The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music education: This Thursday morning, WORT-FM 89.9 will air a lengthy tribute to retiring UW-Madison and Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras conductor Jim Smith
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By Jacob Stockinger
Rich Samuels hosts the radio show “Anything Goes” every Thursday morning on WORT-FM 89.9.
But Samuels is also a documenter extraordinaire of the local classical music scene. Chances are you have seen him operating his computer and microphones at a recent concert.
Most recently, he brought the revival of Bach Around the Clock to his listeners.
Now he has done it again.
Here is what he wrote to The Ear, who is grateful for his many efforts:
“I just finished editing a 52-minute tribute to Maestro James Smith (below, rehearsing at the UW-Madison) who conducts his final Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra concert this coming Sunday at the Overture Center in a joint appearance, called “Side by Side,” with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
“This segment will air this week at 7:08 a.m. on my Thursday WORT broadcast.
“Listeners will hear Maestro Smith (below, conducting WYSO students) prepare his young musicians for the Sunday event and hear him reflect on his 32 years on the WYSO podium.
“Also contributing to the segment are WYSO alumni violist Vicki Powell (now based in Berlin), violinist David Cao (a joint music and pre-med major at Northwestern University) and Beth Larson (of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Willy Street Chamber Players, to name a few of her many affiliations).”
Smith’s final WYSO concert is in Overture Hall of the Overture Center on Sunday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. The concert is FREE and open to the public. No tickets are required and seating is general admission. Doors open at 3:45 p.m. (You can hear a short sample of a 2015 Side by Side in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The program includes music by Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov, Georges Bizet, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Niccolo Paganini, Ottorino Respighi and Dmitri Shostakovich.
For more information about the Side-by-Side concert by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and WYSO, go to:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/side-by-side-1/
Tags: Arts, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, Berlin, Beth Larson, Bizet, Cello, Classical music, computer, Dmitri Shostakovich, document, documentary, documenter, Jacob Stockinger, James Smith, Jim Smith, Johann Sebastian Bach, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maestro, microphone, Music, Music education, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Northwestern University, Orchestra, Ottorino Respighi, Overture Center, Paganini, Radio, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Soviet Union, symphony, tribute, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vicki Powell, video, Viola, Violin, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Youth Symhony Orchestras, WORT-FM 89.9, WYSO, YouTube
Classical music: Broadcasts of operas from the Met and string quartets by the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet are featured on old media and new media this Saturday and Sunday. Plus, the 89th Edgewood college Christmas Concert is tonight and tomorrow afternoon.
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ALERT: Edgewood College will present its 89th Annual Christmas Concerts tonight at 7 p.m. and Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in the St. Joseph Chapel, 1000 Edgewood College Drive.
Now expanded to two performances, the holiday concert features the Edgewood College choirs and Concert Band, along with audience sing-alongs, prelude music by the Guitar Ensemble, and a post-concert reception featuring the Jazz Ensemble.
By Jacob Stockinger
Classical music meets old media and new media this weekend through opera and chamber music.
SATURDAY
This Saturday marks the beginning of the LIVE RADIO broadcasts of operas from the Metropolitan Opera (below) in New York City. This will be the 86th season for the radio broadcasts, which educated and entertained generations of opera lovers before there were DVDs, streaming and the “Live in HD From the Met” broadcasts to movie theaters.
The performances will be carried locally on Wisconsin Public Radio, WERN-FM 88.7. This Saturday, the starting time for Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” with Russian superstar soprano Anna Netrebko (below, in a photo by Richard Termine for The New York Times), is 11:30 CST. Other operas will have different starting times, depending their length.
This season runs from Dec. 3-May 15.
Radio has certain strengths, The Ear thinks. For one, it allows the listeners to focus on the music, to be less distracted or less enriched – depending on your point of view – by sets, costumes, lighting, the physicality of the acting and other stagecraft that is left to the imagination.
This season, there will be lots of standard fare including: Verdi’s “La Traviata” and “Aida”; Puccini’s “La Boheme”; Bizet’s “Carmen”; Beethoven’s “Fidelio”; Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” and “The Flying Dutchman”; Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” and “Salome”; and Mozart’s “Idomeneo.”
But you can also hear the new music and less frequently staged operas. They include the 2000 opera “L’amour de loin” (Love From Afar) by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, which will receive its Metropolitan Opera premiere next week, on Dec. 10.
Here is a link to the complete season along with links to information about the various productions. Starting times are Eastern Standard Time, so deduct an hour for Central Standard Time or a different amount for your time zone:
http://www.metopera.org/Season/Radio/Saturday-Matinee-Broadcasts/
SUNDAY
On this Sunday afternoon, the Pro Arte Quartet (below, in a photo by Rick Langer), longtime artists-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, will wrap up the first semester of “Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen,” which used to air weekly on Wisconsin Public Radio but now is presented once a month, on the first Sunday of the month, directly by the museum.
