The Well-Tempered Ear
From beginner to maestro — for the Final Forte, John DeMain reflects on a life in music
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By Jacob Stockinger
This Wednesday night, March 6 at 7 p.m. in Overture Hall, is the “Final Forte” — the annual high school concerto competition with the Madison Symphony Orchestra under its longtime music director and conductor John DeMain (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers).
You can attend the concert in person for FREE or watch it live on PBS Wisconsin or listen to it live on Wisconsin Public Radio.
For more details, go online to: https://madisonsymphony.org/education-community/education-programs/young-artist-competitions/the-final-forte/
As usual you can see and hear summary biographies of and impressive interviews with this year’s four teenage participants (below, in a photo by James Gill) and what they think of the competition. You can also read about the three judges and about past compeiutitons and the winners.
But this year, DeMain opened up about himself to PBS Wisconsin. He talks about why he likes and looks forward to directing the performances by young artists and what he thinks about starting a career in music.
DeMain — who will retire at the end of next season — also draws on his own award-winning career from his first piano lessons though his education at the Juilliard School, his lessons with Leonard Bernstein and his 30-year tenure at the MSO.
Trust The Ear — it is an engaging interview well worth reading for many reasons.
Here is a link to that interview:
Do you anything to say about how DeMain sees working with and encouraging young artists?
About his own career?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra uses a new website and a new brochure to announce its new Masterworks season plus other innovations
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By Jacob Stockinger
In many ways, there is much that is familiar or tried-and-true about the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below, in a photo by Mike Gorski) and its new Masterworks season for 2020-21.
But in other ways it seems as if the WCO is reinventing and rebranding itself – perhaps under the direction of its new CEO Joe Loehnis – as the ensemble starts a double anniversary: its 60th season of existence and its 20th year under the baton of music director Andrew Sewell (below in a photo by Alex Cruz).
As in past years, the WCO programs feature a mix of familiar composers and works with new and neglected ones. It also features both new and returning guest soloists.
Start with what’s new.
The new WCO home website – like the new brochure that has been mailed out — has been redesigned, with more visuals and more information about the 34-member orchestra. The Ear finds both the new brochure and the new home page to be more attractive, better organized and easier to use. Take a look for yourself: https://wcoconcerts.org
There also seems to be a heightened emphasis on donations and raising money, including a new organization called “Friends” that brings special benefits for $30 or even more perks at $8 a month.
And the website seems more customer-friendly. There is a section on the website about “What to Expect,” which includes how to choose seats, how to dress, when to applaud and so forth. There is also a portal for streaming events and concerts.
There is more, much more, including the pre-concert dinners for the Masterworks concerts and the culturally diverse programs for the postponed Concerts on the Square (below), to run this summer on Tuesday nights at 6 p.m. (NOT the usual Wednesdays at 7 p.m.) from July 28 to Sept. 1.
There seems to be more emphasis on Sewell, who this year provides extensive first-person notes about each program and the guest artists. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Sewell discuss the new Masterworks season with Wisconsin Public Radio host and WCO announcer Norman Gilliland.)
This season will see two performances of Handel’s “Messiah”: one on Saturday, Dec. 19, at the Blackhawk Church in Middleton; and another downtown on Sunday, Dec. 20, at the UW-Madison’s Hamel Music Center.
The Masterworks series of concerts – held on Friday nights at 7:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center – will begin in late November rather than in late January. The six concerts include five new ones and the postponed appearance of harpist Yolanda Kondonassis, whose appearance this season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, on May 14.
Two of the concerts – on two Saturdays, Feb. 20 and April 10 – will also be performed in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield at the Sharon Lynn Wilson Center for the Arts (below).
You can read more about the community outreach and music education programs, especially the Youth and Education programs. They include the free Family Series and “Side by Side” concerts (below, in a photo by Mike DeVries for The Capital Times, WCO concertmaster Suzanne Beia, right, tutors a WYSO student); the Super Strings educational program; and the Young Artists Concerto Competition for grades 9-12.
Here are the Masterworks series:
NOV. 20 – Pianist John O’Conor (below) returns in a program of the Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor” by Beethoven; the Septet by Igor Stravinsky; and the Symphony No. 1 in D Major by Luigi Cherubini.
JAN. 15 – Cellist Amid Peled (below, in a photo by Lisa Mazzucco) returns in a program of Cello Concerto No. 1 by Dmitry Kabalevsky and the Andante by Jacques Offenbach; plus the Wind Serenade in D minor by Antonin Dvorak; and the Symphony No. 34 by Mozart.
