cocktail | The Well-Tempered Ear

A busy weekend of online concerts features the UW Symphony, Edgewood College, Madison Opera, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Bach Around the Clock and more

March 25, 2021
2 Comments

PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.

By Jacob Stockinger

With only a little over a month left before the academic year ends at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, it’s not surprising that the last weekend in March is very busy with noteworthy – and competing – online concerts.

Each morning at 8 through Friday, Bach Around the Clock will release the last concerts of its 10-day online festival. You can find the programs – including the finale Friday night at 7 with Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 — and link for streaming here: https://bachclock.com/concert-schedule

The weekend starts tonight with one of The Ear’s favorite groups during the Pandemic Year: the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra

Here is a day-by-day lineup. All times are Central Daylight Time:

TONIGHT, MARCH 25

The UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra (below) performs a FREE virtual online concert TONIGHT starting at 7:30 p.m.

The concert will be preceded by a 7 p.m. talk about Igor Stravinsky with modern musicologist and Penn State Professor Maureen Carr as well as conductor Oriol Sans and Susan Cook, UW musicologist and director of the Mead Witter School of Music.

The program is: Suite from the opera “Dido and Aeneas” by Henry Purcell, with student conductor Alison Norris; Duet for Two Violins and String Orchestra by the contemporary American composer Steve Reich; and the Neo-Classical “Apollon musagète” (Apollo, Leader of the Muses) by Stravinsky. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear an excerpt of the Stravinsky played by the Berlin Philharmonic with Simon Rattle conducting.)

Here is the link to the talk and concert. Click on more and you can also see the members of the orchestra and the two violin soloists: https://youtu.be/2rgHQ4lWTV8

For more information about the program, including notes, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-madison-symphony-orchestra/

FRIDAY, MARCH 26

At 7:30 p.m. the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra will post for three days the third of its four online chamber music concerts (below). There will be excerpts of music by Beethoven and Brahms as well as complete works by Jessie Montgomery and Alyssa Morris.

Tickets to the online on-demand event are $30, with some discounts available, and are good through Monday evening.

Here is a link to more about this concert, including program notes by conductor and music director Andrew Sewell, and how to purchase tickets: https://wcoconcerts.org/events/winter-chamber-series-no-iii

At 8 p.m., the music department at Edgewood College will give a FREE online Spring Celebration concert. It will be livestreamed via music.edgewood.edu

The performers include: the Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Sergei Pavlov (below); the Guitar Ensemble, under the direction of Nathan Wysock; and the Chamber Winds, directed by Carrie Backman.

Highlights include the Guitar Ensemble’s performance of Wish You Were Here, by David Gilmour and Rogers Waters, and the Chamber Winds epic Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The Chamber Orchestra, which will perform live, will feature Musical moment No. 3, by Franz Schubert and Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg.

SATURDAY, MARCH 27

At noon, in Grace Episcopal Church on the Capitol Square downtown, there will be a FREE online concert. Grace Presents: “A Patient Enduring”: This early music program of medieval conductus (a musical setting of metrical Latin texts) and ballade, English lute song, and duets from the early Italian Baroque features two sopranos, Grammy-winnner Sarah Brailey (below) and Kristina Boerger, with Brandon Acker on lute and theorbo.

Here is a link: YouTube.com/GracePresentsConcerts

You can also go to this webpage for a link: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/grace-presents-a-patient-enduring/

At 3 p.m. the Perlman Trio, a piano trio that is made up of UW-Madison graduate students, will give a FREE online concert. The program includes piano trios by Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert.

Here is a link to the YouTube video: https://youtu.be/EAjK0DfWB3A

Here is a link to the complete program plus background, names and photos of the performers as well as to the performance: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/perlman-piano-trio/

At 7 p.m. the UW-Madison’s Wingra Wind Quntet (below) will perform a FREE pre-recorded online concert. Here is a link to the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn7eobSnfr8

And here is a link to the page with more background information about the faculty members – including bassoonist Marc Vallon (below top) and flutist Conor Nelson (below bottom) – and to the complete program: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/wingra-wind-quintet/

SUNDAY, MARCH 28

From 4 to 5:30 p.m., guest mezzo-soprano Julia Ubank (below) will give a free online recital with pianist Thomas Kasdorf.

The program features songs by Mahler, Debussy, deFalla, Jake Heggie and Ellen Cogen.

