The Well-Tempered Ear
Salon Piano Series cancels the rest of this season but offers a free monthly video from past concerts
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 subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement from the Salon Piano Series that take place at Farley’s House of pianos:
Dear friends,
How we’ve missed seeing you, since last we were able to gather – in February, for pianist Shai Wosner (below, in a photo by Marco Borggreve) and his recital of heart-stopping Schubert, Scarlatti, Rzewski and Beethoven.
Since then, our pianos have sat silent, waiting for the day we can safely reopen and welcome you back.
For now, although it breaks our hearts, we do need to stay dark through the rest of the 2020-21 season, for everyone’s safety. Our highest priority is the well-being of our artists, audience and staff.
But rest assured that we are rescheduling all of our postponed performances:
Drew Petersen (below) (https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4275242) will perform next October.
Jazz great Bill Charlap (below) (https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4275248) will perform in June.
We are working to schedule Sara Daneshpour, violinist Rachel Barton Pine, Niklas Sivelov and John O’Conor over the next two seasons.
In the meantime, while we can’t gather in person, we’re pleased to announce the launch of a monthly video series featuring some of our past and upcoming artists.
December brings us the incomparable Shai Wosner and in January, Adam Neiman (below).
During these uncertain times, we appreciate remembering time spent together enjoying music.
Please take a break from your day to see and hear Shai Wosner (below) performing Domenico Scarlatti’s Sonata in C Minor, K. 230, and Frederic Rzewski’s Nano Sonata No. 12.
The video was recorded live at Farley’s House of Pianos as part of the Salon Piano Series on Feb. 23, 2020.
Click here or at the bottom for the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MCxr5ioV4o&feature=youtu.be
Last March, Shai Wosner released a 2-CD album (http://www.shaiwosner.com/recordings.html) of Schubert late piano sonatas. The album’s producer is nominated for a Grammy Award for the album.
Over the years, you have supported the intimate Salon Piano Series with your attendance, individual sponsorships and donations (https://salonpianoseries.org/donate).
We look forward to bringing you more world-class musical performances in our unique salon setting again soon.
In the meantime, these performances are a way to recapture the live concert experience, including commentary from artistic director Tim Farley, with videography by Tom Moss.
Those on our e-newsletter list, available at our website at https://salonpianoseries.org/contact.html, will receive a video link each month, and the videos are also available on our social media channels.
Stay safe, stay healthy and keep listening.
Sincerely,
The Salon Piano Series Board of Directors
Tags: #AdamNeiman, #AmericanJazz, #ArtisticDirector, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoardofDirectors, #BrownPaperTickets, #ChamberMusic, #CityofMadison, #CompactDisc, #ConcertSeason, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DomenicoScarlatti, #E-newsletter, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Farley'sHouseofPianos, #FranzSchubert, #FredericRzewski, #GrammyAward, #InPerson, #JacobStockinger, #JohnO'Conor, #LiveConcert, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonWisconsin, #NanoSonata, #NewMusic, #NIklasSivelov, #OnlineConcert, #PianoMusic, #ProductionStaff, #PublicHealth, #RachelBartonPine, #RecordedMusic, #SalonPIanoSeries, #SaraDaneshpour, #ShaiWosner, #SocialMedia, #TheEar, #TimFarley, #TomMoss, #UncertainTimes, #VirtualConcert, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, Adam Neiman, Album, appreciate, artist, Artistic director, Arts, assured, attend, audience, award, Baroque, Baroque music, Beethoven, blog, Board of Directors, break, Brown Paper Tickets, CDs, Chamber music, channel, Classical music, commentary, Compact Disc, composer, Concert, coronavirus, COVID19, dark, day, December, Domenico Scarlatti, donate, donation, e-newletter, Early music, email, enjoy, everyone, experience, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, Farley's House of Pianos, forward, Franz Schubert, Frederic Rzewski, friend, gather, gorgeous, Grammy, Grammy Award, great, healthy, heart, heart-stopping, in person, incomparable, individual, Jacob Stockinger, January, Jazz, John O'Conor, June, Keyboard, Kirkpatrick, like, link, listen, listening, live, live concert, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, missed, month, monthly, Music, musical, nano, nano sonata, Neiman, New Music, newsletter, Niklas Sivelov, O'Conor, October, online, pandemic, perform, performance, Pianist, Piano, piano music, post, posting, postpone, postponed, priority, producer, public her;th, Rachel Barton Pine, recital, recorded music, remember, reopen, reschedule, rescheduling, rest, safe, safely, safety, salon, Salon Piano Series, Sara Daneshpour, Scarlatti, Schubert, Season, see, seeing, setting, Shai Wosner, share, silence, silent, social media, Sonata, sponsorship, staff\, support, tag, The Ear, ticket, Tim Farley, time, times, together, Tom Moss, uncertain times, unique, United States, video, videographer, videography, Violin, virtual, welcome, Wisconsin, working, world-class, Wosner, YouTube
Classical music: UW-Madison piano virtuoso Christopher Taylor performs a free virtual recital of impromptus by Schubert and Scriabin this Wednesday afternoon
5 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.
A note from The Ear: Thank you to the many blog followers who left a message of encouragement when I had computer troubles last week. The problem seems to be solved, at least temporarily. And I am healthy, despite the fears that some of you expressed that I was covering for coming down with the coronavirus virus or Covid-19.
By Jacob Stockinger
A friend has passed along the following note from Christopher Taylor, the piano virtuoso who won a bronze medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and who has been teaching for many years at the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music.
Taylor (below) writes:
“Despite having my performance schedule ravaged, like everyone else, I do actually have one positive morsel of news to relay regarding a “recital” coming up in the near future, which I wanted to you know about.
“It is being hosted by the Chautauqua Institution, where I’ve performed a few times in the past. Unsurprisingly, they’ve had to switch to an online format this summer.
“Just last week I made the actual recording, playing four impromptus by Scriabin, and Four Impromptus, Op. 142, by Schubert in the Mead-Witter Foundation Concert Hall (below, with the UW Choral Union and UW Symphony Orchestra), which seemed like a propitious setting. (Editor’s note: In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear the third impromptu in the set by Schubert performed by Vladimir Horowitz during his historic 1986 recital in Moscow.)
“Under the circumstances I think the video turned out pretty well. The actual streaming, which will include the 45 minutes of music plus a little live interview before and afterwards, takes place this Wednesday – Aug. 5 – at 3 p.m. CDT.
You can get there by way of the following link: https://porch.chq.org/ue/event/6518/
“Apparently there is a brief registration form one has to fill out prior to viewing the show, but basically getting in should be a free and painless process for all and sundry.
“Hope you get a chance to join in, and that you enjoy it!”
Tags: #AlexanderScriabin, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BronzeMedal, #ChautauquaInstitution, #ChristopherTaylor, #ClassicalRecording, #ConcertPianist, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #FillOut, #FranzSchubert, #HamelMusicCenter, #JacobStockinger, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MoscowRussia, #Musicfaculty, #MusicTeacher, #OnlineConcert, #PerformingArts, #PianoMusic, #PianoVirtuoso, #RecordedMusic, #RegistrationForm, #StreamingService, #ThankYou, #TheCliburn, #TheEar, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWChoralUnion, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #VanCliburn, #VanCliburnInternationalPianoCompetition, #VirtualConcert, #VladimirHorowitz, #YouTubevideo, Alexander Scriabin, all, Arts, audience, basic, blog, bronze medal, bronze medalist, case, chance, Chautauqua Institution, Christopher Taylor, Classical music, composer, computer, coronavirus, encouragement, enjoy, everyone, express, Facebook, fear, fill out, follower, form, forward, Franz Schubert, free, friend, future, Hamel Music Center, healthy, historic, host, hosted, impromptu, interview, Jacob Stockinger, like, link, live, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mead Witter School of Music, message, morsel, Moscow, Music, music faculty, news, not, online, operformer, Orchestra, pandemic, past, perform, performance, Performing arts, Pianist, Piano, piano music, positive, posting, posy, prior, problem, process, propitious, recital, recorded music, recording, registration, relay, Russia, schedule, Schubert, Scriabin, setting, share, show, solve, stream, streaming, sundry, swith, symphony, tag, teach, temporarily, thank you, The Cliburn, The Ear, trouble, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW Choral Union, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW-Madison, Van Cliburn, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, video, view'viewing, virtual, virtuoso, Vladimir Horowitz, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: The Willy Street Chamber Players postpone their sixth season from this summer to next summer because of the coronavirus pandemic
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement from the Willy Street Chamber Players, one of his favorite classical music groups, summer or winter. Their programming and performing are first-rate. Indeed, in December of 2016, The Ear named the Willys “Musicians of the Year.” For an overview of the ensemble, see the YouTube video at the bottom.
For more information and links, go to: http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org
| Dear WSCP Family,
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the postponement of this July concert series to summer 2021.
Just a few weeks ago, we were hard at work putting the finishing touches on an amazing 2020 summer season. We had no idea the COVID-19 pandemic would soon bring everything to a screeching halt.
As we have continued to monitor the situation, we have become increasingly convinced that postponement is the best path forward. The health and safety of our audience, musicians and community remain paramount.
We are eager to find ways to serve our community during this extremely difficult time and will begin by highlighting some of our wonderful Willy Street neighbors, friends and past partnerships on our Facebook page.
As a subscriber to our mailing list, you’ll also have access to some very special video memories and unique surprises in the coming months to thank you for for your support.
We are devastated we won’t be able to share our music with you this July, and our hearts go out to everyone affected by COVID-19. We will get through this together.
We know that we have created something truly special together over the past five years and look forward to continuing our beautiful east side tradition for years to come.
Stay safe, keep in touch and see you soon, WSCP
|
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #COVID-19, #EastSide, #FacebookPage, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #JacobStockinger, #MailingList, #MusicianoftheYear, #TheEar, #WilliamsonStreet, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #YouTubevideo, 2020, 2021, ago, amazing, annouce, Arts, audience, Bach, blog, Chamber music, communty, Concert, convinced, coronavirus, devastated, difficult, ear, east side, ensemble, Facebook, favorite, finishing, first-rate, forward, friends, halt, hard, healthy, heart, heavy, highlight, idea, Jacob Stockinger, July, like, link, list, Madison, mailing, memories, monitor, Music, Musician of the Year, musicians, overview, page, pandemic, paramount, partnership, path, performance, performer, performing, Piano, post, posting, postponement, program, programming, safe, Season, series, serve, share, situation, tag, The Ear, time, together, touches, tradition, United States, University of Wisconsin–Madison, video, Viola, Violin, week, weeks, Williamson Street, Willy Street Chamber Players, winter, Wisconsin, wonderful, work, year, years, YouTube
Classical music: This year’s LunART Festival in late June has been canceled and indefinitely postponed. Here are tastes of what is to come in new music commissions
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement to post from flutist Iva Ugrcic, the founder and executive director of the national award-winning LunART Festival (below), originally slated to take place in late June in various venues around Madison.
The event promotes and advocates for women in the arts including local artists and guest artists in music, poetry, dance, visual art and stand-up comedy. (You can see aerial choreography from last year’s festival in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Each year, the annual event also issues an international call for women composers to submit new works to be premiered during the festival.
“Like many others, we have been closely monitoring the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the world,” says Ugrcic (below), a doctoral graduate of the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
“In order to protect the wellbeing of our guests, artists and team members, we have made the heartbreaking but necessary decision to postpone LunART Festival 2020 until further notice.” (Below is a past performance at the First Unitarian Society of Madison.)
“Once we establish a timeline to resume our celebration, you will be the first to know. In the meantime, our incredible third season is already being planned. It will feature works by over 40 women artists and composers from across the globe.
“These are exceptionally difficult times, but this too will pass, and we will all emerge from this more united than ever. Stay safe and healthy. We cannot wait to share the love and joy of the arts with you in person again. (Below is the festival in Promenade Hall of the Overture Center.)
“Warmest regards,
“The LunART Team” (Yana Avedyan, Leslie Damaso, Satoko Hayami, Allison Jerzak, Marie Pauls and Iva Ugrcic)
Ugrcic also provided additional information:
“I am still hoping that we would be able to hold the festival this summer. However, it is really hard to say right now.
“In the meantime, I have been in contact with all four of our Call for Scores winners: Alexis Bacon (USA, below top), Patricia Lopes (Brazil), Nicole Murphy (Australia) and Rosita Piritore (Italy, below bottom).
“We are finding ways to still promote their music and excite our audience about what they are going to hear and who they are going to meet when we get back together. So here are links to YouTube and some of the interviews we did with them:
- Patricia Lopes (below): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAaZfD0Licc
- Nicole Murphy (below): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoT4hg9hQSo
Tags: #AlexisBacon, #AllisonJerzak, #ArtisticDirector, #AustralianComposer, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrazilianComposer, #CallforScores, #ChamberMusic, #COVID-19, #DanceMovement, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FeministArt, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #italianComposer, #IvaUgrcic, #JacobStockinger, #LastYear, #LauraMedisky, #LeslieDamaso, #LunARTFestival, #MariePauls, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #NewMusic, #NicoleMurphy, #OvertureCenter, #PatriciaLopes, #PromenadeHall, #RositaPiritore, #SatokoHayami, #TeamMembers, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VisualArt, #WomenArtists, #WomenComposers, #WorldPremiere, #YanaAvedyan, #YouTubevideo, 2020, additional, advocate, aerial, Alexis Bacon, Allison Jerzak, announcement, annual, Artistic director, artists, Arts, audience, Australia, award, award-winning, blog, Brazil, Call for Scores, cancellation, celebration, Chamber music, choreography, Classical music, comedy, composer, Concert, coronavirus, dance, decision, difficult, establish, event, exceptional, excite, Facebook, feminist, festival, first, First Unitarian Society of Madison, flute, flutist, forward, founder, further, globe, guests, healthy, hear, heartbreaking, hope, impact, incredible, indefinite, information, international, interview, Italy, Iva Ugrcic, Jacob Stockinger, Joy, June, know, last year, Laura Medisky, Leslie Damaso, like, link, Love, LunART Festival, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marie Pauls, Mead Witter School of Music, meantime, meet, member, monitor, Music, national, necessary, New Music, Nicole Murphy, notice, now, Oboe, oboist, origin, originally, Overture Center, Overture Center for the Arts, pandemic, Patricia Lopes, performance, performer, person, Piano, plan, Poetry, post, posting, postpone, postponement, premiere, Promenade Hall, promote, reader, resume, Rosita Piritore, safe, Satoko Hayami, Season, share, Sonata, stand-up, submit, subscriber, summer, tag, team, team members, The Ear, third, Timeline, times, together, U.S., united, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, UW, UW-Madison, various, venue, Viola, Violin, visual art, wait, well-being, wellbeing, what, who, win, Wisconsin, women, women artists, women composers, works, world, world premiere, Yana Avedyan, year, YouTube
Classical music: This summer’s Madison Early Music Festival in July has been cancelled and postponed until next summer
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement from the Madison Early Music Festival (MEMF) to share:
| Dear MEMF Family,
Due to the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s decision to suspend in-person courses, workshops and conferences for the summer term because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Madison Early Music Festival (MEMF) has been postponed until July 10–17, 2021.
This extraordinary situation has affected all of us and we will miss seeing you this summer. Updates will be posted on our website as they are available.
As you can imagine, this was a difficult decision but a necessary one. We will miss sharing the Burgundian experience with everyone — MEMF is always the highlight of our summer.
We already miss our community of participants gathering together in Madison, listening to concerts in the new Hamel Music Center, learning from our extraordinary faculty, dancing together in Great Hall and relaxing on the Union Terrace. (In the YouTube video at the bottom is an excerpt from the All-Festival Concert last year.)
The good news is, we have decided to simply move the scheduled program forward to next season. We sincerely hope that The Good, the Bold and the Fearless: Musical Life at the Burgundian Court will feature the same guest artists and faculty next year and we hope you will be able to join us in 2021.
In the meantime, the Madison Early Music Festival will continue to operate. For those who have already registered, we will contact you about issuing refunds and answering any other questions you might have.
Finally, we appreciate your support — you are the reason that MEMF continues to offer such extraordinary programming, concerts and instruction year after year. But we appreciate it even more now.
If you can make a donation to help offset some of the costs that this year’s Festival can’t recoup, we would be extremely grateful. Your gift today will ensure that we can return “better than ever” next year.
Please stay safe and healthy, Cheryl, Paul and Sarah Cheryl Bensman-Rowe and Paul Rowe, Co-Artistic Directors (below) Sarah Marty, Program Director
|
Tags: #All-FestivalConcert, #ArtisticDirector, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BurgundianMusic, #BurgundyFrance, #CherylBensman-Rowe, #CommunitySupport, #CourtMusic, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FinancialSupport, #GoodNews, #GreatHall, #GuestArtist, #HamelMusicCenter, #JacobStockinger, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicalExcerpt, #MusicEducation, #Musicfaculty, #NextYear, #PaulRowe, #SarahMarty, #Shelter-inPlace, #Stayathome, #TheEar, #UnionTerrace, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, 2020, 2021, All-Festival concert, announcement, answer, appreciate, Artistic director, audience, better, blog, bold, Burgundian, Burgundy, cancel, Cheryl Bensman Rowe, community, conference, coronavirus, costs, course, court, dance, dancing, decision, difficult, donate, donation, Early music, earlymusic, ensure, ever, excerpt, experience, extraordinary, extreme, extremely, Facebook, faculty, fearless, festival, financial support, France, gift, good, good news, grateful, Great Hall, guest artist, Hamel Music Center, healthy, highlight, Home, hope, in person, instruction, issue, Jacob Stockinger, join, July, learn, life, like, link, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, Mead Witter School of Music, meantime, MEMF, miss, move, Music education, music faculty, musical, necessary, new, news, next year, offset, online, pandemic, participant, Paul Rowe, performer, please, post, posting, postpone, program, programming, question, receive, refund, register, relax, relaxing, safe, Sarah Marty, schedule, share, shelter in place, situation, stay, summer, support, suspend, tag, The Ear, today, together, Union Terrace, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, update, UW, UW-Madison, Website, workshop, year
Classical music: A reader urges others to donate ticket refunds to support the arts. What do you think?
8 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.
ALERT: The Wisconsin Chamber Choir has canceled its upcoming concert, “Music She Wrote,” on April 18.
By Jacob Stockinger
A reader — who prefers to remain anonymous but who has been deeply involved in the Madison arts scene for a long time — recently wrote:
“I’d like to suggest an angle for your column: Encourage subscribers to the various arts organizations and single ticket holders who can afford it NOT to ask for a refund on their upcoming cancelled concerts, if or when they are offered that option.
“I subscribe — on my own or as part of others’ subscriptions — to the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, in photo by Peter Rodgers), the Madison Opera, the Broadway musicals at the Overture Center, Forward Theater, and the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Concert series. (I also buy a lot of single tickets to chamber music concerts by the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society and to American Players Theatre in Spring Green.)
“As all those arts organizations cancel their concerts and plays, they still have costs. Forward Theater, for instance, is paying the full contract of all the people who were involved with the production of “The Amateurs.” And I’m glad they are.
“Personally, I will not be asking for a refund on any of the tickets I long ago purchased. I want the arts to stay healthy in Madison, and not asking for a refund is a small gesture in trying to make sure they are able to move forward.” (At bottom is the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, which just announced its summer schedule from June 7 to June 28 and has not cancelled anything. Go to: https://bachdancing.org)
“You reach a lot of people and you could plant a lot of powerful seeds by making this the topic of a column.”
If you are a member of a performing arts group, what do you think?
If you are a ticket holder, what do you think?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AmericanPlayersTheatre, #BachDancingandDynamiteSociety, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BroadwayMusical, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #ForwardTheater, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicSheWrote, #OperaMusic, #OrchestralMusic, #OvertureCenter, #PerformingArts, #SingleTickets, #SpringGreen, #TheAmateurs, #TheaterandDrama, #TheatreandDrama, #TheEar, #WisconsinChamberChoir, acting, afford, amateur, American Players Theatre, angle, announce, anonymous, Arts, ask, audience, Bach, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Baroque, blog, Broadway, Broadway musical, cancel, cancellation, Chamber music, Choir, choral music, Classical music, column, Concert, contract, cost, donate, donor, drama, encourage, event, Facebook, forward, Forward Theater, gesture, group, healthy, hear, help, involve, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, like, link, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mead Witter School of Music, member, move, Music, Music She Wrote, musicals, offer, opera, option, Orchestra, orchestral, organizations single, other, Overture Center, Overture Center for the Arts, pay, People, performer, Performing arts, plant, play, post, posting, powerful, prefer, production, purchase, reach, reader, refund, scene, schedule, seeds, share, single, single tickets, Spring Green, subscriber, suggest, summer, symphony, tag, tcket, The Amateurs, The Ear, theater, theatre, think, ticket, topic, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, upcoming, urge, UW-Madison, vocal music, what, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Choir, you
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 
The Madison Early Music Festival joins the UW-Madison School of Music’s regular program and undergoes a major revamping. There will be no more separate summer events, and the two directors will retire next spring
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
After refining the format over the past 20 years, the Madison Early Music Festival (below) has grown into a popular event that is recognized regionally, nationally and internationally. It usually takes place for about 10 days in July.
But no longer.
The Ear has received the following updates from the two co-founders and co-directors, singers Cheryl-Bensman Rowe and UW-Madison Professor Paul Rowe.
Curiously, no reasons or causes are given for the major changes and revamping, or for the cancellation of the event this summer.
The Ear suspects it has something to do with the lack of funding and the reorganizations and consolidations being carried out because of the budgetary effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the UW-Madison, the whole UW System and the performing arts scene in general.
But that could be completely wrong. We will probably find out more details in the near future.
For more information and background, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/2021/02/01/memf-school-of-music-announce-administrative-partnership/
And to sound off, please leave your reactions to the news in the comment section.
Here is the letter from the Rowes (below, in a photo by Katrin Talbot):
Dear MEMF Supporters,
It is difficult to believe that February is over and spring is on its way. We hope everyone is having luck scheduling coronavirus vaccines, and that you have all stayed healthy throughout this past year.
We are writing to give you advance notice of the latest MEMF news before you read it in an upcoming press release.
Due to programming realignment in the UW-Madison Division of the Arts, the Madison Early Music Festival will become a program of the Mead Witter School of Music, which will be our new administrative home.
After much discussion with the Director of the School of Music and the Interim Director of the Division of the Arts, the details of the move have been finalized.
The School of Music is excited to bring MEMF into its programming, and would like MEMF to be an integral part of the academic year so more students can have an opportunity to work with professionals in the field of early music.
At this point, in order to focus on this goal, the decision has been made to discontinue the summer festival in its current (pre-pandemic) format.(You can hear a sample of that in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
We know this is disappointing news, but at the same time we are excited that MEMF concerts, lectures and classes will now be offered in some capacity throughout the year.
Although MEMF will be taking a different direction than the one we have all known and loved over the past 20 years, we are thrilled that it will continue to provide early music learning and presentation opportunities through this new collaboration.
We also want to announce that the two of us will be retiring from MEMF in the spring of 2022 and new leadership will take the helm.
Current plans are to present a celebratory MEMF concert and workshop next spring with School of Music students and faculty and former MEMF participants and faculty.
We want all of you to know that we appreciate everything you have done for MEMF. Some of you have been involved for 21 years!
We are grateful for your support, the friendships we have made, and all the beautiful music we have heard and made together. The success of the festival would not have been possible without each and every one of you.
This is an exciting new journey for MEMF, although different from what we have known and experienced. We hope that you will continue to be involved in MEMF in its new format, and we hope to see you in the spring of 2022!
Thank you for all your generosity in so many ways,
Cheryl Bensman-Rowe and Paul Rowe, co-founders and co-artistic directors of the Madison Early Music Festival
Share this:
Like this:
Tags: #AcademicYear, #ArtisticDirector, #Beautifulmusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #CherylBensman-Rowe, #ChoralMusic, #CityofMadison, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #IntegralPart, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonWisconsin, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MEMFOnline, #MusicEducation, #Musicfaculty, #NewsUpdate, #PaulRowe, #PerformingArts, #PeriodInstruments, #SoundOff, #TheEar, #TheUW, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWSystem, #VocalMusic, #YouTubevideo, 2021, 2022, academic, academic year, administration, administrative, advance, Arts, audience, Bach, background, baritone, Baroque, beautiful, blog, budget, budgetary, cancel, cancellation, capacity, cause, celebratory, Cello, Chamber music, Cheryl Bensman Rowe, choral music, class, classes, Classical music, co-artistic directors, co-founders, collaboration, comment, composer, Concert, concerto, conductor, consolidate, consolidation, coronavirus, coronavirus pandemic, current, details, disappoint, disappointment, discontinue, Early music, earlymusic, event, excite, excited, experience, Facebook, faculty, Feburary, festival, field, finalize, finalized, financial, fiscal, Focus, format, forward, friendship, funding, future, grateful, grow, healthy, helm, historically informed performance practices, Home, information, instrument, integral, international, involve, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, journey, know, leadership, lecture, like, link, Love, luck, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, Mead Witter School of Music, MEMF, move, Music, Music education, music faculty, national, new, news, notice, offer, opera, opportunity, Orchestra, paerticpant, pandemic, part, past, Paul Rowe, performer, Performing arts, period instruments, plans, popular, possible, post, posting, presentation, professionals, program, progrramming, provide, reactions, realign, realignment, reason, recognized, refine, regional, reorganization, reorganize, retire, Retirement, revamp, sample, scene, schedule, share, sing, Singing, Sonata, sound off, Spring, Student, summer, support, tag, The Ear, thrill, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, update, UW, UW System, UW-Madison, vaccine, Viola, Violin, vocal music, way, Wisconsin, work, workshop, wring, year, you, YouTube