With BLINK in the rearview mirror, there is a lot of making up for lost time this week. No rest for the curious, I’m afraid. (There’s a lot of cool stuff to sample.)
Saturday-Wednesday, Oct. 22-26
Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, “Healing & Understanding: We Are One” | Various venues. 513-723-1102. DETAILS: Thanks to American Rescue Plan funds from the City of Cincinnati, administered through ArtsWave, the CCO in partnership with the Thomas More University music program (CCO assistant conductor Daniel Parsley is a faculty member) has created this music and art festival exploring race and justice. Artist-in-residence Michael Thompson will create a visual art work over the five-days to be revealed during the final event.
- Oct. 22, 12:30 p.m. “Untold Mary Lou Williams”: Musicologist Tammy Kernodle on the music and untold stories of composer Mary Lou Williams. (Art Academy of Cincinnati)
- Oct. 22, 3:30 p.m. “Accelerating Music”: Miles Wilson-Toliver, artistic director for the Voices of Hartford, and Kick Lee, executive director for the Cincinnati Music Accelerator on equitable training and community support for professional musicians. (Art Academy of Cincinnati)
- Oct. 22, 5:30 p.m. “Black Joy”: The CSO’s Tiffany Cooper and Boychoir director Jason Alexander Holmes in discussion about “Black Joy” in the arts. (virtual)
- Oct. 23, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Self guided tours of Freedom Center complemented by pop-up performances (National Underground Freedom Center)
- Oct. 24, noon. “Equitable Access & Engagement of our Youth in the Arts”: Arreon A. Harley-Emerson, president and CEO for Equity Sings and chair of the American Choral Directors Association Diversity Initiatives Committee, on equitable access and engagement of our youth for careers in the arts. (Art Academy of Cincinnati)
- Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m. “Equity, Community & Inclusion in the Arts”: A conversation on equity, community, and inclusion in the arts will be led by Miles Wilson-Toliver. The Voices of Hartford perform. (Nostalgia Wine Bar)
- Oct. 25, 3:30 p.m. “Two Sides of the Same Coin: Socially Conscious Repertoire”: Composer B.E. Boykin and conductor Jason Alexander Holmes on the integration of social justice for music in the classroom, concert hall and community. (virtual)
- Oct. 25, 5:30 & 8:30 p.m. “Black Women Composers”: Dr. Jillian Harrison-Jones, music director of MUSE (blaCk Coffee Lounge, downtown & Esoteric Brewing, Walnut Hills)
- Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m. “We Are One” closing performance led by Daniel Parsley: Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Thomas More University Choirs, Cincinnati Boychoir, Cincinnati Youth Choir, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s Classical Roots Community Chorus, Classical Roots, MUSE and Voices of Hartford (Christ Church Cathedral)
Wednesday, Oct. 19
Memorial Hall, Madeleine Peyroux & Paula Cole | 8 p.m. 1225 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202. 513-977-8838. DETAILS: Tickets remain for this unique show that’s part of the Rise Up Women’s Series and features two mature talents performing their second albums, each in its entirety: Madeleine Peyroux‘s “Careless Love” (2004) and Paula Cole‘s “This Fire” (1996). One night, two iconic albums, live.
Thursday, Oct. 20
Cincinnati Landmark Productions, “Sister Act” | 7:30 p.m. Covedale Center, Price Hill. 513-241-6550. DETAILS: Local vocal powerhouse Tia Seay stars in the Whoopi Goldberg role in this feel-good adaptation of the 1992 film featuring original music by eight-time Oscar winner Alan Menken (“Newsies,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Little Shop of Horrors”). Continues Thursday-Sunday through Nov. 13.
Cincinnati World Cinema, Jurakán: A Film Series | 7 p.m. Garfield Theatre, 719 Race St., Cincinnati 45202. 859-957-3456. DETAILS: The 2022 FotoFocus theme, World Record, considers photography’s extensive record of life on earth while exploring humankind’s impact on the natural world. This third of four October films chosen by professor Mary Leonard – “Cuba: Living Between Hurricanes,” about a fishing port on the north coast of Cuba which has seen better days – addresses the impact of hurricanes and climate change in the Caribbean region. In Spanish with English subtitles.
