This week it’s about singing, shopping and books. All of my favorite things. May Festival steps onto the risers (don’t forget dinner in WP, first) while Simon and Garfunkel take the stage in Kentucky. Langston Hughes, Harriet Beecher Stowe and some acoustic blues each have their moment. Take your pick.
The Cincinnati May Festival and Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble have announced a new shared governance structure, deepening a decades-long relationship.
Under the new model, both groups will operate under a single, unified board of directors. The change brings their strategy and artistic planning into closer alignment and formalizes a relationship that dates back to 1979.
If you need a break from cookie baking and making lists, bundle up for a culture trek around town for some last-minute fun and frivolity. Holiday traditions abound from “The Nutcracker” to the Vocal Arts Ensemble. Caffè Vivace and Memorial Hall welcome local jazz favorites.
Well, the neighbors down the street put up their Halloween decorations on Labor Day weekend, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that some local cultural groups are starting October with spooky doings. But the week also brings big events that are more delight than fright. Let’s see what we can scare up:
Joe Miller, a former VAE singer and seasoned conductor, steps in as the professional chamber choir’s fifth music director since its founding in 1979.
In February 1977, a young singer walked into a ballroom at Indiana University to audition for summer stock theater. The man leading and accompanying the audition was music director Earl Rivers. The singer was me. The audition led to a summer performing at Wagon Wheel Playhouse in Warsaw, Indiana and to a 48-year professional and personal friendship.
As the last traces of snow melt into the ground – for the last time this season, we hope – the arts calendar continues to heat up with a bloody good “Macbeth,” some hot jazz, the warmth of Brahms’ “Requiem,” an Irish Mardi Gras celebration and more, much more …
The holidays are here. If you need a break from shopping, singing, hosting and eating, wind down with some good jazz or theater or gut-busting comedy. Calm yourself with some candlelit choral music or a rousing “And he shall purify.” Whatever your holiday emotions demand, Queen City arts can supply.
The Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati has announced that alum Joe Miller will be the fifth music director in its 45 years. The position drew interest from across the nation and around the world.
Julianne Akins Smith comes to Cincinnati from Virginia, where she most recently served as executive director of the Wintergreen Music Festival.
