The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Need a break from holiday shopping or final exams? A FREE “Just Bach” midday concert TODAY marks Christmas. On Friday at noon a free concert features violin music of Mozart and Ravel.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Need a break from holiday shopping or final exams this week? Today’s post brings announcements of two short and appealing midday concerts:
TODAY
Just Bach is a new monthly series of hour-long concerts in Madison celebrating the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
The series continues with an end-of-semester performance at 1 p.m. TODAY, Wednesday, Dec. 12, at Luther Memorial Church, 1021 University Ave.
Admission is free with goodwill offerings accepted. Audience members are permitted to eat and drink during the performance.
Next semester’s dates are Jan. 23, Feb. 20, March 13, April 24 and May 29.
The orchestra of baroque period-instrument specialists will be led by concertmaster Kangwon Kim.
The goal of this series is to share the immense range of Bach’s vocal and instrumental repertoire with the Madison community at large. The period-instrument orchestra will bring the music to life in the manner and style that Bach (below) would have conceived.
The audience will be invited to sing along during the opening hymns and the closing cantata chorales.
Here is the complete program for today’s concert:
BWV 729: In dulci jubilo (Mark Brampton Smith, organ)
Chorale: Wie soll ich dich empfangen (How shall I embrace You?) from Part I of the Christmas Oratorio (All sing)
BWV 61: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (Now come, Savior of the Heathen)
Chorale: Ich will dich mit Fleiss bewahren (I will cherish you assiduously) from Part III of the Christmas Oratorio (All sing)
Aria from BWV 213: Schlafe, mein Liebster (Sleep, my beloved)
Chorale: Schaut hin, dort liegt im finstern Stall (Look there, there He lies in a dark stall) from Part II of the Christmas Oratorio (All sing)
Duet from BWV 110: Ehre sei Gott (Glory be to God)
SELECTIONS FROM PART IV OF BACH’S “CHRISTMAS ORATORIO”:
Recit and Chorale: Immanuel, o suesses Wort! (Emmanuel, oh sweet word!)
Aria: Floesst, mein Heiland, floesst dein Namen (My Saviour, Your name instills)
Recit and Chorale: Wohlan, dein Name soll allein (Well then, Your name alone)
Aria: Ich will nur dir zu Ehren leben (I will live only to honor You)
Chorale: Brich an, o schoenes Morgenlicht (Break forth, oh beautiful morning light) from Part II of the Christmas Oratorio (All sing). You can hear it in the YouTube video at the bottom, performed by the critically acclaimed Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir, sung to pictures of Bach’s own manuscript.
Singers are Sarah Brailey and Elisheva Pront, sopranos; Cheryl Bensman-Rowe, mezzo-soprano; Wesley Dunnagan, tenor; and UW-Madison Professor Paul Rowe, bass.
The orchestra includes: Kangwon Lee Kim (below) and Nathan Giglierano, violins; Marika Fischer Hoyt and Micah Behr, violas; James Waldo, cello; and Mark Brampton Smith, organ.
FRIDAY
This Friday, Dec. 14, from 12:15 to 1 p.m. the FREE Friday Noon Musicale at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, will features violinist Wendy Adams and pianist Ann Aschbacher.
The duo will perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Sonata No. 35, K. 526 – which you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom — and Maurice Ravel’s Violin Sonata No. 2
Here is some background:
The First Unitarian Society of Madison presents “Friday Noon Musicales,” a distinguished artist recital series now in its 31st season.
Talented area musicians play most every Friday, from October through May. Mostly classical music, but Broadway, jazz, folk and other styles are presented at times as well. Enjoy complimentary coffee, tea and live music.
Concerts are free and open to the public. No ticket is required. All performances 12:15–1 p.m. at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
Visit https://fusmadison.org/music for upcoming featured artists.
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Classical music: Holiday carols, gospel music and classical music mix at the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Christmas concerts this weekend — which will air later on Wisconsin Public Television for the first time
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By Jacob Stockinger
You have to hand it to the Madison Symphony Orchestra for embracing the community and putting on a memorable show.
When it comes to celebrating the holidays – and yes, the MSO does use the Christmas word – the MSO does so with a big variety of musical styles and a wide diversity of performers. That might explain why the concerts usually sell out year after year.
Beginning with caroling in the lobby before the concert to the sing-along finale, where music director and conductor John DeMain and the Madison Symphony Orchestra don their Santa hats (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers) and more, “A Madison Symphony Christmas” is a joyous time for all.
