The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Flutist and activist Iva Ugrcic is Musician of the Year for 2018
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By Jacob Stockinger
The classical music scene in Madison is so rich that it is always a challenge to name a Musician of the Year.
There are just so many deserving candidates. One obvious example is conductor John DeMain, who is completing his 25th year of outstanding stewardship in directing the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Madison Opera.
But part of the intent behind such an honor is not just to recognize well-known figures. It is to encourage a broader awareness of those people who do a lot for local classical music but who often fly under the radar for many people.
That is why The Ear is naming flutist and activist Iva Ugrcic (below) as the Musician of the Year for 2018.
As both a performer and entrepreneur, Ugrcic is always very busy broadening her varied career. Being both a player and an activist, she is making a difference, musically and socially, that deserves to be recognized and supported.
Serbian by birth and educated in Belgrade and Paris, she came to Madison where she completed her doctorate in flute performance and also took business courses at the UW-Madison Business School.
She is a first-rate performer who has won a national prize for performing. While at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, she won both the concerto competition (below) and the Irving Shain competition for wind instruments in duets. (You can hear her amazing technique in the YouTube video at the bottom. In it Ugrcic performs “Voice” for solo flute by the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu.)
She now plays with the Black Marigold Wind Quintet and Sound Out Loud, both of which are based in Madison and both of which devote themselves to contemporary composers and new music.
This year, Urgcic also soloed with the Middleton Community Orchestra (below, in a photo by John W. Barker), performing to critical acclaim a relatively unknown concerto by 19th-century composer Carl Reinecke.
This year, Urgcic also took over as artistic director of the Rural Musicians Forum, which brings classical music, jazz, world music and ethnic music, played by outstanding performers to the Spring Green area, often at the Taliesin compound of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
But perhaps her most long-lasting contribution is her founding and now directing the LunART Festival that, in the same year of the Me Too movement, sought to present an all-women event that featured composers, performers, visual artists and writers.
Such was its inaugural success in 2018 that it won a national prize from the National Flute Association and a second festival will take place from June 9 through June 9, 2019.
2019 will also see the release of her second solo recording devoted to the music of the contemporary Romanian composer Doina Rotaru, even while she is working on a recording of “Beer Music” by contemporary American composer Brian DuFord.
And all that is just the beginning for such a promising talent. We will be hearing much more from her and about her in years to come.
To see her impressive biography, as well as updated activities, video and audio clips, photographs and other information, go to: https://www.ivaugrcic.com/bio
Here is one more thing that speaks to The Ear. It feels important, even necessary, to recognize the positive contributions of an immigrant at a time when the current “America First” administration under President Donald Trump seems so paranoid and negative, so xenophobic and afraid of foreigners.
The U.S government should be less intent on condemning or stigmatizing immigrants, whether legal or undocumented, and should put more emphasis on their contributions and on the long and distinguished history they have in the United States.
Iva Urgcic is yet another example of the talent we Americans stand to lose if we do not accept and encourage the gifts that immigrants bring in so many ways — from the arts, medicine, education and technology to everyday life and work.
Please join The Ear is expressing gratitude and congratulations to Iva Urgcic.
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Classical music: The Madison Symphony Orchestra concerts this weekend feature three local debuts — by a woman conductor, a Grammy-winning cellist and an immigrant composer
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By Jacob Stockinger
Three local debuts will take place this weekend in the three “Epic Romance” concerts by the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below).
Renowned Canadian guest conductor Tania Miller will lead the MSO while music director John DeMain makes his debut at the Liceu Theater in Barcelona, conducting the opera Candide in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth.
Grammy Award-winning American cellist Zuill Bailey will make his Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) solo debut in Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto.
And Canadian composer Michael Oesterle will be performed for the first time in Madison when his work “Home” opens each concert.
The second half of the program is Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5.
Performances will be held in Overture Hall of the Overture Center, 2912 State Street, on Friday, Oct. 19, at 7:30 p.m.; on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 8 p.m.; and on Sunday, Oct. 21, at 2:30 p.m.
Here are more details:
Canadian Conductor Tania Miller has distinguished herself as a dynamic interpreter, musician and innovator, on the podium and off. She has been praised for “energy, grace, precision and restraint.” She has appeared as a guest conductor in Canada, the United States and Europe with such orchestras as the Bern Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony and the Vancouver Symphony, among others.
Over a 14-year tenure as the Music Director of the Victoria Symphony in Canada, Miller (below) gained national acclaim for her passion and commitment to the orchestra and community. Recipient of the 2017 Friends of Canadian Music award from the Canadian League of Composers for her acclaimed commitment to contemporary music in Canada, Miller has been an example of the impact of commitment and dedication to an orchestra and to the future of orchestral music through creative innovation and vision.
You can hear Tania Miller discuss women conductors in the informative YouTube video at the bottom.(But please be forewarned: YouTube was having major technical issues and glitches last night that affected all their videos on this blog, not just this one. If it doesn’t load when you try, wait and then try again.)
Zuill Bailey (below), described by Classical Net as “easily one of the finest cellists today,” has been featured with symphony orchestras worldwide, including Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, Israel, Cape Town, and the Bruckner Orchestra in Linz, Austria. Bailey has also appeared at Disney Hall, the Kennedy Center, the United Nations, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.
