The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Bach Around the Clock 2019 is looking for performers of all kinds to play on March 2
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By Jacob Stockinger
Do you like the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (below, followed by photos of performances from past years)?
Then attention individuals and groups!
Amateurs and professionals!
Students and teachers!
Young people and old!
Instrumentalists and singers!
Bach Around the Clock – the annual one-day festival to mark the birthday of composer Johann Sebastian Bach – is looking for performers for the 12 hours of celebration.
This year, the event takes place on Saturday, March 2.
Here is an official announcement with complete details about participating in and supporting the event:
Would YOU like to perform at Bach Around the Clock (BATC)?
Plan to join in the celebration of the 334th birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).
Musicians — amateur and professional — are invited to perform their favorite piece by Bach.
To request a performance spot, go to the BATC website and click on “Contact Us” to find our online sign-up request form.
Tell us who you are, whether it’s you alone or in a group, what you would like to perform, what instrument(s) and the approximate amount of time you would like for your performance. We will get back in touch with you with complete details.
Here is a link: https://bachclock.com/
Performances will take place on Saturday, March 2, at St. Andrew’s Church, 1833 Regent St., Madison, from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. It will be live-streamed on local radio stations and websites.
P.S. You can help keep this festival free and open to all! Bach Around the Clock welcomes donations to help meet the costs of offering this free community event. To make a secure online contribution, click below:
Bach Around the Clock is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization; contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
The Ear, who finds the event instructive and enjoyable, wants to add that although he loves and appreciates performances of Bach’s works as they were originally intended, he especially enjoys unusual arrangements that show the plasticity and genius of Bach’s music. He loves bluegrass Bach, roots Bach, jazz Bach, fell Bach and more.
From past years, he remembers hearing Two-Part Inventions written for keyboard played by a bassoon and flute duo. (You can hear it in the YouTube video at the bottom.) Similarly, he found it entrancing when one of the suites for solo cello was played on a saxophone and another on an electric bass guitar.
The Ear loves such unexpected variety – and is sure that Johann Sebastian himself, who often borrowed from and transcribed his own works, would approve.
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Classical music: This Sunday brings a preview of Bach Around the Clock 5. Plus, a FREE song recital is on Friday at noon.
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CORRECTION: The two performances by the Madison Symphony Orchestra the were listed earlier in this post took place last Sunday, and are NOT scheduled for this coming Sunday. The Ear apologizes and regrets the error.
ALERT: This week’s FREE Friday Musicale at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features mezzo-soprano Consuelo Sañudo (below) and pianist Jeff Gibbens performing music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Claude Debussy, Andre Caplet and Maurice Ravel. The concert runs from 12:15 to 1 p.m.
By Jacob Stockinger
On this Sunday, March 4, you can hear a sample of the Bach Around the Clock marathon that will take place a week from Saturday, on March 10, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in St. Andrew’s Episcopalian Church, 1833 Regent St.
The preview of the event that celebrates the 333nd birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach (below) will be this month’s Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen concert. It starts at 12:30 p.m. in Brittingham Gallery No. 3.
NOTE: It will also be live-streamed from the UW-Madison’s Chazen Museum of Art via the following website:
The program features the popular Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major (with flutist Dawn Lawler, below top, as soloist) and the familiar Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 in D minor (with Mark Brampton Smith, below bottom, as soloist). (You can hear the opening of the Harpsichord Concerto in the YouTube video below.)
There will also be selections by Bach from the books for the Suzuki method.
Information about the program and performers is on the website above.
For more information about the complete Bach Around the Clock, as well as the Chazen preview, including the full schedule of works and performers with times and information about live-streaming, go to:
https://bacharoundtheclock.wordpress.com
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Classical music: Piano and viola duo Vis-à-Vis gives a FREE concert this Saturday at noon as part of Grace Presents
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By Jacob Stockinger
For a while, the acclaimed FREE community outreach concert series Grace Presents had folded.
But now it is back.
Grace Presents’ new coordinator Yanzel Rivera, who is a graduate student at the UW-Madison Mead-Witter School of Music, has sent the following information to post:
“Grace Presents, which offers free monthly concerts on the Capitol Square, will feature the Vis-À-Vis duo (below) of violist Brandin Kreuder and pianist Craig Jordan.
