The Well-Tempered Ear
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
1 Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
This 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.
Tags: #AppletonWisconsin, #AssociateConductor, #BellLaboratories, #BillLutes, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CamilleSaint-Saens, #CharitableTrust, #CivicMusicAssociation, #ConcertHall, #CyrenaPondrom, #DanceofDeath, #DePaulUniversity, #DianeBallweg, #EmilyHauer, #EmmyAward, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FinalForte, #FinancialSupport, #FirstPlace, #FocusFund, #FoxValley, #FoxValleyYouthSymphonyOrchestra, #FranzLiszt, #FriendsofPBSWisconsin, #GeneralAdmission, #I-HaoLee, #IlanaSetapen, #JacobStockinger, #JamesGill, #JeanSibelius, #JessicaJiang, #JonahKartman, #KatoPerlman, #KyleKnox, #LiveBroadcast, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarthaArgerich, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MemorialHighSchool, #MichaelWu, #MilwaukeeSymphonyOrchestra, #MusicLessons, #NielsenRatings, #OrchestralMusic, #OvertureCenter, #OvertureHall, #PBSWisconsin, #PianoCompetition, #PianoConcerto, #PianoLessons, #ProfessorEmeritus, #SchoolofMusic, #SecondPlace, #Semi-finals, #SentryInsurance, #SergeiProkofiev, #SpecialInterest, #StarsofTomorrow, #Steinway&Sons, #SteinwayandSons, #SteinwayPiano, #StephenMorton, #SunPrairie, #SunPrairieHighSchool, #SunPrairieWisconsin, #TheEar, #TVviewership, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViolinConcerto, #ViolinLessons, #W.JeromeFrautschi, #WisconsinBroadcastersAssociation, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinChannel, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinPublicTelevision, #WisconsinYoungArtistsCompete, #YoungArtist, #YoungArtists, #YouTubevideo, advance, age, Appleton, area, Arts, associate, audience, award, Bell Laboratories, Bill Lutes, blog, Bloz, call, Camille Saint-Saëns, capture, category, Charitable Trust, charity, Civic Music Association, Classical music, close, competitiion, competitors, composer, Concert, concert hall, concertmaster, concerto, conductor, Cyrene Pondrom, dance, Dance of Death, dates, death, DePaul University, Diane Ballweg, division, donor, donors, doors, Emily Hauer, Emmy, Emmy award, Facebook, Final Forte, finalist, first, first place, Focus Fund, following, forward, Fox Valley, Fox Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra, Franz Liszt, free, friends, Friends of PBS Wisconsin, funded, funding, general admission, Glendale, hall, home-schooled, honors, I-Hai Lee, Ilana Setapen, introduction, Jacob Stockinger, James Gill, Jean Sibelius, Jessica Jiang, Jiang, Jonah Kartman, junior, Kato Perlman, Kyle Knox, Lee, lessons, like, link, listener, Liszt, live broadcast, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Martha Argerich, Mead Witter School of Music, members, Memorial High Schol, Michael Wu, Milwaukee, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Mohs, movement, MSO, Music, nation, national, Nielsen, nomination, November, online, Orchestra, orchestral music, Overture Center, Overture Hall, PBS, PBS Wisconsin, performer, performers, Pianist, Piano, piano competition, Piano concerto, place, post, posting, professor emertius, program, Prokofiev, public, Radio, ratings, rebroadcast, register, reservation, Saturday, School of Music, seating, second, second place, select, senior, Sentry Insurance, Sergei Prokofiev, share, special interest, Stars of Tomorrow, statewide, Steenbacl, Steinway and Sons, Stephen Morton, Student, studies, study, Sun Prairie, Sun Prairie High School, support, symphony, tag, Teacher, Television, The Ear, Thursday, Thursday August 22, ticket, Totentanz, trust, TV, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, video, view, viewer, viewing, Violin, Violin concerto, violinist, W. Jerome Frautschi, watched, WCO, Wednesday, winner, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Channel, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Public Television, Wisconsin Young Artists Compete, WPT, Wu, young, young artist, Youth, YouTube
Classical music: Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho discusses her opera “L’Amour de Loin” on NPR. Its premiere production at the Metropolitan Opera will air this Saturday on “Live From the Met in HD” and on Wisconsin Public Radio
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
This Saturday will see the “Live From The Met in HD” transmission to area cinemas of the popular 2002 opera “L’Amour de Loin” by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (below, in a photo by Maarit Kytoharju).
The show starts at 11:55 a.m. at the Point Cinema in Madison’s far west side and the Palace Cinema in Sun Prairie. The running time is three hours with an intermission. (It will also be broadcast live on Wisconsin Public Radio starting at 1 p.m.) It will be sung in French with English supertitles.
Based on the real-life story of the 12th-century French prince and troubadour Jaufré de Rudel, the opera will be the first one by a women composer to be done by the Metropolitan Opera in 113 years.
It must also be a landmark for Finland, since both the composer and the acclaimed conductor, Susanna Mälkki (below, in a photo by The New York Times), are Finnish. Mälkki is making her Met debut.
And the cast sounds terrific: Bass-baritone Eric Own (below left, in a photo by Ken Howard) plays the troubadour.
Susanna Phillips (below right) plays his love Clémence, who hails from what is now Lebanon.
It sounds like the production, by French-Canadian theater director Robert Lepage – who worked with the Cirque du Soleil and did the Met’s recent controversial “Ring” cycle by Richard Wagner, is appealing on several scores. (You can hear Robert Lepage and Kaija Saariaho discuss the production briefly in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
Here is a link to more information about the opera and cast at the Met’s website:
http://www.metopera.org/Season/2016-17-Season/amour-de-loin-saariaho-tickets/
The appeal has been added to by a story that Jeff Lunden did for National Public Radio or NPR.
It is good background for seeing and hearing the production.
Here is a link. You can read the summary in print, and you can hear the longer broadcast version – which The Ear recommends — with the voices of the composer and others, by clicking on the big red button on the top left:
Do you know the opera “L’Amour de Loin”?
Have you seen or heard it already?
Whether you saw a previous Metropolitan Opera production or this one, let us know what you think of the opera as new music and a fetching love story. Will it “have legs” and survive long into the future?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Arts, baritone, bass, Broadcast, choral music, Cirque du Soleil, Classical music, debut, Early music, English, ERIC OWENS, female, Finland, Finnish, France, French, Jacob Stockinger, Jaufre de Rudel, Jofre de Rudel, Kaija Saariaho, L'Amour de Loin", Lebanon, live broadcast, Live From The Met in HD, Madison, Marcus Theatres, Met, Metropolitan Opera, Music, New York City, New York Times, NPR, opera, Orchestra, Palace Cinema, Point Cinema, premiere, Radio, Robert Lepage, Sun Prairie, supertitles, surtitles, Susanna Malkki, Susanna Phillips, symphony, The New York Times, The Ring, troubedour, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, Wagner, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, woman, women, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | Ronnie on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Polly Kuelbs on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
| welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Ann Boyer on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 