The Well-Tempered Ear
YOU MUST HEAR THIS: No piece captures the mixed emotions of Memorial Day better than Charles Ives’ “Decoration Day”
3 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
Today is Memorial Day, 2022.
It is the annual holiday to remember those who died in military service to the country. (Below are flags placed each year at the tombstones in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.)
If you want to honor survivors and current service members, that would be Veterans Day on Nov. 11.
All weekend long the radio has been playing music and the television has been showing war movies.
A lot of the music is familiar and repeated every year: Sousa marches and Morton Gould suites, elegies by Gustav Mahler, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein; requiems by Mozart and Fauré; a hymn by John Williams and other movie scores. This year has also seen the playlist include rediscovered works of homage by African-American composers such as William Grant Still.
But only this year did The Ear finally hear — thanks to Wisconsin Public Radio — the one piece that, to his mind, best captures Memorial Day with its blending of consonance and dissonance, its mix of major and major keys, of familiar or “found” music and original music.
It is called, simply, “Decoration Day” and it was composed in 1912 — but not published until 1989 — by the 20th-century iconoclastic and early modernist American composer Charles Ives (below, 1874-1954). It ended up as part of a work the composer called “A Symphony: New England Hollidays.”
See if you agree with The Ear.
Listen to the 8-minute performance by “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Listen to the deep anguish and and sense of loss conveyed in the opening, when a solemn remembrance procession goes to a cemetery to plant flags and lay flowers and wreaths to “decorate” the graves of the fallen.
Listen carefully and you will hear a faint version of “Taps” and ringing church bells in the atmospheric music.
Then as so often happens in reality, life suddenly intrudes in the form of a celebration by a loud marching brass band as it leaves the cemetery for the celebratory marches, picnics and fireworks.
But at the end, the darkness briefly returns. The sense of loss lingers long after the actual death and long after the holiday has been celebrated.
There is no closure.
Just resignation.
Just living with loss.
Here is the background from Wikipedia about how the holiday started as Decoration Day after the Civil War and when it evolved into Memorial Day in 1970: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day
And here is biographical background, with the actual sources and depictions of “Decoration Day” — just go down the page to compositions and click — about Charles Ives: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ives
Did you know and like Charles Ives’ music?
Does “Decoration Day” impress or move you?
What music most embodies Memorial Day for you?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AaronCopland, #African-AmericanComposer, #ArlingtonNationalCemetery, #BandMusic, #BlackAmericans, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrassBand, #BrassMusic, #CharlesIves, #ChurchBells, #CivilWar, #DecorationDay, #FacebookPosting, #GabrielFaure, #GustavMahler, #JacobStockinger, #JohnPhilipSousa, #JohnWilliams, #LeonardBernstein, #MajorKey, #MemorialDay, #MilitaryService, #MinorKey, #MixedEmotions, #MortonGould, #NationalPublicRadio, #NewEngland, #OrchestralMusic, #OriginalWork, #SamuelBarber, #TheEar, #ThePresident, #TheU.S., #UnitedStates, #UnitedStatesMarineBand, #USMarines, #VeteransDay, #WarMovies, #Wikipediaentry, #WilliamGrantStill, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, 20th-century, 20th-century music, Aaron Copland, actual, African American, American, American Civil War, Ameriuca, anguish, annual, Arlington, Arlington National Cemetery, Arts, atmosphere, atmospheric, audience, background, band, band music, Barber, Bernstein, biographical, black, blog, bottom, brass band, brass music, celebration, celebratory, cemetery, Charles Ives, church, church bells, Civil War, Classical music, Classical Revolution, closure, compose, composer, Composition, Concert, consonance, Copland, darkness, dead, death, Decoration Day, deep, depiction, dissonance, early, Early music, Elegy, embody, emotion, evolution, evolve, Facebook, fallen, familiar, Fascebook, Faure, film, Fireworks, flag, flower, found, Gabriel Fauré, Gould, grave, Gustav Mahler, hear, Holiday, homage, honor, hymn, iconoclast, iconoclastic, impress, information, intrude, Ives, Jacob Stockinger, John Philip Sousa, John Williams, Leonard Bernstein, life, like, linger, listen, living, loss, loud, Mahler, major key, march, Marines, mark, Memorial Day, military, minor key, minute, mixed, modern, modernist, morph, Morton Gould, move, Movies, Mozart, nation, national, National Public Radio, New England, NPR, opening, orchestral, original, performance, picnic, piece, plant, playlist, post, posting, President, procession, psalm, publish, Radio, reality, rediscover, remembrance, repeat, Samuel Barber, score, sense, service, show, solemn, soundtrack, source, sources, Sousa, Still, suddenly, Suite, symphony, Taps, Television, thanks, The Ear, TV, U.S., United State Marine Band, United States, veterans, Veterans Day, video, war, war movies, weekend, Wikipedia, William Grant Still, Williams, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, wreaty, year, you, YouTube
Middleton Community Orchestra performs the second of four FREE outdoor summer concerts at Firemen’s Park this Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
Leave a 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.
By Jacob Stockinger
This Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Firemen’s Park, the mostly amateur but critically acclaimed Middleton Community Orchestra (MCO) will give the second of its FREE four summer outdoors concerts.
Besides the fact that the day is Father’s Day holiday, weather predictions also call for a good chance of rain or even thunderstorms.
Updates on whether the concert will take place, be cancelled or postponed to a later date, can be found by checking the MCO’s website at 10 a.m.: https://middletoncommunityorchestra.org
Meanwhile, here are the programs, conductors and soloists for the remaining three concerts. All concerts take place in Firemen’s Park in Middleton close to Middleton High School:
CONCERT – SUNDAY, JUNE 20, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (revised program)
Sergei Pavlov (below), conductor and professor at Edgewood College
George Walker – “Lyric for Strings”
Ralph Vaughan Williams – “Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis” (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom)
Giacomo Puccini – Lauretta’s aria from “Gianni Schicchi”; Mimi’s aria in Act 3 and Musetta’s aria in Act 2 from “La Boheme” with soprano Yanzel Rivera (below).
Selections from the Pixar movie COCO (piano and strings)
CONCERT – SUNDAY, JULY 25, 11:30 – a.m.-1 p.m.
Chris Ramaekers (below), conductor and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky – “March Slav”
Carl Maria von Weber — Clarinet Concerto No. 2 with soloist and Madison Symphony Orchestra principal clarinetist JJ Koh (below)
Tchaikovsky — Symphony No. 2 “Little Russian”
CONCERT 4 – SUNDAY, AUG. 15, 11:30-1 p.m.
