UW-Madison School of Music kills off the venerable campus-community Choral Union

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By Jacob Stockinger

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music will end the long-lived campus-community Choral Union (below at the top, with soloists and the UW Symphony Orchestra at the bottom) starting this fall. You can hear an excerpt from Handel’s “Elijah” performed in the old Mills Hall in the YouTube video at the bottom.

The news, dated June 1, was posted quietly and anonymously on the school’s website. As The Ear understands it, members of the Choral Union were not contacted directly. They just had to find it. Plus, the summer seems a suspicious and inauspicious time for the announcement. Student, faculty and community members are on vacation. In addition, the new director Dan Cavanagh (below) will take over the office from Susan C. Cook in a little over two weeks, on July 1. No word on how he stands about the move.

Here is the music school’s website posting: https://music.wisc.edu/choral-ensembles/

It doesn’t come as a complete surprise to The Ear, since performances were reduced from two semesters to one semester shortly after Mariana Farah (below) became the new Director of Choral Activities in 2021 after the retirement of Beverly Taylor, who continues to serve as the choral director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra.

Student, alumni and community protests are already coming in expressing the resolve to reverse the decision.

Little wonder since the Choral Union was founded in 1893 and is one of the oldest on-going organizations on campus. It is hard to think of a better embodiment of the Wisconsin Idea. That concept is that the public university is to serve the taxpaying public that funds it — and these days community engagement is still supposed to be a high priority.

The Choral Union also seems like an exemplary educational program that gets soloists, the choir of students and the public, and the symphony to work together on a major project that also raises money for the music school.

Over many years, the Choral Union performances have also provided much of the most memorable music-making The Ear has ever heard at the university — or in the city. Works by Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Verdi, Faure and Benjamin Britten, among others, come to mind.

Here is the exact text, which is vague about any reasons for the cancellation of the 130-year-old Choral Union: 

Choral Union Update (June 1, 2023)

“Starting Fall 2023, the Mead Witter School of Music will no longer offer Choral Union. This change will allow the School of Music to devote resources to our core mission of serving UW–Madison students as well as to focus our public programming around new goals. 

“The School of Music and its choral program deeply value and appreciate the partnerships we have formed over the years with the Madison-area choral community. And we recognize that ending the Choral Union may be disappointing to some. 

“We hope that community members who participated in the Choral Union will continue to partake of the many opportunities available to engage with the School of Music such as choral concerts and the multitude of performances, lectures, and workshops we offer every year.” 

The negative reactions and feedback have already started. Here is one example:

The oldest organization at the UW-Madison has been canceled with an unsigned email and no public input?

This can’t be right.

The Choral Union is a beloved institution. 

We won’t let it go like this. We need to know what the issues are and solve them.

Let the discussion begin.

–Janet Murphy, alto member of the Choral Union, 2008-present

Spread the word. Should you or others wish to express an opinion of support or opposition, here are some email addresses and phone numbers:

General office:music@music.wisc.edu; 608.263.1900

School director Susan C. Cook: director@music.wisc.edu; 608.263.1900

Director of Choral Activities: mariana.farah@wisc.edu; 608.263.1900

What do you think of the UW killing off the Choral Union?

What would you like to know about the decision?

Would you like the UW School of Music to reverse its decision?

The Ear wants to hear.

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Posted in Classical music
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