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.
PLEASE NOTE: The following post has been updated with more information since it first appeared.
By Jacob Stockinger
In ordinary times, the yearlong schedule would be set and concerts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music would be already well underway.
But these are not ordinary times – as you can tell from the silence about the UW season that usually presents some 300 events.
It has taken time, but the music school has finally worked out the basic approach to concerts during the pandemic. It will allow worldwide listening.
Audiences will NOT be present for any Mead Witter School of Music concerts or recitals this fall. Instead, a live stream of faculty recitals and all required student recitals, many of them in the new Hamel Music Center (below), will be available.
The portal to the live streaming, along with a scheduling clock and time countdown, can be found at: youtube.com/meadwitterschoolofmusic
The concert season starts tonight at 6:30 to 8 p.m. The performer is graduate student flutist Heidi Keener (below), who is giving her recital for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. The recital was postponed from March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On the school of music’s concert website you will find a biography and the program — just hover the computer’s cursor over the event: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/recital-heidi-keener-dma/.
The same information will also be on the YouTube website for the actual concert. Just click on MORE: https://youtu.be/gA6S3OXUKCc
Given so few calendar listings so far, clearly the format is still a work-in-progress.
For updated listings of other events, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/events/
The next events are slated for Oct. 2 with a student recital and another installment of the Pro Arte Quartet’s Beethoven cycle (below).
That other programs and dates are still missing is not surprising.
The entire UW-Madison from classes to sports, is in a state of flux about how to deal with the pandemic, with in-person classes paused through Sept. 25, and possibly longer.
Many questions about concerts remain as the process plays out.
All live-stream concerts will be free. But they will NOT be archived, so they will be taken down as soon as they end.
A donation link to the UW Foundation will be included to help cover the costs of the livestreaming and also other expenses.
Will choral concerts even take place, given that singing is especially risky because the singers can’t wear masks and social distancing is nearly impossible to provide with groups?
What about chamber music groups like the Pro Arte Quartet, the Wingra Wind Quintet and Wisconsin Brass Quintet? Many faculty members, who have to teach virtually and online right now, are no doubt concerned about the possible health risks of playing in groups.
And what about the excellent UW Symphony Orchestra, which The Ear considers a must-hear local orchestral ensemble? Those musicians too will have a hard time social distancing – unless individual safe performances at home or in a studio are edited and stitched together.
So far, though, we know that the University Opera will offer “I Wish It Were So,” an original revue of the American opera composer Marc Blitzstein on Oct. 23.
Here is a link to a story with more details about the production: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/08/07/classical-music-the-university-opera-announces-a-new-season-that-is-politically-and-socially-relevant-to-today-the-two-shows-are-a-virtual-revue-of-marc-blitzstein-and-a-live-operatic-version-of/
What do you think of the plans for the concert season?
Do you have any suggestions?
The Ear wants to hear.
Posted in
Classical musicTags:
#AcademicCalendar,
#BlogPost,
#BlogPosting,
#BrassMusic,
#ChamberMusic,
#ChoralMusic,
#CollinsRecitalHall,
#ConcertSeason,
#CoronavirusPandemic,
#COVID-19,
#DoctorofMusicalArts,
#EventsCalendar,
#FacebookPost,
#FacebookPosting,
#FacultyMember,
#FluteMusic,
#Googlesearch,
#GraduateStudent,
#HamelMusicCenter,
#HeidiKeener,
#JacobStockinger,
#LaborCosts,
#LiveStreaming,
#LudwigVanBeethoven,
#MarcBlitzstein,
#MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall,
#MeadWitterSchoolofMusic,
#Musicfaculty,
#OrchestralMusic,
#ProArteQuartet,
#SocialDistancing,
#StringQuartet,
#TheEar,
#TheUW,
#UniversityofWisconsin-Madison,
#UniversityOpera,
#UW-SymphonyOrchestra,
#UWFoundation,
#VocalMusic,
#WindMusic,
#WingraWindQuartet,
#WisconsinBrassQuintet,
#YouTubeChannel,
#YouTubevideo,
academic calendar,
American,
appear,
approach,
archive,
archived,
Arts,
ask,
audience,
basic,
Beethoven,
blog,
brass,
calendar,
cancel,
canceled,