Here is the complete program plus a link to the recital: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/julia-urbank-voice-recital/

From 4 to 5:30 p.m. the Madison Opera will host a Opera Up Close cocktail hour discussion with four general directors of opera companies. Here is the website’s description:

“Four opera general directors walk into a chat room…. Stepping outside the Madison Opera family, Kathryn Smith (below, in a photo by James Gill) is joined by three colleagues: Michael Egel of Des Moines Metro Opera, Ashley Magnus of Chicago Opera Theater, and Lee Anne Myslewski of Wolf Trap Opera.

“From how they got into opera, to the ups and downs of running an opera company, their favorite productions, funniest moments, and more, it will be a unique and entertaining afternoon.

Here is a link with more information including the cost of a subscription: https://www.madisonopera.org/class/general-directors/?wcs_timestamp=1616947200

At 6 p.m., Rachel Reese, a UW-Madison doctoral student in violin, will give a lecture-concert about the Violin Concerto No. 2 by the rediscovered African-American composer Florence Price (below). She will be accompanied by pianist Aubrie Jacobson.

Here is a link to the concert plus background about Rachel Reese: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/rachel-reese-lecture-recital/

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #African-AmericanComposer, #AlyssaMorris, #AndrewSewell, #BachAroundtheClock, #BaroqueMusic, #BerlinGermany, #BerlinPhilharmonic, #BlackComposer, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrandenburgConcerto, #CapitolSquare, #CarrieBackman, #CentralDaylightTime, #CentralTime, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberOrchestra, #ChamberWinds, #ChicagoIllinois, #ChicagoOperaTheater, #ChristianChurch, #ClassicalGuitar, #ClaudeDebussy, #CocktailHour, #ConorNelson, #CoronavirusPandemic, #DesMoines, #DesmoinesIowa, #DesMoinesMetroOpera, #EdgewoodCollege, #EdvardGrieg, #EllenCogen, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FemaleComposer, #FlorencePrice, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzSchubert, #GeneralDirector, #GracePresents, #GraduateStudent, #Grammy-winning, #GrammyAward, #GustavMahler, #HenryPurcell, #HomeWebsite, #IgorStravinsky, #ItalianBaroque, #JacobStockinger, #JakeHeggie, #JessieMontgomery, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JuliaUrbank, #LatinLanguage, #LiveStreaming, #LivingComposer, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonOpera, #ManuelDeFalla, #MarcVallon, #MaureenCarr, #MedievalMusic, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #MusicDirector, #MusicEducation, #Musicfaculty, #NathanWysock, #OnlineConcert, #OnlineFestival, #OriolSans, #PanelDiscussion, #PeerGynt, #PeerGyntSuite, #PennState, #PerlmanTrio, #PianoAccompanist, #Pre-concertTalk, #ProgramNotes, #SarahBrailey, #SimonRattle, #SopranoSinger, #StarWars, #SteveReich, #StringMusic, #SusanCook, #TheEar, #TheForceAwakens, #TheUK, #TheUW, #TicketPrice, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UW-MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #ViolinConcerto, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WebPage, #WindQuintet, #WingraWindQuintet, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WolftrapOpera, #WomenComposer, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, academic, African American, Alyssa Morris, America, American, Andrew Sewell, Apollo, Arts, audience, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, background, Ballade, Baroque, Bassoon, bassoonist, BATC, Beethoven, Berlin, Berlin Philharmonic, black composer, blog, Blog post, blog posting, Brahms, Brailey, Brandenburg Concerto, British, busy, Capitol, Capitol Square, Carrie Backman, CDT, celebration, Cello, central, Central Daylight Time, Central Time, Chamber music, chamber orchestra, Chamber Winds, channel, Chicago, Chicago Opera Theater, Christian, church, classical guitar, Classical music, Claude Debussy, click, cocktail, cocktail hour, Cogen, companies, competing, complete, composer, Concert, concerto, conductor, conductus, Conor Nelson, coronavirus, coronavirus pandemic, de Falla, Debussy, Des Moines Metro Opera, discount, discussion, downtown, duet, Early music, Edgewood College, Edvard Grieg, Ellen Cogen, end, England, English, excerpts, Facebook, faculty, female, festival, Florence Price, flute, flutist, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, free, Friday, General director, Germany, Grace Episcopal, Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Presents, graduate student, Grammy, Grammy Award, Grave Presents, Grieg, guitar, Gustav Mahler, Haydn, Heggie, Henry Purcell, Igor Stravinsky, information, Iowa, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Jake Heggie, Jessie Montgomery, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Julia Urbank, Latin, lecture, like, lineup, link, Living composer, Ludwig van Beethoven, lute, Madison, Madison Opera, Mahler, Manuel DeFall, Marc Vallon, march, Maureen Carr, Medieval, member, metrical, Mezzo-soprano, minimalism, minimalist, Monday, Montgomery, morning, Morris, Music, Music director, Music education, music faculty, musicology, name, names, Nathan Wysock, Nelson, neo-Classical, noteworthy, oiano, on-demand, online, online festival, opera, Orchestra, Oriol Sans, Overture Center, pandemic, Peer Gynt, Penn State, perform, performer, Perlman Trio, photo, Pianist, Piano, Piano accompanist, Piano Trio, post, pre-concert, price, program, program notes, Purcell, purchase, recital, Reich, releaseconcert, Sarah Brailey, Saturday, Schubert, series, setting, Sewell, share, Simon Rattle, sing, Singing, soloist, song, soprano, Spring, Star Wars, Steve Reich, Stravinsky, stream, streaming, string music, strings, Suite, Sunday, surprising, Susan Cook, symphony, tag, talk, text, The Ear, The Force Awakens, theater, theorbo, third, Thursday, tickets, tonight, trio, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW-Madison, UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra, Vallon, video, Viola, Violin, Violin concerto, violinist, virtual, vocal music, web, Website, weekend, wind music, Wind quintet, winds, Wingra Wind Quintet, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wolf Trap Opera, women, women composer, works, year, YouTube

The Madison Opera launches its Digital Fall this Sunday afternoon and Sept. 27 with more to come through December. The cost is $50 per household

September 18, 2020
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following announcement from the Madison Opera about its Digital fall season, which will open with an artists’ panel discussion this Sunday afternoon, Sept. 20, and then an original world-premiere production on Sept. 27, a week from this Sunday.

“Although the coronavirus pandemic has closed the Overture Center for the Arts this fall, Madison Opera is not going silent.

“We are creating a fall season that lasts from September through December. It includes both digital content and live performances at the Margaret C. Winston Madison Opera Center, our home in downtown Madison.

“All content will be available to subscribers for at least one month from the “live” date, so you can watch at your leisure, and as often as you wish.”

A Digital Fall subscription is $50 per household. It can be purchased on its own, or as part of a new subscription package. It can be purchased through the link at the bottom.

Here is how it will work: About 48 hours before each event, subscribers will receive an email with the private link to that event. (You may need to check your spam folder). If you have not received an email the day before an event, email info@madisonopera.org and we’ll send you the link directly.

The link remains active for one month, so if you cannot watch an event live – or want to re-watch it – you won’t miss out.

Do you miss operatic conversation? Join us online! Opera Up Close is a favorite event for Madison Opera subscribers, usually featuring a discussion of the upcoming opera from a historical context and with cast members.

For our Digital Fall, this conversation is reimagined via technology to discuss broader opera topics, featuring favorite Madison Opera company members, interviewed by Madison Opera’s general director Kathryn Smith (below, in a photo by James Gill).

Opera Up Close Cocktail Hour Discussions take place on Sunday afternoons, 4– 5:30 p.m. Subscribers will have the opportunity to ask questions both in advance and during the talk.

UP CLOSE COCKTAIL HOUR DISCUSSION

This Sunday, Sept. 20, 4-5:30 p.m.

Many singers have debuted at Madison Opera (MO) early in their careers, before going on to sing around the world.

Featured in this discussion are: Kyle Ketelsen of Sun Prairie (below top in a photo by Lawrence Brownlee, MO debut 2000); Emily Fons (below middle, MO debut 2012); and Will Liverman (below bottom, MO debut 2015). Join us for a wide-ranging discussion about their careers, training paths, and much more.

WORLD PREMIERE OF A SONG CYCLE

Jeni Houser and David Blalock, singers

Saturday, Sept. 26, 7:30 p.m.

Featuring the world premiere of “Keep Moving” by Madison composer and UW-Madison graduate Scott Gendel

Married singers Jeni Houser and David Blalock (below) have a long history with Madison Opera. Jeni was one of our first Studio Artists in 2012, and has returned many times, most recently as Anne in Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music.”

David debuted in Beethoven’s “Fidelio” (2014), and both artists sang at Opera in the Park 2019 (below). This past season, Jeni and David made (separate) Metropolitan Opera debuts, and were slated to sing the leads in Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld ” in Madison last spring, which was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Wisconsin residents will launch our Live from the Opera Center series in a joint recital, accompanied by principal pianist Scott Gendel (below).

