Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/Cincinnati Pops Announces Details for Inaugural Andrew J. Brady Neighborhood Concert Series

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops have announced details for the inaugural Andrew J. Brady Neighborhood Concert Series.

Named in honor of Andrew J. Brady, longtime Cincinnati orchestra and band director at Western Hills High School from 1944-1976, the free outdoor concert series will take place throughout the summer in neighborhoods across Greater Cincinnati, including Westwood (June 19), Price Hill (June 26), Bond Hill (July 14), West End (July 16), and Evanston (August 6). Programs will celebrate each neighborhood's distinct musical heritage with music ranging from orchestral classics and jazz to Latin, R&B, and soul.

"We are excited to work with our neighborhood partners to collaborate on programs that reflect and honor our communities," said Jonathan Martin, President and CEO of the CSO. "We want to engage with our neighbors, entertain families, and build community through music."

Born on January 3, 1915, to a large musical family in Jonesboro, Arkansas, Andrew J. Brady grew up playing trumpet, violin, and piano with his father and siblings. Later in life, Andrew enrolled in the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and graduated with his bachelor's and master's degree in music education. He taught music at Rothenberg Elementary School in Over-the-Rhine before moving to Western Hills High School, where he remained as an orchestra and band director for 32 years. In addition to teaching, Andrew performed in area jazz bands on weekends, and during the summers, he led popular band concerts at parks across Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

"Andrew Brady's summer concerts served as direct inspiration for our neighborhood concert series," continued Martin. "They were free and open to the public to enjoy, and they became a treasured fixture of Cincinnati summers for many decades."

The Andrew J. Brady Neighborhood Concert Series is the evolution of the collaborative work with community partners over the past three years, led by Tiffany Cooper, CSO Director of Community Engagement and Diversity. The concert series aims to bring residents together, create community, and offer performances that need not be held in Music Hall.

"Community engagement is about reaching people where they are," said Cooper. "Through our collaboration with our community partners, we have learned more about each community, and our partnerships have been instrumental in ensuring that each concert is reflective of the community itself whether through music, food, or the pre-concert activities we have planned."

Curated by a team of artistic leaders from the Orchestra and community partners from the various neighborhoods, concert programs will reflect the unique musical heritage of each neighborhood and feature an array of special guests with ties to the community. Cincinnati Pops Conductor John Morris Russell will lead the Orchestra in four of the five concerts (June 19, July 14, July 16, and August 6) and guest conductor Enrico Lopez Yañez, Principal Pops Conductor of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, will lead the June 26 program in the Price Hill neighborhood. The list of special guests for the series includes, vocalists Victoria Ellington, Lauren Eylise, Ciara Harper, Tia Toles-Seay, Kathy Wade, and Noël Walton; violinists Diane Monroe and CSO/Pops Acting Associate Concertmaster Charles Morey; dancers from Q-KIDZ Dance Studio; and recently retired Local 12 News anchor John Lomax.

"Cincinnati's musical heritage goes far beyond the walls of Music Hall-musical traditions in our neighborhoods have shaped the ethos of our city," said Russell. "From the legendary jazz clubs in the West End and Evanston's iconic King Records Studio to community music making of all kinds nurtured in band rooms, church choir lofts, and festivals throughout the city, our concerts will celebrate the Queen City's musical mosaic."

"The West End is excited to be a part of the Brady Neighborhood Concert Series!" said Alexis Kidd, Executive Director of the Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses. "To gain access to this caliber of performance in our own backyard is truly a gift. The thoughtfulness of both the music and performances that include West End groups will make this event one of the best we have ever had. We are grateful to the CSO and Pops for partnering with us to bring quality programming and events to the West End neighborhood."

In addition to music performed by the Orchestra and special guests, events will also include pre-concert activities for the entire family, such as arts and crafts, music labs, community booths, and activities by neighborhood vendors, as well as food and beverages from area food trucks. A shuttle service will also be available at all venues to assist with parking and accessibility. A full listing of activities, vendors, and other event details by performance can be found on the Orchestra's website.

"Learning Through Art is thrilled and honored to partner with the CSO/Pops and Corinthian Baptist Church to present the Brady Neighborhood Concert on July 14, also a part of our Crown Jewels of Jazz Series in celebration of our 30th anniversary," said Kathy Wade, CEO of Learning Through Art. "Together, we are building resilient communities through the arts, and we look forward to welcoming everyone-our neighbors, family, and friends-to experience music, fun, and community with one another this summer."