Sergei Pavlov, conductor
Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist and UW-Madison graduate Thomas Kasdorf (below)
Tags: #AgnusDei, #AlbumCover, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CarlMariavonWeber, #ChoralMusic, #ChristopherRamaekers, #ClarinetConcerto, #Cocomovie, #CreoleMass, #CriticalAcclaim, #EdgewoodCollege, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FantasiaonaThemeofThomasTallis, #FantasyonaThemebyThomasTallis, #Father'sDay, #FilmMusic, #Firemen'sPark, #GeorgeWalker, #GiacomoPuccini, #JacobStockinger, #JJKoh, #JohannesBrahms, #LaBoheme, #LittleRussian", #LyricforStrings, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarchSlav, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MiddletonHighSchool, #MiddletonWisconsin, #MissaCriolla, #MovieScore, #MusicCritic, #Musicfaculty, #OperaMusic, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PianoConcerto, #RalphVaughanWilliams, #RomanCatholic, #RomanCatholicism, #SacredMusic, #SergeiPavlov, #SopranoSinger, #SouthAmerica, #SouthAmerican, #SpanishLanguage, #StringMusic, #TheEar, #TheUW, #ThomasKasdorf, #ThomasTallis, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityofWisconsin-Whitewater, #VocalMusic, #YanzelRivera, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, Agnus Dei, amateur, aria, arias, arrangement, Arts, audience, blog, Blog post, blog posting, Brahms, cancel, Carl Maria von Weber, Catholicism, chance, channel, check, choral msuic, Christian, Christianity, Christopher Ramaekers, clarinet, clarinet concerto, clarinetist, Classical music, Coco, composer, Concert, concerto, concerts, conductor, Creole, Creole Mass, critic, critical acclaim, date, Early music, Edgewood College, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, fact, Fantasia, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, fathers day, film, film music, Firemen's Park, forward, free, George Walker, Giacomo Puccini, graduate, Holiday, Jacob Stockinger, JJ Koh, Johannes Brahms, Kasdorf, Koh, La bohème, like, link, Little Russian, lyric, Lyric for Strings, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, march, March Slav, mass, MCO, Mead Witter School of Music, Middleton, Middleton Community Orchestra, Middleton High School, Missa Criolla, movie, movie score, Music, music critic, music faculty, opera, opera musiuc, Orchestra, outdoors, performer, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, Pixar, post, posting, postpone, prediction, principal, professor, programs, Puccini, rain, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Ramaekers, remaining, Roman Catholic, Russia, sacred music, Sergei Pavlov, share, singer, Slav, soloist, soprano, South America, South American, Spain, Spanish, string music, strings, summer, Sunday, symphony, tag, Tchaikovsky, The Ear, Thomas Kasdorf, Thomas Tallis, thunderstorms, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, University of Wisconsin–Madison, update, UW, UW-Madison, vaughan williams, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Walker, weather, Weber, Website, Wisconsin, Yanzel Rivera, YouTube, YouTube video
Edgewood College will live-stream its FREE Spring Celebration concert this Friday night
Leave a 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.
By Jacob Stockinger
At 8 p.m. CDT this Friday night, April 30, the music department at Edgewood College will live-stream its FREE online Spring Celebration concert.
Here is the link: music.edgewood.edu
Here is the program:
The Edgewood Chamber Orchestra (below) will perform music by the Austrian composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel, who studied with Mozart and knew Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert (see the Wikipedia bio at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Nepomuk_Hummel; Krzysztof Penderecki, a Polish composer who died a year ago March; and the Argentinean “new tango” composer Astor Piazzolla, whose birth centennial was last month. Soloists include Gwyneth Ferguson on trumpet, and Malia Huntsman on oboe.
The Chamber Singers (below) will offer selections from Broadway musicals and contemporary choral arrangements, including Lord of the Rings by Enya, works from Josh Groban, and the Polish composer Henrik Gorecki.
The Guitar Ensemble will perform Haru no Umi (The Sea in Spring) by the Japanese composer Michio Miyagi (below), and a medley from the 1970s rock group Chicago: 25 or 6 to 4/Saturday in the Park, by Mark Lamm.
The Chamber Winds will perform selections from Crooner’s Serenade; Josef Rheinberger’s Evening Song (Abendlied, in the YouTube video at the bottom); and an arrangement of John Williams’ movie score for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Tags: #ArgentineanComposer, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BroadwayMusical, #CentralTime, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberOrchestra, #ChoralMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #Crooner'sSerenade, #DaylightTime, #EdgewoodCollege, #EdgewoodCollegeChamberOrchestra, #EdgewoodCollegeChamberSingers, #EdgewoodCollegeChamberWinds, #EdgewoodCollegeGuitarEnsemble, #EveningSong, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzSchubert, #GuitarMusic, #GwynethFerguson, #HaruNoUmi, #HenrickGorecki, #JacobStockinger, #JapaneseComposer, #JapaneseMusic, #JohannNepomukHummel, #JohnWilliams, #JosefRheinberger, #JoshGroban, #KrzysztofPenderecki, #LiveStreaming, #LordoftheRings, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MailaHuntsman, #MarkLamm, #MichioMyagi, #MovieScore, #MusicalTheater, #NewMusic, #NewTango, #OboeMusic, #OnlineConcert, #OrchestralMusic, #PolishComposer, #RockandRoll, #RomanCatholic, #SergeiPavlov, #StarWars, #StarWars:TheForceAwakens, #TheEar, #TrumpetMusic, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #Wikipediaentry, #WindMusic, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, 1970s, Abendlied, Argentina, arrangement, arrangements, Arts, Asia, asian, audience, Austria, Austrian, Ástor Piazzolla, Beethoven, biography, blog, blog posting, Broadway, Broadway musical, Catholic, centennial, Central Time, Chamber music, chamber orchestra, Chicago, Choir, choral music, Classical music, composer, Concert, contemporary, coronavirus, coronavirus pandemic, crooner, Crooner's Serenade, daylight time, Edgewood College, Edgewood College Chamber Orchestra, Edgewood College Chamber Winds, Edgewood College Guitar Ensemble, Enya, evening, Evening Song, Facebook, film, forward, Franz Schubert, German, Germany, group, guitar, guitar music, guitarist, Gwyneth Ferguson, Haru no Umi, Henrik Gorecki, Hummel, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Japanese, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, John Williams, Josef Rheinberger, Josh Groban, Krzysztof Penderecki, like, link, live-stream, livestream, Lord of the Rings, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Malia Huntsman, march, Mark Lamm, medley, Michio Myagi, month, movie, movie score, Mozart, Musical theater, new, new nusic, new tango, Oboe, oboist, online, orchestral music, pandemic, Penderecki, perform, performer, Piazzolla, player, Poland, Polish, post, posting, Rock, rock and roll, Roman Catholic, Schubert, sea, seledtions, Serenade, Sergei Pavlov, share, sing, singer, Singing, soloist, song, Spring, Star Wars, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Student, study, tag, tango, The Ear, Trumpet, trumpeter, Viola, Violin, virtual, vocal music, Wikipedia, wind instruments, wind music, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, works, year, YouTube
Bach Around the Clock 2021 will incorporate many new aspects – including more audiences and artists of color — into the 10-day free virtual festival that runs March 17-26
Leave a 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.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following update about Bach Around the Clock (BATC), the annual March free event to celebrate the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach (below). Like last year, the year’s will be virtual and online and spread out over 10 days, from March 17 to March 26.
The BATC 2021 Festival is shaping up brilliantly. We have about 50 participants signed up so far, with musical selections totaling more than eight hours.
As always, it has a nice mix of ages and levels of performers, from young students to seasoned professionals. It also runs from traditional instruments like the violin, viola, cello, oboe, bassoon, piano and organ as well as the human voice to more unusual instruments like the clavichord, 6-string electric bass and a saxophone quartet.
We are so grateful to all the participants who have volunteered to share their talents. (Below is the Webb Trio playing last year from home.)
Last year’s virtual format forms the basis of this year’s festival, but we’ve expanded on that in some very exciting ways.
BATC board member Melanie de Jesus (below) is producing two mini-films aimed at making the festival more accessible to participants. For the tech-challenged among us, the “How to Film Yourself” video will make it easier for musicians to participate virtually.
This film will be available this THURSDAY, Feb. 25, in time to help participants film and submit their performances by the March 5 deadline. Would you like to perform? For information about signing up for slots. Click here to let us know!
Make your own recording or request a time slot at a BATC venue where a professional videographer will create a recording for you to keep. Harpsichord, piano and organ are available.
