The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: This Saturday, Aug. 31, at 11 a.m. in Overture Hall is the last FREE Farmers’ Market organ concert of the season. On Sunday afternoon, guitarist Steven Meyer performs at the Chazen Museum of Art
Leave a Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE 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.
ALERT: Madison guitarist Steven Meyer will perform a FREE concert on “Sunday Afternoon Live at the Chazen” this Sunday, Sept. 1, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Brittingham Gallery 3. The program features music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Gustav Holst, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Fernando Sor, himself and others. Also included is music by the Beatles, jazz and folk music. For more information about the series, go to: https://www.chazen.wisc.edu/index.php?/events-calendar-demo/event/sunday-afternoon-live-at-the-chazen8/
This Sunday’s performance will, as always, be live streamed starting at 12:30. Here is a portal link for streaming: https://c.streamhoster.com/embed/media/O7sBNG/OS1C0ihJsYK/iqf1vBMs3qg_5
By Jacob Stockinger
This Saturday morning, Aug. 31, will see the last FREE Farmers’ Market organ concert of the season.
The 45-minute concert, sponsored by the Madison Symphony Orchestra and played on the Klais concert organ, takes place in Overture Hall at 11 a.m. No tickets or reservations are needed and the public is welcome.
The performer is David Ball (below), who was trained at the Juilliard School in New York City and who is based in Orange County, California, at the Christ (formerly Crystal) Cathedral.
The program features music by French composer Jean Langlais, French composer Camille Saint-Saens, German composer Max Reger, British composer Herbert Howells, Argentinean composer Norberto Guinaldo, French composer Leon Boellmann, French composer Jeanne Demessieux, contemporary American composer Alan Terricciano and American composer John Philip Sousa. (You can hear David Ball playing a different work by Herbert Howells in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For the specific works and much more background about the performer, go to: https://madisonsymphony.org/event/free-farmers-market-concert-2019-david-ball/
Tags: #AmericanComposer, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BritishComposer, #CamilleSaint-Saens, #ChazenMuseumofArt, #ChristCathedral, #ChristianChurch, #ClassicalGuitar, #ClassicalGuitarist, #ConcertOrgan, #CrystalCathedral, #DaneCounty, #DaneCountyFarmers'Market, #DavidBall, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Farmers'Market, #FernandoSor, #FolkMusic, #Frenchcomposer, #GreatBritain, #GuitarMusic, #GustavHolst, #HeitorVilla-Lobos, #HerbertHowells, #HomeWebsite, #JazzMusic, #JeanLanglais, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnPhilipSousa, #JuilliardSchool, #KlaisOrgelbau, #LeonardBernstein, #LeonBoellmann, #LiveStreaming, #LivingComposer, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MaxReger, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #NorbertoGuinaldo, #OrangeCounty, #OrganMusic, #OvertureHall, #RockandRoll, #RockMusic, #SaturdayMorning, #SchoolofMusic, #StevenMeyer, #SundayAfternoonLiveattheChazen, #TheBeatles, #YouTubevideo, American, American composer, Argentina, Arts, audience, Bach, background, Baroque music, Beatles, blog, Boellmann, Britain, British, California, Camille Saint-Saëns, cathedral, Chazen Museum of Art, Christ, Christ Cathedral, Christian, church, classical guitarist, composer, Concert, contemporary, Crystal Cathedral, Dane County, Dane County Farmers' Market, David Ball, event, Facebook, farmer, Farmer's Market, Fernando Sor, folk, forward, France, free, French, Guinaldo, guitar, guitarist, Gustav Holst, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Herbert Howells, Holst, Howells, information, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Jean Langlais, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Philip Sousa, Juilliard School, Klais, Langlais, Leon Boellmann, Leonard Bernstein, like, link, live streaming, Living composer, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, market, Max Reger, Music, New Music, New York City, Norberto Guinaldo, Orange County, Orchestra, organ, Overture Center, Overture Hall, performance, performer, portal, post, posting, program, public, reader, reservation, rock and roll, Saint-Saens, Saturday morning, School of Music, share, Sor, Steven Meyer, subscriber, Sunday Afternoon Live at the Chazen, Sweden, Swedish, tag, ticket, United States, video, Villa-Lobos, Website, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Piano and viola duo Vis-à-Vis gives a FREE concert this Saturday at noon as part of Grace Presents
1 Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
For a while, the acclaimed FREE community outreach concert series Grace Presents had folded.
But now it is back.
Grace Presents’ new coordinator Yanzel Rivera, who is a graduate student at the UW-Madison Mead-Witter School of Music, has sent the following information to post:
“Grace Presents, which offers free monthly concerts on the Capitol Square, will feature the Vis-À-Vis duo (below) of violist Brandin Kreuder and pianist Craig Jordan.
