The legendary “Mendelssohn” Stradivarius that inspired the film The Red Violin is coming to Cincinnati. The fictionalized voyage of this violin through the centuries creates a musical blueprint for this concert that will take us to contrasting musical worlds. Our concert begins in China, one of the stops for the violin, with music by composers who grew up during the Cultural Revolution when classical music was forbidden. Elizabeth Pitcairn, who performs on the Red Violin, will be featured on Chen Yi’s Chinese Folk Dance Suite which calls on the orchestra to vocalize percussive elements as accompaniment. Elizabeth will then play John Corigliano’s suite of the powerful and atmospheric Academy Award-winning soundtrack for the film. In the second half we will feature the winner of the inaugural CCO and SCPA 2018 Concerto Competition, violinist Mable Lecrone. Cincinnati Art Museum’s associate director of interpretive programming Russell Ihrig will share artwork – both on display and from their archives – that traces the violin’s fascinating journey.