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 start of selling single tickets — rather than season subscriptions, which have been on sale since the spring — is coming up.
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra starts selling them on this coming Monday, July 31, and the Madison Symphony Orchestra starts on Saturday, Aug. 19, both through the Overture Center box office (below), which will also start selling single tickets to Overture Presents events this Friday, July 28. The Madison Opera starts selling single tickets in September.
Do the Madison Symphony Orchestra and other arts presenters discriminate against single people when it comes to selling single or subscription tickets? And if they do, is it legal or illegal?
It may sound paradoxical, but the question is especially relevant because of demographics — specifically, the increasing number of single seniors and the growing trend among young people to stay single and marry later. And it certainly violates the principles of equity and equality. It also seems to violate good fiscal sense and the financial well-being of a business that is usually first-come, first served. Plus seating at a concert would seem a form of legally protected public accommodation.
A CASE STUDY
A veteran concert-goer and reader of this blog recalls the following incident from last spring:
“I spontaneously decided I might go to the Madison Symphony Orchestra concert with “Carmina Burana’ and Florence Price (Symphony No. 3).
“I went to the website and saw a seat, one of a pair, in the orchestra section of Overture that looked good for $98. Plus, there was a $15 service fee.
“But when I selected that, I was told by the computer that it wasn’t for sale because it would leave the seat next to it empty.
“In other words, the MSO is doing so well that they can reject somebody buying a single ticket because they want to save the two tickets for a couple. So I just decided fuck it.
“It left me feeling that if I couldn’t easily buy the seat I wanted, why bother. There were other less ideal seats available.”
And so a $103 seat was lost to MSO’s revenue.
IS THE OVERTURE CENTER RESPONSIBLE?
To be fair, it might not be only the Madison Symphony Orchestra that is guilty of the practice.
The Ear heard from another reader who said a theater group in the Overture Center did the same thing. The reader could not remember details.
So it makes one curious to know if other resident groups in Overture — the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Madison Opera, Forward Theater, Children’s Theater of Madison, the Madison Ballet, Kanopy Dance and Li Chiao Ping Dance — do the same thing.
If so, then perhaps it is a policy of the Overture Center’s box office and the algorithm that its computer uses for selling tickets.
But that just shifts the discrimination, not corrects or prevents it.
SINGLISM
The practice of discriminating against single people — which may not be illegal but certainly seems unethical — has even been given a name: singlism.
Singlism can be compared to racism, sexism and ageism, to discrimination based on religion and sexual orientation or gender identity. But single people are not legally protected classes under federal law and in many states.
I think Overture and all its resident groups receive public funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board, Dane Arts (formerly Dane County Arts Commission) and the Madison Arts Commission.
It seems logical, then, to The Ear that some investigation by the city, county and state — perhaps the various Offices of Equal Opportunity — is in order and that some correction should be implemented immediately, given the upcoming sale of single tickets to single persons. At the very least, political leaders and government lawyers should weigh in on the ethics and legality of the issue.
Have you ever experienced similar discrimination?
Are you aware of others who have?
What do you think of the practice of refusing to sell certain tickets to a single person?
ALERT: This week’s FREE Friday Noon Musicale, to be held from 12:15 to 1 p.m. at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Meeting House of the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, Trevor Stephenson — the founder and director of the Madison Bach Musicians — will play harpsichord music by Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel and Domenico Scarlatti.
He will perform on his own four-octave, crow-quilled 17th-century-style Flemish instrument and will talk about the well-tempered tuning of this instrument, the composers’ lives and the concert repertoire. Selections are from Bach’s “Well-Tempered Clavier,” Scarlatti’s Sonatas and Handel’s “Keyboard Suites.”
By Jacob Stockinger
Some groups perform more in tandem or as adjuncts to other groups than by themselves. This seems especially true of choruses.
But this weekend, the Madison Symphony Chorus, which normally performs with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, will have the spotlight to itself. (You can hear the chorus sing as part of the MSO’s Christmas concert in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Twice on the same day.
Here are the details:
On this Sunday, Feb. 28, at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., director Beverly Taylor and the Madison Symphony Chorus (below, in a photo by Greg Anderson) will present a “Memories” concert in Promenade Hall at the Overture Center for the Arts.
The concerts will feature an array of musical styles, including classical music selections from Johannes Brahms and contemporary American composer John Corigliano, a collection of Swedish, Norwegian, Scottish and Mexican ethnic tunes, traditional spirituals and gospel music, and nostalgic songs from the Tin Pan Alley era by Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, and Fats Waller.
Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) Principal Pianist Daniel Lyons will accompany much of the music.
Tickets are $20, and are available: at madisonsymphony.org/chorusconcert; at the Overture Box Office (201 State Street); or by calling (608) 258-4141.
Formed in 1927, the Madison Symphony Chorus gave its first public performance in 1928 and has performed regularly with the MSO ever since.
