The Well-Tempered Ear
The New York Times music critics pick 10 online concerts and operas to watch through the month of November
1 Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Classical music critics for The New York Times have again listed their picks of virtual and online concerts that will be streamed during the month of November, starting this Sunday, Nov. 1, and running right through Nov. 30. In September, they did the same for the month of October.
The list of 10 highlights includes chamber music, orchestral music and operas as well as lots of new music, world premieres of commissions and even the Cliburn International Piano Competition, now known simply as The Cliburn.
Most of the events are posted and available for quite a while.
Note that all times are Eastern and that on this Sunday, Nov. 1, daylight saving ends.
As the critics point out, the list may be especially helpful and enjoyable now that the weather is turning colder, people are isolating at home during the nationwide spikes in coronavirus cases, and concert halls remain closed to the public.
Well-known institutions such as The Metropolitan Opera (below) and the Los Angeles Opera are featured. (You can sample an earlier Met production of Philip Glass’ “Satyagraha” – about the early life of Gandhi — in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
So are symphony orchestras from Detroit, Seattle, San Francisco and Cincinnati.
And pianist Igor Levit (below top), who this past year released the highly praised, award-winning complete cycle of 32 piano sonatas by Beethoven and who was named Artist of the Year by Gramophone magazine, is also featured, as is the outstanding Chicago-based violinist Jennifer Koh (below bottom, in a photo by the Los Angeles Times).
Here is a link to the story: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/arts/music/classical-music-stream.html
What do you think of the choices?
Do you have other concerts or classical music events to add to the list?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #18thCentury, #African-AmericanComposer, #AnthonyDavis, #AnthonyMcGill, #BangonaCan, #BeethovenPianoSonatas, #BeethovenYear, #BerlinGermany, #BlackComposer, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BostonModernOrchestraProject, #BrettDean, #CarlVine, #CassieWieland, #CelloConcerto, #CelloSonata, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberOpera, #ChevalierdeSaint-Georges, #ChoralMusic, #CincinnatiOhio, #CincinnatiSymphonyOrchetsra, #ClaudeDebussy, #CommissionedMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DavidRobertson, #DaylightSaving, #DetroitMichigan, #DetroitSymphonyOrchestra, #ElectionDay, #EllenReid, #Esa-PekkaSalonen, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FerruccioBusoni, #FlorencePrice, #folksongs, #FranzSchubert, #FredericRzewski, #GramophoneMagazine, #IgorLevit, #JacobStockinger, #JamesConlon, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnAdams, #JordanNelson, #JosephBoulogne, #JuliaHagen, #JuliaPerry, #KevChoice, #LiveStreaming, #LosAngelesCalifornia, #LosAngelesOpera, #LouisLangree, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MeredithMonk, #MetropolitanOpera, #MinimalistMusic, #Mirandawarning, #MusicCritic, #MusicDirector, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #NewYorkPhilharmonic, #NewYorkTimes, #NicoMuhly, #OnlineConcert, #OrchestralMusic, #PhilipGlass, #PianoMusic, #PianoSonata, #PulitzerPrize, #RoscoeMitchell, #SanFranciscoSymphony, #SeattleSymphony, #SethParkerWoods, #SocialDistancing, #SouthAfrica, #SouthAsia, #SouthKorea, #StandardTime, #StevenLin, #SteveReich, #StringQuartet, #SymphonyOrchestra, #TheAnonymousLover, #TheCliburn, #TheEar, #TheMet, #ThomasKocheff, #TrackMusic, #TyshawnSorey, #UnfinishedSymphony, #VanCliburn, #VanCliburnInternationalPianoCompetition, #VickyChow, #ViolinConcerto, #ViolinMusic, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WigmoreHall, #WorldPremiere, #XianZhang, #YouHavetheRighttoRemainSilent, #YouTubevideo, 18th century, acclaimed, African American, Anthony Davis, Anthony McGill, arrangement, Arts, asian, audience, available, award, Bach, Bang on a Can, Beethoven, Beethoven piano sonatas, Beethoven Year, Berlin, birthday, black, blog, Blog post, blog posting, Boston, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Brett