$570,000 donation to CCM

An anonymous initial donation of $570,000 has created the William D. Black Memorial Prize in Piano at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Each year, a $20,000 award will be made to one undergraduate piano student. The student will receive $5,000 per year, renewable for four years.

The award is the first of its kind in any conservatory of music in the country.

The award is named in honor of CCM piano professor Bill Black, who died in December at age 51. It will be given in perpetuity, the school says. The gift has also been augmented with other donations in Black's memory.

"William Black was a well-respected and well-loved member of our department for more than 16 years, and his influence will live on for years to come as his former students are spread all over the globe," says Frank Weinstock, chair of CCM piano department.

This year, two $5,000 prizes were awarded: Kevin Hobbs, a transfer student from John Hopkins University, and Thomas Nixon of Knoxville, Tenn.

Paavo CD gets honors

Paavo Jarvi and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's Ravel album has been named an "Editor's Choice" (one of the top ten) in the July issue of Gramophone, a British classical music magazine.

"Having recently heard the Cincinnati orchestra perform at home in their vast Music Hall (seating 3,400), I can vouch not only for the excellent musical health of Paavo Jarvi's orchestra but also for the skill of Telarc's engineers in capturing them in such spectacular sound (try and hear it in surround - it's quite stunning!)," writes editor James Jolly.

Janelle Gelfand