Melanie’s “Bach for Kids” film will be published during the festival, and will introduce basic musical concepts to the youngest participants. It will culminate in a sing-along, play-along, dance-along performance of some simple Bach tunes, as demonstrated by some (very) young students at the Madison Conservatory, where de Jesus is the director.
Another significant new element of this year’s festival will be our evening Zoom events, including receptions with performers, and guest artists giving special performances, lecture/demos, master classes and panel discussions.
In keeping with this year’s theme of “Building Bridges Through Bach,” we will celebrate and feature musicians and guest artists of color.
We are thrilled to announce Wisconsin Public Radio music host Jonathan Overby (below) as our keynote speaker. Overby’s work to research and demonstrate how music, especially sacred music, serves as a cultural bridge, has taken him all over the planet. His core values are in close alignment with the theme of this year’s festival, and his address will set the tone for the rest of the festival.
The virtual format enables us to bring in guest artists from afar. Lawrence Quinnett (below), on the piano faculty of Livingstone College, a private, historically black college in Salisbury, North Carolina, will perform all six French Suites, and give a brief talk on his approach to ornamentation. (You can hear Quinnett performing French Suite No. 1 by Bach in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Clifton Harrison (below, in photo by Stephen Wright), violist in the Kreutzer String Quartet, in residence at Oxford University in England, will give a master class for interested BATC participants. Information on how to audition for this opportunity will be shared very soon.
We are extremely pleased that Trevor Stephenson (below), artistic director of the Madison Bach Musicians, will give an evening lecture and demonstration on the Goldberg Variations.
Through his performances, interviews and extremely popular pre-concert lectures, Trevor has served as a very important builder of bridges to the music of J.S. Bach in Madison and beyond. It would be hard to overstate the impact of Trevor’s work to make Bach’s music accessible to local audiences of all ages and backgrounds. We’re sure viewers will enjoy this event.
An astonishing new development resulted from BATC’s outreach efforts to local high schools: Steve Kurr (below), orchestra director at Middleton High School and former conductor of the Middleton Community Orchestra, decided to incorporate BATC into his curriculum this semester.
Fifteen of his students will perform for BATC, filmed by four other students, and then the students will all view the performances and write essays about them.
BATC is delighted with this creative initiative, looks forward to receiving the videos from this cohort of students, and hopes to expand on this kind of outreach in future years. Maybe we can include the final essays on our website, if the students agree.
There are a few other ideas still under construction; perhaps a panel discussion with educators, or one with local musical bridge-builders (aka “Angels in our Midst”)?
Please help us keep this festival free and open to all.
Bach Around The Clock is a unique program in our community. It offers everyone the opportunity to share their love of the music of Bach. There is no charge to perform or to listen.
But the festival is not free to produce! BATC provides venues, instruments, videographers, editors, and services for performers and audience.
We need your support!
Click on there link below to donate securely online with a PayPal account or credit card: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=WU7WWBW5LBMQJ
Or you can make a check out to Bach Around The Clock and mail it to: Bach Around The Clock, 2802 Arbor Drive #2, Madison, WI 53704
Bach Around The Clock is a 501(c)(3) organization; your donation is tax-deductible as allowed by the law. Donors will be listed on the acknowledgments page of the BATC website .
For the latest updates, please visit our website, bachclock.org, or our Facebook page, facebook.com/batcmadison.
We hope you will join us.
Marika Fischer Hoyt, Artistic Director, Bach Around The Clock, (608) 233-2646
Tags: "Goldberg" Variations, #501(c)(3), #ArtisticDirector, #BachAroundtheClock, #BachforKids, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOrnamentation, #BlackCollege, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoardofDirectors, #BuildingBridgesThroughBach, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #CityofMadison, #CliftonHarrison, #CoreValues, #CreditCard, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FrenchSuites, #Goldberg"Variations, #GuestArtist, #HighCulture, #HigherGround, #HistoricallyBlackCollegesandUniversities, #HomeWebpage, #HomeWebsite, #InstrumentalMusic, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #JonathanOverby, #KeynoteSpeaker, #KreutzerStringQuartet, #LawrenceQuinnett, #LivingstoneCollege, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonConservatoryofMusic, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #MakeMusicMadison, #MarikaFischerHoyt, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MelaniedeJesus, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MiddletonHighSchool, #MusicEducation, #NonprofitOrganization, #NorthCarolina, #OfColor, #OnlineConcert, #OnlineFestival, #OxfordUniversity, #PanelDiscussion, #PayPal, #PianoFaculty, #Pre-concertLecture, #Quartet-in-Residence, #SacredMusic, #SaxophoneMusic, #SecularMusic, #SteveKurr, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #TheUK, #TheUW, #TimeSlot, #TrevorStephenson, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #YouTubevideo, #ZoomMeeting, 501(3)(c), accessible, address, afar, age, aim, alignment, angels, annual, another, approach, artist, Artistic director, Arts, astonishing, audience, audition, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, Bach for Kids, background, Baroque, Baroque music, Bassoon, bassoonist, BATC, beyond, birthday, black college, blog, Blog post, blog posting, board member, bridges, brillitant, buikding, Building Bridges Through Bach, celebrate, cellist, Cello, challenge, Chamber music, choral music, Chorale, Christian, church, Classical music, clavichord, click, Clifton Harrison, composer, Concert, conductor, core values, creative, credit card, cultural, culture, curriculum, dance, dance-along, day, deadline, decide, delight, demo, demonstrate, demonstration, development, director, donate, donation, Early music, easier, eassy, editor, electric bass, element, England, enjoy, evening, exciting, expand, Facebook, feature, festival, film, format, free, French Suites, future, grateful, guest, guest artist, hard, harpsichord, HBUC, help, Higher Ground, historically, historically black universities and colleges, Home, home website, hope, hours, human, human voice, impact, incorporate, information, instrument, instrumental, instrumental music, interview, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Jonathan Overby, keynote, kids, kind, know, Kreutzer String Quartet, Lawrence Quinnett, lecture, level, link, Livingstone College, local, Lutheran, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Conservatory of Music, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mail, make, march, Marika Fischer Hoyt, master class, masterclass, Mead Witter School of Music, Melanie de Jesus, Middleton Community Orchestra, Middleton High School, mix, Music, Music education, musical, Musician, new, Nice, nonprofit, Nonprofit organization, North Carolina, of color, online, opportunity, Orchestra, organ, organist, ornamentation, outreach, overstate, overstatement, Oxford University, panel discussion, participants, performance, performer, Pianist, Piano, piano faculty, planet, play, play-along, pleased, popular, post, posting, pre-concert lecture, private, produce, professional, Quartet, reception, recording, research, residence, sacred, sacred music, Salisbury, Saxophone, seasoned, secular, secular music, selections, semester, services, share, sign-up, significant, simole, sing-along, Singing, slot, Sonata, soon, speaker, Steve Kurr, String quartet, Student, submit, talent, tax-deductible, teach, Teacher, technical, technology, The Ear, theme, thrilled, time slot, tone, total, traditional, Trevor Stephenson, tunes, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unusual, update, US, UW, UW-Madison, venue, video, videographer, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtual, visit, vocal music, voice, volunteer, way, Website, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wisconsin public radio, work, write, year, you, young, yourself, YouTube, Zoom
The 10th annual Baroque Holiday Concert by the Madison Bach Musicians is next Saturday night and will be virtual and online
Leave a 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.
By Jacob Stockinger
On this coming Saturday night, Dec. 12, the Madison Bach Musicians will present their 10th annual Baroque Holiday Concert (below is a photo of a previous year’s holiday concert).
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s one-hour concert will be a virtual web event.