The program this Sunday features the “Italian Serenade” by Hugo Wolf; the String Quartet No. 3 in F Major by Dmitri Shostakovich; and the String Quartet in A-Flat Major, Op. 105, by Antonin Dvorak.
The FREE concert takes place from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Brittingham Gallery No. 3 of the Chazen Museum of Art and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Donors to the museum can reserve seats. Concerts by the Pro Arte Quartet, kind of the house quartet of the museum, are usually “sold out.”
But the concert can also be streamed live via computer or smart phone by clicking on the arrow in the photo and using the portal on the following website:
You might also want to arrive early or stay late to see the historic and rare First Folio edition (below) of the plays by William Shakespeare that is on display at the Chazen Museum through Dec. 11 to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of the Bard.
Tags: acting, Aida, Anna Netrebko, Arts, band, Beethoven, Bizet, Carmen, Cello, Chamber music, chapel, Chazen Museum of Art, Choir, choral music, Christmas, Classical music, computer, Concert, costume, DVD, Dvorak, Edgewood College, Finland, First Folio, guitar, Holiday, Hugo Wolf, Italian Serenade, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Kaija Saariaho, La bohème, La Traviata, lighting, Live From The Met in HD, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Met, Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Opera Live in HD, movie, Mozart, Music, new media, New Music, New York City, New York Times, old media, opera, Orchestra, Prelude, premiere, Pro Arte Quartet, Puccini, Radio, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Russia, Salome, sets, Shakespeare, Shostakovich, sing-along, smart phone, soprano, St. Joseph, stagecraft, streaming, String quartet, Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen, theater, Tristan und Isolde, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Verdi, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Classical music: The Madison Symphony Orchestra opens its new season this weekend with music by Holst and photographs by NASA in “The Planets: An HD Odyssey”
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement from the Madison Symphony Orchestra:
The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO, below), with Music Director John DeMain conducting, opens its 91st season – and its 23rd season under Maestro DeMain — with three works by 20th-century composers.
Science, music and stunning visuals come together with Gustav Holst’s The Planets accompanied by a spectacular, high-definition film featuring NASA imagery. (Below is a photo of Jupiter, “The Bringer of Jollity” to Holst. The musical depiction of Jupiter — performed by James Levine conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — is in the YouTube video at the bottom.
MSO’s Concertmaster Naha Greenholtz is featured in the Chaconne, a dramatic theme by John Corigliano, from The Red Violin film. The concert begins with George Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody No. 1.
The concerts are in Overture Hall on this Friday., Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 24, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Sept. 25, at 2:30 p.m.
A national hero in his homeland, Enescu rarely included hints of his Romanian heritage in his music, except when he composed the Romanian Rhapsodies as a teenager. Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 captures a series of Romanian folk songs, including melodies of increasingly wild Gypsy dances. This is MSO’s first performance of this work.
In the Chaconne, American composer John Corigliano (below) draws the audience in with a foreboding and haunting signature tune, which he wrote for the powerful film about music, The Red Violin. His film score for the movie earned him an Academy Award in 1999 for his original music. This will be the first time MSO has performed this Oscar-winning work, and features MSO Concertmaster Naha Greenholtz.
Greenholtz (below) has captivated audiences as Concertmaster of the MSO and the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. A Canadian violinist, Greenholtz was born in Kyoto, Japan, where she began her violin studies at age three.
Since her solo debut at 14, she continues to perform internationally, most notably with: the Oregon Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, National Ballet of Canada, Omaha Symphony, and Memphis Symphony.
The Planets is known as Holst’s most popular work. The musical movements were inspired by characteristics connected with astrology’s seven planets. For instance, ominous sounding Mars, the Bringer of War, is followed by the calmly flowing Venus, the Bringer of Peace. (Below top is Mars and below bottom is Venus.)
The performances will be accompanied by a high-definition film projecting celestial images above the main stage.
According to New York Times senior critic Anthony Tommasini, the film shows “photographs from rovers and satellites, radar images and computer-generated graphics … combining to give the audience the impression of circling individual planets and sometimes flying over their awesomely barren landscapes.” (Below is a close-up of the surface of Mars.)
The Madison Symphony Women’s Chorus (below top, in a photo by Greg Anderson), under the direction of Beverly Taylor, will be part of the final movement of The Planets, and the Overture Concert Organ (below bottom) is featured at several moments in the piece.
This is the first time MSO’s performance of The Planets will be accompanied by the high-definition film.
