#constella events

[constellafestival]

Joshua Bell's finale: 'Thoughtful, demanding and ultimately brilliant'

Joshua Bell, the multi-Grammy-winning superstar of the violin, performed at Memorial Hall Thursday, November 7 for the finale of The 2013 Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts.

It was a night to remember. In the words of The Cincinnati Enquirer's Janelle Gelfand:

"It was not surprising that violin virtuoso Joshua Bell would peform a thoughtful, demanding and ultimately brilliant recital in his return to Cincinnati's Constella Festival, was what that he did it on very little sleep, having flown in the previous day from China."

The appreciative audience beamed with pride as he declared Memorial Hall "one of the nicest places to play," and said he made the arduous trip out of his love for Cincinnati and friendship with Constella founder Tatiana Berman.

We hope Joshua will be back.  Hopefully with a bit more rest.  But thank you, our friend and all who supported a very successful festival.

We will be updating attendance numbers, officially thanking all who volunteered, supported and attended Constella events.  For now, here's the Top Ten reasons to attend list we put together before the finale.

It was a fantastic night in every way. Next time, we will have to put together a list in the hundreds, maybe more:

There are many reasons you should get your tickets now to welcome Joshua Bell to Cincinnati and enjoy his extraordinary talents.

Here are our top 10:

10.  He’s our friend! The international violin superstar was born in Indiana and loves coming home to the Midwest. He has a special feeling for Cincinnati, playing his first recital here when he was in his teens. Joshua is a supporter and good friend of Constella and provided a memorable closing for the first festival in 2011.

9. The company he keeps: British Pianist Sam Haywood will be Joshua’s duo partner for this recital. Haywood has performed to critical acclaim all over the world.

8. The classics he will peform: Tartini: Violin Sonata in G minor, Op. 1, No. 10 “Devil’s Trill Sonata”; Beethoven:  Violin Sonata No. 10, Op. 96; Stravinsky: Divertimento, for Violin and Piano (after ‘The Fairy’s Kiss’ ).

 7. The priceless experience: At least once in your life, you’ve got to see a performance by violin virtuoso Joshua Bell, one of the world’s most celebrated musicians. It would be well worth it but quite costly to see world-class talent like this at one of his usual venues around the world or at New York’s Carnegie Hall.  But Constella’s reasonable ticket prices are another good reason to take this opportunity to see the finest musician of his generation and among the best of all.

6. A magical art exhibit: Art will feature three sculptures from “MozART: A pop-sculpture opera in 13 acts” by Rondle Royce West. The sculptures reimagine the main characters in Mozart’s folk opera, The Magic Flute, with the thirteenth piece being the maestro himself.  The vision for these characters is to blend their 18th Century origins with who they would be today.

5. This very special venue: For more than a century, Memorial Hall  has been filled with the sounds of music and the beauty of arts and architecture. Today the national landmark building remains a relevant and important gathering place for “Culture, Arts and Community” with its doors and historic halls open to all.  Exceptional acoustics, decorative murals and Tiffany chandeliers enhance the historic theater.

4. The arts district renaissance: Shops, galleries and fine restaurants are a short walk away. If you’re staying the night, elegant urban hotels are nearby. As the bustling activity in Over-The-Rhine - and streetcar tracks going in right out front Memorial Hall - indicate, this is a city on the move – up!

3. A walk in the park: Bring friends who may not have been down here for a while to show off and enjoy the newly renovated and restored Washington Park (take some time to enjoy its lush civic lawn and fountains).

2. Support your local musicians, artists and ogranizations. Spreading the word about this community’s broad palette of music and arts assets is Constella's mission. Please join us in celebrating these gifts and welcoming those who come from afar to discover and enjoy them.

And…the number one reason to be at Joshua Bell’s finale of Constella 2013?

Chocolate.  (You will need to be at Memorial Hall Thursday night to find out what that’s all about). If you see Constella Founder Tatiana Berman or any Constella representative at the event, just mention this blog.  They will explain with sweet gratitude and perhaps a delicious gift. 

Thank you for your support this year and always. Please join us for this Constella 2013 closing celebration of our community’s music and arts and more. See you at the festival!