The program features Baroque masterworks by Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann, Arcangelo Corelli, Joseph Dall’Abaco, Jean Daniel Braun and Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It was recorded Dec. 1-6 in several acoustically superior venues.
Links to the MBM holiday program can be purchased at $15 per household at https://madisonbachmusicians.org. Patrons purchasing the link can view the program the evening of Dec. 12 and anytime afterward through Friday, Dec. 26.
Festivities begin at 7:30 p.m. with MBM director Trevor Stephenson’s 30-minute pre-concert lecture about the repertoire, the composers and the period instruments.
At 8 p.m., viewers will see the 60-minute, high-definition video of the concert portion of the program, followed by a 30-minute Zoom Q&A session with the musicians from their homes. Questions for the Zoom session should be submitted by email to MBM manager Karen Rebholz at madisonbachmusicians.manager@gmail.com.
The concert begins with a selection of nine pieces from the Schemelli Songbook. Georg Schemelli collaborated with Johann Sebastian Bach (below, 1685-1750) in assembling this magnificent collection of spiritual songs, published in Leipzig in 1736. Bach provided most of the bass lines and wonderful harmonizations.
Grammy Award-winning soprano Estelí Gomez and harpsichordist Trevor Stephenson (both below) perform this set in the beautiful chapel at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis.
From the sanctuary of Grace Episcopal Church, on the Capitol Square in downtown Madison, baroque cellist James Waldo (below) will perform Bach’s magisterial Solo Cello Suite No. 4 in E-flat major.
UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music bassoon faculty member Marc Vallon (below top, in a photo by James Gill) and esteemed baroque cellist Martha Vallon (below bottom) team up in the Collins Recital Hall of the UW”s Hamel Music Center for a Duo Sonata by Jean Daniel Braun (1703-1738).
Marc will also play a solo bassoon transcription of two Fantasias, originally for solo flute, by Telemann (1681-1767). Martha will perform the meditative Capriccio no. 4 in D minor by Dall’Abaco (1710-1805).
The program concludes at The Crossing in Madison with MBM concertmaster violinist Kangwon Kim (below top), violist Micah Behr (below bottom) and cellist James Waldo joining in a medley of holiday favorites.
They include Greensleeves variations over a ground (repeated bass line); three movements from Christmas Music for Instruments by Charpentier (1643-1704); the Adagio from the Christmas Concerto Op. 6, No. 8 by Corelli (1653-1713), which you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom; and two beloved carols — Lo How a Rose and Sussex Carol – in arrangements by Micah Behr.
MBM wishes to thank Geneva Campus Church for their collaboration in filming this portion of the program as a contribution to their weekly services.
Tags: #AppletonWisconsin, #ArcangeloCorelli, #BaroqueBassoon, #BaroqueCello, #BaroqueFlute, #BaroqueMusic, #Baroquesinging, #BaroqueViola, #BaroqueViolin, #BassLines, #BassoonMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CapitolSquare, #ChamberMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ChristmasCarol, #ChristmasConcerto, #ChristmasMusic, #CityofMadison, #ClassicalMusician, #CollinsRecitalHall, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DuoSonata, #EstelíGomez, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GenevaCampusChurch, #GeorgPhilippTelemann, #GeorgSchemelli, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #GrammyAward, #HamelMusicCenter, #HighDefinition, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #HolidayConcert, #HolidayFavorites, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #James Waldo, #JeanDanielBraun, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #JosephDell'Abaco, #KangwonKim, #KarenRebholz, #LawrenceUniversity, #LeipzigGermany, #LoHowaRose, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonWisconsin, #Marc-AntoineCharpentier, #MarcVallon, #MarthaVallon, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MicahBehr, #Musicfaculty, #OnlineConcert, #PeriodInstruments, #Pre-concertLecture, #RecordedMusic, #SocialDistance, #SociallyDistanced, #SoloCelloSuite, #SpecialCollection, #SpiritualMusic, #SussexCarol, #TheCrossing, #TheEar, #ThemeAndVariations, #TheUW, #TrevorStephenson, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #YouTubevideo, #ZoomMeeting, acoustics, Appleton, Arcangelo Corelli, Arts, assemble, assembling, audience, Bach, Baroque, Baroque cello, Baroque music, bass, bass lines, Bassoon, blog, Braun, Campus, Capitol Square, Capriccio, Carol, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, chapel, Charpentier, Christ, Christian, Christian church, Christmas, church, Classical music, classical musician, classicalmusic, collaborate, collection, Collins Recital Hall, composer, Concert, concertmaster, concerto, conclude, contribution, Corelli, coronavirus, December, director, downtown, duo sonata, Early music, earlymusic, Estelí Gomez, evening, event, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, Fantasia, festivities, film, filming, flute, forward, Geneva Campus Church, Georg Philipp Telemann, George Schemelli, Grace Episcopal Church, Grammy Award, Greensleeves, ground, Hamel Music Center, harmonization, harpsichord, harpsichordist, High definition, historically informed performance practices, holiday concert, holiday favorites, Home, home website, hour, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Daniel Braun, Jesus, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Dall'Abaco, Kangwoo Kim, Karen Rebholz, Lawrence University, Leipzig, like, link, Lo How a Rose, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, magisterial, magnificent, Marc Vallon, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Martha Vallon, mask, Masterworks, Mead Witter School of Music, meditative, medley, Micah Behr, movement, Music, music faculty, online, pandemic, patrons, perform, period instruments, photo, piece, pieces, play, portion, post, posting, pre-concert, previous, professor, program, publish, published, purchase, Q&A, question-and-answer, questions, recorded, recorded music, sanctuary, services, set, share, Singing, social distance, socially distanced, solo, solo cello suite, Sonata, song, songbook, soprano, spiritual, submit, Superior, Sussex Carol, tag, technology, Telemann, The Crossing, The Ear, theme and variations, tickets, transcription, Trevor Stephenson, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, venues, view, viewer, Viola, Violin, violinist, virtual, vocal music, web, Website, weekly, Wisconsin, wonderful, year, YouTube, Zoom
UW-Madison alumna Kathryn Lounsbery gives a FREE virtual online talk this Tuesday night about how musicians can develop and market new skills during COVID
4 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
It is no secret that the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic have been especially hard on gig workers and artists worldwide – hurting musicians financially and professionally as well as psychologically and artistically.
But this Tuesday night, Nov. 10, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. UW-Madison alumna Kathryn Lounsbery (below) will give a FREE virtual and interactive talk about developing marketable skills that can help carry musicians through the pandemic and beyond.
There is no in-person attendance. But here is a link to the live-streaming session of YouTube video: https://youtu.be/me1tC0LfEVU
Here is more information from the Mead Witter School of Music:
“Pure talent does not always equal a paycheck. Now, more than ever, musicians need to be savvy and employ out-of-the-box thinking with regards to their careers.
“Kathryn Lounsbery — a graduate of the UW-Madison School of Music — has taken her two classical piano degrees and crafted a life in music that includes teaching, performing, comedy, workshops, music-directing, cabaret and more.
“In this interactive session, she will pass on ways in which musicians can craft creative and rewarding careers for themselves, all while making a living.
“Lounsbery is a Los Angeles-based pianist, vocal coach, educator, comedian, music director, composer, arranger and educator. She holds a Master’s degree from the University of Southern California (2004) and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2000).
“She has served on the faculty of The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) for a decade. Many of her former students are currently on Broadway and have been in feature films and television shows. Prior to her tenure at AMDA, she was on the faculty at Sonoma State University.
“Lounsbery is endorsed by Roland Pianos and frequently gives concerts and clinics on their behalf across the U.S. and abroad.
