The Well-Tempered Ear
Today – Monday, March 22 — is Day 6 of the 2021 online Bach Around the Clock festival. The program features string, keyboard, percussion and vocal music with some interesting transcriptions
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By Jacob Stockinger
Yesterday – Sunday, March 21 — was the actual birthday, the 336th, of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).
But the 10-day virtual and online celebration being held by Bach Around the Clock (BATC) continues.
Here are the pieces and performers that will take place.
The Ear is especaially pleased by some of the transcriptions, which offer more proof of just how indestructible and versatile Bach’s music remains.
Particularly interesting is the string quartet version of the famous cantata “Wachet auf” (Sleepers, Wake) and the Three-Part Inventions or Sinfonias transcribed for marimba, and played by Sean Kleve (below), a UW-Madison graduate who performs with the critically acclaimed experimental Madison-based percussion ensemble Clocks in Motion.
Monday’s program is available starting at 8 a.m.
Click here and scroll down to Day 6 to view.
Performers
• Minuet 2 in G Major, Anh 116; Suite in G Minor, BWV 822; Gavotte from Double Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1043, I. Vivace. Suzuki Strings Sonora Ensemble
• Cantata 140: “Wachet Auf” (Sleeper, Wake), arranged for string quartet. St. Croix Valley String Quartet: Janette Cysewski and Debbie Lanzen, violins; Dianne Wiik, viola; and Joel Anderson, cello.
• French Suite No. 3 in B Minor for keyboard, BWV 814: Sarabande, Anglaise, Menuett and Trio. Kris Sankaran
• Sinfonia 1 in C Major, BWV 787; Sinfonia 7 in E Minor, BWV 793; Sinfonia 10 in G Major, BWV 796; Sinfonia 11 in G Minor, BWV 797; Sinfonia 15 in B Minor, BWV 801. Sean Kleve, marimba. (You can hear Glenn Gould playing the original version of the first Sinfonia in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
• Chorale: We thank Thee, Lord, for sending. Katie Hultman, soprano, and Kenneth Stancer, organ
Live and Recorded Evening Program at 7 p.m.
Click here and scroll down to Day 6 to view.
BATC audiences will remember pianist Lawrence Quinnett (below) from his exquisite renderings of selections from The Well-Tempered Clavier, at the 2018 Festival.
Quinnett, on the piano faculty of Livingstone College, returns in 2021 to give a brief talk on his approach to ornamentation in the six French Suites, as a prelude to his live performance of Suite No. 5. The floor will open for questions, followed by Quinnett’s recorded performance of the remaining five Suites.
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Classical music: The Middleton Community Orchestra impresses in a concert of “non-holiday” music for the holidays. Plus, what music is best to greet the Winter Solstice today?
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ALERT: Today we turn a corner when the Winter Solstice arrives at 4:23 p.m. Days will start getting longer. What music would you celebrate it with? Antonio Vivaldi’s “Winter” section of “The Four Seasons”? Franz Schubert’s “Winterreise” or “Winter Journey”? Let The Ear know in the COMMENT section with a YouTube link if possible. Here comes the sun!
By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT FM 89.9 FM. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison. He also took the performance photos.
By John W. Barker
On Wednesday night at the Middleton Performing Arts Center, the mostly amateur Middleton Community Orchestra (below) proudly presented an alternative Christmas program of music, none of which had any connection whatsoever with that otherwise inescapable holiday.
It was a program of great variety, full of novelties.
It began soberly with Gustav Mahler’s early song cycle, the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer). This venture into German orchestral song (with a folk song background) provided symphonic inspiration for his First Symphony, the so-called “Titan,” so it unites many strains in the composer’s work.
Baritone Paul Rowe (below), of the UW-Madison’s music faculty, sang these songs. Rowe has a strong feeling for German, and he used clear diction to capture the dramatic meanings of the four song texts.
A contrast then, and a particular novelty, was the appearance of Matthew Coley (below), of the percussion ensemble Clocks in Motion, playing the cimbalom, the intensely Hungarian version of the hammered dulcimer.
