In 1994, Kazem Abdullah played clarinet in the Cincinnati Youth Symphony. Twenty years later, the CCM graduate and current music director for the city of Aachen, Germany, returns to Cincinnati for his Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra debut — as a conductor. The program, Debussy + Dvorák, shows off Abdullah’s extraordinary range, combining orchestral and choral works. Debussy’s sparkling “Jeux” opens the program, followed by Stravinsky’s rarely performed “The King of the Stars” and the glorious “Symphony of Psalms,” featuring the superb May Festival Chorus. Dvo˘rák’s Symphony No. 8 ends the program.
7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets start at $12. Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, cincinnatisymphony.org.
This article appears in Oct 8-14, 2014.
