The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: The Ear offers a big shout-out and good luck to three girl choirs in the Madison Youth Choirs. They are headed this week to a major world youth festival in Aberdeen, Scotland and give a FREE send-off concert this Tuesday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
Two years ago, it was the boy choirs of the Madison Youth Choirs that were invited to sing at the prestigious international festival in Aberdeen, Scotland.
It is, after all, the oldest youth arts festival in the world, about 40 years old and features performers form around the world.
This week, on Thursday, 68 members of three girl choirs in the Madison Youth Choirs – the Capriccio (below top, in a photo by MYC director Michael Ross), Cantilena and Cantabile (below bottom) choirs — along with three conductors, are headed to the same festival.
NOTE: You can hear a FREE send-off sampler concert on this Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the Covenant Presbyterian Church, 326 South Segoe Road.
It is a BIG DEAL.
The repertoire the girls will sing covers classical music (Franz Schubert); folk music from Canada, Serbia, Bulgaria and Peru; and more popular music. Plus, they will sing in several languages. They will also sing a song composed in the Terezin concentration camp, or death camp, in Hitler’s Nazi Germany during World War II.
They will also give the world premiere of a piece – based on two Scottish melodies including a traditional walking song and the beautiful “The Water Is Wide” — that they commissioned from composer Scott Gendel, who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music. (You can hear James Taylor sing a heart-breaking version of “The Water Is Wide” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The Ear heard the girls sing live last week on the Midday program with Norman Gilliland on Wisconsin Public Radio. And they sounded great.
What an honor, especially in the wake of the concert tour to Italy two weeks ago by the Youth Orchestra of the Wisconsin Youth Chamber Orchestras.
Madison sure seems to be doing a fine job providing music education to its young people while many other areas of the state and country are cutting back on arts education and where many politicians and businesspeople are mistakenly trying to turn public support to the so-called STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and math — at the expense of the arts. But the arts and the sciences really feed each other, and success in one field often helps to assure success in the other.
Here is a link so you can learn more about the tour and how to support or join the Madison Youth Choirs, which serves young people in grades 5-12:
http://www.madisonyouthchoirs.org
http://www.madisonyouthchoirs.org/aberdeen
And here is a link to the festival itself:
And finally here is a link to the Facebook page for the Madison Youth Choirs, with face photos of participants:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/448022498728594/
Tags: Aberdeen, Aberdeen International Youth Festival, Arts, arts education, boy choir, Bulgaria, Canada, choral music, Classical music, concentration camp, death camp, engineering, English, Facebook, festival, Folk music, Franz Schubert, Germany, girl choir, high school, Hitler, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, James Taylor, Madison, Madison Youth Choirs, math, Middle school, Music, Music education, Nazi, Orchestra, Peru, Piano, science, Scotland, Scott Gendel, Serbia, Spanish, technology, Terezin, The Water is Wide, tour, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, World War II, WYSO, young people, youth arts, YouTube
Classical music education: TONIGHT brings two FREE sendoff concerts by the local youth musicians -– the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras and the Madison Youth Choirs -– before they head off on international tours to Argentina and Scotland.
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By Jacob Stockinger
This is a reminder.
This is A Tale of Two Tours.
Like the tours, both of which will run exactly from July 24 through August 3, the two local groups will also offer competing sendoff concerts at exactly the same time — tonight, Tuesday, July 22, at 7 p.m.
But it is best not to dwell on the conflict or competition.
Instead, The Ear prefers to see it as a reminder that Madison, Wisconsin, is a great place to be not only for culture in general and for classical music, but for classical music education, which has been shown again and again by researchers to reap lifelong benefits in terms of development and maturity.
It involves two FREE sendoff concerts by two important groups of young musicians in Madison.
One is by the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras’ Youth Choir, under conductor UW-Madison professor James Smith, which will perform tonight at 7 p.m. at Olbrich Botanical Gardens on Madison’s East side. The program, a preview of the concert fare to be performd in Argentina, features music by Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Peter Tchaikovsky and Alberto Ginastera.