One hour before each performance, Randal Swiggum, the artistic director of the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra Artistic, will lead a 30-minute Prelude Discussion in Overture Hall to enhance concertgoers’ understanding and listening experience.
For more background on the music, please view the Program Notes at: http://www.allsenmusic.com/NOTES/1617/1.Sep16.html or madisonsymphony.org/planets.
Before all of the concerts and at intermission, Friends of University of Wisconsin–Madison Astronomy will have an interactive display in the lobby concertgoers can experience.
The Symphony recommends that concert attendees arrive early for each performance to make sure they have time to pass through Overture Center’s security stations, and so they can experience the pre-concert talk and the astronomy exhibit (free for all ticket-holders).
Single Tickets are $16 to $87 each and are on sale now at madisonsymphony.org/planets, through the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street, or by calling the Box Office at (608) 258-4141.
Groups of 15 or more can save 25% by calling the MSO office at (608) 257-3734. For more information visit, madisonsymphony.org/groups.
Student rush tickets can be purchased in person on the day of the concert at the Overture Box Center Office at 201 State Street. Students must show a valid student ID and can receive up to two $12 or $15 tickets. More information is at: madisonsymphony.org/studentrush.
Seniors age 62 and up receive 20% savings on advance and day-of-concert ticket purchases in select areas of the hall.
Discounted seats are subject to availability, and discounts may not be combined.
Major funding for the September concerts is provided by: NBC15, Diane Ballweg, Capitol Lakes, Friends of University of Wisconsin–Madison Astronomy, The Gialamas Company, Inc., and Nicholas and Elaine Mischler. Additional funding is provided by: Analucia and Mark Allie, for their beloved “Doc” Richard Greiner; Judith and Nick Topitzes, and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Tags: 20th-century, Academy Award, America, Anthony Tommasini, Arts, astrology, astronomy, ballet, Calgary, Canada, Cello, chaconne, Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, choral music, chorus, Classical music, composer, computer, concertmaster, conductor, dance, Elgin, Enescu, film, Film score, Gustav Holst, gypsy, HD, High definition, Holst, imagery, Jacob Stockinger, James Levine, Japan, John Corigliano, John DeMain, Jupiter, Kyoto, landscape, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maestro, Mars, melody, Memphis, movie, movie score, Music, NASA, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, New York Times, Omaha, Orchestra, Oregon, organ, Oscar, Overture Center, photograph, planet, Prelude, program notes, Quad City, radar, Randal Swiggum, Red Violin, rhapsody, Romania, Roumania, Rumania, satellite, science, senior, Student, symphony, The Planets, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, Venus, Viola, Violin, visual, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, women, Youth, YouTube
Classical music: Rediscovering old piano technique is altering how the music of the classical Old Masters sounds and how easily it is played
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By Jacob Stockinger
Sure, for a long time musicology has traced how musical styles, forms and instrumentation have changed.
But now some researchers are using computers to investigate – and revive – an older keyboard technique from the 19th century that differs dramatically from the more modern technique generally in use. (Below is a photo by Alexander Refsum Jensenius.)
It turns out not to be as outdated or useless as many assume.
It changes not only how the music of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert and Chopin sounds but also the ease with which the performer can play it.
Here is a story from The New York Times that the Ear had stashed from about a year ago.
But he thinks it still seems timely – and fascinating.
And he hopes you do too.
Here is a link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/21/science/playing-mozart-piano-pieces-as-mozart-did.html
See what you think and leave a comment.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Arts, Austria, Beethoven, Beethoven and Mozart, Chamber music, Chopin, chords, Christina Kobb, Classical music, computer, Cornell University, England, etude, Finger, forearm, France, Franz Schubert, hand, Haydn, Hummel, Inge Godoy, Jacob Stockinger, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mozart, Music, musicology, New York Times, Norway, Norwegian Academy of Music, notes, Oslo, performer, Piano, posture, research, scales, sitting, technique, The New York Times, treatise, United States, university, University of Oslo, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vienna, Wisconsin
Classical music: Madison Youth Choir’s sixth annual Boychoir Festival is this Saturday. Plus, the Wisconsin Brass Quintet performs this Sunday at the Chazen Museum of Art
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ALERT: This month’s Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen, to start at 12:30 p.m. this Sunday, features the Wisconsin Brass Quintet from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music.
The program includes music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Giovanni Gabrieli, Ira Taxin, Ingolf Dahl and UW-Madison alumnus Andrew Rindfleisch.
Since Wisconsin Public Radio no longer carries the concerts live, you must either attend it FREE in the Brittingham Gallery No. 3 in the Chazen Museum of Art or stream it live on your computer. Here is a link to the museum’s web site to reserve seats and to listen live:
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following note from the Madison Youth Choirs:
“The Madison Youth Choirs, in partnership with Madison Metropolitan School District, will present the sixth annual FREE Madison Boychoir Festival this Saturday, Jan. 30, in the Stevens Gym at Madison West High School, 30 Ash St., starting at 12:30 p.m.
