The Well-Tempered Ear
Do local arts presenters discriminate against single people? Is it unethical or illegal?
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By Jacob Stockinger
The start of selling single tickets — rather than season subscriptions, which have been on sale since the spring — is coming up.
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra starts selling them on this coming Monday, July 31, and the Madison Symphony Orchestra starts on Saturday, Aug. 19, both through the Overture Center box office (below), which will also start selling single tickets to Overture Presents events this Friday, July 28. The Madison Opera starts selling single tickets in September.
Do the Madison Symphony Orchestra and other arts presenters discriminate against single people when it comes to selling single or subscription tickets? And if they do, is it legal or illegal?
It may sound paradoxical, but the question is especially relevant because of demographics — specifically, the increasing number of single seniors and the growing trend among young people to stay single and marry later. And it certainly violates the principles of equity and equality. It also seems to violate good fiscal sense and the financial well-being of a business that is usually first-come, first served. Plus seating at a concert would seem a form of legally protected public accommodation.
A CASE STUDY
A veteran concert-goer and reader of this blog recalls the following incident from last spring:
“I spontaneously decided I might go to the Madison Symphony Orchestra concert with “Carmina Burana’ and Florence Price (Symphony No. 3).
“I went to the website and saw a seat, one of a pair, in the orchestra section of Overture that looked good for $98. Plus, there was a $15 service fee.
“But when I selected that, I was told by the computer that it wasn’t for sale because it would leave the seat next to it empty.
“In other words, the MSO is doing so well that they can reject somebody buying a single ticket because they want to save the two tickets for a couple. So I just decided fuck it.
“It left me feeling that if I couldn’t easily buy the seat I wanted, why bother. There were other less ideal seats available.”
And so a $103 seat was lost to MSO’s revenue.
IS THE OVERTURE CENTER RESPONSIBLE?
To be fair, it might not be only the Madison Symphony Orchestra that is guilty of the practice.
The Ear heard from another reader who said a theater group in the Overture Center did the same thing. The reader could not remember details.
So it makes one curious to know if other resident groups in Overture — the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Madison Opera, Forward Theater, Children’s Theater of Madison, the Madison Ballet, Kanopy Dance and Li Chiao Ping Dance — do the same thing.
If so, then perhaps it is a policy of the Overture Center’s box office and the algorithm that its computer uses for selling tickets.
But that just shifts the discrimination, not corrects or prevents it.
SINGLISM
The practice of discriminating against single people — which may not be illegal but certainly seems unethical — has even been given a name: singlism.
Singlism can be compared to racism, sexism and ageism, to discrimination based on religion and sexual orientation or gender identity. But single people are not legally protected classes under federal law and in many states.
Here is a definition:
https://www.multiamory.com/podcast/355-singlism-and-the-truth-about-being-single
I think Overture and all its resident groups receive public funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board, Dane Arts (formerly Dane County Arts Commission) and the Madison Arts Commission.
It seems logical, then, to The Ear that some investigation by the city, county and state — perhaps the various Offices of Equal Opportunity — is in order and that some correction should be implemented immediately, given the upcoming sale of single tickets to single persons. At the very least, political leaders and government lawyers should weigh in on the ethics and legality of the issue.
Have you ever experienced similar discrimination?
Are you aware of others who have?
What do you think of the practice of refusing to sell certain tickets to a single person?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and guest soloists will give a FREE public concert on Friday, Dec. 27, in the new Hamel Music Center at the UW-Madison to honor arts patrons Sandy and Jun Lee
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By Jacob Stockinger
If you are looking for a non-holiday concert to go to during Christmas week, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below, in a photo by Mike Gorski) — which just performed a sold-out “Messiah” and is about to play the score for Madison Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker” — has a surprise gift for you.
On Friday, Dec. 27, at 8 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave., at the UW-Madison, the WCO and three guest soloists will give a FREE “Winter Celebration” concert that is open to the public. (Donations to the WCO are suggested.)
The occasion is to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Sandy and Jun Lee (below), who are generous patrons of the arts in Madison.
The three guest artists for the concert are:
UW-Madison piano graduate Jason Kutz (below), who performs with the Willy Street Chamber players and other groups, will play the Introduction and Allegro Appassionato, Op. 92, by Robert Schumann.
Local mezzo-soprano opera star Kitt Reuter-Foss (below), who has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, will sing the “Habanera” from Bizet’s “Carmen” and “What a Movie” from Leonard Bernstein’s “Trouble in Tahiti.” (You can hear the famous “Habanera” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Renowned Chicago violinist Rachel Barton Pine, who has played several times with the WCO and just two months ago performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, will play the Violin Concerto No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 61, by Camille Saint-Saens.