“The one-hour concert, called “Clarke and Brahms” will take place this Saturday, Jan. 13, at noon at the Grace Episcopal Church, 116 West Washington Avenue, across from the Capitol Square.
The program features: Four Pieces by British composer Frank Bridge, (1879-1941); a Sonata by British composer Rebecca Clarke, (1886-1979, below top); “Un regard dans le vide” or ‘A Look Into the Void” (2017) by American composer Christian Messier (b. 1995, below bottom), who studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin; and the Sonata in F Minor by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
“Duo Vis-À-Vis aims to bring engaging and explorative chamber music performances to communities across the country and share their love for musical collaboration and expression.
“The duo is comprised of violinist/violist Brandin Kreuder, and pianist, Craig Jordan. Brandin is a native of Burlington, Wisconsin, and a 2016 graduate of Lawrence University and Conservatory (below) who holds a B.A. in Studio Art and a B.M. in Violin Performance.
“Brandin is currently in his second year of his Master of Music degree studying viola with virtuoso violist Jodi Levitz at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami.
“Jordan, from Ames, Iowa, is a junior at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music pursuing his Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance under the teaching of Catherine Kautsky, with an emphasis on Collaborative Piano. He is currently studying this fall semester at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the Netherlands with Marta Liébana Martínez.
“Since its debut in spring 2016, duo Vis-A-Vis has performed three recital tours in Wisconsin, Iowa, Florida, Missouri, Colorado and Massachusetts. Their recent tour “Reminiscence” brought the duo to their widest variety of performance locations yet. One of these performances also served as the beginning of a new chamber music series hosted by the College Light Opera Company in Falmouth, Mass.
(You can hear Duo Vis-à-Vis (below) perform the Violin Sonata by Cesar Franck in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
ABOUT GRACE PRESENTS
Grace Presents features a diverse range of music, including everything from classical and folk to jazz and bluegrass. The performers include nationally recognized musicians and exceptional young talent from Madison and beyond.
The mission is to create a premier concert series that everyone in the Madison community can enjoy. Each month it welcomes a diverse audience to its concerts, including Madison residents, students, farmers’ market shoppers, tourists, and people who are homeless.
The organizers invite audiences to bring a lunch to enjoy inside the church during our concerts.
A celebrated historic landmark established in 1839, Grace Episcopal Church (below top and bottom) is the oldest church in Madison. Known for its grand Gothic architecture and distinctive red doors, the church features hand-carved woodwork, brilliant stained glass windows–including a Tiffany window–and a cathedral organ.
Grace Presents is supported in part by a grant from Dane Arts, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, the Madison Arts Commission, with additional funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board.
The series also relies on donations from sponsors and free-will offerings at each concert.
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Classical music: The Summer Solstice arrives today, and the third annual Make Music Madison takes place TOMORROW to celebrate it
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today at 5:34 p.m. the Summer Solstice will happen. Summer officially arrives, and the days will start getting shorter while the nights will get longer.
Can that really be happening already?
Locally, the Summer Solstice will be marked TOMORROW, Tuesday, June 21, by the third annual Make Music Madison celebration.
The city-wide event features more than 400 FREE performances in over 100 venues. It relies on volunteers and costs about $55,000 – a lot less than the cost of one new traffic light, according to the website.
Both amateurs and professionals, both adults and young students, will perform.
And all different kinds of music will be played: classical, swing, pop, rock, bluegrass, country, folk, jazz, soul, blues, reggae, world – you name it.
Want to know more?
For general background, including how to support the events, who are its major sponsors and to see photos of past events, go to:
For a map and a listing of events and artists taking place tomorrow:
http://makemusicmadison.org/listings/2016/artists/
To find out by location, go to:
http://makemusicmadison.org/listings/2016/locations/
The web site also has search engines that allow you to find specific artists and venues.
Tags: Arts, Bach, banjo, Baroque, Beethoven, bluegrass, blues, brass, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, country, Early music, folk, guitar, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Madison, Mozart, Music, opera, Orchestra, pop, reggae, Rock, rock and roll, Singing, Sonata, song, soul, strings, Summer solstice, swing, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Wisconsin, World music
Classical music: Superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma turns 60. NPR offers a capsule biography and generous sound samples from throughout his varied career.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Have cello. Will play.
Any style. Any place.
Last Wednesday, superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma, turned 60.