Christmas classics are interwoven with enchanting new holiday music featuring members of the Madison Symphony Chorus, the Madison Youth Choirs and the Mount Zion Gospel Choir as well as guests soloists soprano Cecilia Violetta Lopez and bass-baritone Kyle Ketelson.
This tradition marks the embrace and start of the holiday season for many people in Madison.
Performances of “A Madison Symphony Christmas”will be held in Overture Hall, 201 State Street, on Friday night, Nov. 30, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday night, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m.; and Sunday afternoon, Dec. 2, at 2:30 p.m. Ticket details are below.
In addition, 45 minutes before each concert, audiences are invited to share the spirit of the holiday season singing carols along with the Madison Symphony Chorus.
TV PREMIERE
For the first time, “A Madison Symphony Christmas”can be experienced again in December — airing on Wisconsin Public Television (NOT Wisconsin Public Radio as mistakenly listed in an earlier edition) on Monday, Dec. 17, at 8 p.m., and on Christmas Day, Tuesday, Dec. 25, at 9:30 p.m.
“Our annual Christmas concert has become a very meaningful experience for everyone involved — the choruses, orchestra musicians, singers and the audience,” says DeMain. “With the Mt. Zion Gospel Choir, Madison Youth Choirs, and Madison Symphony Chorus joining our internationally acclaimed opera singers, and climaxing with the entire audience participating in our Christmas carol sing-along — one cannot help but leave the Overture Hall with a feeling that the holiday season has begun. And hopefully, you will have a big glow in your heart.”
For more information and the full program, which includes the excerpt from Handel’s “Messiah” in the YouTube video at the bottom, go to: https://madisonsymphony.org/event/a-madison-symphony-christmas/
ABOUT THE SOLOISTS
Celebrated soprano Cecilia Violetta Lopez (below, in a photo by Devon Cass) has been named one of opera’s “25 Rising Stars” by Opera News.
Lopez has received accolades for her signature role of Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata, which she has performed countless times throughout North America.
Her debut of the role was with Martina Arroyo Foundation’s prestigious summer festival, Prelude to Performance. She has also performed the role with Opera Tampa, Opera Idaho, Ash Lawn Opera, and in her company debut with Virginia Opera. Lopez also recently made her European debut as Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale with Zomeropera in Belgium.
Based in the Madison suburb of Sun Prairie, bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen (below, in a photo by Lawrence Brownlee) is in frequent demand by the world’s leading opera companies and orchestras for his vibrant and handsome stage presence and his distinctive vocalism.
He has won first prize in several international vocal competitions, including those sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council, the Richard Tucker Music Foundation (Career Grant), the George London Foundation, the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation, the Sullivan Foundation, Opera Index, and the MacAllister Awards.
Highlights of Ketelsen’s recent seasons include performances at the Opernhaus Zurich, Staatsoper Berlin, Minnesota Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Canadian Opera Company and the Metropolitan Opera, as well as performances with the San Francisco Symphony, the National Symphony and performances at Carnegie Hall.
ABOUT THE MADISON SYMPHONY CHORUS
The Madison Symphony Chorus (below top, in a photo by Greg Anderson) gave its first public performance on February 23, 1928 and has performed regularly with the Madison Symphony Orchestra ever since. The Chorus is comprised of more than 150 volunteer musicians who come from all walks of life and enjoy combining their artistic talent under the direction of Beverly Taylor (below bottom), who directs the choral program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
ABOUT THE MADISON YOUTH CHOIRS
Recognized as an innovator in youth choral music education, Madison Youth Choirs (MYC) inspires enjoyment, learning and social development through the study and performance of high-quality and diverse choral literature. The oldest youth choir organization in Wisconsin, MYC serves more than 1,000 young people, ages 7-18, in a wide variety of choral programs. In addition to a public concert series, MYC conducts an annual spring tour of schools and retirement centers, performing for more than 7,000 students and senior citizens annually.
ABOUT THE MOUNT ZION GOSPEL CHOIR
Under the leadership of Leotha Stanley and his wife, Tamera Stanley, the Mount Zion Gospel Choir (below) has been a part of the MSO Christmas concerts since 2005. The choir is primarily comprised of members from Mount Zion Baptist Church and includes representatives from other churches as well. The choir has traveled extensively throughout the Midwest and has journeyed to Europe, singing in France and Germany.
The Symphony recommends concert attendees arrive early for each performance to make sure they have time to pass through Overture Center’s security stations.
The lobby opens 90 minutes prior to each concert.
More information about A Madison Symphony Christmasis found here: https://madisonsymphony.org/event/a-madison-symphony-christmas/.
