The Well-Tempered Ear
Apple Music’s new all-Classical streaming service launches March 28. Here are details
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By Jacob Stockinger
The long-awaited, overdue announcement is here.
Apple Music’s all-classical service app will launch for iPhones on March 28. Android systems will be a bit later.
Here are details from Wednesday’s press release:
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Apple today announced Apple Music Classical, a brand-new stand-alone app designed specifically for classical music. Pre-order now on App Store HERE and follow @appleclassical on Twitter
The Apple Music Classical introductory trailer is: HERE
Apple Music Classical is available for all iPhone models running iOS 15.4 or later. Apple Music Classical for Android is coming soon. To listen to music on Apple Music Classical, you must have an internet connection. |
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Superstar maestro Gustavo Dudamel to leave LA for the New York Philharmonic
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By Jacob Stockinger
It will probably be the biggest music news story of the year, perhaps even the decade.
Gustavo Dudamel (below), the Venezuelan-born maestro of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will become the music director of the New York Philharmonic starting in 2026.
The news was announced late yesterday afternoon on both coasts. The New York Philharmonic post is probably the most prestigious music post in the United States, a podium once occupied by Gustav Mahler, Arturo Toscanini, Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta and Kurt Masur.
In what one imagines is a very, very expensive coup — the financial terms were not disclosed — the New York Philharmonic recruited the 42-year-old superstar maestro who is known for giving passionate and fiery performances and for innovating music education programs, both of which have brought in bigger and younger audiences.
He also built a reputation for championing new music, Latin music and musicians of color. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Dudamel conducting Mexican composer Arturo Márquez’s Danzón No. 2, a Latin American piece he made famous and which is now often used by other orchestras on full programs or as an encore. In the video, he is conducting the Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra, the senior orchestra of “El Sistema” and the post that Dudamel held before heading to Los Angeles.)
Dudamel has guest conducted the New York Philharmonic more than two dozen times. The musicians there have greeted him warmly and enviously, especially since their CEO Deborah Borda originally signed Dudamel to the Los Angeles post in 2009 when he was 26.
Born into a musical family, Dudamel himself became a professional musician by rising through the ranks of “El Sistema,” the national youth music organization in his native country. He studied violin and composition before turning to conducting with global success and fame.
In Los Angeles he has been nominated for and won many Grammys for his many recordings. He also been the music director of the Paris Opera.
It is worth noting: New York will soon have two of the most charismatic and recognizable conductors in the world: Dudamel; and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who is the music director of the Metropolitan Opera as well as the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Metropolitan Orchestra of Montreal.
Here are stories from both sides now: from the West Coast he is leaving and the East Coast he will be going to.
Here is the story by The New York Times:
And here is the story from The Los Angeles Times:
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Wisconsin Ensemble Project’s string quartet program to benefit the United Way of Dane County debuts online this Friday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
This Friday night, May 14, the Wisconsin Ensemble Project will present a recorded concert (below, in an image by Katrin Talbot) in partnership with United Way of Dane County (UWDC).
This is their second in a series of performances to benefit local and international organizations.
This production offers viewers a meaningful program that leads to direct impact with a focus on housing stability and family well-being. You will hear the story and see the face of UWDC woven throughout a chamber music performance.
The program of works for string quartet includes “Park” by Daniel Bernard Roumain (below top); the “Heiliger Dankgesang” (Sacred Hymn of Thanksgiving, which you can hear played by the Alban Berg Quartet in the YouTube video at the bottom) from Beethoven’s Opus 132; and selections from Five Folksongs in Counterpoint by Florence Price (below bottom).
WE Project members and performers are local, professional musicians who work together in the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra: violinists Leanne League and Mary Theodore; violist Jen Paulson; and cellist Karl Lavine.
“The WE Project is rooted in the quartet’s desire not only to delve deeply into chamber music repertoire, but also to address some of the many pressing social justice issues of our time,” says member Mary Theodore.
When exploring organizations to partner with for their second project, the quartet was inspired by the work of United Way of Dane County. The WE Project approached United Way out of their concern over housing security, with the understanding that one of UWDC’s key goals is to help more individuals and families find pathways out of poverty through housing and employment initiatives.
The recorded production will be available by registering at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wisconsin-ensemble-project-spring-benefit-concert-registration-151923670789 from 6 p.m. this Friday, May 14, for 72 hours. Admission is free and contributions are strongly encouraged.
