Like orchestras around the country, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra had to cancel concerts beginning in mid-March because of the Coronavirus. As it sought ways to continue sharing music with its audiences, it launched its "Fanfare Project," commissioning about a dozen short pieces to be performed by orchestra musicians. The idea was inspired by Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, commissioned by the orchestra in 1942 and premiered in 1943. The first fanfare, vitres (fragment...), was composed by Matthias Pintscher and performed by Principal Oboe Dwight Parry. It opened the orchestra's return to Cincinnati Music Hall in May 16 in a socially-distanced performance of just a handful of musicians to mark what was supposed to have been a celebratory concert marking the close of the orchestra's 125th season. A Tempo host Rachel Katz this Saturday (7/11 at 7 pm) speaks with Pintscher and Parry about the work.
The program also includes a conversation with James Roe, president and executive director of the Orchestra of St. Luke's, about its Bach at Home virtual festival.