[constellafestival]

Constella brings best of music and fine arts ‘home’ to a building built for it.

Pictured: Memorial Hall's proscenium arch, pianist Stewart Goodyear and art by Cedric Cox.

The Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts is nomadic in its search to showcase the finest art, music and beyond in Greater Cincinnati – and invites the world’s best to join us.

But if Constella were to have a home, it well could be Memorial Hall.

For more than a century, Memorial Hall  has been filled with the sounds of music and the beauty of arts and architecture. Today the national landmark building remains a relevant and important gathering place for “Culture, Arts and Community” with its doors and historic halls open to all.

That makes Constella feel right at home, in the epicenter of Cincinnati's arts district and the region's cultural renaissance..

What a perfect place for this celebration of the art and music that reflects the best of our community’s interests and talents.

Memorial Hall belongs to you, too. Please join us there Saturday night with ‘Spellbound’ featuring pianist Stewart Goodyear and and a one-night only art exhibition “Function/Dysfunction” featuring artists and craftsmen from Brazee Street Studios.

Spellbound: Steward Goodyear

Saturday, October 19, 8 p.m. at Memorial Hall

Stewart Goodyear will perform Beethoven’s “Diabelli Variations,” which has been described by internationally acclaimed classical pianist Alfred Brendel as “the greatest of all piano works.”

The “Spellbound” program also includes Alban Berg’s “Piano Sonata” and “French Suite No. 5 in G Major” by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Known for imagination, a graceful, elegant style and exquisite technique, Stewart Goodyear is an accomplished artist whose career spans many genres—concerto soloist, chamber musician, recitalist and composer.  He is widely known for his marathon performances of all of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas in a single day – from memory. He is also a composer, whose fanfare, Count Up, was commissioned and performed in 2011 by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

The event will include a one-night only art exhibition “Function/Dysfunction” featuring artists and craftsmen from Brazee Street Studios. Fine art, furniture, and accessories from local designers will be for sale the night of the exhibition. Some of the artists participating will be: Sean Druley, Cedric Cox, C. Jacqueline Wood, Susan Byrnes, Reptiles + Rainbows, Kent Krugh and more.

Details about the event and tickets.

Constella events coming up:

Memorial Hall is host to four Constella Festival 2013 events, including last week’s “Queen City Connections” concert. It was a special night and widely acclaimed event that featured Constella Founder Tatiana Berman performing in a world premiere violin concerto by composer Charles Coleman and conducted by Paavo Järvi, music director laureate of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Memorial Hall will also host:

Exhilarating Arias and Music Art and Beyond Festival

Saturday, October 26, 8 p.m., Memorial Hall

Kelley O’Connor, mezzo soprano, Jessica Rivera, soprano, Robert Spano, piano. Carl Solway Gallery presents a special one-night exhibition for Constella featuring innovative contemporary artwork.

Details about the event and tickets.

Joshua Bell, Constella Festival Finale

Thursday, November 7, 7:30 p.m., Memorial Hall

Joshua Bell, a Grammy and Gramophone award winner — and Music America 2010 Instrumentalist of the Year — violinist Joshua Bell provided a memorable closing for the first Constella Festival in 2011.  British Pianist Sam Haywood will be Joshua’s duo partner for this recital. Haywoord has performed to critical acclaim all over the world. Art will feature MozART; A pop-up sculpture opera in 13 acts by Rondle Royce West.

Outside of Memorial Hall events, Constella will collaborate with the Cincinnati Ballet at another of our community's important and valued venues.

Details about the event and tickets.

Inspired Improvisations and Stravinsky

Wednesday, October 30, 7:30 p.m., Freedom Center

An innovative production featuring ballet dancers, musicians and art installation on the same stage. Heather Britt and James Cunningham, Cincinnati’s exciting rising star choreographers will each present a world premiere work. Set to the music of Stravinsky and musical improvisations, this project features Cincinnati Ballet dancers, art installation by glass artist Sandra Gross and musicians Tatiana Berman, Eddie Kwon and Elena Kholodova.  An exhibition featuring prints from the “Ballet Russe” costume drawings collection will be on display at the venue for these events on loan from the Cincinnati Art Museum.

