The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Meet Conor Nelson, the new flute professor at the UW-Madison
8 Comments
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
The UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music has a new flute professor who follows Timothy Hagen in taking the place of retired longtime predecessor Stephanie Jutt, who continues to perform locally with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society..
He is Conor Nelson (below) and he starts later this month at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
Here is the biography — impressive for both his performing and his teaching –that the university released:
“Praised for his “long-breathed phrases and luscious tone” by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Canadian flutist Conor Nelson is established as a leading flutist and pedagogue of his generation.
“Since his New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, he has frequently appeared as soloist and recitalist throughout the United States and abroad.
“Solo engagements include concertos with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Flint Symphony, and numerous other orchestras.
“In addition to being the only wind player to win the Grand Prize at the WAMSO (Minnesota Orchestra) Young Artist Competition, he won first prize at the William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition. He also received top prizes at the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition, the Haynes International Flute Competition as well as the Fischoff, Coleman and Yellow Springs chamber music competitions. (Editor’s note: In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Conor Nelson perform the second and third movements of the Flute Sonata by French composer Francis Poulenc.)
“With percussionist Ayano Kataoka (below left, with Nelson), he performed at Merkin Concert Hall, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Hall and Izumi Hall. A recital at the Tokyo Opera City Hall received numerous broadcasts on NHK Television. Their CD entitled, “Breaking Training” was released on New Focus Recordings (NYC). His second CD, “Nataraja,” with pianist Thomas Rosenkranz, is also available on New Focus.
“He has collaborated with pianist Claude Frank on the Schneider concert series in New York City and appeared at numerous chamber music festivals across the country including the OK Mozart, Bennington, Skaneateles, Yellow Barn, Cooperstown, Salt Bay, Look and Listen (NYC), Norfolk (Yale), Green Mountain, Chesapeake, and the Chamber Music Quad Cities series.
“He is the Principal Flutist of the New Orchestra of Washington in Washington, D.C., and has performed with the Detroit, Toledo and Tulsa Symphony Orchestras. He also performed as guest principal with A Far Cry, Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco, and the Conceirtos de la Villa de Santo Domingo.
“A respected pedagogue, Dr. Nelson has given master classes at over 100 colleges, universities and conservatories.
“Prior to his appointment at UW-Madison, he served as the flute professor at Bowling Green State University for nine years and as the Assistant Professor of Flute at Oklahoma State University from 2007-2011.
“His recent residencies include Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea; the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China; the Conservatorio de Musica de Puerto Rico; and the Associacao Brasileira de Flautistas in Sao Paulo.
“He is also a regular guest of the Texas Summer Flute Symposium and has been the featured guest artist for 11 flute associations across the country. His former students can be found performing in orchestras, as well as teaching at colleges, universities and public schools nationwide. They have also amassed over 60 prizes in young artist competitions, concerto competitions and flute association competitions.
“Nelson received degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, Yale University and Stony Brook University where he was the winner of the school-wide concerto competitions at all three institutions. He is also a recipient of the Thomas Nyfenger Prize, the Samuel Baron Prize and the Presser Award.
“His principal teachers include Carol Wincenc, Ransom Wilson, Linda Chesis, Susan Hoeppner and Amy Hamilton. Nelson is a Powell Flutes artist and is the Assistant Professor of Flute at UW-Madison where he performs with the Wingra Wind Quintet.”
Tags: #AFarCry, #AmyHamilton, #AyanoKataoka, #BachDancingandDynamiteSociety, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BowlingGreenStateUniversity, #CanadianMusician, #CarnegieHall, #CarolWincenc, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusicQuadCitites, #ChengduChina, #ClaudeFrank, #ConorNelson, #DetroitMichigan, #DetroitSymphonyOrchestra, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FirstPrize, #FischoffNationalChamberMusicCompetition, #Flint, #FlintSymphony, #FluteConcerto, #FluteMusic, #FluteSonata, #GrandPrize, #GreenMountain, #GuestArtist, #HaynesInternationalFluteCompetition, #IzumiHall, #JacobStockinger, #LindaChesis, #LookandListen, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #ManhattanSchoolofMusic, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MerkinConcertHall, #MinneapolisMinnesota, #MinneapolisStarTribune, #MinnesotaOrchestra, #MusicEducation, #Musicfaculty, #NewFocusRecordings, #NewOrchestraofWashington, #NewYork, #NewYorkCity, #NewYorkFluteClub, #NHKTelevision, #OklahomaStateUniversity, #OKMozart, #PianoAccompaniment, #PianoAccompanist, #PowellFlutes, #PrincipalFlute, #PrincipalFlutist, #PublicSchool, #PuertoRico, #QuadCities, #RansomWilson, #SaltBay, #SantoDomingo, #SaoPaulo, #SchneiderConcertSeries, #SeoulSouthKorea, #SichuanConservatory, #SouthKorea, #StephanieJutt, #StonyBrookUniversity, #SusanHoeppner, #TexasSummerFluteSymposium, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #ThomasRosenkarnz, #TimothyHagen, #TokyoBunkaKaikanHall, #TokyoJapan, #TokyoOperaCityHall, #ToledoSymphonyOrchestra, #TopPrize, #TorontoCanada, #TorontoSymphonyOrchestra, #TulsaOklahoma, #TulsaSymphonyOrchestra, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #WeillHall, #WeillRecitalHall, #WindMusic, #WingraWindQuintet, #YaleSchoolofMusic, #YaleUniversity, #YellowBarn, #YellowSprings, #YonseiUniversity, #YoungArtist, #YouTubevideo, A Far Cry, abroad, Amy Hamilton, artist, Arts, Asia, association, audience, Ayano Kataoka, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Bennington, biography, blog, Blowing Green State University, Brazil, Broadcast, Canada, Canadian, Carnegie Hall, Carol Wincenc, CD, Chamber music, Chamber Music Quad Cities, Chengdu, Chesapeake, China, Chinese, Classical music, Claude Frank, club, Coleman, college, Competition, Concert, concerto, Conor Nelson, conservatory, Cooperstown, country, D.C., degrees, Detroit, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, duties, Facebook, first prize, Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, flautist, Flint Symphony, flute, flute club, flute concerto, flute music, flute sonata, flutist, forward, France, French, frequently appear, generation, grand prize, Green Mountain, guest artist, guest principal, Haynes International Flute Competition, his, Iowa, Izumi Hall, Jacob Stockinger, Jalisco, Japan, Japanese, Korea, leading, lijke, Linda Chesis, link, Look and Listen, luscious, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Manhattan School of Music, master class, masterclass, Mead Witter School of Music, Merkin Concert Hall, Mexico, Michigan, Minneapolis, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota, Minnesota Orchestra, month, Music, Music education, nationwide, new, New Focus Recordings, New Orchestra of Washington, New York, New York City, New York Flute Club, NHK, Norfolk, Ohio, OK Mozart, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, Orchestra, pedagogue, percussion, percussionist, perform, performer, performing, phrases, Pianist, Piano, poat, posting, Powell, Powell Flutes, predecessor, principal, principal flute, principal flutist, prizes, professor, public school, Puerto Rico, Quad Cities, quintet, Ransom Wilson, recital, recitalist, release, residency, respected, retired, Salt Bay, Santo Domingo, Sao Paulo, Schneider, Schneider Concert Series, Seoul, series, serve, share, Sichuan, Sichuan Conservatory, Skaneateles, soloist, Sonata, South Korea, start, Stephanie Jutt, Stony Brook University, students, summer, Susan Hoeppner, symphony, Symposium, tag, Teacher, teaching, Texas, Texas Summer Flute Symposium, The Ear, Thomas Rosenkranz, Timothy Hagen, Tokyo, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Hall, Tokyo Opera City Hall, Toledo, Toledo Symphony Orchestra, tone, toop prie, Toronto, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Tulsa, Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, U.S., United States, university, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, Washington, Washington D.C., Weill Hall, Weill Recital Hall, win, wind music, Wingra Wind Quintet, Wisconsin, Yale, years, Yellow Barn, Yellow Springs, Yonsei University, young artist, YouTube
Classical music: The Minnesota Orchestra will try performing shorter and more informal concerts next season. What do you think? Should that be tried here in Madison and elsewhere?
4 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
You may remember that at the beginning of November, The Ear posted a series of 10 suggestions to improve orchestral concerts (below bottom) intended to draw in bigger, newer and younger audiences.
The suggestions were made by conductor Baldur Bronniman (below).
I added two suggestions of my own: Make concerts shorter and make tickets cheaper.
The post drew a lot of strong responses, mostly con but some pro, from readers. You should check them out.
Here is a link:
Now I see that, with the help of a grant, the Minnesota Orchestra will try putting on some shorter and more informal concerts. The orchestra recently returned from the brink of bankruptcy and disaster under Finnish Grammy-winning music director Osmo Vanska, who took the same percentage pay cut at his players. (He is below and at bottom in a YouTube video conducting symphonies by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius),
While The Ear proposed 90-minute concerts without intermission, it seems the Minnesota Orchestra will try out the 60-minute formula in three concerts between this coming January and June. The programs look pretty good.
(Thanks for directing me to the story goes to Steve Kurr, below, the Middleton High School music teacher and conductor of the Middleton Community Orchestra, which generally follows a short and more informal programs for its concerts.)
I will be anxious to see the results. So will a lot of other orchestra maestros and administrators, I suspect.
Just maybe we are beginning to see the start of a trend in bringing concert hall practices up to – or down to? — the standards of a high-tech and very busy society that is both timed-deprived and driven by a shorter attention span.
Here is a link to the story:
http://m.startribune.com/entertainment/music/280257972.html
What do you think of the ideas in general and the experiments in Minnesota?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Arts, Associated Press, Baldur Bronniman, Classical music, Grammy, Grammy Award, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Sibelius, Kevin Smith, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Middleton Community Orchestra, Minneapolis, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota Opera, Minnesota Orchestra, Music, Music director, New York Times, Orchestra, Osmo Vanska, Steve Kurr, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra
Recent Comments
 | Ronnie on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Polly Kuelbs on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
| welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Ann Boyer on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 