In addition, the WCO, under the baton of music director Andrew Sewell (below, in a photo by Alex Cruz), will perform the “Poet and Peasant” Overture by Franz von Suppe; and the Overture to “Orpheus in the Underworld” by Jacques Offenbach.
Although the concert is free, tickets are required. You can go to this link to register by putting in your name and other required information: https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/winter-celebration/
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Classical music: Next season the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra will expand to two performances of its winter Masterworks concerts by adding a Saturday night concert in Brookfield, near Milwaukee
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By Jacob Stockinger
Next season will mark the 20th anniversary of Andrew Sewell (below top) coming to Madison to serve as the music director and principal conductor of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below bottom).
It is hard to imagine a better Bravo! or anniversary gift for the maestro – who has said he wants the WCO to become a chamber orchestra, as its name implies, for the entire state of Wisconsin — than what will in fact take place: the WCO will expand its winter Masterworks concerts to two performances by adding a Saturday night performance at 7:30 p.m. in the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts (below) in Brookfield, a suburb of Milwaukee. (Sewell is also the music director of the San Luis Obispo Symphony in California.)
Madison performances of Masterworks will continue to take place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center.
You can find out more about the Masterworks programs for next season by going to the WCO home website:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performance-listing/category/masterworks
There you will find the usual eclectic mix of new guest artists and new or neglected composers and repertoire that has marked Sewell’s tenure and brought him critical acclaim.
Pianist Orion Weiss will perform the popular Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 – “Elvira Madigan” – by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; violinists Giora Schmidt and Eric Silberger will perform concertos by Dmitri Kabalevsky and Niccolo Paganini, respectively; harpist Yolanda Kondonassis will perform a concerto by Argentinian Alberto Ginastera; and Andrew Balio (below), principal trumpet of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, will return to Madison where he grew up and perform a 1948 trumpet concerto by Italian composer Andre Tomasi.
Early music and new music to be featured includes works by: Donald Fraser (an acclaimed English conductor, composer and arranger, below) who now lives in Illinois, and often comes to Madison); Joseph Martin Kraus, known as the “Swedish Mozart”; Norwegian composer Johann Svensen; and three English composers (always favorites of Sewell who was born and educated in New Zealand) who are John Marsh, James Macmillan and York Bowen. (In the YouTube video at the bottom you can hear the English Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Woods — a native Madisonian who will return next season to conduct the Madison Symphony Orchestra — recording the Scherzo movement from Donald Fraser’s “Sinfonietta,” the same work that the WCO will perform.)
Works by Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn and Sergei Prokofiev also figure prominently, including Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 “Jupiter” and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral” in honor of the composer’s 250th birthday in 2020.
Also on the website, you will find the upcoming season of Wednesday night Concerts on the Square for this summer (June 26-July 31) plus the dates and themes – although no guest artists or works — for 2020 (June 24-July 29).
Go to: https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances
You can also find information for next season about the WCO performing George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah,” Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker” with the Madison Ballet; the Young Artist Concerto Competition; the free Family Series; and the community Super Strings program for elementary students.
To receive a brochure with information about all these events and about how to get tickets — an “early bird” discount on subscription tickets runs through May 31– call (608) 257-0638 or go to: https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org
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Classical music: The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra’s “Messiah” marks 10 years with another sold-out performance and two new soloists this Friday night. Then starting Saturday, it’s on to “The Nutcracker”
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By Jacob Stockinger
There is no more iconic piece of classical music for the holiday season than the oratorio “Messiah” by George Frideric Handel. (You can hear the famous “Hallelujah” Chorus in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For 10 years, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the WCO Chorus, the Festival Choir and four guest soloists (all forces from a previous performance are in the photo below) have been bringing the masterwork to Madison. And it usually plays to a full house.
This year’s performance once again takes place at 7 p.m. this Friday night, Dec. 7, at the Blackhawk Church, 8629 Brader Way in Middleton. And once again, all 800 seats are sold out.
For more information, go to: https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/messiah-1/
“It is very successful and has become a real tradition,” says WCO’s Chief Operating Officer Sue Ellen McGuire. “We have people and families who come year after year.”
But that does not mean each year’s performance, both acclaimed by critics and popular with the public, is a repetition of the previous year’s.
