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”

January 24, 2021
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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.

 


Posted in Classical music
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Classical music: After opening on Friday night, the Willy Street Chamber Players will perform a FREE and PUBLIC concert at Oakwood Village West on Saturday night at 7

July 10, 2019
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By Jacob Stockinger

You might recall that this Friday night, July 12, at 6 p.m., the critically acclaimed Willy Street Chamber Players will open their fifth summer season at Immanuel Lutheran Church at 1021 Spaight Street on the near east side. (Tickets are $15.)

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2019/07/02/classical-music-the-critically-acclaimed-and-popular-willy-street-chamber-players-start-their-fifth-summer-series-with-a-free-community-concert-this-friday/

Core members of the Willys (below, from front left) are: violist Rachel Hauser, violinist Eleanor Bartsch, cellist Lindsay Crabb, cellist Mark Bridges and violinist Paran Amirinazari.

Rachel Hauser will not play. But the others will be joined by two guest violists and University of Wisconsin-Madison alumni: prize-winning Danny Kim (below top) of the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and Nicholas Jeffery (below bottom) of Chicago’s Ursa Ensemble. Here are links to more information about each of them:

https://www.bso.org/strings/danny-kim-viola.aspx

http://jefferyviola.com/about

For more information and biographies of the local performers, go to the website: http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org/2019-summer-series.html

Put your cursor first on ABOUT and then on PLAYERS.

But The Ear has now received word that the Willys will also perform a FREE concert that is open to the public on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Oakwood Village West (now called University Woods) retirement center,  6205 Mineral Point Road. The concert is sponsored by Kato Perlman (below), a well-known and generous supporter of classical music in Madison.

The program is the same as the previous night’s except for the contemporary work “Study for String Instrument No. 1” (2007) by Simon Steen-Andersen: the String Quintet No. 1 in A minor (1826), Op.18, by Felix Mendelssohn (1826), and the String Quintet No. 2 in C minor (1787), K. 406/516b by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. (You can hear the first movement of the Mozart quintet, played by the Dover Quartet, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Now in their fifth season, the Willy Street Chamber Players (WSCP) has become an established part of the vibrant Williamson Street neighborhood on Madison’s east side.

Recently recognized in Madison Magazine’s prestigious “Best of Madison” reader poll in the category of “Best Classical Music Group,” WSCP has received numerous accolades for its accessible and exciting performances, intelligent and fun programming, and community partnerships.


Posted in Classical music
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