington Jim and Jann Greenberg Bill and Christy Griesser John and Elizabeth Grover Esther B. Grubbs § Mr. and Mrs. Byron Gustin Ham and Ellie Hamilton Mrs. Jackie Havenstein Mr. Tom Helmick

Mr. Fred Heyse Melissa Huber Mr. Bradley Hunkler Heidi Jark and Steve Kenat Linda Busken and Andrew M. Jergens § Barbara M. Johnson Mr. and Mrs. Paul H. Johnson Ms. Sylvia Johnson Holly H. Keeler Arleene Keller Mr. and Mrs. Woodrow Keown, Jr. John and Molly Kerman Bill and Penny Kincaid In Memory of Jeff Knoop Juri Kolts Carol Louise Kruse Everett and Barbara Landen Evelyn and Fred Lang Charles and Jean Lauterbach Mary Mc and Kevin Lawson Mr. Peter F. Levin § Elizabeth Lilly* Dr. and Mrs. Lynn Y. Lin Mr. and Mrs. Clement H. Luken, Jr. Edmund D. Lyon Mark Mandell-Brown, MD and Ann Hanson Mr. Gerron McKnight John and Roberta Michelman Mr. and Mrs. David A. Millett Terence G. Milligan Susan E. Noelcke Nan L. Oscherwitz Rick Pescovitz and Kelly Mahan Sandy Pike § James W. Rauth § Beverly and Dan Reigle Stephen and Betty Robinson Marianne Rowe § Nancy Ruchhoft Mr. Joseph A. Schilling Frederick R. Schneider James P. Schubert Stephanie A. Smith Albert and Liza Smitherman Bill and Lee Steenken Mrs. Donald C. Stouffer Mr. and Mrs. Richard Stradling, Jr. Susan and John Tew Janet Todd Mr. William Trach Barbie Wagner Michael L. Walton, Esq Ted and Mary Ann Weiss David F. and Sara K. Weston Fund Virginia Wilhelm Rev. Anne Warrington Wilson Robert and Judy Wilson Jeff Yang David and Sharon Youmans Ms. Nancy Zimpher Anonymous (7)

Guest artist Audra McDonald with Board member Adrian Cunningham and family. Credit: CSO Staff

CONCERTO CLUB

Gifts of $500–$1,499

Hiro Adachi Christine O. Adams Romola N. Allen § In memory of Carol Allgood & Ester Sievers Mr. Thomas Alloy & Dr. Evaline Alessandrini Paul and Dolores Anderson Mr. and Mrs. Frank Andress Dr. Victor and Dolores Angel Nancy J. Apfel Lynne & Keith Apple, Honoring our Family Ms. Laura E. Atkinson Mr. David H. Axt and Ms. Susan L. Wilkinson Nate and Greta Bachhuber Mrs. Mary M. Baer Todd and Ann Bailey Jerry and Martha Bain Mr. and Mrs. Carroll R. Baker Jack and Diane Baldwin Peggy Barrett § Mrs. Polly M. Bassett Ms. Glenda Bates Michael and Amy Battoclette Drs. Carol and Leslie Benet Fred Berger Dr. Allen W. Bernard Barbara and Milton Berner Dr. David and Cheryl Bernstein Ms. Henryka Bialkowska-Nagy Sharon Ann Kerns and Mike Birck Michael Bland Milt and Berdie Blersch Randal and Peter Bloch Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Bloomer Ms. Sandra Bolek Ron and Betty Bollinger Clay and Emily Bond Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Borisch Dr. and Mrs. Kevin Bove Dr. Carol Brandon Marilyn and John Braun Briggs Creative Services, LLC Robert and Joan Broersma Marian H. Brown Jacklyn and Gary Bryson Bob and Angela Buechner Jack and Marti Butz John Byrd Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Canarie Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Carothers Susan L. Carson Dr. Julia H. Carter Mike and Shirley Chaney Catharine W. Chapman § Ichun Chiao Dee and Frank Cianciolo Fund* James Civille James Clasper and Cheryl Albrecht Mr. Robert Cohen and Ms. Amy J. Katz Dr. George I. Colombel

