The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: How is the bad flu epidemic affecting classical music in Madison?
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By Jacob Stockinger
It seems like every news report has an update on how the bad flu epidemic this winter continues to get worse, filling emergency rooms and hospital beds, and killing especially the young and the elderly.
So here is what The Ear wants to know: How is the bad flu epidemic affecting the classical music scene in Madison?
After all, the second half of the season is just getting underway. This month will see performances by the Madison Opera, the University Opera, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Willy Street Chamber Players, the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, the Wisconsin Union Theater, various performers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, and many more.
He wants to hear both ideas and first-person stories or experiences from performers, presenters and audience members.
Has the fear of getting sick kept you, as an individual or group, from performing or affected your performance?
Has the flu affected the overall attendance of performances?
Has the flu, and fear of catching it, already kept you personally from being in a crowd and attending a performance or concert? How about in the future?
What could local music presenters do to help the situation?
Do you think providing surgical face masks would help?
How about providing cough drops?
Should people exhibiting symptoms be asked to leave, either by other patrons or by an usher or another official representative, as The Ear heard was done recently at a volunteer food pantry?
Should organizations make it easier to exchange dates or get a refund if you are ill?
Leave an answer or suggestion in the COMMENT section.
And let us all hope that the deadly flu epidemic starts to ebb very soon.
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Classical music: Civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King Jr. was the Abraham Lincoln of his age – a Great Emancipator. To celebrate his birthday, here is Aaron Copland’s “A Lincoln Portrait.”
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today we celebrate the birthday of the civil rights pioneer Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Ear thinks of him as The Great Emancipator of the modern age.
As the Abraham Lincoln of our age.
Just as Lincoln freed slaves, Martin Luther King Jr. (below) helped free so many members of different social groups from discrimination.
Blacks, of course.
But also women.
Asians.
Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people.
Disabled people.
The poor.
The old and elderly.
So it seems fitting, then, to listen to Aaron Copland’s “A Lincoln Portrait.”
The Ear loves the way that the Gertrude Stein-like repetitions of Lincoln’s own words build into a moving testament of the need for both compassion and democracy – a combination that today’s right-wing freedom-spouting and Constitution-citing bigots might do well to cultivate.
So we can listen about one man and think about the other.
Here is a great version, in a YouTube video at the bottom, with actor Henry Fonda as the narrator. There are other fine versions, including one with Leonard Bernstein conducting and composer Aaron Copland speaking the narration. But this version is the one that most moves The Ear.
And please leave your COMMENTS about this offering or other music appropriate to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day for others to read.
Tags: Aaron Copland, Abraham Lincoln, ageism, Arts, asian, bigot, bigotry, bisexual, blacks, choral music, civil rights, Classical music, Constitution, disabled, elderly, freedom, gay, Great Emancipator, Henry Fonda, latinos, Leonard Bernstein, lesbian, LGBT, Madison, Martin Luther King Jr, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Music, narration, old, Orchestra, poor, right-wing, slavery, slaves, transgender, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, Wisconsin, women, YouTube
Classical music: It’s never too late! Retirement is the BEST time to start playing music -– or writing and painting -– says one expert who followed her own advice.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear knows quite a few retired people who say they would like to start learning to play a musical instrument — either for the first time or else to pick up where they left off, usually in childhood.
But they quickly add that they hesitate because they think it is something you really have to do in childhood or at least when you are much younger.
Not so, says psychologist Francine Toder (below), who herself took up the cello after retiring in her 60s. You can see other examples in the YouTube video at the bottom.
In fact, in her book “The Vintage Years,” Toder argues that retirement is the best time to unlock your creative self. That applies not only to learning a musical instrument but also to writing and to painting and other forms of the visual arts.
In case you missed it when it was broadcast on Wisconsin Public Radio, an interview with Francine Toder comes from the WPR program “To the Best of Our Knowledge.
Here is a link to the page. On it, you have to click on play the story. You can also leave a comment if you go through the security process of signing in.
And please leave a COMMENT on this blog with a comment about you own experience with learning the arts in retirement.
http://www.ttbook.org/book/benefits-playing-music-you-vintage-years
And here is a link to the home page for Wisconsin Public Radio’s “To the Best of Our Knowledge,” which has the appropriate acronym TTBOOK:
Tags: Arts, Cello, childhood, Classical music, elderly, Francine Toder, Jacob Stockinger, Music, Music education, Piano, Retirement, senior, Singing, The Vintage Years, Violin, visual art, vocal music, wisconsin public radio, writing, YouTube
Classical music: Let us now praise elderly audiences! Plus, the 14th annual FREE Opera in the Park is TONIGHT at 8 p.m.
4 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
When you start talking about audiences for classical music, almost inevitably the subject turns to: How can we attract younger audiences to live concerts?
Proposals range from making tickets cheaper and concerts shorter, stressing music education and community outreach, moving to informal concert venues like bars and coffeehouses, and programming more new music.
It is a good question to revisit today, when the 14th annual family-friendly Opera in the Park, put on by the Madison Opera at 8 p.m. in Garner Park on the far west side, takes place and will draw up to 15,000. Here is a link to a posting about the event with more details:
But such a discussion about audiences usually runs the risk of almost always underestimating and even insulting the contribution of older audiences. (The Sunday afternoon crowd at the Madison Symphony Orchestra comes immediately to mind.)
Not that we should ever stop looking for ways to attract young people. But isn’t it maybe a little like asking: How can we attract more blue hairs to young punk band or rap concerts? Maybe we just need different music at different stages of our life.
In any case, let us not forget to praise the immense contribution of older people or to be grateful for them.
That is the welcome and long overdue message of British pianist-composer-painter and polymath MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” winner Stephen Hough (below), who has performed in Madison several times, in his blog for The Guardian.
Here is a link to his posting. Read it and see if you agree and leave a message in the COMMENT section:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/stephenhough/100076555/our-wonderful-elderly-audiences/
What do you think?
The Ear wants to hear.
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