The Well-Tempered Ear
UW-Madison will forego in-person concerts through the fall and go virtual. The FREE online concerts start TONIGHT, Monday, Sept. 14, at 6-8:30 p.m. with a graduate student recital
1 Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
PLEASE NOTE: The following post has been updated with more information since it first appeared.
By Jacob Stockinger
In ordinary times, the yearlong schedule would be set and concerts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music would be already well underway.
But these are not ordinary times – as you can tell from the silence about the UW season that usually presents some 300 events.
It has taken time, but the music school has finally worked out the basic approach to concerts during the pandemic. It will allow worldwide listening.
Audiences will NOT be present for any Mead Witter School of Music concerts or recitals this fall. Instead, a live stream of faculty recitals and all required student recitals, many of them in the new Hamel Music Center (below), will be available.
The portal to the live streaming, along with a scheduling clock and time countdown, can be found at: youtube.com/meadwitterschoolofmusic
The concert season starts tonight at 6:30 to 8 p.m. The performer is graduate student flutist Heidi Keener (below), who is giving her recital for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. The recital was postponed from March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On the school of music’s concert website you will find a biography and the program — just hover the computer’s cursor over the event: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/recital-heidi-keener-dma/.
The same information will also be on the YouTube website for the actual concert. Just click on MORE: https://youtu.be/gA6S3OXUKCc
Given so few calendar listings so far, clearly the format is still a work-in-progress.
For updated listings of other events, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/events/
The next events are slated for Oct. 2 with a student recital and another installment of the Pro Arte Quartet’s Beethoven cycle (below).
That other programs and dates are still missing is not surprising.
The entire UW-Madison from classes to sports, is in a state of flux about how to deal with the pandemic, with in-person classes paused through Sept. 25, and possibly longer.
Many questions about concerts remain as the process plays out.
All live-stream concerts will be free. But they will NOT be archived, so they will be taken down as soon as they end.
A donation link to the UW Foundation will be included to help cover the costs of the livestreaming and also other expenses.
Will choral concerts even take place, given that singing is especially risky because the singers can’t wear masks and social distancing is nearly impossible to provide with groups?
What about chamber music groups like the Pro Arte Quartet, the Wingra Wind Quintet and Wisconsin Brass Quintet? Many faculty members, who have to teach virtually and online right now, are no doubt concerned about the possible health risks of playing in groups.
And what about the excellent UW Symphony Orchestra, which The Ear considers a must-hear local orchestral ensemble? Those musicians too will have a hard time social distancing – unless individual safe performances at home or in a studio are edited and stitched together.
So far, though, we know that the University Opera will offer “I Wish It Were So,” an original revue of the American opera composer Marc Blitzstein on Oct. 23.
Here is a link to a story with more details about the production: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/08/07/classical-music-the-university-opera-announces-a-new-season-that-is-politically-and-socially-relevant-to-today-the-two-shows-are-a-virtual-revue-of-marc-blitzstein-and-a-live-operatic-version-of/
What do you think of the plans for the concert season?
