The Well-Tempered Ear
Here are winners of major international music competitions in 2023. What’s next?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Which young, up-and-coming classical musicians should you keep an eye on during the coming year?
Which ones, if any, will be booked in coming years to performance locally, say, at the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Wisconsin Union Theater; or at the Salon Piano Series; or as a University of Wisconsin Mead Witter School of Music guest artist?
One guide to 2024 and beyond might be to review the winners of the international music competitions held in 2023.
Thanks to The Violin Channel, here is a list of many such winners who may go on to establish more prominent careers. If you click on the names of the competitions, posted in red, you will be linked to fuller stories about the competitions, many of which you have probably never heard of. The Ear follows many contests but had never heard of many of these.
Here is a link:
You can find out about histories of the competitions, other prize winners, places they are held and how often, jury members and contest rules and formats, and more. And you can hear excerpts from some prestigious competitions including the Bischoff Chamber Music competition and a competition for young child prodigy violinists in Italy.
At the bottom of the story, you can hear a YouTube video with the 19-year-old, Asian-American pianist Magdelena Ho in her contest-winning performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 at the Clara Haskil Competition in Switzerland. She looks to have a promising future.
The winners came all continents — Asian, Africa, North America, South America and Europe.
And the competitions were held in many different places and focused on many different kinds or genres of classical music: violin, viola, cello, double bass and guitar; piano; saxophone;mharp; percussion and drums; chamber music and symphonic music; conducting; singing; and early music.
At the bottom is a vibrant performance of a familiar Bach suite by Canadian cellist Luka Coetzee who won Finland’s Paulo Competition and also took first prize at the Pablo Casals Competition on 2022.
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It’s requiem time for the UW Choral Union
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By Jacob Stockinger
It’s official.
The UW Choral Union (below), a campus-community singing group with a 130-year history, is dead.
It was killed off last spring by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
The death was quietly announced in June but became even more official Monday night. That is when Dan Cavanagh (below top), the new director of the School of Music, and Mariana Farrah (below bottom), the new choral activities director, held what was advertised as a public “conversation” in the Hamel Music Center.
Here is link to a posting about the event by one former self-described Friend of the Choral Union. At the end of the story you will find other background links:
https://welltempered.wordpress.com/
From what The Ear understands, about 60-70 people attended the “conversation.”
Before the post-mortem, some former Choral Union participants held out hope that the two administrators might be open to revisiting and perhaps reversing the decision to end the Choral Union.
They were the optimists.
And they were wrong.
Others were pessimistic and thought that the long-overdue public reply to disappointment and criticism wouldn’t change anything. They said the meeting was designed from the beginning to be a kind of hand-holding and whitewashing to soothe those who had ruffled feathers over the decision, and was meant to use the occasion to make themselves look good to both the public and the university administration.
They were the pessimists.
And they were right.
Unfortunately, The Ear couldn’t make it to the event. But he has heard from several trustworthy sources who did attend.
They agree in their accounts of what happened.
Apparently Cavanagh and Farrah were congenial and patient. They gave lots of reasons, some vague, why the long and popular tradition had to end. The reasons ranged from fiscal constraints and staff shortages to pedagogical practices.
But many who attended apparently remained doubtful, judging from their questions and the answers they received.
The pessimists — or at least the skeptics — said the two were just trying to make the decision more palatable to the same public that has widely disapproved of the move and that has threatened to withhold donations to the School of Music.
But Cavanagh made the future of the Choral Union clear when he said, according to several sources: “We are not restarting Choral Union as we know it.”
Whatever that means besides it is over and done with.
The Ear still suspects that something that fishy is going on and that the details of the process are being withheld. Not only has the School of Music killed off the Choral Union, but it has also killed off the Madrigal Singers (below in a joint concert last year with the UW Chorale Lab Choir).
