The Well-Tempered Ear
Here are winners of major international music competitions in 2023. What’s next?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Which young, up-and-coming classical musicians should you keep an eye on during the coming year?
Which ones, if any, will be booked in coming years to performance locally, say, at the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Wisconsin Union Theater; or at the Salon Piano Series; or as a University of Wisconsin Mead Witter School of Music guest artist?
One guide to 2024 and beyond might be to review the winners of the international music competitions held in 2023.
Thanks to The Violin Channel, here is a list of many such winners who may go on to establish more prominent careers. If you click on the names of the competitions, posted in red, you will be linked to fuller stories about the competitions, many of which you have probably never heard of. The Ear follows many contests but had never heard of many of these.
Here is a link:
You can find out about histories of the competitions, other prize winners, places they are held and how often, jury members and contest rules and formats, and more. And you can hear excerpts from some prestigious competitions including the Bischoff Chamber Music competition and a competition for young child prodigy violinists in Italy.
At the bottom of the story, you can hear a YouTube video with the 19-year-old, Asian-American pianist Magdelena Ho in her contest-winning performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 at the Clara Haskil Competition in Switzerland. She looks to have a promising future.
The winners came all continents — Asian, Africa, North America, South America and Europe.
And the competitions were held in many different places and focused on many different kinds or genres of classical music: violin, viola, cello, double bass and guitar; piano; saxophone;mharp; percussion and drums; chamber music and symphonic music; conducting; singing; and early music.
At the bottom is a vibrant performance of a familiar Bach suite by Canadian cellist Luka Coetzee who won Finland’s Paulo Competition and also took first prize at the Pablo Casals Competition on 2022.
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Classical music: The Madison Symphony Orchestra’s FREE Christmas Carol Sing is this Saturday morning at 11 a.m. in Overture Hall. Plus, FREE UW Wind Ensemble concert, featuring a world premiere, is this Friday night.
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By Jacob Stockinger
FREE MADISON SYMPHONY CAROL SING
The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) invites the entire community to a sing-along with the Overture Concert Organ (below) at a FREE Christmas Carol Sing in Overture Hall, 201 State Street, on this coming Saturday, Dec. 6, at 11 a.m. (A sample, with “Adeste Fideles” or “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” at Westminster Abbey in England is at the bottom in a YouTube video.)
All ages are welcome and the event is FREE. No registration or tickets are required.
MSO Principal Organist and Curator Samuel Hutchison (below, in a photo by Joe DeMaio) will lead the carol singing, which will last approximately 45 minutes.
For more holiday singing, come 45 minutes early to each performance of A Madison Symphony Christmas concert to hear the Madison Symphony Chorus sing Christmas carols in the festively-lit lobby of the Overture Center.
Here is a link to more information about the concert:
Those concerts are on Friday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 6, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 7, at 2:30 p.m. in Overture Hall and tickets can be purchased at www.madisonsymphony.org/singletickets and through the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street or by calling the Box Office at (608) 258-4141.
With a gift from the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation, the Madison Symphony Orchestra commissioned the Overture Concert Organ, which is the stunning backdrop of all MSO concerts.
MSO Principal Organist Samuel Hutchison programs and curates the instrument that was custom-built by Klais Organ Works in Bonn, Germany.
In addition to the Free Farmers’ Market Concerts, the instrument is featured in the annual MSO Christmas concert, along with several Free Community Hymn Sings and a Christmas Carol Sing.
See details for all organ performances at www.madisonsymphony.org/organperformances.
Support for all Overture Concert Organ programs is provided by the Diane Endres Ballweg Fund. For more information, please contact the MSO at (608) 257-3734 or email info@madisonsymphony.org.
UW-MADISON WIND ENSEMBLE
This Friday night, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music and the UW Wind Ensemble (below) will present “The Wisconsin Idea and a Premiere” with faculty soloists UW-Madison bassoonist Marc Vallon and UW-Madison baritone Paul Rowe.
The UW Wind Ensemble continues its tradition of “Wisconsin Idea” performances when it shares the stage with the Oconomowoc (Wisconsin) High School Wind Symphony (below), Michael Krofta, conductor.
The UW Wind Ensemble will give the premiere performance of “A Dialogue with Self and Soul,” a concerto commissioned by the UW-Madison from composer and conductor James Stephenson (below).
Basoonist Marc Vallon (below top, in photo by James Gill) and baritone Paul Rowe (below bottom, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) will be faculty soloists.
![Marc Vallon 2011 James Gill (baroque & modern)[2]](https://welltempered.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/marc-vallon-2011-james-gill-baroque-modern2.jpg)
Closing the program will be a sneak peek of the March 2015 Carnegie Hall performance and Wisconsin premiere of “The Frozen Cathedral” by John Mackey. Also included is Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral by Richard Wagner/Cailliet.
