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Classical music: Grace Presents HD offers a free virtual online concert by the acclaimed Willy Street Chamber Players this Saturday at noon

August 19, 2020
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By Jacob Stockinger

Cellist and UW-Madison graduate student James Waldo has sent the following announcement about a FREE virtual online concert by Grace Presents, which he coordinates.

The hi-def, one-hour concert by the critically acclaimed and popular Willy Street Chamber Players (below) is at noon (CDT) this Saturday, Aug. 22.

Says Waldo:

“This is a pre-recorded event, and as such, I had the singular pleasure of sitting in the room while these fantastic musicians recorded their program. This event is not to be missed!

“Grace Presents HD brings you free, crystal-clear performances by local Madison musicians in the nave of historical Grace Episcopal Church – located downtown on the Capitol Square — from the comfort and safety of your own home.

“The Willy Street Chamber Players will have a video premiere that will be available on the Grace Presents YouTube channel on this Saturday, Aug. 22 at noon CDT. (This virtual concert is available for a limited time only!)

You can see and hear a preview of the concert in the YouTube video at the bottom.

Artists in the Willy Street Chamber Players are: Paran Amirinazari, artistic director, violin and viola; Eleanor Bartsch, violin and viola; Mark Bridges, cello; and Lindsay Crabb, cello, five-string cello.

You can find more information about the chamber music ensemble, including a link to a post in which The Ear named them as Musicians of the Year for 2016, at: http://willystreetchamberplayers.org

As is typical for The Willys, the program reflects diversity and includes both classical masters and contemporary composers:

Schubert: String trio in B-flat major, D. 47

Tania León (below) – Four Pieces for Solo Cello: II. Prayer

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber – Passacaglia

George Walker (below) – “Bleu”

J.S. Bach – Solo Cello Suite No. 6 in D major: I. Prelude and IV. Sarabande

Kimo Williams (below): “Quiet Shadows”

Beethoven: String Trio in G major, Op. 9, No. 1 / I. Adagio-Allegro

“We will be hosting a Zoom meet-and-greet with our guest artists following the performance. If you’d like to attend this virtual gathering, please RSVP to Grace Presents Program Coordinator James Waldo (gracepresents@gmail.com) for more information.

“Here is biographical background: The Willy Street Chamber Players (WSCP) are dedicated to creating community through classical music. Established in 2015, the group has become a fixture of the Willy Street neighborhood’s vibrant cultural scene.

“Recently awarded a gold medal in Madison Magazine’s prestigious “Best of Madison” reader poll, WSCP has received numerous accolades for its accessible and exciting performances, intelligent and fun programming, and community partnerships.

“Today, the group consists of four core members. Led by Artistic Director and violinist Paran Amirinazari, each player brings a fresh, imaginative take to classical music.

WSCP convenes each July – this summer’s concerts were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic — to present their popular summer concert series at Immanuel Lutheran Church (below) on Spaight Street. For these programs, the group has collaborated with many well-known guest artists from Madison and beyond.

“In addition, WSCP presents an array of events throughout the year including the admission-free Community Connect series that aims to bring classical music to inclusive spaces.

“WSCP has also performed at many other popular Madison venues including Marquette Waterfront Fest; Summer Serenades at Memorial Union Terrace; the Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesin compound in Spring Green; the Madison New Music Festival; and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA).”

OTHER DETAILS

Video recording and editing has been done by: https://www.microtonemedia.com/

Audio engineering has been done by Bruce Kasprzyk.

