The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: COVID-19 pandemic forces more major changes for Concerts on the Square and a cancellation by the Mosaic Chamber Players
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ALERT: The Ear has received the following note from Jess Salek — the founder, director and pianist of the Mosaic Chamber Players: “Just a note to mention that the concert scheduled for this Saturday, June 13, is cancelled due to COVID-19. We are doing our best to stay positive during this difficult time for local arts groups, and we will resume our music-making as soon as is safe. Please be well!”
By Jacob Stockinger
Major changes are in store for the annual Concerts on the Square, which were already postponed with a change of dates, day and time, according to television WKOW-TV Channel 27 (you can hear the TV news report in the YouTube video at the bottom):
Here are details:
MADISON (WKOW) – The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (WCO) has unveiled a new plan for its 2020 Concerts on the Square series (below), which involves replacing the four postponed concerts with two drive-in performances.
Additionally, they’re planning for two live concerts at Breese Stevens Field if playing outdoors is deemed safe in late summer.
The revised approach was necessary to keep attendees safe, while adhering to state and county requirements that don’t allow for large gatherings, according to a WCO news release.
The WCO will follow Forward Dane Health Guidelines to determine if the live concerts can occur. A decision will be made in late July.
“We were optimistic in April that if we only delayed the start of Concerts on the Square to late July that we could still hold live performances downtown,” said Joe Loehnis (below), the WCO’s CEO. “But as the pandemic continues to affect us all in ways we never could have foreseen, we’ve decided to take creative steps now that will allow us to still share music with our community.”
The new plan for Concerts on the Square looks like this:
- The first four shows (July 28 – Aug 18) have been postponed until the summer of 2021.
- The WCO, in partnership with the Madison Mallards, will host two “drive-in” concerts on June 24 and July 22 (more information below). Each concert also will be live-streamed on https://wcoconcerts.org and https://pbswisconsin.org for free.
- The final two Concerts on the Square will be live concerts at Breese Stevens Field on Aug. 25 and Sept. 1.
- The WCO’s annual “runout” concert to Portage this summer has been canceled.
Drive-in Concerts on the Square
The two drive-in concerts will feature rebroadcasts of the most popular Concerts on the Square performances, thanks to a partnership with PBS Wisconsin.
The WCO expects to be able to have 115 vehicles at each concert. The goal is to make it accessible to as many people as possible without risking health and safety.
The basics for each program are:
Location: Warner Park, 2930 N. Sherman Ave., Madison
Cost: $25 per car
Time: 7-8 p.m.; 8:45-9:45 p.m. (two showings each night to allow more people to attend)
Additional information: To purchase tickets, visit:
- 8:45 p.m. concert: https://madison-mallards.nwltickets.com/Tickets/SelectPromoSeats?UserPromoCode=wco8
June 24 – “S Wonderful” with Amanda Huddleston, soprano, and Andrew Clark, tenor. Songs include: “The Sound of Music” Medley, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” “Armed Forces Salute” and “1812 Overture.” (2015 Performance)
July 22 – “Film Night,” featuring concertmaster Suzanne Beia. Songs include: “The Magnificent Seven,” “The Pink Panther,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Schindler’s List” and “E.T.” (2019 Performance)
“With two showings each night, we’re trying to make the concerts as accessible as possible,” Loehnis said. “Community partnerships are so important right now, and because of PBS Wisconsin and the Mallards, we’re able to bring this idea to life. We are grateful for these partnerships.”
Breese Stevens concerts are planned for late summer. If Dane County has entered Phase III of its Forward Dane plan by late August, 250 people will be allowed to gather for outdoor events.
For that reason, the WCO is planning to host two live Concerts on the Square at Breese Stevens.
The WCO will provide an update later in July on progress for this opportunity. Those shows currently are scheduled for Aug. 25 and Sept. 1.
The WCO also is considering how it could broadcast the live performances to other venues such as the Alliant Energy Center, Warner Park or Madison parks, where others could view the concerts safely.
“We’re still working through the logistics, and we’re realists – understanding that the situation changes almost daily,” Loehnis said. “But we also want to be forward-thinking and we’re going to keep pushing ahead unless we don’t believe a live show can be held safely.”
To keep up-to-date with performance schedules, community members can sign up for email updates on the WCO website or follow the orchestra on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=wisconsin%20chamber%20orchestra&epa=SEARCH_BOX) and Instagram.