Do you have any suggestions?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AcademicCalendar, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrassMusic, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #CollinsRecitalHall, #ConcertSeason, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DoctorofMusicalArts, #EventsCalendar, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #FluteMusic, #Googlesearch, #GraduateStudent, #HamelMusicCenter, #HeidiKeener, #JacobStockinger, #LaborCosts, #LiveStreaming, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MarcBlitzstein, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Musicfaculty, #OrchestralMusic, #ProArteQuartet, #SocialDistancing, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #TheUW, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #UW-SymphonyOrchestra, #UWFoundation, #VocalMusic, #WindMusic, #WingraWindQuartet, #WisconsinBrassQuintet, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, academic calendar, American, appear, approach, archive, archived, Arts, ask, audience, basic, Beethoven, blog, brass, calendar, cancel, canceled, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, classes, Classical music, click, Clock, Collins Recital Hall, computer, Concert, concert season, coronavirus, costs, countdown, cursor, degree, details, Doctor of Musical Arts, donation, editstich, ensemble, event, excellent, expenses, Facebook, faculty, fall, flute, flutist, flux, free, Google, graduate student, group, groups, Hamel Music Center, Health, hear, Heidi Keener, Home, hover, impossible, in person, individual, Jacob Stockinger, labor costs, like, link, listening, listing, live streaming, live-stream, livestream, local, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Marc Blitzstein, mask, masks, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, more, Music, music school, Musician, must-hear, news, online, opera, Orchestra, orchestral music, ordinary, original, pandemic, PAQ, paused, payment, performance, plans, play, portal, post, posting, postpone, postponed, present, Pro Arte Quartet, process, production, progress, question, recital, require, research, revue, risk, risky, safe, schedule, school, School of Music, search, Season, share, silence, sing, singer, Singing, social distancing, Sports, state, story, String quartet, Student, suggestion, symphony, tag, teach, The Ear, time, times, together, tonight, underway, United States, university, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, updated, UW, UW Foundation, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW-Madison, Viola, Violin, virtual, vocal music, Website, wind music, Wind quintet, Wingra Wind Quintet, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Brass, Wisconsin Brass Quintet, work, worldwide, yearlong, you, YouTube
Classical music: Acclaimed local soprano Sarah Brailey explains why performing artists and presenters need help during the COVID-19 pandemic
2 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Sarah Brailey (below) is worried.
And with good reason.
Chances are good that you have seen the local soprano or heard her sing.
She is the artistic director of the Handel Aria Competition, which she herself won in 2015. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Brailey sing the aria “Will the Sun Forget to Streak” from Handel’s oratorio “Solomon,” with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra under conductor Julian Wachner, in the St. Paul Chapel in New York City.)
Brailey is a co-founder of and participant in the monthly free Just Bach concerts here. In addition, while pursuing graduate studies at the UW-Madison, she is a concert artist with a budding international career. For more about her, including a rave review from The New York Times and sample videos, go to: https://sarahbrailey.com
But right now the Wisconsin native is especially concerned about the lasting impact that the Coronavirus pandemic will have on her own career as well as on the careers of others like her and on the well-being of arts presenters.
Brailey (below, in photo by Miranda Loud) sent The Ear the following essay:
By Sarah Brailey
This is a scary time for everyone, but particularly for anyone who works as an independent contractor.
I am a freelance classical soprano based in Madison. I maintain a very active performing career, traveling all over the globe, and I am also a doctoral student at the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music.
When COVID-19 hit the United States, presenting organizations on the east and west coasts started canceling concerts to comply with social distancing recommendations.
I initially thought I was lucky to be living in the middle of the country where our lesser population density might save us. Plus, I am a Teaching Assistant at the UW right now, so I will still be getting my stipend — although teaching virtual voice lessons will be its own special challenge!
But many of my colleagues are not so lucky and are facing bankruptcy. If the government doesn’t include independent contractors in its relief packages, a lot of people are going to be insolvent.
And I myself am not immune. As the seriousness of the situation became clear, all my concerts in the next two months soon disappeared one by one.
While not being able to perform is emotionally devastating, these cancellations are also financially devastating.
There exists a clause in every standard performance contract called “force majeure” (superior force), which is idiomatically referred to as, “an act of God.” This clause excuses a party from not honoring its contractual obligations that becomes impossible or impracticable, due to an event or effect that the parties could not have anticipated or controlled.
This can come in handy for a presenter if there is, say, a blizzard that necessitates the cancellation of a concert. (This happened to me a few seasons ago with the Boston Symphony.) If the presenter will not make any money on ticket sales, they are not then further injured by having to pay the musicians for the canceled concert. (Below, Brailey sings Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” with the Colorado Symphony.)
The ramifications of this pandemic are unprecedented. Every freelance musician I know is suddenly out of work. The current conventions put all of the upfront financial burden on the artists. We are paid in one lump sum at the end of a project. We do not get a fee for the countless hours of preparation.
We often book travel and lodging on our own dime, and are not reimbursed until the end of the gig. We pay for our own health insurance, and we cannot file for unemployment because our work is paid via IRS Form 1099 and not W2s. The abrupt work stoppage caused by this pandemic means insolvency – or even bankruptcy — for many artists. (Below, Brailey sings Handel’s “Messiah” at the famed Trinity Church on Wall Street in New York City.)