Grace Presents is supported in part by generous project grants from Dane Arts, the Madison Arts Commission, the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) and the Grace Episcopal Development Fund Trust as well as individual gifts and in-kind support.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #ArtisticDirector, #BaroqueMusic, #BestofMadison, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CapitolSquare, #CelloSuite, #ChamberMusic, #ChristianChurch, #CityofMadison, #ClassicalMusician, #ConcertSeries, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #CulturalDiversity, #DaneArts, #EleanorBartsch, #EmailAddress, #EpiscopalChurch, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FinancialSupport, #FrankLloydWright, #FranzSchubert, #GeorgeWalker, #GoldMedal, #GoodShepherdLutheranChurch, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #GracePresentsHD, #GraduateStudent, #GuestArtist, #HeinrichBiber, #ImmanuelLutheranChurch, #JacobStockinger, #James Waldo, #JamesWaldo, #JohannSebastianBach, #KimoWilliams, #LindsayCrabb, #LivingComposer, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonArtsCommission, #MadisonMagazine, #MadisonMuseumofContemporaryArt, #MadisonNewMusicFestival, #MadisonWisconsin, #MarkBridges, #MarquetteWaterfrontFest, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Meet-and-Greet, #MemorialUnion, #MusicianoftheYear, #NewMusic, #ParanAmirinazari, #QuietShadows, #ReaderPoll, #SpringGreen, #StringMusic, #StringTrio, #SummerSerenades, #Taliesincompound, #TaniaLeon, #TheEar, #TheWillys, #UnionTerrace, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #WilliamsonStreet, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, accesible, accolades, allegro, annoucement, array, Artistic director, Arts, audience, Audio, available, award, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Best of Madison, Biber, blog, canceled, Capitol Square, CDT, cellist, Cello, Cello Suite, Cello Suites (Bach), Chamber music, channel, Christian, Christian church, church, classic, Classical music, classicalmusic, collaborate, community, comofrt, composer, Concert, convene, cooridnate, coronavirus, critically acclaimed, crystal-clear, cultural, cultural diversity, danceamdante, Dane Arts, dedicated, diversity, donor, downtown, Early music, editing, Eleanor Bartsch, email, engineering, ensemble, Episopal, established, event, events, exciting, Facebook, fantastic, forward, Frank Lloyd Wright, Franz Schubert, free, fresh, fun, fund, funding, gathering, generous, George Walker, gift, gold, Gold medal, Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Presents HD, graduate student, grants, group, guest artist, Heinrich Biber, help, historica;, Home, hour, imaginative, Immanuel Lutheran Church, in-kind, information, intelligent, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, July, Kimo Williams, like, limited, Lindsay Crabb, link, living composers, local, located, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Arts Commission, Madison Magazine, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison New Music Festival, Mark Bridges, Marquette Waterfront Fest, Master, masterpieces, Mead Witter School of Music, medal, member, MMOCA, Music, Musician, Musician of the Year, nave, neighborhood, New Music, noon, online, pandemic, Paran Amarinazari, partnerships, passacaglia, performers, piece, pleasure, poll, popular, post, posting, prayer, pre-recorded, Prelude, prestigious, program, programming, project, quiet, Quiet Shadows, reader, reader poll, receive, record, recording, room, RSVP, safety, sarabande, Saturday, scene, Schubert, series, shadow, share, sit, solo, Spring Green, Spring Green Wisconsin, string music, string trio, Suite, summer, Summer Serenades, support, tag, Taliesin, Tania Leon, The Ear, The Willys, time, trio, turst, typical, Union Terrace, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, venue, vibrant, video, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtual, Walker, Williamson Street, Willy Street, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Terrace, women, YouTube, Zoom

Classical music: Famed radio station WQXR names the best 100 recordings of 2019. Listen to samples of them here

December 28, 2019
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By Jacob Stockinger

Did you get a gift card for the holidays?

Are you looking how to spend it by either purchasing CDs or subscribing to a streaming service?

Help and guidance are available.

Few names in the airing of classical music carry more prestige than the famed radio station WQXR in New York City.

To check out the radio station’s choice of the best recordings of 2019 is also to see where the worlds of recording and concertizing are heading.

Such trends include rediscovering neglected composers and championing new music as well as women composers, such as Clara Schumann, and composers of color, such as the American composer Florence Price (below), who has often been featured on Wisconsin Public Radio this past year.

But you will also find noteworthy recordings of such classics as Johann Sebastian Bach – and two of his rarely heard cousins instead of his sons – and well as outstanding recordings of symphonies and piano sonatas (below, the set by Igor Levit) for the upcoming Beethoven Year to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of the composer.

And you will also find names of outstanding performers you may not have heard of — such as the exceptional Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang (below), a Van Cliburn Competition gold medalist whom The Ear would like to see perform here.

Here is a link to 25 picks with commentaries– plus another 75 titles and samples, without commentary, to round out a Top 100.

Happy listening!

https://www.wqxr.org/story/best-classical-recordings-2019/

Posted in Classical music
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Classical music: The Wisconsin Union Theater will hold an on-stage “exercising” – or playing — session for the public with its Steinway piano on Sunday, Sept. 22. Details are pending

September 7, 2019
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By Jacob Stockinger

Attention area pianists – students and teachers, amateurs and professionals!

