humanities | The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: After 54 years at the UW-Madison, the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) will move this fall to the new McFarland Performing Arts Center.

April 19, 2020
11 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

Starting this fall, the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO, below) will have a new home for classes, rehearsals and performances.

The news of moving to the McFarland Performing Arts Center (below) is very good for WYSO. But The Ear feels sad to see the University of Wisconsin-Madison and WYSO parting ways after a partnership of 54 years.

It feels like the UW, a distinguished public institution, is backing away from the Wisconsin Idea of public service to the citizens who fund the university. It is embodied in the saying that “the boundaries of the university are the boundaries of the state.” (Editor’s note: For more about the Wisconsin Idea and its Progressive Era history, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_Idea)

It feels, in short, like a setback to community engagement by the UW-Madison and its Mead Witter School of Music, where WYSO once had offices and used Mills Concert Hall.

Be that as it may, here is a WYSO email newsletter’s account of what led up to the decision and move.

“The news from University of Wisconsin-Madison started trickling in a little at a time.

“First, Mills Hall (below), where WYSO had rehearsed almost every Saturday since the Humanities Building opened, was scheduled for transformation from a concert hall into a lecture hall. (You can see WYSO performing in Mills Hall in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

“Then the UW began to reconsider whether pre-college programs should actually share space with university departments.

“And there was the growth of WYSO itself — from one full orchestra to three, plus two string orchestras, a chamber music program (below top), a full array of ensembles, and the community-impact Music Makers (below bottom).

“Meanwhile, 12 minutes away, the town of McFarland opened an amazing 841-seat, state-of-the-art performing arts center (below).

“And incredibly, the adjacent middle school and high school campus (below) had enough parking and enough rehearsal space to accommodate the entire WYSO program with room to grow — all of the student musicians, all of the orchestras, and all rehearsing at the same time.

“In a unique move of creative place-making, McFarland’s School Superintendent Andrew Briddell reached out to WYSO and suggested all of the above opportunities, plus collaboration with the McFarland schools, staff and community, and the ability to build on the creative history of the town itself.

“Passionate about music and education, Andrew Briddell, earned a double major in music and English from Indiana University, a Master’s degree in bassoon from Temple University, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from the UW-Madison.

“”A talented bassoon player, Briddell (below) played with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and was music director of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Birmingham.

“What a perfect match for this collaboration!

“It was an invitation too good to pass up. So starting in the fall of 2020, the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras will be in residence at the new McFarland Performing Arts Center.”

To read more details about WYSO’s new home, including design and acoustics, go to: https://www.wysomusic.org/the-wyso-weekly-tune-up-april-17-2020-wysos-new-home/

What do you think about the new move WYSO?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AlabamaSymphonyOrchestra, #AndrewBriddell, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ConcertHall, #DoctoralDegree, #DoubleMajor, #EmailNewsletter, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #HarpEnsemble, #HighSchool, #HumanitiesBuilding, #IndianaUniversity, #JacobStockinger, #LectureHall, #Master'sDegree, #McFarlandHighSchool, #McFarlandPerformingArtsCenter, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddleSchool, #MillsHall, #MosseHumanitiesBuilding, #MusicDirector, #MusicEducation, #MusicMakers, #PassUp, #PercussionEnsemble, #PerformingArts, #PerformingArtsCenter, #PublicService, #SchoolSuperintendent, #StringMusic, #StringOrchestra, #StudentMusicians, #SymphonyOrchestra, #TempleUniversity, #TheEar, #Wikipediabiography, #Wikipediaentry, #WisconsinIdea, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #YouthSymphonyOrchestraofBirmingham, #YouTubevideo, ability, accomodate, account, acoustics, Alabama, analysis, Andrew Briddell, Arts, audience, bassoonist, Birmingham, blog, border, boundary, build, Campus, Chamber music, citizen, classes, Classical music, collaboration, community, Concert, concerto, concerto hall, creative, degree, department, design, detail, doctorate, double major, downtown, Education, educational, email, embody, English, ensemble, entire, Facebook, fall, forward, full, fund, good, grow, grown, high school, History, Home, humanities, humanities building, impact, Indiana University, institution, invitation, Jacob Stockinger, leadership, lecture hall, like, link, Madison, major, masters degree, match, McFarland, McFarland High School, McFarland Performing Arts Center, Mead Witter School of Music, Middle school, Mills Hall, Mosse Humanities Building, move, Music, Music director, Music education, Music Makers, new, newsletter, oepn, opportunities, Orchestra, PAC, parking, partnership, pass, pass up, percussion, perfect, perform, performance, performer, Performing arts, Performing Arts Center, Piano, player, policy, post, posting, pre-college, program, progressive, Progressive Era, public, public service, rehearsal, residence, room, saying, schedule, school, school superintendent, share, sharspace, space, staff\, state, state-of-the-art, string music, String Orchestra, student musicians, symphony, symphony orchestra, tag, talented, Temple University, The Ear, think, town, transformation, unique, United States, university, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, up, UW-Madison, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Idea, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, WYSO, years, Youth Symphony Orchestra of Birmingham, YouTube

Classical music: Four Madison Opera singers will collaborate with the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) to perform Winterfest Concerts this Friday night and Saturday afternoon

March 10, 2020
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

Each year, over a weekend, the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) perform the Diane Ballweg Winterfest Concerts.

But this year a new collaboration will take place.

On this Friday night, March 13, at 7 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Avenue, the senior WYSO Youth Orchestra (below) will accompany four singers from the Madison Opera’s Studio Artist program in which they transition to a professional career by singing minor roles and being understudies for leading roles.

Tickets are $10 for adults, and $5 for youth under 19, and are available in advance through the Campus Ticket Office, and at the venue 30 minutes before the concert.

WYSO says the Friday night concert is close to selling out.

Here are some details: “Now in its eighth year, the Studio Artist Program is an important part of Madison Opera’s artistic and educational mission. The 2019-20 Studio Artists are four singers (below) in the transition between their education and their professional careers.

They are (from left, clockwise): baritone Stephen Hobe; mezzo-soprano Kirsten Larson; tenor Benjamin Hopkins; and soprano Emily Secor. They will sing duets, trios and quartets. There will also be an orchestral overture and a prelude.

WYSO music director Kyle Knox, who is also the associate music director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, will conduct both singers and instrumentalists. (You can hear WYSO members talking about playing and performing in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Says Knox (below): “Young instrumentalists rarely get to accompany soloists and singers. Playing opera in particular is something that tends to come much later in their careers, and for many of them, never at all.”

The program includes excerpts from favorite operas, including: arias by “Nabucco” and “Rigoletto” by Verdi; “La Clemenza di Tito” by Mozart; “The Barber of Seville” and “William Tell” by Rossini; “Lohengrin” by Wagner; “The Elixir of Love” by Donizetti; “Carmen” by Bizet; and “La Boheme” by Puccini. For a complete program with specific titles plus ticket information, go to:

https://www.wysomusic.org/diane-ballweg-winterfest-concerts/

For more detailed information about the Madison Opera Studio Atrists program and its WYSO collaboration, go to:

https://www.wysomusic.org/in-collaboration-with-madison-operas-studio-artists/

SATURDAY

On this Saturday, March 14, in Mills Hall in the Mosse Humanities Building, 455 North Park Street, the following groups will perform. No programs have been posted.

