Grace Episcopal Church | The Well-Tempered Ear

ALL Bach Around the Clock 2023 concerts are now online. Here are the links and some stats

April 4, 2023
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 especially new SUBSCRIBERS to the blog.

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

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.

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

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPosting, #TheEar, #YouTubevideo, 2023, age, amateur, Art of Fugue, Arts, audience, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, Baroque, BATC, Beethoven, blog, brass music, Business, celebration, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, composer, Concert, concerto, contribution, date, donor, Early music, experience, expiration, Facebook, fan, festival, Fundraising, future, Grace Episcopal Church, home website, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Keyboard, keyboard music, link, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, marimba, motet, Music, news, online, Orchestra, percussion, performer, Piano, planning, post, professional, recording, share, Sonata, sponsor, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, streaming, string music, String quartet, students, studio, support, Suzuki Strings, Suzuki Strings of Madison, symphony, tag, The Ear, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music, view, Viola, Violin, virtual, vocal music, Website, wind music, Wisconsin, YouTube

Going live! Here are some links to newly announced summer concerts and 2021-22 seasons

June 15, 2021
2 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

Get out your datebooks.

Now that the pandemic is fast abating, at least locally, music groups and music presenters in the Madison area have been announcing a return to live music and their new seasons and summer events in a relentless way.

The Ear had been out of commission since mid-May until this week. But in any case, The Ear was overwhelmed and just couldn’t keep up with a separate post for each one.

Still, he thought it might be helpful to be able to check the dates, performers, programs, tickets and other information in one place.

Remember that the Madison Early Music Festival is no more. It has been absorbed into the regular music curriculum at the UW.

Please know that many groups – including, but not limited to, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music (below is the UW Symphony Orchestra — masked, socially distanced and virtually streamed — during the pandemic), University Opera, Edgewood College, Just Bach, Grace Presents, the Salon Piano Series, the First Unitarian Society of Madison, Bach Around the Clock, the Festival Choir of Madison, the Wisconsin Chamber Choir and the Madison Bach Musicians – have not yet released details of their new seasons.

But most of their websites say that an announcement of their new season is coming soon.

There are also some trends you may notice.

Many of the groups are raising prices and persistently seek donations as well as subscribers, no doubt to help make up for the loss of revenue during the pandemic.

The Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra have reduced the number of concerts or start later.

Some have simply rescheduled events, like the Wisconsin Union Theater closing its season with soprano Renée Fleming. And the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s new season is largely the same one they were planning to have to celebrate the Beethoven Year in 2020-21.

The Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, the Middleton Community Orchestra and the Willy Street Chamber Players all have pop-up concerts and scheduled outdoor concerts in parks. Some have also scheduled individual mini-concerts or personal sessions.

If you look at programs, you will see an emphasis on Black composers and performers by almost all groups. (The Madison Symphony Orchestra has scheduled “Lyric for Strings” by George Walker, below. You can hear it performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

What is most disappointing is that no group seems to have announced a special concert or event to pay homage to the public ordeal, health care workers and victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ear keeps thinking a performance of a suitable requiem (by perhaps Mozart, Faure, Brahms, Verdi or Britten) or Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony would have been an appropriate way to start the in-person season and, at the same time, acknowledge the more than 7,000 deaths in Wisconsin and almost 600,000 deaths in the U.S. and almost 4 million worldwide as of now. Maybe even Barber’s overplayed Adagio for Strings would suffice.

Finally, very few groups seem to be offering online virtual concert attendance as a possibility for those listeners who found that they actually enjoyed at least some the music in their own homes and at their own times.

IN ANY CASE, HERE IS WHAT HAS ALREADY TAKEN PLACE OR IS STILL ON TAP. CHECK IT OUT!

Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society in free live and for-pay recorded concerts: https://bachdancing.org

Middleton Community Orchestra’s summer concerts at Fireman’s Park (below) in Middleton: https://middletoncommunityorchestra.org

Madison Bach Musicians summer workshops (below): https://madisonbachmusicians.org/2021-summer-chamber-music-workshop/

Concerts on the Square with limited paid admission at Breese Stevens Field (below): https://wcoconcerts.org/concerts-tickets/concerts-on-the-square

Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers): https://madisonsymphony.org/concerts-events/madison-symphony-orchestra-concerts/

Madison Opera and Opera in the Park (below): https://www.madisonopera.org/oitp21/; and https://www.madisonopera.org/21-22/

Wisconsin Union Theater: https://union.wisc.edu/visit/wisconsin-union-theater/seasonevents/concert-series/

Willy Street Chamber Players (below) at Orton Park: http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org/2021-summer-concert-series.html

If you know of more entries or have observations to make about these, please leave word and, when possible, a link in the comment section.

