The Well-Tempered Ear
The Madison Bach Musicians host a virtual online Baroque Tour starting this Saturday, April 24, and lasting through May 8
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following notice from Trevor Stephenson, the founder and artistic director of the Madison Bach Musicians (MBM), who will debut their season-closing concert live and online this coming Saturday night, April 24:
Stephenson (below) writes:
Since travel has been so very limited during the pandemic, Madison Bach Musicians is elated to conclude its 2020-21 season with a musical journey through both space and time, and invites you to join us from the intimacy and safety of your own home.
A Baroque Tour is a musical travelogue of instrumental masterworks from 17th- and 18th-century Europe. Luminaries like Handel, Vivaldi, Purcell and Buxtehude are in the mix on this program with their brilliant though lesser-known contemporaries such as Louis-Gabriel Guillemain (below top), Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Andrea Falconieri (below bottom) and Francisco Jose de Castro.
A Baroque Tour will explore the glorious sonic landscapes of Italy, Spain, France, England and Germany.
Our ensemble for this program consists of five strings plus harpsichord, and we are thrilled that baroque bassoon virtuoso Marc Vallon (below, in a photo by James Gill), who teaches at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, will join us for Vivaldi’s exuberant Bassoon Concerto in B-Flat Major. (You can hear the opening movement in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
A Baroque Tour will be broadcast via live-streaming from the acoustically spectacular sanctuary of Grace Episcopal Church on this Saturday evening, April 24. (Rebroadcasts will be available on demand through May 8.)
Tickets are $15 and available online at: https://madison-bach-musicians.square.site/product/a-baroque-tour-april-24-2021-livestream-on-demand-until-may-8/57?cs=true&cst=custom
If you wish to purchase tickets through the mail, use this downloadable form: https://madisonbachmusicians.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/MBM-2020-21-Live-Stream-Ticket-Form-A-Baroque-Tour.pdf
Here is the schedule for the concert and related events:
From 7:30-8 p.m., in a pre-concert lecture, MBM artistic director Trevor Stephenson will discuss the composers, the repertoire and the historical instruments.
The performance will run from 8 p.m. until approximately 9:15 p.m.
The evening will then conclude with a live Question-and-Answer session with the musicians who will be socially distanced on the concert platform.
Listeners should submit their questions—in advance or during the broadcast—via email to Karen Rebholz at madisonbachmusicians.manager@gmail.com.
THE MUSICIANS are:
Marc Vallon – baroque bassoon soloist
Kangwon Kim (below) – baroque violin
Emily Dupere – baroque violin
Micah Behr – baroque viola and baroque guitar
Martha Vallon – baroque cello and viola da gamba
James Waldo – baroque cello (and tambourine)
Trevor Stephenson – harpsichord
THE PROGRAM is:
HANDEL – Sonata in A major for Violin and Continuo, HWV 361
CHARPENTIER – Concerto for Four Viols, H 545
PURCELL – Trio Sonata in C major, Z 795
VIVALDI – Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major, RV 503
GUILLEMAIN – Sonata in A minor for Two Violins, Op. 5, No.1
BUXTEHUDE – Trio Sonata in G major, BuxWV 271
DE CASTRO – Trio Sonata in C major, Op. 1, No. 6
FALCONIERI – La Folia (Folías de España)
Here is a link to some brief biographies and interesting facts about these remarkable composers: https://madisonbachmusicians.org/april-24-a-baroque-tour-a-livestream-event/
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Classical music: Grace Presents HD offers a free virtual online concert by the acclaimed Willy Street Chamber Players this Saturday at noon
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By Jacob Stockinger
Cellist and UW-Madison graduate student James Waldo has sent the following announcement about a FREE virtual online concert by Grace Presents, which he coordinates.
The hi-def, one-hour concert by the critically acclaimed and popular Willy Street Chamber Players (below) is at noon (CDT) this Saturday, Aug. 22.
Says Waldo:
“This is a pre-recorded event, and as such, I had the singular pleasure of sitting in the room while these fantastic musicians recorded their program. This event is not to be missed!