11:30 a.m. — Opus One and Sinfonietta (below)

1:30 p.m. — Harp Ensemble (below) and Concert Orchestra

4:00 p.m. — Percussion Ensemble (below) and Philharmonia Orchestra

The WYSO Winterfest Concert series is funded by: Diane Ballweg, with additional funding from the Wisconsin Arts Board; Dane Arts; Madison Arts Commission; American Girl’s Fund for Children; Eric D. Batterman Memorial Fund; and the Coe and Paul Williams Fund for New Musicians.

The performance in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall was made possible by an additional gift from Martha and Charles Casey. The appearance of the Studio Artists in this program has been underwritten by the Charles and Mary Anderson Charitable Fund, Charles and Martha Casey, and David Flanders and Susan Ecroyd.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AmericanGirl, #BaritoneSinger, #BenjaminHopkins, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CampusArtsTicketing, #ConcertOrchestra, #DaneArts, #DianeBallweg, #EmilySecor, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Fridaynight, #GaetanoDonizetti, #GeorgesBizet, #GiacomoPuccini, #GioachinoRossini, #GiuseppeVerdi, #HamelMusicCenter, #HarpEnsemble, #HighSchool, #HumanitiesBuilding, #JacobStockinger, #KirstenLarson, #KyleKnox, #LaBoheme, #LaClemenzadiTito, #LeadingRoles, #MadisonArtsCommission, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #MiddleSchool, #MillsHall, #MosseHumanitiesBuilding, #MusicDirector, #MusicEducation, #OperaMusic, #OpusOne, #OrchestralAccompaniment, #OrchestralMusic, #OrchestralPlayers, #PercussionEnsemble, #PhilharmoniaOrchestra, #RichardWagner, #SaturdayAfternoon, #SellingOut, #SopranoSinger, #StephenHobe, #StudioArtist, #TenorSinger, #TheBarberofSeville, #TheEar, #TheElixirofLove, #TicketSale, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #WilliamTell, #Winterfestconcerts, #WisconsinArtsBoard, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouthOrchestra, #YouTubevideo, accompany, additional, adult, afternoon, American Girl, aria, artistic, Arts, audience, baritone, Benjamin Hopkins, blog, building, Campus, Campus Arts Ticketing, career, Carmen, children, Classical music, collaboration, composer, Concert, Concert Orchestra, conductor, Dane Arts, Diane Ballweg, Donizetti, donors, duet, educational, Emily Secor, ensemble, event, Facebook, Friday, fund, funding, Gaetano Donizetti, Georges Bizet, Giacomo Puccini, gift, Giuseppe Verdi, Goiachino Rossini, group, Hamel Music Center, harp, harp ensemble, high school, humanities, humanities building, instrumentalist, instrumentalists, Jacob Stockinger, Kirsten Larson, Kyle Knox, La bohème, La Clemenza di Tito, leading roles, like, link, Lohengrin, Love, Madison, Madison Arts Commission, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, memorial, Mezzo-soprano, Middle school, Mills Hall, minor, mission, Mosse, Mozart, Music director, Music education, Nabucco, new, night, opera, opus, Opus One, orchestral, Overture, percussion, Percussion Ensemble, perfomer, perform, Philharmonia Orchestra, play, playing, post, posting, Prelude, professional, program, Puccini, Quartet, Richard Wagner, Rigoletto, role, Rossini, Saturday, selling out, senior, share, Sinfonietta, sing, singer, Singing, soloist, soprano, Stephen Hobe, students, Studio Artist, symphony, tag, talk, tenor, The Barber of Seville, The Ear, The Elixir of Love, tickets, transition, trio, understudies, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Verdi, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Wagner, weekend, William Tell, winter, Winterfest, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WYSO, young, Youth, Youth Orchestra, YouTube

Classical music: Background discussions, lectures and documentaries lead up to Madison Opera’s production of the LGBTQ-themed, McCarthy-era opera “Fellow Travelers” on Feb. 7 and 9

January 14, 2020
1 Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

The Madison Opera continues its foray into 21st-century operas with Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers on Friday night, Feb. 7, at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, Feb. 9, at 2:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater at the Overture Center.

(Production photos below are by Dan Norman of the Minnesota Opera production, which is being encored in Madison. You can see and hear a preview of the Minnesota Opera production in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

The acclaimed 2016 opera is set in 1950s Washington, D.C. The “Lavender Scare,” in which suspected homosexuals saw their livelihoods and lives destroyed, has enveloped the U.S. government. (Below are Andres Acosta as Timothy Laughlin and Sidney Outlaw as Tommy McIntyre.)

Against this backdrop, Timothy Laughlin, a recent college graduate and an ardent supporter of Wisconsin’s anti-Communist Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy, meets Hawkins Fuller, a State Department official.

The two men (below, Acosta on the right) embark on a relationship, tangled in a web of fear and necessary deceit. Their friends and colleagues fill out a story of individuals grappling with their beliefs and emotions.

With a libretto by Greg Pierce that is based on Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel, Fellow Travelers was praised as “a near-perfect example of fast-flowing musical drama” by The New York Times and tells of the very human consequences of prejudice and fear, with compassion, nuance and incredible beauty.

The opera will be sung in English with projected text.

The performance will last approximately 2 hours 25 minutes, including one intermission.

For more information, go to: www.madisonopera.org/FellowTravelers

Tickets are $26 to $118 with discounts available for students and groups. Go to the Overture Center box office at 201 State Street or call it at (608) 258-4141 or go online to www.MadisonOpera.org/Tickets

“When I saw Fellow Travelers, I knew before it was over that I would be producing it in Madison,” says Madison’s Opera’s General Director Kathryn Smith (below in a photo by James Gill). “I fell in love with the haunting music and the well-drawn characters, and the emotional impact at the end was even more powerful than I had anticipated. I am truly looking forward to sharing this modern masterpiece with our community.”

Peter Rothstein (below) directs this production in his Madison Opera debut. Rothstein, who received his MFA from the UW-Madison, directed Fellow Travelers for Minnesota Opera in 2018.

The Twin City Arts Reader called his production “equal parts sweeping love affair and tragic circumstance. To some, the events will feel comfortably distant for this doomed period romance. For others, they will seem all too real and possible in this day and age. It’s a powerful combination.”

Making his Madison Opera debut as Timothy Laughlin is Andres Acosta (below), who performed this role to acclaim at the Minnesota Opera.

Ben Edquist (below), who debuted at Opera in the Park this past summer, sings Hawkins Fuller.

Adriana Zabala (below, of Florencia en el Amazonas) returns as Mary Johnson, who works with Hawkins and is a friend and voice of conscience for him and Timothy.

Returning to Madison Opera are Sidney Outlaw (below top, of Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet) as Tommy McIntyre, a political insider, and Alan Dunbar (below bottom, in a photo by Roy Hellman, of Mozart’s The Magic Flute) in multiple roles, including Senator Joseph McCarthy and a government interrogator who puts Hawkins through a lie detector test.

Andrew Wilkowske (below) debuts in several roles, including Senator Potter and General Arlie.