The unquestionable quality, astounding diversity and enviable longevity of his career will come as no surprise to Madison audiences.
After all, Ma (below, in a photo by Jason Bell for Sony Classical) has performed here many times, mostly at the Wisconsin Union Theater – he reopened the renovated Shannon Hall — but also at the Overture Center.
Ma has performed solo here. But he also has played with his longtime chamber music partner pianist Emanuel Ax and with the acclaimed Silk Road Ensemble and the bluegrass or roots music by violinist-composer Mark O’Conner.
And Ma has commissioned many works – including some by composers Osvaldo Golijov and John Adams – that have entered the mainstream repertoire. His influence on contemporary music will be felt for a very long time.
The Ear has met Ma in person a couple of times and found him to be as congenial and humorous as he is talented and original.
An iconic figure on TV and radio, Ma is a master of using the mass media although he never seems a crass self-promoter.
He is a veritable American cultural institution who also enjoys going on PBS for “Sesame Street” and “Live From Lincoln Center” as well as doing a cameo appearance playing unaccompanied Bach in the drama “The West Wing.” (You can hear him play the same piece in a YouTube video at the bottom that has more than 12 million hits.)
Perhaps you have also heard him live, maybe even more than once.
One thing is important but is overlooked by the NPR piece: The ever-reliable Ma is outstandingly successful at the box office. He is probably the most bankable and commercially successful American classical musician on the scene today. Ma’s career bodes well for the future of classical music that otherwise worries so many observers and participants.
You surely will appreciate the eminently readable and listenable post that Tim Huizenga wrote for the “Deceptive Cadence” blog on NPR or National Public Radio.
Here is a link:
http://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2015/10/07/446364616/the-diverse-world-of-yo-yo-ma
Do you have a birthday greeting for or memory of cellist Yo-Yo Ma?
Leave it in the COMMENT section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Arts, Avery Fisher Hall, Bach, Baroque, bluegrass, Boston, box office, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, Compact Disc, concerto, Emanuel Ax, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Adams, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Live From Lincoln Center, Madison, mass media, media, Music, New York City, NPR, Orchestra, Osvaldo Golijov, PBS, Piano, public radio, Radio, roots music, Sesame Street, Silk Road Ensemble, Television, The West Wing, TV, United States, Violin, Wisconsin, Yo-Yo Ma, YouTube
Classical music: J.S. Bach turns 330 on Saturday. At noon in Grace Episcopal Church, the Madison Bach Musicians mark the event with a FREE concert of baroque music. On SATURDAY night at 8 the Wisconsin Brass Quintet plays a FREE concert in Mills Hall. And on Sunday afternoon, Madison native pianist Kathryn Ananda-Owens performs a Mozart concerto at St. Olaf College, and the performance will be streamed live.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Three items deserve attention today.
J.S. BACH TURNS 330 ON SATURDAY
This Saturday is the 330th birthday of composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). That means you can expect to hear a lot of Bach played on Wisconsin Public Radio and streamed by other radio stations and music institutions from around the country and world.
To mark the occasion, the program “Grace Presents” – which takes place at Grace Episcopal Church, 116 West Washington Avenue, on the Capitol Square – is presenting a FREE concert by the early music group the Madison Bach Musicians from noon to 1 p.m.
Explains MBM founder and director Trevor Stephenson: “Madison Bach Musicians (MBM) was formed to foster a love of music and to provide education about great music within the community. MBM is dedicated to presenting the music of Bach-as well as works by other great composers of the Baroque, Renaissance and Classical periods — to both the general public and to educational institutions through performances, lectures, and workshops.
“Bach’s music was chosen as a focal point because of its outstanding beauty, variety and profundity, and because it speaks with urgency to modern audiences.
In pursuit of the greatest clarity of musical texture, MBM performs primarily on period instruments, using historically informed performance practices, and the ensemble sizes are typical of those used by Bach himself. MBM provides a unique forum for experienced professional and exceptionally talented young professional musicians to work together in an exciting period performance style.”
Grace Presents is a FREE monthly concert series that takes place in the historic Grace Church on Madison’s Capitol Square. The series features a diverse range of music, everything from classical and folk to jazz and bluegrass.
Members of the Madison Bach Musicians (below) include: Kangwon Kim, baroque violin; Martha Vallon, viola da gamba and baroque cello; Chelsea Morris, soprano; and Trevor Stephenson, harpsichord.
