The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Starting Wednesday, the second LunART Festival will again spotlight women in the performing and creative arts. Here is the first of a two-part preview
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received a long and detailed announcement about the upcoming second LunART Festival. Here is Part 1 with background and participants. Tomorrow will be Part 2 with more information about new music and a schedule of events.
The LunART Festival is back for its second season from this Wednesday, June 5, through Sunday, June 9, and will continue its mission of supporting, inspiring, promoting and celebrating women in the arts.
The 2019 season brings 10 events to eight venues in the Madison area, providing accessible, high-quality, engaging concerts and events with diverse programming from various arts fields.
The festival will showcase over 100 artists this season, including many familiar local artists and performers as well as guest artists hailing from Missouri to Texas, Minnesota to Florida and as far away as Peru.
LunART’s inaugural 2018 season was a success on numerous fronts. From showcasing a wide variety of artists and arts disciplines to building lasting relationships and collaborations, LunART has distinguished itself from other arts events in Madison.
Both artists and audiences have commented that the LunART atmosphere is one of camaraderie, love and acceptance. Festival directors Iva Ugrcic and Laura Medisky (below right and left, respectively) have set this season to come back even stronger, with expanded dates and more diverse programming.
Like last year, the three ticketed evening gala concerts are centered on classical chamber music. Other art forms — including contemporary and aerial dance, poetry, spoken word and visual arts — are interwoven throughout the programs to create a unique atmosphere for performers, artists and audiences.
This year’s Grammy-nominated composer-in-residence is flutist Valerie Coleman (below), a former member of Imani Winds, who was described as one of the “Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music” by The Washington Post.
Coleman embodies LunART’s vision by challenging norms and being a strong advocate for diversity in the arts. Her rich compositional output infuses elements of jazz and African secular music into the Western classical tradition, creating a soundscape that honors both worlds. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Valerie Coleman playing her own composition “Fanmi Imen” at the 2018 convention of the National Flute Association.)
Coleman’s music will be featured throughout the festival among the works of other remarkable women who shaped music history, from Baroque composer Barbara Strozzi to Romantic composer Clara Schumann to living composer Missy Mazzoli.
Drawing from Madison’s rich arts scene and community, LunART 2019 features local artists including: former Madison poet laureate Andrea Musher (below); actor and theater artist Deborah Hearst; choreographers and dancers Liz Sexe and Kimi Evelyn; and aerial dancer Linda DiRaimondo.
Also featured are musicians from arts organizations such as Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Fresco Opera Theatre, Arbor Ensemble, Madison New Music Ensemble and Sound Out Loud Contemporary Music Collective. Under the direction of Edgewood College professor Kathleen Otterson, Madison’s only women’s choir ARTemis Ensemble returns in greater numbers and will present a work by LunART 2018 “From Page to Stage” alum Meg Huskin among others.
Visual art will have a stronger presence in the 2019 Festival. From May 11-July 7, Overture’s Playhouse Gallery will house “Women Against Hate United by Love,” a collaborative, traveling art exhibition and multi-step “anti-hate” campaign united against bigotry, intolerance and racism, created by J. Leigh Garcia (below), Rachael Griffin and Kelly Parks Snider.
A gallery reception on Wednesday, June 5, serves as LunART’s opening event, in which Snider will give a talk about the exhibit and her use of art to educate communities about targeted issues in the hopes of shaking up the status quo. This engaging and thought-provoking exhibit is meant to provide a meaningful and hopeful community experience for all who attend.
In collaboration with Studio 84 and ArtWorking, two nonprofit art studios specializing in the creative development of people with disabilities, the final Gala concert at First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, on Saturday, June 8, will showcase 40 artworks. This exhibit will feature 20 women artists whose works will be displayed, flanking the Atrium Auditorium stage as well as in the lobby.