FEB. 19 – Violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky (below) in returns in Antonio Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and Astor Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons in Buenos Aires”; plus the Suite for Strings by Leos Janacek.
MARCH 19 – Grammy-winning Spanish guitarist Mabel Millán (below) making her U.S, debut in an all-Spanish program that features the Concierto del Sur (Concerto of the South) by Manuel Ponce; the Sinfonietta in D major by Ernesto Halffter; and the overture “Los Esclavos Felices” (The Happy Slaves) by Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga.
APRIL 9 – Pianist Michael Mizrahi (below), who teaches at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wis., on the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Beethoven plus the Serenade No. 1 by Johannes Brahms.
MAY 14 — Harpist Yolanda Kondonassis (below) in the Harp Concerto by Alberto Ginastera; plus the Sinfonietta by Sergei Prokofiev and the Symphony no. 88 by Franz Joseph Haydn.
Single tickets, which go on sale in July, are $15 to $80. Season subscriptions are available now with seat preference through July 1, bring a discounted price with an extra 10 percent off for first-time subscribers.
For more information, go to the website at https://wcoconcerts.org; call 608 257-0638; or mail a subscription form to the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Attn: Subscriptions; PO Box171, Madison, WI 53701-0171.
Tags: #AlexanderSitkovetsky, #AmitPeled, #AndrewSewell, #AntoninDvorak, #AntonioVivaldi, #AppletonWisconsin, #AstorPiazzolla, #BaroqueMusic, #BBCYoungMusicianoftheYear, #BlackhawkChurch, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CapitolTheater, #CelloConcerto, #ChamberMusic, #ChiefExecutiveOfficer, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ClassicalGuitar, #ClassicalGuitarist, #CommunityOutreach, #ConcertsontheSquare, #COVID-19, #customer-friendly, #DmitriKabalevsky, #DmitryKabalevsky, #EmperorConcerto, #ErnestoHalffter, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FamilyEvent, #FourSeasons, #FourSeasonsofBuenosAires, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GrammyAward, #GuestArtist, #GuestSoloist, #GuitarConcerto, #HamelMusicCenter, #Handel'sMessiah, #HarpConcerto, #HarpMusic, #HighSchool, #HighTechnology, #HomeWebsite, #IgorStravinsky, #JacobStockinger, #JacquesOffenbach, #JoeLoehnis, #JohannesBrahms, #JohnO'Conor, #JuanCrisóstomoArriaga, #LawrenceUniversity, #LawrenceUniversityConservatoryofMusic, #LeosJanacek, #LiveStreaming, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #LuigiCherubini, #MabelMillán, #MasterworksSeason, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MexicanComposer, #MichaelMizrahi, #MilwaukeeWisconsin, #ModernMusic, #MusicDirector, #MusicEducation, #NewMusic, #NormanGilliland, #OvertureCenter, #PianoConcerto, #RadioHost, #Russianviolinist, #SharonLynneWilsonCenterfortheArts, #SidebySide, #SpanishComposer, #SpecialGuest, #StringMusic, #SuperStrings, #SuzanneBeia, #TheCapitalTimes, #TheEar, #TheHappySlaves, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VisualArt, #WindSerenade, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WYSOconcerts, #YolandaKondonassis, #YoungArtistConcertoCompetition, #YouTubevideo, 2020, 2021, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Amit Peled, Andante, Andrew Sewell, anniversary, announcer, Antonín Dvořák, Antonio Vivaldi, appearance, applaud, Appleton, April, Arriaga, Art, artist, Arts, attractive, audience, Ástor Piazzolla, Baroque, baton, Beethoven, benefits, better, Blackhawk Church, blog, Brahms, brand, brochure, Brookfield, Capitol Theater, cellist, Cello, CEO, Chamber music, Cherubini, choral music, Christian, church, Classical music, community outreach, Compact Disc, Competition, composer, Concert, concertmaster, concerto, concerts, Concerts on the Square, conductor, conservatory, coronavirus, covid, donate, donation, double, dress, Dvorak, Early music, easier, Education, Emperor Concerto, emphasis, ensemble, Ernesto Halffter, event, existence, expect, expectations, extensive, Facebook, familiar, Family, February, first-person, forgiveness, forward, Four Seasons, Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, free, friend, friends, George Frideric Handel, gift, give, grade, Grammy, Grammy Award, Graphics, guest artist, guest soloist, guitar, guitar concerto, Halffter, Hamel Music Center, Handel, happy', harp, harpist, heightened, hi tech, high school, home website, host, Igor Stravinsky, information, Jacob Stockinger, Jacques Offenbach, Janacek, January, Joe Loehnis, Johannes Brahms, John O'Conor, Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, July, Kabalevsky, Lawrence University, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Leos Janacek, like, link, live streaming, look, Ludwig van Beethoven, Luigi Cherubini, Mabel Millán, Madison, march, masterwork, May, Mead Witter School of Music, member, Messiah, Mexican composer, Michael Mizrahi, Millán, Milwaukee, Mizrahi, modern, money, more, Mozart, Music, Music director, Music education, neglected, new, New Music, Norman Gilliland, notes, November, O'Conor, Offenbach, Orchestra, organization, organized, outreach, Overture, Overture Center, Overture Center for the Arts, pandemic, past, Peled, performance, performer, perk, photo, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, Piazzolla, portal, post, posting, postpone, program, Radio, raise, rebrand, redesign, reinvent, return, Season, section, September, septet, Serenade, series, share, Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, Side by Side, Sinfonietta, single, Sitkovetsky, slave, south, Spain, Spanish, special, Stravinsky, stream, streaming, strings, subscription, suburb, Suite, summer, Super Strings, Suzanne Beia, symphony, tag, technology, The Capital Times, The Ear, The Happy Slaves, ticket, tutor, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, use, UW, UW-Madison, Violin, violinist, visual, Vivaldi, WCO, Website, Wind Serenade, winds, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, woodwinds, works, WPR, WYSO, year, Yolanda Kondonassis, young, Young Artist Concerto Competition, yourself, YouTube
Classical music: This afternoon is your last chance to hear native son Kenneth Woods conduct the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Canadian violinist Blake Pouliot. Here are two reviews, one a rave and the other very positive
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By Jacob Stockinger
This afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in Overture Hall is your last chance to hear native son and guest conductor Kenneth Woods and guest Canadian violinist Blake Pouliot with the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers).
Woods (below), once a student in Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) and a student at Memorial High School, has established an international reputation by leading the English Symphony Orchestra, the Colorado MahlerFest and the British Elgar Festival, and by making many highly praised recordings.
At 26, Pouliot (below in a photo by Jeff Fasano) is a rising star, thanks to winning a major competition in Montreal and other prizes. (You can hear him play “Lotus Land,” composed by Cyril Scott and arranged by Fritz Kreisler, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The program is: Symphony No. 96 “Miracle” by Franz Joseph Haydn; the Violin Concerto in E Minor by Felix Mendelssohn; and “Ein Heldenleben” (A Hero’s Life) by Richard Strauss.
For more background and program notes, information about purchasing tickets ($19-$95) and The Ear’s detailed interview with Woods about growing up in Madison, go to: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/03/02/classical-music-accomplished-native-son-kenneth-woods-returns-this-weekend-to-conduct-the-madison-symphony-orchestra-in-music-by-haydn-mendelssohn-and-richard-strauss-he-talks-to-the-ear-about-what/
The opening performance on Friday night received excellent reviews. Here are two major ones:
Here is the rave review that veteran critic Greg Hettmansberger (below) wrote for his blog “What Greg Says,” which is well worth following:
https://whatgregsays.wordpress.com/2020/03/07/a-healthy-orchestra-in-strong-hands/
And here is a largely positive review for The Capital Times newspaper written by freelancer Matt Ambrosio (below), who received his doctorate in music theory from the UW-Madison and now teaches at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin:
You can be a critic too.
If you heard the concert, what did you think?
The Ear wants to hear
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Classical music: Recitals of Scandinavian art songs and of tuba music are on tap at the UW this Sunday afternoon and Monday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
In the next few days, two noteworthy and free recitals, open to the public, are on tap at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
On this Sunday afternoon Sept. 29, from 4 to 6 p.m. in Morphy Hall, mezzo-soprano Jessie Wright Martin and pianist John O’Brien (both below) – who have performed together at Carnegie Hall – will give a FREE recital of Nordic art songs. (It includes the Grieg song performed by Anne Sofie von Otter in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Wright (below) will sing in Norwegian, Danish and Swedish.
This week, the two performed the same recital at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s School of Music. Wright spoke to the student newspaper The Daily Tar Heel.
“It started because I have Norwegian heritage and was interested in Norwegian music,” said Martin, a professor of music at Wingate University. “I thought it would be interesting to expand to Swedish and Danish music.”
Composers on the program are Edvard Grieg, Peter Heisse and Gunnar de Frumeri.
For more information about the performers and the program, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/jessica-martin-john-obrien-nordic-song-recital/
On Monday night at 7:30 p.m. in Morphy Hall, guest artist Beth Weise (below) will give a FREE tuba recital.
Unfortunately, no program is listed.
For more information about the concert and about Weise, a distinguished and very accomplished musician who did her undergraduate work at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin, go to:
https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/beth-wiese-tuba-guest-artist-recital/
Tags: #AnneSofievonOtter, #AppletonWisconsin, #ArtSongs, #BethWeise, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CarnegieHall, #ChapelHill, #DailyTarHeel, #DanishLanguage, #DanishMusic, #EdvardGreig, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #GuestArtist, #GunnardeFumari, #JessieWrightMartin, #JohnO'Brien, #LawrenceUniversity, #LawrenceUniversityConservatoryofMusic, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #MorphyHall, #Musicfaculty, #NordicMusic, #NorwegianLanguage, #PeterHeisse, #PianoAccompanist, #ScandinavianMusic, #SwedishLanguage, #SwedishMusic, #TarHeel, #TubaMusic, #UndergraduateDegree, #UndergraduateStudent, #Undergraduatework, #UniversityofNorthCarolina, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #WingateUniversity, #YaleSchoolofMusic, #YaleUniversity, #YouTubevideo, Anne-Sofie von Otter, Appleton, art songs, Beth Weise, Carnegie Hall, Chapel HIll, composer, Concert, Daily Tar Heel, Danish, Danish music, distinguished, Edvard Grieg, Facebook, faculty, forward, guest artist, Gunnar de Fumari, heritage, information, interesting, Jessie Wright Martin, John O'Brien, language, Lawrence University, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, lieder, like, link, Mead Witter School of Music, Mezzo-soprano, Murphy Hall, Music, Musician, Newspaper, Nordic, Nordic music, Norwegian, perform, Peter Heisse, Pianist, Piano, post, posting, professor, program, recital, Scandinavian, Scandinavian music, share, song, Student, Swedish, Swedish music, tag, Tar Heel, together, Tuba, undergraduate, Undergraduate degree, Undergraduate education, undergraduate student, University of North Carolina, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music, Wingate University, Wisconsin, Yale, Yale School of Music, Yale University, YouTube, YouTube video
Classical music: Piano and viola duo Vis-à-Vis gives a FREE concert this Saturday at noon as part of Grace Presents
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By Jacob Stockinger
For a while, the acclaimed FREE community outreach concert series Grace Presents had folded.
But now it is back.
Grace Presents’ new coordinator Yanzel Rivera, who is a graduate student at the UW-Madison Mead-Witter School of Music, has sent the following information to post:
“Grace Presents, which offers free monthly concerts on the Capitol Square, will feature the Vis-À-Vis duo (below) of violist Brandin Kreuder and pianist Craig Jordan.
“The one-hour concert, called “Clarke and Brahms” will take place this Saturday, Jan. 13, at noon at the Grace Episcopal Church, 116 West Washington Avenue, across from the Capitol Square.
The program features: Four Pieces by British composer Frank Bridge, (1879-1941); a Sonata by British composer Rebecca Clarke, (1886-1979, below top); “Un regard dans le vide” or ‘A Look Into the Void” (2017) by American composer Christian Messier (b. 1995, below bottom), who studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin; and the Sonata in F Minor by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
“Duo Vis-À-Vis aims to bring engaging and explorative chamber music performances to communities across the country and share their love for musical collaboration and expression.
“The duo is comprised of violinist/violist Brandin Kreuder, and pianist, Craig Jordan. Brandin is a native of Burlington, Wisconsin, and a 2016 graduate of Lawrence University and Conservatory (below) who holds a B.A. in Studio Art and a B.M. in Violin Performance.
“Brandin is currently in his second year of his Master of Music degree studying viola with virtuoso violist Jodi Levitz at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami.
“Jordan, from Ames, Iowa, is a junior at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music pursuing his Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance under the teaching of Catherine Kautsky, with an emphasis on Collaborative Piano. He is currently studying this fall semester at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the Netherlands with Marta Liébana Martínez.
“Since its debut in spring 2016, duo Vis-A-Vis has performed three recital tours in Wisconsin, Iowa, Florida, Missouri, Colorado and Massachusetts. Their recent tour “Reminiscence” brought the duo to their widest variety of performance locations yet. One of these performances also served as the beginning of a new chamber music series hosted by the College Light Opera Company in Falmouth, Mass.
(You can hear Duo Vis-à-Vis (below) perform the Violin Sonata by Cesar Franck in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
ABOUT GRACE PRESENTS
Grace Presents features a diverse range of music, including everything from classical and folk to jazz and bluegrass. The performers include nationally recognized musicians and exceptional young talent from Madison and beyond.
The mission is to create a premier concert series that everyone in the Madison community can enjoy. Each month it welcomes a diverse audience to its concerts, including Madison residents, students, farmers’ market shoppers, tourists, and people who are homeless.
The organizers invite audiences to bring a lunch to enjoy inside the church during our concerts.
A celebrated historic landmark established in 1839, Grace Episcopal Church (below top and bottom) is the oldest church in Madison. Known for its grand Gothic architecture and distinctive red doors, the church features hand-carved woodwork, brilliant stained glass windows–including a Tiffany window–and a cathedral organ.
Grace Presents is supported in part by a grant from Dane Arts, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, the Madison Arts Commission, with additional funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board.
The series also relies on donations from sponsors and free-will offerings at each concert.
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Classical music: UW oboist Aaron Hill performs world premieres and little known composers in a FREE recital Sunday afternoon
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By Jacob Stockinger
This is Homecoming weekend at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and it is busy on many counts, including several classical music concerts in the city on Sunday afternoon.
But one of the more intriguing is a FREE recital at 3 p.m. in Mills Hall by UW-Madison Professor Aaron Hill (below), who teaches oboe and also performs in the Wingra Woodwind Quintet.
Hill will be joined by collaborative pianist Daniel Fung (below), who is also a vocal coach at the Mead Witter School of Music at the UW-Madison.
Particularly noteworthy is the number of world premieres and relatively unknown contemporary composers on the program.
Here is the program:
“Poem,” for oboe and piano (1953) by Marina Dranishnikova (1929-1994, below). (You can hear it in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Oboe Sonata (1947) by Jean Coulthard (1908-2000)
- Gently Flowing
- Sicilienne
- Allegro
Intermission
* Soliloquies (2013) by Andre Myers (b. 1973)
- To be or not to be
- There’s Rosemary, that’s for remembrance
- In the Month of May
- Spring Discourse
* world premiere performance
* After Manchester (2017) Aaron Hill and Michael Slon (b. 1982 and 1970, respectively) * world premiere performance
Four Personalities (2007) Alyssa Morris (b. 1984)
- Yellow
- White
- Blue
- Red
Here are some program notes by Aaron Hill:
“This program highlights five different ways to program previously unfamiliar music, as explained below.
“Poem” by Marina Dranishnikova came to me through our local community. Oliver Cardona, currently a junior music major at UW-Madison, initially brought it to my attention. The work was discovered and edited by my predecessor, Professor Marc Fink (below), during his travels in Russia.
I first heard the Oboe Sonata by Jean Coulthard (below) at the 2017 International Double Reed Society conference at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis.
Charles Hamann, the principal oboist of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, edited and recorded it as part of a large project to bring international attention to masterpieces by Canadian composers.
Andre Myers (below) attended the University of Michigan with me and we first became acquainted when I performed one of his orchestral works. His beautiful writing for English horn started our friendship and 15 years later, he wrote his Soliloquies for me.
The first two are based on famous scenes from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” The third is based on a poem by Minnesota’s first poet laureate, Robert Bly, which will be read aloud from the stage. The final movement is inspired by a dream vision he had of centaurs playing in a meadow.
“After Manchester” was originally a free improvisation I recorded and posted to social media in the wake of the terror attack at Ariana Grande’s concert on June 4, 2017.
Later in the summer, Professor Michael Slon (below), the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Virginia, transcribed my improvisation and wrote a piano part to transform it into a piece of chamber music. The work was completed just days before the violent events in Charlottesville.
Professor Alyssa Morris (below) currently teaches oboe at Kansas State University and her compositions have become widely performed as standard literature for oboists in recent years.
She wrote “Four Personalities” to perform in her own undergraduate recital at Brigham Young University and I first heard it while searching for oboe music on YouTube. The piece is based on the Hartmann Personality Test.
In her words, the colors correspond to the following types:
Yellow: Yellow is fun-loving. The joy that comes from doing something just for the sake of doing it is what motivates and drives yellow.
White: White is a peacekeeper. White is kind, adaptable, and a good listener. Though motivated by peace, white struggles with indecisiveness.
Blue: Blue brings great gifts of service, loyalty, sincerity, and thoughtfulness. Intimacy, creating relationships, and having purpose is what motivates and drives blue.
Red: Motivated by power. Red is aggressive and assertive. Red is visionary, confident, and proactive.
