An American in Paris Ball: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Happy New Year! We're back!

Ahhhh. Dan and I needed a long holiday. Plus, throughout most of December, we weren't doing much of anything worth blogging about, so what better time to take a breather?

On New Year's Eve, we attended the American in Paris Ball at Music Hall.

We wanted to do something just for ourselves, as we'd spent the better part of December with family and friends. (Absolutely a blessing, but an exhausting one!) We thought it'd be lovely to walk through our backyard (er, Washington Park) to Music Hall to ring in the new year.

The night began with a fantastic concert of Gershwin pieces, including "Rhapsody in Blue" with Michael Chertock as pianist. Fantastic! There were also some vocal cameos by two CCM students-- an awesome addition to the Broadway pieces.

Afterwards we shuffled into the ballroom for a seated dinner, open bar, dancing and champagne toast. We made great new friends at our table, including Cincinnati's own Marilyn Harris. How great to meet her and chat all evening! Our entire table was full of gregarious, fun people.

I can only hope that all of 2011 looks this beautiful.

I do have to throw one small wrench in the gear: Dan and I were the youngest people there by ~40 years. ...Okay, there were a few other people our age, but we were definitely in the minority. :) Didn't bother me at all, but something to note for the future!

We closed Music Hall down. An incredible event at a gorgeous venue. Happy New Year, everyone!

An American in Paris Ball: http://cincinnatisymphony.org/Content.php?id=55

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra: http://cincinnatisymphony.org/Home.php

The Southgate House - Stars

Last week before the holiday Erica and I went over to check out Stars at The Southgate House in Newport. I've wanted to catch these guys live since they first started putting out albums back around 2001. It was an awesome show and the Southgate House is such a great venue for shows. Here are a few really terrible pics I took on my iPhone of the show. Lesson from this trip: grab the DSLR next time.

Stars website: http://www.youarestars.com/

SGH website: http://www.southgatehouse.com/

MidPoint Music Festival 2010

Midpoint Music Fest was last weekend, in case you live under a rock and managed to not hear about it. This year they had over 250 music showcases going over the three days. The music was spread across 25 or so stages throughout the central business district and Over-the-Rhine.

We picked up three day passes earlier this summer at Fountain Square and managed to catch a few good shows during our time wandering the streets of Cincinnati listening to music fill the streets.

Here's a quick rundown of the stuff we managed to see.

Thursday - First up was a trip to the Know Theatre to see Nathan Holscher. The plan was to stay for Jessica Lea Mayfield, but her show was cancelled so we headed to Grammers to see Best Coast. From there we went to Jack Potts to see Walk the Moon, who put on a pretty incredible live show.

Friday - we took this night off and were at Music Hall for the Cincinnati Pops

Saturday - Started off at Mixx to see the Koala Fires, then checked out Chocolate Horse at Below Zero. After that we wandered down to FB's to watch Bourtros setup, but since they were running late we took off and headed to the CAC to catch A Place to Bury Strangers who were probably one of my favorites, even if they had to endure countless power loss issues.

I know some people who were trying to cram a dozen or so bands in per-night, which would have made for some crazy nights. We opted to just check out a few here and there and not live by any real set schedule. It worked out well and I think next year we might do the same, but maybe start a bit earlier and plan for all three days. Definitely one of my favorite Cincinnati events and if you haven't attended before be sure to check it out next year.

website: http://www.mpmf.com/

Cincinnati Pops season opener with Idina Menzel

Art is my number one connection with this city, and a huge part of my "re-adventure." While I love the new(-to-us) restaurants, shops and events that Dan and I take in, the easiest way for me to fall in love with Cincinnati over and over again is through art, art, art.


Through my much-beloved Enjoy the Arts* subscription, I managed to snag three tickets to the Cincinnati Pops season opener... on opening night... third row center... for half price. (Guh.) My mom, my guy and I were itching to get back to the symphony, especially as Idina Menzel was their guest performer.

The first act was Idina-free and super-short... which I lamented, a bit. The Pops began with a tribute to a symphony member they'd recently lost, which reduced my mom and me to tears within the first few notes. After a moment of silence, they transitioned into a selection of Broadway tunes, such as the overture from West Side Story, but it was over far too quickly. Yes, I was anxious to see Ms. Menzel, but this symphony is incredibly talented and I could have listened to them all night.

(I suppose there are plenty of opportunities for that, yes?)


And then there was Idina Menzel. Menzel's act was much longer, but it was over in the blink of an eye. Menzel is the kind of woman who owns a stage-- you can tell she grew up as an actress, not solely as a chanteuse. She was ribald and goofy at times, though she also displayed perfectly controlled moments of grace and charm. You could get whiplash watching her change character between pensive lounge singer and goofy new mother. (Idina Menzel has a one-year-old boy, Walker, and anecdotes and toddler-songs dominated my least favorite part of her set.)


The best moment in the night-- I'll say "for me" but I think it'd be hard for anyone to argue-- was toward the end, when Menzel set down her microphone and powered through "For Good" from Wicked, a capella and peering into the audience to make sure she was connecting with the people in the nosebleeds. It's moments like that which take a performance to a higher level, and I think it was more than just the Wicked fans who were touched by this moment of engagement.

