The Well-Tempered Ear
The Madison Symphony Orchestra cancels the remaining orchestra and organ concerts of the 2020-21 season and postpones its Beethoven celebration until next season
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers) has canceled the remaining orchestral and organ concerts of the 2020-21 season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A free online performance of “A Virtual Madison Symphony Christmas” will take place on Dec. 16 and stay posted through Dec. 31. For more information about the program and performers, plus a link to register and to hear that performance, go to: https://madisonsymphony.org
Plans for others online events – free or paid – have not been announced, although the MSO seems to be considering such steps. It also suggests that the 2021-22 season will be a postponed version of the same concerts planned this season to celebrate the Beethoven Year.
Here is the email from executive director Richard H. Mackie that the MSO sent out Monday:
Dear Friends of the Madison Symphony Orchestra,
As you know, the continuing COVID-19 crisis has curtailed planned performances of orchestras all over the world.
As more and more orchestras face the almost certain prospect that well-attended, full-orchestra concerts indoors will not be possible for the foreseeable future, at least until a successful vaccination program has brought COVID-19 under control, the remainder of many symphony concert seasons across America are now being cancelled .
We have previously cancelled our live, main stage concerts and education performances through January 2021 due to public health restrictions and the closure of Overture Hall.
Public Health Madison and Dane County restrictions continue to prohibit publicly attended indoor concerts. As a consequence, we have faced a painful decision in recent months regarding the fate of the rest of our 2020–2021 season.
I am grieved to announce that, under the present conditions — which offer no reasonable prospect of abatement until the summer, at least — we deem it an unfortunate necessity to cancel all previously scheduled Madison Symphony Orchestra concerts, Education and Community Engagement Programs, and Overture Concert Organ performances through May 2021.
Our June 2021 Concert on the Green remains on our schedule at this time.
We are prepared to issue refunds to our subscribers as we did in the fall. We will be communicating directly with our subscribers to provide options, including the option to donate the value of their tickets.
As we consider alternative programming opportunities for the spring, we will continue to welcome donations to our Musicians’ Relief Fund.
When we planned a joyous celebration of Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday, we could scarcely have imagined the devastation of the coronavirus in almost every aspect of our lives. But we are finding solace in successfully rescheduling this epic season just one year hence.
The emerging promise of vaccine development has rekindled our enthusiasm for making great music on a grand scale for our community with our Beethoven celebration. We all look forward to a new beginning with John DeMain (below, in a photo by Greg Anderson) and the orchestra in September 2021. (You can hear the original promotional preview in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Please stay tuned for some exciting news about next season. In the meantime, should there be a breakthrough opportunity to restore any of the cancelled orchestra or organ concerts, or educational and community services to the schedule, we will be prepared to do so.
We are committed to helping our orchestra and keeping great music alive in Madison. Thank you for your interest and continuing support.
Sincerely,
Richard H. Mackie, Executive Director
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Looks like there will be no live concerts for the rest of the 2020-21 season and maybe until early 2022
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By Jacob Stockinger
Some important things for classical music fans to know happened over the weekend, even as Dane County continues to break records for new cases of coronavirus.
Three high federal health officials, including director of the CDC Dr. Robert Redfield and his colleague Dr. Anthony Fauci, have testified that it is highly unlikely that vaccines for the coronavirus will be widely available to the public until May 2021 at the earliest and may well be delayed until early 2022 or later.
President Donald Trump says they are wrong, but the public health officials are standing by their estimates.
Adding to the concern is that the rate of people who say they will not get the hurried vaccine continues to rise from 35 percent to 50 percent or more.
In addition, there are reports of logistical problems because the vaccines will be difficult to distribute as they require cold temperatures.
This amounts to bad news for a long list of local arts presenters.
The net effect is that mass gatherings – such as concerts – will not be safe to attend for the rest of this season and perhaps until the beginning of 2022.
That means that many groups that have planned on reopening by January or February are likely to cancel or postpone events for the remainder of this season, and perhaps also for next fall – just as they planned for doing this concert season.
Instead there will probably be more virtual and online events substituted for in-person events — if anything at all is offered.
Among the major groups who have announced earlier reopening and be affected by the new deadlines are: the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below top); the Madison Opera; the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below bottom, in a photo by Mike Gorski); the Wisconsin Union Theater; the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music; the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO); and the Middleton Community Orchestra.