Contributions can be made through the website and will help to cover basic production costs and get funds directly into the hands of this very worthy organization which, most importantly, brings aid to the people they serve.
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As the semester ends, virtual concerts allow UW students to reach many more family members, friends and listeners. Here is how the public can connect to them
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By Jacob Stockinger
Starting tonight and over the next two weeks, as the spring semester at the UW-Madison comes to a close, there will be more than two dozen student recitals to listen to. (Below is the YouTube video for the concert this Thursday night, April 15, at 6:30 p.m. of the Marvin Rabin String Quartet that is comprised of graduate students.)
Often two or more concerts a day are scheduled, often at 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
That much is typical.
What is not typical during the pandemic is that technology will allow the recitals to be presented live-streamed and virtual.
The downside is that the students will not experience performing before a live audience.
But there is an upside.
Going virtual also means that the recitals will be available longer to family, friends and interested listeners here as well as around the country and — especially for international students — the world. (Below, in a photo by Bryce Richter for the UW-Madison, is the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall in the Hamel Music Center.)
It also means you can hear them when it is convenient for you and not at the actual scheduled times.
The Ear has heard his share of student recitals and often finds them to be exceptional events.
If you go to the Mead Witter School of Music’s website, you can see the concerts and the lineups.
You will see that there will be student recitals of vocal music, brass music, wind music, string music and piano music. There are solo recitals, chamber music and even a symphony orchestra concert. (Below, in a photo by Bryce Richter for the UW-Madison, is the Collins Recital Hall in the Hamel Music Center.)
There are too many details for each concert to list them all here individually.
But if you go to the Concerts and Events page on the music school’s outstanding website, you can hover the cursor over the event and then click on the event and get everything from the performers and programs to program notes, a performer biography and a photo with a link to the YouTube performance.
On the YouTube site, if you click on “See More” you will see more details and can even set up an alarm for when the concert starts.
Here is a link: https://www.music.wisc.edu/events/
Try it and see for yourself. Below is the YouTube link for pianist Mengwen Zhu, who performs his recital this Saturday, April 17, at 6 p.m.)
Happy listening!
Let us know what you think, especially if it is encouraging for the students.
The Ear wants to hear.
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It’s Thanksgiving Day. Conductor Marin Alsop, NPR, WQXR, WFMT and Wisconsin Public Radio offer music suggestions. What piece would you choose to mark the holiday?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today – Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020 — is Thanksgiving Day.
Right now, the U.S. has had more than 12 million cases of COVID-19 with more than 260,000 deaths plus all the alarming signs and conditions that many more cases and deaths are coming in the next several months.
We might be sad that we can’t be with the family and friends we usually celebrate with. But we nonetheless have many things to give thanks for during this strange and tragic time.
We can thank the vaccine researchers; the doctors and nurses; and the other health care workers who take care of Covid patients, even those who don’t observe precautions and bring on their own illness.
We can thank all kinds of people on the front lines — food and transportation workers, for example — who help protect us and care for us.
We can thank the friends, family and others who stay in touch and help get us through these trying times.
And we can thank technology that makes isolating a lot less unbearable because we have telephones, radios, TVs, CD players, computers, cell phones and virtual online ZOOM meetings and gatherings and various other events including live-streamed concerts.
For The Ear, music has never meant more or brought more comfort than during this difficult year. He is giving thanks for that as well as for the other people and things just mentioned.
So what music should we celebrate this year’s emotionally complicated and mixed Thanksgiving holiday with?
Well, you can Google sources and go to YouTube to find compilations of music appropriate to the holiday. (See one playlist lasting 90 minutes in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Famed classical radio station WQXR in New York City has five suggestions for being musically grateful: https://www.wqxr.org/story/top-five-expressions-thanks-classical-music/
And WFMT in Chicago is offering 20 suggestions based on holiday food: https://www.wfmt.com/2019/11/25/a-complete-thanksgiving-feast-in-20-food-inspired-pieces/
But here are a couple of other suggestions, some local.
Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) is always a reliable source. And tomorrow is no exception.
If WPR programming stays true to past patterns, music by American composers will be emphasized.
Plus, starting at 10 a.m. WPR will broadcast performances from the Honors Concerts (below) by middle and high school students around the state and who participate in the Wisconsin School Music Association. This year, for the first time, the performances will be virtual. But as in past years, they are sure to be moving and even inspiring.
