The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: UW-Madison’s first countertenor Gerrod Pagenkopf returns to perform on Sunday night as a member of the acclaimed choral group Chanticleer. Here’s how he got from here to there. Part 1 of 2
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ALERT: Madison Symphony Orchestra organist Greg Zelek did not announce his encore after he received a standing ovation at the MSO concert Sunday afternoon. It was the final movement from the Organ Symphony No. 1 by Louis Vierne.
By Jacob Stockinger
This coming Sunday night, Oct. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the inaugural concert in the new Hamel Music Center’s main concert hall, the critically acclaimed a cappella singing group Chanticleer (below) will kick off the centennial anniversary celebration of the Concert Series at the Wisconsin Union Theater.
Tickets are $45 for the public; $40 for faculty staff and Union members; and $10 for students. For more information about the performers and the “Trade Winds” program, go to: https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/chanticleer/
Among the 12 members of the San-Francisco-based Chanticleer is Gerrod Pagenkopf, who is in his fifth year with the group as both a countertenor and the assistant music director. (You can hear Pagenkopf singing music by Henry Purcell in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For a biography of Gerrod Pagenkopf, go to: https://www.chanticleer.org/gerrod-pagenkopf
Pagenkopf (below) is a graduate of the UW-Madison. When he performed here as a student, his high, clear countertenor voice was a new experience and made those of us who heard him sit bolt upright and take notice. “He is going places,” we said to each other. And so he has.
But Pagenkopf’s story is not only about him. It is also about the rediscovery of countertenors, about the changing public acceptance of them, and about the challenges that young musicians often face in establishing a professional performing career. So today and tomorrow, The Ear is offering a longer-than-usual, two-part interview with Pagenkopf.
Here is Part 1:
When were you at the UW-Madison?
I was a student at the UW-Madison from the fall of 1997 until I graduated in May of 2002. Although I received a bachelor’s degree in music education, performing ended up being a huge part of my last few semesters.
Growing up in rural Wisconsin about 30 miles north of Green Bay, I always thought that if you liked music and were good at it, you were supposed to be a teacher. It wasn’t until I was a junior that my voice teacher, the late Ilona Kombrink, and I discovered that I had a viable solo voice. Although I received the music education degree, embarking on a solo career became more important to me.
What did you do and how well did your studies and performances here prepare you for the life of a professional musician?
I was very lucky to have ample opportunities for performing during my time at the UW. Singing in choirs was very important to me. For many years I sang in the Concert Choir under Beverly Taylor (below top) as well as in the Madrigal Singers under Bruce Gladstone (below bottom,, in a photo by Katrin Talbot). I think there was one semester where I sang in just about every auditioned choir.
Beverly Taylor also gave me a lot of solo opportunities in the large-scale works that the Choral Union performed: Bach’s “St. John” and “St. Matthew” Passions, and Handel’s “Israel in Egypt.” For a 23-year-old to have those masterworks, along with the B Minor Mass and “Messiah,” on his resume was very impressive.
I was also lucky enough to perform with University Opera, singing in the chorus at first, but then singing a solo role in Handel’s “Xerxes” my final semester, and then returning as an alumni artist to sing Public Opinion in Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld” and several years later Polinesso in Handel’s “Ariodante.” Director Bill Farlow took a lot of chances on my young, “raw” countertenor voice and gave me several opportunities to succeed.
I should also note the importance of the guidance and mentorship of Professor Mimmi Fulmer (below, performing at Frank Loyd Wright’s Hillside Theater at Taliesin in Spring Green) after I graduated from UW. She afforded me the opportunity to sing in recital with her numerous times — usually Brahms and Mendelssohn duets. But she also was a catalyst in bringing me back to Madison several years later to sing with the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble. Our continued relationship is actually the primary reason Chanticleer is singing in Madison this fall.
How do you feel about returning to perform at your alma mater with Chanticleer?
I’m over the moon about it. It still feels like a dream that I’m singing in Chanticleer. To be able to bring a group that I’m so proud to be a part of back to Madison feels like a great personal triumph. And to be the opening performance in the new Hamel Center (below) is such an honor!
Throughout my studies at UW-Madison, I was torn between the solo performance track and the choral career. I managed to straddle both, but my dream was always to make ensemble singing my career. Way back in the early 2000s, I heard Chanticleer sing at Luther Memorial Church, and I thought, “That’s what I want to do!”
I went down several other paths since that concert — mostly in the realm of solo, operatic singing — but it’s incredibly rewarding to be able to say I achieved my dream, and I’m coming back to place where the seed of that dream was planted almost 20 years ago.
Tomorrow: How countertenors re-emerged and were treated, the “Trade Winds” program and Pagenkopf’s future plans
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Classical music: The eclectic fusion group Mr. Chair plays music by Stravinsky, Satie and others on Monday night in Spring Green
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement from the Rural Musicians Forum:
Mr. Chair looks like a jazz quartet, sounds sometimes like a rock band, but in actuality is a contemporary classical music group in the guise of a modern band.
Classically trained musicians who are well versed in jazz, the players in Mr. Chair create a new sound using both acoustic and electric instruments.(You can hear Mr. Chair perform the original composition “Freed” in the the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The Rural Musicians Forum audience will have the chance to enjoy the soundscapes of this fascinating eclectic fusion group on this coming Monday night, Aug. 19, at 7:30 p.m. at Taliesin’s Hillside Theater (below) in Spring Green.