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AdagioforStrings, #African-AmericanComposer, #AncoraStringQuartet, #BachAroundtheClock, #BachDancingandDynamiteSociety, #BeethovenYear, #BenjaminBritten, #BlackComposer, #Blackcomposers, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BreeseStevensField, #ChristianChurch, #CollageNewMusic, #ConcertsontheSquare, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #EdgewoodChamberOrchestra, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FestivalChoirofMadison, #FiremansPark, #GabrieFaure, #GiuseppeVerdi, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #GracePresents, #GustavoDudamel, #HealthCare, #JacobStockinger, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JustBach, #LiveMusic, #LosAngeles, #LosAngelesPhilharmonic, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MusicEducation, #NewMusic, #NinthSymphony, #OperaInThePark, #OrtonPark, #RecordedMusic, #RenéeFleming, #SalonPIanoSeries, #SamuelBarber, #ShannonHall, #SocialDistance, #SopranoSinger, #StringMusic, #StringQuartet, #TakePlace, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #TheUW, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WisconsinChamberChoir, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, abate, absorb, acknowledge, Adagio for Strings, admission, African American, America, Ancora String Quartet, Arts, audience, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Barber, Baroque, BDDS, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, Benjamin Britten, black, black composer, blog, Blog post, blog posting, Brahms, Breese Stevens Field, Britten, celebrate, Chamber music, choral music, Christia, church, Classical music, comment, commission, composer, Concert, concerto, Concerts on the Square, coronavirus, COS, curriculum, death, deaths, details, donation, Dudamel, Early music, Edgewood College, enjoy, entry, Facebook, Facebook page, Facebook post, fast, Faure, Festival Choir of Madison, Firemans Park, for-pay, forward, free, funding, Gabriel Fauré, Giuseppe Verdi, Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Presents, group, Gustavo Dudamel, health care, homage, Home, indoors, information, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Just Bach, later, like, limited, link, listener, live music, live-stream, local, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Philharmonic, loss, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Early Music Festival, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mask, MCO, Mead Witter School of Music, MEMF, Middleton, Middleton Community Orchestra, Mozart, Music, Music education, new, New Music, Ninth Symphony, notice, opera, Opera in the Park, Orchestra, ordeal, Orton Park, outdoors, overplay, Overture Center, overwhelm, overwhelming, paid, pandemic, performers, persistent, personal, Pianist, Piano, pop-up, presenter, price, program, public, recorded music, Renée Fleming, Requiem, revenue, Salon Piano Series, Samuel Barber, schedule, Season, seating, seek, separate, Shannon Hall, share, singer, Singing, social distance, Sonata, soprano, start, stream, string music, String quartet, strings, subscriber, suffice, summer, symphony, tag, take place, tap, The Ear, ticket, tickets, times, trend, U.S., United State, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, UW, UW Symphony Orchestra, Verdi, victim, Violin, vocal music, Website, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Choir, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, workers, workshop, YouTube

This Saturday night the Wisconsin Chamber Choir and Grammy winner Sarah Brailey perform a free live-streamed concert of music by women

May 13, 2021
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following announcement to post:

The Wisconsin Chamber Choir (WCC, below) with a special guest — Grammy Award-winning soprano and UW-Madison graduate Sarah Brailey – will perform this Saturday, May 15, at 7 p.m.

“Music She Wrote” is a celebration of music composed by a highly diverse group of women from many ages.

Choir members will sing from their individual cars using wireless microphones, listening to the sound of the whole choir via their car radios.

The audience is invited to listen in live on YouTube and to let us know they are interested by sending an RSVP to our Facebook event.

There is no charge to view the livestream, but donations will be welcome.

Here are the links to hear the performance LIVE on YouTube or Facebook:

https://youtu.be/Iaz0wZhuG18 or:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1561155960751974/

The WCC had scheduled a regular concert with an all-female cast of composers for May 2020, which fell victim to Covid-19. As it became obvious that the pandemic would last longer, the WCC started exploring new ways of making and disseminating music.

From September 2020, we resumed activity in the shape of the Parking Lot Choir, generating local media coverage from WKOW-TV and Madison Magazine, whose story was headlined “Forget tailgates, parking lots are for choir practice.”

The result of this first rehearsal run was the widely acclaimed “Car Carols” concert in December 2020, whose format is the model for “Music She Wrote.”

In addition to the Parking Lot Choir, three smaller groups from the WCC assembled at the Edgewood College Amphitheater on Saturday mornings to rehearse (below) in widely spaced formations, wearing specially designed singer masks.

Another such group, made up of our members from southeastern Wisconsin, met in Whitewater on Sunday afternoons. Recordings by those four small groups will be aired during the May 15 broadcast in addition to live singing by the Parking Lot choristers.

The program includes: the Garden Songs by Fanny Hensel, née Mendelssohn (Felix’s sister, below), which were intended for outdoor performance; and Ethel Smyth’s March of the Women, the anthem of the women’s suffrage movement in the English-speaking world.

In addition to works by African American composers Ysaÿe M. Barnwell (below top) and Rosephanye Powell and by Cuban composer Beatriz Corona (below second), the program includes samples from outside the Western tradition — Lamma Badaa Yatathannaa, sung in Arabic, by Shireen Abu-Shader (below third), who hails from Jordan but received her academic education in the U.S. and Canada; and two pieces by Japanese composer Makiko Kinoshita (below bottom).

Western early music is represented by Italian composers Raffaella Aleotti (below top) and Chiara Cozzolani (below bottom), who lived in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Finally, there is singer-songwriter Judy Collins with her Song for Sarajevo, composed for the children of the war in Bosnia in 1994 and arranged by her longtime collaborator, Russell Walden. (You can hear it in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

For more details, visit: https://www.wisconsinchamberchoir.org/music-she-wrote.

Sarah Brailey (below, in a photo by Miranda Loud), a native of Wisconsin, studied at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she has just completed her doctorate. A consummate musician and internationally acclaimed soloist, she recently won a Grammy Award in the Best Classical Vocal Solo Album category for her role as The Soul in the world premiere recording of Ethel Smyth’s The Prison.

She is familiar to Madison audiences not only as a performer and co-founder of Just Bach but also as the co-host of WORT’s Musica Antiqua show on FM 89.9 and the director of Grace Presents.

As a graduate student, she joined the WCC for two seasons from 2004 to 2006. We are thrilled to welcome her back! For more information on Sarah, see her website at https://sarahbrailey.com