Many institutions — and, unfortunately, many of the bigger players like The Metropolitan Opera — are invoking force majeure without much regard for how their artists are struggling.
My colleague, tenor Zach Finkelstein, is covering this in great detail on his blog The Middle Class Artist, as is Alex Ross, the prize-winning music critic for The New Yorker. Read his piece on force majeure here.
However, there are also thankfully some good stories to tell. The Bach Society of Minnesota reimbursed all my travel expenses and is paying 75 percent of my fee, as is the Lyra Baroque Orchestra.
I am helping Zach keep track of the organizations that are helping their artists in this time of need. (Read about them here. Madison Opera is on the list.)
The arts are not just cultural enrichment; they are an essential part of our economy. In 2017, the industry contributed $877.8 billion, or 4.5 percent, to U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employed over 5 million workers. We cannot afford to let this industry disappear. I fear that many individual artists and arts organizations will not recover from this. (Below, Brailey sings Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Magnificat” at the Bucknell Bach Festival.)
While we wait out this storm, I implore you to donate to a Madison arts organization. Here is a short list of recommendations along with some national relief funds for artists.
Local Arts Organizations
Tags: #ActofGod, #AlexRoss, #ArtisticDirector, #artsorganization, #ArtsPresenters, #BachFestival, #BachSocietyofMinnesota, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOratorio, #BigPlayer, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BostonSymphony, #BucknellUniversity, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ClassicalMusician, #ColoradoSymphony, #ConcertArtist, #COVID-19, #CriticalAcclaim, #CulturalEnrichment, #DoctoralDegree, #EastCoast, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FederalGovernment, #ForceMajeure", #ForceW2, #Form1099, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GoodReason, #GraduateStudent, #GrossDomesticProduct, #Handel'sMessiah, #Handel'sSolomon, #HandelAriaCompetition, #HomeWebsite, #IndependentContractor, #InternalRevenueService, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #JulianWachner, #JustBach, #Knoxville:Summerof1915, #LumpSum, #LyraBaroqueOrchestra, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonYouthChoirs, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MetropolitanOpera, #MusicCritic, #MusicLessons, #MusicReview, #NativeAmerican, #NewYork, #NewYorkCity, #OutofWork, #PopulationDensity, #Prize-Winning, #RaveReview, #SamuelBarber, #SarahBrailey, #SocialDistance, #SocialDistancing, #SopranoSinger, #TeachingAssistant, #TenorSinger, #TheEar, #TheMagnificat, #TheMet, #TheMiddleClassArtist, #TheNewYorker, #TheNewYorkTImes, #TheU.S., #TicketSales, #timeofneed, #TravelExpenses, #TrinityChurch, #U.S.Government, #UnitedStates, #VocalMusic, #VoiceLessons, #WallSt., #WallStreet, #WestCoast, #ZachFinkelstein, abrupt, acclaim, act, Act of God, active, afford, Alex Ross, anticipate, aria, artist, Artistic director, Arts, arts organization, arts presenter, arts presenters, audience, Bach, Bach Society of Minnesota, bankrupt, bankruptcy, Barber, Baroque, Baroque music, big player, blizzard, blog, Book, booking, Boston Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Bucknell, Bucknell University, budding, burden, cancellation, career, challenge, Chamber music, chances, chapel, choral music, Christian, church, Classical, Classical music, classicalmusic, clause, colleagues, Colorado, Colorado Symphony, comply, composer, Concert, concert artist, conductor, contract, contractor, contractual, control, conventions, coronavirus, country, coutnless, covering, cultural, cultural enrichment, detail, devastating, dime, disappear, doctoral, donate, donation, Early music, East Coast, economic, economy, effect, emotion, employ, emtoionally, end, enrichment, essay, essential, event, expenses, face, Facebook, famed, fear, federal government, fee, file, financial, force, force majeure, form, Form 1099, Form W2, forward, founder, free, freelance, freelancer, fund, GDP, George Frideric Handel, gig, globe, God, good, good reason, governent, graduate student, great, greater, gross domestic product, Handel, Handel Aria Competition, handy, help, home website, honor, hours, idiom, immune, impact, implore, impossible, impractical, independent, industry, injure, insolvency, insolvent, institution, Internal Revenue Service, international, IRS, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Julian Wachner, Just Bach, Knoxville, Knoxville: Summer of 1915, lasting, like, link, list, living, local, lodging, lucky, lump sum, Lyra Baroque Orchestra, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Early Music Festival, Madison Opera, Madison Youth Choirs, Magnificat, Mead Witter School of Music, MEMF, Messiah, Metropolitan Opera, Minnesota, money, month, Music, music critic, music lessons, music review, Musician, myself, national, native, necessitate, need, New York, New York City, obligation, opera, oratorio, Orchestra, organization, out of work, own, package, pandemic, participant, parties, party, pay, performer, performing, piece, population, population