Sometimes I think the expression "world-class" is thrown around a bit loosely. 

Given my role, I imagine you won't be surprised when I say that your Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is world-class.  But hear me out: I think the evidence is overwhelming.

Only the world's best professional orchestras are invited to perform at Carnegie Hall.  This season, the CSO will make its 48th appearance on the stage of this world-famous venue.  And only the top orchestras are invited to perform in the great halls of Europe and Asia.  In a matter of weeks, the CSO will depart on a seven-concert tour across Japan with two concerts in the esteemed Suntory Hall and one concert that will be televised nationally into millions of Japanese homes.  This follows a phenomenal European tour in 2008 that saw sold-out concert halls in Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna, Munich and Madrid.  The world is clamoring to hear Cincinnati's world-class orchestra perform live.

World-class orchestras also reach audiences around the globe through award-winning recordings.  Your Orchestra's recordings have received multiple Grammy nominations, including a win for the recent Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition surround sound CD on Telarc.  The CSO has had more recordings in the Top Ten Billboard Charts than any other orchestra, and the quality of the CSO is noticed by critics the world over.

This can only happen when you have musicians that are the best of the best, and we are fortunate to have 88 of the world's finest musicians calling Cincinnati home.  We know them most perhaps for bringing audiences to their feet in performance after performance with great music-making, but they also add to the richness of this community in many other ways. 

The ripple effect is there and it is powerful.  Our musicians serve on the faculties at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Northern Kentucky University, Xavier University and more.  They also serve as teachers in area schools throughout the tri-state region including the School for Creative and Performing Arts, and reach many more young people through private instruction, providing top-flight musical training from an early age.

Musicians of the CSO also are actively involved in other ensembles that enrich the community musically, the Linton Chamber Series, CCM Guest Artist Series and Concert Nova to name only a few.  They perform for us in recital halls and places of worship.  In all, this musical activity creates hundreds of musical experiences for the community to enjoy.

But I'm particularly proud to be associated with civic-minded individuals who care about their community and work to make a difference.  A sample of the volunteer activities our musicians pursue gives a sense of their range of interests and commitment: Habitat for Humanity, Children's Hospital, Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education, Friends of the Elderly, Drop-In Center, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Hospice, Save the Animals Foundation - the list goes on and on.

Our world-class musicians excite and entertain our audiences, bring international acclaim to our city, teach and mentor our young people, serve as the backbone of the musical community and are, on top of it all, dedicated and active community citizens.  This is good news for a great city.

When you think of People Magazine's list of the "Sexiest Men Alive," classical musicians probably don't immediately come to mind.  But on Thursday, September 17 at 7:30 p.m., the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra will join forces with Lang Lang, the internationally acclaimed pianist who actually made that infamous People Magazine list.

As I type, we only have a few remaining seats available in the 3,417 seat capacity Music Hall, and not surprisingly.  The 27-year old phenom has taken the music world by storm.  He has been declared "more famous than the Beatles" and The New York Times called him "the hottest artist on the classical music planet."  In fact, he is so hip that he landed a shoe deal with Adidas, and he just may wear them when he hits our stage.

Lang Lang has earned the reputation as "a rock star on the piano," but, as a fair and balanced guest blogger, you should know that he is not without controversy in classical music circles.  The New York Times recently noted, quite fairly, that "he splits opinion."  The writer took his shots: "Here he played super quietly, there super slowly, there like Wiley E. Coyote in his Acme rocket shoes." 

Every artist that we invite to join us at the CSO is established at an international level and each brings their own unique artistic perspective to the music.  This makes each concert a unique moment in time never to be experienced in quite the same way again.  And Lang Lang is known for pushing the edges.

So let the debate begin.  Your CSO under Paavo Järvi plays with an edge-of-your-seat abandon and Lang Lang is "kinetic."  It could get explosive on Thursday, but you be the judge. 

Immediately after the concert, we have some fantastic YPs that are throwing an AFTERBURN party (champagne, desserts and fruit for $30).  Stop by and let me know what you think.

P.S.  So you know if you go: Lang Lang is pronounced "long long."

I grew up in a rural part of Illinois and was first exposed to Cincinnati when I was seven years old.  No, it wasn't through an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati.  I first came to know this great city through a recording of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by none other than the legendary "Prince of Pops," Erich Kunzel.

Some three decades later, I met Erich for the first time and had the good fortune of working with him.  Erich reminded me of the bumper sticker "Think Globally, Act Locally" except his motto might more likely have read "Act Globally and Locally."  Erich was a doer, and Cincinnati was the better for his efforts.

Erich and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra made a global statement about the quality of the arts and cultural life in this community, proudly carrying the Cincinnati banner to the world.  His recordings with the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestras have sold more than ten million copies.  Thirty million people have seen our orchestra on PBS and our "band" has toured to all corners of the globe, most recently as the only international orchestra invited to appear at the Beijing Olympics.

Locally, Erich was a difference-maker.  He was an artist, an entertainer, an educator, and even an urban developer.  His vision for the new School for Creative and Performing Arts will add yet another anchor institution to Over-the-Rhine that will propel this historic neighborhood forward.  At his core, Erich was a "connector."  The new school will connect our orchestra with this young talent much in the way that he connected our music with our audiences across generations.

With Erich, what had been done was less important than what remained to be done.  One of his favorite pieces was "Climb Every Mountain," and he certainly climbed many during his remarkable 44 years with us in Cincinnati, but Erich also recognized there were many more mountains to climb -  reaching new audiences, revitalizing our neighborhood, educating our children, sharing the Cincinnati Pops with even more of the world.  The Orchestra is committed to honoring his legacy by taking hold of that rope and climbing higher.