The free concert series is made possible by an anonymous donor in honor of Andrew J. Brady and the American Rescue Plan funds from the City of Cincinnati, administered through ArtsWave. Additional support is provided by Metro and Scott and Charla Weiss.

A master of American musical style, Grammy-nominated conductor John Morris Russell has devoted himself to redefining the American orchestral experience. In his eleventh year as conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the wide-range and diversity of his work as a conductor, collaborator and educator continue to reinvigorate the musical scene throughout Cincinnati and across the continent. As Music Director of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina, Russell leads the prestigious Hilton Head International Piano Competition, and he also serves as Principal Pops Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, following in the footsteps of Marvin Hamlisch and Doc Severinsen. As a guest conductor, he has worked with many of the most distinguished orchestras in North America, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Boston Pops, National Symphony Orchestra, and the orchestras of Toronto, Vancouver, Dallas, Detroit, and Pittsburgh.

With the Cincinnati Pops, Russell leads sold-out performances at Music Hall, concerts throughout the region, as well as domestic and international tours-including Florida in 2014 and China/Taiwan in 2017. His visionary leadership at the Pops created the "American Originals Project," which has garnered both critical and popular acclaim in two landmark recordings: American Originals (the music of Stephen Foster) as well as American Originals: 1918. In 2020, the American Originals Project continued with King Records and the Cincinnati Sound with Late Night with David Letterman musical director, Paul Shaffer, celebrating the beginnings of bluegrass, country, rockabilly, soul, and funk immortalized in recordings produced in the Queen City. Russell's other recordings with the Pops include Home for the Holidays, Superheroes, Carnival of the Animals, and Voyage. Russell's recent collaborations with artists around the world include Aretha Franklin, Emanuel Ax, Amy Grant and Vince Gill, Common, Garrick Ohlsson, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jon Kimura Parker, Ann Hampton Callaway, Michael McDonald, Cho-Liang Lin, Sutton Foster, George Takei, Megan Hilty, Ranky Tanky, Steve Martin, Katharine McPhee, Brian Wilson, Cynthia Erivo, and Leslie Odom, Jr.

With a legacy dating back 127 years, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is considered one of America's finest and most versatile ensembles. Led by Louis Langrée since 2013, the CSO's distinguished roster of past music directors includes Leopold Stokowski, Eugène Ysaÿe, Fritz Reiner, Max Rudolf, Jesús López Cobos and Paavo Järvi. Matthias Pintscher is the Orchestra's Creative Partner, and previous artistic partners have included Lang Lang, Philip Glass, Branford Marsalis and Jennifer Higdon.

The Orchestra also performs as the Cincinnati Pops, founded by Erich Kunzel in 1977 and currently led by John Morris Russell with Damon Gupton serving as Principal Guest Conductor. Notable collaborations with artists have included Dave Brubeck, Kristin Chenoweth, Ella Fitzgerald, Ben Folds, Aretha Franklin, Rhiannon Gidden, Audra McDonald, Smokey Robinson, and Lea Salonga. Digital performances and recordings have long been hallmarks of the Cincinnati Pops. National telecasts of the Cincinnati Pops on PBS have been viewed by an estimated 30 million people, and American Soundscapes, an online video series produced in partnership with CET Public Television, has surpassed one million views on YouTube since its inception in 2016. The Cincinnati Pops discography is expansive and tens of millions of recordings have been sold worldwide through the decades.

Deeply committed to inclusion, relevance, and enhancing and expanding opportunities for the children of Greater Cincinnati, the Orchestra works to bring music education, in its many different forms, to as broad a public as possible. In 2020, the CSO was one of the first American orchestras to create a Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer position to ensure the absorption of best DE&I practices into every facet of the organization. The CSO/CCM Diversity Fellowship, a nationally recognized program in partnership with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, provides a graduate degree-level education with performance and professional development opportunities for extraordinary young string players from populations historically underrepresented in American orchestras. The Orchestra is also an incubator for and partner to NIMAN, a consortium of American orchestras, professional musicians, and educators, established to address the lack of racial equity in the classical music field by aligning resources and collaborating to strengthen the trajectory of classical instrumentalists of color at all stages of their pre-careers.

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