The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: The Oakwood Chamber Players perform music that depicts concepts and stories in two concerts this weekend
3 Comments
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.
ALERT: Today’s Noon Musicale at the First Unitarian Society of Madison has been canceled due to the performer being ill.
By Jacob Stockinger
This coming weekend, the Oakwood Chamber Players (below) continue their season theme of “Vignettes” with rarely performed compositions that depict concepts and stories.
The Oakwood Chamber Players members are: Marilyn Chohaney, flute; Nancy Mackenzie, clarinet; Amanda Szyczs, bassoon; Anne Aley, horn; and Maggie Townsend, cello. They will be joined by guest artists Elspeth Stalter-Clouse, violin; Ariel Garcia, viola; and Joseph Ross, piano.
The program includes works by British, French and American composers drawn from the 18th to the 21st century with styles ranging from light-hearted to deeply felt.
Performances will take place on Saturday night, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m. and on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 13, at 2 p.m. Both concerts will be held at the Oakwood Center for Arts and Education, 6209 Mineral Point Road, on Madison’s far west side near West Towne Mall.
Tickets can be purchased with cash, credit cards or personal checks at the door: $25 general admission, $20 seniors and $5 students. Visit www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com for more information.
German composer Theodor Kirchner (below) was celebrated for his deft handling of “character pieces.” He studied with Mendelssohn and was friends with Brahms and Schumann. All three admired his miniature musical gems that distilled compositional ideas.
Kirchner published many sets of character pieces depicting ideas and moods. His Character Pieces for Piano Trio, subtitled “Brightly Colored Leaves,” showcase his uniquely creative and expressive approach to music.
American composer Dana Wilson (below) wrote works for chamber ensembles and symphonies that have been performed internationally. A consortium of clarinetists from across the country commissioned Wilson to write AThousand Whirling Dreams in 2014.
This trio for clarinet, viola and piano provides the listener with the thrilling synergy of instruments playing sinuous melodies at high velocity contrasted with moments of hush and mystery.
British composer Thomas Dunhill (below) was a peer of Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams and studied with Charles Villiers Stanford. Dunhill was a strong proponent throughout his life of chamber music.
His Quintet for violin, cello, clarinet, horn and piano shows abundant personal artistry and melodic expression but it also resonates beautifully with the impressive influences that surrounded him during an important era in British music.
American composer Ferde Grofe (below) is best known today for his imaginative orchestral piece “Grand Canyon Suite.” However, he had a fulfilling and interesting musical life. He grew up in New York City, studied in Paris, became sought after as an arranger (including George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”) and jazz pianist, played viola with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and wrote for the film industry.
Table d’hôtel – Humoresque is written for the unusual combination of flute, violin and viola. Like a menu of French cuisine conjured up by its title, the piece delivers a palatable and charming musical confection. (You can hear “Table d’hôtel” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Also on the program are two brief contrasting works for flute, bassoon and piano. The first, Dialogue Sentimentale, by French composer Paul Lacombe (below top), shows the sweet and expressive melodic writing which his mentor Georges Bizet greatly admired. German-American composer Tim Jansa (below bottom) wrote Three Miniatures for flute, bassoon and piano that possess a serene energy expressing the composer’s concepts of evening.
The Oakwood Chamber Players are a group of Madison-area professional musicians who rehearse and perform at Oakwood Village.
