The Well-Tempered Ear
Cellist Camille Thomas makes her Madison debut online from Paris for the Wisconsin Union Theater this Saturday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Wisconsin Union Theater’s fall virtual Concert Series performances will begin this Saturday night, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. CST with a live online performance from Paris by the acclaimed cellist Camille Thomas (below).
The “Midnight in Paris” recital – performed in Paris and streamed — features music by Claude Debussy, Nadia Boulanger, Maurice Ravel and Frederic Chopin. The performance will be preceded by a live 30-40 minute online Q&A with Thomas and pianist Julien Brocal on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. CST.
Here are the specific works on the program, which will last about 75 minutes with no intermission:
Debussy, “Clair de Lune” (arr. Roelens)
Nadia Boulanger, “Three Pieces” for cello and piano
Ravel, Kaddish
Chopin, Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 65; and Introduction et Polonaise brillante, Op. 3
Tickets for this online event are $10 for UW-Madison students, $18 for Wisconsin Union members, and $20 for all other patrons.
For more information about the Thomas’ performance – including a video and how to purchase tickets — visit union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/camille-thomas.
Thomas (below), a Franco-Belgian cellist, says she uses her music to bring people together from a range of cultures and backgrounds. Thomas released her second album, called “Voice of Hope,” with the exclusive Deutsche Grammophon this past June. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Thomas play a solo version from the album of Gluck’s “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” from his opera “Orfeo ed Euridice.”)
Thomas plays the Feuermann Stradivarius cello (1730, below) — named for the famous 20th-century cellist Emanuel Feuermann who played it — with a bow by Eugene Sartory, who is regarded as one of the finest bow makers in history. Joining her for this performance will be pianist Julien Brocal.
“Camille Thomas’s extraordinary talent makes her one of the most captivating artists of our time, as evidenced by being the first cellist in several decades to be signed by the major record label Deutsche Grammophon,” says Wisconsin Union Theater director Elizabeth Snodgrass. “Her ‘Midnight in Paris’ program brings us closer to her roots and reflects the beauty and charm of her personality as well as her musicality.”
The Ear has listened to some of Thomas’ performances on YouTube and finds her tone, intonation and phrasing outstanding.
The performance by Camille Thomas is the start of the fall Concert Series events, which includes a concert with pianist Jeremy Denk (below, in a photo by Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times) on Friday, Dec. 11.
In its 101st year, the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Concert Series is one of the oldest uninterrupted series of its kind in the United States.
The Wisconsin Union Theater (WUT) has served as a cultural center for community members and visitors for more than 75 years. The WUD Performing Arts Committee plans many of the Theater’s events, including the Concert Series.
While usually held in-person and most often in Shannon Hall, the Wisconsin Union Theater team will hold this fall’s theater events in a virtual format for the health and safety of patrons, artists and team members in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The team aims for all of its spaces, including online ones, to be accessible. Those that need accommodations can reach out to the Wisconsin Union Theater team at wisconsinuniontheater@union.wisc.edu.
The WUT team says it continues to evaluate what changes may need to occur related to the spring Concert Series events as well as other spring Theater season performances.
The Wisconsin Union Theater has made multiple commitments to take a stand against racial injustice, including being more than allies, being activists; using the arts to create social justice; remembering students are future leaders and must be part of the change; using its voice to influence leadership and being firm in its resolve; and making space, stepping back and learning how to give up undeserved or unnecessary power and privilege.