Dean, Busoni, California, cancel, Carl Vine, Cassie Wieland, cellist, Cello, Cello Concerto, Chamber music, chamber opera, Chevalier de Saint Georges, China, Chinese, choral music, Cincinnati, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, clarinet, clarinetist, clarinettist, Classical music, classicalmusic, Claude Debussy, colder, commissions, company, Competition, composer, Concert, concerto, conductor, coronavirus, counterpoint, David Robertson, Daylight Saving, Debussy, December, Detroit, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, early, Election Day, Ellen Reid, enjoyable, Esa-Pekka Salonen, event, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, Fantasia, Ferruccio Busoni, Florence Price, forward, Franz Schubert, Frederic Rzewski, Gandhi, Germany, Gramophone (magazine), helpful, highlight, Home, hymn, Igor Levit, improvisatory, India, institution, instrumentalist, insurrection, isolating, Jacob Stockinger, James Conlon, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Adams, Jordan Nelson, Joseph Boulogne, Julia Hagen, Julia Perry, Kev Choice, known, Korea, Korean, Korean musician, life, like, link, list, livestream, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Opera, Louis Langrée, Ludwig van Beethoven, masterpiece, Meredith Monk, Met, Metropolitan Opera, Michigan, minimalist music, Miranda warning, monk, month, music critic, Music director, nationwide, New Music, New York City, New York Philharmonic, Nico Muhly, October, Ohio, online, opera, option, Orchestra, orchestral music, pandemic, People, performer, Philip Glass, Pianist, Piano, piano music, Piano sonata, pick, Politics, postpone, production, program, Pulitzer Prize, resident, Roscoe Mitchell, running, San Francisco, San Francisco Symphony, Satyagraha, Schubert, Seattle, Seattle Symphony, Septemeber, Seth Parker Woods, share, singer, social distance, soloist, Sonata, song, South Africa, South Asia, spike, spriritual, standard time, starting, Steve Reich, Steven Lin, stream, String quartet, subscriber, symphony, symphony orchestra, tag, testament, The Anonymous Lover, The Cliburn, The Ear, the Met, The New York Times, Thomas Kocheff, time, track record, turn, Tyshawn Sorey, Unfinished Symphony, United States, Van Cliburn, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Vicky Chow, Violin, Violin concerto, violinist, virtual, vocal music, weather, well-known, Wigmore Hall, winner, world premiere, Xian Zhang, YouTube
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.
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.
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: Acclaimed local soprano Sarah Brailey explains why performing artists and presenters need help during the COVID-19 pandemic
2 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Sarah Brailey (below) is worried.
And with good reason.
Chances are good that you have seen the local soprano or heard her sing.
She is the artistic director of the Handel Aria Competition, which she herself won in 2015. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Brailey sing the aria “Will the Sun Forget to Streak” from Handel’s oratorio “Solomon,” with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra under conductor Julian Wachner, in the St. Paul Chapel in New York City.)
Brailey is a co-founder of and participant in the monthly free Just Bach concerts here. In addition, while pursuing graduate studies at the UW-Madison, she is a concert artist with a budding international career. For more about her, including a rave review from The New York Times and sample videos, go to: https://sarahbrailey.com
But right now the Wisconsin native is especially concerned about the lasting impact that the Coronavirus pandemic will have on her own career as well as on the careers of others like her and on the well-being of arts presenters.
Brailey (below, in photo by Miranda Loud) sent The Ear the following essay:
By Sarah Brailey
This is a scary time for everyone, but particularly for anyone who works as an independent contractor.
I am a freelance classical soprano based in Madison. I maintain a very active performing career, traveling all over the globe, and I am also a doctoral student at the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music.