We can all hope that live music starts happening sooner. But The Ear suspects that alternative plans are already being drawn up and will be announced shortly.
What do you think about the estimates of the delays in vaccine accessibility and acceptance?
What do you think music groups will do – or should do in –in the wake of the public health crisis?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Here is the complete concert program for the Madison Opera’s Digital Opera in the Park. It premieres online TONIGHT at 8 and stays up until Aug. 25
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By Jacob Stockinger
The 2020 edition of the Madison Opera’s annual summer event Opera in the Park (below, a photo from the past) will be virtual and online due the coronavirus pandemic and the COVID-19 public health crisis.
The concert – which can be viewed indoors or outdoors, anywhere in the country or the world — begins at 8 p.m. CDT TONIGHT, Saturday, July 25. It will remain available online until Aug. 25.
Here are links to the portals where you can watch and listen to the opera program and also join the post-concert Q&A with performers: https://www.madisonopera.org and https://vimeo.com/437164679
For more information about the 90-minute concert, and related events, as well as the performers and the donors, go to: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/07/23/classical-music-madison-operas-virtual-opera-in-the-park-goes-online-for-free-this-saturday-night-and-stay-up-until-aug-25-listen-to-it-indoors-or-outdoors-to-enhance-the-experience/
HERE IS THE COMPLETE PROGRAM FOR THE EVENING
Overture | The Marriage of Figaro (W.A. Mozart; 1786)
Suzanne Beia, violin; John DeMain (below) and Scott Gendel, piano
“Quel guardo, il cavaliere” | Don Pasquale (Gaetano Donizetti; 1843)
Jasmine Habersham, soprano (below); Rolando Salazar, piano
“Un’aura amorosa” | Così fan tutte (W.A. Mozart; 1789)
Andres Acosta, tenor (below); Marika Yasuda, piano
“Ernani, involami” | Ernani (Giuseppe Verdi; 1844)
Karen Slack, soprano (below); Laura Ward, piano
“Vision fugitive” | Hérodiade (Jules Massenet; 1881)
Weston Hurt, baritone (below); Bethany Self, piano
“Aber der Richtige” | Arabella (Richard Strauss; 1933)
Jasmine Habersham, soprano; Karen Slack, soprano; Scott Gendel, piano (below)
“Au fond du temple saint” | The Pearl Fishers (Georges Bizet; 1863)
Andres Acosta, tenor; Weston Hurt, baritone; Scott Gendel, piano
“Deh vieni, non tardar” | The Marriage of Figaro (W.A. Mozart; 1786)
Jasmine Habersham, soprano; Rolando Salazar, piano
“Il balen del suo sorriso” | Il Trovatore (Giuseppe Verdi; 1853)
Weston Hurt, baritone; Bethany Self, piano
“Anvil Chorus” | Il Trovatore (Giuseppe Verdi; 1853)
Madison Opera Chorus via Zoom (below); Anthony Cao, conductor and piano
“Vissi d’arte” | Tosca (Giacomo Puccini; 1900)
Karen Slack, soprano; Laura Ward, piano
“Asile héréditaire” | William Tell (Gioachino Rossini; 1829)
Andres Acosta, tenor; Marika Yasuda, piano
“Meditation” | Thaïs (Jules Massenet; 1894)
Suzanne Beia, violin (below); John DeMain, piano
Spiritual “Scandalize My Name” | arranged by Johnnie Dean
Jasmine Habersham, soprano; Karen Slack, soprano; Scott Gendel, piano
“No puede ser” | La Tabernera del Puerto (Pablo Sorozabal; 1936)
Andres Acosta, tenor; Marika Yasuda, piano
“Vanilla Ice Cream” | She Loves Me (Jerry Bock; 1963)
Jasmine Habersham, soprano; Rolando Salazar, piano
“Some Enchanted Evening” | South Pacific (Richard Rodgers; 1949)
Weston Hurt, baritone; Bethany Self, piano
“He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” | arranged by Margaret Bonds
Karen Slack, soprano; Laura Ward, piano
SING-ALONG FINALE: It’s a Grand Night for Singing | State Fair (Richard Rodgers; 1945)