He was joined by the orchestra for a fancy arrangement of the Hungarian dance, the popular Czardas by Vittorio Monti. (You can hear Matthew Coley play the same piece on the cimbalom in the YouTube video at the bottom.) He followed this with an encore, a hand-me-down arrangement of a movement from one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s solo cello suites.
More contrast came with the mini-ballet score by Darius Milhaud Le Boeuf sur le toit (The Ox on the Roof) of 1919. This was one of the French composer’s trailblazing introductions of American jazz styles into European music.
It really works best with a small orchestra, so Middleton’s was a bit overblown for the assignment. But the elaborate solo role for violin was taken by Naha Greenholtz — concertmaster of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and wife of the evening’s guest conductor, Kyle Knox, who is the music director of Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras and the Associate Conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. There are some fiendish passages in the solo work, and Greenholtz brought them off with unfailing flair.
The final part of the program was devoted to the orchestral suite that Zoltan Kodaly derived from his Singspiel of 1926, Hary Janos, in which a comic Hungarian soldier upstages even Napoleon.
This is a satiric and highly colorful assemblage that offers wonderful opportunities for all of the instruments and sections to show off. And Coley was back with his cimbalom for Hungarian spice. The players clearly were having a great frolic, and conductor Knox drew the best out of them in a bravura performance.
Ah yes! Christmas without “Christmas” music. A wonderful idea to refresh the ears in December!
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Classical music: The amateur Middleton Community Orchestra performs a non-traditional “holiday” concert of Mahler and Kodaly this Wednesday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
During the holiday season, many — maybe even most — classical music groups program music that goes with the theme of the holidays from Christmas and Hanukkah to Kwanzaa and the New Year.
But some groups wisely give listeners a respite from holiday fare.
That happened one week ago when the University of Wisconsin-Madison Choral Union and the UW Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Beverly Taylor, performed a memorable program that featured the brassy “Te Deum” by Zoltan Kodaly and especially the calming Requiem by Maurice Duruflé.
Something similar will happen again this Wednesday night, Dec. 19, at 7:30 p.m. in the comfortable Middleton Performing Arts Center, attached to Middleton High School, 2100 Bristol St.
That is when the mostly amateur but critically acclaimed Middleton Community Orchestra (below, in a photo by Brian Ruppert) will perform its “holiday” concert that is holiday-ish more as a matter of timing than of content or theme, since you won’t hear any carols or sing-alongs or the usual or traditional holiday fare. The Ear thinks it’s a smart approach and a welcome break.
The non-holiday “holiday” program includes “Songs of a Wayfarer” by Gustav Mahler, sung by UW-Madison baritone Paul Rowe (below).
Also on the program is “Le Boeuf sur le Toit” (The Steer on the Roof) by Darius Milhaud with violinist soloist Naha Greenholtz (below, in a photo by Greg Anderson), who is the concertmaster of the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
Matthew Coley (below top), a member of the acclaimed Madison-based percussion group “Clocks in Motion,” will perform two pieces of Hungarian music that use the rarely heard cimbalom (below bottom): the “Czardas” by Vittorio Monti and the “Hary Janos Suite” by Kodaly. (You can hear Monti’s familiar “Czardas” in a version for violin and piano in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Kyle Knox (below), who is the new music director of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras and the new associate conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and who is also the husband of Naha Greenholtz, will once again be the guest conductor.
Admission is $15 for the general public with students and young people getting in for free. Tickets can be bought at the Willy Street Co-op West and at the door. The box office opens at 6:30 p.m. and doors to the hall open at 7 p.m.
As usual, there will be a meet-and-greet reception (below) – complete with Christmas cookies, you can be sure – at the end of the concert.
For more information about future MCO concerts, reviews of past concerts and details about how to join the orchestra or support it, go to: http://middletoncommunityorchestra.org/home
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Classical music: This Sunday afternoon brings percussion music from Clocks in Motion and a performance by the Edgewood Chamber Orchestra.
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By Jacob Stockinger
This Sunday afternoon brings two noteworthy concerts: a selection of percussion music from Clocks in Motion and a performance of classic composers by the Edgewood Chamber Orchestra.