Tickets for A Madison Symphony Christmascan be purchased in the following ways:
- Single Tickets are $18-$93 each and are on sale August 18 at https://madisonsymphony.org/concerts-events/buy-tickets/through the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street, or by calling the Box Office at (608) 258-4141.
- Groups of 10 or more can save 25% by calling the MSO office at (608) 257-3734. For more information, visit, https://madisonsymphony.org/concerts-events/buy-tickets/group-discounts/
- 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 $15 or $20 tickets. More information is at: https://madisonsymphony.org/concerts-events/buy-tickets/offers-discounts/
- Seniors age 62 and up receive 20% savings on advance and day-of-concert ticket purchases in select areas of the hall.
- Flex-Ticket booklets of 10 vouchers for 2018-19 symphony subscription concerts are available. Learn more at: https://madisonsymphony.org/flex
Discounted seats are subject to availability, and discounts may not be combined.
Major funding for the holiday concert is provided by: American Printing, Fiore Companies, Inc., Nedrebo’s Formalwear, Maurice and Arlene Reese Family Foundation, BMO Harris Bank, Hooper Foundation/General Heating & Air Conditioning, Judith and Nick Topitzes, and An Anonymous Friend. Additional funding provided by Colony Brands, Inc., J.H. Findorff & Son Inc., Flad Architects, Forte Research Systems & Nimblify, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c., and Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Community Carol Sing is presented in partnership with Overture Center for the Arts.
Tags: #BaptistReligion, #BerlinGermany, #BeverlyTaylor, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BMOHarrisBank, #BoxOffice, #CanadianOperaCompany, #CarnegieHall, #CeciliaViolettaLopez, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianReligion, #ChristmasCarol, #ChristmasDay, #ChristmasMusic, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DonPasquale, #EthnicDiversity, #EuropeanDebut, #FacebookPost, #FladArchitects, #FranzSchubert, #Fridaynight, #GaetanoDonizetti, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GeorgeLondon, #GiuseppeVerdi, #GospelMusic, #Handel'sMessiah, #HolidayCarol, #HolidaySeason, #J.H.Findorff, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnDeMain, #JohnRutter, #LaTraviata, #LawFirm, #LeothaStanley, #LyricOperaofChicago, #MadisonSymphonyChorus, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonYouthChoirs, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MetropolitanOpera, #MinnesotaOpera, #MountZionBaptistChurch, #MountZionGospelChoir, #MusicalStyle, #MusicDirector, #MusicEducation, #NationalEndowmentfortheArts, #NationalSymphony, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #NorthAmerica, #OperaIdaho, #OperaNews, #OperaSinger, #OperaTampa, #OvertureCenter, #OvertureHall, #PublicPerformance, #RetirementCenter, #RichardTucker, #SanFranciscoCalifornia, #SanFranciscoSymphony, #SantaClaus, #SaturdayNight, #SeniorCitizen, #SingAlong, #SopranoSinger, #StaatsoperBerlin, #StateOfWisconsin, #Sundayafternoon, #SunPrairieWisconsin, #TameraStanley, #TampaFlorida, #TheMet, #TraditionalMusic, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViriginiaOpera, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinArtsBoard, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinPublicTelevision, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, #ZurichSwitzerland, acclaimed, air, anonymous, Arts, audience, Bach, bank, Baptist, Baptist religion, baritone, Baroque, bass, bass-baritone, Belgium, Berlin, Beverly Taylor, blog, BMO Harris Bank, box office, Canada, Canadian Opera Company, Carnegie Hall, Cecilia Violetta Lopez, Chicago, choral music, Christian religion, Christmas and holiday season, Christmas Carol, Classical music, community, composer, conductor, debut, December, discount, Don Pasquale, donor, Early music, ethnic diversity, Europe, Facebook, feeling, Flad Architects, Florida, France, Franz Schubert, Friday night, Gaetano Donizetti, George Frideric Handel, George London, Germany, gospel, gospel music, hat, heart, holiday carol, holiday season, Idaho, international, Jesus Christ, Johann Sebastian Bach, John DeMain, John Rutter, Joy, joyous, La Traviata, law firm, learning, Leotha Stanley, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Youth Choirs, Mead Witter School of Music, Messiah, Metropolitan Opera, Midwest tour, Minnesota Opera, Mount Zion Baptist Church, Mount Zion Gospel Choir, Mozart, Music, Music director, Music education, musical style, National Endowment for the Arts, National Symphony, NEA, New Music, New York City, North America, opera, Opera Idaho, Opera News, opera singer, Opera Tampa, Orchestra, Overture Center, Overture Hall, performer, public, public performance, Retirement, Richard Tucker, San Francisco Symphony, Santa Claus, Saturday night, senior, senior citizen, sing-along, singer, social, soloist, soprano, sponsor, Staatsoper Berlin, star, State of Wisconsin, Student, Sunday afternoon, Switzerland, symphony, Tamera Stanley, Tampa, Television, the Met, ticket, time, traditional, TV, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Verdi, Viola, Violin, Virginia, Virginia Opera, vocal music, volunteer, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Public Television, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WPR, WPT, year, YouTube, Zurich
Classical music: A solo marimba concert this Friday night features Bach transcriptions and holiday favorites
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By Jacob Stockinger
Marimbist Matthew Coley (below), who plays in the Madison-based percussion group Clocks in Motion, will give a solo recital this Friday night at 7 p.m. in the Landmark Auditorium of the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
The program features transcriptions of Preludes and Fugue Nos. 1-6 of Book II of “The Well-Tempered Clavier” by Johann Sebastian Bach. Coley plans on eventually performing all of Book II.
Holiday music on the concert will include “Sleigh Ride,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Frosty the Snowman” and more.
Admission is free with a suggested donation of $15.
For more information about Matthew Coley, go to the website: www.hearMatthewColey.com
Coley regularly tours the nation and abroad, offering solo concerts and master classes. He has performed in more than 35 states in the U.S. and in 10 countries. (You can hear Coley performing his own composition “Circularity” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
He is the founding executive director of Heartland Marimba with five affiliate initiatives under the organization: the Heartland Marimba Quartet, HMFestival, HMEnsemble, HMPublications, and SoundWAYS.
This year’s holiday tour will also take Matthew to Chicago; Cedar Falls, Iowa; Mount Pleasant, Iowa; Quincy, Ill.; St Paul, Minn.; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
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Classical music: The Madison Choral Project will feature holiday music and seasonal texts at its concerts this Friday night and Sunday afternoon. A local Lawrence University alumni event follows the Sunday afternoon performance
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Madison Choral Project has sent the following announcement to be posted:
PLEASE NOTE: WE’VE CHANGED VENUES!
The fifth annual holiday concert by the Madison Choral Project (below) is called “Old Lessons and New Carols” and features a carefully curated selection of vocal music and readings.
The intent is to lead the listener along a sublime journey of music and text, perfect for this reflective season. (Sorry, The Ear has received no word about specific composers, authors or works on the program.)
Performances are: Friday night, Dec. 15, at 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday afternoon, Dec. 17, at 3 p.m.
Both concerts are located at the CHRIST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 944 East Gorham Street.
Tickets are $24 for adults and $10 for students, who must show an ID.
For more information, go to: Old Lessons and New Carols
In addition, the Lawrence University Club of Madison will hold a gathering of alumni and prospective students after the concert on Sunday afternoon.
A special Lawrence reception will be held after the performance that will include a Q&A with Lawrence alumna and Madison Choral Project soprano Rachel Edie Warrick ’99 (below top), as well as the choir’s artistic director and conductor, Albert Pinsonneault (below bottom).
General admission is $24 per adult in advance, and $28 at the door. Admission for students, who must show ID, is $10 either in advance or at the door.
For tickets and more information about the Madison Choral Project, go to: http://themcp.org
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Classical music: Start the holiday season with the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s FREE Community Carol Sing, with organ, on Monday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
‘Tis the season—for singing together in groups!
The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) will host a FREE Carol Sing in Overture Hall of the Overture Center, 201 State Street, on this coming Monday, Nov. 27, at 7 p.m.
All ages are welcome.
No tickets or reservations are needed for the free Carol Sing, which will last approximately 45 minutes.
MSO Principal Organist and Curator Greg Zelek will lead the Carol Sing with the Overture Concert Organ (below).
Familiar carols will be sung, and solo organ works will include the Carol Rhapsody (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom) by Richard Purvis and an arrangement of “Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella.”
Greg Zelek (below) is the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s own principal organist and Curator of the Overture Concert Organ and Series. Zelek has been praised as one of the most exciting young organists in the American organ scene. He has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, the New World Symphony, and in Carnegie Hall with the Metropolitan Opera orchestra.
Zelek directs the programming for the instrument. In addition to the Free Farmers’ Market Organ 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.
The MSO’s Free Community Carol and Hymn Sings are presented in partnership with the Overture Center for the Arts.