Tags: #AfircanAmerican, #African-AmericanMusic, #AfricanAmerican, #AndresAcosta, #AnthonyCao, #AnvilChorus, #BaritoneSinger, #BethanySelf, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BroadwayMusical, #CentralDaylightTime, #ChoralMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #CosifanTutte, #COVID-19, #DigitalMedia, #DigitalOperainthePark, #DonPasquale, #DuetMusic, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GaetanoDonizetti, #GeorgesBizet, #GiacomoPuccini, #GioachinoRossini, #GiuseppeVerdi, #HesGottheWholeWorldinHisHands, #IceCream, #IlTrovatore, #It'saGrandNightforSinging, #JasmineHabersham, #JerryBock, #JohnDeMain, #JulesMassenet, #KarenSlack, #LaTaberneradelPuerto, #LauraWard, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonOperaChorus, #MarikaYasuda, #MarriageofFigaro, #NegroSpiritual, #OperaAria, #OperaArias, #OperaInThePark, #OperaMusic, #PabloSarozabal, #PianoAccompaniment, #PianoAccompanist, #PublicHealth, #RelatedEvent, #RichardRodgers, #RodgersandHammerstein, #RolandoSalazar, #ScottGendel, #SheLoveMe, #SomeEnchantedEvening, #SopranoSinger, #SouthPacific, #StateFair, #SuzanneBeia, #TenorSinger, #TheEar, #ThePearlFishers, #VanillaIceCream, #VisionFugitive, #VocalMusic, #WestonHurt, #WilliamTell, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, accompanist, accompany, accompanying, African American, Andres Acosta, annual, Anthony Cao, Anvil Chorus, aria, audience, available, baritone, begin, Bethany Self, Bizet, black, blog, Broadway, Broadway musical, CDT, Central Daylight Time, choral music, Concert, conductor, coronavirus, Cosi fan tutte, crisis, cuntry, Digital Opera in the Park, Don Pasquale, Donizetti, donor, duet, edition, Ernani, evening, event, Facebook, finale, forward, fugitive, Gaetano Donizetti, Georges Bizet, Giacomo Puccini, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, He's Got the Whole World in His Hands, ice cream, Il Trovatore, indoors, information, It's a Grand Night for Singing, Jasmine Habersham, Jerry Bock, John DeMain, Jules Massenet, Karen Slack, La Tabernera del Puerto, Laura Ward, like, link, Love, Madison Opera, Madison Opera Chorus, Marika Yasuda, Marriage of Figaro, Massenet, me, Meditation, minute, Mozart, musical, night, online, opera, Opera in the Park, opera music, outdoors, Overture, Pablo Sarozabal, pandemic, Pianist, Piano, portal, post, post-concert, posting, premiere, program, Public health, Puccini, Q&A, related event, Richard Rodgers, Rodgers, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Rolando Salazar, Rossini, scandalize, Scott Gendel, share, she, She Loves Me, sing-along, singer, Some Enchanted Evening, soprano, South Pacific, spiritual, State Fair, summer, Suzanne Beia, tag, tenor, Thaïs, The Ear, The Marriage of Figaro, The Pearl Fishers, tonight, Tosca, vanilla, Verdi, view, Violin, violinist, virtual, vision, vision fugitive, vocal music, Website, Weston Hurt, William Tell, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, world, Zoom
Classical music: The Met just canceled its entire fall opera season. Can local groups be far behind?
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By Jacob Stockinger
The question has weighed on The Ear ever since local groups started announcing their new concert seasons.
Will audiences – especially older and more vulnerable ones — be ready to risk venturing into crowds of 500, 1,000 or 2,000 people without an effective treatment or vaccine for global pandemic of the coronavirus (below) and the growing number of deaths from COVID-19?
Now such suspicions have been supported or even confirmed by news that the world-famous Metropolitan Opera (below), at Lincoln Center in New York City, has just canceled all of its live fall productions.
It cited concerns about the safety of both the public and the performers. And its reasoning makes sense — even though it is estimated that the Met will lose up to $100 million. It is hard or impossible in concert halls and on stages (below is a photo of the Met’s stage) to use masks and maintain social distancing.
All in all, it sounds all too familiar, similar to the reasons given for cancellations this past winter and spring, and even this summer.
Here’s a link about the Met cancellation, with lots of details and quotes, in The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/arts/music/metropolitan-opera-cancels-season-virus.html
Locally, it seemed like the show might go on when many groups – despite the public health crisis growing worse — went ahead and started announcing their fall seasons or even an event this summer, as in the case of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra’s Concerts on the Square, which were postponed by a month.