The Chorus was featured at the popular Madison Symphony Christmas concerts in December and will join the MSO April 29 and 30, and May 1 for Carmina Burana, the colossal modern oratorio based on medieval Latin songs by 20th-century German composer Carl Orff.
The Chorus is comprised of more than 125 volunteer and amateur musicians from all walks of life who enjoy combining their artistic talent. New members are always welcome.
Visit madisonsymphony.org/chorus for more information about the chorus and the program for this concert.
The Madison Symphony Orchestra has just announced its next season for 2015-16. It is the 90th season for the MSO, and marks the 22nd season of music director and conductor John DeMain’s tenure.
Here is the press release that The Ear received.
More news and comments from music director and conductor John DeMain, who will conduct seven of the eight concerts, will follow.
Concerts are in Overture Hall on Fridays at 7:30 p.m; Saturdays at 8 p.m.; and Sunday afternoons at 2:30 p.m.
Single tickets for the Season 2015-16 will range from $16 to $85. (They are currently $16 to $84.)
Subscriptions to five or more concerts in Season 2015-16 are on sale now at www. madisonsymphony.org or by calling the MSO office at (608) 257-3734. New subscribers can receive up to 50 percent off.
The incomparable pianist Emanuel Ax and the soul-stirring orchestral/choral music of “Carmina Burana” are just two of the exciting highlights of John DeMain (below, in a photo by Prasad) and the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s (MSO) 2015-2016 Season.
MSO Music Director DeMain said, “We want audiences to be moved with great classical music as we excite their imaginations, lift their spirits, and stir their emotions.”
Beginning with a September program that focuses on the highly talented musicians in the orchestra, DeMain will lead the audience through an exhilarating variety of themes and cultures throughout the season. France and Scotland are just two of the sound worlds the MSO will explore, while monumental works central to the repertoire, such as Orff’s Carmina Burana and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, will anchor the year.
A world-class roster of guest artists will also join the season’s performances, including pianist Emanuel Ax, violinist James Ehnes, cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio, violinist Alina Ibragimova, and pianist Garrick Ohlsson.
The MSO’s own Principal Clarinet Joseph Morris will play a pivotal role in the September concert also.
The immeasurable talent set to perform in Overture Hall ensures that the coming season is not to be missed!
(* below denote first-time performances for the MSO under Conductor John DeMain.)
Sept. 25, 26, 27, 2015: Tchaikovsky’s Fourth. John DeMain, Conductor. Joseph Morris, Clarinet (below)
The most popular of the four overtures Beethoven penned for his opera Fidelio, Leonore Overture No. 3 packs more than its share of heroic energy into 13 minutes.
Commissioned by the clarinetist and legendary bandleader Benny Goodman, Copland’s jazz-infused Clarinet Concertouses slapping basses and thwacking harp sounds to simulate a rhythm section.
Tchaikovsky’s monumentalSymphony No. 4unites blazing brass fanfares, dance-like passages, and aching melodies to explore ideas of fate, happiness, and longing.
Nicknamed “La Reine” because it was the favorite of French Queen Marie Antoinette, Haydn’s spirited Symphony No. 85 is one of six symphonies commissioned by the private concert society Les Concerts de la Loge Olympique in Paris.
Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy for violin and orchestra blends rustic folk tunes and tender themes to convey the stark Scottish landscape. Droning tones imitate bagpipes, while the violins mimic the sound of a country fiddle.
Written during World War II, Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dancesfeatures an extended saxophone solo, as well as quotes from Russian Orthodox chant and the Mass of the Dead. The piece was the composer’s final score, and he died believing that it would never be as popular as his earlier music.
Nov. 20, 21, 22, 2015: French Fantastique. John DeMain, Conductor. Sara Sant’Ambrogio, Cello (below bottom)
MAURICE RAVEL Valses Nobles et Sentimentales*
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS Cello Concerto No.1*
HECTOR BERLIOZ Symphonie Fantastique
Inspired by Schubert and originally written for piano, Ravel’s sensuous Valses Nobles et Sentimentalescombines the classical simplicity of the waltz with the colorful aural array of the sounds of all the instruments in the orchestra.
Saint-Saëns eschewed standard concerto form in his Cello Concerto No.1by interlinking the piece’s three movements into one continuous musical expanse, held together by the rich lyrical power of the cello.
Meant to depict the haunted hallucinations of an opium trip, Berlioz’s grand and imaginative Symphonie Fantastiqueis marked by an obsessive return to a striking theme symbolizing Berlioz’s beloved, Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson, who did not return his affections.
Dec. 4, 5, 6, 2015. A Madison Symphony Christmas. John DeMain (below top), Conductor. Emily Fons, Mezzo-soprano. David Govertsen, Bass-Baritone. Madison Symphony Chorus, Beverly Taylor, Director. Madison Youth Choirs (below middle), Michael Ross, Artistic Director. Mt. Zion Gospel Choir (below bottom), Tamera and Leotha Stanley, Directors.