Here are the details:
CLOCKS IN MOTION
This Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m., the local percussion group Clocks in Motion will perform at its Rehearsal Facility, located at 126 West Fulton Street in Edgerton, Wisconsin.
Members of Clocks in Motion (below, performing in 2017) are Matthew Coley, Chris Jones, Sean Kleve and Andrew Veit.
Admission to the limited seating is $10, with donations accepted.
For more information, tickets and driving directions, go to:
https://www.artful.ly/store/events/15960
Presenting music never before heard in Wisconsin, Clocks in Motion Percussion will be performing classic repertoire and local premieres in this special event.
Here is the complete program: *”Gravity” by Marc Melltis; *Atomic Atomic” by Andrew Rindfleisch (below and heard in the YouTube video at the bottom); “Third Construction” by John Cage; selections from “Threads” by Paul Lansky; “Mechanical Ballet” by Anders Koppel; “Fantezie” by Sergiu Cretu; and “Glitz!” Bejorn Berkhout
*Denotes this piece was written specifically for Clocks in Motion.
Hailed as “nothing short of remarkable” (ClevelandClassical.com) and “the most exciting addition to Madison’s classical music scene” (Isthmus), Clocks in Motion is a percussion quartet that performs new music, builds many of its own instruments, and breaks down the boundaries of the traditional concert program.
Formed in 2011, Clocks in Motion is quickly becoming a major artistic force in today’s contemporary music scene. Among its many recent and upcoming engagements, the group served as performers at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan; The Stone in New York City; The Overture Center for the Arts; Casper College in Wyoming; the University of Michigan;, Baldwin-Wallace University in Ohio; the University of North Carolina-Pembroke; and the Ewell Concert Series in Virginia.
EDGEWOOD CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
The Edgewood Chamber Orchestra will give a concert on this Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in the newly remodeled St. Joseph Chapel, 1000 Edgewood College Drive.
The orchestra will perform under the baton of Blake Walter (below).
The program features three arrangements of piano works by Claude Debussy; Arabesques 1 and2, arranged by Henri Mouton, and the seldom-performed Sarabande, arranged by Maurice Ravel.
Other works to be performed include Luigi Cherubini’s Overture to the opera Medea, and Symphony No. 59, subtitled “Fire,” by Franz Joseph Haydn.
Admission is $5 for the general public, free with Edgewood College ID.
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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 second annual Madison New Music Festival will take place this Thursday through Sunday
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By Jacob Stockinger
The summer classical season in Madison just keeps getting busier and more interesting.
The Ear has received the following announcement from Zachary Green (below), a native Madisonian and composer who graduated from Oregon High School and the Juilliard School, which awarded him a grant to start the first Madison New Music Festival last year. He now directs the event:
Dear friends, family, colleagues, and mentors,
I am extremely pleased to invite you to the second season of the Madison New Music Festival, taking place this Thursday-Saturday, Aug. 10-12.
The Madison New Music Festival is an annual weekend-long concert series dedicated to strengthening Madison’s cultural vitality through the celebration of fresh classical music from our lifetimes.
The festival strives to affordably and accessibly share music by the world’s leading living composers with the Madison community, with special emphasis placed on Wisconsin-based composers and performers.
This year, over the course of four concerts, we will be featuring 30 performers playing the music of over 20 composers— including the music of a different living Wisconsin composer at every concert.
The concerts will take place Thursday at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (8 p.m.), Friday at Bethel Lutheran Church (8 p.m.), and Saturday at the Memorial Union Terrace (3 p.m.) and Robinia Courtyard (7:30 p.m.).
PROGRAM AND TICKET INFORMATION:
Thursday, Aug. 10, at 8 p.m., Madison Museum of Contemporary Art in the Overture Center. (Below is a photo at MMoCA from last year’s festival)
After an incredibly successful launch in 2016, the Madison New Music Festival is set to return to MMoCA for a concert combining contemporary visual art and new music.
The festival presents brand new pieces by emerging composers, underplayed classics of the contemporary repertoire, and shines a spotlight on new music created here in Wisconsin.
The concert at MMoCA features music with thematic ties to MMoCA’s current exhibitions, including politically charged works such as “But I Still Believe” by composer Zachary Green and inspired by Hillary Clinton’s concession speech, and “Drums of Winter” from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and environmentalist John Luther Adams (below). You can hear “Drums of Winter” in the YouTube video at the bottom.