Here is the program for Saturday’s concert:
Sonata No. 4 in D major from Sonatae unarum fidium by Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (below, 1623-1680)
Sonata in G Major, BWV 1027, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Adagio; Allegro ma non tanto; Andante; Allegro moderato
Prelude & Fugue in E-flat minor, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I by Johann Sebastian Bach
Violin Sonata in F major, HWV 370, by George Frideric Handel (below, 1685-1759)
Adagio; Allegro; Largo; Allegro
Recitative and Aria from “Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid” BWV 58, by Johann Sebastian Bach. (You can hear the beautiful music in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
Aria from “Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm” BWV 171, by J.S. Bach
The harpsichord (below) to be played in Saturday’s concert was made by area instrument builder Norman Sheppard in 2009 and is modeled on a circa 1720 German double-manual instrument by Michael Mietke of Berlin, one that Bach bought and used.
PLEASE NOTE: Madison Bach Musicians will repeat the FREE concert on this Sunday, March 22, at 3 p.m. in the West Middleton Lutheran Church, 3763 Pioneer Road in Verona.
WISCONSIN BRASS QUINTET PERFORMS SATURDAY NIGHT
The Wisconsin Brass Quintet (below, in a photo by Megan Aley) performs a FREE concert SATURDAY night at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall — NOT tonight as incorrectly first stated here.
The program includes music by William Mathias, James Stephenson, Anders Hillborg and Malcolm Arnold.
Here is a link to background about the members of the faculty ensemble that was founded in 1972 at the UW-Madison School of Music:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/events/wisconsin-brass-quintet-faculty-recital/
Here is link to the program:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/2015-0321-WBQ.pdf
ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON, MADISON-BORN PIANIST KATHRYN ANANDA-OWENS STREAMS MOZART’S D-MINOR PIANO CONCERTO WITH HER OWN CADENZAS
The following news has come to the attention of The Ear: Pianist Kathryn Ananda-Owens (below), is a graduate of James Madison Memorial High School on Madison’s far west side and the first winner of Wisconsin Public Radio’s Neale-Silva Young Artists Competition. She was promoted to full professor at St. Olaf College in February.
On this Sunday at 3:30 p.m., with the St. Olaf Orchestra, she will perform the dark, dramatic and lovely Piano Concerto in D Minor, K. 466, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (below) — with her own cadenzas. (The concert will be live-streamed. St. Olaf officials say to tune in 10 minutes ahead).
For anyone who might be interested, here is the link to the streaming part of the website, and scroll to March 22:
http://www.stolaf.edu/multimedia/streams/upcoming.cfm?category=concerts
By way of background, the Mozart piano concerto cadenzas were the study of Ananda-Owens’ doctoral dissertation and lecture recital at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore that is attached to Johns Hopkins University.
Mozart wrote cadenzas for some, but not all, of his 27 piano concertos. No one else has analyzed the topic in-depth, and she is more than halfway through turning her dissertation into a book, thanks to a sabbatical during academic year 2012-13. She annually lectures at the Juilliard School (and occasionally at some other places, including internationally) on this topic.
Tags: Anders Hillborg, Arts, Bach, Baltimore, Baroque, bluegrass, brass, cadenza, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Classical, Classical music, concerto, Early music, folk, George Frideric Handel, Handel, harpsichord, hirn, Historically informed performance, historically informed performance practices, Horn, Jacob Stockinger, James Stephenson, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johns Hopkins University, Juilliard School, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Malcolm Arnold, Music, Orchestra, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Piano concerto, Renaissance, Schmelzer, Sonata, St. Olaf College, Tempo, Trevor Stephenson, Trombone, Trumpet, viola da gamba, Violin, vocal music, William Mathias, Wisconsin Brass Quintet, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
“Grace Presents” opens its new season this Saturday at noon with a FREE one-hour concert by the local percussion group Clocks in Motion, which has just released its first recording.
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By Jacob Stockinger
“Grace Presents,” which just got a new program director Andrea Mauch (below), continues to develop as one of the most innovating and welcome FREE music events in Madison.
The once-a-month series, which is sponsored by and hosted at Grace Episcopal Church (below), 116 West Washington Ave., in downtown Madison on the Capitol Square, offers classical music but also folk, bluegrass, roots and jazz. The quaint historic church has great acoustics and decorating inside.
