The Well-Tempered Ear
TODAY — Sunday, Jan. 24, at noon — a video concert by the Willy Street Chamber Players will kick off the Wisconsin Union Theater’s new concert series “Wisconsin Sound”
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Wisconsin Union Theater is excited to pilot “Wisconsin Sound,” a new video concert series featuring musicians from our very own state.
The series, which includes the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet, will have five concerts, once a month between January and May and begins with celebrated, locally grown Willy Street Chamber Players (WSCP, below in a photo by Lloyd Schultz) on TODAY — Sunday, Jan. 24 — at noon CDT.
You can see the full lineup with dates and purchase single tickets for the performance or discounted subscription for all Wisconsin Sound events here. Single tickets are $15 and subscription tickets to all five concerts are $50.
The Willy Street Chamber Players began just six years ago but has already made its mark on the Madison community, garnering accolades for its fun approach to music, accessibility and dedication to community partnerships.
The group will perform Fantasiestucke (Fantasy Pieces) for Cello and Piano, Op. 73, by Robert Schumann; Fantasy No. 2 for Violin and Piano by Florence Price (below top); Kiép Nào Có Yeu Nhau (Vietnamese Love Song) for Violin and Piano by Rachel Eubanks (below bottom); and Adagio and Allegro for Cello and Piano, Op. 70, by Robert Schumann. (You can hear the Fantasy by Florence Price in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
You may have heard these dynamic performers during our Summer Serenades at Memorial Union Terrace and other Wisconsin festivals.
The pandemic has not stopped this group from bringing beautiful music to the community; it has continued to perform virtually as well as give in-person “Micro-concerts” for one to two people and safety in mind.
“We are honored they agreed to be the first artist in this pilot series. We share in Willy Street Chamber Players’ goal of creating community through music and thought they’d be a great group to kick off the new series for that very reason,” says Wisconsin Union Theater director Elizabeth Snodgrass.
“Everyone in the arts is trying so hard to stay connected and the group’s music and positivity invite that connection,” Snodgrass adds. “I hope this will reach Wisconsin patrons as well as new listeners who may not have had the chance to hear Willy Street Chamber Players or who have not been to the Wisconsin Union Theater before.”
This blog named the Willys “Musicians of the Year” for 2016. The players were called “a fantastic breath of fresh air who invest their performances of even well-known works, such as the glorious Octet by Mendelssohn, with energy and drive, zest and good humor.” You can read that story here.
Click here for more information about Wisconsin Sound, including other upcoming performances.
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Classical music: NPR explores Opus 1 works to mark Jan. 1 and New Year’s Day
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By Jacob Stockinger
Each year, the media look for new ways to mark the holidays and especially New Year’s Day.
One of the best and most original The Ear has seen and heard in a long time came from National Public Radio (NPR).
On Morning Edition, the radio network consulted Miles Hoffman (below), a violist, conductor and educator, about the first works – the Opus 1 works – that various composers published.
Hoffman’s remarks touch on quite a few young composers and prodigies, including Ludwig van Beethoven (below top), Felix Mendelssohn (below middle) and Ernst von Dohnanyi (below bottom).
Here is a link to the story, which should be listened to, and not just read, for the sake of the music and sound samples:
And from YouTube here are two more Opus 1 works that The Ear would add.
The first is the Rondo in C Minor, Op. 1, by a young Frédéric Chopin (below, in a drawing from Getty Images) and performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy. It shows just how early Chopin had found his own style and his own distinctive voice:
And here are the “Abegg” Variations by critic-turned-composer Robert Schumann (below), played by Lang Lang:
Can you think of other Opus 1 works to add to the list?
Please leave the composer’s name, the work’s title and a YouTube link to a performance, if possible, in the COMMENT section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Art Works, Arts, Beethoven, best, Cello, Chamber music, Chopin, Classical music, Compact Disc, composer, conductor, critic, educator, Ernst Dohnanyi, Feix Mendelssohn, fistinctive, Getty Images, Holiday, Jacob Stockinger, Lang Lang, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, media, Miles Hoffman, Morning Edition, Music, Music education, new, New Year, New Year's Day, NPR, opus, original, performance, prodigies, prodigy, rondo, Schumann, Sound, Teacher, title, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Vladimir Ashkenazy, voice, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, work, young, YouTube
Classical music: What classical music best celebrates the solstice and the arrival of summer?
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REMINDER: Today is the fifth annual citywide Make Music Madison that celebrates the coming of summer with FREE, PUBLIC and LOCAL performances. For more information, go to: https://welltempered.wordpress.com
By Jacob Stockinger
Summer arrived late last night – at 11:24 p.m. — in the Midwest.
To mark and celebrate the welcome event, here are three pieces of well-known summer-related music:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” or a “A Short Night Music” (or “A Little Night Music”:
Summer from Astor Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons in Buenos Aires”:
And Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville, Summer of 1914” with soprano Dawn Upshaw.
But there is so much more to choose from.
Here is a link to five other pieces by different composers –- Antonio Vivaldi, Felix Mendelssohn, Frank Bridge, Alexander Glazunov, Frederick Delius and George Gershwin.
http://www.classical-music.com/article/six-best-pieces-classical-music-summer
Which music would you choose to mark the summer solstice and the coming of summer?
Leave word and a YouTube link, if possible, in the COMMENT section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Argentina, Arts, Baroque, Buenos Aires, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, concerto, Dawn Upshaw, Delius, Early music, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Feix Mendelssohn, Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, Frank Bridge, free, Gershwin, Glazunov, Jacob Stockinger, Knoxville Summer 1915, local, Madison, Make Music Madison, Midwest, Mozart, Music, Orchestra, Piazzolla, public, Samuel Barber, solstice, soprano, summer, Summer solstice, tango, The Four Seasons, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Vivaldi, vocal music, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
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