CSO & Cincinnati Pops Announce Updates to the 2023-2024 Season
2023-24 Winstead Chamber Series and CSO’s Beethoven & Tchaikovsky Program Featuring Pianist Jonathan Biss on October 18, 2023 Added to Concert Schedule
Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2 to Replace Bartók Violin Concerto No. 2 on September 30 & October 1, 2023; U.S. Premiere of Daníel Bjarnason’sI Want to Be Alive - Trilogy for Orchestra, First Part: Echo/Narcissus to Take Place November 10 & 11, 2023;
Cincinnati Pops Announces Additional Featured Vocalists Shaleah Adkisson, Scott Coulter, Debbie Gravitte, Michael McCorry Rose and Pianist John Boswell for An Evening with Stephen Schwartz & Friends September 22-24, 2023
Artists and Repertoire Announced for EarShot Program on October 4, 2023 and Nina Simone Piano Concerto Competition Finals on October 6, 2023 with the CSO
Young People’s Concert Programs Announced
CINCINNATI, OH (August 25, 2023)—The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and Cincinnati Pops have announced updates to the upcoming 2023-24 season.
ADDITIONS TO THE 2023-24 SEASON
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra announced details for the 2023-24 Winstead Chamber Series, recently endowed by and named for longtime CSO bassoonist William “Bill” Winstead who played with the Orchestra for 32 years. The 2023-24 Winstead Chamber Series includes four unique programs, curated by CSO musicians and performed in the intimate setting of Wilks Studio at Music Hall. Programs for each concert are:
Friday, October 13, 2023, 7:30 PM
Harry T. Wilks Studio at Music Hall
REFLECTIONS OF AMERICA
Antonín DVORÁK: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 96, American
Libby LARSEN: Corker for Clarinet and Percussion
John HARBISON: Quintet for Winds
Johannes BRAHMS: String Quartet No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 51
Friday, January 19, 2024, 7:30 PM
Harry T. Wilks Studio at Music Hall
DEATH AND THE MAIDEN
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Serenade in D Major for Flute, Violin and Viola, Op. 25
Franz SCHUBERT: String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, Death and the Maiden
Antonín DVORÁK: Serenade in D Minor, Op. 44
Thursday, March 21, 2024, 7:30 PM
Harry T. Wilks Studio at Music Hall
THE ART OF THE TRIO: BRAHMS & TCHAIKOVSKY
Ruth GIPPS: Pan and Apollo for Two Oboes, English Horn and Harp, Op. 78
Johannes BRAHMS: Trio for Piano, Clarinet and Cello in A Minor, Op. 114
Piotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY: Trio for Pianoforte, Violin, and Violoncello in A Minor, Op. 50
Thursday, April 25, 2024 at 7:30 PM
Harry T. Wilks Studio at Music Hall
SPOTLIGHT ON WINDS & STRINGS
Erwin SCHULHOFF: Concertino for Flute, Viola, and Double Bass
Carl REINECKE: Trio in A Major for Clarinet, Viola and Piano, Op. 264
Aram KHACHATURIAN: Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano
Robert SCHUMANN: String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 41, No. 1
The CSO has also added a full-orchestra program called Beethoven & Tchaikovsky on October 18, 2023. The program, led by guest conductor Ramón Tebar, includes John Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine; Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 featuring today’s foremost Beethoven interpreter, pianist Jonathan Biss; and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.
REPERTOIRE CHANGES
Christian Reif will conduct the Orchestra in Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring Saturday, September 30, 2023 and Sunday, October 1, 2023 along with Falla’s Interlude and Dance from La vida breve and Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, which replaced the previously scheduled Bartók Violin Concerto No. 2. The violin concerto will be performed by violinist Clara-Jumi Kang as previously announced.
The U.S. premiere of Daníel Bjarnason multi-year work I Want to Be Alive – Trilogy for Orchestra: First Part: Echo/Narcissus , previously scheduled for the 2022-23 season, will take place on November 10 & 11, 2023, in place of Trilogy for Orchestra: Part II.
ARTISTS & REPERTOIRE ANNOUNCED
September 22-24, 2023: Cincinnati Pops’ Defying Gravity: An Evening with Stephen Schwartz & Friends
The Cincinnati Pops has announced additional featured artists for Defying Gravity: An Evening with Stephen Schwartz & Friends on September 22-24, 2023. In addition to Oscar and Grammy Award-winning composer Schwartz, featured artists will include: vocalists Shaleah Adkisson, Scott Coulter, Debbie Gravitte, Michael McCorry Rose, and pianist John Boswell.
October 4, 2023: Earshot
On October 4, 2023, CSO Associate Conductor Samuel Lee and CSO Assistant Conductor Daniel Wiley will conduct the Orchestra in a public performance at Music Hall featuring composers of EarShot, the nation’s first ongoing, systematic program for creating relationships between orchestras and composers. EarShot is operated in partnership with the American Composers Orchestra (ACO), New Music USA, and the League of American Orchestras. Composers and works are: Giuseppe Gallo-Balma (Los Huesos de Yayael), Joseph Sowa (Summer Has Ten Thousand Stars), Martin Hebel (Radiant Pillars), and Leyou Wang (Impressions from Tianqiao).
The four composers will be mentored by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and ACO board member Melinda Wagner, ACO Artistic Director Curtis Stewart, the prolific composer Texu Kim, and CSO Music Director Louis Langrée in feedback sessions and discussions on aesthetics and compositional issues. The composers will also have the opportunity to engage with CSO musicians, assistant conductors, and section principals in private sessions. The public performance will be preceded by a pre-performance Q&A with the featured artists and composers.
October 6, 2023: Nina Simone Piano Concerto Competition Finals
Art of the Piano has announced the finalist for its inaugural Nina Simone Piano Competition, a biennial event designed to highlight and empower talented young Black pianists by providing a visible platform, performance opportunities, experience, and support to ultimately increase representation of Black artists on concert stages.
Three finalists have been selected to perform alongside the CSO on October 6, 2023. Finalists in the Artists Division and repertoire are Clayton Stephenson (Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1) and Joshua Mhoon (Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2). The finalist in the Seniors Division is Kayden Kelly who will perform Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Each finalist will play for a live audience and a jury. At the end of the evening, a grand-prize winner will be selected and given a medal, cash prize of $50,000, as well as performance opportunities.
2023-24 Young People’s Concerts
Young People’s Concerts, designed for students in grades K-6, introduce young listeners to the world of orchestral music with approachable and educational programs.
On November 20 & 21, 2023, conductor Daniel Wiley and hosts Paige Turner and Kelly Jo Asbury from Learning Through Art’s Books Alive! For Kids® explore how composers drew inspiration from creative poetry, contemporary literature and classic tales.
On March 13 & 19, 2024, conductor Samuel Lee leads a program devoted to shapes and how conductors use them to lead an orchestra. Program selections include Tchaikovsky’s “Pas de deux” from The Nutcracker, Astor Piazzolla’s Libertango, Klaus Badelt’s Suite from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and more.