Tomorrow: New music to be premiered, comedy and the full schedule of events
Tags: #AfricanMusic, #AndreaMusher, #ArborEnsemble, #ARTemisEnsemble, #ArtExhibit, #ArtExhibition, #ArtForm, #ArtWorking, #ArtWorks, #AtriumAuditorium, #BarbaraStrozzi, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CelebratingWomen, #ChamberMusic, #ClaraSchumann, #Composer-in-Residence, #ContemporaryMusic, #CulturalDiversity, #DeborahHearst, #EdgewoodCollege, #EthnicDiversity, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FemaleComposer, #FeministArt, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #FluteMusic, #FrescoOperaTheatre, #FromPagetoStage, #GenderDiversity, #GrammyAward, #GrammyNominations, #GuestArtist, #High-Quality, #ImaniWinds, #J.LeighGarcia, #JazzMusic, #KathleenOtterson, #KellyParksSnider, #KimiEvelyn, #LindaDiRaimondo, #LivingComposer, #LizSexe, #LunARTFestival, #MadisonNewMusicEnsemble, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MegHuskin, #MeToo, #MeToomovement, #MissyMazzoli, #MusicHistory, #NationalFluteAssociation, #NewMusic, #NonprofitOrganization, #OpeningNight, #OvertureCenter, #PoetLaureate, #RachelGriffin, #RomanticMusic, #SaturdayNight, #SecularMusic, #SoundOutLoud, #SpokenWord, #StatusQuo, #Studio84, #TheEar, #ThePlayhouse, #TheWashingtonPost, #ThoughtProvoking, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ValerieColeman, #VisualArts, #WindMusic, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #Women'sChoir, #WomenArtists, #YouTubevideo, accessible, accpetance, Actor, actress, advocate, aerial, African, all-women, alum, alumna, Andrea Musher, announcement, Arbor Ensemble, area, art exhibition, art form, Art Works, ARTemis Ensemble, artists, Arts, atmosphere, Atrium Auditorium, audience, background, Barbara Strozzi, Baroque, bigotry, blog, camaraderie, campaign, celebrating, Cello, challenging, Chamber music, choral music, choreographer, Clara Schumann, Classical music, classicalmusic, collaborative, comedy, community, composer, Composition, Concert, contemporary, contemporary music, convention, create, dance, dancer, dates, Deborah Hearst, detail, disabilities, disciplines, diverse, diversity, Early music, Edgewood College, educate, engaging, ethnic, evening, event, exhibit, expand, experience, Facebook, female, female composer, feminism, feminist, fina, final gala, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Florida, flute, flutist, forward, Fresco Opera Theatre, From Page to Stage, fronts, gala, gallery, gender, Grammy, Grammy Award, guest artist, hate, History, honor, hope, hopeful, Imani Winds, information, inspiring, intolerance, J. Lee Garcia, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Kathleen Otterson, Kelly Parks Snider, Kimi Evelyn, like, Linda DiRaimondo, link, Living composer, Liz Sexe, lobby, local, Love, LunART Festival, Madison, Madison New Music Ensemble, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Me Too, Mead Witter School of Music, Meg Huskin, Minnesota, mission, Missouri, Missy Mazzoli, Music, music history, National Flute Association, New Music, nominations, nonprofit, norms, numbers, opening, Overture Center, page, part, participants, People, performer, Peru, Piano, Playhouse, Poet laureate, Poetry, professor, programming, race, Rachel Griffin, racism, reception, rich, Romantic, Romanticism, Saturday, scene, schedule, second, secular, shake up, share, showcase, Sound Out Loud, soundscape, spoken word, stage, status quo, strong, studio, Studio 84, success, supporting, tag, talk, target, Texas, The Ear, The Washington Post, thought provoking, ticket, tomorrow, tradition, traveling, united, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, VALERIE COLEMAN, venue, Viola, Violin, vision, visual arts, vocal music, Wednesday, Western, winds, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, women, women artists, women;s choir, world, YouTube
Classical music: The LunART Festival of women musicians will perform chamber music by all-female composers this Saturday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
The LunART Festival will be part of the Arts @ First Series when it performs “A Wintry Mix Chamber Music Collective” on this Saturday night, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 203 Wisconsin Avenue.
The concert will features the Arbor Ensemble (below) and Black Marigold.
Admission is $15 for adults, $5 for students and free for children under 12. Advance tickets are $12 at: lunartwintrymix.brownpapertickets.com
The LunART Festival is dedicated to promoting and celebrating women in the arts through public performances, exhibitions, workshops and interdisciplinary collaboration. After a very successful inaugural season, the second LunART festival will take place in Madison, from June 6 through June 9.
While the main focus of LunART is a summer festival, LunART also presents events throughout the year, such as this midwinter collaborative concert.
The Madison-based ensembles Arbor Ensemble and Black Marigold (below, in a photo by Vincent Fuh) will perform an array of works for strings, winds and piano from the past 100 years, showcasing both historically notable women composers and introducing less familiar female pioneers of today.
The Arbor Ensemble will premiere their newly commissioned “Trio Cerulean” by Cherise Leiter (below top), in addition to their arrangement of the Piano Trio for flute, viola and piano by Germaine Tailleferre (below bottom).
Arbor members Berlinda Lopez (flute), Marie Pauls (viola) and Stacy Fehr-Regehr (piano) seek to connect with audiences through their personal sound and colorful instrumentation. Their innovative programming highlights lesser known chamber works, and the group has developed a niche promoting music of women composers.
The highly regarded, award-winning Quintet for Wind Instruments of Grazyna Bacewicz (below top) will be performed by Black Marigold (below bottom), a dynamic wind quintet known for their captivating and energetic performances. Members are Iva Ugrcic (flute), Laura Medisky (oboe), Bethany Schultz (clarinet), Juliana Mesa (bassoon) and Kia Karlen (horn).
