“Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra is on the brink of something new: New leadership, new concept and a fresh new future,” writes Janelle Gelfand in Thursday’s (8/4) Cincinnati Enquirer (Ohio). “Just a few years ago, the organization was in a rut. Audiences were declining.… Funding continued to challenge the small organization…. ‘We had to come up with something that would be a pathway to the future, to be around for another 40 years,’ said Robert Chavez, board member and longtime supporter…. The Chamber Orchestra launches its 42nd season next weekend … highlighting its second annual Summermusik festival.” Last summer’s festival, “modeled on Lincoln Center’s summertime Mostly Mozart Festival [and pairing] free beer and wine tastings, ‘chamber crawls’ in bars, and Beatles music with Beethoven … was an unexpected hit. ‘Our season attendance increased dramatically,’ [CCO general manager LeAnne Anklan] said…. Board president Wes Needham … knew of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, but nothing about the smaller Chamber Orchestra … in 2012. After attending his first concert, he was ‘flabbergasted.’… Since then, Needham has made it his mission to get the word out. ‘I’m a big fan of the CSO, but we’re different,’ he said.”
Posted August 5, 2016