The Oakwood Chamber Players are a professional music ensemble proudly supported by Oakwood Lutheran Senior Ministries and the Oakwood Foundation
Tags: #AmericanComposer, #BassoonMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BritishComposer, #BritishMusic, #CelloMusic, #ChamberMusic, #CharlesVilliersStanford, #ClarinetMusic, #CreditCard, #DanaWilson, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #FerdeGrofe, #FilmMusic, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #FluteMusic, #Frenchcomposer, #GeorgesBizet, #GermanComposer, #GermanMusic, #GustavHolst, #HornMusic, #JazzMusic, #JazzPianist, #JohannesBrahms, #LosAngelesCalifornia, #LosAngelesPhilharmonic, #LutheranChurch, #MovieMusic, #MovieScore, #MusicalStyle, #NewYorkCity, #NoonMusicale, #OakwoodCenter, #OakwoodCenterforArtsandEducation, #OakwoodChamberPlayers, #OakwoodVillage, #ParisFrance, #PianoTrio, #RalphVaughanWilliams, #RhapsodyinBlue, #RobertSchumann, #SeniorCitizen, #TheodorKirchner, #ThomasDunhill, #ViolaMusic, #WestTowneMall, afternoon, American, arranger, Arts, audience, Bassoon, Bizet, blog, Blog post, blog posting, Brahms, British, California, cash, Cello, Chamber music, Charles Villiers Stanford, check, church, clarinet, Classical music, color, composer, concept, country, creative, credit card, cuisine, Dana Wilson, dream, energy, era, expressive, Facebook, Ferde Grofe, film, First Unitarian Society of Madison, flute, forward, France, French, gem, George Gershwin, georgegershwin, Gustav Holst, Horn, Humoresque, hush, idea, instrument, international, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Johannes Brahms, leaves, like, link, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Lutheran, meiody, Mendelssohn, menu, miniature, mood, movie, musical, mystery, New York City, night, Noon Musicale, Oakwood Chamber Players, Oakwood Vilage, Paris, peer, performer, Pianist, Piano, Piano Trio, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Rhapsody in Blue, Saturday, Schumann, Season, senior, share, stories, story, Student, style, Sunday, synergy, tag, theme, Theodor Kirchner, Thomas Dunhill, ticket, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, velocity, Viola, Violin, West Town Mall, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: How did the modern symphony orchestra get arranged the way it is?
2 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
This weekend the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, seen from above) closes its season.
For information about the program, the performers, the performances and tickets, go to:
But while you are watching and listening, you might wonder: How did the modern orchestra get to be arranged the way it is?
And here is a concise explanation of that evolution:
http://www.wqxr.org/story/why-orchestra-seated-way-explanation
Enjoy!!
Tags: A German Requiem (Brahms), Arts, Brahms, Cello, Charles Villiers Stanford, choral music, Classical music, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music, Orchestra, organ, Overture Center, Requiem, symphony, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music
Classical music: Madison Symphony Orchestra closes its season with the German Requiem by Brahms and the American premiere of Charles Villiers Stanford’s 1921 Concert Piece for Organ and Orchestra
4 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
The Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, in a photo by Greg Anderson), led by music director John DeMain, will close out its current season this coming weekend.
For the season-closing concert, soprano Devon Guthrie and bass-baritone Timothy Jones will make their MSO debuts when they join the orchestra for Brahms’ A German Requiem.
The concert will open with the American premiere of Charles Villier Stanford’s Concert Piece for Organ and Orchestra featuring Nathan Laube (below top), who is returning to the MSO.
The finishing touch to the 2016-17 season happens in the second half of the concert, when more than 100 members of the Madison Symphony Chorus (below) take the stage with the orchestra and organ to perform Johannes Brahms’ A German Requiem.
Featured vocal soloists in the Brahms German Requiem are soprano Devon Guthrie (below top) and bass-baritone Timothy Jones (below bottom), who is familiar from multiple appearances with the Madison-based Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society.
The concerts in Overture Hall of the Overture Center, 201 State St., are on this Friday, May 5, at 7:30 p.m.; this Saturday, May 6, at 8 p.m.; and this Sunday, May 7, at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets are $16-$87. For more information, go to: http://www.madisonsymphony.org/brahms
Charles Villiers Stanford’s Concert Piece for Organ and Orchestra was completed on April 15, 1921. Stanford (below) is one of the leading figures in what is sometimes called the “Second English Musical Renaissance” — which was a movement in the late 19th century, led by British composers.