Other fine suggestions from the world-famous conductor Marin Alsop (below), a Leonard Bernstein protégée, who recently spoke for 7 minutes to NPR Weekend Edition host Scott Simon.
Here is a link, but you should listen rather than just read the transcript if you want to hear the musical samples: https://www.npr.org/2020/11/21/937448472/this-thanksgiving-put-on-some-music-to-soothe
Do you like any of those suggestions? Were any new to you?
What piece of music would you choose to express gratitude on this particular Thanksgiving?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Meet Alexander Gonzalez, the new assistant band director at the UW-Madison who is also a UW alumnus
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following press release from the UW-Madison about its new assistant band director. Like many of his musician colleagues at the UW-Madison, he is likely to see his duties curtailed because of the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19.
After the completion of a national search, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music is pleased to announce the hiring of Alexander Gonzalez (below, in a photo by Robb McCormick) as the new assistant director of bands.
Gonzalez will conduct the Tuesday Night University Band, assist the University of Wisconsin Marching Band, direct the Men’s Hockey Band, and teach courses in conducting.
Gonzalez comes to Wisconsin after studying conducting at Ohio State University as a Doctorate of Musical Arts candidate, where he worked with all concert ensembles and the marching band. Alongside his studies, he was the director of the Professional School Orchestra and taught conducting at Capital University’s Conservatory of Music.
“We are thrilled to welcome Alexander and his wife Haley to the University of Wisconsin Marching Band family,” said Associate Director of Bands Corey Pompey (below). “Alexander is a supremely gifted musician and pedagogue whose role is integral to the success of our band program. He is thoughtful, engaging and direct. Our students will benefit in immeasurable ways from what he has to offer.”
Prior to his studies in Ohio, Gonzalez was a public school educator in Colorado and Florida, where he taught an array of courses at middle school and high school levels.
While participating in his Master’s degree in Wind Conducting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he was the director of the Middleton High School Symphony Orchestra’s Wind Octet and worked in education and community outreach with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Alexander Gonzalez conducting the UW-Madison’s University Band in Michael J. Miller’s “Tribute for Band” in Mills Hall in 2014.)
“I am beyond excited to return to a place I consider home,” said Gonzalez (below). “The bands at UW-Madison were integral in forming the educator I am today. And I am equally excited to create a musical environment where present and future students can feel as loved, challenged and respected as I did.”
Gonzalez holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Florida and is an active member in the National Association for Music Education, the College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, Phi Mu Alpha, Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma.
“Professor Gonzalez brings with him a wealth of knowledge from his background in teaching music at the public school and college levels,” said Director of Bands Scott Teeple (below). “He is an extraordinary musician, pedagogue and individual. Alexander’s contributions to the UW Band program and the Mead Witter School of Music will deepen the musical experiences of our students. We consider ourselves fortunate to have him as a member of our team.”
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Classical music: The coronavirus pandemic sparks a surge in piano sales
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By Jacob Stockinger
Have you or someone in your family used the COVID-19 lockdown and staying at home to practice, play or learn the piano?
You’re not alone.
A year ago, stories in the media tracked how pianos were quickly becoming a thing of the past in American homes. People were giving pianos away for free and for the cost of moving.
But then the coronavirus pandemic arrived, along with lockdowns, online learning and sheltering at home.
National news media discovered some unexpected good news, especially since public concerts have been canceled: The pandemic has brought a renewed interest in playing the piano at home – and in buying them.
The Ear wanted to find out if that same trend holds true in Madison.
“It does,” says Tim Farley, who — with his wife Renee — owns and operates Farley’s House of Pianos on the far west side near West Towne Mall. (The top photo from the store is from the Better Business Bureau. The two owners are seen below bottom in a photo from Isthmus newspaper).
“It’s weird,” he adds. “We had to close. When we re-opened, we cut back on hours and staff. Like many others, we figured there would be an end to business for a while.”
But just the opposite happened.
“Our sales are up about 34 percent compared to a year ago,” Farley adds. “We’re happy how things are going.”
Most of the sales increase has been in digital pianos, Farley says, although a lot of excellent acoustic pianos have also been sold, including a Hamburg Steinway.
Part of what accounts for the increase, he speculates, is that teachers inspire students to want better instruments.