True, some things carry over, such as the longtime soprano soloist Sarah Lawrence and bass soloist Peter Van de Graaff (below), who is also the overnight resonant voice of classical music on Wisconsin Public Radio via The Beethoven Satellite Network.
“It is such a great masterpiece that I feel I can play around with it somewhat and make each year’s performance distinctive and different,” says WCO music director and conductor Andrew Sewell (below). Some years, he says, he cuts out or adds certain choruses; or changes the intermission break; or alters the makeup of the instruments or choruses; or uses different soloists, or continues to adapt to and adopt early music practices.
Take this year. For the first time, the performance will include two singers who competed in the annual Handel Aria Competition held in Madison: mezzo-soprano Johanna Bronk (a finalist in 2017), and tenor Gene Stenger (bottom left, the second prize winner and audience favorite in 2017).
“It’s a no-brainer and a natural fit to use the world-class talent that takes part in a local event,” says Sewell, who is also the music director of the symphony orchestra in San Luis Obispo in California.
And for those of you who wonder what the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra does after Concerts on the Square end in the summer and before its Masterworks series starts in January, the answer is marking the holidays.
In addition to “Messiah,” the WCO will accompany the Madison Ballet’s performances of Peter Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” that take place between Dec. 8 and Dec. 26 in the Overture Center. For details and tickets, go to: https://www.madisonballet.org/nutcracker/
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Classical music: Madison Bach Musicians perform their sixth annual Baroque holiday concert this coming Saturday night. Plus, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra’s “Messiah” on Friday night is close to selling out
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ALERT: The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and its acclaimed music director Andrew Sewell are pretty busy these days playing the accompanying music for the Madison Ballet‘s multiple performances of Peter Tchaikovsky‘s holiday ballet “The Nutcracker.”
Then on this coming Friday night at 7 p.m. at the Blackhawk Church in Middleton, the WCO, the WCO Chorus, the Festival Choir of Madison and guest soloists, all under the baton of Sewell, also give their annual and usually sold-out performance of George Frideric Handel‘s oratorio “Messiah.” The Ear has been told that this year’s performance is also close to selling out to. For more information and tickets, go to:
http://www.wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/messiah-at-blackhawk-church-middleton/
By Jacob Stockinger
At 8 p.m. this Saturday night, Dec. 10, the Madison Bach Musicians (below top) will give their sixth annual Baroque Holiday Concert.
The event will once again be held in the beautiful and sonorous sanctuary (below) of the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Avenue.
There is a free pre-concert lecture by the always witty, informative and entertaining MBM founder, artistic director and harpsichordist Trevor Stephenson (below) at 7:15 p.m. NOTE: Trevor Stephenson will also discuss the upcoming holiday concert and play excerpts from past ones TODAY AT NOON on The Midday program aired by Wisconsin Public Radio.
The program will feature: a cappella (solo vocal) masterworks by Orlando di Lassus and Josquin des Prez performed by a vocal quartet; a Christmas Cantata for soprano and strings by Alessandro Scarlatti—featuring soprano soloist Chelsea Morris (below top); a trio sonata by Johann Joseph Fux; an intriguing Partita for two scordatura violins (scordatura means the open strings are re-tuned into a new interval configuration!) by Heinrich Biber; the Sonatina in A minor for baroque bassoon and continuo by Georg Philipp Telemann ― with soloist and UW-Madison professor Marc Vallon (below bottom, in a photo by James Gill); one of the Christmas Cantatas, BWV 122, Das neugeborne Kindelein (The Newborn Baby) by Johann Sebastian Bach (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom); and a bonus feature ― a preview of MBM’s upcoming April performance of Bach’s oratorio St. John Passion, the tenor aria Ach, mein Sinn.
![Marc Vallon 2011 James Gill (baroque & modern)[2]](https://welltempered.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/marc-vallon-2011-james-gill-baroque-modern2.jpg)
Advance-sale discount tickets: $28 for general admission, $23 for students and seniors 65 and over. They are available at Orange Tree Imports, Farley’s House of Pianos, Room of One’s Own, and Willy Street Co-op (East and West) . You can also find online advance-sale tickets at madisonbachmusicians.org
Tickets at the door are: $30 for general admission; $25 for students and seniors 65 and over. Student Rush tickets are $10 at the door and go on sale 30 minutes before lecture (student ID is required)
Musicians will include: Chelsea Morris, soprano; Joseph Schlesinger, counter-tenor; Scott Brunscheen, tenor; Matthew Tintes, bass; Kangwon Kim and Brandi Berry, baroque violins; Marika Fischer Hoyt, baroque viola; Martha Vallon, baroque cello; Marc Vallon, baroque bassoon; and Trevor Stephenson, harpsichord
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Classical music: The future looks brighter for the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Madison Ballet, which just received $30,000 from the Madison Community Foundation to see if they should work jointly
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A REMINDER: Tonight at 8 p.m., Wisconsin Public Television will air a one-hour broadcast of the 50th anniversary concert in Overture Hall by the various groups in the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras.