Fred W. Colucci Mr. and Mrs. Philip K. Cone Marilyn Cones Dr. Margaret Conradi Thomas and Barbara Conroy Janet Conway Jack and Janice Cook § Robin Cotton and Cindi Fitton Dennis and Pat Coyne Martha Crafts Dr. James Creech Tim and Katie Crowley Susan and John Cummings Adrian and Takiyah Cunningham Jacqueline Cutshall Mr. and Mrs. Henry F. Dabek, Jr. Mr. Joseph and Mrs. Lori Dattilo Mr. and Mrs. Jerry E. Davis Loren and Polly DeFilippo Stephen and Cynthia DeHoff Rozelia Park and Christopher Dendy Robert B. Dick, Ph.D. Ms. Rhonda Dickerscheid Jean and Rick Donaldson George Dostie Mrs. John Doviak David and Kelley Downing Meredith and Chuck Downton Ms. Andrea Dubroff Tom and Leslie Ducey Tom and Dale Due Amy Dunlea and Lois Mannon Mr. Corwin R. Dunn Michael D. and Carolyn Camillo Eagen Mr. Daniel Epstein Barbara Esposito-Ilacqua Mr. Edward Ettin Sally Eversole Ms. Kate Farinacci Dr. and Mrs. William J. Faulkner Ms. Jean Feinberg Ms. Barbara A. Feldmann Richard and Elizabeth Findlay Ilya Finkelshteyn and Evin Blomberg Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Fischer Anne and Alan Fleischer Ms. Nancy B. Forbriger Janice and Dr. Tom Forte Mr. and Ms. Bernard Foster Susan L. Fremont Mr. Gregrick A. Frey In memory of Eugene and Cavell Frey Lynne Friedlander and Jay Crawford Michael and Katherine Frisco Mr. and Mrs. James Fryman Marjorie Fryxell Ms. Bianca Gallagher Christophe Galopin Melanie Garner and Michael Berry Ms. Jane Garvey Ms. Christina Gearhart Drs. Michael and Janelle J. Gelfand Mr. Henry Genther Dr. and Mrs. Freidoon Ghazi Ms. Kathryn Gibbons



Fanfare Magazine | 79

FINANCIAL SUPPORT David J. Gilner Mr. and Mrs. James Gingrich Dr. Jerome Glinka and Ms. Kathleen Blieszner Dr. and Mrs. Charles J. Glueck Dan Goetz Dr. and Mrs. Richard Goetz Mr. Ken Goldhoff Mr. and Mrs. Jim Goldschmidt Ms. Arlene Golembiewski Robert and Cynthia Gray Carl and Joyce Greber Mary Grooms Dr. Anthony and Ann Guanciale Janet C. Haartz and Kenneth V. Smith Alison and Charles Haas Ms. Sarah Habib Mary and Phil Hagner Peter Hames Walter and Karen Hand In memory of Dr. Stuart Handwerger Catherine K. Hart Mariana Belvedere and Samer Hasan Mr. John A. Headley Amy and Dennis Healy Kenneth and Rachel Heberling Mrs. Betty H. Heldman § Howard D. and Mary W. Helms Mrs. E. J. Hengelbrok, Jr. Mr. Jeff Herbert Michelle and Don Hershey Janet & Craig Higgins Mr. and Mrs. Russell W. Hill Mr. and Mrs. William A. Hillebrand Kyle and Robert Hodgkins Benjamin & Naomi Hoffman Ms. Leslie M. Hoggatt Tim and Connie Holmen Richard and Marcia Holmes Bob and Dolly Holzwarth Stanley A. Hooker, III Mr. Joe Hoskins Sean and Katie Hubbard Karen and David Huelsman