In addition, the sold-out traditional Tudor Holiday Dinners (below) — dating back 90 years at the Wisconsin Union — have been discontinued in favor of some less impressive celebration of winter called “Frosty Bites” with the Wisconsin Singers and various a cappella groups from campus. (See https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/special-events/frosty-bites/)
Did The Ear get anything wrong? Should he correct something?
What do you thinks explains the move to end the Choral Union after it survived for 130 years, through two world wars and the Great Depression?
Were you there at the Choral Union meeting?
What did you think of the conversation and the explanations that you heard?
Do you have any other reaction to or ideas about the demise of the Choral Union?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Public ‘autopsy’ of UW Choral Union is Monday, Oct. 23
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By Jacob Stockinger
What was the cause of death?
Ever since last June — when the University of Wisconsin Mead Witter School of Music announced it was killing off the UW Choral Union after 130 years — the school has not issued any kind of public statement, specific explanation or response to the overwhelming negative reactions from the community.
That is finally about to change.
On Monday, Oct. 23, 2023 from 7:30 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the Hamel Music Center, the School of Music’s new director Dan Cavanagh will meet with former Choral Union singers and others members of the public to discuss the decision to cancel and to explore the future off campus-community choral activities.
Here is the email invitation that Cavanagh (below) sent out this week:
October 10, 2023
Dear Choral Union Singers,
I have been fortunate to meet several of you in my first few months in Madison as the new Director of the Mead Witter School of Music (MWSoM). I have felt welcomed and excited to make Madison my home, both personally and professionally.
As you know well, I started my position during a time of change here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I have learned much over the past few months about the long history, impact, and value that the Choral Union has had here in Madison and beyond.
I understand that many have felt disappointed by the decision to discontinue the Choral Union (shown below under longtime but now retired choral director Beverly Taylor) as it has been a longstanding and stalwart example of the Wisconsin Idea in action. I have begun having discussions with the local choral community writ large to explore ways to serve the Madison area in a way that honors that tradition while ensuring that we are able to serve our students in the most pedagogically and fiscally responsible way.
With the above in mind, I am writing to invite you and those interested to a conversation on Monday, October 23, from 7:00 p.m.-8:15 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall in the Hamel Music Center.
Janet Murphy has, in parallel, reached out to me about the new “Friends of the Choral Union” group, and I plan to meet with her and a few others prior to this larger meeting so that I can come prepared to be responsive and engaged in the discussion.
I hope to come away from our conversation having had a chance to explain in more detail why the original decision was made last spring before I arrived, as well as having had a chance to hear your concerns and hopes for how we can partner together in the future to serve the choral community around us.
When I interviewed for this position back in early March, I talked a lot about how Music is one of the “front doors” to the University, and how our public charge includes engaging outside the walls of the “ivory tower.”
This philosophy is uniquely enacted through the Wisconsin Idea, and I do not use that phrase lightly. While our focus needs to remain first and foremost on our students and our ability (and resources) to adapt our pedagogical practices to a rapidly changing arts and cultural environment in this country, I am excited to work together with you and others to find ways to connect that pedagogical work with the wider community in our state and nationally.
Please consider joining me for this important conversation on October 23. No RSVP is needed. I look forward to meeting each of you in person and to hearing your passion, ideas, and concerns.
With deep respect,
Dan Cavanagh
Pamela O. Hamel/Board of Advisors Director; Mead Witter School of Music Professor of Jazz Studies and Composition
University of Wisconsin-Madison: music.wisc.edu
NOTE: If you want more to see more background and reader public reactions to it, here are links to three previous blog posts:
The Ear wonders how well attended the meeting will be?
Will you attend or not? Why or why not?
Will anything change about the future of the Choral Union?
Will Mariana Farah (below top) — the highly acclaimed new Director of Choral Activities — be on hand to answer questions and offer her perspective?
Will former music school director Susan C. Cook (below bottom), who made the decision, also be there?
How convincing will the explanations for the past decision and for possible future activities be?
