The Well-Tempered Ear
Cellist Camille Thomas makes her Madison debut online from Paris for the Wisconsin Union Theater this Saturday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Wisconsin Union Theater’s fall virtual Concert Series performances will begin this Saturday night, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. CST with a live online performance from Paris by the acclaimed cellist Camille Thomas (below).
The “Midnight in Paris” recital – performed in Paris and streamed — features music by Claude Debussy, Nadia Boulanger, Maurice Ravel and Frederic Chopin. The performance will be preceded by a live 30-40 minute online Q&A with Thomas and pianist Julien Brocal on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. CST.
Here are the specific works on the program, which will last about 75 minutes with no intermission:
Debussy, “Clair de Lune” (arr. Roelens)
Nadia Boulanger, “Three Pieces” for cello and piano
Ravel, Kaddish
Chopin, Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 65; and Introduction et Polonaise brillante, Op. 3
Tickets for this online event are $10 for UW-Madison students, $18 for Wisconsin Union members, and $20 for all other patrons.
For more information about the Thomas’ performance – including a video and how to purchase tickets — visit union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/camille-thomas.
Thomas (below), a Franco-Belgian cellist, says she uses her music to bring people together from a range of cultures and backgrounds. Thomas released her second album, called “Voice of Hope,” with the exclusive Deutsche Grammophon this past June. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Thomas play a solo version from the album of Gluck’s “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” from his opera “Orfeo ed Euridice.”)
Thomas plays the Feuermann Stradivarius cello (1730, below) — named for the famous 20th-century cellist Emanuel Feuermann who played it — with a bow by Eugene Sartory, who is regarded as one of the finest bow makers in history. Joining her for this performance will be pianist Julien Brocal.
“Camille Thomas’s extraordinary talent makes her one of the most captivating artists of our time, as evidenced by being the first cellist in several decades to be signed by the major record label Deutsche Grammophon,” says Wisconsin Union Theater director Elizabeth Snodgrass. “Her ‘Midnight in Paris’ program brings us closer to her roots and reflects the beauty and charm of her personality as well as her musicality.”
The Ear has listened to some of Thomas’ performances on YouTube and finds her tone, intonation and phrasing outstanding.
The performance by Camille Thomas is the start of the fall Concert Series events, which includes a concert with pianist Jeremy Denk (below, in a photo by Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times) on Friday, Dec. 11.
In its 101st year, the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Concert Series is one of the oldest uninterrupted series of its kind in the United States.
The Wisconsin Union Theater (WUT) has served as a cultural center for community members and visitors for more than 75 years. The WUD Performing Arts Committee plans many of the Theater’s events, including the Concert Series.
While usually held in-person and most often in Shannon Hall, the Wisconsin Union Theater team will hold this fall’s theater events in a virtual format for the health and safety of patrons, artists and team members in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The team aims for all of its spaces, including online ones, to be accessible. Those that need accommodations can reach out to the Wisconsin Union Theater team at wisconsinuniontheater@union.wisc.edu.
The WUT team says it continues to evaluate what changes may need to occur related to the spring Concert Series events as well as other spring Theater season performances.
The Wisconsin Union Theater has made multiple commitments to take a stand against racial injustice, including being more than allies, being activists; using the arts to create social justice; remembering students are future leaders and must be part of the change; using its voice to influence leadership and being firm in its resolve; and making space, stepping back and learning how to give up undeserved or unnecessary power and privilege.
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Classical music: The seventh annual Make Music Madison is on Friday, June 21, and features 17 different FREE classical concerts as well as dozens of performances of jazz, folk, blues, hip-hop, swing and other genres
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REMINDER: TODAY, Saturday, June 15, at noon in Grace Episcopal Church, 116 West Washington Avenue, on the Capitol Square, the Ancora String Quartet will give a FREE performance as part of “Grace Presents.” The one-hour program includes the String Quartet in A Major, Op. 13, by Felix Mendelssohn; the String Quartet in B-flat Major, “La Malinconia” (Melancholy), Op. 18, No. 6, by Ludwig van Beethoven; and “Entr’acte” by the contemporary Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw. The Ear heard an earlier performance of the same program by the Ancora, and highly recommends it.
