The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: This year’s LunART Festival in late June has been canceled and indefinitely postponed. Here are tastes of what is to come in new music commissions
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement to post from flutist Iva Ugrcic, the founder and executive director of the national award-winning LunART Festival (below), originally slated to take place in late June in various venues around Madison.
The event promotes and advocates for women in the arts including local artists and guest artists in music, poetry, dance, visual art and stand-up comedy. (You can see aerial choreography from last year’s festival in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Each year, the annual event also issues an international call for women composers to submit new works to be premiered during the festival.
“Like many others, we have been closely monitoring the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the world,” says Ugrcic (below), a doctoral graduate of the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
“In order to protect the wellbeing of our guests, artists and team members, we have made the heartbreaking but necessary decision to postpone LunART Festival 2020 until further notice.” (Below is a past performance at the First Unitarian Society of Madison.)
“Once we establish a timeline to resume our celebration, you will be the first to know. In the meantime, our incredible third season is already being planned. It will feature works by over 40 women artists and composers from across the globe.
“These are exceptionally difficult times, but this too will pass, and we will all emerge from this more united than ever. Stay safe and healthy. We cannot wait to share the love and joy of the arts with you in person again. (Below is the festival in Promenade Hall of the Overture Center.)
“Warmest regards,
“The LunART Team” (Yana Avedyan, Leslie Damaso, Satoko Hayami, Allison Jerzak, Marie Pauls and Iva Ugrcic)
Ugrcic also provided additional information:
“I am still hoping that we would be able to hold the festival this summer. However, it is really hard to say right now.
“In the meantime, I have been in contact with all four of our Call for Scores winners: Alexis Bacon (USA, below top), Patricia Lopes (Brazil), Nicole Murphy (Australia) and Rosita Piritore (Italy, below bottom).
“We are finding ways to still promote their music and excite our audience about what they are going to hear and who they are going to meet when we get back together. So here are links to YouTube and some of the interviews we did with them:
- Patricia Lopes (below): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAaZfD0Licc
- Nicole Murphy (below): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoT4hg9hQSo
Tags: #AlexisBacon, #AllisonJerzak, #ArtisticDirector, #AustralianComposer, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrazilianComposer, #CallforScores, #ChamberMusic, #COVID-19, #DanceMovement, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FeministArt, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #italianComposer, #IvaUgrcic, #JacobStockinger, #LastYear, #LauraMedisky, #LeslieDamaso, #LunARTFestival, #MariePauls, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #NewMusic, #NicoleMurphy, #OvertureCenter, #PatriciaLopes, #PromenadeHall, #RositaPiritore, #SatokoHayami, #TeamMembers, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VisualArt, #WomenArtists, #WomenComposers, #WorldPremiere, #YanaAvedyan, #YouTubevideo, 2020, additional, advocate, aerial, Alexis Bacon, Allison Jerzak, announcement, annual, Artistic director, artists, Arts, audience, Australia, award, award-winning, blog, Brazil, Call for Scores, cancellation, celebration, Chamber music, choreography, Classical music, comedy, composer, Concert, coronavirus, dance, decision, difficult, establish, event, exceptional, excite, Facebook, feminist, festival, first, First Unitarian Society of Madison, flute, flutist, forward, founder, further, globe, guests, healthy, hear, heartbreaking, hope, impact, incredible, indefinite, information, international, interview, Italy, Iva Ugrcic, Jacob Stockinger, Joy, June, know, last year, Laura Medisky, Leslie Damaso, like, link, Love, LunART Festival, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marie Pauls, Mead Witter School of Music, meantime, meet, member, monitor, Music, national, necessary, New Music, Nicole Murphy, notice, now, Oboe, oboist, origin, originally, Overture Center, Overture Center for the Arts, pandemic, Patricia Lopes, performance, performer, person, Piano, plan, Poetry, post, posting, postpone, postponement, premiere, Promenade Hall, promote, reader, resume, Rosita Piritore, safe, Satoko Hayami, Season, share, Sonata, stand-up, submit, subscriber, summer, tag, team, team members, The Ear, third, Timeline, times, together, U.S., united, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, UW, UW-Madison, various, venue, Viola, Violin, visual art, wait, well-being, wellbeing, what, who, win, Wisconsin, women, women artists, women composers, works, world, world premiere, Yana Avedyan, year, YouTube
Classical music: Here is the corrected program for the Oakwood Chamber Players, who open the new year with music by Mozart and Stravinsky plus new music by living composers this Saturday night and Sunday afternoon
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
CORRECTION: By mistake, The Ear earlier posted the wrong program for the Oakwood Chamber Players this weekend. Here is the correct information. The Ear apologizes for the error and any inconvenience.
