The Well-Tempered Ear
Memorial Union cancels the popular Tudor holiday dinners | September 14, 2023
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By Jacob Stockinger
It looks like the University of Wisconsin-Madison has done it again.
In June, the Mead Witter School of Music quietly posted an announcement that the campus-and-community UW Choral Union, which dated back 130 years, would be permanently disbanded. It shut down the Choral Union site on Facebook to comments and has never replied to critics. It waited until the summer and it did not contact participants to announce the decision.
Now it seems a similar thing is being done with the 90-year-old Tudor Dinner celebrations of the year-end holidays held at the Memorial Union.
The dinner features entertainment by the community Philharmonic Chorus of Madison (below):
The feasts and festivities are a popular and long-standing tradition at many universities and colleges.
And it has been at the UW-Madison, where since 1938 it has filled the Great Hall of the Memorial Union, as you can see in the 2018 promotional video on YouTube at the bottom.
But apparently no longer.
No reason has been given — not even if it is a permanent cancellation or a one-time postponement,
The lack of public transparency and common courtesy seems ironic at a campus where the music school boasts, “THE WISCONSIN IDEA AT ITS MOST AUDIBLE.”
The Ear just heard about this matter yesterday, thanks to a comment by a surprised and disappointed reader of the blog.
Here is that comment:
“Have you heard that the Union Tudor Holiday Dinner Concerts have been cancelled? I just heard today via a friend of a friend. Philharmonic Chorus members heard earlier this year that the Union cancelled them.
“I’m on the email lists for both the Tudor Dinner Concerts and the Philharmonic Chorus, and neither sent an email about the cancellation.
“The Union’s website still has information about the 2022 dinner, and no mention of future ones being cancelled.
“I made travel plans that can’t be changed based on needing to be home in Madison to attend the 2023 dinner with my elderly parents, as we’ve done for 20 years.
“Given that the dinners have been held for something like 90 years, it seemed like a safe bet to plan my trip around the dinner.
“Between this and the demise of Choral Union with an even longer tradition, plus hiding both facts and not communicating them, I’m very angry at the university.”
Everything seems to confirm this reader’s story.
And if you want to see what transpired with the dissolution of the Choral Union — including more than 40 strongly worded comments from those who attended or participated in the Choral Union concerts — here are links to previous postings on this blog:
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #YouTubevideo, a cappella, angry, Arts, attend, audience, blog, Campus, cancellation, Choir, choral music, Choral Union, chorus, Christmas, Classical music, comment, community, composer, Concert, confirm, courtesy, dinner, disappoint, Early music, elderly, email, Entertainment, Facebook, feasts, festivities, food, Great Hall, Holidays, Jacob Stockinger, link, Madison, Mead Witter School of Music, Memorial Union, Music, New Year, parents, participants, participate, Philharmonic Chorus, Piano, popular, promotion, promotional, reader, share, singer, Singing, story, summer, surprise, tag, transparency, Tudor, Tudor Dinners, university, University of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW Choral Union, vocal music, Website, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Idea, YouTube
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
[The] School of Music quietly posted an announcement that the campus-and-community UW Choral Union, which dated back 130 years, would be permanently disbanded. It shut down the Choral Union site on Facebook to comments and has never replied to critics.
Not so. i forwarded my e-mail complaint, originally sent to Susan Cook and to her successor, who responded the next day with a thoughtful, detailed explanation that I only wish could have appeared on the Choral Union web page when the termination was announced. In addition, Dan Cavanagh said that he plans to meet with Choral Union alumni in the fall to talk about the decision, and he invited me, not a Choral Union alumnus, to attend.
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Comment by bevaconme — September 14, 2023 @ 12:59 pm
Hello Bevaconme,
Thank you for your reply.
I appreciate your letting us know about your private reply regarding the fate of the Choral Union.
Congratulations to you!
But I have to disagree with you and stand by what I said, which was clearly referring to the context of a public reply.
To the best of my knowledge, the School of Music has never replied publicly, even though I was personally promised a reply to post on my blog in early July. Such a reply has still not been received.
I find the attitude of the UW News Services who released the first press release about the end of the Choral Union, and the administration both dismissive and condescending to a loyal group of participants and attendees.
Even given the reply to you, I think asking individuals or the general public to wait from June until the fall for a reply is unacceptable.
It allows for little chance for the decision to be reversed or modified and is plainly inconsiderate of the larger public.
Best wishes,
The Ear
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Comment by welltemperedear — September 14, 2023 @ 3:43 pm
This is sad news. I sang with the Philharmonic Chorus of Madison from about 1972 to 1980, and have many happy memories of the Tudor Dinners, and even an old LP of the 1974 concert, with Professor Sam Jones as choral conductor. I fully share The Ear’s concerns with this action.
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Comment by Edward Haertel — September 14, 2023 @ 12:04 pm
Jake, Thanks for keeping us in the loop! I just left a comment, but now am wondering if the ProArte is next?
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Comment by martha g young — September 14, 2023 @ 8:18 am
Hi Marti,
Thank you for your question.
It is a logical one to ask.
But I think the Pro Arte is safe for now because it has such an international reputation.
Killing off the longest-lived string quartet in the history of string quartets would be a suicidal and over-the-top move.
However, I will point out that the School of Music started imposing admission and streaming fees on the Pro Arte concerts — which used to be free as a means to fulfill the Wisconsin Idea.
So the Pro Arte is not fully immune to tinkering.
Then there is always the question of what will happen when the various members retire — which one suspects is not that far off.
Let us hope for the best.
Jake
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Comment by welltemperedear — September 14, 2023 @ 10:18 am
Another careless, imperious decision by the apparently out-of-touch-with-its-community UW School of Music. It seems that the school no longer values a base of loyal support. Does the school realize that it is part of a larger whole? Between this, the Choral Union decision, and outrageous football coach salaries, the UW isn’t a good bet to receive my alumni donation any longer. (Note: I will continue to make a specific and restricted donation to a department that practices the Wisconsin idea.) Shame.
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Comment by Marti Young — September 14, 2023 @ 8:09 am
Hi Marti,
Thank you for this reply.
You make good points, all, ones that I am sure many others are thinking about or confused by.
Don’t forget to include the State Legislature — the Assembly and the Senate — which so frequently acts against the best interests of one of the top public universities in the country for even world.
Best wishes,
The Ear
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Comment by welltemperedear — September 14, 2023 @ 10:22 am