The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: This summer the Token Creek Festival goes online. The music starts TODAY at 4 p.m. Concerts run daily through Sept. 15 and remain up for this month
2 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
The annual Token Creek Chamber Music Festival normally occurs in the final weeks of summer, just before Labor Day, in the welcoming rustic comfort of the beautifully converted barn (below) located on the rural farm property of composer John Harbison and violinist Rose Mary Harbison.
With its normal concert season canceled due to Covid-19, the festival is pleased to announce an alternative for the summer almost ended.
Slightly later than usual, “MUSIC FROM THE BARN” is a two-week virtual season, a retrospective of concert compilations from 30 years of performances.
The topical programs will be released daily over the period Sept. 1–15 at 4 p.m. (CDT), and will remain posted and available to “attendees” throughout the month. From anywhere in the world, you can revisit whole programs or individual pieces.
The goal of the series has been to achieve the broadest possible representation of repertoire and artists who have graced the Token Creek stage since the series began in 1989.
To festival-goers, it will come as no surprise that the virtual season emphasizes music of Bach, Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, vocal music, works by artistic director John Harbison and his colleagues, and, of course, jazz.
In addition to the welcoming beauty of the barn and festival grounds, with sparkling creek and abundant gardens and woods, and the convivial intermissions at every concert, one of the features most beloved by audiences is the concert introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient and MIT professor John Harbison (below) that begins each program. Happily, these remain a feature of the virtual season as well.
Season Schedule
Tues., Sept. 1: Welcome and introduction from the artistic directors (below and in the link to the YouTube video at the bottom)
TODAY, Wed., Sept. 2: Founders Recital
Thurs., Sept. 3: Haydn Piano Trios
Fri., Sept. 4: Bach I: Concertos
Sat., Sept. 5: A Vocal Recital (I)
Sun., Sept. 6: Beethoven
Mon., Sept. 7: Contemporaries
Tues., Sept. 8: Early Modernists
Wed., Sept. 9: A Vocal Recital (II): Schubert and Schumann
Thurs., Sept. 10: Jazz 2003-2019
Fri., Sept. 11: Neo-classicists: Pizzetti, Martinu, Stravinsky
Sat., Sept. 12: Schoenberg and His Circle
Sun., Sept. 13: Mozart
Tues., Sept. 14: John Harbison: Other Worlds
Wed., Sept. 15: Bach II: Preludes, Fugues, Arias, Sonatas
Programs will be posted on Token Creek’s YouTube Channel, accessible from the festival website (https://tokencreekfestival.org), which will also host concert details: works, artists, program notes and other information.
All concerts are FREE and open to the browsing public.
In addition to the virtual concert season, the Token Creek Festival is pleased to release two new CDs.
A Life in Concert (below) features music written for Rose Mary Harbison by John Harbison, and performances of diverse music by the two of them. It includes the world premiere recordings of Harbison’s Violin Sonata No. 1 and Crane Sightings: Eclogue for Violin and Strings, inspired by frequent encounters with a pair of sandhill cranes at the Wisconsin farm.
Wicked Wit, Ingenious Imagination (below) offers four piano trios by Haydn, a beloved genre the festival has been surveying regularly since 2000. CDs will be available at the festival website by mid-September.