Stanford (below) believed in more conservative English contemporary music, rather than the music of Wagner, for example. He composed in all genres but had a great commitment to the organ.
His Concert Piece for Organ and Orchestra was never performed or published during his lifetime. This is the piece’s debut performance with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and the American premiere of the work.
Johannes Brahms’ A German Requiem was completed between 1857 and 1868. The word “Requiem” is Latin for “rest” or “repose” and in the Catholic faith the Requiem is the funeral Mass or Mass of the Dead. (You can hear the opening movement in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
While usually filled with “terrifying visions of the Last Judgment and pleas for intercession on behalf of the souls of the dead and the living,” Brahms however puts death in a different light. He took sections of the Bible that are religious, but not necessarily Christian, and tells a story of salvation for all.
Although upon its completion, Brahms (below) called this piece, “Ein deutsches Requiem, nach Worten der Heiligen Schrift” (which translates to; “A German Requiem, from Words of the Holy Scripture”), he was quoted saying that his piece should really be called “A ‘Human’ Requiem.” It is believed to be dedicated to Brahms’ mother, and his musical father and mentor, Robert Schumann.
One hour before each performance, Beverly Taylor (below), MSO assistant conductor and chorus director, as well as director of choral activities at the UW-Madison, will lead a 30-minute Prelude Discussion in Overture Hall to enhance concertgoers’ understanding and listening experience.
For more background on the music, visit the Program Notes by MSO trombonist and UW-Whitewater professor Michael Allsen (below) at: http://www.allsenmusic.com/NOTES/1617/8.May17.html
Groups of 15 or more can save 25% by calling the MSO office at (608) 257-3734. For more information visit, madisonsymphony.org/groups
Student rush tickets can be purchased in person on the day of the concert at the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street. Students must show a valid student ID and can receive up to two $12 or $15 tickets. More information is at: madisonsymphony.org/studentrush. Students can receive 20% savings on seats in select areas of the hall on advance ticket purchases.
Seniors age 62 and up receive 20% savings on advance and day-of-concert ticket purchases in select areas of the hall.
Discounted seats are subject to availability, and discounts may not be combined.
Find more information at madisonsymphony.org
Major funding for the May concerts is provided by: Kenneth A. Lattman Foundation, Inc., Larry and Jan Phelps, University Research Park, and BMO Wealth Management. Additional funding is provided by: WPS Health Solutions, Carla and Fernando Alvarado, and Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Tags: 19th century, A German Requiem (Brahms), American, Arts, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, background, baritone, bass, Bible, BMO, BMO Harris Bank, Brahms, British, Catholic, Cello, Charles Villiers Stanford, choral music, chorus, Christian, Classical music, composer, composers, concert piece, concerto, conductor, conservative, dead, Devon Guthrie, discount, discussion, English, faith, funding, funds, funeral, genre, German, human, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, Latin, Madison, Madison Symphony Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mass, Mother, movement, Music, Nathan Laube, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, Orchestra, organ, Overture Center, Prelude, premiere, professor, program notes, religious, Renaissance, Requiem, Richard Wagner, salvation, Schumann, Season, senior, soloist, soprano, State of Wisconsin, Student, symphony, Timothy Jones, Trombone, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Research Park, UW-Whitewater, video, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Wagner, wealth, weekend, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, YouTube
Classical music: This Tuesday night, the Overture Center hosts a choral concert by the Mansfield University Concert Choir and the Madison Youth Choirs under former Madisonian Peggy Dettwiler. Plus, the UW-Madison Pro Arte Quartet and soprano Elizabeth Hagedorn perform this afternoon, live and via streaming, at the Chazen Museum of Art.