There will be a cash bar and opportunities to walk around the exhibits. Tickets are $10, $5 for students and FREE for MMoCA members.
Tickets: https://www.artful.ly/madison-new-music-festival/store/events/13011
Friday, Aug. 11, at 8 p.m. in Bethel Lutheran Church, 312 Wisconsin Avenue
The festival’s second night features an eclectic range of music, from the inventive, folk-inspired music of Romanian composer Doina Rotaru (below top) to the improvisatory soundscapes of recently departed legend Pauline Oliveros (below bottom).
Also featured is local composer Scott Gendel (below top) , who will present a set of his own music with frequent Madison Opera guest soprano Emily Birsan (below middle). Both are graduates of the UW-Madison.
Other performers include Chicago-based new music ensemble Chartreuse (below top), local flutist Iva Ugrcic (below middle) and local violinist Lydia Sewell (below bottom). Tickets are $10, $5 for students.
Tickets: https://www.artful.ly/madison-new-music-festival/store/events/13028
Saturday, Aug. 12, at 3 p.m., Memorial Union Terrace
Local new music wind quintet Black Marigold (below top) will perform “Beer Music” by Brian DuFord (below bottom), inspired by different kinds of beer– and you can sip as you listen!
But first, get your groove on with rhythmic works by emerging composer Andy Akiho (below top), Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche, and local percussionist Dave Alcorn (below bottom) of Clocks in Motion — interspersed with interactive interpretations of Renaissance motets and an electroacoustic work for vibraphone. Featured musicians include percussionist Garrett Mendelow and Chicago-based new music ensemble Chartreuse. Admission is FREE.
Saturday, Aug. 12, at 7:30 PM, Robinia Courtyard (Jardin Restaurant) at 827 East Washington Avenue.
Join us at Jardin Restaurant, part of the newly redeveloped Robinia Courtyard to hear local ensemble Mr. Chair (below) present an eclectic, head-banging set ranging from original compositions to versions of Erik Satie, Olivier Messiaen and Igor Stravinsky.
Also featured are the genre-bending Echelon String Quartet(below) and a mesmerizing solo bass piece performed by Grant Blaschka. Cash bar. ($10/$5 student)
Tickets: https://www.artful.ly/madison-new-music-festival/store/events/13029
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Classical music: Here are memorable local concerts in 2016 from critic John W. Barker and The Ear. What ones would you add?
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ALERT: The FREE Friday Noon Musicales at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, resume this week after a break for Christmas, New Year’s and other holidays. This Friday, from 12:15 to 1 p.m., pianist Olivia Musat will perform music by Olivier Messiaen, Isaac Albeniz and Paul Constantinesco.
By Jacob Stockinger
It seems a tradition throughout the media to offer a roundup of the Year’s Best with a local slant.
The Ear already offered a national and international roundup. Here is a link to that, especially to the surprisingly rich roundup that he unexpectedly found on Wikipedia:
For a more local perspective, The Ear trusts and generally agrees with critic John W. Barker (below), who writes frequently for this blog and more often for Isthmus.
Here is a link to Barker’s list of memorable concerts in the Madison area, Because Isthmus mixes classical with other genres like pop, folk and jazz, you have to scroll down to “Classical cornucopia”:
http://isthmus.com/music/year-in-music-2016/
Although I agree with all the concerts that Barker mentions, he left out some that The Ear really loved. One was the absolutely riveting and moving performance in November by the Madison Symphony Orchestra under John DeMain of the momentous Fifth Symphony by Dmitri Shostakovich.
For example just about everything that the Pro Arte Quartet does at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music is first-rate and memorable, whether they play in Mills Hall or on “Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen Museum of Art.”
But this past fall, a free noontime concert by the Pro Arte with legendary pianist Leon Fleisher especially stood out. Together (below), they performed the Piano Quintet in F Minor by Johannes Brahms – an unquestionable masterpiece in an unforgettable performance.
The Ear would also add two events, both violin recitals, at the Wisconsin Union Theater.