For more information, here is a link:
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following news release, which should interest a lot of local arts fans. Unfortunately, it contains some grant jargon. But the bottom line is clear: Both the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Madison Ballet will use the money see if and how they can share their resources and thereby become more secure, efficient and financially stable. You may recall that Madison Ballet had to abruptly cancel its past season when donations for its production of “Peter Pan” fell short:
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Madison Ballet have been awarded a $30,000 Community Impact grant from Madison Community Foundation to explore an innovative and shared resource business model for the two organizations.
The award will fund a comprehensive feasibility study that will assess the resources of each organization and identify opportunities for efficiency and growth.
Madison Ballet and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, both well-established arts organizations, have long been providing world-class performances and creative programming in the community.
But as competition for non-profit funding increases, these two organizations are looking for creative business solutions to maintain excellence, support program growth, and ensure long-term sustainability.
“We are so pleased that Madison Community Foundation is supporting this project,” says Madison Ballet’s General Manager Gretchen Bourg. “All businesses—especially those in the non-profit sector—are realizing the need for new models for success and sustainability. This study is an exciting first step toward a truly innovative way of serving our community.”
The feasibility study represents Phase 1 of a larger project that could result in a business model in which the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Madison Ballet share key administrative functions, minimizing redundant costs and leveraging each organization’s unique strengths.
Each would retain the signature artistic and outreach programs for which they are known.
Mark Cantrell, CEO of the WCO says “This grant provides a wonderful opportunity to explore ways for our two organizations to come together to help build a better community.”
“I have worked together with Earle [Smith] for the past 16 years. We arrived in Madison within a year of each other and have always maintained an excellent artistic and working relationship,” says Andrew Sewell (below), music director of the WCO. “Our two organizations have performed together for their annual Nutcracker performances, as well as collaborated on special projects such as the Halloween concert, Concerts on the Square® and most recently the 10th anniversary concert of Overture Center. I’m excited to explore the benefits this unique arts organizational model may represent for both groups.”
Madison Ballet’s Artistic Director, W. Earle Smith (below), echoes support for the project: “I am very grateful to the Madison Community Foundation for this opportunity to find better ways to engage our audiences and support our artists.”
The boards of directors of Madison Ballet and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra expect to select a consulting firm to conduct the study by the end of May. Data from the study will be used to identify next steps in strategic planning for long-term sustainability.
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, led by Maestro Andrew Sewell, is a vibrant and thriving professional orchestra dedicated to advancing Wisconsin communities through the transformative power of music.
The WCO performs for over 240,000 people per year, including Concerts on the Square (below)®, Masterworks, Holiday Pops, Handel’s Messiah, Youth Concerts, and other performances across the state. For more information, visit wcoconcerts.org.
Madison Ballet touches the lives of 50,000 individuals in the community each year through engaging outreach programs and unforgettable performances.
Its annual presentation of The Nutcracker remains an essential part of many families’ holiday traditions, and it has broken new ground with innovative productions like the original rock ballet, Dracula.
The School of Madison Ballet is one of the premier training academies in the Midwest, providing quality dance education for dancers of all ages. For more information, visit madisonballet.org.
Tags: Andrew Sewell, Artistic director, Arts, ballet, ballet school, Board of Directors, Business model, CEO, Classical music, community, Concerts on the Square, conductor, dance, donation, Dracula, George Frideric Handel, grant, Handel, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, Madison Ballet, Madison Community Foundation, Masterworks, Messiah, Music education, Overture Center, pops, Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, W. Earle Smith, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Public Television, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, Youth Concerts
Classical music: A critic “unwraps” the holiday gift of Tchaikovsky’s music and other mysteries in “The Nutcracker.” The production by the Madison Ballet and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra opens this Friday and runs through Dec. 27.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Perhaps it is because it is so popular, especially at holiday time when it has become an annual tradition almost everywhere.
Perhaps it is because it is basically a story about children and the holidays, especially Christmas.