In 2017, Bailey won a best solo performance Grammy Award for his live recording of “Tales of Hemingway,” by composer Michael Daugherty. His celebrated “Bach Cello Suites” and recently released Britten Cello Symphony and Sonata CD with pianist Natasha Paremski immediately rose to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard magazine Classical Chart.
His Cello Concerto was the last notable work by Sir Edward Elgar (below), composed in 1919 in the aftermath of World Ear I. Upon regaining consciousness following a 1918 tonsillectomy, Elgar immediately asked for pencil and paper and wrote down the melody that would become the first theme in this concerto.
Despite today’s renown as a crowd favorite, the piece did not achieve wide popularity until the 1960s, when a recording by Jacqueline du Pré caught the public’s attention, and it became a classical favorite.
Michael Oesterle’s “Home” had its world premiere in November 2017 with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra and conductor Tania Miller.
The piece is an homage to the great geographical ebb and flow of humanity, also known as the immigrant experience. Oesterle (below) notes, “I wrote it through the filter of my personal impressions as an immigrant, and with the realization that this subject is humbling in its breadth.”
Composed between May and August 1888, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 was first performed in St. Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theatre with Tchaikovsky below) conducting.
Unlike its two predecessors, there is no known program for the Fifth Symphony, save for a recurring main theme heard throughout all four movements. Over the years this theme has become known as the “fate” motive; its original ominous character undergoes various metamorphoses, emerging triumphant in the score’s concluding pages.
ABOUT ATTENDING
The lobby opens 90 minutes prior to each concert. One hour before each performance, Madison Symphony Chorus Director and UW-Madison director of choral activities Beverly Taylor (below) will lead a 30-minute Prelude Discussion in Overture Hall to enhance concertgoers’ understanding and listening experience. It is free to ticket holders.
The MSO recommends 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 Prelude Discussion.
Program notes for the concerts are available online: http://bitly.com/oct2018programnotes
Tickets can be purchased in the following ways:
- Single Tickets are $18-$93 each and are on sale now at: https://madisonsymphony.org/ax through the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street, or by calling the Box Office at (608) 258-4141. Fees apply to online/phone sales.
- Groups of 10 or more can save 25% by calling the MSO office at (608) 257-3734. For more information, visit, https://www.madisonsymphony.org/groups.
- Student rush tickets can be purchased in person on the day of the concert at the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street. Students must show a valid student ID and can receive up to two $15 or $20 tickets. More information is at: https://www.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.
- Subscribers to 5 or more symphony subscription concerts can save up to 50% off single ticket prices. More information is available about the season at: https://madisonsymphony.org/18-19
- Flex-ticket booklets of 10 vouchers for 18-19 symphony subscription concerts are available. Learn more at: https://madisonsymphony.org/flex
Discounted seats are subject to availability, and discounts may not be combined.
Find more information, go to madisonsymphony.org
Major funding for the October concert is provided by: Mirror 34 Productions and National Guardian Life Insurance Company. Additional funding is provided by John A. Johnson Foundation, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation, Barbara J. Merz, Selma Van Eyck, and the Wisconsin Arts Board, with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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Classical music: The Oakwood Chamber Players open their new “Vignettes” season with concerts on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon
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A CORRECTION: The Ear wants to apologize for and correct an error he made in yesterday’s blog post. The correct time and address for the all-Schubert concert by the Mosaic Chamber Players is on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in the chapel of the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Avenue, near Camp Randall Stadium.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Oakwood Chamber Players (below) will begin their 2018-2019 season series “Vignettes” with concerts on Saturday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 16, at 2 p.m.
The concerts will both be held at the Oakwood Center for Arts and Education, 6209 Mineral Point Road, on Madison’s far west side near West Towne Mall.
Tickets can be purchased with cash or personal checks at the door: $25 for general admission, $20 for seniors 62 and over; and $5 students. Visit www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com or call (608) 230-4316 for more information for individual and season tickets.
Once again, the group will explore largely new or unknown composers and neglected music.
Each program of the 2018-19 series will focus on how composers create specific themes to tell stories, and represent emotions, places or characteristics to enhance the listening experience.
Central to the program is poetry and narration paired with music that will feature Boston-based guest soprano Mary Mackenzie (below). She has been described by The New York Times as “a soprano of extraordinary agility and concentration,” and the Boston Globe as “sensational.”
Mackenzie is a passionate performer of contemporary vocal music, and has appeared with the Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston, Collage New Music, the Da Capo Chamber Players, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, and The Knights.
American composer Byron Adams (below) was commissioned by renowned American clarinetist Yehuda Weiner to set Nightingales, a poem by British Victorian poet Robert Bridges, as a memorial to his brother. The composer chose a quartet of soprano, clarinet, cello and piano to evoke the breathtaking beauty of the natural world that is overlaid with a sense of loss and longing.
By contrast, the Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Jennifer Higdon (below, in a photo by Candace DiCarlo) set four poems that have titles that reference roses by James Whitcomb Riley for the combination of flute, soprano and piano.
Bentley Roses was written as a surprise tribute for the retirement of her former music teacher, Judith Bentley. The settings are sunny and accessible, the music weaves around the words with swirling energy, coy interactions, and graceful interplay.