density, post, posting, preparation, presenter, project, ramifications, rave, rave review, reader, recommendation, recover, reimburse, relief, review, sales, sample, Samuel Barber, Sarah Brailey, scary, seriousness, share, sing, singer, Singing, situation, social distance, social distancing, Solomon, song, soprano, special, St. Paul, stipend, stoppage, storm, struggling, subscriber, suddenly, summer, sun, Superior, symphony, TA, tag, tax, teaching assistant, tenor, The Boston Globe, The Ear, the Met, The Middle Class Artist, The New York Times, The New Yorker, ticket, ticket sales, time, time of need, travel, travel expenses, Trinity Church, U.S., unemployment, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unprecedented, UW, UW-Madison, video, virtual, virus, vocal music, voice, voice lessons, wait, Wall St., Wall Street, Website, well-being, west coast, winner, Wisconsin, work, workers, worried, worry, YouTube, Zach Finkelstein
Classical music: Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra offers FREE concert tickets to furloughed federal workers
1 Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
Restaurants, food banks, retail stores and other organizations have responded with compassion and generosity to victims of the ongoing partial shutdown of the U.S. government.
Here is an announcement of a timely move that The Ear thinks is terrific news for budget-strapped workers who have to cut back on entertainment or discretionary expenses. It should be a model for other local groups as well as statewide, regional and national arts presenters.
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below) is offering free tickets to furloughed federal workers for the Masterworks performance on Friday, Jan. 25, featuring the young cello prodigy and sensation, Miriam K. Smith.
Fresh from performances with the Cincinnati and Louisville symphonies, Smith (below) will perform the Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor by Camille Saint-Saëns. (You can hear her perform a violin and cello duet by George Frideric Handel and Johan Halvorsen in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
If you want to know more about Smith, go to her website: https://miriamksmith.com
A forgotten gem by Domenico Cimarosa, Overture to The Secret Marriage, will open the concert, and the performance concludes with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8, the sunniest of his even-numbered symphonies.
The concert, under the baton of WCO music director Andrew Sewell, will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater at the Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State St.
If you are a furloughed federal employee, you can call the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra offices at (608) 257-0638, and mention your place of employment. Best available tickets are on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets are limited to two per person.
Others who want to attend this concert can find information about the soloist, the program and tickets at: https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/masterworks-i-4/
Tags: #AndrewSewell, #ArtsPresenters, #BaroqueComposer, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CamilleSaint-Saens, #CapitolTheater, #CelloConcerto, #CelloMusic, #ChamberMusic, #CincinnatiOhio, #DomenicoCimarosa, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FederalWorker, #GovernmentShutdown, #JohanHalvorsen, #LouisvilleKentucky, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MiriamK.Smith, #MusicDirector, #RetailStore, #TheEar, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViolinMusic, #YouTubevideo, Andrew Sewell, announcement, Arts, Arts and Entertainment, arts presenters, audience, available, bank, Baroque, basis, baton, Beethoven, best, blog, budget, Camille Saint-Saëns, Capitol Theater, Cello, Cello Concerto, Chamber music, Cincinnati, Classical music, compassion, composer, concerto, conductor, discretionary, Domenico Cimarosa, duet, Early music, employee, Entertainment, expense, expenses, Facebook, federal, federal worker, food, food bank, foodbank, forgotten, forward, free, furlough, gem, generosity, George Frideric Handel, government, government shutdown, Jacob Stockinger, Johan Halvorsen, Kentucky, like, link, Louisville, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, masterwork, Miriam K. Smith, model, Music, Music director, national, news, Ohio, organization, Overture, Overture Center, performer, presenter, prodigy, regional, restaurant, retail store, Saint-Saens, sensation, share, shutdown, statewide, sunny, symphonies, symphony, tag, The Ear, ticket, timely, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, victim, Violin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, worker, young, YouTube
Classical music: Two performances of the UW-Madison’s popular Winter Choral Concert takes place this Sunday afternoon. On Friday, composer Melinda Wagner gives a free public master class
Leave a Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
ALERT: On Friday, Nov. 30, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Morphy Hall, the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Melinda Wagner will discuss her music in a master class, which is FREE and open to both students and the public. (You can hear an interview with her in the YouTube video at th bottom.)