Details about the event and tickets.

Constella partner events

The Constella Festival’s mission is to draw attention to – and build support for - the broad palette of professional chamber music and other arts organizations that enrich Cincinnati’s cultural landscape.

Constella 2013 and its partners are presenting 20 concerts at 15 Cincinnati venues including world-premiere music and dance works, children’s concerts, workshops, and master classes.  Most Constella-produced events will feature art exhibitions and collaborations by prominent Cincinnati artists and art galleries.

Here’s information about Constella Festival partners’ events coming up: Please click on the events to link to more details and tickets information.

Sunday, October 20 4:00 p. m. Concerts on Clifton – Chamber music presented by Hebrew Union College.

Friday, October 25 7:30 p.m. America’s Top Viola da Gamba Player - Presented by Catacoustic Consort at Church of the Advent, Walnut Hills.

Friday, November 1, 7:30 p.m. CSO Chamber Players - Presented by Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at Mayerson Theater.

Sunday, November 3, 5:00 p.m. Bach: St. John Passion - Presented by UC/College-Conservatory of Music at Christ Church Cathedral, Fourth Street.

Before and after events, please take time to discover the myriad of galleries, museums and other places where art lives and thrives steps from our venues and close to our hearts. We encourage you to support the artists who are part of the constellation of artistic talent in Greater Cincinnati.

See you at the festival!

[constellafestival]

A World Premiere Concerto And A Special Moment Coming To Memorial Hall

By Tom Callinan

This blog post is personal, about some very special people and a very special moment coming up this week.

'Queen City Connections': World Premiere Concerto, Thursday, Oct. 10 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Hall.

I’ve been writing Constella’s blog for a few months now. Never put my name on anything. I just like to write. And I love The Constella Festival for what it represents – supporting Greater Cincinnati’s musicians, artists, organizations and venues. The international talent it brings to town, well that’s cool, too.

It’s allowed me to interview, meet and spend time with people like jazz legend Jimmy Heath and his wife Mona (who loved Cincinnati's arts culture so much she toured the Taft Museum of Art twice). It’s given me an understanding and appreciation of a world I never explored in 35 years as a journalist - politics, sports, crime and courts yes, Bach, Beethoven and Stravinsky? Not so much, but learning.

Most rewarding has been getting to know new friends who have become family to my wife Maureen and me. I won’t risk naming names of the corps of volunteers who work long hours for the cause. The names keep changing as key festival players churn in, up and down in importance as work turns from strategic planning to media awareness to event management and who picks up whom at the airport.

When the final curtain closes on the festival I promise we’ll recognize them with a final and accurate thank you. Until then, please look for their name badges at Constella events and thank them, too.

Then, there’s Tatiana Berman, founder of The Constella Festival of Fine Arts.

I met Tanya, as her friends call her (I won’t) at Coffee Emporium last year. We had little in common beyond a love of a town adopted after travels from far different places. We talked about Cincinnati first, then Russians and Moscow, where I spent time as a visiting editor years ago and made lifelong friends. She asked me to help with media for a festival celebrating our rich cultural assets. I did a few things. She asked me to be on the Constella board. OK. She asked me to write things for the blog, emails and programs. You bet. You play violin, I write. Works for me. And she drew me into the world of Constella, what a magical place it is. But the world I see is not just tuxedoed conductors and bejeweled violinists in flowing gowns on stage.

I see back-to-back meetings in coffee shops, the smell and stains of ink at a program printing plant and a dining room table filled with smart phones, laptops and scribbled notes. 

We knew we had an inside look into Tatiana’s world when the desk guard at her Edgecliff condo overlooking The Ohio greeted us by name instead of asking us to sign in.

This is what we see:

Graceful and lovely she is, obviously. But her close friends know she doesn’t need makeup and gowns. We see her at work, in the kitchen making pasta or at the Northside Tavern in her blue jeans. Let’s move on from her looks. I have nothing to add that you cannot see.

