Classical Roots, founded nearly 25 years ago, was born out of a desire to highlight and celebrate
the rich contributions of Black musicians and composers. This season’s Classical Roots concert is focused on dance and features, along with the Orchestra under the direction of John Morris Russell, area dance companies, renowned tap dancer AC Lincoln and members of the CSO’s Nouveau Program. Read more on pp. 9–11.
13
Part III of Fanfare Magazine’s series “Getting to Know Cristian Măcelaru” (pp. 13–17) focuses on the process that led to Cristi becoming the CSO’s 14th Music Director — from formation of the search committee to Cristi’s own impressions of Cincinnati and the Orchestra and the “aha” moments that led the committee to name him the CSO’s next Music Director.
19
The Orchestra’s percussionists take the spotlight in this issue of Fanfare Magazine to answer the question, “What was your first concert?” Their answers, on p. 19, may surprise you! ,
COMING UP at Music Hall
APR 2025
BEN FOLDS live with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
APR 15 TUE 7:30 PM
Ben Folds singer-songwriter/pianist
BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY NO. 3
APR 18 & 19 FRI 11 AM; SAT 7:30 PM
Case Scaglione conductor; Simone Lamsma violin
L. BOULANGER D’un matin de printemps (“Of a Spring Morning”); BRUCH Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor; BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3, Eroica
MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 6
APR 25 & 26 FRI & SAT 7:30 PM
Jaap van Zweden conductor
MAHLER Symphony No. 6, Tragic
MAY 2025
Pops Season Finale
MANDY GONZALEZ: La Vida Broadway
MAY 2-4 FRI & SAT 7:30 PM; SUN 2 PM
John Morris Russell conductor; Mandy Gonzalez vocalist
CSO Season Finale
GRIEG & ELLINGTON
MAY 9 & 10 FRI 11 AM; SAT 7:30 PM
Damon Gupton conductor; Michelle Cann piano
DVOŘÁK The Noon Witch ; GRIEG Piano Concerto; STRAVINSKY
HONEGGER Pastorale d’été ; ELLINGTON Black, Brown and Beige
CSYO Concert Orchestra
SINFONIA
ESPANSIVA
MAY 11 SUN 2 PM
CSYO Concert Orchestra ; Felipe Morales-Torres conductor
CSYO Philharmonic Orchestra ; Daniel Wiley conductor
BRITTEN Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes ; BLOCH Poems of the Sea; BRIDGE The Sea
WE BELIEVE MUSIC
WITHIN US ALL Welcome
LIVES
regardless of who we are or where we come from. We believe that music is a pathway to igniting our passions, discovering what moves us, deepening our curiosity and connecting us to our world and to each other.
Our mission is to seek and share inspiration, and we exist to serve our community. Our entire community. Reflecting our community and the world around at every level—on stage, behind-thescenes, and in neighborhoods throughout the region—is essential to our present and future and makes us a strong ensemble and institution.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops acknowledge that Cincinnati Music Hall occupies land that has been the traditional land of the Hopewell, Adena, Myaamia (Miami), Shawandasse Tula (Shawanwaki/Shawnee), and Wahzhazhe Manzhan (Osage) peoples, who have continuously lived upon this land since time immemorial. We honor past, present and future Indigenous peoples.
Along with the online version of Fanfare Magazine, the CSO has developed a digital platform to deliver concertspecific content to audiences.
WELCOME
to the March/April issue of Fanfare Magazine
Early spring is always an exciting time in the life of any orchestra, the time when the next season of programming is announced. But this year in Cincinnati, season announcement time is extra special, as the CSO reveals details of Cristian Mӑcelaru’s inaugural season as Music Director. Learn more at cincinnatisymphony.org/cso2526.
This issue of Fanfare Magazine features the third installment of our “Getting to Know Cristian Mӑcelaru” series, pp. 13–17. The first and second installments explored Mӑcelaru’s upbringing and education, and this installment, written by Tyler M. Secor, considers the factors and philosophies — both from the CSO’s and Mӑcelaru’s perspectives — that brought the CSO Music Director Search Committee to that “aha” moment.
On the cover is the Classical Roots Community Choir — the heart of the CSO Classical Roots concert. Writer Mya Gibson takes readers behind the scenes into this year’s theme and programming, pp. 9–11.
And on p. 19, the CSO Percussionists answer the question, “What was your first concert?” Perhaps their answers will surprise you!
FOLLOW US on social media for the latest updates!
Facebook:
@CincySymphony
@CincinnatiPops
Instagram: @CincySymphony
YouTube: @CincySymphony
TikTok: @cincysymphony
Please enjoy these stories that have been curated for you in Fanfare Magazine, but also know that the Fanfare Magazine experience is not limited to a print publication available only at Music Hall concerts. You can always explore Fanfare Magazine at any time via our website at cincinnatisymphony.org/fanfare-magazine.
Along with the online version of Fanfare Magazine, the CSO has developed a digital platform to deliver concert-specific content to concert audiences. To meet the CSO’s ongoing commitment to digital storytelling, innovation and accessibility, in the 2024–25 season this digital platform has expanded to o er early access to exclusive concert-specific content: full-length program notes, artist biographies, feature stories, up-to-the-minute information and much more! As a bonus, program notes and artist biographies for the entire season will be available on this digital platform in advance of the season-opening concerts, allowing you to engage with all the content before you arrive at Music Hall.
*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.
Unlike a print magazine, this digital platform is compatible with all smartphone accessibility features. The CSO’s digital platform is easily accessible — no app to download or subscription to manage. To explore our digital content, visit cincinnatisymphony.org/ DigitalProgram or text the word PROGRAM to 513.845.3024.*
The CSO hopes you find inspiration within these pages and within the music — past, present and future — that reverberates at Music Hall and in the community. Thank you for being with us!
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
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
O cers
Dianne Rosenberg, Chair
Robert W. McDonald, Immediate Past Chair
Sue McPartlin, Treasurer and Vice-Chair of Finance
Gerron McKnight, Secretary
Kari Ullman, Vice-Chair of Volunteerism
Anne E. Mulder, Vice-Chair of Community Engagement
Charla B. Weiss, Chair Elect, 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
Trish Bryan*
Otto M. Budig, Jr.*
Andrea Costa
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, Chris Ohmer, Julie Poyer, Joe Ho ecker
Operations Director
Missy Beiting
Business Coordinator
Erica Birkle
Advertising and Business O ces 1818 Race Street, Suite 301 Cincinnati, OH 45202 | 513.421.4300
BOARD OF DIRECTORS COMMITTEES & TASK FORCES and MULTICULTURAL AWARENESS COUNCIL
We thank our many partners who serve on the following CSO Board of Directors committees and task forces, as well as the Multicultural Awareness Council (MAC) as we collectively work to realize our vision to be the most relevant orchestra in America.
CSO Board of Directors Committees
Audience Engagement
Audit & Ethics
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Executive
Finance & Investment
Learning
Nominating & Governance
O cers Nominating
CSO Board of Directors
Task Forces Board Governance
Initiative Government A airs
LGBTQ+ & Inclusion
Philanthropy
Planned Giving
Non-Board Task Force
Multicultural Awareness Council
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!
A proud sponsor of the musical ar ts
INVEST ENGAGE INNOVATE LEAD
Grantee Spotlight: INSPIRATION STUDIOS, INC.
Inspiration Studios, Inc., and Sonny Spot Too are two Southwest Ohio organizations serving people with developmental disabilities. In 2023, they collaborated to create a new mural for Sonny Spot’s computer and technology room.
courtesy of the organziation
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.
Classical Roots: Dancing Through Life
by MYA GIBSON
TThe idea of Classical Roots began nearly 25 years ago, in 2001 — a time when Cincinnati Music Hall was not always the most welcoming place for all members of the community. It was born out of a need for change, a desire to highlight and celebrate the rich contributions of Black musicians and composers in a space that has historically excluded them. It came about during a time when change was needed.
“Classical Roots had two lives,” recalls John Morris Russell (JMR), one of the program’s founders. Before Classical Roots became an annual program in Music Hall in 2011, it was a summer series of concerts held in Cincinnati’s historically Black churches, developed by JMR, Kathy Jorgensen-Finley and Anne Cushing-Reid. These early concerts fostered a deep sense of community, bringing people together in sacred spaces. That community followed Classical Roots to Music Hall, where it threw open its doors and welcomed everyone inside.
theme that explores and celebrates the evolving narrative of Black excellence in the arts.
This year, the focus is dance, weaving movement into the powerful intersection of music and storytelling and creating a truly immersive experience for the audience. “We will give the audience something many have never seen before,” exclaims Don Sherman, Executive Director and President of the Cincinnati Black Theatre Company (CBTC).
“For as long as there has been music, there has been dance,” notes JMR. “Before recorded time, there was someone who was the first to beat on a log with a stick, and someone else who immediately jumped up and started dancing. Musical styles and dance styles are profoundly linked.”
The CSO has the music aspects covered, but they needed collaborators to showcase the various forms of dance. Although the CSO has worked with many of these featured ensembles before, the liturgical dancers from the Cincinnati Black Theatre Company (CBTC) will be making their debut.
Within the Black experience, there is so much history and artistry to explore. Classical Roots has always aimed to tell a bigger story — one that couldn’t be confined to a single month of recognition. “We felt that every concert needed to have a strong, singular theme that would tell one small piece of a much bigger story,” JMR explains. Each year’s program is built around a
“It’s going to be high praise. It is going to be a celebration,” Sherman states.
“We’re going to give it to the audience, so, hold on to your seat. There may be people shouting. There may be people on their feet. It’s going to be a God-gift to those in the audience. I won’t say too much more because I want people to see it!”
Founded in November 2001, CBTC aims to preserve and advance Black Theatre within the community. CBTC has an expansive o ering of theater productions, dance, performance and employment opportunities, community outreach, and educational programs.
At the heart of Classical Roots is its Classical Roots Community Choir. Jason Holmes, resident
John Morris Russell leads the CSO alongside DJ/Rapper Hi-Tek, vocalist Lauren Eylise, drummer Daru Jones and DJ/Producer J.PERIOD in the 2024 Classical Roots program. (Credit: JP Leong)
conductor of the Choir, began his journey with Classical Roots as a member of the chorus when seeking a Black musical community in Cincinnati. He quickly found that this program was more than just a newfound community or performance opportunity — it became a family. “Music Hall is a venerated space in Cincinnati, and I think it is so meaningful for Black audience members to be able to show up and for it to be filled with us, with our musical output,” Holmes says.
What makes Classical Roots even more special is the level of dedication from those who participate. Holmes emphasizes the sacrifices made by many members. “I know people have altered their work schedules so that they can participate in Classical Roots,” Holmes notes. “I know people have altered childcare schedules so that they can do this. It is a big commitment for folks and just highlights the actual work and skill that go into what we do.”
This commitment highlights not only the passion behind the program, but the level of skill, effort and dedication required to produce a concert of this magnitude. While Classical Roots celebrates elements rooted in Black culture, it simultaneously demands technical excellence from its performers.
Alongside the Cincinnati Black Theatre Company and the Classical Roots Community Choir, this year’s program will feature Ijo-Ugo West African Performing Arts, Revolution Dance Theatre, Q-Kidz dancers and AC Lincoln, a standout professional tap dancer. Whether it’s the harmonies of the choir or the beats of the Electric Slide, the audience is in for a treat.
Ijo-Ugo West African Performing Arts is no stranger to the stage at Music Hall, having collaborated several times over the years with the Cincinnati Pops. For Classical Roots, IjoUgo will be performing Nigerian Dances written by the great Nigerian composer, ethnomusicologist and author Samuel Akpabot (1932–2000).
Revolution Dance Theatre is a ballet company creating professional theatre and dance opportunities for African Americans and is in residence at the Aronoff Center for the Arts. Its founder, David A. Choate Jr., is the most recent winner of the MAC (the CSO’s Multicultural Awareness Council) Award for Diversity and Leadership in the Arts, and Revolution Dance Theatre has created the region’s only African American Nutcracker experience, Hot Chocolate. For Classical Roots, dancers
from Revolution Dance will perform to works by Duke Ellington and a funk arrangement of Beethoven’s iconic Fifth Symphony.
Q-Kidz dancers have also performed alongside the Orchestra before and have been a vital part of the West End and Downtown communities for over 40 years. The Q-Kidz will showcase their dance prowess with Pharrell Williams’ “Happy.”
Tap dancing is one of the few dances that does not require musical accompaniment, as the sound of the taps is, in and of itself, music. Developed alongside jazz, tap dance is a fusion of Southern American and Irish dance styles, and New York native AC Lincoln has tapped alongside the greats, including Jimmy Slyde, Buster Brown, Chuck Green and Savion Glover. Lincoln will dance perhaps the most well-known tap, “The Charleston.”
As always, Classical Roots welcomes the CSO Nouveau Program students to the stage. This year, the students will perform the great British African composer Samuel Coleridge Taylor’s (1875–1912) Danse Negre.
The influence of Classical Roots extends far beyond the concert itself. Over the years, the program has helped deepen relationships between the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the city’s Black organizations, creating relationships that will last for years. It has also introduced audiences to artists and composers whose work has been historically overlooked in classical music spaces. For JMR, this ongoing evolution is the key to Classical Roots’ success. “Storytelling is very important because so many of these stories, people don’t know,” he says.
This commitment to storytelling ensures that Classical Roots remains relevant and impactful. By continuing to center on Black musical traditions
and artists, the program not only enriches the CSO’s programming but also strengthens its role as a cultural leader in Cincinnati.
Classical Roots thrives on its deep community connections — on and off the stage. Singers and dancers from across the Greater Cincinnati area set aside their busy schedules to rehearse together, building relationships through shared artistry.
And as the community gathers once again at Music Hall for this year’s performance, the spirit of Classical Roots remains as powerful as ever, especially as it nears its 25-year anniversary. These two-and-a-half decades of passion and music-making have solidified the program as more than just a concert — it’s a celebration of culture, unity and the legacy of Black excellence in the arts. n
Clockwise, from top left: David A. Choate Jr. of Revolution Dance Theatre; tap dancer AC Lincoln; Q-Kidz dancers with the Cincinnati Pops at the 2024 West End Brady Block Party (Credit: JP Leong); members of the CSO Nouveau Program at the 2024 Classical Roots concert (Credit: JP Leong); and dancers from Ijo-Ugo West African Performing Arts with the Cincinnati Pops at the April 2024 The Dream of America concert (Credit: Mark Lyons)
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
Music Director Designate Cristian Măcelaru will be introduced to CSO audiences in a series of articles in Fanfare Magazine. Follow along as the story of the CSO’s 14th Music Director unfolds.
Getting to Know Cristian Măcelaru
by TYLER M. SECOR
Credit: JP Leong
PParts I and II of Fanfare Magazine’s “Getting to Know Cristian Mӑcelaru” focused on Mӑcelaru himself — his life story and what led him to be one of the world’s most sought-after conductors. Part III gives the Cincinnati perspective, answering two important questions: 1) how is the Music Director selected? and 2) what made Mӑcelaru and the CSO fit together?
Selecting a Music Director
“Choosing the next Music Director is perhaps the most important decision this Orchestra will make in the next 10 years.”
—Jonathan Martin
In June 2021, when the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) announced that Music Director Louis Langrée would not seek to renew his contract beyond the conclusion of the 2023–24 season, then-President & CEO Jonathan Martin, who retired from the organization in February 2025, and the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors immediately began to form a search committee to find the Orchestra’s 14th Music Director.
Finding the next Music Director would be no easy task.
“Choosing the next Music Director is perhaps the most important decision this Orchestra will make in the next 10 years,” remarks Martin. “The Music Director will set the course of the CSO for the next decade or longer, and will be the catalyst
for new artistic endeavors, developing the personnel of the Orchestra and interfacing with the Cincinnati community.”
The first step in finding the next Music Director was to identify leadership for the Music Director Search Committee. In consultation with the executive committee of the Board of Directors, Martin and then-Board Chair Rob McDonald asked Sheila Williams and Peter Landgren to co-chair the search committee.
The gravity and importance of finding Cincinnati’s next Music Director was not lost on the new co-chairs.
“In the beginning, it started with sheer terror,” reflects Sheila Williams, “because the task was just overwhelming. And then I decided, yes, I would do this.”
Williams is a native of Ohio and a celebrated author. Her first published book, Dancing on the Edge of the Roof, was the basis for the 2019 Netflix film Juanita. And Williams is no stranger to the world of music, having written the libretto to the opera Fierce, which received its world premiere in 2022 at Cincinnati Opera.
“Once I got my head around what I was being asked to do — to find Cincinnati’s next cultural ambassador, someone who will champion the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra — it was really a full circle moment for me,” reflects Peter Landgren.
Full circle?