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Classical music: The Mosaic Chamber Players open their new four-concert season this Saturday night with an all-Mozart program
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By Jacob Stockinger
The critically acclaimed Mosaic Chamber Players (below, in a photo by John W. Barker) will open their new season this coming Saturday night, Oct. 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the older and historic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Landmark Auditorium of the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
The program is all works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (below) and includes the following pieces:
The Sonata for Violin and Piano in C Major, K. 303, features violinist Laura Burns, of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Oakwood Chamber Players, and pianist Jess Salek, who is also the founder and artistic director of the chamber music ensemble.
The Sonata for Violin and Piano in B-Flat Major K. 454, will be performed by violinist Wes Luke, of the Ancora String Quartet and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and pianist Salek.
The energetic Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478, features violinist Laura Burns, violist Wes Luke, pianist Salek and cellist Derek Handley (below), of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can see a graphic depiction of the first movement of the Piano Quartet.)
Tickets are $15 for general admission, $10 for seniors, and $5 for students. Only checks or cash will be accepted.
A reception will be held after the performance
Here are the concerts and programs – all take place at the First Unitarian Society — for the rest of four-concert season, including two-all Beethoven concerts to mark the Beethoven Year in which the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth will be celebrated.
Friday, Feb. 21, at noon (Free admission)
All-Beethoven (below) String Sonata Program:
Sonata in F Major for Piano and Cello, Op. 5, No. 1
Sonata in E-Flat Major for Piano and Violin, Op. 12, No. 3
Sonata in C minor for Piano and Violin, Op. 30, No. 2
Saturday March 21, at 7:30 p.m. (Tickets required)
All-Prokofiev (below) Program:
Sonata in F minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 80
Sonata in D Major for Violin and Piano, Op. 94a
Sonata in C Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 119
Saturday June 13, 2020 7:30 p.m. (Tickets required)
All-Beethoven Piano Trio Program:
Piano Trio in E-Flat Major, Op. 1, No. 1
Piano Trio in E-Flat Major, Op. 70, No. 2
Piano Trio in G Major, Op. 121a: “Kakadu” Variations
For more information about the group and biographies of the players, go to: http://www.mosaicchamberplayers.com
You can also follow the group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mosaicchamberplayers/
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Classical music: The Mosaic Chamber Players perform all 20th-century American music this Saturday night. Plus, a master class about Schubert is TODAY at 4:30
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ALERT: Susan Youens, a world-famous scholar of the music of Franz Schubert, will give a FREE and PUBLIC master class TODAY at 4:30 p.m. in Morphy Recital Hall. Her class is in advance of her appearance and pre-concert lecture at the annual UW Schubertiade this Sunday afternoon, Jan. 27. More information about that event will appear in tomorrow’s blog post.
By Jacob Stockinger
The critically acclaimed Mosaic Chamber Players will perform a concert of all-American music from the 20th century this Saturday night, Jan. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Landmark Auditorium of the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
Tickets are $15 for adults; $10 for senior citizens; and $5 for students. Only cash and personal checks will be accepted.
A reception will follow the concert.
Performers are violinists Laura Burns and Wes Luke, cellist Kyle Price, and founder-pianist Jess Salek. (Photos below of the performers are by John W. Barker at a previous concert.) They also play with other professional groups such as the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Ancora String Quartet and the Rhapsodie String Quartet.
The program includes the Sonata for Violin and Piano by Aaron Copland; the Sonata in Three Movements for Violin and Piano by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (below); “Road Movies” for Violin and Piano by John Adams (you can hear the opening in the YouTube video at the bottom); and the Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 6, by Samuel Barber.
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Classical music: The Mosaic Chamber Players perform an all-Schubert concert on Saturday night. On Sunday afternoon, Opera Props presents singers in a benefit concert to support the opera program at the UW-Madison
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ALERT: On this Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m., in the Madison Christian Community Church at 7118 Old Sauk Road on Madison’s far west side, Opera Props will present a benefit concert to raise money for the UW-Madison’s opera program and University Opera.
Student singers and piano accompanist Daniel Fung will perform arias and songs. But the spotlight will shine on University of Wisconsin-Madison alumna soprano Julia Rottmayer, who is a new faculty member at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. (Sorry, no specific program is given and no names of composers and works are mentioned.)
Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the door with student tickets costing $10. Tickets include a reception with local Gail Ambrosius chocolate, fruit, cheese and wine. For more information, go to: https://www.uwoperaprops.org
By Jacob Stockinger
Why is The Ear increasingly drawn to the music of Franz Schubert (below) over, say, the music of his contemporary and idol Ludwig van Beethoven? It seems to be more than its sheer beauty and lyricism. It also seems to possess a certain warmth or human quality that he finds irresistible, poignant and restorative, especially if it is true, as the Buddha said, life is suffering.
In any case, The Ear is not alone.
The Madison-based Mosaic Chamber Players (below, in a photo by John W. Barker) will open their new and ambitious season this coming Saturday night with a concert of music by Franz Schubert.
The all-Schubert concert is at 7:30 p.m. in the chapel of the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Avenue, near Camp Randall Stadium — NOT at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, as was incorrectly stated earlier in this blog post.
The program includes two Sonatinas for Violin and Piano in D Major, D. 384, and A minor, D. 385; the famous “Arpeggione” Sonata, D. 821, performed on the cello with piano; and the lovely and songful Adagio or “Notturno” (Nocturne) for Piano Trio, D. 897, which you can hear with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and pianist Daniil Trifonov, in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Tickets cost $15 for adults; $10 for seniors; and $5 for students. Cash and checks only will be accepted; no credit cards.
Members of the Mosaic Chamber Players are: founder and pianist Jess Salek (below top); violinist Wes Luke (below second), who plays with the Ancora String Quartet and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra; violinist Laura Burns (below third), who also plays with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the MSO’s Rhapsodie String Quartet; and cellist Kyle Price (below bottom), who founded the Caroga Lake Music Festival in New York State and is pursuing his doctoral degree at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music with distinction and who was a member of the graduate student Hunt Quartet while he studied for his master’s.
A reception will follow the concert.
For more information about the Mosaic Chamber Players and about their new season, which includes some very varied composers but no specific titles of works, go to: http://www.mosaicchamberplayers.com
What do you find so appealing and so special about the music of Schubert?
What is your favorite Schubert work?
Leave your thoughts in the COMMENT section with a link, if possible, to a YouTube video performance.
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: The Mosaic Chamber Players complete their cycle of Beethoven sonatas for strings with impressive beauty and sensitivity
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By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT-FM 89.9 FM. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison. Barker also took the performance photos.
By John W. Barker
In another distressingly overcrowded weekend, hard choices had to be made about which event to attend. I picked the performance by the Mosaic Chamber Players last Saturday night at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Landmark Auditorium of the First Unitarian Society of Madison.
For the past four years, this group has pursued a “complete” survey of Beethoven’s sonatas for strings and piano. Since he composed 10 for violin and piano plus five for cello and piano, it was easy to organize them into five concerts, each with two violin sonatas and one for cello. In addition, it was possible in many programs to draw on all three periods of Beethoven’s output.
This year’s concert was thus the fifth and the last in the series, climaxing a really impressive achievement for artistic director and guiding spirit Jess Salek and his colleagues.
As pianist in all three of the works presented, Salek (below) provided more than accompaniment, since the role of the piano was generally put on terms of equal partnership, sometimes even of relative superiority. He played bravely, justly showing palpable pride in the total achievement.
Laura Burns (below), who also plays with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the MSO’s Rhapsodie String Quartet, was the violinist in the early Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 12, No. 2.
This happens to be the first of these Beethoven sonatas that I came to know and love in my youth, via an old Jascha Heifetz recording, so it had particular reverberations for me. To its wit and sprightliness Burns brought an added warmth of sound and spirit.
The Cello Sonata No. 5 in D, Op. 102, No. 2, was the last one Beethoven composed for this medium, and one of two that dates from the composer’s late period. A great deal of very serious thinking went into it, with a slow movement particularly notable for its spiritual depth. Cellist Kyle Price (below) delivered it with genuine feeling and with great strength of tone.
Also Beethoven’s last work for its medium, the Violin Sonata No. 10 in G, Op. 96, comes from late in the composer’s so-called middle period. It is a work of almost kaleidoscopic variety, with frequent changes of mood and character.
Its core is another slow movement of amazingly personal eloquence and breath-taking beauty. And the theme-and-variations movement finale seems to have everything (almost) in it but the kitchen sink. (You can hear Wes Luke and Jess Salek performing another theme-and-variations movement from a different Beethoven violin sonata in the cycle, Op. 30, No. 1, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
It was clear that violinist Wes Luke (below), who is also the first violinist of the Ancora String Quartet, was having a whale of a good time playing it, relishing almost every note.