Members of Mr. Chair (below) are Professor Mark Hetzler, trombone and electronics; Jason Kutz, piano and keyboards; Ben Ferris, acoustic and electric bass; and Mike Koszewski, drums and percussion. All have close ties to the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, where they also perform as an ensemble.
Mr. Chair’s compositions are long-form journeys, telling stories through sound by using and exploring the three pillars of music: melody, harmony and rhythm. Think cinematic, orchestral, surreal, romantic, emotional and gripping, and always equal parts dissonant and consonant. Their influences are far-reaching from classical, blues and rock to soul, funk, jazz and beyond.
For this concert, Mr. Chair will perform re-imagined excerpts from Igor Stravinsky’s Neo-Classical ballet masterpiece Pulcinella as well as music by Erik Satie and selections from their debut album, NEBULEBULA, which will be released on Thursday, Sept. 5, on vinyl, CD and digital streaming platforms.
The genre-bending quartet will perform in the beautiful Hillside Theater designed by Frank Lloyd Wright as part of his Taliesin compound. It is located at 6604 State Highway 23, about five miles south of Spring Green.
Admission is by free will offering, with a suggested donation of $15.
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Classical music: Two Madison pianists perform four-hand American music Monday night at a concert for the Rural Musicians Forum at Taliesin in Spring Green
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By Jacob Stockinger
For the first time ever, the Rural Musicians Forum will present music for piano 4-hands, where two pianists play simultaneously on one piano.
On this coming Monday, July 22, at 7:30 p.m. in the Hillside Theater at architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin compound in Spring Green, Madison-based pianists Satoko Hayami (below top) and Jason Kutz (below bottom) will showcase four-hand piano music by American composers, spanning from 1864 to 2019.
The concert by the two graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music will present a variety of composers and works created for this ensemble: pre-ragtime composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s virtuosic arrangement of Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell Overture; excerpts from Samuel Barber’s Souvenirs, a ballet suite (heard played tag-team style in the YouTube video below); a lush arrangement of themes from the Wizard of Oz by William Hirtz; and the riveting Gazebo Dances by John Corigliano, a four-movement work that, in his own words, suggests “the pavilions often seen on village greens in towns throughout the countryside, where public band concerts are given on summer evenings.”
Additionally, the audience will hear the world premiere arrangement of Music in 3/4 for Four by Kutz, excerpts from his solo piano suite, Music in 3/4.
Admission is by free will offering, with a suggested donation of $15.
Taliesin’s Hillside Theater (below) is located at 6604 State Highway 23, about five miles south of Spring Green.
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Classical music: The Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society closes its 28th season this weekend by honoring three guest artists. Plus, here are all the winners of the 16th International Tchaikovsky Competition
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ALERT: The Ear has been following two competitors in the 16th International Tchaikovsky Competition in Russia who have local ties. (The only American to win Gold was cellist Zlatomir Fung.) The final results are in: trumpet player Ansel Norris took fifth place and received an artist’s diploma; pianist Kenneth Broberg shared the third prize with two other winners. For a complete list of winners in all the categories — piano, violin, cello, voice, brass and woodwinds — go to this page: https://tch16.com/en/news/
You can also watch and listen to, via live streaming, the two Gala Concerts for the winners today at 11 a.m. and on Saturday at 1 a.m. Valery Gergiev will conduct both. Go to https://tch16.medici.tv
By Jacob Stockinger
This Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society will close out its 28th annual summer chamber music season with concerts in Madison, Stoughton and Spring Green.
Judging by the first two weekends of concerts, The Ear expects it to be a memorable conclusion of the season with the punning theme of “Name Dropping.”
Here is the announcement he received.
“Our third week of concerts celebrates three great musicians, all of whom are audience favorites: cellist couple Anthony (“Tony”) Ross and Beth Rapier; and firebrand violinist Carmit Zori.
“And the Tony Award for Rapier Wit goes to…” is a program centered around cello duets. Rapier and Ross (below), principal and co-principal cellists with the Minnesota Orchestra, start the program with George Frideric Handel’s gorgeous Sonata in G minor for two cellos and piano. (You can hear the Handel sonata, payed by Amit Peled in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
They both display crazy virtuosity in Luigi Boccherini’s Quintet in B-flat Major for flute, violin, viola and two cellos.
The first half ends with Gian Carlo Menotti’s Suite for two cellos and piano, a work that they have performed to acclaim around the world.
The second half of the program is given over to one of Brahms’ greatest works, the Sextet in G Major, Op. 36, for two violins, two violas and two cellos.
Ross and Rapier are joined by violinists Carmit Zori and Leanne League (assistant concertmaster of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra) and violists Toby Appel (below, a faculty member at the Juilliard School who plays in the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center) and Katrin Talbot (a Madisonian who performs with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra) in this spectacular piece.
“And the Tony Award for Rapier Wit goes to…” will be performed at the Stoughton Opera House on Friday, June 28, at 7:30 p.m.; and in Spring Green at the Hillside Theater at Taliesin on Sunday, June 30, at 2:30 p.m.
Firebrand violinist Carmit Zori (below), founder and artistic director of the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society in New York City, will sizzle her way through the second program, entitled “The Legend of Zori.”