Filling out the cast is Madison Opera Studio Artist Emily Secor (below top) as Miss Lightfoot, who works in Hawkins’ office; soprano Cassandra Vasta (below bottom) as Lucy, whomHawkins marries; and Madison Opera Studio Artist Stephen Hobe in five different roles.

John DeMain (below, in a photo by Greg Anderson) conducts, with the Madison Symphony Orchestra in the pit.

Madison Opera’s production of “Fellow Travelers” is sponsored by: Fran Klos; Sally and Mike Miley; David Flanders and Susan Ecroyd; John Lemke and Pamela Oliver; Sharyn and Carl Stumpf; and Dane Arts. Community events are sponsored by The Capital Times.

RELATED EVENTS

In addition to the two performances, Madison Opera offers several events to allow deeper exploration of the opera and its historical background.

They include a free discussion of the “Wisconsin Dimension” of this period in history at the Madison Central Library and a free showing of The Lavender Scare documentary at PBS Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin Public Television).

OPERA NOVICE: WELCOME TO THE 21st CENTURY

This Friday, Jan. 17, 6-7 p.m. FREE and open to the public at the Madison Opera Center (below), 335 West Mifflin Street

New to opera? Not sure how you feel about modern opera? Come to the Madison Opera Center for a short, fun and informative evening, led by General Director Kathryn Smith.

Learn about some of the new American operas that are shaping the operatic landscape in the 21st century, including Fellow Travelers. Studio Artist Stephen Hobe (below) will sing an aria from Fellow Travelers, and there will be plenty of time for questions. It’s the perfect jump-start for the opera-curious.

FELLOW TRAVELERS: THE WISCONSIN DIMENSION

This Sunday, Jan. 19, 3–4:30 p.m.; FREE and open to the public at the Madison Central Library, 201 West Mifflin Street

Join us for a discussion of how the Lavender Scare and its fallout was felt in Wisconsin, led by R. Richard Wagner (below top), activist and author of We’ve Been Here All Along: Wisconsin’s Early Gay History (below middle), and Susan Zaeske (below bottom), a UW-Madison campus leader in the arts and humanities who has taught an experiential-learning course on LGBTQ history.

THE LAVENDER SCARE– Documentary Screening

Friday, Jan. 24, 7 p.m.; FREE and open to the public at PBS Wisconsin, 821 University Avenue

PBS Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin Public Television) presents a screening of The Lavender Scare, the first documentary film to tell the little-known story of an unrelenting campaign by the federal government to identify and fire all employees suspected of being homosexual.

Narrated by Glenn Close, the film was praised as “a gripping, nimbly assembled documentary… vivid, disturbing and rousing” by the Los Angeles Times. The screening will be followed by a discussion.

OPERA UP CLOSE: FELLOW TRAVELERS

Sunday, Feb. 2, 1-3 p.m.; FREE for full-season subscribers; $10 for two-show subscribers; and $20 for non-subscribers; at the Madison Opera Center, 335 West Mifflin Street

Join the Madison Opera for a multimedia behind-the-scenes preview of Fellow Travelers. General Director Kathryn Smith will discuss many aspects of the opera, including the historical events that provide the story’s backdrop, the novel on which it is based, and how this 2016 opera swiftly spread across the country.

Principal artists, stage director Peter Rothstein, and conductor John DeMain will participate in a roundtable discussion about Madison’s production and their own takes on this acclaimed 2016 work.

PRE-OPERA TALKS

Friday, February 7, 2020, 7 p.m. and Sunday, February 9, 2020, 1:30 p.m. FREE to ticket holders at the Wisconsin Studio in the Overture Center

Join General Director Kathryn Smith one hour prior to performances for an entertaining and informative talk about Fellow Travelers.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #21stCentury, #AdrianaZabala, #AlanDunbar, #AndresAcosta, #AndrewWilkowske, #Anti-Communist, #ArtisticDirector, #BenEdquist, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoxOffice, #CapitolTheater, #CassandraVasta, #CastList, #CharlesGounod, #CollegeGraduate, #ContemporaryOpera, #CriticalAcclaim, #DaneArts, #EmilySecor, #EmotionalImpact, #EnglishLanguage, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Fast-Paced, #FellowTravelers, #FlorenciaenelAmazonas, #Fridaynight, #GayHistory, #GeneralDirector, #GlennClose, #GregorySpears, #GregPierce, #JacobStockinger, #JohnDeMain, #JosephMcCarthy, #KathrynSmith, #LavenderScare, #LGBTQrights, #LieDetector, #LivingComposer, #LoveAffair, #MadisonCentralLibrary, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonOperaCenter, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #McCarthyEra, #MinnesotaOpera, #ModernOpera, #MusicalDrama, #NewMusic, #OperaCast, #OperaInThePark, #OperaLibretto, #OperaMusic, #OvertureCenter, #PBSWisconsin, #PeriodRomance, #PersonalRelationship, #PeterRothstein, #R.RichardWager, #RedScare, #RomeoandJuliet, #SeniorCitizen, #SidneyOutlaw, #StageDirector, #StateDepartment, #StephenHobe, #Sundayafternoon, #SusanZaeske, #The1950s, #TheCapitalTmes, #TheEar, #TheLavenderScare, #TheMagicFlute, #TheNewYorkTImes, #ThePit, #TheU.S., #ThomasMallon, #TwinCities, #TwinCitiesArtsReader, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWProfessor, #VocalMusic, #We'veBeenHereAllAlong, #WisconsinPublicTelevision, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, 1950s, 21st century, acclaim, Adriana Zabala, age, Alan Dunbar, Andres Acosta, Andrew Wilkowske, anti-Communism, ardent, Artistic director, Arts, backdrop, background, beauty, belief, Ben Edquist, bisexual, blog, Book, box office, Campus, Capitol Theater, Cassandra Vasta, cast, characters, Charles Gounod, circumstances, Classical music, classicalmusic, colleague, college, Communism, Communist, community, compassion, composer, Concert, conduct, conductor, conscience, consequences, contemporary opera, course, D.C., Dane Arts, day, debut, deceit, destroy, direct, discount, discussion, distant, documentary, doom, embark, Emily Secor, emotion, emotional, encored, English, entertaining, era, event, experimental, Facebook, fast, fast-flowing, fear, Fellow Travelers, Florencia en el Amazonas, foray, forward, free, Friday night, friend, gay, gay history, General director, Glenn Close, Gounod, graduate, Greg Pierce, Gregory Spears, group, haunting, historical, History, homophobe, homophobia, homosexual, Homosexuality, human, humanities, impact, individuals, information, intermission, interrogator, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, Joseph McCarthy, Kathryn Smith, Lavender Scare, learning, lecture, lesbian, LGBT, LGBTQ, library, libretto, lie detector, like, link, live, livelihood, Living composer, Love, love affair, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Opera Center, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marriage, marry, masterpiece, McCarthyism, men, MFA, Minnesota Opera, modern, modern opera, Mozart, Music, musical drama, narrator, New Music, novel, nuance, official, online, opera, Opera in the Park, Orchestra, Overture Center, PBS, PBS Wisconsin, period romance, personal relationship, Peter Rothstein, photo, possible, post, posting, powerful, Prejudice, produce, production, professor, public, queer, R. Richard Wagner, reader, real, Red Scare, relationship, Republican, Republican Party, role, Romance, Romeo and Juliet, screening, senator, senior, senior citizen, share, showing, Sidney Outlaw, sing, sponsor, stage director, State Department, Stephen Hobe, story, Sunday afternoon, sung, supertitles, supporter, surtitles, Susan Zaeske, suspect, symphony, tag, talk, Television, test, text, The Capital Times, The Ear, The Lavender Scare, The Magic Flute, The New York Times, the pit, Thomas Mallon, tickets, tragedy, Tragic, transgender, TV, Twin Cities, Twin Cities Arts Reader, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, video, vocal music, voice, Washington, We've Been Here All Along, web, weekend, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Public Television, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, WPT, YouTube

Classical music: The gala opening this weekend of the UW-Madison’s new Hamel Music Center is SOLD OUT. What do you think of the building, the music and the event? Plus, veteran music critic John W. Barker has died

October 25, 2019
7 Comments

PLEASE HELP THE EAR. 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. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.