Did it change your mind or thinking? How?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Apple bets again on classical music and buys BIS records
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By Jacob Stockinger
Since its founding in 1976 — on April Fools Day — Apple has often demonstrated a contrarian or oppositional streak that has helped to explain its enormous success among high-tech companies.
At a time when many critics and observers are questioning the future of classical music — and usually see major problems to overcome — Apple has taken the opposite tack.
This past year it bought the record label Primephonic in 2021 and then launched a separate streaming platform for classical music — Apple Music Classical — as part of Apple Music below).
Apple Music’s new all-Classical streaming service launches March 28. Here are details
The new Apple Music Classical app is now available for Android users
This month, Apple doubled down and bought another record label that specializes in classical music — the acclaimed Swedish independent label BIS that just marked its 50th anniversary. No price was given.
Some analyses suggest that this recent acquisition gives Apple Music Classical the largest catalogue, with more than 5 million tracks, of any classical music streaming service.
Here is an excellent story from TechCrunch that gives the details and some context and background:
And here is another good story from the classical music website LudwigVan:
If you wonder about why BIS was sold to Apple in particular, here is a statement from CNBC by BIS founder Robert von Bahr (below):
“Von Bahr, who recently turned 80, said that both BIS Records and Apple share a “fundamental belief in the importance of preserving audio quality,” citing the iPhone maker’s surround-sound spatial audio technology as “something I have followed with interest.”
“BIS’s specialty, while paying our dues to the core repertoire, has been to nurture young classical artists and interesting living composers and to safeguard the musical treasure that we all represent long into the future. (Editor’s note: It also seeks to rediscover repertoire. See and listen to the YouTube video at the bottom for BIS’s promotion of release with baroque Neapolitan cantatas and arias for countertenors.)
“Apple, with its own storied history of innovation and love of music, is the ideal home to usher in the next era of classical and has shown true commitment towards building a future in which classical music and technology work in harmony.”
Are you familiar with BIS records?
What do you think of the repertoire, performers and recordings?
Do you subscribe to Apple Music Classical — or would now subscribe with the new acquisition?
The Ear wants to hear.
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The new Apple Music Classical app is now available for Android users
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By Jacob Stockinger
The new Apple Music Classical app (logo is below) — before now available exclusively for Apple Music subscribers and the Apple OS operating system — is now available for Android operating systems and PCs through the Google Play store.
The streaming app, which costs about $10 a month (you need just a subscription to one of the music apps to get both), has been generally praised and highly rated by both professional critics and ordinary consumers. Most point out the wide variety of repertoire, performers and recordings, both current and historic or out-of-print; the quality of the sound; and the use of background documents about the music, the composers and the performers.
Here are links to two stories about Apple Music Classical for Android.
The first one, from TechCrunch, is the more general and comprehensive article.
The second story, briefer and written more for audiophiles, is from The Verge and contains more specific background information and technical specifications.
The Ear uses both Apple Music and Apple Music Classical, and will share his reactions to them in a future posting.
In the meantime, he wants to know:
Do you subscribe to Apple Music or Apple Music Classical?
Do you like it?
Dislike it?
Why?
Would you recommend Apple Music Classical or Apple Music to other listeners?
What do you think of other classical music apps such as Spotify, Amazon Music, Tidal, Idagio, Presto — if you use them?
The Ear wants to hear.