80 | 2023–24 SEASON

Mrs. Carol H. Huether Dr. G. Edward & Sarah Hughes Ms. Idit Isaacsohn Dr. Maralyn M. Itzkowitz Mrs. Charles H. Jackson, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Jebens Marcia Jelus David & Penny Jester Mrs. Marilyn P. Johnston In Honor of Lois Jolson Elizabeth A. Jones Mrs. Martha Jones Scott and Patricia Joseph Jay and Shirley Joyce Mr. and Mrs. Robert Judd Ms. Mary Judge Dr. James Kaya and Debra Grauel Dr. and Mrs. Richard Kerstine Mr. and Mrs. Dave Kitzmiller Jack & Sharon Knapp Pamela Koester-Hackman Carol and Scott Kosarko Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Kraimer Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Kregor Mr. and Mrs. Bruce A. Krone Kathleen B. and Michael C. Krug Fund* Pat and Randy Krumm § Mark & Elisabeth Kuhlman Mrs. John H. Kuhn § Jo Ann and George Kurz Pinky Laffoon & Family Patricia Lambeck Asher Lanier Karen Larsen Ms. Sally L. Larson Mrs. Julie Laskey Joe Law and Phil Wise Mrs. Judith A. Leege in memory of Philip B. Leege Dr. Carol P. Leslie Mr. and Mrs. Lance A. Lewis Mrs. Maxine F. Lewis Mr. Arthur Lindsay Paula and Nick Link

Mrs. Marianne Locke Mr. Ajene Lomax Steven Kent Loveless Luke and Nita Lovell David and Katja Lundgren Mrs. Mary Reed Lyon Marshall and Nancy Macks Mr. and Mrs. Julian A. Magnus Jenea Malarik Ms. Cheryl Manning Andrew and Jean Martin Mr. and Mrs. Warren L. Mason Mr. and Mrs. Dean Matz Ms. Mary Jane Mayer Dr. Janet P. McDaniel Tim and Trish McDonald Robert and Heather McGrath Mark McKillip and Amira Beer Art and Stephanie McMahon Stephanie McNeill Charles and JoAnn Mead Ms. Nancy Menne Ms. Mary Ann Meyer Michael V. Middleton Laura Milburn Sonia R. Milrod Dr. Stanley R. Milstein § Ms. Laura Mitchell Mr. Steven Monder Eileen W. and James R. Moon Regeana and Al Morgan Mr. William J. Morgan Mr. Scott Muhlhauser Alan Flaherty and Patti Myers § Mr. and Mrs. Norman Neal Mr. Scott Nelson and Dr. Susan Kindel Mr. Ted Nelson and Ms. Ixi Chen Ms. Helen Neumann Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Newcomer Amy Paul and Jerry Newfarmer Mrs. Alfred K. Nippert Jane Oberschmidt § Ms. Sylvia Osterday Phyllis Overmann John A. Pape The Pavelka Family Carol and Jim Pearce Ann and Marty Pinales Dr. Robert and Jackie Prichard Mrs. Stewart Proctor Dr. Aik Khai Pung Marjorie and Louis Rauh Ms. Mary Redington Dr. and Mrs. Robert Reed Dr. Robert Rhoad and Kitsa Tassian Rhoad Stephanie Richardson Mr. David Robertson Laurie and Dan Roche Mr. and Mrs. Ian Rodway Dr. Anna Roetker Ms. Jeanne C. Rolfes Catherine Calko Dr. and Mrs. Gary Roselle Amy and John Rosenberg Ellen and Louis Ross Mr. and Mrs. G. Roger Ross Dr. Deborah K. Rufner J. Gregory and Judith B. Rust Elizabeth and Kazuya David and Judy Savage Mr. Christian J. Schaefer Cindy Scheets Ms. Carol Schleker Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Schleker Jane and Wayne Schleutker Dr. and Mrs. Michael Schmerler Mrs. Donna Schnicke George Palmer Schober Tim and Jeannie Schoonover Glenda C. Schorr Fund* Carol J. Schroeder § Mary D. Schweitzer Dr. Joseph Segal and Ms. Debbie Friedman Elaine Semancik Mick and Nancy Shaughnessy Jerry and Donna Shell The Shepherd Chemical Company Alfred and Carol Shikany Jacqueline M. Mack and Dr. Edward B. Silberstein