ALERT: Word arrived late last night that the respected longtime music critic John W. Barker, a retired UW-Madison professor of medieval history, died Thursday morning. He wrote locally for Isthmus, The Capital Times and this blog. Details will be shared when they are known.

By Jacob Stockinger

This weekend, Oct. 25-27, marks the official gala opening of the new Hamel Music Center (below, in a photo by Bryce Richter for University Communications) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music. It is located at 740 University Ave., next to the new wing of the Chazen Museum of Art, which has a special exhibit relating to the new music center.

The impressive $58-million structure, which has taken many years to fund (completely privately) and then to build, will celebrate its opening tonight, Saturday night (while the 14th annual Halloween FreakFest on State Street is happening) and Sunday afternoon.

The performers will include distinguished alumni, faculty members and students.

Here is a link to an overall schedule as published on the School of Music’s home website: https://www.music.wisc.edu/hamel-music-center-opening-schedule/

Thanks to an astute reader who found what The Ear couldn’t find, here is a complete schedule — long, varied and impressive — of works and performers: https://www.music.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191025-Hamel-Music-Center-Opening-Weekend.pdf

And here is a link to the official UW-Madison press release with more background and details about the building: https://news.wisc.edu/mead-witter-school-of-musics-hamel-music-center-opening-this-fall/

UW-Madison composer Laura Schwendinger (below) has been commissioned to write a Fanfare that will receive its world premiere tonight.

The opening promises to be a success, complete with receptions at the end of each performance.

In fact, the public has signed on enough that the FREE tickets to all events are SOLD OUT, according to the School of Music’s home website.

Taste is personal and varies, and The Ear has heard mixed reviews of the new building. (For the special occasion, you can hear “The Consecration of the House” Overture by Beethoven, performed by the La Scala opera house orchestra in Milan under Riccardo Muti, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Basically, people seem to agree that the acoustics are much improved over Mills Hall and Morphy Recital Hall in the old Humanities Building.

But public opinion seems more divided over other aspects, from the overall external architecture and interior design to the smaller size of the big hall, the seats and seating layout, and the restrooms.

So if you go – or have already gone – let the rest of us know what you think about those various aspects of the new building and about the various performers and programs.

As a warm-up preview, here are photos of the main halls or spaces, all taken by Bryce Richter for University Communications:

Here is the 660-seat Mead Witter Concert Hall:

Here is the 300-seat Collins Recital Hall:

And here is the Lee/Kaufman Rehearsal Hall:

But what do you say? You be the critic.

The Ear and others hope to see COMMENTS from listeners and especially performers. What is it like to perform there? Or to sit and listen?

What does the public think of the new building and concert halls? Are you satisfied? What do you like and what don’t you like?

Should some things have been done – or not done – in your opinion?

Does the building and do the concert halls live up to the expectations and hype?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AaronCopland, #AnthonyDiSanza, #ArpeggioneSonata, #ArthurBenjamin, #AstorPiazzolla, #AugustaReadThomas, #BandMusic, #BeverlyTaylor, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrassMusic, #BryceRichter, #CapTimes, #ChamberMusic, #ChazenMuseumofArt, #ChenYi, #ChoralFantasy, #ChoralMusic, #ChristopherTaylor, #ClassicalGuitar, #ClaudeDebussy, #CollinsRecitalHall, #CommissionedMusic, #ConcertChoir, #ConcertHall, #ConsecrationoftheHouse, #CoreyPompey, #EmeritusProfessor, #EuphoniumMusic, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FluteMusic, #FranzSchubert, #Fridaynight, #GuitarMusic, #HalloweenFreakfest, #HamelMusicCenter, #HomeWebsite, #HumanitiesBuilding, #InteriorDesign, #IsthmusMagazine, #IsthmusNewspaper, #JamesSmith, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnAdams, #JohnCage, #JohnW.Barker, #KarlheinzStockhausen, #KarlosMoser, #LaScala, #LauraSchwendinger, #Lee/KaufmanRehearsalHall, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MarcFink, #MarcVallon, #MarkHetzler, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MedievalHistory, #MillsHall, #MorphyRecitalHall, #MusicCommission, #MusicCritic, #Musicfaculty, #NewMusic, #OldBuilding, #OperaHouse, #OperaMusic, #OrchestralMusic, #OriolSans, #ParryKarp, #PaulCollins, #PersonalTaste, #PianoMusic, #PressRelease, #ProfessorEmeritus, #PublicOpinion, #RebecccaBlank, #RiccardoMuti, #RichardLottridge, #RichardStrauss, #SaturdayNight, #SergeiRachmaninoff, #SergeiRachmaninov, #SoldOut, #SopranoSinger, #StateStreet, #StephenSondheim, #Sundayafternoon, #SusanC.Cook, #TenorSinger, #TheCapitalTimes, #TheEar, #TimothyHagen, #TomCurry, #TraditionalMusic, #TyroneGreive, #TyroneGrieve, #UniversityCommunications, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UW-MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #UWChorale, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #VincenzoBellini, #ViolaMusic, #ViolinMusic, #VocalMusic, #WindEnsemble, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WorldPremiere, #YouTubevideo, Aaron Copland, acoustics, afternoon, alumni, Anthony DiSanza, architecture, Argentina, Arpeggione sonata, Art, Arthur Benjamin, artistic, Arts, audience, Augusta Read Thomas, Ástor Piazzolla, Bach, background, band music, Bassoon, Beethoven, Bellini, Beverly Taylor, blog, blue, brass, Brazil, Brazilian music, Bryce Richter, build, building, Campus, Cap Times, celebrate, Cello, Chamber music, chancellor, Chazen, Chazen Museum of Art, Chen Yi, Choir, choral, Choral Fantasy, choral music, Chorale, Christopher Taylor, clarinet, Classical music, classicalmusic, Claude Debussy, collage, Collins Recital Hall, comments, commission, commissioned music, communication, composer, Concert, Concert Choir, concert hall, conductor, consecration, Consecration of the House, Corey Pompey, critic, death, Debussy, design, details, die, died, director, distinguished, do, done, donor, ensemble, Euphonium, event, exhibit, expectations, external, Facebook, faculty, Fanfare, fantasy, fest, flute, folk song, folksong, forward, frak, Franz Schubert, freak, Freakfest, free, Friday night, fund, gala, graduates, guitar, Halloween, Halloween Freakest, Hamel Music Center, History, Holiday, home website, Horn, House, humanities, humanities building, hype, impressive, improved, information, interior, interior design, Isthmus, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, James Smith, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Adams, John Cage, John W. Barker, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Karlos Moser, La Scala, Laura Schwendinger, Lee/Kaufman Rehearsal Hall, link, listeners, live, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, madrigal, major, Marc Fink, Marc Vallon, Mark Hetzler, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, Medieval, Milan, Mills Hall, mixed, mixed reviews, Morphy Recital Hall, Mosse Humanities Building, Mozart, Music, music critic, music faculty, new, New Music, news, Oboe, occasion, Octet, offically, old, old building, opening, opera, Opera house, opinion, Orchestra, orchestral music, Oriol Sans, Overture, Parry Karp, Paul Collins, performer, performers, photo, photograph, photographer, Piano, pieces, post, posting, press, press release, preview, private, private schools, program, public opinion, publicity, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, reader, Rebecca Blank, reception, rehearsal, restroom, review, Riccardo Muti, Richard Lottridge, Richard Strauss, satisfaction, satisfied, Saturday night, say, schedule, Schubert, seat, seating, Serenade, share, social, sold-out, something, Sonata, soprano, space, special, State Street, Stephen Sondheim, Strauss, structure, Student, subscriber, success, Sunday, Sunday afternoon, Susan C. Cook, symphony, tag, tango, taste, tenor, The Capital Times, The Ear, think, Thursday, ticket, time, Timothy Hagen, Tom Curry, tonight, traditional, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba, Tyrone Greive, Tyrone Grieve, United States, University Communications, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW Concert Choir, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW Wind Ensemble, UW-Madison, UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra, vary, Veteran, Vincenzo Bellini, Viola, Violin, vocal music, warm up, weekend, wind ensemble, wind music, winds, wing, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, word, world, world premiere, years, you, YouTube