“Grace Presents HD brings you free, crystal-clear performances by local Madison musicians in the nave of historical Grace Episcopal Church – located downtown on the Capitol Square — from the comfort and safety of your own home.
“The Willy Street Chamber Players will have a video premiere that will be available on the Grace Presents YouTube channel on this Saturday, Aug. 22 at noon CDT. (This virtual concert is available for a limited time only!)
You can see and hear a preview of the concert in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Artists in the Willy Street Chamber Players are: Paran Amirinazari, artistic director, violin and viola; Eleanor Bartsch, violin and viola; Mark Bridges, cello; and Lindsay Crabb, cello, five-string cello.
You can find more information about the chamber music ensemble, including a link to a post in which The Ear named them as Musicians of the Year for 2016, at: http://willystreetchamberplayers.org
As is typical for The Willys, the program reflects diversity and includes both classical masters and contemporary composers:
Schubert: String trio in B-flat major, D. 47
Tania León (below) – Four Pieces for Solo Cello: II. Prayer
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber – Passacaglia
George Walker (below) – “Bleu”
J.S. Bach – Solo Cello Suite No. 6 in D major: I. Prelude and IV. Sarabande
Kimo Williams (below): “Quiet Shadows”
Beethoven: String Trio in G major, Op. 9, No. 1 / I. Adagio-Allegro
“We will be hosting a Zoom meet-and-greet with our guest artists following the performance. If you’d like to attend this virtual gathering, please RSVP to Grace Presents Program Coordinator James Waldo (gracepresents@gmail.com) for more information.
“Here is biographical background: The Willy Street Chamber Players (WSCP) are dedicated to creating community through classical music. Established in 2015, the group has become a fixture of the Willy Street neighborhood’s vibrant cultural scene.
“Recently awarded a gold medal in Madison Magazine’s prestigious “Best of Madison” reader poll, WSCP has received numerous accolades for its accessible and exciting performances, intelligent and fun programming, and community partnerships.
“Today, the group consists of four core members. Led by Artistic Director and violinist Paran Amirinazari, each player brings a fresh, imaginative take to classical music.
WSCP convenes each July – this summer’s concerts were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic — to present their popular summer concert series at Immanuel Lutheran Church (below) on Spaight Street. For these programs, the group has collaborated with many well-known guest artists from Madison and beyond.
“In addition, WSCP presents an array of events throughout the year including the admission-free Community Connect series that aims to bring classical music to inclusive spaces.
“WSCP has also performed at many other popular Madison venues including Marquette Waterfront Fest; Summer Serenades at Memorial Union Terrace; the Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesin compound in Spring Green; the Madison New Music Festival; and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA).”
OTHER DETAILS
Video recording and editing has been done by: https://www.microtonemedia.com/
Audio engineering has been done by Bruce Kasprzyk.
Grace Presents is supported in part by generous project grants from Dane Arts, the Madison Arts Commission, the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) and the Grace Episcopal Development Fund Trust as well as individual gifts and in-kind support.
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Classical music: Trevor Stephenson announces the new season of the Madison Bach Musicians on YouTube. It features smaller concerts and familiar comfort music
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By Jacob Stockinger
At a time when so many concerts are being canceled, it is especially welcome when a local ensemble announces plans for the 2020-21 season.
To announce the 17th season of the Madison Bach Musicians — a period-instrument group that uses historically informed performance practices — the founder and artistic director Trevor Stephenson (below), who also plays the harpsichord, fortepiano and piano, has made and posted a 13-1/2 minute YouTube video.
The season will also be posted on the MBM website in early June, and will also be announced with more details about times and ticket prices via email and postal mailings.
In the video, Stephenson plays the harpsichord. He opens the video with the familiar Aria from the “Goldberg” Variations and closes with two contrasting Gavottes from the English Suite in G minor.
As usual, Stephenson offers insights in the programs that feature some very well-known and appealing works that are sure to attract audiences anxious to once again experience the comfort of hearing familiar music performed live.