The yearning Vocalise by conductor, composer and pianist Andre Previn conveys emotion using the voice without words as a chamber instrument. The combination of soprano, cello and piano carries the shifting harmonies and sinuous melodic line through a series of subtle yet powerful transformations. (You can hear Previn’s beautiful “Vocalise,” with soprano Barbara Bonney and the the composer at the piano, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
A second piece by Previn (below) piece puts the cello and soprano in conversation with his setting of Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Toni Morrison’s poem Stones.
American film composer and bassoonist Charles Fernandez (below) wrote Quatuor Parisienne (Parisian Quartet) for flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon. It consists of three movements: a tongue-in-cheek march; a gracefully flowing reflection: and a farcical musical conversation with a dash of merriment.
Budapest-based clarinetist and composer Endre Szervanszky (below) wrote his Quintet No. 1 in 1953. Audiences will hear some characteristics similar to the writing of Kodaly and Bartok. It is a pleasing four-movement work that shows his strong understanding of each of the instruments, demanding both melodic expressiveness and technical panache.
The program concludes with poetry by British writer Roald Dahl, known for his darkly humorous children’s stories. Composer Martin Butler (below, in a photo by Katie Vandyck) incorporated The Pig, The Tummy Beast, and The Crocodile into his piece Dirty Beasts for narrator, piano and woodwind quintet. Butler mirrors the acerbic wit of the text with clever effects, closing out the program with some unexpected twists and turns.
Guest performers are soprano Mary Mackenzie, pianist Joseph Ross (below top) and oboist Laura Medisky (below bottom).
They join Oakwood Chamber Players members Marilyn Chohaney, flute; Nancy Mackenzie, clarinet; Amanda Szczys, bassoon; Anne Aley, horn; and Maggie Darby Townsend, cello.
This is the first of five concerts in the Oakwood Chamber Players’ 2018-19 season series entitled Vignettes. Remaining concerts will take place on Nov. 24 and 25; Jan. 12 and 13; March 2 and 3; and May 18 and 19. For more information about the Oakwood Chamber Players and their new season, go to: https://www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com
The Oakwood Chamber Players are a group of Madison-area professional musicians who play with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and have rehearsed and performed at Oakwood Village for over 30 years.
The Oakwood Chamber Players are a professional music ensemble proudly supported by Oakwood Lutheran Senior Ministries and the Oakwood Foundation.
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Classical music: The FREE 39th Karp Family Labor Day concert is moved to TUESDAY night and features a world premiere
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement from UW-Madison cellist Parry Karp (below) about the 39th Karp Family Labor Day Concert – which this year has been moved from Monday night to Tuesday night and aptly renamed as the first concert of the new season, the same purpose it has served since it began.
“On Tuesday — NOT Monday — we will perform our 39th Karp Family Opening Concert.
“Through the years we have always done our opening program the day before classes begin. For the past many years that has meant the program was on Labor Day. However this year classes start on Wednesday, so our program will be at 7:30 p.m. on this coming TUESDAY, Sept. 4, in Mills Concert Hall.
“Admission is FREE.
“Performers are: Suzanne Beia, violin; Alicia Lee, clarinet; Katrin Talbot, viola; Parry Karp, cello; Frances Karp and Christopher Karp, piano.
“The program is listed below.
“Continuing in our tradition of never repeating a piece, these are all new pieces for this series of concerts. The program includes the world premiere of Eric Nathan’s piece for Cello and Piano entitled “Missing Words III.” Some biographical information and an excerpt from a program note about the piece are below. We are very excited to play this program.”
For more information, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/39th-karp-family-opening-concert/
The program is:
Bohuslav Martinu (below): Quartet for Piano and Strings, H. 287 (1942)
Robert Kahn (below): Trio in G Minor for Piano, Clarinet and Violoncello (1906). Here is a link to Kahn’s Wikipedia biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kahn_(composer)
Eric Nathan (below): “Missing Words III” for Cello and Piano (2017) in its world premiere. Here is a link to Nathan’s home website: http://www.ericnathanmusic.com
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata in F Major for Piano and Violin, Op. 24 “Spring” (1801-2), transcribed for Piano and Cello by Parry Karp
The music by Eric Nathan (b. 1983) has been called “as diverse as it is arresting” with a “constant vein of ingenuity and expressive depth” (San Francisco Chronicle), “thoughtful and inventive” (The New Yorker), and as moving “with bracing intensity and impeccable logic” (Boston Classical Review).
Nathan, a 2013 Rome Prize Fellow and 2014 Guggenheim Fellow, has garnered international acclaim.
EXCERPT FROM A PROGRAM NOTE BY ERIC NATHAN
“Missing Words III” (2017) is the third in an ongoing series of compositions composed in homage to Ben Schott’s book, Schottenfreude (Blue Rider Press/Penguin Group), a collection of newly created German words for the contemporary world.
The German language has the capability to create new words through the combination of shorter ones and can express complex concepts in a single word for which there is no direct translation in other languages. Such words include Schadenfreude, Doppelgänger and Wanderlust, and these have been adopted into use in English. With his new book, Ben Schott proposes new words missing from the English language that we can choose to adopt into our own vocabulary.”
“Missing Words III” was commissioned by, and is dedicated to, Parry and Christopher Karp (below). It follows two previous works in the “Missing Words” series, which were composed for the Berlin Philharmonic’s Scharoun Ensemble and the American Brass Quintet, respectively. (You can hear the composer and his “Missing Words” music in the YouTube video below.)