Classical music: A FREE concert of Polish piano music is on this Sunday afternoon at the UW-Madison

October 20, 2018
1 Comment

IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR SHARE IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.

By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following announcement to post:

On this Sunday afternoon, Oct. 21, at 4 p.m., University of Oklahoma Professor Igor Lipinski (below) will perform a solo piano recital with commentary at Mills Concert Hall of UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. Mills Hall is located at 455 North Park Street in the George Mosse Humanities Building.

At this FREE CONCERT, Lipinski will perform music by 19th through 21st century Polish composers: Fryderyk (Frederic) Chopin, Karol Szymanowski, Ignaz Jan Paderewski, Grazyna Bacewicz and Pawel Mykietyn. (Editor’s note: Sorry, no titles of specific works are listed.)

Since classical music from Poland has been rarely performed in concert halls in Madison, this recital will be a unique occasion to experience Poland’s musical heritage and diversity.

This concert also commemorates the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining independence at the conclusion of World War I, after 123 years of its partition and disappearance from the map of Europe.

Please join our local Polish community in celebrating this joyous occasion through appreciation of beautiful and captivating music from some of the Poland’s most important composers.

This event is organized by the Polish Student Association of UW-Madison and Mad-Polka Productions, with cooperation and financial support provided by Lapinski Fund (UW-Madison German, Nordic and Slavic Departments) and the Polish Heritage Club of Madison as well as the Sounds & Notes Foundation from Chicago.

ABOUT THE PERFORMER:

Prof. Igor Lipinski is native to Poland and currently teaching at the University of Oklahoma. At the age of 12, he won a Grand Prize at the Paderewski Piano Competition for Young Pianists in Poland.

He is a musician, piano teacher, performer and also a magician, sometimes surprisingly combining all of his interests during his performances.

He received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from Northwestern University and since then performed over 100 concerts, both solo and with orchestras, all over the U.S.

This will be his debut in Madison.

For more information, go to: www.igorlipinski.com

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS:

Fryderyk (Frederic) Chopin (1810-1849, below): He was born in Poland, but also composed and performed in Germany, Vienna and France. Probably the most prominent Polish composer as well as pianist and performer. Much of Chopin’s inspiration came from Polish village music from the Mazovia region. Chopin composed 57 mazurkas – the mazurka being one of his most beloved type of compositions. He also composed numerous polonaises, concertos, nocturnes and sonatas. (You can hear famous Polish pianist Arthur Rubinstein perform Chopin’s famously nationalistic “Heroic” Polonaise in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937, below): Part of “Young Poland” group of composers at the beginning of 20th century, Szymanowski composed operas, ballets, sonatas, concertos, cycle of songs, string quartets. Many of his compositions were also inspired by Polish folk music, including the famous ballet “Harnasie” based on the culture of Polish highlanders which he experienced while living in Zakopane.

Ignaz Jan Paderewski (1860-1941, below) was a remarkable figure in Poland’s turn-of-the-century history. He was a pianist, composer, statesman, politician, philanthropist, actor, businessman, patron of the arts and architecture, wine grower and humanitarian. As a pianist, he was praised for his interpretations of music of Chopin, Liszt, Bach and Beethoven. He successfully toured western Europe before eventually setting off for the USA. Starting with his first 1891 tour he crossed U.S. about 30 times in his 50-year career.

He was a very popular, charismatic and somewhat extravagant figure, which eventually resulted in “Paddymania” phenomenon. He was largely influenced by Chopin in his composition of sonatas, concertos, polonaises, Polish dances, symphonies, mazurkas, krakowiaks, minuets and even one opera. He also relentlessly supported and lobbied for Poland ‘s independence as World War I unraveled. He influenced U.S. politicians and played a crucial diplomatic role in Poland regaining its independence in 1911.

Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969, below): Violinist, pianist, teacher, writer and composer, she was one of the few female classical music composers at the time in Poland and in the world. Thanks to a generous grant from Ignaz Jan Paderewski, she was able to study music in Paris. She composed numerous concertos, string quartets, sonatas, symphonies.

Pawel Mykietyn (1971-, below in a photo by Oliva Soto): Composer, clarinetist, member of Nonstrom Ensemble. In 1995, he won a first prize in the young composers category during the UNESCO composers competition in Paris. Mykietyn’s composing style is at times aggressive and postmodern, incorporating sharp rhythms to create a vivid and provocative sound. He has composed concertos, sonatas, symphonies, preludes and string quartets.

