Power of Her evident throughout 125th Anniversary Season
by Franck Mercurio
Power of Her is a collaboration of organizations across the Greater Cincinnati region united to activate and amplify women’s voices in the arts. Led by ArtsWave, and inspired by the women’s suffrage movement, the initiative salutes the women who came before us and honors female leadership and woman-centric works of all kinds.
At its core, “Power of Her” underscores creativity as a vehicle for inclusion and equality by celebrating the female voice and the many ways that voice champions a more diverse and vibrant world.
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Pops are actively participating in “Power of Her” throughout the 2019–2020 season. Beginning with these September concerts highlighting women artists, the CSO celebrates its 125th anniversary and the country recognizes the 100th anniversary of the Nineteeth Amendment, which prohibits states and the federal government from denying U.S. citizens the right to vote on the basis of sex.
RENÉE ELISE GOLDSBERRY, vocalist
Cincinnati Pops
September 13–15, 2019
Renée Elise Goldsberry, the original “Angelica Schuyler” from Broadway’s Hamilton, brings her engaging stage presence and amazing voice to a program of Broadway, pop and soul hits. The Tony Award-winning vocalist will blow us all away with selections from Hamilton, Rent and The Lion King, plus songs by Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, Bob Dylan and more.
KATIA & MARIELLE LABÈQUE, pianos
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
September 20–21, 2019
Siblings Katia and Marielle Labèque give the U.S. premiere of the Concerto for Two Pianos by Cincinnati native (and Paris transplant) Bryce Dessner of the band The National. The Times of London writes that “whether Mozart or Stravinsky, [the Labèques’] musical line always sounds as if it’s being woven for the very first time...the illusion of improvisation is the genius of their performances.”
ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER, violin
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
September 28–29, 2019
Four-time Grammy-winner and “undisputed queen of violin-playing” (The Times, London), Anne-Sophie Mutter continues to be a musical phenomenon, making her mark on the classical music scene as a soloist, mentor and visionary. See her perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto as part of the CSO’s Beethoven Revolution, a multi-year project examining the composer and his music.
EUN SUN KIM, conductor
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
September 28–29, 2019
In her U.S. debut leading the CSO and May Festival Chorus in the May Festival’s 2018 performance of Verdi’s Requiem, Eun Sun Kim “was an inspiring leader with a commanding presence. Every gesture was clear and musical.… a sweeping and incandescent performance.” (Cincinnati Business Courier). This brilliant young conductor returns to Music Hall to lead the CSO and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter in a program featuring a world premiere by Gabriella Smith, Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Brahms’ Symphony No. 4.
GABRIELLA SMITH, composer
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
September 28–29, 2019
Gabriella Smith’s music has been described as “high-voltage and wildly imaginative” by The Philadelphia Inquirer. Although she is only 27 years old, the young composer’s work has been performed throughout the U.S. and internationally. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has commissioned a new work by Smith, which will be played the same evening as Anne-Sophie Mutter performs Beethoven.