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #All-Female, #All-FemaleConcert, #ArabicComposer, #BaroqueMusic, #BeatrizCorona, #BlackComposer, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BosnianWar, #CarCarols, #CarRadio, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #CityofMadison, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #Cubancomposer, #EastmanSchoolofMusic, #EdgewoodCollege, #EthelSmyth, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FannyMendelssohn-Hensel, #FelixMendelssohn, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #GracePresents, #Grammy-winning, #GrammyAward, #GuestArtist, #italianComposer, #JacobStockinger, #JapaneseComposer, #JudyCollins, #JustBach, #LiveStreaming, #MadisonMagazine, #MadisonWisconsin, #MakikoKinoshita, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicaAntiqua, #MusicEducation, #MusicSheWrote, #NewMusic, #NoCharge, #OnlineConcert, #ParkingLotChoir, #PopMusic, #RadioHost, #RaffaellaAleotti, #RomeItaly, #RosephanyePowell, #SarahBrailey, #ShireenAbu-Shader, #SocialDistance, #SongforSarajevo, #SongWriter, #SopranoSinger, #TheEar, #TheInternet, #ThePrison, #TheU.S., #TheUW, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WarnerPark, #Whitewater, #WhitewaterWisconsin, #WisconsinChamberChoir, #WKOWTV, #Women'sSuffrage, #WomenComposers, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubevideo, #YsayeBarnwell, activity, African American, ages, anthem, Arab, Arabic, Arabic composer, arrangement, Arts, audience, auto, Baroque, Beatriz Corona, black composer, blog, Bosnia, Brailey, Broadcast, Canada, car, Car Carols, car radio, category, celebration, Chiara Cozzolani, children, Choir, choral music, chorus, Christian, church, Classical music, collaborator, Collins, compose, composer, Concert, Corona, coronavirus, Cuban, Cubas, design, director, disseminate, diverse, doctorate, donation, Early music, Eastman School of Music, Edgewood College, Education, English, Ethel Smyth, European, event, explore, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, familiar, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, farden, Felix Mendelssohn, formation, forward, free, Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Presents, graduate, Grammy, group, guest artist, headline, hear, information, interest, Internet, Italian, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Japanese composer, Jordan, Judy Collins, Just Bach, Kinoshita, know, like, link, listen, live, livestream, local, longtime, Madison, Madison Magazine, make, Makiko Kinoshita, march, masks, Mead Witter School of Music, media, microphones, model, morning, Music, Music education, Music She Wrote, Musica Antiqua, native, New Music, no charge, online, outdoor, pandemic, Parking Lot Choir, performance, performer, pieces, pop, pop music, popular, post, posting, Powell, prison, Radio, radio host, Raffaella Aleotti, register, rehearsal, resume, role, Rosephanye Powell, RSVP, Sarah Brailey, Saturday, schedule, send, shape, share, Shireen Abu-Khader, singer, Singing, Smyth, social distance, solo, song, Song for Sarajevo, soprano, soul, Sound, speak, special, story, suffrage, sung, tag, tailgate, Television, The Ear, tradition, TV, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, UW, UW-Madison, victim, view, virtual, vocal music, war, Warner Park, WCC, wear, Website, welcome, Western, wireless, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Choir, WKOW TV, women, women composers, women's suffrage, world, WORT FM 88.9, YouTube, Ysaye Barnwell

The Madison Bach Musicians host a virtual online Baroque Tour starting this Saturday, April 24, and lasting through May 8

April 19, 2021
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following notice from Trevor Stephenson, the founder and artistic director of the Madison Bach Musicians (MBM), who will debut their season-closing concert live and online this coming Saturday night, April 24: 

Stephenson (below) writes:

Since travel has been so very limited during the pandemic, Madison Bach Musicians is elated to conclude its 2020-21 season with a musical journey through both space and time, and invites you to join us from the intimacy and safety of your own home.

A Baroque Tour is a musical travelogue of instrumental masterworks from 17th- and 18th-century Europe. Luminaries like Handel, Vivaldi, Purcell and Buxtehude are in the mix on this program with their brilliant though lesser-known contemporaries such as Louis-Gabriel Guillemain (below top), Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Andrea Falconieri (below bottom) and Francisco Jose de Castro.

A Baroque Tour will explore the glorious sonic landscapes of Italy, Spain, France, England and Germany.

Our ensemble for this program consists of five strings plus harpsichord, and we are thrilled that baroque bassoon virtuoso Marc Vallon (below, in a photo by James Gill), who teaches at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, will join us for Vivaldi’s exuberant Bassoon Concerto in B-Flat Major. (You can hear the opening movement in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

A Baroque Tour will be broadcast via live-streaming from the acoustically spectacular sanctuary of Grace Episcopal Church on this Saturday evening, April 24. (Rebroadcasts will be available on demand through May 8.)

Tickets are $15 and available online at: https://madison-bach-musicians.square.site/product/a-baroque-tour-april-24-2021-livestream-on-demand-until-may-8/57?cs=true&cst=custom

If you wish to purchase tickets through the mail, use this downloadable form: https://madisonbachmusicians.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/MBM-2020-21-Live-Stream-Ticket-Form-A-Baroque-Tour.pdf

Here is the schedule for the concert and related events:

From 7:30-8 p.m., in a pre-concert lecture, MBM artistic director Trevor Stephenson will discuss the composers, the repertoire and the historical instruments.

The performance will run from 8 p.m. until approximately 9:15 p.m.

The evening will then conclude with a live Question-and-Answer session with the musicians who will be socially distanced on the concert platform.

Listeners should submit their questions—in advance or during the broadcast—via email to Karen Rebholz at madisonbachmusicians.manager@gmail.com.

THE MUSICIANS are:

Marc Vallon – baroque bassoon soloist

Kangwon Kim (below) – baroque violin

Emily Dupere – baroque violin

Micah Behr – baroque viola and baroque guitar

Martha Vallon – baroque cello and viola da gamba

James Waldo – baroque cello (and tambourine)

Trevor Stephenson – harpsichord

THE PROGRAM is:

HANDEL – Sonata in A major for Violin and Continuo, HWV 361

CHARPENTIER – Concerto for Four Viols, H 545

PURCELL – Trio Sonata in C major, Z 795

VIVALDI – Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major, RV 503

GUILLEMAIN – Sonata in A minor for Two Violins, Op. 5, No.1

BUXTEHUDE – Trio Sonata in G major, BuxWV 271

DE CASTRO – Trio Sonata in C major, Op. 1, No. 6

FALCONIERI – La Folia (Folías de España)

Here is a link to some brief biographies and interesting facts about these remarkable composers: https://madisonbachmusicians.org/april-24-a-baroque-tour-a-livestream-event/