By Jacob Stockinger
This coming Friday, June 21, is the Summer Solstice, which arrives at 10:54 a.m. CDT.
That means not only the first day of summer, but also the seventh annual Make Music Madison – a day-long FREE mostly outdoor festival of live performances.
The event, which is organized and staffed by volunteers and costs about $45,000, will take place from easy morning until midnight. Madison will be joining more than 80 cities in the United States and more than 1,000 cities around the world for the global event. The estimated audience worldwide is in the tens of millions.
The local lineup is impressive.
More than 400 concerts at more than 100 venues will take place all around the Madison area.
Many genres of music besides classical will be featured: jazz, folk, ethnic, rock, blues, hip-hop, reggae, gospel, swing and more. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear a compilation of different music and assessments from Make Music Madison participants in 2014.)
And many forms of music, both instrumental and vocal, will be featured. (Below is the Madison Flute Club performing during last year’s event.)
Performers include professionals and amateurs, young people and adults, students and teachers, individuals and ensembles.
Some events will be more formal, while others will be jam sessions. Some events will have an open mic.
The Ear counts 17 different venues for classical music, including a public piano in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Alumni Park, between the Memorial Union and the Red Gym. Also featured there is opera singer Prenicia Clifton (below).
You will also find classical music at Metcalfe’s market in the Hilldale Mall; the First Congregational United Church of Christ near Camp Randall Stadium; branches of the Madison Public Library; and other places. You can hear the Suzuki Strings as well as violin, viola, cello, brass, winds, piano and guitar ensembles.
Unfortunately, though, specific programs and works are not listed, which might cut into the attendance at some performances.
To whet your appetite, here is a link to the Make Music Madison home website, with lots of background, some fine photos, a complete listing of events and the names of major funding sources, which include the Madison Arts Commission, Isthmus, Dane Arts, WORT FM 89.9, Wisconsin Public Radio. WSUM-FM 91.7 (the student radio at the University of Wisconsin-Madison) and La Voz de Latinoamerica Desde Wisconsin as well as individual private donors.
To help classical fans decide what to attend and what works in their weekday schedule, here is a map of concerts. Just click on “Classical” in “Filter Map,” which is first tab on the top right, to see classical events listed by genre, location and name:
http://www.makemusicmadison.org/listings/
Have you ever attended Make Music Madison?
What did you think of it? Did you have a good time? Did you hear good music and fine performances?
Do you have any words of advice, tips or recommendations for organizers, performers and listeners?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: You’re invited to a FREE 12-hour marathon birthday party for Johann Sebastian Bach this Saturday. Plus, tonight’s concert of African-American music has been CANCELLED
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ALERT: Tonight’s concert of African-American spirituals and songs has been CANCELLED because guest scholar and singer Emery Stephens is ill. The UW-Madison School of Music hopes to reschedule the event later this spring.
By Jacob Stockinger
Guess who turns 332 on March 21?
This coming Saturday will bring a 12-hour, noon to midnight, marathon party for the Birthday Boy – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750, seen below in a humorous poster for a similar event held several years ago).
The local event – now part of the nationwide “Early Music Month” — is being revived, thanks to Madison violist Marika Fischer Hoyt (below), who performs with the Madison Bach Musicians, the Ancora String Quartet and the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and to many sponsors.
The party will take place at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church (below) on Regent Street. (Several years ago, the event, when it was sponsored by Wisconsin Public Radio, was held at the Pres House.) There will be live audio-visual streaming and free wi-fi, and the event will be recorded.
Here is a link to the updated schedule of performances:
https://bacharoundtheclock.wordpress.com/concert-schedule/
Here is a link to an earlier post about the upcoming event:
https://welltempered.wordpress.com/?s=bach+around+the+clock
If you love the music of Bach (below) – and The Ear doesn’t know anyone who is into classical music who doesn’t revere Bach — there will be a lot to love and to listen to at this FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC celebration.
The event is modeled after a longtime similar event in New Orleans and those who attend it can come and go and come back again.
Local performers include groups and individuals who are professionals (Madison Bach Musicians and Wisconsin Chamber Choir), amateurs and students (Suzuki Strings of Madison).
The impressive program includes lots of variety.
