Cincinnati Symphony Rockers on Plum Street
Mida oli*
April 22, 2008
What a way to wind
down from a 12,000-mile journey.
Owen Lee, Eric Bates and Ted Nelson, all members of the
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra just back from a tour of Europe, not only play
three CSO concerts this weekend at Music Hall, but jam at 7:00 p.m. April 25 in
City Hall council chambers as the rock band TOE (Ted, Owen, Eric).
Presented by the
Linton Chamber Music Series, TOE opens this year’s “Mayor’s 801 Plum Concerts,”
an annual event that seeks to bring the traditional notion of “chamber music”
into the modern world.
Lee, Bates and
Nelson -- CSO principal bassist, second assistant concertmaster and cellist, respectively -- have loved rock music since they were kids, as do most members of the
twenty and thirtysomething set (and others).
Discovering their mutual passion, they formed Toe two years ago, with
Bates on guitar, Lee on drums and Nelson on bass. Bates and Lee also do vocals and they write their own songs. Check them out on My Space at www.myspace.com/toerocks.
Asked to name their stylistic leaning, Lees identified "stoner
rock," a sub-genre of rock and metal pioneered by the
So you will get the point and appreciate the inclusiveness of chamber music -- generally
defined as small ensembles with one player to a part -- the musicians will open
with traditional fare. Joining them
in movements from Mozart Divertimento in F Major, K.138, Dvorak’s String Quintet in G Major and the Andante Cantabile from Tchaikovsky's String Quartet No. 1
will be CSO violinist Cheryl Benedict and violist Steven Fryxell. Nelson and Lee will perform the first movement of Rossini’s Duet for Cello
and Double Bass.
The evening begins
with a happy hour at 5:30. Admission is
$20. Tickets are available at the
Cincinnati Arts Association ticket office at the
The CSO led by
music director Paavo Järvi, performs its first concert on home turf since
flying back from
The early evening
“buffet” concert – complimentary buffet dinner is served beginning at 6:15 p.m.
in the Music Hall Ballroom – also includes Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 in E-flat
Major and Overture No. 2 by Estonian composer Veljo Tormis.
Tormis is one of
the world’s great choral composers, having done for Estonian music what Bartok
and Kodaly did for Hungarian, i.e. seek the roots of its native musical culture
in folk music. The 1959 Overture No. 2
is one of Tormis’ few instrumental works and one of considerable power and
appeal. Järvi led its CSO premiere in
January 2004 at Music Hall and will record it on an upcoming Telarc CD.
The concert repeats
at 11 a.m. April 25 and 8 p.m. April 26 at Music Hall. Tickets are $12-$83.50, $10 for students, $12
for seniors evening concerts only. Call
(513) 381-3300 or visit www.cincinnatisymphony.org
If you love a
piano, how about three (six pianists, 12 hands?
The
Tickets are $15 at
(513) 556-4183 or visit www.ccm.uc.edu.
In the news: CCM has named Douglas Knehans as its new dean
effective Sept. 1, 2008.
Currently director and professor of music for
the Conservatorium of Music at the University of Tasmania (Australia), Knehans
replaces former dean Douglas Lowry who left last summer to become dean of the
Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.
A native of
*"What's happening?" in Estonian.