(Below is a photo of middle school singers, conducted by Margaret Jenks, from last year’s festival. You can also hear excerpts in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
“The festival is a day-long celebration of choral music for boys in grades 2-12, culminating in a free concert for the community.”
“We’re expecting a record number of well over 400 young men, ages 7-18, from across southern Wisconsin at this year’s festival, and recently also broke a new record for enrollment in MYC’s three yearlong performing boychoirs – a great sign for the culture of boys’ singing in our community!”
The program usually includes classical music, folk music and crossover or pop music. This year’s is no different. Here is the line-up:
COMBINED CHOIRS
Plato’s Take (sing in Greek) by Randal Swiggum
YOUTH CHOIR
Margaret Jenks, conductor; Andrew Johnson, piano/percussion
Banaha — Congolese folk song
MIDDLE LEVEL CHOIR
Randal Swiggum, conductor; Steve Radtke, piano; Zachary Yost, piccolo; Andrew Johnson, snare drum
“Riflemen of Bennington“ Revolutionary War song, arr. Swiggum
HIGH SCHOOL MEN’S CHOIR
Albert Pinsonneault, Michael Ross, conductors; Jess Salek, piano
Byker Hill, Traditional, arr. Sandler
THE MADISON BOYCHOIR
Randal Swiggum, Margaret Jenks, Michael Ross, conductors
Intonent Hodie, Anonymous (ca. 12th century)
COMBINED CHOIRS
Unity, by Glorraine Moore/Freddie Washington, arr. Cason
“Over 400 young singers, joined by the men of the Madison Choral Project (MCP), will present repertoire from a variety of cultural traditions and historical eras, exploring beyond notes and rhythms to discover the context, meaning and heart of the music. (Below is a photo of elementary school singers from the 2014 festival, conducted by Randal Swiggum.)
“This project is supported in part by the Madison Arts Commission, by the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts, and by Dane Arts with additional funding from the Endres Mfg. Company Foundation.”
About Madison Youth Choirs (MYC)
“Recognized as an innovator in youth choral music education, Madison Youth Choirs (MYC) welcomes singers of all ability levels, annually serving more than 1,000 young people, ages 7-18, through a wide variety of choral programs in our community.
“Cultivating a comprehensive music education philosophy that inspires self -confidence, personal responsibility and a spirit of inquiry leading students to become “expert noticers,” MYC creates accessible, meaningful opportunities for youth to thrive in the arts and beyond.”
For further information, visit www.madisonyouthchoirs.org or call (608) 238-7464
Tags: Albert Pinsonneault, Andrew Rindfleisch, Art, Arts, Bach, boychoir, boys, brass, Chazen Museum of Art, Choir, choral music, Classical music, computer, Congo, Congolese, crossover, culture, Dane Arts, Dane County, drum, elementary school, festival, Folk music, folk songs, Giovanni Gabrieli, Greece, Greek, History, Hodie, Ingolf Dahl, Ira Taxin, Jacob Stockinger, Jess Salek, Johann Sebastian Bach, Madison, Madison Boychoir, Madison Choral Project, Madison West High School, Madison Youth Choirs, Margaret Jenks, men, Michael Ross, Middle school, Music, National Endowment for the Arts, notes, percussion, Piano, piccolo, pop, public school, quintet, Revolutionary War, rhythm, sanre, Singing, stream, Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, web site, Website, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Brass Quintet, wisconsin public radio, young, young boys, young men, young people, Youth, youth choir, YouTube
Classical music: Today is Cyber Monday. Here are some gift guides and links to local music organizations if you want to buy tickets and look into performers, concerts and dates.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today is Cyber Monday, which follows on the heels of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.
Just look at those names of Institutionalized Shopping Days. Are we a consumer society or what?
All the news stories that the Ear hears and sees seem to agree: Online buying is by far the fastest growing segment of the holiday retail market.
In that spirit, here are two links to various gifts guides.
First, BBC Music Magazine and the Telegraph newspaper:
And The New York Times:
But just as important are the local music makers and concert promoters. The Ear thinks that tickets to future concerts make a great gift – especially if you agree to accompany someone and provide companion or maybe even transportation is the person is older.
And you don’t have to buy today.
The important thing is to USE YOUR COMPUTER OR SMART PHONE to browse and shop, to assist you in shopping.