Tags: #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOpera, #BerlinGermany, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CamilleThomas, #CelloBow, #CelloSonata, #CentralStandardTime, #ChamberMusic, #ChristophWillibaldGluck, #Clairdelune, #ClaudeDebussy, #CommunityMembers, #ConcertSeries, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #CulturalCenter, #DanceoftheBlessedSpirits, #DeutscheGrammophon, #ElizabethSnodgrass, #EmanuelFeuermann, #EugeneSartory, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #Franco-Belgian, #FredericChopin, #Fridaynight, #HiroyukiIto, #JacobStockinger, #JeremyDenk, #JulienBrocal, #LiveMusic, #MauriceRavel, #MidnightinParis, #Musicfaculty, #NadiaBoulanger, #NewYorkTimes, #OnlineConcert, #OrfeoedEuridice, #ParisFrance, #PianoAccompanist, #PublicHealth, #RacialInjustice, #RecordedMusic, #RecordLabel, #SaturdayAfternoon, #ShannonHall, #SocialJustice, #StradivariusCello, #TeamMembers, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #TheUS, #TheUW, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VirtualConcert, #VoiceofHope, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #YouTubevideo, accessible, accommodation, accompany, accuracy, activist, afternoon, Album, Allies, arrnagement, artist, artists, Arts, audience, background, Baroque, Baroque music, beauty, Belgian, Belgium, Berlin, blessed, blog, Boulanger, bow, Camille Thomas, captivating, CD, cellist, Cello, cello bow, Cello Sonata, center, Central Standard Time, Chamber music, change, changes, charm, Chopin, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Clair de Lune, Classical music, Claude Debussy, commitments, community, composer, Concert, concert hall, concert series, coronavirus, CST, cultural, cultural center, culture, dance, Dance of the Blessed Spirits, Debussy, decades, Denk, Deutsche Grammophon, DG, director, Early music, Elizabeth Snodgrass, Eugene Sartory, Eurydice, evaluate, event, exclusive, extraordinary, Facebook, faculty, fall, finest, firm, forward, France, Franco-Belgium, Frédéric Chopin, French, Friday, future, German, Germany, Gluck, Health, Hiroyuki Ito, History, hope, in person, influence, information, injustice, intermission, intonation, introduction, Ito, Jacob Stockinger, Jeremy Denk, join, Julien Brocal, June, Kaddish, kind, leaders, leadership, learn, light, like, link, listen, live, live music, Luthier, Madison, major, Maurice Ravel, members, midnight, Midnight in Paris, minute, multiple, Music, musicality, Nadia Boulanger, need, New York Times, night, oldest, online, Op., opera, opus, Orfeo ed Euridice, Orpheus, outstanding, pandemic, Paris, patrons, People, perform, performaer, performance, performer, personality, photo, phrasing, Pianist, Piano, Piano accompanist, polonaise, post, posting, power, precede, privilege, program, public, Public health, purchase, Q&A, question-and-answer, race, racial injustice, racism, range, Ravel, reader, recital, Record label, recorded music, reflects, regard, resolve, roots, safety, Saturday, Shannon Hall, share, sign, social justice, solo, Sonata, spaces, specific, spirit, Spring, start, Strad, Stradivarius, stream, Student, students, subscriber, tag, talent, team, team members, The Ear, tickets, time, together, tone, U.S., undeserved, uninterrupted, United States, University of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unnecessary, US, use, UW, UW-Madison, version, virtual, visitors, voice, Voice of Hope, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Theater, work, years, YouTube
Classical music: Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra will start this summer’s six Concerts on the Square in late July and move them to Tuesdays at 6 p.m. Plus, other changes for the WCO are in the works
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcements from the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra:
Greetings to the family of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (WCO, below in photo by Mike Gorski)!
For 37 summers, Concerts on the Square (below) has brought us together as a community to enjoy world-class music with our friends, family and neighbors.
To try and ensure these performances continue despite uncertain times, the WCO is delaying the start of Concerts on the Square to July 28, 2020 — starting at our new time, Tuesdays at 6 p.m.
The opening concert will feature 2020 Gilmore Young Artist Maxim Lando (below, in a photo by Matt Dine) – who recently gave a solo recital on the Salon Piano Series at Farley’s House of Pianos – performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1
It’s our hope that by delaying the concerts by five weeks, larger community gatherings will be safe and permitted, and we can continue to entertain the thousands of patrons who join us at each Concerts on the Square performance.