After all, the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, in a photo by Greg Anderson), the Madison Opera, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Wisconsin Union Theater, the Middleton Community Orchestra and the Madison Bach Musicians have all announced new seasons — as did the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. (You can hear about the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s new “Ode to Joy” season in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The UW-Madison – the biggest presenter of live concerts in the Madison area with some 300 events a year – has wisely not yet announced its concert season, let alone how it will hold lessons and classes.
The Ear suspects that more cancellations are in the making, especially when it comes to mass gatherings such as concerts, movies, plays and sports events.
Indeed, it seems like many of the groups even took possible cancellations into consideration when it came to planning programs; cutting back on expenses and staffing; and using local or regional guest artists, who might be less expensive and less difficult to cancel, rather than long-distance imported ones.
Even if a vaccine is perfected by Jan. 1, it will take a while to produce enough of it, then to administer it and then to have it take effect.
But perhaps those suspicions and speculations are overly cautious or too pessimistic.
What do you think will happen to the fall concert season?
Will going online and streaming new or past concerts once again be a substitution?
Has the pandemic changed your own habits — perhaps waiting to purchase single tickets rather than renew a season subscription? Or your plans for the fall season, perhaps even the entire season?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Trevor Stephenson announces the new season of the Madison Bach Musicians on YouTube. It features smaller concerts and familiar comfort music
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By Jacob Stockinger
At a time when so many concerts are being canceled, it is especially welcome when a local ensemble announces plans for the 2020-21 season.
To announce the 17th season of the Madison Bach Musicians — a period-instrument group that uses historically informed performance practices — the founder and artistic director Trevor Stephenson (below), who also plays the harpsichord, fortepiano and piano, has made and posted a 13-1/2 minute YouTube video.
The season will also be posted on the MBM website in early June, and will also be announced with more details about times and ticket prices via email and postal mailings.
In the video, Stephenson plays the harpsichord. He opens the video with the familiar Aria from the “Goldberg” Variations and closes with two contrasting Gavottes from the English Suite in G minor.
As usual, Stephenson offers insights in the programs that feature some very well-known and appealing works that are sure to attract audiences anxious to once again experience the comfort of hearing familiar music performed live.
One thing Stephenson does not say is that there seems to be fewer ambitious programs and fewer imported guest artists. It’s only a guess, but The Ear suspects that that is because it is less expensive to stage smaller concerts and it also allows for easier cancellation, should that be required by a continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
If the speculation proves true, such an adaptive move is smart and makes great sense artistically, financially and socially given the coronavirus public health crisis.
After all, this past spring the MBM had to cancel a much anticipated, expensive and very ambitious production, with many out-of-town guests artists, of the “Vespers of 1610” by Claudio Monteverdi. Nonetheless, MBM tried to pay as much as it could afford to the musicians, who are unsalaried “gig” workers who usually don’t qualify for unemployment payments.
“Hope and Joy” is a timely, welcome and much-needed theme of the new season.
The new season starts on Saturday night, Oct. 3, at Grace Episcopal Church downtown on the Capitol Square, and then Sunday afternoon, Oct. 4, at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton.
The program is Haydn and Mozart: songs composed in English and German by Haydn plus songs by Mozart; the great violin sonata in E minor by Mozart; and two keyboard trios, one in C major by Haydn and one in G major by Mozart.
Only four players will be required. They include: Stephenson on the fortepiano; concertmaster Kangwon Kim on baroque violin; James Waldo on a Classical-era cello; and soprano Morgan Balfour (below), who won the 2019 Handel Aria Competition in Madison.
On Saturday night, Dec. 12, in the First Congregational United Church of Christ, near Camp Randall Stadium, MBM will perform its 10th annual holiday concert of seasonal music.
The program includes several selections from the “Christmas Oratorio” by Johann Sebastian Bach; a Vivaldi concerto for bassoon with UW-Madison professor Marc Vallon (below, in a photo by James Gill) as soloist; and the popular “Christmas Concerto” by Arcangelo Corelli.
On Saturday night, April 24, at Grace Episcopal Church and Sunday afternoon, April 25, at Holy Wisdom Monastery, the MBM will perform a concert of German Baroque masterworks with the internationally renowned baroque violinist Marc Destrubé (below).