Cello,
Chamber music,
choral music,
classes,
Classical music,
click,
Clock,
Collins Recital Hall,
computer,
Concert,
concert season,
coronavirus,
costs,
countdown,
cursor,
degree,
details,
Doctor of Musical Arts,
donation,
editstich,
ensemble,
event,
excellent,
expenses,
Facebook,
faculty,
fall,
flute,
flutist,
flux,
free,
Google,
graduate student,
group,
groups,
Hamel Music Center,
Health,
hear,
Heidi Keener,
Home,
hover,
impossible,
in person,
individual,
Jacob Stockinger,
labor costs,
like,
link,
listening,
listing,
live streaming,
live-stream,
livestream,
local,
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Madison,
Marc Blitzstein,
mask,
masks,
Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall,
Mead Witter School of Music,
more,
Music,
music school,
Musician,
must-hear,
news,
online,
opera,
Orchestra,
orchestral music,
ordinary,
original,
pandemic,
PAQ,
paused,
payment,
performance,
plans,
play,
portal,
post,
posting,
postpone,
postponed,
present,
Pro Arte Quartet,
process,
production,
progress,
question,
recital,
require,
research,
revue,
risk,
risky,
safe,
schedule,
school,
School of Music,
search,
Season,
share,
silence,
sing,
singer,
Singing,
social distancing,
Sports,
state,
story,
String quartet,
Student,
suggestion,
symphony,
tag,
teach,
The Ear,
time,
times,
together,
tonight,
underway,
United States,
university,
University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music,
University of Wisconsin–Madison,
University Opera,
updated,
UW,
UW Foundation,
UW Symphony Orchestra,
UW-Madison,
Viola,
Violin,
virtual,
vocal music,
Website,
wind music,
Wind quintet,
Wingra Wind Quintet,
Wisconsin,
Wisconsin Brass,
Wisconsin Brass Quintet,
work,
worldwide,
yearlong,
you,
YouTube
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
This past week, The Ear listened to and read a lot of news about COVID-19 and the arts.
And it got him thinking: What will happen this fall with the new concert season? And even later, what will a post-pandemic concert world look like? (Below is the Madison Symphony Orchestra in a photo by Peter Rodgers.)
As you may have heard, the Tanglewood Festival, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has been canceled this year. So too has the Ravinia Festival, the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Locally, American Players Theatre in Spring Green also just canceled its summer season.
So far, the summer season seems to be one big cancellation for the performing arts.
True, there are some exceptions.
The Token Creek Chamber Music Festival has yet to announce its plans for August.
One also has to wonder if crowds of up to 20,000 will feel safe enough to attend the Concerts on the Square (below), now postponed until late July and August, by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra?
Will people still want to attend the postponed Handel Aria Competition on Aug. 21 in Collins Recital Hall at the UW-Madison’s new Hamel Music Center, assuming the hall is open?
Fall events seem increasingly in question.
Last night on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, said that sports events and concerts will be among the last mass gatherings to take place safely, probably not until next spring or summer or even later, depending on when a vaccine becomes available.
Some public health experts also offer dire predictions about how easing up lockdown restrictions too soon might lead to an even worse second wave of the coronavirus virus pandemic this autumn and winter, despite all the happy talk and blame-shifting by Team Trump.
So, what do you think will happen beyond summer?
The Ear wonders what the fallout will be from so many music groups and opera companies turning to free online performances by solo artists, symphony orchestras and chamber music ensembles.
Will season-opening concerts be canceled or postponed? What should they be? Will you go if they are held?
Will at-home listening and viewing become more popular than before?
Will the advances that were made in using streaming and online technology (below) during the lockdown be incorporated by local groups — the UW-Madison especially comes to mind — or expected by audiences?
In short, what will concert life be like post-pandemic and especially until a vaccine is widely available and a large part of the population feels safe, especially the older at-risk audiences that attend classical music events?
Will larger groups such as symphony orchestras follow the example of the downsized Berlin Philharmonic (below, in a photo from a review by The New York Times) and play to an empty hall with a much smaller group of players, and then stream it?
Will some free streaming sites move to requiring payment as they become more popular?
Live concerts will always remain special. But will subscriptions sales decline because audiences have become more used to free online performances at home?
Will most fall concerts be canceled? Both on stage and in the audience, it seems pretty hard to maintain social distancing (below is a full concert by the Madison Symphony Orchestra). Does that mean the health of both performers – especially orchestras and choral groups – and audiences will be put in jeopardy? Will the threat of illness keep audiences away?
Even when it becomes safe to attend mass gatherings, will ticket prices fall to lure back listeners?
Will programs feature more familiar and reassuring repertoire to potential audiences who have gone for months without attending live concerts?
Will expenses be kept down and budgets cut so that less money is lost in case of cancellation? Will chamber music be more popular? (Below is the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet during its suspended Beethoven cycle.)
Will fewer players be used to hold down labor costs?
Will imported and expensive guest artists be booked less frequently so that cancellations are less complicated to do?
Will many guest artists, like much of the public, refrain from flying until it is safer and more flights are available? Will they back out of concerts?
Will all these changes leave more concert programs to be canceled or at least changed?
There are so many possibilities.
Maybe you can think of more.
And maybe you have answers, preferences or at least intuitions about some the questions asked above?
What do you think will happen during the fall and after the pandemic?
What do you intend to do?
Please leave word, with any pertinent music or news link, in the comment section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Posted in
Classical musicTags:
#60Minutes,
#AirTravel,
#AmericanPlayersTheatre,
#BeethovenStringQuartets,
#BerlinPhilharmonic,
#BlogPost,
#BlogPosting,
#BostonSymphony,
#BudgetCuts,
#ChamberMusic,
#ChicagoSymphonyOrchestra,
#ChoralMusic,
#CollinsRecitalHall,
#ConcertHall,
#ConcertSeason,
#ConcertsontheSquare,
#COVID-19,
#DonaldJ.Trump,
#DonaldTrump,
#FacebookPost,
#FacebookPosting,
#FederalReserve,
#GeorgeFridericHandel,
#GuestArtist,
#HamelMusicCenter,
#HandelAriaCompetition,
#HappyTalk,
#HighTechnology,
#HomeWebsite,
#JacobStockinger,
#JeromePowell,
#LaborCosts,
#LastNight,
#LiveMusic,
#LiveStreaming,
#LudwigVanBeethoven,
#MadisonSymphonyChorus,
#MadisonSymphonyOrchestra,
#MassGathering,
#MeadWitterSchoolofMusic,
#MusicReview,
#NewYorkTimes,
#PerformingArts,
#PresidentDonaldTrump,
#PresidentTrump,
#ProArteQuartet,
#PublicHealth,
#RaviniaFestival,
#SecondWave,
#shelter-at-home,
#SixtyMinutes,
#SocialDistance,
#SocialDistancing,
#SpringGreen,
#Stayathome,
#StringQuartet,
#SymphonyOrchestra,
#TanglewoodFestival,
#TheEar,
#TokenCreekChamberMusicFestival,
#TokenCreekFestival,
#UniversityofWisconsin-Madison,
#WisconsinChamberOrchestra,
#YouTubevideo,
60 Minutes,
air travel,
American Players Theatre,
answer,
aria,
artists,
Arts,
at home,
at-risk,
attend,
audience,
August,
Autumn,
Beethoven,
Berlin Philharmonic,
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra,
blame,
blog,
Book,
Boston Symphony,
Boston Symphony Orchestra,
budget,
budget cuts,
cancel,
cancellation,
CBS,
CBS-TV,
chairman,
Chamber music,
Chicago,
Chicago Symphony Orchestra,
choral music,
Classical music,
Collins Recital Hall,
comment,
Competition,
complicated,
composer,
Concert,
concert hall,
concert season,
Concerts on the Square,
coronavirus,
cost,
costs,
do,
Donald J. Trump,
downsize,
empty,
ensemble,
event,
expense,
expensive,
Facebook,
fall,
fallout,
familiar,
Federal Reserve,
flight,
fly,
forward,
free,
George Frideric Handel,
guest artist,
Hamel Music Center,
Handel,
Handel Aria Competition,
happy talk,
happy',
Health,
Home,
illness,
imported,
intend,
intuition,
Jacob Stockinger,
jeopardy,
Jerome Powell,
July,
labor,
labor costs,
large,
last night,
like,
link,
listener,
live music,
lockdown,
Ludwig van Beethoven,
lure,
Madison,
Madison Symphony Chorus,
Madison Symphony Orchestra,
mass,
mass gathering,
Mead Witter School of Music,
MSO,
Music,
music review,
new,
New York Times,
news,
older,
online,
opera,
Orchestra,
pandemic,
PAQ,
part,
past,
payment,
performer,
Performing arts,
pertinent,
photo,
Piano,
players,
popular,
population,
post,
posting,
postpone,
postponement,
preference,
President Trump,
price,
pro arte hamel,
Pro Arte Quartet,
Public health,