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Classical music: The acclaimed Isthmus Vocal Ensemble performs old and new music this Friday night and Sunday afternoon when its new director also makes his debut
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By Jacob Stockinger
Since it was founded in 2002, the Isthmus Vocal Ensemble (below) has been critically acclaimed for the concert it puts together each summer in just a couple of weeks or less. (You can hear a sample in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
This summer, the group will be under the baton of its new artistic director, Michael McGaghie (below), who will be making his performing debut with the group.
McGaghie directs choral activities at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and also conducts the Harvard Glee Club Alumni Chorus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The program this weekend ranges from the 16th century and early Baroque to the contemporary.
It will begin with works from established masters such as Thomas Tallis, Heinrich Schütz and the Soviet conductor-composer Nikolai Golovanov.
It will then explore works from contemporary composers such as Jocelyn Hagen, Morten Lauridsen and Dale Trumbore in a program called Horizons. (Sorry, The Ear has not received the titles of specific works on the program.)
Admission is $20 for adults, $10 for students. Tickets can be bought at the door or ordered at the links below.
Concert venues are:
This Friday, Aug. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Lutheran Church of the Living Christ, 110 North Gammon Road, on Madison’s west side. For tickets, go to:
https://isthmusvocalens.yapsody.com/event/index/282736/ive-2018-friday-concert
This Sunday, Aug. 5, at 3 p.m. in Christ Presbyterian Church, 944 East Gorham Street. For tickets, go to:
https://isthmusvocalens.yapsody.com/event/index/282791/ive-2018-sunday-concert
For more about the impressive background of the new director, go to: https://www.isthmusvocalensemble.org/artisticdirector/
For more about the past performances and the organization, including sound samples to listen to and how to join or support the group, go to: https://www.isthmusvocalensemble.org
Tags: #ArtisticDirector, #BaroqueMusic, #CambridgeMassachusetts, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianReligion, #ChristPresbyterianChurch, #ContemporaryComposers, #ContemporaryMusic, #DaleTrumbore, #GleeClub, #HarvardGleeClub, #HarvardGleeClubAlumniChorus, #HarvardUniversity, #HeinrichSchütz, #IsthmusVocalEnsemble, #JesusChrist, #JocelynHagen, #LivingComposer, #LutheranChurch, #LutheranChurchoftheLivingChrist, #MacalesterCollege, #MichaelMcGaghie, #MortenLauridsen, #NewMusic, #NikolaiGolovanov, #SoundSample, #Sovietcomposer, #SovietMusic, #Sovietmusicians, #St.PaulMinnesota, #ThomasTallis, #VocalMusic, #YouTubevideo, admission, Artistic director, Arts, Audio, background, Baroque, Cambridge, choral music, chorus, Christ, Christ Presbyterian Church, Christian, church, Classical music, composer, conductor, Dale Trumbore, debut, Early music, earlymusic, established, Glee, Glee Club, Harvard University, Heinrich Schütz, horizon, Isthmus Vocal Ensemble, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus Christ, Jocelyn Hagen, Living composer, living composers, Madison, Massachusetts, Master, Michael McGaghie, Minnesota, Morten Lauridsen, Music, New Music, Nikolai Golovanov, performance, program, sample, Sound, Soviet, St. Paul, support, Thomas Tallis, ticket, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, video, vocal music, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: The Willy Street Chamber Players conclude this summer season on such a high note that one already hungers for next summer
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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.
By John W. Barker
At Immanuel Lutheran Church last Friday night, the Willy Street Chamber Players ended the 2018 summer season – their fourth — with a concert full of fascinating variety.
Four works were performed, each introduced by one of the players. Personnel shifted according to the scorings.
To begin, a core group of the organization (below, from left) — violinists Eleanor Bartsch and Paran Amirinazari, cellists Lindsay Crabb and Mark Bridges, and violist Beth Larson — played Luigi Boccherini’s Cello Quintet in C major (G. 324), which has the Italian title translatable as “Night Music of the Streets of Madrid.” (The piece, which has military or martial aspects to it, was featured in the soundtrack to the popular film “Master and Commander,” which you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Typical of the composer’s prolific writing for string quintets, it is unique in offering in its seven movements a dusk-to-dawn evocation of Madrid’s street life in Boccherini’s day. This delightful work was performed with relish.
Next came a contemporary work by American composer Andrew Norman (below top). Written in his 20s, Night Screens (2002),for flute and string quartet, is a playful work inspired by the asymmetrical stained glass windows designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
The music is quite tonal, but very episodic in its succession of tempos and rhythms. For this work, Amirinazari, Larson and Crabb were joined by a friend of the composer, flutist Timothy Hagen (below), now a faculty member of the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
Rarely heard in concert, but a really fascinating novelty is Sergei Prokofiev’s Overture on Hebrew Themes, Op. 34. This was composed in 1919, during the composer’s stay in the U.S. It is based on two melodies whose actual Jewish origins are in doubt, but their juxtaposition and elaboration are fascinating to follow.
The colorful scoring is for clarinet, piano, and string quartet, so this drew other guest artists, Alicia Lee (below top) also of the UW faculty, and pianist Thomas Kasdorf (below bottom) to join Bartsch, Amirinazari, Larson and Bridges.