Here is a link to a previous blog posting about the WYSO concert:
The other concert is the Madison Boychoir (below, in a photo by Jon Harlow), which will perform tonight at 7 p.m. in the Covenant Presbyterian Church, 326 South Segoe Road, on Madison’s near west side.
And here is a statement from Nicole Sparacino, the director of development for the Madison Youth Choirs:
“By a strange coincidence, the MYC send off concert is the same night as WYSO’s send off concert, and the dates of both tours are exactly the same, July 24-August 3!
“It’s pretty neat to think that, combined, over 100 of Madison’s finest young musicians will be sharing their talents on two very different parts of the world’s stage at the same time.
“Over the course of the tour, 71 MYC boys ages 9-18 will sing in medieval cathedrals, perform a joint concert with the National Youth Choir of Scotland, and have the chance to meet hundreds of other young artists from across the world. Our boys will even get the chance to test their foreign language skills, as they will have the honor of singing the national anthems of all participating countries during the festival’s Opening Ceremony. (You can see a promotional video for the Scotland tour at the bottom in a YouTube video.)
“We’re so excited for the boys to have this outstanding opportunity.
“Tonight, over 70 boys ages 9-18 from Madison Youth Choirs (MYC) will share an exciting free concert with the community before taking off to perform at the Aberdeen International Youth Festival in Scotland.
“As the only boychoir from the United States invited to perform at the festival, MYC’s lads (below, in a photo by Jon Harlow) will pay homage to the rich musical traditions of their homeland, from folk songs to cowboy melodies.
“It will perform classic boychoir repertoire in three different languages. Concert selections will include the Shaker tune “Simple Gifts,” the powerful “Anthem” from the musical Chess, “Laudamus Te” by Antonio Vivaldi and the Shakespeare and “Macbeth”-inspired “Sound and Fury.”’
The latter is a world premiere work by composer Scott Gendel (below), who is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music.
For further information: visit www.madisonyouthchoirs.org or call (608) 238-7464.
Tags: Aaron Copland, Aberdeen International Youth Festival, Alberto Ginastera, Antonio Vivaldi, Argentina, Arts, boychoir, choral music, chorus, Classical music, composer, Jacob Stockinger, Leonard Bernstein, Macbeth, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Youth Choirs, Music, Music education, MYC, National Youth Choir of Scotland, Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Orchestra, Peter Tchaikovsky, Scotland, Scott Gendel, Shakespeare, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, video, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, WYSO, Youth Orchestra, YouTube
Classical music education: The Madison Youth Choirs perform the 11th Annual Spring Concert Series this Sunday afternoon and night. They will premiere a new work about Shakespeare’s “Macbeth by UW-Madison alumnus Scott Gendel.
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By Jacob Stockinger
On this Sunday afternoon and evening, May 18, 2014, the Madison Youth Choirs (MYC, below) will ends the celebration of their 10th anniversary and celebrate the return of spring with a lively concert series featuring several groups whose membership total over 300 talented young singers.
All concerts will take place in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center for the Arts in downtown Madison.
Tickets are $10-$20, and can be purchased in three ways:
1. online at www.overturecenter.com
2. By phone at (608) 258-4141
3. In person at the Overture Center box office, 201 State St., Madison, Wisconsin.
Throughout this season, focused on the theme “Arts & Minds,” MYC’s singers have discovered connections between visual and vocal expressions of human creativity, using both mediums as a lens to explore the world.
Concert selections will include works from a wide variety of musical eras and cultures, including classical pieces by Bach and Vivaldi, traditional folk songs in Hebrew and Japanese, and contemporary pieces by Cindy Lauper and Eric Whitacre (below), creator of the “Virtual Choir,” which has become a global phenomenon on YouTube.
MYC’s boychoirs will make history with the world premiere of University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music alumnus Scott Gendel’s “Sound and Fury,” featuring text from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.”