Whatever the reason, the ballet “The Nutcracker” by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky is usually seen as a largely naïve work, an innocent fairy tale or fantasy with some darker undertones.
But the truth is that, if you dig into it, “The Nutcracker” is far more complex than most people usually think.
Of course it was meant to be more about dance — classical ballet — than about the music.
Yet it is the beautiful music by one of history’s greatest melody writers that draws so many people to the work.
And according to one writer for The New York Times, of the many mysteries layered in “The Nutcracker,” the music remains one of the biggest mysteries. (In a YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear a 2012 performance by conductor Valery Gergiev at the Mariinsky Theatre in St, Petersburg, Russia.)
It is always especially relevant at this time of the year.
So The Ear is posting about the production by the Madison Ballet and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, which opens this coming Friday night for nine performances in Overture Hall of the Overture Center.
It features the choreography of Madison Ballet’s artistic director W. Earle Smith (below top) and the live music by the WCO under the baton of its longtime music director Andrew Sewell (below bottom).
Here are performance dates:
December 12 | 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday
December 13 | 2 p.m. Sunday
December 19 | 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday
December 20 | 2 p.m. Sunday
December 24 | 1 p.m. Thursday
December 26 | 2 p.m. Saturday
December 27 | 2 p.m. Sunday
Here are links with detail of the performances and the production, including tickets, which start at $14:
http://www.wcoconcerts.org/performances/nutcracker/
http://www.madisonballet.org/nutcracker/
And here is a link to a story in The New York Times with some excellent background about various productions and their interpretations:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/arts/dance/the-nutcracker-and-its-many-mysteries.html?_r=0
If you go see and hear “The Nutcracker,” enjoy — and solve or at least appreciate — some of the mysteries in this evergreen holiday work!
Tags: Andrew Sewell, Artistic director, Arts, ballet, choral music, choreogrpahy, Christmas, Classical music, conduct, dance, Holiday, Holidays, Jacob Stockinger, Madison Ballet, Mariinsky Theatre, melody, Music, New York Times, Orchestra, Overture Center, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russia, Saint Petersburg, The Nutcracker, Valery Gergiev, vocal music, W. Earle Smith, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, YouTube
Classical music: Are arts audiences and presenters in Madison rude or inconsiderate? One loyal patron thinks so.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Arts patron Larry Wells wrote to The Ear to get something off his chest that might also pertain to other audience members, including you. Here is what he said:
I moved to Madison a little over a year ago after spending the last 40 years in San Francisco, Moscow and Tokyo, all of which had vibrant offerings for symphonic music, ballet and opera as well as great performance venues.
I have been very pleased to find that Madison offers the same. I can think of four different symphony orchestras I’ve heard in Madison this past year as well as opera and ballet performances. (Below is Overture Hall.)
The difference has been the audiences.
I do not believe I have been to a single performance this year where there hasn’t been someone who has decided to unwrap a cough drop. This usually happens during a quiet passage, and often the culprit realizes that he or she is making a noise, so decides that the solution is to unwrap the cellophane more slowly, thus lengthening my agony.
In San Francisco, someone at the symphony came up with the solution to supply cough drops with silent wrappers in bowls at each door to the hall. Problem solved.
Another source of noise in the audience is whispering. Usually when someone starts speaking to his neighbor, annoyed audience members glare at the culprit, and then he starts to whisper. I assume that the underlying belief is that when you whisper, you cannot be heard. That is, of course, incorrect. You can still be heard, just not as clearly. In Japan, no one would dream of speaking during a performance.
Woman whispering in man’s ear
I was at the ballet the other night at the Capitol Theater for which I had bought the priciest ticket in the center orchestra. There were five middle school girls seated directly behind me. Each had a plastic cup filled with a drink and crushed ice. Throughout the first act I kept hearing the ice being sloshed around in the plastic cups as every last drop of icy goodness was being extracted.
I asked an usher during the intermission about this, and she said that it was each ensemble’s choice as to whether drinks were allowed in the theater or not. For example, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra does not allow drinks but the Madison Ballet does.
This is the first time I have heard of drinks being allowed into a ballet — they certainly weren’t allowed at the Bolshoi where they had very stern ushers, I can tell you — and I wonder if popcorn and hot dogs will be next. Perhaps it has to do with the prevailing current American fear of becoming dehydrated, although I think most people can endure 40 minutes without dessicating.
The Ear believes that I am a curmudgeon, and I halfway believe it myself. But when my enjoyment of a concert is jeopardized by inconsiderate audience behavior, then I believe I have a right to be miffed.