Luke’s printed program notes were particularly excellent, and included notice that the group’s spring concert will juxtapose piano trios of Beethoven and Brahms.
The Mosaic Chamber Players do not receive a great deal of publicity, but their concerts offer some of the most lovely and thought-provoking chamber music repertoire to be found, even in a town so full of wonderful music-making as ours.
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Classical music: Here are the Final Forte winners. Mosaic Chamber Players concludes its season this Saturday night with piano trios by Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff and Charles Ives. Plus, a FREE concert of Latin American bassoon music is Friday at noon
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NEWS: In case you missed it last night on Wisconsin Public Television and Wisconsin Public Radio, here are the winners of the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s high school concerto competition, which featured a lot of fine music and excellent performances.
First prize went to violinist Julian Rhee of Brookfield, who performed Tchaikovsky; second prize went to pianist Michael Wu of Sun Prairie, who performed Saint-Saens; and the two runners-up were violinist Yaoyao Chen of Menasha, who played Sibelius, and harpist Naomi Sutherland, who performed Ravel.
For more information about the annual event, including links to video biographies of the contestants, go to:
ALERT: This week’s FREE Friday Noon Musicale, at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, will feature bassoonist Juliana Mesa-Jaramillo in works for solo bassoon by 20th-century Latin American composers. The concert runs from 12:15 to 1 p.m.
By Jacob Stockinger
The critically acclaimed Mosaic Chamber Players will conclude its 2016-2017 season with a program of piano trios.
Members of the Madison-based Mosaic Chamber Players are Wes Luke, violin; Kyle Price, cello; and Jess Salek, piano.
The program features the “Elegy” Trio in D Minor, Op. 9, by Sergei Rachmaninoff; the Trio, Op. 86, by Charles Ives; and the Trio in D Minor, Op 49, by Felix Mendelssohn. (You can hear the opening of the lovely and darkly dramatic Rachmaninoff Trio in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The concert will be this Saturday, April 1, at 7 p.m. in the Landmark Auditorium of First Unitarian Society of Madison.
Tickets are $15 for general admission; $10 for seniors; and $5 for students. Cash or checks only will be accepted.
Pianist Jess Salek (below), who graduated from the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton Wis., and who runs his own piano studio in Madison and also works with the Madison Youth Choirs.
Violinist Wes Luke (below) plays with many regional orchestras and ensembles, including the Madison-based Ancora String Quartet.
Here is an informative and engaging story about cellist Kyle Price (below), a UW-Madison student, and how he started a music festival and ended up studying with Professor Uri Vardi at the UW-Madison.
http://www.music.wisc.edu/2015/12/02/kyleprice_cello/
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Classical music: Madison Youth Choir’s sixth annual Boychoir Festival is this Saturday. Plus, the Wisconsin Brass Quintet performs this Sunday at the Chazen Museum of Art
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ALERT: This month’s Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen, to start at 12:30 p.m. this Sunday, features the Wisconsin Brass Quintet from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music.
The program includes music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Giovanni Gabrieli, Ira Taxin, Ingolf Dahl and UW-Madison alumnus Andrew Rindfleisch.
Since Wisconsin Public Radio no longer carries the concerts live, you must either attend it FREE in the Brittingham Gallery No. 3 in the Chazen Museum of Art or stream it live on your computer. Here is a link to the museum’s web site to reserve seats and to listen live:
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following note from the Madison Youth Choirs:
“The Madison Youth Choirs, in partnership with Madison Metropolitan School District, will present the sixth annual FREE Madison Boychoir Festival this Saturday, Jan. 30, in the Stevens Gym at Madison West High School, 30 Ash St., starting at 12:30 p.m.
(Below is a photo of middle school singers, conducted by Margaret Jenks, from last year’s festival. You can also hear excerpts in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
“The festival is a day-long celebration of choral music for boys in grades 2-12, culminating in a free concert for the community.”
“We’re expecting a record number of well over 400 young men, ages 7-18, from across southern Wisconsin at this year’s festival, and recently also broke a new record for enrollment in MYC’s three yearlong performing boychoirs – a great sign for the culture of boys’ singing in our community!”