This ambitious new work by Gendel will be a fitting prelude to the boychoirs’ upcoming summer tour to Scotland, where they will perform in the invitation-only Aberdeen International Youth Festival (below).
For more information about Scott Gendel, visit:
Continuing its commitment to celebrating the work of outstanding local music teachers, MYC will also present the Music Educator of the Year Award to Jan Vidruk. Ms. Vidruk (below center ) is a nationally recognized leader in early childhood education who has inspired young people in music and movement classes for over 40 years.
Here is the Concert Information, Schedules and Programs for Sunday, May 18, 2014
1 p.m. – Choraliers (below in a photo by Cynthia McEahern
Hashivenu…Traditional Hebrew
Bee! I’m Expecting You… Emma Lou Diemer
Ae Fond Kiss… Traditional Scottish, arr. Kesselman
The Duel… Paul Bouman
Kojo no Tsuki… Traditional Japanese, arr. Snyder
Con Gioia (below in a photo by Karen Holland)
For the Beauty of the Earth… John Rutter
The Jabberwocky… Jennings
Tres Cantos Nativos dos Indios Krao… Leite
Annie Laurie… arr. Rentz
Capriccio (below in a photo by Mike Ross)
Hark! The Echoing Air… Henry Purcell
Hotaru Koi… Ro Ogura
The Seal Lullaby… Eric Whitacre
Niska Banja… Traditional Serbian, arr. Nick Page
4 p.m.: Purcell
Gloria Tibi (from Mass)… Leonard Bernstein
Simple Gifts… Traditional
Orpheus with his Lute… Ralph Vaughan Williams
Laudamus Te (from Gloria in D Major)… Antonio Vivaldi
Britten
The Lord Bless You and Keep You … John Rutter
Er Kennt die rechten Freudenstuden … Johann Sebastian Bach
Holst
The Bird…William Billings
The Cowboy Medley…arr. R. Swiggum
Anthem (from Chess)…Anderson/Ulveas, arr. R. Swiggum
Ragazzi (below in a photo by Dan Sinclair)
dominic has a doll… Vincent Persichetti
Si, Tra i Ceppi… George Frideric Handel
Fair Phyllis… John Farmer
Madison Boychoir (Purcell, Britten, Holst — below in a photo by Karen Holland — and Ragazzi combined)
Sound and Fury (world premiere)… Scott Gendel, text from Macbeth
Will the Circle Be Unbroken?… Traditional, arr. R. Swiggum
7:30 p.m. High School Ensembles
Cantilena
How Merrily We Live… Michael Este
Salut Printemps… Claude Debussy
Hope… Andrew Lippa
Hope is the Thing… Emma Lou Diemer
Ragazzi
dominic has a doll… Vincent Persichetti
Si Tra i Ceppi… George Frideric Handel
Fair Phyllis I Saw Sitting…John Farmer
Cantabile
Cruel, You Pull Away Too Soon… Thomas Morley
Chiome d’Oro… Claudio Monteverdi
Mountain Nights… Zoltan Kodaly
Las Amarillas…Stephen Hatfield
Time After Time… Cyndi Lauper, arr. Michael Ross
Cantabile and Ragazzi
Come Thou Fount of Ever Blessing…arr. Mack Wilberg
A Hymn for St. Cecilia…Herbert Howells (heard at bottom in a YouTube video)
This project is supported by American Girl’s Fund for Children, the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation, the Kenneth A. Lattman Foundation, American Family Insurance, Dane Arts with additional funds from the Evjue Foundation, charitable arm of The Capital Times, and BMO Harris Bank. This project is also supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the state of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
ABOUT THE MADISON YOUTH CHOIRS (MYC)
Recognized as an innovator in youth choral education, MYC inspires enjoyment, learning, and social development through the study and performance of high-quality and diverse choral literature. The oldest youth choir organization in Wisconsin, MYC welcomes singers of all ability levels, challenging them to learn more than just notes and rhythms. Singers explore the history, context, and heart of the music, becoming “expert noticers,” using music as a lens to discover the world. MYC serves more than 500 young people, ages 7-18, in 11 single-gender choirs.