For the opening concert the performers at the unusual percussion group “Clocks in Motion,” which grew out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, where the group is now an “affiliate ensemble in residence” for the percussion program. (You can hear them perform in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
Clocks in Motion has also just released its first recording, “Escape Velocity,” which is an impressive CD that includes a work by Madison composer John Jeffrey Gibbons (below, in a photo by Milt Leidman).
The hour-long concert on Saturday -– to run from noon to about 1 p.m. –- will feature rarely heard instruments and unusual compositions that will use contemporary music to highlight the power and diversity of percussion music.
Clocks in Motion’s fresh and innovative approach to contemporary classical performance will provide an exciting concert experience for the Madison community.
The program this Saturday includes:
The new mallet quintet, “Gravity”, by Marc Mellits, was commissioned in part by Clocks in Motion in 2013. This piece features Mellits’ pop-minimalistic style with driving rhythms and lush harmonies. The sectional work builds in intensity, resulting in a climactic and satisfying ending.
In “Music for Pieces of Wood” minimalist pioneer Steve Reich liberates the listener from the downbeat with interlocking rhythm and shifting musical gestures. Five performers using warm-toned paduk instruments become one mesmerizing voice.
“Drumming Part 1”, also by Reich, is a driving minimalist piece in which four musicians play four pairs of tuned bongos. The work was highly influenced by the rhythms found in western Africa, but Reich (below) also employs original compositional techniques, such as rhythmic phasing and pattern construction.
“Four Miniatures” is an original composition by Clocks in Motion member Dave Alcorn (below). It explores the sonic possibilities of handheld percussion. Comprised of four mini-quartets for triangles, tambourines, Uchiwa Daiko and woodblocks/reco-reco, this attractive piece proves that even the smallest instruments can make one move in their seat.
“Third Construction”, by John Cage (below), features a wildly diverse instrumentation. Clocks in Motion will use tin cans, maracas, claves, cowbells, Indo-Chinese rattles, quijadas, cricket callers, a conch shell, ratchets, and various drums in this singular and innovative 1941 work.
Here is more form a press release:
“Hailed as “nothing short of remarkable” by ClevelandClassical.com, Clocks in Motion is a group that performs new music, builds its own instruments, and breaks down the boundaries of the traditional concert program.
“With a fearless and uncompromising ear to programming challenging and adventurous contemporary percussion ensemble repertoire, Clocks in Motion consistently performs groundbreaking concerts involving performance art, theater, and computer technology.
“Featuring world premieres alongside rarely performed classic works, this ensemble strives to create a new canon of percussion repertoire.
“Clocks in Motion works passionately to educate the young audiences of the future through master classes, residencies, presentations and school assemblies.
“The individual members of Clocks in Motion’s unique skill sets and specialties contain an impressive mix of musical styles including, rock, jazz, contemporary classical music, orchestral percussion, marching percussion, and world music styles.
“Clocks in Motion has served as resident performers and educators at the Interlochen Arts Academy, Casper College, the University of Michigan, Baldwin-Wallace University, VIBES Fine and Performing Arts, Traverse City West High School, Traverse City East Middle School, Rhapsody Arts Center, and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.
“Formed in 2011, Clocks in Motion began as an extension of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Graduate Percussion Group, and now serves as the ensemble-in-residence with the UW-Madison percussion studio.
Members of Clocks in Motion are Dave Alcorn, Jennifer Hedstrom, Sean Kleve, Michael Koszewski and James McKenzie.
Tags: Arts, Baldwin-Wallace University, bluegrass, Casper College, Chamber music, Classical music, Clock, Clocks in Motion, Contemporary classical music, folk, Folk music, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, John Cage, Madison, Marc Mellits, New Music, Overture Center, percussion, Percussion instrument, Performing arts, roots music, Steve Reich, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, YouTube
Classical music: Bluegrass mandolinist Chris Thile plays J.S. Bach – and earns raves.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The brilliantly eclectic mandolin player Chris Thile (below, in a photo by Branley Gutierrez) ) is hot these days.
I recently heard Thile – who has been a member of the bluegrass bands Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers — live on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and also saw that Wisconsin Public Radio was offering his new recording as a gift during its recently completed — and successfully completed — fall pledge drive.