“For seven years, she served as a Keyboard Editor at Alfred Music Publishing, the world’s largest educational music publisher.
“Lounsbery has worked alongside entertainment industry greats including David Foster, Jim Brickman, Evan Rachel Wood, Travis Barker, Kathy Najimy, Charlotte Rae, Laura Benanti and Aubrey Plaza to name a few. She has been a music coach for HBO, Showtime and ABC series.
“As a comedian, Kathryn was featured on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” and has appeared at The Laugh Factory and The Improv, and has headlined at The World Famous Comedy Store. Her musical improv skills lead her to hold the position of music director at the famed Second City in Chicago for several years.
“Lounsbery is the creator and director of “Authenticity and Bad-Assery,” a popular performance-based workshop in Los Angeles. There is currently a waitlist to participate.
“She has toured the country with her solo show “Kathryn Lounsbery Presents Kathryn Lounsbery.” Her comedy videos have garnered millions of views and have been shown at film festivals around the world. (You can see a comedy beefcake video based on Beethoven’s “Pathetique” piano sonata in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
“She is also the music arranger on “The Potters” an animated feature to be released through Lionsgate in 2021.”
Tags: #AlfredMusicPublishing, #AmericanMusicalandDramaticAcademy, #AnimatedFeature, #ArtsandEntertainment, #AubreyPlaza, #AuthenticityandBad-Assery, #Bachelor'sDegree, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BroadwayMusicals, #CharlotteRae, #ChicagoIllinois, #ClassicalPianist, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #CreativeArts, #DavidFoster, #EntertainmentIndustry, #EvanRachelWood, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #FeatureFilm, #FilmFestival, #GigWorker, #HBOTV, #JacobStockinger, #JimBrickman, #KathrynLounsbery, #KathyNajimy, #LastComicStanding, #LauraBenanti, #LosAngeles, #LosAngelesCalifornia, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #Master'sDegree, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicCoach, #MusicDirector, #MusicEducation, #MusicEducator, #NewRelease, #NewYorkCity, #OnlineTalk, #PathetiqueSonata, #PianoSonata, #RolandPianos, #SecondCity, #SheetMusic, #ShowtimeTV, #SonomaStateUniversity, #TelevisionShow, #TheEar, #TheImprov, #TheLaughFactory, #ThePotters, #TheU.S., #TheUW, #TravisBarker, #TVShow, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofSouthernCalifornia, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VirtualTalk, #VocalCoach, #VocalMusic, #WorldFamousComedyStore, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, ABC, ABC-TV, abroad, Alfred Music Publishing, alumna, AMDA, America, American Musical and Dramatic Academy, animated feature, animation, arranger, artistic, Arts, attendance, Aubrey Plaza, audience, Authenticity and Bad-Assery, Bachelor's degree, badass, beefcake, Beethoven, Beethoven piano sonatas, beyond, blog, bloh, Broadway, cabaret, California, career, Charlotte Rae, Chicago, Classical music, classical piano, clinics, coach, comedian, comedy, comic, composer, Concert, concerts, country, covid, Craft, creative, David Foster, decade, degree, develop, editor, educator, emoloy, endorse, Entertainment, equal, Evan Rachel Wood, Facebook, factory, faculty, feature film, festival, film, film festival, financial, gig, gig worker, give, graduate, greats, hard, HBO, ILLINOIS, industry, Jacob Stockinger, Jim Brickman, Kathryn Lounsbery, Kathy Najimy, Keyboard, Last Comic Standing, laugh, Laura Benanti, like, link, Lionsgate, live-stream, livelihood, living, Los Angeles, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, market, marketable, masters degree, Mead Witter School of Music, millions, movie, Music, music coach, Music director, Music education, music educator, music-directing, Musician, NBC, NBC-TV, New York City, online, out-of-the-box, pandemic, participate, Pathetique Sonata, paycheck, performance, performing, Pianist, Piano, Piano sonata, popular, post, posting, psycholoigcal, puyre, regard, release, rewarding, Roland pianos, savvy, Second City, series, serve, session, share, sheet music, Showtime, skills, solo, Sonata, Sonoma State University, Student, tag, talent, talk, teaching, Television, television show, tenure, The Ear, The Improv, The Laugh Factory, The Potters, thinking, tour, Travis Barker, TV, TV show, U.S., United States, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, USC, UW, UW-Madison, views, virtual, vocal, vocal coach, vocal music, waitlist, Wisconsin, worker, workshop, world, World Famous Comedy Store, years, YouTube
Classical music: Madison Opera’s virtual Opera in the Park goes online for FREE this Saturday night and stays up until Aug. 25. Listen to it indoors or outdoors
Leave a 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.
By Jacob Stockinger
Madison Opera’s Opera in the Park isn’t in a park this year — as it has been in past years (below) — but it will be available for people to enjoy for free in their backyards, in their living rooms or anywhere else with an internet connection.
The digital concert will be released on this Saturday, July 25, at 8 p.m. CDT, and can be watched on Madison Opera’s website, www.madisonopera.org/digital, where you can find complete information and, soon, a complete program to download.
The annual free concert has moved online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a newly created program of opera arias and more.
Digital Opera in the Park features: soprano Jasmine Habersham; soprano Karen Slack; tenor Andres Acosta; and baritone Weston Hurt. (The last two will sing the justly famous baritone-tenor duet “Au fond du temple saint” from Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers,” which you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Habersham (below) makes her Madison Opera debut with this unique performance, and will sing Susanna in the company’s production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro next April.
Slack (below) debuted with the company in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, and will be part of the company’s digital fall season.
Acosta (below) sang Timothy Laughlin in Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers with Madison Opera this past February.
Hurt (below) debuted as Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata last season and is part of the company’s digital fall season.
The four singers will be joined by several important local artists. They include violinist Suzanne Beia, the assistant concertmaster of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the concertmaster of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the second violin of the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet.
There will also be a fleet of eight pianists. They include MSO music director and Madison Opera’s artist director John DeMain (below top, in a photo by Prasad) and the UW-Madison graduate and composer Scott Gendel (below bottom). The two will play multiple numbers, including DeMain accompanying Beia on the beautiful “Meditation” from Thaïs.
Each singer recorded their arias with an accompanist in their home cities, and chorusmaster Anthony Cao (below top) both accompanies and conducts the Madison Opera Chorus (below bottom) in a virtual “Anvil Chorus” from Il Trovatore.
The evening will be hosted by Madison Opera’s General Director Kathryn Smith and by WKOW TV’s Channel 27 News co-anchor George Smith.
“Reimagining Opera in the Park in the pandemic era has been a challenge, but one we have happily embraced,” says Smith (below in a photo by James Gill). “Our wonderful artists were game to record themselves in their home towns, to sing duets with each other through headphones, and to share their artistry with our community in a new way. Over 40 choristers joined a Zoom call to get instructions, and then they recorded their parts of the ‘Anvil Chorus.’”
“While in some ways this concert has required more work than our live Opera in the Park in Garner Park, it is always a pleasure to present beautiful music for everyone to enjoy.”
Digital Opera in the Park features music from Verdi’s Il Trovatore, now canceled in live performance but originally slated to open Madison Opera’s 2020-21 season; Jerry Bock’s She Loves Me, which the company performs in January; and Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, which will be performed in April.
The program also includes selections from Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers, Richard Strauss’ Arabella, Verdi’s Don Pasquale, Puccini’s Tosca, Massenet’s Hérodiade and Thaïs, Rossini’s William Tell, Pablo Sarozabal’s zarzuela La Tabernera del Puerto, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, and more.
The concert will be available beginning at 8 p.m. CDT on this Saturday night, July 25, and will remain online until Aug. 25, allowing for both repeated viewing and flexibility for people who are unable to watch on the first night.
While Digital Opera in the Park will be free to watch, it would not be possible without the generous support of many foundations, corporations and individuals who believe in the importance of music. Madison Opera is grateful to the sponsors of Opera in the Park 2020:
- Presenting Sponsor: the Berbeewalsh Foundation
- Sponsors: the John and Carolyn Peterson Charitable Foundation, Full Compass Systems, the Raymond B. Preston Family Foundation, University Research Park, Colony Brands, Johnson Financial Group, MGE Foundation, National Guardian Life, Wisconsin Arts Board, Dane Arts and the Madison Arts Commission.
- Media Sponsors: WKOW, Madison Magazine, Wisconsin Public Radio, Magic 98, and La Movida.
RELATED EVENTS include:
OPERA ON THE WALL | JULY 25, 2020 | ONLINE
Madison artists Liubov Swazko (known as Triangulador) and Mike Lroy have created artwork around our community, including beautiful murals on State Street storefronts.
In an act of artistic cross-pollination, they will create an artwork that comes from their personal response to Digital Opera in the Park, offering a rare glimpse of visual artists responding to musical artists. Their creative process will be filmed in the Madison Opera Center, and shared online starting on July 25.
The finished artwork will be displayed in the Madison Opera Center. Go to Swazko’s website at triangulador.com (one work is below) and Lroy’s website at mikelroy.com to see their past work.
POST-SHOW Q&A | JULY 25, 2020, IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE INITIAL STREAM
Join Kathryn Smith and the Digital Opera in the Park artists for a post-concert discussion, including an opportunity to ask questions. Details on format and platform will be available closer to the date.
Tags: #AndresAcosta, #AnthonyCao, #AnvilChorus, #ArtisticDirector, #BaritoneSinger, #Beautifulmusic, #BerbeeWalshFoundation, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BroadwayMusical, #ChamberMusic, #Channel27, #ChoralMusic, #ChorusMaster, #CityofMadison, #ColonyBrands, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DaneArts, #DeadManWalking, #DigitalOperainthePark, #DonPasquale, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FamousMusic, #FellowTravelers, #FullCompassSystems, #GarnerPark, #GeneralDirector, #GeorgesBizet, #GiacomoPuccini, #GioachinoRossini, #GiuseppeVerdi, #GregorySpears, #HomeWebsite, #IlTrovatore, #JacobStockinger, #JakeHeggie, #JamesGill, #JasmineHabersham, #JerryBock, #JohnandCarolynPeterson, #JohnDeMain, #JohnsonFinancialGroup, #JosephMcCarthy, #JulesMassenet, #KarenSlack, #KathrynSmith, #LaMovida, #LaTaberneradelPuerto, #LaTraviata, #LGBTQrights, #LGBTRights, #LiubovSwazko, #LiveMusic, #LiveStreaming, #LivingRoom, #MadisonArtsCommission, #MadisonMagazine, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonOperaCenter, #MadisonOperaChorus, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #Magic98, #MarriageofFigaro, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MediaSponsor, #MGEFoundation, #MikeLroy, #MusicalTheater, #MusicDirector, #NationalGuardianLife, #NewsAnchor, #OperaAria, #OperaInThePark, #OperaMusic, #PabloSarozabal, #PabloZarozabal, #PianoAccompaniment, #PianoAccompanist, #ProArteQuartet, #PublicHealth, #RelatedEvent, #RichardStrauss, #RodgersandHammerstein, #ScottGendel, #Self-Isolation, #SheLovesMe, #shelter-at-home, #ShelterinPlace, #SopranoSinger, #SouthPacific, #SpanishComposer, #StateStreet, #Stayathome, #SuzanneBeia, #TenorSinger, #TheEar, #ThePearlFishers, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityResearchPark, #VisualArt, #VisualArtist, #VocalMusic, #WestonHurt, #WilliamTell, #WisconsinArtsBoard, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WKOWTV, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, accompany, alumni, alumnus, anchor, Andres Acosta, annual, Anthony Cao, Anvil Chorus, anywhere, April, Arabella, aria, Artistic director, artistry, artists, Arts, artwork, assistant, audience, August, available, backyard, baritone, beautiful, believe, BerbeeWalsh Foundation, Bizat, blog, Broadway musical, call, cancel, canceled, challenge, Chamber music, channel, choral music, choristers, chorus, cities, Classical music, Colony Brands, community, company, complete, composer, Concert, concertmaster, conduct, conductor, connection, coronavirus, corporations, create, creative, creative process, Dane Arts, date, Dead Man Walking, debut, detail, digital, Digital Opera in the Park, discussion, Don Pasquale, donor, download, duet, else, embrace, enjoy, era, event, everyone, Facebook, fall, famous, feature, February, Fellow Travelers, film, fleet, flexibility, format, forward, foundations, free, Full Compass Systems, game, Garner Park, General director, generous, Georges Bizet, Giacomo Puccini, gift, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, glimpse, graduate, grateful, Gregory Spears, happy', Hérodiade, headphones, home town, home website, hometown, homosexual, host, Il Trovatore, imagine, immediate, importance, important, individual, indoors, information, initial, instruction, Internet, isolation, Jacob Stockinger, Jake Heggie, James Gill, Jasmine Habersham, Jerry Bock, John and Carolyn Peterson, John DeMain, Johnson Financial Group, Joseph McCarthy, Jules Massenet, July, just, justly, Karen Slack, Kathryn Smith, kayak, La Movida, La Tabernera del Puerto, La Traviata, LGBT, LGBTQ, like, link, Liubov Swazko, live music, living room, local, Love, Madison, Madison Arts Commission, Madison Magazine, Madison Opera, Madison Opera Center, Madison Opera Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Magic 98, manager, Marriage, Marriage of Figaro, Massenet, Master, McCarthyism, Mead Witter School of Music, media, Meditation, MGE Foundation, Mike Lroy, Mozart, MSO, multiple, mural, Music, Music director, musical, Musical theater, National Guardian Life, new, news, number, onlne, opera, Opera in the Park, opera music, opportunity, outdoors, Pablo, Pablo Sarozabal, Pablo Zarozabal, Pacific Ocean, pandemic, PAQ, Park, parts, past, People, performance, performer, photo, Pianist, Piano, piano accompaniment, Piano accompanist, platform, pleasure, post, post-concert, posting, present, Pro Arte Quartet, process, production, program, public, Public health, Puccini, Q&A, questions, Radio, rare, record, related event, relatred, remain, repeat, research, respond, Richard Strauss, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Rossini, Saturday, Scott Gendel, Season, selections, September, share, She Loves Me, shelter in place, sing, singer, Singing, soprano, South Pacific, Spain, Spanish, sponsor, State Street, stay at home, store, storefront, Strauss, stream, Student, support, Suzanne Beia, symphony, tag, Television, tenor, Thaïs, The Ear, The Marriage of Figaro, The Pearl Fishers, theatre, Tosca, town, Triangulador, TV, United States, university, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Research Park, UW, UW-Madison, Verdi, viewing, Violin, violinist, visual art, visual artist, vocal music, wall, watch, way, WCO, Website, Weston Hurt, William Tell, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wisconsin public radio, WKOW, WKOW TV, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, wonderful, work, WPR, year, YouTube, Zarozabal, zarzuela, Zoom
Classical music: The Library of Congress has commissioned new music about the coronavirus pandemic. You can listen to the world premieres from this Monday, June 15, through June 26
Leave a 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.
By Jacob Stockinger
The U.S. Library of Congress (LOC, exterior is below top and interior is below bottom) has started a new artistic project relevant to a public health crisis in both a historical era and the current times.
The LOC has commissioned 10 different short works, experienced in 10 different performance videos recorded at their homes — that pertain to the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 from American composers and performers.
It is called The Boccaccio Project after the Renaissance poet Giovanni Boccaccio (below), a 14th-century Italian writer who wrote “The Decameron,” a series of stories told by 10 people who fled from Florence, Italy, to find refuge in the countryside during the Black Plague.
The musical works will start being premiered on weekdays this coming Monday, June 15, at the Library of Congress website. The works will also be broadcast on social media including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
The website, which now has a complete list of performers and works, will soon have a complete schedule of world premieres, running on weekdays from Monday, June 15, to Friday, June 26. Then the manuscripts will be transferred to the LOC archives.
Here is a link: https://loc.gov/item/prn-20-038/
Many of the names will be unfamiliar to the general public. But an excellent story about the background and genesis of the project, including music samples, can be found on National Public Radio (NPR), which aired the story Friday morning.
Here is a link to that 7-minute story (if you listen to it rather than read it, you will hear samples of the music): https://www.npr.org/2020/06/12/875325958/a-new-library-of-congress-project-commissions-music-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic
And here are some of the participants, who are noteworthy for their ethnic and geographic diversity:
Flutronix (below) includes flutist Allison Loggins-Hull, left, and composer Nathalie Joachim.
The work by composer Luciano Chessa (below top) will be performed by violist Charlton Lee (below bottom), of the Del Sol Quartet:
And the work by Damien Sneed (below top) work will be performed by Jeremy Jordan (below bottom):
The new project strikes The Ear as a terrific and timely undertaking — the musical equivalent of the photographic project, funded and staffed by the Farm Security Administration (FSA) during The Great Depression of the 1930s. That project yielded enduring masterpieces by such eminent photographers as Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans.
But several questions arise.
How much did the project cost?
Will the general public be able to get copies of and rights to these works to perform? One assumes yes, since it is a public project funded with public money.
And will this project give rise to similar projects in other countries that are also battling the pandemic? New art – literature, films, painting, dance and so on — arising from new circumstances seems like something that is indeed worth the undertaking.
Listen to them.
What works stand out for you?
What do you think of the project?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #14thCentury, #AllisonLoggins-Hull, #AmericanComposer, #BlackPlague, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BloomingtonIndiana, #ChamberMusic, #CharltonLee, #ChicagoIllinois, #ClassicalMusician, #CommissionedMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #CulturalDiversity, #DamienSneed, #DelSolQuartet, #DelSolStringQuartet, #DorotheaLange, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FarmSecurityAdministration, #GiovanniBoccaccio, #GreatDepression, #JacobStockinger, #JeremyJordan, #LibraryofCongress, #LucianoChessa, #NaionalPublicRadio, #NathalieJoachim, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #OnlineConcert, #PerformingArts, #PublicHealth, #RecordedMusic, #SanFrancisco, #SocialMedia, #StringMusic, #StringQuartet, #TheDecameron, #TheEar, #TheRenaissance, #TheU.S., #U.S.Government, #VisualArts, #WalkerEvans, #WindMusic, #WorldPremiere, #YouTubevideo, 10, 14th century, 1930s, air, Allison Loggins-Hull, America, American, archive, arise, Arts, Audio, background, battle, Black Plague, blog, Bloomington, Boccaccio, Broadcast, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, Charlton Lee, Chicago, circumstances, classicalmusic, commission, complete, composer, copy, coronavirus, countries, country, countryside, Damien Sneed, dance, Del Sol Quartet, Del Sol String Quartet, depression, diversity, Dorothea Lange, eminent, enduring, equivalent, era, ethnic, excellent, exterior, Facebook, Farm Security Administration, film, flautist, Florence, flute, flutist, Flutronix, forward, Friday, FSA, funded, general, Genesis, geographic, Giovanni Boccaccio, government, Great Depression, historical, History, Home, Indiana, interior, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Jeremy Jordan, Joachim, Library of Congress, like, link, list, listen, literture, LOC, Luciano Chessa, manuscript, masterpiece, minute, Monday, money, morning, Music, Musician, name, Nathalie Joachim, National Public Radio, new, New Music, New York City, noteworthy, NPR, Oboe, oboist, online, painting, pandemic, participant, People, performer, Performing arts, photography, Pianist, Piano, poet, premiere, premieres, project, public, Public health, Quartet, read, recorded, refuge, Renaissance, rights, sample, San Francisco, schedule, series, share, short, social media, something, staff\, start, stay at home, stories, string music, String quartet, tag, ten, terrific, The Decameron, The Ear, timely, transfer, Tweet, Twitter, U.S., undertaking, unfamiliar, United States, video, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, visual arts, vocal music, Walker Evans, Website, weekday, wind music, work, works, world, world premiere, worth, Writer, yes, yield, YouTube
Classical music: COVID-19 pandemic forces more major changes for Concerts on the Square and a cancellation by the Mosaic Chamber Players
Leave a 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.
ALERT: The Ear has received the following note from Jess Salek — the founder, director and pianist of the Mosaic Chamber Players: “Just a note to mention that the concert scheduled for this Saturday, June 13, is cancelled due to COVID-19. We are doing our best to stay positive during this difficult time for local arts groups, and we will resume our music-making as soon as is safe. Please be well!”
By Jacob Stockinger
Major changes are in store for the annual Concerts on the Square, which were already postponed with a change of dates, day and time, according to television WKOW-TV Channel 27 (you can hear the TV news report in the YouTube video at the bottom):
Here are details:
MADISON (WKOW) – The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (WCO) has unveiled a new plan for its 2020 Concerts on the Square series (below), which involves replacing the four postponed concerts with two drive-in performances.
Additionally, they’re planning for two live concerts at Breese Stevens Field if playing outdoors is deemed safe in late summer.
The revised approach was necessary to keep attendees safe, while adhering to state and county requirements that don’t allow for large gatherings, according to a WCO news release.
The WCO will follow Forward Dane Health Guidelines to determine if the live concerts can occur. A decision will be made in late July.
“We were optimistic in April that if we only delayed the start of Concerts on the Square to late July that we could still hold live performances downtown,” said Joe Loehnis (below), the WCO’s CEO. “But as the pandemic continues to affect us all in ways we never could have foreseen, we’ve decided to take creative steps now that will allow us to still share music with our community.”
The new plan for Concerts on the Square looks like this:
- The first four shows (July 28 – Aug 18) have been postponed until the summer of 2021.
- The WCO, in partnership with the Madison Mallards, will host two “drive-in” concerts on June 24 and July 22 (more information below). Each concert also will be live-streamed on https://wcoconcerts.org and https://pbswisconsin.org for free.
- The final two Concerts on the Square will be live concerts at Breese Stevens Field on Aug. 25 and Sept. 1.
- The WCO’s annual “runout” concert to Portage this summer has been canceled.
Drive-in Concerts on the Square
The two drive-in concerts will feature rebroadcasts of the most popular Concerts on the Square performances, thanks to a partnership with PBS Wisconsin.
The WCO expects to be able to have 115 vehicles at each concert. The goal is to make it accessible to as many people as possible without risking health and safety.