A bright, energetic woman who works as hard as anyone I have met. My routine is to get up at 4 or 5 a.m. each morning for quiet and solitude to write – before the dogs wake up and the news comes on. Sometimes I may even sneak a few paragraphs in at 3 a.m. The only possible interruption I may expect – an email from Tatiana, still up and working from the long day before. As we joked over coffee one day, “You have met your match.”  Neither of recalls who said it, though.

A caring mother who - despite running a music and arts festival and memorizing and practicing new compositions – always has top-priority time for her children, Leah, 9, and Ingrid, 7. Their world: The pool, tennis, biking and rollerblading, bead crafts, kittens, chocolates. But the score stand for cello is always in the kitchen and the keyboard cords there to trip over. The TV broke a while back and no one in this home much cared.

Tatiana, an internationally renowned personality, is protective of her personal side. She does not like to make the reunion with Paavo the story. 

For the record: Tatiana and former Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Director Paavo Järvi are divorced but remain good friends and sometimes work together on musical projects. Paavo has moved to Europe as Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris. She and her daughters stayed in Cincinnati. Both really are good friends and loving parents, so much so that she does not like the term, "single" parent. "What about the father? He's here too." Paavo is back in Cincinnati this week to conduct New York composer Charles Coleman’s Violin Concerto written for Tatiana to perform.

The focus is on the work they will be doing.

I’ve deferred to Tatiana’s wishes by burying the lead. But I hope you will be there to support them and their extended family of musicians and artists who make this magic happen. If you know any musicians and artists, I would imagine there are similar inside looks into their worlds.

Onstage, they are stars. Off stage, they are just people like you, working for their paychecks, families and their craft.

I hope to see you Thursday for this special moment. - and for as many other Constella events as you can get to. Invite your friends. Pack the auditoriums in support of your musicians and artists in a community fortunate to have so many.

We need more special moments like this.

They happen all the time.

You just need to be there.

Tom Callinan, former editor of The Cincinnati Enquirer, is founder of Charitable Words, which “shares stories about the good being done by nonprofits and common causes." He is a board member of The Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts and Memorial Hall's board of trustees.

Festival Notes:

Andrew VanSickle, the pop artist whose paintings of Music Hall inspired Lumenocity; will be debuting his silkscreen portraits of Tatiana Berman and Paavo Järvi at Thursday's event. Culled from photographs of Tatiana and Paavo, inspired by Andy Warhall's portraits, these colorful works of art, in the tradition of Constella, break down the barriers of conservative portraiture and create colorful and otherworldly visions of these two important Constella artists. 

Constella will give away delicious chocolate samples by Hershey's Sharffen Berger. Please support the festival at the event by purchasing Constella Coffee, Constella Gelato, chocolate and posters. A cash bar will be available at the event.

This year’s festival continues through November 7 with finale by violin superstar Joshua Bell. Constella presents 20 concerts at 15 Cincinnati venues including world-premiere music and dance works, children’s concerts, workshops, and master classes. Most Constella-produced events feature art exhibitions and collaborations by prominent Cincinnati artists and art galleries, including the Cincinnati Art Museum, Carl Solway Gallery and Brazee Street Studios.

For more information, event calendar and ticket information, please go to www.constellafestival.org

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Missy Mazzoli's high-energy music coming to NKU's highest-of-tech Digitorum

These days, concert halls are alive with more than the sounds of music. 

Visuals at concerts, big and small, have become as ubiquitous as oboes in Bach concertos.

Even purists don’t see this evolution of the concert experience as necessarily a bad thing.

And really, it’s nothing new.

Images have been married with music since the beginning.  Visual appeal popped up in importance in the 70s, not long after the Beatles played Shea Stadium but no one without binoculars could actually see them.  MTV followed and the beat marches on.

Now, eye-popping visuals are expected with music to the ears – from 50-ton video screens with a half-million pixels for rock concerts to images projected on historic buildings.

So it was on two August evenings when 35,000 turned out to see a Cincinnati Symphony free outdoor concert in Washington Park. To celebrate the arrival of Louis Langrée as its new music director, the event turned the Venetian Gothic façade of Music Hall into a giant canvas with a choreographed display of 3D laser art.

What a moment it was, for music, for visual art and for Greater Cincinnati in general. We expect to see more and Lumenocity set the bar visuals-with-music bar pretty high.