Advocates of new music and living composers, Black Marigold fosters fresh perceptions of new music by programming pieces that are equally enjoyable for performers and audiences.
The ensembles will collaborate by mixing members and instrumentation, rounding out the program with Duo for Oboe and Viola by Hilary Tann (below top); “Doppler Effect” for flute, clarinet and piano by Adrienne Albert; “D’un Matin de Printemps” (From A Morning in Spring) by Lili Boulanger; and the Quartet for Strings, Op. 89, by Amy Beach (below bottom). You can hear the piece by Lili Boulanger in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Guest artists Laura Mericle (violin), Shannon Farley (violin) and Samantha Sinai (cello) will join Arbor violist Marie Pauls for the performance of the Beach. The quartet was a featured ensemble at the inaugural season of the LunART Festival this past summer.
For more information, go to:
firstunitedmethodistmadison.org/artsatfirst
Tags: #AdrienneAlbert, #All-Female, #AmyBeach, #ArborEnsemble, #AudienceMembers, #BassoonMusic, #BlackMarigold, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrownPaperTickets, #ChamberMusic, #CheriseLeiter, #ChristianChurch, #CommissionedMusic, #DopplerEffect, #FemaleComposers, #FemaleMusicians, #FeministArt, #FirstUnitedMethodistChurch, #GermaineTailleferre, #GrazynaBacewicz, #HilaryTann, #IvaUgrcic, #LauraMedisky, #LiliBoulanger, #LivingComposers, #LunARTFestival, #MariePauls, #MethodistReligion, #MeToo, #MeToomovement, #NewMusic, #PianoTrio, #ShannonFarley, #StringQuartet, #WindQuintet, #WomenArtists, #WomenComposers, #YouTubevideo, admission, Adrienne Albert, all-women, Any Beach, Arbor Ensemble, arrangement, Arts, audience, Bassoon, Black Marigold, blog, Brown Paper Tickets, Cello, Chamber music, Cherise Leiter, children, Christian, Christian church, church, clarinet, Classical music, collaborative, commission, composer, Doppler Effect, enjoyable, exhibition, female, female composers, feminism, feminist, festival, First United Methodist Church, flute, forward, free, Germaine Tailleferre, Grazyna Bacewicz, Hilary Tann, Horn, inaugural, Iva Ugrcic, Jacob Stockinger, Laura Medisky, like, Lili Boulanger, link, living composers, LunART Festival, Madison, Marie Pauls, Methodist, midwinter, mix, New Music, Oboe, performer, Piano, Piano Trio, piece, pioneers, post, posting, Quartet, Religion, Sexism, Shannon Farley, share, String quartet, strings, Student, summer, summer festival, tag, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Wind quintet, winds, wintry, Wisconsin, women, women composers, workshop, YouTube
Classical music: Have a beer with that chamber music
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By Jacob Stockinger
A friend of The Ear and a fan of this blog writes:
Hi Jake,
I want to alert you and your readers that in February we have two performances scheduled at The Malt House (below), 2609 East Washington Avenue, on the corner of Milwaukee Street.
The Yahara String Quartet (below) plays on this coming Saturday, Feb. 4, from 4 to 6 p.m. YSQ says they will play “among others … music by Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Holst, Haydn, Vivaldi … and more.” For information, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1843806762501124/
The Cello and Bass Duo of Karl von Huene (cello, below) and John Dowling (contrabass) will play on Saturday, Feb. 11, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Adds Karl von Haene: “We play short pieces by Sebastian Lee (1805-1887) that are obscure enough that I will buy a beer for anyone who knows them. You see, there’s no opus number, they’re just “melodic studies/etudes.”
You can hear the first of Sebastian Lee’s “40 Melodic and Progressive Studies” in the YouTube video at the bottom. For information about Sebastian Lee, who performed and taught in France and Germany, go to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Lee
For information, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1834517800147308/
Performances are FREE, and the full bar is open for business. We open at 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
For more information about the highly rated tavern that specializes in artisan beers and ales, and also presents other forms of music, go to:
Cheers,
Bill Rogers, The Malt House
Tags: ale, Arbor Ensemble, Arts, bar, bass, Beer, blog, Borodin, Business, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, contrabass, duet, duo, France, Germany, Haydn, Holst, Jacob Stockinger, John Dowling, Karl von Huene, Madison, Malt House, melody, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Music, perform, performance, Sebastian Lee, String quartet, studies, tavern, Tchaikovsky, Teacher, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Vivaldi, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: The all-female Arbor Ensemble performs a concert of all-French chamber music this SATURDAY (NOT Friday) night
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CORRECTION: In a recent post, The Ear used a wrong date and time for the Chopin and Debussy house concert by pianist Trevor Stephenson. The correct time is SATURDAY, FEB. 25, at 7 p.m. For more information, go to:
By Jacob Stockinger
The all-women chamber group Arbor Ensemble will perform a recital of all-French chamber music this weekend.