We plan to retain the same number of key performances. Visit www.wconconcerts.org for an up-to-date schedule, the names of guest artists and the programs.
Concerts on the Square is something we all look forward to each year, which is why our goal is to preserve it this summer. We will all be eager to get outside and enjoy the WCO tradition, but we need to be smart and safe about it.
The series will return to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays next year.
Here is the complete schedule of the series of FREE concerts that draw an average of 20,000 people to the downtown Capitol Square for each concert:
Concerts on the Square #1 – Tuesday, July 28, 6 p.m.
Concerts on the Square #2 – Tuesday, Aug. 4, 6 p.m.
Concerts on the Square #3 – Tuesday, Aug. 11, 6 p.m.
Concerts on the Square #4 – Tuesday, Aug. 18, 6 p.m.
Concerts on the Square #5 – Tuesday, Aug. 25, 6 p.m.
Concerts on the Square #6 – Tuesday, Sept. 1, 6 p.m.
The WCO moved the series to Tuesday for scheduling needs and to avoid interrupting other local performances in late summer.
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 and Instagram.
“The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra is alive and well – and there is nothing more we want than to perform for our community during these uncertain times,” says Joe Loehnis (below), CEO of the WCO. “At the same time, we want to be responsible and mindful of community safety. In that light, we believe the best thing to do is to push the start of Concerts on the Square into late July.”
OTHER NEWS
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra is also using this time to move the organization forward for its fans.
In the coming weeks the orchestra is rolling out a new logo and new website, as well as launching the Friends of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra membership program.
#Coucherto: WCO MUSICIANS PERFORM ONLINE
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra is home to talented and creative musicians, so it’s no surprise they are reaching for their instruments during the stay-at-home order.
Sharing solo performances from their homes as part of the WCO’s #coucherto series, orchestra members are delivering music – and messages – for everyone to enjoy while stuck on their sofas.
“Our musicians are the backbone – the lifeblood – of the WCO, and we couldn’t just sit back and not perform,” Loehnis said. “I firmly believe music makes everything better and if we can provide a bright spot for our community right now we’re going to jump at the opportunity.”
The #coucherto series is available on the WCO’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and website pages. Additionally, the WCO will share previously recorded concerts during the order.
MUSICIAN RELIEF FUND IS LIVE
With live performances delayed, the WCO remains committed to helping its musicians.
Through its newly created Musicians Relief Fund, the orchestra has raised more than $10,000 to help pay its musicians during this time. The WCO is working on several fronts to ensure its artists receive financial support.
“Our musicians aren’t just wonderful artists, they’re wonderful people. They’re our friends. They have families. And it’s vital as an organization we support them at all times,” says maestro Andrew Sewell (below, in a photo by Alex Cruz), who is in his 20th year as WCO’s music director. “The music will go on. But first and foremost, we need to do everything we can to help our musicians.”
To donate, visit wcoconcerts.org/donate.
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Classical music: FREE Just Bach concerts start again this Wednesday at noon. Bach Around the Clock has almost filled performing slots
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ALERT: Bach Around the Clock, a daylong celebration of the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach with performances by professional and amateur musicians, will take place on Saturday, March 28, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 1833 Regent Street, in Madison. The festival schedule of performers is almost full, but a few spaces are still available. Please contact BATC soon if you are thinking about performing.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Just Bach series of FREE monthly noontime concerts (below) will start again this week on Wednesday, Jan. 22, at noon at Luther Memorial Church, 1021 University Avenue.
It is free and open to the public, with a goodwill offering collected. Food and beverages for lunch are allowed.
Singers for the concert are: Sarah Brailey, soprano; Lindsey Meekhof, mezzo-soprano; James Mauk, tenor; and UW-Madison professor Paul Rowe, bass-baritone (below, in a photo by Michael R. Anderson).
