The classical countdown:

        1. Do you believe in magic? Calling it chemistry, Paavo Jarvi, 38, said yes in January to the invitation to become the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's 12th music director. Among his mentors were Leonard Bernstein and former CSO music director Max Rudolf — the latter a twist of fate that links him directly to his new orchestra.

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        At a time of intense competition for orchestra leaders, the search committee moved quickly to nab one of the world's hottest young stars. Now, the board is betting that Mr. Jarvi can make the symphony the hot ticket it once was.

        2. Good vibrations: In October, when music director-designate Mr. Jarvi returned for his only CSO concert this season, the start was delayed as hundreds of classical music fans lined up across the lobby and down the street to buy tickets.

        While in town, Maestro Jarvi cut his first album with his new band, an all Berlioz disc for Telarc. If it's anything like their sizzling live performance of Symphonie fantastique, it could be the CSO's first shot at a Grammy.

Paavo Jarvi became the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's 12th music director. (Enquirer file photo) | ZOOM |

        3. We've only just begun: Mischa Santora, 28, took the baton of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra in May and quickly put together his first season. Whether he can generate the excitement of his predecessor, Keith Lockhart, remains to be seen. But the honeymoon has begun, the playing is inspired and ticket sales are on track. That's music to the chamber orchestra's ears.

        4. Nothing's gonna stop us now: In May, shortly after moving into its sparkling new $93.2 million “CCM Village,” the top-ranked University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music named a new dean. Douglas Lowry, 49, came from the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. Not your average pencil-pushing administrator, he's a conductor, composer, instrumentalist and former radio host for KUSC Radio.

        His aim? With CCM's performing arts assets and a ground-breaking electronic media division, Dean Lowry plans to propel the conservatory into the international spotlight.

        5. Livin' la vida loca: “He's much more Cincinnati than any city in the world. He's loyal to a fault about our city, our people and certainly about his orchestra.” Kentucky-born singer Rosemary Clooney was one of many who chimed in to help Cincinnati Pops conductor Erich Kunzel, 65, celebrate his 35th anniversary with the CSO and Pops early this month.

        After 35 years, the music man can still pack the house with loyal hometown fans, and he's sold more than 8 million discs, worldwide. In July, he brought the Pops to the nation live on TV for the first time, in a July Fourth PBS special.

        6. You've got a friend: The new, $2.5 million Patricia A. Corbett String Program and Chamber Music Series at Northern Kentucky University is named for one of the Tristate's most generous arts angels. In July, Mrs. Corbett made the largest single gift ever ($2 million) to an NKU program, establishing the Corbett String Quartet in Residence. The Amernet String Quartet is the program's first beneficiary. Another $500,000 to keep things humming will come from Mrs. Corbett, the Corbett Foundation and the Amernet Society.

        7. Hallelujah: The 2000 May Festival season was one massive crescendo that climaxed with Schoenberg's monumental cantata, Gurre-Lieder, conducted by James Conlon. The magnificent performance made one wonder why it has been absent from the repertoire for a quarter of a century.

        To create Schoenberg's post-romantic sound world, Music Hall's stage was packed with 127 CSO musicians — including four harps, Wagnerian tubas, expanded winds and an enormous brass section — the May Festival Chorus and the Concert Chorus of the City of Dusseldorf.

        8. Walk like an Egyptian: In July, superstar mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves debuted a new role for her, Amneris, in Cincinnati Opera's sold-out Aida. Her honeyed voice, powerful acting ability and natural beauty resulted in a triumph of the kind opera lovers will remember forever. Meanwhile, Cincinnati Opera reveled in record-breaking ticket sales.

        9. You make me feel brand new: In January, after two years of construction, a year in exile at a downtown theater and $36.7 million in restoration and expansion, cheers and celebration greeted the Cleveland Orchestra's return to its home since 1931, Severance Hall.

        It's worth the trip to see the new, improved hall, which gleams like an iridescent jewel and still has its legendary acoustics. Another plus: Severance's tony new restaurant is part of a nationwide trend to update amenities.

        10. Money talks: In May, the “Taft” Strad, once played by CSO concertmaster Emil Heermann, sold at auction for $1.3 million, a record price for a musical instrument sold through auction in the United States. Anna Sinton Taft (wife of Charles P. Taft) purchased it in 1915 for Mr. Heermann, who sat in the CSO's first violin chair from 1910 to 1946.

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