Last spring Hilary Hahn (below top, in a photo by Peter Miller) turned in a stunningly superb recital. Then this fall, superstar Joshua Bell (below bottom) did the same. Both artists displayed terrific musicality combined with terrific virtuosity in generous and first-rate, ambitious programs.
He would add several summer concerts by the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, especially the sizzling dueling violin concert (below) where the BDDS interspersed “The Four Seasons” buy Antonio Vivaldi with “The Four Seasons in Buenos Aires” by Astor Piazzolla.
The Ear would also add an experimental concert at which UW-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor (below) unveiled his reworked two-keyboard “Hyperpiano.” While the concert, which featured the “Goldberg” Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach, wasn’t successful musically, it certainly was intriguing, unusual and highly memorable, even with imperfect digital technology.
And The Ear also recalls a fine concert by the Rhapsodie Quartet (below) of the Madison Symphony Orchestra at the Overture Center.
And let’s not forget the University Opera’s production of “Falstaff” by Giuseppe Verdi that was impressively and successfully updated to Hollywood by director David Ronis.
The Ear is sure there are more memorable concerts that escape him right now. Madison just features so much wonderful music-making in the course of a year.
Moreover, The Ear is also sure you have your favorites – whether they are individual plays; small chamber music groups such as duos, string quartets and piano trios; larger ensembles like the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Union Theater; or entire events like the UW Brass Festival.
I am sure that fans of the innovative percussion group Clocks in Motion and the acclaimed Madison Choral Project have a concert or two to nominate.
So please use the COMMENT section to tell us what were your most memorable classical concerts in Madison during 2016.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: "Goldberg" Variations, Albeniz, Arts, Ástor Piazzolla, Bach, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Baroque, BDDS, brass, Brass Festival, Cello, Chamber music, Chazen Museum of Art, choral music, Christmas, Christopher Taylor, Classical music, Clocks in Motion, concerto, David Ronis, digital, duets, duo, Early music, Falstaff, First Unitarian Society of Madison, folk, Four Seasons, Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, Franz Schubert, Hilary Hahn, Holiday, Hollywood, Hyperpiano, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John DeMain, John Wilbye, Joshua Bell, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Choral Project, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Messiaen, Mozart, Music, New Year, New Year's, opera, Orchestra, Overture Center, Paul Constantinesco, percussion, Piano, pop, Pro Arte Quartet, Quartet, quintet, Shakespeare, Shostakovich, Sonata, String quartet, Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen, symphony, technology, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, Verdi, Viola, Violin, Vivaldi, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Classical music: Percussion quartet Clocks in Motion gives world premieres of two works by UW-Madison composers Laura Schwendinger and Joseph Koykkar this Friday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
Performing world premieres of new compositions by Laura Schwendinger and Joseph Koykkar, Madison’s premiere percussion quartet, Clocks in Motion (below, in a photo by Strom Strandell) will present an evening of experimental new music at the First Unitarian Society of Madison on this Friday, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m.
The Atrium Auditorium at 900 University Bay Drive is a stunning piece of architecture (below in a photo by Zane Williams) attached to the historic Meeting House designed by the great architect Frank Lloyd Wright and will provide a wonderful setting for this concert.
Included in this program is the first-ever performance of a new composition, Aviary, by UW-Madison composer Laura Schwendinger (below). Schwendinger’s composition, written for the members of Clocks in Motion plus piano, is a sound tapestry of imaginary bird songs.
Clocks in Motion will also premiere a new composition by composer Joseph Koykkar (below, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) entitled Time in Transcendence. Written specifically for Clocks in Motion, Koykkar makes use of the group’s hand-made microtonal percussion instruments and a myriad of drums and keyboard instruments.
Clocks in Motion will also perform “Workers Union” by Louis Andriessen, Mallet Quartet by Steve Reich and “Gravity” by Marc Mellitus. (You can hear Clocks in Motion perform “Gravity” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
This event is supported by Dane Arts.
Admission is $15 for the general public, $5 for Students with valid ID. Cash or credit cards are accepted.
