The Well-Tempered Ear
From beginner to maestro — for the Final Forte, John DeMain reflects on a life in music
6 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
This Wednesday night, March 6 at 7 p.m. in Overture Hall, is the “Final Forte” — the annual high school concerto competition with the Madison Symphony Orchestra under its longtime music director and conductor John DeMain (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers).
You can attend the concert in person for FREE or watch it live on PBS Wisconsin or listen to it live on Wisconsin Public Radio.
For more details, go online to: https://madisonsymphony.org/education-community/education-programs/young-artist-competitions/the-final-forte/
As usual you can see and hear summary biographies of and impressive interviews with this year’s four teenage participants (below, in a photo by James Gill) and what they think of the competition. You can also read about the three judges and about past compeiutitons and the winners.
But this year, DeMain opened up about himself to PBS Wisconsin. He talks about why he likes and looks forward to directing the performances by young artists and what he thinks about starting a career in music.
DeMain — who will retire at the end of next season — also draws on his own award-winning career from his first piano lessons though his education at the Juilliard School, his lessons with Leonard Bernstein and his 30-year tenure at the MSO.
Trust The Ear — it is an engaging interview well worth reading for many reasons.
Here is a link to that interview:
Do you anything to say about how DeMain sees working with and encouraging young artists?
About his own career?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Abe, Arts, audience, award-winning, Bach, Bernsteoin, biography, blog, Bolz, Bolz Young Artist Competition, career, Cello, Classical music, Competition, composer, concertmaster, concerto, conductor, Elgar, encourage, Facebook, Felix Mendelssohn, Final Forte, free, high school, in person, interview, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John DeMain, judge, Juilliard, juror, jury, La Crosse, Lawrence University, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Leonard Bernstein, link, live, longtime, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Mozart, MSO, Music, Music director, Music education, music lessons, online, opera, Orchestra, Oregon, Overture Center, participant, PBS, PBS Wisconsin, percussion, Piano, piano lessons, Prism, professional, Radio, Retirement, Saint-Saens, share, Stevens Point, symphony, tag, Television, tenure, The Ear, trust, TV, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, Violin, Website, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Public Television, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WPR
Remember Marika with Bach Around the Clock 2023. The FREE five-day, in-person and online birthday celebration begins today
16 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.
NOTE: You can see and hear the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Final Forte concert with four youth concerto finalists at 7 tonight on PBS Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Radio. For complete information, including other airings, go to these websites: https://madisonsymphony.org/education-community/education-programs/young-artist-competitions/the-final-forte/ and https://pbswisconsin.org/the-final-forte/
By Jacob Stockinger
The seventh annual Madison-based Bach Around the Clock festival — a celebration of the March 31 birthday of composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1756, below) —- will start today and run through Sunday both in-person and online.
All events and streaming are free and open to the public.
As usual, it will feature professional and amateur performers of all ages and levels of proficiency in all kinds of repertoire and arrangements, including Bach on the Marimba.
It begins today, Wednesday, March 8, at noon with a Bach motet sung in Luther Memorial Church, 1021 University Ave.
The live portion, which will also be live-streamed, will end on Saturday, March 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with continuous performances at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church (below) at 1833 Regent Street on the near west side.
Then on this Sunday, March 12, the virtual online festival will premier.
For more details — including a full schedule with times, venues, pieces, performers and other links — go to:
Home
The Ear thinks of the entire festival as a life celebration and memorial not just for Bach but also for his avid local advocate, violist Marika Fisher Hoyt (below).
Hoyt — who was also a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Madison Bach Musicians, the Ancora String Quartet, Just Bach and Sonata à Quattro — died Feb. 21 from cancer. She was one of the kindest and most caring persons, one of the hard-working and most energetic, talented musicians, that The Ear has ever known and worked with.
After Wisconsin Public Radio abandoned BATC in 2013, Fischer Hoyt rescued it in 2017, raised money and support, and expanded its offerings and performers as well as took it into a virtual online format as well as remaining an in-person event.
You can find many tributes online. You can also plug in her name on this blog’s search engine to get some idea of her overwhelming and inspiring contributions to the area’s cultural life. In 2017, The Ear named her Musician of the Year:
Classical music: For reviving and securing Bach Around the Clock, The Ear names Marika Fischer Hoyt as “Musician of the Year” for 2017
But the best tribute of all will be to listen to Bach’s extraordinarily inventive and beautiful music — her abiding passion and the gift she never stopped wanting to give to others — with Marika in mind.
You can also find videos from past BATC’s. But she once told me that the piece she loved most is the St. John Passion. So a YouTube video of the final chorus from that oratorio is posted at the bottom.
Have you attended or heard BATC before?
What did you especially like and would you recommend the event to others?
Did you know Marika Fischer Hoyt?
What would you like other people to know about Marika?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AncoraStringQuartet, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Hard Work, #LiveStreaming, #MarikaFischerHoyt, #TheEar, #YouTubevideo, Ancora String Quartet, Arts, audience, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, Baroque, BATC, beautiful, beauty, birthday, blog, cancer, caring, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, chorus, Christ, Christian, church, Classical music, composer, Concert, concerto, contribution, culture, death, Early music, Facebook, Final Forte, free, give, God, in person, information, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Johann Sebastian Bach, Just Bach, kind, life, link, Lutheran, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marika Fischer Hoyt, memorial, Music, online, open to the public, oratorio, Orchestra, Passion, PBS, PBS Wisconsin, performer, Piano, piece, program, Protestant, public, Religion, remember, repertoire, schedule, share, Sonata, Sonata à Quattro, sonic, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, St. John Passion, stream, tag, talent, The Ear, time, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, venue, Viola, Violin, violist, virtual, vocal music, want, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wisconsin public radio, WPR, YouTube
Classical music: COVID-19 pandemic forces more major changes for Concerts on the Square and a cancellation by the Mosaic Chamber Players
Leave a Comment
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.
