'Tis the season for lists and here is MusicinCincinnati.com's.  (Behold Janus doing a little bit of typing over the ruins of another year.)  To make it a little different, this one is organized by categories, i.e. new music, early music, more traditional repertoire and multi-media events.  From the cornetto to brass players blowing air through their mouthpieces (Erkki-Sven Tüür's 2009 "Pietas") here's what stood out looking back on music in Cincinnati 2009.
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Bruce Dickey

The cornetto is not a cornet, but a "lost" member of the brass family.  The once glorious instrument suffered neglect and abuse for nearly two centuries before being "re-discovered" in the middle of the last century as part of the early music movement.  One of the pioneers of the newly revived cornetto is Bruce Dickey of Bologna, Italy, who will perform with Cincinnati's Catacoustic Consort December 19 at North Presbyterian Church in Northside.  Joining Dickey in a program of Christmas music from early 17th-century Italy are cornettist Kiri Tollaksen of Ann Arbor, Catacoustic artistic director Annalisa Pappano on bass viol and Daniel Swenberg of Highland Park, New Jersey on theorbo. 
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left to right: Greg Noland, Vince Scacchetti, Smiliana Lozanova. Photo by Tiffany Lusht

Visitors to the Northside Tavern on Hamilton Avenue in Cincinnati's Northside neighborhood can now imbibe Bach and Mozart along with refreshments from the bar.  Classical Revolution, which began in 2006 in San Francisco, has spread to "an extremely vibrant scene for classical music," says Vince Scacchetti, director of the local affiliate in Cincinnati, founded in May, 2009.
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Henning Kraggerud (photo by Julia Serafin)

Violinist Henning Kraggerud returns to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in the key of D major November 20 and 21 at Music Hall.  This is the same key as his CSO debut in May, 2006 when he stepped for ailing Akiko Suwani in Beethoven's Violin Concerto.  For his second visit, Kraggerud will perform Mozart's Concerto No. 4 in D Major with the CSO led by guest conductor Stephane Deneve.  In an interview with The Cincinnati Post in 2006, he shared his experience as the second person in history -- and the second Norwegian -- to fiddle on top of the Great Pyramid in Egypt.  Note: Tickets to these concerts are being offered on a "pay what you can" basis, with a $10 suggested minimum, thanks to a subsidy from the CSO's Gift of Music Fund.
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Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Director of Communications Christopher Pinelo has been posting some remarkable videos of the orchestra's current tour of Japan.  They can be seen as part of the CSO's "virtual tour" of Japan on the CSO web site at www.cincinnatisymphony.org/japan and on YouTube.  If you missed them there, the links are posted here as well.  Enjoy!
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Paavo Järvi on the cover of Ongaku-no-tomo magazine ("Friend of Music")

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra led by music director Paavo Järvi will make a return trip to Japan October 22 to November 5.  Though Järvi, who is extremely popular in Japan, has toured the country numerous times with his European orchestras, this will be his first Japanese tour since November, 2003 with the CSO.
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Carel Kraayenhof playing the bandoneon (photo by Rob Becker)

Tango can move you to tears, so be careful if you attend the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra premiere of Astor Piazzolla's tango-influenced Concerto for Bandoneon Oct. 2 and 3 at Music Hall in Cincinnati.  Soloist is one of world's premier bandeonists, Carel Kraayenhof.  That Kraayenhof is Dutch makes not a bit of difference, since tango, with which the bandoneon is inextricably associated, is one of the first "world musics."  Guest conductor Kristjan Järvi, who is embarked on a Latin music project with Kraayenhof and has performed the Piazzolla Concerto with him in Europe, leads the CSO in an all-Latin American program, also including music by Alberto Ginastera and Silvestre Revueltas.
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Estonian-born American Kristjan Järvi is about as versatile as they get on the podium today.  Pianist, conductor, creator of his own electro-acoustic chamber ensemble (Absolute Ensemble), advocate for new music and new ways of presenting it, he is versed in jazz, rock and world music, in additional to the classical he imbibed as the son of Neeme Järvi and younger brother of Paavo Järvi, both also conductors.  A recent focus has been Latin American music, which he will conduct Oct. 2 and 3, 2009 when he guest conducts the Cincinnati Symphony at Music Hall.
    In an interview for the Cincinnati Post on July 10, 2007 ("Kristjan Järvi His Own Man") Järvi said he wasn't sure he wanted to be a conductor at all until his piano teacher pointed him in that direction.  Here is a re-print of that interview.
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Erkki-Sven Tüür (photo by P. Vähi)

This story, originally published in 2003 in The Cincinnati Post, looks at the background and career of Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür.  Tüür returns to Cincinnati for the U.S, premiere of his Symphony No. 7, "Pietas," with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati May Festival Chorus led by CSO music director Paavo Järvi, Sept. 25-27 at Music Hall. 
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Paavo Järvi

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and music director Paavo Järvi open the orchestra's 2009-2010 season Sept. 25-27 at Music Hall.  The program -- a U.S. premiere, a warhorse concerto, a debutante soloist and a well-loved work that just happens to utilize chorus -- is a representative example of the orchestra's 115th season, traditional masterworks set off by touches of spice.  The Sept. 27 concert also introduces the CSO's new "Pathways" Sunday matinee series, which offers shortened programs, post-concert discussions by the artists and reduced ticket prices.
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A visit to the 2009 Beethovenfest in Bonn, Germany afforded a welcome opportunity to do some first-time sightseeing in the composer's birthplace.  Here are some images, from the festival and the city.
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Song Festival Grounds, Tallinn, Estonia, July 4, 2009 (photo by Ants Liigus of Pärnu Postimees)

In July, 2009 a group from Cincinnati made a pilgrimage to Tallinn, Estonia for the Estonian National Song Celebration, an every-fifth-year-event that has become a powerful symbol of Estonia's national identity (see photo essay, "Re-surfacing in Cincinnati," previously filed in "Features" on this site).  Part II is an account of that trip first published in the September 09 issue of Express Cincinnati (www.expresscincinnati.com).
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Tom Osterman and Alberta Marsh

One of Cincinnati's dearest arts patrons, Alberta Marsh, died July 28 at the age of 86.  In her memory, here are two articles by Jan Perry, written for The Cincinnati Post in 2003, about her beloved "Painted Violins" project, co-chaired with Joyce Holmes to benefit  Music Hall on the occasion of its 125th anniversary.
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act IV "Carmen," Cincinnati Opera, July, 2009

The conquistadors at Cincinnati Opera have overcome the difficult economy to deliver a 2009 season that not only exceeded their attendance and income goals, but outpaced results from 2008.  As a result, the Opera is projecting an operating surplus for the 20th consecutive season.    
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Singing is a part of life in the small nation of Estonia (population 1.3 million).  According to figures released by the organizers of the 2009 Estonian National Song Celebration, held July 4 and 5 in Tallinn, 146,430 people participated in this year's event.  It was the largest turnout for the 140-year-old, every-fifth-year celebration since Estonia re-gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.  MusicinCincinnati was there and will post a story (or stories) soon.  Meanwhile, here is a photo essay, from the arrival of the flame in Tallinn Harbor July 2 (compare the Olympic torch) through the first Song Celebration concert July 4.
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