Some of the local groups are even offering major and minor holiday discounts. Or the past several years, the Madison Symphony Orchestra has offered has reduced price tickets. (This year, the MSO tickets sale of seats for $20 or $48 takes place Dec. 12-24.) This year, the Wisconsin Union Theater is waiving handing fees (but not discounting tickets) for the month of December and through Jan. 2. And other deals are likely, given the competitive nature of the performing arts in Madison.
And if you don’t buy them today or the sales come later, at least you can do the research right now and find out what you might want to buy later.
In some cases, as with the FREE Friday Noon Musicales at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, performers and programs are not listed much in advance. And the terrific new ensemble Willy Street Chamber Players won’t announce its new dates and programs until the spring.
The Ear thinks that combining a ticket to a live performance with a recording of the music or a book about music makes a superb holiday gift. And you will be supporting local businesses and local musicians.
So here are some links. But please forgive The Ear if the list is not exhaustive. There are so many classical music groups now in Madison and the surrounding area, it is hard to keep up.
If you want to ask something, please put the name and a link in the COMMENT section. The Ear will be grateful, and so will other readers.
The Ear hopes you find it useful.
A drumroll, please!
University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/events/
Madison Symphony Orchestra:
https://www.madisonsymphony.org
Madison Opera (a scene from “La Boheme” in a photo by James Gill):
Overture Center for the Arts:
Wisconsin Union Theater:
http://www.uniontheater.wisc.edu
Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras:
Oakwood Chamber Players:
http://www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com
Madison Bach Musicians:
http://madisonbachmusicians.org
Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble:
http://www.wisconsinbaroque.org
Middleton Community Orchestra:
http://middletoncommunityorchestra.org
Con Vivo:
http://www.convivomusicwithlife.org
Festival Choir of Madison:
http://festivalchoirmadison.org/seasons/events.html
Madison Choral of Madison:
Farley’s House of Pianos:
Fresco Opera Theatre:
http://www.frescooperatheatre.com
Live From the Met in HD:
http://www.metopera.org/Season/In-Cinemas/
Tags: Arts, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Black Friday, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, cinema, cinemas, Classical music, Compact Disc, computer, Con Vivo, concerto, cyber, Cyber-Monday, digital, Early music, Edgewood College, Farley's House of Pianos, Franz Schubert, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John DeMain, Live From The Met in HD, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera, Middleton Community Orchestra, Movie theater, Music, New York Times, Oakwood Chamber Players, opera, Orchestra, Overture Center, Piano, Pro Arte Quartet, Small Business Saturday, smart phone, Sonata, Thanksgiving, The New York Times, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Baroque Enemble, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wisconsin Youth Symhony Orchestras, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WYSO
Classical music: Clocks in Motion and Transient Canvas perform new music for winds and percussion this Wednesday night. Plus, the Pro Arte Quartet performs a FREE concert of Mozart, Beethoven and Webern on Saturday night.
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ALERT: The Pro Arte Quartet, artists-in-residence at the UW-Madison School of Music, will give a FREE concert this Saturday night at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall. The program features: the String Quartet No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 18, No. 1 (1799-1800) by Ludwig van Beethoven; the Langsamer Satz (Slow Movement) for String Quartet (1905) by Anton Webern; and the String Quartet in E-flat Major, K. 428 (1783) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following word from Clocks in Motion:
Clocks in Motion (below), Madison’s premier new music ensemble, welcomes the renowned bass clarinet and marimba duo Transient Canvas to Madison for a collaborative performance of new sounds, new instruments, and new music.
Featuring a world premiere by Italian-American modernist composer Filippo Santoro, as well as rarely heard works by Daniel T. Lewis, Matthew Welch, and Franco Donatoni, this concert offers a singular chance to experience the cutting edge of new music.
The performance is this Wednesday night, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. in the DeLuca Forum (below bottom) of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery (below top), across from the Union South at 330 North Orchard Street.
It will feature Transient Canvas (below), which consists of the “dazzling” (Boston Globe) clarinetist Amy Advocat and the “expert and vivid” (Boston Musical Intelligencer) marimbist Matthew Sharrock performing thrilling repertoire commissioned for their distinctive instrumentation, as well as larger works in partnership with Clocks in Motion.
Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 the day of the show; $5 with a student ID. PURCHASE TICKETS
Advance tickets are available at https://www.artful.ly/store/events/7534
Praised by the Boston Globe as “superb,” Transient Canvas has been blazing its own trail in the world of contemporary music since 2011. In four years, they have premiered over 40 new works, essentially creating an entirely new repertoire for their unique instrumentation. Fearless in their programming and hungry for new collaborations, TC actively seeks out new composers who will stretch their instrumentation to its limits. (You can hear a sample in the YouTube video at the bottom)
Learn more about Transient Canvas at http://www.transientcanvas.com/
Hailed as “nothing short of remarkable” (ClevelandClassical.com), Clocks in Motion is a group that performs new music, builds its own instruments, and breaks down the boundaries of the traditional concert program. The group Clocks in Motion consistently performs groundbreaking concerts involving performance art, theater, and computer technology.
Featuring world premieres alongside rarely performed classic works, the ensemble strives to create a new canon of percussion repertoire.
Clocks in Motion works passionately to educate young audiences through master classes, residencies, presentations, and school assemblies. The ensemble’s unique skill sets and specialties contain an impressive mix of rock, jazz, contemporary classical, orchestral, marching, and world styles.
Clocks in Motion has served as resident performers and educators at the Interlochen Arts Academy, Casper College, the University of Michigan, Baldwin-Wallace University, VIBES Fine and Performing Arts, Traverse City West High School, Traverse City East Middle School, Rhapsody Arts Center, and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.
Formed in 2011, Clocks in Motion began as an extension of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Graduate Percussion Group, and now serves as an affiliate ensemble of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music.
Tags: Arts, Baldwin-Wallace University, bass clarinet, Beethoven, Chamber music, clarinet, Classical music, Clocks in Motion, composer, computer, Daniel T. Lewis, Filippo Santoro, Franco Donatoni, Harvard University, Interlochen, Interlochen Arts Academy, Italian-American, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, marches, marimba, Massachusetts, Matthew Welch, MMOCA, Mozart, Museum, Music, Music education, New Music, Orchestra, orchestral music, percussion, performance art, Pro Arte Quartet, Rock, String quartet, technology, The Boston Globe, theater, Transient Canvas, Union South, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Webern, winds, Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, World music, YouTube
Classical music: Percussion group Clocks in Motion will explore the music of American composer Steve Reich in two concerts, both this Saturday at the Overture Center.
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ALERT: This week’s FREE Friday Noon Musicale, to be held from 12:15 to 1 p.m. at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features violinists Shannon Farley, Wes Luke and Hannah Muehlbauer with pianist Gregg Punswick in two favorite Baroque works for multiple violins: the Concerto for Three Violins by Antonio Vivaldi and the Double Concerto for Two Violins in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach.
By Jacob Stockinger
This coming Saturday, the Madison-based group Clocks in Motion (below) will present “PATTERN RECOGNITION” -– a festival of contemporary American composer Steve Reich -– in two programs to be held in the Promenade Hall of the Overture Center for the Arts.
The concerts are on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Tickets are $22 for single concerts, or $39 for a two-concert festival pass. Student rush tickets for each concert are also available for $12.
Here are details from a press release:
Clocks in Motion, Madison’s premier contemporary percussion ensemble, will present two concerts of music by innovative composer Steve Reich. Known as a pioneer of minimalist composition, Reich and his lush works have captivated audiences since the 1960s.
Clocks in Motion welcomes stellar guest artists to collaborate on the festival and celebrate an American composer who changed the landscape of modern music.
The 1 p.m. program features Reich’s 80-minute masterpiece, Drumming (at the bottom in a YouTube video of the work’s first part . Guest vocalists Cheryl Rowe (below top) and Chelsie Propst (below middle), as well as flutist Stephanie Jutt (below bottom), who teaches at the UW-Madison and is principal flute of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, will join nine percussionists in a driving and mesmerizing performance. Written in 1970 after a trip to Ghana, the piece combines West-African interlocking rhythm with contemporary harmonies and rhythmic treatment.
The 7 p.m. evening program features four shorter works from various stages in the entire career of Steve Reich (below).
Sextet showcases a gorgeous harmonic cycle, diverse tempos and energy, and interesting instrumentation such as bowed vibraphone, two pianos, and synthesizer.
Mallet Quartet is the most recent piece by Reich on the program, with swirling meters and a thrilling final movement.
Four Organs made “infamous” history when it was first performed in Carnegie Hall. Clocks will employ digital patches on four laptop computers to present this piece.
Guest Pianist Rob Kovacs (below) also joins the evening program, performing Piano Phase for Solo Pianist. This work was originally scored for two musicians, and Kovacs is the first to perform it as a soloist, playing two grand pianos and two parts with one set of hands.
New music, new instruments and new sounds define Clocks in Motion’s fresh and innovative approach to contemporary classical performance.
Hailed as “nothing short of remarkable” (ClevelandClassical.com), Clocks in Motion is a group that performs new music, builds its own instruments, and breaks down the boundaries of the traditional concert program.
With a fearless and uncompromising ear to programming challenging and adventurous contemporary percussion ensemble repertoire, Clocks in Motion consistently performs groundbreaking concerts involving performance art, theater, and computer technology. Featuring world premieres alongside rarely performed classic works, this ensemble strives to create a new canon of percussion repertoire.
Clocks in Motion works passionately to educate young audiences through master classes, residencies, presentations, and school assemblies. The ensemble’s unique skill sets and specialties contain an impressive mix of rock, jazz, contemporary classical, orchestral, marching band and world styles.
Clocks in Motion has served as resident performers and educators at the Interlochen Arts Academy, Casper College, the University of Michigan, Baldwin-Wallace University, VIBES Fine and Performing Arts, Traverse City West High School, Traverse City East Middle School, Rhapsody Arts Center, and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.
Formed in 2011, Clocks in Motion began as an extension of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’ School of Music’s Graduate Percussion Group, and now serves as the affiliate ensemble of the UW-Madison percussion studio.
Tags: Arts, Bach, Baroque, Carnegie Hall, Chamber music, Classical music, Clocks in Motion, computer, concerto, Early music, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, marimba, Music, New Music, Overture Center, percussion, Piano, Steve Reich, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, Violin concerto, Vivaldi, YouTube
Classical music: On Day 3 in Belgium, the University of Wisconsin Pro Arte Quartet plays at the Royal Library, gives a gift to King Philippe and keeps performing a lot of hard and varied music.
12 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
Editor’s note: The Well-Tempered Ear has asked people on the one-week tour of Belgium by the UW Pro Arte Quartet (below, in a photo by Rick Langer) to file whatever dispatches and photos they can to keep the fans at home current with what is happening on the concert stage and off.
Thanks goodness for iPads, iPhones, Androids and other smart phones, computers and digital cameras!
Here is a link to the first installment:
And here is the second installment:
After troubles at customs and catching up from jet lag, the Pro Arte Quartet got down to the business of rehearsing and performing.
The quartet members -– violinists David Perry and Suzanne Beia, violist Sally Chisholm, cellist Parry Karp and manager Sarah Schaffer — and their entourage of “groupies” also spent time meeting and greeting the descendants of the original quartet members who started the ensemble over a century ago at the Royal Belgian Conservatory of Music in Brussels before World War II stranded them in Madison.
That’s when they became artists-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of music, where they have remained ever since.
Here are some updates on Day 3:
Read on:
Sarah Schaffer (below), who also took the photos, writes:
Day 3 — FRIDAY:
The “coats and cases” space was the room that houses the Bela Bartok archives at the Royal Library!
Here is the exterior with its name in the two official languages of Belgium: Flemish and French.
The Bartok Room (below) has many rare and unique items – letters, photos, etc. It all rather takes one’s breath away. We each received a copy of a recent publication by the collection’s archivist, Denijs Dille.
FYI, the fifth person, on the right in the photo (below) taken after the bows that followed the concert on the Arthur De Greef Auditorium — named for the early 20th-century Belgian composer — is Hubert Roisin, Counselor to the King.
Mr. Roisin (below, in a close-up by violist Sally Chisholm) seemed very honored to be in attendance. We were certainly honored by his presence at the concert.
Here are the gifts we gave Monsieur Roisin for King Philippe: A framed photo (below top) of the original members and the current members of the Pro Arte Quartet plus an honorary letter (below bottom) from University of Wisconsin-Madison Rebecca M. Blank.
PAQ played to a mostly full house and was very warmly received. Many accolades filled the air at the private reception afterwards.
Afterwards, I pressed the willing-but-exhausted quartet into a “photo shoot” taking advantage of the spectacular architecture and gardens surrounding the library.
Then they all went off to rest.
It has been a very strenuous few days, and tomorrow is especially long, beginning with an 11 a.m. train trip to original quartet member Alphonse Onnou’s town of Dolhain, arriving in time for a 1 p.m. lunch. (Below is a photo of the Pro Arte Quartet in 1928. Alphonse Onnou is on the far left.)
Then it gets jam-packed with a full day of commemorations — including the municipal band offering “American” tunes in our honor — all BEFORE the 8 p.m. concert.
We will all be very glad to have Sunday “off.”
Not only is the SCHEDULE strenuous, but so also is the REPERTOIRE — with very few repeats over all these concerts.
The norm on tour is to recycle a handful of pieces.
Not so the Pro Arte Quartet, not on this trip.
They are holding up well but are, understandably, fatigués. (Below is the dual-language program notes from the concert of music by Bela Bartok and Franz Joseph Haydn — two composers the early Pro Arte Quartet was celebrated for and identified with — at the Royal Library.)
More soon.
Tags: Android, Arte, Arthur De Greef, Arts, Béla Bartók, Belgium, Brussels, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, composer, computer, digital camera, Dolhain, Flemish, Franz Joseph Haydn, French, IPad, iPhone, Jacob Stockinger, King, Madison, Music, Pro Arte Quartet, Rebecca M. Blank, royal, Royal Library, smart phone, String quartet, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, World War II
Classical music: On Day 2 in Belgium, the University of Wisconsin Pro Arte Quartet is offered rehearsal time in a bar; meets descendants of the original members of the quartet; and performs its first concert to applause, appreciation and acclaim.
11 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
Editor’s note: The Well-Tempered Ear has asked people and participants on the one-week tour in Belgium with the UW Pro Arte Quartet (below, in a photo by Rick Langer) to file whatever dispatches and photos they can to keep the fans at home current with what is happening on the concert stage and off.
Thanks goodness for iPads, iPhones and other smart phones, computers and digital cameras!
Here is a link to the dramatic first installment:
And here, below, is the second installment:
After troubles at customs and catching up from jet lag, the Pro Arte Quartet got down to the business of eating and sleeping, rehearsing and performing, of meeting its public and catching up with its history.
The quartet members and their entourage of groupies -– the quartet consists of violinists David Perry and Suzanne Beia, violist Sally Chisholm, cellist Parry Karp plus manager Sarah Schaffer — spent time meeting and greeting the descendants of the original quartet members who started the ensemble over a century ago at the Royal Belgian Conservatory of Music in Brussels before it became a Court quartet and then World War II stranded the quartet in Madison.
That’s when, in 1941, the quartet became artists-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, where they have remained ever since.
Here are some updates on Day 2 of the Belgium tour:
Read on:
Sarah Schaffer writes:
Day 2 — Thursday:
Much calmer!
Today’s “crisis” is small compared to yesterday’s:
The quartet needed a place to rehearse.
We’d assumed, incorrectly it turned out, that the hotel would have something like a meeting room that might be used.
No luck.
They offered instead the BAR! It is not open mornings.
And that is where Michel Arthur Prevost (below left in my photo), the grandnephew of founding violist Germaine Prevost and the impresario of the opening concert at Flagey Hall, first encountered the quartet when he unexpectedly arrived at the hotel this morning. On the right is his brother Jean Marie Prevost.
Acoustics at Flagey were fantastic, as they quartet found out when rehearsing.
The opening concert was much enjoyed by a small but extremely appreciative audience.
Tomorrow we meet King Philippe’s counselor, Herbert Roisin, and offer him our gift of the photos of the old and current quartet members and a letter from our new University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank that we carried with us to Belgium.
Plus, the Pro Arte Quartet has received media attention, the local newspaper running a story (below) in French under a headline in English:
Adds violist Sally Chisholm, who always has an eye for the feature and the fun:
What a fine way to travel!
Here is a very professional taxi driver taking us to Flagey Hall.
Much acceleration, good humor and the local title of Place des Morts (Square of the Dead) for the number of pedestrians crossing the street.
We are now in Studio 1, safe and greeting the grandnephews of Germain Prevost and many Pro Arte friends.
Here is the grandson of cellist Robert Maas, speaking with Anne Van Malderen who is writing a documentary history of the Pro Arte. He speaks no English, but is very easy to understand!
And here is the great-granddaughter of Robert Maas:
What a wonderful hall and appreciative audience.
Here is the stage before I played the Elegy for solo viola that was composed by Igor Stravinsky for one Pro Arte member and dedicated to the passing of another, Germaine Prevost. I performed it after remarks, in French, by Dr. Prevost, grand-nephew of Germain Prevost.
And here is the brief review by Dr. Robert Graebner, a UW-Madison alumnus and retired Madison neurologist who, with his wife Linda Graebner, is following the Pro Arte on its one-week tour and who commissioned for the quartet’s centennial the String Quartet No. 6 by American composer John Harbison — who teaches at MIT and co-directs the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival near Madison each August, and who has won both the Pulitzer Prize and a coveted MacArthur “genius” grant:
We just returned from a private concert at the historic Art Deco Flagey Studio 1. (Below is a photo of the concert posters taken by Sarah Schaffer.)
The Pro Arte was in top form, and attendees included two relatives of Germaine Prevost and two relatives of Robert Maas.
Tomorrow brings a concert at the Royal Library.
So stayed tuned as the Pro Arte performs again (below is the printed program from Sarah Schaffer) and meets The Royals – or at least their reps.
Tags: Arte, Arts, Belgium, Brussels, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, computer, digital camera, Igor Stravinsky, IPad, iPhone, Jacob Stockinger, John Harbison, King, MacArthur Fellow, Madison, MIT, Music, Pro Arte Quartet, Pulitzer Prize, Rebecca Blank, royal, smart phone, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Wisconsin, World War II
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