Farley’s sells new and restored pianos (below), and also has an extensive teaching program, with online lessons during the pandemic. (For isolation practicing ideas and advice, see the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The Ear wonders if the same trend is happening in Europe and especially Asia — particularly China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan — where so many great young pianists are coming from and winning international competitions.
For more about the national picture in the U.S., including background history, information about prices, increases in online sales and the demographics of buyers, you should read this oustanding story by music critic Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim in The New York Times:
Here is a link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/arts/music/piano-sales-coronavirus.html
Have you bought a piano or another instrument during the pandemic?
Are you using the down time to return to practicing and playing a piano or another instrument?
What would you like to say about making music during the pandemic?
Has making music helped you weather this odd period of time?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: The Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Opera, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Overture Center cancel their fall seasons. Plus, on Saturday cellist Cole Randolph performs a virtual concert for Grace Presents
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ALERT: The Saturday at noon, Grace Presents will offer the first in its series of HD Virtual Concerts online. Future performers include organist Mark Brampton Smith and the Willy Street Chamber Players.
The performer this time is the cellist and recent UW-Madison graduate Cole Randolph (below). The program is: the Sonata for Solo Cello by the American composer George Crumb; two of the “Seven Songs Heard in China” by Chinese composer Bright Sheng; and the Suite for Solo Cello No. 3 by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Here is where you can hear the 40-minute concert inside the church on the Capitol Square: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vaOCH53osk
You can also connect with Cole Randolph after the show by joining in a Zoom meet-and-greet immediately following the performance at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88001773181
The meeting ID is: 880 0177 3181
You can hear Randolph (below, in a photo by Michael Anderson) playing in the YouTube video at the bottom.
By Jacob Stockinger
With all the talk of a second wave of coronavirus coming in the fall — complicated by the seasonal flu – concert cancellations don’t come as a surprise, unfortunately.
In fact, The Ear suspects many more cancellations are to come, including those from the UW-Madison, the Wisconsin Union Theater and the Middleton Community Orchestra.
Here is the latest round: the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Madison Opera, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Overture Center have all canceled their fall seasons, with some qualifications.
The announcements came on Thursday morning in the wake of the Overture Center canceling all performances this summer and fall through Nov. 30.
MADISON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Madison Symphony Orchestra has provided a short statement and a more complete and detailed press release.
Here is the statement:
“The Madison Symphony Orchestra’s 2020-21 “Beethoven and Beyond” season concerts and Overture Concert Organ performances are now canceled from September 2020 through January 2021.
“The move is due to the Overture Center’s decision to suspend events through Nov. 30, 2020, and the requirements of Dane County’s “Forward Dane” Reopening Plan.
“The 2020-21 season performances in February, March, April and May 2021 are scheduled to take place as planned.
“All subscribers will be sent a refund for the value of their tickets for the September 2020 through January 2021 concerts.”
Here is a list on the five MSO concerts – including the Beyond the Score performance of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” on Jan. 25 — that will be canceled and the four that remain scheduled: https://madisonsymphony.org/concerts-events/2020-2021-symphony-season-concerts/
Here is a link to the full press release about the cancellations by the MSO (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers): https://madisonsymphony.org/press-release-june-2020-concert-events-update/
MADISON OPERA
The Madison Opera is canceling the two in-person performances of Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” (The Troubadour) but is planning on offering some kind of large digital event and smaller live events at its center.
Here is statement from the Madison Opera:
“Although the Overture Center for the Arts is closed until the end of November, we will not be going silent.
“We are creating a fall season that lasts from September through December, and includes both digital content and live performances at the Margaret C. Winston Madison Opera Center, our home in downtown Madison.
“Some of our signature engagement activities — such as Opera Novice and Opera Up Close — will have monthly editions that include artists from around the country.
“The Opera Center itself will be the site of “Live from the Opera Center,” a variety of streamed performances with a small live audience.
“Other performances will be created digitally and made available exclusively to subscribers.
“Artists involved include members of the original “Il Trovatore” cast: soprano Karen Slack, baritone Weston Hurt, bass Kenneth Kellogg, and stage director Fenlon Lamb. Other soloists include Wisconsin-based artists Jeni Houser (below), David Blalock, Emily Fons, Emily Secor and Kirsten Larson.
