The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: The Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble teams up with the new Madison Youth Viol Consort for a concert on Saturday night. Plus a FREE organ recital is Friday night
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ALERT: On this Friday night at 7 p.m. in Grace Episcopal Church, 116 West Washington Avenue, on the Capitol Square, Grace Presents is offering a FREE organ recital by Jackson Borges of Delaware. Sorry, no word on composers or pieces.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement to post:
The Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble (below) invites you to a concert of baroque chamber music, featuring the Madison Youth Viol Consort.
The concert is this Saturday night, April 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church (below), 1833 Regent Street, Madison
Tickets at the door only are $20 ($10 for students). For more information, go to www.wisconsinbaroque.org
A reception will be held after the concert at 2422 Kendall Ave., second floor.
Regular members of the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble are Mimmi Fulmer, soprano; Brett Lipshutz, traverse flute; Eric Miller, viola da gamba; Sigrun Paust, recorder; Charlie Rasmussen, baroque cello; Consuelo Sañudo, mezzo-soprano; Monica Steger, traverse flute, harpsichord and recorder; Anton TenWolde, baroque cello; and Max Yount, harpsichord.
The Madison Youth Viol Consort (MYVC) is the brain child of Eric Miller (below, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) and is a part of the Viola da Gamba Society of America’s nationwide Consort Loan Program.
The mission of the MYVC is two-fold: 1. To introduce the viola da gamba, its repertoire and historically informed playing techniques to young musicians in Madison, grades 8-12 through an artistic chamber music experience; and 2. To increase community awareness in Madison of the Viola da Gamba and its repertoire.
The MYVC currently has five instruments on loan: two bass viols, a tenor viol, and two treble viols. Current members are all accomplished student musicians in grades 8-12 from the Madison area: Charles Deck, Mateo Guaio, Nathaniel Johnson, Anika Olson, and Miriam Syvertsen.
The MYVC will be performing two pieces from the English consort song tradition along with WBE’s vocalists, Consuelo Sanudo and Mimmi Fulmer. “Come to me, grief, for ever” by William Byrd, and “The Silver Swan” by Orlando Gibbons.
As for the WBE, they say: “Playing on period instruments from original notation, the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble brings the sound and character of the 17th and 18th centuries to life, often shedding light upon lesser known compositions and composers.”
Here is the complete program:
Antonio Vivaldi – “Cento donzelle festose e belle” (A hundred maidens, cheerful and fair)
Georg Philipp Telemann – Fantasia No. 3 for viola da gamba, TWV 40:28 (1735)
Giuseppe Ferdinando Brivio – Trio Sonata for two traversi and basso continuo, Op. 2, No. 4
Unico van Wassenaer – Sonata No. 3 for recorder and basso continuo (ca. 1714)
William Byrd – “Come to me, Grief, forever”
Orlando Gibbons – “The Silver Swan”
INTERMISSION
Luigi Boccherini – Sonata No. 3 for the violoncello, G5
Giovanni Ghizzolo – “Perche piangi, Pastore?” (Why do you weep, shepherd); “Qual di nova bellezza” (As of new beauty..);
Adriano Banchiero – Magnificat (1613)
Michel Pignolet de Montéclair – Duo for traversi without bass
Georg Philipp Telemann – Quartet, TWV 43:G10 (in YouTube video below)
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
To celebrate Pride month, here are lists of LGBTQ+ composers, performers and musical ensembles
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PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
June is Pride month.
And this weekend will see Pride marches and celebrations in some major cities including New York City, Chicago, Paris and Rome.
As time passes, scholars are finding out more about the LGBTQ+ composers, performers and musical groups that have been hidden by history.
And some ironies emerge. One can only imagine the response of conservative, right-wing Evangelical Christians who find out that the composer of “Messiah” – George Frideric Handel (below) — was queer, at least according to some researchers.
For most listeners, surprises abound.
Here is a good place to start. It is the very large Wikipedia entry of LGBTQ+ composers and performers, both contemporary and historical. The Ear finds it very informative. It is organized by the kind of musicians they are and the category of their sexual identity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_musicians
If you want to be more selective, try these: https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/greatest-lgbtq-conductors-you-should-know/. They include Marin Alsop (below top) and her teacher and mentor Leonard Bernstein (below bottom).
Here is longer essay that focuses on lesbian conductors as well as gay men and reaches back to the Middle Ages: http://www.glbtqarchive.com/arts/conductors_A.pdf
And here is one with some great photos or pictures of the individuals: https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/great-classical-composers-who-were-gay/
Finally, here are some of the international music ensembles – with audio samples of their performances — made up of LGBTQ+ singers and instrumentalists, including the Rainbow Symphony of Paris (in the YouTube video at the bottom, performing the beautiful Gloria by the gay French composer Francis Poulenc in a benefit Concert Against Homophobia for UNESCO): https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/best-lgbtq-classical-music-ensembles/
Inevitably, some readers will react by asking: What difference does the sexual identity of composer or performer make? All that matters, they argue, is the music.
Here is a reply to that specious argument that focuses on Yannick Nézet-Séguin (below), the music director of the Metropolitan Opera, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the City Symphony of Montreal. It appeared in The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/15/arts/music/yannick-nezet-seguin-met-opera-gay.html
Happy Pride – this month and every day of the year!
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