The period-instrument players are: Brian Ellingboe, bassoon; Marika Fischer Hoyt, violin 1; Thalia Coombs, violin 2; Micah Behr, viola; Anton TenWolde, cello; and Mark Brampton Smith, organ.
The concert will open with the Toccata and Fugue in F Major, BWV 540, performed by organist Mark Brampton Smith (below).
Just Bach co-founder, UW graduate student and acclaimed soprano Sarah Brailey (below) will lead the chorale sing-along, a beloved audience-participation feature of the programs.
The concert closes with Cantata 155 ‘Mein Gott, wie lang,’ ach lange?’ (My God, how long, ah, how long?). You can hear the title aria in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Says co-founder and baroque violist-violinist Marika Fischer Hoyt (below): “It is a beautiful five-movement work about enduring the darkness of hard times and emerging once more into the light.
“The four vocal soloists shine in the first four movements (including an alto-tenor duet featuring a lovely bassoon obbligato part), and the Cantata concludes with a Chorale in which all take part.
Other Just Bach concerts this spring, all Wednesdays at noon, are: Feb. 19, March 25, April 15 and May 20.
Future programs will be announced at: https://justbach.org
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Classical music: What happens when Shakespeare and Benjamin Britten meet Andy Warhol and The Factory? The University Opera explores a new spin on an old tale
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ALERT: At 7:30 p.m. this Thursday night, Nov. 14 — the night before it opens the opera production below — the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra, under conductor Oriol Sans, will perform a FREE concert in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Avenue, next to the Chazen Museum of Art. The program offers Darius Milhaud’s “The Creation of the World,” Maurice Ravel’s “Mother Goose Suite” and Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 101 “The Clock.”
By Jacob Stockinger
The Big Event in classical music this week in Madison is the production by the University Opera of Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
It is a chance to see what happens when Shakespeare (below top) meets Britten (below bottom) through the lens of the Pop art icon Andy Warhol.
The three-hour production – with student singers and the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra under conductor Oriol Sans — will have three performances in Music Hall, at the foot of Bascom Hill: this Friday night, Nov. 15, at 7:30; Sunday afternoon, Nov. 17, at 2 p.m.; and Tuesday night, Nov. 19, at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $25 for the general public; $20 for seniors; and $10 for students.
For more information about the production and how to obtain tickets, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/university-opera-a-midsummer-nights-dream/2019-11-15/
For more information about the performers, the alternating student cast and a pre-performance panel discussion on Sunday, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/A-Midsummer-Nights-Dream-Media-release.pdf
And here are notes by director David Ronis (below, in a photo by Luke Delalio) about the concept behind this novel production:
“When the artistic team for A Midsummer Night’s Dream met last spring, none of us expected that we would set Britten’s opera at The Factory, Andy Warhol’s workspace-cum-playspace.
“For my part, I wanted to find a way to tell this wonderful story that would be novel, engaging, entertaining, and thought-provoking.
“I only had one wish: that we did a production that did not feature fairies sporting wings – a representation that, to me, just seemed old-fashioned and, frankly, tired.
“As we worked on the concept, we found that The Factory setting allowed us to see the show in a new, compelling light and truly evoked its spirit and themes. The elements of this “translation” easily and happily fell into place and now, six months later, here we are!
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream tells the intersecting stories of three groups of characters – Fairies, Lovers and Rustics – and its traditional locale is that of a forest, the domain of Oberon, the Fairy King. (You can hear the Act 1 “Welcome, Wanderer” duet with Puck and Oberon, played by countertenor David Daniels, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
“In our production, the proverbial forest becomes The Factory, where our Oberon, inspired by Andy Warhol (below, in a photo from the Andy Warhol Museum), rules the roost. He oversees his world – his art, his business, and “his people.” He is part participant in his own story, as he plots to get even with Tytania, his queen and with whom he is at odds; and part voyeur-meddler, as he attempts to engineer the realignment of affections among the Lovers.