BACKGROUND
Hailed as “nothing short of remarkable” (ClevelandClassical.com) and “the most exciting addition to Madison’s classical music scene” (Isthmus), Clocks in Motion is a percussion quartet that performs new music, builds many of its own instruments, and breaks down the boundaries of the traditional concert program.
Formed in 2011, Clocks in Motion is quickly becoming a major artistic force in today’s contemporary music scene. Among its many recent and upcoming engagements, the group served as performers at the Interlochen Arts Academy (Michigan), The Stone (New York), The Overture Center for the Arts, Casper College (Wyoming), University of Michigan, Baldwin-Wallace University (Ohio), The University of North Carolina-Pembroke and The Ewell Concert Series (Virginia).
Clocks in Motion members are Matthew Coley, Kyle Flens, Sean Kleve and Andrew Veit.
Find out more at www.clocksinmotionpercussion.com
Tags: Arts, aviary, Baldwin-Wallace University, bird, bird songs, Casper College, Chamber music, Classical music, Clocks in Motion, Dane Arts, drum, Ewell Concert Series, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Frank Lloyd Wright, gravity, instrument, Interlochen Arts Academy, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, Joseph Koykkaar, Keyboard, Laura Schwendiger, Louis Andriessen, Madison, mallet, Marc Mellits, microtonal, microtonality, Music, New Music, New York, Ohio, Overture Center, Overture Center for the Arts, percusssion, Piano, Quartet, Steve Reich, union, United States, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Virginia, Wisconsin, workers, world premiere, Wyoming, YouTube
Classical music: The percussion ensemble Clocks in Motion performs music by Steve Reich and John Cage in Spring Green on Monday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
Performing on a variety of percussion instruments, the experimental quartet Clocks in Motion (below, in 2015) is the featured performer at the next Rural Musicians Forum concert.
The concert will be held on this coming Monday night, July 25, at 7:30 p.m. in the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Hillside Theater (below) on the Taliesin estate, south of Spring Green at 6604 Highway 23.
The concert is not ticketed and is open to the public. A free-will offering will be taken to support the concert series. For additional information and driving directions, see www.ruralmusiciansforum.org
Clocks in Motion is known for engaging performances of the classic repertoire for percussion quartets presented alongside new compositions and rarely heard works.
Featured in this performance are the great masterworks “Mallet Quartet” and “Drumming, Part I” by Steve Reich (below). In addition to these classic compositions, Clocks in Motion will perform their commissioned work by Marc Mellits, “Gravity.” (You can hear “Mallet Quartet” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The quartet will also perform Moldavian folk music for hammered dulcimer, experimental music by John Cage (below), and a not-to-be-missed theatrical work for wooden spoons on lunch trays.
Hailed as “nothing short of remarkable” (ClevelandClassical.com) and “the most exciting addition to Madison’s classical music scene” (Isthmus), Clocks in Motion is a percussion quartet that performs new music, builds many of its own instruments and breaks down the boundaries of the traditional concert program.
The current mebers of Clocks in Motion (below from left, in a photo by Strom Strandell) are Sean Kleve, Kyle Flens, Matt Coley and Garrett Mandelow.
Formed in 2011 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Clocks in Motion is quickly becoming a major artistic force in today’s contemporary music scene.
Among its many recent and upcoming engagements, the group served as performers at the Interlochen Arts Academy (Michigan), The Overture Center for the Arts (Wisconsin), Casper College (Wyoming), University of Michigan (Michigan), Baldwin Wallace University (Ohio), The University of North Carolina-Pembroke (North Carolina) and The Ewell Concert Series (Virginia).
The concert is made possible in part through a grant from the Spring Green Art Fair and an anonymous gift to Clocks in Motion.
Tags: Arts, Baldwin-Wallace University, Casper College, Chamber music, Classical music, Clocks in Motion, drum, drumming, Frank Lloyd Wright, gravity, Interlochen, Jacob Stockinger, John Cage, Madison, mallet, Marc Mellits, Music, North Carolina, Ohio, Overture Center, Pembroke, percussion, Quartet, Spring Green, Steve Reich, Taliesin, United States, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, YouTube
Classical music: A NEW summer concert series of chamber music in Allen Centennial Garden starts this coming Sunday afternoon
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement:
This coming Sunday, June 26, kicks off the inaugural season of “Summer Sundays in the Garden: Afternoon Concerts in the English Garden,” a new outdoor concert series, FREE and open to the public.