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ALL Bach Around the Clock 2023 concerts are now online. Here are the links and some stats
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following news from Bach Around the Clock 2023 (BATC). Please note that there is no time limit or expiration date on viewing and listening to the online postings (see the example video of a string quartet arrangement from “The Art of Fugue” at the bottom):
| BATC 2023 Festival video recordings are now available at BachClock.com and on YouTube |
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BATC 2023 recordings have been organized into playlists: Guest Artist Lawrence Quinnett; String Soloists; Keyboard soloists; Ensembles and Studios; Festival Finale; Virtual Performances Recordings for Just Bach’s Concert and Bach on Marimba lecture/performance are also available. |
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Thank you to BATC 2023 performers! True to our mission, Bach Around The Clock welcomed the participation of over 115 performers (below in St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church), including amateurs and professionals of all ages and experience levels, sharing their love of Bach’s music with the community. |
| 85 musicians performed at St. Andrew’s on Saturday, March 11. 30 musicians submitted recordings from their homes and studios. 28 hours of Bach Around The Clock performances are available. |
| Thank you to our audience members (below in Grace Episcopal Church)! In-person and online — BATC 2023 performances have been enjoyed by record-setting numbers of Bach enthusiasts. |
| Thank you to our BATC Donors, acknowledged here. With the generous support of over 40 BATC fans and business sponsors, we achieved our fundraising goal of covering all 2023 festival expenses! New contributions will help us with planning for the future of Bach Around The Clock. |
New contributions will help us with planning for the future of Bach Around The Clock.
You can donate here: https://bachclock.com/donate
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The Madison Early Music Festival joins the UW-Madison School of Music’s regular program and undergoes a major revamping. There will be no more separate summer events, and the two directors will retire next spring
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By Jacob Stockinger
After refining the format over the past 20 years, the Madison Early Music Festival (below) has grown into a popular event that is recognized regionally, nationally and internationally. It usually takes place for about 10 days in July.
But no longer.
The Ear has received the following updates from the two co-founders and co-directors, singers Cheryl-Bensman Rowe and UW-Madison Professor Paul Rowe.
Curiously, no reasons or causes are given for the major changes and revamping, or for the cancellation of the event this summer.
The Ear suspects it has something to do with the lack of funding and the reorganizations and consolidations being carried out because of the budgetary effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the UW-Madison, the whole UW System and the performing arts scene in general.
But that could be completely wrong. We will probably find out more details in the near future.
For more information and background, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/2021/02/01/memf-school-of-music-announce-administrative-partnership/
And to sound off, please leave your reactions to the news in the comment section.
Here is the letter from the Rowes (below, in a photo by Katrin Talbot):
Dear MEMF Supporters,
It is difficult to believe that February is over and spring is on its way. We hope everyone is having luck scheduling coronavirus vaccines, and that you have all stayed healthy throughout this past year.
We are writing to give you advance notice of the latest MEMF news before you read it in an upcoming press release.
Due to programming realignment in the UW-Madison Division of the Arts, the Madison Early Music Festival will become a program of the Mead Witter School of Music, which will be our new administrative home.
After much discussion with the Director of the School of Music and the Interim Director of the Division of the Arts, the details of the move have been finalized.
The School of Music is excited to bring MEMF into its programming, and would like MEMF to be an integral part of the academic year so more students can have an opportunity to work with professionals in the field of early music.
At this point, in order to focus on this goal, the decision has been made to discontinue the summer festival in its current (pre-pandemic) format.(You can hear a sample of that in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
We know this is disappointing news, but at the same time we are excited that MEMF concerts, lectures and classes will now be offered in some capacity throughout the year.
Although MEMF will be taking a different direction than the one we have all known and loved over the past 20 years, we are thrilled that it will continue to provide early music learning and presentation opportunities through this new collaboration.
We also want to announce that the two of us will be retiring from MEMF in the spring of 2022 and new leadership will take the helm.
Current plans are to present a celebratory MEMF concert and workshop next spring with School of Music students and faculty and former MEMF participants and faculty.
We want all of you to know that we appreciate everything you have done for MEMF. Some of you have been involved for 21 years!
We are grateful for your support, the friendships we have made, and all the beautiful music we have heard and made together. The success of the festival would not have been possible without each and every one of you.
This is an exciting new journey for MEMF, although different from what we have known and experienced. We hope that you will continue to be involved in MEMF in its new format, and we hope to see you in the spring of 2022!