Finally came a rare opportunity to encounter Johann Strauss II collaborating with Arnold Schoenberg, or rather vice-versa. For a fund-raising concert on behalf of his radical atonal ensemble in Vienna in 1925, Schoenberg made a chamber arrangement of the great waltz master’s Kaiser-Walzer or “Emperor Waltz.”
He scored it for flute, clarinet, piano and string quartet — perfectly allowing seven of the eight performers (less Crabb) to offer a triumphant grand finale. Even in such a lean and reduced format, Schoenberg faithfully conveyed Strauss’s melodic genius, and brought the large audience enthusiastically to its feet.
The Willys continue to match great enterprise in programming with superb artistry in playing, all in a summer season that leaves us hungering for the next one.
Tags: #AliciaLee, #AmericanComposer, #AmericanRecordGuide, #AndrewNorman, #ArnoldSchoenberg, #AtonalMusic, #BethLarson, #BlogPosting, #CelloQuintet, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianReligion, #ContemporaryComposer, #ContemporaryMusic, #EleanorBartsch, #EmeritusProfessor, #FacultyMember, #FilmMusic, #FilmScore, #FilmSoundtrack, #FluteMusic, #FrankLloydWright, #Fridaynight, #GrandFinale, #ImmanuelLutheranChurch, #IsthmusNewspaper, #JohannStrauss, #JohnW.Barker, #LindsayCrabb, #LivingComposer, #LuigiBoccherini, #LutheranChurch, #LutheranReligion, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadridSpain, #MarkBridges, #MartialMusic, #MasterandCommander, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MedievalHistory, #MilitaryMusic, #MovieMusic, #MovieScore, #MovieSoundtrack, #MusicReview, #NewMusic, #NightMusic, #OvertureonHebrewThemes, #ParanAmirinazari, #PianoMusic, #RadioHost, #RadioShow, #RussellCrowe, #SergeiProkofiev, #StainedGlass, #StreetLife, #StringQuartet, #StringQuintet, #SummerSeason, #TheWillys, #ThomasKasdorf, #TimothyHagen, #TonalMusic, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViennaAustria, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubevideo, American, American Record Guide, Andrew Norman, architect, artistry, asymmetrical, atonal, audience, Austria, Beth Larson, blog, Boccherini, cellist, Cello, clarinet, clarinetist, classicalmusic, Concert, critic, dawn, delightful, dusk, Early music, earlymusic, elaboration, Eleanor Bartsch, emeritus, Emperor, episode, episodic, faculty, fascinating, feet, film, flute, flutist, format, Frank Lloyd Wright, Friday, friend, genius, guest, Hebrew, History, Immanuel Lutheran Church, inspiration, inspired, Isthmus, Italian, Jewish, John W. Barker, juxtaposition, lecture, Lindsay Crabb, Luigi Boccherini, Madison Early Music Festival, Madrid, Mark Bridges, martial, Master and Commander, Medieval, melodic, melody, member, MEMF, military, movie, Music, Music of Spain, New Music, night, night music, novelty, origin, Overture, Paran Amirinazari, perform, Piano, playful, playing, popular, post, posting, professor, programming, Prokofiev, prolific, quintet, relish, review, rhythm, Russell Crowe, score, Sergei Prokofiev, soundtrack, Spain, stained glass, street, String quartet, summer, superb, Tempo, The Willys, theme, tonal, translate, triumphant, U.S., United States, variety, video, Vienna, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, Waltz, Willy Street Chamber Players, window, work, WORT-FM 89.9, Writer
Classical music: You probably know Brahms, but who are Caroline Shaw, Colin Jacobsen and Michael Kelley? The Willy Street Chamber Players will show you this Friday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
The fourth annual concert series by the Willy Street Chamber Players (below) promises to be one of the high points of the summer season.
For more background about the Willys, go to:
Three concerts in July – at 6 p.m. on July 6, 20 and 27 in the Immanuel Lutheran Church (below) at 1021 Spaight Street on the near east side – are all inviting. (A subscription to all three is $40, while admission is $15 for each one separately.)
Each concert lasts about 60 to 90 minutes with no intermission.
That’s something The Ear really likes and would like to see copied by other groups and presenters. Such a format leaves you plenty of time to do other things to start the weekend – including enjoying the post-concert reception (below) with snacks the Willys obtain from east-side providers.
The opening concert seems especially promising to The Ear.
That is because so far the Willys have had a knack for programming new music that The Ear really likes.
This time is no different.
Along with the regular members, who rotate in and out, a guest singer, mezzo-soprano Jazimina MacNeil (below), who sang a new work by John Harbison with the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte String Quartet this past winter, will team up to present new works.
The three contemporary composers and their works are: “Cant voi l’aube (composed in 2015 and heard in the YouTube video at the bottom) by Caroline Shaw (below top), a composer whose work the Willys have performed before with great success; “For Sixty Cents” (2015) by Colin Jacobsen (below middle, in a photo by Erin Baiano); and “Five Animal Stories” for string sextet and “Ashug” (2018) by Michael Kelley (below bottom).