It may be time to start some serious practicing if you have ever wanted a chance to play on the stage at the venerable Wisconsin Union Theater.

A public session will take place in Shannon Hall (below) on Sunday, Sept. 22, although no specific hours or details of the sign-up process have been announced yet. That is when the Wisconsin Union Theater will allow selected members of the public to play on its Steinway.

If you didn’t already know, instruments – both new Steinway pianos and old Stradivarius violins – work better and sound better when they are warmed up and played regularly. That is, they are at peak performance when they are “exercised,” as it is called.

Kind of like human bodies!

The piano in question is the same piano used by world-famous guest artists on the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Concert Series, most of whom have also signed the gold-painted metal harp or frame inside the piano.

For example, in the photo below you can see Misha Dichter – renowned for his dazzling technique and his interpretations of Franz Liszt’s virtuoso works — becoming the first pianist to sign the third of the Union’s four Steinways, which span a century, in 1970. (You can hear Dichter play two Hungarian Rhapsodies, with incredible repeated notes and impressively fast octaves in both hands, by Liszt in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Here is a link to the announcement, which has some fascinating background about the previous pianos at the Wisconsin Union Theater: https://union.wisc.edu/visit/wisconsin-union-theater/the-green-room/open-piano-day-puts-a-twist-on-tradition/

The Ear still hasn’t’ heard about specific hours; about the sign-up process; if music other than classical, such as jazz or pop or rock, will be allowed; or if the public can attend and listen.

But stay tuned.

As details become available, The Ear will share them.

Or you can go to website unionwisc.edu or the above web address and check for yourself.

Posted in Classical music
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Classical music: Cliburn-winning pianist Kenneth Broberg makes his Madison debut with a FREE master class this evening and a recital Sunday afternoon at Farley’s House of Pianos

November 3, 2018
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By Jacob Stockinger

A 25-year-old Minneapolis native, pianist Kenneth Broberg (below in a photo by Jeremy Enlow for The Cliburn) won the silver medal at the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

His 2017-2018 debut season as a Cliburn medalist included recital engagements in cities across the United States and Europe. His debut solo album was released by Decca Gold in August 2017.

This weekend, Broberg — whose playing The Ear finds impressively beautiful — makes his Madison debut at Farley’s House of Pianos, 6522 Seybold Road, on the far west side near West Towne Mall, as part of the Salon Piano Series.

Broberg will be featured in a master class with local young pianists and a solo recital.

For more about Broberg, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Broberg

And to the pianist’s home web site: https://kennybroberg.com

For more about the Salon Piano Series and the other three concerts this season, along with videos and reviews, go to: https://salonpianoseries.org

You can also hear Broberg play a lyrical and well-known Impromptu by Franz Schubert in the YouTube video at the bottom. He also has many other performances on YouTube, including some from the Cliburn competition.

Here are details about his appearances:

MASTER CLASS

Broberg will give a master class with local piano students THIS EVENING from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Farley’s House of Pianos.

The literature being played is: Sonata in B-Flat Major, K. 333, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; “Des Abends” (Evening) and “Grillen” (Whims) from “Fantasiestuecke (Fantasy Pieces) Op. 12, by Robert Schumann; and “Evocation” and “El Puerto” for the “Iberia” Suite by Isaac Albéniz

The master class is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Children must be age 6 and over to attend.

SOLO RECITAL

On Sunday afternoon, Nov. 4, at 4 p.m. Broberg will perform a solo recital at Farley’s House of Pianos in the main showroom.

The program includes: Prelude, Fugue and Variation, Op. 18, by Cesar Franck and Harold Bauer; Sonata in E minor “Night Wind,” Op. 25, No. 2, by Nikolai Medtner; Toccata on “L’Homme armé” by Marc-André Hamelin; “Children’s Corner” Suite by Claude Debussy (movements are “Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum; Jimbo’s Lullaby; Serenade for the Doll; The Snow Is Dancing; The Little Shepherd; and Golliwog’s Cakewalk); and Three Preludes by George Gershwin.