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Classical music: Madison Area Concert Handbells (MACH) turns 20 and will give three performances of “Bells of Christmas” this coming weekend. Plus, there is a FREE concert of women composers on Friday at noon and a FREE community string quartet concert on Thursday night
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ALERT 1: This week’s FREE Friday Noon Musicale at the meeting house of the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features Sarah Gillespie, French horn, and Susan Gaeddert, piano, in music by women composers: Fanny Hansel, Clara Schumann, Kay Gardner and Andrea Clearfield. The concert runs from 12:15 to 1 p.m.
ALERT 2: The Hunt Quartet, made up of UW-Madison graduate students, will perform a FREE concert at the Beth Israel Center, 1406 Mound Street, on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.
The program includes the String Quartet No. 2 by Sergei Prokofiev, the String Quartet in G Major Op. 77, No. 1, by Franz Joseph Haydn, the “Langsamer Satz” (Slow Movement) by Anton Webern.
The string quartet is a joint community outreach project of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music and the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and is funded by Kato Perlman. It plays at many local schools. For more information, visit: http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/hunt-quartet/
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has been asked to post the following information:
It’s the 20th anniversary of Madison Area Concert Handbells (MACH) and we’re celebrating!
Our Bells of Christmas concerts will feature some best-loved pieces from the past along with exciting new ones that will showcase our ringers’ and soloists’ talents. MACH’s founder and Director Emerita, Susan Udell (below, front center with baton), will be conducting the December concerts to bring an air of fun-filled nostalgia and continuing excellence to our programs.
Performances are on Friday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Middleton Performing Arts Center (bel0w), 2100 Bristol Street, Middleton. The center adjoins Middleton High School.
There is another performance on Sunday, Dec. 11, at 3 p.m. at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, 5700 Pheasant Hill Road, in Monona.
Tickets in advance are $12 for adults and $9 for students 16 and under; and $9 for seniors; at the door, tickets are $15 and $12 respectively.
Advance tickets are available at Cool Beans Coffee Café, Ward-Brodt Music, Metcalfe’s Market at Hilldale, and Orange Tree Imports.
Advance tickets can also be ordered. Go to http://www.madisonhandbells.org
To pay with check or money order, you can order by mail — please print an order form and mail with payment to MACH. Advance ticket prices apply.
Group tickets (10 or more) can be ordered in advance for $10 per person, whether adult, student or senior. These are not available at the door; to order, please print an order form and mail with payment (check or money order)
Here are program notes written by Susan Udell:
“The Bells of Christmas” opens with the timely reminder that Christmas is Coming before an array of pieces that unfold the events of Christ’s birth. “Wake, Awake,” a stirring arrangement of Philipp Nicolai’s “Wachet Auf,” is replete with giant chords, flowing passages, and the resonance of bass chimes as the city of Jerusalem is made aware of the Savior’s importance.
Next, an arrangement of the 17th century French tune “Picardy,” “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” features mysterious random ringing of bells and hand chimes while the melody is intoned. This evolves into a burst of fiery 16th-note passages and a maestoso statement of the tune before subsiding into the sound of silence punctuated by random chimes once more.
A lively Caribbean tune, “The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy,” arranged by one of the handbell world’s top composers and arrangers, Hart Morris, gives a change of pace with its syncopation and moments of percussive instruments.
The noted English composer John Rutter’s “Angels’ Carol” follows, sung by our favorite guest vocalist from the past, Carrie Ingebritsen, and our own Rachel Bain; their voices blend beautifully with a liquid handbell accompaniment to give the angels’ message from that long-ago night.
Another favorite soloist, Barbara Roberts, takes the leading part in an excerpt from Benedetto Marcello’s sonata for flute that has been combined in a Gigue with “Forest Green”, an alternate tune for “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” A bell tree duet of “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella” follows, played by MACH members Caitlin Ristow and Karen Paschke.
Then it’s time for an audience sing-along in Christmas Carol Fest III. “How Great Our Joy” closes the first half of the concert with variations on the carol “While By My Sheep” and then another opportunity for the audience to sing as “Joy to the World” affirms the events that occurred in Bethlehem so long ago.
After a brief intermission, renowned handbell composer Cynthia Dobrinski‘s arrangement of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” brings sobering and dramatic music that climaxes in a joyful affirmation that, despite all, God will prevail. Carrie Ingebritsen will help illuminate what the music portrays as she sings the verses accompanied by the bells. (You can hear a sample of Cynthia Dobrinski’s music for handbells in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
An energetic “Comfort, Comfort Ye My People” follows, based on tunes by Louis Bourgeois and George Frideric Handel, also arranged by Cynthia Dobrinski. Next, her arrangement of “On Christmas Night All Children Sing” (Sussex Carol) brings us to a light-hearted celebration of the holiday as seen through the eyes of children.
Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky’s famed “Nutcracker Suite” is then represented as our MACH ringers present a challenging, full-bodied arrangement of its March as transcribed by noted handbell composer William Griffin.
Former MACH member, Janet Rutkowski, returns as handbell soloist for “The Tin Soldier,” an amusing rendition of that well-known tune. Then the ever-popular “Up on the Housetop” details the gifts children anticipate at Christmas and depicts Santa’s arrival, descent of the chimney, and filling of stockings before he departs in a flash of sound.
Our concert concludes with a joyful, foot-stomping “Caroler’s Hoedown,” created and arranged by Valerie Stephenson, who received her graduate degree in composition from the University of Wisconsin-Madison many years ago.
We hope you will join our 20th year’s celebration by attending one of our concerts. We will recognize past ringers and Board of Directors members in our programs as a special tribute of thanks for their support over the years.
Tags: advance, Andrea Clearfield, angel, arrangers, Arts, Bach, Baroque, bass, bells, Benedetto Marcello, Bethlehem, birth, cafe, Caribbean, Carol, Chamber music, check, children, chimes, chme, chords, Christ, Christmas, Christmas and holiday season, Clara Schumann, coffee, Comfort Ye My People, composers, English, Fanny Hansel, First Unitarian Society of Madison, flute, French, George Frideric Handel, gifts, gigue, God, handbells, Haydn, Holiday, Horn, Hunt Quartet, hymn, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, Jacob Stockinger, Jerusalem, Jesus, John Rutter, Joseph Haydn, Joy to the World, Kay Gardner, Langsamer Satz, MACH, Madison, Madison Area Concert Handbells, mail, market, Middleton Performing Arts Center, money order, Music, Nutcracker, O Little Town of Bethlehem, online, percussion, Philipp Nicolai, Piano, Prokofiev, Santa, savior, sing, sing-along, Sonata, String quartet, Suite, Susan Udell, Sussex Carol, syncopation, Tchaikovsky, ticket, tune, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Up on the Housetop, vocal music, vocalist, Wachet auf, Webern, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: The Oakwood Chamber Players perform an unusual holiday program with a Wisconsin premiere twice this coming Sunday afternoon
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Oakwood Chamber Players (below) will perform a concert titled Looking Back and Forward on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016 at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
The performances will both be held at the Oakwood Village University Woods Center for Arts and Education, 6209 Mineral Point Road, on the far west side of Madison near West Towne Mall.
An innovative recipe for A Christmas Carol is a perfect addition to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Outstanding musical theater actor/singer baritone Bobby Goderich (below, seen on the right in Madison Opera‘s production of Stephen Sondheim‘s “Sweeney Todd”) will give a tour-de-force characterization of the entire cast of personalities for a rendition of Dickens’s tale in The Passion of Scrooge. A dozen musicians will give Goderich’s flair an abundant platform to show off his singing, humor, and dramatic effects.
The Passion of Scrooge by New York composer Jon Deak (below) is performed annually for holiday concerts at the Smithsonian, and the Oakwood Chamber Players are delighted to present the Wisconsin premiere of this memorable work.
Deak is known for weaving a variety of tales into “concert dramas,” turning words into music and giving instrumentalists the power to evoke speech through their sounds.
The Passion of Scrooge is laid out in two acts as the character struggles to come to grips with the past, present and future, to transform a life of avarice to one of human warmth.
Additionally, the Oakwood Chamber Players will perform music mentioned in the text of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.
When the Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge a celebration hosted by his employer, Mr. Fezziwig, the fiddler plays the tune Sir Roger de Coverley. (You can hear a chamber orchestra version of the work, played by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
This traditional English country dance, set for string quartet by British composer Frank Bridge (below) in 1922, will provide an energetic introduction to The Passion of Scrooge. The musical pairing illustrates how creative expression can transform historic works to give fresh perspectives.
The Oakwood Chamber Players welcome guests Wes Luke, violin; Katrin Talbot, viola; Brad Townsend, bass; Mike Koszewski, percussion; Mary Ann Harr, harp; Bobby Goderich, baritone; and Kyle Knox, conductor (below).
This is the second of five concerts in the Oakwood Chamber Players 2016-2017 season series entitled Perspective. Remaining concerts will take place on Jan. 21 and 22, March 18 and 19, and May 13 and 14.