Curiously, I have not been to a single performance of anything this past year that hasn’t ended with a standing ovation. Now, I understand that the audience is just trying to be nice. But shouldn’t standing ovations be reserved for truly sensational once-in-a-lifetime experiences? Otherwise, the whole idea is cheapened, and Madisonians end up coming across as provincial.
I will end this diatribe with one more aspersion to be cast, but this time toward the ticket office at the Overture Center.
Last weekend, I was at the Madison Symphony Orchestra and had a spare ticket that I was trying to give away when I was yelled at by a box office clerk who said: “That’s illegal here!” Thinking that she thought I was trying to scalp a ticket to the symphony — probably not a major problem in Madison — I told her that I was merely trying to give the ticket away. She repeated, “That’s illegal here.”
I was very embarrassed. I seriously doubt that there is a city ordinance against giving away concert tickets, and if I want to give away a $75 ticket as a good deed, I think that should be my prerogative.
With declining attendance at arts events, I feel that the Overture Center should have its patrons’ good will in mind instead of demonizing them for doing a good deed.
Tags: Arts, audience, ballet, Chamber music, Classical music, Concert, cough drops, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Madison, Madison Ballet, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Moscow, opera, Orchestra, Overture Center, Russia, San Francisco, soda, symphony, Tokyo, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, whispering, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra
Classical music education: The Madison Youth Choirs perform the 11th Annual Spring Concert Series this Sunday afternoon and night. They will premiere a new work about Shakespeare’s “Macbeth by UW-Madison alumnus Scott Gendel.
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By Jacob Stockinger
On this Sunday afternoon and evening, May 18, 2014, the Madison Youth Choirs (MYC, below) will ends the celebration of their 10th anniversary and celebrate the return of spring with a lively concert series featuring several groups whose membership total over 300 talented young singers.
All concerts will take place in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center for the Arts in downtown Madison.
Tickets are $10-$20, and can be purchased in three ways:
1. online at www.overturecenter.com
2. By phone at (608) 258-4141
3. In person at the Overture Center box office, 201 State St., Madison, Wisconsin.
Throughout this season, focused on the theme “Arts & Minds,” MYC’s singers have discovered connections between visual and vocal expressions of human creativity, using both mediums as a lens to explore the world.
Concert selections will include works from a wide variety of musical eras and cultures, including classical pieces by Bach and Vivaldi, traditional folk songs in Hebrew and Japanese, and contemporary pieces by Cindy Lauper and Eric Whitacre (below), creator of the “Virtual Choir,” which has become a global phenomenon on YouTube.
MYC’s boychoirs will make history with the world premiere of University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music alumnus Scott Gendel’s “Sound and Fury,” featuring text from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.”
This ambitious new work by Gendel will be a fitting prelude to the boychoirs’ upcoming summer tour to Scotland, where they will perform in the invitation-only Aberdeen International Youth Festival (below).
For more information about Scott Gendel, visit:
Continuing its commitment to celebrating the work of outstanding local music teachers, MYC will also present the Music Educator of the Year Award to Jan Vidruk. Ms. Vidruk (below center ) is a nationally recognized leader in early childhood education who has inspired young people in music and movement classes for over 40 years.