By Jacob Stockinger
The first concerts for the new year by the Oakwood Chamber Players (below) will be take place this Saturday night, Jan. 11, at 7 p.m., and Sunday afternoon, Jan. 12, at 2 p.m., at the Oakwood Village University Woods Center for Arts and Education at 6209 Mineral Point Road in Madison, on Madison far west side near West Towne Mall.
The program begins with a witty opener, “L’Heure de Berger” by French composer Jean Francaix (below) for woodwind quintet and piano. The piece’s three movements cleverly depict the quirky personalities of patrons observed at a Parisian restaurant.
“Y Deryn Pur” for oboe, violin, viola and cello — by the award-winning British composer Cecilia McDonald (below) is based on an expressive Welsh folk tune, “The Gentle Dove.”
Written early in his career, Russian composer Igor Stravinsky’s “Pastorale” is a soothing song without words for a mixed quintet of winds and strings. It is a delicate piece originally written for voice and piano, then re-orchestrated for the sustained sonorities of a chamber ensemble.
“Silver Dagger” is a plaintive tale told through a traditional Appalachian folk song and re-envisioned emotionally and dramatically for violin, cello and piano by American composer Stacy Garrop (below).
The “Suite Belle Epoque in Sud-America” was written for the Berlin Woodwind Quintet by Brazilian composer and conductor Julio Medaglia (below). It bursts with vitality and expressive melodies while celebrating a variety of South American musical styles. (You can hear his suite in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The perennial simplicity, beauty and warmth of Mozart are showcased in his “Adagio in F,” performed by bassoon and string trio.
The program concludes with “Ralph’s Old Records” by Kenji Bunch (below) – a fresh and humorous composition for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello and piano that takes listeners through a series of brief movements inspired by an old family record collection.
Tickets are available at the door and are priced at $25 for adults, $20 for seniors, and $5 for students, or at www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com
The Oakwood Chamber Players are a professional music ensemble supported by Oakwood Lutheran Senior Ministries and the Oakwood Foundation
Tags: #BrazilianComposer, #BritishComposer, #CeciliaMcDonald, #ChamberMusic, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FolkMusic, #Frenchcomposer, #IgorStravinsky, #JacobStockinger, #JeanFrancaix, #JulioMedaglia, #KenjiBunch, #LivingComposers, #NewMusic, #NewYear, #OakwoodChamberPlayers, #OakwoodVillage, #RussianComposer, #SaturdayNight, #SouthAmerica, #SouthAmerican, #StacyGarrop, #StringTrio, #Sundayafternoon, #TheEar, #TheGentleDove, #VocalMusic, #WelshMusic, #WestTowneMall, #WindQuintet, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, Appalachian, Arts, blog, Brazil, Brazilian, British, career, Cecilia McDonald, Cello, Chamber music, clarinet, clever, composer, Concert, conductor, correction, dagger, depict, dove, drama, dramatic, Education, emotion, emotional, error, Facebook, Family, flute, folk song, folksong, forward, France, French composer, gentle, Humor, Igor Stravinsky, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Francaix, Julio Medaglia, Kenji Bunch, like, link, living composers, Madison, melody, movement, Mozart, New Music, New Year, Oakwood Chamber Players, Oakwood Village, Oboe, orchestration, Paris, Parisian, Pastorale, performer, Pianist, Piano, piece, post, posting, program, quintet, records, restaurant, Russia, Saturday night, share, silver, simplicity, song, sonority, South America, South American, Stacy Garrop, string trio, strings, Sunday afternoon, tag, The Ear, The Gentle Dove, trio, tune, university, Viola, Violin, vocal music, voice, warmth, Welsh, West Towne Mall, Wind, wit, witty, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, woodwind
Classical music: Soprano Sarah Brailey and nine UW-Madison cellists team up for the FREE concert of songs at Grace Presents this Saturday at noon
1 Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
This Saturday, Sept. 21, at noon, a FREE one-hour program in the Grace Presents series will feature soprano Sarah Brailey (below) in “My Loyal Heart,” a recital of songs by Arvo Pärt, John Tavener, Guillaume de Machaut, Dmitri Shostakovich and Heitor Villa-Lobos.