The Oakwood Chamber Players are a group of Madison-area professional musicians who have rehearsed and performed at Oakwood Village for over 30 years.
The program lasts about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Tickets can be purchased with cash or personal checks at the door: $20 for general admission, $15 for seniors and $5 for students.
Also, conductor Kyle Knox will discuss the music on Norman Gilliland’s show, The Midday, on Wisconsin Public Radio, 88.7 FM WERN, on this Friday, Nov. 25, from noon to 1 p.m.
Visit www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com for more information.
The Oakwood Chamber Players are a professional music ensemble proudly supported by Oakwood Lutheran Senior Ministries and the Oakwood Foundation.
Tags: A Christmas Carol, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Arts, baritone, bass, Broadway theatre, Cello, Chamber music, chamber orchestra, Charles Dickens, Christmas and holiday season, clarinet, Classical music, conductor, country dance, dance, Egnlish, fiddle, Frank Bridge, Ghost of Christmas Past, harp, Holiday, Horn, Jacob Stockinger, Jon Deak, Kyle Knox, Lutheran, Madison, Madison Opera, Music, Neville Marriner, New York, Norman Gilliland, Oakwood Chamber Players, Oakwood Village, Orchestra, Passion, percussion, premiere, recipe, Scrooge, singer, Smithsonian, Stephen Sondheim, String quartet, Sweeney Todd, Thanksgiving, The Midday, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, wisconsin public radio, YouTube
Classical music: The acclaimed Madison Choral Project will perform its third annual Holiday Concert this FRIDAY night (NOT Saturday) and Sunday afternoon. It features two world premieres plus readings from Shakespeare, Rumi and the Bible
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By Jacob Stockinger
The acclaimed Madison Choral Project (below top), under the direction of its founder and conductor Albert Pinsonneault (below bottom) — who used to teach at Edgewood College and now teaches at Northwestern University — will present two performances of its third annual holiday concert, “A Procession of Angels,” this weekend.
(NOTE: You can hear the Madison Choral Project singing its beautiful a cappella arrangement of the carol “Angels We Have Heard on High” in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
The popular Holiday program will be performed twice in Madison; this Friday night, Dec. 18, at 7:30 p.m. at the First Congregational United Church of Christ at 1609 University Ave. and again on Sunday night, Dec. 20, at 2:30 p.m. at Lutheran Church of the Living Christ, 110 N. Gammon Rd.
The concerts feature Christmas music, as well as music from other traditions, and TWO WORLD PREMIERES of new compositions: “My Brilliant Image” by Madison composer and MCP singer Jasper Alice Kay (below top); and a new arrangement of “Deck the Hall” by the award-winning composer Jocelyn Hagen (below bottom). Other guests artists are also featured.
Wisconsin Public Radio‘s news director Noah Ovshinsky (below) again joins the MCP to read selected texts that relate to the theme of the concert. There will also be a chance for the audience to join in on some holiday sing-alongs.
Music by composers such as Dominick Argento (below top), Felix Mendelssohn (below bottom), Alexander Sheremetev, William Billings, Ola Gjeilo and Kenneth Jennings, among others, will represent many of the points of view that unite the public in reflection upon the season.
Also featured is John Aley (below), a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of music and the virtuoso principal trumpet of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and the reading of texts by William Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Hildegard von Bingen as well as from the Bible and from the mystic Sufi Arabic and Persian poets Ibn Arabi and Rumi.
The Madison Choral Project, founded in 2012, is Madison’s professional choir. Its 22 voices are made up of professional singers, teachers and graduate students from the Madison Area.
The MCP says it “is committed in its mission to enrich lives in our community by giving voice to the great music of our diverse world; to express, to inspire, to heal; to garner joy in the experience of live music; and to educate and strengthen the next generation of singers and listeners.”
Tickets are available in advance at www.themcp.org as well as at the door of each performance venue. ($25 at the door, $20 advance tickets and $10 student tickets with student I.D.)
For more information, visit: http://themcp.org
Tags: a cappella, Albert Pinsonneault, angels, Angels We Have Heard on High, Arab, Arabic, arrangement, Arts, Baroque, Bible, Carol, Catholic Church, choral music, Christ, Christmas, Christmas and holiday season, Christmas music, Classical music, composer, conductor, Dominick Argento, Early music, Edgewood College, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Felix Mendelssohn, Holiday, hymn, Ibn Arabi, Jacob Stockinger, Lutheranism, Madison, Madison Choral Project, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music, mystic, mysticism, Northwestern University, poem, Poetry, Rumi, Shakespeare, sing-along, sonnet, Sufi, text, Trumpet, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, William Shakespeare, wisconsin public radio, world premiere, YouTube
Classical music: Find out what eight famous composers were doing on Christmas Day. Plus, UW-Madison piano virtuoso Christopher Taylor performs Messiaen on WORT FM early on Christmas morning.