ALERT: The Ear has received the following note from Jess Salek — the founder, director and pianist of the Mosaic Chamber Players: “Just a note to mention that the concert scheduled for this Saturday, June 13, is cancelled due to COVID-19. We are doing our best to stay positive during this difficult time for local arts groups, and we will resume our music-making as soon as is safe. Please be well!”
By Jacob Stockinger
Major changes are in store for the annual Concerts on the Square, which were already postponed with a change of dates, day and time, according to television WKOW-TV Channel 27 (you can hear the TV news report in the YouTube video at the bottom):
Here are details:
MADISON (WKOW) – The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (WCO) has unveiled a new plan for its 2020 Concerts on the Square series (below), which involves replacing the four postponed concerts with two drive-in performances.
Additionally, they’re planning for two live concerts at Breese Stevens Field if playing outdoors is deemed safe in late summer.
The revised approach was necessary to keep attendees safe, while adhering to state and county requirements that don’t allow for large gatherings, according to a WCO news release.
The WCO will follow Forward Dane Health Guidelines to determine if the live concerts can occur. A decision will be made in late July.
“We were optimistic in April that if we only delayed the start of Concerts on the Square to late July that we could still hold live performances downtown,” said Joe Loehnis (below), the WCO’s CEO. “But as the pandemic continues to affect us all in ways we never could have foreseen, we’ve decided to take creative steps now that will allow us to still share music with our community.”
The new plan for Concerts on the Square looks like this:
- The first four shows (July 28 – Aug 18) have been postponed until the summer of 2021.
- The WCO, in partnership with the Madison Mallards, will host two “drive-in” concerts on June 24 and July 22 (more information below). Each concert also will be live-streamed on https://wcoconcerts.org and https://pbswisconsin.org for free.
- The final two Concerts on the Square will be live concerts at Breese Stevens Field on Aug. 25 and Sept. 1.
- The WCO’s annual “runout” concert to Portage this summer has been canceled.
Drive-in Concerts on the Square
The two drive-in concerts will feature rebroadcasts of the most popular Concerts on the Square performances, thanks to a partnership with PBS Wisconsin.
The WCO expects to be able to have 115 vehicles at each concert. The goal is to make it accessible to as many people as possible without risking health and safety.
The basics for each program are:
Location: Warner Park, 2930 N. Sherman Ave., Madison
Cost: $25 per car
Time: 7-8 p.m.; 8:45-9:45 p.m. (two showings each night to allow more people to attend)
Additional information: To purchase tickets, visit:
- 8:45 p.m. concert: https://madison-mallards.nwltickets.com/Tickets/SelectPromoSeats?UserPromoCode=wco8
June 24 – “S Wonderful” with Amanda Huddleston, soprano, and Andrew Clark, tenor. Songs include: “The Sound of Music” Medley, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” “Armed Forces Salute” and “1812 Overture.” (2015 Performance)
July 22 – “Film Night,” featuring concertmaster Suzanne Beia. Songs include: “The Magnificent Seven,” “The Pink Panther,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Schindler’s List” and “E.T.” (2019 Performance)
“With two showings each night, we’re trying to make the concerts as accessible as possible,” Loehnis said. “Community partnerships are so important right now, and because of PBS Wisconsin and the Mallards, we’re able to bring this idea to life. We are grateful for these partnerships.”
Breese Stevens concerts are planned for late summer. If Dane County has entered Phase III of its Forward Dane plan by late August, 250 people will be allowed to gather for outdoor events.
For that reason, the WCO is planning to host two live Concerts on the Square at Breese Stevens.
The WCO will provide an update later in July on progress for this opportunity. Those shows currently are scheduled for Aug. 25 and Sept. 1.
The WCO also is considering how it could broadcast the live performances to other venues such as the Alliant Energy Center, Warner Park or Madison parks, where others could view the concerts safely.
“We’re still working through the logistics, and we’re realists – understanding that the situation changes almost daily,” Loehnis said. “But we also want to be forward-thinking and we’re going to keep pushing ahead unless we don’t believe a live show can be held safely.”
To keep up-to-date with performance schedules, community members can sign up for email updates on the WCO website or follow the orchestra on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=wisconsin%20chamber%20orchestra&epa=SEARCH_BOX) and Instagram.
Tags: #AlliantEnergyCenter, #AmandaHuddleston, #AndrewClark, #ArmedForces, #ArmedForcesSalute, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BreeseStevensField, #ChamberMusic, #Channel27, #CityofMadison, #CollaborativePianist, #ConcertsontheSquare, #COVID-19, #DaneCounty, #E.T., #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FilmMusic, #ForwardDane, #HomeWebsite, #InstagramPost, #JacobStockinger, #JessSalek, #JoeLoehnis, #JohnWilliams, #LiveConcert, #MadisonMallards, #MagnificentSeven, #MosaicChamberPlayers, #MovieMusic, #MovieScore, #Music-Making, #NewRelease, #OnlineConcert, #PBSWisconsin, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PinkPanther, #PortageWisconsin, #PublicHealth, #RaidersoftheLostArk, #Schindler'sList, #September11, #SmokeGetsinYourEyes, #SopranoSinger, #SoundofMusic, #StevenSpielberg, #SuzanneBeia, #TenorSinger, #TheEar, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WarnerPark, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinPublicTelevision, #YouTubevideo, 1812 Overture, 2020, @1812Overture, Alliant Energy Center, Amanda Huddleston, Andrew Clark, annual, approach, armed forces, Armed Forces Salute, Arts, arts groups, attend, audience, August, auto, Baseball, blog, Breese Stevens Field, Broadcast, cancel, car, CEO, Chamber music, change, changes, Channel 27, Classical music, community, composer, Concert, concertmaster, Concerts on the Square, conductor, coronavirus, cost, county, creative, Dane County, day, decision, deem, details, difficult, director, downtown, drive-in, Facebook, film, Film score, Forward Dane, founder, groups, guidelines, Health, Instagram, involve, Jacob Stockinger, Jess Salek, Joe Loehnis, John Williams, July, June, like, link, live, live-stream, local, location, Madison, Madison Mallards, Magnificent Seven, major, Mosaic Chamber Players, movie music, movie score, Music, news, night, online, optimistic, Orchestra, other, outdoors, pandemic, Park, partnership, PBS, PBS Wisconsin, People, performer, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, phase, Pianist, Piano, Pink Panther, plan, play, playing, popular, popular success, Portage, positive, post, posting, postpone, Public health, purchase, Raiders of the Lost Ark, realist, rebroadcast, release, requirement, resume, runout, safe, safety, Schindler's List, September, series, share, show, showing, singer, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, song, soon, soprano, Sound of Music, state, stay, steps, Steven Spielberg, summer, Suzanne Beia, symphony, tag, Tchaikovsky, Television, tenor, The Ear, tickets, time, TV, United States, unveil, vehicles, venue, venues, virtual, vocal music, Warner Park, WCO, Website, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Public Television, WKOW TV, WPT, YouTube
Classical music: University Opera updates and stages Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” on this Friday night, Sunday afternoon and Tuesday night. Plus, here are the winners of the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Final Forte
Leave a Comment
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.
NEWS UPDATE: If you missed it, here are the results of Wednesday’s night Final Forte teenage concerto competition with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, which was broadcast live from Overture Hall on Wisconsin Public Radio and PBS Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin Public Television).
First and second place prizes of a $2,000 scholarship went to pianist Michael Wu and pianist Jessica Jiang, respectively. The two runners-up — violinists Emily Hauer and Jonah Kartman — each received a scholarship of $1,000.
Here is a link to more information, photos and background – including teachers — for each of the four contestants as well as the dates for rebroadcasting the finalists’ concert on radio and TV.
By Jacob Stockinger
The prize-winning University Opera and UW Symphony Orchestra will stage three performances of “Cosi fan tutte” (So Do They All, or Women Are Like That), the late comic and seriously satirical opera by Mozart about love, gender roles and cheating on partners.
The performances are in Old Music Hall on Bascom Hill on this Friday night, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday afternoon, March 1, at 2:30 p.m.; and Tuesday night, March 3, at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $25 for general admission with reserved seats, $20 for seniors (62 and up) and $10 for UW students.
As usual, UW students will alternate certain roles during the three performances. (Below is returning singer Anja Pustaver, one of the three Despina’s in the production.)
The stage director is David Ronis, the head of the opera program at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. He has won numerous national awards during his tenure at the UW-Madison for his inventive re-imaginings of well-known operas and musicals.
The student orchestra will be conducted by Oriol Sans, the acclaimed new professor of conducting and director of Orchestral Activities at the UW-Madison. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear the Overture to “Cosi” played by the Metropolitan Opera conducted by James Levine.)
Below is a studio photo by radio host Norman Gilliland of members of the production when they appeared on Wisconsin Public Radio. From left are: conductor Oriol Sans, director David Ronis, soprano Julia Urbank and soprano Cayla Rosche.
The opera has been updated to the Roaring Twenties, at a time when the women’s suffrage movement and other women’s rights issues were gaining traction. The re-staging also seems especially timely and contemporary, given the #MeToo and Time’sUp movements.
Here is a link to the full press release with the complete cast and production staff as well as a sketch of the abstract stage set (below) designed by Joseph Varga and other information, including a detailed synopsis and an explanation of the reason for setting the opera by in the Roaring 20s: https://www.music.wisc.edu/2020/02/10/cosi-fan-tutte/
Here is a link to a shortened version – with information about tickets and parking — on the Mead Witter School of Music’s home website under Concerts and Events: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/university-opera-mozarts-cosi-fan-tutte/2020-02-28/
Tags: #BascomHill, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BroadwayMusical, #CaylaRoche, #Classicalera, #CosifanTutte, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DavidRonis, #DukeandDuchessofSussex, #EmilyHauer, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FinalForte, #Fridaynight, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #JamesLevine, #JessicaJiang, #JonahKartman, #JosephVarga, #JuliaUrbank, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MeToo, #MeToomovement, #MetropolitanOpera, #MichaelWu, #MusicHall, #NewsUpdate, #NormanGilliland, #OperaMusic, #OriolSans, #OvertureHall, #PBSWisconsin, #PianoConcerto, #PressRelease, #Prize-Winning, #ProductionStaff, #Roaring20s, #RoaringTwenties, #SeniorCitizen, #SopranoSinger, #Sundayafternoon, #TelevisionBroadcast, #TheEar, #TheMet, #Time'sUp, #Tuesdaynight, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinPublic Radio, #WisconsinStudio, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #Women'sRights, #Women'sSuffrage, abstract, acclaim, alternate, audience, award, background, Bascom Hill, blog, Broadcast, cast, Cayla Rosché, cheating, Classical, Classical era, comic, Competition, Concert, concerto, contemporary, contestant, Cosi fan tutte, costume, costumes, date, David Ronis, director, Emily Hauer, era, event, Facebook, Final Forte, finalist, first, forward, Friday, Friday night, gain, gender, head, Home, home website, host, imagine, information, inventive, Jacob Stockinger, James Levine, Jessica Jiang, Jonah Kartman, Joseph Varga, Julia Urbank, late, like, link, live, Love, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mead Witter School of Music, Met, Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Orchestra, Michael Wu, miss, movement, Mozart, Music Hall, musical, national, news, night, Norman Gilliland, opera, Orchestra, Oriol Sans, Overture, Overture Hall, parking, partner, PBS, PBS Wisconsin, performer, photo, Pianist, Piano, play, post, posting, press, prize, production, production staff, professor, program, Radio, rebroadcast, results, rights, Roaring 20s, Roaring Twenties, role, satirical, scholarship, second, senior, set, setting, share, shorten, singer, Singing, sketch, soloist, soprano singer, staff\, stage, Student, studio, suffrage, Sunday, Sunday afternoon, synopsis, tag, Teacher, teenage, teenager, Television, tenure, The Ear, the Met, tickets, time, timely, traction, Tuesday, Tuesday night, TV, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, update, UW, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW-Madison, version, Violin, violinist, vocal music, Website, Wisconsin Pubic Radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, women, women's rights, women's suffrage, YouTube
Classical music: This Wednesday night, four teenage soloists compete in this year’s Final Forte competition with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Attend it live for FREE, or watch and hear it live on PBS Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Radio
1 Comment
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
This Wednesday night, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. in Overture Hall, the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below in a photo by Peter Rodgers), PBS Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Radio will present the 14th annual “Wisconsin Young Artists Compete: The Final Forte.”
The concert of four teenage concerto competition winners features the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) led by Associate Conductor Kyle Knox (below).
The concert is FREE and open to the public. But audience members must register in advance, and arrive by 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26, prior to the beginning of the live broadcast. Reservations are required. Call (608) 257-3734 or go online to register at https://madisonsymphony.org/finalforte
Doors open at 6:15 p.m. and close at 6:45 p.m. due to the live broadcast. The event runs until 8:30 p.m. No tickets will be issued at the door. Seating is general admission in select areas of the concert hall.
The four finalists (below, in a photo by James Gill who did all the contestant photos) were chosen from 10 semi-finalists in November.
They are:
Jessica Jiang (far left), who will perform the first movement from Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. (You can hear the Prokofiev movement, played by Martha Argerich, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Jonah Kartman (far right), who will perform the first movement from Saint-Saens’ Violin Concerto No 3.
Emily Hauer (third from left) who will perform the first movement from Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor.
Pianist Michael Wu (second from left) who will perform Liszt’s “Totentanz” (Dance of Death).
Videos to introduce each finalist are now available for viewing online.
Jessica Jiang: https://pbswisconsin.org/wpt-video/wpt-music-arts/final-forte-jessica-jiang-qto5ir/
Emily Hauer: https://pbswisconsin.org/wpt-video/wpt-music-arts/final-forte-emily-hauer-8ihe8s/
Jonah Kartman: https://pbswisconsin.org/wpt-video/wpt-music-arts/final-forte-jonah-kartman-xsr1z6/
Michael Wu): https://pbswisconsin.org/wpt-video/wpt-music-arts/final-forte-michael-wu-frbf66/
Rebroadcast dates on the Wisconsin Channel (WPT-2) will be Friday, March 6 at 8 p.m. and 11p.m.; Saturday, March 7, at 3 p.m.; and Thursday, March 12, at 3 a.m.
ABOUT THE FINALISTS
Jessica Jiang (below) is a junior at Madison Memorial High School. She took up the piano at the age of four and currently studies with Bill Lutes, Emeritus Professor at the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music. Jessica received the Steenbock Youth Music Award in the 2018 Bolz Young Artist Competition and took second place in Division III of the National Steinway and Sons Piano Competition in 2019.
Emily Hauer (below) is a home-schooled senior from Appleton. She began violin lessons at the age of two and currently studies with Ilana Setapen, associate concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Emily won the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra Young Artist Concerto Competition in 2017 and is currently in her fourth year as the concertmaster of the Fox Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Jonah Kartman (below) is a home-schooled senior from Glendale. He has been playing the violin for 13 years, and currently studies with I-Hao Lee at DePaul University’s School of Music. Jonah was a finalist in the 2019 Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s Audrey G. Baird Stars of Tomorrow competition, and a two-time winner and scholarship recipient in the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee Competition.
Michael Wu (below) is a senior at Sun Prairie High School. He began piano lessons at age five, and currently studies with Bill Lutes, Emeritus Professor at the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music. Michael received the Steenbock Youth Music Award in the 2017 Bolz Young Artist Competition and took first place in Division III of the National Steinway and Sons Piano Competition in 2018.
ABOUT THE FINAL FORTE
This competition has captured an enormous following and numerous honors, including an Emmy nomination, First Place in the “Special Interest” category from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association in 2007, and the fifth most-watched program in the February 2007 Nielsen ratings. The 2008 broadcasts reached more than 60,000 viewers and listeners in the Madison market alone and the 2009 broadcasts reached an estimated 200,000 statewide.
The Final Forte is funded by major support from Diane Ballweg, Stephen Morton, W. Jerome Frautschi, A. Paul Jones Charitable Trust, Julie and Larry Midtbo, Fred and Mary Mohs, and Elizabeth Olson, with additional support from Bell Laboratories, James Dahlberg and Elsebet Lund, Kato Perlman, Cyrena and Lee Pondrom, Sentry Insurance Foundation, Darcy Kind and Marc Vitale, Dr. A. Beyer-Mears, Nick and Judith Topitzes, the Focus Fund for Young Performers, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.
Tags: #AppletonWisconsin, #AssociateConductor, #BellLaboratories, #BillLutes, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CamilleSaint-Saens, #CharitableTrust, #CivicMusicAssociation, #ConcertHall, #CyrenaPondrom, #DanceofDeath, #DePaulUniversity, #DianeBallweg, #EmilyHauer, #EmmyAward, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FinalForte, #FinancialSupport, #FirstPlace, #FocusFund, #FoxValley, #FoxValleyYouthSymphonyOrchestra, #FranzLiszt, #FriendsofPBSWisconsin, #GeneralAdmission, #I-HaoLee, #IlanaSetapen, #JacobStockinger, #JamesGill, #JeanSibelius, #JessicaJiang, #JonahKartman, #KatoPerlman, #KyleKnox, #LiveBroadcast, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarthaArgerich, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MemorialHighSchool, #MichaelWu, #MilwaukeeSymphonyOrchestra, #MusicLessons, #NielsenRatings, #OrchestralMusic, #OvertureCenter, #OvertureHall, #PBSWisconsin, #PianoCompetition, #PianoConcerto, #PianoLessons, #ProfessorEmeritus, #SchoolofMusic, #SecondPlace, #Semi-finals, #SentryInsurance, #SergeiProkofiev, #SpecialInterest, #StarsofTomorrow, #Steinway&Sons, #SteinwayandSons, #SteinwayPiano, #StephenMorton, #SunPrairie, #SunPrairieHighSchool, #SunPrairieWisconsin, #TheEar, #TVviewership, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViolinConcerto, #ViolinLessons, #W.JeromeFrautschi, #WisconsinBroadcastersAssociation, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinChannel, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinPublicTelevision, #WisconsinYoungArtistsCompete, #YoungArtist, #YoungArtists, #YouTubevideo, advance, age, Appleton, area, Arts, associate, audience, award, Bell Laboratories, Bill Lutes, blog, Bloz, call, Camille Saint-Saëns, capture, category, Charitable Trust, charity, Civic Music Association, Classical music, close, competitiion, competitors, composer, Concert, concert hall, concertmaster, concerto, conductor, Cyrene Pondrom, dance, Dance of Death, dates, death, DePaul University, Diane Ballweg, division, donor, donors, doors, Emily Hauer, Emmy, Emmy award, Facebook, Final Forte, finalist, first, first place, Focus Fund, following, forward, Fox Valley, Fox Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra, Franz Liszt, free, friends, Friends of PBS Wisconsin, funded, funding, general admission, Glendale, hall, home-schooled, honors, I-Hai Lee, Ilana Setapen, introduction, Jacob Stockinger, James Gill, Jean Sibelius, Jessica Jiang, Jiang, Jonah Kartman, junior, Kato Perlman, Kyle Knox, Lee, lessons, like, link, listener, Liszt, live broadcast, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Martha Argerich, Mead Witter School of Music, members, Memorial High Schol, Michael Wu, Milwaukee, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Mohs, movement, MSO, Music, nation, national, Nielsen, nomination, November, online, Orchestra, orchestral music, Overture Center, Overture Hall, PBS, PBS Wisconsin, performer, performers, Pianist, Piano, piano competition, Piano concerto, place, post, posting, professor emertius, program, Prokofiev, public, Radio, ratings, rebroadcast, register, reservation, Saturday, School of Music, seating, second, second place, select, senior, Sentry Insurance, Sergei Prokofiev, share, special interest, Stars of Tomorrow, statewide, Steenbacl, Steinway and Sons, Stephen Morton, Student, studies, study, Sun Prairie, Sun Prairie High School, support, symphony, tag, Teacher, Television, The Ear, Thursday, Thursday August 22, ticket, Totentanz, trust, TV, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, video, view, viewer, viewing, Violin, Violin concerto, violinist, W. Jerome Frautschi, watched, WCO, Wednesday, winner, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Channel, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Public Television, Wisconsin Young Artists Compete, WPT, Wu, young, young artist, Youth, YouTube
Classical music: Background discussions, lectures and documentaries lead up to Madison Opera’s production of the LGBTQ-themed, McCarthy-era opera “Fellow Travelers” on Feb. 7 and 9
1 Comment
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 Madison Opera continues its foray into 21st-century operas with Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers on Friday night, Feb. 7, at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, Feb. 9, at 2:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater at the Overture Center.
(Production photos below are by Dan Norman of the Minnesota Opera production, which is being encored in Madison. You can see and hear a preview of the Minnesota Opera production in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The acclaimed 2016 opera is set in 1950s Washington, D.C. The “Lavender Scare,” in which suspected homosexuals saw their livelihoods and lives destroyed, has enveloped the U.S. government. (Below are Andres Acosta as Timothy Laughlin and Sidney Outlaw as Tommy McIntyre.)
Against this backdrop, Timothy Laughlin, a recent college graduate and an ardent supporter of Wisconsin’s anti-Communist Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy, meets Hawkins Fuller, a State Department official.
The two men (below, Acosta on the right) embark on a relationship, tangled in a web of fear and necessary deceit. Their friends and colleagues fill out a story of individuals grappling with their beliefs and emotions.
With a libretto by Greg Pierce that is based on Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel, Fellow Travelers was praised as “a near-perfect example of fast-flowing musical drama” by The New York Times and tells of the very human consequences of prejudice and fear, with compassion, nuance and incredible beauty.
The opera will be sung in English with projected text.
The performance will last approximately 2 hours 25 minutes, including one intermission.
For more information, go to: www.madisonopera.org/FellowTravelers
Tickets are $26 to $118 with discounts available for students and groups. Go to the Overture Center box office at 201 State Street or call it at (608) 258-4141 or go online to www.MadisonOpera.org/Tickets
“When I saw Fellow Travelers, I knew before it was over that I would be producing it in Madison,” says Madison’s Opera’s General Director Kathryn Smith (below in a photo by James Gill). “I fell in love with the haunting music and the well-drawn characters, and the emotional impact at the end was even more powerful than I had anticipated. I am truly looking forward to sharing this modern masterpiece with our community.”
Peter Rothstein (below) directs this production in his Madison Opera debut. Rothstein, who received his MFA from the UW-Madison, directed Fellow Travelers for Minnesota Opera in 2018.
The Twin City Arts Reader called his production “equal parts sweeping love affair and tragic circumstance. To some, the events will feel comfortably distant for this doomed period romance. For others, they will seem all too real and possible in this day and age. It’s a powerful combination.”
Making his Madison Opera debut as Timothy Laughlin is Andres Acosta (below), who performed this role to acclaim at the Minnesota Opera.
Ben Edquist (below), who debuted at Opera in the Park this past summer, sings Hawkins Fuller.
Adriana Zabala (below, of Florencia en el Amazonas) returns as Mary Johnson, who works with Hawkins and is a friend and voice of conscience for him and Timothy.
Returning to Madison Opera are Sidney Outlaw (below top, of Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet) as Tommy McIntyre, a political insider, and Alan Dunbar (below bottom, in a photo by Roy Hellman, of Mozart’s The Magic Flute) in multiple roles, including Senator Joseph McCarthy and a government interrogator who puts Hawkins through a lie detector test.
Andrew Wilkowske (below) debuts in several roles, including Senator Potter and General Arlie.
Filling out the cast is Madison Opera Studio Artist Emily Secor (below top) as Miss Lightfoot, who works in Hawkins’ office; soprano Cassandra Vasta (below bottom) as Lucy, whomHawkins marries; and Madison Opera Studio Artist Stephen Hobe in five different roles.
John DeMain (below, in a photo by Greg Anderson) conducts, with the Madison Symphony Orchestra in the pit.
Madison Opera’s production of “Fellow Travelers” is sponsored by: Fran Klos; Sally and Mike Miley; David Flanders and Susan Ecroyd; John Lemke and Pamela Oliver; Sharyn and Carl Stumpf; and Dane Arts. Community events are sponsored by The Capital Times.
RELATED EVENTS
In addition to the two performances, Madison Opera offers several events to allow deeper exploration of the opera and its historical background.
They include a free discussion of the “Wisconsin Dimension” of this period in history at the Madison Central Library and a free showing of The Lavender Scare documentary at PBS Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin Public Television).
OPERA NOVICE: WELCOME TO THE 21st CENTURY
This Friday, Jan. 17, 6-7 p.m. FREE and open to the public at the Madison Opera Center (below), 335 West Mifflin Street
New to opera? Not sure how you feel about modern opera? Come to the Madison Opera Center for a short, fun and informative evening, led by General Director Kathryn Smith.
Learn about some of the new American operas that are shaping the operatic landscape in the 21st century, including Fellow Travelers. Studio Artist Stephen Hobe (below) will sing an aria from Fellow Travelers, and there will be plenty of time for questions. It’s the perfect jump-start for the opera-curious.
FELLOW TRAVELERS: THE WISCONSIN DIMENSION
This Sunday, Jan. 19, 3–4:30 p.m.; FREE and open to the public at the Madison Central Library, 201 West Mifflin Street
Join us for a discussion of how the Lavender Scare and its fallout was felt in Wisconsin, led by R. Richard Wagner (below top), activist and author of We’ve Been Here All Along: Wisconsin’s Early Gay History (below middle), and Susan Zaeske (below bottom), a UW-Madison campus leader in the arts and humanities who has taught an experiential-learning course on LGBTQ history.
THE LAVENDER SCARE– Documentary Screening
Friday, Jan. 24, 7 p.m.; FREE and open to the public at PBS Wisconsin, 821 University Avenue
PBS Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin Public Television) presents a screening of The Lavender Scare, the first documentary film to tell the little-known story of an unrelenting campaign by the federal government to identify and fire all employees suspected of being homosexual.
Narrated by Glenn Close, the film was praised as “a gripping, nimbly assembled documentary… vivid, disturbing and rousing” by the Los Angeles Times. The screening will be followed by a discussion.
OPERA UP CLOSE: FELLOW TRAVELERS
Sunday, Feb. 2, 1-3 p.m.; FREE for full-season subscribers; $10 for two-show subscribers; and $20 for non-subscribers; at the Madison Opera Center, 335 West Mifflin Street
Join the Madison Opera for a multimedia behind-the-scenes preview of Fellow Travelers. General Director Kathryn Smith will discuss many aspects of the opera, including the historical events that provide the story’s backdrop, the novel on which it is based, and how this 2016 opera swiftly spread across the country.
Principal artists, stage director Peter Rothstein, and conductor John DeMain will participate in a roundtable discussion about Madison’s production and their own takes on this acclaimed 2016 work.
PRE-OPERA TALKS
Friday, February 7, 2020, 7 p.m. and Sunday, February 9, 2020, 1:30 p.m. FREE to ticket holders at the Wisconsin Studio in the Overture Center
Join General Director Kathryn Smith one hour prior to performances for an entertaining and informative talk about Fellow Travelers.
Tags: #21stCentury, #AdrianaZabala, #AlanDunbar, #AndresAcosta, #AndrewWilkowske, #Anti-Communist, #ArtisticDirector, #BenEdquist, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoxOffice, #CapitolTheater, #CassandraVasta, #CastList, #CharlesGounod, #CollegeGraduate, #ContemporaryOpera, #CriticalAcclaim, #DaneArts, #EmilySecor, #EmotionalImpact, #EnglishLanguage, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Fast-Paced, #FellowTravelers, #FlorenciaenelAmazonas, #Fridaynight, #GayHistory, #GeneralDirector, #GlennClose, #GregorySpears, #GregPierce, #JacobStockinger, #JohnDeMain, #JosephMcCarthy, #KathrynSmith, #LavenderScare, #LGBTQrights, #LieDetector, #LivingComposer, #LoveAffair, #MadisonCentralLibrary, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonOperaCenter, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #McCarthyEra, #MinnesotaOpera, #ModernOpera, #MusicalDrama, #NewMusic, #OperaCast, #OperaInThePark, #OperaLibretto, #OperaMusic, #OvertureCenter, #PBSWisconsin, #PeriodRomance, #PersonalRelationship, #PeterRothstein, #R.RichardWager, #RedScare, #RomeoandJuliet, #SeniorCitizen, #SidneyOutlaw, #StageDirector, #StateDepartment, #StephenHobe, #Sundayafternoon, #SusanZaeske, #The1950s, #TheCapitalTmes, #TheEar, #TheLavenderScare, #TheMagicFlute, #TheNewYorkTImes, #ThePit, #TheU.S., #ThomasMallon, #TwinCities, #TwinCitiesArtsReader, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWProfessor, #VocalMusic, #We'veBeenHereAllAlong, #WisconsinPublicTelevision, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, 1950s, 21st century, acclaim, Adriana Zabala, age, Alan Dunbar, Andres Acosta, Andrew Wilkowske, anti-Communism, ardent, Artistic director, Arts, backdrop, background, beauty, belief, Ben Edquist, bisexual, blog, Book, box office, Campus, Capitol Theater, Cassandra Vasta, cast, characters, Charles Gounod, circumstances, Classical music, classicalmusic, colleague, college, Communism, Communist, community, compassion, composer, Concert, conduct, conductor, conscience, consequences, contemporary opera, course, D.C., Dane Arts, day, debut, deceit, destroy, direct, discount, discussion, distant, documentary, doom, embark, Emily Secor, emotion, emotional, encored, English, entertaining, era, event, experimental, Facebook, fast, fast-flowing, fear, Fellow Travelers, Florencia en el Amazonas, foray, forward, free, Friday night, friend, gay, gay history, General director, Glenn Close, Gounod, graduate, Greg Pierce, Gregory Spears, group, haunting, historical, History, homophobe, homophobia, homosexual, Homosexuality, human, humanities, impact, individuals, information, intermission, interrogator, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, Joseph McCarthy, Kathryn Smith, Lavender Scare, learning, lecture, lesbian, LGBT, LGBTQ, library, libretto, lie detector, like, link, live, livelihood, Living composer, Love, love affair, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Opera Center, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marriage, marry, masterpiece, McCarthyism, men, MFA, Minnesota Opera, modern, modern opera, Mozart, Music, musical drama, narrator, New Music, novel, nuance, official, online, opera, Opera in the Park, Orchestra, Overture Center, PBS, PBS Wisconsin, period romance, personal relationship, Peter Rothstein, photo, possible, post, posting, powerful, Prejudice, produce, production, professor, public, queer, R. Richard Wagner, reader, real, Red Scare, relationship, Republican, Republican Party, role, Romance, Romeo and Juliet, screening, senator, senior, senior citizen, share, showing, Sidney Outlaw, sing, sponsor, stage director, State Department, Stephen Hobe, story, Sunday afternoon, sung, supertitles, supporter, surtitles, Susan Zaeske, suspect, symphony, tag, talk, Television, test, text, The Capital Times, The Ear, The Lavender Scare, The Magic Flute, The New York Times, the pit, Thomas Mallon, tickets, tragedy, Tragic, transgender, TV, Twin Cities, Twin Cities Arts Reader, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, video, vocal music, voice, Washington, We've Been Here All Along, web, weekend, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Public Television, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, WPT, YouTube
Classical music: Happy New Year! The annual New Year’s Day concert in Vienna, popular around the world, airs on Wisconsin public radio and TV this morning and tonight
3 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.
ALERT 1: What piece of music do you like most to celebrate the New Year? Leave the name and a YouTube link, if possible, in the Comment section.
By Jacob Stockinger
For many music fans, today just wouldn’t be New Year’s Day without the annual concert (below) by the Vienna Philharmonic with a famous guest conductor in Vienna, Austria, that is broadcast nationwide both on radio and television by PBS and NPR. (The concert also goes out to more than 90 countries around the world.)
In Wisconsin, the first hearing comes this morning from 10 a.m. to noon CST on Wisconsin Public Radio.
Then tonight from 8 to 9:30 CST, Wisconsin Public Television – recently rebranded as PBS Wisconsin – will feature a longer version with host Hugh Bonneville (below) of “Downton Abbey” and with choreographed dance interpretations by the Vienna State Ballet that take place in various historical sites in Vienna.
The broadcast will be available to stream tomorrow, Thursday, Jan. 2, on pbs.org/gperf and the PBS Video app.
Here is an overview with a biography of the critically acclaimed, Grammy-winning conductor Andris Nelsons (below), along with some background about the various orchestras he directs – including the Boston Symphony — and the spectacular floral arrangements in the Golden Hall:
https://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/new-years-concert/new-years-concert-main
And here is a playlist of the waltzes, polkas and marches by the Strauss family and many other composers, including Beethoven since 2020 is the Beethoven Year and will celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth:
https://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/concerts/concert-detail/event-id/10034
As always, the performance will conclude with the Radetzky March (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom) with the audience clapping along.
If you are a fan of the event, you might also be pleased to learn the Sony Classical will again be releasing the live recording (below) and DVD very shortly. Every year Sony rushes to get it out and on the market – something made easier, one suspects, by streaming.
Tags: #AndrisNelsons, #BalletMusic, #BeethovenYear, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BostonSymphony, #CompactDisc, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DowntonAbbey, #FacebookPost, #GoldenHall, #GrammyAward, #GreatPerformances, #HappyNewYear, #HomeWebsite, #HughBonnevillle, #LiveattheChazen, #LiveRecording, #LiveStreaming, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #NationalPublicRadio, #NewYear, #NewYear'sDay, #NewYear'sDayFromVienna, #PBSWisconsin, #PublicBroadcastingSystem, #RadetzkyMarch, #SonyClassical, #TheEar, #ViennaAustria, #ViennaMusikverein, #ViennaPhilharmonic, #ViennaStateBallet, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #YouTubevideo, a.m., air, Andris Nelsons, annual, app, arrangement, Arts, audience, Austria, background, ballet, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, biography, birth, blog, Boston Symphony, Broadcast, CD, choreography, Classical music, classicalmusic, Compact Disc, Concert, conductor, countries, country, critically acclaimed, dance, direct, Downton Abbey, DVD, evening, Facebook, famous, fan, floral, flowers, forward, Golden Hall, Grammy, Grammy Award, Great Performances, Happy New Year, hearing, historical, History, home website, Hugh Bonneville, interpretation, like, link, live, Live Recording, live streaming, Ludwig van Beethoven, march, market, morning, Music, musical, National Public Radio, nationwide, New Year, New Year's Day From Vienna, night, noon, NPR, online, Orchestra, overview, p.m., PBS, PBS Wisconsin, performer, playlist, polka, post, posting, Public Broadcasting System, Radetzky March, Radio, recording, share, site, SONY, Sony Classical, spectacular, Strauss, streaming, tag, Television, today, TV, version, video, Vienna, Vienna Musikverein, Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna State Ballet, Waltz, Website, win, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, works, world, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | Brian Jefferies on Classical music: A major reass… |
 | welltemperedear on What made Beethoven sick and… |
 | rlhess5d5b7e5dff on What made Beethoven sick and… |
| welltemperedear on Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200… |
 | Robert Graebner on Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 
The Madison Symphony Orchestra and Chorus plus guest artists premiere a virtual online Christmas concert this Wednesday night. It runs through Dec. 31. Plus, PBS Wisconsin will rebroadcast the 2018 holiday concert on Sunday, Dec. 20.
2 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.
ALERT: Tomorrow — Wednesday, Dec. 16 — Wisconsin Public Radio will mark the 250th birth of Ludwig van Beethoven. The day’s programming is sure to feature many of the composer’s most popular works as well as some neglected ones. Which Beethoven work most moves you? Leave word in the Comment section.
By Jacob Stockinger
This Wednesday night, Dec. 16, at 7:30 p.m., the Madison Symphony Orchestra will premiere its FREE virtual and online holiday concert of “A Madison Symphony Christmas.”
This special new one-hour concert production will feature vocalists Kyle Ketelsen and Emily Secor; the Madison Symphony Chorus; the Madison Youth Choirs; and the Mt. Zion Gospel Ensemble (below), with performances and accompaniment by John DeMain and Greg Zelek on piano and the Overture Concert Organ, respectively.
This concert is offered for FREE upon registration and will be available for viewing through Dec. 31, 2020.
Featured music includes Joy to the World, Peace Carol, O Holy Night, Sleigh Ride, The Christmas Song, Winter Wonderland, Christmas Hope and more — plus the traditional sing-along where you can join the MSO singing to a medley of favorites from your home.
To register and find out more information about the individual and group performers (below), go to: https://madisonsymphony.org/event/a-virtual-madison-symphony-christmas-2020/
In addition, you can relive the 2018 Madison Symphony Christmas concert on Sunday, Dec. 20, at 4 p.m. on your local PBS Wisconsin station.
For more information about the one-hour program and performers, go to: https://madisonsymphony.org/event/a-madison-symphony-christmas-2018-re-broadcast/
Share this:
Tags: #AtHome, #BeethovenYear, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChristmasCarol, #ChristmasHope, #ChristmasMusic, #CityofMadison, #ConcertProgram, #CoronavirusPandemic, #EmilySecor, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GregZelek, #HolidayConcert, #HolidayMusic, #JacobStockinger, #JesusChrist, #JohnDeMain, #JoytotheWorld, #KyleKetelsen, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyChorus, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #MadisonYouthChoirs, #Mt.ZionGospelEnsemble, #OHolyNight, #OnlineConcert, #OvertureConcertOrgan, #PBSWisconsin, #PeaceCarol, #SleighRide, #TheChristmasSong, #TheEar, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #Wednesdaynight, #WinterChamberSeries, #WinterWonderland, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, accompaniment, Arts, audience, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, birthday, blog, Broadcast, choral music, Christ, Christian, Christmas, Christmas Hope, Classical music, comment, composer, Concert, conductor, coronavirus, Emily Secor, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, favorite, favorites, forward, free, gospel, Greg Zelek, group, holiday concert, holiday music, Home, hour, individual, information, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, John DeMain, Joy to the World, Kyle Ketelsen, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Youth Choirs, medley, move, MSO, Mt. Zion Gospel Ensemble, Music, neglected, O Holy Night, offer, online, organ, organist, Overture Concert Organ, pandemic, PBS, PBS Wisconsin, peace, Peace Carol, performances, performer, Pianist, Piano, popular, post, posting, premiere, production, program, programming, Radio, register, registration, relive, section, share, sing-along, Sleigh Ride, special, stream, streaming, Sunday, symphony, tag, Television, The Christmas Song, The Ear, traditional, TV, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, viewing, virtual, vocal music, Wednesday night, Winter Wonderland, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, word, work, you, YouTube