Then at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Wind Ensemble (below top), conducted by Scott Teeple (below bottom), will perform a FREE concert of works by Jim Territo, William Schuman, Charles Ives, Percy Grainger and Paul Hindemith.
The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: This Friday night, the UW Symphony Orchestra depicts visual art in sound. Plus, two all-student string orchestras perform Saturday afternoon and the UW Wind Ensemble performs Saturday night
April 25, 2019
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IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
CORRECTION: The concert by Sonata à Quattro TONIGHT at Oakwood Village West is at 7 p.m. — NOT 8 p.m. as mistakenly stated in Tuesday’s blog posting.
By Jacob Stockinger
This weekend, two student orchestras will give FREE concerts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
On Friday night, April 26, at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Symphony Orchestra (below top) under conductor Chad Hutchinson (below bottom), who has won prizes and acclaim for his programming, will give a FREE “gallery tour” concert exploring how visual art is depicted in sound.
The program opens with “Finding Rothko” (2006), by American composer Adam Schoenberg (below).
The musical work depicts four Abstract Expressionist paintings by the Russian-American master Mark Rothko (below top, above his 1956 painting in Orange. You can hear the “Orange” section of the musical work in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
To read the composer’s notes, go to: https://adamschoenberg.com/works/finding-rothko/
To find out more about the composer, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Schoenberg
The concert concludes with the dramatic, dark and moody “Pictures at an Exhibition” — in the classic orchestration by Maurice Ravel – by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky (below).
The musical work is a set of vignettes evoking drawings and watercolors by Viktor Hartmann (below top), including the famous ending with “The Great Gate of Kiev” (below bottom).
SATURDAY
On Saturday afternoon, April 27, at 2 p.m. in Mills Hall, the All-University Strings (below, in a photo by Jeff Miller for University Communications) – made up of non-music majors – will perform a FREE concert.
All-University Strings is comprised of two non-major string orchestras — named Orchestra One and Orchestra Two – that are open to all interested string players who are not music majors. Director Pedro Oviedo will conduct.
No word on the program, which is unfortunate. The Ear suspects that if the public knew the program, the concert might draw a bigger audience.
Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AbstractExpressionism, #AbstractExpressionist, #AdamSchoenberg, #All-UniversityStrings, #AudienceMembers, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChadHutchinson, #CharlesIves, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FindingRothko, #Fridaynight, #GreatGateofKIev, #JimTerrito, #MarkRothko, #MauriceRavel, #MillsHall, #ModestMussorgsky, #OakwoodVillage, #PaulHindemith, #PedroOviedo, #PercyGrainger, #PicturesatanExhibition, #SaturdayAfternoon, #SonataaQuattro, #SymphonyOrchestra, #TheEar, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #ViktorHartmann, #VisualArt, #Wikipediabiography, #WilliamSchuman, #WindEnsemble, #WindMusic, #YouTubevideo, Abstract Expressionism, abstract expressionist, acclaim, Adam Schoenberg, American, Art, art gallery, artist, Arts, audience, blog, Cello, Chad Hutchinson, Charles Ives, Classical music, composer, Concert, conductor, correction, dark, depict, director, drama, dramatic, drawing, Early music, ending, evoke, Facebook, famous, Finding Rothko, forward, Friday, gallery, Great Gate of Kiev, Jacob Stockinger, Jim Territo, like, link, Madison, major, Mark Rothko, Master, Maurice Ravel, Mills Hall, Modest Mussorgsky, mood, moody, Music, notes, Oakwood Village West, orange, Orchestra, painting, Paul Hindemith, Pedro Oviedo, Percy Grainger, performer, Pictures at an Exhibition, poetic, prize, program, Russian, Saturday, Schoenberg, share, Sonata, Sonata à Quattro, Sound, symphony, symphony orchestra, tag, The Ear, theme, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW Wind Ensemble, video, vignette, Viktor Hartmann, Viola, Violin, visual, visual art, watercolor, weekend, Wikipedia, William Schuman, wind ensemble, wind music, word, work, YouTube
Tags: #AbstractExpressionism, #AbstractExpressionist, #AdamSchoenberg, #All-UniversityStrings, #AudienceMembers, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChadHutchinson, #CharlesIves, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FindingRothko, #Fridaynight, #GreatGateofKIev, #JimTerrito, #MarkRothko, #MauriceRavel, #MillsHall, #ModestMussorgsky, #OakwoodVillage, #PaulHindemith, #PedroOviedo, #PercyGrainger, #PicturesatanExhibition, #SaturdayAfternoon, #SonataaQuattro, #SymphonyOrchestra, #TheEar, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #ViktorHartmann, #VisualArt, #Wikipediabiography, #WilliamSchuman, #WindEnsemble, #WindMusic, #YouTubevideo, Abstract Expressionism, abstract expressionist, acclaim, Adam Schoenberg, American, Art, art gallery, artist, Arts, audience, blog, Cello, Chad Hutchinson, Charles Ives, Classical music, composer, Concert, conductor, correction, dark, depict, director, drama, dramatic, drawing, Early music, ending, evoke, Facebook, famous, Finding Rothko, forward, Friday, gallery, Great Gate of Kiev, Jacob Stockinger, Jim Territo, like, link, Madison, major, Mark Rothko, Master, Maurice Ravel, Mills Hall, Modest Mussorgsky, mood, moody, Music, notes, Oakwood Village West, orange, Orchestra, painting, Paul Hindemith, Pedro Oviedo, Percy Grainger, performer, Pictures at an Exhibition, poetic, prize, program, Russian, Saturday, Schoenberg, share, Sonata, Sonata à Quattro, Sound, symphony, symphony orchestra, tag, The Ear, theme, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW Wind Ensemble, video, vignette, Viktor Hartmann, Viola, Violin, visual, visual art, watercolor, weekend, Wikipedia, William Schuman, wind ensemble, wind music, word, work, YouTube
Classical music: The first-ever Mineral Point Chamber Music Festival takes place this coming weekend – and looks both very appealing and very affordable
June 5, 2017
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By Jacob Stockinger
In retrospect, it seems inevitable.