This concert will be streamed live on the Internet! Please check this link and sign up for a reminder preceding the concert.
Here is a link:
https://new.livestream.com/accounts/1969065/UWWEwOconomowocHS
The ensemble’s director is Scott Teeple (below).
The Wind Ensemble is the premier wind and percussion ensemble at the UW-Madison School of Music. Repertoire varies from classical wind compositions to contemporary works. The Wind Ensemble actively commissions new works from world-renowned composers, often performing with internationally acclaimed soloists and guest conductors.
Tags: Adeste Fideles, Arts, baritone, Bassoon, Bonn, cathedral, choral music, chorus, Christmas, Classical music, commission, Germany, hymn, Jacob Stockinger, James Stephenson, Klais, Klais Orgelbau, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music, O Come All Ye Faithful, Oconomowoc, Orchestra, organ, Overture Center, Richard Wagner, sing-along, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, wind ensemble, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Idea, YouTube
Classical music: The Madison Symphony Orchestra presents this summer’s last FREE organ concert for the downtown Dane County Farmers’ Market at 11 a.m. this coming Saturday.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) will host the last of three FREE summer performances on the Overture Concert Organ, this time featuring guest organist Donald VerKuilen, during the Dane County Farmers’ Market (below) on this coming Saturday, Aug. 9, at 11 a.m. in Overture Hall, 201 State Street.
No tickets or reservations are needed for this 45-minute concert.
A Wisconsin native and current Oberlin College organ performance major, Donald VerKuilen (below) makes his Overture Hall debut in an exciting program. (You can hear VerKuilen performing “Variations on ‘In Dulci Jubilo’ in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
The music includes the Fantasie in D-flat Major, by Camille Saint-Saëns (below top), the Allegro Vivace for Organ Symphony No. 5 by Charles-Marie Widor (below middle, at the organ in the church of St. Sulpice in Paris circa 1900) and the Suite for organ by Malcolm Archer (below bottom).
VerKuilen recently returned from a concert tour of French organs, and is certain to bring the same magic to the colossal Klais organ, custom-built by Klais-Orgelbau of Bonn, Germany, in Overture Hall.
The Madison Symphony Orchestra and Overture Center for the Arts present the Farmers’ Market Concert Series in partnership with 77 Square.
The Free Farmers’ Market Concerts are sponsored by Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation. Support for all Overture Concert Organ programs is provided by the Diane Endres Ballweg Fund.
To see the Overture Concert Organ series of concerts for 2014-15 or to subscribe at a 25 percent savings, visit: www. madisonsymphony.org/organseason14-15
Tags: Arts, Bonn, Camille Saint-Saëns, Charles-Marie Widor, Classical music, Dane County Farmers' Market, French music, Jacob Stockinger, Klais, Klais Orgelbau, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Malcolm Archer, Oberlin College, organ, Overture Center, Overture Concert Organ, Paris, YouTube
Classical music: This Saturday morning is the second of this summer’s three FREE Dane County Farmers’ Market organ concerts at 11 a.m. in Overture Hall by the Madison Symphony Orchestra. It marks the Madison debut of guest organist Ahreum Han. Plus, tonight at 7 p.m. violinist and concertmaster Suzanne Beia solos in classical repertoire in the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra’s FREE Concert on the Square.
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ALERT: Here is a reminder that tonight, Wednesday, July 16, at 7 p.m., the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra under conductor Andrew Sewell will perform the most classical Concert on the Square of this summer season. For the program “A Little Night Music,” the guest soloist will be WCO Concertmaster violinist Suzanne Beia (below), an accomplished and always busy musician who also plays in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Pro Arte Quartet.
The concert is on the King Street corner of the Capitol Square, and blankets may be placed on the lawn at 3 p.m.. It is road construction season, so remember to allow plenty of time for travel. It will be cooler than normal too, so bring something warm as to wear as the sun sets.
Click here for Suzanne Beia’s biography:
http://wcoconcerts.org/about-wco/musicians/suzanne-beia-concertmaster/
The program includes: The first movement from “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; the first movement from the Violin Concerto in E Minor by Felix Mendelssohn; the first movement from the Symphony No. 6 “Pastorale” by Ludwig van Beethoven; and the third movement from the Symphony No. 6 “Pathetique” by Peter Tchaikovsky.
By Jacob Stockinger
This won’t take long.
The Ear just wants to remind you about a FREE 45-minute organ concert by prize-winning Korean-American organist Ahreum Han (below), a graduate of the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, that will take place this Saturday, July 19, at 11 a.m. in Overture Hall at Overture Center for the Arts.
