The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and guest soloists will give a FREE public concert on Friday, Dec. 27, in the new Hamel Music Center at the UW-Madison to honor arts patrons Sandy and Jun Lee
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
If you are looking for a non-holiday concert to go to during Christmas week, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below, in a photo by Mike Gorski) — which just performed a sold-out “Messiah” and is about to play the score for Madison Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker” — has a surprise gift for you.
On Friday, Dec. 27, at 8 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave., at the UW-Madison, the WCO and three guest soloists will give a FREE “Winter Celebration” concert that is open to the public. (Donations to the WCO are suggested.)
The occasion is to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Sandy and Jun Lee (below), who are generous patrons of the arts in Madison.
The three guest artists for the concert are:
UW-Madison piano graduate Jason Kutz (below), who performs with the Willy Street Chamber players and other groups, will play the Introduction and Allegro Appassionato, Op. 92, by Robert Schumann.
Local mezzo-soprano opera star Kitt Reuter-Foss (below), who has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, will sing the “Habanera” from Bizet’s “Carmen” and “What a Movie” from Leonard Bernstein’s “Trouble in Tahiti.” (You can hear the famous “Habanera” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Renowned Chicago violinist Rachel Barton Pine, who has played several times with the WCO and just two months ago performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, will play the Violin Concerto No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 61, by Camille Saint-Saens.
In addition, the WCO, under the baton of music director Andrew Sewell (below, in a photo by Alex Cruz), will perform the “Poet and Peasant” Overture by Franz von Suppe; and the Overture to “Orpheus in the Underworld” by Jacques Offenbach.
Although the concert is free, tickets are required. You can go to this link to register by putting in your name and other required information: https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/winter-celebration/
Tags: #AmericanComposer, #AndrewSewell, #ArtsPatron, #BalletScore, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOratorio, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CamilleSaint-Saens, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzvonSuppe, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GeorgesBizet, #GoldenAnniversary, #GuestSoloist, #HamelMusicCenter, #IntroductionandAllegroAppassinato, #JacquesOffenbach, #JasonKutz, #JunLee, #KittReuter-Foss, #LeonardBernstein, #MadisonBallet, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MetropolitanOpera, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #MusicDirector, #OperaAria, #OrpheusintheUnderworld, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PianoConcerto, #PoetandPeasantOverture, #RachelBartonPine, #RobertSchumann, #SandyLee, #TheEar, #TheLees, #TheNutcracker, #TroubleinTahiti, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViolinConcerto, #VocalMusic, #WhataMovie, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, American, Andrew Sewell, anniversary, aria, artists, Arts, audience, ballet, Baroque, baton, Bizet, blog, Camille Saint-Saëns, Carmen, celebration, Christmas, Classical music, composer, Concert, concerto, conductor, donation, Early music, Facebook, film, forward, Franz von Suppe, free, generous, George Bizet, George Frideric Handel, golden anniversary, groups, guest soloist, Habanera, Hamel Music Center, Handel, Holiday, information, Introduction and Allegro Appassionato, Jacob Stockinger, Jacques Offenbach, Jason Kutz, Jun Lee, Kitt Reuter-Foss, Lee, Leonard Bernstein, like, link, local, Madison, Madison Ballet, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Symphony Orchetsra, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, Messiah, Metropolitan Opera, Mezzo-soprano, movie, Music, Music director, name, Offenbach, opera, Orchestra, Orpheus in the Underworld, Overture, parton, patron, peasant, perform, Pianist, Piano, poet, post, posting, public, Rachel Barton Pine, register, Reuter-Foss, Robert Schumann, Saint-Saens, Sandy Lee, Schumann, score, share, sing, singer, sold-out, solo, soloist, sung, surprise, tag, Tahiti, Tchaikovsky, The Ear, The Nutcracker, ticket, Trouble in Tahiti, troule, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Violin, violinist, vocal music, von Suppe, wedding, weekj, What a Movie, Willy Street Chamber Players, winter, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, YouTube
Classical music: Live radio broadcasts of opera from The Met start today at noon on Wisconsin Public Radio. And superstar Plácido Domingo marks his 50th year at the Met.
1 Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
Today at noon, the Metropolitan Opera starts its 88th season of Live Broadcasts From the Met.
Locally, the performance today, like all of them, airs on Wisconsin Public Radio. The new season, which starts with Arrigo Boito’s “Mefistofole,” continues through May 11.
Here is a list to the title of the entire season: https://www.wpr.org/metropolitan-opera-begins-its-88th-season
It also seems like a perfect time to mark a milestone at the Met: The 50th anniversary of the Met debut of superstar tenor Plácido Domingo (below) who is still singing, now as a baritone, at the age of 77.