The basics for each program are:
Location: Warner Park, 2930 N. Sherman Ave., Madison
Cost: $25 per car
Time: 7-8 p.m.; 8:45-9:45 p.m. (two showings each night to allow more people to attend)
Additional information: To purchase tickets, visit:
- 8:45 p.m. concert: https://madison-mallards.nwltickets.com/Tickets/SelectPromoSeats?UserPromoCode=wco8
June 24 – “S Wonderful” with Amanda Huddleston, soprano, and Andrew Clark, tenor. Songs include: “The Sound of Music” Medley, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” “Armed Forces Salute” and “1812 Overture.” (2015 Performance)
July 22 – “Film Night,” featuring concertmaster Suzanne Beia. Songs include: “The Magnificent Seven,” “The Pink Panther,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Schindler’s List” and “E.T.” (2019 Performance)
“With two showings each night, we’re trying to make the concerts as accessible as possible,” Loehnis said. “Community partnerships are so important right now, and because of PBS Wisconsin and the Mallards, we’re able to bring this idea to life. We are grateful for these partnerships.”
Breese Stevens concerts are planned for late summer. If Dane County has entered Phase III of its Forward Dane plan by late August, 250 people will be allowed to gather for outdoor events.
For that reason, the WCO is planning to host two live Concerts on the Square at Breese Stevens.
The WCO will provide an update later in July on progress for this opportunity. Those shows currently are scheduled for Aug. 25 and Sept. 1.
The WCO also is considering how it could broadcast the live performances to other venues such as the Alliant Energy Center, Warner Park or Madison parks, where others could view the concerts safely.
“We’re still working through the logistics, and we’re realists – understanding that the situation changes almost daily,” Loehnis said. “But we also want to be forward-thinking and we’re going to keep pushing ahead unless we don’t believe a live show can be held safely.”
To keep up-to-date with performance schedules, community members can sign up for email updates on the WCO website or follow the orchestra on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=wisconsin%20chamber%20orchestra&epa=SEARCH_BOX) and Instagram.
Tags: #AlliantEnergyCenter, #AmandaHuddleston, #AndrewClark, #ArmedForces, #ArmedForcesSalute, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BreeseStevensField, #ChamberMusic, #Channel27, #CityofMadison, #CollaborativePianist, #ConcertsontheSquare, #COVID-19, #DaneCounty, #E.T., #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FilmMusic, #ForwardDane, #HomeWebsite, #InstagramPost, #JacobStockinger, #JessSalek, #JoeLoehnis, #JohnWilliams, #LiveConcert, #MadisonMallards, #MagnificentSeven, #MosaicChamberPlayers, #MovieMusic, #MovieScore, #Music-Making, #NewRelease, #OnlineConcert, #PBSWisconsin, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PinkPanther, #PortageWisconsin, #PublicHealth, #RaidersoftheLostArk, #Schindler'sList, #September11, #SmokeGetsinYourEyes, #SopranoSinger, #SoundofMusic, #StevenSpielberg, #SuzanneBeia, #TenorSinger, #TheEar, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WarnerPark, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinPublicTelevision, #YouTubevideo, 1812 Overture, 2020, @1812Overture, Alliant Energy Center, Amanda Huddleston, Andrew Clark, annual, approach, armed forces, Armed Forces Salute, Arts, arts groups, attend, audience, August, auto, Baseball, blog, Breese Stevens Field, Broadcast, cancel, car, CEO, Chamber music, change, changes, Channel 27, Classical music, community, composer, Concert, concertmaster, Concerts on the Square, conductor, coronavirus, cost, county, creative, Dane County, day, decision, deem, details, difficult, director, downtown, drive-in, Facebook, film, Film score, Forward Dane, founder, groups, guidelines, Health, Instagram, involve, Jacob Stockinger, Jess Salek, Joe Loehnis, John Williams, July, June, like, link, live, live-stream, local, location, Madison, Madison Mallards, Magnificent Seven, major, Mosaic Chamber Players, movie music, movie score, Music, news, night, online, optimistic, Orchestra, other, outdoors, pandemic, Park, partnership, PBS, PBS Wisconsin, People, performer, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, phase, Pianist, Piano, Pink Panther, plan, play, playing, popular, popular success, Portage, positive, post, posting, postpone, Public health, purchase, Raiders of the Lost Ark, realist, rebroadcast, release, requirement, resume, runout, safe, safety, Schindler's List, September, series, share, show, showing, singer, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, song, soon, soprano, Sound of Music, state, stay, steps, Steven Spielberg, summer, Suzanne Beia, symphony, tag, Tchaikovsky, Television, tenor, The Ear, tickets, time, TV, United States, unveil, vehicles, venue, venues, virtual, vocal music, Warner Park, WCO, Website, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Public Television, WKOW TV, WPT, YouTube
Classical music: Here is the music that Wisconsin Public Radio hosts find calming and inspiring during the pandemic. What music would you list?
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.
By Jacob Stockinger
One of the major sources of music during the COVID-19 public health crisis and the coronavirus pandemic is Wisconsin Public Radio.
The Ear finds WPR a reliable source of beauty and companionship during this difficult time of self-isolation and self-quarantining required by the state’s stay-at-home and self-distancing orders.
Each host plans and broadcasts hours of classical music each day. So they hear a lot of classical music.
They also contribute to a blog that offers insights to: new and old recordings; background information about the composers, music and performers; and personal observations about classical music.
Recently, the radio hosts – including Stephanie Elkins (below), Norman Gilliland, Lori Skelton, Ruthanne Bessman, Anders Yocom (at bottom, in a photo by James Gill) and Peter Bryant — listed the music that they find particularly calming and inspiring during a difficult and anxiety-ridden time.
The names of composers include Bach, Scarlatti, Mendelssohn, Mahler, Ysaye, Vaughan-Williams and film score master John Williams.
The list includes audio-visual performances of the pieces.
Take a look and listen.
Then tell us what you think of the various suggestions and which ones you prefer?
Also leave the composers, pieces and performers that you would add to such a list, with a YouTube link if possible.
Here is a link:
https://www.wpr.org/wpr-music-hosts-share-music-calms-and-inspires
Tags: #AndersYocom, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CelloMusic, #COVID-19, #DomenicoScarlatti, #EugeneYsaye, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #FilmMusic, #FilmScore, #GlennGould, #GustavMahler, #HarpMusic, #HarryPotter, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnWilliams, #LeonardBernstein, #LoriSkelton, #MovieMusic, #MovieScore, #NormanGilliland, #PeterBryant, #PianoMusic, #PublicBroadcastingSystem, #PublicHealth, #RalphVaughanWilliams, #RuthanneBessman, #Self-Isolation, #Self-Quarantine, #StephanieElkins, #TheEar, #ViolinMusic, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisocnsinPublicRadio, #YouTubevideo, Anders Yocom, anxiety, Bach, background, beauty, blog, Broadcast, calm, calming, Cello, cello music, Classical music, companion, companionship, composer, coronavirus, difficukt, Domenico Scarlatti, Eugene Ysaye, Facebook, Felix Mendelssohn, film, forward, Glenn Gould, Gustav Mahler, harp, Harry Potter, Health, host, hours, inspiration, inspire, inspiring, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Williams, Leonard Bernstein, like, link, Lori Skelton, major, Mendelssohn, movie, Music, new, Norman Gilliland, NPR, observation, old, online, Orchestra, pandemic, performer, personal, Peter Bryant, Piano, piano music, plan, post, posting, public, Public health, Radio, Ralph Vaughan Williams, recording, Recordings, reliable, require, Ruthanne Bessman, Scarlatti, Self-Quarantining, share, solo, Sonata, source, state, stay at home, Stephanie Elkins, Suite, symphony, tag, The Ear, time, vaughan williams, Violin, violin music, Website, Williams, wisconsin public radio, WPR, YouTube
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 