Cincinnati's Fine Arts Fund, oldest and most profitable in the U.S., made it through a difficult year to report on-target donations for 2008.  The total raised was $12.3 million, $3,000 over the campaign goal.  The announcement was made in conjunction with the presentation of the Scripps Corbett Awards, successor to the Post Corbett Awards, founded 26 years ago by arts patrons J. Ralph and Patricia Corbett and the Cincinnati Post.  The Post, owned by Cincinnati-based Scripps Howard, ceased publication Dec. 31, 2007.
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Left to right: Mario San Marco, Chris Monzel, Ellen van der Horst, Doug Moorman and Paavo Järvi (photo by Mary Ellyn Hutton).

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, led by music director Paavo Jarvi, filled concert halls in Paris, Munich, Vienna, Amsterdam and Madrid on its just-completed, two-week tour of Europe.  The CSO made it to the Video Board on Fountain Square in Cincinnati April 30, where they were welcomed back by Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Monzel, who read a proclamation by Mayor Mark Mallory.
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The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has spread Stravinsky over its 2007-08 season.  From a focus on some of his neo-classic works in the fall, the orchestra led by music director Paavo Jarvi performs his elemental "Rite of Spring" as its grand finale.  Ending the season right, they will also present a world premiere, Cincinnati composer Robert Johnson's "Prairyerth," and Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 with guest artist Lars Vogt.
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Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10, performed by Paavo Jarvi and the Cincinnati Symphony April 17 in Barcelona's Palau de la Musica, was the truly substantial dish on the program, said Jorge de Persia in La Vanguardia April 19.  Mozart and Tchaikovsky?  Not enough affection, he said.
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Toe: left to right: Eric Bates, Owen Lee and Ted Nelson

How would you wind down from a 12,000-mile journey?  Cincinnati Symphony musicians Owen Lee, Eric Bates and Ted Nelson, just back from the CSO's 2008 European tour, will rock in Cincinnati City Hall council chambers on Plum Street.
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Naimah Bilal

When an orchestra performs, there is a large supporting cast that performs offstage.  One of them, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra artistic coordinator Naimah Bilal, has just been tapped for the League of American Orchestra's prestigious Orchestra Management Fellowship Program.  Bilal, 26, a violist trained at Indiana University and the Cleveland Institute of Music, says working behind the scenes is "her passion."
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Alte Oper, Frankfurt

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra led by music director Paavo Järvi arrives in Frankfurt, Germany today, first leg on their two-week tour of Europe. Järvi is already well known in the German city, not only because he is principal conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, but because of the seven-story image of him displayed on the side of a downtown department store when he led his inaugural concerts there in 2006. Järvi is interviewed by Stefan Schickhaus in the March 28 issue of Frankfurt Rundschau. He and the CSO perform April 4 in Frankfurt's Alte Oper. On the program are Schubert's Symphony No. 9 ("Great") and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with guest artist Nikolai Lugansky. English translation by Mary Ellyn and John Hutton.
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Composer, conductor, teacher Gerhard Samuel passed away March 25 at his home in Seattle, Washington. Born in Bonn, Germany in 1924, Samuel moved to the United States with his immediate family in 1939 to escape Nazi persecution.  His long international career included 20 years as professor of conducting and music director of the Philharmonia Orchestra at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
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This weekend's concerts seem to be about hitting the road. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra led by music director Paavo Järvi performs its last concerts in Cincinnati March 27-29 at Music Hall before departing on a two-week tour of Europe with a program comprising Mozart’s Overture to “The Marriage of Figaro,” Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with pianist Nikolai Lugansky and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10. If you know Virgil's "Aeneid," you know that Trojan hero Aeneas stopped on his way to found Rome and broke the heart of Dido, Queen of Carthage. The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra led by music director Mischa Santora presents a concert performance of Purcell's “Dido and Aeneas” March 30 at Memorial Hall.    - [Read more]

Paavo Jarvi, Music Hall, Cincinnati

Programming a subscription season for an American symphony orchestra is a bit of a dilemma. How do you remain true to the product – classical music is an art form after all, not fast food -- and simultaneously increase attendance? As is his custom, Cincinnati Symphony music director Paavo Järvi, who will be entering his eighth season with the orchestra, has assembled a 2008-09 Music Hall season that strikes a balance between familiar and more challenging repertoire and between established and emerging guest artists.   - [Read more]

CSO billboard in Cincinnati (photo by Mary Ellyn Hutton)

Paavo Järvi will conduct 14 of the 24 subscription weeks during the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's 2008-09 season at Music Hall, his eighth as CSO music director. On the guest list are conductors Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Sir Roger Norrington, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Alan Gilbert, Leonid Grin, Vasily Petrenko, Robert Porco, Xian Zhang, Gilbert Kaplan and James Gaffigan, pianists Radu Lupu, Yefim Bronfman, Andre Watts, Jon Kimura Parker, Louis Lortie, Nicholas Angelich, Stewart Goodyear and Denis Matsuev, violinists Midori, Julia Fischer, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Christian Tetzlaff, Tai Murray and Chloe Hanslip, cellists Gautier Capucon and Johannes Moser, flutist Emmannuel Pahud and percussionist Colin Currie.  There will be a focus on Bartok, a world premiere commission by Jeffrey Mumford, a U.S. premiere by Erkki-Sven Tüür and a bountiful harvest of music from the baroque period to the 21st century.
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Flyer image for concert:nova/Know Theatre production of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat"

“It might as well be spring,” as the Oscar-winning pop song goes, with all the newness popping up all over town this weekend. Including: The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra led by music director Paavo Järvi presents the CSO debut of Japanese violinist Sayaka Shoji, the U.S. premiere of Jörg Widmann’s “Antiphon” and the first CSO performance of Sibelius’ Symphony No. 3 since its CSO premiere in 1934.  Concert:nova collaborates with The Know Theatre on a complete performance of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat" with a contemporary twist.
  
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They're calling it "Russian Passion," complete with flaming heart. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra offers BOTH Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky Feb. 28-March 1 at Music Hall, Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony. Call it an overdose, but there's little doubt the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's attendance numbers will see a bit of a spike because of it.   - [Read more]

This story, first published Dec. 27, 2007, was my final column for The Cincinnati Post, which ceased publication Dec. 31, after 126 years. The year I arrived (1984) was the year The Post moved from the Times-Star building on Broadway to 125 E. Court St., just adjacent to the Hamilton County courthouse (hence the title).   - [Read more]

Kristjan Järvi, brother of Cincinnati Symphony music director Paavo Järvi, will make his debut with the CSO New Year's Eve at Music Hall.  Dubbed "Bernstein's New York Story," it will be an all-American program with music from "West Side Story" featuring tenor Rodrick Dixon and soprano Ellie Dehn.  Järvi, a New Yorker himself since the age of 7, is founder of New York's Absolute Ensemble as well as a growing presence on the international conducting scene.  His Cincinnati debut was as conductor of John Adams' "Nixon in China" for Cincinnati Opera at Music Hall in July.
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