College-Conservatory of Music, Musical Theatre Series: “Something Rotten” | 8 p.m. Corbett Theater. University of Cincinnati. 513-556-4183. DETAILS: This is the mythical tale of the creation of the very first play, in the time of Shakespeare, in which song was integrated with text, as predicted by a visionary soothsayer. Silly, but in all the right ways, and CCM production values will be on point. Continues Thursday-Sunday through Oct. 30.
St. Vincent de Paul, RetroFittings | 6 p.m. Music Hall Ballroom. DETAILS: For this always-popular event, students in UC’s DAAP fashion program create designs like the one above using donated clothing found in SVDP thrift stores. You’ll also find an on-site boutique with items from SVDP stores, plus a silent auction. It is a FUN event, but it’s purpose is FUNDraising!
Friday, Oct. 21
Caza Sikes, “The Crimsõn Bãrred” | 5-9 p.m. 3078 Madison Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45209. 513-290-3127. DETAILS: Two shows open this weekend at Caza Sikes. Antonio Adams is a multi-disciplinary self-taught artist, one of the co-founders of Visionaries + Voices, an arts organization for artists with disabilities in Cincinnati, as well as the recently closed Thunder-Sky, Inc., an outsider art gallery. For this show, (opening Friday), dedicated to the one and only Prince, Adams requests you dress in your finest purple or crimson outfit. Numerous portraits, paintings and mixed media works will be on exhibit and for sale. On display through Nov. 26. On Saturday, the works in “Icons of Photography” – selections from the Paul Paletti and Ren and Cristina Egbert Collection – depict some of the most iconic moments in American and world history. Through Nov. 21.
Cincinnati Nature Center, Contemporary Quilt and Fiber Art Show | 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 4949 Tealtown Rd., Milford, OH 45150 DETAILS: As the weather cools, cozy quilts begin to sound very appealing. Add some vibrant colors and textures and that only enhances their appeal. This show offers more than 100 colorful fabric artworks created by more than 25 local quilters and fiber artists. Free with park admission; continues through Sunday. Also on view is “Critical Connection,” an outdoor, nature-inspired photography exhibition in the Rowe Woods Celebration Garden by local photographer Tom Croce (through Oct. 30).
Cincinnati Symphony & Pops, “Langrée Conducts Also Sprach Zarathustra” | Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202. 513-381-3300. DETAILS: Possibly one of the most familiar moments-and-a-half of music ever written, the opening of “Also Sprach Zarathustra” (Thus Spake Zarathustra, inspired by Nietzsche’s book of the same title) is so ubiquitous one often forgets the other half hour of music to follow, some of the most colorful and dynamic within Richard Strauss‘s vast output. Conductor Louis Langrée is stuck in France due to transportation strikes, so emerging conductor Maurice Cohn fills in this weekend. He also leads pianist Hélène Grimaud in her reading of the lovely and lyrical concerto by Robert Schumann. (Just found out Maurice Cohn is from my hometown of Galesburg, Illinois, class of 2012. Go Silver Streaks!) Concert repeats Saturday evening and Sunday at 2 p.m.
Gallery 708, Donna Talerico: “My France” | 5-8 p.m. 2643 Erie Ave. #3, Cincinnati, OH, 45208. 513-551-8171. DETAILS: Donna Talerico creates vivid images thick with color and life. Elizabeth and I are proud owners. And Donna works to “blend and balance representation and abstraction,” so there is always that fine line at the edge of reality. France is one of her favorite muses, so expect some inspired art. On display through Nov. 1.
Saturday, Oct. 22
Crown Jewels of Jazz Series, An Evening with Kurt Elling and the Springfield Symphony Jazz Orchestra | 8 p.m. Memorial Hall. DETAILS: Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Learning Through Art, the educational love-child of the talented and tenacious Ms. Kathy Wade, this concert brings together multi-Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Kurt Elling and Todd Stoll’s Springfield (Ohio) Symphony Jazz Orchestra, featuring some of Ohio’s top players. Not to be missed, and the cause is worth your support.
learningthroughart.com/crown-jewels-of-jazz
Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, “Brahmsicans vs. Wagnercrats” | 7:30 p.m. Greaves Concert Hall, NKU. 859-431-6216. DETAILS: Germans in the 19th century really cared about music. So much so that many music lovers squared off into rival camps in support of either the more mainstream, but highly respected, Johannes Brahms or the radical visionary Richard Wagner. You get to go and hear this (hopefully) civil, symphonic debate and then decide for yourself. Another inspired program from the imagination of conductor J.R. Cassidy.