Ms. Joycee Simendinger Kristin and David Skidmore In Honor of Kenneth Skirtz Ms. Martha Slager Susan and David Smith Ms. Margaret Smith Mark M. Smith (In memory of Terri C. Smith) Stephen and Lyle Smith Phillip and Karen Sparkes Paula Spitzmiller In Honor of Melody Sawyer Richardson Marian P. Stapleton Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Stautberg Ms. Ruth M. Stechschulte Mark and Anne Stepaniak Susan M. and Joseph Eric Stevens Mr. Jason V. Stitt Stephanie and Joseph Stitt Nancy and Gary Strassel Ms. Susan R. Strick Mr. George Stricker, Jr. Mr. Mark Stroud Patricia Strunk § Kathryn Sullivan Dr. Alan and Shelley Tarshis Maureen Taylor Mr. Fred Tegarden Carlos and Roberta Teran Rich and Nancy Tereba Linda and Nate Tetrick Joyce and Howard Thompson Mr. Stuart Tobin Marcia and Bob Togneri Torey and Tom Torre Mrs. Esthela Urriquia Dr. Ilse M. van der Bent Mr. D. R. Van Lokeren Dr. Judith Vermillion Jim and Rachel Votaw § Ms. Barbara Wagner Mr. and Mrs. James L. Wainscott Jane A. Walker Sarella Walton Herman & Margaret Wasserman Music Fund* Mrs. Louise Watts Maryhelen West Ms. Bonnie White Mr. Donald White Ms. Elizabeth White Ms. Diana Willen Marsha Williams Mr. Dean Windgassen and Ms. Susan Stanton Windgassen § Don and Karen Wolnik Rebecca Seeman and David Wood Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wylly III Mr. John M. Yacher Mrs. Darleen Young Judy and Martin Young Mr. David Youngblood and Ms. Ellen Rosenman Cheryl Zalzal Dr. and Mrs. Daryl Zeigler Ms. Joan Zellner Moritz and Barbara Ziegler Mr. Richard K. Zinicola and Ms. Linda R. Holthaus Anonymous (25) List as of February 1, 2024

GIFTS IN-KIND

Mr. Michael Culligan Graeter’s Ice Cream Jones Day The Voice of Your Customer List as of February 21, 2024 * 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.

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. Dr. Diane Schwemlein Babcock Henrietta Barlag Peggy Barrett Jane* & Ed Bavaria David & Elaine Billmire Walter Blair Lucille* & Dutro Blocksom Rosemary & Frank Bloom* 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 Myra Chabut* Catharine W. Chapman Michael L. Cioffi & Rachael Rowe Mrs. Jackson L. Clagett III Lois & Phil* Cohen Leland M.* & Carol C. Cole Grace A. Cook Jack & Janice Cook Mr. & Mrs. Charles Cordes 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 Barry & Judy Evans Linda & Harry Fath Alan Flaherty Mrs. Richard A. Forberg* Ashley & Barbara Ford Guy & Marilyn Frederick Rich Freshwater & Family Susan Friedlander* 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 Mrs. Morton L. Harshman*

