Classical music: The Madison Youth Choirs’ Winter Concerts this Sunday will explore links between science and music. Plus, the UW Wind Ensemble performs a FREE concert Thursday night.

ALERT: Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Wind Ensemble will perform a FREE concert. The program features “Concerto X” by Scott McAllister with clarinet soloist Wesley Warnhoff, adjunct professor of clarinet. It is a work based on grunge music that was born in the heavy metal music of the late 80s and early 90s, including a melody from Nirvana’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” Also on the program is “In Wartime” by David Del Tredici, which was inspired by the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001; and the Second Suite in F Major for Military Band by Gustav Holst.

By Jacob Stockinger

A friend at Madison Youth Choirs writes:

On this Sunday, Dec. 13, the young singers of Madison Youth Choirs (MYC, seen below at the Winter Concert last year) will present the 2015 Winter Concert Series, “Inquiry: Science, Music, Imagination” at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Madison, 1609 University Avenue, near Camp Randall.

Over 14 weeks of rehearsals in preparation for the concerts, the 330 young vocalists (ages 7-18) in MYC’s nine performing choirs have been learning to use the tools of observation, experimentation, and analysis to reach a deeper understanding of their choral repertoire.

Students have also begun to recognize the role that resilience plays in both scientific and musical fields, learning how to work through moments of frustration and uncertainty to reach new discoveries.

The choirs will perform a varied program, including works by Benjamin Britten, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Vincent Persichetti; a Peruvian lament, a Spanish villancico, and a newly-created arrangement of the oldest-known surviving English song.

Tickets for each of the three concerts (high school ensembles at 1:30 p.m., boychoirs at 4 p.m., girlchoirs at 7 p.m.) will be $10 for general admission, $5 for students age 7-18 and free for children under 7.

Audience members will need a separate ticket for each concert.

Here is the schedule:

1:30 p.m. High School Ensembles featuring a guest appearance by the MYC-Capitol Lakes Intergenerational Choir

4 p.m. Boychoirs

7 p.m. Girlchoirs

Tickets available at the door, $10 for general admission, $5 for students 7-18, and free for children under 7

This concert is generously endowed by the Diane Ballweg Performance Fund with additional support from the American Girl’s Fund for Children, BMO Harris Bank, the Madison Community Foundation, and the Wisconsin Arts Board. 

Here is a repertoire list for the programs:

1:30 p.m. Concert (Featuring High School Ensembles)

Cantilena

Bel Tempo Che Vola ……………….Jean Baptiste Lully

Weep No More………………………..David Childs

Songbird…………………………………Sarah Quartel

Sound the Trumpet………………….Henry Purcell

When I Set Out for Lyonesse……Keith Bissell

Ragazzi (below in a photo by Karen Holland)

Regina Coeli (sung in Italian)……Gregorian chant, ca. 10^th century

Regina Coeli (sung in Italian)……Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Song of Peace……………………………Vincent Persichetti

Dulaman (sung in Gaelic) …………Michael McGlynn

Cantabile

Utopia………………………………………………………..Moira Smiley

Lacrimoso son io (K. 555, sung in Italian)…….Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The Gods Have Heard My Vows…………………….Thomas Weelkes

Palomita……………………………………………………..Traditional Peruvian lament

Hoj, hura, hoj!………………………………………………………..Omar Macha

Cantabile and Ragazzi

Apple-Tree Wassail………………………Stephen Hatfield

MYC/Capitol Lakes Intergenerational Choir and Combined Choirs

Forever Young……………………………..Bob Dylan

4 p.m. Concert (Featuring Boychoirs)

Combined boychoirs, Purcell, Britten, Holst, Ragazzi

Intonent Hodie…………………………………..Anonymous (probably 12^th century)

Sainte Nicholaes (sung in Latin)…………..Godric of Finchale

Purcell

Singt den Herrn (sung in German)…Michael Praetorius

Who Can Sail……………………………..Norwegian Folk Song, Arr. Jeanne Julseth-Heinrich

Rolling Down to Rio……………………Edward German

Britten (below with Purcell Choir in a photo by Karen Holland)

Rattlesnake Skipping Song……Derek Holman

Tit-for-Tat…………………………….Benjamin Britten

Jerusalem……………………………..Sir Hubert Parry, poem by William Blake

Holst (below with Pucell and Britten choirs in a photo by Karen Holland)

Riu Riu Chiu (sung in Spanish)….Anonymous, from Villancicos de diversos Autores

Anima Mea (sung in Latin)……….Michael Praetorius

The Sound of Silence…………………Paul Simon

Ragazzi

Regina Coeli (sung in Italian)………Gregorian chant, ca. 10^th century

Regina Coeli (sung in Italian)………Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Song of Peace……………………………..Vincent Persichetti

Dulaman (sung in Gaelic) ……………Michael McGlynn

Combined boychoirs, Purcell, Britten, Holst, Ragazzi

Hava Nashira (sung in Hebrew)……….Traditional Hebrew canon

7 p.m. Concert (Featuring Girlchoirs)

Choraliers

Hava Nashira (sung in Hebrew)……….Traditional Hebrew canon

You’ll Never Guess What I Saw………….Ruth Watson Henderson

Suo Gan…………………………………..Welsh Lullaby, Arr. by Alec Rowley

Tailor of Gloucester…………………..English Folk Song, Arr. by Cyndee Giebler

Con Gioia (below in a photo by Karen Holland)

Donkey Carol………………………….John Rutter

Mid-Winter…………………………….Bob Chilcott

Fancie……………………………………Benjamin Britten

Capriccio (below in a photo by Mike Ross)

Sound the Trumpet………………………………Henry Purcell

An die Musik (D. 547, sung in German, heard at bottom in a YouTube video with soprano Elizabeth Schwarzkopf and pianist Gerald Moore)…..Franz Schubert

Palomita (sung in Spanish)……Traditional Peruvian lament, Arr. by Randal Swiggum

Niska Banja………………………….Serbian Gypsy Dance, Arr. by Nick Page

About the Madison Youth Choirs (MYC): Recognized as an innovator in youth choral music education, Madison Youth Choirs (MYC) welcomes singers of all ability levels, annually serving more than 1,000 young people, ages 7-18, through a wide variety of choral programs in our community. Cultivating a comprehensive music education philosophy that inspires self-confidence, personal responsibility and a spirit of inquiry leading students to become “expert noticers,” MYC creates accessible, meaningful opportunities for youth to thrive in the arts and beyond.

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