Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra provides a musical experience unlike any other in town

The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra (CCO) offers patrons a unique, intimate experience unlike any other in the city. For almost 50 years, the orchestra has provided vibrant musical experiences and isn’t stopping anytime soon.

“It was founded by a gentleman named Paul Nadler, who at the time was a [College-Conservatory of Music] student, and he noticed that there was not a professional chamber orchestra in the area,” Executive Director Evan Gidley says. “He set out to create that. The organization has evolved quite a bit over the years from a mostly volunteer board and staff in the beginning to now a full-fledged administrative staff.”

Summermusik Festival

The orchestra aims for a “vibrant, fresh musical experience in an intimate and informal setting.” To do this, concert-goers may find themselves in unique venues, especially during the Summermusik Festival.

Within the festival, Gidley says, there are three distinct series. The Mainstage Series is a traditional concert with the full ensemble. The Sunday Matinee series typically involves four to six musicians at venues like churches and schools. The Chamber Crawl series, held during the week, often sells out and is hosted at unexpected venues, such as the Newport Aquarium or comedy clubs.

“We like to cross disciplinary projects,” Gidley says. “This year we have Revolution Dance Theatre in one piece. We’ll have an actor from the Children’s Theatre who will be portraying Beethoven at a concert we have. Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra will have a rhythm section of musicians playing with our brass quintet. Collegium Cincinnati, which is a professional vocal group, will be singing in a Bach concert.”

One of the things that makes the CCO stand out is the intimacy guests will experience at concerts.

“We want people to—when they come to our concerts—be in community. We don’t want people to come into the back of the audience, sit down and never talk to anybody,” Gidley says.

Before certain Mainstage shows, the chamber’s music director hosts a pre-concert talk. After some shows, there is a post-concert reception held in the lobby where people can stick around and meet the guest artists.

“We really try to emphasize that, especially the Chamber Crawls, are come as you are. We do want to eliminate the highbrow status or stigma pertaining to traditional classical music,” Gidley says.

“I really don’t like the word classical music. I think orchestral music better describes what we are. We’re not stuffy. We’re not old. We’re trying to do new and unique things and put a fresh twist on traditional music without losing the prestige, high-performance value and excellency of our musicians.”

Little Amal

For the first time last October, Gidley says, the chamber put on an “equity-focused” festival. The festival celebrated the Black community through lectures, performances and supporting Black-owned businesses.

Gidley says the chamber received funding to do another festival. This year, they decided to focus on the immigrant, refugee and displaced person population.

“We came across the Little Amal Project and saw that they were planning a U.S. tour for the fall, so we reached out to them and got connected to them and we’re excited to be a lead-presenting organization on that project,” Gidley says.

According to walkwithamal.org, “Little Amal is the 12-foot puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee child at the heart of The Walk and has become a global symbol of human rights, especially those of refugees.” Amal has traveled over 9,000 km to 14 countries since July 2021. The project supports displaced school-aged children through The Amal Fund.

The chamber is partnering with the Kroger Wellness Festival, happening at the same time, and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, where the orchestra will host a small concert at the end of Amal’s walk.

“There’s also a lot of collaboration with that project. One of the key components is that folks that participate in the walk with Amal will create a visual art project. We’re working with many different artistic partners—too many to list—that will host pre-walk art project creation workshops for folks who want to come in and make an art project led by a professional artist.

“She’s just here for the one day, but the message of hope and helping our displaced persons in this country is the key aspect of that project,” Gidley says. “We’re really excited about that opportunity.”

The Concert Experience

The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra is the only professional chamber orchestra in the city. Gidley says part of their goal is to make Cincinnati a better place through music.

“We believe that because of the talented musicians that we have—because of the strong staff and board—that we’re uniquely positioned to provide and then truly act as a nonprofit organization whose focus is on the community,” Gidley says.

Gidley says nothing compares to live music, despite advances in technology. He says it’s “always more exciting to see something live versus hearing it” and that live music brings people together who might not normally be together in a space.

When guests attend a chamber event, Gidley wants them to feel like they had a connection.

“They’re connected with the musician or the person sitting next to them. It was really truly a communal event,” Gidley says.