One thing Stephenson does not say is that there seems to be fewer ambitious programs and fewer imported guest artists. It’s only a guess, but The Ear suspects that that is because it is less expensive to stage smaller concerts and it also allows for easier cancellation, should that be required by a continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
If the speculation proves true, such an adaptive move is smart and makes great sense artistically, financially and socially given the coronavirus public health crisis.
After all, this past spring the MBM had to cancel a much anticipated, expensive and very ambitious production, with many out-of-town guests artists, of the “Vespers of 1610” by Claudio Monteverdi. Nonetheless, MBM tried to pay as much as it could afford to the musicians, who are unsalaried “gig” workers who usually don’t qualify for unemployment payments.
“Hope and Joy” is a timely, welcome and much-needed theme of the new season.
The new season starts on Saturday night, Oct. 3, at Grace Episcopal Church downtown on the Capitol Square, and then Sunday afternoon, Oct. 4, at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton.
The program is Haydn and Mozart: songs composed in English and German by Haydn plus songs by Mozart; the great violin sonata in E minor by Mozart; and two keyboard trios, one in C major by Haydn and one in G major by Mozart.
Only four players will be required. They include: Stephenson on the fortepiano; concertmaster Kangwon Kim on baroque violin; James Waldo on a Classical-era cello; and soprano Morgan Balfour (below), who won the 2019 Handel Aria Competition in Madison.
On Saturday night, Dec. 12, in the First Congregational United Church of Christ, near Camp Randall Stadium, MBM will perform its 10th annual holiday concert of seasonal music.
The program includes several selections from the “Christmas Oratorio” by Johann Sebastian Bach; a Vivaldi concerto for bassoon with UW-Madison professor Marc Vallon (below, in a photo by James Gill) as soloist; and the popular “Christmas Concerto” by Arcangelo Corelli.
On Saturday night, April 24, at Grace Episcopal Church and Sunday afternoon, April 25, at Holy Wisdom Monastery, the MBM will perform a concert of German Baroque masterworks with the internationally renowned baroque violinist Marc Destrubé (below).
The program features Handel and Bach but also composers who are not often played today but who were well known to and respected by Bach and his contemporaries.
Specifically, there will be a suite by Christoph Graupner (below top) and a work by Carl Heinrich Graun (below bottom).
There will also be a concerto grosso by George Frideric Handel and two very well-known concertos by Bach – the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and the Concerto for Two Violins.
Here is the complete video:
What do you think of the Madison Bach Musicians’ new season?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: The Madison Bach Musicians will perform its ninth annual Baroque Holiday Concert this coming Saturday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
On this coming Saturday night, Dec. 7, the Madison Bach Musicians will present its ninth annual Baroque Holiday Concert (below, in 2014, in a photo by Kent Sweitzer).
The concert, using period instruments and historically informed performance practices, is again at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Ave., near Camp Randall Stadium. A pre-concert lecture by MBM founder and director Trevor Stephenson is at 7:15 p.m. followed by the concert at 8 p.m.
Advance-sale tickets are $35 at Orange Tree Imports and the Willy St. Co-op (East and West). Online advance-sale tickets are available at https://madisonbachmusicians.org. Tickets at the door at $38 for general admission and $35 for seniors. Student Rush tickets are $10 at the door and go on sale 30 minutes before the lecture.
The program features masterworks by Bach, Handel, Purcell and Torelli which, in their appealing Baroque way, explore the fusion of celebration, reflection and ultimate renewal often felt as the year’s end approaches.
MBM welcomes baroque trumpet virtuoso Kathryn Adduci (below), who will show how wonderfully vintage brass resounds in the magnificent Old World acoustics of the church.
Other performers are: Ariadne Lih, soprano (below); Lindsey Meekhof, alto; Ryan Townsend Strand, tenor; Michael Hawes, bass; Christine Hauptly Annin and Nathan Giglierano, violins; Micah Behr, viola; James Waldo, cello; and Trevor Stephenson, harpsichord.