In addition to a public concert series, MYC conducts an annual spring tour of schools and retirement centers, performing for more than 7,000 students and senior citizens annually. MYC also collaborates with professional arts organizations including the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Ballet, and Madison Opera, while continually supporting and recognizing the work of public schools and music educators throughout the area.
In summer 2014, MYC boychoirs will travel to Scotland for their first appearance at the invitation-only Aberdeen International Youth Festival.
For further information about attending or joining, visit http://www.madisonyouthchoirs.org contact the Madison Youth Choirs at info@madisonyouthchoirs.org, or call (608) 238-7464
Tags: Aberdeen International Youth Festival, Antonio Vivaldi, Arts, Arts & Minds, Bach, Baroque, Benjamin Britten, BMO Harris Bank, boy choir, boychoir, Choir, choral music, Classical music, Claude Debussy, Claudio Monteverdi, Cyndi Lauper, Debussy, Emma Lou Diemer, Eric Whitacre, George Frideric Handel, girl choir, girlchoir, Gustav Holst, Hebrew, Henry Purcell, Herbert Howells, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Japanese, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Rutter, Leonard Bernstein, Madison, Madison Ballet, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Youth Choirs, Michael Ross, Music, Music education, Overture Center, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Renaissance, Scotland, Scott Gendel, Serbia, St. Cecilia, Thomas Morley, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vincent Persichetti, Wisconsin, YouTube, Zoltan Kodaly
Classical music: The Madison Youth Choirs and the Overture Concert Organ will join forces in a varied concert Saturday night in Overture Hall.
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By Jacob Stockinger
On this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in Overture Hall in the Overture Center, the Madison Youth Choirs (below top) will join forces with Samuel Hutchison (below bottom), the organist and curator for the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
The vocal talents of the choirs will blend with the beautiful custom-built Klais Organ (below).
Hutchison will perform both solo and collaborative works, displaying the diverse repertoire at the hands of the modern organist.
Early pieces from the Baroque period will share the program with works by living composers. In all, the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Louis Vierne, Herbert Howells (below and at the bottom where you will find a YouTube video of his “Sarabande” for Easter Morning), Francis Poulenc, Jean Langlais and John Rutter will be performed.
Single tickets are $20, and a $10 student rush will be offered on the day of the performance.
Here is a link to more information, including the specific works on the extensive program and how to join the choirs:
http://www.madisonsymphony.org/youthchoirs
The Madison Youth Choirs, under the direction of Michael Ross (below), are no strangers to Overture Hall. In December, the ensemble performed in the three sold-out Madison Symphony Christmas concerts.
Conductor John DeMain (below, in a photo by Prasad) said he is excited about the upcoming performance: “I can never say enough about the good work that Michael Ross is doing with the Madison Youth Choirs. They are an essential and beloved part of our Christmas concerts.”
Here is a link to the Madison Youth Choirs, which are celebrating their 10th anniversary and many members of which will travel -– by invitation only — to the Aberdeen International Youth Festival, in Scotland, this summer. (Below is a photo of the Opening Ceremony of the festival.)
http://www.madisonyouthchoirs.org
This organ and choir concert is sponsored by the Friends of the Overture Concert Organ and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation.
Tags: Aberdeen International Youth Festival, Arts, Bach, Baroque, boy choir, choral music, Christmas, Classical music, Concert, concert organ, dance, Francis Poulenc, girl choir, Herbert Howells, Howells, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Langlais, Johann Sebastian Bach, John DeMain, John Rutter, Klais, Klais Orgelbau, Langlais, Louis Vierne, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Youth Choirs, mixed choir, Music education, Orchestra, organ, Overture Center, Poulenc, Rutter, sarabande, Vierne, youth choir, youth choirs, YouTube
Classical music: Madison Youth Choirs presents its 11th Annual Winter Concert Series this coming Sunday afternoon and night.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Madison Youth Choirs (MYC) will present a winter concert series featuring over 300 talented young singers in three performances during the afternoon and evening of Sunday, December 15, at Madison’s First Congregational Church.