The program features Handel and Bach but also composers who are not often played today but who were well known to and respected by Bach and his contemporaries.
Specifically, there will be a suite by Christoph Graupner (below top) and a work by Carl Heinrich Graun (below bottom).
There will also be a concerto grosso by George Frideric Handel and two very well-known concertos by Bach – the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and the Concerto for Two Violins.
Here is the complete video:
What do you think of the Madison Bach Musicians’ new season?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: The Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra cancels this summer’s season due to the COVID-19 pandemic
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement about the Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra (MAYCO, below in a photo by Steve Rankin):
“We regret that due to the coronavirus pandemic, we will be canceling the 2020 MAYCO season. Every year, we look forward to working with the talented young musicians who perform with us, and we can’t wait to see you all again next summer!”
For more information about the ensemble, including how to join it and how to support it as well as finding concert programs performed since 2011 and finding news updates about future concerts and educational events, go to: https://www.mayco.org. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear a piece MAYCO commissioned from composer Lawren Brianna Ware and premiered last year.)
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Classical music: Meet the “Stay at Home” Symphony Orchestra. How do they sound so close and tight? Plus, today is May Day. What music would you play to celebrate workers?
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ALERT: Today is May Day, a time to honor workers. What music would you play to celebrate and thank all the frontline workers — doctors, nurses, EMTs, police officers, firefighters, bus drivers, cleaners and janitors, grocery store workers, delivery people and others — who are now so indispensable?
By Jacob Stockinger
Many musicians — both singers and instrumentalists (below) — are self-isolating and doing their at-home best to keep those of us also sheltering in place entertained by performing virtual concerts.
It is something listeners can be grateful for. The players do an admirable and free public service during the COVID-19 crisis and coronavirus pandemic.
Of course, the virtual performances also have practical purposes.
The musicians keep their skills sharp during isolation.
And the virtual performances help to keep the names of individuals and groups, of composers and pieces, in the public’s mind at a time when live concerts have all been canceled or postponed.
There are many, many virtual concerts to choose from – made by local, regional, national and international musicians, some amateurs and some professional.
Many of them are solo performances given by an individual member of an orchestra, chamber music group or choral ensemble as well as big-name soloists such as pianist Emanuel Ax and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
The individual ones are appreciated and impressive, even if some of the performances seem amateur-like in the sound or awkwardness.
What really impresses The Ear is when large groups, such as symphony orchestras and choirs, perform something with all the players at home and yet somehow the whole finished product sounds incredibly tight in and incredibly professional.
Last Saturday, the Metropolitan Opera even held a four-hour online gala with singers and instrumentalists from all over the world.
It makes The Ear wonder why they sound so good. How they do it, with all the complications and variables of timing and tempo, of rhythm, pitch and dynamics?
Is it the planning?
The processing and editing?
In any case, a very good example comes from the “Stay at Home” Symphony Orchestra playing Mozart’s Overture to the opera “The Marriage of Figaro.”
You can hear the YouTube video of the performance below.
Are there other such performances that you can point out to The Ear and you would like to see posted on this blog?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: NPR explores musical responses to epidemics and pandemics from The Black Plague through HIV-AIDS and COVID-19. Do you know of any more?
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By Jacob Stockinger
For many centuries, artists of all kinds have responded to major social catastrophes or crises. (Below is “The Dance of Death” from the Wellcome Library in London).
Musicians and composers are among them.
Many musicians are now performing and then live streaming music in their homes because of the need for self-isolation and quarantining or social distancing.
But here we are talking about composers who tried to translate the tragedy of sickness into sound.
So it is with the coronavirus and COVID-19.
But the writer puts in it in a context that transforms it into a kind of tradition.
Tom Huizenga, who writes for the “Deceptive Cadence” blog of NPR (National Public Radio), also provides audio samples of the work he is discussing.
He starts with The Black Plague of the 14th century and British composer John Cooke (below), who wrote a hymn to the Virgin Mary.
He offers an example of how Johann Sebastian Bach (below), who suffered his own tragedies, responded to a later plague in France in one of his early cantatas.
The story covers the HIV-AIDS pandemic in the 1980s and how both the disease and the government’s slow response to it inspired a symphony by the American composer John Corigliano (below).
The survey concludes with a contemporary American composer, Lisa Bielawa (below), who is in the process of composing a choral work that responds to the coronavirus pandemic.
Here is a link to the NPR story, which you can read and or else spend seven minutes listening to, along with the audio excerpts of the works that have been discussed.
Here is a link: https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2020/04/13/827990753/when-pandemics-arise-composers-carry-on
What do you think of the story?
Do you know of other composers or musical works that responded to epidemics, pandemics and other public health crises?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: The Madison Symphony Orchestra cancels concerts and events through June. Here are details and links about ticket donations, exchanges and refunds
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement to post:
The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO, below in a photo by Peter Rodgers) has canceled or postponed concerts and events that would have taken place in April, May and June 2020 in response to the impact of the coronavirus crisis.
“We have been continuously monitoring the latest news and guidance from our public officials throughout this pandemic,” Executive director Rick Mackie said. “All of us here at the MSO are saddened not to be able to share our final two symphony concerts and organ season finale performance with our audiences and community.
“It is with confidence and optimism that we look forward to welcoming you back to the beautiful experience of concerts in Overture Hall that are a part of both our 2020-21 “Beethoven and Beyond” symphony season and new organ series that begin this September.”
Here are more details:
APRIL AND MAY CONCERT CANCELLATIONS AND TICKET OPTIONS
The MSO’s April 3, 4 and 5 “Dvorak Requiem” subscription season concerts were canceled last month due to the closure of Overture Center through April 24, 2020 and the recommendations of local, state and national officials.
Ticket-holders were notified and given the option of donating their tickets back to the MSO, exchanging tickets for a new 2020-21 season concert, or requesting a refund. The MSO is grateful that a majority of people have chosen to donate their tickets to date.
The MSO’s May 1, 2 and 3 “Piano Power” season finale concerts, with Yefim Bronfman, are also now canceled. Patrons who have tickets for these subscription season concerts have received an email giving them the options to donate, exchange or receive a refund. Due to the cancellation of the concerts, the open rehearsal scheduled for Thursday, April 30, will also not take place.
SUPPORT FOR OUR MUSICIANS
The care of the MSO Board of Directors for the well-being and sustenance of our artists has been manifest from the outset of the coronavirus emergency.
We understand that the musicians will need our help keeping their lives together. The decision was made to pay the musicians of the orchestra for both the April and May subscription concerts.
MAY 5, 2020 OVERTURE CONCERT ORGAN PERFORMANCE POSTPONED
The May 5 Overture Concert Organ performance — “Greg Zelek (below in a photo by Peter Rodgers) with the Diapason Brass and Timpani” — is now postponed. When a new date is secured, we will notify ticket-holders about their options.
EDUCATION EVENTS
MSO’s Education and Community Engagement Programs, including Symphony Soup scheduled for May 18 and 19, and Link Up scheduled for May 20-21, have been canceled for this year. HeartStrings® and Up Close & Musical® events have previously been canceled.
2020 JUNE CONCERT ON THE GREEN
The Madison Symphony Orchestra League’s 2020 Concert on the Green annual fundraiser that was scheduled to take place on Monday, June 15, has been canceled for this year. The League’s event committee is already working on plans to bring the event back in 2021. More information about the date for the event next year will be announced as soon as it is available.
Here are helpful links to more information about Madison Symphony Orchestra concerts and events.
April 3, 4, 5 and May 1, 2, 3 symphony season concerts, ticket options: https://madisonsymphony.org/tickets
May 5 organ performance postponement: https://madisonsymphony.org/organzelek
2020 Concert on the Green: https://madisonsymphony.org/event/concert-on-the-green-2020/
Upcoming Concerts & Events page (updated continually): https://madisonsymphony.org/events-list/
Learn more about MSO’s Education and Community Engagement Programs: https://madisonsymphony.org/education-community/
View the new 20/21 “Ode to Joy: Beethoven and Beyond” season that starts in September, 2020 (subscriptions available now): https://madisonsymphony.org/20-21
The MSO continuously composes and presents a series of News and Stories at https://madisonsymphony.org/news-stories/to keep the essential connection with its staff, audiences, artists and community alive. Explore two recent stories of note.
