Voyage Cincinnati Pops Orchestra & John Morris Russell

• Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934): The Planets, Op. 32, H. 125 (Excerpts):
• 1 The Planets, Op. 32, H. 125 (Excerpts): IV. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity 07:56
• Michael Giacchino (b. 1967):
• 2 Star Trek 05:35
• John Williams (b. 1932):
• 3 The Jedi Steps - Finale (From "Star Wars: The Force Awakens") 09:13
• Michael Giacchino:
• 4 Jyn Erso & Hope Suite (From "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story") 05:59
• 5 The Imperial Suite (From "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story") 02:36
• 6 Guardians of the Whills Suite (From "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story") 02:44
• David Newman (b. 1954):
• 7 Theme (From "Galaxy Quest") 01:10
• John Williams:
• 8 Theme (From "Lost in Space") [1965 Version] [Arr. R. Pellett] 00:55
• Stu Phillips (b. 1929):
• 9 Theme (From "Battlestar Gallactica") [Arr. R. Pellett] 00:54
• Ron Grainer (1922 - 1981):
• 10 Theme (From "Dr. Who") [Arr. R. Pellett] 00:44
• Stu Phillips:
• 11 Theme (From "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century") [Arr. R. Pellett] 00:31
• Barry Gray (1908 - 1984):
• 12 Theme (From "Space 1999") [Arr. R. Pellett] 00:48
• John Williams:
• 13 Theme (From "Lost in Space") [1967 Version] [Arr. R. Pellett] 01:14
• Michael Giacchino:
• 14 Voyage 10:04
• Justin Hurwitz (b. 1985):
• 15 Theme for Harp, Strings & Theremin (From "First Man") 02:09
• Gustav Holst: The Planets, Op. 32, H. 125 (Excerpts):
• 16 The Planets, Op. 32, H. 125 (Excerpts): I. Mars, the Bringer of War 07:18
• 17 The Planets, Op. 32, H. 125 (Excerpts): II. Venus, the Bringer of Peace [With Narration "High Flight"] 04:35
• Total Runtime 01:04:25

Info for Voyage

The first studio recording made at Cincinnati Music Hall following a major renovation draws inspiration from the stars and includes the world premiere recording of the title track by Academy Award-winning composer Michael Giacchino. His composition, Voyage, was co-commissioned by the Cincinnati Pops and the National Symphony Orchestra and commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing and the historic “giant leap for mankind.”

“Michael Giacchino’s Voyage portrays the physical and metaphorical struggle to escape the gravity of our home planet to reach the eternal vastness of space,” said Russell. “This vivid and emotional work captures both the anxiety and thrill the world experienced as Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins made history together 50 years ago.”

Giacchino has always been fascinated by Apollo 11’s mission. He wrote, “I first became enthralled with the space program when my dad showed me photographs that he had taken of the television broadcast of the first Moon landing. I was too young to have any recollection of it, but seeing those photos taken in our family room inspired me to learn more. Voyage not only marks the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing, but it also honors the men and women who dared to dream for us all.”

Giacchino won an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Grammy for his original score to the Disney Pixar film, Up, and an Emmy for the television series, Lost. Among his many film credits are Star Trek (2009) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Musical selections from these two films are included on this new Cincinnati Pops recording.

The Voyage album also features selections from Gustav Holst’s The Planets including “Venus, the Bringer of Peace” set to the poem, “High Flight,” by John Gillespie Magee and read by Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actress Kate Mulgrew.

“’High Flight’ is often used to memorialize aviators and astronauts,” said Russell. “The eloquence of the words, music and heartfelt reading by Kate Mulgrew is our own tribute to the men and women of NASA who have given their lives in the pursuit of humanity’s final frontier.”

Mulgrew is best known for portraying Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager and more recently, Galina “Red” Reznikov on Orange is the New Black.

In addition to movie music by Giacchino, the Voyage album includes popular scifi favorites from film and television by John Williams, Justin Hurwitz, David Newman, and more.

Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble is the featured chorus on Giacchino-composed tracks on Voyage including Star Trek and two selections from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

“I first became enthralled with the space program when my dad showed me photographs that he had taken of the television broadcast of the first moon landing. I was too young to have any recollection of it, but seeing those photos taken in our family room inspired me to learn more. Voyage not only marks the 50th Anniversary of the moon landing, but it also honors the men and women who dared to dream for us all.” (MICHAEL GIACCHINO, composer)

The recording producer is Elaine Martone of Sonarc Music and the producer for the Fanfare Cincinnati is Sam Strater. The album was engineered by Michael Bishop of Five/Four Productions, with assistance from Ian Dobie of Dobie Digital, Ashley Shepherd of Audio Grotto Studios and Richard Hill of Manhattan Center Studio. Voyage was mixed and mastered by Bishop and edited by Thomas C. Moore of Five/Four Productions. The recording production assistant is Gene Chang and the art direction and booklet design is by Steve Kinney.

Cincinnati Pops
John Morris Russell, conductor

John Morris Russell
2012-2013 marks John Morris Russell’s sophomore season as the conductor of the Cincinnati Pops, to which he has brought both creative artistry and boundless energy. Consistently winning international praise for his extraordinary music-making and visionary leadership, he was recently named Music Director of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, in Hilton Head, South Carolina. He completed his role as Music Director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra in Ontario, Canada at the end of the 11/12 season whereupon he was named that orchestra’s first Conductor Laureate.

With his position at the Pops, Mr. Russell leads performances at Cincinnati’s Music Hall and the Riverbend Music Center; additionally he conducts the orchestra in concerts throughout the Greater Cincinnati region as well as on tour—serving as a musical ambassador to help cultivate the reputation of the Cincinnati region as one of the world’s leading cultural centers. No stranger to Cincinnati audiences, for many seasons John Morris Russell served as Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He was recognized for his innovative programming and commitment to attracting new and diverse audiences to orchestral music, creating the Classical Roots: Spiritual Heights series, which brought the music of African-American composers and performers to thousands of listeners in area churches, and was also the co-creator of the Christmas spectacular, Home for the Holidays.

As a guest conductor, Mr. Russell has worked with many of North America’s most distinguished ensembles, leading Canadian orchestras that include Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria, Kitchener-Waterloo and Orchestra London. In the US he has conducted the orchestras of Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Dallas, Louisville, Miami’s New World Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Colorado Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, New York Pops, New York City Ballet, New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and the Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Music Festival. Abroad he conducted at the famed Musikverein in Vienna in a concert that featured the Harlem Boychoir, the Vienna Choir Boys and the actor Gregory Peck. The performance continues to be televised throughout Europe, Japan and in the USA on PBS.

2011-2012 marked Mr. Russell’s eleventh and final season as Music Director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. While at Windsor he fostered a decade of unprecedented artistic growth and invigorated the musical life of the Windsor-Essex region. Under John Morris Russell’s baton, the WSO made seventeen national broadcasts on CBC Radio 2; the most recent broadcast recording of Aurora Borealis by Jordon Nobles, was selected to represent Canada in June, 2010 in the 57th annual International Rostrum of Composers in Lisbon, Portugal. The WSO’s first nationally televised production was created with Mr. Russell for the CBC Television series Opening Night, and subsequently won the Gold Worldmedal for “Best Performance Program” at the New York Festivals Awards for Television and New Media, as well as a Gemini Award Nomination. In 2006 the Windsor Symphony Orchestra released Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf narrated by the internationally acclaimed actor, Colm Feore, and Last Minute Lulu, composed by WSO Composer-in-Residence, Brent Lee, with text by the Newbery Medal winning author, Christopher Paul Curtis. The recording won Mr. Russell and the WSO its first Juno nomination for Best Children’s Album in 2008. Mr. Russell helped nurture many new voices in Canadian music, conducting numerous Windsor premiers of important Canadian works and over 45 world premiers of commissioned compositions. He created the WSO’s first multi-year composer-in-residence position, and was deeply involved in the production of the annual Windsor Canadian Music Festival, described by CBC producer David Jaeger as, “one of the most exciting and innovative developments to appear lately in the Canadian musical scene.” A two-time recipient of Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor’s Award for the Arts, as well as the Ontario Arts Council’s Vida Peene Award for Artistic Excellence, in 2010 Mr. Russell received the prestigious Herb Gray Harmony Award by the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County, in recognition of the WSO’s programming and outreach activities. In October of 2010 he was honored as the first recipient of the Arts Leadership Award by the Windsor Endowment for the Arts, in recognition of the enormous contribution he has made to the region’s cultural life. And in the spring of 2011 the University of Windsor awarded John Morris Russell an Honorary Doctor of Law degree.

John Morris Russell is widely considered one of North America’s leaders in orchestral educational programming. From 1997 to 2009 he conducted the “LinkUP!” educational concert series at Carnegie Hall, the oldest and most celebrated series of its kind, created by Walter Damrosch in 1891 and made famous by Leonard Bernstein. The “Sound Discoveries” series Mr. Russell developed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra remains a leading model for educational concerts. In Windsor, his commitment to education was evidenced by his creation of concert series and projects that included Peanut Butter n’ Jam, Family Jamboree and One Community—One Symphony plus he spearheaded the creation of The Windsor-Essex Youth Choir and the Windsor Symphony Youth Orchestra.

John Morris Russell has also served as associate conductor of the Savannah Symphony Orchestra, director of the orchestral program at Vanderbilt University, and music director with the College Light Opera Company in Falmouth, Massachusetts. He received a Master of Music degree in conducting from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Williams College in Massachusetts. He has also studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, and the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors in Hancock, Maine.

Booklet for Voyage