The nine performing choirs will raise their voices in celebration of MYC’s 11th season theme, “Arts and Minds.” Singers have spent a semester studying the connection between visual art and music, using both mediums as a lens to discover the world.
Concert selections will include works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten (below top), Palestrina, Johannes Brahms, Vincent Persichetti and Pablo Casals (below bottom), as well as a few holiday favorites and folk songs.
Cantabile, MYC’s choir for advanced high school women, will also sing a hauntingly beautiful version of U2’s “With or Without You,” which earned the choir a standing ovation during a preview concert at Hilldale Mall this month.
All concerts will take place at First Congregational Church, 1609 University Ave., Madison
Tickets are available at the door. General admission is $12 general admission at the door, and free for children under 7.
HERE IS A MASTER SCHEDULE
1:30 P.M. – CANTILENA, CANTABILE, AND RAGAZZI (below, in a photo by Dan Sinclair) (HIGH SCHOOL ENSEMBLES)
Selections from the 1:30 p.m. concert include:
“Turn Then Thine Eyes” (from “The Fairy-Queen”) by Henry Purcell
“Nigra Sum” by Pablo Casals
“Sicut Rosa” by Orlando di Lasso
“The Roadside Fire” (from “Songs of Travel”) by Ralph Vaughan Williams
“The Young Man’s Song” (premiere) by Eric William Barnum
“Ich weiss nicht” by Johannes Brahms
“Les Berceaux” (The Cradles) by Gabriel Faure
“Sam Was a Man” by Vincent Persichetti
4:30 P.M. – PURCELL, BRITTEN, HOLST, AND RAGAZZI (BOYCHOIRS)
Selections from 4:30 p.m. concert include:
“Bright is the Ring of Words” (from “Songs of Travel”) by Ralph Vaughan Williams
“Ich will den Herrn” by Georg Philipp Telemann
“Magno Gaudens: by Anonymous (12th century)
“All Things Bright and Beautiful” by John Rutter
“Sicut Rosa” by Orlando di Lasso
“The Roadside Fire” (from “Songs of Travel”) by Ralph Vaughan Williams
“The Young Man’s Song” (premiere) by Eric William Barnum
“Fancie” by Benjamin Britten
“Exultate Justi in Domino” by Lodovico Viadana
“All Ye Who Music Love” by Baldassare Donato (text from the 18th century, Thomas Oliphant)
7 P.M. – CHORALIERS (below, in a photo by Cynthia Hawkinson), CON GIOIA, AND CAPRICCIO (GIRLCHOIRS)
Selections from the 7 p.m. concert include:
“Non Nobis Domine” by William Byrd
“Yet Gentle Will the Griffin Be” by Franciso Nuñez
“Fire” by Mary Goetze
“Dona Nobis Pacem,” attributed to Clemens non Papa
“Ich jauze, ich lache” (from BWV 15) by Johann Sebastian Bach
“Pavane” by Gabriel Fauré (at bottom in a popular YouTube video that features painting by Claude Monet and that has almost two million hits)
This project is supported by American Girl’s Fund for Children, by Dane Arts with additional funds from the Evjue Foundation, the charitable arm of The Capital Times, and by BMO Harris Bank.
ABOUT THE MADISON YOUTH CHOIRS (MYC)
Here is some additional impressive information from the Madison Youth Choirs:
Recognized as an innovator in youth choral education, Madison Youth Choirs inspires enjoyment, learning and social development through the study and performance of high-quality and diverse choral literature.