Then to leaven newness with something more classic and familiar, the concert will close with the String Quintet No. 2, Op. 111, by Johannes Brahms. (The Willys have been working their way through the string quintets and sextets of Brahms with terrific performances.)
Other concerts will include:
On July 20, six arias from the opera “Porgy and Bess” by George Gershwin as transcribed and played by UW-Madison soprano saxophonist Les Thimmig (below) and the rarely performed String Quintet in A Major, Op. 39, by the Russian composer Alexander Glazunov ;
And on July 27, a program featuring wind music that includes “Night Music in the Streets of Madrid,” Op. 30, No. 6, by Luigi Boccherini; the Overture on Hebrew Themes by Sergei Prokofiev “Light Screens” (2002) by Andrew Norman (below); and the Kaiser Waltzes of Johann Strauss II, as arranged by Arnold Schoenberg.
The three local soloists for the final concert are: flutist Timothy Hagen (below top) and clarinetist Alicia Lee (below middle), who both teach at the UW-Madison and are members of the Wingra Wind Quintet, and pianist Thomas Kasdorf, who is finishing his doctorate at the UW-Madison and has often soloed with the Middleton Community Orchestra.
For more information about the Willy Street Chamber players—including a FREE community concert at the Goodman Community Center on Friday, July 13, at noon (with an instrument “petting zoo” for children at 11 a.m.) and at the Wisconsin Union Terrace — go to:
http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org
Tags: #AlexanderGlazunov, #AliciaLee, #AndrewNorman, #ArnoldSchoenberg, #CarolineShaw, #ChristianReligion, #ColinJacobsen, #ContemporaryComposer, #ContemporaryMusic, #GoodmanCommunityCenter, #ImmanuelLutheranChurch, #JaziminaMacNeil, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannStraussII, #JohnHarbison, #KaiserWaltzes, #LesThimming, #LivingComposers, #LuigiBoccherini, #LutheranChurch, #LutheranReligion, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MemorialUnion, #MichaelKelley, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #OvertureonHebrewThemes, #PorgyandBess, #ProArteQuartet, #RussianComposer, #SergeiProkofiev, #SopranoSaxophone, #StringQuintet, #StringSextet, #SummerSeason, #ThemeAndVariations, #ThomasKasdorf, #TimothyHagen, #UnionTerrace, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WindMusic, #WindQuintet, #WingraWindQuintet, #YouTubevideo, Alicia Lee, Andrew Norman, animal, aria, arranged, arrangement, Arts, Boccherini, Caroline Shaw, Cello, Chamber music, church, clarinet, classic, Classical music, Colin Jacobsen, composer, Concert, contemporary music, familiar, flute, georgegershwin, Gershwin, Glazunov, Goodman Center, Goodman Community Center, Hebrew, Jacob Stockinger, Jazmina Macneil, Johann Strauss, Johannes Brahms, kaiser, living composers, Madison, Madrid, Mead Witter School of Music, Memorial Union, Mezzo-soprano, Michael Kelley, Music, Music of Spain, New Music, opera, Overture, performance, Piano, Pro Arte Quartet, program, programming, Prokofiev, reception, Religion, Russia, Russian, Saxophone, Schoenberg, series, singer, snacks, soprano, Spain, stories, story, string quintet, string sextet, subscription, summer, theme, Thomas Kasdorf, Timothy Hagen, Union Terrace, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, video, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Waltz, Willy Street Chamber Players, wind music, winds, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Terrace, YouTube
Classical Music: Today is Memorial Day 2018. What music would you play to honor those who died in service to their country?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today is Memorial Day 2018, when those soldiers who died in war and military service to their country — in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard or whatever other branch — are honored. (Below is an Associated Press photo of Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.)
Many blogs, newspapers and radio stations list classical music that is appropriate for the occasion.
But one of the very best overviews and compilations that The Ear has seen comes this year from Capital Public Radio in Sacramento, California.
Here is a link:
http://www.capradio.org/music/classical/2018/05/25/classical-selections-in-honor-of-memorial-day/
Another very good selection dates from last year and comes from Nashville Public Radio.
Perhaps that makes sense because Nashville is such a musical city.
Perhaps it has to do with other reasons.
Whatever the cause, this playlist gives you modern and contemporary composers and music (John Adams, Joseph Bertolozzi and Jeffrey Ames) as well as tried-and-true classics (Henry Purcell and Edward Elgar— the famous and moving “Nimrod” Variation that you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom — Franz Joseph Haydn and Frederic Chopin).
It even features some music that The Ear is sure you don’t know.
Take a look and many listens:
Finally, you can also hear some appropriate music for today on Wisconsin Public Radio.
Do you agree with the choices?
Do you like them or at least some of them? Which ones?
Which music would you choose or add to mark today’s holiday?
