The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: The successful centennial celebration of the Concert Series at the Wisconsin Union Theater continues this Friday night with a concert by the Kalichstein, Laredo and Robinson piano trio
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By Jacob Stockinger
This season marks the centennial of the Concert Series at the Wisconsin Union Theater (below are photos of the Memorial Union and Shannon Hall).
And so far, so good.
The anniversary features a variety of genres, and both individuals and ensembles, during the season-long event. Plus, many of the performers are returning to what The Ear calls “The Carnegie Hall of Madison.”
The anniversary started with a sold-out performance of the a cappella singing group Chanticleer and continued with a close to sold-out house for pianist Emanuel Ax in an all-Beethoven recital.
The first semester winds up this Friday night, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m. with the acclaimed piano trio of pianist Joseph Kalichstein, violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson (below).
The trio will be returning to Shannon Hall for the third time, this time as part of the new David and Kato Perlman Chamber Music Series.
The program features both the familiar and the unfamiliar.
It starts with the rarely heard Canonic Etudes by Robert Schumann. Then it continues with two of the most popular piano trios in the repertoire: the Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor by Felix Mendelssohn and the “Archduke” Trio in B-Flat Major, Op. 97, by Ludwig van Beethoven. (You can hear the trio play the slow movement and finale of the “Archduke” Trio in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Tickets are $10 to $50. For more information, go to: https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/kalichstein-laredo-robinson-trio/
The trio will also give a FREE and PUBLIC one-hour master class TODAY – Thursday, Dec. 5 — at 1:30 p.m. in the Collins Recital Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave.
Such an activity is not unusual. Not only are the members of the trio active performers, they are also devoted to teaching and music education.
For more information about that side of the trio, read: https://union.wisc.edu/visit/wisconsin-union-theater/the-green-room/kalichstein-laredo-robinson-trio-shapes-future-performers/
And to learn more about the history of the trio, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, here is a link to its home website: http://www.kalichstein-laredo-robinson-trio.com
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Classical music: Superstar soprano Renée Fleming and pianist Emanuel Ax headline the 100th anniversary of the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Concert Series next season
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following major announcement to post about the Wisconsin Union Theater, which The Ear calls “the Carnegie Hall of Madison” for its long and distinguished history of presenting great performing artists.
The Wisconsin Union Theater (below top, with Shannon Hall below bottom) is delighted to announce the schedule for its 100th Concert Series during 2019-20.
In this celebratory year, we introduce two exciting additions: A transformative gift by Kato Perlman establishes the David and Kato Perlman Chamber Series, ensuring the world’s best chamber ensembles continue to perform as a regular feature of the Concert Series.
Additionally, two Concert Series performances will take place in the Mead Witter School of Music’s new Hamel Music Center (below). We look forward to increased collaborations with the school of music.
The 100th anniversary series was curated by the Wisconsin Union Directorate’s Performing Arts Committee, with wife-and-husband advisors pianist Wu Han and cellist David Finckel (below, in a photo by Tristan Cook), who are celebrated musicians and directors of several festivals of classical music and also serve as co-artistic directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. (You can hear them performing music by Johann Sebastian Bach in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The first season of this distinguished series was in 1920-1921, and featured soprano May Peterson, violinist Fritz Kreisler and pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch.
Nineteen years later, in 1939-1940, the series moved to the newly opened Wisconsin Union Theater. The first season in the Wisconsin Union Theater featured bass singer Ezio Pinza, cellist Emanuel Feuermann, violinist Joseph Szigeti, pianist Robert Casadesus and, the highlight, contralto Marian Anderson.
Through these 99 years, numerous renowned, accomplished and prominent classical musicians have played in the series, the longest continuous classical series in the Midwest. Some made their debut here and continued returning as their fame rose.
See this article for an interview with former WUT director Michael Goldberg about the history of the series.
The schedule for the 100th Concert Series, including the inaugural David and Kato Perlman Chamber Music Series, is:
Oct. 6 – A cappella choral group Chanticleer, Hamel Music Center. Program To Be Announced
Nov. 2 – Pianist Emanuel Ax (below), Shannon Hall. All-Beethoven program, including Piano Sonatas Nos. 1, 2 and 3.
Dec. 6 – The Kalichstein, Laredo and Robinson Piano Trio (below), Shannon Hall. “Canonic Etudes” by Robert Schumann; Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor by Felix Mendelssohn; and Piano Trio in B-flat major “Archduke” by Ludwig van Beethoven.
Jan. 25, 2020 – The Escher String Quartet (below), featuring David Finckel, Shannon Hall. Quartets by Franz Joseph Haydn, Fritz Kreisler and Franz Schubert.