The concert is at Grace Episcopal Church (below), located downtown on the Capitol Square at 116 West Washington Avenue.
Brailey is an acclaimed professional singer who often tours and who is doing graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
Brailey will be joined by friends and colleagues. They include UW baritone Paul Rowe and members of the UW Madison Cello Ensemble, featuring nine local Madison cellists who include Grace Presents program coordinator James Waldo. (Below is a summer cello choir at the UW-Madison from several years ago.)
The works will be sung in Russian, Portuguese, and both modern and medieval French.
Here is an introduction from Waldo:
“It is often said that the cello is the instrument most like the human voice.
“My Loyal Heart,” devotes an entire program to music for soprano Sarah Brailey and cello from the 14th century to the 20th century.
“It opens with Arvo Pärt’s L’abbé Agathon about the legend of Father Agathon from the 4th century book “The Desert Fathers,” followed by a new arrangement by Brailey for soprano and cello trio of Guillaume de Machaut’s elegant love song Se quanque amours puet donner.
“This intimately ardent piece is followed by a more tragic love story, that of Shakespeare’s Ophelia, in the opening movement of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok.
“The program continues in Russian with Sir John Tavener’s powerful and darkly spiritual Akhmatova Songs with poetry by Russian-Soviet Modernist poet, Anna Akhmatova.
“The concert concludes with the hauntingly beautiful and famous first movement and the playful concluding dance of Bachianas Brasileiras (Brazilian Bach Suites) No.5 for soprano and eight cellos by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. (You can hear the Villa-Lobos aria in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
“Text and translations will be provided.
“This program will not be performed anywhere else in Madison.”
Tags: #AlexanderBlok, #AnnaAkhmatova, #ArvoPärt, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrazilianComposer, #CapitolSquare, #CelloChoir, #ChristianChurch, #DesertFathers, #DmitriShostakovich, #EnglishLanguage, #EnglishLiterature, #EnglishTranslation, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FatherAgathon, #FrenchLanguage, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #GracePresents, #GraduateStudent, #GuillaumedeMachaut, #HeitorVilla-Lobos, #James Waldo, #JamesWaldo, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnTavener, #JohnTaverner, #LoveSong, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MedievalFrench, #ModernFrench, #PaulRowe, #PortugueseLanguage, #ProfessionalMusician, #RussianLanguage, #RussianLitertaure, #SarahBrailey, #SopranoSinger, #SovietMusic, #SovietUnion, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #WilliamShakespeare, #YouTubevideo, Alexander Blok, Anna Akhmatova, Arvo Part, Bach, baritone, blog, Book, Brazil, Brazilian, Capitol Square, cellist, Cello, cello choir, Choir, Christian, Christian church, church, classicalmusic, colleagues, Concert, coordinator, dark, desert, Dmitri Shostakovich, downtown, drama, elegant, England, English, Facebook, father, Father Agathon, France, free, French, French language, friends, Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Presents, graduate student, Guillaume de Machaut, Hamlet, heart, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Tavener, John Taverner, language, local, love song, loyal, Madison, Mead Witter School of Music, modern, modernist, Music, Ophelia, Paul Rowe, poem, Poetry, Portuguese, post, posting, professional, program, recital, Religion and Spirituality, Romance, Russia, Russian, Sarah Brailey, series, Shakespeare, Shostakovich, singer, soprano, Soviet, spiritual, Suite, summer, text, tour, tragedy, translation, trio, University of Wisconsin–Madison, USSR, UW-Madison, Villa-Lobos, years, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | welltemperedear on A jazz-pop composer is the new… |
 | David Spies on A jazz-pop composer is the new… |
| welltemperedear on A jazz-pop composer is the new… |
 | Kathy O on A jazz-pop composer is the new… |
 | Ann Boyer on A jazz-pop composer is the new… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: Meet Mariana Farah, the new choral director at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Following a national search, Mariana Farah (below) has been chosen to succeed Beverly Taylor as the new director of choral activities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
Due to prior commitments, Farah cannot start her duties until the fall of 2021. But the delay is understandable given that the coronavirus pandemic continues and group singing remains a particularly hazardous or high-risk activity during the public health crisis. (See her comments about choral singing during Covid-19 in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
(In case you are wondering, Taylor, who retired from the UW-Madison last spring, will continue as director of the Madison Symphony Chorus. One wonders if she will still have a chance to do performances of the requiems by Verdi and Dvorak, both of which were canceled due to Covid-19.)
At a time when more focus is being placed on diversity, the Brazilian-born Farah (below) seems an especially apt choice.
Here is the official UW press release about Farah’s appointment along with much biographical material:
“Mariana Farah is the Associate Director of Choral Activities at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, where she teaches courses in graduate choral literature and conducting, directs the university’s Concert Choir and Women’s Chorale (below bottom), and helps oversee all aspects of the choral program.
Born in Brazil, Farah received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas; her Master’s degree from the University of Iowa; and her Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Her choirs have successfully performed at the Missouri and Kansas Music Educators Association conventions and at the 2008 and 2018 Southwestern ACDA conferences.
Farah’s research focuses on Brazilian choral music, particularly the a cappella choral works of Ernani Aguiar (b. 1950, below). Her edition of Aguiar’s “Três Motetinos No. 2” has been published by Earthsongs, and she expects to introduce more of his music to the United States through performances, recordings, editions and future publications of his unknown choral literature.
In addition to her work at KU, Farah (below) maintains an active schedule as a clinician for festivals in Brazil and in the U.S., where she is often sought out for her expertise in Brazilian choral music.
Farah has presented at several conferences for the National Association for Music Education and the American Choral Directors Association.
Recent engagements include appearances as a conductor at the 2019 Northwest Kansas Music Educators Association High School Honor Choir; the 2018 Southwestern ACDA conference, 2016 and 2014 Kansas Music Educators Association Convention; Universidade de São Paulo-Ribeirão Preto; Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Universidade Estadual de Maringá; Festival de Música de Londrina; Adams State Honor Choir Festival; the 2015 Kantorei Summer Choral Institute, a residency with the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum; and the 2014 Idaho All-State Treble Choir.
Farah is the music director at First Presbyterian Church in Lawrence, Kansas, where she directs the Chancel Choir and oversees a thriving music program. She also serves as the interim 2019-20 conductor for the Wichita Chamber Chorale (below) and as a board member of the National Collegiate Choral Organization.
She has served as the president elect (2018-2020) and R&R Chair for Ethnic and Multicultural Perspectives (2014-2018) for the ACDA Southwestern Division.