Thile’s new album for Nonesuch Records features his playing of solo violin sonatas and partitas by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Thile says he was inspired directly by the recording that Belgian violinist Arthur Grumiaux did of the solo violin sonatas and partitas decades ago for Philips. It is performance that The Ear, along with so many other critics, put right on the top of the list.
But Thile also says he was heavily influenced by Canadian pianist and legend Glenn Gould – well, which Bach player wasn’t, one way or the other? Thile especially names Gould’s second version of the famous “Goldberg” Variations as a milestone in his life and career.
To be fair, I still prefer the original violin version to the mandolin version.
But I have to admit that Thile’s playing and interpretations of Bach’s difficult music are miracles unto themselves. And unusual transcriptions are perfectly in keeping with the aesthetic and practice of Baroque era composers as well as Romantics like Franz Liszt and Ferrucio Busoni. Just listen to the YouTube video at the bottom of Chris Thile playing Bach’s complete Sonata No. 1 in G minor on the mandolin.
Here is a wonderful comprehensive and personal profile and background story to Chris Thile’s concert in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, written by Steve Smith, that appeared in The New York Times:
Here is an illuminating link to a conversation that Thile had on NPR with host Rachel Martin:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2013/08/14/210524386/chris-thile-looks-back-to-bach
And here is a link to the New York Times’ review of that concert (below, in a photo by Tina Fineberg) by critic Vivien Schweitzer:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/arts/music/chris-thile-on-mandolin-at-zankel-hall.html
What do you think of Chris Thile and his mandolin Bach?
Do you have a favorite solo violin partita or sonata by J.S. Bach?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: "Goldberg" Variations, Arthur Grumiaux, Bach, Baroque, bluegrass, Busoni, Carnegie Hall, Chris Thile, Garrison Keillor, Glenn Gould, Jacob Sockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, mandolin, New York Times, Nickel Creek, Nonesuch Records, NPR, partita, Philips Records, Punch Brothers, Sonata, Steve Smith, Thile, Violin, Vivien Schweitzer, YouTube, Zankel Hall
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Live music continues its comeback from the pandemic. Today is Make Music Madison with free concerts citywide of many kinds of music. Here are guides with details
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By Jacob Stockinger
Live music continues to make its comeback from the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The past week saw live outdoor concerts by Con Vivo, the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society and the Middleton Community Orchestra.
Today – Monday, June 21 –is Make Music Madison 2021.
It is part of an annual worldwide phenomenon that started in France in 1982. It has since spread globally and is now celebrated in more than 1,000 cities in 120 countries.
Yet in the U.S., Wisconsin is one of only five states that celebrate Make Music Day statewide. The other states are Connecticut, Hawaii, New Mexico and Vermont. In there U.S., more than 100 cities will take part in presenting free outdoor concerts. Globally, the audience will be in the millions.
The day is intended to be a way to celebrate the annual Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. Technically, the solstice occurred in Wisconsin last night, on Father’s Day, at 10:32 p.m. CDT.
But The Ear is a forgiving kind. This will be the first full day of summer, so the spirit of the celebration lives on despite the calendar.
You can see – the composer Igor Stravinsky advised listening with your eyes open – and hear 38 different kinds of music. The choices include blues, bluegrass, Celtic, roots music, gospel, rock, jazz, classical, folk, African music, Asian music, world music, children’s music (see the YouTube video at the bottom) and much more. It will be performed by students and teachers, amateurs and professionals, individuals and groups.
Here is a link to a press release about the overall event: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/make-music-day-2021-announces-updated-schedule-of-events-301304107.html
And here is a link to the global home website — with more background information and a live-stream video of a gong tribute to the who died of COVID — about the festival: https://www.makemusicday.org
The local events will take place from 5 a.m. to midnight. All are open to the public without admission, and safety protocols will be observed.
Here is a guide to local events that allow you to search particulars of the celebration by area of the city, genre of music, performers, venues and times. If you are a classical fan, in The Ear’s experience you might want to pay special attention to Metcalfe’s market in the Hilldale mall.
Here is a link to the home webpage of Make Music Madison: https://www.makemusicmadison.org
Here is a link to the event calendar with maps and schedules as well as alternative plans in case of rain and various menus for searching: https://www.makemusicmadison.org/listings/
Happy listening!
In the Comment section, please leave your observations and suggestions or advice about the quality and success of the festival and the specific events you attended.
The Ear wants to hear.
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