Here is a link to his impressive biography on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plácido_Domingo
Here is a link to an account, appreciation and review of the event last week, celebrated with Domingo’s appearance in Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi” below center, in a photo by Sara Krulwich for the New York Times) in The New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/25/arts/music/review-placido-domingo-met-opera-trittico-puccini.html
Here is The Met’s general manager Peter Gelb (left) giving a piece of the Met’s stage to Domingo to mark his golden anniversary:
Finally, here is a YouTube video of the Met’s celebration of Domingo:
Tags: #ArrigoBoito, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GeneralManager, #GiacomoPuccini, #GianniSchicchi, #GoldenAnniversary, #MetropolitanOpera, #OperaMusic, #OperaReview, #PeterGelb, #PlacidoDomingo, #TheMet, #TheNewYorkTImes, #Wikipediabiography, #Wikipediaentry, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #YouTubevideo, Arrigo Boito, Arts, baritone, biography, blog, Broadcast, celebration, Classical music, composer, critic, debut, Facebook, general manager, Gianni Schicchi, golden anniversary, Jacob Stockinger, like, link, live, Mefistofole, Metropolitan Opera, milestone, Music, New York City, New York Times, opera, Peter Gelb, Plácido Domingo, Puccini, Radio, review, Season, share, tenor, the Met, vocal music, Wikipedia, wisconsin public radio, YouTube
Classical music: The King’s Singers will mark 50 years when they perform Saturday night at the Wisconsin Union Theater
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
The acclaimed a cappella singing group The King’s Singers (below) will be marking its 50th anniversary when it performs the annual Fan Taylor Concert – named to honor the first director of the Wisconsin Union Theater – on this Saturday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m. in Shannon Hall.
Tickets are $25-$45 general admission, $20 for youths and $10 for UW students. For more information, including the complete program, background, audio-video samples and how to purchase tickets, go to https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/the-kings-singers/. You can also phone 608-265-ARTS (2787) or go in person. See locations and hours here.
Celebrating their Golden Anniversary this year, The King’s Singers are widely acclaimed for the quality of their singing and diverse repertoire, which includes over 200 commissioned works from the world’s leading composers.
The commissioned arrangements come from a breadth of musical genres: jazz standards to pop chart hits, medieval motets to Renaissance madrigals, and new scores by young composers.
The upcoming concert is part of their 50th anniversary world tour, and the program showcases their signature blend, purity of tone, and diversity of repertoire, with selections ranging from Renaissance polyphony to brand new commissions celebrating the 50th anniversary.
This love of diversity has always fuelled The King’s Singers’ commitment to creating new music. A panoply of commissioned works by many of the greatest composers of our times – including Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, John Rutter, Toru Takemitsu, Sir John Tavener and Eric Whitacre – sits alongside countless bespoke arrangements in the group’s extensive repertoire.
One of these is called “To Stand in This House” by Nico Muhly (below), which sets various texts by scholars who originated at King’s College, Cambridge, where The Kings Singers were founded.
The program, GOLD, charts a journey through the music that has defined The King’s Singers so far, from Renaissance polyphony to art song to, naturally, close harmony favorites.
The group also looks toward the future with several commissions for the 50th season from composers and arrangers with who they have ties, including, in addition to Nico Muhly’s work, “We Are” by composer/conductor Bob Chilcott, himself a former member of The King’s Singers; and “Quintessentially” by Joanna and Alexander L’Estrange (below), which humorously tells the story of The King’s Singers’ past 50 years.
The King’s Singers was founded in 1968 at King’s College in Cambridge, England. They continually wow audiences across the globe in over 125 concerts a year. The group has won two Grammy awards and was inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame for its vocal artistry and excellence. (You hear a sample from the group’s new anniversary album, “Gold,” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The Madison concert is presented by the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Performing Arts Committee.
This concert is supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts. WORT-FM 89.9 is the media sponsor.
Tags: #AlexanderL'Estrange, #CambridgeEngland, #EricWhitacre, #FanTaylor, #GoldenAnniversary, #GrammophonMagazine, #GyorgyLigeti, #JoannaL'Estrange, #JohnRutter, #JohnTavener, #King'sCollege, #LucianoBerio, #NationalEndowmentfortheArts, #NewMusic, #NicoMuhly, #PerformingArts, #RenaissanceMadrigal, #RenaissancePolyphony, #StateOfWisconsin, #TheKing'sSingers, #ToruTakemitsu, #UnitedKingdom, #WisconsinArtsBoard, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WORT-FM89.9, a cappella, anniversary, arrangement, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Berio, Britain, choral music, Classical music, commission, Early music, earlymusic, England, Eric Whitacre, future, genre, golden anniversary, great, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, John Rutter, John Tavener, L'Estrange, Ligeti, Madison, madrigal, Medieval, motet, Mozart, Music, National Endowment for the Arts, New Music, polyphony, pop, pops, popular music, purity, Renaissance, repertoire, scholar, singer, singers, Singing, song, text, The King's Singers, tone, UK, United Kingdom, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Theater, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | ANN C BOYER on Beethoven helps LeBron James b… |
 | Bratsche on Is a lot of ‘woke’ music infer… |
 | Nicholas Ennos on Classical music: The Ear gener… |
 | bbead on Is a lot of ‘woke’ music infer… |
 | Elissa Strauss on Is a lot of ‘woke’ music infer… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 