Leave a title and, if possible, a link to a YouTube performance in the COMMENT section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AmericanPatriotism, #ArlingtonNationalCemetery, #ArmedForces, #AssociatedPress, #BlogPost, #CaliforniaPublicRadio, #CapitalPublicRadio, #ContemporaryComposer, #ContemporaryMusic, #EdwardElgar, #EnigmaVariations, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FredericChopin, #HenryPurcell, #JeffreyAmes, #JohnAdams, #JosephBertolozzi, #MemorialDay, #MilitaryService, #ModernComposers, #ModernMusic, #NashvillePublicRadio, #NashvilleTennessee, #NationalPublicRadio, #NewMusic, #NimrodVariation, #PublicRadio, #RadioStation, #SacramentoCalifornia, #UnitedStates, #USAirForce, #USArmy, #USCoastGuard, #USMarines, #USMilitary, #USNavy, #WashingtonD.C., #WisconsinPublicRadio, Air Force, America, American, Armed Services, Army, Arts, Associated Press, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, blog, California, Cello, Chamber music, Chopin, choral music, Classical music, classics, Coast Guard, composer, country, D.C., death, died, Early music, Haydn, Holiday, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Marines, Memorial Day, military, modern, Mozart, Music, navy, Newspaper, Nimrod, Orchestra, patriot, patriotic, patriotism, performance, Piano, Purcell, Radio, Sacramento, service, soldier, Sonata, symphony, title, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US Military, Viola, Violin, vocal music, war, Washington, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Music education: Madison Youth Choirs perform their Spring Concert series “Seriously Funny” this Sunday
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement to post:
“This spring, the Madison Youth Choirs singers (below) are exploring the unexpected ways that elements of humor, from irony and incongruity to improvisation and timing, are reflected in a wide variety of classical and contemporary musical compositions.
“We’re learning that music, like humor, is a kind of language, operating with its own sense of logic, patterns, and conventions that composers can twist to surprise us and take our musical journey to new places.
“As we study the complexity of humor as a mode of creative expression, we are discovering the power of satire, wit, and misdirection to help us reexamine our assumptions, musical and otherwise.
“In our culminating concert series, our singers will present works including “No, di voi non vo’ fidarmi” by George Frideric Handel; Timothy Takach’s “I Will Howl” by Timothy Takach; the “Fugue for Tinhorns” from Guys and Dolls; and the second movement of Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein.”
The MYC Spring Concerts, “Seriously Funny: Musical Humor, Wit, and Whimsy” will take place this Sunday afternoon and evening, May 13, at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Ave., across from Camp Randall Stadium.
Performance are: 1:30 p.m. for Girlchoirs; 4 p.m. for Boychoirs; and 7 p.m. for High School Ensembles.
Tickets will be available at the door: $10 for general admission; $5 for students 7-18; and free for children under 7. A separate ticket is required for each performance.
This concert is supported by American Girl’s Fund for Children, BMO Harris Bank, Dane Arts with additional funds from the Endres Mfg. Company Foundation, The Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of The Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation. This project is also supported by the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the state of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
About the 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, go to www.madisonyouthchoirs.org or call (608) 238-7464.
Here is the Repertoire List for MYC 2018 Spring Concert Series, “Seriously Funny: Musical Humor, Wit and Whimsy”
1:30 P.M. CONCERT (FEATURING MYC GIRLCHOIRS)
Choraliers
“Bee! I’m expecting you!” by Emma Lou Diemer
“A Menagerie of Songs” by Carolyn Jennings
Con Gioia
“When V and I” by Henry Purcell
“The Fate of Gilbert Gim” by Margaret Drynan
“The Cabbage-Tree Hat,” traditional Australian folk song
Capriccio (below)
“Papageno-Papagena Duet” (from The Magic Flute) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
“Ich jauchze, ich lache” (from BWV 15) by Johann Sebastian Bach
“J’entends le Moulin,” French folk song, arr. Donald Patriquin
Combined Choirs
“Funiculi, Funicula” by Luigi Denza
4 P.M. CONCERT (FEATURING MYC BOYCHOIRS)
Combined Boychoirs
“Sumer is icumen in,” Anonymous, 13th century Middle English piece
Purcell Boychoir
“When V and I” by Henry Purcell
“Modern Major-General” from The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan
“Weevily Wheat,” arr. Dan Krunnfusz
Britten Boychoir (below)
“Gloria Tibi” by Leonard Bernstein
“The Plough Boy,” Traditional, arr. Benjamin Britten
Holst Boychoir
“Il est bel et bon” by Pierre Passereau
“Hopkinton” by William Billings
Ragazzi Boychoir
“I Will Howl” by Timothy Takach
“Rustics and Fishermen,” part V of Choral Dances from Gloriana by Benjamin Britten
“Fugue for Tinhorns” from Guys and Dolls by Frank Loesser
Combined Boychoirs
“Chichester Psalms” II. Adonai ro-i by Leonard Bernstein
7 P.M. CONCERT (FEATURING HIGH SCHOOL ENSEMBLES)
Cantilena
“A Girl’s Garden” from Frosting by Randall Thompson
“Love Learns by Laughing” by Thomas Morley
“Turn, Turn, Then Thine Eyes” from The Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell
“My Funny Valentine” from Babes in Arms by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
“Etude 1 pour les cinq doigts d’après Monsieur Czerny” by Claude Debussy
Ragazzi
“I Will Howl” by Timothy Takach
“Fugue for Tinhorns” from Guys and Dolls by Frank Loesser
Cantabile
“sam was a man” by Vincent Persichetti, text by e.e. cummings
“No, di voi non vo’ fidarmi” by George Frideric Handel