1 Comment
ALERT: The UW-Madison‘s Pro Arte Quartet performs at the Chazen Museum of Art today at 12:30 p.m. The concert, which features soprano Elizabeth Hagedorn and includes works by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Ottorino Respighi and Ludwig van Beethoven, takes place in Brittingham Gallery 3 and is FREE to the public. You can also stream it live. Here is link:
http://www.chazen.wisc.edu/visit/events-calendar/event/sal-3-6-16/
By Jacob Stockinger
This Tuesday night, at 7:30 p.m. in Overture Hall at the Overture Center, there will be a choral concert by the Mansfield University Concert Choir (below) and the Madison Youth Choirs.
The two groups will perform under the direction of former Madisonian Peggy Dettwiler (below). For more information, visit her web site:
Composers include Johann Sebastian Bach, Charles Villiers Stanford, Olivier Messiaen, Benjamin Britten, Lily Boulanger and Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Tickets are $20 except for student rush tickets, which are $10 on the day of the performance.
For tickets and more information, including specific works on the program, go to:
http://madisonsymphony.org/mansfieldchoir
Here is some background:
The Mansfield University Concert Choir directed by Peggy Dettwiler has distinguished itself internationally by winning three gold medals at the World Choir Games in 2012 and the gold medal at the Robert Schumann International Choir Competition in Germany.
(You can hear the Mansfield Choir performing in Carnegie Hall in January, 2014 in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
The Mansfield Choir will be joined by the Madison Youth Choirs (below top), directed by Michael Ross (below bottom).
Madison Symphony Orchestra organist Samuel Hutchison (below) will accompany the choirs.
Tags: Arts, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Benjamin Britten, Carnegie Hall, Charles Villiers Stanford, Chazen Museum of Art, choral music, Classical music, Early music, Germany, Gold medal, harp, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Youth Choirs, Mansfield University, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Messiaen, Michael Ross, Music, Nadia Boulanger, Orchestra, organ, Peggy Dettwiler, Pro Arte Quartet, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Respighi, Robert Schumann, Samuel Hutchison, soprano, String quartet, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, Wisconsin, World Choir Games, YouTube
Classical music: The acclaimed Isthmus Vocal Ensemble performs its annual summer concerts this Friday night and Sunday afternoon.
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear’s friends at the critically acclaimed Isthmus Vocal Ensemble write:
When conductor Scott MacPherson convened some of Madison’s top singers in 2002, he had no way of knowing that the newly formed Isthmus Vocal Ensemble (below) would begin one of Madison’s most anticipated summer musical traditions.
Known as “Madison’s most temporary choir,” the ensemble – a semi-professional choir of approximately 60 singers – brings new life to over 500 years of choral music within a brief two-week rehearsal period.
This intense spirit of camaraderie produces a singular remarkable experience, year after year. (You can hear the Isthmus Vocal Ensemble sing the “Abendlied” (Evening Song) by Josef Rheinberger in 2012 in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
This summer, Madison-area audiences have two opportunities to hear the 2015 program.
The traditional Friday night concert takes place on at 7:30 p.m. on this Friday, July 31, at Christ Presbyterian Church (below), located at 944 East Gorham Street in downtown Madison.
The program will be repeated at 3 p.m. on Sunday, August 2, at Lutheran Church of the Living Christ (below), located at 110 North Gammon Road, on Madison’s far west side.
General admission tickets are available online at isthmusvocalensemble.org or at the door. Admission is $15 for adults; $10 for students and seniors.
The program, “Unconventional Images” is a tapestry of unexpected beauty, including works spanning from the 1500s up to brand new compositions, featuring a world premiere from composer Corey Rubin (below) entitled “The Snow Man.”
Director Scott MacPherson writes: “For these concerts, prepare your ears and mind to be led down an unconventional path, where you will ponder such images as the nativity, snow in the summer, sensual beauty, the desert, glory, mortality and divine renewal.”