Mary J. Healy Frank G. Heitker Anne P. Heldman Betty & John* Heldman Ms. Roberta Hermesch* Karlee L. Hilliard Michael H. Hirsch Mr. & Mrs. Joseph W. Hirschhorn Daniel J. Hoffheimer Kenneth L. Holford Mr. George R. Hood Mr. & Mrs. Terence L. Horan Mrs. Benjamin C. Hubbard Susan & Tom Hughes Carolyn R. Hunt* Dr. William Hurford & Dr. Lesley Gilbertson Mr. & Mrs. Paul Isaacs Julia M. F. B. Jackson Michael & Kathleen Janson Andrew MacAoidh Jergens Jean C. Jett Margaret H. Jung Mace C. Justice Karen Kapella Dr. & Mrs.* Steven Katkin Rachel Kirley & Joseph Jaquette Carolyn Koehl Marvin Kolodzik & Linda Gallaher Carol & Scott Kosarko Michael & Marilyn Kremzar Randolph & Patricia Krumm Theresa M. Kuhn Warren & Patricia Lambeck Peter E. Landgren & Judith Schonbach Landgren Owen & Cici Lee Steve Lee M. Drue Lehmann* Mrs. Jean E. Lemon Mr. Peter F. Levin George & Barbara Lott Janice* & Gary Lubin Mr.* & Mrs. Ronald Lyons Marilyn J. Maag Margot Marples David L. Martin Allen* & Judy Martin David Mason Mrs. Barbara Witte McCracken Laura Kimble McLellan Dr. Stanley R. Milstein Mrs. William K. Minor Mr. & Mrs. D. E. Moccia Kristin & Stephen Mullin Christopher & Susan Muth Patti Myers Susan & Kenneth Newmark Dr. & Mrs. Theodore Nicholas Jane Oberschmidt Marja-Liisa Ogden Julie & Dick* Okenfuss Jack & Marilyn Osborn* Dr. & Mrs. Richard E. Park, MD Mr. & Mrs. Charles Pease Poul D. & JoAnne Pedersen Sandy & Larry* Pike Mrs. Harold F. Poe Anne M. Pohl Irene & Daniel Randolph James W. Rauth Barbara S. Reckseit

Melody Sawyer Richardson Ellen Rieveschl Elizabeth & Karl Ronn Moe & Jack Rouse Marianne Rowe Ann & Harry Santen Rosemary & Mark Schlachter Carol J. Schroeder Mrs. William R. Seaman Dr. Brian Sebastian Mrs. Mildred J. Selonick* Mrs. Robert B. Shott Sue & Glenn Showers Irwin & Melinda Simon Betsy & Paul* Sittenfeld Sarah Garrison Skidmore 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. Jack K. & Mary V. Wagner* Nancy C. Wagner Patricia M. Wagner Mr.* & Mrs. Paul Ward Jo Anne & Fred Warren Mr. Scott Weiss & Dr. Charla Weiss Anne M. Werner Gary & Diane West Charles A. Wilkinson Ms. Diana Willen Susan Stanton Windgassen Mrs. Joan R. Wood Alison & Jim Zimmerman * Deceased New Schippers members are in bold

Fanfare Magazine | 81

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 Jonathan Martin President & CEO

KC Commander Director of Digital Content & Innovation

Harold Brown The Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer

Maria Cordes Digital Media Coordinator

Judy Simpson Director of Finance Tara Williams Data Services Manager

Kit Gladieux Communications Intern

HUMAN RESOURCES & PAYROLL Kyle Wynk-Sivashankar Vice President of Human Resources

Lauren Hall Digital Content Intern

Megan Inderbitzin-Tsai Director of Payroll Services

Michael Frisco Vice President of Marketing

Tyler Secor Director of Publications & Content Development

Natalia Lerzundi Human Resources & Payroll Coordinator

Felecia Tchen Kanney Vice President of Communications & Digital Media

Lee Snow Digital Content Technology Manager

Jenny Ryan Human Resources Manager

Mary McFadden Lawson Chief Philanthropy Officer

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION Harold Brown The Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer

John Clapp Vice President of Orchestra & Production Rich Freshwater Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Robert McGrath Chief Operating Officer Anthony Paggett Acting Vice President of Artistic Planning Kyle Wynk-Sivashankar Vice President of Human Resources EXECUTIVE OFFICE Jonathan Martin President & CEO Laura Ruple Executive Assistant to the President & CEO Robert McGrath Chief Operating Officer Shannon Faith Assistant to the Chief Operating Officer ARTISTIC PLANNING Anthony Paggett Acting Vice President of Artistic Planning Grace Kim Artistic Planning Intern Theresa Lansberry Artist Liaison Shuta Maeno Assistant to the Music Director & Artistic Planning Sam Strater Senior Advisor for Cincinnati Pops Planning COMMUNICATIONS & DIGITAL MEDIA Felecia Tchen Kanney Vice President of Communications & Digital Media Charlie Balcom Social Media Manager