For more information, go to: https://tokencreekfestival.org
https://tokencreekfestival.org/2020-virtual-season/welcome/#
Tags: #ALIfeinConcert, #AmericanJazz, #ArnoldSchoenberg, #ArtisticDirector, #AtonalMusic, #BachCantata, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BohuslavMartinu, #ChamberMusic, #ClassicalRecording, #ConcertSeason, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #CraneSightings, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzSchubert, #GeniusGrant, #IgorStravinsky, #InstrumentalMusic, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnHarbison, #LaborDay, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MacArthurFellow, #MacArthurFoundation, #MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology, #Musicfaculty, #MusicFromtheBarn, #MusicProfessor, #NeoClasssicalMusic, #NewMusic, #OnlineConcert, #PianoTrio, #ProgramNotes, #PulitzerPrize, #RobertSchumann, #RoseMaryHarbison, #SandhillCranes, #StateOfWisconsin, #StringMusic, #TheEar, #TokenCreekChamberMusicFestival, #TokenCreekFestival, #TwelveTone, #UWProfessor, #ViolinSonata, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #Wicked Wit, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WorldPremiere, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, A Life in Concert, abundant, alternative, announce, annual, anywhere, aria, Arnold Schoenberg, Artistic director, artists, Arts, atonal, attendee, Bach, barn, Baroque, beautiful, beauty, Beethoven, blog, Bohuslav Martinu, broad, browsing, canceled, Cantata, CDs, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, channel, co-artistic director, colleagues, comfort, compilation, composer, concert season, concerti, concertos, contemporary, converted, convivial, coronavirus, crane, creek, daily, details, diverse, diversity, early, Early music, Eclogue, emphasize, encounter, end, Facebook, faculty, farm, feature, festival, festival-goers, forward, founders, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, free, fugue, Garden, gardens, genius grant, goal, grace, grounds, Haydn, Holiday, Igor Stravinsky, imagination, individual, information, ingenious, Ingenious Imagination, IngeniousImagination, instrumental music, intermission, introduction, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Harbison, Labor Day, later, life, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Martinu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, modern, modernists, month, Mozart, Music, Music From the Barn, music professor, neoclassical, neoclassicists, New Music, normal, normally, occur, online, online concert, open, other, pair, pandemic, performance, period, Piano Trio, piece, Pizzetti, pleased, post, posting, Prelude, program, program notes, property, public, Pulitzer Prize, recipient, recital, recording, release, remain, repertoire, repertory, representation, retrospective, revisit, Robert Schumann, Rose Mary Harbison, rural, rustic, sale, sandhill cranes, schedule, Schoenberg, Schubert, Schumann, Season, sell, September, share, sighting, singer, Singing, Sonata, sparkling, stage, Stravinsky, string music, strings, summer, surprise, tag, The Ear, today, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, Token Creek Festival, topical, twelve tone, two, usual, Viola, Violin, Violin Sonata, violinist, virtual, vocal, vocal music, week, welcome, welcoming, whole, Wicked, Wisconsin, wit, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Woods, works, world, world premiere, years, YouTube
Classical music: Madison Opera’s virtual Opera in the Park goes online for FREE this Saturday night and stays up until Aug. 25. Listen to it indoors or outdoors
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Madison Opera’s Opera in the Park isn’t in a park this year — as it has been in past years (below) — but it will be available for people to enjoy for free in their backyards, in their living rooms or anywhere else with an internet connection.
The digital concert will be released on this Saturday, July 25, at 8 p.m. CDT, and can be watched on Madison Opera’s website, www.madisonopera.org/digital, where you can find complete information and, soon, a complete program to download.
The annual free concert has moved online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a newly created program of opera arias and more.
Digital Opera in the Park features: soprano Jasmine Habersham; soprano Karen Slack; tenor Andres Acosta; and baritone Weston Hurt. (The last two will sing the justly famous baritone-tenor duet “Au fond du temple saint” from Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers,” which you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Habersham (below) makes her Madison Opera debut with this unique performance, and will sing Susanna in the company’s production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro next April.
Slack (below) debuted with the company in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, and will be part of the company’s digital fall season.
Acosta (below) sang Timothy Laughlin in Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers with Madison Opera this past February.
Hurt (below) debuted as Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata last season and is part of the company’s digital fall season.
The four singers will be joined by several important local artists. They include violinist Suzanne Beia, the assistant concertmaster of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the concertmaster of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the second violin of the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet.
There will also be a fleet of eight pianists. They include MSO music director and Madison Opera’s artist director John DeMain (below top, in a photo by Prasad) and the UW-Madison graduate and composer Scott Gendel (below bottom). The two will play multiple numbers, including DeMain accompanying Beia on the beautiful “Meditation” from Thaïs.
Each singer recorded their arias with an accompanist in their home cities, and chorusmaster Anthony Cao (below top) both accompanies and conducts the Madison Opera Chorus (below bottom) in a virtual “Anvil Chorus” from Il Trovatore.
The evening will be hosted by Madison Opera’s General Director Kathryn Smith and by WKOW TV’s Channel 27 News co-anchor George Smith.
