“A” is for “Accent” and the latest edition is about to play
out at the
One of CCM’s outstanding summer programs, AccentX (the number changes every year) is a week-long chamber music festival for
college age and advanced high school musicians. Accent08 takes place June 15-21 at CCM.
Founded by violist/teacher Dorotea Vismara Hoffman in 2002, the level of achievement on Accent programs is astonishingly high -- at least judging by a CD from last year’s event.
What I heard there in works by Beethoven, Ravel, John Cage, Weber, Poulenc and Foss was on a level that could often be mistaken for performance by established professional ensembles.
AccentX training is
intensive and comprehensive, with private lessons, master classes, concerto
competition, ensemble coaching, classes in composition, improvisation, music history and
theory, plus daily concerts for ensembles large and small, including percussion
ensemble and orchestra.
Concerts take place in Cohen Family Studio
Theater in CCM’s Mary Emery Hall and are free and open to the public.
There are outreach concerts, too, set for June 15 at Scarlet Oaks
Retirement Community and June 16 at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
Master classes, held daily from 2:30-3:30
p.m. in Mary Emery Hall, are also free and open to the public.
Solo
competition is an aspect of Accent08 and will be held in junior (under 18) and
senior categories (18 and over). Prizes
include merit scholarships for Accent08 and performance with one of the Accent
orchestras on the final concert June 21. Application deadline is May 12, with live
auditions scheduled for May 24. Applications may be downloaded from the
Accent08 web site at http://www.ccm.uc.edu/musicx/accent/.
AccentX is closely coordinated with CCM’s annual new music festival MusicX, organized and administered by Joel Hoffman, head of CCM’s composition department. Music08 takes place June 15-22, with guest composers Steve Reich, Jack Body and Frederic Rzewski. For information about Music08, visit http://www.ccm.uc.edu/musicx/.
Accent08 participants will be
coached by an eminent faculty drawn from CCM, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
and elsewhere.This year's faculty
includes the Grammy-winning chamber ensemble eighth blackbird, conductor Neal
Gittleman (Dayton Philharmonic music director), CSO concertmaster Timothy Lees,
former CSO principal trumpeter Philip Collins, cellist Parry Karp (ProArte Quartet),
CCM faculty members Michael Chertock (piano), James Culley (percussion), Mark
Ostoich (oboe) and Rodney Stucky (guitar) and soprano
Alison Acord (
There is a parallel Crescendo08 event for high school and middle school students, which shares faculty with Accent08 and also presents concerts.
Admission to Accent08 and Crescendo08 are by application and audition. Cost to participate is $450, plus a $50 non-refundable application fee. Scholarships are available based on need. A few places remain open, so it is not too late to apply.
For information, visit
http://www.ccm.uc.edu/musicx/accent/
or contact director Dorotea Vismara Hoffman at Dorotea.Hoffman@uc.edu.