When COVID-19 hit the United States, presenting organizations on the east and west coasts started canceling concerts to comply with social distancing recommendations.
I initially thought I was lucky to be living in the middle of the country where our lesser population density might save us. Plus, I am a Teaching Assistant at the UW right now, so I will still be getting my stipend — although teaching virtual voice lessons will be its own special challenge!
But many of my colleagues are not so lucky and are facing bankruptcy. If the government doesn’t include independent contractors in its relief packages, a lot of people are going to be insolvent.
And I myself am not immune. As the seriousness of the situation became clear, all my concerts in the next two months soon disappeared one by one.
While not being able to perform is emotionally devastating, these cancellations are also financially devastating.
There exists a clause in every standard performance contract called “force majeure” (superior force), which is idiomatically referred to as, “an act of God.” This clause excuses a party from not honoring its contractual obligations that becomes impossible or impracticable, due to an event or effect that the parties could not have anticipated or controlled.
This can come in handy for a presenter if there is, say, a blizzard that necessitates the cancellation of a concert. (This happened to me a few seasons ago with the Boston Symphony.) If the presenter will not make any money on ticket sales, they are not then further injured by having to pay the musicians for the canceled concert. (Below, Brailey sings Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” with the Colorado Symphony.)
The ramifications of this pandemic are unprecedented. Every freelance musician I know is suddenly out of work. The current conventions put all of the upfront financial burden on the artists. We are paid in one lump sum at the end of a project. We do not get a fee for the countless hours of preparation.
We often book travel and lodging on our own dime, and are not reimbursed until the end of the gig. We pay for our own health insurance, and we cannot file for unemployment because our work is paid via IRS Form 1099 and not W2s. The abrupt work stoppage caused by this pandemic means insolvency – or even bankruptcy — for many artists. (Below, Brailey sings Handel’s “Messiah” at the famed Trinity Church on Wall Street in New York City.)
Many institutions — and, unfortunately, many of the bigger players like The Metropolitan Opera — are invoking force majeure without much regard for how their artists are struggling.
My colleague, tenor Zach Finkelstein, is covering this in great detail on his blog The Middle Class Artist, as is Alex Ross, the prize-winning music critic for The New Yorker. Read his piece on force majeure here.
However, there are also thankfully some good stories to tell. The Bach Society of Minnesota reimbursed all my travel expenses and is paying 75 percent of my fee, as is the Lyra Baroque Orchestra.
I am helping Zach keep track of the organizations that are helping their artists in this time of need. (Read about them here. Madison Opera is on the list.)
The arts are not just cultural enrichment; they are an essential part of our economy. In 2017, the industry contributed $877.8 billion, or 4.5 percent, to U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employed over 5 million workers. We cannot afford to let this industry disappear. I fear that many individual artists and arts organizations will not recover from this. (Below, Brailey sings Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Magnificat” at the Bucknell Bach Festival.)
While we wait out this storm, I implore you to donate to a Madison arts organization. Here is a short list of recommendations along with some national relief funds for artists.
Local Arts Organizations
Tags: #ActofGod, #AlexRoss, #ArtisticDirector, #artsorganization, #ArtsPresenters, #BachFestival, #BachSocietyofMinnesota, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOratorio, #BigPlayer, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BostonSymphony, #BucknellUniversity, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ClassicalMusician, #ColoradoSymphony, #ConcertArtist, #COVID-19, #CriticalAcclaim, #CulturalEnrichment, #DoctoralDegree, #EastCoast, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FederalGovernment, #ForceMajeure", #ForceW2, #Form1099, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GoodReason, #GraduateStudent, #GrossDomesticProduct, #Handel'sMessiah, #Handel'sSolomon, #HandelAriaCompetition, #HomeWebsite, #IndependentContractor, #InternalRevenueService, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #JulianWachner, #JustBach, #Knoxville:Summerof1915, #LumpSum, #LyraBaroqueOrchestra, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonYouthChoirs, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MetropolitanOpera, #MusicCritic, #MusicLessons, #MusicReview, #NativeAmerican, #NewYork, #NewYorkCity, #OutofWork, #PopulationDensity, #Prize-Winning, #RaveReview, #SamuelBarber, #SarahBrailey, #SocialDistance, #SocialDistancing, #SopranoSinger, #TeachingAssistant, #TenorSinger, #TheEar, #TheMagnificat, #TheMet, #TheMiddleClassArtist, #TheNewYorker, #TheNewYorkTImes, #TheU.S., #TicketSales, #timeofneed, #TravelExpenses, #TrinityChurch, #U.S.Government, #UnitedStates, #VocalMusic, #VoiceLessons, #WallSt., #WallStreet, #WestCoast, #ZachFinkelstein, abrupt, acclaim, act, Act of God, active, afford, Alex Ross, anticipate, aria, artist, Artistic director, Arts, arts organization, arts presenter, arts presenters, audience, Bach, Bach Society of Minnesota, bankrupt, bankruptcy, Barber, Baroque, Baroque music, big player, blizzard, blog, Book, booking, Boston Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Bucknell, Bucknell University, budding, burden, cancellation, career, challenge, Chamber music, chances, chapel, choral music, Christian, church, Classical, Classical music, classicalmusic, clause, colleagues, Colorado, Colorado Symphony, comply, composer, Concert, concert artist, conductor, contract, contractor, contractual, control, conventions, coronavirus, country, coutnless, covering, cultural, cultural enrichment, detail, devastating, dime, disappear, doctoral, donate, donation, Early music, East Coast, economic, economy, effect, emotion, employ, emtoionally, end, enrichment, essay, essential, event, expenses, face, Facebook, famed, fear, federal government, fee, file, financial, force, force majeure, form, Form 1099, Form W2, forward, founder, free, freelance, freelancer, fund, GDP, George Frideric Handel, gig, globe, God, good, good reason, governent, graduate student, great, greater, gross domestic product, Handel, Handel Aria Competition, handy, help, home website, honor, hours, idiom, immune, impact, implore, impossible, impractical, independent, industry, injure, insolvency, insolvent, institution, Internal Revenue Service, international, IRS, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Julian Wachner, Just Bach, Knoxville, Knoxville: Summer of 1915, lasting, like, link, list, living, local, lodging, lucky, lump sum, Lyra Baroque Orchestra, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Early Music Festival, Madison Opera, Madison Youth Choirs, Magnificat, Mead Witter School of Music, MEMF, Messiah, Metropolitan Opera, Minnesota, money, month, Music, music critic, music lessons, music review, Musician, myself, national, native, necessitate, need, New York, New York City, obligation, opera, oratorio, Orchestra, organization, out of work, own, package, pandemic, participant, parties, party, pay, performer, performing, piece, population, population density, post, posting, preparation, presenter, project, ramifications, rave, rave review, reader, recommendation, recover, reimburse, relief, review, sales, sample, Samuel Barber, Sarah Brailey, scary, seriousness, share, sing, singer, Singing, situation, social distance, social distancing, Solomon, song, soprano, special, St. Paul, stipend, stoppage, storm, struggling, subscriber, suddenly, summer, sun, Superior, symphony, TA, tag, tax, teaching assistant, tenor, The Boston Globe, The Ear, the Met, The Middle Class Artist, The New York Times, The New Yorker, ticket, ticket sales, time, time of need, travel, travel expenses, Trinity Church, U.S., unemployment, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unprecedented, UW, UW-Madison, video, virtual, virus, vocal music, voice, voice lessons, wait, Wall St., Wall Street, Website, well-being, west coast, winner, Wisconsin, work, workers, worried, worry, YouTube, Zach Finkelstein
Classical music: The Token Creek Chamber Music Festival starts this Friday and marks 30 years with jazz plus music by Bach, Mozart, Liszt, Brahms, Ravel, Schoenberg and John Harbison
Leave a Comment
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.
By Jacob Stockinger
Starting this coming Friday, Aug. 16, and running through Sept. 1, the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival will mark its 30th anniversary with the theme of “Sanctuary.” (The festival takes place in a refurbished barn, below, at 4037 Highway 19 in DeForest.)
Add the festival directors: “The term ‘sanctuary’ attempts to capture in a single word something essential about what the festival has meant to players and listeners over all these years. From the start it aspired to offer something of retreat, an oasis, a place of refreshment and nourishment in art, both for musician participants who find a welcoming environment to “re-charge” their work, and for audience attendees who engage in and become a part of it.”
“In our small country barn,” writes prize-winning composer John Harbison (below top, in a photo by Tom Artin) who co-directs the festival with his violinist wife Rose Mary Harbison (below bottom, in a photo by Tom Artin), “we have always remained devoted to the scale and address of much chamber music, which speaks as often in a whisper as in a shout.
“Where larger musical institutions have been habitually frustrated by trying to live in the business model of growth, we have remained devoted to the intensity of the experience, which explains why the music never goes away, rather than to claims of numbers, which begs the music itself to change its very nature.
“Our conviction is that today’s composers, just like Schubert and Mozart, are still striving to embody daily experience, to connect to the natural world, and to ask philosophically and spiritually unanswerable questions, surrounded and interrupting silence, asking only for our most precious commodity — time. We continue to look for valuable ways to offer this transaction to our listeners, and are grateful for their interest over so many years.”
The first two concerts, at 5 p.m., on Friday and Saturday nights, feature the return of a jazz cabaret featuring standard works in the Great American Songbook. For more information about the program and performers, as well as tickets, go to: www.tokencreekfestival.org or call (608) 241-2525.
Tickets for the two jazz concerts are $40 for the balcony and $45 for cafe seating. Tickets for the other concerts are $32 with a limited number of student tickets available for $12.
HERE IS THE LINEUP FOR THE REST OF THE FESTIVAL
Program 2: Music of Brahms at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 24, and Sunday, Aug. 25
Johannes Brahms is the only composer whose complete catalogue of chamber music is still in constant use. This is due to his fastidious high standards, and to his ideal temperament for music played by smaller groups of players. His music is universally admired for the astounding combination of sheer craft and deep emotional impact.
The program includes the Regenlied (Rain Song), Op. 57 no. 3; Sonata for Violin and Piano in G major, Op. 78; the Sonata for Cello and Piano in E minor, Op. 38; and the Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 60. (The “Rain Song” is used as the theme of the last movement of the violin sonata. You can hear it performed by violinist Leonidas Kavakos and pianist Yuja Wang in the YouTube video at the bottom, which also features the score so that you can follow along.)
Performers are Edgewood College mezzo-soprano Kathleen Otterson (below top); violinist Rose Mary Harbison; violist Lila Brown (below second); cellist Rhonda Rider (below third, in a photo by Liz Linder); and pianist Janice Weber (below bottom).
Program 3: Then and Now, Words and Music – An 80th Birthday Tribute to John Harbison. Wednesday, Aug. 28, at 7:30 p.m.
Last February, when Madison launched a citywide celebration of co-artistic director John Harbison’s 80th birthday, bitter cold and deep snow made it impossible for the festival to open up The Barn and join in the festivities.
The Wednesday program – an intimate concert of words and music curated by the Harbisons — is the festival’s belated birthday tribute. Harbison will read from his new book about Johann Sebastian Bach, and Boston poet Lloyd Schwartz (below top) will offer a reading of his poems that are the basis of a song cycle to presented by baritone Simon Barrad (below bottom). The evening will include a discussion on setting text, “Poem to Song,” and the world premiere of new Harbison songs, still in progress, on poems of Gary Snyder.
