CCM Philharmonia sets sail with "The Sound of Water" on Feb. 24

Join the UC College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) Philharmonia as it presents "The Sound of Water" concert at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24 in Corbett Auditorium. Tickets are on sale now through the CCM Box Office.

Water has inspired countless composers, with an influence that can be seen across continents and centuries. "The Sound of Water" concert programs three block-buster orchestral works that feature aquatic aesthetics — whether it is a noble river in Bohemia, the bracing sea off the coast of England or the exotic oceans of Asia.

Starting in the heart of the Bohemian countryside, Bedřich Smetana’s Vltava from "Ma Vlast" (The Moldau from "My Homeland") opens the concert. Composed in 1882, this nationalistic tone poem depicts the Vltava River, the Czech Republic’s largest and most prominent waterway. From its burbling headwaters, through the ripples of the peaceful countryside, to the vicious white-water at St. John’s Rapids, Smetana perfectly captures every inch of the river's 270 miles. Though somewhat of a controversial figure during his life, Smetana is now endemically considered the father of Czech music, and his "Ma Vlast" opens the annual Prague Spring International Music Festival.

Traveling northwest to the United Kingdom, Benjamin Britten’s "Four Sea Interludes" sails us across the North Sea to a costal fishing village. This orchestral suite is drawn from Britten’s famed 1945 opera Peter Grimes and has become a popular concert piece. Recounting the tragic story of an outcast fisherman and his clashes with his community, the unpredictable ocean is central to Britten’s music. Each of the four movements depict a different temperament, and are titled "Dawn," "Sunday Morning," "Moonlight" and "Storm." Britten’s stunning range and mastery of orchestration is on full display throughout the entire suite.

"The Sound of Water" cruise finally runs aground on the coasts of the Arabian Sea and the numerous gulfs and inland seas that surround the Middle East. A musical adaptation of the historical anthology One Thousand and One Nights, the famed Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov wrote Scheherazade in 1888. Containing a compilation of Arabic folk tales from the Islamic Golden Age, One Thousand and One Nights sets these stories within a larger narrative that follows Scheherazade as she strives to save herself from the villainous Sultan Schahriar. Each of the four movements depict a different cliffhanger tale, as told by Scheherazade, and include "The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship," "The Tale of Prince Kalendar," "The Young Prince and the Princess" and "The Festival at Bagdad; The Sea; The Ship Goes to Peices on a Rock." The fast-flowing action and entrancing orchestration of Scheherazade is sure to enthrall audiences just as it did the Sultan.

“Audiences should look forward to a sumptuous journey of sound,” says Mark Gibson, CCM Director of Orchestral Studies. "I am so excited about this program, which will feature many solos by some of CCM's finest young musicians in the Scheherazade, and a gifted young conductor, Pablo Pegalajar, from Granada, Spain, who will lead the performance of the Britten."

The CCM Philharmonia presents "The Sound of Water" concert at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023 in Corbett Auditorium. Tickets are on sale now through the CCM Box Office. 

CCM Philharmonia 
Mark Gibson, music director and conductor 
Pablo Pegalajar, graduate student conductor

SMETANA: Vltava, from “Ma Vlast” (The Moldau, from "My Homeland") (1882) 
BRITTEN: Four Sea Interludes, from Peter Grimes, Op. 33a (1945)  
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Scheherazade, Op. 35 (1888)

7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, 2023

Corbett Auditorium, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Tickets are $25; student and group discounts available. Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online now through our e-Box Office!

Learn about additional ticket options for current CCM students.

CCM is located on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. For detailed driving directions, visit ccm.uc.edu/directions.

Parking is available in UC's CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. 

CCM OnStage patrons can add pre-paid parking to their checkout carts when purchasing tickets. Pre-paid parking is date/performance specific. CCM Garage parking rates for a performance or special event is usually available for $10-15. Learn more about parking at UC's CCM Garage.

For additional information on parking at UC, please visit uc.edu/about/parking.