question,
Ravinia Festival,
read,
reassuring,
relevant,
repertoire,
repertory,
require,
restrictions,
safe,
safely,
Season,
second wave,
section,
share,
shift,
site,
Sixty Minutes,
social distance,
social distancing,
solo,
Sports,
Spring Green,
Spring Green Wisconsin,
stage,
sting quartet,
stream,
streaming,
subscriber,
subscription,
summer,
suspend,
symphony,
tag,
talk,
Tanglewood Festival,
team,
technology,
Television,
The Ear,
think,
threat,
ticket,
Token Creek Chamber Music Festival,
Trump,
TV,
United States,
University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music,
University of Wisconsin–Madison,
UW,
UW-Madison,
Violin,
vocal music,
Website,
week,
winter,
Wisconsin,
Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra,
wonder,
world,
YouTube
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: What will the fall concert season will look like? And what will the post-pandemic concert world be like?
3 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
This past week, The Ear listened to and read a lot of news about COVID-19 and the arts.
And it got him thinking: What will happen this fall with the new concert season? And even later, what will a post-pandemic concert world look like? (Below is the Madison Symphony Orchestra in a photo by Peter Rodgers.)
As you may have heard, the Tanglewood Festival, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has been canceled this year. So too has the Ravinia Festival, the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Locally, American Players Theatre in Spring Green also just canceled its summer season.
So far, the summer season seems to be one big cancellation for the performing arts.
True, there are some exceptions.
The Token Creek Chamber Music Festival has yet to announce its plans for August.
One also has to wonder if crowds of up to 20,000 will feel safe enough to attend the Concerts on the Square (below), now postponed until late July and August, by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra?
Will people still want to attend the postponed Handel Aria Competition on Aug. 21 in Collins Recital Hall at the UW-Madison’s new Hamel Music Center, assuming the hall is open?
Fall events seem increasingly in question.
Last night on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, said that sports events and concerts will be among the last mass gatherings to take place safely, probably not until next spring or summer or even later, depending on when a vaccine becomes available.
Some public health experts also offer dire predictions about how easing up lockdown restrictions too soon might lead to an even worse second wave of the coronavirus virus pandemic this autumn and winter, despite all the happy talk and blame-shifting by Team Trump.
So, what do you think will happen beyond summer?
The Ear wonders what the fallout will be from so many music groups and opera companies turning to free online performances by solo artists, symphony orchestras and chamber music ensembles.
Will season-opening concerts be canceled or postponed? What should they be? Will you go if they are held?
Will at-home listening and viewing become more popular than before?
Will the advances that were made in using streaming and online technology (below) during the lockdown be incorporated by local groups — the UW-Madison especially comes to mind — or expected by audiences?
In short, what will concert life be like post-pandemic and especially until a vaccine is widely available and a large part of the population feels safe, especially the older at-risk audiences that attend classical music events?
Will larger groups such as symphony orchestras follow the example of the downsized Berlin Philharmonic (below, in a photo from a review by The New York Times) and play to an empty hall with a much smaller group of players, and then stream it?
Will some free streaming sites move to requiring payment as they become more popular?
Live concerts will always remain special. But will subscriptions sales decline because audiences have become more used to free online performances at home?
Will most fall concerts be canceled? Both on stage and in the audience, it seems pretty hard to maintain social distancing (below is a full concert by the Madison Symphony Orchestra). Does that mean the health of both performers – especially orchestras and choral groups – and audiences will be put in jeopardy? Will the threat of illness keep audiences away?
Even when it becomes safe to attend mass gatherings, will ticket prices fall to lure back listeners?
Will programs feature more familiar and reassuring repertoire to potential audiences who have gone for months without attending live concerts?
Will expenses be kept down and budgets cut so that less money is lost in case of cancellation? Will chamber music be more popular? (Below is the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet during its suspended Beethoven cycle.)
Will fewer players be used to hold down labor costs?
Will imported and expensive guest artists be booked less frequently so that cancellations are less complicated to do?
Will many guest artists, like much of the public, refrain from flying until it is safer and more flights are available? Will they back out of concerts?
Will all these changes leave more concert programs to be canceled or at least changed?
There are so many possibilities.
Maybe you can think of more.
And maybe you have answers, preferences or at least intuitions about some the questions asked above?
What do you think will happen during the fall and after the pandemic?
What do you intend to do?
Please leave word, with any pertinent music or news link, in the comment section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Share this:
Tags: #60Minutes, #AirTravel, #AmericanPlayersTheatre, #BeethovenStringQuartets, #BerlinPhilharmonic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BostonSymphony, #BudgetCuts, #ChamberMusic, #ChicagoSymphonyOrchestra, #ChoralMusic, #CollinsRecitalHall, #ConcertHall, #ConcertSeason, #ConcertsontheSquare, #COVID-19, #DonaldJ.Trump, #DonaldTrump, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FederalReserve, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GuestArtist, #HamelMusicCenter, #HandelAriaCompetition, #HappyTalk, #HighTechnology, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #JeromePowell, #LaborCosts, #LastNight, #LiveMusic, #LiveStreaming, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyChorus, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MassGathering, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicReview, #NewYorkTimes, #PerformingArts, #PresidentDonaldTrump, #PresidentTrump, #ProArteQuartet, #PublicHealth, #RaviniaFestival, #SecondWave, #shelter-at-home, #SixtyMinutes, #SocialDistance, #SocialDistancing, #SpringGreen, #Stayathome, #StringQuartet, #SymphonyOrchestra, #TanglewoodFestival, #TheEar, #TokenCreekChamberMusicFestival, #TokenCreekFestival, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #YouTubevideo, 60 Minutes, air travel, American Players Theatre, answer, aria, artists, Arts, at home, at-risk, attend, audience, August, Autumn, Beethoven, Berlin Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, blame, blog, Book, Boston Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, budget, budget cuts, cancel, cancellation, CBS, CBS-TV, chairman, Chamber music, Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, choral music, Classical music, Collins Recital Hall, comment, Competition, complicated, composer, Concert, concert hall, concert season, Concerts on the Square, coronavirus, cost, costs, do, Donald J. Trump, downsize, empty, ensemble, event, expense, expensive, Facebook, fall, fallout, familiar, Federal Reserve, flight, fly, forward, free, George Frideric Handel, guest artist, Hamel Music Center, Handel, Handel Aria Competition, happy talk, happy', Health, Home, illness, imported, intend, intuition, Jacob Stockinger, jeopardy, Jerome Powell, July, labor, labor costs, large, last night, like, link, listener, live music, lockdown, Ludwig van Beethoven, lure, Madison, Madison Symphony Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mass, mass gathering, Mead Witter School of Music, MSO, Music, music review, new, New York Times, news, older, online, opera, Orchestra, pandemic, PAQ, part, past, payment, performer, Performing arts, pertinent, photo, Piano, players, popular, population, post, posting, postpone, postponement, preference, President Trump, price, pro arte hamel, Pro Arte Quartet, Public health, question, Ravinia Festival, read, reassuring, relevant, repertoire, repertory, require, restrictions, safe, safely, Season, second wave, section, share, shift, site, Sixty Minutes, social distance, social distancing, solo, Sports, Spring Green, Spring Green Wisconsin, stage, sting quartet, stream, streaming, subscriber, subscription, summer, suspend, symphony, tag, talk, Tanglewood Festival, team, technology, Television, The Ear, think, threat, ticket, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, Trump, TV, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, Violin, vocal music, Website, week, winter, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wonder, world, YouTube