March 5, 2020 – Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center – featuring David Finckel, Wu Han, Paul Neubauer and Arnaud Sussman, Shannon Hall. Sonatine by Antonin Dvorak; Piano Quartet by Josef Suk; Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25, by Johannes Brahms.
March 7, 2020 – Wu Han with the UW Symphony Orchestra, Hamel Music Center. Program TBD.
March 28, 2020 – Violinist Gil Shaham (below) with pianist Akira Eguchi, Shannon Hall. Program TBD.
May 2, 2020 – Special Gala Concert with Renée Fleming (below). Shannon Hall. Mixed Recital.
All programs are subject to change.
Subscriptions will be available starting March 18, 2019. Subscribers benefits include: access to the best seats, 20% off the price of single tickets, no order fees, a free ticket to Wu Han’s performance with the UW Symphony Orchestra, and the opportunity to be first to purchase tickets to Renée Fleming’s 100th Anniversary Gala Concert.
Find more information about the series and the artists at www.uniontheater.wisc.edu. Subscriptions will be available on March 18 at www.artsticketing.wisc.edu.
Tags: #ACappellaMusic, #AkiraEguchi, #All-Beethoven, #AntoninDvorak, #ArchdukeTrio, #ArtisticDirector, #BaroqueMusic, #BassSinger, #BennoMoiseitwitsch, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CarnegieHall, #ChamberEnsemble, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusicSocietyofLIncolnCenter, #ChoralMusic, #ClassicalMusician, #ConcertSeries, #ContraltoSinger, #DavidFinckel, #EmanuelAx, #EmanuelFeuermann, #EscherStringQuartet, #EzioPinza, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzSchubert, #FritzKreisler, #GalaConcert, #GilShaham, #HamelMusicCenter, #husband-and-wife, #JaimeLaredo, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JosefSuk, #JosephKalichstein, #JosephSzigeti, #KalichsteinLaredoRobinsonPianoTrio, #KatoPerlman, #LincolnCenter, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MarianAnderson, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MichaelGoldberg, #MusicFestival, #NewYorkCity, #PerformingArtists, #PianoConcerto, #PianoMusic, #PianoQuartet, #PIanoRecital, #PianoSonata, #PianoTrio, #RenéeFleming, #RobertCasadesus, #RobertSchumann, #SchoolofMusic, #ShannonHall, #SharonRobinson, #SopranoSinger, #StringQuartet, #SubscriptionConcert, #TheEar, #TheMidwest, #ToBeAnnounced, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #VocalMusic, #VoiceRecital, #Wife-and-Husband, #WisconsinUnionDirectorate, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WuHan, #YouTubevideo, a cappella, access, accomplished, addition, advisor, Akira Eguchi, anouncement, Antonín Dvořák, Archduke Trio, Artistic director, artists, Arts, audience, Baroque, bass, Beethoven, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Canon, Carnegie Hall, cellist, Cello, centennial, chamber ensemble, Chamber music, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Chanticleer, choral music, Classical music, classical musician, collaboration, composer, concerto, contralto, curated, David Finckel, debut, director, distinguished, Emanuel Ax, Escher String Quartet, etude, Ezio Pinza, Facebook, fame, feature, fee, Felix Mendelssohn, forward, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, free, gala, gift, Gil Shaham, great, Hamel Music Center, highlight, History, husband, inaugural, information, interview, Jacob Stockinger, Jaime Laredo, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Josef Suk, Joseph Kalichstein, Joseph Szigeti, Kato Perlman, like, LIncoln Center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, link, long, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Marian Anderson, Mead Witter School of Music, Michael Goldberg, Midwest, Music, Music festival, New York City, performer, performing artists, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, Piano Quartet, Piano sonata, Piano Trio, post, posting, program, prominent, recital, regular, Renée Fleming, renowned, Robert Casadesus, Robert Schumann, schedule, School of Music, seat, Shannon Hall, share, Sharon Robinson, singer, Sonata, Sonatine, soprano, star, String quartet, subscription, superstar, tag, TBA, The Ear, ticket, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW Symphony Orchestra, violinist, vocal music, voice, voice recital, wife, Wisconsin Union Directorate, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wu Han, year, YouTube
Classical music: Violinist Alexander Ayers gives a FREE recital on Monday night at Taliesin in Spring Green
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Due to technical difficulties beyond his control at the web site host, The Ear cannot publish a new post today that has many links in the text. He apologizes and will let you know if and when the problems are solved. In the meantime, he will offer what he can.
