The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: This week the UW-Madison hosts a faculty horn recital and two orchestral concerts – one by the visiting and innovative chamber orchestra The Knights and the other by UW students | February 4, 2020

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By Jacob Stockinger

This week is a busy one at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music with concerts on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

There are also FREE and PUBLIC master classes on Friday.

Here are details:

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 5

At 7:30 p.m. in the Collins Recital Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave., UW horn professor Daniel Grabois (below, in a photo by James Gill) – a member of the acclaimed Wisconsin Brass Quintet – will perform a FREE faculty recital.

Grabois will be accompanied by pianist Shuk-Ki Wong.

No specific program has been posted. But composers on the program include Eugene Bozza, Charles Gounod, Francis Poulenc, Wolfgang Plagge and a world premiere by Daniel Kessner.

THURSDAY, FEB. 6

At 7:30 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, also in the Hamel Music Center, the UW Symphony Orchestra (below, with the UW Choral Union in the background) will give a FREE concert.

UW professor Oriol Sans (below), who is new to campus this year, will be the main conductor with Michael Dolan serving as a guest conductor.

The program is the “Appalachian Spring” Suite by Aaron Copland and the Symphony No. 9 by Dmitri Shostakovich.

SATURDAY, FEB. 8

At 8 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, guest artists The Knights will give a concert that features UW clarinetist Alicia Lee (below), who is a member of the Wingra Wind Quintet and who toured with The Knights chamber orchestra during the decade she lived and worked in New York City.

Says Lee: “We are excited to bring a group with a fresh perspective that is run in perhaps a less traditional way,” Lee says of the residency. “This is a group of people with interesting, diverse approaches to a life in music. Many have been making music together for nearly 20 years, so the roots of both friendship and musical values run very deep.”

On Friday, Feb. 7, The Knights (below) will offer a one-day, on-campus residency that is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

Opportunities include access to strings, wind, percussion and horn master classes; a workshop on music business; a side-by-side orchestral reading; and attendance at their rehearsal. All activities will take place in the Hamel Music Center. For a day-long schedule, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/the-knights/

You can hear rehearsals and commentaries by The Knights in the YouTube video at the bottom.

According to program notes: “The Knights is a collective of adventurous musicians, dedicated to transforming the orchestral experience and eliminating barriers between audiences and music.

“Driven by an open-minded spirit of camaraderie and exploration, they inspire listeners with vibrant programs that encompass their roots in the classical tradition and passion for artistic discovery.

“The orchestra has toured and recorded with renowned soloists including Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Bela Fleck and Gil Shaham, and have performed at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood and the Vienna Musikverein. Read more at: https://theknightsnyc.com

The program for The Kreutzer Project concert on Saturday night is:

Colin Jacobsen: World premiere of a new work

Ludwig van Beethoven: Kreutzer Concerto 
(based on the famous Kreutzer Sonata) arranged by The Knights for solo violin and chamber orchestra

INTERMISSION

Leos Janacek: The “Kreutzer Sonata”
 String Quartet arranged by The Knights for chamber orchestra

Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dances
 arranged by The Knights for chamber orchestra

General admission tickets are $30 and are available at the Campus Ticketing Office in the Memorial Union and by calling (608) 265-ARTS (2787) or visiting: https://artsticketing.wisc.edu/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=83A6D957-B006-4ABC-AFB2-6485A8C4D94C.

Free rush tickets for UW-Madison students and music faculty are subject to availability. Visit the Hamel box office one hour before the concert.

 


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1 Comment »

  1. One of the fascinating things about the Knights is it appears they have NO conductor.

    They do it themselves but have an artistic board of eminent musicians.

    To me, this model makes a great deal of sense for the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra as well because it means that the money paid to an individual (usually out testing Bruckner’s sinews when he is not in California or Brookfield) could go to musicians and the music as well as the Madison community.

    The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, much more famous and accomplished than the WCO, has a similar structure. The famous Orpheus Chamber Orchestra also has no conductor.

    In fact, looking at the leadership of the big 2 professional organizations in the area, the question immediately arises, “Who needs the conductors?”

    Like

    Comment by fflambeau — February 4, 2020 @ 11:48 pm


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