Ohio River Foundation, Cincinnati Coffee Festival | Music Hall Ballroom. DETAILS: The art of coffee is on full display, with local and regional coffee roasters, coffee and tea shops, bakers, pastry shops and chocolatiers on hand. Activities include a Latte Art Throwdown, Latte Art in Action, demonstrations and presentations, plus live music. Proceeds benefit Ohio River Foundation, so your caffeine buzz supports a good cause.
https://cincinnaticoffeefestival.com/tickets
Taft Museum of Art, “Fakes, Forgeries, and Followers in the Taft Collection” | 316 Pike St., Cincinnati, OH 45202. 513-241-0343. DETAILS: Perhaps this current climate of “alternative facts” and the technology allowing for “deep fakes” create the ideal atmosphere in which to openly present art works of dubious origin. Apparently, the Taft collection contains some of its own “attribution mysteries,” some solved and others still in question. Here’s a chance to not only see how deft some of these fakes and forgeries are, but to get a glimpse at the detective work used to uncover the often unhappy truths. Continues through Feb. 5. Also on display through Jan. 15, the FotoFocus exhibit “Craft and Camera: The Art of Nancy Ford Cones.”
Sunday, Oct. 23
4-Way Quartet, Inaugural Concert | 5 p.m. All Saints Episcopal Church, Pleasant Ridge. DETAILS: Cellist and music evangelist Nat Chaitkin (Bach and Boombox) started the 4-Way String Quartet as a teaching and music education project. Now this excellent group has established a new performance home and is offering music of Beethoven, Rhiannon Giddens, folk song arrangements, and more for its initial foray. Welcome to the concert producing fray, Nat and colleagues.
Photo by Anna Jekel
Queen City Opera, “Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin” | 6 p.m. Rotunda, Cincinnati Museum Center. 513-503-8323. DETAILS: Isaac Selya, QCO music director, brings this multimedia concert-drama to Cincinnati, combining the music of Verdi with video testimonials and narration to illuminate how Jewish prisoners in the infamous Theresienstadt (Terezín) concentration camp memorized (using only one score) and performed a Latin Catholic mass during their darkest hours. Read more here from our October magazine.
Photo by Philip Groshong
Ensemble Con Fuoco, Brahms Requiem | 3 p.m. St. Catharine of Siena Church, 2848 Fischer Place, Cincinnati, OH 45211. 513-661-0651. DETAILS: Conductor David Castillo has put together a select choir of only 16 professionals to tackle the seldom-performed two-piano version of Johannes Brahms’ cherished Ein Deutches Requiem within the nearly perfect acoustics of the St. Catharine sanctuary. (See if you can spot your friendly columnist among the basses.)
Tuesday, Oct. 25
Broadway in Cincinnati, “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” | 7:30 p.m. Procter & Gamble Hall, Aronoff Center, 650 Walnut St., Cincinnati, OH 45202. 513-721-3344. DETAILS: This story of the rise of Tina Turner from humble beginnings to the top of the rock ‘n roll universe interweaves 22 hit songs along the way. A show big and vibrant enough to fill P&G Hall. I bet you can’t keep your feet still. Runs through Nov. 6.
Cincinnati Pops, Common | 7:30 p.m. Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202. 513-381-3300. DETAILS: There’s nothing “common” about this Academy Award-, Emmy- and GRAMMY-winning hip-hop artist, actor, author and activist, who returns to Cincinnati following his sold-out 2016 appearance in Classical Roots. For Common‘s Pops debut, Principal Guest Conductor Damon Gupton will take the reins.
College-Conservatory of Music, Ariel Quartet | 7:30 p.m. Werner Recital Hall, University of Cincinnati. 513-556-4183. DETAILS: The Ariels present their second concert of their season, having changed the program to include music of Haydn (Quartet No. 5 in F Minor, Op. 20), Brahms (String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36, with faculty artists Ayane Kozasa, viola; and Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, cello) and an early work by Czech composer Pavel Haas (String Quartet No. 2, Op. 7, “From the Monkey Mountains”, 1925).