Here are a couple of fun facts, provided by Stephenson, about each piece on the program.
Sound the Trumpet, by Henry Purcell (1659−1695, below)
1. This piece was composed in 1694, the year before Purcell died at the age of just 36. It is part of a birthday ode — Come Ye Sons of Art, Away! — for Queen Mary II of England, wife of King James II.
2. There is no trumpet in it at all, but the two voices implore the trumpet to play and they emulate trumpet-style writing with long, swelling notes mixed in with brilliant decorative flourishes.
Trumpet Concert in D major by Giuseppe Torelli (1658−1709, below)
1. Torelli was one of the most prolific trumpet composers of all time.
2. The baroque trumpet has no valves and is designed to play in one tonality at a time. Favorite baroque keys were D major and C major.
Comfort Ye and Every Valley from Messiah, by George Frideric Handel (1685−1759, below)
1. After the instrumental Overture to Messiah, this Recitative and Aria are the work’s first sung pieces.
2. Handel was 56 years old when he composed Messiah in 1741 in London; the work was premiered, however, in Dublin in 1742, much to the chagrin of Handel’s librettist Charles Jennens.
Cantata BWV 51, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen (Exult in God in Every Land), by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685−1750, below)
1. Composed around 1730, this is one of the very few Bach cantatas requiring only one singer.
2. In Bach’s Leipzig church, where the work was probably first heard, the soloist would have been either a male falsettist (or castrato) or an exceptionally skilled boy soprano.
Contrapunctus XIX and Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit (Before Thy throne I stand), from The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080, by J.S. Bach
1. According to Bach’s son Carl Philipp Emanuel (CPE), this fugue is the last piece his father wrote — though scholars hotly contest this claim.
2. In measure 195, Bach’s own name appears suddenly as a musical motive: B (B-flat in the German scale) – A – C – H (B natural) and the fugue has no ending but simply trails off in measure 239.
Grosser Herr, o starker König (Great Lord, O Powerful King) from Christmas Oratorio,BWV 248, by J.S. Bach
1. It features dance-like melodic figures in dialogue between trumpet and solo bass voice. (Heard in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
2. Text celebrates the birth of the savior, which makes the powers of the Earth irrelevant.
Cantata BWV 196, Der Herr denket an uns (The Lord thinks of us),by J.S. Bach
1. With its textual focus on blessings (from Psalm 115), the work is likely a wedding cantata.
2. Written probably when Bach was only 22 years old, the work is absolutely perfect in its structure and easy concision; its high-energy but quiet final cadence has a curiously modern, neo-Classical charm that might have made Stravinsky smile.
Chorale: Wohl mir, dass ich Jesum habe (What joy for me that I have Jesus),from Cantata, BWV 147, Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life), by J.S. Bach
1. The famous opening figure in the strings is really just Bach’s ingenious obligato lead-in to a chorale tune that parishioners in his church would have instantly recognized.
2. This work has enjoyed tremendous popularity as “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” since it was arranged for one and then two pianos in 1926 and 1934 respectively by English pianist Myra Hess. It has since been arranged for myriad combinations of instruments and voices.
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Classical music: This week brings Baroque music from Just Bach this Wednesday at noon and Sonata a Quattro next Sunday afternoon
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By Jacob Stockinger
This week brings authentic Baroque music from two newer groups that employ period instruments and historically informed performance practices: Just Bach and Sonata a Quattro.
The concert for November by Just Bach (below, in a photo by John W. Barker, takes place this Wednesday, Nov. 20, from noon to 12:30 p.m. at Luther Memorial Church, 1021 University Ave, in Madison.
The performance is free and open to the public, with a good will offering collected.
Performers are: Sarah Brailey, soprano; Lindsey Meekhof, mezzo-soprano; Thore Dosdall, tenor; Paul Rowe, baritone; Linda Pereksta, flute; Kangwon Lee Kim and Nathan Giglierano, violins; Marika Fischer Hoyt, viola; James Waldo, cello; and Mark Brampton Smith, organ.