Gendel is also an acclaimed composer, and the recital will feature the world premiere of his song cycle “Keep Moving,” set to poetry by Maggie Smith, which he is writing specifically for Jeni and David. (below, in a photo by David Scott, are all three are rehearsing in the Madison Opera’s Winston Center.)

Here is a link to the initial schedule of events, including a cooperative production of Jean Cocteau’s monologue opera “The Human Voice” with the Austin Opera in Texas, and biographies of various singers and participants.

More events will be added and announced in the coming months.

You will also a find a button to click on to subscribe to the Digital Fall: https://www.madisonopera.org/Fall2020

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #ALittleNightMusic, #AltoSinger, #AustinOpera, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CastMembers, #CityofMadison, #CocktailHour, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #CreatingArt, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DavidBlalock, #DigitalFall, #EmilyFons, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FallSeason, #GeneralDirector, #GraduateStudent, #HighTechnology, #HistoricalContext, #husband-and-wife, #JacobStockinger, #JacquesOffenbach, #JeanCocteau, #JeniHouser, #KathrynSmith, #KeepMoving, #KyleKetelsen, #LeadRole, #LivePerformance, #LiveStreaming, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonOperaCenter, #MadisonOperaChorus, #MaggieSmith, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #OperaInThePark, #OperaMusic, #OperaUpClose, #OriginalWork, #OrpheusintheUnderworld, #OvertureCenter, #PanelDiscussion, #PianoAccompanist, #PrincipalPianist, #ScottGendel, #SeasonSubscriber, #SongCycle, #SopranoSinger, #StephenSondheim, #Sundayafternoon, #SunPrairie, #TenorSinger, #TheEar, #TheHumanVoice, #TheUW, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #Wife-and-Husband, #WillLiverman, #WorldPremiere, A Little Night Music, acclaimed, accompanist, accompany, add, advance, afternoon, alto, artist, ask, Austin, Austin Opera, available, bass-baritone, Beethoven, biographies, biography, blog, broader, button, cancel, career, cast members, click, cocktail, cocktail hour, Cocteau, composer, content, context, conversation, coronavirus, create, creating, David Blalock, debut, debuted, digital, Digital Fall, discussion, downtown, Emily Fons, event, Facebook, fall, fall season, favorite, Fidelio, forward, Gendel, General director, graduate, historical, History, Home, Houser, husband, interview, Jacob Stockinger, Jacques Offenbach, Jean Cocteau, Jeni Houser, Kathryn Smith, Keep Moving, Ketelsen, Kyle Ketelsen, lead role, leads, leisure, like, link, live, live performance, live streaming, livestream, long, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Opera Center, Madison Opera Chorus, Maggie Smith, married, Mead Witter School of Music, monologue, month, Offenbach, often, online, opera center, Opera in the Park, opera music, Opera Up Close, operatic, opportunity, original, Orpheus in the Underworld, Overture Center, Overture Center for the Arts, own, package, pandemic, panel discussion, part, participants, path, performer, Pianist, Piano, Poetry, post, posting, postpone, postponed, principal pianist, production, purchase, Q&A, question, recital, rehearsal, rehearsing, reimagine, resident, return, Scott Gendel, Season, September, share, silent, sing, singer, Singing, slated, Smith, Sondheim, song cycle, soprano, Stephen Sondheim, stream, streaming, Student, studio, subscriber, subscription, Sun Prairie, Sunday, tag, talk, technology, tenor, Texas, The Ear, The Human Voice, topic, training, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, upcoming, UW, UW-Madison, viewer, virtual, vocal music, watch, wife, Will Liverman, Wisconsin, wish, world, world premiere, writing

	music88 on Yunchan Lim’s Chopin etudes ar…
	diacon2 on Who was the better pianist? Ma…
	welltemperedear on Classical music: Madison Opera…
	welltemperedear on Classical music: Was Bernard H…
	bigbearbound on Classical music: Was Bernard H…

The Well-Tempered Ear

A busy weekend of online concerts features the UW Symphony, Edgewood College, Madison Opera, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Bach Around the Clock and more

Share this:

The Madison Opera launches its Digital Fall this Sunday afternoon and Sept. 27 with more to come through December. The cost is $50 per household

Do you miss operatic conversation? Join us online! Opera Up Close is a favorite event for Madison Opera subscribers, usually featuring a discussion of the upcoming opera from a historical context and with cast members.

Share this: