Ian Axness named Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre and Resident Music Director at CCM
An experienced conductor and collaborative pianist, Axness begins his new role on Aug. 15, 2023
UC College-Conservatory of Music Interim Dean Jonathan Kregor has announced the addition of Ian Axness to the college’s roster of distinguished performing and media arts faculty members. A versatile conductor, collaborative pianist and teaching artist, Axness first joined CCM’s faculty as an Adjunct and Guest Resident Music Director in 2022. His new appointment as Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre and Resident Music Director will begin on Aug. 15, 2023.
CCM faculty member Ian Axness. Photo/Bjorn Bolinder
Axness brings a fresh, incisive, inclusive approach to the past, present and future of American musical theatre. For over a decade he has helped bring works new and old to the stage in New York City, including Sweeney Todd (Barrow Street Theater), Rodgers & Hart’s I Married An Angel (City Center Encores), Kurt Weill’s Zaubernacht (Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra) and the New York premiere of Beardo by Dave Malloy and Jason Craig (Pipeline Theatre, Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Music). Axness enjoys a wide range of music+theatre collaborations, including musicals, operas, plays, pop-up performances, hybrid recitals and cabarets. His career highlights include Lyrics & Lyricists: W.S. Gilbert with Sheldon Harnick (92nd Street Y), Carousel with Kelli O’Hara and Nathan Gunn (New York Philharmonic) and a new production of Flora the Red Menace with composer John Kander (Oberlin College-Conservatory).
Working between forms of Western art music, Broadway musicals and experimental theatre, Axness has collaborated with composers and theatermakers including Shaina Taub, Michael R. Jackson, Heather Christian, Carner & Gregor, and Rinde Eckert. He has developed new musicals with playwrights at New Dramatists, contributed to volumes of Musical Theatre Today, and performed on the stages of Joe’s Pub, Ars Nova and Two River Theater. As part of the New York City theatre community, Axness has sought out projects that embrace the collective, engage the irrational, challenge norms and thrill audiences.
Axness is also a versatile and enthusiastic teacher. He previously served on the faculty of Playwrights Horizons Theater School and continues to work as a teaching artist with Living Arts Collaborative and The Performing Arts Project. As a music director he has helmed productions at Juilliard, Oberlin, Mannes School of Music, New York University Abu Dhabi and CCM, where he earned his master of music in Orchestral Conducting. His teachers include Roger Grodsky, Aik Khai Pung, Mark Gibson, Gary Fagin and Rob Fisher.
"A proud alumnus of Oberlin College and CCM, Ian Axness is a classically trained pianist and conductor with a comprehensive and accessible approach to performing arts education," said Kregor. "Recent musicals at CCM—including Xanadu, She Loves Me and Cinderella—benefited immensely from Ian’s expertise. As we welcome him into a fulltime faculty position, we are excited about the creativity and artistry that he will bring to future CCM productions. I want to recognize the outstanding work of our search committee, which was chaired by Diane Lala, and also included Kevin Holzman, Emily Porter, Eric Santagata and Keyona Willis-Lynam."
Next Lives Here
At the University of Cincinnati, we realize the impact our teaching, research, artistry and service can have on our community and the world. So, we don’t wait for change to happen. We break boundaries, boldly imagine and create what’s Next. To us, today’s possibilities spark tomorrow’s reality. That’s why we are leading urban public universities into a new era of innovation and impact, and that's how we are defining Next for the performing and media arts.
We're about engaging people and ideas - and transforming the world.
We are UC. Welcome to what's Next.
Featured image at top: Faculty member Ian Axness conducts CCM students in the orchestra pit of Corbett Auditorium during a March 2022 performance of Pippin. Photo/Provided
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