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ALERT: Blog fan and WORT 89.9 FM radio host Rich Samuels, who also documents the local music scene, writes:
Jake:
My Christmas Day 5-8 a.m. show on WORT will include a complete performance of Olivier Messiaen‘s “Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant Jésus” by University of Wisconsin-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor, as well as an interview that I recorded with Taylor about the piece and its composer.
The performance was recorded December 11, 2012 at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Taylor performs this two-hour work from memory.)
Here’s a link to the New York Times review of the performance:
All the best in 2015.
By Jacob Stockinger
Here is an unexpected Christmas gift I stumbled across.
It consists of Christmas Day excerpts from letters and diaries by and about eight Romantic and modern composers. They include Felix Mendelssohn, Gustav Mahler, Johannes Brahms, Richard Wagner (see the YouTube video at the bottom), Claude Debussy, Edward Elgar, Benjamin Britten and Sergei Prokofiev.
I like that the various writings demystify the lives of composers, and artists in general, and shows their ordinary human side through what they thought, felt and did on a special day, even on a holiday.
Happy reading and Merry Christmas!
http://www.classical-music.com/article/8-composers-at-christmas-through-letters
Tags: Arts, Bach, Beethoven, Benjamin Britten, Chamber music, Christmas, Christmas and holiday season, Christmas Day, Christopher Taylor, Christopher Taylor (pianist), Classical music, Debussy, diary, Edward Elgar, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, letters, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Messiaen, Olivier Messiaen, Orchestra, Piano, Prokofiev, Radio, Richard Wagner, Siegfried Idyll, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wagner, WORT, WORT FM 88.9, YouTube
Classical music: Here are the best classical recordings of 2014 from The New York Times, The New Yorker magazine and The Boston Globe as well as NPR.
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By Jacob Stockinger
This is the last weekend for holiday shipping before Christmas, and retailers expect today to be even bigger and busier than Black Friday.
But whether you go to a local brick-and-mortar store such as Barnes & Noble or use the Internet, there is still time to order and receive such items as gifts.
Plus, whether you are looking for a gift for someone else or for what to buy with that gift card or cash you receive, perhaps you will find the following lists convenient and helpful.
The three lists are compilations of the Best Classical Music Recordings of 2014, even if they appear a bit late. (I seem to recall that these lists appeared closer to Thanksgiving or Black Friday in past years, but I could be wrong.)
The first list, a long one, comes from the various critics at The New York Times:
It covers solo instruments, vocal music, operas, orchestral music, chamber music – you name it.
The second list from a critic for The Boston Globe:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2014/12/13/the-best-albums/6q7Tin4lPvj5RmqfCCSTFP/story.html
The third list comes from ace music critic and prize-winner Alex Ross (below) of The New Yorker Magazine. He names 20 different recordings along with 10 memorable live events from the concert scene in New York City.
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/ten-notable-performances-recordings-2014
The Ear finds it interesting how many agreements there are about certain composers, works and performers – such as the haunting, 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winning work “Become Ocean” by the contemporary American composer John Luther Adams (below top and at the bottom in a YouTube video) and the Schubert recording by British pianist Paul Lewis (below middle) in late music by Franz Schubert or Alan Gilbert conducting the New York Philharmonic in two symphonies by Danish composer Carl Nielsen.
Here is a link to a previous Top 10 Best of 2014 list from NPR (National Public Radio), complete with CD covers and sound samples, that I posted:
Happy shopping!
And even happier listening!!
It will be interesting to see what 2015 brings.
Tags: Alan Gilbert, Alan Gilbert (conductor), Alex Ross, Arts, Bach, Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, Barnes & Noble, Baroque, Beethoven, Carl Nielsen, Cello, Chamber music, Christmas, Christmas and holiday season, Classical music, Compact Disc, Early music, Franz Schubert, George Frideric Handel, holiday gifts, Holidays, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Luther Adams, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, MANHATTAN, Metropolitan Opera, Mozart, Music, New York, New York City, New York Philharmonic, New York Times, NPR, Orchestra, Paul Lewis, Piano, Pulitzer Prize, symphony, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, The New Yorker, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
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