The program usually includes classical music, folk music and crossover or pop music. This year’s is no different. Here is the line-up:
COMBINED CHOIRS
Plato’s Take (sing in Greek) by Randal Swiggum
YOUTH CHOIR
Margaret Jenks, conductor; Andrew Johnson, piano/percussion
Banaha — Congolese folk song
MIDDLE LEVEL CHOIR
Randal Swiggum, conductor; Steve Radtke, piano; Zachary Yost, piccolo; Andrew Johnson, snare drum
“Riflemen of Bennington“ Revolutionary War song, arr. Swiggum
HIGH SCHOOL MEN’S CHOIR
Albert Pinsonneault, Michael Ross, conductors; Jess Salek, piano
Byker Hill, Traditional, arr. Sandler
THE MADISON BOYCHOIR
Randal Swiggum, Margaret Jenks, Michael Ross, conductors
Intonent Hodie, Anonymous (ca. 12th century)
COMBINED CHOIRS
Unity, by Glorraine Moore/Freddie Washington, arr. Cason
“Over 400 young singers, joined by the men of the Madison Choral Project (MCP), will present repertoire from a variety of cultural traditions and historical eras, exploring beyond notes and rhythms to discover the context, meaning and heart of the music. (Below is a photo of elementary school singers from the 2014 festival, conducted by Randal Swiggum.)
“This project is supported in part by the Madison Arts Commission, by the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts, and by Dane Arts with additional funding from the Endres Mfg. Company Foundation.”
About Madison Youth Choirs (MYC)
“Recognized as an innovator in youth choral music education, Madison Youth Choirs (MYC) welcomes singers of all ability levels, annually serving more than 1,000 young people, ages 7-18, through a wide variety of choral programs in our community.
“Cultivating a comprehensive music education philosophy that inspires self -confidence, personal responsibility and a spirit of inquiry leading students to become “expert noticers,” MYC creates accessible, meaningful opportunities for youth to thrive in the arts and beyond.”
For further information, visit www.madisonyouthchoirs.org or call (608) 238-7464
Tags: Albert Pinsonneault, Andrew Rindfleisch, Art, Arts, Bach, boychoir, boys, brass, Chazen Museum of Art, Choir, choral music, Classical music, computer, Congo, Congolese, crossover, culture, Dane Arts, Dane County, drum, elementary school, festival, Folk music, folk songs, Giovanni Gabrieli, Greece, Greek, History, Hodie, Ingolf Dahl, Ira Taxin, Jacob Stockinger, Jess Salek, Johann Sebastian Bach, Madison, Madison Boychoir, Madison Choral Project, Madison West High School, Madison Youth Choirs, Margaret Jenks, men, Michael Ross, Middle school, Music, National Endowment for the Arts, notes, percussion, Piano, piccolo, pop, public school, quintet, Revolutionary War, rhythm, sanre, Singing, stream, Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, web site, Website, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Brass Quintet, wisconsin public radio, young, young boys, young men, young people, Youth, youth choir, YouTube
Classical music: The Mosaic Chamber Players opens their new season with violin sonatas by Mozart, Grieg and Szymanowski this Friday night.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Violinist Wes Luke and pianist Jess Salek will perform a “passionate program”of violin and piano music called “Sonatas and Myths” tomorrow night, Friday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m. in the Landmark Auditorium at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
The program includes: the elegant and intense Sonata in G Major K. 379, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (you can hear the sonata in a YouTube video at the bottom); the fiery Sonata in C minor, Op. 45, by the 19th-century Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg; and the extraordinary and unique “Myths,” Op. 30, by the 20th-century Polish composer Karol Szymanowski.
There will be a reception following the program.
Tickets are $15 for the public; $10 for seniors; and $5 for students. Check or cash only will be accepted.
Information about upcoming concerts can be found on Mosaic’s website http://www.mosaicchamberplayers.com/ or you can “like” or follow Mosaic Chamber Players on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Here is some background information about the performers::
Wes Luke (below) is a violinist and educator who performs and teaches across the upper Midwest. He currently serves as the Concertmaster of the La Crosse (Wisconsin) Symphony Orchestra, the Principal Second Violinist of the Dubuque (Iowa) Symphony Orchestra, and a section violinist in the Madison Symphony Orchestra. He also regularly plays in the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Wisconsin Philharmonic, where he has also served as Concertmaster.
