We create intimate, transformative experiences that connect the musically curious.
OUR VISION
To be an incubator of musical curiosity.
Our ensemble’s smaller size allows you to get closer to the music and the musicians. This helps to melt the invisible divide between audience and musicians, connecting you to the art in a new way!
WE DO THIS BY:
UNEXPECTED VENUES
NONTRADITIONAL MASH-UPS
COLLABORATIONS
PRELUDE TALKS & ARTIST RECEPTIONS
EDUCATION PROGRAMS
WHAT MAKE US UNIQUE?
INTIMACY
The ensemble’s smaller size allows you to get closer to the music and the musicians, helping to erase the invisible divide between audience and musicians, connecting you to the art in a new way!
COLLABORATIONS
Bringing together artists to collaborate across genres and art forms leads to inspiration and innovation. Our size makes us the perfect partner, one who can be flexible and nimble.
DISTINCT REPERTOIRE
Chamber orchestras have a unique range of repertoire, spanning from the classical music giants of yesterday to world premiere commissions. Summermusik presents a musical experience you won’t have anywhere else!
UNEXPECTED VENUES
Whether enjoying the beautiful acoustic in your neighborhood church or relaxing with a beverage in a hip nightspot, bringing music out of the concert hall creates an electric atmosphere, one where you can almost reach out and touch the music-making.
FUN FACTS
Summermusik stays curious, going beyond program notes, striving to share something more about the music, composer, or historical context.
MORE THAN A CONCERT
Summermusik is where audiences and artists come to share an experience. Whether it’s our free Prelude Talks with the music director or post-concert artist receptions, we always look for ways to create transformative experiences for our audiences.
“A vibrant, fresh musical experience
in an intimate and informal setting.”
Summermusik with resident ensemble Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra creates intimate, transformative experiences that connect the musically curious. Founded in 1974, Summermusik is widely recognized as one of the leading performing arts organizations in the Greater Cincinnati region.
Summermusik provides a vibrant musical experience in an intimate and informal setting for both the seasoned and novice concert patron. The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra is comprised of 32 professional musicians, the ideal ensemble size for presenting orchestral works from the Baroque and Classical eras as well as commissioned works by contemporary composers. Often, the ensemble shrinks down to as small as 3 musicians, which allows for flexibility and creativity in programming.
The organization’s multi-disciplinary performances range from operatic and choral productions to collaborations with arts organizations in dance, musical theater, puppetry, literature, and visual art. Collaborators have included Walk with Amal, VAE: Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble, Cincinnati Ballet, Madcap Puppets, School for Creative & Performing Arts, Cincinnati Art Museum, Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, Revolution Dance Theatre, and Elementz, among many others.
In August 2015, the critically acclaimed summer music festival Summermusik was launched. Summermusik festival concerts take place during the month of August and are presented in unique venues around Greater Cincinnati. The festival hosts three distinct series – Mainstage, A Little Afternoon Musik, and Chamber Crawls – each one a layer in the unique voice of Summermusik, performing music from Bach to rock. Summermusik 2025 will be the 11th season of the annual festival that the Cincinnati Enquirer praised as “the most imaginative, most entertaining three weeks on the classical music calendar.”
In October 2016, Eckart Preu was named Music Director, following in the footsteps of Paul Nadler, Gerhard Samuel, Keith Lockhart, and Mischa Santora. In 2022, he was awarded the prestigious 2022 Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award in Orchestral Programming from the American Prize.
Summermusik’s annual We Are One festival series began in October 2022 and seeks to amplify under consulted voices by acknowledging historical and contemporary inequities and celebrating unique cultures through music, art, and dialogue.
FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
Legal Name: The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Inc.
Tax ID#: 31-0865998
Status: The CCO is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
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