Landgren has a deep connection to the CSO and to Cincinnati. As an undergraduate studying the Horn at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), Landgren
In February 2025, Music Director Designate Cristian Măcelaru led the CSO for the first time since his appointment. (Credit: Mark Lyons)
began performing with the CSO in the middle of his sophomore year. He next played in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for 29 years under four di erent music directors and then set his sights on organizational leadership. He returned to Cincinnati as Dean of CCM, served as the University of Cincinnati’s interim provost, and most recently served as President of the University of Cincinnati Foundation.
“Peter and Sheila were both Board members at the time,” recalls Martin. “Peter had a unique skill set, having been an Orchestra member and an administrator, which made him a great choice as a leader in this process. Sheila had served on the search committee that found Louis Langrée, and Sheila possesses the inimitable ability to ensure that all voices are at the table and those voices are heard. With Peter and Sheila, we had the two best people to lead this search.”
With the co-chairs in place, the rest of the search committee was filled by Board members and musicians of the CSO. Five musicians to be more precise, which exceeds the stipulations in the Orchestra’s collective bargaining agreement.
“I feel beyond grateful to be part of the Music Director Search Committee,” says Elizabeth Freimuth, Principal Horn. “It is contractual for the Concertmaster, Stefani Matsuo, to sit on the committee, but the rest of the musicians were elected by our colleagues to represent them. That is a unique opportunity. We were not just asked to be on this committee based on our instrument or position in the Orchestra, but we were elected to it by our colleagues. We all have just been incredibly humble and grateful throughout this search.”
“We needed to articulate what it was we were looking for.”
—Sheila
Williams, co-chair of the Music Director Search Committee
The search for the 14th Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra began by not answering the question of who, but by answering the question of what does the Orchestra need and want from its next leader.
“Long gone are the days when a maestro would just go to the front of the stage, conduct from the podium, and that was it,” remarks Freimuth.
“The maestro made amazing music, everyone was impressed and the concert ended, and then you’d see them in another week. Now, it’s much more collaborative and the requirements are much, much more.”
Without question, the Orchestra needs a great conductor and a great artistic partner, but what else? What qualities does the Music Director of Cincinnati’s Orchestra need to possess?
“What a lot of people do not realize is that a music director is two jobs bundled into one,” states Martin. “There’s the principal conductor part of the job and the music director part. The CSO has to have a great conductor, but we need more. We need a person who understands the power of music to change lives, to enrich the community and who believes in their heart that this Orchestra is for the entire community.”
The search committee needed a touchstone to ensure every candidate was weighed against a standard set of criteria.
“We started with the CSO’s vision and mission, literally the center of the solar system,” remarks Landgren. “From there, the Search Committee built out a position profile that underwent countless iterations over many months. We began by articulating the musical and non-musical attributes we sought in the next CSO Music Director to allow the committee to align to the creative and human qualities we’re looking for in the CSO’s next leader.”
The position profile detailed the ideal candidate’s skills and characteristics, along with the requirements needed in the areas of leadership and inspiration, communication and collaboration, advocacy, personal responsibility, and creativity and vision. At the heart of each requirement was the CSO’s mission “to seek and share inspiration,” and its vision to “be the most relevant orchestra in America.”
But a position profile wasn’t the only thing provided to Music Director candidates. The CSO created a very detailed and transparent company profile that included things one might expect, like tour, recording and premiere information, but it also included detailed information on the CSO’s unique business model, an executive summary of every single program the CSO administers, detailed information about the City of Cincinnati and the CSO’s ongoing e orts to address digital content and innovation and advancements in diversity, equity and inclusion. The CSO wanted each candidate to know about Cincinnati’s Orchestra because it is unlike any other orchestra.
The thesis statement of the position profile is the Music Director’s mission “to create the
Jonathan Martin (Credit: Roger Mastroianni) and search committee co-chairs Sheila Williams (Credit: Tasha Pinelo) and Peter Landgren.
optimum space for music to flourish and inspire within a framework of innovation and relevance.”
As the CSO prepared to search for its next Music Director, conductors all over the world prepared to vie for the job.
Mӑcelaru + CSO: A Match
“Cristian Măcelaru has got it all.”
—Patrick Schleker, Principal Timpani, member of the Music Director Search Committee
“Cristi was obviously interested in the CSO because he had done his homework. He knew the history of the CSO and our legacy, but he also knew about how our Orchestra had developed over the last few years and the various aspects of the entire organization,” comments Concertmaster Stefani Matsuo. “He was incredibly knowledgeable about the CSO, and I feel like, in some areas, he knew more than some of us on the search committee. From my perspective, this demonstrated that Cristi was equally as interested in becoming a partner with this organization as we were in him.”
Măcelaru’s knowledge of the CSO wasn’t by accident. He had done his research.
“An orchestra picks a music director just as much as a music director picks an orchestra,” says Mӑcelaru. When Mӑcelaru found out that the CSO was interested in him being part of the search for the CSO’s next Music Director, he and his wife Cheryl immediately went into research mode.
“I had been in Cincinnati, I had conducted the Orchestra, but a guest conductor’s role and the music director’s role are so di erent in the sense that the music director is connected and linked to the mission and vision of the organization,” notes Mӑcelaru.
“What I discovered in my research was an incredible number of programs, ideas and work that the organization was doing that aligned more and more with the kind of ideas that I had for what an orchestra needs to represent in a community.”
That alignment between the CSO’s ideals and Mӑcelaru’s ideals didn’t go unnoticed by the search committee.
“Cristi has an intuitive sense of how an orchestra can build relevance in an American community,” remarks Martin. “He understands the power of classical music and orchestra music to bridge divides between di erences. And he is authentically interested, almost obsessed with unlocking that asset in an orchestra.”
When Mӑcelaru came for his “interview” week in January 2024, his goal wasn’t to win the job that was “the cherry on top.” Instead the goal was to experience this Orchestra in real life and relate his research to the actual people of the organization.
“When you do research and you haven’t yet met the faces behind the research,” muses Mӑcelaru, “one’s mind starts to build a certain ideal.”
“Having seen all these things that were so well-thought-of and wonderfully conceived, I just assumed that everyone had lived several lives already,” remarked Mӑcelaru. “Then I arrived in Cincinnati and everybody that I met was young, hip, cool and wonderful. Of course, what the research I did could not portray was the warmth and the beautiful atmosphere that is created in the organization. And this was something that, of course, I knew from the stage, and it had always been there, but I didn’t have that experience with the behind-the-scenes team.”
Organizational culture is something that the CSO prizes and is part of its ongoing work of inclusion in the workplace. Organizational culture isn’t bottom up or top down. Everyone in the organization must adhere to its ideals; therefore, the CSO needed a new Music Director who could echo the culture and atmosphere the CSO worked so hard to create. The CSO found its match in Mӑcelaru.
“An important element of Cristi’s personality is how he listens to you and the way he responds to what you say,” says Freimuth. “It sounds very simple, but it’s actually a rare quality. And this quality is baked into Cristi’s personality.”
Search committee co-chair Sheila Williams reflects on a conversation she had with Mӑcelaru at a cocktail party.
Subscribe to the CSO's YouTube channel and watch the three-part docuseries: Introducing Cristian Măcelaru.
“There were a few people in the room, food on tables, clinking glasses, but when Cristi and I were talking, he was completely focused on our conversation. He wasn’t looking over my shoulder to see who’s next. Or what’s next. Or what’s going on at the drinks table. He was focused on me. He was present in that conversation.”
Williams pauses, thinking for
Music Director Designate Cristian Măcelaru on the podium at Cincinnati’s Music Hall in February 2025, for the first time since his appointment. (Credit: Mark Lyons)
a moment before continuing. “That intensity of focus, whether it’s on a personal level, or if it’s when he’s speaking with the principal viola, is important, because you know he’s talking to you and he’s focused on you.”
Mӑcelaru matched the CSO’s philosophies and culture, but what about his musicianship?
“The electricity, the snap-crackle of the musicmaking itself that reaches out and grabs you,” observes Martin. “If Cristi is a conduit between the audience and the orchestra and the orchestra and the composer, the audience is going to feel that connection. He is an exciting music-maker. I’ve heard him conduct a number of orchestras, and Cristi always has that sizzle. It’s like sticking your finger in the wall outlet.”
“Cristian Mӑcelaru has got it all. He has
experience conducting the core repertoire with the Orchestre National de France and WDR Sinfonieorchester, and he has new music experience, which is critical for our Orchestra’s survival, with the Cabrillo Festival,” remarks Patrick Schleker, Principal Timpani and member of the search committee. “Also, Mӑcelaru values and understands the importance of music education and musical advocacy, which are the keys to any orchestra’s future. He’s really got everything we need.”
he has new music the Festival,”
Fanfare Magazine had one final question for Jonathan Martin: How do you hope the CSO will be di erent in 10 years or so with Cristi at the helm?
“I want us to be able to look at ourselves collectively in the mirror and be able to truthfully say that we are the Orchestra for everybody.”
When President Jed Bartlet in Cristi’s favorite TV show, The West Wing, was ready for whatever lay ahead and wanted to spur his team on, Bartlet uttered his now immortal phrase, “What’s next?” The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has the talent both on and o the stage, supporters who care deeply for the mission and vision of the organization, and a new era about to begin, so, “What’s next?”
Principal Horn Elizabeth Freimuth, Concertmaster Stefani Matsuo and Principal Timpani Patrick Schleker, three of the five Orchestra members on the search committee. (Credit: Roger Mastroianni)
In February 2025, Music Director Designate Cristian Măcelaru takes his first bow alongside the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since his appointment in April 2024. (Credit: Mark Lyons)
CSO Percussionists Answer
‘What was your first concert?’
First concert experiences often create lasting impressions. So we asked our Orchestra percussionists about their memories of their first concert.
Joe Bricker
Associate Principal Timpani and Section Percussion
Morleen & Jack Rouse Chair
Patrick Schleker
Principal Timpani
Matthew & Peg Woodside Chair
David Fishlock
Principal Percussion
Susan S. & William A. Friedlander Chair
Bu alo Philharmonic
The first time I heard a symphony orchestra live, I knew that’s what I wanted to do when I grew up!
Earth, Wind & Fire
My first concert was Earth, Wind & Fire at Ravinia in Chicago when I was maybe 8 years old, and I distinctly remember a middle-aged conga line around the lawn and I thought to myself, “yeah, this rocks.”
Ravinia Summer Jazz
Series/Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Probably one of the Ravinia Summer Jazz series, curated by Ramsey Lewis. I wish I could remember who the artists were! My first orchestral concert was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, playing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.
Jazz was a big part of my upbringing, and my dad fostered a love of that for as long as I can remember. To this day, it is always in my playlist. part
FIRST VIOLINS
Stefani Matsuo
Concertmaster
Anna Sinton Taft Chair
Felicity James
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
Nicholas Tsimaras–
Peter G. Courlas Chair++
Anna Reider
Dianne & J. David Rosenberg Chair
Mauricio Aguiar§
Anne G. & Robert W. Dorsey Chair
Minyoung Baik
Jo Ann & Paul Ward Chair
James Braid
Marc Bohlke Chair given by Katrin & Manfred Bohlke
Rebecca Kruger Fryxell
Clifford J. Goosmann &
Andrea M. Wilson Chair
Elizabeth Furuta
Gerald Itzkoff
Jean Ten Have Chair
Joseph Ohkubo
Luo-Jia Wu
Jonathan Yi
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§
Sheila and Christopher Cole Chair
Rose Brown
Rachel Charbel
Ida Ringling North Chair
Chika Kinderman
Charles Morey
Hyesun Park
Paul Patterson
Charles Gausmann Chair++
Stacey Woolley
Brenda & Ralph Taylor Chair++
VIOLAS
Christian Colberg
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
CRISTIAN MӐCELARU,
Music Director Designate
Louise Dieterle Nippert & Louis Nippert Chair
JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL, Cincinnati Pops Conductor
Louise Dieterle Nippert & Louis Nippert Chair
Matthias Pintscher, CSO Creative Partner
Damon Gupton, Pops Principal Guest Conductor
Louis Langrée, Music Director Laureate
Samuel Lee, Associate Conductor
Ashley and Barbara Ford Chair
Daniel Wiley, Assistant Conductor
Ashley and Barbara Ford Chair
CELLOS
Ilya Finkelshteyn
Principal
Irene & John J. Emery Chair
Lachezar Kostov *
Ona Hixson Dater Chair
Norman Johns**
Karl & Roberta Schlachter
Family Chair
Drew Dansby§
Daniel Kaler
Peter G. Courlas–
Nicholas Tsimaras Chair++
Nicholas Mariscal
Marvin Kolodzik & Linda S. Gallaher Chair for Cello
Hiro Matsuo
Laura Kimble McLellan Chair++
Alan Rafferty
Ruth F. Rosevear Chair
Tianlu (Jerry) Xu
BASSES
Owen Lee
Principal
Mary Alice Heekin Burke Chair++
Luis Celis*
Thomas Vanden Eynden Chair
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
Patricia Gross Linnemann Chair
OBOES
Dwight Parry
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++
CLARINETS
Christopher Pell
Principal
Emma Margaret & Irving D.
Goldman Chair
Joseph Morris*
Associate Principal and E-flat Clarinet
Robert E. & Fay Boeh Chair++
Ixi Chen
Vicky & Rick Reynolds Chair in honor of William A. Friedlander
BASS CLARINET
Ronald Aufmann
BASSOONS
Christopher Sales
Principal
Emalee Schavel Chair++
Martin Garcia*
Hugh Michie
CONTRABASSOON
Jennifer Monroe
HORNS
Elizabeth Freimuth
Principal
Mary M. & Charles F. Yeiser Chair
David Alexander
Acting Associate Principal
Ellen A. & Richard C. Berghamer
Chair
Molly Norcross** ‡
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 [OPEN]
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
TUBA
Christopher Olka
Principal
Ashley & Barbara Ford Chair
TIMPANI
Patrick Schleker
Principal
Matthew & Peg Woodside Chair
Joseph Bricker*
Morleen & Jack Rouse Chair
PERCUSSION
David Fishlock
Principal
Susan S. & William A. Friedlander Chair
Michael Culligan*
Joseph Bricker
Morleen & Jack Rouse Chair
Marc Wolfley+
KEYBOARDS
Michael Chertock
James P. Thornton Chair
Julie Spangler+
James P. Thornton Chair
CSO/CCM DIVERSITY
FELLOWS
Lucas Ferreira Braga, violin
Melissa Peraza, viola
Manuel Papale, cello
Caleb Edwards, double bass
Wendell Rodrigues da Rosa, double bass
LIBRARIANS
Christina Eaton
Principal Librarian
Lois Klein Jolson Chair
Elizabeth Dunning
Associate Principal Librarian
Cara Benner
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
CRISTIAN MĂCELARU
Music Director Designate
Louise Dieterle Nippert & Louis Nippert Chair
Grammy-winning conductor Cristian Măcelaru is the Music Director Designate of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, artistic director of the George Enescu Festival and Competition, music director of the Orchestre National de France, artistic director and principal conductor of the Interlochen Center for the Arts’ World Youth Symphony Orchestra, music director and conductor of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and chief conductor of the WDR Sinfonieorchester in Cologne, where he will serve through the 2024–25 season and continue as artistic partner for the 2025–26 season.
Măcelaru recently appeared at the Paris 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony, which was broadcast to 1.5 billion viewers worldwide. He led the Orchestre national de France and Chœur de Radio France in the performance of the Olympic Anthem as the Olympic Flag was raised at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Măcelaru and the Orchestre national de France continue their 2024–25 season with tours throughout France, Germany, South Korea and China. Guest appearances include his debuts with the Oslo Philharmonic and RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Turin as well as returns with the Wiener Symphoniker, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in Europe. In North America, Măcelaru leads the Pittsburgh Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Măcelaru’s previous seasons include European engagements with the Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Concertgebouworkest, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Staatskapelle Berlin and Budapest Festival Orchestra. In North America, he has led the New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Chicago and Boston symphony orchestras.
In 2020, he received a Grammy for conducting the Decca Classics recording of Wynton Marsalis’ Violin Concerto with Nicola Benedetti and The Philadelphia Orchestra. His most recent album features Enescu’s Symphonies and two Romanian Rhapsodies with the Orchestre National de France, released on Deutsche Grammophon and winner of the 2024 Diapason d’Or of the Year and 2025 International Classical Music Awards.
JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL
Cincinnati Pops Conductor
Louise Dieterle Nippert & Louis Nippert Chair
John Morris Russell’s (JMR) embrace of America’s unique voice and musical stories has transformed how orchestral performances connect and engage with audiences. As conductor of the Cincinnati Pops since 2011, the wide range and diversity of his work as a musical leader, collaborator and educator continues to reinvigorate the musical scene throughout Cincinnati and across the continent. As Music Director of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina, JMR conducts the classical series as well as the prestigious Hilton Head International Piano Competition.