“We are working with our artists to create programming that is chosen from their passions: music they want to share, ideas they want to explore, and conversations they want to start. The challenges facing us will create new art, and new ways to make sure it is accessible to everyone.”
Marketing director Andrew Rogers told The Ear that the opera company is still deciding whether digital performances will be ticketed or free with suggested donations.
The full schedule will be announced in early August, after the digital online Opera in the Park takes place Saturday, July 25. For details, go to: https://www.madisonopera.org/2020/05/06/opera-in-the-park-is-going-digital/
To stay current about the regular opera season, you can sign up for the Madison Opera’s news updates via email by going to this website: https://www.madisonopera.org/fall2020/
WISCONSIN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
The Nov. 20 opening concert with pianist John O’Conor of the Masterworks Series has been POSTPONED with no new date set yet.
Music director Andrew Sewell says the Family Concert on is still on for Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Goodman Community Center but the WCO is looking for an alternative venue.
The concert on Nov. 7 at the Verona Area Performing Arts Center has been CANCELED.
Both performances of Handel’s “Messiah” — on Dec. 9 and Dec. 12 at the Blackhawk Church in Middleton and the UW’s Hamel Music Center on Dec. 12 – have also been CANCELED.
And this season the WCO will not play Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” from Dec. 17-27 because the Madison Ballet has canceled those performances.
For more information about the WCO (below, in photo by Mike Gorski), go to: https://wcoconcerts.org/concerts-tickets/calendar
What do you think?
Do you think the cancellations are warranted?
Do you want to leave a message or comment encouraging and supporting the various groups and their many musicians?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra uses a new website and a new brochure to announce its new Masterworks season plus other innovations
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By Jacob Stockinger
In many ways, there is much that is familiar or tried-and-true about the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below, in a photo by Mike Gorski) and its new Masterworks season for 2020-21.
But in other ways it seems as if the WCO is reinventing and rebranding itself – perhaps under the direction of its new CEO Joe Loehnis – as the ensemble starts a double anniversary: its 60th season of existence and its 20th year under the baton of music director Andrew Sewell (below in a photo by Alex Cruz).
As in past years, the WCO programs feature a mix of familiar composers and works with new and neglected ones. It also features both new and returning guest soloists.
Start with what’s new.
The new WCO home website – like the new brochure that has been mailed out — has been redesigned, with more visuals and more information about the 34-member orchestra. The Ear finds both the new brochure and the new home page to be more attractive, better organized and easier to use. Take a look for yourself: https://wcoconcerts.org
There also seems to be a heightened emphasis on donations and raising money, including a new organization called “Friends” that brings special benefits for $30 or even more perks at $8 a month.
And the website seems more customer-friendly. There is a section on the website about “What to Expect,” which includes how to choose seats, how to dress, when to applaud and so forth. There is also a portal for streaming events and concerts.
There is more, much more, including the pre-concert dinners for the Masterworks concerts and the culturally diverse programs for the postponed Concerts on the Square (below), to run this summer on Tuesday nights at 6 p.m. (NOT the usual Wednesdays at 7 p.m.) from July 28 to Sept. 1.
There seems to be more emphasis on Sewell, who this year provides extensive first-person notes about each program and the guest artists. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Sewell discuss the new Masterworks season with Wisconsin Public Radio host and WCO announcer Norman Gilliland.)
This season will see two performances of Handel’s “Messiah”: one on Saturday, Dec. 19, at the Blackhawk Church in Middleton; and another downtown on Sunday, Dec. 20, at the UW-Madison’s Hamel Music Center.
The Masterworks series of concerts – held on Friday nights at 7:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center – will begin in late November rather than in late January. The six concerts include five new ones and the postponed appearance of harpist Yolanda Kondonassis, whose appearance this season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, on May 14.
Two of the concerts – on two Saturdays, Feb. 20 and April 10 – will also be performed in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield at the Sharon Lynn Wilson Center for the Arts (below).
You can read more about the community outreach and music education programs, especially the Youth and Education programs. They include the free Family Series and “Side by Side” concerts (below, in a photo by Mike DeVries for The Capital Times, WCO concertmaster Suzanne Beia, right, tutors a WYSO student); the Super Strings educational program; and the Young Artists Concerto Competition for grades 9-12.
Here are the Masterworks series:
NOV. 20 – Pianist John O’Conor (below) returns in a program of the Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor” by Beethoven; the Septet by Igor Stravinsky; and the Symphony No. 1 in D Major by Luigi Cherubini.