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AndreaFalconieri, #AntonioVivaldi, #ArtisticDirector, #BaroqueBassoon, #BaroqueContinuo, #BaroqueMusic, #BassoonConcerto, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChristianChurch, #CoronavirusPandemic, #DietrichBuxtehude, #EmailAddress, #EmilyDupere, #EnglishComposer, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranciscoJosedeCastro, #Frenchcomposer, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GermanComposer, #GermanComposers, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #HarpsichordContinuo, #HenryPurcell, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #HomeWebsite, #InstrumentalMusic, #italianComposer, #JacobStockinger, #JamesWaldo, #JohannSebastaianBach, #KangwonKim, #KeyboardMusic, #LaFolia, #LiveStreaming, #Louis-GabrielGuillemain, #MadisonBachMusicians, #Marc-AntoineCharpentier, #MarcVallon, #MarthaVallon, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MicahBehr, #Musicfaculty, #OnlineConcert, #PeriodInstruments, #Pre-concertLecture, #RelatedEvent, #SaturdayNight, #SocialDistance, #SpanishComposer, #StringMusic, #TheEar, #TheUW, #TrevorStephenson, #TrioSonata, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VioladaGamba, #VirtualConcert, #WoodwindInstruments, #YouTubevideo, acoustics, Andrea Falconieri, Antonio Vivaldi, April, April Fool, Artistic director, Arts, audience, Bach, Baroque, bassoon concerto, biography, blog, brief, brilliant, Britain, Broadcast, Buxtehude, Castro, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, Charpentier, Christian, church, Classical music, composer, Concert, concerto, conclude, contemporary, continuo, coronavirus, cost, demand, Dietrich Buxtehude, downloadable, Dupere, Early music, elate, email, Emily Dupere, England, English, evening, event, exuberant, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, fact, Falconieri, form, forward, founder, Francisco Jose de Castro, French, George Frideric Handel, German, Germany, glorious, Grace Episcopal Church, Guillemain, guitar, Handel, harpsichord, help, Henry Purcell, historically informed performance practices, Home, home website, instrumental, intimacy, invite, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, James Walso, Johann Sebastian Bach, journey, Kangwon Kim, Keyboard, keyboard music, La Folia, landscape, like, limited, link, livestream, Louis-Gabriel Guillemain, luminary, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, mail, Marc Vallon, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Martha Vallon, masterpiece, MBM, Mead Witter School of Music, Micah Behr, mix, Music, music faculty, musical, Musician, notice, online, pandemic, performer, period instruments, post, posting, pre-concert lecture, professor, Purcell, Q&A, question-and-answer, related, remarkable, repertoire, repertory, safety, sanctuary, Saturday, Season, session, share, social distance, Sonata, sonic, space, Spain, Spanish, spectacular, string, string music, tag, tambourine, The Ear, thrill, ticket, time, tour, travel, travelogue, Trevor Stephenson, trio, trio sonata, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, video, Viol, Viola, viola da gamba, Violin, violinist, virtual, virtuoso, Vivaldi, Website, Wisconsin, woodwind, write, YouTube

A busy weekend of online concerts features the UW Symphony, Edgewood College, Madison Opera, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Bach Around the Clock and more

March 25, 2021
2 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

With only a little over a month left before the academic year ends at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, it’s not surprising that the last weekend in March is very busy with noteworthy – and competing – online concerts.

Each morning at 8 through Friday, Bach Around the Clock will release the last concerts of its 10-day online festival. You can find the programs – including the finale Friday night at 7 with Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 — and link for streaming here: https://bachclock.com/concert-schedule

The weekend starts tonight with one of The Ear’s favorite groups during the Pandemic Year: the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra

Here is a day-by-day lineup. All times are Central Daylight Time:

TONIGHT, MARCH 25

The UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra (below) performs a FREE virtual online concert TONIGHT starting at 7:30 p.m.

The concert will be preceded by a 7 p.m. talk about Igor Stravinsky with modern musicologist and Penn State Professor Maureen Carr as well as conductor Oriol Sans and Susan Cook, UW musicologist and director of the Mead Witter School of Music.

The program is: Suite from the opera “Dido and Aeneas” by Henry Purcell, with student conductor Alison Norris; Duet for Two Violins and String Orchestra by the contemporary American composer Steve Reich; and the Neo-Classical “Apollon musagète” (Apollo, Leader of the Muses) by Stravinsky. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear an excerpt of the Stravinsky played by the Berlin Philharmonic with Simon Rattle conducting.)

Here is the link to the talk and concert. Click on more and you can also see the members of the orchestra and the two violin soloists: https://youtu.be/2rgHQ4lWTV8

For more information about the program, including notes, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-madison-symphony-orchestra/

FRIDAY, MARCH 26

At 7:30 p.m. the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra will post for three days the third of its four online chamber music concerts (below). There will be excerpts of music by Beethoven and Brahms as well as complete works by Jessie Montgomery and Alyssa Morris.

Tickets to the online on-demand event are $30, with some discounts available, and are good through Monday evening.

Here is a link to more about this concert, including program notes by conductor and music director Andrew Sewell, and how to purchase tickets: https://wcoconcerts.org/events/winter-chamber-series-no-iii

At 8 p.m., the music department at Edgewood College will give a FREE online Spring Celebration concert. It will be livestreamed via music.edgewood.edu

The performers include: the Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Sergei Pavlov (below); the Guitar Ensemble, under the direction of Nathan Wysock; and the Chamber Winds, directed by Carrie Backman.

Highlights include the Guitar Ensemble’s performance of Wish You Were Here, by David Gilmour and Rogers Waters, and the Chamber Winds epic Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The Chamber Orchestra, which will perform live, will feature Musical moment No. 3, by Franz Schubert and Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg.

SATURDAY, MARCH 27

At noon, in Grace Episcopal Church on the Capitol Square downtown, there will be a FREE online concert. Grace Presents: “A Patient Enduring”: This early music program of medieval conductus (a musical setting of metrical Latin texts) and ballade, English lute song, and duets from the early Italian Baroque features two sopranos, Grammy-winnner Sarah Brailey (below) and Kristina Boerger, with Brandon Acker on lute and theorbo.

