The Well-Tempered Ear

The UW-Madison’s Wingra Wind Quintet performs a FREE online virtual concert this Wednesday night. Plus, local music critic Greg Hettmansberger has died

December 8, 2020
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NEWS ALERT: Local music critic and blogger Greg Hettmansberger (below) was killed in a car accident on Dec. 2, near Wichita, Kansas. Hettmansberger, 65, was driving when he hit a deer and then another car hit him. His wife survived but remains hospitalized in Wichita in critical condition. Here is a link to a news account:  https://www.kake.com/story/42993718/man-dies-in-crash-caused-by-deer-in-pratt-county

By Jacob Stockinger

This Wednesday night, Dec. 9, the UW-Madison’s Wingra Wind Quintet (below, in 2017) will perform a FREE virtual online concert from 7:30 to 9 p.m.

Here is a direct link to the pre-recorded video premiere on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/e1NhVZJW2cA

Due to the pandemic, the Wingra Wind Quintet has been unable to perform chamber music in a traditional way since March 2020. (You can hear the quintet play “On, Wisconsin” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

In response, the quintet put together a program that allowed each member to record parts separately and have those parts edited together.

Current faculty members (below) are: Conor Nelson, flute; Lindsay Flowers, oboe; Alicia Lee, clarinet; Marc Vallon, bassoon; and Devin Cobleigh-Morrison, horn

The engineer/producer is Kris Saebo.

The program is: 

The first piece “Allegro scherzando” from Three Pieces by Walter Piston (below, 1894-1976)

The Chaconne from the First Suite in E-flat for Military Band by Gustav Holst (below, 1874-1934)

“Retracing” by Elliott Carter (below, 1908-2012)

Selections from “Mikrokosmos” by Bela Bartok (below, 1881-1945)

“A 6 letter letter” by Elliott Carter

Intermezzo from the First Suite in E-flat for Military Band by Gustav Holst

“Esprit rude/esprit doux” by Elliott Carter

Since its formation in 1965, the Wingra Wind Quintet at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music has established a tradition of artistic and teaching excellence.

The ensemble has been featured in performance at national conferences such as MENC (Miami), MTNA (Kansas City), and the International Double Reed Society (Minneapolis). 

The quintet also presented an invitational concert on the prestigious Dame Myra Hess series at the Chicago Public Library, broadcast live on radio station WFMT.

In addition to its extensive home state touring, the quintet has been invited to perform at numerous college campuses, including the universities of Alaska-Fairbanks, Northwestern, Chicago, Nebraska, Western Michigan, Florida State, Cornell, the Interlochen Arts Academy, and the Paris Conservatoire, where quintet members offered master classes.

The Wingra Wind Quintet has recorded for Golden Crest, Spectrum, and the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music recording series and is featured on an educational video entitled Developing Woodwind Ensembles.

Always on the lookout for new music of merit, the Wingra has premiered new works of Hilmar Luckhardt, Vern Reynolds, Alec Wilder, Edith Boroff, James Christensen and David Ott. The group recently gave the Midwest regional premiere of William Bolcom’s “Five Fold Five,” a sextet for woodwind quintet and piano, with UW-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor (below).

New York Times critic Peter Davis, in reviewing the ensemble’s Carnegie Hall appearance, stated “The performances were consistently sophisticated, sensitive and thoroughly vital.”

The Wingra Wind Quintet is one of three faculty chamber ensembles in-residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music. 

Deeply committed to the spirit of the Wisconsin Idea, the group travels widely to offer its concerts and educational services to students and the public in all corners of the state. (Editor’s note: For more about the Wisconsin Idea, which seems more relevant today than ever, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_Idea.)

Portions of this recording were made at the Hamel Music Center, a venue of the Mead Witter School of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 


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Classical music: The UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet performs the second of its free, MUST-HEAR, six-concert Beethoven string quartet cycle this Friday night. Here is a revised schedule.

February 25, 2020
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By Jacob Stockinger

This Friday night at 8 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave., the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet (below, during the first concert of the cycle) plays the second concert in its FREE year-long, six-concert Beethoven cycle to mark the Beethoven Year that celebrates the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth.

The Ear heard the first concert in the cycle and found it superb. He recommends the performances highly enough to call them MUST-HEARs.

But a couple of things have changed in the cycle.