A Grammy-nominated artist, JMR has worked with leading performers from across a variety of musical genres, including Aretha Franklin, Emanuel Ax, Amy Grant and Vince Gill, Garrick Ohlsson, Rhiannon Giddens, Hilary Hahn, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Cynthia Erivo, Sutton Foster, George Takei, Steve Martin, Brian Wilson, Leslie Odom, Jr., Lea Salonga and Mandy Gonzalez. For over two decades, JMR has led the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s wildly successful Classical Roots initiative honoring and celebrating Black musical excellence. Guest artists have included Marvin Winans, Alton White, George Shirley, Common and Hi-Tek.
JMR has contributed seven albums to the Cincinnati Pops discography, including 2023’s holiday album JOY!. In 2015, he created the “American Originals Project,” which has won both critical and popular acclaim and features two landmark recordings: American Originals (the music of Stephen Foster) and the Grammynominated American Originals 1918 (a tribute to the dawn of the jazz age). The 2020 “American Originals” concert King Records and the Cincinnati Sound with Late Show pianist Paul Shaffer honored legendary recording artists associated with the Queen City. In the 2024–25 season JMR takes on the next installment of the project, offering a concert and recording celebrating the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance, and presents a national PBS broadcast of Rick Steves’ Europe: A Symphonic Journey. JMR’s American Soundscapes video series with the Pops and Cincinnati’s CET public television station, has surpassed one million views on YouTube since its launch in 2016.
Étude 1, pour les “cinq doigts” (d’après Monsieur Czerny)
Étude 2, pour les tierces
Étude 3, pour les quartes
Étude 4, pour les sixtes
Étude 5, pour les octaves
Étude 6, pour les huit doigts
Conrad TAO Improvisation for Lumatone (b. 1994)
INTERMISSION
Harold ARLEN “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz (1905–1986) trans. Tao
TAO Keyed In
Robert SCHUMANN No. 7, “Auf einer Burg,” from Liederkreis, Op. 39 (1810–1856) arr. Tao
DEBUSSY Études
Étude 7, pour les degrés chromatiques
Étude 8, pour les agréments
Étude 9, pour les notes répétées
Étude 10, pour les sonorités opposées
Étude 11, pour les arpèges composés
Étude 12, pour les accords
This performance is approximately 110 minutes long, including intermission.
The Conrad Tao Recital is made possible by an endowed gift from the Fund for Great Artists by Fred L. & Katherine H. Groll
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
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in-orchestra Steinway piano is made possible in part by the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trust
n ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Conrad Tao, piano
The 2024–25 season for pianist and composer Conrad Tao includes a return to Carnegie Hall in recital performing Debussy’s 12 Études alongside Keyed In, a work arranged and improvised by Tao on the Lumatone. He also returns to the San Francisco Symphony to perform Tchaikovsky with Nicholas Collon, the Dallas Symphony to perform Mozart with Jaap van Zweden, the St. Louis Symphony to perform Saint-Saëns with David Danzmayr, and the Baltimore Symphony to perform Mozart with Jonathon Heyward. Further appearances include the Indianapolis Symphony’s opening gala, as well as performances with the Seoul Philharmonic and with NDR Hannover and Ingo Metzmacher. He also continues his collaboration with award-winning dancer Caleb Teicher in a U.S. tour.
As a composer, his work has been performed by orchestras throughout the world; his first large-scale orchestral work, Everything Must Go, received its world premiere with the New York Philharmonic and its European premiere with the Antwerp Symphony. His companion piece to Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, titled Flung Out, was commissioned by the Santa Rosa Symphony, Aspen Music Festival and Omaha Symphony.
Tao was the recipient of a New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award for Outstanding Sound Design/Music Composition for his work on More Forever, in collaboration with dancer and choreographer Caleb Teicher. He is also the recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and was named a Gilmore Young Artist.
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
GIANCARLO GUERRERO conductor
MASABANE CECILIA RANGWANASHA soprano
Julia PERRY A Short Piece for Orchestra (1924–1979)
Richard STRAUSS Vier Letzte Lieder (“Four Last Songs”) (1864–1949) Frühling (“Spring”)
September
Beim Schlafengehen (“At Bedtime”)
Im Abendrot (“At Sunset”)
INTERMISSION
Ottorino RESPIGHI Fontane di Roma (“Fountains of Rome”) * (1879–1936)
SAT MAR 8, 7:30 PM
SUN MAR 9, 2 PM Music Hall
For exclusive content, such as full-length program notes and artist biographies, 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.
La fontana di Valle Giulia all’alba (“The Fountain of Valle Giulia at Dawn”)
La fontana del Tritone al mattino (“The Triton Fountain at Morn”)
La fontana di Trevi al meriggio (“The Fountain of Trevi at Mid-day”)
La fontana di Villa Medici al tramonto (“The Villa Medici Fountain at Sunset”)
RESPIGHI Pini di Roma (“Pines of Rome”) *
I pini di Villa Borghese (“The Pines of the Villa Borghese”)
Pini presso una catacomba (“Pines Near a Catacomb”)
I pini del Gianicolo (“The Pines of the Janiculum”)
I pini della via Appia (“The Pines of the Appian Way”)
*Movements of this piece are played attacca, meaning with little or no break between. These performances are approximately 115 minutes long, including intermission.
The CSO is grateful to CSO Season Sponsor Western & Southern Financial Group and Fort Washington Investment Advisors
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 May 11, 2025 at 8 pm, followed by 30 days of streaming at cincinnatisymphony.org/replay.
n ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
In 2024–25, six-time Grammy-winning conductor Giancarlo Guerrero marks his 16th and final season as music director of the Nashville Symphony, after which he will transition to the position of music director laureate. Throughout his tenure, Guerrero has championed the works of prominent American composers through commissions, recordings and world premieres. Starting with the 2025–26 season, Guerrero will serve as music director of the Sarasota Orchestra.
This season also includes return engagements with major American orchestras, including those of San Francisco, Seattle, Boston and Cincinnati, with international engagements including those with Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo in Brazil, Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie in Saarbrücken, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia and Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra.
Guerrero recently completed a six-season tenure as music director of the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic and previously held posts as principal guest conductor of both The Cleveland Orchestra’s Miami Residency and the Gulbenkian Symphony in Lisbon; music director of the Eugene Symphony and associate conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra.
Born in Nicaragua, Guerrero immigrated during his childhood to Costa Rica, where he joined the local youth symphony. He studied percussion and conducting at Baylor University in Texas and earned his master’s degree in conducting at Northwestern. giancarlo-guerrero.com
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, soprano
Rising star Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha won the Song Prize at the 2021 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition and is a current BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist. Most recently, Rangwanasha was awarded the 2024 Herbert von Karajan Prize.
In 2024–25, Rangwanasha performs Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Munich Philharmonic Orchestra (Nicholas Collon) and Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with the Royal Sinfonia (Dinis Sousa) and London Symphony Orchestra (Sir Antonio Pappano), and returns to the role of Liù in concert performances of Turandot with the Minnesota Orchestra (Thomas Søndergård). Rangwanasha performs Verdi’s Requiem at the Wiener Konzerthaus (Daniel Harding), Bergen Philharmonic (Jader Bignamini) and International Maifestspiele Wiesbaden (Leo McFall) and returns to the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Daniel Harding). Other highlights this season include Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with The Hallé (Kachun Wong), Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Oxford Philharmonic (Marios Papadopoulos), Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra (Sir Antonio Pappano), Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (Oscar Jockel), Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder with Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Poulenc’s Stabat Mater at Teatro Regio Torino, and she returns to the Wigmore Hall.
As a child born during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, Julia Perry traversed a world that held significant potentiality and possibility. Perry was only nine years old when Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1 in E Minor was debuted by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The cultural space that Price and the generation of Black women musicians and composers created during the intra-war years provided the springboard for Perry’s ascendance to international acclaim during the decade that followed World War II.
Julia Amanda Perry was born in Lexington, KY in 1924, but spent her formative years in Akron, Ohio. The city nurtured the talents and creative energy of Perry and her siblings. She studied piano, voice and violin in high school and, upon graduation, enrolled at the Westminster Choir College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in 1947 and a master’s degree a year later. It was during her years at Westminster that Perry first acknowledged her interest in composition and conducting. Her desire to continue to develop her skills in both led her in 1948 to move to New York, where she met conductor Piero Bellugi. Impressed by the sketches of her Stabat Mater, Bellugi introduced Perry to his mentor, the serialist composer Luigi Dallapiccola.
In the summer of 1951, Perry began studying composition with Dallapiccola at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood. She completed and premiered her Stabat Mater, which would become one of her most performed works, during this period.
Dallapiccola convinced Perry to move to Florence, Italy to continue her studies. During her first year in Europe, Perry began work on A Short Piece for Orchestra, which was premiered in 1952 by the Turin Symphony. The composition exemplified how Perry helped advance the Black postwar concert aesthetic with her employment of serial techniques, complex contrapuntal phrases and unique instrumental settings.
In the years that followed its premiere Perry revised the work. Originally written for chamber orchestra, Perry expanded the instrumentation to full orchestra in 1955 [the CSO is performing the smaller chamber orchestra version at these concerts]. That same year, the work was premiered in the U.S. by the Little Society Orchestra. A decade later, the New York Philharmonic debuted and recorded A Short Piece for Orchestra. The performance signified Perry as the first Black woman composer to have a work performed by that orchestra.
—Dr. Tammy L. Kernodle
Born: March 25, 1924, Lexington, Kentucky Died: April 24, 1979, Akron, Ohio
Born: June 11, 1864, Munich, Germany
Died: September 8, 1949, GarmischPartenkirchen, Germany
Richard Strauss: Vier Letzte Lieder (“Four Last Songs”)
n Composed: 1947–48
n Premiere: May 22, 1950 in London, Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting with Kirsten Flagstad, soprano
Strauss largely withdrew from public life after 1935 to his villa at GarmischPartenkirchen in the Bavarian Alps. He lived there throughout World War II, spared the physical ravages of the conflict but deeply wounded by the loss of many friends and by the bombing of Dresden, Munich and Vienna. In October 1945, under the threat of being called before the Denazification Board, he moved to Switzerland, where he lived for the next four years, and where he composed a concerto for oboe, the Duet Concertino for Clarinet, Bassoon and Strings, and the surpassingly beautiful Four Last Songs
At the end of 1946, Strauss read Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff’s poem Im Abendrot (“At Sunset”), in which an aged couple, having moved together through the world for a lifetime, look at the setting sun and ask, “Is that perhaps death?” The words matched precisely Strauss’ feelings of those years, and he determined to set the poem for soprano and orchestra. The first sketches for the song appeared early in 1947, and the piece was completed by May 1948. During that time, a friend sent Strauss a volume of poems by Hermann Hesse, and from that collection Strauss chose four verses to form a five-song cycle with the Eichendorff setting. The Hesse pieces were composed between July and September 1948, making them the final works Strauss completed. (He never finished the last of the Hesse songs.) He died quietly at his Garmisch home exactly one year later.
Each of the magnificent Four Last Songs treats metaphorically the approach of death — through images of rebirth in spring, autumn, rest and sunset — by returning one final time to the soprano voice, for which he had written so much glorious music throughout his career. In these moving creations, Strauss left what British musicologist Neville Cardus described as “the most consciously and most beautifully delivered Abschied [‘farewell’] in all music.” As though bringing round full the cycle of his life’s work, Strauss quoted in the closing pages of Im Abendrot a theme from his tone poem Death and Transfiguration, written six decades earlier in 1889.
—Dr. Richard E. Rodda
Born: July 9, 1879, Bologna, Italy
Died: April 18, 1936, Rome, Italy
Ottorino Respighi: Fontane di Roma (“Fountains of Rome”)
n Composed: 1916
n Premiere: March 11, 1917, Augusteo Orchestra, Rome, Antonio Guarnieri conducting n Instrumentation: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, chime, crash cymbals, glockenspiel, suspended cymbals, triangle, 2 harps, celeste, organ, piano, strings
n Duration: approx. 15 minutes
Orchestral music had, by the first decades of the 20th century, experienced a revival in Italy, after a 19th century when musical taste and national spirit was focused on opera, and Rome became Italy’s most active city for orchestral music-making. Large orchestral ensembles were still a novelty at the time, and Ottorino Respighi delighted in the colorful kaleidoscopic sounds the instruments of the orchestra could produce.
In 1913, Respighi moved to Rome, where he became professor of composition at the Liceo Musicale di Santa Cecilia. As he settled into his new post, he devoted his energies to purely orchestral music, beginning with his largescale Sinfonia drammatica. He was soon inspired by the fountains of the city, perceiving their bubbling waters as the voice of Rome, and he wanted to make them sing in his music.
In four continuous movements, Respighi’s Fountains of Rome takes the audience on a tour of the city’s most famous fountains, musically depicting each site at the time of day it would appear most beautiful. This expressive approach has the effect of a plein air portrait, transporting the listeners to specific times and places to immerse them in meaningful experiences. In the preface of his score, Respighi included a detailed program poetically describing each scene he depicted in his music, starting with the following summary:
In this symphonic poem, the composer has endeavored to give expression to the sentiments and visions suggested to him by four of Rome’s fountains, contemplated at the hour in which their character is most in harmony with the surrounding landscape, or in which their beauty appears most impressive to the observer.
—Dr. Rebecca Schreiber
Ottorino Respighi: Pini di Roma (“Pines of Rome”)
n Composed: 1924
n Premiere: December 14, 1924, Augusteo Orchestra, Rome, Bernardino Molinari conducting
n Instrumentation: 3 flutes (incl. piccolo), 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 6 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, crash cymbals, glockenspiel, nightingale tape, ratchet, small cymbals, tam-tam, tambour de Basque, triangle, harp, celeste, organ, piano, strings n Duration: approx. 23 minutes
As Ottorino Respighi’s reputation grew after the success of his Fountains of Rome, he began to travel extensively. He conducted his music on both sides of the Atlantic, and he occasionally performed his own piano solo compositions and accompanied singers as they interpreted his songs. Respighi also envisioned two sequels to Fountains of Rome, continuing his Roman trilogy with showpieces expressing other dimensions of the city in his rich and colorful orchestral writing. Pines of Rome and Roman Festivals became linked to the Fountains of Rome, both in the public mind and in recordings and performances throughout the decades.
As he had done in Fountains of Rome, Respighi composed Pines of Rome in expressive and picturesque orchestral colors that evoke the subject of the music. His musical sequel again takes the form of four continuous movements that guide the audience on a tour through time and space. Each movement illustrates a scene of life and nature surrounding a particular site of the iconic pine trees of Rome. The musical tour moves geographically around the perimeter of Rome, and, like Fountains of Rome, it traces the course of a day fading to night and reaching dawn again. Pines of Rome features another layer of temporality in its evocation of history, stretching from the contemporary city back through early Christianity to the Roman Republic. The piece also suggests a narrative trajectory beginning with children pretending to be soldiers and ending with the footsteps of an army. Notably, the third movement features the recorded sound of a real nightingale; Respighi was the first composer to include a phonograph record alongside the standard orchestral instruments.
—Dr. Rebecca
Schreiber
NOTABLE: Ottorino Respighi Conducted the CSO Three Times
February 1926: Respighi conducted his Ancient Airs and Dances for the Lute, Set 2 and Pines of Rome. He was piano soloist for his Concerto in the Mixolydian Mode, conducted by Ralph Lyford.
January 1927: Respighi conducted his Ancient Airs and Dances for the Lute, Set 1, Il tramonto (“The Sunset”), Overture to Belfagor, Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome
February 1929: Respighi conducted his Trittico botticelliano (“Botticelli Triptych”), Fountains of Rome and Vetrate di chiesa (“Church Windows”).
Proud to Play a Supporting Role
Thank you to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for bringing exceptional performances to our community! Foundation
SAT MAR 15, 7:30 PM Music Hall
JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL, conductor
CLASSICAL ROOTS COMMUNITY CHOIR, Jason Alexander Holmes, resident conductor
CINCINNATI BLACK THEATRE COMPANY LITURGICAL DANCERS
IJO-UGO WEST AFRICAN PERFORMING ARTS
REVOLUTION DANCE THEATRE
MEMBERS OF THE NOUVEAU PROGRAM, Marion Peraza, artistic advisor and coach
Q-KIDZ DANCERS
AC LINCOLN, tap dancer
Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing (Text on p. 33)
Nigerian Dances Nos. 1 and 3
“Ring Shout” from Four Black American Dances
James Weldon Johnson
Samuel Akpabot
Carlos Simon
“A Real Slow Drag” from Treemonisha Scott Joplin
Danse Negre
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Happy Pharrell Williams
Gimme a Fifth O’ Funk Ludwig van Beethoven
INTERMISSION
This performance is approximately 100 minutes long, including intermission.
Foundation
continued
The CSO is grateful to IDEA Series Sponsor Fifth Third Foundation, Performance Sponsor JRH Consultants, Show Sponsor Metro and Digital Access Partner CVG Airport Authority
The Classical Roots Concert is made possible by The National Endowment for the Arts
The Nouveau Program is generously sponsored by The Queen City (OH) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated
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
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 15, 2025 at 8 pm, followed by 30 days of streaming at cincinnatisymphony.org/replay.