It will feature local classical and jazz musicians in the inspiring natural setting of the stately English Garden at Allen Centennial Garden at 620 Babcock Drive, on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the heart of Madison.
The concerts will take place on every other Sunday through Sept. 18 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. They are sponsored by the Friends of Allen Centennial Garden.
Attendees are encouraged to bring a blanket or lawn chair for these free concerts.
Families are welcome.
Established in 1989, Allen Centennial Garden is situated on 2.5 acres surrounding the historic landmarked “Dean’s Residence (below),” adjacent to the Lake Mendota Lakeshore Nature Preserve and path.
This public botanical garden is open to the public free of charge 365 days a year, dawn to dusk.
Although located on the UW-Madison campus, the garden is supported entirely by private funds. In 2013, the Friends of Allen Garden formed to enhance the educational and cultural mission of the gardens and to increase awareness of this “hidden gem” by expanding programming initiatives to better serve the public.
Summer Sundays in the Garden, one of many programs developed by the Friends, is the first public concert series at Allen Centennial Gardens, now in its 26th year.
Sponsored by the Friends, the series is supported by grants from the Madison Arts Commission, with additional support from the Wisconsin Arts Board; from Dane Arts, with funds from the Overture Foundation and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation; and from the Evjue Foundation of The Capital Times. In the event of inclement weather, concerts will be cancelled.
For more information, please visit www.allencentennialgarden.org
Summer Sundays in the Garden. Afternoon Concerts in the English Garden. June 26 – Sept. 18. 4–5:30 p.m.
June 26 – Johannes Wallmann’s Quartet West. Known as a “remarkable pianist and composer” (Downbeat Magazine) and “a truly international kind of cat” (Midwest Record), Johannes Wallmann, Director of Jazz Studies at UW-Madison, opens SUMMER SUNDAYS with a quartet of top-notch guest artists from Los Angeles and San Francisco to offer up a high-energy, imaginative, and infectious kickoff for the new summer concert series.
July 10 – Quartessence (below). One of Madison’s most often heard society quartets, award-winning Quartessence String Quartet brings a stylish sophistication to a wide range of repertoire including jazz, golden oldies, and imaginative covers of current rock and pop hits, from Bach to the Beatles, Puccini to Pops, Classics to Covers.
July 24 – Doug Brown Group. Acoustic jazz guitarist Doug Brown brings his infectious spirit and imagination to irrepressibly joyous, finely honed swing-era jazz standards.
Aug. 7 – Willy Street Chamber Players (below). Fun and sassy chamber music by one of Madison’s newest groups, bringing a fresh, imaginative take to classical music that is appealing to both lifelong classical music fans and newcomers to the genre. Expect some serious fun!
Aug. 21 – Clocks in Motion (bel0w). Breaking down barriers of a traditional concert performance, this groundbreaking percussion ensemble serves up virtuosic performances that include theater and art and consistently offer a joyous entertainment experience.
Sept. 4 – Harmonious Wail. Smoldering vocals laced among jazzy mandolin and guitar, Harmonious Wail offers an infectious blend of continental jazz, swing, gypsy music, and melodic vocals.
Sept. 18 – Paul Muench Quartet. Now firmly established in the Madison jazz scene, Paul Muench’s group offers up imaginative improvs and creative modern arrangements of timeless jazz standards.
Tags: Allen Centennial Gardens, Arts, Bach, Beatles, brass, Cello, Chamber music, classic rock, Classical music, Clocks in Motion, Dane Arts, Doug Brown Group, English Garden, Evjue Foundation, Garden, golden oldies, guitar, gypsy, Harmonious Wail, improvisation, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Johannes Wallmann, Lake Mendota, Los Angeles, Madison, Madison Arts Commission, Music, nature preserve, Overture Center, Overture Foundation, Paul Muench, Pleasant T. Rowland, pop, Puccini, Quartessence, Quartet, rock and roll, San Francisco, String quartet, Sunday, swing, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board
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