Here is a link: YouTube.com/GracePresentsConcerts

You can also go to this webpage for a link: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/grace-presents-a-patient-enduring/

At 3 p.m. the Perlman Trio, a piano trio that is made up of UW-Madison graduate students, will give a FREE online concert. The program includes piano trios by Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert.

Here is a link to the YouTube video: https://youtu.be/EAjK0DfWB3A

Here is a link to the complete program plus background, names and photos of the performers as well as to the performance: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/perlman-piano-trio/

At 7 p.m. the UW-Madison’s Wingra Wind Quntet (below) will perform a FREE pre-recorded online concert. Here is a link to the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn7eobSnfr8

And here is a link to the page with more background information about the faculty members – including bassoonist Marc Vallon (below top) and flutist Conor Nelson (below bottom) – and to the complete program: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/wingra-wind-quintet/

SUNDAY, MARCH 28

From 4 to 5:30 p.m., guest mezzo-soprano Julia Ubank (below) will give a free online recital with pianist Thomas Kasdorf.

The program features songs by Mahler, Debussy, deFalla, Jake Heggie and Ellen Cogen.

Here is the complete program plus a link to the recital: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/julia-urbank-voice-recital/

From 4 to 5:30 p.m. the Madison Opera will host a Opera Up Close cocktail hour discussion with four general directors of opera companies. Here is the website’s description:

“Four opera general directors walk into a chat room…. Stepping outside the Madison Opera family, Kathryn Smith (below, in a photo by James Gill) is joined by three colleagues: Michael Egel of Des Moines Metro Opera, Ashley Magnus of Chicago Opera Theater, and Lee Anne Myslewski of Wolf Trap Opera.

“From how they got into opera, to the ups and downs of running an opera company, their favorite productions, funniest moments, and more, it will be a unique and entertaining afternoon.

Here is a link with more information including the cost of a subscription: https://www.madisonopera.org/class/general-directors/?wcs_timestamp=1616947200

At 6 p.m., Rachel Reese, a UW-Madison doctoral student in violin, will give a lecture-concert about the Violin Concerto No. 2 by the rediscovered African-American composer Florence Price (below). She will be accompanied by pianist Aubrie Jacobson.

Here is a link to the concert plus background about Rachel Reese: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/rachel-reese-lecture-recital/

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #African-AmericanComposer, #AlyssaMorris, #AndrewSewell, #BachAroundtheClock, #BaroqueMusic, #BerlinGermany, #BerlinPhilharmonic, #BlackComposer, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrandenburgConcerto, #CapitolSquare, #CarrieBackman, #CentralDaylightTime, #CentralTime, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberOrchestra, #ChamberWinds, #ChicagoIllinois, #ChicagoOperaTheater, #ChristianChurch, #ClassicalGuitar, #ClaudeDebussy, #CocktailHour, #ConorNelson, #CoronavirusPandemic, #DesMoines, #DesmoinesIowa, #DesMoinesMetroOpera, #EdgewoodCollege, #EdvardGrieg, #EllenCogen, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FemaleComposer, #FlorencePrice, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzSchubert, #GeneralDirector, #GracePresents, #GraduateStudent, #Grammy-winning, #GrammyAward, #GustavMahler, #HenryPurcell, #HomeWebsite, #IgorStravinsky, #ItalianBaroque, #JacobStockinger, #JakeHeggie, #JessieMontgomery, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JuliaUrbank, #LatinLanguage, #LiveStreaming, #LivingComposer, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonOpera, #ManuelDeFalla, #MarcVallon, #MaureenCarr, #MedievalMusic, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #MusicDirector, #MusicEducation, #Musicfaculty, #NathanWysock, #OnlineConcert, #OnlineFestival, #OriolSans, #PanelDiscussion, #PeerGynt, #PeerGyntSuite, #PennState, #PerlmanTrio, #PianoAccompanist, #Pre-concertTalk, #ProgramNotes, #SarahBrailey, #SimonRattle, #SopranoSinger, #StarWars, #SteveReich, #StringMusic, #SusanCook, #TheEar, #TheForceAwakens, #TheUK, #TheUW, #TicketPrice, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UW-MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #ViolinConcerto, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WebPage, #WindQuintet, #WingraWindQuintet, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WolftrapOpera, #WomenComposer, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, academic, African American, Alyssa Morris, America, American, Andrew Sewell, Apollo, Arts, audience, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, background, Ballade, Baroque, Bassoon, bassoonist, BATC, Beethoven, Berlin, Berlin Philharmonic, black composer, blog, Blog post, blog posting, Brahms, Brailey, Brandenburg Concerto, British, busy, Capitol, Capitol Square, Carrie Backman, CDT, celebration, Cello, central, Central Daylight Time, Central Time, Chamber music, chamber orchestra, Chamber Winds, channel, Chicago, Chicago Opera Theater, Christian, church, classical guitar, Classical music, Claude Debussy, click, cocktail, cocktail hour, Cogen, companies, competing, complete, composer, Concert, concerto, conductor, conductus, Conor Nelson, coronavirus, coronavirus pandemic, de Falla, Debussy, Des Moines Metro Opera, discount, discussion, downtown, duet, Early music, Edgewood College, Edvard Grieg, Ellen Cogen, end, England, English, excerpts, Facebook, faculty, female, festival, Florence Price, flute, flutist, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, free, Friday, General director, Germany, Grace Episcopal, Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Presents, graduate student, Grammy, Grammy Award, Grave Presents, Grieg, guitar, Gustav Mahler, Haydn, Heggie, Henry Purcell, Igor Stravinsky, information, Iowa, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Jake Heggie, Jessie Montgomery, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Julia Urbank, Latin, lecture, like, lineup, link, Living composer, Ludwig van Beethoven, lute, Madison, Madison Opera, Mahler, Manuel DeFall, Marc Vallon, march, Maureen Carr, Medieval, member, metrical, Mezzo-soprano, minimalism, minimalist, Monday, Montgomery, morning, Morris, Music, Music director, Music education, music faculty, musicology, name, names, Nathan Wysock, Nelson, neo-Classical, noteworthy, oiano, on-demand, online, online festival, opera, Orchestra, Oriol Sans, Overture Center, pandemic, Peer Gynt, Penn State, perform, performer, Perlman Trio, photo, Pianist, Piano, Piano accompanist, Piano Trio, post, pre-concert, price, program, program notes, Purcell, purchase, recital, Reich, releaseconcert, Sarah Brailey, Saturday, Schubert, series, setting, Sewell, share, Simon Rattle, sing, Singing, soloist, song, soprano, Spring, Star Wars, Steve Reich, Stravinsky, stream, streaming, string music, strings, Suite, Sunday, surprising, Susan Cook, symphony, tag, talk, text, The Ear, The Force Awakens, theater, theorbo, third, Thursday, tickets, tonight, trio, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW-Madison, UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra, Vallon, video, Viola, Violin, Violin concerto, violinist, virtual, vocal music, web, Website, weekend, wind music, Wind quintet, winds, Wingra Wind Quintet, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wolf Trap Opera, women, women composer, works, year, YouTube

