The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: Bass trombonist Alan Carr joins the Madison Area Trombone Ensemble for a concert this Thursday night. Plus, Mikko Utevsky sings art songs and plays the viola this Saturday night.

ALERT: UW-Madison School of Music student Mikko Utevsky (below) seems a musician for all seasons.

Primarily a violist, he is also a conductor who founded and directs the Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra (MAYCO). He is also an informed and fluid writer. For this blog, he wrote about the European tour to Prague, Vienna and Budapest that the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) undertook) three years ago, and he reviews Madison Opera productions. He also sings and was in the University Opera’s recent production of “The Magic Flute” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Utevky’s unusual FREE student recital, with UW-Madison alumnus pianist Thomas Kasdorf, this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in Capitol Lakes Retirement Center, 333 West Main Street, off the Capitol Square, highlights two of his talents. Utevsky, a baritone, will sing Robert Schumann’s song cycle “Dichterliebe” (A Poet’s Loves), then pick up his viola and play the famous “Arpeggione” Sonata by Franz Schubert.

By Jacob Stockinger

A musician friend who is a trombonist writes:

The Madison Area Trombone Ensemble (MATE, below) is back for another spring concert, featuring bass trombonist Alan Carr.

Join us at 7:30 p.m. on this Thursday, April 16, at First United Methodist Church, 203 Wisconsin Avenue, off the Capitol Square.

Parking is available in FUMC’s lot, or free on the street after 6 p.m.

Admission is free, but a suggested donation of $10 is greatly appreciated.

Alan Carr will join MATE to perform “The Chief,” composed by UW-Madison Professor Emeritus John Stevens (below) who taught tuba and euphonium. The concert will also feature works by Peter Phillips, Richard Wagner, Fisher Tull, Eric Whitacre, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Eric Clapton and more.

Directed by Madison freelance trombonist and University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music alumnus Kevan Feyzi (below), MATE is comprised of top UW-Madison trombonists in groups such as Phat Phunktion, the Madison Brass Band, the Madison Mellophonium Jazz Orchestra, and the Madison Jazz Orchestra.

In just its second year of existence, MATE numbers 16 strong and is already being lauded as a leading community ensemble. (At bottom is a YouTube video with an excerpt from the inaugural concert in 2014 by the Madison Area Trombone Ensemble.)

Alan Carr (below) currently completing a DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) at the UW-Madison — where he is a Collins Fellow — and is Adjunct Professor of Low Brass at Concordia University. He holds degrees from the Julliard School in New York City and the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

He has also been a finalist in several competitions and was selected as a participant in the prestigious Alessi Seminar. Alan performed and toured for seven years with the King’s Brass, and has appeared with Ensemble ACJW, the American Brass Quintet, Isthmus Brass, and the Baltimore, Hartford, and Dubuque Symphony Orchestras.

Recently, Alan formed a consortium with a dozen other prominent American bass trombonists to commission John Stevens’ newest composition: the Kleinhammer Sonata for Bass Trombone. Premiered this spring by Alan and other consortium members, Alan will release the first recording of the piece on his forthcoming solo album “The Elephant in the Room.”

Find out more about Alan and the Kleinhammer Sonata at http://www.carralan.com

This performance is a part of International Trombone Week, from April 12–19, organized by the International Trombone Association. More info here: https://www.trombone.net/itw/