My seats were so close to the stage that I could read the pianist's song book to see what she was going to sing next. I think I've been spoiled.

Cincinnati Pops website: http://cincinnatipops.org/Home.php
Idina Menzel's website: http://www.idinamenzel.com/
Enjoy the Arts website: http://www.enjoythearts.org/

*Enjoy the Arts, which I've mentioned over and over again, makes me feel like I am robbing the artists sometimes, because I get such insane deals (and frequent free tickets) to local venues. As I was explaining to my mom, I can't wait to grow into the artistic benefactor I hope to be some day, and be able to support programs like this so that people like me can get hooked on the arts at a young age.

Play Me, I'm Yours: Freedom Center

I've had another Play Me, I'm Yours sighting! My coworker parks behind the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and whilst walking together we passed this beautiful little piano.

The effect is mesmerizing-- people are just compelled to play a piano that's sitting out in the open. Jeff took very little coaxing before sitting down to tickle the ivories.

River_DMF

Okay, so this is a horrible photo, but sometimes you have to put the camera down and live little!

This was the second year for River_DMF, and my second year boarding the riverboat with my good friend Kate (pictured above, sorta). After last year's shindig, we wouldn't have missed this year's for the world.

River_DMF is an extension of Dance_MF, which Kate and I also attend whenever we can. Dance_MF is a dance party held on the first Saturday of every month, at Northside Tavern. The venue is awesome, there's always a dorky-cool theme, the music's great, the audience is eclectic, even the drinks are good.

River_DMF takes all the goodness of the dance party and sets it on a riverboat. From 11pm to 2am, you set sail up and down the Ohio, tunes bouncing off of the bridges and everyone having a ball. The weather was perfect again this year, and River_DMF was definitely the place to be.

We did set sail a little late, though. From what I heard later, the smaller boat we were due to cruise on broke down shortly before 11. The Projectmill team had to lug everything to a different, bigger boat pronto. Everything else seemed to go off without a hitch-- lucky ducks!

River_DMF: http://riverdmf.theprojectmill.com/
Dance_MF: http://dancemf.theprojectmill.com/

MPMF 2010

We're about a month away from Midpoint Music Fest 2010 and the lineup for this year is pretty incredible. If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, you can pick them up online or at the MidPoint Indie Summer events at Fountain Square. We picked up passes at the Square and are pretty excited to hit up as many shows as we can.

Upcoming free Fountain Square events building up to MPMF.10:

• Friday, August 27th, 7PM-11PM
• 10 p.m. Brian Olive
• 9 p.m. Oxford Cotton
• 8 p.m. J Dorsey Blues Revival
• 7 p.m. 20th Century Tokyo Princess
• Friday, September 3rd, 7PM-11PM
• 10 p.m. We Are Scientists
• 9 p.m. The Seedy Seeds
• 8 p.m. Hazle Weatherfield
• 7 p.m. Okay Lindon

MPMF.10 runs September 23rd-25th, check out their website for the incredible lineup and build your schedule.

Play Me, I'm Yours: Fountain Square

I met a friend for lunch on Fountain Square this week, and I found not one but two pianos in the Play Me, I'm Yours installment!

This first one is tucked back by Graeter's. Again, it was so so sweet to see a family engaging with this public piano!



This second one is nearer to the fountain, by the bandstand. No one was playing with the piano at the moment but it's still a beautiful sight.


These pianos are becoming the new Big Pig Gig sightings! (Speaking of which, I found another piggie-- look for it tomorrow!)

Play Me, I'm Yours: http://www.streetpianos.com/cincinnati2010/

Play Me, I'm Yours

Check it out!


We had our first Play Me, I'm Yours sighting when we were visiting Findlay Market!

I've been in love with this concept since I first heard about it a few months ago. It's even more powerful when you walk by a random piano at the market and see a mom teaching her kid a chord or two!

Has anyone spotted any others?!

From the 9th-27th August, 35 street pianos will be distributed across Greater Cincinnati to celebrate the anniversaries of 90.9 WGUC (50 years), 91.7 WVXU (40 years), and 88.5 WMUB (60 years). Located in public parks, streets and squares, the pianos are for any member of the public to play and enjoy.

--StreetPianos.com

Play Me, I'm Yours on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Play-Me-Im-Yours-Greater-Cincinnati/216240597760
Play Me, I'm Yours on WVXU's site: http://www.wvxu.or/news/wvxunews_article.asp?ID=7227

Soapbox: "Making Musical Cities"

"Events like MPMF, Taste of Cincinnati, and the Fountain Square summer concert series are all good examples that support local musicians. If there were some sort of organization to pull together bands, graphic artists, promoters, and small labels, to promote the city's music as a whole, I think it could be pretty big."

There's a nice piece in Soapbox about the burgeoning music scene in Cincinnati. Shout-outs to @allnightparty, @badveins and Project Mill, yea! Also a plug by my beloved @redkatblonde for locally-grown music in ads campaigns:

"In my experience, very few ad projects that require music have ever incorporated original local music or musicians. I think the main reason lies in the fact that businesses don't know how to necessarily find original local musicians, and therefore miss opportunities to use their music. If a company wants to connect their product or service to Cincinnati, and wants a true hometown feel, the most authentic thing they can do is use original local music in their productions," she says.