Here is the Concert Information, Schedules and Programs for Sunday, May 18, 2014
1 p.m. – Choraliers (below in a photo by Cynthia McEahern
Hashivenu…Traditional Hebrew
Bee! I’m Expecting You… Emma Lou Diemer
Ae Fond Kiss… Traditional Scottish, arr. Kesselman
The Duel… Paul Bouman
Kojo no Tsuki… Traditional Japanese, arr. Snyder
Con Gioia (below in a photo by Karen Holland)
For the Beauty of the Earth… John Rutter
The Jabberwocky… Jennings
Tres Cantos Nativos dos Indios Krao… Leite
Annie Laurie… arr. Rentz
Capriccio (below in a photo by Mike Ross)
Hark! The Echoing Air… Henry Purcell
Hotaru Koi… Ro Ogura
The Seal Lullaby… Eric Whitacre
Niska Banja… Traditional Serbian, arr. Nick Page
4 p.m.: Purcell
Gloria Tibi (from Mass)… Leonard Bernstein
Simple Gifts… Traditional
Orpheus with his Lute… Ralph Vaughan Williams
Laudamus Te (from Gloria in D Major)… Antonio Vivaldi
Britten
The Lord Bless You and Keep You … John Rutter
Er Kennt die rechten Freudenstuden … Johann Sebastian Bach
Holst
The Bird…William Billings
The Cowboy Medley…arr. R. Swiggum
Anthem (from Chess)…Anderson/Ulveas, arr. R. Swiggum
Ragazzi (below in a photo by Dan Sinclair)
dominic has a doll… Vincent Persichetti
Si, Tra i Ceppi… George Frideric Handel
Fair Phyllis… John Farmer
Madison Boychoir (Purcell, Britten, Holst — below in a photo by Karen Holland — and Ragazzi combined)
Sound and Fury (world premiere)… Scott Gendel, text from Macbeth
Will the Circle Be Unbroken?… Traditional, arr. R. Swiggum
7:30 p.m. High School Ensembles
Cantilena
How Merrily We Live… Michael Este
Salut Printemps… Claude Debussy
Hope… Andrew Lippa
Hope is the Thing… Emma Lou Diemer
Ragazzi
dominic has a doll… Vincent Persichetti
Si Tra i Ceppi… George Frideric Handel
Fair Phyllis I Saw Sitting…John Farmer
Cantabile
Cruel, You Pull Away Too Soon… Thomas Morley
Chiome d’Oro… Claudio Monteverdi
Mountain Nights… Zoltan Kodaly
Las Amarillas…Stephen Hatfield
Time After Time… Cyndi Lauper, arr. Michael Ross
Cantabile and Ragazzi
Come Thou Fount of Ever Blessing…arr. Mack Wilberg
A Hymn for St. Cecilia…Herbert Howells (heard at bottom in a YouTube video)
This project is supported by American Girl’s Fund for Children, the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation, the Kenneth A. Lattman Foundation, American Family Insurance, Dane Arts with additional funds from the Evjue Foundation, charitable arm of The Capital Times, and BMO Harris Bank. This project is also supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the state of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
ABOUT THE MADISON YOUTH CHOIRS (MYC)
Recognized as an innovator in youth choral education, MYC inspires enjoyment, learning, and social development through the study and performance of high-quality and diverse choral literature. The oldest youth choir organization in Wisconsin, MYC welcomes singers of all ability levels, challenging them to learn more than just notes and rhythms. Singers explore the history, context, and heart of the music, becoming “expert noticers,” using music as a lens to discover the world. MYC serves more than 500 young people, ages 7-18, in 11 single-gender choirs.
In addition to a public concert series, MYC conducts an annual spring tour of schools and retirement centers, performing for more than 7,000 students and senior citizens annually. MYC also collaborates with professional arts organizations including the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Ballet, and Madison Opera, while continually supporting and recognizing the work of public schools and music educators throughout the area.
In summer 2014, MYC boychoirs will travel to Scotland for their first appearance at the invitation-only Aberdeen International Youth Festival.
For further information about attending or joining, visit http://www.madisonyouthchoirs.org contact the Madison Youth Choirs at info@madisonyouthchoirs.org, or call (608) 238-7464
Tags: Aberdeen International Youth Festival, Antonio Vivaldi, Arts, Arts & Minds, Bach, Baroque, Benjamin Britten, BMO Harris Bank, boy choir, boychoir, Choir, choral music, Classical music, Claude Debussy, Claudio Monteverdi, Cyndi Lauper, Debussy, Emma Lou Diemer, Eric Whitacre, George Frideric Handel, girl choir, girlchoir, Gustav Holst, Hebrew, Henry Purcell, Herbert Howells, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Japanese, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Rutter, Leonard Bernstein, Madison, Madison Ballet, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Youth Choirs, Michael Ross, Music, Music education, Overture Center, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Renaissance, Scotland, Scott Gendel, Serbia, St. Cecilia, Thomas Morley, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vincent Persichetti, Wisconsin, YouTube, Zoltan Kodaly
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: The Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Opera, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Overture Center cancel their fall seasons. Plus, on Saturday cellist Cole Randolph performs a virtual concert for Grace Presents
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ALERT: The Saturday at noon, Grace Presents will offer the first in its series of HD Virtual Concerts online. Future performers include organist Mark Brampton Smith and the Willy Street Chamber Players.
The performer this time is the cellist and recent UW-Madison graduate Cole Randolph (below). The program is: the Sonata for Solo Cello by the American composer George Crumb; two of the “Seven Songs Heard in China” by Chinese composer Bright Sheng; and the Suite for Solo Cello No. 3 by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Here is where you can hear the 40-minute concert inside the church on the Capitol Square: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vaOCH53osk
You can also connect with Cole Randolph after the show by joining in a Zoom meet-and-greet immediately following the performance at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88001773181
The meeting ID is: 880 0177 3181
You can hear Randolph (below, in a photo by Michael Anderson) playing in the YouTube video at the bottom.
