After more than a decade of angst and 16 months of anticipation, Music Hall reopens this weekend with a pair of concerts by the Cincinnati Symphony and an extensive (free!) housewarming event Saturday hosted by ArtsWave. Take advantage, and be a witness to history.
Plus, there are lots of other events upcoming…read on.
Cultural Exhibits
Cincinnati Museum Center | Hamilton County Fair Grounds, Carthage. 513-287-7000
- Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 7-8. Cincinnati Mini Maker Faire
There’s no such thing as downtime at the Museum Center, which glided from Star Wars costumes to this week’s Mini Maker Faire without losing a beat. According to national event founder MAKE Magazine, this is the “the greatest show (and tell) on Earth,” a nerd-out forum for amateur and professional inventors, artists, crafters, chemists, engineers and performers. Go get inspired!
Fairs/Festivals
Price Hill Will | The Sanctuary, 2110 St. Michael St., Price Hill. 513-251-3800
- Saturday, Oct. 7, noon-10 p.m. Bend in the River Art & Music Festival
Second Sunday on Main | Main Street, Over-the-Rhine
- Sunday, Oct. 8, noon-5 p.m. Last eclectic street festival of the season
Here’s a chance to explore two of Cincinnati’s fastest changing neighborhoods and find out what all the fuss is about, while sampling food, arts & crafts and live music.
Film
Inside the Loop Film Festival | Sharonville Cultural Arts Center
- Friday-Sunday, Oct. 6-8. Seven feature-length and 22 short independent films
Independent and art films are on the rise in Cincinnati. This weekend marks the debut of an independent film festival founded by Lana Read and Nancy Pushkar and funded in part by ArtsWave. More than half of the films were made by Ohio-based filmmakers, and some are award-winners from the film festival circuit and around the world (Colombia, Canada, and the UK). There will be a number of filmmakers in attendance, as well as a special guest appearance by “The Young and the Restless” star Daniel Goddard. If you’re into film, head thee to Sharonville.
Literary
Dos Madres Press | Arnold’s Bar & Grill, downtown
- Saturday, Oct. 7, 2-4 p.m. Book release event: Richard Hague and Pauletta Hansel, “Old Buddies, New Books.” Readings are at 2:20 p.m. and 3:20 p.m.
Award-winning author and Thomas More College writer-in-residence Richard Hague and Cincinnati poet laureate Pauletta Hansel celebrate the publication of their newest books with a signing and reading event. Hague’s “Studied Days: Poems Early and Late in Appalachia” explores “the geographical, cultural, social and artistic contexts” of his Appalachian life. Hansel’s “Palindrome,” poems and prose written in response to her mother’s dementia, tells the story of two generations of Appalachian women in flux.
Freedom Center | The Banks, downtown.
- Wednesday, Oct. 4, 6 p.m. John & Francie Pepper Freedom Lecture Series: Ronald C. White discusses “American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant.” RSVP here.
Thanks to the Peppers for sponsoring this important ongoing series of talks surrounding the topic of freedom, one which needs constant refreshment in these turbulent times. Grant was not only a brilliant general but also a passionate defender of equal rights in post-Civil War America. Here’s a great way to learn more about a misunderstood figure in our history.
Music
Chamber Music Cincinnati | Memorial Hall, Over-the-Rhine. 513-342-6870
- (Next) Wednesday, Oct. 11, 7:30 p.m. Danish String Quartet
Several things make this concert worthy of consideration: the debut of this series at the renovated Memorial Hall; a program that includes Beethoven, Bartok and Nordic folk music; and the fact that these guys have been called “one of the best quartets before the public today” (Washington Post). So good I’m mentioning them a week early!
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra | Music Hall, Over-the-Rhine. 513-381-3300
- Friday-Saturday, Oct. 6-7. “Music Hall Grand Opening Weekend,” Louis Langrée, conductor. Kit Armstrong, piano
Amazingly, a few seats remain for this opening weekend. With all the excitement of Friday’s festivities, Saturday should be your best bet for tickets. If you can’t get to the concerts, (There will be others!), stop by Saturday for tours sponsored by ArtsWave. Can’t wait to hear for myself.
Matinee Musicale | Memorial Hall, Over-the-Rhine
- Sunday, Oct. 8, 3 p.m. Joshua Brown, violin
Our musical cup overfloweth. The venerable Matinee Musicale series is taking things to a new level, moving to Memorial Hall and booking some major talent. A prodigy at 17, Joshua Brown is not just a great young violinist; he is a great violinist, period.
Trinity Episcopal Church | 326 Madison Ave., Covington. 859-431-1786
- Friday, Oct. 6, 7:30 p.m. New York Polyphony: two-time, Grammy-nominated, male a cappella quartet
If you don’t go to the CSO opening Friday evening, but are craving an amazing musical experience, look no further than to just across the Roebling Bridge, and the charming, wood-laden sanctuary of Trinity Episcopal. NYP is the real deal, and I had the great privilege of partnering with their bass, Craig Phillips, for a couple of years in local a cappella group VoiceBox. He is, and they are, magnificent.
Theater
Ensemble Theatre | 1127 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine. 513-421-3555
- Tuesday, Oct. 10-Nov. 4. “This Random World”
Another magical transformation unfolds along Vine Street early next week, as ETC unveils its newly expanded front of house and support facilities. The hall remains its delightful, intimate self, but the entrance will be more worthy of this excellent company and its guests (you!). According to contributor David Lyman, in his fall M&M theater picks, “The sense of excitement and energy surrounding this new season is palpable. And what better way for ETC to launch its 30th season on Vine Street than with a powerful and optimistic play by Steven Dietz directed by the theater’s longtime artistic director, D. Lynn Meyers?”
Visual Art
From reading these posts each week, you can easily guess that I’m a performing musician, not a painter or sculptor. But, as the Keeper of the Calendar, one thing is clear: visual art is exploding in Cincinnati. There are more than, count ‘em, TWELVE exhibit openings or gallery events this weekend, and it’s not even Final Friday. Whether your interests are more traditional or cutting edge, whether you are just learning or actively acquiring, you are bound to find something amidst the art events listed here, this weekend and beyond. Here is a brief sampling…
Marta Hewett Gallery | 1310 Pendleton St., Pendleton. 513-281-2780
- Oct. 6, 6-8 p.m. “The Nature of Things,” new paintings by Kim Krause. Runs through Dec. 2.
Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum | 1763 Hamilton-Cleves Rd., State Route 128, Hamilton. 513-868-1234
- Oct. 6-15. “Intrude,” five illuminated rabbit sculptures by Amanda Parer. Debut party: Oct. 5, 5:30-8 p.m. $100. Reception: Oct. 6, 7-10 p.m. $10: adults/$5: children, 6-12. Two of these rabbits will appear in BLINK, Oct. 12-15.
Yust Gallery | 3602 Eastern Ave., Columbia-Tusculum. 513-284-6737
- Oct. 7, 6-9 p.m. Fall reception featuring artists David LeCheminant and Shawn Marshall