Stompin’ at the Savoy Edgar Sampson I’ve Been ‘Buked Hall Johnson
The Mooche Edward K. (“Duke”) Ellington
Caravan Juan Tizol and Edward K. (“Duke”) Ellington
The Charleston
Anthem of Praise
Electric Boogie (The Electric Slide)
For exclusive content, such as full-length program notes and artist biographies, 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 subject to change.
James P. Johnson
Richard Smallwood
Bunny Wailer
Souvenir de Florence | March 16/17, 2025
Tchaikovsky portrays his fond memories of Italy through the rich sonority of six strings in his Souvenir de Florence. This program also features a string quintet by a young and inspired Mozart and Arensky’s imaginative quartet with two cellos, dedicated to the memory of his close colleague, Tchaikovsky.
New York’s Finest | April 13/14, 2025
Experience the extraordinary New York Philharmonic String Quartet in a program featuring Haydn’s charm and spirit and Florence Price’s romantic sensibility influenced by spirituals, blues, and folk music. Dvořák’s folk influences shine in his quartet, displaying rhythmic energy and graceful lyricism that rival the great Viennese masters.
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.
African-American Chamber of Commerce
American Red Cross, Greater Cincinnati-Dayton Region
Closing the Health Gap
d.e. Foxx and Associates, Inc.
The Voice of Your Customer
JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL, conductor
Turn to p. 21 for a biography of Cincinnati Pops Conductor John Morris Russell.
CLASSICAL ROOTS COMMUNITY CHOIR
Jason Alexander Holmes, resident conductor
Jason Alexander Holmes is a music educator and performer from Ridgeway, Virginia and serves as the associate director of choruses for the Cincinnati May Festival. Before coming to Cincinnati, he was director of educational programming at the Boston Children’s Chorus. Prior to his time in Boston, Holmes taught music at the elementary and secondary levels in Rochester, NY. He also led the University of Rochester Gospel Choir and the Eastman Young Children’s Chorus. Holmes holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Ithaca College.
Choirs under Holmes’ 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 di erent musical worlds. Pedagogically, Holmes is committed to implementing culturally responsive practices in music education. He has given workshops and taught sessions on this topic at professional development seminars, schools and conferences.
At the core of Holmes’ 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.
Classical Roots Community Choir. For more than 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 Resident Conductor Jason Alexander Holmes and made up of singers from more than 50 churches who perform in concerts and other collaborations throughout the year.
Community Choir Leaders this season are Jason Alexander Holmes, 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.
Classical Roots Community Choir singers represent the following area churches and choirs:
Abundant Life Apostolic Church
Allen Temple
Baldwin Grove
Bethel AME
Bethel Church of Walnut Hills
Beulah Baptist
Carmel Presbyterian Church
Chatfield College
Christ Emmanuel Christian Fellowship
Church of the Resurrection
City Gate Church
Clifton United Methodist Church
College Hill Presbyterian Church
Corinthian Baptist Church
Crossroads Community Church—Mason
Crossroads Community Church—Oakley
Delta Sigma Theta
Every Nation Cincinnati Church
First Baptist of West College Hill
Greater Liberty Church
Greater New Hope Missionary Baptist
Heirs Covenant
Holy Name Catholic Church
Israel Baptist Church
Lifespring Christian Church
Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church
Madisonville Mission Ministries
Mt. Herman Missionary Baptist Church
Mt. Zion Baptist—Woodlawn
Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church—Glendale
New Jerusalem Apostolic Temple
New Jerusalem Baptist
New Life Temple
New Nazarene Pleasant Hill Baptist Church
New Prospect Baptist
New Vision Missionary Baptist
New Vision UMC
Overflow Ministries Covenant Church
People’s Church
Pilgrim Baptist (Hamilton)
Power and Faith Ministries
Praise Tabernacle Apostolic Church
Quinn Chapel
Rockdale Baptist
St Andrew Episcopal Church
St Anthony Catholic Church
St Mark Missionary Baptist
St. John Fisher Baptist Church
St. John Fisher Catholic Church
St. John’s Unitarian Universalist
St. Maximilian Kolbe Church
St. Peter’s United Church of Christ
St. Simon of Cyrene Episcopal Church
Sunrise Presbyterian Church
The Links Inc. Queen City Chapter
The Well
Towns Chapel
Union Baptist
Willing Spirit Baptist Church
Zion Baptist
as of February 4, 2025
CINCINNATI BLACK THEATRE COMPANY LITURGICAL DANCERS
The mission of the Cincinnati Black Theatre Company (CBTC) is to keep alive the spirit of Black Theatre by offering top-notch theatrical productions, performance and employment opportunities, children’s theatre, educational programs and community outreach in all aspects of theatre arts. CBTC is committed to increasing literacy, promoting diversity and multiculturalism, pursuing community outreach and collaborations, and providing access to the arts.
CBTC was officially formed after successfully producing the 1998 and 2000 Midwest Regional Black Theatre Festivals, which it continues to produce biennially at venues throughout Greater Cincinnati and surrounding areas. It has enlightened over one million people throughout the Tri-State region and beyond about the wealth and value found in African American theatre, culture and history. People of all cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds and ages are invited to participate and attend. CBTC programs and activities cover Greater Cincinnati and the Tri-State region and serve children and adults from diverse populations, the majority being a broad cross-section of African Americans, with an educational focus on disadvantaged youth, ages 4–21, from typically underserved communities.
IJO-UGO WEST AFRICAN PERFORMING ARTS
Ijo Ugo Performing Arts LLC is a Cincinnati-based theatrical and performing arts company that preserves and promotes African cultural heritage through education, authentic theatrical entertainment and community engagement.
The company uses music and dance to conjoin the rich and vibrant African and American art forms to educate and entertain, as well as engage the community in cultural exploration.
REVOLUTION DANCE THEATRE
Revolution Dance Theatre (RDT) is a ballet company that creates professional theatre and dance opportunities for African Americans. Intent on inclusion, RDT concerts and classes challenge traditional perceptions of ballet, but more importantly, challenge traditional perceptions around Blackness.
Entering just their third professional performance season, what RDT lacks in legacy they make up for in impact. RDT is the only African American dance company in residence at Cincinnati’s Aronoff Center for the Arts, is responsible for the region’s only professional African American Nutcracker experience, “Hot Chocolate,” and was the first ballet company in Cincinnati to hire a Black woman in 16 years.
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 age-appropriate workshops and activities. Nouveau ensembles include Novice, Apprentice, Chamber Players and Winds. The Nouveau Program is supported by the CSO’s Multicultural Awareness Council, Journey Steel, The Charles H. Dater Foundation, Queen City (OH) Chapter of The Links Incorporated and Ohio Arts Council
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 award-winning 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 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
Carmen DeAtley-Rosales
Julia Lancman
Cecilia Lehmann
Sarah Perpignan
Viola
Christina Lehmann
Kasinda Willingham
Q-KIDZ DANCERS
Cello
Shaylin King
Nathan Lehmann
John Opalinski
Jayden Thrasher
Kallea Willingham
Bass
Matteo Meli
Q-KIDZ Dance Team has been a vital part of the West End and downtown communities for over 40 years. Founded and operated by Marquicia Jones-Woods, who was later joined by her twin daughters Chariah and Mariah, Q-KIDZ provides a safe space for creative expression, communication and accountability. Most important, Q-KIDZ paves the way for the creation of bonds and a sisterhood through a shared passion for dance. It is these connections that provide the support for Q-KIDZ to develop the confidence, leadership and skills needed to excel within their communities. Q-KIDZ Dance Studio opens its doors to more than 100 youth annually and is a nationally recognized, respected and awardwinning dance team. Q-K-D-T, You Know!
AC LINCOLN, tap dancer
A modern day “song and dance man,” AC Lincoln is a world-class entertainer, singer, tap dancer, producer and Grammy-nominated songwriter.
A native New Yorker, AC Lincoln formerly shared the stage with tap dance greats (“The Hoofers”) including Jimmy Slyde, Buster Brown, Chuck Green and Savion Glover. Lincoln also continues to share the family stage, which includes sister, the widely acclaimed singer and songwriter Emily King.
In addition to writing, producing and arranging his own music, Lincoln has production credits on “Already There” from King’s The Switch and writing credit on the Grammy-nominated album Special Occasion for the single “Medal.”
AC Lincoln has entertained audiences across the globe performing with his all-star jazz band as well as with celebrated artists Nate Smith, The Hot Sardines, Mercedes Ellington, Brian Newman and Winard Harper. AC Lincoln is currently headlining premier clubs and venues throughout NYC and abroad, including The Jazz Club at Aman, The Django, Minton’s, Birdland, Fasano’s Baretto, Blue Note Tokyo and The Roundhouse London.
YOU ASKED FOR BETTER TRANSIT IN HAMILTON COUNTY
METRO DELIVERED:
7 24-hour routes, plus 24/7 Access Service
Better connections with 7 crosstown routes Service to over 93,393 more jobs
On-Demand Transit with MetroNOW!
Convenience with free WIFI and charging ports on buses, Transit app
Upgraded bus stops, and a New Transit Center
$300 million for improved roads, sidewalks, & bridges for Hamilton County
Driving towards the future with Bus Rapid Transit coming 2028
Ensuring mobility for all with $500,000 annually to low-income riders
THANKS TO YOU, METRO IS LEADING THE NATION IN POST-PANDEMIC RIDERSHIP RECOVERY!
WELCOME
Classical Roots: MAR 15
Queen City Chapter of The Links
Baldwin Grove
Clark Montessori
Lenora Castleberry Friends & Family
Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church
New Jerusalem Baptist Church
New Vision United Methodist Church
The Greater New Hope Missionary
Baptist Church
Thelma Thomas Friends & Family
Sunrise Presbyterian Church
CSO Fountains and Pines of Rome: MAR 8 & 9
Miami University Cello Society
(as of January 25, 2025)
Pops American Originals: MAR 21–23
Bayley at Green Township
Berkeley Square
Kelly Dehan and Rick Staudigel Friends & Family
Seasons Retirement Community
CSO Sheherazade: MAR 28 & 29
Seasons Retirement Community
Eureka High School Orchestra
CSO Alpine Symphony: APR 5 & 6
Susan Kight Friends & Family
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
Celebrating the magic that art brings to life.
PNC is proud to be the Pops Season Presenter and to support the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops. Thank you for mastering the art of making Greater Cincinnati a more beautiful place.
FRI MAR 21, 7:30 PM SAT MAR 22, 7:30 PM SUN MAR 23, 2 PM Music Hall
AMERICAN ORIGINALS: HARLEM RENAISSANCE
JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL conductor
MARCUS ROBERTS, THE MARCUS ROBERTS TRIO and the MODERN JAZZ GENERATION
MYKAL KILGORE vocalist
TATIANA MAYFIELD vocalist
ASYA LITTLE-GRAVES dancer
The Mooche
Alexander’s Ragtime Band
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Yamekraw
Hellfighters’ Blues CINCINNATI POPS CO-COMMISSION
Edward K. (“Duke”) Ellington
Irving Berlin
Fats Waller
James P. Johnson
Carlos Simon Are You Hep to That Jive? Cab Calloway
INTERMISSION
El manisero (“The Peanut Vendor”) Moisés Simons
“Lonely House” from Street Scene
Sophisticated Lady
Kurt Weill/Langston Hughes
Edward K. (“Duke”) Ellington
Harlem Edward K. (“Duke”) Ellington
St. Louis Blues W.C. Handy
Program subject to change.
The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra is grateful to Pops Season Presenter PNC, Concert Sponsors Kelly Dehan and Rick Staudigel and Digital Access Partner CVG Airport Authority
The Cincinnati Pops co-commission of Hellfighters’ Blues by Carlos Simon is generously supported by Kathy Grote
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
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in-orchestra Steinway piano is made possible in part by the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trust
For exclusive content, such as full-length artist biographies, 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.
Kelly Dehan and Rick Staudigel
KEITARO HARADA conductor ANNE AKIKO MEYERS violin
Yuzo TOYAMA Rhapsody for Orchestra (1931–2023)
Arturo MÁRQUEZ Fandango (b. 1950)
Folia Tropical
Plegaria (Prayer) (Chaconne) Fandanguito
INTERMISSION
Nikolai Sheherazade, Op. 35
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship (1844–1908)
The Tale of Prince Kalendar
The Young Prince and the Princess The Festival at Bagdad; The Sea; The Ship Goes to Pieces on a Rock FRI MAR 28, 7:30 PM SAT MAR 29, 7:30 PM Music Hall
For exclusive content, such as full-length program notes and artist biographies, 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.
These performances are approximately 120 minutes long, including intermission.
The CSO is grateful to CSO Season Sponsor Western & Southern Financial Group
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 18, 2025 at 8 pm, followed by 30 days of streaming at cincinnatisymphony.org/replay.
n ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Keitaro Harada, conductor
Named music director and artistic director designate for the Dayton Philharmonic for the 2024–25 season, former associate conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops Keitaro Harada will begin a five-year tenure as music and artistic director with the 2025–26 season. Other roles include music director of the Savannah Philharmonic since the 2020–21 season, permanent conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra since 2024, and principal guest conductor and artistic partner for the Aichi Chamber Orchestra since 2024. He has forged a close connection with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, with whom he appears frequently and has recorded three albums. Harada is a recipient of the 2023 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award and a six-time recipient of The Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award; in 2013, he was invited to the Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview.
In the 2024–25 season, Harada debuts with the Adelaide Symphony and makes his subscription debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Recent and upcoming highlights include engagements with the symphony orchestras of Houston, Seattle, NHK, Yomiuri Nippon, Osaka, Tokyo, Hawaii, Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Memphis, Louisiana, Charlotte, West Virginia, Tucson, Phoenix and Virginia, as well as the Osaka Philharmonic, Kanagawa Philharmonic, Nagoya Philharmonic, Japan Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic and Orquesta Filarmónica de Sonora in Mexico.
Anne Akiko Meyers, violin
Anne Akiko Meyers is a Grammy Award-winning violinist recognized as a muse and champion of many of today’s most important composers, commissioning and premiering many of their works.
Meyers’ recording of Márquez’s Fandango, a live performance with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic, received two Latin Grammy Awards: Best Classical Album and Best Contemporary Composition.
In the 2024–25 season, Meyers performs with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Music Festival, Sarasota Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in Mexico City and Vancouver Symphony. She will premiere Eric Whitacre’s Murmur with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
Meyers was born in San Diego and grew up in Southern California. She moved to New York at age 14 to study at The Juilliard School with Dorothy DeLay and with Masao Kawasaki and Felix Galimir, and she recorded her debut album of the Barber and Bruch violin concertos with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at 18.
An Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, in October 2024 Meyers was inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame. Meyers performs on Larsen Strings with the ex-Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesù, dated 1741.
n PROGRAM NOTES
Yuzo Toyama: Rhapsody for Orchestra
n Composed: 1960, revised in 2001
n Premiere: August 1960 in Tokyo by the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Hiroyuki Iwaki conducting
Yuzo Toyama was a leading musical figure in the history of post-World War II Japan. Born in Tokyo in 1930, Toyama began his composition studies at the Tokyo Music School with Kan’ichi Shimofusa, who had studied with Paul Hindemith in Berlin and introduced European stylistic elements into his compositions. In 1953, the year after Toyama graduated from the school, he helped found the group Yagi no Kai to promote Japanese music; a year later
he was appointed an apprentice conductor with the NHK Symphony Orchestra. From 1958 to 1960, Toyama studied composition and conducting in Vienna and participated in masterclasses in Salzburg with the eminent Austrian-born American conductor Erich Leinsdorf. Toyama rejoined the NHK Symphony Orchestra as assistant conductor upon his return home and went on to conduct all of the country’s major orchestras and hold important posts with orchestras in Osaka, Nagoya and Sendai. His many works — operas, ballets, symphonies, concertos, large choral compositions, numerous chamber pieces — melded the influences of Hindemith, Shostakovich, Bartók, Kodály and other 20thcentury European composers with traditional Japanese melodies, idioms and instruments. Toyama received numerous awards for his contributions to Japanese musical life, including the 1982 Suntory Music Award, the country’s most prestigious musical honor.
Toyama composed Rhapsody for Orchestra, his best-known work, as an encore for the 1960 around-the-world tour of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, which began on August 29 in India and ended in the United States on November 4 after visiting 24 cities in 12 countries. Toyama and Hiroyuki Iwaki shared the conducting duties; Iwaki led the premiere of Rhapsody at the send-o concert in Tokyo. For the Naxos recording of the work by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ryusuke Numajiri, Japanese musicologist Morihide Katayama wrote:
Rhapsody starts o with repeated claps of hyoshigi, a pair of woodblocks that are used in the Kabuki theater. A series of well-known Japanese folksongs follows: a children’s song, “Antagata dokosa,” appears on the trumpet; a fishermen’s work song from Hokkaido, “Soran-bushi,” is heard in the brass; a banquet song from Kyushu, “Tankou-bushi,” is presented by the strings; and another banquet song, “Kushimoto-bushi” from the Kansai area, is
played on the flute. A pack-horse driver’s song, “Oiwake-bushi” from the highlands of central Japan played softly on the flute, constitutes the middle part of the work, and “Yagi-bushi,” a festival song from Kanto, provides a fervent ending.
—Dr. Richard E. Rodda
Arturo Márquez: Fandango
n Composed: 2020
n Premiere: August 24, 2021 at the Hollywood Bowl by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel with Anne Akiko-Meyer as soloist n Instrumentation: solo violin, 3 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cajon, claves, crash cymbals, güiro, snare drum, harp, strings n Duration: approx. 30 minutes
Arturo Márquez was born in 1950 in Alamos in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora, where his father was a mariachi violinist. Arturo Sr. introduced his son to music and, when the family moved to Los Angeles in 1962, young Arturo was ready to begin studying violin and immersing himself in a variety of musical styles — “I spent my adolescence,” he recalled, “listening to [Mexican singer] Javier Solis, sounds of mariachi, The Beatles, The Doors, Carlos Santana and Chopin.” By the time the family returned to Sonora, when he was 17, he had started to compose, and the following year he was ready to become director of the municipal band in Navojoa. Márquez went to Mexico City in 1970 to begin his professional studies at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música, where he majored in piano and composition. From 1976 to 1979, he studied at the Institute of Fine Arts of Mexico, and a French government grant in 1980 enabled him to study in Paris with Jacques Castérède for two years; he then did his academic graduate work on a Fulbright scholarship at the California Institute of the Arts with Morton Subotnick, Mel Powell and James Newton.
Today one of Mexico’s most respected musicians, Márquez has taught at the National University of Mexico; held a residency at the National Center of Research, Documentation and Information of Mexican Music; fulfilled commissions from the Organization of American States, Universidad Metropolitana de México, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Festival del Caribe, Festival de la Ciudad de México, 1992 Seville World’s Fair and Rockefeller Foundation; and received, among many distinctions, Mexico’s National Prize for Arts and Sciences, Austrian Embassy’s Medalla Mozart and the Gold Medal of Fine Arts of Mexico, the first musician honored with the country’s highest award for artists.
Márquez wrote of his Concerto for Violin and Orchestra:
The fandango is known worldwide as a popular Spanish dance and, specifically, as one of the fundamental parts (Palos) of flamenco. Since its appearance around the 18th century, composers such as de Murcia, Domenico Scarlatti, Boccherini, Padre Soler, Mozart and others have included fandango in concert music. Soon after its appearance in Spain, the fandango moved to the Americas, where it acquired a personality adapted to the local cultures. It is still found in Ecuador, Colombia and Mexico, specifically in the state of Veracruz and the Huasteca area in eastern Mexico, where it accompanies a special festival for musicians, singers, poets and dancers in which everyone gathers around a wooden platform to stamp their feet, sing and improvise 10-line stanzas appropriate for the occasion. It should be noted that fandango and huapango have similar meanings in Mexico.
In 2018, I received an email from violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, a wonderful musician, in which she proposed writing a work for violin and orchestra rooted in Mexican music. The proposal interested me immediately, not just because of my admiration for her musicality and virtuosity but, above all, for her courage in proposing a concerto so out of the ordinary. I had already tried, unsuccessfully, to compose a violin concerto some 20 years earlier with
Born: December 20, 1950, Álamos, Mexico
ideas based on the Mexican fandango. I have known this music since I was a child, listening to it in the cinema and on the radio, and hearing my father, a mariachi violinist (Arturo Márquez, Sr.), interpret Huastecos and mariachi music. I would like to mention that the violin was my first instrument — when I was 14 I studied it in La Puente, California in Los Angeles County, in which same county, fortuitously, this concerto was premiered by Ms. Meyers, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel in August 2021. It was a beautiful coincidence that Fandango connects 18th-century California with the present day.…
—Dr. Richard E. Rodda
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Sheherazade, Op. 35
n Composed: 1888
n Premiere: October 28, 1888, Russian Symphony Concerts, St. Petersburg, RimskyKorsakov conducting
Although he received no formal training in composition, Nikolai RimskyKorsakov is widely considered to be a master of orchestration and an architect of Russian musical style. His interest in music began at a young age with private piano lessons, and, by the age of 10, he had created his first amateur compositions. Shortly afterward, Rimsky-Korsakov entered the Naval College in St. Petersburg; as he progressed in his naval career, though, he persisted in fueling his musical development by continuing piano lessons and attending operas in St. Petersburg.
At age 17, Rimsky-Korsakov made the acquaintance of composer Mily Balakirev, who became his music tutor and introduced him to the young composers Modest Mussorgsky and César Cui, as well as the critic Vladimir Stasov. With these introductions, Rimsky-Korsakov joined the ranks of a group of musicians whom Stasov later named the “Mighty Handful” and the “New Russian School.” They became a cohort promoting Russian musical nationalism in the 1860s, seeking to establish a national identity for Russia by foregrounding in their music folk idioms and a conventional Eastern style. They distanced themselves from the established Germanic symphonic tradition, instead composing operas as well as programmatic orchestral music following the progressive example of Franz Liszt and the New German School.
Rimsky-Korsakov embraced the aesthetics of the New Russian School in Sheherazade, his programmatic symphonic suite alluding to the well-known collection of folktales The Arabian Nights, or One Thousand and One Nights. In the story, Sheherazade seeks to become the wife of the brutal Sultan Shahryar, ruler of the Sasanian Empire, with a plan to overcome his cruelty. On their wedding night, Sheherazade begins to tell him a tale and leaves it unresolved, continuing her storytelling little by little each night. Her tales convey themes of magic, romance and adventure, and her storytelling keeps the Sultan intrigued and, thereby, keeps him from killing her. By the end of the one thousand and one nights of Sheherazade’s tales, the Sultan has undergone a transformation from brutal to merciful and grants Sheherazade her life.
Rimsky-Korsakov evoked the soundworld of The Arabian Nights through the musical style of the New Russian School. The four movements of the suite suggest various scenes of the folktales, and musical themes embodying Sheherazade and the Sultan return throughout the piece to reflect the narrative framework of Sheherazade telling her fantastical tales to the Sultan. However, as Rimsky-Korsakov explained in his autobiography, the themes of Sheherazade and the Sultan transform so that the listener can interpret the themes not just as the characters but as more dynamic elements weaving in and out of the stories.
—Dr. Rebecca Schreiber
Born: March 18, 1844, Tikhvin, Russia
Died: June 21, 1908, Lyubensk, Russia
SUN MAR 30, 7 pm, Music Hall
JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL, conductor
DANIEL WILEY, conductor
Joseph SOWA Fantasy on an Irish Tune (b. 1984)
Benjamin BRITTEN
Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes * (1913–1976)
Dawn: Lento e tranquillo
Sunday Morning: Allegro spiritoso
Moonlight: Andante comodo e rubato
Storm: Presto con fuoco
Nikolai Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34 * RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Alborado (1844–1908)
Variazioni
Alborado
Scena e canto gitano
Fandango asturiano
For program notes, please visit our digital program by texting PROGRAM to 513.845.3024.
*Movements of this piece are played attacca, meaning with little or no break between. This performance is approximately 60 minutes long. There is no intermission.
Support provided by The Charles H. Dater Foundation, The Unnewehr Foundation and Chemed Corporation
Fantasy on an Irish Tune was commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University and the American Composers Orchestra, with support from the Steven R. Gerber Trust
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is grateful for the support of the Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund of the Greenacres Foundation 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 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.
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
Steinway Pianos, courtesy of Willis Music, is the official piano of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops.
The Charles H. Dater Foundation
The Unnewehr Foundation
n ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL, conductor
Turn to p. 21 for a biography of Cincinnati Pops Conductor John Morris Russell.
DANIEL WILEY, conductor
Daniel Wiley has quickly become a notable young conductor on the rise, having made appearances with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Ballet, Kansas City Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Toledo Symphony, Orchestra Iowa & Quad City Ballet, Salisbury Symphony, Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Windsor Abridged Opera, London Symphonia, Boise Philharmonic, Abilene Philharmonic, Denali Chamber Orchestra, Meridian Symphony, Equilibrium Ensemble and the University of North Florida Opera.
Wiley currently holds posts as assistant conductor with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Kansas City Symphony, and he is the music director of the Salisbury Symphony in North Carolina.
During the pandemic, Wiley was instrumental in expanding the Windsor Symphony’s educational footprint by creating a digital education concert series that includes 12 hours of interactive music curriculum for schools. In 2019, Wiley was a prize recipient of both the Smoky Mountain International Conducting Institute and Competition and the Los Angeles International Conducting Competition. Wiley has also spent time conducting new music ensembles, including for the Musicbed Music and Film Corporation based in Fort Worth, Texas. He has also participated in the Composing in the Wilderness program as part of the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival in Fairbanks, Alaska.
As a former public-school music teacher, Wiley has a unique passion for music education and frequently donates his time as a guest clinician to support students and teachers in music programs across North America.
Vivian Chang won the 2025 CSYO Concerto Competition to perform on this year’s CSO/CSYO Side-By-Side concert. However, Chang’s high school orchestra is on tour and she is unable to perform. Chang will perform the third movement of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto at a future concert.
Vivian Chang, age 18, is a senior at Mason High School. She has been studying violin with Hong Cheng since age 4. Chang has served as concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestras, her school orchestra and OMEA’s Regional and All-State orchestras. In 2023, Chang was accepted into Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra NYO2, joining NYO’s Dominican Republic concert tour and cross-cultural activities.
Chang’s accomplishments in young artist and concerto competitions have earned her featured soloist opportunities with the Dayton Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, Blue Ash and Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, Mason Symphony and Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra.
Among her awards and prizes are first place and the Judges’ Distinction Award at the 2023 American Protégé International Concerto Competition, first prize at the 2024 Barcelona “Grand Prize Virtuoso” International Music Competition, winner of the 2024 Tri-State String Competition, first place winner of the 2022 Senior Strings Division in the Fiorito International Music Festival, and three-time state winner of the OMTA Buckeye Auditions. In 2024, Chang became a national finalist (one of seven finalists from 2,000+ entrants) of the Music Teachers National Association’s Senior Strings Performance Competition. Chang also was National Public Radio’s From the Top Finalist and will be featured on From the Top’s “Daily Joy” program in 2025.
FIRST VIOLIN
Vivian Chang, Concertmaster
Angela Tang, Assistant Concertmaster
Hollis Chan+ Andrew Cheng
Anna Christos
Marley Feng
Yuhan Gu
Paul Ku
Annie Li
Norika Oya
Ian Shang
Isabelle Tardivon
Ethan Yao
Yeming You
Irene Zhang
Emily Zhao
SECOND VIOLIN
Kieran Niska, Principal
Angelina Chen, Assistant Principal
Sophia Hamel+ Caitlin Hartley
Cecilia Lehmann
Julia Li
Will Oertel
Jubilee Shang
Alexander Wang
Kyle Wang
Mia Wang
Kenneth Wu
Raina Yang
Elizabeth Yeoh
VIOLA
Grace Yu, Principal
Maeve Henderson, Assistant Principal
Zamar Deering+ Ethan Goehring
Noah Huber
Seth Israel
Christy Kim
Lainie Stautberg
Kasinda Willingham
Alina Zhang
CELLO
Sonya Moomaw, Principal
Autumn Rinaldi, Assistant Principal
Lucy Beatty+ Lillian Duhaime
Nathan Lehmann
Jayden Lu
John Opalinski
Kate Wells
Kallea Willingham
Jihye Woo
Brandon Yang
DOUBLE BASS
Matteo Meli, Co-Principal
Aaron Scott, Co-Principal
Evan Butler+ Loki Wirman
FLUTE/PICCOLO
Maya Hansen
Grace Kim
Sam Waspe
Mingjia Zhang
OBOE/ENGLISH HORN
Ella Bill
Heather Bromwell
CLARINET
Hannah Huh
Rylan Palmer
Walter Piper IV
Liheng Wang
HORN
Lucas Elmore
Lucas Monjot
Jayce Mullins
Jordan Reid
Lily Wheatley
TRUMPET
Katie Koziel
Thomas Stricker
Trent Stricker
TROMBONE
Karna Gajjar
Tvasta Gajjar
Colin Van Niman
TUBA
Owen Kearney
PERCUSSION
Braeden Brown
Knox Dowell
Benjamin Hofmann
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.
The CSYO CCM Conducting Fellow for 2024–25 is Stephen Hardie
TUE APR 1, 7:30 PM
Music Hall Ballroom
Gioachino ROSSINI
Duetto in D Major for Cello and Double Bass (1792–1868)
Allegro
Andante molto
Allegro
Hiro Matsuo, cello
Boris Astafiev, double bass
Gabriel-Urbain FAURÉ
Piano Quintet No. 2, Op. 115 (1845–1924)
Allegro moderato
Allegro vivo
Andante moderato
Allegro molto
Kun Dong, violin
Elizabeth Furuta, violin
Gabriel Napoli, viola
Daniel Kaler, cello
Frank Huang, piano
INTERMISSION
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN
String Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3, Razumovsky (1770–1827)
Andante con moto—Allegro vivace
Andante con moto quasi allegretto
Menuetto: Grazioso
Allegro molto
Stefani Matsuo, violin
Gabriel Pegis, violin
Christian Colberg, viola
Ilya Finkelshteyn, cello
This performance is approximately 110 minutes long, including intermission.
The Winstead Chamber Series is endowed by a generous gift from the estate of former CSO musician WILLIAM WINSTEAD
YOU’RE INVITED to greet the musicians after the concert.
For exclusive content, such as full-length program notes and artist biographies, 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.
n PROGRAM NOTES
Gioachino Rossini: Duetto in D Major for Cello and Double Bass
n Composed: 1824
n Premiere: July 21, 1824 in London; David Salomons, cello and Domenico Dragonetti, bass
n Duration: approx. 15 minutes
Following the triumph of Semiramide in Venice during the spring of 1823, Rossini was engaged by Giambattista Benelli, the impresario of the King’s Theatre in London, to supervise a season of his operas there and to compose a new piece for that city. After a stop in Paris, Rossini and his wife, the celebrated Spanish soprano Isabella Colbran, arrived in the English capital on December 13, 1823, rather severely the worse for a pummeling endured during the crossing of the Channel. An invitation for an audience with George IV arrived at his lodgings in Regent Street two days later, but it was not until December 29 that Rossini had sufficiently recovered to meet the King. He was very warmly received by the court in the Pavilion at Brighton, where he was treated to a concert of his music by His Majesty’s personal orchestra. King and composer got on famously, and they met several times during the following six months to share supper and sing duets to Rossini’s piano accompaniments.
On July 26, 1824, Rossini left London, having won the admiration of the King, the applause of the public and the money of the aristocracy. A few days before his departure, however, Rossini composed an unusual new piece for cello and double bass for a party in his honor at the home of David Salomons, a wealthy British financier and, it must be assumed, also a keen amateur cellist.
The Duetto is a remarkably friendly work that calls for considerable refinement of technique and sonority from the participants.
—Dr. Richard E. Rodda
Gabriel-Urbain Fauré: Piano Quintet No. 2, Op. 115
n Composed: 1919
n Premiere: May 21, 1921 at the Paris Conservatoire, presented by the Société nationale de musique with Robert Lortat, pianist and Conservatoire faculty André Tourret and Victor Gentil, violin; Maurice Vieux, viola; and Gérard Hekking, cello n Duration: approx. 22 minutes
The Parisian musical world in the late 19th century was polarized between conservative and avant-garde elements and shaped by three distinct forces: the music societies, the conservatories and French music journalism. And though Gabriel Fauré would have preferred invisibility, he ended up as a figurehead for all three: as president of both the conservative nationalist Société nationale de musique and the progressive Société musicale indépendente, as director of the Conservatoire de Paris and as music critic for Le Figaro
By 1919, after running the Conservatoire for 14 years, Fauré was exhausted. His health had become poor due to a lifetime of heavy smoking, and, moreover, he was suffering a peculiar kind of hearing loss that distorted pitches in the extreme low and high ranges. When political tides turned and the government requested his resignation from the Conservatoire, he felt a sense of relief.
In September of that year, living back in Paris and recharged with a new surge of creativity, he was finally free to compose, uninterrupted. The result was a handful of chamber works that would eventually crown his career: the second cello sonata, the song cycle L’horizon chimérique, the piano trio, the string quartet and his Piano Quintet No. 2, of which Émile Vuillermoz of Le Temps wrote:
It has the youthful privilege of freshness, ardor, generosity and persuasive tenderness; it also possesses the sober gifts of wisdom, idealized passion, fine and delectable balance, and tranquil reason.
—Dr. Scot Buzza
Born: February 29, 1792, Pesaro Italy
Died: November 13, 1868, Paris, France
Born: May 12, 1845, Pamiers, France
Died: November 4, 1924, Paris, France
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3, Razumovsky
Composed: 1806
Premiere: February 1807
Duration: approx. 31 minutes
Beethoven’s set of three string quartets Op. 59, known as the Razumovsky Quartets after the Russian ambassador to Vienna who commissioned them, all challenged prevailing notions of what the string quartet was and what it could become. Not that Beethoven was any stranger to trying new things: his previous quartets, Op. 18, had tap-tap-tapped on the door to revolution. With Op. 59, Beethoven bashed that door in with a crowbar. The works flew in the face of the popular conception of chamber music as light, genteel entertainment for domestic consumption and instead challenged the listeners while also making extraordinary demands on the performers.
The dedicatee of the quartets, count Andrey Kirillovich Razumovsky, is largely celebrated as a dilettante and patron of the arts. Like many aristocrats of the time, Razumovsky was an excellent musician. He had fit in easily among his Viennese contemporaries Mozart and Haydn and had even sporadically studied composition with them. He had his own in-house string quartet, which provided a stable venue for regular performances of the newest o erings from the Viennese publishers.
In early 1806, Razumovsky approached Beethoven to commission a set of three string quartets. This commission came with a proviso: the count wished to honor his native land through the inclusion of Russian folk tunes in each of the quartets. Beethoven complied for the first two quartets of the set, but not the third, for which he resorted to fabricating a faux-Russian theme. All three motives feature prominently in the quartets, giving Op. 59 a clear Slavic flavor.
—Dr. Scot Buzza
Everyone has a story—the question is how it ends.
Born: December 16, 1770, Bonn, Germany Died: March 26, 1827, Vienna, Austria
Hamish MacCUNN
STRAUSS ALPINE SYMPHONY
SAT APR 5, 7:30 PM
SUN APR 6, 2 PM
Music Hall
SIR DONALD RUNNICLES conductor MARIA IOUDENITCH
violin
The Land of the Mountain and the Flood (1868–1916)
Felix MENDELSSOHN
Concerto in E Minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 64 * (1809–1847)
Allegro molto appassionato Andante
Allegretto non troppo. Allegro molto vivace
INTERMISSION
Richard STRAUSS
Eine Alpensinfonie (“An Alpine Symphony”), Op. 64 (1864–1949) Night
Sunrise
For exclusive content, such as full-length program notes and artist biographies, 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 Ascent Entering the Forest Wandering Near the Stream At the Waterfall Apparition On Blooming Meadows On the Alpine Pasture
Going Astray in Thicket and Underbrush On the Glacier Dangerous Moments At the Summit View
Fog Arises
The Sun Gradually Darkens Elegy
Calm Before the Storm Thunder and Storm Sunset
Vanishing Sound Night
The 22 tableaux of Eine Alpensinfonie unfold without breaks in between, creating a continuous journey that begins and ends with “Night” and depicts the marvels experienced along the way.
*Movements of this piece are played attacca, meaning with little or no break between.
These performances are approximately 125 minutes long, including intermission.
The CSO is grateful to CSO Season Sponsor Western & Southern Financial Group
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 25, 2025 at 8 pm, followed by 30 days of streaming at cincinnatisymphony.org/replay.
n ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Sir Donald Runnicles, conductor
Sir Donald Runnicles is music director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (DOB) and the Grand Teton Music Festival and has held chief artistic leadership roles at the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Opera and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He is also the principal guest conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and former principal guest conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Sir Donald was recently appointed as chief conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic, beginning with the 2025–26 season.
Runnicles’ 2024–25 season began with a 70th birthday celebration concert at the Edinburgh International Festival conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony, after which he opened the Dresden Philharmonic’s season in his first concerts as chief conductor designate. At the Deutsche Oper, he concludes his Strauss cycle in collaboration with director Tobias Kratzer with a production of Die Frau ohne Schatten, alongside Arabella and Intermezzo. In North America, he makes guest appearances with the Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras. He also returns twice to the Sydney Symphony.
Sir Donald Runnicles was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was appointed OBE in 2004 and was made a Knight Bachelor in 2020.
Maria Ioudenitch, violin
American-Russian violinist Maria Ioudenitch captured international attention in 2021 when she received first prizes in three international violin competitions — the Ysaÿe, Tibor Varga and Joseph Joachim. In 2023, she won the Opus Klassik Award for “Chamber Music Recording of the Year” for her debut album, Songbird (Warner Classics).
Highlights of the 2024–25 season include debuts with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Trondheim Symfoniorkester, Sofia Philharmonic and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, with whom she also goes on tour. She is also invited by Heidelberger Frühling, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg and Philharmonia Frankfurt. U.S. debut appearances are with the Cincinnati and Detroit symphony orchestras.
Ioudenitch grew up in Kansas City and began playing violin with Gregory Sandomirsky at age 3. She continued her studies with Ben Sayevich at the International Center for Music in Kansas City and Pamela Frank and Shmuel Ashkenasi at the Curtis Institute of Music and completed her master’s degree and Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Miriam Fried. Currently, she is in the professional studies program at the Kronberg Academy, working with Christian Tetzlaff.
n PROGRAM NOTES
Hamish MacCunn: The Land of the Mountain and the Flood
n Composed: 1886
n Premiere: November 5, 1887 at the Crystal Palace in London, Sir August Manns conducting
Hamish MacCunn, born James MacCunn in Greenock, Scotland, a coastal town 20 miles west of Glasgow where his father was a prosperous shipowner, grew up in a musical family; his father was an amateur cellist and his mother a trained singer and pianist. James was given an excellent general and musical education, including attending a season of concerts with his family at the Crystal Palace in London when he was eight. He began composing soon thereafter and, in 1883, at 15, won a competitive scholarship to the newly established Royal College of Music (RCM) in London, where he studied piano, viola and composition and began to compose in earnest — his cantata The Moss Rose was performed at the RCM in 1884 and the overture Cior Mhor (“The Ship of the Fiend”) was
included on a concert at the Crystal Palace a year later. Although he became immersed in the musical life of London, MacCunn continued to value his Scottish heritage, adopting the name Hamish (a Gaelic version of his birth name James), writing a series of overtures based on Scottish subjects, marrying the daughter of the famous Scottish painter John Pettie, and leaving the RCM in 1886 without a diploma when he thought he was not being accorded sufficient social status. Two years later, MacCunn was appointed to the composition faculty of the Royal Academy of Music, and, in 1889, he was commissioned by the Carl Rosa Company to write the opera Jeanie Deans, based on Walter Scott’s novel The Heart of Midlothian. The success of that piece encouraged him to compose another half-dozen musical theater works and to become involved with several British opera companies as a conductor. In 1912, MacCunn joined the faculty of the Guildhall School of Music, and the remaining four years of his life were devoted more to conducting and teaching than composing.
MacCunn was just 19 when the premiere of the overture The Land of the Mountain and the Flood at the Crystal Palace in 1887 established his reputation as a composer.
The Land of the Mountain and the Flood takes its title from the Sixth Canto of Sir Walter Scott’s poem “The Lay of the Last Minstrel,” in which Scott has the titular bard respond to a challenge. MacCunn, associating himself with both Scott and his ancient bard, created in The Land of the Mountain and the Flood a sonata-form piece with two splendid themes — the first modal and stern, the second lilting and lyrical — imbued with the style and spirit of Scotland’s traditional music.
—Dr. Richard E. Rodda
Felix Mendelssohn: Concerto in E Minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 64
n Composed: 1838–44
n Premiere: March 13, 1845, Neils Gade conducting the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Ferdinand David, violin
n Instrumentation: solo violin, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings
n Duration: approx. 26 minutes
Mendelssohn completed his E Minor Violin Concerto in 1844. It is one of the mature works that he produced at the height of his career, but it is also tragically one of his last. He died three years later, at the age of 38. He wrote the work for his close friend and collaborator, Ferdinand David (1810–73), a highly respected violinist. The concerto is characterized by a number of innovations; for instance, its three movements are played without pause. The first two movements are joined by a brief transition initiated by the bassoon. The last movement, the Allegro molto vivace, begins immediately after the soft closing chords of the second movement and provides a short transitional passage that segues into the rollicking, high-spirited, dance-like finale. The first movement features two other important innovations. Instead of beginning with an orchestral section that presents the main themes, it begins with a violin solo, softly accompanied by the orchestra. The violin presents an intensely lyrical first theme that evolves into cascades of virtuosic turns and runs. The drama is enhanced when the full orchestra forcefully asserts itself. The second innovation occurs about two-thirds of the way through the movement, where, instead of the traditional improvised virtuosic cadenza just before the end of the movement, Mendelssohn wrote out a cadenza and placed it just before the recapitulation of the first section.
David requested that Mendelssohn create a “brilliant” concerto. Although Mendelssohn initially struggled, in the end he created a concerto in which the solo violin dominates almost every moment. Its beautiful, elegant melodies, which are at times a little wistful, contrast with its sensational virtuosic leaps and runs, as well as with the orchestra’s drama.
—Heather Platt, Sursa Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts and Professor of Music
Richard Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie (“An Alpine Symphony”)
n Composed: 1911–15
n Premiere: October 28, 1915, orchestra of the Dresden Hofkapelle in Berlin, Richard Strauss conducting; the U.S. premiere was given on April 27, 1916 by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Ernst Kunwald conducting.
Richard Strauss’ final major orchestral work, An Alpine Symphony, celebrates the beauty of the natural environment. It depicts the sublime experiences of ascending and descending a mountain, capturing scenes of waterfalls, meadows and storms. An Alpine Symphony is Strauss’ largest work, in terms of duration and size, lasting nearly an hour and requiring more than 120 musicians.
Strauss’ second set of tone poems concluded with his composition of Ein Heldenleben in 1898. By this point, his tone poems were solidly integrated into German repertory and had earned him a reputation as a skilled composer who could effectively express poetic content through unique formal design in his music. Strauss had also developed his reputation as a conductor, and, in 1898, he moved to Berlin to take on the prestigious position of opera conductor with the Berlin Hofoper. The move prompted him to focus his attention back on composing opera. After the failure of his first opera, Guntram, Strauss was determined to succeed in the genre. He soon achieved this success with Salome (1905), followed by his other renowned operas Elektra (1906), Der Rosenkavalier (1909–10), Ariadne auf Naxos (1911–12) and Die Frau ohne Schatten (1914–17).
Amid his period of operatic composition, Strauss completed two more orchestral works following the creative vein of his tone poems: Symphonia domestica (1902–03), which conveys the pleasures and complexities of everyday life (Strauss’ vision of ordinary family life and domestic love was idealized, and his decision to musically depict these subjects received mixed reactions), and An Alpine Symphony.
The initial inspiration for An Alpine Symphony stretches all the way back to Strauss’ experiences on a mountain trip when he was 14 years old. The musical roots of the piece date back to 1899 and Strauss’ engagement with the philosophies of Nietzsche. While Strauss had admired the music of Wagner for a time, he grew tired of the metaphysical underpinnings, and he turned to the writings of Nietzsche to guide him in composing a musical response to Wagner’s philosophies. Strauss planned to compose a tone poem titled An Artist’s Tragedy after the life of the artist Karl Stauffer, but he soon abandoned the project. He returned to the piece again in 1911, when the death of Gustav Mahler rekindled his interest and prompted Strauss to continue his pursuit of musically expressing his philosophies. As he described in his diary, Strauss envisioned a symphony that would represent “moral purification through one’s own strength, liberation through work, [and] worship of eternal, magnificent nature.” While he originally thought to title his work Der Antichrist after Nietzsche’s 1888 essay, he eventually turned his focus to the exaltation of nature through the inspiration of the alpine landscape near his home in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
An Alpine Symphony guides the listener on an adventure ascending and descending an alpine mountain. The 22 tableaux of the piece unfold without breaks in between, creating a continuous journey that begins and ends with “Night” and depicts the marvels experienced along the way.
—Dr. Rebecca Schreiber
Born: June 11, 1864, Munich, Germany Died: September 8, 1949, GarmischPartenkirchen, Germany
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
CSO Season Sponsor
PLATINUM BATON CIRCLE ($50,000+)
Anonymous
ArtsWave
Charles H. Dater Foundation
Dr. John & Louise Mulford Fund for the CSO
Ellen and Richard Berghamer Foundation
Harold C. Schott Foundation / Francie and Tom Hiltz, Trustees
H.B., E.W., F.R. Luther Charitable Foundation
Local Initiative for Excellence Foundation
Louise Dieterle Nippert Musical Arts Fund of the Greenacres Foundation
Margaret McWilliams Rentschler Fund of Greater Cincinnati Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
Nina Browne Parker Trust
Oliver Family Foundation
Ohio Arts Council
PNC Bank
Robert H. Reakirt Foundation Equities
The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation
The Fifth Third Foundation
The Mellon Foundation
The Thomas J. Emery Memorial
The Unnewehr Foundation
Western & Southern Financial Group
GOLD BATON CIRCLE ($25,000–$49,999)
George and Margaret McLane Foundation
HORAN Wealth
Louis H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation Inc.
The Cincinnati Symphony Club
The Ladislas & Vilma Segoe Family Foundation
The Wohlgemuth Herschede Foundation
United Dairy Farmers & Homemade Brand Ice Cream
SILVER BATON CIRCLE ($15,000–$24,999)
ArtsWave Flow
Johnson Investment Counsel
Peter E. Landgren and Judith Schonbach Landgren
The Procter & Gamble Company
The Rendigs Foundation
Scott and Charla Weiss
Wodecroft Foundation
2025 ARTSWAVE PARTNERS
Series Sponsor
CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE ($10,000–$14,999)
Bartlett Wealth Management
Graeter’s Ice Cream
Chemed Corporation
Crosset Family Fund
CVG Airport Authority
Kelly Dehan and Rick Staudigel
Messer Construction Co.
Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
The Daniel & Susan Pfau Foundation
YOT Full Circle Foundation
CONCERTMASTER’S CIRCLE ($5,000–$9,999)
Duke Energy
Interact For Health
JRH Consultants
Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL
Metro
Pyro-Technical Investigations, Inc.
Queen City (OH) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated
The Willard & Jean Mulford Charitable Fund
Thompson Hine LLP
ARTIST’S CIRCLE ($2,500–$4,999)
American Modern Insurance Group
Charles Scott Riley III Foundation
Closing the Health Gap
d.e. Foxx and Associates, Inc.
Huntington Bank
Learning Links Fund of Greater Cincinnati Foundation
Visit Cincy
BUSINESS & FOUNDATION PARTNERS (up to $2,499)
African American Chamber of Commerce
Albert B. Cord Charitable Foundation
American Red Cross, Greater Cincinnati-Dayton Region
Earthward Bound Foundation
Frances L. P. Ricketts Sullivan Memorial Fund
Hixson Architecture Engineering Interiors
Journey Steel
League of American Orchestras
Robert A. & Marian K. Kennedy Charitable Trust
The Blue Book of Cincinnati
The Kroger Co.
The Voice of Your Customer
William G. and Mary Jane Helms Charitable Foundation
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.
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops acknowledge the following partner companies, foundations and their employees who generously participate in the Annual ArtsWave Community Campaign at the $100,000+ level. Thank you!
$2 million+
P&G
$1 million to $1,999,999
Fifth Third Bank and Fifth Third Foundation
$500,000 to $999,999
GE Aerospace
$250,000 to 499,999
altafiber
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
The Cincinnati Insurance Companies
Great American Insurance Group
The H.B., E.W. and F.R. Luther Charitable Foundation, Fifth Third Bank, N.A., Trustee
Western & Southern Financial Group
$100,000–$299,999
Cincinnati Open
Cincinnati Reds
Dinsmore & Shohl LLP
Duke Energy
The E.W. Scripps Company and Scripps Howard Foundation
The Enquirer | Cincinnati.com
Greater Cincinnati Foundation
The Kroger Co.
Messer Construction Co.
National Endowment for the Arts
IDEA Series Title Sponsor Foundation
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
Sheila and Christopher Cole Chair
Peter G. Courlas–Nicholas Tsimaras Chair
Ona Hixson Dater Chair
The Anne G. & Robert W. Dorsey Chair+
Jane & David Ellis Chair
Irene & John J. Emery Chair
James M. Ewell Chair
Ashley & Barbara Ford Chair for Assistant Conductor
Ashley & Barbara Ford Chair for Assistant Conductor
Ashley & Barbara Ford Chair for Principal Tuba
Susan S. & William A. Friedlander Chair+
Charles Gausmann Chair
Susanne & Philip O. Geier, Jr. Chair+
Emma Margaret & Irving D. Goldman Chair
Clifford J. Goosmann & Andrea M. Wilson Chair
Charles Frederic Goss Chair
Jean Ten Have Chair
Dorothy & John Hermanies Chair
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
ENDOWED
PERFORMANCES & PROJECTS
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
Fred L. & Katherine H. Groll Fund for Musical Excellence
Fred L. & Katherine H. Groll Fund for Great Artists
Fred L. & Katherine H. Groll Trust Pianist Fund
The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation Endowment Fund
Anne Heldman Endowment Fund**
Mr. and Mrs. Lorrence T. Kellar+
Lawrence A. & Anne J. Leser*
Mr. & Mrs. Carl H. Lindner**
Janice W. & Gary R. Lubin Fund for Black Artists
PNC Financial Services Group
The Procter & Gamble Fund
Vicky & Rick Reynolds Fund for Diverse Artists+
Whitney Rowe and Phillip Long Fund for Emerging Artists
Melody Sawyer Richardson*
Rosemary and Mark Schlachter Endowment Fund*+
The Harold C. Schott Foundation, Francie and Tom Hiltz Endowment Fund+
Peggy Selonick Fund for Great Artists
Dee and Tom Stegman Endowment Fund*+
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph S. Stern, Jr. Fund for Great Artists
U. S. Bank Foundation*
Sallie and Randolph Wadsworth Endowment Fund+
Educational Concerts
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)+
GIFT OF MUSIC: October 22–December 20, 2024
OTHER NAMED FUNDS
Ruth Meacham Bell Memorial Fund
Frank & Mary Bergstein Fund for Musical Excellence+
Jean K. Bloch Music Library Fund
Cora Dow Endowment Fund
Corbett Educational Endowment**
Belmon U. Duvall Fund
Ewell Fund for Riverbend Maintenance
Linda & Harry Fath Endowment Fund
Ford Foundation Fund
Natalie Wurlitzer & William Ernest Griess Cello Fund
William Hurford and Lesley Gilbertson Family Fund for Guest Pianists
The Mary Ellyn Hutton Fund for Excellence in Music Education
Josephine I. & David J. Joseph, Jr. Scholarship Fund
Richard & Jean Jubelirer & Family Fund*
Anne C. and Robert P. Judd Fund for Musical Access
The Kosarko Family Innovation Fund
Elma Margaret Lapp Trust
The Richard and Susan Lauf Fund
Jésus López-Cobos Fund for Excellence
Mellon Foundation Fund
Nina Browne Parker Trust
Dorothy Robb Perin & Harold F. Poe Trust
Rieveschl Fund
Thomas Schippers Fund
Martha, Max & Alfred M. Stern Ticket Fund
Mr. & Mrs. John R. Strauss Student Ticket Fund
Anna Sinton & Charles P. Taft Fund Lucien Wulsin Fund
Wurlitzer Season Ticket Fund
CSO Pooled Income Fund
CSO Musicians Emergency Fund
*Denotes support for Annual Music Program Fund
**Denotes support for the 2nd Century Campaign
+Denotes support for the Fund for Musical Excellence
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 Jonathan Martin’s retirement
Karlee Hilliard
In memory of Jan Denton
Elizabeth McCracken
In memory of Dick Fouse
Frank & Nancy Clark
In memory of Margretta Huster
Mary Jo Voegele
In memory of Jim and Sue Miller
John Miller
In memory of Virginia Neff
Roger Neff
In memory of John & Sylvia Roth
Marsha Williams
In memory of David I. Sanders
Charlotte Goering
In memory of Harold Tucker
Ms. Mary L. Albers
Ruth Bamberger
Mrs. Joanne Mitchell
Diane Stump
In memory of Charlotte Williams
Mrs. Charlotte Williams
HONOR ROLL OF CONTRIBUTORS
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops are grateful to the following individuals that support our efforts by making a gift to the Orchestra Fund. We extend our heartfelt thanks to each and every one and pay tribute to them here. You can join our family of donors online at cincinnatisymphony.org/donate or by contacting the Philanthropy Department at 513.744.3271.
PLATINUM BATON CIRCLE
Gifts of $50,000 and above
Mr. and Mrs. Frederick E. Bryan, III §
Robert W. Dorsey §
Kathy Grote §
Healey Liddle Family Foundation, Mel & Bruce Healey
Harold C. Schott Foundation, Francie & Tom Hiltz
Florence Koetters
Jo Anne and Joe Orndorff
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. §
Ginger Warner
Scott and Charla Weiss §
GOLD BATON CIRCLE
Gifts of $25,000–$49,999
Joe and Patricia Baker
Dr. and Mrs. John and Suzanne Bossert §
Robert and Debra Chavez
Sheila and Christopher C. Cole §
Stephen J Daush
Dr. and Mrs. Carl G. Fischer
Ashley and Bobbie Ford §
George and Margaret McLane Foundation
George L. and Anne P. Heldman Fund*
Dr. Lesley Gilbertson and Dr. William Hurford §
Mrs. Andrea Kaplan
Marvin P. Kolodzik and Linda S. Gallaher §
Calvin and Patricia Linnemann
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 §
Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Ullman
Mrs. James W. Wilson, Jr. §
Anonymous (1)
SILVER BATON CIRCLE
Gifts of $15,000–$24,999
Mr. and Mrs. Larry Brueshaber
Mr. Gregory D. Buckley and Ms. Susan Berry-Buckley
Mr. and Mrs. Tom Evans
The Garber Family
Tom and Jan Hardy §
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph W. Hirschhorn §
Mrs. Erich Kunzel
Will and Lee Lindner
Mark and Tia Luegering
Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Maloney
Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. McDonald
Joseph A. and Susan E. Pichler Fund*
In memory of Mary and Joseph S. Stern, Jr
Mrs. Theodore Striker
Sarah Thorburn
DeeDee and Gary West §
In Loving Memory of Diane Zent
Mr. and Mrs. James M. Zimmerman §
CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE
Gifts of $10,000–$14,999
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Akers
Jan and Roger Ames
Michael L. Cioffi & Rachael Rowe §
Mrs. Thomas E. Davidson §
K.M. Davis
Dianne Dunkelman and Clever Crazes for Kids
Emory P. Zimmer Insurance Agency
Lynne Friedlander and Jay Crawford
John B. and Judith O. Hansen
Patti and Fred Heldman
Dr. and Mrs. Stephen Joffe
Robert Johnson
Michael and Marilyn Kremzar §
John and Ramsey Lanni
Whitney and Phillip Long
Alan Margulies and Gale Snoddy
Holly and Louis Mazzocca
In memory of Bettie Rehfeld
James and Margo Minutolo
Melody Sawyer Richardson §
Martha and Lee Schimberg
Mike and Digi Schueler
Mr. Lawrence Schumacher
Dr. Jean and Mrs. Anne Steichen
Ralph C. Taylor §
Nancy C. Wagner and Patricia M. Wagner §
Anonymous (3)
CONCERTMASTER’S CIRCLE
Gifts of $5,000–$9,999
Heather Apple and Mary Kay Koehler
Thomas P. Atkins
Mrs. Thomas B. Avril
Kathleen and Michael Ball
Robert and Janet Banks
Michael P Bergan and Tiffany Hanisch
Louis D. Bilionis and Ann Hubbard
Robert L. and Debbie Bogenschutz
Thomas A. Braun, III §
The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation
Ms. Melanie M. Chavez
Sally and Rick Coomes
George Deepe and Kris Orsborn
Bedouin and Randall Dennison
Dennis W. and Cathy Dern
Mrs. Diana T. Dwight
Dr. and Mrs. Alberto Espay
Mr. and Mrs. James T. Fitzgerald
Mrs. Charles Fleischmann
Marlena and Walter Frank
Dr. and Mrs. Harry F. Fry
L. Timothy Giglio
Thomas W. Gougeon
in loving memory of Robert Howes
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Hamby
Ms. Delores Hargrove-Young
William and Jo Ann Harvey
Dr. James and Mrs. Susan Herman
Barbara M. Johnson
Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey Keenan
Mrs. Barbara Kellar in honor of Mr. Lorrence T. Kellar
Holly King
Peter E. Landgren and Judith Schonbach Landgren §
Richard and Susan Lauf
The Lewis and Marjorie
Daniel Foundation
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
Mr. and Mrs. David W. Motch
Ms. Mary Lou Motl §
Mr. Arthur Norman and Mrs. Lisa Lennon Norman
The Patel-Curran Family
Poul D. and JoAnne Pedersen §
David and Jenny Powell
Ellen Rieveschl §
Elizabeth and Karl Ronn §
James and Mary Russell
Bill and Lisa Sampson
Dr. E. Don Nelson and Ms. Julia Sawyer-Nelson
Dr. and Mrs. Michael Scheffler
Brent & Valerie Sheppard
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
M Elizabeth Warner
Donna A. Welsch §
Ms. Diana Willen §
Cathy S. Willis
Andrea K. Wiot
Irene A. Zigoris
Anonymous (4)
ARTIST’S CIRCLE
Gifts of $3,000–$4,999
Dr. Charles Abbottsmith
Mr. and Mrs. Gérard Baillely
Ms. Marianna Bettman
Glenn and Donna Boutilier
Peter and Kate Brown
Dr. Ralph P. Brown
Chris and Tom Buchert
Daniel A. Burr
Janet and Bruce Byrnes
Andrea D. Costa, Esq. §
Peter G. Courlas §
Marjorie Craft
Jim and Elizabeth Dodd
Dr. and Mrs. Stewart B. Dunsker
Ann A. Ellison
Hardy and Barbara Eshbaugh
Estate of E.J. and Jean Krabacher
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Fencl
Mrs. Amy Forte
Yan Fridman
Linda P. Fulton §
Frank and Tara Gardner
Naomi T. Gerwin
Dr. and Mrs. Ralph A. Giannella
Lesha and Samuel Greengus
John and Elizabeth Grover
Esther B. Grubbs §
Mr. and Mrs. Byron Gustin
Dr. and Mrs. Jack Hahn
Donald and Susan Henson
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Hicks
Karlee L. Hilliard §
Ruth C. Holthaus
In Memory of Benjamin C. Hubbard §
Mr. and Mrs. Bradley G. Hughes
Mr. and Mrs. Michael C. Hughes
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
Frank and Ann Kromer
Carol Louise Kruse
Mr. Shannon Lawson
Richard and Nancy Layding
Merlanne Louney
Luke and Nita Lovell
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Marshall
Glen and Lynn Mayfield
The Allen-McCarren Trust
Becky Miars
Ms. Sue Miller
Mr. and Mrs. David E. Moccia §
George and Sarah Morrison III
Alice Perlman
Drs. Marcia Kaplan and Michael Privitera
Michael and Katherine Rademacher
Sandra Rivers
James Rubenstein and Bernadette Unger
Carol J. Schroeder §
Sandra and David Seiwert
Mr. Rick Sherrer and Dr. Lisa D. Kelly
Sue and Glenn Showers §
Elizabeth C. B. Sittenfeld §
William A. and Jane Smith
Nancy Steman Dierckes §
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
Dr. and Mrs. Matthew and Diana Wallace
Mrs. Paul H. Ward §
Dr. and Mrs. Galen R. Warren
Jonathan and Janet Weaver
Jim and George Ann Wesner
Stephen and Amy Whitlatch
Jo Ann Wieghaus
In Memory of Bruce R. Smith
Ronna and James Willis
Steve and Katie Wolnitzek
Anonymous (4)
SYMPHONY CIRCLE
Gifts of $1,500–$2,999
Jeff and Keiko Alexander §
Mr. Nicholas Apanius
Judy Aronoff and Marshall Ruchman
Dr. Diane S. Babcock §
Beth and Bob Baer
Mrs. Gail Bain
David and Elaine Billmire §
Neil Bortz
Ms. Jaqui Brumm
Rachelle Bruno and Stephen Bondurant
Dr. Leanne Budde
Bob and Angela Buechner
Barbie Wagner
Tom Carpenter and Lynne Lancaster
Dr. Alan Chambers
Susan and Burton Closson
Carol C. Cole §
Mr. and Mrs. Philip K. Cone
Randy K. and Nancy R. Cooper
Charles and Kimberly Curran §
Mark Dauner and Geraldine Wu
Tom and Leslie Ducey
David and Linda Dugan
Amy Dunlea and Lois Mannon
Mr. and Mrs. John G. Earls §
Barry and Judy Evans §
Dr. and Mrs. William J. Faulkner
Philip Ficks
Ms. Barbara A. Feldmann
Anne and Alan Fleischer
Janice and Dr. Tom Forte
Richard Freshwater §
Anne E. Mulder and Rebecca M. Gibbs
Louis and Deborah Ginocchio
Mr. Mark W. Glogowski
Board member Dr. Lisa Kelly and Rick Sherrer at Artist’s Circle Dinner on NOV 9. Credit: Claudia Hershner
Donn Goebel and Cathy McLeod
Dr. and Mrs. Glenn S. Gollobin
Drew Gores and George Warrington
Phyllis Myers and Danny Gray
Jim and Jann Greenberg
Bill and Christy Griesser
Catherine K. Hart
Mrs. Jackie Havenstein
Mr. John A. Headley
Mr. and Mrs. Robert R. Heidenreich
Mr. Fred Heyse
Heidi Jark and Steve Kenat
Andrew MacAoidh & Linda Busken Jergens §
The Marvin Jester Family
Mr. and Mrs. Paul H. Johnson
Ms. Sylvia Johnson
Holly H. Keeler
Mr. and Mrs. Woodrow Keown, Jr.
John and Molly Kerman
Bill and Penny Kincaid
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Kovarsky
Pat and Randy Krumm §
Mark & Elisabeth Kuhlman
Everett and Barbara Landen
Evelyn and Fred Lang
Charles and Jean Lauterbach
Mary Mc and Kevin Lawson
Mrs. Jean E. Lemon §
Andi Levenson Young and Scott Young
Mr. Peter F. Levin §
Liberty Mutual Foundation Match
Paula and Nick Link
Mr. and Mrs. Clement H. Luken, Jr.
Edmund D. Lyon
Mark Mandell-Brown, MD and Ann Hanson
Ross Charitable Trust
Robert and Heather McGrath
Mr. Gerron McKnight
John and Roberta Michelman
Mr. and Mrs. David A. Millett
Eileen W. and James R. Moon
Mrs. Sally A. More
Nan L. Oscherwitz
Rev. Dr. David V. Schwab
Sandy Pike §
Mark and Kim Pomeroy
Dr. Aik Khai Pung
Dr. and Mrs. Robert Reed
Beverly and Dan Reigle
Stephen and Betty Robinson
Marianne Rowe
Mr. & Mrs. Peter A. Schmid
Frederick R. Schneider
Tim and Jeannie Schoonover
Stanley and Jane Shulman
Ms. Martha Slager
Stephanie A. Smith
Stephen and Lyle Smith
Albert and Liza Smitherman
Bill and Lee Steenken §
Mrs. Donald C. Stouffer
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Stradling, Jr.
Rich and Nancy Tereba
Susan and John Tew
In Memory of Mr. William T. Bahlman, Jr.
Dr. Judith Vermillion
Michael L. Walton, Esq
Ted and Mary Ann Weiss
Mr. Donald White
Virginia Wilhelm
Rev. Anne Warrington Wilson
Judy Wilson
Carol and Don Wuebbling
Drs. Marissa S. Liang and Y. Jeffrey Yang
Anonymous (5)
CONCERTO CLUB
Gifts of $500–$1,499
Christine O. Adams
Dr. Mary Albers
In memory of Carol Allgood & Ester Sievers
Lisa Allgood
Mr. Thomas Alloy & Dr. Evaline Alessandrini
Patricia A. Anderson
Paul and Dolores Anderson §
Dr. Victor and Dolores Angel
Nancy J. Apfel
Lynne & Keith Apple, Honoring our Family
Ms. Laura E. Atkinson
Mr. David H. Axt and Ms. Susan L. Wilkinson
Ms. Patricia Baas
Mrs. Mary M. Baer
Todd and Ann Bailey
Jack and Diane Baldwin
Peggy Barrett §
Michael and Amy Battoclette
N. Lorraine Becker
Dr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Bell
Drs. Carol and Leslie Benet
Fred Berger
Dr. Allen W. Bernard
Glenda and Malcolm Bernstein
Aggie Nichols and Jeff Berry
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
Dr. and Mrs. Kevin Bove
David & Madonna Bowman
William & Mary Bramlage
Dr. Carol Brandon
David A. Brashear
Briggs Creative Services, LLC
Joan Broersma
Kathryn L. Brokaw
Harold and Gwen Brown
Jacklyn and Gary Bryson
Gay Bullock
Angie & Gary Butterbaugh
Jack and Marti Butz
John & Terri Byczkowski
Dorothy and Harold Byers §
Ms. Cindy Callicoat
Ms. Deborah Campbell §
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Carothers
Stephen and Karen Carr
The Castellini Company
Mike and Shirley Chaney
Gordon Christenson
Dee and Frank Cianciolo Fund*
James Civille
Mr. and Mrs. John Clapp
James Clasper and Cheryl Albrecht
Anonymous
Mr. Robert Cohen and Ms. Amy J. Katz
Dr. George I. Colombel
Fred W. Colucci
Marilyn Cones
Dr. Margaret Conradi
Janet Conway
Robin Cotton and Cindi Fitton
Dennis and Pat Coyne
Martha Crafts
Tim and Katie Crowley
Susan and John Cummings
Adrian and Takiyah Cunningham
Jacqueline Cutshall
Mr. and Mrs. Henry F. Dabek, Jr.