The program opens with the six-minute instrumental Sinfonia from Cantata 209. Just Bach favorite Linda Pereksta will be the featured flute soloist, backed up by the strings-and-organ band. (You can hear the Sinfonia in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Cantata 151 ‘Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kommt‘ (Sweet comfort, my Jesus comes) closes the program. Each of the first four movements of this cantata features a different vocal soloist — the serene soprano aria also boasts a lovely flute obbligato — concluding with the chorale in which all take part.
Those who attend are invited to “bring your lunch, bring your ears and your voice, bring a friend, but most of all bring yourself to this stirring program of J.S. Bach.”
The next Just Bach program is Wednesday, Dec. 18, at noon.
For more information, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/events/451732972120968/
SONATA A QUATTRO
This week the Madison-based group Sonata à Quattro (below) will give two performances of its program “A Dark and Stormy Night”:
- Saturday, Nov. 23, at 7 p.m. at the St. Matthias Episcopal Church, 11 East Main St. in., Waukesha. Tickets for the general public, seniors and students are $15, $10 and $5 in advance; and $20, $15 and $10 at the door. Go to: stmatthiasepiscopalchurch.ticketleap.com/sonata-a-quarttro
- Sunday, Nov. 24 at 2:30 p.m. at the Madison Chinese Christian Church, 1510 Madison St., in Madison. Tickets $15 in advance or at the door. Online, go to: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4429975
The program is:
- Motet: “In furore iustissimae irae” (In the fury of most righteous wrath), RV 626 by Antonio Vivaldi
- Quartet No. 1 in D Major by Johann Joachim Quantz
- Cello Sonata in C Minor, Book II No. 6 by Jean-Baptiste Barrière
- Concerto for 4 in D Minor, TWV 43:d2 by Georg Philipp Telemann
- Cantata 209: “Non sa che sia dolore” (He does not know what sorrow is) by Johann Sebastian Bach
Sonata à Quattro performers are: Christine Hauptly Annin and Nathan Giglierano, violins; Marika Fischer Hoyt, viola; Charlie Rasmussen, cello; Daniel Sullivan, harpsichord; and Kristin Knutson, soprano. Special guest artist is flutist Linda Pereksta (below, in a photo by Katrin Talbot).
Says founder and violist Marika Fischer Hoyt (below): “Join us for a program of dark and stormy pieces, on period-instruments. Sonata à Quattro’s third season opens with a program exploring the darker side of human experience, from Vivaldi’s motet, burning with godly rage, to Bach’s secular Cantata, deploring the departure of a beloved friend.
“Quantz’ bubbly Flute Quartet in D Major provides some needed moments of optimism, before we turn to the poignant, brooding Cello Sonata by Barrière. Even the viola gets a turn, in the Telemann, to unfold a haunting saga of tragic beauty.
“But the composers do not leave us in despair; each one leads the listener through the dark night of the soul, to the morning after.”
The Bach Cantata opens with an instrumental Sinfonia, heard in the YouTube video at the bottom, that features flutist Linda Pereksta, who also plays in the works by Quantz and Telemann.
For more information, go to:
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Classical music: Two noteworthy baroque concerts by Just Bach and the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble are on tap this Wednesday afternoon and Saturday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
Fans of Baroque music have two noteworthy events this week to look forward to.
Both concerts feature period instruments and historically informed performance practices.
WEDNESDAY AT NOON
This coming Wednesday, Oct. 16, from noon to 12:30 p.m. at Luther Memorial Church, 1021 University Avenue, the second FREE Just Bach concert of the semester will take place.
The concerts by Just Bach (below, in a photo by John W. Barker) are now a regular feature of the Music at Midday at Luther Memorial Church.
Organist Mark Brampton Smith opens the program with a brief Fantasia on the melody of “Christ lag in Todesbanden” (Christ Lay in Death’s Bonds). That tune will reappear at the very end of the program, in the final chorale of Cantata 158.
The next piece on the program was also written for solo organ, but will be heard in an arrangement for violin, viola, cello and organ. Johann Sebastian Bach wrote six organ trio sonatas, apparently for his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann.
The C Minor Sonata, the second in the set, is full of fiery drama in the outer movements, framing a dreamy, peaceful Largo.
UW-Madison baritone Paul Rowe will lead the chorale sing-along, a beloved audience-participation feature of these programs.
The program closes with Cantata 158, “Der Friede sei mit dir” (Peace Be with You), with solo bass-baritone Jake Elfner. Elisheva Pront provides the luminous “cantus firmus” (an existing melody used in a polyphonic composition) in the second movement, which also features a beautiful violin solo played by Kangwon Kim. The Cantata ends with a chorale on the tune of “Christ lag in Todesbanden.”
You may bring your lunch and beverage.
The concert is FREE and open to the public, with a goodwill offering collected.
Other Just Bach concerts this fall, all Wednesdays at Noon, are: Nov. 20 and Dec. 18.
Performers this week are: Jake Elfner, bass-baritone; Elisheva Pront, soprano; Kangwon Kim, violin; Leanne League, violin; Marika Fischer Hoyt, viola; James Waldo, cello; and Mark Brampton Smith, organ.
For more information, go to: https://justbach.org or https://www.facebook.com/JustBachSeries/
SATURDAY NIGHT
This Saturday night, Oct. 19, at 7:30 p.m. in Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 1833 Regent Street in Madison, the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble (below) will perform a concert of varied chamber music.
Performers include: Mimmi Fulmer, UW-Madison soprano; Nathan Giblierano, baroque violin; Eric Miller, viola da gamba and baroque cello; Chelsie Propst, soprano; Charlie Rasmussen, viola da gamba and baroque cello; Consuelo Sañudo, mezzo-soprano; Anton TenWolde, baroque cello; and Max Yount, harpsichord.
Tickets are at the door only: $20 for the public, $10 students. After the concert, a reception will be held at 2422 Kendall Ave, second floor.
The program is:
Henry Purcell: Three Fantasias
Giacomo Carissimi: “Scrivete, occhi dolente” (Write, Sore Eyes)
George Frideric Handel: Violin Sonata, HWV 372 (heard in an animated graphic depiction the YouTube video at the bottom)
Claudio Monteverdi: “Baci soave e cari” (Soft and Dear Kisses)
INTERMISSION
Luzzasco Luzzaschi: “O dolcezze amarissime” (O Bitter Sweetness)
Martin Berteau: Trio for violoncellos
Giulio Caccini: Excerpts from “La liberazione di Ruggiero” (The Liberation of Ruggiero)
For more information, go to: www.wisconsinbaroque.org
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Classical music: A busy week at the UW-Madison brings FREE concerts in new halls with an emphasis on new music for winds, chamber ensembles, orchestra and band
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ALERT: Tonight’s performance by the a cappella vocal group Chanticleer is SOLD OUT.
By Jacob Stockinger
It’s going to be a busy week at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music and especially in its new Hamel Music Center (below), 740 University Ave., next to the new wing of the Chazen Museum of Art.
On tap is a variety of FREE concerts, with an emphasis on new music, including compositions for winds, chamber ensembles, orchestra and band.
Earlier mistakes on dates and time have been corrected. To double check dates, times and venues as well programs, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/events/
Here is a schedule:
TUESDAY, OCT. 8
At 7:30 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, the UW Wind Ensemble (below), conducted by director Scott Teeple and guest conductor Ross Wolf, will perform a FREE program of contemporary wind music.
The program includes works by Augusta Read Thomas (below top), Jake Runestad, Larry Tuttle, Xi Wang (below bottom) and Carlos Simon.
There will be one world premiere and two Wisconsin premieres.
For more information and the complete program, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-wind-ensemble-5/
THURSDAY, OCT. 10
At 8 p.m. in Collins Recital Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble will perform a FREE recital of new music, including two works — “Wet Ink” and ” Treetop Studio” — by the critically acclaimed UW-Madison composer Laura Schwendinger (below).
