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Just Bach free concert series seeks Interim Co-Artistic Director. Apply by July 5

June 23, 2021
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By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following announcement to post about an interim job at Just Bach:

Do you love the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (below)?

Would you love to perform it every month in one of the most beautiful churches (below, in a photo by Barry Lewis) in Madison?

Are you a professional instrumentalist with training and experience in period performance practice?

Do you have strong organizational skills?

If the answer to all these questions is yes, then Just Bach needs you!

Because Co-Artistic Director Marika Fischer Hoyt (below) will leave on a sabbatical starting in November, Just Bach is looking for an instrumentalist to join the Artistic Team. (You can check out the typical format by using the search engine on this blog or going to Just Bach’s Facebook page or YouTube Channel.)

The popular monthly concert series, which made it to the final round of the 2021 “Best of Madison” awards, seeks an Interim Artistic Co-Director for its upcoming fourth season.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Interim Artistic Co-Director works with the Just Bach team and the staff at Luther Memorial Church to program, produce, promote and perform monthly Bach concerts (below) from September through May.

The Interim Co-Artistic Director helps finalize the programming, contract any remaining needed players, schedule rehearsals and performances, perform in the concerts as needed, and upload the concert video to the Just Bach YouTube channel.

The Co-Artistic Director devotes about 4 hours per month to administrative tasks, on a volunteer basis.

The Co-Artistic Director rehearses and performs as needed in the monthly concerts — and is paid $100 per concert. (You can hear and see the closing concert of this past season in the YouTube video at the bottom. Click on Show More to see other instruments, players, singers and the program.)

The current Artistic Team will provide training for this position, and will be available for assistance once the season begins.

A detailed job description is available at:: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CDis-RSY5FUnfUGCBvYunWZ1fR4EtyfzSo3xYiMyjUs/edit#

For more information, please contact and apply to Just Bach at: justbachseries@gmail.com

APPLICATION ARE DUE BY JULY 5.

Posted in Classical music
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Going live! Here are some links to newly announced summer concerts and 2021-22 seasons

June 15, 2021
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By Jacob Stockinger

Get out your datebooks.

Now that the pandemic is fast abating, at least locally, music groups and music presenters in the Madison area have been announcing a return to live music and their new seasons and summer events in a relentless way.

The Ear had been out of commission since mid-May until this week. But in any case, The Ear was overwhelmed and just couldn’t keep up with a separate post for each one.

Still, he thought it might be helpful to be able to check the dates, performers, programs, tickets and other information in one place.

Remember that the Madison Early Music Festival is no more. It has been absorbed into the regular music curriculum at the UW.

Please know that many groups – including, but not limited to, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music (below is the UW Symphony Orchestra — masked, socially distanced and virtually streamed — during the pandemic), University Opera, Edgewood College, Just Bach, Grace Presents, the Salon Piano Series, the First Unitarian Society of Madison, Bach Around the Clock, the Festival Choir of Madison, the Wisconsin Chamber Choir and the Madison Bach Musicians – have not yet released details of their new seasons.

But most of their websites say that an announcement of their new season is coming soon.

There are also some trends you may notice.

Many of the groups are raising prices and persistently seek donations as well as subscribers, no doubt to help make up for the loss of revenue during the pandemic.

The Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra have reduced the number of concerts or start later.

Some have simply rescheduled events, like the Wisconsin Union Theater closing its season with soprano Renée Fleming. And the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s new season is largely the same one they were planning to have to celebrate the Beethoven Year in 2020-21.

The Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, the Middleton Community Orchestra and the Willy Street Chamber Players all have pop-up concerts and scheduled outdoor concerts in parks. Some have also scheduled individual mini-concerts or personal sessions.

If you look at programs, you will see an emphasis on Black composers and performers by almost all groups. (The Madison Symphony Orchestra has scheduled “Lyric for Strings” by George Walker, below. You can hear it performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

What is most disappointing is that no group seems to have announced a special concert or event to pay homage to the public ordeal, health care workers and victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ear keeps thinking a performance of a suitable requiem (by perhaps Mozart, Faure, Brahms, Verdi or Britten) or Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony would have been an appropriate way to start the in-person season and, at the same time, acknowledge the more than 7,000 deaths in Wisconsin and almost 600,000 deaths in the U.S. and almost 4 million worldwide as of now. Maybe even Barber’s overplayed Adagio for Strings would suffice.

Finally, very few groups seem to be offering online virtual concert attendance as a possibility for those listeners who found that they actually enjoyed at least some the music in their own homes and at their own times.

IN ANY CASE, HERE IS WHAT HAS ALREADY TAKEN PLACE OR IS STILL ON TAP. CHECK IT OUT!

Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society in free live and for-pay recorded concerts: https://bachdancing.org

Middleton Community Orchestra’s summer concerts at Fireman’s Park (below) in Middleton: https://middletoncommunityorchestra.org

Madison Bach Musicians summer workshops (below): https://madisonbachmusicians.org/2021-summer-chamber-music-workshop/

Concerts on the Square with limited paid admission at Breese Stevens Field (below): https://wcoconcerts.org/concerts-tickets/concerts-on-the-square

Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers): https://madisonsymphony.org/concerts-events/madison-symphony-orchestra-concerts/

Madison Opera and Opera in the Park (below): https://www.madisonopera.org/oitp21/; and https://www.madisonopera.org/21-22/

Wisconsin Union Theater: https://union.wisc.edu/visit/wisconsin-union-theater/seasonevents/concert-series/

Willy Street Chamber Players (below) at Orton Park: http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org/2021-summer-concert-series.html

If you know of more entries or have observations to make about these, please leave word and, when possible, a link in the comment section.

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
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The Madison Symphony Orchestra cancels the remaining orchestra and organ concerts of the 2020-21 season and postpones its Beethoven celebration until next season

December 2, 2020
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By Jacob Stockinger

The Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers) has canceled the remaining orchestral and organ concerts of the 2020-21 season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A free online performance of “A Virtual Madison Symphony Christmas” will take place on Dec. 16 and stay posted through Dec. 31. For more information about the program and performers, plus a link to register and to hear that performance, go to: https://madisonsymphony.org

Plans for others online events – free or paid – have not been announced, although the MSO seems to be considering such steps. It also suggests that the 2021-22 season will be a postponed version of the same concerts planned this season to celebrate the Beethoven Year.

Here is the email from executive director Richard H. Mackie that the MSO sent out Monday:

Dear Friends of the Madison Symphony Orchestra,

As you know, the continuing COVID-19 crisis has curtailed planned performances of orchestras all over the world.

As more and more orchestras face the almost certain prospect that well-attended, full-orchestra concerts indoors will not be possible for the foreseeable future, at least until a successful vaccination program has brought COVID-19 under control, the remainder of many symphony concert seasons across America are now being cancelled .

We have previously cancelled our live, main stage concerts and education performances through January 2021 due to public health restrictions and the closure of Overture Hall.

Public Health Madison and Dane County restrictions continue to prohibit publicly attended indoor concerts. As a consequence, we have faced a painful decision in recent months regarding the fate of the rest of our 2020–2021 season.

I am grieved to announce that, under the present conditions — which offer no reasonable prospect of abatement until the summer, at least — we deem it an unfortunate necessity to cancel all previously scheduled Madison Symphony Orchestra concerts, Education and Community Engagement Programs, and Overture Concert Organ performances through May 2021.

Our June 2021 Concert on the Green remains on our schedule at this time.

We are prepared to issue refunds to our subscribers as we did in the fall. We will be communicating directly with our subscribers to provide options, including the option to donate the value of their tickets.

As we consider alternative programming opportunities for the spring, we will continue to welcome donations to our Musicians’ Relief Fund.

When we planned a joyous celebration of Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday, we could scarcely have imagined the devastation of the coronavirus in almost every aspect of our lives. But we are finding solace in successfully rescheduling this epic season just one year hence.

The emerging promise of vaccine development has rekindled our enthusiasm for making great music on a grand scale for our community with our Beethoven celebration. We all look forward to a new beginning with John DeMain (below, in a photo by Greg Anderson) and the orchestra in September 2021. (You can hear the original promotional preview in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Please stay tuned for some exciting news about next season. In the meantime, should there be a breakthrough opportunity to restore any of the cancelled orchestra or organ concerts, or educational and community services to the schedule, we will be prepared to do so.

We are committed to helping our orchestra and keeping great music alive in Madison. Thank you for your interest and continuing support.

Sincerely,

Richard H. Mackie, Executive Director

Posted in Classical music
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The Madison Symphony Orchestra seeks matching funds as it launches a musicians’ relief fund to reach $355,000 by Nov. 5

October 5, 2020
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By Jacob Stockinger

The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO, below in a photo by Peter Rodgers) has announced that a Musicians’ Relief Fund has been established with the goal of securing $355,000 to cover 100% of the orchestra payrolls for the canceled September through December 2020 subscription concerts.

This initiative is in addition to the compensation already provided to its musicians for canceled services from April 2020 to date.

To launch the fund, the MSO Board of Directors has committed current Symphony resources to guarantee 52% of the $355,000 total — $184,000 — and has informed the orchestra that the September and October orchestra payrolls will be paid in full.

MSO is seeking community support to help us raise another $171,000 to assure the orchestra’s compensation for the canceled November and December 2020 subscription concerts.

All contributions to this effort will directly support the musicians. An Anonymous Donor has launched the appeal with a $50,000 lead gift. The campaign seeks to raise the additional funds by Nov. 5, 2020.

All contributions to the MSO Musicians’ Relief Fund are tax-deductible and will be used for musicians’ compensation.

Donations can be mailed to the Madison Symphony Orchestra, 222 W. Washington Ave., Suite 460, Madison WI, 53703.

An online donation form is found at madisonsymphony.org/relief-gift.

To contribute gifts of appreciated stock or to discuss other options, contact Jeff Breisach, Manager of Individual Giving, at jbreisach@madisonsymphony.org.

“The 91 members of the Symphony are a core cultural asset of the greater Madison community,” said MSO Board President Ellsworth Brown (below). “We are committed to doing all we can to assist them through the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.”

“While some MSO musicians have other day jobs, many rely heavily on the wages they earn performing with this Symphony, as well as other orchestras and ensembles in the region,” said MSO Executive Director Rick Mackie (below). “The cancellations of services have caused stress and anxiety for our artists.”

The MSO has demonstrated support of its musicians since April of this year, compensating the orchestra for all canceled rehearsals and performances.

Generous donors, strong financial management and a federal Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Loan enabled the Symphony to pay 100% of the orchestra payrolls for the April and May subscription concerts, the spring youth education programs, HeartStrings®, Madison Opera and Overture Presents engagements, and Concert on the Green.

These unexpected paychecks provided relief to the MSO staff and to our musicians (below, with music director and conductor John DeMain in a photo by Peter Rodgers) were forthcoming with their individual appreciation.

HERE ARE SAMPLES OF THE MUSICIANS OF THE MADISON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA EXPRESSING THEIR GRATITUDE FOR COMPENSATION RELIEF

“I am very grateful that our organization values the health of its musicians and patrons yet also understands the financial difficulty imposed on musicians by being unable to work due to the pandemic. The MSO is a gem of an organization, and if you haven’t heard it enough lately, please let me reiterate my gratitude.”

“WOW! I am humbled to be a part of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Thank you so much for valuing the musicians and honoring us with payment for cancelled rehearsals and performances. The news made me cry.”

“As someone who makes a living totally from teaching and playing, this has been an incredibly difficult time. I lost half of my students, because they do not want to study online, and of course, all gigs were cancelled. I am truly grateful to you for making this possible. You have no idea how much this will help not only financially, but mentally as well. THANK YOU!!!

Posted in Classical music
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Can American film director Ron Howard make a sensitive and accurate biopic of Chinese superstar pianist Lang Lang? Or is it a cultural appropriation that deserves to be condemned?

September 27, 2020
6 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

The self-appointed PC diversity police have struck again.

This is getting silly and tiresome, insulting and embarrassing.

Some advocates of cultural diversity are crying foul over the latest project of the American and Academy Award-winning Hollywood film director Ron Howard: making a biopic of the superstar Chinese classical pianist Lang Lang (below).

The script will be drawn from the pianist’s bestselling memoir “Journey of a Thousand Miles” — which has also been recast as an inspirational children’s book — and the director and scriptwriters will consult with Lang Lang.

It seems to The Ear a natural collaboration, as well as a surefire box office hit, between two high-achieving entertainers. Check out their bios:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lang_Lang

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Howard

But some people are criticizing the project in the belief that because Ron Howard (below) is white and Western, he cannot do justice to someone who is Chinese or to Asian culture.

Here is an essay, found on the website of Classic FM, by one objector. She is Chinese film director Lulu Wang (below), who says she has no interest in doing the project herself: https://www.classicfm.com/artists/lang-lang/pianist-biopic-ron-howard-faces-criticism-lulu-wang/

Talk about misplaced alarm over “cultural appropriation.”

Don’t you think that Lang Lang will have a lot to say about how he is depicted?

Do you wonder if Wang thinks cultural appropriation works in reverse?

Should we dismiss Lang Lang’s interpretations of Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Bartok simply because he is non-Western and Chinese rather than German, French or Russian?

Of course not. They should be taken on their own merits, just as the interpretations of any other Asian classical musician, and artists in general including Ai Weiwei, should be.

But however unfairly, cultural appropriation just doesn’t seem to work in reverse.

Mind you, The Ear thinks that cultural appropriation is a valid concept and can indeed sometimes be useful in discussing cross-cultural influences.

But it sure seems that the concept is being applied in an overly broad and even misdirected or ridiculous way, kind of the way that the idea of “micro-aggressions” can be so generously applied that it loses its ability to be truthful and useful.

Take the example of the heterosexual Taiwanese movie director Ang Lee. He certainly proved himself able to depict American culture in “The Ice Storm” and the gay world in “Brokeback Mountain.”

Let’s be clear. The Ear is a piano fan.

But if he objects to the project, it is because he doesn’t like Lang Lang’s flamboyant playing, his Liberace-like performance manners and showmanship, and his exaggerated facial expressions.

Yet there is no denying the human appeal of his story. He rose from a young and suicidal piano student (below) who was emotionally abused by his ambitious father – shades of the lives of young Mozart and Beethoven and probably many other prodigies – to become the best known, most frequently booked and highest paid classical pianist in the world.

Yet not for nothing did some critics baptize him with the nickname Bang Bang.

Still, the Curtis Institute graduate does all he can to foster music education, especially among the young and the poor.

And there is simply no denying his virtuosity. (See Lang Lang playing Liszt’s Paganini etude “La Campanella” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

So there is plenty to object to about Lang Lang the Piano Star besides the ethnicity of Ron Howard, who also did a biopic of opera superstar Luciano Pavarotti, in telling his story.

What do you think?

Is it culturally all right for Ron Howard to direct a film about Lang Lang?

Do you look forward to the movie and seeing it?

What do you think of Lang Lang as a pianist and a celebrity?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AcademyAward, #AGermanRequiem, #AiWeiwei, #All-Russian, #AmericanCulture, #AngLee, #ArtsandEntertainment, #AsianCulture, #BangBang, #BelaBartok, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrokebackMountain, #Children'sBook, #ChinesePianist, #ClassicalPianist, #ClassicFM, #ConcertPianist, #CulturalAppropriation, #CulturalDiversity, #CurtisInstitute, #EmotionalAbuse, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FilmDirector, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzLiszt, #FranzSchubert, #FredericChopin, #HighAchieving, #HumanAppeal, #IceStorm, #JacobStockinger, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #LangLang, #LGBTQrights, #LGBTRights, #LookForward, #LucianoPavarotti, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #LuluWang, #MusicalInterpretation, #MusicCritic, #MusicEducation, #NiccoloPaganini, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PhysicalAbuse, #PianoConcerto, #PianoStudent, #PoliticallyCorrect, #PopularSuccess, #RobertSchumann, #RonHoward, #SergeiProkofiev, #SergeiRachmaninoff, #SergeiRachmaninov, #SmashHit, #TaipeiTaiwan, #TheEar, #TheIceStorm, #ThePolice, #VirtuosoPianist, #WesternCulture, #Wikipediabiography, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, ability, abuse, abused, Academy Award, accurate, advocate, Ai Weiwei, alarm, ambitious, American, Ang Lee, appeal, applied, artists, Arts, Arts and Entertainment, Asia, asian, Asian culture, audience, autobiographical, autobiography, award, award-winning, Bach, bad, Bang Bang, baptize, Bartok, Béla Bartók, Beethoven, bestselling, bio, biography, biopic, blog, Book, booked, box office, Brahms, broad, Brokeback Mountain, Business, celebrity, children's book, China, Chinese, Chopin, Classic FM, Classical music, classical pianist, collaboration, composer, concept, Concert, concerto, condemn, criticize, criticizing, critics, cross-cultural, Cry, cultural, cultural appropriation, Curtis Institute, Curtis Institute of Music, deny, depicted, depiction, deserve, discuss, diversity, do, draw, embarrassing, emotion, emotional abuse, emotionally, entertain, entertaining, Entertainment, essay, ethnic, etude, exaggerate, exaggerated, example, expression, extreme, Facebook, facial, fan, fanatic, father, film director, flamboyance, flamboyant, forward, foster, foul, France, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, gay, generously, German, Germany, graduate, Haydn, hear, herself, heterosexual, high achieving, highest, Hollywood, homosexual, human, human appeal, ice, ice storm, insulting, interest, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, journey, justice, Lang Lang, LGBT, LGBTQ, Liberace, life, like, link, Liszt, lives, look forward, Luciano Pavarotti, Ludwig van Beethoven, Lulu Wang, manner, market, memoir, merit, micro-aggression, miles, misdirected, misplaced, movie, Mozart, Music, music critic, Music education, natural, nature, Niccolo Paganini, nickname, non-Western, object, objects, opera, Orchestra, overly, Paganini, paid, Pavarotti, PC, People, performance, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, physical abuse, Pianist, Piano, piano student, pic, playing, police, politically correct, poor, popular, post, posting, prodigies, prodigy, profit, profitable, project, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, recast, reverse, ridiculous, rise, Robert Schumann, Ron Howard, Russian, say, Schubert, Schumann, script, scriptwriter, see, seem, self-appointed, sensitive, Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Rachmaninov, shades, share, showman, showmanship, silly, smash hit, Sojourner Truth, Sonata, storm, Student, suicidal, superstar, surefire, symphony, tag, Taiwan, Taiwanese, Tchaikovsky, The Ear, The Ice Storm, think, thousand, tiresome, truthful, unfair, United States, use, useful, virtuosity, want, Western, white, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, wonder, work, world, young, YouTube

Will the public pay for online virtual concerts? Will you? Consider the fate of newspapers

August 23, 2020
4 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

More and more local classical musicians and music presenters are moving concerts and music-making to virtual online events, at least for the fall and early winter – and quite possibly for the rest of the season. (Below is Shannon Hall in the Wisconsin Union Theater.)

And although we are still waiting for details, it seems all but certain that many of them will be pay-per-view and require tickets.

True, the move from free streaming to pay-for-view might be very useful in helping performers earn a much-needed living.

But it could also be disastrous – or at least extremely disruptive and disappointing.

Anthony Tommasini (below), the senior music critic for The New York Times, recently wrote a long story defending the move from being free to becoming paid for both livestreams and pre-recorded music concerts.

Tommasini — whose profession demands that he follow wherever the music goes — thinks it will, or should, work.

Here is a link to his story that includes concerts at The Metropolitan Opera and elsewhere with international stars such as soprano Renée Fleming (beow top) and pianist Daniil Trifonov (below bottom).

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/11/arts/music/classical-music-livestream.html

But The Ear isn’t so sure.

For one thing, many listeners might find alternatives. They might like watching outstanding performances of the same works by great and even historical performers on YouTube for free.

They might like exploring their own collections of recordings, or listening to the radio and watching TV, or even making more music as amateurs.

The Ear also suspects that now that the habit of going to live concerts has been interrupted, many people will simply find that they miss going to live performances much less than they thought they would – or than various arts groups hoped they would. (Below is the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra in a photo by Mike Gorski.)

In addition, even since the coronavirus pandemic lockdown last March, listeners have become used to the free events that many organizations offered if only to keep a presence in the public’s mind.

The strategy was understandable and made sense at the time.

But The Ear thinks of what happened with newspapers.

In the early days of the internet, newspapers offered online stories for free, as a kind of extra attraction or added benefit to secure subscribers.

But as the newspapers lost both advertisers and subscribers and tried to “monetize” their online editions, they found that the horse was already out of the barn.

Many viewers did indeed subscribe to digital editions, but many others abandoned newspapers and instead turned to free online media for their news.

So what will happen in cases less prestigious than what Tommasini describes?

What do you think?

Will local pay-per-view concerts, perhaps with bigger volume if lower individual ticket prices, be successful?

Will you pay to “attend” such virtual online events?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AnthonyTommasini, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ClassicalRecording, #COVID-19, #DaniilTrifonov, #DigitalMedia, #EdgewoodCollege, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #JacobStockinger, #LiveStreaming, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MetropolitanOpera, #Music-Making, #MusicCritic, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #OperaMusic, #OrchestralMusic, #OvertureCenter, #RenéeFleming, #ShannonHall, #shelter-at-home, #SopranoSinger, #TheEar, #TheInternet, #TheMet, #TheNewYorkTImes, #TicketPrice, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubevideo, abandon, added, advertiser, alternative, Anthony Tommasini, Arts, attraction, audience, barn, be, benefit, bigger, blog, case, CDs, certain, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, classicalmusic, collection, composer, Concert, Daniil Trifonov, days, defend, demand, describe, details, digital, early, Early music, Edgewood College, edition, explore, extra, Facebook, fall, free, go, great, habit, happen, hear, help, historical, horse, individual, Internet, interrupt, Jacob Stockinger, job, kiving, like, link, listener, livelihood, livestream, living, local, lockdown, lower, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mead Witter School of Music, media, Metropolitan Opera, mind, monetize, move, Music, music critic, New Music, New York City, news, newspapers, offer, online, opera, Orchestra, orchestral music, organization, outstanding, Overture Center, own, paid, pay-per-view, performances, Pianist, Piano, post, posting, pre-recorded, presenter, prestigious, price, profession, public, radi, Radio, recital, recording, Renée Fleming, require, rest, Season, secure, senior, Shannon Hall, share, singer, soprano, star, stars, stories, story, subscriber, successful, symphony, tag, The Ear, the Met, The New York Times, theor, think, ticket price, tickets, TV, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, useful, UW-Madison, virtual, vocal music, volume, waiting, want, watch, what, winter, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Union Theater, work, WORT-FM 89.9, you, YouTube

Classical music: The new FREE concert brochure for the UW-Madison’s music school is both entertaining and informative — it’s a MUST-GET, MUST-READ and MUST-USE

September 15, 2018
9 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

The new 2018-19 concert season has started. And the Internet makes it very easy to take out your date book and plan out what you want to attend.

If you just use Google to go to home websites, you will find lots of information about the dates and times of performances; cost of tickets; works on the program; biographies of performers; and even notes about the pieces.

That is true for all large and small presenters, including the biggest presenter of all for live classical music events: The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. Just click on the Events Calendar when you go to http://www.music.wisc.edu

You can also subscribe to an email newsletter by sending an email to: join-somnews@lists.wisc.edu

And you can also download the helpful mobile app for your smart phone that gives you what is happening today with searches possible for other months and days.

But there is something more old-fashioned that you should not forego: the printed season brochure (below).

It is 8-1/2 by 11 inches big and has 24 pages, and it features numerous color photographs. Along the right hand edge is an easy-to-use calendar of major events for the month.

It is a fun and informative read that gives you even more respect for the School of Music than you already had because it contains a lot of background and human interest stories about students, faculty members, guest artists, alumni and supporters. Editor and Concert Manager Katherine Esposito and her staff of writers and photographers have done an outstanding job.

The brochure also has a lot of news, including updates about the new Hamel Music Center that is being built on the corner of Lake Street and University Avenue and will open in 2019, and about the seat-naming, fundraising campaign ($1,500-plus) that is being used for the new performance center.

A particularly useful page (23) gives you information about ordering tickets (many have increased to $17 this year) either in advance or at the door (for the latter you are asked to show up 30 minutes early to avoid long lines); about finding parking, both free and paid; and about making special arrangements for disability access.

In larger and bolder type, the brochure tells you about stand-out special events: the 100th birthday tribute to Leonard Bernstein being held tonight (Saturday, Sept. 15) at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall; the fifth annual Brass Fest on Sept. 28 and 29; the University Opera’s production of Monteverdi’s “The Coronation of Poppea” on Nov. 16, 18 and 20; the annual Schubertiade on Jan. 27; the world premiere of a viola sonata by John Harbison on Feb. 17; the Choral Union’s joint performance with the Madison Symphony Orchestra of Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand” (Symphony No. 8) on May 3, 4 and 5; and much, much more.

In short, the brochure is an impressive publication that also provides many hours of enjoyable browsing while you educate yourself about the state of music education at the UW-Madison.

The only major shortcoming The Ear perceives is that lack of specific programs by some individuals and groups that must surely know what they are going to perform this season but apparently didn’t report it. Maybe that can be remedied, at least in part, next year.

Still, the brochure is successful and popular, which is why the UW sent out 13,000 copies – up from 8,000 last year. If you want to get one, they will be available at concerts until supplies run out. You can also order one to be mailed to you by emailing music@music.wisc.edu

Do you have the UW music brochure?

What do you think of it?

Do you find it useful? Enjoyable?

What do you suggest to improve the brochure, either by adding something or deleting something or doing it differently?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AcademicCalendar, #BrassFest, #BrassMusic, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ClaudioMonteverdi, #ConcertManager, #ConcertSeason, #EventsCalendar, #FacultyMember, #FranzSchubert, #FreeParking, #FundraisingCampaign, #GuestArtist, #GustavMahler, #HomeWebpage, #HomeWebsite, #HumanInterest, #JohnHarbison, #LeonardBernstein, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MobileApp, #MusicEducation, #MusicPresenter, #MusicSchool, #MusicStudent, #NamingRights, #NewMusic, #Old-fashioned, #SeasonBrochure, #SmartPhone, #SymphonyofaThousand, #TheCoronationofPoppea, #TheInternet, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #UWChoralUnion, #ViolaSonata, #WorldPremiere, access, accommodation, alumni, Arts, Bach, background, Baroque, Beethoven, Bernstein, biographies, biography, birthday, brochure, calendar, campaign, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Choral Union, Classical music, classicalmusic, composer, concert season, concerto, conductor, cost, day, disability, donor, Early music, editor, email, enjoyable, event, events, faculty, Franz Schubert, free, fun, Fundraising, Google, human interest, information, informative, Internet, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Harbison, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mahler, Mead Witter School of Music, member, Mobile app, Monteverdi, month, Music education, New Music, newsletter, notes, opera, Orchestra, Overture Center, paid, parking, performance, Piano, piece, popular, presenter, printed, program, Schubertiade, seat, smart phone, Sonata, story, Student, subscribe, subscription, successful, supporter, symphony, Symphony of a Thousand, The Coronation of Poppea, ticket, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, useful, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Website, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, world premiere

Classical music: The Madison Choral Project features a world premiere when it performs a “timeless” program this Saturday night and Sunday afternoon

February 9, 2018
1 Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

The Madison Choral Project (below) bills itself as Madison’s only professional and paid choir, and judging by the results, the a cappella group has succeeded, creating many loyal fans. (You can hear a sample performance — of a world premiere, no less — in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Such success is in large part thanks to the efforts of its founder, director and conductor Albert Pinsonneault (below). Originally a music professor at Edgewood College, Pinsonneault now works at Northwestern University.

He commutes from his home in Madison where he continues his work with the Madison Choral Project.

You can sample his and the choir’s impressive music-making this weekend at two performances in two different venues of a concert called “Drown’d in One Endlesse Day.”

Here are details:

“Drown’d in One Endlesse Day” features a world premiere of Wisconsin composer Eric William Barnum (below).

The Madison Choral Project champions new music. But also on the eclectic program are new and old pieces exploring the transformational moments when “time seems to stop.”

Featured composers and compositions include: the motet Komm, Jesu, Komm by Johann Sebastian Bach; “Crucifixus” by Antonio Lotti (below top); There is an Old Belief by the British composer Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (below second); Credo by Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara (below third, in photo by Getty Images); I Live in Pain and Last Spring by the Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer David Lang (below fourth); and Entreat Me Not to Leave You by Dan Forrest (below bottom).

PERFORMANCES:

On Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.: CHRIST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 944 East Gorham Street in Madison on the near east side

On Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.: St. ANDREW’S EPISCOPAL,
1833 Regent Street in Madison on the near west side

Tickets are $40 for preferred seating; $24 for general admission; and $10 for students.

To buy tickets online (they are also available at the door) as well as to see more background, reviews, information and several videos of MCP performances, go to:

http://themcp.org

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #ChoralMusic, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #NewMusic, #PulitzerPrize, #WorldPremiere, Albert Pinsonneault, American, Antonio Lotti, Artistic director, Arts, Bach, background, Baroque, Britain, British, Choir, choral music, church, Classical music, commute, composer, conductor, critic, crucifixion, Dan Forrest, David Lang, director, Early music, eclectic, Edgewood College, Einojuhani Rautavaara, English, Episcopal, fans, Finnish, founder, Getty Images, Hubert Parry, information, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, Johann Sebastian Bach, loyal, Madison, Madison Choral Project, MCP, motet, Music, Northwestern University, paid, pain, pay, premiere, Presbyterian, professional, professor, program, Pulitzer Prize, review, Spring, stop, Student, ticket, time, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, venue, video, vocal music, Website, Wisconsin, world, world premiere, YouTube

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