Soprano and UW-Madison graduate student Sarah Brailey wins a Grammy Award

March 15, 2021
6 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Soprano Sarah Brailey (below), a native of Wisconsin — who now lives, works and studies in Madison — won a Grammy Award last night.

Brailey received the prestigious award (below) in the category “Best Classical Solo Album” category. It was for her role in the long-neglected, opera-like choral symphony “The Prison” by English composer Dame Ethel Smyth on the Chandos label. (You can hear an excerpt from the Brailey recording in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Brailey’s win is especially noteworthy because it comes early in her career.

Although she has toured nationally and internationally, and has established herself as a professional singer of note, Brailey is a busy graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, where she is finishing her doctoral degree.

Here is a link to her website: https://sarahbrailey.com

Brailey is also one of the city’s busiest and most respected musicians.

During the pandemic year, she explained and help spark benefit concerts and fundraising for musicians whose livelihoods suffered due to cancelled performances. Here is a link: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/?s=sarah+brailey

She also hosts the Sunday morning radio show “Musica Antiqua” – which features early music — on WORT-FM 89.9.

Recently, Brailey became the artistic director of “Grace Presents,” a series of free concerts at the downtown Grace Episcopal Church across from the state Capitol.

An avid early music performer, Brailey — who won and now directs the annual Handel Aria Competition — also co-founded and co-directs the free monthly series of Just Bach concerts (below, second from right), the lastest of which takes place this Wednesday, March 17. She sings solos, greets listeners and viewers, and often leads the final sing-along chorale from a Bach cantata.

You can hear many of her performances duing the Just Bach concerts on the Just Bach channel on YouTube.

Leave your own congratulations and thoughts about her performances in the Coment section.

The Ear will post a complete list of the classical music Grammy Award nominees and winners later this week.

PS: Another native of the Madison area was nominated for a non-classical Grammy is Bill Rahko, who co-produced the album “Everyday Life” for the rock band Coldplay. The album was nominated for Album of the Year, but lost to Taylor Swift’s “Folklore.”

Here is a link to a story on NBC 15 about Rahko, who attended Middleton High School: https://www.nbc15.com/2021/03/14/madison-area-native-up-for-grammy-award-for-album-of-the-year/

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #BachCantata, #BaroqueComposer, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CapitolSquare, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #CityofMadison, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DoctoralDegree, #EthelSmyth, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FundraisingCampaign, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #GracePresents, #GraduateStudent, #HandelAriaCompetition, #JacobStockinger, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #JustBach, #LastNight, #LutherMemorialChurch, #MadisonWisconsin, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddletonHighSchool, #MiddletonWisconsin, #MusicaAntiqua, #MusicalExcerpt, #OperaMusic, #RadioHost, #RadioShow, #RecordedMusic, #RockandRoll, #RockBand, #SarahBrailey, #SopranoSinger, #TaylorSwift, #TheEar, #ThePrison, #TheUK, #TheUW, #UnversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, Album, Arts, audience, avid, award, Bach, Baroque, benefit, blog, Brailey, British, cancel, Cantata, Capitol, career, category, Chamber music, Chandos, Chandos Records, channel, choral music, Choral Symphony, Chorale, chorus, Christ, Christian, Christianity, church, Classical music, co-found, co-founder, Coldplay, complete, composer, Concert, congratulations, coronavirus pandemic, coronavrius, dame, director, doctoral, doctorate, downtown, early, Early music, England, English, Ethel Smyth, everyday life, excerpt, explian, Facebook, final, folklore, found, Fundraising, George Frideric Handel, Grace Episcopal, Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Presents, graduate student, greet, Handel, Handel Aria Competition, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, Johann Sebastian Bach, Just Bach, labek, lead, like, link, list, listener, live, Luther Memorial Church, Madison, Mead Witter School of Music, Middleton, Middleton High School, monthly, Music, Musica Antiqua, Musician, native, NBC 15, NBC15, night, nominees, note, noteworthy, opera, pandemic, performance, pop, pop music, post, posting, postpone, prestigious, prison, producer, professional, Radio, recorded music, Rock, rock band, rock music, Sarah Brailey, series, share, sing-along, singer, Singing, Smyth, solo, soprano, spark, study, Swift, symphony, Taylor Swift, The Ear, The Prison, thoughts, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, video, viewer, vocal music, win, winners, Wisconsin, work, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube

The 10th annual Baroque Holiday Concert by the Madison Bach Musicians is next Saturday night and will be virtual and online

December 6, 2020
Leave a Comment

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.