Thank you for all your generosity in so many ways,
Cheryl Bensman-Rowe and Paul Rowe, co-founders and co-artistic directors of the Madison Early Music Festival
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The UW Symphony Orchestra performs a FREE online concert Thursday night and Friday night the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra debuts its second chamber music concert. But in-person micro-concerts on Sunday by the the Willy Street Chamber Players are sold-out
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By Jacob Stockinger
The second half of the music season is well under way, with just about every major group performing online – or in one case even in person.
Here are three selections this week:
THURSDAY
Two of the most musically and technically impressive concerts The Ear heard last semester took place at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. They were by the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor Oriol Sans (below).
First, Sans conducted a socially distanced and virtual all-strings concert (below).
Then, for the second concert, the conductor had the winds and brass – which spray dangerous aerosol droplets – record their parts individually. Then for the live performance, Sans donned earphones and masterfully combined all the forces into a full orchestra performance (below).
You can see similar results – with percussion joining for the strings for the last piece — this Thursday night, Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m. on YouTube when the UW Symphony Orchestra live-streams a 90-muinute concert from the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall in the Hamel Music Center. No in-person attendance is allowed.
Here is the program:
I Crisantemi (Chyrsanthemums) by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), with Michael Dolan, guest conductor
“Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout” by contemporary American composer Gabriela Lena Frank (b. 1972) Coqueteos (Flirtations)
“Carmen” Suite (after the opera by Georges Bizet) by Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin (b.1932): Introduction; Dance; Carmen’s entrance and Habanera Torero; Adagio; Fortune-telling; and Finale.
Here is a link to the live-streamed video: https://youtu.be/GSrMLKrjlVg
And here is a link to more information, including program notes and the names of members of the orchestra: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-madison-symphony-orchestra-2/
FRIDAY NIGHT
On Friday night at 7:30 p.m. the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below, in a photo by Mike Gorski) will offer the second of its Winter Chamber Series. It will run between 60 and 75 minutes.
There will be string, brass and percussion music by Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini, Steve Reich, Craig H. Russell and Thomas Siwe. Be aware that three of the works – string quartets by Mozart and Beethoven and a string sonata by Rossini — are presented in excerpts. That is not listed on the webpage.
The cost for one-time access between Friday night and Monday night is $30.
Here is a link to more information, including a link to ticket sales from the Overture Center box office and program notes by WCO music director and conductor Andrew Sewell (below, in a photo by Alex Cruz): https://wcoconcerts.org/events/winter-chamber-series-no-ii
SOLD-OUT
The Micro-concerts scheduled for this coming Sunday, Feb. 28, by the esteemed Willy Street Chamber Players (below), are SOLD-OUT.
The 10-minute private concerts for two, which require masks and social distancing for all, are perhaps the most innovative move by any local music group during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Ear, who expects concert habits to change after the pandemic, thinks such micro-concerts have a very bright future even after the pandemic is under control and audiences can return safely to mass events.
The concert are pay-what-you can but a $20 donation for two was suggested.