Jess Salek holds degrees from Lawrence University (Bachelor of Music in piano performance) in Appleton, Wisconsin, and State University of New York at Stony Brook (Master of Music in piano performance). He has worked as Music Theory Instructor at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and as a piano instructor at Prairie Music Academy in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. He also has served as a judge for piano competitions and music festivals throughout Wisconsin.
From 2009-2013, Salek (below) served as Music Director of Fresco Opera Theatre, which in 2013 received Bronze in the Performing Arts Group category in Madison Magazine’s “Best Of Madison” competition -– an award voted by fans.
He is the founder and owner of Salek Piano Studio, Inc., where he teaches a diverse group of over 45 students of all ages and levels on the west side of Madison.
Salek performs as substitute keyboardist with Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra for Concerts on the Square and Madison Symphony Orchestra. He is also a member of Sound Ensemble Wisconsin (SEW), a non-profit chamber music organization in Madison, and serves as accompanist for Madison Youth Choirs, a non-profit performing group based in Madison.
Most recently, Salek founded the Mosaic Chamber Players, a professional group dedicated to performing varied chamber music programs throughout Wisconsin. The Mosaics were recently described as “among the finest purveyors of chamber music in Madison” in a review by John W. Barker for The Well-Tempered Ear blog.
Here is a poster about the upcoming season of the Mosaic Chamber Players (using the magnifying tool will help you read it):
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Classical music: The Mosaic Chamber Players excel in trios by Haydn, Bartok and Brahms. They are new, but they deserve your attention.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker, who also provided the performance photos for this review. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who for 12 years hosted an early music show every other Sunday morning on WORT FM 89.9 FM. He serves on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison.
By John W. Barker
I have, so far, not followed carefully the work of the Mosaic Chamber Players (below).
But I certainly will from now on.
They are, to put it simply, among the finest purveyors of quality chamber music in Madison just now.
The Mosaic group is currently in its second season. It was founded by pianist Jess Salek, along with four string-playing colleagues, and sometimes added guests. The group gives three performances each season, at the First Unitarian Society of Madison. The latest one was on Saturday evening in the original Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Landmark Auditorium.
Salek was the anchor of continuity in all three of the works presented, playing with vigorous collegiality. At least the first two of the selections related to the concert’s announced theme of “The Gypsy Spirit!”
The first was Franz Joseph Haydn’s most familiar trio, the one in G major, for violin, cello and piano—most famous for its “Gypsy” rondo-finale. The performance was wonderful, and a particular showcase for violinist Wes Luke, who is himself emerging as one of Madison’s premier chamber musicians and who has been playing with the Ancora String Quartet, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the LaCrosse Symphony Orchestra and the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra. His tender, nuanced playing in the second movement was particularly distinguished.
Béla Bartók’s spikey and spunky Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet and Piano, was composed for Benny Goodman and Joseph Szigeti.
For this, guest player Linda Bartley (below) was brought in. Former principal clarinetist of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and a faculty member at the UW-Madison School of Music, Bartley is well-known for her artistry by now, and contributed pungent color to the performance.
But Luke again drew attention for his brilliant playing: in fact, in the third movement, alternating on two differently tuned fiddles (with backup from a delightful young lady), and replacing his missing mute with a folded dollar bill.
The final work was the Trio in A minor for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano by Johannes Brahms. The first of his late “autumnal” chamber works for the clarinetist Richard Muhlfeld, it is a warm, big-hearted piece, bespeaking personal closeness as well as professional admiration. (A performance from the 2010 International Chamber Music Festival of the Clarinet Trio can be heard in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
In this, cellist Michael Allen (below) was able to show off his robust and rich playing as full partner to Bartley’s finely tailored clarinet role.
This was, in sum, a superb program of music making, one to send the audience out into a winter night with a wonderful feeling of warm satisfaction.
The Mosaic Chamber Players give their next concert on April 25, with piano quintets by Johannes Brahms and Gabriel Fauré. Watch for it!
Tags: American Record Guide, Ancora String Quartet, Arts, Bartok, Benny Goodman, Brahmns, Brahms, Cello, Chamber music, clarinet, clarinet trio, Classical music, critic, Elgin, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Faure, Frank Lloyd Wright, Haydn, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, Jess Salek, Johannes Brahms, John W. Barker, Joseph Szigeti, LaCrosse, LaCrosse Symphony Orchestra, Linda Bartley, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Medieval history, Mosaic Chamber Players, music critic, Piano, Piano Trio, trio, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, Wes Luke, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube
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