It will take place this SATURDAY (NOT Friday, as mistakenly reprinted form a faulty press release), Feb. 4, at 7:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, in Madison.
Admission is $10 general, and $5 for students and seniors.
The group will perform rarely heard chamber works by French composers, featuring Madison soprano Rachel Edie Warrick (below).
The program includes the Trio Sonata by Claude Debussy; Prelude, Recitative and Variations by Maurice Duruflé; “Où voulez-vous aller?” (Where do you want to go?) by Charles Gounod; “Une Flûte Invisible” (An Invisible Flute) by Camille Saint-Saëns; and Trio No. 2 in A minor by Cécile Chaminade (below).
You can hear the Chaminade Trio No. 2 in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Founding members of the Arbor Ensemble are flutist Berlinda Lopez (below top), violist Marie Pauls (below middle) and pianist Stacy Fehr-Regehr (below bottom).
The ensemble often performs programs by female composers.
For more information, go to Arbor Ensemble’s website at www.arborensemble.com.
Tags: Arbor Ensemble, Arts, Cecile Chaminade, Chamber music, Chopin, Classical music, Debussy, flute, France, French, Gounod, house concert, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, Maurice Durufle, Music, Piano, recital, Saint-Saens, singer, Sonata, song, soprano, Trevor Stephenson, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, vocal music, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: The Madison-based all-female Arbor Ensemble will play a FREE concert of all-women composers on Monday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following notice that he thinks will interest a lot of readers:
The Arbor Ensemble (below), a Madison-based chamber group, is thrilled to announce their spring program, “Women Composers: Past and Present.”
The concert will to take place on Monday night, March 21, at 7 p.m. at the Oakwood West Auditorium, 6201 Mineral Point Road, on Madison’s far west side near West Towne Mall.
Admission is FREE.
The performance will kick off the ensemble’s April 4-5 concert series in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where they will perform for The American Association of University Women.
Belinda Lopez, Marie Pauls, Rebecca Riley and Stacy Fehr-Regehr will perform a vast array of rarely heard chamber works for flute, viola, cello and piano.
The program will feature Arbor’s commissioned work, Charlotte Howenstein’s “Whispers Through the Trees.”
The quartet will also play compositions by Amy Beach, Clara Schumann, Lili Boulanger, Rebecca Clarke, Hilary Tann, Pamela Harrison, Cherise D. Leiter and Belinda Lopez. Sorry, no word about specific works to be played.
For more information, visit: http://www.arborensemble.com
Tags: American Association of University Women, Amy Beach, arbor, Arbor Ensemble, Arts, Chamber music, Charlotte Howenstein, Clara Schumann, Classical music, composer, female, flute, Hilary Tann, Jacob Stockinger, Lili Boulanger, Madison, Marie Pauls, Minnesota, Music, Pamela Harrison, performer, Piano, Rebecca Clarke, Saint Paul, Sonata, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Wisconsin, women
Classical music: Local all-female Arbor Ensemble will present two concerts of all-women composers this coming Saturday night in Madison and Sunday afternoon in Beloit.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Arbor Ensemble (below), a Madison-based chamber group, will perform its February program, “Women Composers: Then and Now” on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, in Madison, Wisconsin; and on Sunday, Feb. 22, at 2:30 p.m. in Beloit College‘s Eaton Chapel in Beloit, Wisconsin.
This program will feature the premiere of “Whispers Through the Trees” by Charlotte Howenstein (below) as well as rarely heard works by Amy Beach, Clara Schumann, Lili Boulanger and Cherise D. Leiter. Sorry, no word on the specific program.
Admission for the February 21 performance is $10, with $5 tickets available for students and seniors. Admission for the February 22 performance is FREE.
Arbor Ensemble is comprised of committed artist educators, seeking to connect with audiences through their personal sound and unique, colorful instrumentation.
Berlinda Lopez (flute), Stacy Fehr Regehr (piano), Marie Pauls (viola, violin), and Rebecca Riley (cello) combine to create an expressive blend, performing a diversity of musical styles.
Arbor’s mission is to bring classical music to listeners from all walks of life through high quality chamber music performance, and to highlight the works of women composers.
For more information, visit Arbor Ensemble’s website at www.arborensemble.com.
Tags: Amy Beach, Arbor Ensemble, Arts, Beloit, Beloit College, Cello, Chamber music, Charlotte Howenstein, Cherise D. Leiter, Clara Schumann, Classical music, Eaton Chapel, female, flute, Jacob Stockinger, Lili Boulanger, Madison, Music, Music education, Piano, Viola, Violin, Wisconsin, women, women composers
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The Well-Tempered Ear 