Since the last listing was published, the last concert of the cycle has been pushed back one day.

Also, UW-Madison Professor of Musicology Charles Dill (below) will be giving a pre-concert lecture one hour before each of the remaining five concerts in the series. This Friday night,  Dill speaks at 7 p.m. in the Lee/Kaufman Rehearsal Hall.

Members of the Pro Arte Quartet (below, from left in a photo by Rick Langer) are David Perry and Suzanne Beia, violins; Sally Chisholm, viola; Parry Karp, cello.

Here is the revised schedule:

PROGRAM I  (completed)

Friday, Nov. 22, 2019, 8 p.m. in Collins Recital Hall

String Quartet in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2 (1798-1800)

String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95, “Serioso” (1810)

String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 130 (1825-6)

PROGRAM II

This Friday, Feb. 28, 2020, at 8 p.m., in Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall

String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1 (1798-1800). You can hear the opening of this first quartet by the young Beethoven, played the Alban Berg Quartet, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 74, “Harp” (1809).

String Quartet in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131 (1826)

Pre-Concert lecture by Professor Charles Dill, 7 p.m. in  Lee/Kaufman Rehearsal Hall

PROGRAM III

Thursday, April 16, 2020, 7:30 p.m. in Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall

String Quartet in D Major, Op. 18, No. 3 (1798-1800)

String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 59, No. 2 (1806)

String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 127 (1825)

Pre-Concert lecture by Professor Charles Dill, 6:30 p.m. in Collins Recital Hall

PROGRAM IV

Friday, Oct. 2, 2020, at 8 p.m. in Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall

String Quartet in A Major, Op. 18, No. 5 (1798-1800)

String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18, No. 4 (1798-1800)

String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132 (1825)

Pre-Concert lecture by Professor Charles Dill at 7 p.m. in Collins Recital Hall

PROGRAM V

Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, at 8 p.m. in Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall

String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 18, No. 6 (1798-1800)

String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135 (1826)

String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3 (1806)

Pre-Concert lecture by Professor Charles Dill at 7 p.m. in Collins Recital Hall

PROGRAM VI

Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021, at 7:30 p.m. in Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall

String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1 (1806)

String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 130, with the Great Fugue finale (Grosse Fuge), Op. 133 (1825)

Pre-Concert lecture by Professor Charles Dill at 6:30 p.m. in Collins Recital Hall

 


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Classical music: This Wednesday night, four teenage soloists compete in this year’s Final Forte competition with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Attend it live for FREE, or watch and hear it live on PBS Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Radio

February 23, 2020
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By Jacob Stockinger

This Wednesday night, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. in Overture Hall, the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below in a  photo by Peter Rodgers), PBS Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Radio will present the 14th annual “Wisconsin Young Artists Compete: The Final Forte.”

The concert of four teenage concerto competition winners features the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) led by Associate Conductor Kyle Knox (below).

The concert is FREE and open to the public. But audience members must register in advance, and arrive by 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26, prior to the beginning of the live broadcast. Reservations are required. Call (608) 257-3734 or go online to register at https://madisonsymphony.org/finalforte

Doors open at 6:15 p.m. and close at 6:45 p.m. due to the live broadcast. The event runs until 8:30 p.m. No tickets will be issued at the door. Seating is general admission in select areas of the concert hall.

The four finalists (below, in a photo by James Gill who did all the contestant photos) were chosen from 10 semi-finalists in November.

They are:

Jessica Jiang (far left), who will perform the first movement from Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. (You can hear the Prokofiev movement, played by Martha Argerich, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Jonah Kartman (far right), who will perform the first movement from Saint-Saens’ Violin Concerto No 3.

Emily Hauer (third from left) who will perform the first movement from Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor.

Pianist Michael Wu (second from left) who will perform Liszt’s “Totentanz” (Dance of Death).

Videos to introduce each finalist are now available for viewing online.

Jessica Jiang: https://pbswisconsin.org/wpt-video/wpt-music-arts/final-forte-jessica-jiang-qto5ir/

Emily Hauer: https://pbswisconsin.org/wpt-video/wpt-music-arts/final-forte-emily-hauer-8ihe8s/

Jonah Kartman: https://pbswisconsin.org/wpt-video/wpt-music-arts/final-forte-jonah-kartman-xsr1z6/

Michael Wu): https://pbswisconsin.org/wpt-video/wpt-music-arts/final-forte-michael-wu-frbf66/

Rebroadcast dates on the Wisconsin Channel (WPT-2) will be Friday, March 6 at 8 p.m. and 11p.m.; Saturday, March 7, at 3 p.m.; and Thursday, March 12, at 3 a.m.