For more information about the micro-concerts, listen to the YouTube video at the bottom and go to: http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org/micro-concerts.html
Tags: #AndesMountains, #AndrewSewell, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoxOffice, #BrassMusic, #ChamberMusic, #Chrysanthemums, #CoronavirusPandemic, #CraigH.Russell, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GabrielaLenaFrank, #GeorgesBizet, #GiacomoPuccini, #GioachinoRossini, #HamelMusicCenter, #HomeWebsite, #italianComposer, #JacobStockinger, #LiveStreaming, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicDirector, #OnlineConcert, #OperaMusic, #OriolSans, #OvertureCenter, #ProgramNotes, #PublicSafety, #RecordedMusic, #RodionShchedrin, #RussianComposer, #SocialDistance, #SocialDistancing, #SteveReich, #StringMusic, #StringQuartet, #SundayAfternoonLifeFromtheChazen, #TheEar, #TheUW, #TheWillys, #ThomasSiwe, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #VirtualConcert, #WebPage, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WindMusic, #WinterChamberMusicSeries, #WinterChamberSeries, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, access, aerosol, allow, American, Andes, Andrew Sewell, Arts, attendance, audience, Beethoven, Bizet, blog, Blog post, blog posting, bog, box office, brass, brass music, bright, buy, Carmen, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, change, Classical music, classicalmusic, combine, composer, Concert, conductor, control, coronavirus, Craig H. Russell, dance, dangerous, direction, donation, droplet, earphones, excerpts, expect, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, force, fortune-teller, forward, free, Friday, future, Gabriela Lena Frank, Georges Bizet, Giacomo Puccini, Gioachino Rossini, group, habits, Hamel Music Center, home website, impressive, in person, individual, information, innovative, instrumental, introduction, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, like, link, livestream, Livestreamed, local, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, masks, masterful, masterfully, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, member, micro-concert, Monday, Mozart, Music, Music director, musical, name, night, notes, online, opera, Orchestra, orchestral music, Oriol Sans, Overture Center, pandemic, part, percussion, performer, perhaps, post, posting, private, program, program notes, public safety, Puccini, record, recorded music, Reich, Rodion Shchedrin, Rossini, run, Russell, Russia, Russian, safe, safely, sales, schedule, scheduled, Season, semester, Sewell, share, Siwe, social distance, sold-out, Sonata, spray, Steve Reich, string music, String quartet, strings, Suite, Sunday, symphony, tag, technical, The Ear, The Willys, Thomas Siwe, Thursday, ticket, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW-Madison, video, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtual, WCO, web page, Willy Street Chamber Players, wind music, winds, winter, Winter Chamber Music Series, Winter Chamber Series, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube, YouTube video
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
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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
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Does Wisconsin Public Radio play too much harp music?
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PLEASE NOTE: Due to a technical glitch, the following commentary was posted briefly yesterday and then withdrawn. That also disabled the commentary function temporarily. Once the glitch is solved, The Ear will post it again. That means some of you will get it twice. I apologize for any inconvenience. And to the fans who have kindly greeted my return, heartfelt thanks. I will be posting more details about the use and frequency of this blog in the near future.
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
Can’t help it.
The harp always reminds The Ear of a giant egg slicer.
Still, The Ear loves the sound of the harp — in the right works.
That usually means when it is blended into orchestral works (Brahms, Wagner, Tchaikovsky and Mahler come to mind) and chamber music works (Debussy and Ravel come to mind).
But when it comes to solo harp and harp concertos, no thanks. Barring some Baroque music and Classical works — Handel’s concerti grossi and Mozart’s “Brunch” Concerto for Flute and Harp — he’ll pass for the most part.
So much harp music, both original and arranged, just sounds second-rate or worse. Can anyone name a masterpiece for the solo harp written by a great composer? And I don’t mean Louis Spohr who composed for his harpist wife.
The solo harp repertoire is very small, hence the need for so many transcriptions.
That’s a problem.
The harp tends to make music for other instruments sound so .. so … so pleasant! Even when the original is dramatic, it’s all pluck pluck, twang twang, zing zing. Just listen to the YouTube video at the bottom of J.S. Bach’s mighty Toccata and Fugue in D minor for Organ played on the harp.
So, The Ear asks, why has Wisconsin Public Radio started playing so much harp music on almost every show? (Below is WPR host, accomplished harpist and harp evangelist Ruthanne Bessman, who often includes harp music in her Saturday Morning program “Classics by Request.”)
Is it because the public really loves hearing the harp so much?
Is it because the radio show hosts do?
Do listener surveys indicate a preference for the harp?
Does the covid pandemic play a role in seeking bland but soothing music?
What do you think?
Do you like or even crave harp music?
Do you think WPR is programming too much harp music these days?
Too little?
Or the right amount?
Leave a comment, please.
The Ear wants to hear.
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