Thanks to all the sponsors and community support, this concert is FREE and open to the public.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #19thCentury, #20thCentury, #21stCentury, #ArthurRubinstein, #ArtsPatron, #BalletMusic, #Beautifulmusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #CommunitySupport, #ConcertHall, #CulturalDiversity, #DoctoralDegree, #FemaleComposer, #FinancialSupport, #FirstPrize, #FolkDance, #FolkMusic, #FranzLiszt, #FredericChopin, #GeorgeMosse, #GermanDepartment, #GrandPrize, #GrazynaBacewicz, #HeroicPolonaise, #IgnazJanPaderewski, #JohannSebastianBach, #KarolSzymanowski, #LivingComposer, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #Mad-PolkaProductions, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicalDiversity, #MusicalHeritage, #MusicalInterpretation, #NewMusic, #NonstromEnsemble, #NordicDepartment, #NorthwesternUniversity, #OpentothePublic, #OperaMusic, #PaderewskiPianoCompetition, #ParisFrance, #PawelMykietyn, #PianoCompetition, #PianoConcert, #PIanoRecital, #PIanoTeacher, #PolishComposers, #PolishDance, #PolishHeritageClub, #PolishIndependence, #PolishMusic, #PolishStudentAssociation, #PostmodernMusic, #PostmodernStyle, #SharpRhythm, #SlavicDepartment, #SongCycle, #SoundsandNotesFoundation, #StringQuartet, #Turn-of-the-Century, #UnitedNations, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofOklahoma, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViennaAustria, #VillageMusic, #WesternEurope, #WomanComposer, #WorldWarI, #YoungComposer, #YoungPianists, #YoungPoland, #YouTubevideo, 19th century, 20th-century, 21st century, Actor, aggressive, anniversary, Arthur Rubinstein, Arts, Bacewicz, Bach, ballet, Baroque, beautiful, Beethoven, blog, businessman, captivating, career, chaismatic, Chamber music, charisma, Chicago, Chopin, clarinet, clarinetist, Classical music, community, composer, concert hall, concerto, diplomancy, diplomatic, disappearance, diversity, doctor, Europe, famous, female, figure, financial support, first prize, folk dance, Folk music, France, Franz Liszt, George Mosse, German department, Germany, grand prize, Grazyna Bacewicz, Harnasie, Heroic Polonaise, History, humanitarian, humanities, Ignaz Jan Paderewski, independence, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Karol Szymanowski, krakowiak, Liszt, Living composer, lobby, lobbyist, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mad-Polka Productions, Madison, magician, map, mazurka, Mead Witter School of Music, minuet, Mosse Humanities Building, Music, musical heritage, Musician, nationalistic, native, New Music, nocturne, Nordic department, Northwestern University, Nostrum Ensemble, occasion, open to the public, opera, Orchestra, Paderewski, Paderewski Piano Competition, Paris, partition, partriotism, patriotic, patron, Pawel Mykietyn, performer, phenomenon, philanthropist, Pianist, Piano, piano competition, piano teacher, Poland, Polish, Polish dance, Polish Heritage Club, Polish music, Polish Student Association, politician, polka, polonaise, popular, post, posting, postmodern, postmodernism, Prelude, professsor, provocative, recital, sharp rhythm, sing, Slavic Department, solo, Sonata, song, song cycle, Sound, Sounds and Notes Foundation, sponsor, statesman, String quartet, symphony, Teacher, tour, UNESCO, United Nations, United States, University of Oklahoma, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, USA, Vienna, violinist, vivid, Western Europe, Wine, winegrower, Wisconsin, woman, World War I, Writer, Young pianists, Young Poland, YouTube

Classical music education: Here are 10 reasons why students should be allowed to major in music

August 29, 2017
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

Many, maybe most, of the college and university students are back by now.

And a week from tomorrow, classes at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will begin.

K-12 classes in public schools and private schools will also start, if they haven’t already, as will another year of music lessons.

And so will the new concert season.

Coincidentally, The Ear came across a post from Forbes magazine that deals with whether students should be allowed to major in music (below, in a photo by Shutterstock).

Many parents, and many politicians too, feel that more practical, higher paying fields are better investments of energy, time and especially money.

The same logic applies these days to the arts and humanities versus the so-called STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Anyway, the advice columnist Liz Ryan answered the question with 10 reasons why it is a good idea to let a student major in music.

The Ear –- who is an avid defender of the liberal arts and of college years not as a trade school but as a chance to explore and experiment — thought that whether you are a student, parent or teacher, you might be interested in reading the reasons why a music major makes sense.

Here is a link:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2017/06/04/ten-reasons-to-let-your-kid-major-in-music/

Classical music education: Concerto contest winners perform at the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras winter concerts this Saturday

March 16, 2017
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

WYSO will hold its second concert series of the year with the Diane Ballweg Winterfest Concerts on this Saturday, March 18.

Nearly 500 young musicians will display their great talents to the community during the concerts, which are dedicated to music teachers. (See below for times and programs. And listen to WYSO members talk about WYSO in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

The concert series will feature all five orchestras including the debut performance of WYSO’s newest string orchestra, Opus One.

Under the direction of Geri Hamilton, Opus One consists of string players ages 8 to 12. This ensemble focuses more on technique than on performance, incorporating instruction on fundamentals of scales, shifting and bowing, in addition to formative ensemble skills experience.

The Youth Orchestra concert will also feature two of the winners from the Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition: Violinist, Mary Deck and Percussionist, Adam Goren.

Mary Deck (below), age 16, is a junior at Madison West High School, and has been a part of WYSO since 2011. She will be performing the first movement of the Violin Concerto No. 4 in D minor, Op. 31, by Henri Vieuxtemps.

Adam Goren (below), age 18, is a senior at Middleton High School and has been a part of WYSO since 2013. He will be performing the third movement of Concertino for Marimba by Paul Creston.

The Diane Ballweg Winterfest Concerts will be held in Mills Concert Hall in the UW-Madison George Mosse Humanities Building, 455 North Park Street.

WYSO concerts are generally about an hour and a half in length, providing a great orchestral concert opportunity for families.

Tickets are available at the door, $10 for adults and $5 for youth 18 and under.

For more information about WYSO, go to: https://www.wysomusic.org

This project is supported by Dane Arts with additional funds from the Endres Manufacturing Company Foundation, the Evjue Foundation, Inc., a charitable arm of The Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation. Generous funding was also provided from the American Girl’s Fund for Children. This project is also funded in part by a grant from the Madison Arts Commission with additional funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board.

SCHEDULE AND PROGRAMS

Opus One and Sinfonietta – 11:30 a.m.

Sinfonietta (below)

Longfield (b.1947), Black Diamond

Smetana (1824-1884), Themes from The Moldau, arr. Frost

Mosier, Kirt N., American Reel

Traditional Irish, The Salley Gardens

Richard Stephan (b. 1929), Variations On A Well-Know Sea Chantey,

Grundman (1934-1996), Kentucky 1800

Leyden (1917-2014), Serenade for String Orchestra: Prelude, Fugue, Nocturne, Cakewalk

Dvorak (1841-1904), Themes From The New World Symphony arr. Gruselle

Opus One

Richard Meyer (b.1957), Night Shift

Follow the Drinking Gourd – African-American Folk Song arr. Carrie Lane Gruselle

Ewazen (b.1951), Four Royal Dances: The Lord

Brian Balmages (b.1975), A Beethoven Lullaby

For the Star of County Down –

Richard Meyer (b.1957) Dragonhunter

Concert Orchestra and Harp Ensemble (below top) – 1:30 p.m.

Concert Orchestra (below bottom)

Gounod (1818-1893), Funeral March of a Marionette ed. Rosenhaus

Holst (1874-1934) Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity from The Planets arr. Leidig

M.L. Daniels (b. 1931) Contending

Tres Danzas de Mexico setting by Rhoads (b. 1918): El Pitayero (from Jalisco); El Café (Province unknown); El Curripiti (from Veracruz)

Montgomery (1771-1854), Angels, From the Realms of Glory, setting Robert W. Smith

Philharmonia Orchestra (below) – 4 p.m.