“Cruel, You Pull Away Too Soon” by Thomas Morley
“This Sky Falls” by Jocelyn Hagen
“Svatba,” Traditional Bulgarian, arr. H.R. Todorov
Cantabile and Ragazzi
Choral Dances from Gloriana by Benjamin Britten
Tags: #AmericanGirl, #AustralianMusic, #BenjaminBritten, #BMOHarrisBank, #BroadwayMusical, #Bulgarianmusic, #CampRandall, #CampRandallStadium, #CarlCzerny, #ChichesterPsalms, #ChoralMusic, #ClaudeDebussy, #ContemporaryComposer, #ContemporaryMusic, #DaneArts, #EndresManufacturing, #FirstCongregationalUnitedChurchofChrist, #FolkMusic, #FrankLoesser, #FrenchMusic, #FugueforTinhorns, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GilbertandSullivan, #GustavHolst, #GuysandDolls, #HenryPurcell, #HighSchool, #JohannSebastianBach, #LeonardBernstein, #LorenzHart, #MadisonYouthChoirs, #MiddleEnglish, #MiddleSchool, #ModernMajor-General, #MusicEducation, #NationalEndowmentfortheArts, #NewMusic, #PierrePassereau, #PiratesofPenzance, #PleasantT.Rowland, #RandallThompson, #RichardRodgers, #RodgersandHart, #SpringConcert, #StateOfWisconsin, #TheCapitalTimes, #TheEvjueFoundation, #TheMagicFlute, #ThomasMorley, #TimothyTakach, #VincentPersichetti, #W.JeromeFrautschi, #WilliamBillings, #WisconsinArtsBoard, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouthChoirs, admission, afternoon, American Girl, Arts, assumptions, Bach, Baroque, BMO Harris Bank, boy, boychoir, Broadway musical, Bulgaria, Carl Czerny, children, Choir, choral music, Classical music, community, composer, conventions, dance, duet, e.e. cummings, Early music, evening, folk song, folksong, foundation, free, fugue, Fugue for Tinhorns, G&S, George Frideric Handel, Gilbert and Sullivan, girl, girlchoir, girls, Gloriana, Gustav Holst, Guys and Dolls, high school, Holst, Humor, improvisation, incongruity, inquiry', irony, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, language, logic, Madison, Madison Youth Choirs, menagerie, Middle school, Modern Major-General, movement, Music, Music education, musical, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, New Music, opera, Papagena, Papageno, patterns, performance, personal, Piano, poem, poet, Poetry, power, Purcell, responsibility, sature'wit, self-confidence, singer, singers, Singing, song, stadium, summer, Sunday, text, The Capital Times, The Evjue Foundation, ticket, timing, traditional, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vincent Persichetti, voys, whimsy, William Billings, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, young people, Youth, YouTube
Classical music: On Saturday night, the UW Wind Ensemble will mark a first by performing a FREE concert that will also be live-streamed
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By Jacob Stockinger
Something important — even pioneering or groundbreaking — will take place this on Saturday night at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
At 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Wind Ensemble (below) will give a FREE concert that will also be a LIVE-STREAMED – a first for the UW-Madison.
Live-streaming of concerts by students, faculty members and guest artists is something that many music schools are now doing on a regular basis.
They include big schools like the Yale School of Music and smaller institutions like the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wis.
Streaming allows alumni and other listeners all over the world to hear the concert in real time. It can be prestigious form of outreach and a terrific tool for fundraising and recruiting students. Imagine the worldwide audience for, say, the Pro Arte Quartet, which has toured to South America, Europe and Asia.
The Ear has heard several reasons why live-streaming is not yet standard practice at the UW-Madison. Those reasons include the lack of specialized staff, too little equipment, too little money, and difficulty or expense in obtaining the rights from performers and composers or publishing companies.
This time, the live streaming is being done on a paid basis by a local School of Music alumnus who has the expertise and experience. Sources at the school say that more concerts are likely to be live-streamed next season.
The program on Saturday night features the “French Suite” of Francis Poulenc; “Circuits” by Cindy McTee (below top); and the Symphony in Three Movements by the retired UW tuba professor and composer John Stevens (below bottom). You can hear the opening of the work by John Stevens, which was recorded for Naxos Records, in the YouTube video at the bottom.
The performance will be done under the batons of director Scott Teeple (below top) and two graduate student assistants: O’Shae Best (below middle) and Cole Hairston (below bottom).
For the link for streaming and more information, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/wind-ensemble-3/
Tags: #AmericanMusic, #AppletonWisconsin, #CindyMcTee, #ConservatoryofMusic, #ContemporaryComposer, #ContemporaryMusic, #FrancisPoulenc, #FrenchMusic, #JohnStevens, #LawrenceUniversity, #LawrenceUniversityConservatoryofMusic, #LiveStreaming, #LivingComposer, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #NaxosRecords, #NewMusic, #ProArteQuartet, #SouthAmerica, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWWindEnsemble, #WindEnsemble, #WindMusic, #YaleSchoolofMusic, #YaleUniversity, alumnus, Arts, Asia, audience, Chamber music, Cindy McTee, Classical music, composer, equipment, Europe, experience, expertise, Fundraising, graduate, graduate students, Jacob Stockinger, live streaming, Madison, money, Music, Orchestra, outreach, performer, Poulenc, Publishing, recuit, right, rights, staff\, stream, streaming, Streaming media, students, symphony, technical, technology, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW Wind Ensemble, Wind, winds, worldwide, YouTube
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