Diane and Wayne Dawson
Loren and Polly DeFilippo
Stephen and Cynthia DeHoff
Rozelia Park and Christopher Dendy
Robert B. Dick, Ph.D.
Ms. Rhonda Dickerscheid
Nancy and Steve Donovan
Roger and Julie Doughty
Ms. Andrea Dubroff
Tom and Dale Due
Mrs. Shirley Duff
Mr. Corwin R. Dunn
Edgar J. and Elaine J. Mack Fund
Dale & Kathy Elifrits
Sally Eversole
Ms. Kate Farinacci
Ms. Jean Feinberg
Mr. Robert Ferrell
Mrs. Michelle Finch
Ilya Finkelshteyn and Evin Blomberg
Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Fischer
Mr. and Mrs. James Foreman
Mr. and Ms. Bernard Foster
Dr. Charles E. Frank and Ms. Jan Goldstein
Susan L. Fremont
In memory of Eugene and Cavell Frey
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Fricke
Mr. and Mrs. James Fryman
Marjorie Fryxell
Dudley Fulton
Mark S. Gay
Drs. Michael and Janelle J. Gelfand
Kathleen Gibboney
In Memory of Michael H. and Carole V. Giuliani
Dr. Jerome Glinka and Ms. Kathleen Blieszner
Dr. and Mrs. Charles J. Glueck
Dan Goetz
Dr. and Mrs. Richard Goetz
Ms. Arlene Golembiewski
Mr. William J. Gracie, Jr.
Robert and Cynthia Gray
Carl and Joyce Greber
Mary Grooms
Janet C. Haartz and Kenneth V. Smith
Alison and Charles Haas
Mrs. R. C. Haberstroh
Mary Elizabeth Huey and Daniel Hadley
Mary and Phil Hagner
Peter Hames
Ham and Ellie Hamilton
Walter and Karen Hand
Roberta Handwerger
in memory of Dr. Stuart Handwerger
Mr. and Mrs. William Hardie
Dr. Donald and Laura Harrison
Mariana Belvedere and Samer Hasan
Janet Heiden
Angie Heiman
Mr. A. M. Heister
Mrs. Betty H. Heldman §
Howard D. and Mary W. Helms
Mrs. E. J. Hengelbrok, Jr.
Mr. Jeff Herbert
Herman & Margaret Wasserman Music Fund*
Michelle and Don Hershey
Janet & Craig Higgins
The Rev. Canon and Mrs. George A. Hill III
Mr. and Mrs. William A. Hillebrand
Kyle and Robert Hodgkins
Susan and Jon Hoffheimer
Ms. Leslie M. Hoggatt
Tim and Connie Holmen
Richard and Marcia Holmes
Mr. Joe Hoskins
Ms. Sandra L. Houck
Melissa Huber
Mrs. Carol H. Huether
Dr. Edward & Sarah Hughes
Nada Christine Huron
Judith Imhoff
Caroline Isaacs
Dr. Maralyn M. Itzkowitz
Mrs. Charles H. Jackson, Jr.
Joan and Richard Jackson
Marcia Jelus
Mrs. Marilyn P. Johnston
Mr. Andrew Jones
Elizabeth A. Jones
Scott and Patricia Joseph
Jay and Shirley Joyce
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Judd §
Christopher and Felecia Kanney
Dr. James Kaya and Debra Grauel
Dr. and Mrs. Richard Kerstine
Mr. and Mrs. Dave Kitzmiller
Jack & Sharon Knapp
In Memory of Jeff Knoop
Paul and Carita Kollman
Carol and Scott Kosarko §
Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Kraimer
Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Kregor
Kathleen B. and Michael C. Krug Fund*
Mrs. John H. Kuhn §
Pinky Laffoon
Patricia Lambeck §
Asher and Kelsey Lanier
Ms. Sally L. Larson
Janet R. Schultz
Mrs. Julie Laskey
Joe Law and Phil Wise
Mrs. James R. Leo
Dr. Carol P. Leslie
Mr. and Mrs. Lance A. Lewis
Mrs. Maxine F. Lewis
Mr. Arthur Lindsay
Mr. and Mrs. James A. Link
Mitchel and Carol Livingston
Mrs. Marianne Locke
Steven Kent Loveless
JP and Footie Lund
David and Katja Lundgren
Larry and Mary Geren Lutz
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. Dean Matz
Ms. Mary Jane Mayer
Ms. Elizabeth McCracken
Dr. Janet P. McDaniel
Tim and Trish McDonald
Mark McKillip and Amira Beer
Stephanie & Arthur McMahon
Art and Stephanie McMahon
Guest artist Norm Lewis and Pops Conductor John Morris Russell with Rich and Nancy Graeter at Holiday Pops. Credit: CSO Staff
Donors Marvin Kolodzik and Linda Gallaher at Artist’s Circle Dinner. Credit: Claudia Hershner
Stephanie McNeill
Charles and JoAnn Mead
Ms. Nancy Menne
Lee Meyer
Michael V. Middleton
Midland Company
Laura Milburn
Mr. Bradley Miller
Rachel and Charlie Miller
Terence G. Milligan
Sonia R. Milrod
Ms. Laura Mitchell
Mr. Steven Monder
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Moore
Regeana and Al Morgan
Janet Mott
Mr. Scott Muhlhauser
Kevin and Lane Muth
Alan Flaherty and Patti Myers § Hochwalt Naumann Fund
Mr. and Mrs. Norman Neal
Mrs. Sara Nemeth
Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Newcomer
Amy Paul and Jerry Newfarmer
Ms. Jane Nocito
Susan E. Noelcke
Jane Oberschmidt §
Gary Oppito
Mr. Gerardo Orta
Ms. Sylvia Osterday
Mr. Joseph A. Pauley
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Piazza
Anne M. Pohl §
Dr. Robert and Jackie Prichard
Mrs. Stewart Proctor
Mr. Robert Przygoda
Jerry Rape
James W. Rauth §
Mrs. Genie Redman
Kenneth and Danielle Revelson
Dr. Robert Rhoad and Kitsa Tassian Rhoad
Becky and Ted Richards
Stephanie Richardson
Mr. David Robertson
Laurie and Dan Roche
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel A. Rodner
Dr. Anna Roetker
Ms. Jeanne C. Rolfes
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
Mr. Christian J. Schaefer
Cindy Scheets
Ms. Carol Schleker
Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Schleker
Dr. and Mrs. Michael Schmerler
Alice and Charles Schneider
George Palmer Schober
Glenda C. Schorr Fund*
James P. Schubert
Mary D. Schweitzer
Dr. Joseph Segal and Ms. Debbie Friedman
Elaine Semancik
Mick and Nancy Shaughnessy
The Shepherd Chemical Company
Alfred and Carol Shikany
Jacqueline M. Mack and Dr. Edward B. Silberstein
Ms. Joycee Simendinger
Doug and Laura Skidmore
In Honor of Kenneth Skirtz
Susan and David Smith
Mark M. Smith
(In memory of Terri C. Smith)
Phillip and Karen Sparkes
Mary Stagaman and Ron Kull
Marian P. Stapleton
Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Stautberg
Ms. Ruth M. Stechschulte
Mr. John Stein
Mary M. Stein
Christopher and Meghan Stevens
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
Kathryn Sullivan
Thomas and Keri Tami
Dr. Alan and Shelley Tarshis
Maureen Taylor
Mr. Fred Tegarden
Carlos and Roberta Teran
Emily Terwilliger
Linda and Nate Tetrick
Greg Tiao and Lisa Kuan
Marcia and Bob Togneri
Anonymous Dr. Nicolette van der Klaauw
Mr. D. R. Van Lokeren
Jim and Rachel Votaw §
Mrs. Barbara J. Wagner
Ms. Barbara Wagner
Mr. and Mrs. James L. Wainscott
Jane A. Walker
Sarella Walton
Ping Wang
Chad and Betsy Warwick
Mary Webster
Michael and Terry Welch
Maryhelen West
Elizabeth White
Janice T. Wieland
Angela and Jack Willard
Marsha Williams
Mr. Dean Windgassen and Ms. Susan Stanton Windgassen
Craig and Barbara Wolf
Donald and Karen Wolnik
Rebecca Seeman and David Wood
Judith R Workman
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wylly III
Mr. John M. Yacher
David and Sharon Youmans
Mrs. Darleen Young
Judy and Martin Young
Mr. David Youngblood and Ms. Ellen Rosenman
Cheryl Zalzal
Dr. and Mrs. Daryl Zeigler
Mr. and Mrs. John Zeller
Moritz and Barbara Ziegler
Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Zierolf
Mr. Richard K. Zinicola and Ms. Linda R. Holthaus
Mrs. Beth Zwergel
Anonymous (21)
List as of December 30, 2024
GIFTS IN-KIND
David and Carol Dunevant
Graeter’s Ice Cream
List as of January 2, 2025
* 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.
THE THOMAS SCHIPPERS LEGACY SOCIETY
Mr. & Mrs. James R. Adams
Je & Keiko Alexander
Mrs. Robert H. Allen
Dr. Toni Alterman
Paul R. Anderson
Carole J. Arend
Donald C. Auberger, Jr.
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.
Dr. Diane Schwemlein Babcock
Henrietta Barlag
Peggy Barrett
Jane* & Ed Bavaria
David & Elaine Billmire
Walter Blair
Lucille* & Dutro Blocksom
Dr. John & Suzanne Bossert
Dr. Mollie H. Bowers-Hollon
Ronald Bozicevich
Thomas A. Braun, III
Joseph Brinkmeyer
Mr. & Mrs. Frederick Bryan, III
Harold & Dorothy Byers
Deborah Campbell & Eunice M. Wolf
Catharine W. Chapman
Michael L. Cio & Rachael Rowe
Mrs. Jackson L. Clagett III
Lois & Phil* Cohen
Leland M.* & Carol C. Cole
Sheila & Christopher Cole
Grace A. Cook*
Jack & Janice Cook
Mr. & Mrs. Charles Cordes
Ms. Andrea Costa
Peter G. Courlas & Nick Tsimaras*
Mr. & Mrs. Charles E Curran III
Amy & Scott Darrah, Meredith & Will Darrah & children
Caroline H. Davidson
Harrison R.T. Davis
Ms. Kelly M. Dehan
Janice Denton*
Amy & Trey Devey
Robert W. Dorsey
Jon & Susan Doucle
Ms. Judith A. Doyle
Mr. & Mrs. John Earls
Mr. & Mrs. Barry C. Evans
Linda & Harry Fath
Alan Flaherty
Mrs. Richard A. Forberg
Ashley & Barbara Ford
Guy & Marilyn Frederick
Rich Freshwater & Family
Mr. Nicholas L. Fry
Linda P. Fulton
H. Jane Gavin
Edward J. & Barbara C.* Givens
Kenneth A. Goode
Cli ord J. Goosmann & Andrea M. Wilson
Mrs. Madeleine H. Gordon
J. Frederick & Cynthia Gossman
Kathy Grote
Esther B. Grubbs, Marci Bein & Mindi Hamby
William Hackman
Vincent C. Hand & Ann E. Hagerman
Tom & Jan Hardy
William L. Harmon
Mary J. Healy
Frank G. Heitker
Anne P. Heldman*
Betty & John* Heldman
Karlee L. Hilliard
Michael H. Hirsch
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph W. Hirschhorn
Daniel J. Ho heimer
Kenneth L. Holford
George R. Hood
Mr. & Mrs. Terence L. Horan
Mrs. Benjamin C. Hubbard
Susan & Tom Hughes
Dr. Lesley Gilbertson & Dr. William Hurford
Mr. & Mrs. Paul Isaacs
Julia M. F. B. Jackson
Michael & Kathleen Janson
Andrew MacAoidh Jergens
Jean C. Jett
Anne C. & Robert P. Judd
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
Marilyn & Michael Kremzar
Randolph & Patricia Krumm
Theresa M. Kuhn
Warren & Patricia Lambeck
Peter E. Landgren &
Judith Schonbach Landgren
Richard* and Susan Lauf
Owen & Cici Lee
Steve Lee
Mrs. Jean E. Lemon
Mr. Peter F. Levin
George & Barbara Lott
Janice W.* & Gary R. Lubin
Mr.* & Mrs. Ronald Lyons
Marilyn J. Maag
Margot Marples
David L. Martin
Allen* & Judy Martin
David Mason
Barbara & Kim McCracken
Laura Kimble McLellan
Dr. Stanley R. Milstein
Mrs. William K. Minor
Mr. & Mrs. D. E. Moccia
Mary Lou Motl
Kristin & Stephen Mullin
Christopher & Susan Muth
Patti Myers
Susan & Kenneth Newmark
Dr. & Mrs. Theodore Nicholas
Jane Oberschmidt
Marja-Liisa Ogden
Julie & Dick* Okenfuss
Dr. & Mrs. Richard E. Park, MD
Charlie & Tara Pease
Poul D. & JoAnne Pedersen
Sandy & Larry* Pike
Mrs. Harold F. Poe
Anne M. Pohl
Irene & Daniel Randolph
James W. Rauth
Barbara S. Reckseit
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. 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 and 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. James K. Votaw
Mr. & Mrs.* Randolph L. Wadsworth Jr.
Nancy C. Wagner
Patricia M. Wagner
Mr.* & Mrs. Paul Ward
Jo Anne & Fred Warren
Mr. Scott Weiss & Dr. Charla Weiss
Donna A. Welsch
Anne M. Werner
Gary & Diane West
Charles A. Wilkinson
Ms. Diana Willen
Joan R. Wilson
Susan Stanton Windgassen
Mrs. Joan R. Wood
Alison & Jim Zimmerman
* Deceased
New Schippers members are in bold
ADMINISTRATION
SHARED SERVICES & SUBSIDIARIES. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s business model is unique within the orchestral industry because it provides administrative services for other nonprofits and operates two subsidiary companies — Music & Event Management, Inc. and EVT Management LLC. With the consolidation of resources and expertise, sharing administrative services allows for all organizations within the model to thrive. Under this arrangement, the CSO produces hundreds of events in the Greater Cincinnati and Dayton regions and employs hundreds of people annually.
SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM
Robert McGrath
President & CEO
Harold Brown
The Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones Chief Diversity & Inclusion O cer
John Clapp
Vice President of Orchestra & Production
Rich Freshwater
Vice President & Chief Financial O cer
Felecia Tchen Kanney
Vice President of Marketing, Communications & Digital Media
Mary McFadden Lawson
Chief Philanthropy O cer
Anthony Paggett
Vice President of Artistic Planning
Kyle Wynk-Sivashankar
Vice President of Human Resources
EXECUTIVE OFFICE
Shannon Faith
Executive Assistant to the President & CEO
ARTISTIC PLANNING
Maddie Choi
Artistic Planning Intern
Theresa Lansberry
Artist Liaison
Shuta Maeno
Manager of Artistic Planning & Assistant to the Music Director
Sam Strater
Senior Advisor for Cincinnati Pops Planning
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION
Key Crooms
Director of Community Engagement
Vee Gibson
Classical Roots Coordinator
Pamela Jayne
Volunteer & Community Engagement Manager
Tiago Nunez
Community Engagement Intern
Molly Rains
Community Engagement Events Manager
FINANCE, IT & DATA SERVICES
Deborah Benjamin
Accounting Clerk
Julian Cann Accounting Clerk
Kathleen Curry
Data Entry Clerk
Elizabeth Engwall
Accounting Manager
Matt Grady Accounting Manager
Sharon Grayton Data Services Manager
Marijane Klug Sta Accountant
Shannon May Accounting Clerk
Kristina Pfei er Director of Finance
Elizabeth Salmons Accounting Clerk
Judy Simpson Director of Finance
Tara Williams
Data Services Manager
HUMAN RESOURCES & PAYROLL
Megan Inderbitzin-Tsai Director of Payroll Services
Natalia Lerzundi
Human Resources & Payroll Coordinator
Jenny Ryan
Human Resources Manager
LEARNING
Carol Dary Dunevant Director of Learning
Hollie Greenwood Learning Coordinator
Kyle Lamb
Learning Programs Manager
Anja Ormiston
Education Programs Intern
MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS & DIGITAL MEDIA
JoVahn Allen
Marketing Intern
Charlie Balcom
Social Media Manager
Leon Barton
Website Manager
KC Commander
Director of Digital Content & Innovation
Maria Cordes
Video Editor
Jon Dellinger
Growth Marketing Manager
Drew Dolan
Box O ce Manager
Kaitlyn Driesen
Digital Media & Label Services Manager
Mya Gibson Communications Intern
Stephanie Lazorchak
Graphic Designer
Daniel Lees
Assistant Box O ce Manager
Michelle Lewandowski Director of Marketing
Tina Marshall Director of Ticketing & Audience Services
Wendy Marshall Group Sales Manager
Madelyn McArthur Audience Engagement Manager
Noah Moore
Digital Content Intern
Amber Ostaszewski Director of Audience Engagement
Tyler Secor Director of Communications & Content Development