Wagner (1813-1883), Procession to the Cathedral, from the Opera “Lohengrin” arr. Kennedy

Grieg (1843-1907), Peer Gynt: Suite No. 1, Op. 46: Morning; Ase’s Death; Anitra’s Dance; In the Hall of the Mountain King

Weber (1786-1826), Tourandot, J.75: Overture and March

Hindemith (1895-1963), Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber: Fourth movement – March

Youth Orchestra (below) – 7 p.m.

Vieuxtemps (1820-1881) Concerto for Violin No 4 D minor, Op.31, first movement. Mary Deck, violin soloist

Creston (1906-1985) Concertino for Marimba, third movement. Adam Goren, marimba soloist

Prokofiev (1891-1953) Symphony No 7, op.131, C-sharp minor: Moderato, Allegretto, Andante espressivo, Vivace

Glinka (1804-1857) “Russlan and Ludmilla” Overture

Posted in Classical music
Tags: African American, angels, Arts, Beethoven, brass, cafe, cakewalk, cathedral, concerto, conductor, dance, Dane Arts, drinking, Dvorak, Eric Ewazen, Evjue Foundation, folk, folk song, fugue, funeral, George Mosse, Glinka, glory, Gounod, Grieg, harp, Henri Vieuxtemps, Hindemith, Holst, humanities, Irish, Jacob Stockinger, Jalisco, Jupiter, Lohengrin, Lord, lullaby, Madison, Madison Arts Commission, Madison West High School, march, marimba, Mexico, Music, Music education, New World Symphony, nocturne, opera, Orchestra, Overture, Paul Creston, Peer Gynt, percussion, Prelude, royal, sea chantey, Serenade, Sergei Prokofiev, Smetana, song, strings, Suite, symphony, Teacher, The Capital Times, The Moldau, The Planets, theme, traditional, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Veracruz, Viola, Violin, Wagner, Weber, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Youth Symhony Orchestras, WYSO, YouTube

Classical music education: Let us now praise K-12 music teachers as an elementary music teacher in Whitewater wins an award for Excellence in Music Education

May 31, 2016
1 Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

The Memorial Day holiday is over and now we start winding down the academic year in public and private K-12 schools.

That makes it a great time to catch up with news that reminds us how important music education and education in the arts, humanities and liberal arts, can be to the development of the whole child or young person and to lifelong learning.

It helps us to realize that, despite what many legislators say, education should never be a trade school that provides vocational education or career preparation, and that education is not always all about the so-called STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – deemed so useful to business, industry and individual wealth accumulation. (You can hear educator Richard Gill give a popular TED Talk about the value of music education in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

So here is open important reminder via a press release:

The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) and Ward-Brodt Music have awarded their 2016 Award for Excellence in Music Education to Whitewater music teacher Christine Hayes of Lincoln/LINCS Elementary School at a choir concert for grades 2-5.

The presentation was held on Tuesday, May 17, in the Whitewater High School Auditorium.

This annual award celebrates an educator who displays leadership, passion, dedication, and innovation within the music classroom, positively affecting the lives of his or her students and the community at large, and is designated for one outstanding music educator in southern Wisconsin.

The MSO and Ward-Brodt developed the award to recognize that cultivating the artistic growth of young students is one of the unique and challenging jobs for teachers in Wisconsin.

Christine Hayes (below) has dedicated her life to enriching young people and the communities around her through music education. In her 29 years of working in the Whitewater Unified School District and by contributing to music in her community in a variety of ways, she’s changed the lives of many students and her colleagues. She believes that “inspiring and challenging children today will lead to their embracing music for their lifetime.”

In the nominations by parents, teaching colleagues, church members, and school administrators, Hayes was described as “a power house of creative energy” who “encourages children to express their feelings through music.”

Her students at Lincoln/LINCS Elementary School, where she has spent the last 19 years, can take part in diverse musical experiences including world drumming, playing guitar and recorder, composing music, and singing in many languages. All of these experiences for children make her classroom “an exciting, musical adventure.”

She has also taught elementary and middle school band, middle school guitar, keyboards and general music.

A former colleague who nominated her wrote, “Mrs. Hayes leads by example by continuing to find ways to improve as an educator by constantly pursuing her own education. She recently completed a trip to Ghana in order to learn about their musical culture.”

In her own words, Hayes said, “My goal is for each student to imagine themselves in musical experiences, provide them authentic learning situations where they create, respond, perform and connect, then collaborate with those students to apply their knowledge and skills to discover their personal musical path.”

Outside the classroom, she founded an after-school orchestra where she volunteers her time as coordinator allowing children to enrich their music education. Currently in its eighth year, the Whitewater Unified School District Strings Program has touched the lives of many school children, with 72 students participating this past year, ranging from fourth grade to high school.

She is also a music leader in her community. Hayes has been serving as the Choir Director for the First United Methodist Church in Whitewater for the past 20 years and served on the board of directors of the Whitewater Arts Alliance for five years.

In her free time she plays clarinet with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Community Band.

Hayes has also been deeply involved with developing Wisconsin state standards for music education by serving on the writing committee for the National Common Core Music Standards from 2012 to 2014.

In 2015, she was asked to join the Steering Committee for the Wisconsin Music Educators Association (WMEA), continuing her work to improve music education in Wisconsin. Hayes has served as the Chair of the NAfME National Council for General Music Education and as a President of the WMEA.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in music education from Central Michigan University and a master’s degree in music from Northwestern University. She currently resides in Whitewater, Wisconsin.

In 2007 she won the Wal-Mart Wisconsin Teacher of the Year award and in 2008 the Herb Kohl Fellowship Award.

Hayes will be awarded a commemorative plaque and a $500 prize. These prizes have been made possible through the generosity of Ward-Brodt Music of Madison, Wisconsin. To be qualified for the award, a nominee must have taught within a 75-mile radius of Madison in a public or private K-12 school and instructed a band, orchestra, choir or general music course.

Colleagues, current or former students, parents of students, or friends were eligible to nominate a music educator for the award.

The review panel consisted of representatives from public and private school administration, veteran teachers, university staff and knowledgeable community members. (For the sake of full disclosure, The Ear sat on the committee that reviewed the many impressive nominations and decided the winner of the award.)

For more information regarding the Award for Excellence in Music Education, visit http://madisonsymphony.org/award.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: academic year, Americans for the Arts, Art, Arts, award, bachelor's, band, Business, Central Michigan University, Choir, choral music, clarinet, Classical music, colleague, common core, community, composing, drum, Education, elementary school, engineering, feelings, friend, general music, Ghana, God, guitar, Herb Kohl, high school, humanities, industry, Jacob Stockinger, K-12, Keyboard, language, liberal arts, Lincoln, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, master's, math, mathematics, Memorial Day, Middle school, Music, Music education, Northwestern University, Orchestra, Parent, Piano, recorder, school year, science, steering committee, STEM, Student, symphony, Teacher, technology, TED Talk, trade school, United Methodist Church, United States, university, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Whitewater, vocal music, vocational education, volunteer, Wal-Mart, Ward-Brodt, wealth, Whitewater Arts Alliance, Wisconsin Music Educators Association, world drumming, young people, YouTube

Classical music: This season’s last Sound Waves program, to explore origins and beginnings in science and music, is at the UW-Madison this Friday night.

