Reported By Women: May 25
This week was filled with beautiful music for the Women of Cincy team. We traveled to The Mercantile Library to watch the Salon 21 Season Finale performance and to Memorial Hall to join MUSE Cincinnati's Women's Choir in their 35th annual spring concert.
Salon 21 Season Finale
Reporting by Liz Rosevear. Photography by Liz Rosevear and Salon 21.
I’m convinced there are few better ways to spend a rainy evening than in The Mercantile Library listening to a classical music performance. I was fortunate enough to attend the final Salon 21 Season Four performance on May 17. As attendees gathered in the intimate space, the walls of the 183-year-old building echoed with the sweet sounds of Wayside Winds and Jill Jantzen.
Photo provided by Salon 21.
Wayside Winds is a musical group comprised of Annie Darlin Gordon on flute, Austin Smith on oboe, Laura Sabo on clarinet, Danielle Batchelder on bassoon, and Emily Toth on French horn. Wayside Winds has been performing together for two years in Cincinnati. The group initially came together as Laura was missing chamber music in her life. She saw Danielle working at the Aronoff Center and asked her to be a part of the group. From there, things fell into place and the other members joined to form the woodwind quintet they are today. They perform at events and venues across the city, and their next performance will be at the Price Hill Community Festival August 3-4.
I’m convinced there are few better ways to spend a rainy evening than in The Mercantile Library listening to a classical music performance.
Jill Jantzen is the artistic director for the Salon 21 Concert Series. She began playing piano at the age of 5 and is still an active pianist through teaching and performing. She is on faculty at Thomas More College and Loveland Music Academy. She is a staff accompanist at Northern Kentucky University and the assistant accompanist for the Young Professionals Choral Collective. She has also performed on stages across the U.S. and Europe.
The evening was packed with lovely performances that concluded with Wayside Winds and Jill’s performance of “Sextet for Piano and Wind Quintet” by Francis Poulenc, an iconic piece for a sextet. The first movement, “Allegro Vivace,” can be heard below.
After the performance, attendees mingled in the space and chatted with the musicians. As I left the comfort of the library and made the rainy trek back to my car, I couldn’t help but pull a Gene Kelly and twirl with my umbrella just thinking about the beautiful music I had just heard. If you have the chance, attending a Salon 21 concert should be at the top of your list of Cincinnati experiences. The 2018-2019 season will begin on October 18 at the Weston Art Gallery. For the fifth season, Jill will be bringing back some past performers to celebrate!
MUSE’s 35th Annual Spring Concert
Reporting and photography by Tracy P. Van Wagner.
“Don’t be afraid to raise your voice and sing truth to power,” asserted Dr. Catherine Roma.
MUSE Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir primarily sings about social issues facing our world in an attempt to inspire and unite people to create a better world through music. MUSE celebrated their 35th anniversary at their spring concert on Saturday, May 19, at the beautiful Memorial Hall in OTR. The songs they performed were diverse in topic and style, with songs about greed, police violence, and equality for people of all gender identities. “When I Was A Boy,” written by Evyn Surrency about his experiences with gender identity as he developed into adulthood, and “This Is Me,” from “The Greatest Showman”; performed with the Cincinnati Men’s Chorus, gave me chills. “If I Die, Don’t Cry, Start a Fire” is a powerful song, composed by Aziza Love and narrated at the concert by Siri Imani of TRIIIBE about police violence against persons of color.