The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: The critically acclaimed and popular Willy Street Chamber Players start their fifth summer series with a FREE community concert this Friday
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement for a remarkable and must-hear summer series of chamber music concerts that from its very beginning seems to have found a successful formula that resonated with the public It relies on informality, affordable tickets, first-rate musicianship, short concerts, eclectic programs that mix classics with sure-fire new music, support for their local community.
Now in their fifth year, the Willy Street Chamber Players (WSCP, below) have become an established part of the Williamson Street neighborhood.
Recently awarded the silver medal in Madison Magazine’s prestigious “Best of Madison” reader poll in the category of “Best Classical Music Group,” WSCP has received numerous accolades for its accessible and exciting performances, intelligent and fun programming, and dedication to community partnerships.
The group has also been named “Musician of the Year”for 2016 by this blog.
The Summer Series concerts are on Friday evenings at 6 p.m. in the sanctuary of the beautiful Immanuel Lutheran Church (below) at 1021 Spaight St. The church is right on Lake Monona in the Williamson Street neighborhood. Enjoy 60-90 minutes of inspiring and unforgettable live music, then go explore the neighborhood with the remaining daylight hours.
Following the performance, enjoy a reception provided by one of our Willy Street restaurant partners. (Past contributors have been the Underground Butcher, Let It Ride Cold Brew Coffee, Madison Sourdough, the Willy Street Co-Op, Festival Foods, Roman Candle Pizza and more.)
While you enjoy your snacks, chat with the friendly musicians and ask them about the performance, the pieces and the group. We love interacting with our awesome audience.
A season pass is $40. Admission to individual concerts is $15. For tickets and more infomation, got to: http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org/2019-summer-series.html
COMMUNITY CONNECT – This is a FREE and family-friendly concert with all ages welcome for music, interactive learning, conversation and connections.
It takes place this Friday, July 5, at 6 p.m. at the Goodman Community Center (149 Waubesa Street on the east side), as is posted on the home website — NOT at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center, which is listed in the printed brochure but is undergoing construction.
The program – “Growing Sound: A Sonic Exploration” – features music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, John Corigliano, Antonin Dvorak, Friedrich August Kummer and Alberto Ginastera.
SUMMER SERIES 1
Friday, July 12, at 6 p.m. – Mozart and Mendelssohn
Prize-winning UW-Madison graduate Danny Kim, viola (below)
PROGRAM:
Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 1 in A major, Op. 18 (1826)
Simon Steen-Andersen: Study for String Instrument No. 1 (2007)
Mozart: String Quintet No. 2 in C minor, K. 406/516b (1787)
SUMMER SERIES 2
Friday, July 19, at 6 p.m. – Bassoon and Strings
UW-Madison Professor Marc Vallon, bassoon (below)
PROGRAM:
Beethoven: Allegretto for Piano Trio in B-flat major, WoO. 39 (1812)
Jennifer Higdon: “Dark Wood” (2001)
Franz Danzi: Bassoon Quartet in D minor, Op. 40, No. 2 (ca. 1820)
Alberto Ginastera: String Quartet No.1, Op. 20 (1948)
SUMMER SERIES 3
Friday, July 26, at 6 p.m. – Christopher Taylor, piano (below)
PROGRAM:
Ernest Bloch: Three Nocturnes (1924)
Jessie Montgomery: “Voodoo Dolls” (2008)
Dvorak: Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81 (1887) with UW-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor. (You can hear the first movement of Dvorak’s beautiful and melodic Piano Quintet in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For more information, including background, biographies of the musicians, critics’ reviews, photos and how to support the Willy Street Chamber Players, go to:
http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org
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Classical music: Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra arrives in Budapest and dines on the Danube.
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By Jacob Stockinger
As you may already know, the Youth Orchestra (below), the premiere performing group of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, is on a concert tour of Prague, Vienna and Budapest from July 7 through July 17.
Here is a link to an earlier entry with details about the tour including venues and repertoire:
Last month, Mikko Utevsky agreed to blog for The Well-Tempered Ear from the WYSO tour, which is also his fist trip abroad.
Utevsky, as you may know from reading this blog, just graduated from East High School in Madison and will attend the University of Wisconsin and the UW School of Music this fall. He has been featured in this blog and also writes comments about its postings. (You can check him out using the blog’s search engine. He is a discerning listener and critic, and a fine writer.)
Utevsky (below), who plays viola in the WYSO group, is also the founder and director-conductor of the Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra (MAYCO), which has already performed its first summer concert this year and will perform another concert, featuring Ravel‘s “Mother Goose” Suite and Schubert‘s Symphony No. 5, on Saturday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m. in Music Hall.
For more information about WYSO plus a link to this blog and Utevsky’s entries, visit:
Here is Utevsky’s first entry, with photos by WYSO’s executive director Bridget Fraser, covering the flight and arrival. More will follow:
By Mikko Utevsky
SATURDAY/SUNDAY
The Lufthansa flight out of Chicago was very, very long. A lucky handful caught some sleep over the Atlantic, but for myself, I arrived in Frankfurt totally exhausted and entirely convinced it was midnight.
Following Customs (astonishingly friendly compared to the American TSA, I must say — one agent joked I’d concealed a weapon in my viola case, picking it up and pretending to shoot at me, grinning the whole while), we boarded a shorter flight to Budapest.
Our tour guides, Daniel and Nick, greeted us there, taking us downtown for lunch on our own before returning to the Hotel Budapest where we are staying.
I’m afraid I didn’t have long to wander in Budapest yesterday. Having had nothing but a bit of airplane food for more than a day, most of us elected to grab a bite first.
We didn’t need to order in Hungarian, thankfully; most people we’ve encountered speak a fair amount of English. I learned a few words from a friend’s guidebook on the plane, though correct pronunciation eludes me. “Thank you” and “I’m vegetarian” are about all I can manage. The food is pretty good, though, if a bit unfamiliar.
Yesterday evening was our (very posh) dinner cruise on the Beautiful Blue Danube.
In the photo below, taken before boarding the Danube cruise, are WYSO conductor Jim Smith (center) and orchestras members, from the left, Kestrel Schmidt, Jinri Lee and Christie Cheng with, in back, Ansa Seppalainen.
Admittedly, the river has more the color (and smell) of Lake Monona than anything implied by Strauss’ famous waltz, but that didn’t stop the cruise company from playing that waltz plus half a dozen others through dinner.
The food was plentiful and tasty, and the sights were fantastic – Budapest is beautiful at night, especially from the river, with many of the most famous old buildings illuminated (check out the photos!).
We were all a bit silly, running on little or no sleep for about 34 hours, but we thoroughly enjoyed it.
The kicker: Budapest is HOT. Shorts, contrary to the rumor, seem to be just fine, as it’s in the 90s here too. We’re looking forward to a day of sightseeing in Budapest today, as well as our first concert this evening.
Cheers!
Mikko
Tags: Budapest, Danube, Lake Monona, Madison, Maurice Ravel, Orchestra, Prague, United States, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vienna, Wisconsin
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