“The one-hour concert, called “Clarke and Brahms” will take place this Saturday, Jan. 13, at noon at the Grace Episcopal Church, 116 West Washington Avenue, across from the Capitol Square.
The program features: Four Pieces by British composer Frank Bridge, (1879-1941); a Sonata by British composer Rebecca Clarke, (1886-1979, below top); “Un regard dans le vide” or ‘A Look Into the Void” (2017) by American composer Christian Messier (b. 1995, below bottom), who studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin; and the Sonata in F Minor by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
“Duo Vis-À-Vis aims to bring engaging and explorative chamber music performances to communities across the country and share their love for musical collaboration and expression.
“The duo is comprised of violinist/violist Brandin Kreuder, and pianist, Craig Jordan. Brandin is a native of Burlington, Wisconsin, and a 2016 graduate of Lawrence University and Conservatory (below) who holds a B.A. in Studio Art and a B.M. in Violin Performance.
“Brandin is currently in his second year of his Master of Music degree studying viola with virtuoso violist Jodi Levitz at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami.
“Jordan, from Ames, Iowa, is a junior at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music pursuing his Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance under the teaching of Catherine Kautsky, with an emphasis on Collaborative Piano. He is currently studying this fall semester at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the Netherlands with Marta Liébana Martínez.
“Since its debut in spring 2016, duo Vis-A-Vis has performed three recital tours in Wisconsin, Iowa, Florida, Missouri, Colorado and Massachusetts. Their recent tour “Reminiscence” brought the duo to their widest variety of performance locations yet. One of these performances also served as the beginning of a new chamber music series hosted by the College Light Opera Company in Falmouth, Mass.
(You can hear Duo Vis-à-Vis (below) perform the Violin Sonata by Cesar Franck in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
ABOUT GRACE PRESENTS
Grace Presents features a diverse range of music, including everything from classical and folk to jazz and bluegrass. The performers include nationally recognized musicians and exceptional young talent from Madison and beyond.
The mission is to create a premier concert series that everyone in the Madison community can enjoy. Each month it welcomes a diverse audience to its concerts, including Madison residents, students, farmers’ market shoppers, tourists, and people who are homeless.
The organizers invite audiences to bring a lunch to enjoy inside the church during our concerts.
A celebrated historic landmark established in 1839, Grace Episcopal Church (below top and bottom) is the oldest church in Madison. Known for its grand Gothic architecture and distinctive red doors, the church features hand-carved woodwork, brilliant stained glass windows–including a Tiffany window–and a cathedral organ.
Grace Presents is supported in part by a grant from Dane Arts, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, the Madison Arts Commission, with additional funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board.
The series also relies on donations from sponsors and free-will offerings at each concert.
Tags: American, Amsterdam, Appleton, architecture, Art, Arts, audience, bachelor, bluegrass, Brahms, Brandin Kreuder, British, Capitol Square, cathedral, Catherine Kautsky, Chamber music, Christian Messier, church, Classical music, collaborative, College Light Opera Company, Colorado, community, composer, Concert, country, Craig Jordan, Dane Arts, Dane County, degree, diverse, donation, duo, engaging, England, Episcopal, explorative, expression, farmer, Florida, folk, foundation, Franck, Frank Bridge, fre, Frost School of Music, Gothic, grace, Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Presents, graduate, hand-carved, historic, homeless, Iowa, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Johannes Brahms, landmark, Lawrence University, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, lunch, Madison, Madison Arts Commission, market, Massachusetts, Master, Mead Witter School of Music, Missouri, Music, Netherlands, offering, opera, organ, organize, outreach, performance, Piano, piece, Rebecca Clarke, recital, resident, series, shopper, Sonata, sponsor, stained glass, Student, studio, talent, Tiffany, tour, tourist, U.S., UK, United Kingdom, United States, University of Miami, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, Viola, Violin, virtuoso, Vis-à-Vis, W. Jerome Frautschi, window, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, woodwork, young, YouTube
Classical music: Start the holiday season with the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s FREE Community Carol Sing, with organ, on Monday night
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
‘Tis the season—for singing together in groups!
The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) will host a FREE Carol Sing in Overture Hall of the Overture Center, 201 State Street, on this coming Monday, Nov. 27, at 7 p.m.
All ages are welcome.
No tickets or reservations are needed for the free Carol Sing, which will last approximately 45 minutes.
MSO Principal Organist and Curator Greg Zelek will lead the Carol Sing with the Overture Concert Organ (below).
Familiar carols will be sung, and solo organ works will include the Carol Rhapsody (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom) by Richard Purvis and an arrangement of “Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella.”
Greg Zelek (below) is the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s own principal organist and Curator of the Overture Concert Organ and Series. Zelek has been praised as one of the most exciting young organists in the American organ scene. He has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, the New World Symphony, and in Carnegie Hall with the Metropolitan Opera orchestra.