JAN. 15 – Cellist Amid Peled (below, in a photo by Lisa Mazzucco) returns in a program of Cello Concerto No. 1 by Dmitry Kabalevsky and the Andante by Jacques Offenbach; plus the Wind Serenade in D minor by Antonin Dvorak; and the Symphony No. 34 by Mozart.
FEB. 19 – Violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky (below) in returns in Antonio Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and Astor Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons in Buenos Aires”; plus the Suite for Strings by Leos Janacek.
MARCH 19 – Grammy-winning Spanish guitarist Mabel Millán (below) making her U.S, debut in an all-Spanish program that features the Concierto del Sur (Concerto of the South) by Manuel Ponce; the Sinfonietta in D major by Ernesto Halffter; and the overture “Los Esclavos Felices” (The Happy Slaves) by Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga.
APRIL 9 – Pianist Michael Mizrahi (below), who teaches at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wis., on the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Beethoven plus the Serenade No. 1 by Johannes Brahms.
MAY 14 — Harpist Yolanda Kondonassis (below) in the Harp Concerto by Alberto Ginastera; plus the Sinfonietta by Sergei Prokofiev and the Symphony no. 88 by Franz Joseph Haydn.
Single tickets, which go on sale in July, are $15 to $80. Season subscriptions are available now with seat preference through July 1, bring a discounted price with an extra 10 percent off for first-time subscribers.
For more information, go to the website at https://wcoconcerts.org; call 608 257-0638; or mail a subscription form to the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Attn: Subscriptions; PO Box171, Madison, WI 53701-0171.
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Here is a collaborative obituary for music critic, radio host, performer and gay pioneer Jess Anderson, who died in January at 85
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By Jacob Stockinger
In late January of this year, Jess Anderson (below) — a longtime friend, devoted musician and respected music critic – died at 85.
The Ear promised then that when more was known or written, it would be posted on this blog.
That time has come.
Jess was a polymath, a Renaissance Man, as the comments below attest to time and again.
For the past several years, he suffered from advancing dementia and moved from his home of 56 years to an assisted living facility. He had contracted COVID-19, but died from a severe fall from which he never regained consciousness.
Jess did not write his own obituary and he had no family member to do it. So a close friend – Ed Wegert (below) – invited several of the people who knew Jess and worked with him, to co-author a collaborative obituary. We are all grateful to Ed for the effort the obituary took and for his caring for Jess in his final years.
In addition, the obituary has some wonderful, not-to-be-overlooked photos of Jess young and old, at home, with friends, sitting at the piano and at his custom-built harpsichord.
It appears in the March issue of Our Lives, a free statewide LGBTQ magazine that is distributed through grocery stores and other retail outlets as well as free subscriptions. Here is a link to the magazine’s home webpage for details about it: https://ourliveswisconsin.com.
That Jess was an exceptional and multi-talented person is obvious even from the distinguished names of the accomplished people who contributed to the obituary:
They include:
Chester Biscardi (below), who is an acclaimed prize-winning composer, UW-Madison graduate, composer and teacher of composition at Sarah Lawrence College.
John Harbison (below), the MacArthur “genius grant” recipient and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer who teaches at MIT and co-directs the nearby Token Creek Chamber Music Festival in the summer.
Rose Mary Harbison (below), who attended the UW-Madison with Jess and became a professional performing and teaching violinist who co-directs the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival.
Steve Miller (below), a close friend who became a bookmaker and is now a professor at the University of Alabama.
The Ear, who knew Jess over many decades, was also invited to contribute.
Here is a link to the joint obituary in Our Lives magazine, a free LGBTQ periodical that you can find in local grocery store and other retail outlets: https://ourliveswisconsin.com/article/remembering-jess-anderson/?fbclid=IwAR027dzv2YqRUNlYF1cF6JyXnEcQxAwcprPYbtBQCs3rYt0Nu847W_xbjpk
Feel free to leave your own thoughts about and memories of Jess in the comment section.
It also seems a fitting tribute to play the final chorus from The St. John Passion of Johann Sebastian Bach. You can hear it in the YouTube video below. It is, if memory serves me well, the same piece of sublime music that Jess played when he signed off from hosting his Sunday morning early music show for many years on WORT-FM 89.9.
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