The oldest youth choir organization in Wisconsin, MYC welcomes singers of all ability levels, challenging them to learn more than just notes and rhythms. Singers explore the history, context, and heart of the music, becoming “expert noticers,” using music as a lens to discover the world. MYC serves more than 500 young people, ages 7-18, in 11 single-gender choirs.
In addition to a public concert series, MYC conducts an annual spring tour of schools and retirement centers, performing for more than 7,000 students and senior citizens annually. MYC also collaborates with professional arts organizations including the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Madison Ballet and the Madison Opera, while continually supporting and recognizing the work of public schools and music educators throughout the area.
In summer 2014, MYC boychoirs will travel to Scotland for their first appearance at the prestigious “by invitation-only” Aberdeen International Youth Festival.
For more information – and to hear samples under the MEDIA section or find out about joining the group — visit: http://www.madisonyouthchoirs.org
Tags: Aberdeen International Youth Festival, Benjamin Britten, BMO Harris Bank, boychoir, Georg Philipp Telemann, Henry Purcell, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Rutter, Madison, Madison Ballet, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Youth Choirs, Orlando di Lasso, Pablo Casals, Palestrina, Ralph Vaughan Williams, U2, Vincent Persichetti, William Byrd, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: The Madison Youth Choirs will celebrate their 10th anniversary tomorrow, Sunday, May 19, with a series of three spring concerts in the Capitol Theater at the Overture Center. In the summer of 2014, MYC boyschoirs will tour to Aberdeen, Scotland.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Tomorrow, on Sunday, May 19, the Madison Youth Choirs will celebrate their 10th anniversary with a series of three spring concerts in the Capitol Theater (below) at the Overture Center.
1 p.m.: Performers are the Choraliers (below, in a photo by Elizabeth Chen), Con Gioia, and Capriccio girlchoirs.
4:30 p.m.: Performers are the Purcell (below in a photo by Karen Holland), Britten, Holst, and Ragazzi boychoirs.
This concert features two newly commissioned works from Dan Krunnfusz, past Madison Boychoir Artistic Director, below.
7:30 p.m.: Cantilena, Cantabile, and Ragazzi (high school ensembles). Below is a photo of Ragazzi by Karen Holland:
Tickets are $10-$20 and available from the Overture Center box office (608) 258-4141, and at www.overturecenter.com, or in person.
Highlights from the program include: “When David Heard” by Thomas Weelkes; “Five Hebrew Love Songs” by Eric Whitacre (below and at bottom in a YouTube video); music by Benjamin Britten, Felix Mendelssohn, Alice Parker, George Friderich Handel, and much more.
The Madison Youth Chorus will also celebrate the first-ever recipient of our Music Educator of the Year award, given to an area music teacher who has made a significant contribution to music education.
The group will recognize Mary Schmidt (below top in a self-portrait), a music teacher at Sun Prairie High School (below bottom, in a photo by J.H. Findorff and Sons) and Sun Prairie Middle School, and will celebrate her accomplishments at our concerts.
ABOUT the Madison Youth Choirs:
In summer 2014, MYC boychoirs will travel to Scotland for their first appearance at the invitation-only Aberdeen International Youth Festival.
Recognized as an innovator in youth choral education, MYC inspires enjoyment, learning and social development through the study and performance of high-quality and diverse choral literature. The oldest youth choir organization in Wisconsin, MYC welcomes singers of all ability levels, challenging them to learn more than just notes and rhythms. Singers explore the history, context, and heart of the music, becoming “expert noticers,” using music as a lens to discover the world. MYC serves more than 500 young people, ages 7-18, in 11 single-gender choirs.
In addition to a public concert series, MYC conducts an annual spring tour of schools and retirement centers, performing for more than 7,000 students and senior citizens annually. MYC also collaborates with professional arts organizations including the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Ballet, and Madison Opera, while continually supporting and recognizing the work of public schools and music educators throughout the area.
For more information, visit www.madisonyouthchoirs.org or write to the headquarters at 160 Westgate Mall, Suite I, Madison, WI 53711.
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