Zelek directs the programming for the instrument. In addition to the Free Farmers’ Market Organ Concerts, the instrument is featured in the annual MSO Christmas concert, along with several Free Community Hymn Sings and a Christmas Carol Sing.
See details for all organ performances at www.madisonsymphony.org/organperformances.
Support for all Overture Concert Organ programs is provided by the Diane Endres Ballweg Fund.
The MSO’s Free Community Carol and Hymn Sings are presented in partnership with the Overture Center for the Arts.
Tags: age, American, Arts, Bring a Torch, Carnegie Hall, Carol, choral music, Christmas, Christmas and holiday season, Classical music, composer, curator, Dane County Farmers' Market, farmer, Farmer's Market, free, fund, Greg Zelek, group, Holiday, hymn, Jacob Stockinger, Madison Symphony Orchestra, market, Metropolitan Opera, New World Symphony, New York City, Orchestra, organ, Overture Center, performance, program, reservation, Richard Purvis, scene, Season, sing, solo, support, ticket, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, vocal music, Wisconsin, work, young, YouTube
Classical music: We should hear more encores, especially at outstanding chamber music concerts. Plus, a FREE Farmer’s Market organ recital is this Saturday at 11 a.m.
6 Comments
ALERT: This Saturday at 11 a.m. in Overture Hall of the Overture Center, the Madison Symphony Orchestra will offer another FREE Farmers Market Organ Concert. The program, which runs 45 minutes, features music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, Charles-Marie Widor and Louis Vierne. The organist is the prize-winning Madison native Adrian Binkley.
By Jacob Stockinger
Two weeks ago, the Willy Street Chamber Players gave The Ear yet another reason to like them and be a fan.
After the season-ending program of Schubert, Osvaldo Golijov and Mozart was over, while the audience was cheering, standing and applauding loudly, two members of the young chamber music group played an encore.
The encore was “Julie-O” by Mark Summer. It was written for one cellist, as you can hear in a performance by the composer in the YouTube video at the bottom.
But this time it was performed by the two cellists of The Willys — Lindsey Crabb and Mark Bridges (below).
They agreed to play an encore only reluctantly – after some prodding by other members of The Willys, by guest clarinetist Michael Maccaferri (of the Grammy-winning group eighth blackbird) and, of course, by the audience.
But there shouldn’t have been any reluctance.
The Ear thinks we hear too few encores after so much memorable music-making.
Certain student recitals at the UW-Madison come immediately to mind. It sometimes seems that the protocol of student recitals prohibits encores, but The Ear has been told by faculty members that such is not the case.
What also comes to mind is the lack of encores at chamber music concerts by larger ensembles – piano trios, string quartets and piano or string quintets and sextets.
And rarely do you hear encores at the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra or Madison Opera except when they are played by concerto soloists.
But why not?
The Ear recalls that several years ago the Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez, performing the aria with notoriously difficult nine high C’s in the aria “Ah! Mes amis” from Donizetti’s opera “La Fille du Regiment,” then quickly repeated the same passage to frenzied approval.
What are encores but a way of saying: “You liked me, so now I like you.”
Encores are not immodest bragging. They are a reward, a gift, a way for the performer to say thank you to the audience for its attention and appreciation.
Maybe every individual or group should have some kind of encore in the back pocket and ready to go. It could be a short movement or even a section of a movement, perhaps a coda or finale.
It seems to The Ear that many instrumentalists, especially pianists who have such a rich repertory, would do well to have four encores ready: one fast and one slow, one loud and one soft.
That way, the encore can underscore — by either complementarity or contrast — the piece or pieces that preceded it and called for it.
Have you ever wanted to hear an encore and been frustrated?
What do musicians themselves say about playing encores?
Are there unwritten guidelines or an unstated protocol about when to play encores?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Adrian Binkley, applause, Arts, audience, Bach, Baroque, bragging, Cello, Chamber music, Charles-Marie Widor, cheer, clarinet, Classical music, concerto, Dane County Farmers' Market, Donizetti, eighth blackbird, encore, fan, farmer, fast, gift, Golijov, Grammy, Grammy Award, guidelines, high C, High C's, immodest, Jacob Stockinger, Juan Diego Florez, Julie-O, La fille du régiment, lead, like, Lindsey Crabb, loud, Louis Vierne, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mark Bridges, market, Mary Summer, Mendelssohn, Michael Maccaferri, Mozart, Music, Musician, opera, organ, Osvaldo Golijov, Peru, Peruvian, prize, program, protocol, Quartet, quintet, recital, reward, role, Schubert, Season, sextet, sing, singer, slow, soft, soloist, stand, String quartet, string sextet, strings, Student, summer, tenor, thank you, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 