Posted in Classical music
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

The Madison Bach Musicians will open its new season with a virtual online concert of Haydn and Mozart this Saturday night and Sunday afternoon

October 1, 2020
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following announcement, about a promising contrast-and-compare concert, from the Madison Bach Musicians:

The Madison Bach Musicians (MBM) will start its 17th season this Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, Oct. 3 and 4, with a virtual chamber music concert and livestream event featuring the irrepressibly joyous, witty and poised music of Classical-era masters Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791).

The performances features period instruments and historically informed performance practices.

See details near the bottom about the schedules and how to buy tickets.

Performers are violinist Kangwon Kim and cellist James Waldo (on gut-strung period instruments), fortepianist Trevor Stephenson, and soprano soloist Morgan Balfour — winner of the 2019 Handel Aria Competition. (Below top is Kangwon Kim; below middle is James Waldo; and below bottom is Morgan Balfour.)

The broadcast will begin with a 30-minute pre-concert lecture by MBM artistic director Trevor Stephenson (below, in a photo by Kent Sweitzer) illuminating the program’s repertoire, the lives of Haydn and Mozart, and the aesthetic aims of the period instruments.

While most of the pieces on the program are buoyant and full of celebration, the concert will begin with a pensive and melancholy work commensurate with our current pandemic times.

Mozart composed the Sonata in E minor for violin and fortepiano in 1778 at the age of 22 while on tour in Paris. His mother, who was with him on the tour, became suddenly ill and died unexpectedly. This sonata is the only piece of instrumental music Mozart ever composed in the key of E minor, and its blend of gravitas, sparseness and tenderness is heartbreakingly poignant.

Mozart’s Piano Trio in G major, composed in 1788, shows him at his sunniest and most affable, with one brilliant and catchy tune after another suspended effortlessly — at least in Mozart’s hands! ― within the balance of Classical form.

The program’s first half ends with five of Mozart’s songs. Mozart truly loved the soprano voice, and he lavished some of his greatest writing upon it. The set includes perhaps his best-known song, Das Veilchen (The Violet)―which is also, oddly enough, Mozart’s only setting of a text by the German poet Goethe.

The second half of the concert is devoted to the music of Mozart’s near contemporary, Joseph Haydn, who was just 24 years older than Mozart.

Though the two composers came from very different musical and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Haydn (below) was lower working class, rural, and musical but not professionally trained.

Mozart (below) was urban, solid middle class, musically trained, sophisticated, and ambitious.

Both managed to carve out successful careers in the fertile musical culture of Vienna and its environs. They certainly knew each other and even made music together on occasion, playing in string quartets — with Haydn on violin and Mozart on viola.

Haydn composed two sets of English Canzonettas (songs) during his visits to England during the early 1790s.

The Mermaid, with its flirtatious beckoning, stretches the confines of the parlor setting (where this music was most likely performed) and suggests a cabaret environment. Fidelity, on the other hand, stays within the parlor style, emphasizing how the bond of devotion can overcome physical separation. Haydn brilliantly interweaves stormy, naturalistic episodes with declarations of unbending loyalty.

The concert will close with Haydn’s mercurial Piano Trio No. 27 in C major. Also composed during his London visits in the 1790s, this trio is the first of a set of three dedicated to the London-based virtuoso pianist Therese Bartolozzi. The Presto finale―with its unbridled high spirits―is a supreme example of Classical Era cheeky, theatrically conceived wit. (You can hear the finale in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

SCHEDULE AND TICKETS

As a result of public health guidelines in response to Covid-19 that do not allow for an in-person audience, we will livestream our concert from Grace Episcopal Church, downtown on Capitol Square, on Saturday evening for at-home viewing. (Below are Trevor Stephenson and Kangwon Kim rehearsing in masks at Stephenson’s home.)

The event will begin with a pre-concert talk by Trevor Stephenson at 7:30 p.m., and after the 8 p.m. concert, the musicians will remain on stage to answer questions submitted by our audience.

On Sunday, starting at 3 p.m. we will rebroadcast the Saturday evening recording and follow that with a live question-and-answer session with our musicians from their homes.

After purchasing tickets for $15 per household, you will be sent a link to access the performance. The recorded lecture and video will be available for up to 72 hours after they take place.

To purchase tickets, go to: https://madisonbachmusicians.org/oct-3-4-haydn-mozart/ or to: https://madison-bach-musicians.square.site/product/haydn-mozart-oct-3-4-livestream/54?cs=true

For information about the Madison Bach Musicians’ full season, go to: https://madisonbachmusicians.org/season-overview/