By Jacob Stockinger
With all the talk of a second wave of coronavirus coming in the fall — complicated by the seasonal flu – concert cancellations don’t come as a surprise, unfortunately.
In fact, The Ear suspects many more cancellations are to come, including those from the UW-Madison, the Wisconsin Union Theater and the Middleton Community Orchestra.
Here is the latest round: the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Madison Opera, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Overture Center have all canceled their fall seasons, with some qualifications.
The announcements came on Thursday morning in the wake of the Overture Center canceling all performances this summer and fall through Nov. 30.
MADISON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Madison Symphony Orchestra has provided a short statement and a more complete and detailed press release.
Here is the statement:
“The Madison Symphony Orchestra’s 2020-21 “Beethoven and Beyond” season concerts and Overture Concert Organ performances are now canceled from September 2020 through January 2021.
“The move is due to the Overture Center’s decision to suspend events through Nov. 30, 2020, and the requirements of Dane County’s “Forward Dane” Reopening Plan.
“The 2020-21 season performances in February, March, April and May 2021 are scheduled to take place as planned.
“All subscribers will be sent a refund for the value of their tickets for the September 2020 through January 2021 concerts.”
Here is a list on the five MSO concerts – including the Beyond the Score performance of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” on Jan. 25 — that will be canceled and the four that remain scheduled: https://madisonsymphony.org/concerts-events/2020-2021-symphony-season-concerts/
Here is a link to the full press release about the cancellations by the MSO (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers): https://madisonsymphony.org/press-release-june-2020-concert-events-update/
MADISON OPERA
The Madison Opera is canceling the two in-person performances of Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” (The Troubadour) but is planning on offering some kind of large digital event and smaller live events at its center.
Here is statement from the Madison Opera:
“Although the Overture Center for the Arts is closed until the end of November, we will not be going silent.
“We are creating a fall season that lasts from September through December, and includes both digital content and live performances at the Margaret C. Winston Madison Opera Center, our home in downtown Madison.
“Some of our signature engagement activities — such as Opera Novice and Opera Up Close — will have monthly editions that include artists from around the country.
“The Opera Center itself will be the site of “Live from the Opera Center,” a variety of streamed performances with a small live audience.
“Other performances will be created digitally and made available exclusively to subscribers.
“Artists involved include members of the original “Il Trovatore” cast: soprano Karen Slack, baritone Weston Hurt, bass Kenneth Kellogg, and stage director Fenlon Lamb. Other soloists include Wisconsin-based artists Jeni Houser (below), David Blalock, Emily Fons, Emily Secor and Kirsten Larson.
“We are working with our artists to create programming that is chosen from their passions: music they want to share, ideas they want to explore, and conversations they want to start. The challenges facing us will create new art, and new ways to make sure it is accessible to everyone.”
Marketing director Andrew Rogers told The Ear that the opera company is still deciding whether digital performances will be ticketed or free with suggested donations.
The full schedule will be announced in early August, after the digital online Opera in the Park takes place Saturday, July 25. For details, go to: https://www.madisonopera.org/2020/05/06/opera-in-the-park-is-going-digital/
To stay current about the regular opera season, you can sign up for the Madison Opera’s news updates via email by going to this website: https://www.madisonopera.org/fall2020/
WISCONSIN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
The Nov. 20 opening concert with pianist John O’Conor of the Masterworks Series has been POSTPONED with no new date set yet.
Music director Andrew Sewell says the Family Concert on is still on for Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Goodman Community Center but the WCO is looking for an alternative venue.
The concert on Nov. 7 at the Verona Area Performing Arts Center has been CANCELED.
Both performances of Handel’s “Messiah” — on Dec. 9 and Dec. 12 at the Blackhawk Church in Middleton and the UW’s Hamel Music Center on Dec. 12 – have also been CANCELED.
And this season the WCO will not play Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” from Dec. 17-27 because the Madison Ballet has canceled those performances.
For more information about the WCO (below, in photo by Mike Gorski), go to: https://wcoconcerts.org/concerts-tickets/calendar
What do you think?
Do you think the cancellations are warranted?
Do you want to leave a message or comment encouraging and supporting the various groups and their many musicians?
The Ear wants to hear.
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