The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: This week brings FREE concerts of wind music and new music, including works by faculty composer Laura Schwendinger, to the UW-Madison School of Music.

By Jacob Stockinger

This week brings FREE concerts of wind music and new music, including two works by UW-Madison faculty composer Laura Schwendinger (below) to the UW-Madison School of Music.

Here are details:

UW WIND ENSEMBLE CHAMBER WINDS

On Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW-Madison Wind Ensemble Band and the Chamber Winds (below top) perform a FREE concert under the direction of Scott Teeple (below) and a graduate student.

The Wind Ensemble is the premier wind/percussion ensemble in the UW-Madison School of Music. Its repertoire varies from classical wind compositions to contemporary works.

The Wind Ensemble actively commissions new works from world-renowned composers, often performing with internationally acclaimed soloists and guest conductors.  This program features an ear-catching smorgasbord of chamber works for mixed winds.

The program includes Old Wine in New Bottles by Gordon Jacob with Jacob Klingbeil, graduate conductor.

La Creation Du Monde by Darius Milhaud (below):

Funeral Music for Queen Mary by Steven Stucky (below):

Good Soldier Schweik Suite by Robert Kurka (below):

NEW MUSIC and A WORLD PREMIERE

On Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m., new music — including two works by award-winning UW-Madison professor Laura Schwendinger (below) — will be presented in a FREE concert.

Performers are the UW-Madison Contemporary Chamber Ensemble (below) – which is directed by Schwendinger – and guest artist Vicennium Void.

Vicennium Void, in collaboration with the UW Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, presents a concert featuring Christopher Janwong McKiggan (at bottom in a YouTube video), Geoffrey Herd, Leah Gastler, Kevin Downs, and UW clarinetist Kai-Ju Ho.

Here is the program:

Song for Andrew                        Laura Schwendinger

Sunyata                                        Narong Prangcharoen

Cantos for Slava                         Augusta Read Thomas

Incorporeal Spaces*                 Christopher Walczak (School of Music alumnus) (*world premiere)

Secret Alchemy                           Pierre Jalbert

White Granite                             Joan Tower

Also included in Laura Schwendinger’s Wet Ink, which was premiered at the Bennington Chamber Music Conference and as featured in the New York Times.

Here is some background from the UW School of Music website on guest artist Vicennium Void:

Vicennium Void (below and at bottom in a YouTube video) is a unique new music ensemble committed to commissioning and performing new works at the highest level, while maintaining a repertoire of contemporary masterpieces. The ensemble focuses on music composed during the last 20 years in addition to pieces that are being composed right now specifically for Vicennium Void.

Both internationally renowned composers as well as up-and-coming composers are represented in the group’s repertoire, providing an exciting mixture of programming.

The core ensemble consists of four musicians with solo and chamber music careers that span the globe – from North America and Latin America, to Europe and Asia. Among the four members, they have performed in famous concert halls across the world such as Carnegie, Wigmore in London, and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

The ensemble’s piano quartet formation allows for a variety in programming, from quartets to piano trios, string trios and duos, which provides for exceptionally versatile collaborations with composers.

Based in Houston, Texas, Vicennium Void presents a concert series at venues around Houston, combined with national and international touring and recording.

Members include pianist Christopher Janwong McKiggan; violinist Geoffrey Herd; violist Leah Gastler, and cellist Kevin Downs.

Use this link to listen to the group on SoundCloud:

Listen to Vicennium Void on SoundCloud. 

 

---