Ensemble Programs
Select one of the below areas of study for more information.
We believe that performing is an essential element of music education. All music students are encouraged to perform in scheduled recitals throughout the academic year. We also encourage students to participate in the National Music Certificate Program, an outside evaluation process. In addition, there are several ensembles as well as school-wide performances and chamber music opportunities. Private lesson discounts are offered to students in selected ensembles. There are scholarship, honor and concerto festivals for music students, as well as master classes taught by outstanding performing artists/ teachers. We encourage our students to perform in one of our several ensemble opportunities in order to give young musicians the opportunity to experience ensemble techniques, and to perform a wide variety of repertoire, the following ensembles are available by age, ability and audition.
Cincinnati Cello Choir
Founder and Director: Ellen Shertzer
Time: Selected Saturday afternoons 4–5pm, CC 1630
Sept. 12 & 26, Oct. 3 & 17, Nov. 7 & 21, Dec. 5 & 12
Jan. 16 & 23, Feb. 6 & 23, Mar. 6 & 20, Ap. 17, May 1
Auditions: 513-325-5385
Cost: $125 per year
Concert Sunday, May 16, 7:00 PM, Werner Concert Hall, CCM
Featuring Regina Mushabac, cello professor, Baldwin/Wallace College on Pezzo Capriccioso by Tchaikovsky
Premier performance of Moleskin Dances, composed by cellist Isaac Watras for Cincinnati Cello Choir
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 for Soprano and Violoncelli Orchestra by Villa Lobos performed by Cincinnati Youth Symphony cellists and conducted by Ken Lam.
Performing group open to all cellists who read well in the first four positions and play with vibrato.
Cincinnati Cello Choir is a performing ensemble for area cello students. Music is selected to accommodate advanced and intermediate readers. Advanced elementary students are accepted by teacher recommendation. The Cincinnati Cello Choir performs several concerts both on and off campus each year.
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Brass Choir (Grades 9–12)
Conductor: Paul Hillner
Auditions: 513-556-9478
Time: Wednesdays 7–9pm
Cost: $300 per year
The Brass Choir is open to outstanding brass performers. Auditions will be held in early September. Students participating in this ensemble have the opportunity to perform college level brass choir repertoire. Most students participating in the Brass Choir graduate and major in music.
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Cincinnati Youth Wind Ensemble (CYWE) (Grades 9–12)
2010 Audition Experts Page, Click Here.
Conductor: Jared Chase
Time: Sundays 5:30–8:30pm
Cost: $275 per year
Auditions: September 11-13, 2009. 556-2595 for appointment
CYWE is the only area wind ensemble for students in grades nine through twelve. Audition excerpts and information can be found on our website. Students in CYWE have the opportunity to share concerts with CCM wind ensembles.
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Junior Cincinnati Youth
Wind Ensemble (Jr. CYWE) (Grades 6–8)
Audition Information located on Jr. CYWE website, click here.
Conductor: Dr. Ann Porter
Time: Sundays 5:30–7pm
Auditions: September 12-13, 2009
Cost: $250 per year
Junior CYWE consists of woodwind, brass and percussion players who have been playing their instrument for at least two years. CCM Music Education students intern and assist the Directors with sectionals and coaching. The Jr. Wind Ensemble performed at the 2008 Ohio Music Educators Association Conference.
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The Jazz Explosion (Grades 7-9)
Conductor: Drews Mitchell
Time: 7-8:30pm
Auditions: September 21 and 28, 2009
Cost: $300 per year
For middle school students who have a strong interest in learning both jazz improvisation and big band techniques. Open to any instrumentalist, but some limitations may be made in certain sections of the group. CCM Jazz and Music Education students assist with this group.
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Jazz Combo (Grades 9 – adults)
Director:Dan Karlsberg
Time: Sundays, 1-2:30pm; 6 sessions a semester
Auditions: TBA, 556-2595
Cost: $120 per semester
One or more small groups will be formed for a rhythm section plus one or two horns each. These groups will learn to play jazz standards and contemporary tunes with primary emphasis on improvisation just as it’s done in jazz clubs and at concerts by today’s professional jazz players. A basic knowledge of chords changes, improvisation, and the ability to read melodies with both a swing and straight 1/8 note feel is required. It is strongly recommended that students in jazz combo also be studying privately with a teacher on their instrument. Auditions will be held to group students in similar levels and enrollment will be limited. Please call the office for more information.
Cincinnati Junior Strings (Grades 3–9)
Conductor: Dr. Gerald Doan
Assistant: Rachel Bierken
Rehearsals: Sundays, 2-5pm; The Center for the Arts, Wyoming
Cost: $300 per year
The Cincinnati Junior Strings is a performing orchestra designed to augment area public school string programs in training young players. The orchestra has been in existence for 30 years, still conducted by the founder, Dr. Gerald Doan, faculty emeritus from CCM. CJS has made several international performing tours of Austrialia, New Zealand, Great Britain, and China. At the conductor’s discretion, one student will be awarded a full tuition scholarship for the year. Auditions: Sept. 12–13, 2009; The Center for the Arts, Wyoming. Please call 513-791-7815 for an audition time and requirements.
Áccent Chamber Music (Ages 8+)
Artistic Director: Dorotea Vismara Hoffman
Auditions: Sept. 12, 2009 and Jan. 9, 2009
Cost: $175; $125 per semester for students enrolled in private music lessons.
The Áccent program provides chamber music opportunities for student musicians of all ages and abilities to participate in chamber music as an extension of their private lesson studies. Students audition and are placed in appropriate groups. Áccent groups are coached by Prep faculty and participate in master classes with outstanding visiting chamber musicians. Rehearsals are usually on Saturdays.
Performance opportunities include “chamber music nights,” special Prep performances, and outreach performances to area schools and institutions including the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
The Áccent Chamber Music Program has been made possible through the generosity of ACMP – The Chamber Music Network, and the Clinton B. Ford Fund of its ACMP Foundation, an organization that promotes chamber music activities for amateur musicians.
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Starling Preparatory Strings Project
Chairperson: Kurt Sassmannshaus
Cost: $2,550 per semester
The Starling Preparatory String Project is a specialized honors program training young string students. The program is generously funded through a grant by the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation. The superbly talented musicians perform as the Starling Chamber Orchestra and are selected by audition.
The Sassmannshaus Tradition (formerly Starling Kids Project) is for beginning string students, four to seven years old, and includes lessons, chamber music, theory and group classes. Students are accepted into this program through an interview process. For more information on the Starling Preparatory String Project and the Sassmannshaus Tradition, visit www.starling.org.
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Cincinnati Children's Choir Programs (Grades 2+)
Founder and Managing Artistic Director: Robyn Reeves Lana
Information and registration:
Phone: 513-556-0338
Email: choir@cincinnatichoir.org
Website: www.cincinnatichoir.org.
For more information on all choir programs, go to the Prep Department Choir Page or visit http://www.cincinnatichoir.org/index.html.