But it took foresight and hard work.
For many years, the historic town of Mineral Point (below) – once a major lead and zinc mining town that is the third oldest city in Wisconsin – has been cultivating and rejuvenating itself through restoration and innovation as an enjoyable tourism stop, with fine restaurants, historic landmarks, terrific art galleries and gracious hosts.
Small wonder that the Smithsonian Magazine named Mineral Point one of the Top 20 Small Towns to Visit in the U.S.
But this coming weekend the appeal and attractions will move up a big notch.
That is because the inaugural Mineral Point Chamber Music Festival will take place this coming weekend, June 9-11, 2017.
To The Ear, the performers look excellent, the program look engaging and the prices sure look affordable.
Concerts by three young professional classical chamber music ensembles will be presented in the recently restored historic Mineral Point Opera House (below top and bottom, with the top photo by Michael J. Smith), an ideal chamber music venue with excellent acoustics.
The weekend will begin on Friday at 7 p.m. with a panel discussion by several ensemble performers and Festival Director Peter Schmalz about various aspects of classical music. A reception in the Mineral Point Public Library will follow the discussion.
Scheduled concerts include: at 1 p.m. on Saturday, the Ami String Quartet (below top) from Northwestern University in the String Quartet No. 1 by Bela Bartok and the “Harp” String Quartet, Op. 74, by Ludwig van Beethoven; at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Trombone Quartet (below bottom) will perform music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Anton Bruckner, Anton Webern, Dmitri Shostakovich and others; and at 1 p.m. on Sunday, the Ami String Quartet will perform the String Quartet No. 1 of Johannes Brahms and the String Quartet No. 12 (“American”) by Antonin Dvorak. (You can hear the first movement of the famous “American” String Quartet by Dvorak in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Ticket prices are: $10 for the panel discussion and reception; $15 for each concert; and $38 for the panel discussion and all three concerts.
Adds festival director Peter Schmalz:
“The Mineral Point Chamber Music Festival is designed to meet three goals: to create classical chamber music listening opportunities for local and nearby residents; to establish a cultural tourism experience for visitors to Mineral Point; and to provide serious off-campus performances for advanced university chamber music ensembles.
“Summer classical music festivals were established in the 20th century to provide employment for orchestral and other professional musicians during the off-season. The fortunate result for the music-lover is an abundance of listening opportunities in every genre of classical music, often in locations away from the congestion and heat of large cities.
“The Mineral Point Chamber Music Festival modifies this design by presenting accomplished undergraduate and graduate ensembles in a compelling small-town setting at a reasonable cost. (Below is the Arts Mineral Point logo.)
“In addition to the Festival concerts, we encourage listeners to enjoy the food, galleries, architecture, landscape and people of Mineral Point. In the words of Sergei Rachmaninoff, “Classical music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for classical music.”
The Mineral Point Opera House is, in size and acoustics, an ideal venue for classical chamber music. Performers were selected by competitive audition, and will be housed by local residents for the weekend.
In addition to three concerts, festival attendees can be involved in a panel discussion about issues in classical chamber music, by asking their own questions of the panel.
The UW-Madison Trombone Quartet and students from Mineral Point High School and Dodgeville High School will also present a short concert in Library Park prior to the 1 p.m. concert on Sunday in the Opera House.
For complete information about events and tickets with complete programs for each concert, go to:
http://www.artsmp.org/chamber-music-fest/
Posted in Classical music
Tags: American, American Quartet, Ami String Quartet, architecture, Art, art gallery, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Bartok, Beethoven, Bruckner, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, discussion, Dodgeville, Dvorak, festival, gallery, Harp Quartet, high school, historic landmark, History, host, House, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, lead, library, Madison, magazine, Mineral Point, mining, Music, Northwestern University, opera, Opera house, Orchestra, Piano, professional, public, public library, Quartet, Quartet AMI, Rachmaninoff, restaurant, Shostakovich, Smithsonian, String quartet, Student, summer, tourism, Trombone, U.S., United States, university, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, venue, Viola, Violin, visitor, Webern, Wisconsin, YouTube, zinc
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