The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: The Mosaic Chamber Players perform an all-Schubert concert on Saturday night. On Sunday afternoon, Opera Props presents singers in a benefit concert to support the opera program at the UW-Madison
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ALERT: On this Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m., in the Madison Christian Community Church at 7118 Old Sauk Road on Madison’s far west side, Opera Props will present a benefit concert to raise money for the UW-Madison’s opera program and University Opera.
Student singers and piano accompanist Daniel Fung will perform arias and songs. But the spotlight will shine on University of Wisconsin-Madison alumna soprano Julia Rottmayer, who is a new faculty member at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. (Sorry, no specific program is given and no names of composers and works are mentioned.)
Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the door with student tickets costing $10. Tickets include a reception with local Gail Ambrosius chocolate, fruit, cheese and wine. For more information, go to: https://www.uwoperaprops.org
By Jacob Stockinger
Why is The Ear increasingly drawn to the music of Franz Schubert (below) over, say, the music of his contemporary and idol Ludwig van Beethoven? It seems to be more than its sheer beauty and lyricism. It also seems to possess a certain warmth or human quality that he finds irresistible, poignant and restorative, especially if it is true, as the Buddha said, life is suffering.
In any case, The Ear is not alone.
The Madison-based Mosaic Chamber Players (below, in a photo by John W. Barker) will open their new and ambitious season this coming Saturday night with a concert of music by Franz Schubert.
The all-Schubert concert is at 7:30 p.m. in the chapel of the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Avenue, near Camp Randall Stadium — NOT at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, as was incorrectly stated earlier in this blog post.
The program includes two Sonatinas for Violin and Piano in D Major, D. 384, and A minor, D. 385; the famous “Arpeggione” Sonata, D. 821, performed on the cello with piano; and the lovely and songful Adagio or “Notturno” (Nocturne) for Piano Trio, D. 897, which you can hear with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and pianist Daniil Trifonov, in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Tickets cost $15 for adults; $10 for seniors; and $5 for students. Cash and checks only will be accepted; no credit cards.
Members of the Mosaic Chamber Players are: founder and pianist Jess Salek (below top); violinist Wes Luke (below second), who plays with the Ancora String Quartet and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra; violinist Laura Burns (below third), who also plays with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the MSO’s Rhapsodie String Quartet; and cellist Kyle Price (below bottom), who founded the Caroga Lake Music Festival in New York State and is pursuing his doctoral degree at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music with distinction and who was a member of the graduate student Hunt Quartet while he studied for his master’s.
A reception will follow the concert.
For more information about the Mosaic Chamber Players and about their new season, which includes some very varied composers but no specific titles of works, go to: http://www.mosaicchamberplayers.com
What do you find so appealing and so special about the music of Schubert?
What is your favorite Schubert work?
Leave your thoughts in the COMMENT section with a link, if possible, to a YouTube video performance.
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: UW-Madison-trained violist Jeremy Kienbaum, will perform a concert this Saturday to benefit his attending the Juilliard School.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following request for coverage from a very worthy project.
Writes Jeremy Kienbaum (below):
I was a student of David Perry and Sally Chisholm, who both play in the Pro Arte Quartet and teach at the UW-Madison School of Music.
I served as the Principal Viola of the UW Symphony Orchestra, the UW Chamber Orchestra and the University Opera orchestra.
I graduated this May with distinction and in September will start my Masters of Music degree at the Juilliard School in New York City with Samuel Rhodes (below), the retired violist of the famed Juilliard String Quartet who has also often performed and recorded with the Pro Arte Quartet in Madison.
I am presenting a send-off concert on this Saturday night, June 13, at 7 p.m. at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, before I leave for New York.
Admission is $20.
The program will feature the “Arpeggione” Sonata by Franz Schubert (with pianist SeungWha Baek, below, playing as a winner of the UW-Madison Concerto Competition); Figment IV for Solo Viola by Elliott Carter; the Eyeglasses Duo (with pianist Andrew Briggs) by Ludwig van Beethoven; and the Viola Sonata in E-flat Major by Johannes Brahms (with pianist SeungWha Baek).
Editor’s note: You can hear the beautiful Brahms sonata, played by violist Pinchas Zukerman and pianist Daniel Barenboim, in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
Proceeds from this concert will go towards paying tuition at Juilliard. I also have a GoFundMe page for donations.
You can find it at: http://www.gofundme.com/jeremykienbaum.