“Tytania, in our production, is loosely modeled on Warhol’s muse, Edie Sedgwick (below top), and Puck resembles Ondine (below bottom), one of the Warhol Superstars.
The Fairies become young women in the fashion or entertainment industries, regulars at The Factory; the Lovers, people who are employed there; and the Rustics, or “Rude Mechanicals,” blue-collar workers by day, who come together after hours to form an avant-garde theater troupe seeking their 15 minutes of fame.
“For all these people, The Factory (below, in a photo by Nat Finkelstein) is the center of the universe. They all gravitate there and finally assemble for the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta – in this setting, a rich art collector and his trophy girlfriend.
“Magic is an important element in Midsummer. In the realm of the fairies, Oberon makes frequent use of magical herbs and potions to achieve his objectives. In the celebrity art world of mid-1960s New York City, those translate into recreational drugs.
“The people who work in and gather at The Factory are also are involved in what could be called a type of magic – making art and surrounding themselves in it. They take photographs, create silk screen images, hang and arrange Pop art, and party at The Factory.
“Not only does this world of creative magic provide us with a beautiful way to tell the story of Midsummer, but it also becomes a metaphor for the “theatrical magic” created by Shakespeare and Britten, and integral to every production.
“We hope you enjoy taking this journey with us, seeing A Midsummer Night’s Dream in perhaps a new way that will entertain and delight your senses and, perhaps, challenge your brain a bit.”
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Classical music: This coming week at the UW-Madison brings a FREE concert of flute and piano music by guest artists on Monday night and a FREE performance by the Wisconsin Brass Quintet on Wednesday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
This coming week at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music brings two FREE chamber music concerts of flute music and brass music.
On Monday night, Oct. 14, at 7 p.m. in the Collins Recital Hall in the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave., located next to the new wing of the Chazen Museum of Art, guest artists flutist Elise Blatchford (below top) from the University of Memphis and pianist Jacob Coleman (below bottom) from the University of Kentucky will perform a FREE recital.
No program is listed.
For more biographical information, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/guest-artists-elise-blatchford-flute-with-jacob-coleman-piano/
On Wednesday night, Oct. 16, at 7:30 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, the Wisconsin Brass Quintet (below) will give a FREE performance.
The quintet is a critically acclaimed, longtime faculty group at the UW-Madison. For background about the ensemble, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/wisconsin-brass-quintet/
Members of the 2019-20 Wisconsin Brass Quintet are Jean Laurenz and Gilson Silva, trumpets; Daniel Grabois, horn; Mark Hetzler, trombone; and Tom Curry, tuba.
Please note: In fall 2019, Daniel Grabois will be on sabbatical. His replacement will be Jeff Scott (below), hornist with the Grammy-nominated Imani Winds. Read about Jeff here.
The program of modern classics includes:
“Mini Overture” by Witold Lutoslawski (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom)
“Celestial Suite” by James Stephenson
“Reflecting Light” by Adam Schoenberg
“Adam’s Rib” by James MacMillan
Quintet No. 2 by Victor Ewald
For more information, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/wisconsin-brass-quintet-faculty-ensemble/
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Classical music: This Friday night, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra closes its season with a dark and unorthodox symphony by Shostakovich as well as lighter suites by Bizet and Debussy
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below top) ends its winter Masterworks season this coming Friday night, May 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center.
And it is going out in a big, eclectic way.
The WCO will perform under the baton of music director Andrew Sewell (below).
Sewell and the WCO will be joined by two guest singers: soprano Mary Mackenzie, a former Madison resident and member of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO); (below top); and the Grammy-nominated bass Timothy Jones (below bottom).