John DeMain and the Madison Symphony Orchestra don their Santa hats for this signature Christmas celebration. This concert is filled with traditions, from caroling in the lobby with the Madison Symphony Chorus to vocal performances by hundreds of members of Madison’s musical community. Christmas classics are interwoven with enchanting new holiday music. The culminating sing-along is Madison’s unofficial start of the holiday season!
PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY “Romeo and Juliet” Fantasy Overture
MAURICE RAVEL “Daphnis and Chloe” Suite No. 2
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto
Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overturetells the story of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers through thunderous passages portraying the conflict between the Montagues and the Capulets and a rapturous love theme.
With music from a ballet premiered by the Ballet Russes in Paris in 1912, Ravel’s lush Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2 depicts lovers Daphnis and Chloe reuniting at daybreak, followed by a Bacchanalian dance.
Beethoven’s technically challengingViolin Concerto premiered in 1806. The composer’s only violin concerto, this work paved the way for the great 19th-century German violin concertos by Mendelssohn, Bruch, and Brahms.
Mar. 11, 12, 13, 2016. John DeMain, Conductor. Emanuel Ax (below top), Piano. Alisa Jordheim, Soprano (below bottom)
DMITRY KABALEVSKY Colas Breugnon Overture*
CÉSAR FRANCK Symphonic Variations*
RICHARD STRAUSS Burleske
GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 4
Composed in 1938 in Russia, Dmitry Kabalevsky’s dynamic Colas Breugnon Overturepreceded the opera glorifying a working man’s struggle against a corrupt aristocracy—an unsurprising theme in the time of Stalin.
Knit together by themes presented in the introduction, Franck’s tightly polished Symphonic Variationsfor piano and orchestra became better known after his death due to the efforts of the composer’s adoring students.
Richard Strauss wrote his showy and seductiveBurleskefor piano and orchestra at the age of 21. When the composer presented it as a thank-you gift to his mentor, Hans von Bülow, the prominent conductor and pianist pronounced the work “unplayable”!
Sometimes referred to as Mahler’s pastoral symphony, Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 is light, sunny, and childlike. The finale features a soprano singing a text based on folk poetry.
Apr. 1, 2, 3, 2016. John DeMain, Conductor. Garrick Ohlsson, Piano (below)
STEVEN STUCKY Symphony No. 1*
RICHARD STRAUSS Don Juan
JOHANNES BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 1
Described by the composer as “a single expanse of music that travels through a series of emotional landscapes”, Steven Stucky’s Symphony No. 1 is one of the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer’s most recent works.
Richard Strauss’ tone poemDon Juan recounts the life, and death, of the eponymous fictional character through brazenly virtuosic flair matched by tender romantic melodies.
Brahms’ first major orchestral work, Piano Concerto No. 1, casts the piano and orchestra as equal partners working together to develop musical ideas. Written in D minor, this piece captures the composer’s grief over his friend Robert Schumann’s breakdown and eventual death in a mental asylum.
Apr. 29, 30, May 1, 2016. John DeMain, Conductor. Jeni Houser, Soprano. Thomas Leighton, Tenor. Keith Phares, Baritone. Madison Symphony Chorus (below), Beverly Taylor, Director.
OTTORINO RESPIGHI Pines of Rome
CARL ORFF Carmina Burana
Respighi’s moving tone poemPines of Romeillustrates four distinct scenes through music, and features one of the most stunningly beautiful melodies of the classical repertoire.
The epitome of “epic” music, CarlOrff’s spellbinding cantata Carmina Burana unites chorus and orchestra with rhythmic velocity and evocative lyrics. John DeMain calls it a “soul-stirring experience you’ll never forget” and “one of classical music’s most popular treasures.”
The Madison Symphony Orchestra starts its 90th season with the 2015-16 concerts. The MSO engages audiences of all ages and backgrounds in live classical music through a full season of concerts with established and emerging soloists of international renown, an organ series that includes free concerts, and widely respected education and community engagement programs. Find more information at www.madisonsymphony.org.
Conductor Beverly Taylor (below, the choral director at the UW-Madison and assistant conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra) and the Madison Symphony Chorus invite SINGERS OF ALL LEVELS to sing Carl Orff’s famously dramatic and popular modern oratorio “Carmina Burana” (the well-known opening, based on Medieval songs and texts) is at the bottom in a YouTube video that has more than 10 million hits) at a community open sing on this April 16.
This is an opportunity for singers to have fun performing one of the most iconic works written for chorus; audiences have heard parts of it in many commercials over the years. (Below is a photo of composer Carl Orff.)
Anyone who has a little choral singing experience can come to the Wisconsin Studio (below, in a photo by Del Brown) at Overture Center for the Arts at 201 State Street on Tuesday, April 16 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
New voices are always welcome in the Madison Symphony Chorus, and the community open sings are an ideal time to see how it feels to sing with the chorus that performs with the Madison Symphony Orchestra in Overture Hall each season.