Other featured works include “Three Nativity Carols” by the late Minnesota composer Stephen Paulus (below top); “Beati quorum via” and “Coelos ascendit hodie” by Charles Villiers Stanford; “Du bist aller Dinge schön” and “Fahet uns die Füchse” by Melchoir Franck; “Schaffe in mir Gott” by Johannes Brahms; the Gloria by Dominick Argento; and several newly composed pieces, including “Desert Rose” by Frank Wiley, as well as “I Sing to Use the Waiting” and “An Irish Blessing” by University of Wisconsin-Madison alumnus, Andrew Rindfleisch (below bottom).
The Isthmus Vocal Ensemble is led by Scott MacPherson (below), director of choral activities at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Its members include professional singers, choral directors, professors, lawyers, students and passionate advocates for the arts. The choir has performed by invitation at the North Central Conference of the American Choral Directors Association, commissioned several world premieres and released two professional CDs.
Tags: Andrew Rindfleisch, Arts, Brahms, Charles Villiers Stanford, choral music, Classical music, Compact Disc, Corey Rubin, Domenick Argento, Dominick Argento, Frank Wiley, Isthmus Vocal Ensemble, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, Josef Rheinberger, Kent State University, Lutheran, Madison, Melchior Franck, Minnesota, Music, Presbyterian, Scott MacPherson, Stephen Paulus, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: This afternoon is your last chance to hear pianist Christopher Taylor and the Madison Symphony Orchestra in rave-receiving performances of concertos by Bach and Liszt and the Symphony No. 7 by Anton Bruckner. Then this Tuesday night, organist Samuel Hutchison will continue the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Overture Concert Organ with a recital of Bach, Mozart, Widor and other composers.
Leave a Comment
ALERT: This afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in Overture Hall is your last chance to hear what may be the best concert of this season by the Madison Symphony Orchestra. The program features UW-Madison virtuoso pianist Christopher Taylor (below) in Keyboard Concerto No. 4 by J.S. Bach and Piano Concerto No. 1 by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt as well as a “landmark” performance of the Late Romantic Austrian composer Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7.
Here is a rave review by John W. Barker, the dean of Madison’s music critics who writes for Isthmus and for this blog:
By Jacob Stockinger
The Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Organist and Curator Samuel Hutchison will mark a decade of memorable performances on the Overture Concert Organ (below) in a recital on this coming Tuesday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m. in Overture Hall, 201 State Street.
The program will include music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Alexander Guilmant, Jehan Alain, Charles-Marie Widor and Charles Villiers Stanford. (You can hear one of the Bach works he will play — the Fantasy and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542, in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
For the specific works on the program and more information, go to:
http://www.madisonsymphony.org/hutchisonrecital
Hutchison (below) has presented many recitals in the U.S and in Europe in locations that include the Riverside Church, New York City; St. Paul’s Cathedral, London; and Notre Dame, St. Sulpice and St. Étienne-du-Mont, Paris.
He also performed the complete works of J.S. Bach – himself primarily an organist — in a series of 11 weekly recitals for the 300th anniversary of the composer’s birth in 1985.
General admission for the concert is $20 and tickets can be purchased at www.madisonsymphony.org/hutchisonrecital, the Overture Center Box Office or (608) 258-4141.
Student rush tickets are $10 day of show with a valid student ID see http://www.madisonsymphony.org/studentrush).
This concert is sponsored by Friends of the Overture Concert Organ.
For more Overture Concert Organ information, including recital, hymn sings and community visit http://www.madisonsymphony.org/organseason
Tags: Alexander Guilmant, Anton Bruckner, Arts, Austria, Bach, Baroque, Charles Villiers Stanford, Charles-Marie Widor, Christopher Taylor, church, Classical music, concerto, England, fantasy, France, fugue, Great Britain, Hungary, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, Jehan Alain, Johann Sebastian Bach, John W. Barker, Late Romantic, Late Romanticism, Liszt, London, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mozart, Music, New York City, Notre Dame, organ, Overture Center, Paris, Piano, Riverside Church, Romantic, Romanticism, Samuel Hutchison, St. Paul's Cathedral, symphony, UK, United Kingdom, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: On Saint Patrick’s Day, The Ear explores Irish classical music and classical music in Ireland -– who composed it, who played it and how important it has been.
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
Today is Saint Patrick’s Day.
There will be big, loud. colorful and music-filled parades (below top), complete with leprechauns, around the country and around the world wherever the Irish gather and celebrate their heritage. Even the Chicago River even turns green (below bottom).
And a lot of us who aren’t remotely Irish will nonetheless eat the traditional Saint Patrick’s Day dinner of corned beef and cabbage.
So The Ear asks: What about Irish classical music? And what about classical music in Ireland?
After all, the Irish seems a deeply musical culture. But there must be more to Irish music than Riverdance (below top), Celtic Woman, The Irish Tenors and The Chieftains (below bottom), don’t you think?
For all the immense popularity of Celtic music these days, for all the justly famous Irish literature by William Yeats, James Joyce, John Millington Synge, Brendan Behan, Samuel Beckett, Edna O’Brien, Roddy Doyle, Maeve Binchy and many others –- especially fiction, poetry and plays -– one never hears very much about Ireland and classical music.
(To be fair: The Ear does recall a memorable and rare performance a couple of seasons ago of a John Field piano concerto by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra under its longtime music director and conductor Andrew Sewell, who also happens to be an adventurous programmer.)
So today seems a fitting occasion to take a look both those issues.
Oh, there are some well-known composers.
In the 19th century John Field (below), who spent much of his career in Russia, is said to have invented the nocturne form that Frederic Chopin turned to and mastered and made famous. He also wrote quite a few piano concertos and a piano quintet.
Of course Irish singing and fiddling are justly famous. But how did it affect the classical music tradition.
These days the early 20th-century composer E.J. Moeran (below) seems to be undergoing something of a revival. He had strong Irish roots, but is technically an English composer if you look at his biography.
So who are the Irish classical composers – and their masterpieces – that we should know about?
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford seems to be one candidate.
What about Irish classical music performers? Perhaps the most well-known candidate today is the prize-winning and award-winning pianist John O’Conor, who, concertizing and teaching at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, has championed Irish piano music as well as the piano music by Ludwig van Beethoven and other standard classical composers?
And what about the role that some famous, non-Irish classical music composers and performers –- including George Frideric Handel, who premiered his oratorio “Messiah” in Dublin, the violinist Paganini and the pianist Franz Liszt -– played in the history of Irish culture?
Here are some links to help you explore the question of Irish classical music and classical music in Ireland.
http://classicalartsireland.com/archive-project/
http://basilwalsh.wordpress.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Irish_classical_musicians
And here are two sound samples to help celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day.
The first is the Irish Rhapsody No.1 by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford:
And the second sound sample is the lovely Nocturne No. 2 in C minor for solo piano by John Field as performed by John O’Conor:
HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY!
And the chances are good that some of you readers know more about Irish classical music and classical music in Ireland than The Ear does.
So be sure to leave what you know in the COMMENTS section along with links to websites, blogs and YouTube videos that will illuminate me and other readers.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Arts, Beethoven, Celtic, Celtic Woman, Chamber music, Charles Villiers Stanford, Chieftains, Chopin, Classical music, Culture of Ireland, Day Saint Patrick, Dublin, Edna O'Brien, Frédéric Chopin, George Frideric Handel, I, Ireland, Irish, Jacob Stockinger, James Joyce, John Field, John Millington Synge, John O'Conor, Ludwig van Beethoven, Maeve Binchy, Messiah, Music of Ireland, opera, Piano, Riverdance, Roddy Doyle, Royal Irish Academy of Music, Saint Patrick, Saint Patrick's Day, Samuel Beckett, The Chieftains, The Irish Tenors, William Butler Yeats, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, YouTube
Classical Music: Isthmus Vocal Ensemble performs a world premiere by Madison composer Jerry Hui plus music by Mendelssohn, Brahms and other composers Friday night and Sunday afternoon.
1 Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
Over the past decade, the annual concert by the Isthmus Vocal Ensemble (below, in a photo by Jim Pippitt) has become a mid-summer landmark in Madison’s rich classical music scene.
The group does amazing things, especially given that it pulls its annual summer program together in only about two weeks. Its conductor is University of Wisconsin School of Music alumnus Scott MacPherson (below), who flies into town and gets the group rehearsing difficult old and especially new music.
In that short two weeks, the group prepares and presents an interesting and unusual program that typically combines well-known masterpieces with unknown or neglected works as well as world premieres.
The concerts always garner critical acclaim as well as a devoted following, and the part-time even manages to record outstanding and unusual CDs, including a compilation of works by contemporary composer Andrew Rindfleisch and an eclectic, unusual holiday CD called “An Isthmus Christmas.”
For more about the group in general, visit: http://www.isthmusvocalensemble.org/
This year marks the 11th annual concert by the Isthmus Vocal Ensemble. The event is especially noteworthy because it is a send-off of sorts: It marks the end of the Andrew Taylor’s tenure as president of the group. (He is not singing this summer because of his upcoming career change, but says he hopes to return next summer to sing. You can say hi and thank him at the ticket table, which he will be manning at the two performances.)
Taylor (below), who for 20 years has headed the renowned Arts Administration program at the UW Business School – the first program is its kind in the country — is leaving in August to take up a tenure-track faculty post at American University, which wisely recruited him, in Washington, D.C. For three years in a row, Taylor was named on the national list of the “The 25 Most Powerful and Influential Leaders in the Non-Profit Arts World.”
How the UW-Madison let a teacher and researcher of this caliber and prominence get away is beyond me, but there it is – a subject of regret and a topic for another time.
A typical offering by the Isthmus Vocal Ensemble, this summer’s program spans five centuries of choral masterworks, and includes a world premiere by Madison local performer Jerry Hui), who is equally at home in early music (he founded and directs the ensemble Eliza’s Toyes) and contemporary music (he is a co-founder and co-director of NEW MUSE or New Music Everywhere).
For this concert, Hui, who just received his doctoral degree at the UW School of Music and composed and staged an Internet opera “Wired for Love” as his thesis, has sets poems by Wisconsin poet Lorine Niedecker (below in a photo by Bonnie Roub), an “Objectivist” poet who graduated from Beloit College and lived and worked in Fort Atkinson, to music.
The first performance is this Friday, Aug. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the resonant, cathedral-like acoustics of Luther Memorial Church (below), 1021 University Avenue in Madison, where the group promises the air conditioning will be working.
A repeat performance is on Sunday, Aug. 5, at 3 p.m. in the more intimate space of Covenant Presbyterian Church, 326 South Segoe Road, on Madison’s near west side.
General admission tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at the door, or online at:
http://www.isthmusvocalensemble.org/
Here is the impressively varied program, subject to change:
“Richte mich, Gott,” Op. 78, No. 2, by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847); “Parce mihi Domine,” by Cristóbal de Morales (c. 1500-1553); Three poems by Lorine Niedecker (world premiere), by Jerry Hui (b. 1981)’ “The Drowned Lovers” (1998, rev. 2009), by Judith Bingham (b. 1952); “The Bluebird”by Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924); “Der Abend” (Evening), Op. 62, No. 2, by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897); “Lux caelestis” (Heavenly Light) (2004/2011), by Timothy Kramer (b. 1959)
And for more specifics about the two upcoming performances of this summer’s concert, visit:
http://www.isthmusvocalensemble.org/concert.html
Recent Comments
 | Bill Lane on The new Apple Music Classical… |
 | Augustine on The new Apple Music Classical… |
 | samanthacrownoversbc… on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Ronnie on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 