News & Reviews

fanfare magazine

News

April 1, 2024

The American Mosaic: JMR's Vision of America

Tyler M. Secor writes about JMR's vision for the "great panorama" of America

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March 5, 2024

2024-2025 Season Announcement!

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops have announced the 2024-25 season

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April 1, 2022

Reflecting on 10 years with Pops Conductor John Morris Russell

Reflecting on 10 years with Pops Conductor John Morris Russell

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Press

Feature
October 24, 2023

StateCollege.com

The World Needs a Lot More Kumbaya
We attended a free pops concert featuring the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra at the Martin Family Park in the Historic District. The crowd of over 500 people were treated to great songs from movie soundtracks, Broadway musicals and Grammy-winning artists. It was a picture perfect night complete with a crescent moon and an appreciative crowd. Part way through the opening set, the orchestra conductor, Grammy-nominated maestro John Morris Russell, stopped to tell the story of a very familiar song from my youth, which I am sure many of you will recognize, entitled “Kumbaya.” He told the audience that the African American spiritual song had a local origin from the late 1920s Gullah people, who have been inhabitants of the Lowcountry for over 200 years. The orchestra’s rendition of “Kumbaya” gave me goosebumps…”
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Acclaim
September 23, 2023

Cincinnati Business Courier

REVIEW: Broadway’s Stephen Schwartz charms, entertains at the Cincinnati Pops
“Accompanied by the Cincinnati Pops, engagingly led all evening by John Morris Russell, the Oscar and Grammy Award-winning Stephen Schwartz performed big hits and other songs with a wonderful group of friends.”
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Acclaim
April 29, 2023

Broadway World

"I'd be remiss if I didn't point out the phenomenal, Grammy-nominated, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, conducted by the charismatic John Morris Russell. It's so rare to hear a score as epic as Ragtime played by such a large group of musicians, and that alone makes the show more than worth attending. There's something insanely special happening right now at Cincinnati Music Hall, and I'm sad to say it's only happening this weekend. If you can, get downtown to see this concert production of Ragtime, it's truly a singular and beautiful experience.”
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Feature
May 27, 2022

Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra launching new series of outdoor concerts
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has performed in area parks on and off for more than 60 years. But in mid-June, the CSO is launching a new series of outdoor concerts, taking the orchestra even deeper into the heart of Cincinnati neighborhoods. The Andrew J. Brady Neighborhood Concert Series is named for Andrew J. Brady, who led a music ensemble for more than 30 years at Western Hills High School. There’s something especially fitting about naming the five-concert series after Brady, who led his own jazz band in hundreds of famously popular park appearances throughout the region. John Morris Russell, who recently celebrated his 10th anniversary as leader of the Cincinnati Pops, will lead four of the five concerts. (COVER PHOTO: Singer Kathy Wade, conductor John Morris Russell, and sax player J.D. Allen. Photo credit Mark Lyons)
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Feature
April 30, 2022

Cincinnati Business Courier

REVIEW: John Morris Russell and Pops celebrate 10 years together, joyfully
Over the decade that Russell conducted the Cincinnati Pops, we’ve come to know some of the vast range of his musical tastes. His anniversary program included some of his favorite music – from the Isley Brothers to Irving Berlin.
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Feature
September 1, 2021

Movers & Makers Cincinnati

JMR makes a case for the 'good stuff'
JMR wants to woo you into the world of orchestral music Most stories about John Morris Russell spend lots of time discussing his showmanship, his brash, cheerleader-ish onstage persona as conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra – the guy one of his former colleagues described as “a wind-up toy” that never runs down. But this is a story about a more contemplative JMR, as he has become known over his 20 years in the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra organization.
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Feature
November 20, 2019

Cincinnati Enquirer

Grammy nominations: Cincinnati Pops conductor John Morris Russell and Symphony music director Louis Langrée
Cincinnati Pops Orchestra conductor John Morris Russell went around his office handing out See's Candies lollipops Wednesday afternoon for a "victory lap." Why? Well, he has some big news to celebrate. Russell has been nominated for a Grammy Award.
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Acclaim
May 4, 2015

Cincinnati.com

Review: 'Music Man' a fun, unique night with Pops
“a triumphant night for Russell”
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