April 25, 2016
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following notice:

The final SoundWaves event of the year will be on this Friday, April 29, at 7:30 p.m. at the Town Center of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discover (WID), 333 North Orchard Street, across from the Union South.

SoundWaves events explore a broad theme through different lenses from the sciences and the humanities, ending with a related performance.

The title of Friday’s event is “Let’s Start at the Very Beginning: Origins in Science and Music.”

The presenters are John Yin, speaking about the COOL (Chemical Origins Of Life) Project; Clark Johnson speaking about the first billion years of the Earth’s history; Elizabeth Hennessy on the interaction of man and animal in a pristine environment (the Galapagos) and about Darwin; and the School of Music’s own composer Laura Schwendinger (below), speaking about the inspiration for the creation of new works.

Then, SoundWaves Curator Daniel Grabois (below, in a photo by James Gill), horn professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Music, will speak about the process of creating a new CD recording.

The event will conclude with a performance by School of Music pianist Christopher Taylor (below). He will be playing a dual-manual piano (a piano with two keyboards).

This is an instrument that creates whole new possibilities in piano performance, and Professor Taylor will be performing selections from Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations as well as his own arrangement of Liszt’s “Paysage” (“Landscape” from the Transcendental Etudes) made for this instrument.

(You can hear the haunting opening Aria from Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations, from the second recording made by Glenn Gould, in a popular YouTube video at the bottom that has almost 1.9 million hits.)

Admission is free.

Cash bar opens at 7 p.m.

Registration is suggested at www.discovery.wisc.edu/soundwaves

Classical music education: Alumna violist Vicki Powell returns this weekend to perform with the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) and kick off WYSO’s 50th anniversary season. Plus, Madison Music Makers gives a free concert at noon on Saturday

November 10, 2015
1 Comment

ALERT: This Saturday, from noon to 1 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church, downtown on the Capitol Square, Madison Music Makers will give a FREE concert in the monthly Grace Presents series of music that includes works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Pachelbel, Antonio Vivaldi and Ludwig van Beethoven as well as popular music, country music and American, Bolivian, French, German, Jewish, English folksongs. Founded in 2007 by Bonnie Green and sponsored by many individuals and groups, including the Madison public schools, Madison Music Makers is dedicated to giving low-income students in the Madison area high-quality music lessons.

For more information about how to support or participate in the organization, visit: www.MadisonMusicMakers.org

By Jacob Stockinger

The Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) will present its first concert series of its 50th anniversary season, the Evelyn Steenbock Fall Concerts, on Saturday, Nov. 14, and Sunday, Nov. 15.

Nearly 400 young musicians will display their talents to the community during the three concerts, which are dedicated to private and school music teachers.

The Evelyn Steenbock Fall Concerts will be held in Mills Concert Hall in the University of Wisconsin-Madison‘s George Mosse Humanities Building, 455 North Park Street, in Madison.

WYSO concerts are generally about an hour and a half in length, providing a great orchestral concert opportunity for families.

Tickets are available at the door, $10 for adults and $5 for youth 18 and under.

WYSO’s Percussion Ensemble (below), led by director Vicki Jenks will kick off the concert series at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Immediately following the Percussion Ensemble, the Philharmonia Orchestra (below) and its conductor Michelle Kaebisch will take the stage and perform the Masquerade Suite by Aram Khachaturian; Reigger’s Rhythmic Dances; the Light Calvary Overture by Franz Von Suppe; and the Berceuse (Lullaby) and Finale from the “Firebird Suite” by Igor Stravinsky.

At 4 p.m. on Saturday, the Concert Orchestra (below) under the direction of conductor Christine Eckel will perform The Quest by Kerr, Romany Dances by DelBorgo and Slane by Douglas Wagner. The Concert Orchestra will also perform two works by John Williams in Star Wars: Episode 2 Attack of the Clones, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, which Williams co-composed with Alexandre Desplat.

Following the Concert Orchestra, WYSO’s string orchestra, Sinfonietta (below), will take the stage. Conductor Mark Leiser will lead the orchestra in seven works including the Adagio movement from the Symphony No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff; Silva’s The Evil Eye and the Hideous Heart; Edward MacDowell’s Alla Tarantella; Shenandoah arranged by Erik Morales, Forever Joyful and Lullaby to the Moon by Balmages; and the Entrance of the Queen of Sheba by George Frideric Handel.

On Sunday, Nov. 15, WYSO’s Harp Ensemble (below), under the direction of Karen Atz, will open the 1:30 p.m. concert.

Following the Harp Ensemble, the Youth Orchestra (below), under the baton of WYSO music director Maestro James Smith, will perform three pieces.

In honor of WYSO’s 50th Anniversary, WYSO welcomes back one of their illustrious alumni, violist Vicki Powell (below). Powell began her vibrant musical career studying with UW-Madison faculty members Eugene Purdue and Sally Chisholm, who plays with the Pro Arte Quartet.

From there, she graduated from the Julliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music. She has performed as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. For her full bio, please visit our website at http://www.wysomusic.org/evelyn-steenbock-fall-concerts/vicki-powell.

Vicki Powell, along with the Youth Orchestra will perform the Concerto for Viola and Orchestra by Bela Bartok. (You can hear the rhapsodic slow first movement played by Yuri Bashmet and the Berlin Philharmonic in a YouTube video at the bottom.)

Following that performance, the Youth Orchestra will continue the concert with Rainbow Body by Theofanidis and the Symphony No. 9 by Dmitri Shostakovich.

This project is supported by Dane Arts with additional funds from the Evjue Foundation, Inc. charitable arm of The Capital Times. This project is also supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information about WYSO, visit:

https://www.wysomusic.org

Posted in Classical music
Tags: Alexandre Desplat, Andante, Antonio Vivaldi, Aram Khachaturian, Arts, Bartok, Beethoven, Berceuse, Berlin Philharmonic, Bolivia, brass, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, concerto, country music, Curtis Institute of Music, Dmitri Shostakovich, Early music, Edward MacDowell, England, Episcopal, Film score, finale, Firebird, folksong, France, Franz von Suppe, George Frideric Handel, George Mosse, Germany, Grace Present, harp, Harry Potter, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter (film series), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, humanities, J. K. Rowling, Jacob Stockinger, Jew, Jewish, Johann Pachelbel, John Williams, Juilliard School of Music, Light Cavalry Overture, low-income, Madison, Madison Music Makers, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Music, Music education, music teachers, National Endowment for the Arts, opera, Orchestra, Pachelbel, percussion, Philadelphia Orchestra, pops, popular music, Pottermore, Pro Arte Quartet, Rachmaninoff, schools, Star Wars, Steenbock, Stravsinky, Suite, symphony, The Capital Times, UK, United Kingdom, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vicki Powell, Viola, Violin, Vivaldi, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, YouTube, Yuri Bashmet

	MARTIN LUTHER LUTE \|… on Classical music: Who was the e…
	Brian Jefferies on Classical music: A major reass…
	welltemperedear on What made Beethoven sick and…
	rlhess5d5b7e5dff on What made Beethoven sick and…
	welltemperedear on Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200…

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: