The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Pianist Frank Glazer, 98, will perform Haydn, Beethoven, Liszt and Barber when he returns to Farley’s House of Pianos this Sunday afternoon.
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By Jacob Stockinger
This Sunday afternoon, Farley’s House of Pianos will play host to a phenomenon.
That phenomenon is a critically acclaimed concert pianist who goes by the name of Frank Glazer.
Glazer is 98 and, after spending almost 60 years as a professional performer, he is still touring and still performing ambitiously big, even exhausting, programs. (Glazer discusses his past in YouTube video at the bottom.)
Consider the works Glazer will play in Madison this Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at Farley’s, located at 6522 Seybold Road, on the city’s far west side near West Towne, where he will no doubt perform on one of Farley’s wonderfully restored and historic Steinway concert grands (below).
The first half features two well-matched and complementary works: the dramatic Sonata in E Minor by Franz Josef Haydn coupled with the songful late Sonata in E Major, Op. 109, that uses both theme-and-variations and a fugue, by Ludwig van Beethoven plus Beethoven’s rarely heard Fantasy in G Major, Op. 77. There it is, the counterpoint teacher Haydn and his more famous student Beethoven.
Then come the “Excursions” of the American composer Samuel Barber (below top) and two pieces (the beautiful “Petrarch Sonnet No. 104” and the “St. Francis Legend No. 1” by Franz Liszt (below middle), including Liszt’s concert paraphrase on Verdi’s opera “Rigoletto” that The Ear is guessing is programmed to pay tribute to the bicentennial this October of the birth of Verdi (below bottom).
Furthermore, by all accounts listening to Glazer does not require the listener to make but small allowances for his age.
True, Arthur Rubinstein concertized until 92 or 93, when he was almost completely blind. And Mieczyslaw Horszowski (below), the teacher at the Curtis Institute of Music of Murray Perahia and many other notable pianists, performed on his 99th birthday. (He died in 1993, just a month shy of his 101st birthday and gave his last piano lesson a week before his death.)
But they are all rare exceptions. For the most part it seems that by the 80s, performing careers have generally pretty much ended.
Good genes no doubt play a role in Glazer’s late life success. And so does exercise. Glazer (below) reportedly does yoga and practices the piano for several hours every day and usually stays active until 11 p.m. or so.
At 65, at a time when most professional people think of retiring, Glazer agreed to start his career as a mentor for piano students at Bates College in Maine, where he still lives.
If you Google “Frank Glazer” you will find a lot of things to read, almost all of them written with a sense of wonder and admiration or such a first-rate, devoted and long-lived professional musician.
On Sunday, there will be a pre-concert lecture at 4 p.m. by Tim Farley and a reception afterwards.
Tickets are $25, $30 at the door, and can be bought in advance or reserved at Farley’s and Orange Tree Imports on Monroe Street. For more information, call (608) 271-2626.
Here is a link to information at Farley’s website:
http://farleyspianos.com/concerts.html
And here are links to two good background stories, including one I did when he played in Madison in 2011, that has an interview with Glazer.
http://www.sunjournal.com/node/824679
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd2L5RdkCQs
Classical music: The Mostly Mozart Festival opens Wednesday night in New York City’s Lincoln Center with great music by Beethoven and Mozart and with changes that add new energy and vitality. But will PBS refuse to broadcast it?
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By Jacob Stockinger
I guess this summer The Ear will be hearing and especially SEEING a lot less Mozart.
Along with less Beethoven.
Here’s the reason: As far as I can tell, this summer PBS will NOT broadcast the opening of the popular annual summer Mostly Mozart Festival from Lincoln Center in New York City.
It is especially unfortunate to The Ear because this year’s opening night program on this Wednesday, tomorrow, features two of his favorite Beethoven works and a favorite pianist: the Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, with French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (below top, in a photo by Paul Mitchell); and the Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92, with the festival orchestra under its music director since 2002 Louis Langree (below bottom).
That same night, Bavouzet — an up-and-coming artist hghly acclaimed for his recordings of Franz Josef Haydn, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel –will perform Book 2 of Debussy‘s Preludes in the Kaplan Penthouse. (You can hear Bavouzet, who records on the Chandos Records, perform Debussy’s “Reflections in Water” in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
In addition, mezzo-soprano Alice Coote (below) will sing two arias by Mozart: :”Ch’io me scorda di te” and “Parto, parto ma ben mia” from the opera “La Clemenza di Tito.”
Perhaps I am wrong about not being broadcast. I hope so, because it seems exactly the kind of high quality, non-commercial event that public broadcasting was originally started for. In addition, the openings that used to be broadcast on PBS’ “Live From Lincoln Center” were always enjoyable, an artistic tie that bound many of us together for a couple of hours.
I mean, I have had my fill of PBS emphasizing Britty comedies and crime drama — I like them, but there is a limit — and I want to know more about the cultural scene in America that major commercial and network broadcasters usually ignore.
Here are links to the Mostly Mozart festival’s main website where you can find listings of artists, events and programs:
http://aboutlincolncenter.org/programs/program-mostly-mozart
http://aboutlincolncenter.org/events-and-tickets
Maybe you can at least listen to it as it is streamed via the Internet. I look more into it and let you know.
But perhaps the real stars of this year’s festival are the changes that have been made to add energy and revitalize the festival that once seemed dangerously on the decline.
That is exactly the story that New York Times senior music critic Anthony Tommasini (below) wrote about in “Mostly Mozart, Mostly Improved” that appeared on Sunday.
The changes include using smaller spaces, including new music, staging an opera, starting a new series and changing the old formula of composers to be performed.
Here is a link to Tommasini’s story:
Should PBS broadcast the opening concert – and maybe more – of the Mostly Mozart Festival?
What lessons should local classical music presenters draw from the Mostly Mozart Festival and how it has been restructured and revamped?
The Ear wants to hear.
Classical music Q&A: Scott MacPherson, founder and conductor of the Isthmus Vocal Ensemble and a UW-Madison alumnus, talks about the two performances of Mahler, Bach, Brahms and other composers coming up this weekend on Friday, Aug. 2, and Sunday, Aug. 4.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Call it The Rite of Summer.
Every August for the past 11 years, University of Wisconsin-Madison alumnus Scott MacPherson travels from his job and home in Ohio, where he teaches at Kent State University, to come to Madison to direct and conduct intensive rehearsals and two concerts by the virtuosic Isthmus Vocal Ensemble (below in a photo by Jim Pippitt).
This summer’s concerts, mostly a cappella although some pieces have organ accompaniment, are coming up this weekend on Friday night and Sunday afternoon.
Especially noteworthy is how the group emphasizes talent with local and regional ties -– the singers, the conductor, even the instrumentals and the composers. Many are alumni of the University of Wisconsin-School of Music.
For more information, visit the home website of the IVE:
http://www.isthmusvocalensemble.org
Scott MacPherson (below, in a photo by Beate Gersch; unless otherwise noted, photos of the choir are by Portrait Independence Photography) recently gave an email interview to The Ear:
What do you want to tell the public about the isthmus Vocal Ensemble in general? How has it evolved and changed over its history and since its founding?
The Isthmus Vocal Ensemble was founded in 2002 as a chamber choir of about 35 voices. It was originally intended to perform one concert in Madison each August, but our audience following has grown such that we now give two performances each year, both on the first weekend August.
The concerts this summer will take place at Luther Memorial Church (below top) at 1021 University Ave. on Friday night, August 2, at 7:30 p.m. and again on Sunday afternoon, August 4, at 3 p.m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church (below bottom) on Segoe Road and Mineral Point Road.
The choir grew over its first decade to about 55-60 singers and is made up singers from all walks of life, from career musicians and home makers, to professionals in various disciplines and everything in between; all with the same goal—to perform choral music at the highest level.
A community choir of great flexibility with singers from Madison and surrounding areas, the choir specializes in music of all epochs and genres, from Renaissance madrigals and motets, to cutting edge works by living composers. We gather in Madison for a couple weeks of intense rehearsals and two concerts.
What is the program this summer and what do you want to say about individual works and composers? I understand there is a special Mahler arrangement that is intriguing.
I have nicknamed this year’s program after the famous phrase by the late Ed Sullivan: “The Really Big Show!” The focus of the program is on works for double choir.
At the center of the program is a transcription of one of the “Rueckert-Lieder” by Gustav Mahler (below) — “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen” — written for 16 separate voice parts by Clytus Gottwald in 1982. Originally for solo voice and orchestra, Gottwald’s transcription amazingly captures the ambience and color palette of Mahler’s piece. The work splits each of the usual choral voices into four parts. For this reason, I have enlarged the choir to 70 voices this summer.
Preceding the Mahler are three sets of pieces for double choir: Sweelinck’s epic setting of Psalm 150, “Or soit loué l’Eternel”; Johann Sebastoan Bach’s (attributed) motet, “Ich lasse dich nicht”; and Johannes Brahms’s Op. 109 motets, “Fest- und Gedenksprüche.”
The second half of the program features organist Kathrine Handford (below), from the Conservatory of Music at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, in two English choral works for organ and chorus. In honor of the centennial of Benjamin Britten’s centennial birthday, we will perform his “Hymn to St. Peter” for organ, choir, and soprano solo. We will also sing Grayston Ives’ “Canticle of Brother Sun,”a setting of the poem by St. Francis of Assisi.
Closing the concert will be a setting of “O Vos omnes” by UW-Madison alumna and member of the Minneapolis-based Rose Ensemble, Linda Kachelmeier (below top) and a contemporary piece by Haitian composer Sydney Guillaume (below bottom). “Twa tanbou,” sung in the original Haitian Creole language, tells the story of three drums in a discussion of which one makes the best sound.
What kind of shape in the IVE in right now and what are its future plans? Concerts? Recordings? Other events?
IVE is proud to have made two CD recordings in its history. “The Choral Music of Andrew Rindfleisch” was recorded in 2004 and released in 2006 and features approximately half of the choral output of this amazing composer (below), a UW-Madison alumnus who now serves as Professor of Composition at Cleveland State University.
In 2011, IVE released a live recording of their 2010 summer concert: “An Isthmus Christmas.”
Our highest achievement came in February 2012 when we sang a coveted performance at the North Central American Choral Directors Conference, held in Madison. Hundreds of choral conductors and singers from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and the Dakotas attended our concert, which really put IVE “on the map” outside of Madison.
Here is a sample of our singing, a YouTube video of the Isthmus Vocal Ensemble performing Josef Rheinberger’s “Evening Song” at Luther Memorial Church on Aug. 3, 2012:
Tags: Andrew Rindfleisch, August, Benjamin Britten, Choir, choral music, Cleveland State University, Clytus Gottwald, Ed Sullivan, Friday, Gustav Mahler, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Kent State University, Lawrence University, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Madison, Ohio, Sunday, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Was composer Igor Stravinsky gay or bisexual, as a new book by Robert Craft claims? And if he was, how much does it matter? Did it affect his music? Were New York Times critic Zachary Woolfe and other writers even-handed and fair in exploring the “issue”?
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By Jacob Stockinger
With the rising social and political acceptance of marriage equality, or same-sex marriage, it is hard not to imagine that there will also be even more interest in gay history and whether great and important figures from the past will be “outed” as gay, lesbian and bisexual.
That is especially true of the pioneering 20th-century Russian modernist composer Igor Stravinsky (1881-1972, below top) -– 2013 is the centennial of his landmark ballet score “Rite of Spring” – who has been “outed” in the new book “Stravinsky: Discoveries and Memories” by 90-year-old Robert Craft (below bottom, on the right with Stravinsky on the left), who was the composer’s longtime friend and assistant.
Specifically, Craft says, Stravinsky – who was married to women three times and was said to have been proud or even boastful of his heterosexuality — had affairs with Andrey Rimsky-Korsakov (below top), the oldest son of Stravinsky’s teacher, the famous Russian composer and orchestrator Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; with French composer Maurice Ravel (below middle, with Ravel on the left and Stravinsky on the right); and with Belgian composer Maurice Delage (below bottom).
Perhaps the most comprehensive and careful or even conservative treatment of the questions raised by Craft and his book (below), which was published by the thriving Naxos Records, came in The New York Times through the treatment by reporter and critic Zachary Woolfe.
Here is a link to that story by Zachary Woolfe (below):
Other writers and media outlets also covered the controversial story, which was bound to get attention, given the “virility” of Stravinsky’s most famous scores and the wide influence he had on modern music. Be sure to read the Comments sections, since you will there find many other points of view and debate from the “consumers.”
Here is a link to an excellent story on the radio website for the New York City radio station WQXR-FM. Be sure to read the many reader comments:
http://www.wqxr.org/#!/blogs/wqxr-blog/2013/jun/25/was-stravinsky-bisexual-if-he-was-so-what/
Here is another fine story from the Los Angeles Times:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-stravinksy-craft-20130721,0,6906602.story
And here is how famed critic Norman Lebrecht (below) first treated the matter:
And then here is how Lebrecht later got pretty dour about Woolfe and the Times as well other critics or questioners of Craft’s claims:
One thing is for sure: Craft’s contentions and the validity of his proof as well as the effect of the claim will surely be analyzed and talked about a lot at the special Stravinsky festival in August at Bard College near New York City.
What do you think of the claim? True or false?
And if true, how much do you think it matters?
The Ear — who thinks almost all great art and great artists involve a real or symbolic transgression of sexual taboos — wants to hear.
So check out the sheer transgressive sensuality and even sexuality of the music and dance, with choreography by the famed PIna Bausch, and the dancers’ bodies in the YouTube video below:
Tags: Andrey Rimsky-Korsakov, Bard College, Belgium, bisexual, Craft, gay, Igor Stravinsky, Jacob Stockinger, Maurice Delage, Maurice Ravel, Naxos, Naxos Records, New York City, New York Times, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Norman Lebrecht, Pina Bausch, Rite of Spring, Robert Craft, Stravinsky, WQXR-FM, YouTube
Classical music: Today’s young classical musicians need to develop skills as business entrepreneurs, according to a very credible “NewsHour” report by ace PBS economics reporter Paul Solman.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Two weeks ago, I posted about a great report that PBS economics reporter, and Yale University Distinguished Fellow, Paul Solman (below) did on the difficult job market facing even the most talented of young classical musicians.
It drew some good responses from readers.
Here is another report by Paul Solman.
This time, he offers the advice that young classical musicians, and other musicians too, must learn entrepreneurial skills to foster their careers in music.
The report strikes me as really a second-part or follow-up to the first story Solman did about the same issue of young musicians and the difficult job market. This one uses some of the same sources to make points that are similar if not the same, as those found in the first story:
Here is a link to that post I did about the first story two Saturdays ago. It has more background, including why I like Paul Solman so much, and it includes a YouTube video of an interview Solman did with himself:
And here is the link to a similar story he did:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec13/makingsense_07-09.html
But here is the link to the musician-as-entrepreneur report that he filed. It is well worth watching and listening to, and features both students at the prestigious Juilliard School (below are the very talented pre-college Juilliard students performing) and some professional musicians with established careers:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2013/07/musician-as-entrepreneur-how-a.html
Tags: Classical music, Jacob Stockinger, Juilliard School, Labour economics, Paul Solman, PBS, United States, Yale University, YouTube
Classical music: The Ear generally doesn’t like countertenors. Do you? Is it sexist or artistically wrong to prefer female singers to countertenors and to boy sopranos, especially in Bach cantatas. What do you say about the choices?
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By Jacob Stockinger
No doubt about it: Countertenors are once again cool.
Finally, after centuries of being ignored, slighted and downright ridiculed, countertenors are back in. They are mainstream these days and their numbers are increasing, as are their popularity and their quality.
When you plug the word “countertenor” into the YouTube search engine, you get more than 106,000 results. (At bottom is YouTube video of French countertenor Philippe Jarousskey singing a Vivaldi aria that has almost 2.5 million hits.)
On this past Thursday, NPR’s “Morning Edition” featured a terrific piece about countertenors with Miles Hoffman, the music commentator who is also a professional violist.
The report and commentary concerned the upcoming world premiere this weekend of the opera Theodore Morrison’s “Oscar,” based on the life and trial of Oscar Wilde, at the open air Santa Fe Opera (below).
The main point about the singing is that the lead role is played by the universally acclaimed countertenor David Daniels, for whom the opera was specifically composed. And Daniels (below, on the right, as Oscar Wilde in a photo by Ken Howard for the Santa Fe Opera) has a voice that was described as “high” and heavenly.”
Here is a link to the story with audio clips of other performances by Daniels including music by Handel and Franz Schubert:
Now, I have heard a few countertenors, in live performances and on recordings, and there are times when I liked them a lot. I certainly was impressed by them and glad that they now have place in the mainstream of vocal music and opera.
The resurgence of countertenors over the past 15 or so year was inevitable, I suppose, given the revival of Baroque opera and especially the operas of George Frideric Handel (below), who usually wrote his high-pitched hero roles for countertenors.
In fact, here is a link to an earlier piece that NPR “Deceptive Cadence” blogger Tom Huizenga wrote about the Handel recording by another prominent countertenor Bejun Mehta (below):
But I found myself disagreeing with Miles Hoffman (below) and others who think that countertenors somehow bring an added richness to the singing.
My ears tell me just the opposite. So now is a good time to files what appears to be a minority report.
I generally find the countertenor tone uncomfortable. In general, I find adult women’s voices or ordinary male tenors more convincing and expressive, less artificial and more normal to my standards.
I feel the same way about using boy sopranos in choruses of J.S. Bach’s cantatas. There are times when I love the sound of boychoirs and boy sopranos.
But even in period performances of early music – by far, my preference — Bach’s cantatas seem much more convincing and beautiful to me with a soloists and choruses of adult men and adult women.
Of course, we all live in history.
But the fact of the matter is that women were not used for singing not because high male voices were superior but because earlier epochs were heavily sexist and discriminated against women.
That is also, I believe, why the roles of young women in Shakespeare’s plays were usually played by young men. Women were simply not allowed full participation in the performing arts.
And although we may want to reconstruct such practices out a curiosity for historically informed performance and to hear how a certain piece of music originally sounded, I say that earlier periods – not ours – were the more deprived epochs.
Anyway, I look forward to hearing from readers and sophisticated fans of vocal music about whether my objections are misplaced and inappropriate, or whether they agree with me. Not that I expect the trend toward using countertenors will abate. I am sure it will only grow.
In the end, I suspect, it was comes down to taste and personal preference – as is so often the case, given the inevitable subjectivity of art.
But let me know what you think.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Baroque music, Bejun Mehta, cantatas, countertenor, countner-tenor, Daniels, David Daniels, Franz Schubert, George Frideric Handel, Handel, J.S. Bach, Jacob Stockinger, NPR, opera, Oscar Wilde, Philippe Jarousskey, Santa Fe Opera, Singing, Theodore Morrison, Vivaldi, YouTube
Classical music: A special Madison Symphony Orchestra season subscription offer expires today. And MSO guest trumpet soloist Tine Thing Helseth heads up a new summer music festival.
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By Jacob Stockinger
In case you don’t already know, today is the expiration date of a special offer for subscribers to the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below).
Not only can you save up to 50 percent but you could also see the handling fee waived and also receive a free copy of a CD by John DeMain and the MSO that was done in Overture Hall of the Overture Center.
Here is a link for more information about the subscription and about the concerts in the 2013-14 season, including the special one-time only “Behind the Notes” performance of Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony:
http://madisonsymphony.org/13-14
As you may recall, this coming season is the celebration the 20th year that John DeMain (below) has been music director of the symphony. He has selected a lot of special programs – though some of us are disappointed that there is no Mahler symphony or song cycle and no Bruckner symphony on the list.
The programs include an all-Beethoven program with acclaimed pianist Yefim Bronfman (below) perform two piano concertos (Nos. 2 and 5); the fabulous violinist Augustin Hadelich in Lalo; the Mozart Requiem and an all-American concert with Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein among other composers.
But one big surprise was DeMain’s choice of a Norwegian trumpeter player – and a female trumpet player, which is rarer still – to appear as a new guest soloist in two trumpet concertos, including the famous one in E-flat Major by Franz Josef Haydn.
Her name in Tine Thing Helseth (below).
At the publicity launch of the new season last spring, DeMain explained to The Ear that he heard playing on Sirius Radio while he was driving in his car, and he was quite impressed.
He also said that he thought it would be interesting for MSO audiences to hear a different soloist, someone besides the usual pianist, violin, cellist or singer.
Time and the box office will tell how big the appeal of a brass player as soloist is.
But it turns out that DeMain isn’t the only one impressed with her talent.
In fact, Helseth has been put in charge of a new summer music festival.
Here is a link to the story:
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/tine-thing-helseth-launches-new-festival
Here is a link to Helseth’s own website:
http://www.tinethinghelseth.com
And here is a sample of Helseth’s playing — in the last movement of the Haydn Trumpet Concerto that she will perform here in Madison — in a YouTube video:
Tags: American music, Anton Bruckner, Augustin Hadelich, Franz Josef Haydn, George Gershwin, Gustav Mahler, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, Leonard Bernstein, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Overture Center, Requiem, Tine Thing Helseth, Trumpet, United States, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yefim Bronfman, YouTube
Classical music Q&A: The Ear checks in on the Madison Savoyards about the success of this summer’s production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Iolanthe” and of the company itself.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Starting this Thursday, July 24, the Madison Savoyards will wrap up the final four performances of this summer’s production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Iolanthe.”
Performances take place in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Music Hall (below) on Bascom Hill — a venue that is more or less historically contemporary with G&S operas — on this Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m.; and on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.
For more information, including tickets, here is a link to the Savoyards’ homepage:
http://www.madisonsavoyards.org
I have so far been unable to attend the opera this summer, but here is a link to a very positive review by John W. Barker (below), who often writes for this blog, that appeared in Isthmus:
http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=40454
Here is a link to my earlier post for the first week of the production:
And here is a Q&A that Evan Richards (below), the secretary of the Madison Savoyards’ board of directors as well as the videographer and webmaster, did via email for The Ear. (Richards also took the photos of the production of “Iolanthe” on today’s post.) And at bottom is a YouTube video of Evan Richards talking in 2011 about the Madison Savoyards.