Both critically acclaimed singers are familiar to Madison audiences from past appearances with the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, the Madison Opera, the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, the Madison Symphony Orchestra and previous appearances with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
They will all join in the major work that opens the concert, the Symphony No. 14, Op. 135, by Dmitri Shostakovich (below), his penultimate symphony that runs about 50 minutes and is highly unorthodox in its form.
Shostakovich wrote his symphony in 1969, and dedicated it to the British composer Benjamin Britten.
Perhaps to avoid more confrontations with the government of the USSR and perhaps to critique global events such as war, the composer gave it a very international flavor.
Written for strings and percussion with vocal soloists, the symphony is composed in 11 movements. It is also set to poetry by the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire (below top), the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca (below middle) and the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke (below bottom). In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear a live recording of the first movement from the work’s world premiere in Moscow in 1969.
In the late work, Shostakovich (below, in 1950) – always suspect by the Soviet state and in danger during the Stalinist Terror — seeks to portray the idea of unjust and premature death that aroused deep feelings of protest in him. Shostakovich emphasized, however, that it was not out of pessimism that he turned to the problem of mortality but in the name of life on this earth.
The concert concludes on a lighter, more upbeat note by celebrating the innocence and joy of youth in two charming suites: “Jeux d’enfants” (Children’s Games), Op. 22, by Georges Bizet and the “Petite Suite” (Little Suite) by Claude Debussy.
Tickets are $12-$80. To buy tickets and to see more information about the program and detailed biographies of the performers, go to:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/masterworks-v-4/
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Classical music: You can celebrate Valentine’s Day this Thursday, Feb. 14, with live concerts of new music or old music in a large hall or a small cafe
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By Jacob Stockinger
If you are looking to celebrate Valentine’s Day on this coming Thursday, Feb. 14, with live classical music, there are at least two excellent choices facing you.
The larger event is a FREE concert at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall by the UW Symphony Orchestra (below top) under the award-winning conductor and professor Chad Hutchinson (below bottom) and two graduate student conductors, Michael Dolan and Ji Hyun Yim.
The program features the “Valse Triste” (Sad Waltz) by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius and the Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major, K. 543, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
But the main focus will be on two works by the living American composer Augusta Read Thomas (below), who lives in Chicago and whose music is widely performed because of its accessible style.
The two works by Thomas are “Of Paradise and Light” and “Prayer and Celebration.”
Thomas, who this week will be doing a residency at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, will also hold a free and open master class in Music Hall, at the base of Bascom Hill, from 2 to 5 p.m. that same day. (You can listen to her discuss how she composes in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For more information about the concert, the program and especially about Thomas – including an audio sample — go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-madison-symphony-orchestra/
A BAROQUE VALENTINE’S DAY
On Valentine’s Day, baroque chamber music enthusiasts can hear the music of the Kim-Kielson Duo as they perform a program on period instruments, titled Canons, Chaconnes and Chocolate!
Longtime friends and performers, baroque violinist Kangwon Lee Kim and recorder player Lisette Kielson (below top, right and left respectively) will be joined by viola da gambist James Waldo (below bottom).
The concert is on this Thursday, Feb. 14, at 7 p.m. at Chocolaterian Cafe, 6637 University Ave., in Middleton.
You can name your own ticket price — $20-$35 per person is suggested, payable in either cash or check.
There also will be Special Valentine’s Day Chocolate available for purchase.
The program celebrates the popular baroque forms of the canon and chaconne as composed by Italian, German and French masters.
The duo will perform three chaconnes by Tarquinio Merula, Antonio Bertali and Marin Marais plus canonic duos by Georg Philipp Telemann as well as an arrangement of canons from The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080, by Johann Sebastian Bach.
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Classical music: On Saturday night, UW-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor continues his virtuosic Liszt-Beethoven symphony cycle along with music by Kapustin and Schubert
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following press release, researched and written by Katherine Esposito, concert manager at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, about a noteworthy upcoming concert:
Franz Liszt (below, 1811-1886) was a superstar pianist. He was a virtuoso who invented the orchestral tone poem, taught 400 students for free, conducted and composed.
Musicologist Alan Walker wrote a definitive three-volume biography of Liszt, shedding light on all of Liszt’s work but especially his genius for transcription.
Writes Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times : “The best of these works are much more than virtuosic stunts. Liszt’s piano transcriptions of the nine Beethoven symphonies are works of genius. Vladimir Horowitz, in a 1988 interview, told me that he deeply regretted never having played Liszt’s arrangements of the Beethoven symphonies in public.”
Few pianists have tackled all nine Beethoven transcriptions.
UW-Madison professor and Van Cliburn Competition medal winner Christopher Taylor (below in a photo by Michael R. Anderson) is one of them. On this coming Saturday night, Feb. 9, at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall, Taylor will perform his sixth transcription — Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93.
Saturday’s concert will also include: six preludes (Nos. 19-24) from 1988 by Nikolai Kapustin (below), whose works span both classical and jazz; and the Fantasy in C Major, D. 760 (based on the song “The Wanderer”) of Franz Schubert, a piece so virtuosic that the composer himself had to give up playing it before finishing. (You can hear Kapustin’s Prelude No. 23, which Taylor will play, in the YouTube video at the bottom and can follow the intimidating-looking score to it.)
In 2020, Christopher Taylor will celebrate Beethoven’s 250th anniversary with performances of the Franz Liszt transcriptions of Beethoven’s symphonies, in Madison and elsewhere.
In Boston, Taylor will perform the entire set of nine in five concerts at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Tickets for Taylor’s Feb. 9 concert at the UW are $17 for adults, and $7 for children and students. They can be purchased online or in person.
Purchasing options are here: https://www.music.wisc.edu/about-us/tickets/
Or, purchase online directly at this link.
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Classical music: The Madison Choral Project will sing and celebrate young people’s “Hope for the Future” at its concerts this Saturday night and Sunday afternoon
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By Jacob Stockinger
Christmas is for the children, goes the old saying — and in more than one way such as gift-giving. The birth of Jesus represents the birth of hope and salvation in Christianity.
Other holiday traditions can claim the same — the extra light theme of Hanukkah in Judaism and the harvest theme of the African celebration of Kwanzaa, for example — and of course the New Year will soon be here with its promise of hope and change.
Now the critically acclaimed and professional Madison Choral Project (below top, in a photo by Ilana Natasha) and its founder, artistic director and conductor Albert Pinsonneault – who used to teach at Edgewood College and now works at Northwestern University near Chicago while living in Madison – has taken that saying to a new level and given it new meaning.
You can hear the results for yourself this Saturday night, Dec. 15, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, Dec, 16, at 3 p.m. in Madison, and at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday night, Dec. 18, in Milwaukee.
The Madison performances are at Christ Presbyterian Church, 944 East Gorham Street. The Milwaukee performance is at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, 812 Jackson St.
Tickets are $24 in advance online; $28 at the door. Students with ID are $10. Preferred seating is $40.
The theme of the sixth holiday concert by MCP is “Hope in the Future,” which is relevant at any time but seems particularly so this year. So it includes specially commissioned writings by young people, middle school and high school students from grades 6 through 12. Their work will be read by Noah Ovshinsky (below), the news director at Wisconsin Public Radio.
There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, so The Ear wants instead to direct you to a fine story about the MCP concert by reporter Gayle Worland for The Wisconsin State Journal.
There you will find out much more about the identities of the young writers, with a couple of examples of their work, and the inspiration or background of the theme that Pinsonneault (below) came up with.
Here is a link:
Unfortunately, what you will not find in that story or at the MCP’s home web page is the music program. No composers or specific works are mentioned.
But judging from past performances, you can count on outstanding repertoire of both classics and new music.