There will be preludes and fugues.
Cantatas and concertos.
Sonatas and suites.
Obscure works will be performed.
But there will also be popular works such as two Brandenburg Concertos (Nos. 3 and 5), The Well-Tempered Clavier (Books I and II), the Magnificat, a Violin Concerto, “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” and some of The Art of Fugue. (You can hear Fugue No. 1 from “The Art of Fugue,” which will be performed at BATC, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
There will be music played on period instruments and on modern instruments, including the harpsichord and the piano; the baroque violin and the modern violin; older recorders and newer flutes, the viola da gamba and the cello. And of course there will be lots and lots of singing and organ music.
Given such a marathon undertaking, you should know that there will be refreshments (coffee, tea, bottled water and snacks), comfortable seating and special birthday cakes — served at midnight — provided by Clausen’s Eurpean Bakery in Middleton.
NOTE: You can find out more when several organizers and performers from Bach Around the Clock are Norman Gilliland’s guests on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “The Midday” this coming Thursday from noon to 12:30 p.m.
For more information –including how to support the event with a donation and how to participate in it as a performer – go to the event’s homepage:
https://bacharoundtheclock.wordpress.com
Here are some links to previous posts on this blog about attending earlier versions of Bach Around the Clock. Read them and look at the pictures, and you will see how enjoyable they are and how informative they are.
From 2010:
From 2011:
From 2012:
See you there!
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Classical music: A revived 12-hour marathon Bach Around the Clock celebration is seeking musicians to mark Johann Sebastian’s 332nd birthday on Saturday, March 18
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By Jacob Stockinger
Here is some news that The Ear is overjoyed to announce: An annual Bach Around the Clock celebration is being revived this year in Madison.
For three years, a similar event, inspired by celebrations in New Orleans, was sponsored by Wisconsin Public Radio and coordinated by its music director Cheryl Dring. But when she left in 2013, and so did WPR.
But now baroque and modern violist Marika Fischer Hoyt (below right), who plays with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Ancora String Quartet and the Madison Bach Musicians, has undertaken to revive it.
So let’s help resume the tradition and call it Bach Around the Clock 4.
The place has changed.
But the concept remains the same.
The event is now looking for musicians -– professional and amateurs, teachers and students – to sign up to participate.
Here are particulars:
Bach Around The Clock 2017
Saturday, March 18
12 Noon to 12 Midnight
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church (below)
1833 Regent St., Madison, WI 53726
The event is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
Bach Around The Clock is a 12-hour celebration of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Held on the Saturday closest to Bach’s birthday, it offers all members of the musical community, from young students to seasoned professionals, the opportunity to perform selections by this sublime composer.
This year’s BATC takes place in the sanctuary (below) of St. Andrew’s Church, and will be opened with an organ work and a performance by the St. Andrew’s Chancel Choir, under the leadership of music director and organist Ken Stancer.
NOTE: The entire event will be recorded, and audio/video live streaming will be available for those unable to attend.
Birthday cake will be served at midnight!
The month of March has been designated as the official ‘Early Music Month’ by the organization Early Music America <www.earlymusicamerica.org/endeavors/early-music-month>, and the Madison Bach Around The Clock is listed on their website as one of the many partners participating in this annual nationwide celebration.
For more information on BATC, or to request a time to perform, please visit the website <https://bacharoundtheclock.wordpress.com>, or email batcmadison@gmail.com
The Ear — who himself played solo piano works and accompanied a famous Siciliano movement from a flute sonata — has such great memories of past ones.
Those memories include hearing whole studios of young piano students performing; duos and trios done by siblings and friends, by parents and children, by teachers and students; accomplished professional and amateur instrumentalists, including UW-Madison faculty members; church choirs in cantatas; lots of intriguing arrangements including the solo cello suites on the saxophone and a flute and bassoon duo performing some Two-Part Inventions (in the YouTube video at the bottom) as well as Bach on the accordion and bagpipes. And on and on.
And to give you the flavor of the event, here links to the events, complete with photos, to the past Bach Around the Clock celebrations when they were sponsored by Wisconsin Public Radio and held at the Pres House near the UW-Madison campus:
From 2010:
From 2011:
From 2012:
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