Tags: Aaron Hill, adapt, afternoon, aggressive, allegro, aloud, Andre Myers, Appleton, Ariana Grande, Arts, assertive, beautiful, beauty, blue, Brigham Young University, busy, Canada, Canadian, centaur], Chamber music, Charlottesville, city, Classical music, colors, community, composer, Composition, Concert, confident, Creation, Daniel Fung, discourse, dream, England, English horn, famous, flowing, Folger Shakespeare Library, friend, friendship, fun, fun-loving, gentle, Hamlet, Hartmann Personality Test, Homecoming, improvisation, improvise, internaitonal, International Double Reed Society, intimacy, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Coulthard, Joy, Kansas, Kansas State University, laureate, Lawrence University, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, listener, Love, loving, loyalty, Madison, Manchester, Marc Fink, Marina Dranishnikova, masterpiece, May, Mead Witter School of Music, meadow, media, Michael Slon, Michigan, Minnesota, motivation, Music, National Arts Centre Orchestra, New Music, notes, Oboe, Orchestra, orchestral, Ottawa, peace, personality, personality type, Piano, poem, poet, Poet laureate, Poetry, power, premiere, proactive, professor, program notes, purpose, read, recent, recital, red, relationship, Robert Bly, Russia, scene, service, Shakespeare, Sicilienne, sincerity, social media, soliloquy, Sonata, Spring, stage, summer, Sunday, teach, terror, terrorist, terrorist attack, thought, thoughtfulness, transcribe, transcription, travel, type, UK, undergraduate, United Kingdom, United States, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, video, violence, Virginia, vision, visionary, white, Wingra Woodwind Quintet, Wisconsin, world, world premiere, years, yellow, YouTube
Classical music: Former UW pianist Catherine Kautsky will talk, play music and sign copies of her book “Debussy’s Paris: Piano Portraits of the Belle Epoque” this Thursday night at the Mystery to Me bookstore in Madison
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By Jacob Stockinger
Some of you may recall the pianist Catherine Kautsky (below). She came from the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wis., to the UW-Madison where she performed many memorable concerts.
Then, after about five years, she returned to Lawrence as the head of the piano department.
Kautsky always showed an affinity for French music — she has recorded both books of Debussy‘s Preludes for piano — and now she has transformed her francophilia into a book: “Debussy’s Paris: Piano Portraits of the Belle Epoque” ($38, below).
Kautsky will be in Madison this Thursday night from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Mystery to Me bookstore, 1863 Monroe Street, next to Neuhauser Pharmacy and across from Trader Joe’s.
A terrific explainer, Kautsky will talk about her book and sign copies. A keyboard will also be available for Kautsky to play some of the music she talks and writes about. (You can hear Kautsky playing and discussing the great last Sonata in B-Flat Major, D. 960, by Franz Schubert in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Here is a description of the book with biographical information:
“Debussy’s Paris: Piano Portraits of the Belle Époque takes readers on a tour of Paris through detailed descriptions of the city’s diversions and the music Debussy wrote reflecting them.
“Catherine Kautsky explores how key works reveal not only the most appealing aspects of Paris, but also the more disquieting attitudes of the time. In contrast to the childlike innocence of fairy tales, minstrel shows had racist overtones, colonization entailed domination, and the brooding nationalism of the era was rife with hostility.
“Debussy (below) left no avenue unexplored, and his piano works present a sweeping overview of the passions, vices, and obsessions of the era’s Parisians.
“When played today, Debussy’s music breathes the story of one the world’s most fascinating cities. Kautsky reveals little known elements of Parisian life during the Belle Époque and weaves the music, the man, the city, and the era into an indissoluble whole.
“Her portrait will delight anyone who has ever been entranced by Debussy’s music or the city (below) that inspired it.”
Catherine Kautsky is chair of keyboard at Lawrence University and has been lauded by the New York Times as “a pianist who can play Mozart and Schubert as though their sentiments and habits of speech coincided exactly with hers…” She has concertized widely, performing in major halls in New York, Chicago, Washington, and Boston, soloing with the St. Louis Symphony and other orchestras and appearing frequently on public radio.
Here is a link with more information, including praise from pianist Richard Goode who will perform in Madison at the Wisconsin Union Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4.
Tags: Appleton, Arts, Belle Epoque, biographical, biography, Book, bookstore, Boston, Catherine Kautsky, chair, Chamber music, Chicago, Child, children, city, Classical music, colonization, composer, Debussy, department, diversion, domination, ent, fairy tale, France, francophilia, Franz Schubert, hstilityp, information, innocence, Jacob Stockinger, Keyboard, Lawrence University, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Madison, man, minstrel, minstrel shows, Mozart, Music, Mystery to Me, nationalism, New York, New York City, New York Times, obsession, Orchestra, Paris, Passion, Piano, portrait, Prelude, public radio, race, racism, Radio, reflections, Richard Goode, senti, Sonata, speech, St. Louis, St. Louis Symphony, tour, Trader Joe's, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vice, Washington, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, write, Writer, YouTube
Classical music: Tonight is that start of six weekly Concerts on the Square with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and guest artists under conductor Andrew Sewell. Here’s what you need to know
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By Jacob Stockinger
Tonight marks the first of this summer’s Concerts on the Square, performed by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below) and guest artists under the baton of music director Andrew Sewell.
The FREE community event was first proposed by famed “American Girl” dolls creator, businesswoman and philanthropist Pleasant Rowland decades ago when she worked downtown and lamented how abandoned the Capitol Square got after dark. This is the 34th season of the popular Concerts on the Square. Each concert now draws tens of thousands of listeners.
The concerts will take place on the King Street corner of the Capitol Square. They run from 7 to 9 p.m. on six consecutive Wednesdays (rain dates are Thursdays). But of course people gather hours earlier to socialize and picnic.
Although pop,rock, folk and film music is often featured, tonight’s program is mostly classical – composers are Leonard Bernstein, Louis Moreau Gottschalk and Otto Nicolai — and performing will be this year’s winner of the WCO teenage concerto competition. She is violinist Emily Hauer (below) and she hails from Appleton, Wisconsin, where she has studied at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music.
Here is a link to all you need to know about tonight, from the programs and a performer’s detailed biography to vendor menus, the way to volunteer and the ground rules for concert etiquette:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/concerts-on-the-square-1-2/
You can see and hear a sampler of Concerts on the Square in the YouTube video at the bottom.
For future planning, here is a link to all six concerts with similar information:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performance-listing/category/concerts-on-the-square
Should you want to know more about WCO maestro Andrew Sewell (below), music director since 2000 — and who has also just been named the music director of the San Luis Obispo Symphony in California — here are some profiles and interviews that make for good reading while you wait for the music to start.
Here is an excellent profile done by Sandy Tabachnik in 2014 for Isthmus:
http://isthmus.com/music/andrew-sewell-the-malleable-maestro-of-the-wisconsin-chamber-orchestra/
And here is some background about the New Zealand-born Sewell, who became an American citizen 10 years ago, along with links to other news stories about his latest appointment:
https://welltempered.wordpress.com/tag/sewell/
And from the “Only Strings” blog of Paul Baker, who hosts a show of the same name on WSUM 91.7 FM, the student-run radio station at the UW-Madison, here is an interview with ever-gracious Sewell:
https://onlystringswsum.wordpress.com/author/pbaker/page/3/
Tags: American, American Girl, American Girls, Andrew Sewell, Appleton, Arts, Baroque, Beethoven, Bernstein, biography, Business, California, Capitol Square, Cello, Chamber music, citizen, Classical music, Compact Disc, competititon, concerto, Concerts on the Square, creator, decade, dolls, etiquette, film, folk, ground rules, interview, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, Lawrence University, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Maestro, menu, Mozart, Music, Music director, New Zealand, news, Only Strings, opera, Orchestra, Otto Nicolai, Paul Baker, performer, philanthropy, philantropist, Piano, Pleasant Rowland, pop, pops, profile, program, Rock, San Luis Obispo Symphony, Student, symphony, teenage, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vendor, Viola, Violin, vocal music, volunteer, winner, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, woman, WSUM 91.7 FM, YouTube
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/
Tags: Ancora, Ancora String Quartet, Appleton, Arts, Bassoon, biography, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, concerto, dark, dramatic, Elegy, First Unitarian Society of Madison, high school, Ives, Jacob Stockinger, Jess Salek, Kyle Price, Latin America, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, lovely, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Youth Choirs, Mendelssohn, Mosaic Chamber Players, performance, Piano Trio, prize, Rachmaninov, Ravel, runner up, Saint-Saens, seniors, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sibelius, solo, students, studio, Tchaikovsky, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Uri Vardi, video, Violin, Wes Luke, winds, winner, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Public Television, WPR, WPT, YouTube
Classical music: The second half of the concert season starts with a conflicting wealth of great music and promising performances this weekend and especially on Sunday
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By Jacob Stockinger
The second half of the current concert season is getting off to a terrific, if crowded and competitive, start.
Take this weekend.
At least five individuals and groups are playing very appealing concerts. In some cases, there is time to get from one to another.
But there is also a good chance you will have to pick and choose, then be disappointed at what you miss as well as pleased with what you go to.
Here is a roundup:
SATURDAY
From 8:30 a.m. until 7 p.m., the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music will hold the 54th annual Wisconsin Day of Percussion. It features workshops, clinics, presentations and concerts for percussionists and fans of percussion at all levels.
All-day admission is $15 and is available at the door. For more information about attending and participating, go to:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/2016/11/10/wisconsin-day-of-percussion/
World Percussion Ensemble
At 1:30 p.m. in the relaxed and cozy venue of A Place to Be, 911 Williamson Street, the Willy Street Chamber Players (below) will offer a 90-minute program of string quartets by Franz Joseph Haydn (String Quartet in D Major, Op. 20, No. 4), Felix Mendelssohn Four Pieces for String Quartet), Astor Piazzolla (Four for Tango) and Daniel Bernard Roumain String Quartet No. 5 “Rosa Parks”) as a prelude to the group’s third summer season this July. Admission is $20.
You may recall that last month The Ear named the Willys as Musicians of the Year for 2016. That post had details about the program and the group’s history. Here is a link:
For more information about this quartet concert (below is a photo of last year’s concert in the same place), go to:
http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org/calendar.html
And here is a link to the group’s home website with more specifics:
http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org
Finally, one of the Willys assures The Ear that the Sunday performance will be over early enough to allow audience members to go watch the Green Bay Packers championship football game.
At 7 p.m. the Oakwood Chamber Players will give an adventurous concert of unusual works by Maurice Ravel, Arnold Schoenberg, Byron Adams, Gabriel Jackson and Francis Poulenc at the Oakwood Village West Auditorium, 6002 Mineral Point Road on Madison far west side.
Here is a link to a story with more details about the program and how it fits into the yearlong series of concerts:
SUNDAY
At 1:30 p.m., the Willy Street Chamber Players repeat their Saturday concert. See the information above for Saturday.
Also at 1:30 p.m., the Oakwood Chamber Players repeat their concert. See the information above for Saturday.
At 4 p.m. in Mills Hall, UW-Madison faculty members violinist Soh-Hyun Park Altino (below top) and pianist Christopher Taylor (below bottom) will give a recital of two violin sonatas: Sonata No. 1 in A major, Op. 13, by Gabriel Faure and the prize-winning 1963 Sonata for Violin and Piano by the contemporary American composer John Corigliano. (You can hear the lovely slow movement of the Corigliano sonata in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Admission is $15, $5 for children and non-UW School of Music students.
Here is a link with more information:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/violinist-soh-hyun-altino-and-pianist-christopher-taylor/
Tickets can be bought at the door or by visit this site:
https://union.wisc.edu/visit/wisconsin-union-theater/theater-tickets/
Also at 4 p.m., pianist Catherine Kautsky (below) will perform a Schubert-themed program on the Salon Piano Series at Farley’s House of Pianos, 6522, Seybold Road, on Madison’s far west side near West Towne.
Her program includes the Sonata in D major and Twelve German Dances by Schubert; the Schubert-inspired “Valses nobles et sentimentales” (Noble and Sentimental Waltzes) by Maurice Ravel; Prelude and Fugue in E Major, from Book 2 of “The Well-Tempered Clavier” by Johann Sebastian Bach; and “Idyll and Abyss: Six Schubert Reminiscences” (20213) by the German composer Jeorg Widmann.
Admission is $45.
Kautsky has concertized on five continents. You may recall, she came to teach for several years at the UW-Madison from Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin, and then returned to Lawrence where she heads the keyboard department and this year received an Excellence in Teaching award.
Call more information and tickets, call (608) 271-2626.
You can also go to this link to get more information about this concert and forthcoming concerts in the Salon Piano Series:
http://salonpianoseries.org/concerts.html
Tags: A Place to Be, Appleton, Arts, Ástor Piazzolla, Bach, Baroque, Byron Adams, Catherine Kautsky, Cello, Chamber music, championship, Christopher Columbus, Classical music, Concert, dance, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Farley's House of Pianos, football, France, Franz Schubert, French, fugue, Gabriel Jackson, game, German, Germany, Green Bay Packers, Haydn, Jacob Stockinger, Jörg Widmann, Jeorg Widmann, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Corigliano, Keyboard, Lawrence University, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Madison, Mendelssohn, Music, Music education, Oakwood Chamber Players, Packers, percussion, Poulenc, Prelude, presentation, Ravel, Salon Piano Series, Schoenberg, So percussion, Soh-Hyun Park Altino, Sonata, String quartet, tango, teaching, The Well-Tempered Clavier, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Viola, Violin, Violin Sonata, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, workshop, YouTube
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