For more information about the MCP and its past concerts as well as it personnel and singers, go to: http://themcp.org
Here is a sample of the outstanding work by the Madison Choral Project:
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Classical music: Need a break from holiday shopping or final exams? A FREE “Just Bach” midday concert TODAY marks Christmas. On Friday at noon a free concert features violin music of Mozart and Ravel.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Need a break from holiday shopping or final exams this week? Today’s post brings announcements of two short and appealing midday concerts:
TODAY
Just Bach is a new monthly series of hour-long concerts in Madison celebrating the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
The series continues with an end-of-semester performance at 1 p.m. TODAY, Wednesday, Dec. 12, at Luther Memorial Church, 1021 University Ave.
Admission is free with goodwill offerings accepted. Audience members are permitted to eat and drink during the performance.
Next semester’s dates are Jan. 23, Feb. 20, March 13, April 24 and May 29.
The orchestra of baroque period-instrument specialists will be led by concertmaster Kangwon Kim.
The goal of this series is to share the immense range of Bach’s vocal and instrumental repertoire with the Madison community at large. The period-instrument orchestra will bring the music to life in the manner and style that Bach (below) would have conceived.
The audience will be invited to sing along during the opening hymns and the closing cantata chorales.
Here is the complete program for today’s concert:
BWV 729: In dulci jubilo (Mark Brampton Smith, organ)
Chorale: Wie soll ich dich empfangen (How shall I embrace You?) from Part I of the Christmas Oratorio (All sing)
BWV 61: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (Now come, Savior of the Heathen)
Chorale: Ich will dich mit Fleiss bewahren (I will cherish you assiduously) from Part III of the Christmas Oratorio (All sing)
Aria from BWV 213: Schlafe, mein Liebster (Sleep, my beloved)
Chorale: Schaut hin, dort liegt im finstern Stall (Look there, there He lies in a dark stall) from Part II of the Christmas Oratorio (All sing)
Duet from BWV 110: Ehre sei Gott (Glory be to God)
SELECTIONS FROM PART IV OF BACH’S “CHRISTMAS ORATORIO”:
Recit and Chorale: Immanuel, o suesses Wort! (Emmanuel, oh sweet word!)
Aria: Floesst, mein Heiland, floesst dein Namen (My Saviour, Your name instills)
Recit and Chorale: Wohlan, dein Name soll allein (Well then, Your name alone)
Aria: Ich will nur dir zu Ehren leben (I will live only to honor You)
Chorale: Brich an, o schoenes Morgenlicht (Break forth, oh beautiful morning light) from Part II of the Christmas Oratorio (All sing). You can hear it in the YouTube video at the bottom, performed by the critically acclaimed Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir, sung to pictures of Bach’s own manuscript.
Singers are Sarah Brailey and Elisheva Pront, sopranos; Cheryl Bensman-Rowe, mezzo-soprano; Wesley Dunnagan, tenor; and UW-Madison Professor Paul Rowe, bass.
The orchestra includes: Kangwon Lee Kim (below) and Nathan Giglierano, violins; Marika Fischer Hoyt and Micah Behr, violas; James Waldo, cello; and Mark Brampton Smith, organ.
FRIDAY
This Friday, Dec. 14, from 12:15 to 1 p.m. the FREE Friday Noon Musicale at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, will features violinist Wendy Adams and pianist Ann Aschbacher.
The duo will perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Sonata No. 35, K. 526 – which you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom — and Maurice Ravel’s Violin Sonata No. 2
Here is some background:
The First Unitarian Society of Madison presents “Friday Noon Musicales,” a distinguished artist recital series now in its 31st season.
Talented area musicians play most every Friday, from October through May. Mostly classical music, but Broadway, jazz, folk and other styles are presented at times as well. Enjoy complimentary coffee, tea and live music.
Concerts are free and open to the public. No ticket is required. All performances 12:15–1 p.m. at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
Visit https://fusmadison.org/music for upcoming featured artists.
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The Well-Tempered Ear 