By Jacob Stockinger
The following announcement has been sent for posting by The Ear by the Rural Musicians Forum:
Widely praised for his shimmering virtuosity and technical precision, violinist Alexander Ayers performs a FREE recital at 7:30 p.m. on this Monday, June 27, in a concert sponsored by the Rural Musicians Forum in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hillside Theater at Taliesin, south of Spring Green, Wisconsin.
Ayers (below, in a photo by O’Brien Photos of Waukesha), a native of Waukesha, Wisconsin, joined the Milwaukee Symphony in 2013. He was previously a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
After studying nine years at the String Academy of Wisconsin-Milwaukee he studied at Indiana University, and in 2006 he won the grand prize of the Milwaukee Symphony Stars of Tomorrow Competition. This resulted in performances of the Violin Concerto No. 1 by Sergei Prokofiev with the MSO. He has performed collaboratively with Joshua Bell, Alex Kerr, Jaime Laredo, Gilles Apap and Soovin Kim.
Ayers’ June 27 program is international in scope. It includes works by German-born Ludwig van Beethoven and Parisian Camille Saint-Saens as well as the Belgian violinist and composer Eugene Ysaye and virtuosic Polish violinist Henryk Wieniawski, who was regarded by many as an exciting and flamboyant re-incarnation of Niccolo Paganini.
About the concert RMF Artistic Director Kent Mayfield said, “We are honored to work in close collaboration with Taliesin Preservation Inc. to host much of this year’s series at Taliesin’s Hillside Theater (below). It provides an especially dramatic but intimate setting for Ayers’ performance which will be totally consistent with Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision: imaginative, bold and beautiful.”
Hillside Theater is located at 6604 Highway 23, Spring Green.
The concert is not ticketed and is open to the public. A free-will offering will be taken to support the concert series.
For additional information and driving directions, see www.ruralmusiciansforum.org
Tags: Alexander Ayers, Arts, Beethoven, Belgium, Camille Saint-Saëns, Chamber music, Classical music, concerto, Eugene Ysaye, France, Frank Lloyd Wright, Germany, Henryk Wieniawski, Indiana University, Jacob Stockinger, Jaime Laredo, Joshua Bell, Kent Mayfield, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Music, Paganini, Paris, Piano, Poland, Prokofiev, Rural Musicians Forum, Sonata, Spring Green, Taliesin, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, Violin concerto, virtuosity
Classical music: The Galena String Quartet reunites for a FREE chamber music concert of Beethoven, Brahms and Dohnanyi this coming Monday night on the UW-Madison campus.
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By Jacob Stockinger
A friend, violinist Kangwon Kim, who plays with the Madison Bach Musicians and the Madison Early Music Festival as well as for other groups and events, writes:
“Dear Jake,
I am having a reunion concert with the quartet members from 13-14 years ago (below, in a photo by Katrin Talbot), who made up the Galena Quartet in 2001. Its members (from the left) included violist Allyson Fleck, violinist Allison Ostrander (Jones), cellist Karl Knapp and violinist Kangwon Kim.
The FREE concert is this coming Monday night, Sept. 15, at 7:30 p.m. in Morphy Recital Hall on the campus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music.
The program includes string trios by Ludwig van Beethoven and Ernö von Dohnányi as well as the Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, by Johannes Brahms with guest pianist SeungWha Baek (below, in a performance at Northern Illinois University). You can hear the appealing Hungarian Gypsy Rondo finale from the Brahms Piano Quartet at the bottom in a popular YouTube performance with violinist Isaac Stern, violist Jaime Laredo, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emanuel Ax.
Everything in the program, plus background information about the quartet and the players, is on the following website.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music | Galena Quartet Alumni Reunion Concert
The Galena String Quartet was formed in the Fall of 2001 as the graduate string quartet-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Besides performing as the resident quartet for the “Up Close and Musical” program through the Madison Symphony and visiting numerous elementary schools in the Madison area, the quartet performed at the Governor’s mansion, Stoughton Opera House, Fredric March Play Circle at the Memorial Union, and the Colony House in Mountain Lake, Florida. It was also a semi-finalist at the Fischoff chamber music competition.
The members are thrilled to perform this “reunion” concert after pursuing their separate musical careers during the past 10 years, and are grateful to the pianist SeungWha Baek for joining them for this concert. Below are violinist Allyson Fleck (below top) and cellist Karl Knapp (middle) and Kangwon Kim (bottom).
If you could include the announcement sometime in your blog, I would be grateful!!
Tags: Arts, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, Early music, Emanuel Ax, Erno von Dohnanyi, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Galena, Galena String Quartet, gypsy rondo, Isaac Stern, Jacob Stockinger, Jaime Laredo, Johannes Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Music, Northern Illinois University, Piano, Piano Quartet, Stoughton Opera House, String quartet, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Yo-Yo Ma, YouTube
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