But bigger is not always brighter and better.

And right here in the river cities, we may have the best visual venue ever at Northern Kentucky University. Its highest-of-tech Digitorum at Griffin Hall will host a high-energy multimedia concert Oct. 15 with Missy Mazzoli, a much-heralded New York-based composer of chamber, orchestral and operatic works.

Information and tickets.

Don't blink for a second at this one. Expect every one of the 285 micro-tiles on the Digitorum’s ultra-tech screens packed with "wildly inventive music that constantly surprises with the direction it takes," as Express Magazine’s Ray Cooklis described Missy. The New York Times called her "One of the more consistently inventive, surprising composers now working in New York” and an artist “going places fast. Bank on it.”

Now you can bank seeing Missy Mazzoli up close and personal as she is coming to Constella Festival 2013 as its composer-in-residence,

Missy will be just one of the highlights of the innovative programming and stunning roster of international soloists that will be presented during Constella Festival 3. Constella helps to draw attention to the broad palette of professional chamber music and other arts organizations that enrich Cincinnati’s cultural landscape.

This year’s festival, running from October 1 to November 7, includes the return of violin superstar Joshua Bell and first-ever Constella Festival appearance by the Grammy Award-winning conductor Paavo Järvi.

Constella will present 20 concerts at 15 Cincinnati venues including world-premiere music and dance works, children’s concerts, workshops, and master classes. Most Constella-produced events will feature art exhibitions and collaborations by prominent Cincinnati artists and art galleries, including the Cincinnati Art Museum, Carl Solway Gallery and Brazee Street Studios.

For more information, event calendar and ticket information, please go to www.constellafestival.org

Thanks…and see you at the festival!

On Wednesday, October 16 at 7:30 p.m. Missy will perform at the Café MoMus new music series in the Patricia Corbett Theater at the University of Cincinnati’ Conservatory of Music’s Corbett Theater. The Constella partner event will be free with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. No advance ticketing is required.

More information here.

[constellafestival]

Jazz Great Jimmy Heath Bringing A Party To Constella Festival With 'Fiesta Mojo'

Jazz has been described as “living art form “– a genre that “endures the ages and improvises with the times.”

That pretty much sums up jazz great Jimmy Heath. And he prefers talking about these times, not them.

The 86-year old NEA jazz master saxophonist respects traditions but wasn’t much interested in the old days when Constella called him to talk about his Oct. 3 “Fiesta Mojo” concert at the University of Cincinnati College of Music’s Corbett Auditorium.

Jimmy will be playing with musicians from the Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, Scott Belck, Director. The CCJO features some of Cincinnati’s most critically praised and popular jazz musicians.

Jimmy said he’s looking forward to returning to Cincinnati in what has been a very long time. He couldn’t remember just when he was here last: “A lifetime ago,” he said. But he's looking forward to getting back, bringing something old, something new.

We talked a bit about Cincinnati’s rich jazz tradition. About how Louis Armstrong’s first recordings were at a studio near here in Richmond, Indiana.  And that Fats Waller was on the staff of WLW in the 1930s, with Fats' Rhythm Club and doing gigs in local clubs.

 But it didn’t take long for Jimmy to move on.

 “That was kind of before my time.”

 He wanted to talk about his plans for Constella, where he will perform selections from his Grammy-nominated album, Little Man, Big Band, plus new and classic arrangements of other original compositions and jazz standards.

“I’m always writing new things,” Heath said. “I’ll be writing today.”

Jimmy came up in the “big band” era and became known for “bebop” and credits his time with Dizzy Gillespie for helping him learn how to make a small band sound big. These days, he’s teaching jazz students old and new ways.

“I tell them not to be pigeon-holed into the jazz boxes defined by others -  swing, cool jazz, fusion, bebop,” Jimmy said. “Keep it fresh and always write new ways.”

So how does he describe what we’ll be hearing when he comes to the Constella Festival?

“It’s called Fiesta Mojo because it’s a party,” Jimmy said.  He said he’ll be performing some material for the first time at Constella outside his usual venues in New York, D.C. and in a recent trip to Germany.

“I've been traveling a lot to many places," Jimmy said. "And now I’m coming to Cincinnati.”

Yes, you are sir. We welcome you and look forward to the party of jazz you'll bring with Fiesta Mojo.

Tickets and information:

http://constellafestival.org/event/fiesta-mojo-with-jimmy-heath/

About the Constella Festival:

The festival will bring stars of classical music, dance and art to the region with its third festival October 1 to November 7. This will be a magical year for Constella, with the return of violin superstar Joshua Bell and first-ever Constella Festival appearance by the Grammy Award-winning conductor Paavo Järvi.

Constella will present 20 concerts at 15 Cincinnati venues including world-premiere music and dance works, children’s concerts, workshops, and master classes. Most Constella-produced events will feature art exhibitions and collaborations by prominent Cincinnati artists and art galleries.

Details and ticket information for all Constella and partner events:

http://constellafestival.org/events/

About Jimmy Heath:

Born to what would become one of America’s most storied jazz families Jimmy Heath is a saxophonist, composer, arranger, and educator. The middle member of the legendary Heath Brothers, (Percy, bass; Albert, ‘Tootie,’ drums), he has performed on more than 125 recordings. Many of his compositions have become standards, recorded by artists including Cannonball Adderley, Chet Baker, Ray Charles, Chick Corea, Miles Davis, Art Farmer, Milt Jackson, Ahmad Jamal, J.J Johnson, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Blue Mitchell, James Moody, Clark Terry, and McCoy Tyner.

Jimmy has composed extended works — twelve suites and two string quartets. His first symphonic work, ‘Three Ears,’ premiered while he was a Professor at Queens College (CUNY). Heath has performed at jazz clubs, concert halls and other major venues, including Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and the White House.

Heath’s autobiography, ‘I Walked with Giants,’ with a foreword by Bill Cosby and introduction by Wynton Marsalis, was published in 2010.

For more on Jimmy Heath, please go to www.jimmyheath.com.

About The CCJO: The Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra gave its debut performance at last year’s Constella Festival. Focused on the music of living composers and arrangers, it features some of Cincinnati’s most critically praised and popular jazz musicians, including Phil DeGreg, Brent Gallaher, Art Gore and Kim Pensyl.

Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cincinnati-Contemporary-Jazz-Orchestra/463995683623089?ref=ts&fref=ts

CCM Jazz:

http://ccm.uc.edu/music/jazz.html

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Plan a "friendraiser" now to support our musicians and artists with a group event ... also known as a 'party'!

Planning the Constella Festival Music and Fine Arts Festival 2013 started when the curtain went down at last Novembers finale, continued through the months and is right on track today.

Constella’s third festival, October 1 to November 7, will be a magical year, with the return of violin superstar Joshua Bell and first-ever festival appearance by the Grammy Award-winning conductor Paavo Järvi. Constella and its partners will present 21 concerts at 15 venues including world-premiere music and dance works and art exhibitions by prominent local artists and art galleries.

Venues have been secured, flights and hotels booked. Pianos and music arranged. There’s still much to do between now and opening night, but our wonderful volunteers are working hard to make the magic happen.

You can help us, too.

Your job: Plan a Constella party!

That would be now in the form of a "friendraising" event in which supporters host gatherings in neighborhoods and communities from Over-The-Rhine to Northern Kentucky to Greater Cincinnati north, east and west and everywhere in between. The gatherings would be elegant but not elaborate -- tickets to events run from free to $25 to less than $100 for the very best seats at the top-name events and group discounts are available and encouraged. These "friendraisers" are more about building community and supporting our musicians and artists than big dollar fundraising.

The most important goal now: Get the parties started! 

Yes, what’s better than an afternoon or evening with friends – combined with time at a fine restaurant, a walk through the park and a performance by accomplished musicians, dancers and artists from your home town and around the world.

We’ll make it easy on you by providing the entertainment –  internationally-renowned and locally acclaimed musicians and artists.  Your host venues will be historic treasures such as Memorial Hall and The Cincinnati Art Museum, interesting, intriguing and important places like NKU’s Digitorum, UC’s College Conservatory of Music and The National Underground Freedom Center.