For more information about the acclaimed composer, including a video interview, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/guest-artist-master-class-melinda-wagner-composer/
By Jacob Stockinger
On this Sunday afternoon, Dec. 2, one of the most popular FREE and PUBLIC events at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music will take place.
Two FREE performances of the annual Winter Concert, which always draws full houses, will take place at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. at the Luther Memorial Church (below), 1021 University Avenue.
Six of seven UW-Madison choirs — Chorale, Concert Choir (below top), Madrigal Singers, University Chorus, Women’s Chorus (below bottom) and Masters Singers — will perform in the charity concert.
Choirs will perform choral works both as individual ensembles and jointly.
Holiday carols are part of the program, and concert-goers are invited to sing along.
Professors and graduate students Beverly Taylor (below top), Bruce Gladstone, Michael Johnson and Andrew Voth will conduct, and UW Professor John Chappell Stowe (below bottom) will play the organ.
A free-will offering is accepted at the end of the program. Proceeds after expenses will be donated to “The Road Home,” an organization that provides housing and food to homeless families.
For more information, and a list of the complete and lengthy eclectic program – which includes works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Ralph Vaughan Williams as well as traditional music, jazz, pop music and a piece by UW-Madison alumnus Scott Gendel — go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/two-winter-concerts-at-luther-memorial-church/2018-12-02/
Tags: #BeverlyTaylor, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BruceGladstone, #CharityConcert, #ChoralMusic, #ChoralWorks, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianReligion, #ChristmasCarol, #ChristmasHoliday, #ConcertChoir, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FreewillOffering, #FullHouse, #GraduateStudent, #HolidayCarols, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnChappellStowe, #LutherMemorialChurch, #MadrigalSingers, #MastersSingers, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MelindaWagner, #PopMusic, #PulitzerPrize, #RalphVaughanWilliams, #SacredMusic, #ScottGendel, #SecularMusic, #Sundayafternoon, #TheHomeless, #TheRoadHome, #TraditionalMusic, #UniversityChorus, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #WinterConcert, #Women'sChorus, #YouTubevideo, alumnus, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Beverly Taylor, blog, Bruce Gladstone, charity, charity concert, Choir, choral music, choral works, Chorale, Christian church, Christian music, Christmas, Classical music, composer, Concert Choir, conduct, conductor, Early music, eclectic, ensemble, expenses, Facebook, families, Family, food, freewill, full, full house, graduate, graduate student, Holiday, holiday carols, homeless, House, housing, interview, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Chappell Stowe, jointly, Luther Memorial Church, Lutheranism, Madison, Madrigal Singers, master class, masterclass, Masters Singers, Mead Witter School of Music, Melinda Wagner, Music, offering, organ, organist, perform, pop music, popular, proceeds, professor, profit, program, Pulitzer Prize, Ralph Vaughan Williams, sacred music, Scott Gendel, secular music, sing, sing-along, singers, song, Student, Sunday, Sunday afternoon, The Road Home, United States, University Chorus, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, vocal music, Winter Concert, Wisconsin, women's chorus, work, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | welltemperedear on What do you think of the… |
 | Scott on What do you think of the… |
| welltemperedear on Yunchan Lim’s Chopin etudes ar… |
 | bratschespeilerin on What do you think of the… |
 | MARVIN P WICKENS on Yunchan Lim’s Chopin etudes ar… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 