Also on the “Fall Notes” program are “Wing and Prayer” by Melinda Wagner (below top) and “Pentacle” by Irish composer Raymond Deane (below bottom) who will make his UW-Madison debut.
Performers for “Fall Notes” will feature UW-Madison musicians, including clarinetist Alicia Lee, cellist James Waldo, violist Sally Chisholm, pianist Christopher Taylor and student performers.
FRIDAY, OCT. 11
At 8 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra (below) will open its season with a FREE concert under its new conductor Oriol Sans, a native of Catalonia, Spain, who studied at the Barcelona Conservatory and who came to Madison from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
The program is: “aequilibria” by contemporary Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom); “Death and Transfiguration; by Richard Strauss; and “Symphonic Dances” by Sergei Rachmaninoff.
For more information about conductor Oriol Sans (below), go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/oriol-sans/
For more information, from Wikipedia, about composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir (below), go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_S._Þorvaldsdóttir
SUNDAY, OCT. 13
At 2 p.m., in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, the University Bands will perform a FREE concert under conductor Darin Olson (below), the assistant director of bands at the UW-Madison.
No program is available.
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Classical music: Soprano Sarah Brailey and nine UW-Madison cellists team up for the FREE concert of songs at Grace Presents this Saturday at noon
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By Jacob Stockinger
This Saturday, Sept. 21, at noon, a FREE one-hour program in the Grace Presents series will feature soprano Sarah Brailey (below) in “My Loyal Heart,” a recital of songs by Arvo Pärt, John Tavener, Guillaume de Machaut, Dmitri Shostakovich and Heitor Villa-Lobos.
The concert is at Grace Episcopal Church (below), located downtown on the Capitol Square at 116 West Washington Avenue.
Brailey is an acclaimed professional singer who often tours and who is doing graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
Brailey will be joined by friends and colleagues. They include UW baritone Paul Rowe and members of the UW Madison Cello Ensemble, featuring nine local Madison cellists who include Grace Presents program coordinator James Waldo. (Below is a summer cello choir at the UW-Madison from several years ago.)
The works will be sung in Russian, Portuguese, and both modern and medieval French.
Here is an introduction from Waldo:
“It is often said that the cello is the instrument most like the human voice.
“My Loyal Heart,” devotes an entire program to music for soprano Sarah Brailey and cello from the 14th century to the 20th century.
“It opens with Arvo Pärt’s L’abbé Agathon about the legend of Father Agathon from the 4th century book “The Desert Fathers,” followed by a new arrangement by Brailey for soprano and cello trio of Guillaume de Machaut’s elegant love song Se quanque amours puet donner.
“This intimately ardent piece is followed by a more tragic love story, that of Shakespeare’s Ophelia, in the opening movement of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok.
“The program continues in Russian with Sir John Tavener’s powerful and darkly spiritual Akhmatova Songs with poetry by Russian-Soviet Modernist poet, Anna Akhmatova.
“The concert concludes with the hauntingly beautiful and famous first movement and the playful concluding dance of Bachianas Brasileiras (Brazilian Bach Suites) No.5 for soprano and eight cellos by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. (You can hear the Villa-Lobos aria in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
“Text and translations will be provided.
“This program will not be performed anywhere else in Madison.”
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Classical music: The fourth annual Madison New Music Festival takes place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It features Wisconsin composers and several world premieres
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By Jacob Stockinger
The fourth season of the Madison New Music Festival (below, in a photo from 2017 by Max Schmidt) will take place this coming Friday, Aug. 9, through Sunday, Aug. 11.
The Madison New Music Festival is an annual, weekend-long celebration for the Madison community of classical works written by contemporary composers.
In four concerts – three with admission and one free — the festival will showcase Wisconsin-based composers and performers of new music, as well as world premiere performances by guest artists.
Tickets for each concert are $15 for adults and $5 for students. Subscriptions to all three concerts are available for $35. For more information, go to http://madisonnewmusic.org or to Facebook (@Madison New Music Festival) or Instagram (@madisonnewmusic).
Here is the line-up:
Concert 1: Music from Wisconsin – Friday, Aug. 9, at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (227 State St.)
What: In anticipation of this fall’s Wisconsin Triennial and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, this concert spotlights all Wisconsin-born, -based, or -educated composers, curated by pianist Robert Fleitz (below, with a toy piano he often performs on), whom The New York Times called “mesmerizing.” Joined by young local musicians, Fleitz explores music created right here in their own backyard.
Concert 2: World Premieres – Saturday, Aug. 10, at 7:30 p.m.
Where: First Unitarian Society of Madison’s Atrium Auditorium (900 University Bay Drive)
What: Internationally acclaimed violist Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti and Wisconsin-born pianist Karl Larson (below top) will give the world premieres of new viola sonatas from three of the world’s leading composers: Andrew Norman, Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Scott Wollschleger. In addition, local cellist James Waldo will kick off the evening with a premiere of a work for solo cello by University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Les Thimmig (below bottom).
Concert 3: SistaStrings – Sunday, Aug. 11, at 2:30 p.m.
Where: Robinia Courtyard (829 East Washington Avenue)
What: The concert features the Milwaukee-based sister duo SistaStrings (below, in a photo by Adam Ryan Morris). Violinist Chauntee Ross and cellist Monique LaDora Ross blend their training as accomplished classical instrumentalists with “R&B and a touch of gospel influence that culminates in a vibey, lush sound.” The sisters will play tracks from their new and acclaimed Extended Play recording in the cozy courtyard. (You can hear them in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Partner concert: Madison New Music Ensemble (FREE concert) – Sunday, Aug. 11, at 5 p.m.
Where: Memorial Union Terrace (800 Langdon Street, below)
What: Join the newly formed Madison New Music Ensemble (below top), led by UW-Madison composer Joseph Koykkar (below bottom), at the Memorial Union Terrace as part of their Summer Serenade series. The group will perform works by Koykkar, Ian Clarke, Gabriela Lena Frank, Gareth Farr and Kirsten Volness.
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Classical music: Two FREE chamber music concerts on Thursday and Friday nights at the UW-Madison feature quartets and quintets by Mozart, Boccherini, Schubert, Dvorak and Weinberg
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By Jacob Stockinger
Chamber music fans have something special to look forward to this week with back-to-back evening concerts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music that mix famous and well-known works with less familiar ones.
THURSDAY NIGHT
On Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the Pro Arte Quartet will perform.
The program features six miniature “Evening Songs” (1865) – also called “Cypresses” — by Antonin Dvorak; the String Quartet No. 5 in B-Flat Major (1945) by Mieczyslaw Weinberg; and the String Quartet in B-Flat Major “Hunt,” K. 458 (1784), by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. (You can hear one of Dvorak’s “Cypresses” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Members of the Pro Arte Quartet (below, from left, in a photo by Rick Langer) are: violinists David Perry and Suzanne Beia; violist Sally Chisholm; and cellist Parry Karp.
For more information about the unique and dramatic history of the critically acclaimed Pro Arte Quartet, the longest active string quartet in the history of music, go to:
https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/pro-arte-quartet/
FRIDAY NIGHT
On Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, UW-Madison cellist Uri Vardi (below) will be joined by several faculty colleagues, one of his students and his son for an evening of three quintets.
In addition to Uri Vardi, the performers include: clarinetist Amitai Vardi (below); pianist Christopher Taylor; violinists David Perry and Soh-Hyun Park Altino; violist Sally Chisholm; cellist James Waldo; and double bassist David Scholl.
The program includes: the Quintet in C major, assembled from other quintets by Johann Lauterbach, by Luigi Boccherini, a contemporary of Mozart; the famous Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the well-known “Trout” Quintet by Franz Schubert.
For more background, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uri-vardi-quintets-students-friends-and-family/
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