Grammy Winner Common and Stage Star Capathia Jenkins to Join the CSO This Spring

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra announces that acclaimed hip-hop recording artist, actor, film producer and poet Common will be performing at its annual Classical Roots concert at Music Hall on Friday, April 29.

With a slew of awards to his name, including three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and multiple BET Awards, Common's career has spanned across three decades. He has collaborated musically with such artists as John Legend, Kanye West and Lauryn Hill.

In addition to other planned concert highlights, Common will perform "Glory" from the movie Selma, for which he won an Oscar in 2015 and a Grammy in 2016. Capathia Jenkins, who most recently electrified crowds during the Cincinnati Pops "I'm Every Woman" concert in January, also lends her powerhouse vocals to the program, conducted by John Morris Russell.

The Classical Roots Community Mass Choir, which is comprised of over 100 singers representing dozens of area churches and rehearses with several local music ministers, returns as a staple for the annual concert, as will the CSYO Nouveau Chamber Players which features talented African American student musicians who are nurtured through the CSO's education programs. While exact program details will be announced at a later date, the multi-genre concert will again include elements from the classical tradition as well as gospel, R&B and spirituals, all celebrating the rich African-American musical heritage and bringing together friends and neighbors for a shared concert experience.

Classical Roots started as a program performed by the CSO in churches throughout the region and moved to the Orchestra's home at Music Hall in 2011 where it has taken place ever since.

Tickets for this concert are $25-55 for adults and $10 for children under 17. They can be purchased by visiting or calling the CSO Box Office at (513) 381-3300 or visiting www.cincinnatisymphony.org.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES:

Common, guest artist - The "King of Conscious Hip Hop," Common is one of music's most poetic and respected lyricists. Over the course of nine albums, his introspective rhymes have pushed boundaries with their incisive social commentary. From Can I Borrow a Dollar? to BE and Finding Forever, his Grammy-nominated collaborations with Kanye West, Common has spent 16 years in the notoriously fickle world of hip hop by taking risks and staying one step ahead of the game.

Common has also branched out into acting, portraying freed slave Elam Ferguson in AMC's historical drama series Hell on Wheels. He also appears in several movies, including Smokin' Aces, Wanted, Terminator Salvation, Date Night, and Just Wright.

Common isn't just a musician and actor -- he is a role model. In 2007, he launched the Common Ground Foundation, an organization dedicated to the empowerment and development of America's urban youth. Offering the younger generations a better understanding of self-respect and love, he has combined hip hop with literature, releasing three children's books: The MIRROR and ME, I Like You But I Love Me, and M.E. (Mixed Emotions). His first book for adults is the provocative and touching memoir, One Day It'll All Make Sense. In 2015, Common received an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song with John Legend for their powerful collaboration, "Glory," featured in the civil rights film, Selma.

Whether inspiring audiences through his music, his books, or his foundation, Common continues to break new ground, and remains one of hip hop's most innovative, positive voices.

Capathia Jenkins, vocalist - Capathia Jenkins can definitely act but all those who know her also know that this diva can blow and blow and blow you right off this planet. Jenkins grapples with two dueling passions, each with a strong grip: acting and music, yet she refuses to pick one because they both represent her soul. Capathia approaches a song the same way she approaches a script, like an artist. She looks for the nuances, the secret hidden within the notes or text. She seeks the melody, harmony and rhythm. She asks herself: what am I trying to say? What do I want my audience to experience with me? She wants to take her audience on a journey.

This Brooklyn-born and raised actress most recently starred as 'Medda' in the hit Disney production of Newsies' on Broadway. She made her Broadway debut in The Civil War, where she created the

role of Harriet Jackson. She then starred in the Off-Broadway 2000 revival of Godspell, where she wowed audiences with her stirring rendition of 'Turn Back, O Man' which can still be heard on the original cast recording. She returned to Broadway in The Look of Love and was critically acclaimed for her performances of the Bacharach/David hits. Ms. Jenkins then created the roles of 'The Washing Machine' in Caroline, Or Change and 'Frieda May' in Martin Short-Fame becomes me where she sang 'Stop the Show' and brought the house down every night.

In 2007 she went back to Off-Broadway and starred in (mis) Understanding Mammy-The Hattie McDaniel Story for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. She was also seen in Nora Ephron's Love, Loss, and What I Wore.

An active concert artist, Ms. Jenkins has appeared with orchestras around the world including the Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony (with Marvin Hamlisch), National Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Memphis Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony, San Diego Symphony and the Hong Kong Philharmonic.

She was a soloist with the Festival Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. In 2011 Capathia had the great honor of performing in the 'Broadway Ambassadors to Cuba' concert as part of the Festival De Teatro De La Habana. Ms. Jenkins was a guest soloist with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops and with the Cincinnati Pops.

Her Television credits include 30 Rock, the Practice, Law & Order SVU, the Sopranos, Law & Order. She can be seen in the 2012 film 'Musical Chairs' directed by Susan Seidelman. She can be heard on the following film soundtracks: Nine, Chicago, Legally Blonde 2.

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