Advance and online tickets are $45 for adults and $10 for students, and are available at brownpapertickets.com or at Farley’s House of Pianos (608) 271-2626. Tickets at the door are $50. More details are at SalonPianoSeries.org

Posted in Classical music
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Classical music: Here are the classical music nominations for the 2018 Grammy Awards. They make a great holiday gift list of gives and gets

December 2, 2017
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By Jacob Stockinger

This posting is both a news story and a holiday gift guide of recordings you might like to give or get.

It features the classical music nominations for the Grammy Awards that were just announced this past week.

The winners will be announced on a live broadcast on Sunday night, Jan. 28, on CBS.

Read them and then in the COMMENT section tell us which title you think will win in a specific category and what you think of the recordings you know firsthand.

HISTORICAL ALBUMS:

“The Goldberg Variations — the Complete Unreleased Recording Sessions June 1955” — Robert Russ, compilation producer; Matthias Erb, Martin Kistner & Andreas K. Meyer, mastering engineers (Glenn Gould)
“Leonard Bernstein — the Composer” — Robert Russ, compilation producer; Martin Kistner & Andreas K. Meyer, mastering engineers (Leonard Bernstein)

ENGINEERED ALBUM, CLASSICAL

“Danielpour: Songs of Solitude & War Songs” — Gary Call, engineer (Thomas Hampson, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)
“Kleiberg: Mass for Modern Man” — Morten Lindberg, engineer (Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Trondheim Vokalensemble & Trondheim Symphony Orchestra)
“Schoenberg, Adam: American Symphony; Finding Rothko; Picture Studies” — Keith O. Johnson & Sean Royce Martin, engineers (Michael Stern & Kansas City Symphony)
“Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio” — Mark Donahue, engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
“Tyberg: Masses” — John Newton, engineer; Jesse Brayman, mastering engineer (Brian A. Schmidt, Christopher Jacobson & South Dakota Chorale)

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, CLASSICAL

Blanton Alspaugh
Manfred Eicher
David Frost
Morten Lindberg
Judith Sherman (below)

ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE

“Concertos for Orchestra” — Louis Langrée, conductor (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra)
“Copland: Symphony No. 3; Three Latin American Sketches” — Leonard Slatkin, conductor (Detroit Symphony Orchestra)
“Debussy: Images; Jeux & La Plus Que Lente” — Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
“Mahler: Symphony No. 5” — Osmo Vänskä, conductor (Minnesota Orchestra)
“Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio” — Manfred Honeck, conductor (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)

OPERA RECORDING

“Berg: Lulu” — Lothar Koenigs, conductor; Daniel Brenna, Marlis Petersen & Johan Reuter; Jay David Saks, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra)
“Berg: Wozzeck” — Hans Graf, conductor; Anne Schwanewilms & Roman Trekel; Hans Graf, producer (Houston Symphony; Chorus of Students and Alumni, Shepherd School of Music, Rice University & Houston Grand Opera Children’s Chorus)
“Bizet: Les Pêcheurs de Perles” — Gianandrea Noseda, conductor; Diana Damrau, Mariusz Kwiecień, Matthew Polenzani & Nicolas Testé; Jay David Saks, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
“Handel: Ottone” — George Petrou, conductor; Max Emanuel Cencic & Lauren Snouffer; Jacob Händel, producer (Il Pomo D’Oro)
“Rimsky-Korsakov: The Golden Cockerel” — Valery Gergiev, conductor; Vladimir Feliauer, Aida Garifullina & Kira Loginova; Ilya Petrov, producer (Mariinsky Orchestra; Mariinsky Chorus)

CHORAL PERFORMANCE

“Bryars: The Fifth Century” — Donald Nally, conductor (PRISM Quartet; The Crossing)
“Handel: Messiah” — Andrew Davis, conductor; Noel Edison, chorus master (Elizabeth DeShong, John Relyea, Andrew Staples & Erin Wall; Toronto Symphony Orchestra; Toronto Mendelssohn Choir)
“Mansurian: Requiem” — Alexander Liebreich, conductor; Florian Helgath, chorus master (Anja Petersen & Andrew Redmond; Münchener Kammerorchester; RIAS Kammerchor)
“Music of the Spheres” — Nigel Short, conductor (Tenebrae)
“Tyberg: Masses” — Brian A. Schmidt, conductor (Christopher Jacobson; South Dakota Chorale)

CHAMBER MUSIC/SMALL ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE

“Buxtehude: Trio Sonatas, Op. 1” — Arcangelo
“Death & the Maiden” — Patricia Kopatchinskaja & the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
“Divine Theatre — Sacred Motets by Giaches De Wert” — Stile Antico
“Franck, Kurtág, Previn & Schumann” — Joyce Yang & Augustin Hadelich
“Martha Argerich & Friends — Live From Lugano 2016” — Martha Argerich & Various Artists

CLASSICAL INSTRUMENTAL SOLO

“Bach: The French Suites” — Murray Perahia
“Haydn: Cello Concertos” — Steven Isserlis; Florian Donderer, conductor (The Deutsch Kammerphilharmonie Bremen)
“Levina: The Piano Concertos” — Maria Lettberg; Ariane Matiakh, conductor (Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin)
“Shostakovich: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2” — Frank Peter Zimmermann; Alan Gilbert, conductor (NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester)
“Transcendental” – Daniil Trifonov

CLASSICAL SOLO VOCAL ALBUM

“Bach & Telemann: Sacred Cantatas” — Philippe Jaroussky; Petra Müllejans, conductor (Ann-Kathrin Brüggemann & Juan de la Rubia; Freiburger Barockorchester)
“Crazy Girl Crazy — Music by Gershwin, Berg & Berio” — Barbara Hannigan (Orchestra Ludwig)
“Gods & Monsters” — Nicholas Phan; Myra Huang, accompanist
“In War & Peace — Harmony Through Music” — Joyce DiDonato; Maxim Emelyanychev, conductor (Il Pomo D’Oro)
“Sviridov: Russia Cast Adrift” — Dmitri Hvorostovsky; Constantine Orbelian, conductor (St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra & Style of Five Ensemble)

CLASSICAL COMPENDIUM

“Barbara” — Alexandre Tharaud; Cécile Lenoir, producer
“Higdon: All Things Majestic, Viola Concerto & Oboe Concerto” — Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Tim Handley, producer
“Kurtág: Complete Works for Ensemble & Choir” — Reinbert de Leeuw, conductor; Guido Tichelman, producer
“Les Routes de l’Esclavage” — Jordi Savall, conductor; Benjamin Bleton, producer
“Mademoiselle: Première Audience — Unknown Music of Nadia Boulanger” — Lucy Mauro; Lucy Mauro, producer

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL COMPOSITION

“Danielpour: Songs of Solitude” — Richard Danielpour, composer (Thomas Hampson, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)
“Higdon: Viola Concerto” — Jennifer Higdon, composer (Roberto Díaz, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)
“Mansurian: Requiem” — Tigran Mansurian, composer (Alexander Liebreich, Florian Helgath, RIAS Kammerchor & Münchener Kammerorchester)
“Schoenberg, Adam: Picture Studies” — Adam Schoenberg, composer (Michael Stern & Kansas City Symphony)
“Zhou Tian: Concerto for Orchestra” — Zhou Tian, composer (Louis Langrée & Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra)

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Classical music: American music is in the spotlight this weekend as pianist Olga Kern returns in a concerto by Samuel Barber and the Madison Symphony Orchestra performs Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony

October 18, 2017
1 Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

This weekend, the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO, below in a photo by Peter Rodgers), with music director John DeMain conducting, will present its second concert of the season, featuring music “From the New World.”

“From the New World” features the return of soloist Olga Kern in her take on an American classic — Samuel Barber’s only Piano Concerto — for her fourth appearance with the MSO. This piece is accompanied by Maurice Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite and is followed after intermission by Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, know as the “New World Symphony,” inspired by the prairies of America.

The concerts take place in Overture Hall of the Overture Center, 201 State St., on Friday, Oct. 20, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 21, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 22, at 2:30 p.m.

Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite was originally written as a suite of “Five Children’s Pieces for Piano Four Hands” and was later orchestrated by the composer and expanded into a ballet in 1911. The piece by Ravel (below) is comprised of 11 sections, many of which are based on five fairy tales of Charles Perrault, most specifically those of his Contes de ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Tales).

The Piano Concerto was written in Samuel Barber’s mature years, and is characterized by a gain in depth of expression and technical mastery from his earlier lyrical style. The piece was met with great critical acclaim and led to Barber (below) winning his second Pulitzer Prize in 1963 and a Music Critics Circle Award in 1964. (You can hear the second and third movements in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Russian-American Pianist Olga Kern (below) is recognized as one of her generation’s great pianists. She jumpstarted her U.S. career with her historic Gold Medal win at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas as the first woman to do so in more than 30 years.

