The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Renowned organist Hector Olivera will play classics and also improvise spontaneously in Overture Hall on Tuesday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
At 7:30 p.m. on this Tuesday night, Feb. 11, in Overture Hall, the renowned Argentinian organist and composer Hector Olivera (below) will make his local debut on the Overture Concert Organ Series sponsored by the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
Olivera will perform on the Klais Overture Concert Organ (below)
All tickets are $20.
The program includes works by: Johann Sebastian Bach; Cesar Franck; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Astor Piazzolla; Louis Vierne; Marco Enrico Bossi; and William Ralph Driffill.
For the specific works on the program, plus information about buying tickets, biographical background and reviews of his past performances, go to: https://madisonsymphony.org/event/organ-hector-olivera/
Says Greg Zelek (below), the MSO organist and Juilliard School graduate who also organizes the organ concert series:
“Known as one of the most exciting organists of the 20th century, international concert organist Hector Olivera will entertain and exhilarate the audience with an unforgettable performance.
“Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mr. Olivera has performed all over the world and has had audiences leaping to their feet with applause for years.
“His debut performance at Overture Hall will feature organ classics like Vierne’s Carillon de Westminster, as well as transcriptions like “Oblivion” by another Argentine native, Astor Piazzolla.
“He will close the concert with an improvisation on a submitted theme that is sure to enthrall and amaze everyone in attendance.”
Want proof or a preview?
You can hear Olivera improvise on a traditional Chinese folk song, first sung to him, during a concert in Shenzhin, China, in the YouTube video below:
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Classical music: UW-Madison’s first countertenor Gerrod Pagenkopf returns to perform on Sunday night as a member of the acclaimed choral group Chanticleer. Here’s how he got from here to there. Part 1 of 2
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ALERT: Madison Symphony Orchestra organist Greg Zelek did not announce his encore after he received a standing ovation at the MSO concert Sunday afternoon. It was the final movement from the Organ Symphony No. 1 by Louis Vierne.
By Jacob Stockinger
This coming Sunday night, Oct. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the inaugural concert in the new Hamel Music Center’s main concert hall, the critically acclaimed a cappella singing group Chanticleer (below) will kick off the centennial anniversary celebration of the Concert Series at the Wisconsin Union Theater.
Tickets are $45 for the public; $40 for faculty staff and Union members; and $10 for students. For more information about the performers and the “Trade Winds” program, go to: https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/chanticleer/
Among the 12 members of the San-Francisco-based Chanticleer is Gerrod Pagenkopf, who is in his fifth year with the group as both a countertenor and the assistant music director. (You can hear Pagenkopf singing music by Henry Purcell in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For a biography of Gerrod Pagenkopf, go to: https://www.chanticleer.org/gerrod-pagenkopf
Pagenkopf (below) is a graduate of the UW-Madison. When he performed here as a student, his high, clear countertenor voice was a new experience and made those of us who heard him sit bolt upright and take notice. “He is going places,” we said to each other. And so he has.
But Pagenkopf’s story is not only about him. It is also about the rediscovery of countertenors, about the changing public acceptance of them, and about the challenges that young musicians often face in establishing a professional performing career. So today and tomorrow, The Ear is offering a longer-than-usual, two-part interview with Pagenkopf.
Here is Part 1:
When were you at the UW-Madison?
I was a student at the UW-Madison from the fall of 1997 until I graduated in May of 2002. Although I received a bachelor’s degree in music education, performing ended up being a huge part of my last few semesters.
Growing up in rural Wisconsin about 30 miles north of Green Bay, I always thought that if you liked music and were good at it, you were supposed to be a teacher. It wasn’t until I was a junior that my voice teacher, the late Ilona Kombrink, and I discovered that I had a viable solo voice. Although I received the music education degree, embarking on a solo career became more important to me.
What did you do and how well did your studies and performances here prepare you for the life of a professional musician?
I was very lucky to have ample opportunities for performing during my time at the UW. Singing in choirs was very important to me. For many years I sang in the Concert Choir under Beverly Taylor (below top) as well as in the Madrigal Singers under Bruce Gladstone (below bottom,, in a photo by Katrin Talbot). I think there was one semester where I sang in just about every auditioned choir.