As a singer, Farah performed with the Kansas City Te Deum Chamber Choir (2015-2018) and participated in their 2016 recording of Brahms’ “A German Requiem” (Centaur Records). The recording was recognized by The American Prize, naming Te Deum a semi-finalist for best Choral Performance (community division) for the 2019-20 contest.
Do you have an observation or words of welcome to say?
Please use the Comment section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Share this:
Like this:
Tags: #ACappella, #ACappellaMusic, #AGermanRequiem, #All-State, #AmericanChoralDirectorsAssociation, #AmericanPrize, #AntoninDvorak, #AssociateDirector, #BachelorofMusic, #BeverlyTaylor, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoardMember, #BrazilianComposer, #BrazilianMusic, #CentaurRecords, #ChamberChoir, #ChancelChoir, #ChoralDirector, #ChoralUnion, #ChoralWorks, #ChristianChurch, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #CulturalDiversity, #DoctorofMusicalArts, #ErnaniAguiar, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FirstPresbyterianChurch, #GiuseppeVerdi, #GraduateSchool, #Harvard-RadcliffeCollegiumMusicum, #HarvardUniversity, #JacobStockinger, #JohannesBrahms, #KansasCity, #KansasCityTeDeumChamberChoir, #LivingComposer, #MadisonSymphonyChorus, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarianaFarah, #Master'sDegree, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicDirector, #MusicEducation, #MusicEducators, #Musicfaculty, #NationalAssociationforMusicEducation, #NationalCollegiateChoralOrganization, #NewMusic, #PortugueseLanguage, #PressRelease, #RadcliffeCollege, #SaoPaulo, #TeDeum, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #UnitedStates, #UniversityofIowa, #UniversityofKansas-Lawrence, #UniversityofMissouri, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWConcertChoir, #VerdiRequiem, #VocalMusic, #WichitaChhmaberChorale, #WichitaKansas, #Women'sChorale, #WomenPerformers, #YouTubevideo, 2021, a cappella, A German Requiem, active, American Choral Directors Association, American Prize, Antonín Dvořák, APT, aspects, associate director, Bachelor of Music, best, Beverly Taylor, biography, blog, board member, born, Brahms, Brazil, Brazilian, Brazilian composer, Brazilian music, Centaur Records, chair, Chamber choir, chance, Chancel Choir, choice, Choir, choral, choral director, choral music, Choral Union, choral works, Chorale, chorus, church, Classical music, clinican, comment, community, composer, Concert, Concert Choir, Conducting, contest, convention, coronavirus, courses, cultural diversity, delay, direct, director, director]activities, directs, diversity, division, Doctor of Musical Arts, duties, Dvorak, Earthsongs, edition, educator, Ernani Aguiar, expertise, Facebook, fall, female, festival, First Presbyterian Church, Focus, forward, future, Giuseppe Verdi, Graduate School, group, Harvard University, Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, hazardous, high-risk, Idaho, Institute, introduce, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, Kansas, Kansas City, Kansas City Te Deum Chamber Choir, Lawrence, like, link, Living composer, Madison Symphony Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mariana Farah, masters degree, Mead Witter School of Music, motet, MSO, multicultural, Music, Music director, Music education, music educators, music faculty, national, National Association for Music Education, National Collegiate Choral Organization, new, New Music, next season, next year, nominated, northwest, observation, official, oversee, pandemic, performances, performers, perspective, Portuguese, post, posting, President-elect, press release, program, publication, publish, Publishing, Radcliffe College, recognize, recording, Requiem, research, retired, Sao Paulo, schedule, search, Season, semi-finalist, share, singer, Singing, southwestern, Spring, start, summer, tag, Te Deum, teach, The Ear, U.S., United States, university, University of Iowa, University of Kansas, University of Kansas-Lawrence, University of Missouri, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unknown, UW, UW Concert Choir, UW-Madison, Verdi, Verdi Requiem, vocal music, welcome, Wichita, Wichita Chamber Chorale, women, women's, Women's Chorale, words, YouTube