Here is the press release:
“Step into the cool expanse of Overture Hall on Saturday, July 19, during the Dane County Farmers’ Market (below top) on the Capitol Square to enjoy the gift of beautiful music with the Madison Symphony Orchestra‘s Overture Concert Organ (below bottom) that was custom-built by Klais Organ Works in Bonn, Germany.
“Bring your family and friends for a relaxing 45-minute concert. No tickets or reservations are needed and all ages are welcome!”
Here is more information and a detailed program from the MSO website:
THE PROGRAM
Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), transcribed by Ahreum Han, “Overture to Orphée aux enfers” (Orpheus in the Underworld); Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Sinfonia from Cantata 29; Johannes Matthias Michel (b.1962), Three Jazz Preludes, I. Swing Five (Erhalt uns, Herr); II. Bossa Nova (Wunderbarer König); III. Afro-Cuban (In dir ist Freude); Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) “My Heart at Thy Sweet Voice” from “Samson and Delilah”; Louis Vierne (1870-1937), Naïdes from Fantasy Pieces, Op. 55, No. 4, and the Finale from his Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 59.
The program and artist subject to change.
For a full and very impressive biography of Han, who now lives and works in Davenport, Iowa, here is a link to the MSO website:
http://www.madisonsymphony.org/farmershan
And here is a YouTube video of Ahreum Han performing another work, the opening of Organ Symphony No. 3 by Louis Vierne, at the Curtis Institute of Music:
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Classical Music: Here is Part 3 of The Ear’s holiday gift-giving guide, featuring NPR’s “Top 10 Classical Albums of 2012.” Plus, how will you celebrate Beethoven’s birthday today?
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ALERT: Be sure to listen to some Beethoven (below) today. Because Dec. 16 is Ludwig van‘s 242nd birthday (born Dec. 16, 1770 in Bonn – died March 26, 1827 in Vienna).
By Jacob Stockinger
As in past years, and two weekends ago, The Ear will again be offering some holiday gift-giving ideas for classical music fans.
Of course, every year I recommend package gifts – gifts that combine a recording or video with a book or, best of all, a ticket to a live concert.
Two weekends ago, I offered the Classical Nominations for the 2013 Grammys. Here are links to the two postings:
One of my most trusted sources for sound judgment, when it comes to outstanding classical music, is NPR’s outstanding blog “Deceptive Cadence” and its exceptionally well-informed writers Tom Huizenga (below) and Anastasia Tsioulcas.
That blog publishes its list of the best classical recording halfway through the year, and then again an expanded version at year’s end. As usual, it provides a fine of established artists and well-known artists; vocalists and instrumentalists; established repertoire and contemporary music; big labels and small labels; large groups, small ensembles and individual performers..
Below is a link to the NPR list for this past year. Be sure to read comments and other suggestion for Best of 2012 by readers and followers of the NPR blog.
You will notice that the pianist Jeremy Denk made the NPR post for his Nonesuch debut recording (below) of some fiendishly difficult etudes by Gyorgy Ligeti combined with Beethoven’s epic last piano sonata, Op. 111 in C Minor.
Denk will perform in Madison on April 22 at 8 p.m. in Mills Halls, at the University of Wisconsin School of Music while the historic Wisconsin Union Theater is closed for renovations. A ticket to that concert, which is tentatively scheduled to have program of half-Brahms and half-Liszt, would be a welcome gift.
But you can find other connections — cellist Alisa Weilerstein (below) has performed several times in Madison — to make with local live concerts by orchestras, chamber music ensembles, soloists and opera companies.
Here is NPR’s “Top 10 Classical Albums of 2012,” which comes complete with CD covers and audio samples:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/bestmusic2012/2012/12/04/166505256/top-10-classical-albums-of-2012
Have fun figuring out ways to bring about synergy and make your classical music gift even more rewarding and expansive!
In the COMMENTS part, tell me what you think of NPR’s suggestions.
And leave your own gift-giving suggestions!
The Ear wants to hear.
Classical music news: How did deafness affect the way that Beethoven composed?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Did Beethoven’s deafness shape his music? In a new study some experts say yes.
What caused his deafness and what kind of hearing impairment was it?
And how do you think deafness changed Beethoven (below) as an artist?
Check out if you are right. (And look below at the various ear trumpets, on display at the Beethoven House in Bonn, Germany, that the deaf composer used.)
Here is where you can find what the experts think.
But be sure to pursue a lot of the links in the stories to read the study and see some specific examples, including the late Symphony No. 8 and the String Quartet, Op. 130 (the famous Cavatina movement from that quartet is at the bottom):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16283109
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/25/beethoven-deafness-music_n_1163636.html
And to read the full text of the study, visit this site:
http://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d7589?tab=full
Tags: Beethoven House, BMJ, Bonn, Germany, Hearing impairment, Inner ear, Ludwig van Beethoven, String quartet
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