Beverly Taylor also gave me a lot of solo opportunities in the large-scale works that the Choral Union performed: Bach’s “St. John” and “St. Matthew” Passions, and Handel’s “Israel in Egypt.” For a 23-year-old to have those masterworks, along with the B Minor Mass and “Messiah,” on his resume was very impressive.
I was also lucky enough to perform with University Opera, singing in the chorus at first, but then singing a solo role in Handel’s “Xerxes” my final semester, and then returning as an alumni artist to sing Public Opinion in Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld” and several years later Polinesso in Handel’s “Ariodante.” Director Bill Farlow took a lot of chances on my young, “raw” countertenor voice and gave me several opportunities to succeed.
I should also note the importance of the guidance and mentorship of Professor Mimmi Fulmer (below, performing at Frank Loyd Wright’s Hillside Theater at Taliesin in Spring Green) after I graduated from UW. She afforded me the opportunity to sing in recital with her numerous times — usually Brahms and Mendelssohn duets. But she also was a catalyst in bringing me back to Madison several years later to sing with the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble. Our continued relationship is actually the primary reason Chanticleer is singing in Madison this fall.
How do you feel about returning to perform at your alma mater with Chanticleer?
I’m over the moon about it. It still feels like a dream that I’m singing in Chanticleer. To be able to bring a group that I’m so proud to be a part of back to Madison feels like a great personal triumph. And to be the opening performance in the new Hamel Center (below) is such an honor!
Throughout my studies at UW-Madison, I was torn between the solo performance track and the choral career. I managed to straddle both, but my dream was always to make ensemble singing my career. Way back in the early 2000s, I heard Chanticleer sing at Luther Memorial Church, and I thought, “That’s what I want to do!”
I went down several other paths since that concert — mostly in the realm of solo, operatic singing — but it’s incredibly rewarding to be able to say I achieved my dream, and I’m coming back to place where the seed of that dream was planted almost 20 years ago.
Tomorrow: How countertenors re-emerged and were treated, the “Trade Winds” program and Pagenkopf’s future plans
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Classical music: Bach Around the Clock marks Johann Sebastian’s 334th birthday next Saturday with a FREE 12-hour celebration. Here is the full schedule. Plus, Parry Karp plays all-French cello music on Thursday night
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ALERT: This coming Thursday night, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, UW-Madison cellist Parry Karp, of the Pro Arte Quartet, will perform a FREE all-French recital with longtime piano partner Eli Kalman of the UW-Oshkosh. The program includes the Cello Sonata by Claude Debussy; the Cello Sonata by Albéric Magnard; “Granada” from “Foreign Evenings” by Louis Vierne; and Cello Sonata No. 1 by Camille Saint-Saens. For more information, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/faculty-recital-parry-karp-cello-and-eli-kalman-piano-2/
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By Jacob Stockinger
The event is coming a couple of weeks earlier than the actual birthday on March 21.
But next Saturday, March 2, from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m., the annual Bach Around the Clock will celebrate the 334th birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).
At 10 p.m., there will even be a birthday cake for the birthday boy and for those who are still there celebrating the Big Bang of classical music.
The FREE informal event – complete with interviews, snacks and beverages – will take place at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church (below) at 1833 Regent Street on Madison’s near west side close to Randall Elementary School.
How do you like your Bach?
Sung? Played on instruments?
As originally scored? As arranged and transcribed?
Played by students? By adult amateurs? Or by professionals?
Whatever you are looking for and love to hear, chances are good you will find it on the schedule. There will be all of the above, and more. There will be cantatas and concertos, suites and sonatas, preludes and fugues. (You can hear the instantly recognizable and frequently played Prelude No. 1 in C Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The whole event will be streamed live locally and beyond.
To get an idea of what will happen from previous events, go to the previous blog post, which has a lot of photos, or use this blog’s search engine:
For more information, here is a link to the home website that has both the full schedule and a link for streaming as well as other information about free parking as well as how to participate in and support the event.
Here is the specific link to the full schedule, with names of performers and pieces:
https://bachclock.com/concert-schedule/
Take a look. Do you have any suggestions or recommendations about what others should attend and listen to? Leave a COMMENT if you want.
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical Music: The Chicago Gargoyle Brass and Organ Ensemble will take Madison listeners on a FREE concert of ‘Imaginary Journeys’ TONIGHT at 7 p.m.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement for a concert that sounds in keeping with the spirit of Halloween:
The Chicago Gargoyle Brass and Organ Ensemble (below, in a photo by Thomas Mohr) will lead listeners on aural adventures through space, time and fantasy at its “Imaginary Journeys” concert TONIGHT, Oct. 27.
The concert is FREE and open to the public, and will take place at 7 p.m. at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 5701 Raymond Road, in Madison.
For more information, call (608) 271-6633 or visit www.gslcwi.com or gargoylebrass.com.
The professional ensemble of brass quintet and pipe organ, with percussion, will perform the Madison premieres of new works and arrangements it recently commissioned for its novel array of instruments.
The concert’s namesake work, “Imaginary Journeys,” was written for the ensemble by Chicago-area composer Mark Lathan. It takes listeners on a rocket-powered interstellar adventure, inspired by recent astronomical discoveries.
“For this piece,” Lathan says, “I wanted to bring in some drama, somewhat in the manner of a film score.” Lathan earned a doctorate in music from the University of California at Los Angeles, where he received the Henry Mancini Award in Film Composition and studied film scoring with Jerry Goldsmith.
Another Madison premiere is Craig Garner’s brass-and-organ arrangement of Igor Stravinsky’s ever-popular Suite from “The Firebird,” a ballet based on Russian fairy tales. “The audience will hear an all-time favorite orchestral work like it’s never been heard before,” says Rodney Holmes, founder and artistic director of the Chicago Gargoyle Brass and Organ Ensemble.
Concertgoers will also hear the first local performances of “Short Fuse” for brass, organ and percussion by Chris Reyman (below), a jazz performance specialist teaching at the University of Texas at El Paso. Holmes says, “This piece shows off a very different face of what a pipe organ and brass can do.”
Other first hearings include Garner’s two-part instrumental suite from English Baroque composer Henry Purcell’s “Come Ye Sons of Art.”
The concert’s journey into the Baroque era includes brass and organ arrangements of movements from Johann Sebastian Bach’s chorale cantata “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God), BWV 80.
The concert’s imaginative works include “Earthscape” by David Marlatt (below, and heard in the YouTube video at the bottom) as well as pipe-organ versions of “Clair de lune” (Moonlight) by Claude Debussy and Louis Vierne.
Performers will include Madison-based organist Jared Stellmacher (below), an award-winning musician heard on the Chicago Gargoyle Brass and Organ Ensemble’s critically acclaimed 2015 debut CD “Flourishes, Tales and Symphonies.” He holds a master’s degree in music from Yale University.
Gargoyle ensemble players are trumpeters Lev Garbar and Andrew Hunter, horn player Amy Krueger, trombonist Ian Fitzwater, tuba player Jason Lyons, and percussionist Logan Fox. Conductor will be Jakob Noestvik.
About the Chicago Gargoyle Brass and Organ Ensemble
“The Chicago Gargoyle Brass and Organ Ensemble plays with warmth, elegance, and panache,” said U.S. music magazine Fanfare in a review of the ensemble’s debut CD. “[They] are perfect companions for the music lover in need of calming nourishment.”
The group takes its whimsical name from the stone figures atop gothic buildings at the University of the Chicago, where the now-professional ensemble got its start in 1992 as a brass quintet of faculty and students.
Under its founder and artistic director Rodney Holmes, it has evolved over the decades into an independent organization of classically trained musicians that focuses on commissioning and performing groundbreaking new works and arrangements for brass and pipe organ. More information can be found at gargoylebrass.com.
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Classical music: We should hear more encores, especially at outstanding chamber music concerts. Plus, a FREE Farmer’s Market organ recital is this Saturday at 11 a.m.
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ALERT: This Saturday at 11 a.m. in Overture Hall of the Overture Center, the Madison Symphony Orchestra will offer another FREE Farmers Market Organ Concert. The program, which runs 45 minutes, features music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, Charles-Marie Widor and Louis Vierne. The organist is the prize-winning Madison native Adrian Binkley.
By Jacob Stockinger
Two weeks ago, the Willy Street Chamber Players gave The Ear yet another reason to like them and be a fan.
After the season-ending program of Schubert, Osvaldo Golijov and Mozart was over, while the audience was cheering, standing and applauding loudly, two members of the young chamber music group played an encore.
The encore was “Julie-O” by Mark Summer. It was written for one cellist, as you can hear in a performance by the composer in the YouTube video at the bottom.
But this time it was performed by the two cellists of The Willys — Lindsey Crabb and Mark Bridges (below).
They agreed to play an encore only reluctantly – after some prodding by other members of The Willys, by guest clarinetist Michael Maccaferri (of the Grammy-winning group eighth blackbird) and, of course, by the audience.
But there shouldn’t have been any reluctance.
The Ear thinks we hear too few encores after so much memorable music-making.
Certain student recitals at the UW-Madison come immediately to mind. It sometimes seems that the protocol of student recitals prohibits encores, but The Ear has been told by faculty members that such is not the case.
What also comes to mind is the lack of encores at chamber music concerts by larger ensembles – piano trios, string quartets and piano or string quintets and sextets.
And rarely do you hear encores at the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra or Madison Opera except when they are played by concerto soloists.
But why not?
The Ear recalls that several years ago the Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez, performing the aria with notoriously difficult nine high C’s in the aria “Ah! Mes amis” from Donizetti’s opera “La Fille du Regiment,” then quickly repeated the same passage to frenzied approval.
What are encores but a way of saying: “You liked me, so now I like you.”
Encores are not immodest bragging. They are a reward, a gift, a way for the performer to say thank you to the audience for its attention and appreciation.
Maybe every individual or group should have some kind of encore in the back pocket and ready to go. It could be a short movement or even a section of a movement, perhaps a coda or finale.
It seems to The Ear that many instrumentalists, especially pianists who have such a rich repertory, would do well to have four encores ready: one fast and one slow, one loud and one soft.
That way, the encore can underscore — by either complementarity or contrast — the piece or pieces that preceded it and called for it.
Have you ever wanted to hear an encore and been frustrated?
What do musicians themselves say about playing encores?
Are there unwritten guidelines or an unstated protocol about when to play encores?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Acclaimed organist Ahreum Han Congdon returns to conclude the Overture Concert Organ season Tuesday night. Plus, the percussion ensemble Clocks in Motion performs a FREE and STREAMED LIVE concert Sunday afternoon at the Chazen Museum of Art and the UW-Madison’s Wingra Woodwind Quintet performs a FREE all-French program tomorrow night at 7
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ALERT 1: Tomorrow, starting at 12:30 p.m., this month’s Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen will feature the Madison-based percussion group Clocks in Motion. The FREE concert in Brittingham Gallery 3 will also be streamed live. Here is a link with information about the complete program and a link to the streaming web site:
ALERT 2: Tomorrow night, on Sunday at 7 p.m. in Morphy Recital Hall, the UW-Madison‘s Wingra Wind Quintet will perform a FREE concert of modern and contemporary French music. For more information, here is a link:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/wingra-quintet-spring-faculty-concert/
By Jacob Stockinger
Ahreum Han Congdon (below), a critically acclaimed organist, will mark the end of the current Overture Concert Organ season with a recital on this Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Overture Hall of the Overture Center, 201 State Street.
Han Congdon, a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Yale University, thrilled the audience in her Madison debut performance during the 2014 Dane County Farmers’ Market concert.
Now she returns for a full solo recital on the colossal Klais concert organ in a program of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jacques Offenbach, Louis Vierne, Max Reger and others.
Here is the complete program, which concludes the current season of organ concerts sponsored by the Madison Symphony Orchestra:
Charles-Marie Widor. Symphony V in F Minor, Op. 42, No. 1. I. Allegro Vivace
Johann Sebastian Bach. Concerto in A Minor, BWV 593 I. Untitled II. Adagio III. Allegro
Sigfrid Karg-Elert. Valse Mignonne, Op. 142, No. 2
Louis Vierne. Clair de Lune, Op. 53, No. 5
Jacques Offenbach. Orpheus in the Underworld. Transcribed by Ahreum Han Congdon
Johannes Matthias Michel. Organ, Timbrel and Dance: Three Jazz Organ Preludes I. Swing Five (Erhalt uns, Herr) II. Bossa Nova (Wunderbarer König) III. Afro-Cuban (In dir ist Freude)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Andante in F Major, K. 616
Max Reger. Chorale Fantasy on J.S. Bach’s Sleepers Awake, A Voice is Calling, Op. 52, No. 2 (You can hear it in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
Han Congdon has appeared in recital on many of the world’s major organs in addition to solo performances at national and regional conventions for the American Guild of Organists.
General admission for the concert is $20 and tickets can be purchased at www.madisonsymphony.org/han, the Overture Box Office or (608) 258-4141.
Student rush tickets are $10 day of show with a valid student ID (see http://www.madisonsymphony.org/studentrush).
Support for all Overture Concert Organ programs is provided by the Diane Endres Ballweg Fund.
With a gift from Pleasant T. Rowland, the Madison Symphony Orchestra commissioned from famous Klais Organ Works in Germany the Overture Concert Organ (below), which is the stunning backdrop of all MSO concerts.
For more Overture Concert Organ information, visit http://www.madisonsymphony.org/organseason
Tags: American Guild of Organists, Arts, Bach, Baroque, bossa nova, Chazen Museum of Art, Chorale, Clair de Lune, Classical music, Clocks in Motion, concerto, Connecticut, Curtis Institute of Music, Dane County Farmers' Market, fantasy, France, French music, Jacob Stockinger, Jacques Offenbach, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Mathias Michel, Louis Vierne, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Max Reger, Mozart, Music, New Haven, New York City, Orchestra, organ, Orpheus in the Underworld, Overture Center, percussion, Sigfrid Karg-Elert, Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen, swing, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, valse, Waltz, Widor, Wind, Wingra Wind Quintet, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, woodwind, Yale University, YouTube
Classical music: Rising star Isabelle Demers opens the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Overture Concert Organ season this coming Tuesday.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The acclaimed Canadian organist Isabelle Demers (below) will open the 11th Overture Concert Organ series for the Madison Symphony Orchestra with an unusual recital this coming Tuesday night, Oct. 6.
The concert, which includes her own transcriptions of orchestral works, is at 7:30 p.m. in Overture Hall of the Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State Street.
In addition to performing works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Sergei Prokofiev, Henry Martin, Max Reger, George Thalben-Ball and Louis Vierne, Demers in her Madison debut will also perform sections of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s famous orchestral work Scheherazade, which she has transcribed for the organ.
For the specific works on the program, go to: http://www.madisonsymphony.org/demers
Demers (below), who was recently appointed Professor of Organ and head of the Organ Department at Baylor University, has established herself as one of North America’s most virtuosic organists, and is also renowned worldwide as a brilliant performer who consistently enraptures audiences.
She has released recordings including works by Max Reger and Rachel Laurin, which have been praised as “profound and searching” and “superbly produced.” (You can hear Isabelle Demers perform a dramatic work by Rachel Laurin in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
General admission for the concert is $20 and tickets can be purchased at www.madisonsymphony.org/demers, the Overture Box Office or (608) 258-4141.
Student rush tickets are $10 day of show with a valid student ID (see http://www.madisonsymphony.org/studentrush.
This performance is sponsored by the Skofronick Family Charitable Trust. Support for all Overture Concert Organ programs is provided by the Diane Endres Ballweg Fund. With a gift from Pleasant T. Rowland, the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) commissioned the Klais custom-built Overture Concert Organ (below), which is the stunning backdrop of all MSO concerts.
To see the Overture Concert Organ series of concerts for 2015-16 or to subscribe at a 25 percent savings, visit: www.madisonsymphony.org/organseason15-16 or call (608) 257-3734.
Tags: American Guild of Organists, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Baylor University, Classical music, concert organ, concerto, George Thalben-Ball, Henry Martin, Isabelle Demers, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Klais Orgelbau, Louis Vierne, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Max Reger, Music, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Orchestra, Overture Center, Rachel Laurin, Scheherazade, Sergei Prokofiev, transcription, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, YouTube
Classical music: This Saturday morning is the second of this summer’s three FREE Dane County Farmers’ Market organ concerts at 11 a.m. in Overture Hall by the Madison Symphony Orchestra. It marks the Madison debut of guest organist Ahreum Han. Plus, tonight at 7 p.m. violinist and concertmaster Suzanne Beia solos in classical repertoire in the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra’s FREE Concert on the Square.
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ALERT: Here is a reminder that tonight, Wednesday, July 16, at 7 p.m., the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra under conductor Andrew Sewell will perform the most classical Concert on the Square of this summer season. For the program “A Little Night Music,” the guest soloist will be WCO Concertmaster violinist Suzanne Beia (below), an accomplished and always busy musician who also plays in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Pro Arte Quartet.
The concert is on the King Street corner of the Capitol Square, and blankets may be placed on the lawn at 3 p.m.. It is road construction season, so remember to allow plenty of time for travel. It will be cooler than normal too, so bring something warm as to wear as the sun sets.
Click here for Suzanne Beia’s biography:
http://wcoconcerts.org/about-wco/musicians/suzanne-beia-concertmaster/
The program includes: The first movement from “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; the first movement from the Violin Concerto in E Minor by Felix Mendelssohn; the first movement from the Symphony No. 6 “Pastorale” by Ludwig van Beethoven; and the third movement from the Symphony No. 6 “Pathetique” by Peter Tchaikovsky.
By Jacob Stockinger
This won’t take long.
The Ear just wants to remind you about a FREE 45-minute organ concert by prize-winning Korean-American organist Ahreum Han (below), a graduate of the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, that will take place this Saturday, July 19, at 11 a.m. in Overture Hall at Overture Center for the Arts.
Here is the press release:
“Step into the cool expanse of Overture Hall on Saturday, July 19, during the Dane County Farmers’ Market (below top) on the Capitol Square to enjoy the gift of beautiful music with the Madison Symphony Orchestra‘s Overture Concert Organ (below bottom) that was custom-built by Klais Organ Works in Bonn, Germany.
“Bring your family and friends for a relaxing 45-minute concert. No tickets or reservations are needed and all ages are welcome!”
Here is more information and a detailed program from the MSO website:
THE PROGRAM
Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), transcribed by Ahreum Han, “Overture to Orphée aux enfers” (Orpheus in the Underworld); Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Sinfonia from Cantata 29; Johannes Matthias Michel (b.1962), Three Jazz Preludes, I. Swing Five (Erhalt uns, Herr); II. Bossa Nova (Wunderbarer König); III. Afro-Cuban (In dir ist Freude); Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) “My Heart at Thy Sweet Voice” from “Samson and Delilah”; Louis Vierne (1870-1937), Naïdes from Fantasy Pieces, Op. 55, No. 4, and the Finale from his Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 59.
The program and artist subject to change.
For a full and very impressive biography of Han, who now lives and works in Davenport, Iowa, here is a link to the MSO website:
http://www.madisonsymphony.org/farmershan
And here is a YouTube video of Ahreum Han performing another work, the opening of Organ Symphony No. 3 by Louis Vierne, at the Curtis Institute of Music:
Tags: Arts, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Bonn, Classical music, concertmaster, concerto, Curtis Institute of Music, Dane County Farmers' Market, Davenport, Eine Kleine Nacht Musik, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Felix Mendelssohn, Iowa, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Klais, Klais Orgelbau, Louis Vierne, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Music, Offenbach, organ, organ symphony, Overture Center, Overture Hall, Pastorale, Peter Tchaikovsky, Philadelphia, Pro Arte Quartet, symphony, Tchaikovsky, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vierne, Violin, Violin concerto, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: The Madison Youth Choirs and the Overture Concert Organ will join forces in a varied concert Saturday night in Overture Hall.
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By Jacob Stockinger
On this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in Overture Hall in the Overture Center, the Madison Youth Choirs (below top) will join forces with Samuel Hutchison (below bottom), the organist and curator for the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
The vocal talents of the choirs will blend with the beautiful custom-built Klais Organ (below).
Hutchison will perform both solo and collaborative works, displaying the diverse repertoire at the hands of the modern organist.
Early pieces from the Baroque period will share the program with works by living composers. In all, the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Louis Vierne, Herbert Howells (below and at the bottom where you will find a YouTube video of his “Sarabande” for Easter Morning), Francis Poulenc, Jean Langlais and John Rutter will be performed.
Single tickets are $20, and a $10 student rush will be offered on the day of the performance.
Here is a link to more information, including the specific works on the extensive program and how to join the choirs:
http://www.madisonsymphony.org/youthchoirs
The Madison Youth Choirs, under the direction of Michael Ross (below), are no strangers to Overture Hall. In December, the ensemble performed in the three sold-out Madison Symphony Christmas concerts.
Conductor John DeMain (below, in a photo by Prasad) said he is excited about the upcoming performance: “I can never say enough about the good work that Michael Ross is doing with the Madison Youth Choirs. They are an essential and beloved part of our Christmas concerts.”
Here is a link to the Madison Youth Choirs, which are celebrating their 10th anniversary and many members of which will travel -– by invitation only — to the Aberdeen International Youth Festival, in Scotland, this summer. (Below is a photo of the Opening Ceremony of the festival.)
http://www.madisonyouthchoirs.org
This organ and choir concert is sponsored by the Friends of the Overture Concert Organ and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation.
Tags: Aberdeen International Youth Festival, Arts, Bach, Baroque, boy choir, choral music, Christmas, Classical music, Concert, concert organ, dance, Francis Poulenc, girl choir, Herbert Howells, Howells, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Langlais, Johann Sebastian Bach, John DeMain, John Rutter, Klais, Klais Orgelbau, Langlais, Louis Vierne, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Youth Choirs, mixed choir, Music education, Orchestra, organ, Overture Center, Poulenc, Rutter, sarabande, Vierne, youth choir, youth choirs, YouTube
Classical music: Acclaimed organist Janette Fishell plays music by J.S. Bach and other Romantic and modern composers in her Madison and Overture Hall debut this Friday night.
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By Jacob Stockinger
If you thought that the Madison Symphony Orchestra only programmed orchestral music, you would be very wrong.
The MSO also programs chamber music, such as string quartets, and even organ recitals on the Overture Concert Organ.
Take this Friday night, for instance.
Here is how a press release from the MSO puts it:
“How many concerts does it take to play the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach (below)?
Internationally renowned organist Janette Fishell (below) found out that 21 was the magic number when she performed the complete cycle of Bach’s organ music.
Now she will bring some of this magic to Madison.
The third installment of the 2013-14 Madison Symphony Orchestra Overture Concert Organ series will feature Fishell, an internationally renowned organist, as she makes her Overture Hall debut in a recital this Friday night, March 21, 2014, at 7:30 p.m. at the Overture Center.
Single tickets are $20, and a special $10 student rush will be offered on the day of the performance.
The program, entitled “Bach and Beyond,” will include organ music composed as far back as the early 1700s, and as recently as 1976, displaying the wonderfully diverse repertoire at the hands of the modern organist. (Below is photo of the beautiful, custom-built Klais concert organ in Overture Hall.)
Three pieces by J.S. Bach are included on the program: the Prelude and Fugue in G minor, BWV 535; selections from the Sonata for Unaccompanied Violin, BWV 1001; and the Prelude and Fugue in E-Flat Major, BWV 552 (you can hear it at the bottom in a YouTube video). The works will exhibit the Baroque style in which the organ, on which Bach was a master, flourished.
Fishell will then move on to three works composed in the late 1800s or later: Ethyl Smyth’s “O Trauerigkeit, O Herzeleid”; Lionel Rogg’s Partita sopra “Nun Freut Euch”; and Louis Vierne’s Organ Symphony No. 3 in F-sharp minor, Op. 28. The works will display the intriguing evolution of organ music in recent centuries.
Janettte Fishell has been described as “…a tour de force” (The Diapason) and “…fabulous…flawless!” (comments from a National Convention of the American Guild of Organists). She is a seasoned recitalist, having performed in many of the world’s greatest concert venues in Tokyo, Cambridge, Berlin, Budapest and Prague.
She has been featured at five national conventions and five regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists, and is professor of music and chair of the organ department at the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
The concert is sponsored by John and Christine Gauder, with additional funds from Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation and the Diane Endres Ballweg Fund.
Tags: American Guild of Organists, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Berlin, bridge, Budapest, Ca, Cambridge, Chamber music, Classical music, Early music, Ethyl Smyth, fugue, Indiana University, J.S. Bach, Jacob Stockinger, Jacobs School of Music, Janette Fishell, Johann Sebastian Bach, Klais, Klais Orgelbau, Lionel Rogg, Louis Vierne, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music, organ, organ symphony, Overture Center, partita, Prague, Prelude, recital, Sonata, symphony, Tokyo, YouTube
The Well-Tempered Ear 