The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, one of the world's elite choirs, performs with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra at Cincinnati's St. Peter in Chains Cathedral Nov. 11 as part of a three-week, 11-city tour of the U.S. and Canada.  Conducting music of Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür and Antonio Vivaldi will be Tõnu Kaljuste.  Founding director of both ensembles, Kaljuste, like the late Robert Shaw, is now adding the vast repertoire of orchestral music to his conducting palette.
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Paavo Järvi

Brahms' German Requiem and Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem are a thought-provoking pairing for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's first post-Election Day concert Nov. 7 and 8 at Music Hall.  Brahms offers comfort for the bereaved, Britten a vigorous protest against war.  CSO music director Paavo Jarvi conducts, with the May Festival Chorus and soloists Heidi Grant Murphy, soprano, and Matthias Goerne, baritone.
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Leonid Grin rehearsing the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (photo by David Phillippi)

Conductor Leonid Grin keeps his eye on the road for what may lie ahead.  This has brought him much fulfillment in life, from studying with the conducting elite of the former Soviet Union to a life-changing encounter with Leonard Bernstein.  Grin makes his Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra debut Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at Music Hall.  On the program are Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5, the Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber with guest artist Tai Murray and Dvorak's Scherzo capriccioso. 
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4985 Walnut Woods Lane, Indian Hill.

Hurricane Ike dealt Cincinnati -- and much of Ohio -- a severe blow Sept. 14, felling trees and canceling electrical and telephone service for hundreds of thousands of people.  Remarkably, a sort of calm within the storm reigned at an Indian Hill home, where solar power, equanimity under pressure and a convergence of talent and hard work made for an evening to remember despite the winds raging outside.
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Song is powerful. It can even help topple an empire. "The Singing Revolution," a 2007 film about Estonia's bloodless struggle for re-independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, has been made into a compelling documentary by James and Maureen Castle Tusty.  The 2007, 97-minute film comes to the Cincinnati Art Museum June 24-26.
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Shu-Ying Li as Madama Butterfly

With the look of an Asian. the personality of an Italian and a keen dramatic sense, Chinese soprano Shu-Ying Li is a rare combination to sing Puccini's "Madama Butterfly."  Li will sing the tragic heroine for Cincinnati Opera June 11-15 at Music Hall.  The production, by Mark Lamos for New York City Opera, with its wide open, minimalist look, seems ideally suited for her with its focus on the music and drama.
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Wesley Lawrence as Giovanni and Paola Gonzalez as Beatriz in Daniel Catan's "Rappaccini's Daughter" at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music

"Rappaccini's Daughter," the ultimate femme fatale, comes to the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music May 3-June 1.  The Spanish language opera by Mexican composer Daniel Catan is both a Cincinnati premiere and first fruit of the new Corbett Foundation Opera Fusion Program, an artistic and academic collaboration between CCM and Cincinnati Opera.
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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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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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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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