Tag Archives: UC College-Conservatory of Music

The soprano was awarded third prize in the prestigious international theatre singing contest during the final round of the competition on April 13.

Lauren Roesner. Photo courtesy of the Kurt Weill Foundation.

CINCINNATI, OH — CCM graduating senior Lauren Roesner (BFA Musical Theatre, 2013) has been named a winner of the 2013 Lotte Lenya Competition. Originally from Chicago, Roesner was awarded third prize in the prestigious international theatre singing contest during the final round of the competition on Saturday, April 13, in Rochester, New York. The competition finals were held just one day before Roesner’s CCM Musical Theatre Senior Showcase debut in New York.

CCM Professor and Distinguished Chair of Musical Theatre Aubrey Berg explains that, at 21 years old, “Lauren must be one of the youngest performers, if not the youngest, to ever become a finalist in this prestigious event.”

CCM Associate Professor and Distinguished Chair of Opera Robin Guarino attended this year’s competition and notes, “Lauren was competing against and won over singers already performing major roles on Broadway and at the Metropolitan Opera!”

The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, which sponsors the competition, distributed a record $61,500 in prizes this year. Roesner received a third prize of $7500. CCM alumna Heather Phillips, soprano, was also a finalist in the competition and received an award of $1000.

Several other current and former CCM students were awarded special prizes during this year’s competition. Learn more about those awards here.

About Lauren Roesner
A graduating senior from CCM’s acclaimed Musical Theatre program, Lauren Roesner has been seen regionally at Wagon Wheel Theatre as Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray, Maria Mirelli in Lend Me A Tenor, Mrs. Darling/Indian Dancer in Peter Pan and in various roles in Big River, State Fair and Legally Blonde. At CCM, she has been seen as Polly Peachum in The Threepenny Opera, Sarah in The Civil War, Rapunzel in Into the Woods, Mrs. Nordstrom in A Little Night Music, Bess in The Human Comedy, Ensemble in Oklahoma! and in Out of This World, Evita and Anything Goes.

About the Lotte Lenya Competition
Founded in 1998 to celebrate the centenary of Lenya’s birth, the Lotte Lenya Competition recognizes talented young singer/actors, ages 19-32, who are dramatically and musically convincing in a wide range of repertoire.

This year’s panel of judges included acclaimed soprano and 2010 Opera News Award winner Patricia Racette, British opera and musical theatre conductor James Holmes, and Theodore S. Chapin, President of Rodgers & Hammerstein and Vice-Chairman of the American Theater Wing.

Chapin, who has judged the Competition eight times, said, “The Lenya Competition was founded to address a need for performers who can both sing and act. In the spirit of Kurt Weill, it bridges the gap between musical theater and a more serious kind of sung-through theater. It’s the perfect way to do it, and it’s been a wonderfully successful program.”

Each contestant presented a diverse program that included an aria from the opera or operetta repertoire; two songs from the American musical theatre repertoire (one from the pre-1968 “Golden Age” and one from 1968 or later); and a theatrical selection by Kurt Weill. After a preliminary round of auditions, 24 semi-finalists from five continents auditioned in New York for adjudicator/coaches Jeanine Tesori and Rebecca Luker, who then selected the 12 finalists.

About the Lotte Lenya Competition
The Lenya Competition celebrated its 15th Anniversary this year. Since its inception, the Kurt Weill Foundation has awarded more than $500,000 to exceptionally talented young singer-actors, many of whom are enjoying prominent careers in musical theater, opera, and sometimes both. In the past year alone, previous winners’ credits include performances on Broadway (Kyle Barisich, Morgan James); in national and international tours (Richard Todd Adams, Maria Failla, Zachary James, Ariela Morgenstern); at regional theaters such as Baltimore Centerstage, Westport Country Playhouse, and Portland Center Stage (Erik Liberman), The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park (Cooper Grodin), and Classic Stage Company (Amy Justman); and on major opera stages including the Metropolitan Opera (Paul Corona, Ginger Costa-Jackson), Los Angeles Opera (Rodell Rosel, Liam Bonner), Lyric Opera of Chicago (Rodell Rosel, Lucas Meachem), Florida Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Oper Leipzig (Jonathan Michie), Houston Grand Opera (Liam Bonner), New York City Opera (Lauren Worsham, Jennifer Goode Cooper), Glimmerglass Festival (Noah Stewart, Ginger Costa-Jackson), English National Opera and Teatro Real Madrid (Zachary James), Hamburg Staatsoper and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence (Rebecca Jo Loeb), and Oper Frankfurt (Elizabeth Reiter).

Learn more about this year’s competition winners here.

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is recognized both nationally and internationally as one of the leading conservatories for the performing and electronic media arts, composition, scholarship and pedagogy.

CCM is the largest single source of performing arts events in Ohio with an annual calendar of nearly 1,000 performances and presentations, ranging from solo recitals to full-scale opera and musical theatre performances.

All event dates and programs are subject to change.

For a complete calendar of events visit our website at http://ccm.uc.edu.

UC’s College-Conservatory of Music – The Sound of Synergy

A chilling examination of the trial of Dan White for the murder of Harvey Milk and George Moscone, this gripping docu-drama will challenge audiences and actors alike as the final production of CCM’s 2012-13 Studio Series.

CINCINNATI, OH – The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) proudly presents the final installment of the 2012-13 Studio Series with a production of Emily Mann’s powerful docu-drama Execution of Justice, directed by CCM Professor of Drama Michael Burnham. Execution of Justice runs April 18-20 in UC’s Cohen Family Studio Theater. Admission is free, but reservations are required. This production contains mature subject matter.