Winner of the first prize at the Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition she was 17, Kern is a laureate of many international competitions. In 2016, she served as jury chairman of both the Seventh Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition and first Olga Kern International Piano Competition, where she also holds the title of artistic director.

Kern has performed in famed concert halls throughout the world including Carnegie Hall, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. She has appeared with the Madison Symphony Orchestra three times — in 2009, 2010 and 2014.

Composed in 1895 while Dvorak (below) was living in New York City, his Symphony No. 9 (often referred to as the “New World Symphony”) is said to have been inspired by the American “wide open spaces” of the prairies that he visited during a trip to Iowa in the summer of 1893.

The “New World Symphony” is considered to be one of the most popular symphonies ever written, and was even taken to the moon with Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

One hour before each performance, Anders Yocom (below, in a photo by James Gill), Wisconsin Public Radio host of “Sunday Brunch,” will lead a 30-minute Prelude Discussion in Overture Hall to enhance concertgoers’ understanding and listening experience.

For more background on the music, please read the Program Notes by MSO trombonist and UW-Whitewater professor J. Michael Allsen (below), at:

http://www.allsenmusic.com/NOTES/1718/2.Oct17.html

The Madison Symphony Orchestra recommends that concert attendees arrive early for each performance to make sure they have time to pass through Overture Center’s security stations, and so they can experience the pre-concert Prelude Discussion (free for all ticket-holders) one hour before the performance.

The October concerts also coincide with UW-Madison’s Homecoming Weekend celebration — another reason that MSO patrons are advised to arrive early for the concerts this weekend, especially on Friday.

Single Tickets are $18-$90 and are on sale now at https://www.madisonsymphony.org/singletickets, through the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street, or by calling the Box Office at (608) 258-4141.

Groups of 15 or more can save 25% by calling the MSO office at (608) 257-3734. For more information, got to: https://www.madisonsymphony.org/groups.

Student rush tickets can be purchased in person on the day of the concert at the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street. Students must show a valid student ID and can receive up to two $12 or $18 tickets.

You can find more information at: https://www.madisonsymphony.org/studentrush

Seniors age 62 and up receive 20% savings on advance and day-of-concert ticket purchases in select areas of the hall.

The first “Club 201 Concert and After-Party” of the season takes place on Friday, Oct. 20. The $35 ticket price includes one concert ticket ($68-$90 value), plus the after-party with hors d’oeuvres, cash bar, and one drink ticket. Club 201 Events are an opportunity for music enthusiasts 21 and over to connect with each other, and meet MSO musicians, Maestro John DeMain, and special guests.

Discounted seats are subject to availability, and discounts may not be combined.

Here is a direct link to find more information and to purchase tickets online: https://www.madisonsymphony.org/kern

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Tags: acclaim, afternoon, amateur, America, American, Antonín Dvořák, Apollo 11, Artistic director, Arts, award, ballet, bar, box office, brunch, Carnegie Hall, cash, cash bar, Cello, chairman, Charles Perrault, classic, Classical music, club, Competition, composer, Concert, concert hall, concerto, conservatory, critic, discount, discuss, discussion, drink, Dvorak, experience, expression, first, first prize, Fort Worth, four-hands, free, Friday, gold, guest, hall, hand, Homecoming, hors d'oeuvres, host, hour, international, Iowa, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, jury, listen, lyrical, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mastery, mature, medal, moon, Moscow, Moscow Conservatory, Mother G, Music, Music Critics Circle, Music director, NASA, Neil Armstrong, new, New World, New York City, night, Olga Kern, Orchestra, orchestrate, Overture Center, Paris, parking, party, performance, person, Piano, Piano concerto, piano-four hands, prairie, Prelude, professor, Pulitzer Prize, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, Radio, Ravel, Russia, Russian, Samuel Barber, Saturday, Season, second, security, senior, solo, soloist, Student, style, Suite, summer, Sunday, symphony, tale, technical, Texas, theater, theatre, ticket, trip, Trombone, understand, understanding, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Whitewater, Van Cliburn, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Viola, Violin, wisconsin public radio, woman, world, write, written, YouTube

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