You might have also heard him last week on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “The Midday” during his very informative and entertaining interview with hosts Norman Gilliland, so here is a link to that interview:
http://wpr.org/webcasting/asx/listen17.asx
Why did the Madison Savoyards want to do “Iolanthe” this summer
2013 marks the beginning of the second 50 years of the Madison Savoyards. The first performance of the Madison Savoyards in 1963 was “Iolanthe,” so we felt it fitting that we begin our second 50 years with the same opera. It was also due to be performed; the last performance was in 2001.
The Savoyards have a plan to produce all the G&S operas at least once between 2007 and 2020.
The more familiar and popular ones tend to be performed more often than the less known ones because it helps keep our bank balance black. But we feel our mission is to perform them all. Sometimes the obscure ones surprise us by drawing a larger audience than we expect, as was the case with
“Utopia Limited” (below) in 2011, in its second Madison Savoyards production.
How would you compare “Iolanthe” to other well-known Gilbert and Sullivan operettas such as “The Pirates of Penzance,” H.M.S. Pinafore” and “The Mikado”?
“The Mikado,” “The Pirates of Penzance” and “HMS Pinafore” are the most familiar G&S operas in the USA and receive more performances than the others.
“The Mikado” is the most popular of all, in the US, in the UK, and around the world. The US has had a particular fondness for “The Pirates” since it was first performed here, and that has only increased in recent times with the Joseph Papp production in New York which brought it to the attention of many who were not familiar with G&S. “Iolanthe” came after “Pinafore” and “Pirates” (and “Patience”) and represents a more developed period in the G&S output.
By the time “Iolanthe” came along, both Gilbert and Sullivan (below, with Sullivan on the left)) were rich, having an income over time to rival the Prime Minister’s. Gilbert was building a new mansion with four bathrooms, central heating and a telephone.
The music is more sophisticated, as is the writing. The political satire is particularly sharp and, given the current partisan gridlock in Washington, D.C., particularly timely. One can make a case that it represents a peak of their achievement, but I would admit I would make a similar case for several other of their operas.
What can you tell briefly about the plot and roles of “Iolanthe”?
Very briefly, we are dealing with fairyland, lawyers and the House of Lords (below), all of which are not connected with the real world. The plot is really rather dark and could have easily ended very badly, if it were not for the sudden turn at the end.
The roles are recognizable G&S characters, for example, the Lord Chancellor has the patter song, the famous “Nightmare” song, one of the best of all G&S patter songs.
What would you like to say about the cast, sets, costumes and other aspects of the production?
The sets and costumes are wonderful. The cast has some Savoyard veterans and some who are making their debut with us. It has all come together very well.
What kinds of shape in the Savoyards in after The Great Recession now that recovery is underway? What do future plans include?
Our bank balance is in the black, where we like to keep it. We plan multi-year cycles, so the popular show income can compensate for the obscure show losses. We have a wonderful and loyal band of followers who buy tickets and contribute. We have a board of directors that watches the expenses carefully to get the most out of every penny. So we weathered the storm rather well.
Future plans include performing all of the G&S operas between 2007 and 2020, and we are working on a collaboration with the Madison Ballet to mount “Pineapple Poll” in 2015.
Is there more you would like to say or add?
Don’t miss “Iolanthe” because it is a great show and it has not been seen in Madison for a dozen years. The music is Sullivan at his best, the words are Gilbert at his best, and the combination is better than the sum of each. So don’t miss it.
Classical music: Here is the impressive concert lineup for Semester II — the Spring Semester — for the 2013-14 season at the University of Wisconsin School of Music.
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By Jacob Stockinger
It is only mid-July and Kathy Esposito, the concert manager and director of public relations at the University of Wisconsin School of Music is on the job.
Kathy has sent out the copy for the UW School of Music’s new brochure with the dates and artists for the impressive lineup of concert during the upcoming 2013-2014 season.
You will notice that a lot of artists and groups have still not yet submitted programs. But whatever is available right now is here.
So get out your datebooks and start checking for conflicts and penciling in your favorites.
The list is long, so the first semester – the Fall Semester — appeared yesterday; only the second semester – the Spring semester — is featured TODAY.
Here is Kathy’s introduction:
Hello all,
Attached herewith is our 2013-14 season schedule, which is in the end stages of design and will be printed and mailed this August. I wanted to give you a heads-up, for obvious reasons.
You’ll notice a slew of very interesting concerts. We will feature several highly successful UW alumni, including conductor Ken Woods (below, now working in England); Nate Stampley, Broadway singer; Chris Washburne, a trombonist now based in NYC; and Ilia Radoslavov, a pianist now at Truman State University.
Other guests include Todd Reynolds, a violinist from NYC, Taiseer Elias & Menachem Wiesenberg (presenting classical Arabic and Israeli music), duoARtia (the piano duo of Jeri-Mae G. Astolfi & Holly Roadfeldt), and Third Coast Percussion of Chicago.
Our tuba professor and SOM director John Stevens (below top) is retiring this year, and he will conduct Chicago Symphony Oecgestra’s Gene Pokorny in the work that Stevens wrote for CSO, some years ago. Opera director Bill Farlow (below, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) will also retire, and will present Hector Berlioz’ “Beatrice et Benedict” in his final appearance as director.
We also have much in the way of more contemporary music, both new classical and electro-acoustic, plus many masterclasses and talks that are open to the public. There’s a lot of experimentation happening all the time at the UW School of Music (SOM).
Best of all: all concerts are free – unless noted otherwise with $$.
SEMESTER II
JANUARY
Martha Fischer, piano, and Friends will celebrate the birthday of Franz Schubert (1797-1828) with an all-Schubert program. Faculty Concert
Fri 31, Mills Hall, 8 pm
FEBRUARY
Stephanie Jutt, flute Faculty Concert
Sat 1, Morphy Hall, 8 pm
Les Thimmig, “The Feldman Trios” Part III Faculty Concert
Sun 2, Mills Hall, 1 pm
Prof. Les Thimmig, flutes; Jennifer Hedstrom, keyboards; Sean Kleve, percussion.
Three lecture-performances of the late-period work of American composer Morton Feldman. Final concert.
UW Symphony Orchestra with Concerto Competition Winners
Sat 8, Mills Hall, 8 pm
James Smith, conductor
Our school’s talented musicians perform with the university symphony orchestra.
John Stevens, tuba Faculty Concert
Tues 11, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
With guest artists David Perry, Sally Chisholm, Parry Karp, & Martha Fischer
Mozart’s Horn Quintet, Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer, and Brahms’s Horn Trio. All works adapted for tuba.
Daniel Grabois, horn Faculty Concert
Wed 12, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Works by UW composers John Stevens, Laura Schwendinger (premiere), and Les Thimmig.
UW Black Music Ensemble
Thurs 13, Morphy Hall, 8:30 pm
Richard Davis, director
An eclectic group of musicians exploring repertoire of black composers.
Tues 18, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
James Smith, conductor
Todd Reynolds, Violinist Guest Artist
Concert: Wed 19, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Masterclasses on composing, electronic music, violin performance, & entrepreneurship: Wed/Thurs 19/20
Violinist, composer, educator, and technologist Todd Reynolds (below) is the violinist of choice for Steve Reich, Meredith Monk, and Bang on a Can, and is a founder of the string quartet Ethel. His performance and compositional style is a hybrid of old and new technology, multi-disciplinary aesthetic, and pan-genre composition and improvisation. Emerging from the classical tradition, Reynolds is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Reynolds studied with violin legend Jascha Heifetz and was principal second violin of the Rochester Philharmonic.
UW Western Percussion Ensemble
Thurs 20, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Anthony Di Sanza & Tom Ross, directors
UW Wind Ensemble
Sat 22, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Scott Teeple, director
Woodwind-Piano Duo Competition: Winners’ Recital
Sun 23, Morphy Hall, 1:30 pm
Generously supported by former UW Chancellor Irving Shain.
UW Concert Band
Sun 23, Mills Hall, 2 pm
Michael Leckrone, director
Hunt Quartet
Sun 23, Morphy Hall, 3:30 pm
Paran Amirinazari, Ju Dee Ang, Lindsey Crabb, Elspeth Stalter
The Hunt Quartet, a joint effort of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, UW and area schools, is comprised of outstanding graduate students from the School of Music who introduce students in grades K-3 to chassical music. This year’s members include Paran Amirinazari, Ju Dee Ang, Lindsey Crabb, and Elsbeth Stalter.
Hunt quartet
UW Contemporary Chamber Ensemble
Tues 25, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
UW composer Laura Schwendinger, director (below)
CCE continues its mission to present the music of living composers. This year’s featured composers include Kathryn Alexander, Suzanne Sorkin, and David Gompper.
Wingra Woodwind Quintet UW Ensemble in Residence
Thurs 27, Morphy Hall, 7:30 pm
Stephanie Jutt, flute; Kostas Tiliakos, oboe; Linda Bartley, clarinet; Marc Vallon, bassoon; Linda Kimball, horn
Christopher Taylor, piano Faculty Concert
Fri 28, Mills Hall, 8 pm
MARCH
Musicians of the Sibelius Academy, Finland Guest Artists
Aulikki Eerola, Pertti Eerola, & Eija Järvelä
In residency: March 1-8
Concert: Sat 8, Luther Memorial Church, time TBD.
Masterclasses: Please check website for details.
Three revered Finnish musicians, all from the faculty of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, will be in residency at the School of Music during the first week of March 2014 to present master classes, workshops, discussions on Finnish music education, and a concert at Luther Memorial Church on Saturday, March 8th. This residency is made possible by support from the Vilas Trust, the Kemper Knapp Bequest, the Finlandia Foundation, the Department of Scandinavian Studies, Luther Memorial Church, and the Association of Church Musicians.
Pro Arte Quartet UW Ensemble in Residence
Sat 1, Mills Hall, 8 pm
David Perry & Suzanne Beia, violin; Sally Chisholm, viola; Parry Karp, cello
Music of Arriaga, Korngold, and Beethoven.
Piano Performance Extravaganza
Featuring Prof. Johannes Wallmann and the students of Martha Fischer, Jessica Johnson, Christopher Taylor, and Todd Welbourne.
Performances: Sat 1, Morphy Hall, all day
Masterclasses & workshops: See website for details.
UW University Bands
Sun 2, Mills Hall, 2 pm
Matthew Mireles, conductor
Winds of Wisconsin
Sun 2, Mills Hall, 6 pm
Scott Teeple, director
A premier high school wind ensemble on the UW-Madison campus.
Blue Note Ensemble, Jazz Composers’ Septet, & Contemporary Jazz Ensemble
Thurs 6, Morphy Hall, 7:30 pm
Johannes Wallmann & Les Thimmig, directors
Ilia Radoslavov, piano Guest Artist & UW Alumnus
Fri 7, Morphy Hall, 8 pm
A native of Bulgaria, pianist Ilia Radoslavov (below) earned his doctorate in piano performance at UW-Madison, where he studied with Christopher Taylor and received the Paul Collins Distinguished Graduate Fellowship. In 2009, Radoslavov was the gold medalist in the 2009 Seattle International Piano Competition and also earned first prize in the American Protege International Piano and Strings Competition, followed by a performance at Carnegie Hall’s Weil Recital Hall. Dr. Radoslavov is now on faculty at Truman State University.
Parry Karp, cello Faculty Concert
Sat 8, Mills Hall, 8 pm
With Eli Kalman, piano
Works of Beethoven, Ettore Desderi, and Shostakovich/Lera Auerbach.
John Stevens, tuba & euphonium Faculty Concert
Sat 8, Music Hall, 4 pm
A chamber music concert featuring compositions of Prof. Stevens, with guests from the Wisconsin Brass Quintet.
Tuba/Euphonium Extravaganza
Sun 9, Mills Hall, 2 pm
Matthew Mireles, director
Presenting the works of Prof. John Stevens, performed by current and former students.
UW Symphony Orchestra with guest artist Gene Pokorny
Sun 9, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
James Smith, conductor, and John Stevens, guest conductor
Performing Journey, composed by UW Prof. John Stevens.
Gene Pokorny (below) has been the tuba player in the Chicago Symphony since 1989 and was previously a member of the Israel Philharmonic, Utah Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. In addition to playing film scores in Hollywood such as Jurassic Park and The Fugitive, he has played in chamber music, opera orchestras, and orchestra festivals worldwide. Journey, a concerto for tuba written by UW Prof. John Stevens, was originally commissioned and premiered in 2000 by Gene Pokorny and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
John Stevens, who will retire from UW-Madison at the end of this year, has been professor of tuba and euphonium at UW-Madison since 1985 and was director of the School of Music from 1991-1996 and 2011-2013. He is also a member of the Wisconsin Brass Quintet. As a composer and arranger Stevens is internationally renowned for his works for brass, particularly for solo tuba, euphonium and trombone, tuba/euphonium ensemble, brass quintet, and other brass chamber combinations. In addition to Journey, Stevens’ other compositions include the Concerto for Euphonium and Orchestra composed for Brian Bowman, Symphony in Three Movements, a composition for wind band commissioned by a consortium of fourteen American universities, and Monument for solo tuba and strings, commissioned by tuba icon Roger Bobo in memory of the great LA studio tubist, the late Tommy Johnson. Stevens has been a member of the International Tuba Euphonium Association (ITEA) Executive Committee and was recently been awarded the ITEA’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor in his field.
UW Jazz Orchestra & UW Platteville Jazz Ensemble
Mon 10, Location TBD, 7:30 pm
Johannes Wallmann & Allen Cordingley, directors
Opera Workshop
Tues 11, Music Hall, 7:30 pm
William Farlow & Mimmi Fulmer, directors
UW Chamber Orchestra
Wed 12, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
James Smith, conductor
UW Percussion Studio Recital
Thurs 13, Morphy Hall, 7:30 pm
Anthony Di Sanza, Todd Hammes, & Tom Ross, directors
UW Concert Band
Tues 25, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Michael Leckrone, director
Paul Rowe and Martha Fischer Faculty Concert
Wed 26, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Hugo Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch performed by guest artist and UW voice almuna Julia Foster, soprano.
Wisconsin Brass Quintet Ensemble in Residence
Sat 29, Mills Hall, 8 pm
John Aley & Jessica Jensen, trumpets; Dan Grabois, horn; Mark Hetzler, trombone; John Stevens, tuba
APRIL
James Doing & Martha Fischer, tenor & piano Faculty Concert
Thurs 3, Mills Hall, 8 pm
Marc Vallon Faculty Concert
Fri 4, Morphy Hall, 6:30 pm
Presenting “Domaine Musicale”, an homage to Pierre Boulez’s legendary group.
Uri Vardi, cello, with Taiseer Elias & Menachem Wiesenberg Guest Artists
Sat 5, Mills Hall, 8 pm
Presenting “Fusions Continuum,” a recital of Jewish music and Arabic art music.
A master of both Eastern and Western music, oud and violin artist Taiseer Elias enjoys an international career as a performer, conductor, and composer. He is founder and conductor of the first Orchestra of Classical Arabic Music in Israel and is currently the musical director and conductor of the Arab-Jewish Youth Orchestra.
Menachem Wiesenberg is a Professor and Dean of Composition, Conducting, and Music Education at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and also a senior consultant to the Jerusalem Music Center.
Uri Vardi (below) is professor of cello at UW-Madison.
Beethoven Piano Competition: Winners’ Recital
Sun 6, Morphy Hall, 3:30 pm
Generously supported by former UW Chancellor Irving Shain.
Kostas Tiliakos, oboe Faculty Concert
Mon 7, Morphy Hall, 7:30 pm
Twisted Metal
Tues 29, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
The UW horns perform their second annual concert as Twisted Metal, a rock band playing original songs and arrangements by ensemble members.
University Opera $$
Fri 11, 7:30 pm / Sun 13, 3 pm / Tues 15, 7:30 pm, Music Hall
William Farlow, director
James Smith, conductor
Hector Berlioz, Beatrice et Benedict
Call (608) 265-ARTS (2787) for ticket info.
The Center for New Music, University of Iowa Guest Artists
Fri 11, Mills Hall, 8 pm
Presenting performances devoted to late 20th and early 21st-century repertoire.
UW Concert Choir & UW Chamber Orchestra $$
Sat 12, Mills Hall, 8 pm
Beverly Taylor, conductor
J.S. Bach, The Passion of St. John
The Perlman Piano Trio
Sat 12, Morphy Hall, 3:30 pm
Daniel Ma, violoncello; Alice Bartsch, violin; SeungWha Baek, piano
The Perlman Piano Trio 2012 members below) is sponsored by retired UW research scientist Dr. Kato Perlman and provides annual awards for a violinist, cellist, and pianist who present one concert each year of great masterpieces of the piano literature. The UW thanks Dr. Perlman for her support.
UW Chorale
Sun 13, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Bruce Gladstone, director
Anthony Di Sanza, percussion Faculty Concert
Mon 14, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Guitar Ensemble
Wed 16, Mills Hall, 8:30 pm
Javier Calderon, director
Black Music Ensemble
Thurs 17, Morphy Hall, 8:30 pm
Richard Davis, director
An eclectic group of musicians exploring repertoire of black composers.
Pro Arte Quartet UW Ensemble in Residence
Thurs 17, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
David Perry & Suzanne Beia, violin; Sally Chisholm, viola; Parry Karp, cello
Music of Onslow, Schoenberg, and Mendelssohn.
Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble
Sat 19, Mills Hall, 4 pm
John Stevens, director
Madrigal Singers
Sat 19, Mills Hall, 8 pm
Bruce Gladstone, director
Blue Note Ensemble, Jazz Composers’ Septet, & Contemporary Jazz Ensemble
Tues 22, Morphy Hall, 7:30 pm
Johannes Wallmann & Les Thimmig, directors
Western Percussion Ensemble
Wed 23, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Anthony Di Sanza & Tom Ross, directors
UW Wind Ensemble
Fri 25, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Scott Teeple, director
UW Choral Union $$
Sat 26, Mills Hall, 8 pm
Beverly Taylor, director
Sergei Rachmaninoff, Vespers
Call (608) 265-ARTS (2787) for ticket info.
University Bands
Sun 27, Mills Hall, 2 pm
Matthew Mireles, conductor
Contemporary Chamber Ensemble
Laura Schwendinger, director
Mon 28, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
CCE continues its mission to present the music of living composers. This year’s featured composers include Kathryn Alexander, Suzanne Sorkin, and David Gompper.
MAY
Brian Lynch, trumpet, with UW Jazz Orchestra & UW High School Honors Jazz Band Guest Artist
Thurs 1, Music Hall, 7:30 pm
Johannes Wallmann, director
Grammy Award Winner Brian Lynch is as comfortable negotiating the complexities of clave with Afro-Caribbean pioneer Eddie Palmieri as he is swinging through advanced harmony with bebop maestro Phil Woods. Having honed his chops as a member of both Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and the Horace Silver Quintet, Lynch has been a valued collaborator with jazz artists such as Benny Golson, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Charles McPherson; Latin music icons as diverse as Hector LaVoe and Lila Downs; and pop luminaries such as Prince.
World Percussion Ensemble
Sat 3, Music Hall, 12 pm
Todd Hammes & Tom Ross, directors
UW All-University Strings
Sat 3, Mills Hall, 4 pm
Janet Jensen, director
UW Women’s Chorus & University Chorus
Sat 3, Mills Hall, 8 pm
Beverly Taylor, director
UW Concert Band
Sun 4, Mills Hall, 2 pm
Michael Leckrone, director
UW Chamber Orchestra
Sun 4, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
James Smith, conductor
Master Singers
Mon 5, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Bruce Gladstone, conductor (bel0w)
Tags: Eastman School of Music, Franz Schubert, Gene Pokorny, Gustav Mahler, Irving Shain, Jacob Stockinger, Laura Schwendinger, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Meredith Monk, Mills College, Mills Hall, Musical ensemble, New York City, Orchestra, Sibelius Academy, Truman State University
Classical music: Here is the impressive lineup of concerts for the 2013-14 season at the University of Wisconsin School of Music. Today is the Semester I; tomorrow is the second semester.
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By Jacob Stockinger
It is only mid-July and Kathy Esposito, the concert manager and director of public relations at the University of Wisconsin School of Music, is on the job.
Kathy has sent The Ear the copy for the UW School of Music’s new brochure with the dates and artists for the impressive lineup of concerts during the upcoming 2013-2014 season. The brochures themselves will be ready in August.
You will notice that a lot of artists and groups have still not submitted programs. But whatever is available right now is here.
So get out your datebooks and start checking for conflicts and penciling in your favorites.
The list is long, so the first semester – the Fall Semester — is featured today; the second semester – the Spring semester — will be featured tomorrow.
Here is Kathy’s introduction:
Hello all,
Attached herewith is our 2013-14 season schedule, which is in the end stages of design and will be printed and mailed this August. I wanted to give you a heads-up, for obvious reasons.
You’ll notice a slew of very interesting concerts. We will feature several highly successful UW alumni, including conductor Ken Woods (below, now working in England); Nate Stampley, Broadway singer; Chris Washburne, a trombonist now based in NYC; and Ilia Radoslavov, a pianist now at Truman State University.
Other guests include Todd Reynolds, a violinist from NYC, Taiseer Elias & Menachem Wiesenberg (presenting classical Arabic and Israeli music), duoARtia (the piano duo of Jeri-Mae G. Astolfi & Holly Roadfeldt), and Third Coast Percussion of Chicago.
Our tuba professor and SOM director John Stevens (below top) is retiring this year, and he will conduct Chicago Symphony Oecgestra’s Gene Pokorny in the work that Stevens wrote for CSO, some years ago. Opera director Bill Farlow (below bottom, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) will also retire, and will present Hector Berlioz’ “Beatrice et Benedict” in his final appearance as director.
We also have much in the way of more contemporary music, both new classical and electro-acoustic, plus many masterclasses and talks that are open to the public. There’s a lot of experimentation happening all the time at the UW School of Music (SOM).
Best of all: concerts are free – unless otherwise noted with a $$.
SEPTEMBER
Annual Karp Family Opening Concert
Mon 2, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Featuring Isabel & Ariana Karp, narrators; Suzanne Beia, violin; Katrin Talbot, viola; Ariana Karp, cello; Parry Karp, cello; Christopher Karp, piano; Howard & Frances Karp, pianos
Music of Handel, Harbison, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn.
Les Thimmig, “The Feldman Trios” Part 1 Faculty Concert
Sun 15, Mills Hall, 1 pm
Prof. Les Thimmig, flutes; Jennifer Hedstrom, keyboards; Sean Kleve, percussion
Three lecture-performances of the late-period work of American composer Morton Feldman; subsequent concerts on Oct 27 and Feb 2.
School of Music Annual Alumni Recital
Sun 15, Morphy Hall, 3:30 pm
Alex Weaver, horn; Michael Mixtacki, percussion; Kristine Rominski, flute; & others
The Center for New Music, University of Iowa Guest Artist
Sat 21, Mills Hall, 8 pm
Performances devoted to late 20th and early 21st-century repertoire.
Paul Rowe, baritone Faculty Concert
Sun 22, Mills Hall, 2 pm
Baroque cantatas for strings, voice, and continuo, featuring works by J.S. Bach, J. Ph. Rameau, Heinrich Schutz, and G.F. Handel.
Nate Stampley Guest Artist & UW-Madison School of Music Alumnus
Concert: Sun 22, Mills Hall, 5 pm
Masterclass: Mon 23, Music Hall, 1:15-3:15 pm
Broadway singer and 2008 School of Music alumnus Nate Stampley (below) will return to Madison to perform a free concert of show tunes from recent productions. Stampley, who studied with voice professor Mimmi Fulmer, will star this fall as Porgy in a national Broadway tour of “Porgy and Bess.” Stampley has also appeared on Broadway as Mufasa in “The Lion King” and in many other roles in New York, London, Chicago, and other cities.
Black Music Ensemble
Thurs 26, Morphy Hall, 8:30 pm
Richard Davis, director
An eclectic group of musicians exploring repertoire of black composers.
UW Symphony Orchestra
Sun 29, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
James Smith, conductor
Featuring Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, in celebration of the work’s 100th anniversary.
OCTOBER
Tues 1, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
James Smith, conductor
Pro Arte Quartet UW Ensemble in Residence
Thurs 3, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
David Perry & Suzanne Beia, violin; Sally Chisholm, viola; Parry Karp, cello
Music of Mozart, Kreisler, and Brahms.
UW Wind Ensemble
Fri 4, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Scott Teeple, conductor
Third Coast Percussion Guest Artist
Concert: Wed 9, 7:30, Mills Hall
Owen Clayton Condon, Fractalia
Steve Reich, Mallet Quartet
John Cage, Third Construction
Augusta Read Thomas, Resounding Earth (commissioned work)
Masterclasses on Western percussion music & the commissioning process: TBA
Chicago-based Third Coast Percussion (below) explores and expands the extraordinary sonic possibilities of percussion repertoire through performances, teaching, and the creation of new works. Founded in 2005, Third Coast Percussion has performed hundreds of concerts across the country, teaches musicians of all ages and experience levels, and has commissioned dozens of new works.
Noa Kageyama: Performance Psychologist Guest Artist
Workshops: Wed/Thurs 9/10, Morphy Hall, 7-9 pm
Keynote Address: “Performance Skills of Top Performers,” Thurs 10, 12-1 pm, Mills Hall
Dr. Noa Kageyama (below) is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and is the performance psychology coach for the New World Symphony in Miami. He specializes in working with performing artists and teaching them how to utilize sport psychology principles and more consistently demonstrate their full abilities under pressure.
HOMECOMING WEEKEND
UW Wind Ensemble
Fri 11, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Scott Teeple, conductor
Presenting “Collage,” an hour of non-stop performances showcasing a variety of musical ensembles and styles from within the UW-Madison arts disciplines.
Wisconsin Brass Quintet UW Ensemble in Residence
Sat 12, Mills Hall, 8 pm
John Aley & Jessica Jensen, trumpets; Dan Grabois, horn; Mark Hetzler, trombone; John Stevens, tuba
Music of Peaslee, Sampson, Scheidt, and others.
UW Concert Band
Sun 13, Mills Hall, 2 pm
Scott Teeple, director
UW University Bands
Sun 13, Mills Hall, 4 pm
Matthew Mireles, conductor
John C. Stowe, harpsichord Faculty Concert
Sun 13, Morphy Hall, 7:30 pm
UW Choral Collage
Sat 19, Mills Hall, 4 pm
Beverly Taylor, director
James Doing, tenor Faculty Concert
Sat 19, Mills Hall, 8 pm
With Martha Fischer, piano
Michael Norsworthy, clarinet Guest Artist
Sun 20, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
With David Gompper, piano (University of Iowa Center for New Music)
Music of Bermel, Beaser, Schwantner, Epstein, Foss and Gompper.
Michael Norsworthy (below), professor of clarinet at the Boston Conservatory, is one of the most celebrated champions of the modern repertoire, having premiered over 125 new works with leading contemporary music groups.
Javier Calderon, guitar Faculty Concert
Thurs 24, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
University Opera & UW Chamber Orchestra $$
Fri 25, 7:30 pm / Sun 27, 3 pm / Tues 29, 7:30 pm, Music Hall
William Farlow, opera director
James Smith, orchestra director
George Frideric Handel, “Ariodante”
Call (608) 265-ARTS (2787) for ticket info.
Mark Hetzler, trombone (below) & Martha Fischer, piano Faculty Concert
Sat 26, Mills Hall, 6:30 pm
“Meditations and Visions: The Music of Anthony Plog and Anthony Barfield”: Two modern works that feature lyricism and technical virtuosity in a rich romantic language.
Les Thimmig, “The Feldman Trios” Part II Faculty Concert
Sun 27, Mills Hall, 1 pm
Les Thimmig, flutes; Jennifer Hedstrom, keyboards; Sean Kleve, percussion
Three lecture-performances of the late-period work of American composer Morton Feldman. Next concert Feb 2.
Parry Karp, cello Faculty Concert
Sun 27, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Thomas Kasdorf, piano; Suzanne Beia, violin; Parry Karp, cello
Piano trio recital.
Michelle Stanley, flute, with cellist Yoriko Morita Guest Artists
Concert: Mon 28, Morphy Hall, 7:30 pm
Masterclass on flute performance: Mon 28
Music of Lonnie Hevia and Cherise Leiter.
Michelle Stanley is assistant professor of music at Colorado State University and Yoriko Morita is an active cellist in the Boulder/Denver area.
NOVEMBER
UW Symphony Orchestra with guest violinist Rachel Barton Pine $$
Conducted by Kenneth Woods, UW-Madison School of Music alumnus
Concert: Sat 2, Mills Hall, 8:00 pm
Johannes Brahms, Violin Concerto
Part of the Wisconsin Union Theater Concert Series. Tickets $25 general public, $10 students. Call (608) 265-ARTS (2787) for ticket info.
Chicago native Rachel Barton Pine (below) was a child prodigy who had her earliest appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 10 and 15 and won numerous national and international competitions while still in her teens. The youngest person (at age 17) and first American to win a gold medal at the prestigious 1992 J.S. Bach International Competition in Leipzig, Germany, she also has won top prizes in many international competitions. Rachel Barton Pine also performs rock and heavy metal music with her band Earthen Grave and has jammed with the likes of Slash, Guns N’ Roses, and other rock and metal stars.
Author, conductor, and cellist Kenneth Woods has worked with many orchestras including the National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Budapest Festival Orchestra, and the State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra. In 2013, he takes up a new position as Artistic Director and conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra’s subscription concerts. In 1993, Ken Woods received a master’s degree in music from UW-Madison; he is also an alumnus of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra.
UW Contemporary Chamber Ensemble
Tues 5, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Laura Schwendinger, director
CCE continues its mission to present the music of living composers. This year’s featured composers include Kathryn Alexander, Suzanne Sorkin, and David Gompper.
UW Chamber Winds
Wed 6, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Scott Teeple, conductor
Jeff Hirshfield, percussionist Guest Artist
Concert with Johannes Wallmann Quartet: Wed 6, Morphy Hall, 7:30 pm
Concert with UW Madison’s Blue Note Ensemble, Contemporary Jazz Ensemble, and Jazz Composers’ Septet: Thurs 7, Morphy Hall, 7:30 pm
Masterclasses on percussion: Wed/Thurs 6/7
Among the most versatile and in-demand sidemen in jazz, New York City-based Jeff Hirshfield has appeared on over 300 albums. His performance and recording credits include Woody Herman, Jim Hall, Kenny Wheeler, John Abercrombie, Dr. John, Joe Lovano, Randy Brecker, John Zorn, Bob Brookmeyer, and many others. The Toronto Star called Hirshfield “a drummer with endless capacity for innovation.”
Combined Concert: UW Concert Choir & UW Chorale
Fri 8, Mills Hall, 8 pm
Beverly Taylor, director
Parry Karp, cello Faculty Concert
Sat 9, Mills Hall, 8 pm
With Howard & Frances Karp, piano
Music of Schumann, Tournemire, Brahms, Kirchner, and Beethoven.
Guitar Ensemble
Wed 13, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Javier Calderon, director
UW Black Music Ensemble
Thurs 14, Morphy Hall, 8:30 pm
Richard Davis, director
An eclectic group of musicians exploring repertoire of black composers.
Marc Vallon, bassoon Faculty Concert
Fri 15, Morphy Hall, 8 pm
![Marc Vallon 2011 James Gill (baroque & modern)[2]](https://welltempered.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/marc-vallon-2011-james-gill-baroque-modern2.jpg)
UW Madrigal Singers
Sat 16, Mills Hall, 8 pm
Bruce Gladstone, director
Chris Washburne, trombonist & UW-Madison School of Music alumnus, with UW Jazz Orchestra Guest Artist
Concert: Sat 16, 8 pm, Music Hall
Masterclasses on music entrepreneurship, improvisation, and artistry: Fri/Sat 15/16
Presenting Latin jazz mixed with funk, hip-hop, gospel, and house.
Now a leading New York freelancer, Chris Washburne (below) received his bachelor’s degree in music from UW in 1986, studying with Richard Davis, Les Thimmig, and Bill Richardson. He is now Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Louis Armstrong Jazz Performance program at Columbia University. His book Sounding Salsa was published in 2008 by Temple University Press.
UW Women’s Chorus & University Chorus
Sun 17, Mills Hall, 4 pm
Beverly Taylor, director
duoARtia Guest Artists
Mon 18, Morphy Hall, 7:30 pm
duoARtia is the piano duo of Jeri-Mae G. Astolfi (below top) and Holly Roadfeldt (below bottom)
Works of Bela Bartok, Witold Lutoslawski, UW-Madison composer Joseph Koykkar, James Leatherbarrow, Ed Martin, Kirk O’Riordan, Rob Paterson, Jamie Wilding, and Yehuda Yannay.
Astolfi is currently a member of the music faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and Roadfeldt is currently teaching at Lafayette College, has a private studio in New York City and serves as piano faculty with distinction at The Music School of Delaware.
UW Concert Band
Mon 18, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Scott Teeple, director
2$ Broom: The UW-Madison Electro-Acoustic Ensemble
Tues 19, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Daniel Grabois & Mark Hetzler, directors
Student performers, composers, improvisers, and engineers will present new music in both acoustic and electronic settings.
Wingra Woodwind Quartet UW Ensemble in Residence
Thurs 21, Morphy Hall, 7:30 pm
Stephanie Jutt, flute; Kostas Tiliakos, oboe (replacing Marc Fink on far right); Linda Bartley, clarinet; Marc Vallon, bassoon; Linda Kimball, horn
Pro Arte Quartet UW Ensemble in Residence
David Perry and Suzanne Beia, violin; Sally Chisholm, viola; Parry Karp, cello
With guest artist Samuel Rhodes, violist, Juilliard Quartet
Fri 22, Mills Hall, 8 pm
Presenting the Bruckner Viola Quintet and the world premiere of the Benoit Mernier Quartet.
UW Choral Union & UW Symphony Orchestra $$
Sat 23, 8 pm / Sun 24, 2 pm, Mills Hall
Beverly Taylor, conductor
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Dona Nobis Pacem
Felix Mendelssohn, Die erste Walpurgisnacht
Call (608) 265-ARTS (2787) for ticket info.
Winds of Wisconsin
Sun 24, Mills Hall, 6 pm
Scott Teeple, director
A premier high school wind ensemble on the UW-Madison campus.
UW Trombone Choir
Mon 25, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Mark Hetzler, director
Opera Workshop
Tues 26, Music Hall, 7:30 pm
William Farlow & Mimmi Fulmer, directors
UW Western Percussion Ensemble
Tues 26, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Anthony Di Sanza & Tom Ross, directors
DECEMBER
UW Early Music Ensemble
Tues 3, Morphy Hall, 8:30 pm
UW Jazz Orchestra & The Sun Prairie High School Big Band
Wed 4, Music Hall, 7:30 pm
Johannes Wallmann & Steve Sveum, directors
Blue Note Ensemble, Jazz Composers’ Septet, & Contemporary Jazz Ensemble
Thurs 5, Morphy Hall, 7:30 pm
Johannes Wallmann & Les Thimmig, directors
UW Wind Ensemble
Fri 6, Mills Hall, 8 pm
Featuring Joel Puckett, composer in residence.
Scott Teeple, director
UW World Percussion Ensemble
Sat 7, Morphy Hall, 12 pm
Todd Hammes & Tom Ross, directors
UW All-University String Orchestra
Sat 7, Mills Hall, 4 pm
Janet Jensen, director
UW Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble
Sat 7, Mills Hall, 8 pm
John Stevens, director
UW University Bands
Sun 8, Mills Hall, 2 pm
Matthew Mireles, conductor
UW “Prism” Concert
Sun 8, Luther Memorial Church, 2 & 4 pm
Concert Choir, Chorale, Women’s Chorus, Madrigal Singers, & University Chorus
Beverly Taylor and Bruce Gladstone, conductors
UW Chamber Orchestra
Sun 8, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
James Smith, conductor
UW Master Singers
Mon 9, Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
Tags: brass, Chamber music, Chicago, concerto, Gene Pokorny, George Frideric Handel, Igor Stravinsky, J.S. Bach, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Juilliard School, Madison, Mark Hetzler, Mills Hall, opera, Orchestra, Piano, Pro Arte Quartet, String quartet, Truman State University, University of Wisconsin–Madison
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The Well-Tempered Ear 