April 30, 2020, Experience Dvorak’s Requiem Virtually: https://madisonsymphony.org/experience-dvorak-requiem-virtually/
March 27, 2020, A Message from MSO maestro John DeMain: https://madisonsymphony.org/march-2020-message-from-john-demain/
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Classical music: Here are many more FREE online and streamed concerts to follow and listen to as you quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic
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By Jacob Stockinger
During the COVID-19 public health crisis and coronavirus pandemic, live streaming of concerts has taken off. It started with daily broadcasts of past productions by the Metropolitan Opera and the Berlin Philharmonic.
Local organizations have followed suit. They include the Madison Symphony Orchestra; the “couchertos” of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra; the twice weekly “tiny desk concerts” by the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society sent to email newsletter subscribers and other recorded audiovisual performances; and local recordings made by Rich Samuels and aired on WORT-FM 89.9.
Here is a compilation, from the British radio station Classic FM with many other FREE listings that also get updated: https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/live-streamed-classical-music-concerts-coronavirus/
Here is another listing of FREE live streams and archived performances from Minnesota Public Radio (MPR): https://www.classicalmpr.org/story/2020/03/16/free-online-classical-concerts
And below are several more that The Ear has checked out and recommends:
CARNEGIE HALL LIVE
Carnegie Hall (below), America’s premier concert venue, has started a series of live streams that include world music, jazz and of course classical music.
The format includes conversation and remarks from homes as well as first-rate live performances from the past. (You can also hear many of the concerts on radio station WQXR in New York City: https://www.wqxr.org)
This past week, The Ear heard an outstanding concert with three pianists, all of whom appeared in Madison last season: Emanuel Ax, who performed an all-Beethoven recital at the Wisconsin Union Theater, played the piano and acted as host; Orion Weiss, who performed a Mozart concerto with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra; and Shai Wosner, who gave a terrific master class and a memorable recital on the Salon Piano Series at Farley’s House of Pianos. If you missed it, it is still archived and accessible.
On this Thursday, April 30, at 1 p.m. CDT you can hear violinist Joshua Bell with pianist Jeremy Denk and cellist Steven Isserlis.
Here is a link: https://www.carnegiehall.org/Explore/Watch-and-Listen/Live-with-Carnegie-Hall?sourceCode=31887&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsYigzumB6QIVjIbACh061Qz2EAAYASABEgJE3fD_BwE
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON
Deutsche Grammophon, the world oldest record label, which was established in 1898, has several online series of live streams and archived concerts.
They include “Moment Musical” (Musical Moment) by Daniel Barenboim and guest artists, broadcast from the Pierre Boulez Saal (concert hall) in Berlin.
Barenboim, who started as a child prodigy pianist and ended up being a world-class conductor who once headed the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, has done solo piano and chamber music concerts with the Piano Quintet and two solo pieces by Robert Schumann; the epic Diabelli Variations by Beethoven; and an all-Chopin program of encores. You can also find individual ones on YouTube.
Along more promotional lines, DG also offers a “Best of” series that features movements and excerpts from their newer recordings by some of the best known artists – including pianists Lang Lang, Danill Trifonov, Yuja Wang, Vikingur Olafsson, Jan Lisiecki and Seong-Jin Cho; conductors Gustavo Dudamel, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Andris Nelsons; opera singers Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca.
Here is a link to DG’s homepage from where you can get to the various series: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC34DbNyD_0t8tnOc5V38Big
MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Closer to home, every Friday you can listen to weekly concerts by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra called “Musical Journeys.”
Performers include the MSO’s new music director Ken-David Masur as well as guest conductors like Jeffrey Kahane and the past conductor Edo de Waart.
You can hear the past five episodes, and join new ones. You can also hear past concerts by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (below) on Wisconsin Public Radio. Broadcast time is Sunday at 2 p.m.
Here is a link to Musical Journeys: https://www.mso.org/about/music/mso-musical-journeys-5/
VIOLINIST DANIEL HOPE AT HOME
British violinist Daniel Hope – who has performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra — has been streaming chamber music concerts from the living room of his home in Berlin.
A prolific concert artist and 25 recordings and four Grammy Award nominations to his credit, Hope (below) has many invited guests and offers a wide range of repertoire.
Here is a link with past episodes. You can also click in upcoming episodes: https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/RC-019356/hope-home/
Are there other sites and streamed performances that you recommend?
Please leave the name and a link in the Comment section.
The Ear wants to hear.
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