Thursday, June 28, 2001
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Music, fireworks: It wouldn't be the Fourth of July without the Cincinnati Pops' show at Riverbend, 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. Celebrate the Fourth with maestro John Morris Russell, country singer Larry Gatlin and the Pops. With Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, it's bound to be a bang, capped by Rozzi's Famous Fireworks. Tickets: $17. 381-3300.
— Janelle Gelfand
FYI
Emmy winner: Classical Quest, an educational video featuring the Starling Chamber Orchestra, was presented an Emmy Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Ohio Valley Chapter, on Saturday at the Aronoff Center. The award was for excellence in the Arts and Culture Program category.
Classical Quest, released in 2000 to 600 public schools, was produced by Melissa Godoy of On Location Multimedia Inc. of Cincinnati. It tells the story of the young string players, ages 11-18, and how they perfect their performance skills.
“I hope that this video will inspire many schoolchildren to bring art and music into their lives by picking up an instrument,” said Starling director Kurt Sassmannshaus.
— Janelle Gelfand
The right stuff: The Cincinnati Youth Wind Ensemble, directed by Robert G. Southard, won the first place trophy in the Bournemouth Music Competitions Festival in Bournemouth, England, on Tuesday. Clarinetist Lauren Freedman, 17, a student at Amelia High School, phoned home right after the contest with the news.
“It was a complete surprise,” said mom Sue Spurgeon. “Even the director was in tears.”
The high school-aged ensemble, part of CCM Prep, competed against wind bands from Norway, Sweden, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. They will return to Cincinnati on Sunday, after performances in England and Scotland.
— Janelle Gelfand
Napster deal: Hundreds of independent record companies in Britain and Europe signed a licensing agreement with Napster that will immediately make thousands of tracks available to computer users worldwide.
Britain's Association of Independent Music and the Independent Music Companies Association signed the deal on Tuesday with the Redwood City, Calif.-based Napster on behalf of Europe's independent record labels.
Napster, the former music industry bad boy, has been moving toward legitimacy after a court ruling that it remove protected works from its song-swapping service.
This latest deal — Napster's first direct, multilabel agreement — will help boost the company's file of songs when its online music subscription service launches this summer.
The deal covers tracks from such artists as Moby, Tom Jones, Badly Drawn Boy, Mogwai, the Avalanches, Moloko, Slipknot, Tricky, Miossec, Saint Germain and Belle & Sebastian.
— The Associated Press
Movie Buzz
Award winner: Finder's Fee, an indie thriller directed by Survivor host Jeff Probst, won the best picture award at the 27th annual Seattle International Film Festival.
Erik Palladino, one of the stars of NBC's ER, and James Earl Jones star in the psychological thriller about a struggling street artist who finds a wallet with a winning lottery ticket worth $6 million.
— The Associated Press
Movies opening Friday
• A.I.
• crazy/beautiful
• Pootie Tang
• Songcatcher
• The Trumpet of the Swan
Coming Friday in Weekend
Nightlife: Larry Nager's NightSpot for June is Monday night at Kaldi's.
Looking good, seeing well
Sopranos on singing
Arts events to honor African-American experience
Concert reviews
Knip's Eye View
'Survivor' Rodger to go on tour
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