A chilling examination of the trial of Dan White for the murder of Harvey Milk, San Francisco’s first openly gay Supervisor, and Mayor George Moscone, Execution of Justice puts the trial on trial and measures the distance between “politics,” “action” and “the law.”

Execution of Justice is a story fraught with strife and complications. “There is an issue,” Burnham explains, “and behind the issue, there are people.” In order to help his cast better inhabit their roles, Burnham decided that instead of each tackling one character, as is customary, each student would play at least four critical roles throughout the show. During each performance, every student will act as the man on trial, Dan White; his wife, Mary Ann White; the prosecuting attorney, Thomas Norman and the defense attorney, Douglas Schmidt. This approach challenges the audience, forcing them to identify with the real person – not the actor playing the role.

“There are more possibilities than we allow ourselves to think,” observes Burnham. Not only is this a fantastic learning experience for the actors, requiring them to commit to a character for sometimes only a single line at a time; it is the presentation of a constellation of stories that raises difficult questions about social justice.

Following the run of Execution of Justice, CCM will bid farewell to professor, director and mentor Michael Burnham as he moves on to retirement.

Learn more about Burnham’s 30 years at CCM here.

Performance Times:

• 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 18
• 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 19
• 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 20 

Location
Cohen Family Studio Theater, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Reserving Tickets
Admission to Execution of Justice is free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, April 15. Visit the CCM Box office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order. This production contains mature subject matter.

Parking and Directions
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.

For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.

CCM Season Presenting Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation 

Drama Studio Series Sponsor: Neil Artman & Margaret Straub 

Sponsored by the CCM Harmony Fund: Challenging Hate and Prejudice through Performing Arts 

Community Partner: ArtsWave 

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is recognized both nationally and internationally as one of the leading conservatories for the performing and electronic media arts, composition, scholarship and pedagogy. 

CCM is the largest single source of performing arts events in Ohio with an annual calendar of nearly 1,000 performances and presentations, ranging from solo recitals to full-scale opera and musical theatre performances. 

All event dates and programs are subject to change. For a complete calendar of events or to view CCM’s 2012-2013 season brochure visit our website at http://ccm.uc.edu. 

UC’s College-Conservatory of Music – The Sound of Synergy

Burnham wraps up nearly 30 years of teaching,
directing and mentoring at CCM this spring.

CINCINNATI, OH – The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) Professor Michael Burnham has been a faculty member since 1984 and when asked about his many years of work for CCM, he muses, simply, “I liked all of them.” He will retire this month, following the conclusion of the school year and his work as director for CCM’s upcoming production of Execution of Justice, which runs April 18-20 as part of this year’s Studio Series.

“Professor Michael Burnham has been the artistic thorn in the side of every student who has entered CCM Drama for the past 29 years,” says Richard E. Hess, CCM’s A.B., Dolly, Ralph and Julia Cohen Drama Department Chair. “He digs into the mind of each and every new student, causing disruption, chaos and sometimes a little irritation, all in service of deeper thinking, harder questioning, more creativity and expansion of possibilities. Michael’s wonderful mind has touched the hearts of every student lucky enough to work with him.”

During Burnham’s time at CCM, he has seen the college grow and develop. “It’s become more joyful here,” he says. “We know ourselves better [as a college] now.” He has also managed to impact every department he has touched. He was at CCM when the Drama Department was born, at the table for the purchase of CCM’s first Genie lift and even found himself playing Falstaff in a personalized fat suit for a CCM production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Burnham considers all of his memories fondly: “I’ve gotten to do anything I wanted and it’s because I work here.”

“The most amazing thing about my job has been learning to be taught by others – especially someone younger than you or less experienced,” Burnham reflected. “The environment is really alive. We all learn from everyone, sometimes by accident.”

Learn more about CCM’s Studio Series production of Execution of Justice here.

About Michael Burnham
In the last year, Michael Burnham has dramaturged the writing and then directed the premiere of CCM alumna Alison Vodnoy Wolf’s stage adaptation of James Joyce’s Ulysses. He also wrote and directed Prokofiev, Shostakovich: Pieces in the Key of Silence for the chamber ensemble concert:nova, helped CCM Drama students create a series of small plays for the Cincinnati Homeless Commission, assisted a group of School for Creative and Performing Arts students in building and presenting an original piece at the city’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration and directed the premiere of John Ray’s The Sweet, Burning Yonder as part of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival.

Burnham also performs as a storyteller throughout the eastern part of the country and has narrated symphony concerts for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Salt Lake Symphony Opera and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra among others. His adaptation of Stravinsky’s l’Histoire du Soldat (which he directed while playing the Devil) premiered at the Salt Lake Symphony Opera.

For his work as a director, occasional actor and playwright, and for championing the city’s small experimental theatre companies, Burnham received a League of Cincinnati Theatres’ Sustained Achievement Award and has been inducted into the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards Hall of Fame.

Before coming to CCM, Michael was Literary Manager at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, a theater critic for Cincinnati Magazine and a theater and film critic for WGUC-FM. He was also a Fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center.

When given a sabbatical a couple of years ago, he studied theatre with Song of the Goat in Poland and Butoh dancing with Oguri in London and Wales and with Atsushi Takenouchi in France. At CCM, Burnham directs and teaches courses in script analysis, directing, dramaturgy and a class called “The Artist in Society.”

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is recognized both nationally and internationally as one of the leading conservatories for the performing and electronic media arts, composition, scholarship and pedagogy. 

CCM is the largest single source of performing arts events in Ohio with an annual calendar of nearly 1,000 performances and presentations, ranging from solo recitals to full-scale opera and musical theatre performances.  

All event dates and programs are subject to change. For a complete calendar of events or to view CCM’s 2012-2013 season brochure visit our website at http://ccm.uc.edu. 

UC’s College-Conservatory of Music – The Sound of Synergy