The Well-Tempered Ear
Edgewood College will live-stream its FREE Spring Celebration concert this Friday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
At 8 p.m. CDT this Friday night, April 30, the music department at Edgewood College will live-stream its FREE online Spring Celebration concert.
Here is the link: music.edgewood.edu
Here is the program:
The Edgewood Chamber Orchestra (below) will perform music by the Austrian composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel, who studied with Mozart and knew Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert (see the Wikipedia bio at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Nepomuk_Hummel; Krzysztof Penderecki, a Polish composer who died a year ago March; and the Argentinean “new tango” composer Astor Piazzolla, whose birth centennial was last month. Soloists include Gwyneth Ferguson on trumpet, and Malia Huntsman on oboe.
The Chamber Singers (below) will offer selections from Broadway musicals and contemporary choral arrangements, including Lord of the Rings by Enya, works from Josh Groban, and the Polish composer Henrik Gorecki.
The Guitar Ensemble will perform Haru no Umi (The Sea in Spring) by the Japanese composer Michio Miyagi (below), and a medley from the 1970s rock group Chicago: 25 or 6 to 4/Saturday in the Park, by Mark Lamm.
The Chamber Winds will perform selections from Crooner’s Serenade; Josef Rheinberger’s Evening Song (Abendlied, in the YouTube video at the bottom); and an arrangement of John Williams’ movie score for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
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Classical music: This Saturday, Aug. 31, at 11 a.m. in Overture Hall is the last FREE Farmers’ Market organ concert of the season. On Sunday afternoon, guitarist Steven Meyer performs at the Chazen Museum of Art
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ALERT: Madison guitarist Steven Meyer will perform a FREE concert on “Sunday Afternoon Live at the Chazen” this Sunday, Sept. 1, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Brittingham Gallery 3. The program features music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Gustav Holst, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Fernando Sor, himself and others. Also included is music by the Beatles, jazz and folk music. For more information about the series, go to: https://www.chazen.wisc.edu/index.php?/events-calendar-demo/event/sunday-afternoon-live-at-the-chazen8/
This Sunday’s performance will, as always, be live streamed starting at 12:30. Here is a portal link for streaming: https://c.streamhoster.com/embed/media/O7sBNG/OS1C0ihJsYK/iqf1vBMs3qg_5
By Jacob Stockinger
This Saturday morning, Aug. 31, will see the last FREE Farmers’ Market organ concert of the season.
The 45-minute concert, sponsored by the Madison Symphony Orchestra and played on the Klais concert organ, takes place in Overture Hall at 11 a.m. No tickets or reservations are needed and the public is welcome.
The performer is David Ball (below), who was trained at the Juilliard School in New York City and who is based in Orange County, California, at the Christ (formerly Crystal) Cathedral.
The program features music by French composer Jean Langlais, French composer Camille Saint-Saens, German composer Max Reger, British composer Herbert Howells, Argentinean composer Norberto Guinaldo, French composer Leon Boellmann, French composer Jeanne Demessieux, contemporary American composer Alan Terricciano and American composer John Philip Sousa. (You can hear David Ball playing a different work by Herbert Howells in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For the specific works and much more background about the performer, go to: https://madisonsymphony.org/event/free-farmers-market-concert-2019-david-ball/
Tags: #AmericanComposer, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BritishComposer, #CamilleSaint-Saens, #ChazenMuseumofArt, #ChristCathedral, #ChristianChurch, #ClassicalGuitar, #ClassicalGuitarist, #ConcertOrgan, #CrystalCathedral, #DaneCounty, #DaneCountyFarmers'Market, #DavidBall, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Farmers'Market, #FernandoSor, #FolkMusic, #Frenchcomposer, #GreatBritain, #GuitarMusic, #GustavHolst, #HeitorVilla-Lobos, #HerbertHowells, #HomeWebsite, #JazzMusic, #JeanLanglais, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnPhilipSousa, #JuilliardSchool, #KlaisOrgelbau, #LeonardBernstein, #LeonBoellmann, #LiveStreaming, #LivingComposer, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MaxReger, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #NorbertoGuinaldo, #OrangeCounty, #OrganMusic, #OvertureHall, #RockandRoll, #RockMusic, #SaturdayMorning, #SchoolofMusic, #StevenMeyer, #SundayAfternoonLiveattheChazen, #TheBeatles, #YouTubevideo, American, American composer, Argentina, Arts, audience, Bach, background, Baroque music, Beatles, blog, Boellmann, Britain, British, California, Camille Saint-Saëns, cathedral, Chazen Museum of Art, Christ, Christ Cathedral, Christian, church, classical guitarist, composer, Concert, contemporary, Crystal Cathedral, Dane County, Dane County Farmers' Market, David Ball, event, Facebook, farmer, Farmer's Market, Fernando Sor, folk, forward, France, free, French, Guinaldo, guitar, guitarist, Gustav Holst, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Herbert Howells, Holst, Howells, information, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Jean Langlais, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Philip Sousa, Juilliard School, Klais, Langlais, Leon Boellmann, Leonard Bernstein, like, link, live streaming, Living composer, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, market, Max Reger, Music, New Music, New York City, Norberto Guinaldo, Orange County, Orchestra, organ, Overture Center, Overture Hall, performance, performer, portal, post, posting, program, public, reader, reservation, rock and roll, Saint-Saens, Saturday morning, School of Music, share, Sor, Steven Meyer, subscriber, Sunday Afternoon Live at the Chazen, Sweden, Swedish, tag, ticket, United States, video, Villa-Lobos, Website, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Music professor John Schaffer is retiring from UW-Madison. A benefit jazz concert on Saturday, June 1, will celebrate his career as a teacher and former director of the Mead Witter School of Music
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By Jacob Stockinger
Professor John Schaffer (below), who served as the director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music for 15 years from 1997 to 2012, is retiring this summer.
A jazz concert at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 1, at Full Compass Systems, located at 9770 Silicon Prairie Parkway in Verona, will celebrate his retirement. Details and ticket information are below.
Here is a summary of his major achievements, as compiled by a colleague:
During his tenure as director, John Schaffer:
• Raised more than $10 million for music scholarships, including the Paul Collins graduate fellowships and the Steenbock undergraduate scholarships, more than doubling all student support.
• Secured funding for three endowed professorships: Pro Arte Quartet first violinist David Perry; piano virtuoso and Van Cliburn International Piano Competition bronze medal winner Christopher Taylor; and acclaimed jazz pianist Johannes Wallmann.
• With then-chancellor John Wiley, he launched plans for the new performance facility – the Hamel Music Center — that will open this fall, and raised more than $20 million in private funds for its construction.
• Established the School of Music’s inaugural Board of Visitors, which actively connects the school with a broad community worldwide as it continues to serve in an advisory and support capacity.
• Built strong relations with community organizations including the Madison Symphony Orchestra by establishing the joint residency of the Hunt Quartet – creating further student funding opportunities – and the Independent String Teachers’ Association.
• Established the Perlman Piano Trio (below), an undergraduate scholarship opportunity funded by Kato Perlman.
• Recruited faculty professors/performers with national and international reputations.
• Collaborated with the UW Foundation and Alumni Associations to present UW student performers throughout the country and world.
• Expanded student musician performances across campus, and established the twice-annual Chancellor’s Concert Series.
• Oversaw the planning for the 100th anniversary of the Pro Arte Quartet, the school’s flagship ensemble-in-residence since 1938.
• Established the School of Music recording label, which during its active run released close to 50 albums of faculty artists.
• Created the Wisconsin Center for Music Technology, and was the founding editor of the journal Computers in Music Research.
• Revitalized the Jazz Studies program at UW-Madison that has expanded with additional faculty, new student jazz ensembles and the establishment of a major in jazz performance.
• Was actively involved in music administration on the national level by serving multiple terms on the board of directors of the National Association of Schools of Music, the national accrediting organization. He spent more than a decade training accreditation teams, and performing accreditation reviews of music schools and conservatories throughout the country.
• Served on numerous local boards including those of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Madison Country Day School, the Isthmus Jazz Festival, and the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival.
Schaffer’s own academic work in music theory focused initially on analysis of contemporary and non-tonal music, and in artificial intelligence applications in music theory. When he returned to the faculty from being director, he re-focused his teaching on the history, theory and performance of jazz and developed new courses in the discipline and regularly coached student jazz ensembles.
After a 40-year career in academia, Schaffer is retiring to pursue other interests. For the time being, he plans to remain in the Madison area. Initially trained as a classical guitarist, his performance emphasis long ago evolved to playing jazz bass, and he’ll still be heard gigging around town, playing frequently at venues and series such as Otto’s, Capital Brewery’s beer garden, Delaney’s Steak House, Coda Cafe and the North Street Cabaret.
“The biggest reward over all my years as an educator and administrator is the impact I’ve had on the thousands of students I’ve been privileged to teach and encounter,” says Schaffer. “It’s been immensely gratifying.”
Schaffer’s contributions to music in the greater Madison area will be recognized at a benefit concert, sponsored by the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium, on Saturday, June 1, at 7:30 p.m. at Full Compass Systems, 9770 Silicon Prairie Parkway in Verona. UW-Madison Chancellor Emeritus John Wiley will offer commentary and perspective. Light refreshments will be served.
Tickets for the benefit concert are $30 at the door, $25 in advance online. A limited number of student tickets are available at $15. VIP tickets are $150 and include reserved, best-in-house seating, a private pre-concert reception at 6 p.m. and other benefits.
For more information, go to: http://www.jazzinmadison.org/event/jazz-junction-benefit-concert-for-the-jazz-consortium-full-compass/
For tickets, go to:https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4236134
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Classical music: The Winter Concert Series by the Madison Youth Choirs next Saturday and Sunday feature the theme of “Resilience” with guest artist Tony Memmel
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement to post:
This semester, the Madison Youth Choirs welcome guest artist Tony Memmel, a singer-songwriter and guitarist whose story of ingenuity and resilience will inspire young singers and audience members alike.
Born without a left forearm or hand, Memmel (below) taught himself to play guitar by building a homemade cast out of Gorilla Tape, and has become an internationally acclaimed musician, thoughtful teacher and ambassador for young people with limb differences. (You can hear Memmel talk about himself in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
On this coming Saturday night, Dec. 8, and Sunday afternoon, Dec., 9, at the Middleton Performing Arts Center that is attached to Middleton High School at 2100 Bristol Street, Memmel will join the Madison Youth Choirs in a Winter Concert Series called “Resilience” because it focuses on the ability to overcome challenges both visible and invisible, and along the way discover the limitless possibilities that exist inside each of us.
Here is the schedule:
Saturday, Dec. 8, at 7:00 p.m. – Purcell, Britten, Holst and Ragazzi choirs
Sunday, Dec. 9, at 4:00 p.m. – Choraliers, Con Gioia, Capriccio, Cantilena and Cantabile choir
Tickets will be available at the door, $10 for general admission; $5 for students 7-18; and free for children under 7.
These concerts are generously endowed by the Diane Ballweg Performance Fund with additional support from our sponsors, American Girl’s Fund for Children, BMO Harris Bank, Dane Arts with additional funds from the Endres Mfg. Company Foundation, The Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of The Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation. This project is also supported by the Madison Arts Commission and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.
About Madison Youth Choirs (MYC): Recognized as an innovator in youth choral music education, Madison Youth Choirs (MYC) welcomes singers of all ability levels, annually serving more than 1,000 young people, ages 7-18, through a wide variety of choral programs in our community.
Cultivating a comprehensive music education philosophy that inspires self-confidence, personal responsibility, and a spirit of inquiry leading students to become “expert noticers,” MYC creates accessible, meaningful opportunities for youth to thrive in the arts and beyond.
For more information about supporting or joining MYC, go to: https://www.madisonyouthchoirs.org
HERE IS THE COMPLETE REPERTOIRE OF THE MYC 2018 WINTER CONCERT SERIES “RESILIENCE”:
SATURDAY, DEC. 8, at 7:00 p.m. Concert (featuring MYC Boychoirs)
Combined Boychoirs with Tony Memmel
“Clenched Hands, Brave Demands” by Tony Memmel
“Though My Soul May Set in Darkness,” text by Sarah Williams, composer unknown
Purcell
“Who Can Sail” Scandinavian Folk Song, arr. Jeanne Julseth-Heinrich
“Hine Ma Tov” Hebrew Folk Song, arr. Henry Leck
Britten
“Jerusalem,” poem by William Blake, music by Sir Hubert Parry
“This Little Babe” from A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten
Holst
“Keep Your Lamps,” traditional spiritual, arr. André Thomas
“Out of the Deep” by John Wall Callcott
“Shosholoza,” Traditional song from Zimbabwe, arr. Albert Pinsonneault
Combined Boychoirs
“Angels’ Carol” by John Rutter
Tony Memmel
Selections to be announced
Ragazzi
“Wie Melodien” (Op. 5, No. 1) by Johannes Brahms
“The Chemical Worker’s Song” by Ron Angel, arr. after Great Big Sea
“Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight” by Abbie Betinis
Combined Boychoirs with Tony Memmel (below)
“America to Go” by Tony Memmel
SUNDAY, DEC. 9, at 4:00 p.m. Concert (featuring MYC Girlchoirs)
Combined Girlchoirs with Tony Memmel
“Clenched Hands, Brave Demands” by Tony Memmel
Choraliers
“Be Like a Bird,” Text from Victor Hugo, music by Arthur Frackenpohl
“Art Thou Troubled” by George Frideric Handel
“Blustery Day” by Victoria Ebel-Sabo
Con Gioia
“Bist du bei mir” by Johann Sebastian Bach from “The Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach”
“I Heard a Bird Sing” by Cyndee Giebler
“Ask the Moon” from Three Settings of the Moon by Ron Nelson
“I’ll Overcome Someday” by C.A. Tindley
“We Shall Overcome” arr. by Marie McManama and Con Gioia
“i shall imagine” by Daniel Brewbaker, text by e.e. cummings
South African National Anthem by E.M. Sontonga and M.L. de Villiers
Capriccio
“Resilience” by Abbie Betinis
“Be Like the Bird” by Abbie Betinis
“Esurientes” from Magnificat in G minor by Antonio Vivaldi
“And Ain’t I a Woman!” by Susan Borwick, adapted from a speech by Sojourner Truth
Tony Memmel
Selections to be announced by Tony Memmel
Cantilena
“Vanitas vanitatum” by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
“Chant for a Long Day” by Stephen Hatfield
“Wir eilen mit schwachen doch emsigen Schritten”(from BWV 78) by Johann Sebastian Bach
“The Storm is Passing Over” by Charles Albert Tindley, arr. Barbara Baker
Cantabile
“Ich weiss nicht”(Op. 113, No. 11) by Johannes Brahms, text by Friedrich Rueckert
“Widmung” (Op.25, No. 1) by Johannes Brahms, text by Friedrich Rueckert
“I Never Saw Another Butterfly” by Charles Davidson
Combined Choirs with Tony Memmel
“America to Go” by Tony Memmel
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Classical music: The 35th annual summer Concerts on the Square start this Wednesday night and will feature a lot of classical music
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By Jacob Stockinger
Maestro Andrew Sewell usually makes sure the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra programs a fair amount of classical music for its annual summer Concerts on the Square (below).
The FREE popular outdoor concerts — billed as “The Biggest Picnic of Summer” — usually draw up to at least 20,000 people for each performance on the King Street corner of the State Capitol.
They start this Wednesday night at 7 p.m. – blankets can go down at 3 p.m. — and run for six consecutive Wednesday nights through Aug. 1.
But this year Sewell (below) seems especially generous with the classical fare he is serving up. In fact, four of the six concerts are all classical – a much higher percentage than in most past years, if The Ear recalls correctly.
For the complete lineup of the concerts – and to compare this year’s offerings with those of past years — go to the website: https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performance-listing/category/concerts-on-the-square
Then you can click on “More Info” for each individual concert date to get the full program and information about the performers.You can also find what you need to know about following rules, parking, reserving tables, listening etiquette, volunteering, donating and support, and finding menus for food providers.
For this opening concert “Carnival” on Wednesday, the WCO will showcase 18-year-old Kenosha high school senior Matthew Udry (below), a cellist who won this year’s Young Artist Concerto Competition. Udry will perform the Cello Concerto No. 1 by Dmitri Shostakovich.
Also on the all-Slavic program are two Czech compositions: the “Carnival” Overture by Antonin Dvorak (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom); and “Three Dances” from the opera “The Bartered Bride” by Bedrich Smetana.
An all-Russian concert is slated for July 11 with another student cellist, Miriam K. Smith (below top), and the Middleton High School Choir (below bottom). The program includes the Concert Waltz No. 2 by Alexander Glazunov, the “Rococo” Variations by Peter Tchaikovsky and the Intermezzo and Women’s Dance by Sergei Rachmaninoff.
The July 25 concert features the up-and-coming guitarist Colin Davin (below) in a programs of Spanish and Hispanic music including Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez,” Alberto Ginastera’s “Estancia: Four Dances,” and Roberto Sierra’s “Fandango.”
Finally, on Aug. 1, baritone Jubilant Sykes (below) is featured in a program that includes: the “Norwegian Rhapsody No. 1” by Johan Halvorsen; Aaron Copland’s “Old American Songs,” including “Simple Gifts” and “I Bought Me a Cat” as well as two spirituals, “Were You There?” and “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child”; the Interlude from the symphonic ode, “La Nuit et l’Amour” (Night and Love), from the cantata “Ludus pro Patria,” by the French composer Augusta Holmes; and the Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” by Antonin Dvorak.
Of course other programs include pops and rock music, plus patriotic music for the Fourth of July concert — only fitting for the occasion.
But The Ear still thinks the classical fare is generous and noteworthy.
Of course, loud chitchat, eating and other neighborly noise could interfere with your ability to listen closely to the music.
But Andrew Sewell and the WCO still deserve a big shout out!
Bravo, all!
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Songs by Black composers trace their cultural realities in a free online UW performance TONIGHT of “Verisimilitudes.” Plus, the five winners of this year’s Beethoven Competition perform Sunday.
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ALERT: This Sunday, April 25, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. the five winners of this year’s Beethoven Competition at the UW-Madison will perform in a winners’ concert. Included in the program are the popular and dramatic “Appassionata” Sonata, Op. 57, and the famous and innovative last piano sonata, No. 32 in C minor, Op 111. Here is a link to the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMF0Hd1MJwMg. Click on “Show More” and you can see the full programs and biographical profiles of the winners.
By Jacob Stockinger
The concert could hardly be more timely or the subject more relevant.
Think of the events in and near Minneapolis, Chicago and elsewhere in the U.S.; of the Black Lives Matter movement and social protest; of the political fight for D.C. statehood and voting rights – all provide a perfect context for an impressive student project that will debut online TONIGHT, Saturday, April 24, at 7 p.m.
The one-hour free concert “Verisimilitudes: A Journey Through Art Song in Black, Brown and Tan” originated at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. It seems an ideal way for listeners to turn to music and art for social and political commentary, and to understand the racial subtexts of art.
Soprano Quanda Dawnyell Johnson (below) created, chose and performs the cycle of songs by Black composers with other Black students at the UW-Madison.
Here is a link to the YouTube video: https://youtu.be/-g5hjeuSumw
Click on “Show More” to see the complete program and more information.
Here is the artist’s statement:
“Within the content of this concert are 17 art songs that depict the reality of the souls of a diasporic people. Most of the lyricists and all of the composers are of African descent. In large part they come from the U.S. but also extend to Great Britain, Guadeloupe by way of France, and Sierra Leone.
“They speak to the veracity of Black life and Black feeling. A diasporic African reality in a Classical mode that challenges while it embraces a Western European vernacular. It is using “culture” as an agent of resistance.
“I refer to verisimilitude in the plural. While syntactically incorrect, as it relates to the multiple veils of reality Black people must negotiate, it is very correct.
“To be packaged in Blackness, or should I say “non-whiteness” is to ever live in a world of spiraling modalities and twirling realities. To paraphrase the great artist, Romare Bearden, in “calling and recalling” — we turn and return, then turn again to find the place that is our self.
“I welcome you to… Verisimilitudes: A Journey Through Art Song in Black, Brown, and Tan”
Here, by sections, is the complete program and a list of performers:
I. Nascence
Clear Water — Nadine Shanti
A Child’s Grace — Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
Night — Florence Price (below)
Big Lady Moon — Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
II. Awareness
Lovely, Dark, and Lonely — Harry T. Burleigh
Grief –William Grant Still (below)
Prayer — Leslie Adams
Interlude, The Creole Love Call — Duke Ellington
III. The Sophomore
Mae’s Rent Party, We Met By Chance –Jeraldine Saunders Herbison
The Barrier — Charles Brown
IV. Maturity
Three Dream Portraits: Minstrel Man, Dream Variation; I, Too — Margaret Bonds (below)
Dreams — Lawren Brianna Ware
Song Without Words — Charles Brown
Legacy
L’autre jour à l’ombrage (The Other Day in the Shade) — Joseph Boulogne (Chevalier de Saint-Georges, below)
The Verisimilitudes Team
Quanda Dawnyell Johnson — Soprano and Project Creator
Lawren Brianna Ware – -Pianist and Music Director
Rini Tarafder — Stage Manager
Akiwele Burayidi – Dancer
Jackson Neal – Dancer
Nathaniel Schmidt – Trumpet
Matthew Rodriguez – Clarinet
Craig Peaslee – Guitar
Aden Stier –Bass
Henry Ptacek – Drums
Dave Alcorn — Videographer
Here is a link to the complete program notes with lyrics and composer bios. And a preview audio sample is in the YouTube video at the bottom: https://simplebooklet.com/verisimilitudesprogramnotes#page=1
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