The program includes: Selections from the Violin Sonata in B minor, with violinist Rose Mary Harbison, and “The Art of Fugue” by Johann Sebastian Bach; “Four Songs of Solitude” and “Nocturne” by John Harbison; the Violin Sonata in G Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; the “Phantasy” for violin and piano by Arnold Schoenberg; the “SchwartzSongs” and “Four Poems for Robin” by John Harbison.
Program 4: The Piano , at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 31, and Sunday, Sept. 1.
The closing program welcomes back husband-and-wife pianists Robert Levin and Ya-Fei Chuang, playing together and as soloists.
Chuang (below top) is acclaimed by critics in the U.S. and abroad for performances of stunning virtuosity, refinement and communicative power. Levin (below bottom, in a photo by Clive Barda), who teaches at Harvard University, is revered for his Mozart completions and classical period improvisations.
Their program explores the question of the composer-performer — that is, composers who were also formidable pianists: Mozart, Ravel and Liszt.
Beethoven’s fourth piano concerto, arranged by the composer for chamber ensemble, and excerpts of Harbison’s Piano Sonata No. 2, written for Levin, will be performed. Also on the program are Mozart’s Allegro in G Major, K. 357 (completion by Robert Levin); Maurice Ravel’s “Gaspard de la Nuit”; and Franz Liszt’s “Reminiscences of Don Juan.”
Other performers are: violinists Rose Mary Harbison and Laura Burns, of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Rhapsodie String Quartet; violists Jen Paulson and Kaleigh Acord; cellist Karl Lavine, who is principal cello of both the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra as well as the Chamber Music Director of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO); and double bassist Ross Gilliland.
Tags: #AmericanJazz, #ArnoldSchoenberg, #BaritoneSinger, #BaroqueEra, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BostonMassachusetts, #BusinessModel, #CafeSeating, #CelloSonata, #ChamberMusic, #Classicalera, #CriticalAcclaimed, #DonJuan, #DoubleBass, #EdgewoodCollege, #EmotionalImpact, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #FranzLiszt, #FranzSchubert, #GarySnyder, #GasparddelaNuit, #GreatAmericanSongbook, #HarvardUniversity, #HighStandard, #husband-and-wife, #JaniceWeber, #JazzMusic, #JenPaulson, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnHarbison, #KaleighAcord, #KathleenOtterson, #LauraBurns, #LeonidasKavakos, #LilaBrown, #LivingComposers, #LloydSchwartz, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MauriceRavel, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #MusicCritic, #MusicScore, #NaturalWorld, #NewMusic, #PianoConcerto, #PianoQuartet, #Prize-Winning, #RainSong, #RhapsodieQuartet, #RhapsodieStringQuartet, #RhondaRider, #RobertLevin, #RoseMaryHarbison, #RossGilliland, #SimonBarrad, #SongCycle, #StringQuartet, #TheArtofFugue, #TheU.S., #TokenCreek, #TokenCreekChamberMusicFestival, #TokenCreekFestival, #ViolinSonata, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WorldPremiere, #Ya-FeiChuang, #YouTubevideo, #YujaWang, abroad, acclaimed, American, anniversary, Arnold Schoenberg, Art, Arts, aspire, astounding, audience, Bach, balcony, baritone, barn, Baroque, Beethoven, birthday, bitter, blog, Book, Boston, Brahms, Business, Business model, cabaret, cafe, cafe seating, capture, catalogue, cellist, Cello, Cello Sonata, Chamber music, Classical era, Classical music, cold, combination, commodity, communicative, completion, composer, composer-performer, Concert, concerto, connection, constant, conviction, counterpoint, country, Craft, critic, daily, deep, DeForest, director, Don JUan, double bass, Early music, Edgewood College, emotional, emotional impact, environment, essential, evening, experience, Facebook, faculty, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, frustrated, fugue, Gary Snyder, Gaspard de la Nuit, grateful, Great American Songbook, growth, Harvard, Harvard University, high standard, husband, ideal, impact, improvisation, information, institution, intensity, interest, international, intimate, Jacob Stockinger, Janice Weber, Jazz, Jen Paulson, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Harbison, Kaleigh Acord, Karl Lavine, KarlLavine, Kathleen Otterson, larger, last, Laura Burns, Leonidas Kavakos, like, Lila Brown, limited, lineup, link, listeners, live, living composers, Lloyd Schwartz, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Ravel, Mezzo-soprano, movement, Mozart, Music, Musician, natural world, nature, new, New Music, nocturne, nourishment, now, number, numbers, oasis, participant, performer, phantasy, philosophical, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, Piano Quartet, players, poem, Poetry, post, posting, power, precious, prinicpal, program, progress, Quartet, questions, rain, reader, refinement, refreshment, refurbished, reminiscences, retreat, revere, Rhonda Rider, Robert Levin, Rose Mary Harbison, Ross Gilliland, sanctuary, scale, Schubert, score, share, shout, silence, Simon Barrad, singer, snow, solitude, Sonata, song, song cycle, songs, spiritual, String quartet, Student, stunning, subscriber, tag, teach, temperament, text, The Art of Fugue, theme, then, ticket, time, today, Token Creek, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, Token Creek Festival, transaction, tribute, U.S., United States, universal, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, use, valuable, Viola, Violin, Violin Sonata, violinist, violist, virtuosity, vocal music, way, welcoming, whisper, wife, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Youth Symhony Orchestras, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, word, words, work, world premiere, Ya-Fei Chuang, years, YouTube, Yuja Wang
Classical music: A curmudgeon vents his complaints concerning the music scene in Madison, Plus, this Sunday Afternoon the Pro Arte Quartet plays Haydn and Dvorak in a FREE concert at the Chazen Museum of Art that will be streamed live
21 Comments
ALERT: The UW’s acclaimed Pro Arte Quartet will perform a FREE concert tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 5, at 12:30 p.m., at the Chazen Museum of Art in Brittingham Gallery No. 3. The program features the String Quartet in E Major, Op. 53, No 3, by Franz Joseph Haydn and the String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 16, by Antonin Dvorak. The “Sunday Afternoon Live at the Chazen” concert will also be streamed live. Here is a link:
By Jacob Stockinger
Here is an essay by Larry Wells, a guest reviewer and a frequent concertgoer. He writes:
“As I have aged, I have become more of a curmudgeon. (My friends and family will readily attest to this.) It is in that spirit that I address some annoyances I have been experiencing over the past few years while attending musical events in Madison.
“I will start with a recent experience, attending University Opera’s performances of “A Kurt Weill Cabaret” at Music Hall (below). The two arms of any seat in the hall have two different numbers. Unless the guest was paying attention as he entered the row, it is unclear which number belongs to which seat. After attending a few shows there, I have figured it out. But I don’t believe I have ever been to a performance there when there hasn’t been confusion about which seat is which. I have routinely heard people asking others (who are generally equally clueless), and I have routinely seen blocks of people shift over one seat. You would think that someone at a great educational institution could figure out a way to make the seating less baffling.
“An equally annoying phenomenon occurs regularly at Mills Hall, also on campus. I discovered that, for choral concerts particularly, the sound in the balcony is far better than the sound on the main floor. However, the doors of the balcony are often locked and the ushers regularly say that the balcony is not open. Upon making further insistent inquiries, I usually manage to get someone to unlock the balcony, but I wonder why it is felt that unlocking it routinely is such an onerous task.
“I will also mention that, regardless of one’s seat location in Mills Hall, it is difficult not to notice that the sound clouds over the stage are in sore need of a dusting and cleaning.
“Stephen Sondheim wrote a wonderfully amusing song for “The Frogs” called “Invocation and Instructions to the Audience.” In it the audience is reminded not to talk, cough, fart and so on. (You can hear the piece in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
“At the aforementioned performances in the Music Hall (I went twice), I saw people texting and video recording the performance even though the program has, in very small print, an admonishment not to photograph or film. At a recent choral concert in Mills Hall, texting was rampant during the performance, and there was no mention about turning off cell phones in the program. The bright screens immediately draw the eye away from the stage. I find it extremely distracting.
“At performances given by the UW Dance Department, a loud and forceful announcement at the beginning of each performance instructs the audience to turn off cell phones, no texting, no photos, etc. A similar announcement takes place not only at the beginning of the concert but also at the end of intermissions for performances at Overture Center. I think it is time for the UW Music Department to address the issue in a similar way.
“Another criticism of the way that things are done by the Music Department: Why is it so hard to find out what is being performed at a recital or concert? The Music Department has a good website with a calendar that lists the performances being given on any day, but many times the program is not included in that information. I am disinclined to go to a concert when I don’t know what the program is, and I often will go to a performance just to hear one work if it’s one I am anxious to hear. Thus, I often have to go roaming around the Music Building looking for posters or sometimes even going to the person sponsoring the performance to ask what the program is. It shouldn’t be that hard.
“An issue at Overture Center is whispering. I do not understand how people have lived to the ripe old ages that most of the audience members have and not come to realize that whispering is still audible.
“Two seats away from me at Overture Hall for my symphony subscription is a woman who, at every single performance, starts to cough as soon as the music begins, noisily unzips her purse, reaches in and fumbles around until she finds her cough drop, and then noisily unwraps its cellophane cover. Every time. It is a wonderment to me that she has not discovered that she could unwrap the cough drops in advance and have them at the ready.
“When I subscribed to the San Francisco Symphony, there were bowls of wax paper wrapped cough drops at every entrance. Not a bad idea.
“And then there is the seemingly obligatory standing ovation syndrome that has become a standard feature of every performance in Madison. In the rest of the world a standing ovation is reserved for an extraordinary performance deserving special recognition. Here I think of Pavlov’s dog and sheep. The performance ends, one person leaps to his feet (that’s the Pavlov part) and everyone else stands (that’s the sheep). At the same time the sentiment has been lost, and it all seems rather provincial to me.
“I realize that these are all first-world problems of little importance. They are minor annoyances, but that is what a curmudgeon dwells on. And it feels great to vent.”
Do you agree with any of these complaints?
Do you have any major or minor complaints to add?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: admonish, admonishment, advice, afternoon, amusing, announcement, annoyance, Apollo Theater, Aristophanes, arm, Arts, audible, bad, baffling, balcony, beginning, block, bright, Broadway, Broadway theatre, cabaret, cell phone, cellophane, Chamber music, choral, choral music, Classical music, clean, cleaning, cloud, complaint, composer, Concert, confusion, cough, cough drops, cover, criticism, curmudgeon, dance, department, distracting, dog, dust, dusting, Dvorak, educational, event, experience, Family, fart, feature, feet, film, first world, floor, forceful, friend, guest, Haydn, idea, institution, instruction, intermission, invocation, Jacob Stockinger, Kurt Weill, live, loud, Madison, main, major, member, Mills Hall, minor, Music, Music Hall, musical, noise, notice, old age, opera, opera scene, Orchestra, Overture Center, Pavlov, perspn, phenomenon, phone, photograph, print, Pro Arte Quartet, program, provincial, purse, rampant, recent, recognition, recording, remind, ripe, San Francisco, San Francisco Symphony, screen, seat, sentiment, sheep, shift, someone, song, Sound, sound cloud, special, spirit, stage, standard, standing, Stephen Sondheim, String quartet, subscription, Sunday, Sunday Afternoon Live at the Chazen, symphony, syndrome, talk, text, texting, The Frogs, theater, turn off, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, vent, video, video recording, web site, Website, whisper, whispering, world, year, YouTube
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 