Thank you.
Tags: Arpeggione, Arts, Beethoven, Brahms, Chamber music, Classical music, concerto, Daniel Barenboim, Elliott Carter, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Franz Schubert, GoFundMe, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, Juilliard School, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Music, New York City, opera, Orchestra, Piano, Pinchas Zukerman, Pro Arte Quartet, Sonata, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, viola sonata, Violin, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Bass trombonist Alan Carr joins the Madison Area Trombone Ensemble for a concert this Thursday night. Plus, Mikko Utevsky sings art songs and plays the viola this Saturday night.
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ALERT: UW-Madison School of Music student Mikko Utevsky (below) seems a musician for all seasons.
Primarily a violist, he is also a conductor who founded and directs the Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra (MAYCO). He is also an informed and fluid writer. For this blog, he wrote about the European tour to Prague, Vienna and Budapest that the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) undertook) three years ago, and he reviews Madison Opera productions. He also sings and was in the University Opera’s recent production of “The Magic Flute” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Utevky’s unusual FREE student recital, with UW-Madison alumnus pianist Thomas Kasdorf, this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in Capitol Lakes Retirement Center, 333 West Main Street, off the Capitol Square, highlights two of his talents. Utevsky, a baritone, will sing Robert Schumann’s song cycle “Dichterliebe” (A Poet’s Loves), then pick up his viola and play the famous “Arpeggione” Sonata by Franz Schubert.
By Jacob Stockinger
A musician friend who is a trombonist writes:
The Madison Area Trombone Ensemble (MATE, below) is back for another spring concert, featuring bass trombonist Alan Carr.
Join us at 7:30 p.m. on this Thursday, April 16, at First United Methodist Church, 203 Wisconsin Avenue, off the Capitol Square.
Parking is available in FUMC’s lot, or free on the street after 6 p.m.
Admission is free, but a suggested donation of $10 is greatly appreciated.
Alan Carr will join MATE to perform “The Chief,” composed by UW-Madison Professor Emeritus John Stevens (below) who taught tuba and euphonium. The concert will also feature works by Peter Phillips, Richard Wagner, Fisher Tull, Eric Whitacre, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Eric Clapton and more.
Directed by Madison freelance trombonist and University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music alumnus Kevan Feyzi (below), MATE is comprised of top UW-Madison trombonists in groups such as Phat Phunktion, the Madison Brass Band, the Madison Mellophonium Jazz Orchestra, and the Madison Jazz Orchestra.
In just its second year of existence, MATE numbers 16 strong and is already being lauded as a leading community ensemble. (At bottom is a YouTube video with an excerpt from the inaugural concert in 2014 by the Madison Area Trombone Ensemble.)
Alan Carr (below) currently completing a DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) at the UW-Madison — where he is a Collins Fellow — and is Adjunct Professor of Low Brass at Concordia University. He holds degrees from the Julliard School in New York City and the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
He has also been a finalist in several competitions and was selected as a participant in the prestigious Alessi Seminar. Alan performed and toured for seven years with the King’s Brass, and has appeared with Ensemble ACJW, the American Brass Quintet, Isthmus Brass, and the Baltimore, Hartford, and Dubuque Symphony Orchestras.
Recently, Alan formed a consortium with a dozen other prominent American bass trombonists to commission John Stevens’ newest composition: the Kleinhammer Sonata for Bass Trombone. Premiered this spring by Alan and other consortium members, Alan will release the first recording of the piece on his forthcoming solo album “The Elephant in the Room.”
Find out more about Alan and the Kleinhammer Sonata at http://www.carralan.com
This performance is a part of International Trombone Week, from April 12–19, organized by the International Trombone Association. More info here: https://www.trombone.net/itw/
Tags: Arpeggione, art song, Arts, baritone, bass trombone, blog, brass, Budapest, Chamber music, Classical music, Dichterliebe, Eric Clapton, Eric Whitacre, Euphonium, Europe, Fisher Tull, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, John Stevens, Johns Hopkins University, Madison, Madison Area Trombone Ensemble, Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra, MAYCO, Mikko Utevsky, Mozart, Music, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Peter Phillips, Prague, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Richard Wagner, Robert Schumann, Schubert, Sonata, song, song cycle, The Magic Flute, Thomas Kasdorf, tour, Trombone, Tuba, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, Vienna, Viola, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Youth Symhony Orchestras, Writer, WYSO, YouTube
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