“Reimagining Opera in the Park in the pandemic era has been a challenge, but one we have happily embraced,” says Smith (below in a photo by James Gill). “Our wonderful artists were game to record themselves in their home towns, to sing duets with each other through headphones, and to share their artistry with our community in a new way. Over 40 choristers joined a Zoom call to get instructions, and then they recorded their parts of the ‘Anvil Chorus.’”
“While in some ways this concert has required more work than our live Opera in the Park in Garner Park, it is always a pleasure to present beautiful music for everyone to enjoy.”
Digital Opera in the Park features music from Verdi’s Il Trovatore, now canceled in live performance but originally slated to open Madison Opera’s 2020-21 season; Jerry Bock’s She Loves Me, which the company performs in January; and Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, which will be performed in April.
The program also includes selections from Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers, Richard Strauss’ Arabella, Verdi’s Don Pasquale, Puccini’s Tosca, Massenet’s Hérodiade and Thaïs, Rossini’s William Tell, Pablo Sarozabal’s zarzuela La Tabernera del Puerto, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, and more.
The concert will be available beginning at 8 p.m. CDT on this Saturday night, July 25, and will remain online until Aug. 25, allowing for both repeated viewing and flexibility for people who are unable to watch on the first night.
While Digital Opera in the Park will be free to watch, it would not be possible without the generous support of many foundations, corporations and individuals who believe in the importance of music. Madison Opera is grateful to the sponsors of Opera in the Park 2020:
- Presenting Sponsor: the Berbeewalsh Foundation
- Sponsors: the John and Carolyn Peterson Charitable Foundation, Full Compass Systems, the Raymond B. Preston Family Foundation, University Research Park, Colony Brands, Johnson Financial Group, MGE Foundation, National Guardian Life, Wisconsin Arts Board, Dane Arts and the Madison Arts Commission.
- Media Sponsors: WKOW, Madison Magazine, Wisconsin Public Radio, Magic 98, and La Movida.
RELATED EVENTS include:
OPERA ON THE WALL | JULY 25, 2020 | ONLINE
Madison artists Liubov Swazko (known as Triangulador) and Mike Lroy have created artwork around our community, including beautiful murals on State Street storefronts.
In an act of artistic cross-pollination, they will create an artwork that comes from their personal response to Digital Opera in the Park, offering a rare glimpse of visual artists responding to musical artists. Their creative process will be filmed in the Madison Opera Center, and shared online starting on July 25.
The finished artwork will be displayed in the Madison Opera Center. Go to Swazko’s website at triangulador.com (one work is below) and Lroy’s website at mikelroy.com to see their past work.
POST-SHOW Q&A | JULY 25, 2020, IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE INITIAL STREAM
Join Kathryn Smith and the Digital Opera in the Park artists for a post-concert discussion, including an opportunity to ask questions. Details on format and platform will be available closer to the date.
Tags: #AndresAcosta, #AnthonyCao, #AnvilChorus, #ArtisticDirector, #BaritoneSinger, #Beautifulmusic, #BerbeeWalshFoundation, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BroadwayMusical, #ChamberMusic, #Channel27, #ChoralMusic, #ChorusMaster, #CityofMadison, #ColonyBrands, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DaneArts, #DeadManWalking, #DigitalOperainthePark, #DonPasquale, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FamousMusic, #FellowTravelers, #FullCompassSystems, #GarnerPark, #GeneralDirector, #GeorgesBizet, #GiacomoPuccini, #GioachinoRossini, #GiuseppeVerdi, #GregorySpears, #HomeWebsite, #IlTrovatore, #JacobStockinger, #JakeHeggie, #JamesGill, #JasmineHabersham, #JerryBock, #JohnandCarolynPeterson, #JohnDeMain, #JohnsonFinancialGroup, #JosephMcCarthy, #JulesMassenet, #KarenSlack, #KathrynSmith, #LaMovida, #LaTaberneradelPuerto, #LaTraviata, #LGBTQrights, #LGBTRights, #LiubovSwazko, #LiveMusic, #LiveStreaming, #LivingRoom, #MadisonArtsCommission, #MadisonMagazine, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonOperaCenter, #MadisonOperaChorus, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #Magic98, #MarriageofFigaro, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MediaSponsor, #MGEFoundation, #MikeLroy, #MusicalTheater, #MusicDirector, #NationalGuardianLife, #NewsAnchor, #OperaAria, #OperaInThePark, #OperaMusic, #PabloSarozabal, #PabloZarozabal, #PianoAccompaniment, #PianoAccompanist, #ProArteQuartet, #PublicHealth, #RelatedEvent, #RichardStrauss, #RodgersandHammerstein, #ScottGendel, #Self-Isolation, #SheLovesMe, #shelter-at-home, #ShelterinPlace, #SopranoSinger, #SouthPacific, #SpanishComposer, #StateStreet, #Stayathome, #SuzanneBeia, #TenorSinger, #TheEar, #ThePearlFishers, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityResearchPark, #VisualArt, #VisualArtist, #VocalMusic, #WestonHurt, #WilliamTell, #WisconsinArtsBoard, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WKOWTV, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, accompany, alumni, alumnus, anchor, Andres Acosta, annual, Anthony Cao, Anvil Chorus, anywhere, April, Arabella, aria, Artistic director, artistry, artists, Arts, artwork, assistant, audience, August, available, backyard, baritone, beautiful, believe, BerbeeWalsh Foundation, Bizat, blog, Broadway musical, call, cancel, canceled, challenge, Chamber music, channel, choral music, choristers, chorus, cities, Classical music, Colony Brands, community, company, complete, composer, Concert, concertmaster, conduct, conductor, connection, coronavirus, corporations, create, creative, creative process, Dane Arts, date, Dead Man Walking, debut, detail, digital, Digital Opera in the Park, discussion, Don Pasquale, donor, download, duet, else, embrace, enjoy, era, event, everyone, Facebook, fall, famous, feature, February, Fellow Travelers, film, fleet, flexibility, format, forward, foundations, free, Full Compass Systems, game, Garner Park, General director, generous, Georges Bizet, Giacomo Puccini, gift, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, glimpse, graduate, grateful, Gregory Spears, happy', Hérodiade, headphones, home town, home website, hometown, homosexual, host, Il Trovatore, imagine, immediate, importance, important, individual, indoors, information, initial, instruction, Internet, isolation, Jacob Stockinger, Jake Heggie, James Gill, Jasmine Habersham, Jerry Bock, John and Carolyn Peterson, John DeMain, Johnson Financial Group, Joseph McCarthy, Jules Massenet, July, just, justly, Karen Slack, Kathryn Smith, kayak, La Movida, La Tabernera del Puerto, La Traviata, LGBT, LGBTQ, like, link, Liubov Swazko, live music, living room, local, Love, Madison, Madison Arts Commission, Madison Magazine, Madison Opera, Madison Opera Center, Madison Opera Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Magic 98, manager, Marriage, Marriage of Figaro, Massenet, Master, McCarthyism, Mead Witter School of Music, media, Meditation, MGE Foundation, Mike Lroy, Mozart, MSO, multiple, mural, Music, Music director, musical, Musical theater, National Guardian Life, new, news, number, onlne, opera, Opera in the Park, opera music, opportunity, outdoors, Pablo, Pablo Sarozabal, Pablo Zarozabal, Pacific Ocean, pandemic, PAQ, Park, parts, past, People, performance, performer, photo, Pianist, Piano, piano accompaniment, Piano accompanist, platform, pleasure, post, post-concert, posting, present, Pro Arte Quartet, process, production, program, public, Public health, Puccini, Q&A, questions, Radio, rare, record, related event, relatred, remain, repeat, research, respond, Richard Strauss, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Rossini, Saturday, Scott Gendel, Season, selections, September, share, She Loves Me, shelter in place, sing, singer, Singing, soprano, South Pacific, Spain, Spanish, sponsor, State Street, stay at home, store, storefront, Strauss, stream, Student, support, Suzanne Beia, symphony, tag, Television, tenor, Thaïs, The Ear, The Marriage of Figaro, The Pearl Fishers, theatre, Tosca, town, Triangulador, TV, United States, university, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Research Park, UW, UW-Madison, Verdi, viewing, Violin, violinist, visual art, visual artist, vocal music, wall, watch, way, WCO, Website, Weston Hurt, William Tell, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wisconsin public radio, WKOW, WKOW TV, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, wonderful, work, WPR, year, YouTube, Zarozabal, zarzuela, Zoom
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 