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #ArtistcDirector, #BaroqueChamberMusic, #Baroquesinging, #BaroqueViolin, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CapitolSquare, #ChamberMusic, #ChristianChurch, #Classicalcomposer, #Classicalera, #Classicalform, #ClassicalStyle, #ConcertSeason, #Contrast-and-Compare, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzJosephHaydn, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #GreatBritain, #GutStrings, #HandelAriaCompetition, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #InstrumentalMusic, #JacobStockinger, #James Waldo, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohannWolfgangvonGoethe, #KangwonKim, #LifeandDeath, #LiveStreaming, #LondonEngland, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonWisconsin, #MajorKey, #MakeMusic, #Middle-Class, #MiddleClass, #MinorKey, #MusicalStyle, #OnlineConcert, #ParisFrance, #PeriodInstruments, #PianoTrio, #PianoVirtuoso, #Pre-concertLecture, #PublicHealth, #RecordedMusic, #SharonLynneWilsonCenterfortheArts, #SopranoSinger, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #TheFortepiano, #TheMermaid, #TheViolet", #TrevorStephenson, #ViennaAustria, #ViolinSonata, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WorkingClass, #YouTubevideo, aesthetic, afternoon, ambitious, answer, aria, Artistic director, Arts, at home, audience, Austria, Austrian, available, Bach, background, Baroque, Baroque music, beckoning, begin, best-known, blog, bond, bouyant, brilliant, Broadcast, buy, cabaret, canzonetta, Capitol Square, career, carve, catachy, celebration, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, cheeky, Christian, church, Classical era, Classical form, Classical music, compare, composed, composer, conceived, Concert, contemporary, contrast, coronavirus, culture, death, deatils, declaration, dedicated, devoted, devotion, different, downtown, Early music, effortless, effortlessly, eit, emphasize, England, English, environment, environs, episode, esthetic, Facebook, fertile, fidelity, fie, finale, flirtatious, fortepiano, forward, Franz Joseph Haydn, George Frideric Handel, German, Germany, Goethe, grace, Grace Episcopal Church, gravitas, great, Great Britain, greatest, guidelines, gut, gut strings, gut-strung, half, Handel, Handel Aria Competition, hands, Haydn, Health, hear, heartbreaking, help, historically informed performance practices, Home, household, illuminate, in person, information, instrument, instrumental music, interweave, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Joy, joyous, Kangwon Kim, key, Kim, lavished, lecture, like, link, live, lives, livestream, London, Love, loved, lower, loyalty, lyric, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, major key, Make Music, manage, masks, Master, melancholy, mermaid, minor key, minute, Morgan Balfour, MorganBalfour, Mother, Mozart, Music, musica, musical, Musician, naturalistic, night, odd, oddly, older, on-stage, online, only, onstage, overcome, pandemic, Paris, parlor, pensive, performer, period instruments, physicsl, Piano, Piano Trio, piece, play, poet, Poetry, poignancy, poignant, poise, post, posting, pre-concert, pre-concert lecture, professional, professionally, program, public, Public health, Q&A, question, recorded, rehearsal, rehearse, remain, repertoire, repertory, response, result, rural, Saturday, schedule, Season, separation, session, set, setting, share, Singing, socio-economic, solid, Sonata, song, sophisticated, soprano, sparseness, stormy, String quartet, style, subscriber, suddenly, sun, Sunday, sunny, suspended, tag, talk, tenderly, tenderness, text, The Ear, The Violet, theatrical, ticket, together, tour, trained, Trevor Stephenson, trio, tune, UK, unbendng, unexpected, United States, urban, Vienna, viewing, Viola, violet, Violin, Violin Sonata, violinist, violist, virtual, virtuoso, visit, vocal music, voice, winner, Wisconsin, wit, witty, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, working class, writing, year, YouTube

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
Leave a Comment

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: This Saturday at noon Grace Presents offers a virtual HD concert of organ and violin music

July 21, 2020
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following announcement from Grace Presents to post:

Grace Presents’ HD Virtual Concert Series continues with its new series, with its next installment premiering here on YouTube this Saturday, July 25, at noon CDT.

The free and public one-hour program will feature organist-composer Mark Brampton Smith (below top) and violinist Carol Carlson (below middle), both veterans of the Grace Presents series and the Madison music scene. A virtual meet-and-greet will follow the concert.

(The Willy Street Chamber Players will be featured in a virtual concert premiering on Saturday, Aug. 22, at noon CDT. More details on this concert are forthcoming soon.)

Here is the program for this Saturday’s organ and violin concert, which you can sample in the YouTube video at the bottom:

Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962): “Praeludium and Allegro (In the Style of Pugnani)”

Gaetano Pugnani (1731-1798): Violin Sonata in A Major, Op. 7 No. 2. 1. Andantino

Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757): Sonata in D Major, K. 288; Sonata in G Major, K. 328

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Violin Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003 III. Andante

Johann Sebastian Bach: “Little” Fugue in G minor, BWV 578

Jules Massenet (1842-1912): Meditation from the opera “Thaïs”

Clarence Cameron White (1880-1960): “Bandanna Sketches,” Op. 12. 1. Chant (“Nobody knows de trouble I’ve seen”)

Felix Borowski (1872-1956): “Adoration”

Mark Brampton Smith (b. 1954): “It Is Well With My Soul” (Philip P. Bliss)

Vittorio Monti (1868-1922) Csardas

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #African-AmericanMusic, #AfricanAmerican, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CarolCarlson, #CentralDaylightTime, #ChamberMusic, #ChristianChurch, #CityofMadison, #ClarenceCameronWhite, #ClassicalMusician, #DomenicoScarlatti, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixBorowski, #FritzKreisler, #GaetanoPugnani, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #GracePresents, #ItIsWellWithMySoul, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #JulesMassenet, #LittleFugue, #MadisonWisconsin, #MarkBramptonSmith, #Meet-and-Greet, #MusicScene, #NegroSpiritual, #OperaAria, #OperaMusic, #OrganMusic, #PBSNewshour, #PhilipP.Bliss, #PraeludiumandAllego, #SoundSample, #TheEar, #ViolinMusic, #VirtualConcert, #VittorioMonti, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #YouTubevideo, adoration, African American, allegro, aria, Arts, audience, August, Bach, bandanna, Baroque, bliss, blog, Borowski, Carol Carlson, CDT, Central Daylight Time, Chamber music, chant, Christian, church, Clarence Cameron White, Classical music, classicalmusic, composer, Concert, continue, counterpoint, Csardas, details, Domenico Scarlatti, duet, duo, Early music, Facebook, feature, Felix Borowski, follow, forthcoming, forward, free, Fritz Kreisler, fugue, Gaetano Pugnani, Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Presents, HD, hour, installment, It Is Well With My Soul, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Jules Massenet, July, Kirkpatrick, Kreisler, like, link, Little Fugue, Madison, Mark Brampton Smith, Massenet, Meditation, Monti, Music, music scene, Musician, MWV, new, noon, online, opera, organ, organ music, organist, perfromer, Philip P. Bliss, portal, Praeludium, Praeludium and Allegro, Prelude, premiere, program, public, Puganani, sample, Saturday, Scarlatti, scene, series, share, sketch, Sonata, soon, spiritual, style, tag, Thaïs, The Ear, United States, Veteran, Violin, violin music, violinist, virtual, Vitorio Monti, white, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, YouTube

	samanthacrownoversbc… on How do post-pandemic concert a…
	Ronnie on How do post-pandemic concert a…
	welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a…
	Polly Kuelbs on How do post-pandemic concert a…
	welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a…

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: