The Well-Tempered Ear
Just Bach will release its FREE online concert for this month on this Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 8 a.m. The program features a virtuosic violin and harpsichord sonata and a sing-along cantata chorale
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement to post from violist Marika Fischer Hoyt of the group Just Bach:
February greetings from Just Bach!
We hope this finds you all well, keeping warm and ready to experience more of the timeless beauty of Bach’s music.
As regular performers on Luther Memorial Church’s weekly “Music at Midday” concert series (below, in a photo by Barry Lewis), Just Bach presents half-hour programs on the third Wednesday of each month. This semester’s dates: Jan. 20, Feb. 17, March 17, April 21 and May 19.
Our concerts are FREE and online indefinitely once they are released at 8 a.m. They are posted on the Just Bach and Luther Memorial YouTube Channels.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcyVFEVsJwklHAx9riqSkXQ
Concert viewers are invited to a 30-minute live Zoom Post-concert reception on this Wednesday, Feb. 17,at 7:30 p.m. Those who would like to join us and chat with the performers can follow this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84516271617?pwd=THR5bTFwRkh0VTBIWDlzR2VxSGIrUT09
Viewing the concerts is free, but we ask those who are able, to help us pay our musicians with a tax-deductible donation. https://justbach.org/donate/
Our February concert opens with Just Bach co-founder, Grammy-nominated soprano and UW-Madison graduate student Sarah Brailey (below), providing welcoming remarks.
The program offers the sonata for that belongs to a set of six that Bach wrote for violin and harpsichord.
Violinist Kangwon Kim (below left, in a photo by Dave Parminter) and harpsichordist Professor John Chappell Stowe (below right), of the UW-Madison, join forces for a performance of the Sonata No. 6 in G Major, BWV 1019.
This five-movement work includes an extraordinary middle movement for solo keyboard — a jaunty Allegro in E minor that has more attitude than any Allegro has a right to!
Sarah closes the program with the final chorale from Cantata 159, “Jesu, deine Passion ist mir lauter Freude” (Jesus, Your passion is pure joy to me), which you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom.
We encourage viewers to sing along by following the chorale sheet music, which will be displayed on the computer screen as Sarah sings and Professor Stowe accompanies on the organ.
The videographer is Dave Parminter.
For more information, contact Marika Fischer Hoyt, a co-founder and performer, at the Just Bach Concert Series: justbach.marika@gmail.com
Here are more links, including a preview with the Allegro movement in the last one:
youtube.com/channel/UCcyVFEVsJwklHAx9riqSkXQ?
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Classical music: This Saturday night brings concerts by the Festival Choir of Madison and a harpsichord rededication recital by Trevor Stephenson
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received announcements for the following two events that will place on Saturday night:
FESTIVAL CHOIR OF MADISON
The Festival Choir of Madison (below) will present the first concert of the season — “Angels and Demons” — on this Saturday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Atrium auditorium of the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, in Madison.
The choir and artistic director, Edgewood College professor Sergei Pavlov (below), will take listeners on a Dante-inspired journey — from the Inferno in “The Divine Comedy” through Purgatory all the way to Paradise — as interpreted by composers Karl Jenkins, Zdenek Lukas, Gyorgy Orban, Alfred Schnittke, Joseph Rheinberger, Rodion Schedrin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Marteen Spruijt. (Sorry, but there has been no word on specific works to be performed.)
Guest pianist Kyle Johnson, organist Ted Reinke, percussionist James McKenzie and a string ensemble will accompany the choir throughout the journey.
Concert admission, with general seating, is $10 for students, $15 for senior citizens, and $20 for adults, with tickets available at the door the day of the concert. Tickets can also be purchased online at: https://www.festivalchoirmadison.org/concerts/2018/11/3/angels-and-demons
The Festival Choir of Madison is an auditioned, mixed-voice volunteer choir of over 50 experienced singers. It performs thematic concerts of artistically challenging choral music from around the world for listeners who enjoy traditional, modern and eclectic works, and for singers who enjoy developing their talents with others.
To learn more about the organization and see upcoming concerts, go to: www.festivalchoirmadison.org
HARPSICHORD AT IMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH
On this Saturday night, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1021 Spaight Street, there will be a harpsichord rededication celebration and concert.
The appearance and musicality of this renovated double-mansuel. French 18th-century instrument at Immanuel Lutheran have recently been restored and upgraded under the exceptional guidance and expertise of Trevor Stephenson (below bottom), artistic director and founder of the Madison Bach Musicians.
Immanuel is excited to share the instrument (below) with the Madison community by presenting Stephenson in a rededication harpsichord concert. (Composers on the program include Jean-Philippe Rameau, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel and Domenico Scarlatti. No program of specific works has been provided.)
A pre-concert interactive lecture discussing the instrument and rebuilding process will precede the concert starting at 6:30 p.m.
A freewill offering is appreciated at the concert.
A brief reception will follow, and all are welcome.
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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: The Oakwood Chamber Players open their new “Vignettes” season with concerts on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon
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A CORRECTION: The Ear wants to apologize for and correct an error he made in yesterday’s blog post. The correct time and address for the all-Schubert concert by the Mosaic Chamber Players is on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in the chapel of the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Avenue, near Camp Randall Stadium.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Oakwood Chamber Players (below) will begin their 2018-2019 season series “Vignettes” with concerts on Saturday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 16, at 2 p.m.
The concerts will both be held at the Oakwood Center for Arts and Education, 6209 Mineral Point Road, on Madison’s far west side near West Towne Mall.
Tickets can be purchased with cash or personal checks at the door: $25 for general admission, $20 for seniors 62 and over; and $5 students. Visit www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com or call (608) 230-4316 for more information for individual and season tickets.
Once again, the group will explore largely new or unknown composers and neglected music.
Each program of the 2018-19 series will focus on how composers create specific themes to tell stories, and represent emotions, places or characteristics to enhance the listening experience.
Central to the program is poetry and narration paired with music that will feature Boston-based guest soprano Mary Mackenzie (below). She has been described by The New York Times as “a soprano of extraordinary agility and concentration,” and the Boston Globe as “sensational.”
Mackenzie is a passionate performer of contemporary vocal music, and has appeared with the Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston, Collage New Music, the Da Capo Chamber Players, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, and The Knights.
American composer Byron Adams (below) was commissioned by renowned American clarinetist Yehuda Weiner to set Nightingales, a poem by British Victorian poet Robert Bridges, as a memorial to his brother. The composer chose a quartet of soprano, clarinet, cello and piano to evoke the breathtaking beauty of the natural world that is overlaid with a sense of loss and longing.
By contrast, the Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Jennifer Higdon (below, in a photo by Candace DiCarlo) set four poems that have titles that reference roses by James Whitcomb Riley for the combination of flute, soprano and piano.
Bentley Roses was written as a surprise tribute for the retirement of her former music teacher, Judith Bentley. The settings are sunny and accessible, the music weaves around the words with swirling energy, coy interactions, and graceful interplay.
The yearning Vocalise by conductor, composer and pianist Andre Previn conveys emotion using the voice without words as a chamber instrument. The combination of soprano, cello and piano carries the shifting harmonies and sinuous melodic line through a series of subtle yet powerful transformations. (You can hear Previn’s beautiful “Vocalise,” with soprano Barbara Bonney and the the composer at the piano, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
A second piece by Previn (below) piece puts the cello and soprano in conversation with his setting of Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Toni Morrison’s poem Stones.
American film composer and bassoonist Charles Fernandez (below) wrote Quatuor Parisienne (Parisian Quartet) for flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon. It consists of three movements: a tongue-in-cheek march; a gracefully flowing reflection: and a farcical musical conversation with a dash of merriment.
Budapest-based clarinetist and composer Endre Szervanszky (below) wrote his Quintet No. 1 in 1953. Audiences will hear some characteristics similar to the writing of Kodaly and Bartok. It is a pleasing four-movement work that shows his strong understanding of each of the instruments, demanding both melodic expressiveness and technical panache.
The program concludes with poetry by British writer Roald Dahl, known for his darkly humorous children’s stories. Composer Martin Butler (below, in a photo by Katie Vandyck) incorporated The Pig, The Tummy Beast, and The Crocodile into his piece Dirty Beasts for narrator, piano and woodwind quintet. Butler mirrors the acerbic wit of the text with clever effects, closing out the program with some unexpected twists and turns.
Guest performers are soprano Mary Mackenzie, pianist Joseph Ross (below top) and oboist Laura Medisky (below bottom).
They join Oakwood Chamber Players members Marilyn Chohaney, flute; Nancy Mackenzie, clarinet; Amanda Szczys, bassoon; Anne Aley, horn; and Maggie Darby Townsend, cello.
This is the first of five concerts in the Oakwood Chamber Players’ 2018-19 season series entitled Vignettes. Remaining concerts will take place on Nov. 24 and 25; Jan. 12 and 13; March 2 and 3; and May 18 and 19. For more information about the Oakwood Chamber Players and their new season, go to: https://www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com
The Oakwood Chamber Players are a group of Madison-area professional musicians who play with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and have rehearsed and performed at Oakwood Village for over 30 years.
The Oakwood Chamber Players are a professional music ensemble proudly supported by Oakwood Lutheran Senior Ministries and the Oakwood Foundation.
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Classical music: The Willy Street Chamber Players conclude this summer season on such a high note that one already hungers for next summer
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By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT-FM 89.9 FM. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison.
By John W. Barker
At Immanuel Lutheran Church last Friday night, the Willy Street Chamber Players ended the 2018 summer season – their fourth — with a concert full of fascinating variety.
Four works were performed, each introduced by one of the players. Personnel shifted according to the scorings.
To begin, a core group of the organization (below, from left) — violinists Eleanor Bartsch and Paran Amirinazari, cellists Lindsay Crabb and Mark Bridges, and violist Beth Larson — played Luigi Boccherini’s Cello Quintet in C major (G. 324), which has the Italian title translatable as “Night Music of the Streets of Madrid.” (The piece, which has military or martial aspects to it, was featured in the soundtrack to the popular film “Master and Commander,” which you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Typical of the composer’s prolific writing for string quintets, it is unique in offering in its seven movements a dusk-to-dawn evocation of Madrid’s street life in Boccherini’s day. This delightful work was performed with relish.
Next came a contemporary work by American composer Andrew Norman (below top). Written in his 20s, Night Screens (2002),for flute and string quartet, is a playful work inspired by the asymmetrical stained glass windows designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
The music is quite tonal, but very episodic in its succession of tempos and rhythms. For this work, Amirinazari, Larson and Crabb were joined by a friend of the composer, flutist Timothy Hagen (below), now a faculty member of the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
Rarely heard in concert, but a really fascinating novelty is Sergei Prokofiev’s Overture on Hebrew Themes, Op. 34. This was composed in 1919, during the composer’s stay in the U.S. It is based on two melodies whose actual Jewish origins are in doubt, but their juxtaposition and elaboration are fascinating to follow.
The colorful scoring is for clarinet, piano, and string quartet, so this drew other guest artists, Alicia Lee (below top) also of the UW faculty, and pianist Thomas Kasdorf (below bottom) to join Bartsch, Amirinazari, Larson and Bridges.
Finally came a rare opportunity to encounter Johann Strauss II collaborating with Arnold Schoenberg, or rather vice-versa. For a fund-raising concert on behalf of his radical atonal ensemble in Vienna in 1925, Schoenberg made a chamber arrangement of the great waltz master’s Kaiser-Walzer or “Emperor Waltz.”
He scored it for flute, clarinet, piano and string quartet — perfectly allowing seven of the eight performers (less Crabb) to offer a triumphant grand finale. Even in such a lean and reduced format, Schoenberg faithfully conveyed Strauss’s melodic genius, and brought the large audience enthusiastically to its feet.
The Willys continue to match great enterprise in programming with superb artistry in playing, all in a summer season that leaves us hungering for the next one.
Tags: #AliciaLee, #AmericanComposer, #AmericanRecordGuide, #AndrewNorman, #ArnoldSchoenberg, #AtonalMusic, #BethLarson, #BlogPosting, #CelloQuintet, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianReligion, #ContemporaryComposer, #ContemporaryMusic, #EleanorBartsch, #EmeritusProfessor, #FacultyMember, #FilmMusic, #FilmScore, #FilmSoundtrack, #FluteMusic, #FrankLloydWright, #Fridaynight, #GrandFinale, #ImmanuelLutheranChurch, #IsthmusNewspaper, #JohannStrauss, #JohnW.Barker, #LindsayCrabb, #LivingComposer, #LuigiBoccherini, #LutheranChurch, #LutheranReligion, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadridSpain, #MarkBridges, #MartialMusic, #MasterandCommander, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MedievalHistory, #MilitaryMusic, #MovieMusic, #MovieScore, #MovieSoundtrack, #MusicReview, #NewMusic, #NightMusic, #OvertureonHebrewThemes, #ParanAmirinazari, #PianoMusic, #RadioHost, #RadioShow, #RussellCrowe, #SergeiProkofiev, #StainedGlass, #StreetLife, #StringQuartet, #StringQuintet, #SummerSeason, #TheWillys, #ThomasKasdorf, #TimothyHagen, #TonalMusic, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViennaAustria, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubevideo, American, American Record Guide, Andrew Norman, architect, artistry, asymmetrical, atonal, audience, Austria, Beth Larson, blog, Boccherini, cellist, Cello, clarinet, clarinetist, classicalmusic, Concert, critic, dawn, delightful, dusk, Early music, earlymusic, elaboration, Eleanor Bartsch, emeritus, Emperor, episode, episodic, faculty, fascinating, feet, film, flute, flutist, format, Frank Lloyd Wright, Friday, friend, genius, guest, Hebrew, History, Immanuel Lutheran Church, inspiration, inspired, Isthmus, Italian, Jewish, John W. Barker, juxtaposition, lecture, Lindsay Crabb, Luigi Boccherini, Madison Early Music Festival, Madrid, Mark Bridges, martial, Master and Commander, Medieval, melodic, melody, member, MEMF, military, movie, Music, Music of Spain, New Music, night, night music, novelty, origin, Overture, Paran Amirinazari, perform, Piano, playful, playing, popular, post, posting, professor, programming, Prokofiev, prolific, quintet, relish, review, rhythm, Russell Crowe, score, Sergei Prokofiev, soundtrack, Spain, stained glass, street, String quartet, summer, superb, Tempo, The Willys, theme, tonal, translate, triumphant, U.S., United States, variety, video, Vienna, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, Waltz, Willy Street Chamber Players, window, work, WORT-FM 89.9, Writer
Classical music: The Mendota Consort gives a FREE performance of motets by Johann Schein in Madison this Saturday night. Performances in Eau Claire and Milwaukee are tonight and Friday night
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ALERT: The superb Willy Street Chamber Players are back from a week of free and Community Connect concerts. They resume their regular summer series this Friday at 6 p.m. in Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1021 Spaight Street. The guest artist is UW-Madison saxophonist Les Thimmig who will play six arias from the opera “Porgy and Bess” by George Gershwin. A rarely heard String Quintet by Alexander Glazunov ends the program. Tickets are $15.
The last concert is next Friday, July 27, and features flute, clarinet and piano soloists in music by Luigi Boccherini, Sergei Prokofiev, Andrew Norman and Johann Strauss/Arnold Schoenberg. For more information, go to:
http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has been asked to post the following announcement:
The early music vocal ensemble The Mendota Consort (below) invites you to an evening of madrigals from Israelsbrünnlein, a collection by the 17th-century composer Johann Schein. (Editor’s note: You can hear an excerpt in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Vocalists who are dedicated to Renaissance polyphony, The Mendota Consort will present a story of ancient Israel though dramatic 1623 treatments by Schein (below) of sacred texts.
Admission is free with donations kindly accepted.
The Madison performance is this Saturday night, July 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Luther Memorial Church (below), 1021 University Ave.
Other performances are:
Tonight, Thursday, July 19, at 7:30 p.m. in Saint Edward’s Montessori School, 1129 Bellevue Ave., in Eau Claire.
Friday night, July 20, at 6:30 p.m. in the Cathedral Church of All Saints, 818 East Juneau Ave., in Milwaukee.
You can learn more and follow the group on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/TheMendotaConsort/
Tags: #AlexanderGlazunov, #AndrewNorman, #ArnoldSchoenberg, #CathedralChurchofAllSaints, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianReligion, #ClarinetMusic, #EauClaire, #FacebookPost, #FluteMusic, #FreeConcert, #GuestArtist, #HistoryofIsrael, #ImmanuelLutheranChurch, #JohannSchein, #JohannStrauss, #LesThimmig, #LuigiBoccherini, #LutheranChurch, #LutheranReformation, #LutheranReligion, #LutherMemorialChurch, #MartinLuther, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MontessoriSchool, #OperaAria, #PianoMusic, #PorgyandBess, #RenaissancePolyphony, #SacredTexts, #SaxophoneMusic, #SergeiProkofiev, #St.Edward, #StringMusic, #StringQuintet, #TheMendotaConsort, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalEnsemble, #YouTubevideo, aria, artist, Arts, Baroque, cathedral, choral music, church, clarinet, Classical music, community, composer, Concert, Early music, earlymusic, Eau Claire, Facebook, flute, free, georgegershwin, Gershwin, guest, Israel, Israelsbrünnlein, Johann Hermann Schein, Johann Schein, Madison, madrigal, Milwaukee, Montessori School, opera, Piano, polyphony, Porgy and Bess, Renaissance, sacred, saint, strings, summer, Wisconsin, Wiscosnin, YouTube
Classical music: You probably know Brahms, but who are Caroline Shaw, Colin Jacobsen and Michael Kelley? The Willy Street Chamber Players will show you this Friday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
The fourth annual concert series by the Willy Street Chamber Players (below) promises to be one of the high points of the summer season.
For more background about the Willys, go to:
Three concerts in July – at 6 p.m. on July 6, 20 and 27 in the Immanuel Lutheran Church (below) at 1021 Spaight Street on the near east side – are all inviting. (A subscription to all three is $40, while admission is $15 for each one separately.)
Each concert lasts about 60 to 90 minutes with no intermission.
That’s something The Ear really likes and would like to see copied by other groups and presenters. Such a format leaves you plenty of time to do other things to start the weekend – including enjoying the post-concert reception (below) with snacks the Willys obtain from east-side providers.
The opening concert seems especially promising to The Ear.
That is because so far the Willys have had a knack for programming new music that The Ear really likes.
This time is no different.
Along with the regular members, who rotate in and out, a guest singer, mezzo-soprano Jazimina MacNeil (below), who sang a new work by John Harbison with the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte String Quartet this past winter, will team up to present new works.
The three contemporary composers and their works are: “Cant voi l’aube (composed in 2015 and heard in the YouTube video at the bottom) by Caroline Shaw (below top), a composer whose work the Willys have performed before with great success; “For Sixty Cents” (2015) by Colin Jacobsen (below middle, in a photo by Erin Baiano); and “Five Animal Stories” for string sextet and “Ashug” (2018) by Michael Kelley (below bottom).
Then to leaven newness with something more classic and familiar, the concert will close with the String Quintet No. 2, Op. 111, by Johannes Brahms. (The Willys have been working their way through the string quintets and sextets of Brahms with terrific performances.)
Other concerts will include:
On July 20, six arias from the opera “Porgy and Bess” by George Gershwin as transcribed and played by UW-Madison soprano saxophonist Les Thimmig (below) and the rarely performed String Quintet in A Major, Op. 39, by the Russian composer Alexander Glazunov ;
And on July 27, a program featuring wind music that includes “Night Music in the Streets of Madrid,” Op. 30, No. 6, by Luigi Boccherini; the Overture on Hebrew Themes by Sergei Prokofiev “Light Screens” (2002) by Andrew Norman (below); and the Kaiser Waltzes of Johann Strauss II, as arranged by Arnold Schoenberg.
The three local soloists for the final concert are: flutist Timothy Hagen (below top) and clarinetist Alicia Lee (below middle), who both teach at the UW-Madison and are members of the Wingra Wind Quintet, and pianist Thomas Kasdorf, who is finishing his doctorate at the UW-Madison and has often soloed with the Middleton Community Orchestra.
For more information about the Willy Street Chamber players—including a FREE community concert at the Goodman Community Center on Friday, July 13, at noon (with an instrument “petting zoo” for children at 11 a.m.) and at the Wisconsin Union Terrace — go to:
http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org
Tags: #AlexanderGlazunov, #AliciaLee, #AndrewNorman, #ArnoldSchoenberg, #CarolineShaw, #ChristianReligion, #ColinJacobsen, #ContemporaryComposer, #ContemporaryMusic, #GoodmanCommunityCenter, #ImmanuelLutheranChurch, #JaziminaMacNeil, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannStraussII, #JohnHarbison, #KaiserWaltzes, #LesThimming, #LivingComposers, #LuigiBoccherini, #LutheranChurch, #LutheranReligion, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MemorialUnion, #MichaelKelley, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #OvertureonHebrewThemes, #PorgyandBess, #ProArteQuartet, #RussianComposer, #SergeiProkofiev, #SopranoSaxophone, #StringQuintet, #StringSextet, #SummerSeason, #ThemeAndVariations, #ThomasKasdorf, #TimothyHagen, #UnionTerrace, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WindMusic, #WindQuintet, #WingraWindQuintet, #YouTubevideo, Alicia Lee, Andrew Norman, animal, aria, arranged, arrangement, Arts, Boccherini, Caroline Shaw, Cello, Chamber music, church, clarinet, classic, Classical music, Colin Jacobsen, composer, Concert, contemporary music, familiar, flute, georgegershwin, Gershwin, Glazunov, Goodman Center, Goodman Community Center, Hebrew, Jacob Stockinger, Jazmina Macneil, Johann Strauss, Johannes Brahms, kaiser, living composers, Madison, Madrid, Mead Witter School of Music, Memorial Union, Mezzo-soprano, Michael Kelley, Music, Music of Spain, New Music, opera, Overture, performance, Piano, Pro Arte Quartet, program, programming, Prokofiev, reception, Religion, Russia, Russian, Saxophone, Schoenberg, series, singer, snacks, soprano, Spain, stories, story, string quintet, string sextet, subscription, summer, theme, Thomas Kasdorf, Timothy Hagen, Union Terrace, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, video, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Waltz, Willy Street Chamber Players, wind music, winds, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Terrace, YouTube
Classical music: Oakwood Chamber Players take a “Journey” to explore neglected and oppressed German and Dutch composers this Saturday night and Sunday afternoon
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By Jacob Stockinger
The accomplished and acclaimed Oakwood Chamber Players (below) continue their exploration of neglected repertoire and end their “Journey” season with two performances of a concert titled Legacy on this Saturday night, May 19, at 7 p.m. and on Sunday afternoon, May 20, at 2 p.m.
The concerts will be held at the Oakwood Center for Arts and Education, 6209 Mineral Point Road, on Madison’s far west side near West Towne Mall.
Tickets can be purchased with cash or personal checks at the door: $25 general admission, $20 seniors and $5 students. Visit www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com for more information.
Trio for flute, clarinet and bassoon by Dutch composer Julius Röntgen (below) was written in 1917 and is neo-Classical in style. Röntgen was a classmate and lifelong friend of Edvard Grieg’s whom he met at the Leipzig Conservatory. He studied with Lachner and Reinecke, and collaborated with Brahms and Casals in concerts. His musical career spanned the roles of composer, teacher, and concert pianist. He was instrumental in the founding of the Amsterdam Conservatory and the world-famous Concertgebouw Orchestra.
A frequent participant in chamber music himself, he was a fine contributor to the genre. Röntgen’s Wind Trio in G Major shows his compositional facility: from a playful Haydn-influenced first movement (which you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom) to an adagio melody in the second movement that is drawn from Johann Sebastian Bach’s “St. Matthew’s Passion” and to the final movement with a Danish folk melody at its heart that is enhanced by upbeat creative variations.
German composer Heinrich Kaminski (below) wrote his atmospheric String Quartet in F major. Written over the time period leading up to World War I, this four-movement piece encompasses moodiness contrasted with high energy. The scherzo movement has the feel of a driven dance, the adagio movement is emotionally charged, and Kaminski’s final movement recaps themes of the piece’s restless expressivity.
Recognition of his talent in Berlin was cut short when the Nazi Gestapo intercepted correspondence that revealed Jewish heritage. His music was deemed unsuitable for performance in Germany and banned in 1937. He fled to Switzerland yet his life was profoundly impacted by events. He died shortly after the war, having endured the dissolution of his marriage, declining health and loss of children. However interest in Kaminski’s unique composition style has led to resurgence in recent performances of his works.
Dutch composer Leo Smit (below) studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory and then lived in Paris for a decade before returning to Holland. He was greatly influenced by Ravel and Stravinsky’s innovations and exchanged ideas with fellow composers Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc and Arthur Honegger. He enjoyed jazz rhythms and they often are found in his works.
His three-movement Sextet for piano and wind quintet is full of variety, warm melodic lines and fascinating harmonies. With the German invasion during World War II Smit’s circumstances as a Jewish musician deteriorated and he was forbidden to continue as a professional musician. Despite the dire circumstances he continued composing, completing a Sonata for flute and piano in 1943 just prior to his transportation to and death in a concentration camp.
The program ends with a cleverly written piece by German composer Bernhard Sekles (below). The final movement from his Capriccio for violin, cello and piano is titled Yankee-Doodle with variations and a delightful way to conclude the concert. Based in Frankfurt, Sekles was an innovative composer and teacher, and in 1928 became the first European teacher of jazz.
Oakwood Chamber Players members are Marilyn Chohaney, flute; Amanda Szczys, bassoon; Anne Aley, horn; Leyla Sanyer, violin; and Maggie Darby Townsend, cello. They will be joined by guests Martha Fischer, piano; Elspeth Stalter-Clouse, violin; Shannon Farley, viola; Aaron Hill, oboe; and Bernard Parish, clarinet.
The Oakwood Chamber Players are a group of Madison-area professional musicians who play in other professional organizations such as the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and who have rehearsed and performed at Oakwood Village for over 30 years.
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The Oakwood Chamber Players are a professional music ensemble proudly supported by Oakwood Lutheran Senior Ministries and the Oakwood Foundation.
Tags: #AmsterdamConservatory, #ArthurHonegger, #BannedArt, #BannedMusic, #BerlinGermany, #CarlReinecke, #ConcentrationCamp, #ConcertgebouwOrchestra, #ConcertPianist, #DariusMilhaud, #DutchComposer, #EdvardGrieg, #EuropeanComposer, #EuropeanMusician, #FolkMelody, #FrancisPoulenc, #FranzJosephHaydn, #GermanComposers, #GermanMusic, #HeinrichKaminski, #IgorStravinsky, #JazzMusic, #JewishComposers, #JewishMusic, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JuliusRontgen, #LeipzigConservatory, #LeipzigGermany, #LutheranReligion, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MauriceRavel, #NaziGermany, #NaziGestapo, #NaziPersecution, #NeglectedComposers, #NeglectedRepertoire, #OakwoodChamberPlayers, #PabloCasals, #ParisFrance, #St.MatthewPassion, #ThemeAndVariations, #WestTowneMall, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WorldWarI, #WorldWarII, #YankeeDoodle, Amsterdam, Arts, Bach, ban, Baroque, Bassoon, Berlin, Carl Reinecke, Cello, Chamber music, children, clarinet, Classical music, composer, Concertgebouw, conservatory, Danish, Denmark, Dutch, energy, Europe, European, flute, genre, Germany, Gestapo, Grieg, Haydn, Health, Holland, influence, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Jewish, Johann Sebastian Bach, Julius Rontgen, LeoSmit, loss, Lutheran, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, melody, mood, Music, Nazi, neo-Classical, Netherlands, Oakwood Chamber Players, Oakwood Village, Paris, performance, Piano, repertoire, rhythm, sextet, Sonata, style, Switzerland, Teacher, theme and variations, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, war, winds, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, World War I, World War II, YouTube
Classical music: Choral Arts Society Chorale sings about immigration and longing for a home this Friday night. On Saturday night, the Mosaic Chamber Players offer piano trios by Beethoven and Brahms
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ALERT: The acclaimed Mosaic Chamber Players close out their current season on this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Landmark Auditorium of the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
The program offers two of the most famous piano trios ever composed: the “Archduke” Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97, by Ludwig van Beethoven; and the Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op. 8, by Johannes Brahms. Tickets are at the door, cash or check only, and cost $15, $10 for seniors and $5 for students.
For more information, go to: http://www.mosaicchamberplayers.com
By Jacob Stockinger
The theme of immigration only seems to grow as a timely and politically charged topic not only here in the U.S. but also around the world, especially in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
In another indication that the performing arts are returning to a socially activist role in the current political climate, immigration is the unifying theme of a concert by The Choral Arts Society Chorale of Madison (below), a local community chorus.
The group performs this Friday night, April 27, at 7 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1904 Winnebago Street, on Madison’s near east side, under the direction of the group’s artistic director Mikko Rankin Utevsky (below), who also founded and directs the Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra (MAYCO).
The program, titled “Would You Harbor Me?,” features music about and by immigrants, and about longing for a home.
The centerpiece is the 1998 cantata “The Golden Door” for chorus and chamber ensemble by Ronald Perera (below). You can hear the “Names” section of the work in the YouTube video at the bottom.
The work is based on texts from the archives of Ellis Island (below).
Also on the program – drawn from different time periods and different cultures — are pieces by various composers. They include Leonard Bernstein; Palestrina; Heinrich Isaac; Sydney Guillaume; Sweet Honey in the Rock‘s Ysaye Barnwell on themes of leaving home and welcoming the stranger; and Irving Berlin‘s setting of the poem from the Statue of Liberty (below).
Tickets are $15; $10 for students $10, and re available at the door, or online at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/choral-arts-society-chorale-spring-concert-tickets-44453227801.
The complete program is: Ysaye Barnwell: “Would You Harbor Me”; Palestrina: “Super flumina Babylonis” (By the Waters of Babylon); Traditional Irish, arr. Peter Knight: “O Danny Boy”; Carlos Guastavino: “Pueblito, mi pueblo” (Little village, my village); Heinrich Isaac: “Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen” (Innsbruck, I must leave you); Sydney Guillaume: Onè – Respè; Leonard Bernstein: “Somewhere” from “West Side Story”; Intermission; Ronald Perera: “The Golden Door”; Irving Berlin: “Give me your tired, your poor”
For more information about the group, go to: http://choralartsmadison.org
Tags: #AfricanImmigration, #AmericanImmigration, #ArchdukeTrio, #AsianImmigration, #CarlosGuastavino, #ChoralArtsSocietyChorale, #CommunityChorus, #EllisIsland, #EuropeanImmigration, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #HeinrichIsaac, #IrvingBerlin, #JohannesBrahms, #LeonardBernstein, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #LutheranChurch, #LutheranReligion, #MadisonAreaYouthChamberOrchestra, #MIddleEast, #MikkoRankinUtevsky, #MosaicChamberPlayers, #PianoTrio, #RonaldPerera, #StatueofLiberty, #SweetHoneyintheRock, #SydneyGuillaume, #TheGoldenDoor, #TrinityLutheranChurch, #UnitedStates, #YsayeBarnwell, Activism, Africa, Archduke Trio, archive, Arts, Asia, Babylon, Baroque, Beethoven, Brahms, Cantata, cash, Cello, Chamber music, check, Choral Arts Society Chorale, choral music, chorus, Classical music, climate, community, composer, culture, Ellis Island, Europe, famous, Home, immigration, Irving Berlin, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, Leonard Bernstein, liberty, longing, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra, Middle East, Mosaic Chamber Players, Music, Palestrina, Piano, Piano Trio, poem, Poetry, Politics, Ronald Perera, Season, statue, Statue of Liberty, stranger, text, theme, timely, Trinity, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: UW Choral Union and soloists succeed impressively in Bach’s massive “St. Matthew Passion.” Plus, a FREE concert of Leonard Bernstein songs is at noon on Friday
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ALERT: This Friday’s FREE Noon Musicale at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features two husband-and-wife teams. Singers bass-baritone Paul Rowe and soprano Cheryl Bensman-Rowe and pianists Bill Lutes and Martha Fischer will perform an all-Leonard Bernstein program in honor of his centennial. The program includes selections from “Arias and Barcarolles,” “Mass,” “Peter Pan,” “On the Town,” “Wonderful Town” and “Songfest.” The concert runs from 12:15 to 1 p.m.
By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT FM 89.9 FM. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison. He also took the performance photographs.
By John W. Barker
It comes a bit late for this year’s Holy Week, but the UW Choral Union’s impressive mounting of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. Matthew Passion last Sunday was still a major contribution to our music this spring.
Running at almost three hours, this is Bach’s longest single work, and is regarded by now as one of the musical monuments of Western Civilization. But its length and its demands make it something performed only on special occasions.
No antiquarian, conductor Beverly Taylor, who directs choral activities at the UW-Madison, tried to follow carefully Bach’s elaborate specifications, which call for both a double chorus and a double orchestra, along with soloists.
A traditionally ample agency, the Choral Union this time fielded a total of 100 singers, plus a 12-member children’s choir, as against a pair of student orchestras numbering 14 and 12 respectively, all playing modern instruments.
This was hardly a balanced combination and Bach himself could never have assembled, much less managed, so huge a chorus as this. It certainly overwhelmed the orchestras, and quite drowned out the children’s group in their appearance at the beginning and ending of Part I.
Still, there is no denying the magnificence of such a large choral force. It was just a bit challenged by the turbae or crowd passages. Nevertheless, to hear such a powerful choir sing so many of the intermittent chorales in Bach’s harmonizations is to feel the glory of the entire Lutheran legacy in religious expression.
A total of 16 soloists were employed, in functions of varying consequence.
At the head of the list stand two. Tenor Wesley Dunnagan (below left) has a voice of more Italian than German character, to my taste. But he not only carried off the heavy duties of the narrating Evangelist, he also sang the tenor arias as well, with unfailing eloquence. And faculty baritone Paul Rowe (below right) was truly authoritative as Jesus in the parts reserved for the Savior.
The arias were otherwise addressed by a double cast of singers, two each on the other voice parts. Of the two sopranos, Sara Guttenberg (if I have the identity correctly from the confusing program) was strong and splendidly artistic.
Talia Engstrom was more a mezzo-soprano than a true contralto, and not an equally powerful singer, but I did like her very engaging singing. (You can hear the lovely contralto and violin aria “Erbarme dich, mein Gott” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The sharing of the alto arias with a countertenor was, however, not a good idea. Of the two bass-baritones, Matthew Chastain (if I have his identity aright) sang with strong and rich tone. The other singers, mostly singing the character parts in the Gospel text, were generally students, ranging widely in maturity and appeal.
Taken as a whole, though, this performance was an admirable achievement for Beverly Taylor (below). Her tempos were on the moderate side, accommodating especially the large chorus. Above all, her enterprise was obvious in tackling this massive work, while the choral singers obviously found a special thrill in participating in it.
Compliments should be given the program, which contained the full German text interlarded with the English translation. With full house lighting, this wisely allowed the audience to follow along closely.
But the performance was divided into two sittings, one for Part I at 4 p.m., the second for Part II at 7:30 p.m., with a break in between of over two hours — really too long, I found.
Tags: #AaronCopland, #Americancomposers, #AmericanMusic, #AmericanRecordGuide, #AriasandBarcarolles, #BeverlyTaylor, #Children'sChoir, #ChoralUnion, #EmilyDickinson, #EnglishTranslation, #Erbarmedich, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #FridayNoonMusicale, #HolyWeek, #husband-and-wife, #IsthmusNewspaper, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnW.Barker, #LeonardBernstein, #LutheranReligion, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MartinLuther, #MedievalHistory, #PaulRowe, #PianoMusic, #St.Matthew, #St.MatthewPassion, #TheEvangelist, #TheGospels, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWChoralUnion, #UWProfessor, #VocalMusic, #WesternCivilization, American Record Guide, aria, Arts, Bach, barcarolle, baritone, Baroque, bass, bass-baritone, Bernstein, Cello, Chamber music, children, China, choral music, Chorale, Christ, Classical music, composer, conductor, contralto, Copland, countertenor, crowd, Early music, Emily Dickinson, English, Erbarme dich, evangelist, First Unitarian Society of Madison, German, Germany, History, husband, instrument, Isthmus, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lutheranism, Madison, Madison Early Musical Festival, Medieval, Mezzo-soprano, modern, Orchestra, Pianist, Piano, professor, Season, singer, song, soprano, Spring, Sunday, symphony, tenor, text, translation, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, wife, Wisconsin, YouTube
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The Well-Tempered Ear 