82 | 2023–24 SEASON

Kaitlyn Driesen Media & Label Services Manager

LEARNING Carol Dary Dunevant Director of Learning Hollie Greenwood Learning Coordinator Kyle Lamb Learning Programs Manager

Patron Services Representatives Ellison Blair, Lead Drew Dolan, Lead Lucas Maurer, Lead Erik Nordstrom, Lead Hannah Blanchette Craig Doolin Mary Duplantier Ebony Jackson Monica Lange Talor Marren Marian Mayen Gregory Patterson Matthew Wallenhorst PHILANTHROPY Mary McFadden Lawson Chief Philanthropy Officer Laura Aldana Philanthropy Intern Sean Baker Director of Institutional Giving Bhavya Nayna Channan Corporate Giving Manager Ashley Coffey Foundation & Grants Manager

Key Crooms Director of Community Engagement

Maria Serrano CCM Arts Administration Graduate Assistant

Vee Gibson Classical Roots Coordinator

Mason Stewart Education Programs Intern

Pamela Jayne Volunteer & Community Engagement Manager

MARKETING Michael Frisco Vice President of Marketing

Molly Rains Community Engagement Events Manager

Catherine Hann Assistant Director of Individual Giving

Leon Barton Website Manager

Rachel Hellebusch Institutional Giving Coordinator

Jon Dellinger Copywriter & Marketing Manager

Leslie Hoggatt Director of Individual Giving & Donor Services

FINANCE, IT & DATA SERVICES Rich Freshwater Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Carmen Granger Subscriptions & Loyalty Marketing Manager

Kate Farinacci Director of Special Campaigns & Legacy Giving Penny Hamilton Philanthropy Assistant

Quinton Jefferson Research & Grants Administrator

Deborah Benjamin Accounting Clerk

Elaine Hudson Assistant Box Office Manager

D’Anté McNeal Special Projects Coordinator

Julian Cann Accounting Clerk

Hannah Kaiser Assistant Box Office Manager

Jenna Montes Individual Giving Manager

Kathleen Curry Data Entry Clerk

Abigail Karr Audience Engagement Manager

Emma Steward Donor Engagement Coordinator

Elizabeth Engwall Accounting Manager

Stephanie Lazorchak Graphic Designer

Matt Grady Accounting Manager

Michelle Lewandowski Director of Marketing

Sharon Grayton Data Services Manager

Tina Marshall Director of Ticketing & Audience Services

Marijane Klug Accounting Manager Shannon May Accounting Clerk Kristina Pfeiffer Director of Finance Elizabeth Salmons Accounting Clerk

Wendy Marshall Group Sales Manager Madelyn McArthur Marketing Intern Amber Ostaszewski Director of Audience Engagement Alexis Shambley Email & Insight Marketing Manager

PRODUCTION John Clapp Vice President of Orchestra & Production Laura Bordner Adams Director of Operations Carlos Javier Production Manager Alex Magg Production Manager Isabella Prater Production Intern Brenda Tullos Director of Orchestra Personnel

A NEW RECORDING BY LOUIS LANGRÉE CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

A limited run of vinyl will be sold exclusively at the following concerts: MAY 3 & 4: Beethoven 7 & Dessner Premieres MAY 3: CSO Proof: Wires MAY 10-12: Louis’ Grand Finale

STREAMING ON ALL PLATFORMS MAY 3

FANFARE

C I N C I N N AT I

American Dreams was generously supported by Paul and Anna Isaacs.

Vinyl will not be sold via phone, email or mail. Vinyl will only be sold at Music Hall during the concerts listed above.