And food? Constella is partnering with the finest restaurants in town for many events. And always, we encourage you to stop in and support the vast array of restaurants, shops, museums and green spaces within steps of most performances.

Please act now. Organize a neighborhood friendraiser or just invite in your own way friends, host business connections to an event as a group showing appreciation and support for our community's cultural treasures. . 

Many events feature receptions and after-parties at the venues, and Constella can also work with your group on reservations and discounts at our restaurant partners near the venues.

Groups of 10 or more receive a 10 percent discount on tickets. Your group will receive VIP passes and recognized in promotional materials and possible stage mentions, if fitting to the event’s program. We’ll have our photographer available and follow up to ensure your group or cause gets mention and attention in promotional and media materials.

We can also arrange for a Constella representative to share insights and back stories about the program and artists with your group. We'll do our best to arrange performances at friendraisers as schedules permit. So acting now would be a good idea. No promises for that on event nights, likely. But let's talk!

If you have questions or would like help with planning and arrangements, please contact [email protected].

Note to nonprofits: Contact us for details on an additional matching contribution program by the Charitable Words fund, bringing your discount to 20% for group tickets.

See you at your Constella party  -- before at a "friendraiser" to encourage support and attendance -- or better yet with a group of your friends at a the festival!

Details and ticket information for all Constella and partner events:

http://constellafestival.org/events/

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In Blue Jeans Or Bejeweled Gowns, Northside Or World Stage, Constella's Founder Is Proudly Cincinnati

Where in the world is Tatiana Berman?

Far from her Edgecliff apartment overlooking the Ohio River today, but proudly representing Cincinnati. 

The 33-year-old Russian-born musician and founder of The Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts loves living in Cincinnati and its rich music and arts scene. But as an internationally acclaimed violinist she is called often to travel to stages across the globe.

This week, she is at the Pärnu Music Festival, led by Paavo Järvi,  Järvi was music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 2001 to 2011 and though they divorced in 2010 they remain good friends, great parents to their two young daughters, and collaborators on world-class music projects.

One of the pieces Tatiana will be performing Tchaikovsky’s “Souvenir d’un lieu cher."

It is the same song she shared with a Cincinnati TEDx audience last June. If it’s good enough for fans on an international stage, it’s equally important to share with friends in Greater Cincinnati.

Spreading the word about this community’s broad palette of chamber music and arts assets is among her passions. Recently named Arts Ambassador by the City of Cincinnati, Tatiana is proud of Constella’s place in the community’s music, art and cultural landscape. She wants it known around the world as well by providing a world-class lineup of innovative programming and international talent.

This year’s festival, running from October 1 to November 7, includes the return of violin superstar Joshua Bell and a first-ever Constella Festival appearance by the Grammy Award-winning Järvi.

A special moment will be when Tatiana and Paavo collaborate in a “Queen City Connections” event at Memorial Hall Thursday Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m.. Tatiana will perform and Paavo will conduct a world premiere violin concerto commissioned by Charles Coleman. Also on the program is Mozart's Symphony Number 33 and Stravinsky’s “Apollo.” A pop art exhibition at the event will be curated by Andrew Van Sickle.

Constella will present 21 concerts at 15 Cincinnati venues including world-premiere music and dance works, children’s concerts, workshops, and master classes. Most Constella-produced events will feature art exhibitions and collaborations by prominent Cincinnati artists and art galleries, including the Cincinnati Art Museum, Carl Solway Gallery and Brazee Street Studios.

For more information, event calendar and ticket information, please go to www.constellafestival.org

Tatiana founded the festival in 2011 with a vision that it “enriches local audiences by introducing them, in intimate venues, to performers, artists and music of which some may not have been previously aware.”

OK. Now you know where Tatiana is this week, and what she has in store for the fall festival.

But, off stage, off the road and at home, who is Tatiana Berman?  It depends on the day. Maybe more like the minute. She’s on the move, always, with her ever-present iPhone attached to her ear or within reach.

"Tanya,” or “T” as her friends often call her, is a feet on the ground single mom who works hard for her kids, music and her community.

You may have run into her at the opera, ballet or Contemporary Arts Center, frequent playgrounds for her daughters born into a life of music, arts and culture.