ABOUT THE FINALISTS

Jessica Jiang (below) is a junior at Madison Memorial High School. She took up the piano at the age of four and currently studies with Bill Lutes, Emeritus Professor at the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music. Jessica received the Steenbock Youth Music Award in the 2018 Bolz Young Artist Competition and took second place in Division III of the National Steinway and Sons Piano Competition in 2019.

Emily Hauer (below) is a home-schooled senior from Appleton. She began violin lessons at the age of two and currently studies with Ilana Setapen, associate concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Emily won the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra Young Artist Concerto Competition in 2017 and is currently in her fourth year as the concertmaster of the Fox Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Jonah Kartman (below) is a home-schooled senior from Glendale. He has been playing the violin for 13 years, and currently studies with I-Hao Lee at DePaul University’s School of Music. Jonah was a finalist in the 2019 Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s Audrey G. Baird Stars of Tomorrow competition, and a two-time winner and scholarship recipient in the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee Competition.

Michael Wu (below) is a senior at Sun Prairie High School. He began piano lessons at age five, and currently studies with Bill Lutes, Emeritus Professor at the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music. Michael received the Steenbock Youth Music Award in the 2017 Bolz Young Artist Competition and took first place in Division III of the National Steinway and Sons Piano Competition in 2018.

ABOUT THE FINAL FORTE

This competition has captured an enormous following and numerous honors, including an Emmy nomination, First Place in the “Special Interest” category from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association in 2007, and the fifth most-watched program in the February 2007 Nielsen ratings. The 2008 broadcasts reached more than 60,000 viewers and listeners in the Madison market alone and the 2009 broadcasts reached an estimated 200,000 statewide.

The Final Forte is funded by major support from Diane Ballweg, Stephen Morton, W. Jerome Frautschi, A. Paul Jones Charitable Trust, Julie and Larry Midtbo, Fred and Mary Mohs, and Elizabeth Olson, with additional support from Bell Laboratories, James Dahlberg and Elsebet Lund, Kato Perlman, Cyrena and Lee Pondrom, Sentry Insurance Foundation, Darcy Kind and Marc Vitale, Dr. A. Beyer-Mears, Nick and Judith Topitzes, the Focus Fund for Young Performers, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

 


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Classical music: The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and guest soloists will give a FREE public concert on Friday, Dec. 27, in the new Hamel Music Center at the UW-Madison to honor arts patrons Sandy and Jun Lee

December 15, 2019
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By Jacob Stockinger

If you are looking for a non-holiday concert to go to during Christmas week, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below, in a photo by Mike Gorski) — which just performed a sold-out “Messiah” and is about to play the score for Madison Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker” — has a surprise gift for you.

On Friday, Dec. 27, at 8 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave., at the UW-Madison, the WCO and three guest soloists will give a FREE “Winter Celebration” concert that is open to the public. (Donations to the WCO are suggested.)

The occasion is to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Sandy and Jun  Lee (below), who are generous patrons of the arts in Madison.

The three guest artists for the concert are:

UW-Madison piano graduate Jason Kutz (below), who performs with the Willy Street Chamber players and other groups, will play the Introduction and Allegro Appassionato, Op. 92, by Robert Schumann.

Local mezzo-soprano opera star Kitt Reuter-Foss (below), who has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, will sing the “Habanera” from Bizet’s “Carmen” and “What a Movie” from Leonard Bernstein’s “Trouble in Tahiti.” (You can hear the famous “Habanera” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Renowned Chicago violinist Rachel Barton Pine, who has played several times with the WCO and just two months ago performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, will play the Violin Concerto No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 61, by Camille Saint-Saens.

In addition, the WCO, under the baton of music director Andrew Sewell (below, in a photo by Alex Cruz), will perform the “Poet and Peasant” Overture by Franz von Suppe; and the Overture to “Orpheus in the Underworld” by Jacques Offenbach.

Although the concert is free, tickets are required. You can go to this link to register by putting in your name and other required information: https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/winter-celebration/

 


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