The program will open with Johannes Brahms’ Sonata in G Major for violin and piano. Viaje, by living Chinese composer Zhou Tian, is a fun and exciting new piece featuring flute and string quartet.
Zori will bring the program home with the torridly passionate Piano Quintet in F minor by Cesar Franck (below), a work written while Franck was in the throes of a love affair with one of his young students.
“The Legend of Zori” will be performed at The Playhouse at the Overture Center for the Arts on Saturday, June 29, at 7:30 p.m.; and in Spring Green at the Hillside Theater at Taliesin, on Sunday, June 30, at 6:30 p.m.
Venue Locations: the Stoughton Opera House is at 381 East Main Street; the Overture Center in Madison is at 201 State Street; Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin Hillside Theater in on County Highway 23 in Spring Green.
Single admission tickets start are $43 and $49. Student tickets are always $10. All single tickets must now be purchased from Overture Center for the Arts, www.overturecenter.org or (608) 258-4141 (additional fees apply) or at the box office. Tickets are available at the door at all locations.
You can also enjoy a pre-ordered picnic at the Hillside Theater made with love from Pasture and Plenty, using ingredients from local farmers and producers. They are available for pick up at the Hillside Theater after the 2:30 p.m. concert or before the 6:30 p.m. concert, for $18.
Spread a blanket on the beautiful Hillside Theater grounds or eat in the Taliesin Architecture School Dining Room, which will be open exclusively to BDDS concert-goers.
Choose from Green Goddess Chicken Salad, Market Veggie Quiche with Greens, or Hearty Greens and Grains with Seasonal Veggie Bowl (gluten-free/vegan). Seasonal sweet treat and beverage included. See the BDDS order form or call BDDS at 608 255-9866.
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Classical music: Looking for serious fun? The thoroughly successful opening concerts by the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society bode well for the upcoming second weekend
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By Jacob Stockinger
After 28 summers, going to a concert by the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society still feels like attending a family reunion – the best kind of family reunion where everyone is familiar and friendly, where everything is fun, and where you always leave glad that you went.
That’s not by chance.
The first thing that co-founders and co-artistic directors Stephanie Jutt and Jeffrey Sykes did last Friday and Saturday nights was to thank the loyal audience. And the audience, full of longtime fans, returned the favor by being attentive to and appreciative of the first-rate music-making as well as responsive to the horseplay and antics – such as the surreal scene of virtuoso Axel Strauss playing “The Skater’s Waltz” on his violin while rollerblading around the stage (below).
BDDS players really mean it when they say that their audiences are in for something different, something they won’t find elsewhere and won’t forget.
Last weekend that meant the return of two longtime guest performers: San Francisco cellist Jean-Michael Fonteneau and Montreal violinist Axel Strauss (below, with pianist Jeffrey Sykes). Neither disappointed as they performed very varied music by Franz Joseph Haydn, C.P.E. Bach, Johannes Brahms, Gabriel Faure, Lili Boulanger, Maurice Ravel and Ned Rorem. And as always, the amazing pianist Jeffrey Sykes proved a chameleon who blended masterfully into the style of each period and each composer.
But for The Ear, the unexpected standout last weekend was guest accordion player Stas Venglevski from Milwaukee. Born in Russia and trained at the Moscow Conservatory, he is a virtuoso player, a sensitive arranger and a convincing composer – all done with good humor and a charismatic stage presence.
The Ear never thought of the accordion – the Russian bayan, to be specific – as an instrument for chamber music. But he does now, after hearing Venglevski play serious Russian, French and Latin American music that ran the gamut from a graceful waltz and a sprightly polka to torchy tangos. And then there were his flying fingers punching out “The Flight of the Bumblebee,” a real crowd-pleaser.
The large audience responded on both nights with wild applause and a standing ovation every time that Venglevski (below) played, and Jutt promised the audience that he will be back.
“As you can see, we have fun here,” Jutt deadpanned.
She is not exaggerating.
Which bodes well for the second weekend of three that will happen this coming weekend.
The second weekend — two programs in three venues — celebrates Jutt and Sykes, plus two of BDDS’ favorite guest artists: violinist Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio and Madison pianist Thomas Kasdorf.
Kasdorf (below) and Sykes are both featured in a program called “Rock the Sykes-o-delic Kas-bah.” Kasdorf is featured in Brahms’ Horn Trio with guest horn player Karl Kramer Johansen, and in the appealing and accessible Café Concertino by the contemporary Australian composer Carl Vine.
Sykes will perform another chamber transcription of a Classical-era symphonic work, which over the years has become a welcome specialty of BDDS. In this case it is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s snappy and appealing Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major, K. 271, the “Jeunehomme” concerto. (You can hear the irresistible last movement of the piano concerto, used in the film “Amadeus,” in the YouTube video at the bottom.) Sykes will also perform in Robert Schumann’s “Fairy Tales” for clarinet and viola.
A Madison native, cellist Alison Rowe (below) — an artist from the Dynamite Factory, which is BDDS’ program for emerging talent — will be featured in the Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Major by Johann Sebastian Bach.
“Rock the Sykes-o-delic Kas-bah” will be performed at the Stoughton Opera House on Friday, June 21, at 7:30 p.m. Braisin’ Hussies Food Cart will be parked outside the Opera House prior to the performance. The program will also be performed in Spring Green at the Hillside Theater, Sunday, June 23, at 2:30 p.m.
Jutt (below top) and Sant’Ambrogio (below bottom, in a photo by Stephanie Ann Boyd) worm their musical way into the most unexpected places in the other program, “Steph Infection.” The Nocturne for flute, violin, horn and piano of Franz Doppler opens the program, which continues with Jutt’s own arrangement of Antonin Dvorak’s popular “American” String Quartet, with a flute substituting for one of the two violins.
Dmitri Shostakovich’s Five Pieces for flute, clarinet and piano add spice to the program, and the evening concludes with Ernst von Dohnanyi’s epic Sextet for clarinet, horn, violin, viola, cello and piano. A work that ranges from stormy and turbulent to tender and funny, it features an all-star cast including audience favorite clarinetist Alan Kay, horn player Karl Kramer Johansen, violist Carol Cook (principal at the Lyric Opera of Chicago), and Madison’s own cellist of the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet, Parry Karp (below).
“Steph Infection” will be performed at The Playhouse, Overture Center for the Arts, Saturday, June 22, at 7:30 p.m.; and in Spring Green at the Hillside Theater, Sunday, June 23, at 6:30 p.m.
And of course there could also be some unannounced surprises – more door prizes, perhaps a mystery guest, or more shenanigans and antics that correspond to the “Name Dropping” pun theme of the programs.
For tickets ($43-$49) and more information, go to: https://bachdancing.org
Tags: "Amadeus", #AlanKay, #AlisonRowe, #AmadeusFilm, #AntoninDvorak, #ArtisticDirector, #AustralianComposer, #AxelStrauss, #BachDancingandDynamiteSociety, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #CarlVine, #CarolCook, #CastList, #CelloSonata, #ChamberMusic, #Classicalera, #ContemporaryComposer, #CPEBach, #DmitriShostakovich, #ErnstvonDohnanyi, #FamilyReunion, #FilmSoundtrack, #FlightoftheBumblebee, #FluteMusic, #FoodCart, #FrankLloydWright, #FranzDoppler, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FrenchMusic, #Fridaynight, #GabrielFaure, #HillsideTheater, #HornTrio, #Jean-MichelFonteneau, #JeffreySykes, #JeunehommeConcerto, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #KarlKramerJohansen, #LatinAmerica, #LatinAmerican, #LatinAmericanmusic, #LiliBoulanger, #LivingComposer, #LyricOperaofChicago, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MauriceRavel, #MilwaukeeWisconsin, #MontrealCanada, #MoscowConservatory, #MoscowRussia, #MovieSoundtrack, #Music-Making, #MusicReview, #NedRorem, #NewTango, #NuevoTango, #OvertureCenter, #ParryKarp, #PianoConcerto, #ProArteQuartet, #RobertSchumann, #RussianMusic, #SanFrancisco, #SaturdayNight, #SpringGreen, #StagePresence, #StandingOvation, #StasVenglevski, #StephanieJutt, #StephanieSant'Ambrogio, #StoughtonOperaHouse, #StoughtonWisconsin, #StringQuartet, #Sundayafternoon, #SymphonicMusic, #Taliesincompound, #TheEar, #ThePlayhouse, #TheSkater'sWaltz, #ThomasKasdorf, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViolaMusic, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, accordion, afternoon, Alan Kay, Alison Rowe, all-star, American, Antonín Dvořák, applause, appreciative, arrangement, arranger, Artistic director, Arts, attentive, audience, Australia, Axel Stauss, Bach, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Baroque, BDDS, blend, blog, born, cafe, California, Canada, Carl Vine, Carol Cook, cart, cast, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, chameleon, charismatic, clarinet, clarinetist, Classical, Classical music, composer, Concert, concertino, contemporary, CPE Bach, critic, Dmitri Shostakovich, Dvorak, dynamite, Early music, era, Ernst von Dohnanyi, everyone, everything, factory, familiar, Family, favor, fi ger, film, first-rate, Flight of the Bumblebee, flute, flutist, food, forward, Frank Lloyd Wright, Franz Doppler, Franz Joseph Haydn, French, Friday, friendly, fun, Gabriel Fauré, graceful, guest, Hillside Theater, Horn, horseplay, House, Humor, infection, irresistible, Jacob Stockinger, Jean-Michel Fonteneau, Jeffrey Sykes, Jeunehomme, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Karl Kramer Johansen, Latin America, Latin American music, like, Lili Boulanger, link, Living composer, longtime, loyal, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, masterful, masterfully, Maurice Ravel, Milwaukee, Montreal, Moscow, Moscow Conservatory, movie, Mozart, Music, name, native, New Rorem, new tango, night, nocturne, opening, opera, Orchestra, ovation, Overture Center, Parry Karp, performer, period, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, player, please, polka, popular, presence, principal, Pro Arte Quartet, program, promise, psychedelic, pun, reunion, review, Robert Schumann, rollerblading, Russia, Russian, San Francisco, Saturday, sensitive, serious, sextet, share, Sonata, soundtrack, spectacular, spice, sprightly, Spring Green, Spring Green Wisconsin, stage, standout, Stas Venglevski, Stephanie Jutt, Stephanie Sant'Ambrogio, stormy, Stoughton, Stoughton Opera House, String quartet, style, successful, summer, Sunday, surreal, symphonic, tag, talent, Taliesin, tango, tender, The Ear, The Playhouse, The Skater's Waltz, Thomas Kasdorf, torch, torchy, trained, transcription, trio, turbulent, unexpected, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtuoso, Waltz, weekend, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, YouTube
Classical music: The Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society again brings its surefire summery approach to serious classical chamber music when it starts its 28th annual series this weekend
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IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE 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.
By Jacob Stockinger
It’s not just the calendar that makes the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society the official start of the increasingly busy summer classical musical season in Madison.
The real reason is that the summer chamber music series, about to start its 28th annual summer this Friday night, June 14, is downright summery in its approach.
Say “summer,” and you think of lightness, of fun, of playfulness. And those are the very same qualities – along with serious, first-rate performances of great music by outstanding musicians – that BDDS brings to its six programs spread out in 12 concerts over three weekends and three venues during the month of June.
By now both the performers (below, in a photo by Dick Ainsworth for BDDS) and the audiences know that the formula works, however finely tuned or slightly changed it is from one summer to the next.
WHAT’S THE SAME
This year much remains.
There are still door prizes, spoken introductions and stories, mystery guests and a colorful art installation by UW-Madison designer Carolyn Kallenborn.
The titles of the six programs for 12 concerts over three weekends still have groan-inducing puns — “Name Dropping” in the theme for this summer — that are based on the musicians’ names like “Founteneau of Youth” after the San Francisco cellist Jean-Michel Fonteneau (below top) and “Quadruple Axel” after the Montreal-based violin virtuoso Axel Strauss (below bottom).
There are still the usual venues: the Playhouse in the Overture Center (below top); the Stoughton Opera House (below middle); and the Hillside Theater at Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright compound in Spring Green.
There are still the many distinguished and accomplished musicians among the many imported guest artists and the many local musicians, including the co-founders and co-artistic directors flutist Stephanie Jutt and pianist Jeffrey Sykes (below). The Ear can’t recall ever hearing a bad BDDS performance, even of music he didn’t like.
And there is a mix of older well-known and classic repertoire along with newer and neglected composers and works.
WHAT’S NEW
But some things are different too.
The first concert this Friday will have a post-concert reception with free champagne and dessert to celebrate the 28th season.
This summer, unlike recent ones, there is no vocal music. All music is instrumental.
At both Stoughton and Spring Green, you can get food. Go to the home website for details.
Especially new and noteworthy is that the Russian virtuoso accordion player Stas Venglevski (below), from Milwaukee, will also perform on programs. Venglevski performs on the bayan, a Russian-style accordion noted for its deep bass sound and range and purity of tone.
Venglevski will be featured in works that range from polkas and heart-on-the-sleeve tangos by Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla, Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona and Russian composer Igor Stravinsky; down-and-dirty original works by Russian master Tatyana Sergeyeva and arrangements of favorite pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach and others.
This Wednesday night, June 12, from 7 to 9 p.m., Venglevski and Jutt will perform “Bayan-o-rama” at the Arts and Literature Lab, 2021 Winnebago Street. Tickets are $10 at the door. Refreshments will be served.
Here is a summary of the first weekend:
WEEK ONE
The elegance, charm, and finesse of French cellist Jean-Michel Fonteneau is displayed in a program called “Fonteneau of Youth.”
It includes music written by great composers in their youth, including the ravishing Elegy for cello and piano of French composer Gabriel Fauré; the rhythmically exciting Trio for flute, cello and piano of living American composer Ned Rorem; and the astonishing D’un soir triste (One Sad Evening) and D’un matin de printemps (One Spring Morning), both for piano trio, of 21-year old Lili Boulanger (below), who was the Prix de Rome-winning composer sister of famed teacher Nadia Boulanger and who died very young. (You can hear both pieces by Lili Boulanger in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The great Franz Joseph Haydn—always the most youthful of composers, even into his late years—is represented by the masterful Piano Trio no. 28 in E major, in honor of BDDS’ 28th season.
“Fonteneau of Youth” will be performed at The Playhouse in the Overture Center for the Arts on this Friday, June 14, at 7:30 p.m. A free champagne and dessert reception will be held following the performance to celebrate the 28th season opener. It will also be performed in Spring Green at the Hillside Theater on Sunday, June 16, at 2:30 p.m.
Audience favorite Axel Strauss—not just a virtuoso violinist, but a virtuoso musician and artist of the highest distinction—will brave gravity-defying musical heights in “Quadruple Axel.” Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Trio Sonata in D minor for violin, flute, cello and piano starts the program on an elegant note. Johannes Brahms’ fiery Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101, raises the temperature significantly. And all sorts of hijinks are on display in Maurice Ravel’s extraordinary and ravishing Sonata for Violin and Piano.
“Quadruple Axel” will be performed at The Playhouse in the Overture Center for the Arts on Saturday, June 15, at 7:30 p.m. and in Spring Green at the Hillside Theater, Sunday, June 16, at 6:30 p.m.
For more information about the full BDDS season and how to purchase tickets ($43 and $49), go to: https://bachdancing.org
Tags: #AcademicFestivalOverture, #AmericanComposer, #ArgentineanComposer, #ArtisticDirector, #ArtsandLiteratureLaboratory, #AstorPiazzolla, #AudienceFavorite, #AxelStrauss, #BachDancingandDynamiteSociety, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CarlPhilippEmanuelBach, #CarolynKallenborn, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusicians, #Classicalera, #ContemporaryComposers, #ContemporaryMusic, #CPEBach, #Cubancomposer, #DoorPrize, #ErnestoLecuona, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FigureSkating, #FrankLloydWright, #FranzJosephHaydn, #Frenchcomposer, #FrenchMusic, #GabrielFaure, #HillsideTheater, #HomeWebsite, #IgorStravinsky, #InstrumentalMusic, #Jean-MichelFonteneau, #JeffreySykes, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #LiliBoulanger, #LivingComposer, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MauriceRavel, #McGillUniversity, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MilwaukeeWisconsin, #ModernComposers, #ModernMusic, #MontrealCanada, #MysteryGuest, #NadiaBoulanger, #Name-Dropping, #NameDropping, #NedRorem, #NeglectedComposers, #NeglectedRepertoire, #NewMusic, #OvertureCenter, #PianoTrio, #PrixdeRome, #Prize-Winning, #RussianComposer, #SanFrancisco, #SanFranciscoCalifornia, #SanFranciscoTrio, #SpringGreen, #StasVenglevski, #StephanieJutt, #StoughtonOperaHouse, #StoughtonWisconsin, #Taliesincompound, #TatyanaSergeyeva, #ThePlayhouse, #TrioSonata, #UniversityofCalifornia-Berkeley, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViolinistVirtuoso, #VirtuosoViolinist, #VocalMusic, #YouTubevideo, accordion, American, annual, Argentina, Argentinean, Argentinian, Art, Artistic director, Arts, Arts and Literature Laboratory, audience, axel, Axel Strauss, Ástor Piazzolla, Bach, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, bad, Baroque, Baroque music, bass, bayan, BDDS, blog, busy, calendar, California, Canada, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Carolyn Kallenborn, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, champagne, change, charm, classic, Classical era, Classical music, classicalmusic, composer, compound, Concert, contemporary, CPE Bach, Cuba, Cuban, dance, dancing, design, dessert, desserts, different, door prize, Early music, elegance, elegant, Elegy, Ernesto Lecuoña, evening, Facebook, Faure, favorite, festival, figure skating, finesse, first-rate, flute, flutist, food, formula, forward, founder, Frank Lloyd Wright, Franz Joseph Haydn, free, French, fun, Gabriel Fauré, great, groan, guest, heart, Hillside Theater, House, Igor Stravinsky, induce, installation, instrumental, introduction, introductions, Jacob Stockinger, Jean-Michel Fonteneau, Jeffrey Sykes, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, June, late, lightness, like, Lili Boulanger, link, literature, living, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Ravel, McGill University, Mead Witter School of Music, Milwaukee, mix, modern, month, Montreal, morning, Music, Musician, mystery, Nadia Boulanger, name, Ned Rorem, neglected, new, New Music, official, opera, Overture Center, Overture Center for the Arts, performance, performer, Pianist, Piano, Piano Trio, playfulness, polka, Prix de Rome, prize, program, purity, quadruple, qualities, range, recall, reception, refreshment, repertoire, Russian, San Francisco, San Francisco Trio, Season, serious, share, sister, sleeve, Sonata, Sound, spoken, Spring, Spring Green, Spring Green Wisconsin, start, Stas Venglevski, Stephanie Jutt, stories, story, Stoughton, Stoughton Opera House, summer, summery, tag, Taliesin, tango, Tatyana Sergeyeva, Teacher, The Playhouse, theme, ticket, tone, trio, trio sonata, tuned, United States, University of California-Berkeley, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, venue, Violin, violinist, virtuoso, vocal music, Website, weekend, what, winning, Wisconsin, Wiscosnin, word, works, year, Youth, YouTube
Classical music: The impressive second weekend of four concerts by the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society adds elements of theater and dance to chamber music
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By Jacob Stockinger
The second weekend of the three-weekend summer series of concerts by the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society features two performances each of two programs.
The programs in this 27th season with its “Toy Stories” theme – “Play-Do(h)” and “GI Joe” – will be performed at The Playhouse (below) of the Overture Center on Friday and Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday performances are at the Hillside Theater (below) at Taliesin, at the Frank Lloyd Wright compound in Spring Green, at 2:30 and 6:30 p.m.
Each program introduces elements of drama, using a narrator, and of dance.
The works include “The Kitchen Revue” by Bohuslav Martinu and “The Masked Ball” by Francis Poulenc as well as “Einstein on Mercer Street” by American composer Kevin Puts and “The Solder’s Tale” by Igor Stravinsky. (You can hear the first part of the Stravinsky work — “The Soldier’s March” — with Jeremy Irons narrating and the composer conducting in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The baritone singer is Timothy Jones (below top), a longtime favorite of BDDS audiences, and Milwaukee-based hip-hop dancer and choreographer Blake Washington (below bottom), who is returning for his second season with BDDS.
Here is a link to the introduction and complete schedule to the entire summer season, including a FREE concert of “American Haiku: for violin and cello this coming Wednesday night:
Also included this weekend are various works for bassoon, flute, oboe, clarinet, trumpet, double bass and percussion by Alexandre Tansman; Georg Philipp Telemann, Gabriel Pierné and Robert Schumann.
A bonus to notice: This year for the first time, at the Hillside Theater at Taliesin, Enos Farms is offering picnic dinners that can be ordered, then picked up and eaten outside or in the Taliesin dining room. For food reservations, go to Tickets at http://bachdancing.org
Tags: #AlbertEinstein, #AlexandreTansman, #AmericanComposer, #AxelStrauss, #BachDancingandDynamiteSociety, #BaroqueMusic, #BassoonMusic, #BlakeWashington, #BohuslavMartinu, #ChamberMusic, #DoubleBass, #EinsteinonMercerStreet, #EnosFarms, #FluteMusic, #FrancisPoulenc, #FrankLloydWright, #GabrielPierné, #GeorgPhilippTelemann, #GIJoe, #HillsideTheater, #Hip-HopDance, #IgorStravinsky, #JeffreySykes, #JeremyIrons, #JohannSebastianBach, #KevinPuts, #KitchenRevue, #LauraMedisky, #MaskedBall, #MercerStreet, #OboeMusic, #OvertureCenter, #PercussionMusic, #PicnicDinner, #PlayDoh, #RobertSchumann, #SpringGreen, #StephanieJutt, #Taliesincompound, #ThePlayhouse, #TheSoldier'sTale, #TimothyJones, #ToyStories, #ToyStory, #TrioSonata, #TrumpetMusic, #USArmy, #YouTubevideo, American, Army, Arts, Bach, baritone, Baroque, Bassoon, Blake Washington, Cello, Chamber music, choreographer, choreography, Classical music, composer, Conducting, conductor, dance, double bass, Early music, Enis Farms, farm, flute, free, GI, haiku, hip-hop, Jeremy Irons, Johann Sebastian Bach, kitchen, Madison, march, Martinu, Milwaukee, Music, narrator, Oboe, percussion, performance, Piano, picnic, program, reservation, revue, singer, Sonata, Telemann, theater, theatre, toy, Toy Story, trio, Trumpet, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Thanks to the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society celebrating women, you can hear this beautiful Romance for violin and piano LIVE tonight in Madison and Sunday night in Spring Green
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By Jacob Stockinger
Tonight and Sunday night bring the second of six programs on the 27th annual summer series by the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society.
The theme of the whole series, along with the number 27, is “Toy Stories” and this particular program is called “American Girls” because it features so much music written by women composers — something in keeping with the timeliness and relevance of the #MeToo movement.
The first performance is TONIGHT, Saturday, June 9, at 7:30 p.m. in The Playhouse at the Overture Center. The second performance is tomorrow, Sunday, June 10, at 6:30 p.m. in the Hillside Theater of Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright compound in Spring Green.
For more information about the BDDS season and about buying tickets ($43 and $48), go to http://bachdancing.org or to: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2018/06/07/classical-music-this-weekend-kicks-of-the-27th-season-of-bach-dancing-and-dynamite-concerts-with-the-theme-of-musical-works-as-toys-to-be-played-with-for-serious-fun/
Included in the “American Girls” program is the very lyrical and beautiful Romance for Violin and Piano, Op. 23, by American composer Amy Beach (below).
If you want a taste of what awaits you if you go, at the bottom is a YouTube video of Chicago violinist Rachel Barton Pine, who has appeared in Madison with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, performing the Romance by Beach at the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert.
Pine also explains the context that includes a very famous American woman violin virtuoso, Maud Powell, whom The Ear — and probably most others –had never heard of before.
The Romance will be performed tonight and Sunday night by BDDS veteran Yura Lee (below). She is an outstanding violinist and violist who hails from New York City and performs with the prestigious Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
The rest of the program includes: “Chambi’s Dreams: Snapshots for an Andean Album” for flute, violin and piano by living composer Gabriela Lena Frank (below top); “Qi” for flute, cello, piano and percussion by Chen Yi (below middle); the Piano Trio in C Major, Hob. XV:27 by Franz Joseph Haydn; and the Piano Trio by American composer Rebecca Clarke (below bottom, above the YouTube video).
Tags: #AmericanComposer, #AmericanGirl, #AmyBeach, #AndesMountains, #BachDancingandDynamiteSociety, #CelebratingWomen, #CelloMusic, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusicSocietyofLIncolnCenter, #ChenYi, #FemaleComposer, #FluteMusic, #FrankLloydWright, #FranzJosephHaydn, #GabrielaLenaFrank, #HillsideTheater, #LincolnCenter, #LivingComposer, #LyricalMusic, #MaudePowell, #MaudPowell, #MemorialConcert, #MeToo, #MyraHess, #OvertureCenter, #PercussionMusic, #PianoMusic, #PianoTrio, #RachelBartonPine, #RebeccaClarke, #SpringGreen, #ThePlayhouse, #ToyStory, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WomenComposer, #YouTubevideo, #YuraLee, America, American, Arts, BDDS, Cello, Chamber music, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Chen Yi, Chicago, Classical music, composer, female, flute, Gabriela Lena Frank, Haydn, Jacob Stockinger, LIncoln Center, lyrical, lyricism, Madison, movement, Music, New York City, night, number, Overture Center, percussion, Piano, Piano Trio, program, Rebecca Clarke, relevance, relevant, Romance, Saturday, Sunday, theater, theatre, theme, timeliness, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Veteran, video, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtuoso, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, women, YouTube, Yura Lee
Classical music: This weekend kicks off the 27th annual summer season of Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society concerts with the theme of musical works as toys to be “played” with for serious fun
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By Jacob Stockinger
Four performances on this coming Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday afternoon and Sunday night will open the 27th annual summer concert series of the critically acclaimed but always informal and light-hearted Madison-based Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society (below and in the YouTube video at the bottom).
There will be six programs in 12 concerts performed in three venues over the next three weekends.
The venues are: The Playhouse in the Overture Center (below top) at 7:30 p.m.; the Stoughton Opera House (below middle) at 7:30 p.m.; and the Hillside Theater (below bottom) at Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright compound in Spring Green, at 2:30 and 6:30 p.m.
Ticket prices are $43, or $48 if you want a prime seat at the Overture Center. For more information, go to: http://bachdancing.org/tickets/season-tickets/
This opening weekend features a lot of flute music and a lot of string music plus some unusual arrangements or transcription and music by unknown women composers.
As usual, BDDS has lined up a series of impressive local talent as well as favorite guest performers, including the critically acclaimed soprano Emily Birsan (below top) and bass-baritone Timothy Jones (below bottom).
Also on the schedule is a Madison-based hip-hop dancer and choreographer, Blake Washington (below), for two pieces during the second weekend: Igor Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale” and Francis Poulenc’s “The Masked Ball.” In addition, four players from the BDDS Dynamite Factory – the apprentice school of BDDS for emerging performers – will take part.
Again, as always, there is a unifying theme to the season. This year it is “Toy Stories,” playing off the idea of “playing” pieces of chamber music.
Here is a background and overview story that appeared this week in The Wisconsin State Journal: http://host.madison.com/wsj/entertainment/music/bach-dancing-and-dynamite-gets-playful-with-toy-stories/article_918d38c4-1eba-5196-822e-2b2616eddb75.html
Here is an explanation from UW-Madison graduate and San Francisco-based teacher and pianist Jeffrey Sykes (below left), who co-founded, co-directs and performs in the series with retired UW-Madison and Madison Symphony Orchestra principal flutist Stephanie Jutt (below right):
“When we were kids, we would ride our hobby horses around the back yard pretending to be knights on a quest. We’d race our Slinkies down the stairs, cheering their contorted yet gymnastic moves. We made crazy cyborgs with our Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads. The cyborgs would fight for world domination, and then they’d sit down to tea with our dolls. We cuddled our stuffed animals as we prepared for bed, confessing our deepest dreams and aspirations to them. How easily those toys sparked our imaginations and transported us to fantastic realms!
“I’m a grownup now, sort of, and while I might get a short-lived bang out of newfangled tech toys, I’ve mostly left behind the dolls, bears and rubber ducks (below) of my childhood. The “toys” that really light my fire are incredible pieces of chamber music that have their own personalities; that delight me, surprise me, cry with me, and laugh with me.
CHAMBER
“Performing chamber music is called “playing” for a good reason. Ask any artist who joins BDDS for our festival: chamber music is a magical way to recapture the spirit of imaginative play that came to us so easily as kids.
“We cherish favorite old toys — the great chamber works of Bach, Mozart, and Brahms, for example. Yet we can also delight in the new toys that come our way — the music of Gabriela Lena Frank (below top), Paul Wiancko (below middle) and Kevin Puts (below bottom).
“Whether these new playthings become favorite old friends, who’s to say? One thing’s for sure, we’ll never know unless we play with them.
“BDDS’s 27th season theme is TOY STORIES, and co-artistic director Stephanie Jutt and I have organized each of our programs around a quirky take on iconic toys.
“To celebrate the festival’s age, we’ve also scattered various “27s” across our programs. In the spirit of imaginative play, rather than spell ing everything out, here are some clues to what you’ll hear this June.
TEDDY TALKS. Just change the motto “ideas worth spreading” to “music worth hearing” and you have our modus operandi. In this case, we have all sorts of Teddies talking to us through their music: I wonder what they’ll say.
AMERICAN GIRLS. Proud and multi-ethnic, they have been coming on strong as composers for a hundred years, and here’s the proof!
PLAY DO(H). C Major is the most malleable of keys.
GI JOE. War is no game, but it has inspired some seriously imaginative music.
RUBBER DUCKY, YOU’RE THE ONE. Sesame Street’s beloved Ernie adored his bath toy: see who else jumps into the tub.
TRANSFORMERS. I’m amazed how a couple of twists and turns can transform a few unassuming blocks into something breathtakingly complex.
“Join us June 8-24 for TOY STORIES in Madison, Stoughton, and Spring Green. We’ll play together with some irresistible toys and have ourselves some serious fun.
“With a bang!”
For the schedule of performances, with times and places, go to: http://bachdancing.org
For the full programs, including the many new or neglected composers and works to be performed, go to: http://bachdancing.org/concerts/festival-concerts/
For a complete list of performing and helping personnel, go to:
http://bachdancing.org/concerts/cast-crew/
And for a complete and impressive list of BDDS repertoire throughout the years, listed in alphabetical order by the composer’s last name, go to:
http://bachdancing.org/about/repertoire-through-the-seasons/
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