You may have seen her, in blue jeans, at the Northside Tavern, where she and fellow Classical Revolution musicians bring chamber music and more to new audiences in unique places. Tatiana and friends also bring music to schools, schools and senior care centers as part of Constella’s “connections” initiative.

These days, you are most likely to spot Tatiana at Iris Book Café on Main, where she often commandeers a back table from mid-morning to afternoon for back-to-back meetings with friends and volunteers of the festival.

She’s one of us, Greater Cincinnati.

Just not this week.

She’ll be home in August, in time to do interviews, practice and prepare for Constella’s third season.

It will be a special festival in a special city. Cincinnati is one of just 13 American cities with a symphony, opera, ballet and museum. She has said she was impressed from her first day here with Greater Cincinnati's artistic talent pool.

“I have made Cincinnati my home in no small part because I have been welcomed and supported," she says. “I can only hope that by making our Festival a success and celebrating what I found here I can in some small way repay you.”

Indeed, the world-renowned yet firmly grounded musician has done much to support music and the arts in Greater Cincinnati. Please gather a few friends, reserve tickets to some Constella events, and join the world in supporting and celebrating the musicians and artists of our community.

Thanks.  And see you at the festival!

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Ballet Choreographers, Dancers Join Constella Musicians To Create 'Inspired improvisations'

If you have been to the Cincinnati Ballet, you likely have seen the elegant and creative talent of choreographer Heather Britt. 

If you haven’t, you may have seen her work in other places. She choreographed the highly-viewed ArtsWave’s “Splash dance” in 2010, in which members from local arts and cultural organizations spontaneously erupted into a group dance routine on Fountain Square – in the rain. 

Heather’s work each fall is a feature of the Cincinnati Ballet’s Kaplan New Works program, an innovative laboratory of dance that offers the rare opportunity to see the next "big thing."

Either way, you should order your tickets now to catch up with Heather Britt and other wonderful Cincinnati Ballet dancers including Jimmy Cunningham, James Gilmer and Grace Reeves. On Oct. 30 and 31, Constella musicians team up with the dancers for ‘Inspired Improvisations and Stravinsky,’ presented by The Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts. Performances both nights are 7:30 p.m. at The Freedom Center. 

Heather has been described as Cincinnati’s “most compelling young choreographer” and dancer Jimmy Cunningham is a “rising star” choreographer.

"This project is a fusion of music, ballet, visual art installations and digital art," says Constella's founder Tatiana Berman. "Featured are the two new world-premiere choreography works as well as an exhibition of "Ballet Russe" costume drawings on loan from the Cincinnati Art Museum and a new installation work by artist Sandra Gross."

Innovative programming and a stunning roster of international soloists will be presented during Constella Festival 3. Constella helps to draw attention to the broad palette of professional chamber music and other arts organizations that enrich Cincinnati’s cultural landscape.

Constella will present 21 concerts at 15 Cincinnati venues including world-premiere music and dance works, children’s concerts, workshops, and master classes.  Most Constella-produced events will feature art exhibitions and collaborations by prominent Cincinnati artists and art galleries, including the Cincinnati Art Museum, Carl Solway Gallery and Brazee Street Studios.

For more information, event calendar and ticket information, please go to www.constellafestival.org.

Have a question for the artists? Here's your opportunity

And remember, in a previous post, Constella invited you to send your questions for the artists to [email protected]. We’ll be putting the names of all those submitting a question into a drawing for prizes, including a pair of tickets to one Constella event, a pass to the VIP Constella party. The best question will get two tickets to the recital of Stewart Goodyear.  

Please send your questions in now, so we can get them to the artists and they can respond approaching the festival. This year’s festival, running from October 1 to November 7, includes the return of violin superstar Joshua Bell and first-ever Constella Festival appearance by the Grammy Award-winning conductor Paavo Järvi.

These world-renowned performers and artists are interviewed all the time by music writers and arts critics.  But how often do their audience members get that access?  I think they might like the opportunity to speak directly to you.

Here’s a good question to start with:  Heather Britt, where do you get your inspiration, your creative ideas? And, where, oh where do you get all that energy?

See you at the show, friends!