Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

I would give ten stars if I could. Have been going for 30 years. We are so lucky to have this. Never been to a performance that was less than stellar. Louis is the very best. Love his work.

The CSO, and its home, Music Hall, are some of the finest arts assets within our city. Thanks to growing up in an arts-​loving family, I’ve gone to a couple of symphony concerts every year as long as I’ve lived in Cincinnati. Recently, they’ve started doing things like showing a brief video about the composer and piece before the show starts.
Growing up, going to the Symphony was always a pretty buttoned-​up affair — long lines at the coat check for people dropping off their fancy coats. But now, it’s a much more diverse crowd — I noticed a guy with face tattoos at the last concert I attended. I happen to think this is an awesome and positive development. Symphony concerts are also very affordable to attend (often cheaper than a sporting event!), and as my dad says «there isn’t a bad seat in the house.»

Truly one of America’s première symphonies, although Paavo Jarvi made it so and will be missed. Caught the Daphnis & Chloe last season and roared and cheered for five standing ovations with the rest of hall. One of the most amazing performances ever.

We’re at the CSO almost every weekend and it’s always a great experience. This year especially has been interesting as they’ve been rotating through visiting conductors and have split the season up between a few different creative directors. The shows are always incredible and an educational experience.
I highly suggest you get there early for the classical conversation before the show. You’l be given background on the conductor, guests and the pieces being performed that night and often the conductor will take time to answer an array of questions.
If you have the chance participating in tweet seats brings an even broader appreciation for the pieces as you can read real time insights from the associate conductors back-​stage. Whether it’s a play by play of the story behind the music or historical notes about the piece and the composer, it add’s a lot of interesting information to the performance. Think of it as real-​time program notes.
If you haven’t been definitely go, Music Hall and the CSO are true local treasures.

We have one of the best symphony orchestra’s in the nation — it’s over 117 years old — and so it deserves some much needed praise.
Last night was the CSO’s sold out opening night with world renowned violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman both playing and conducting — this is something that doesn’t happen every year or even every decade. And what can I say other than the concert was spectacular and as always the orchestra was at its best. I’ve been going to the symphony for years to hear specific soloist/​composers, as CSO always brings in the best — this year I finally made a 10 concert committment so I’ll be able to branch out and go to some performances I normally wouldn’t.
The cost varies greatly –anywhere from $ 10 for students and/​or waiting for day of to $ 125 for box seats on certain occasions, but music hall has great acoustics so any seat in the house will have great sound, but sometimes if it’s a pianist for example you may not be able to see their hands move from the nose bleed balcony section. Also people do complain about the small seats and tight spaces inbetween rows in the balconey sections being uncomfortable but Music hall will be renovated next year so hopefully they will work on that.
This year CSO is also looking for a new conductor/​music director, we had Paavo Jarvi for the past decade (he was superb, sorry to see him go). So this year they will bringing in a slew of guest conductors and the creative directors have put together an excellent variety of performances and list of soloist for this year so it should be a very interesting season.
So if you’ve never gone before and you live in cincinnati it is definitely something to experience — especially since after this year CSO is moving to Taft threatre during the renovation — it should be interesting to see how much music hall changes. It is a great building in and of itself.

Attended a recent performance while in town for a little R&R. The facilities and staff were amazing. Beautiful concert hall and very attentive staff. They were very helpful in walking us to the will call and showing us to our seats. This was my first time to the symphony and I really enjoyed it. I’m hooked!

We attended one of the pops performances in the fall of 2007. We thought the performance itself was excellent and the venue is a place to behold! We had great seats within a few rows of the stage.
The pops performs monthly September through May. You can buy individual tickets or a season ticket. Single event prices start at less than $ 25. In Feb. 2009 the pops will have a live orchestra performing during a showing of The Wizard of Oz! Should be a great family event!

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is a world class orchestra located right in our lovely city. Not many people know how skilled and world renowned they are! The CSO has professionally recorded many pieces. If fact the concert I attended this weekend was recorded!
The CSO doubles as the Pops under the direction of Eric Kunzel at Riverbend each summer. They can really easily switch from classical to many different kinds of music in the summer. It seems like they have a good time when they are swinging it up! I’ve had the privilege of singing with them in both capacities.
The CSO just returned a few weeks ago from a five country European tour. They do these tours every once and a while. It takes a lot of man power and organization to move a symphony like that!
The season runs from September through early May each year. Each season features around 35 or musical selections. The 2008 – 2009 season features many guest artists and conductors and some varied programs to satisfy all! You can check it out on their website.
I attended a concert this past weekend. The first piece was written by a local composer and faculty member at CCM, Robert Johnson. It was a very interesting and wonderfully composed piece. The audience loved it! The last piece they played was really cool. It was Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. This piece is about human sacrifice and apparently sparked a lot of controversy in it’s day. All I could think of the entire time was dinosaurs from it’s debut in the movie Fantasia! The symphony received a standing ovation at the end of the concert!