By John Spencer, President
On Dec. 10 and 12 at Memorial Hall and Word of Deliverance Ministries, Chamber Music Cincinnati will present compelling concerts by pianist Michelle Cann, include Joel Tompson’s My Dungeon Shook, inspired by James Baldwin’s essay of that name from his book, The Fire Next Time. Thompson is best known for Seven Last Words of the Unarmed, memorializing Michael Brown, Eric Garner and five others. My Dungeon Shook is his reaction to Summer 2020 events.
The program also includes William Grant Still’s A Deserted Plantation, compositions by Chopin and Liszt, the Midwest premiere of Nathan Gulla’s Ballade written in 2023 especially for Cann, and more.
Cann received three standing ovations for her performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody No. 2 with the Cincinnati Symphony last December: the first when she entered the stage, the second when she ended the piece, the third after her encore, Hazel Scott’s arrangement of Rachmaninoff’s C Sharp Minor Prelude.
Praised as “an artist of sterling quality” by the most important classical music magazine, Gramophone, she has recently performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de São Paulo, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, and Cincinnati. She has given recitals in New York City, Portland, Beverly Hills, and Denver.
Recognized as a leading interpreter of the piano music of Florence Price, Cann performed the New York City premiere of Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement and the Philadelphia premiere with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin in February 2021. Her acclaimed debut solo album, Revival, featuring music by Price and Margaret Bonds, was released in May 2023 on the Curtis Studio label.
Cann has recorded two Price piano quintets with the Catalyst Quartet and was the recipient of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by the Sphinx Organization.
Chamber Music Cincinnati was founded in 1929. In recent years, it has presented the Harlem Quartet, 2023 GRAMMY nominated pianist Awadagin Pratt, Metropolitan Opera Soprano Karen Slack with the multiple GRAMMY winning Pacifica Quartet, the multiple GRAMMY winning Kronos Quartet, the multiple GRAMMY winning Juilliard String Quartet, and multiple GRAMMY nominated Imani Winds, the nation’s oldest major Black chamber music ensemble, among many.
Sunday, December 10, 2023 • 4:00 p.m. Word of Deliverance Ministries
Tuesday, December 12, 2023 • 7:30 p.m. Memorial Hall
Tickets at cincychamber.org or call the Memorial Hall box office at 513-977-8838