The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Prize-winning harpsichordist Joseph Gascho will perform J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Scarlatti and Rameau this Saturday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
Joseph Gascho will give the Fourth Annual Mark Rosa Harpsichord Recital at 7:30 p.m. this Saturday night, Feb. 24, in the Landmark Auditorium of the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
Gascho (below), who won the Jurow International Harpsichord Competition in 2002, will perform works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Domenico Scarlatti and Jean-Philippe Rameau. (Except for the three-part “Ricercar” from J.S. Bach’s “The Musical Offering” — heard in the YouTube video at the bottom — no specific works have been mentioned.)
The featured instrument is the elegant 18th-century style French double-manual harpsichord made by Mark Rosa in Madison in 1979.
Admission is at the door: $20 for the genera public, $10 for seniors and students.
In 2014, Gascho joined the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance in 2014 as an assistant professor. Gascho enjoys a multi-faceted career as a solo and collaborative keyboardist, conductor, teacher and recording producer.
Featuring his own transcriptions of Bach, Handel, and Charpentier, his recent debut solo recording was praised in the American Record Guide for “bristling with sparking articulation, subtle but highly effective rubato, and other kinds of musical timing, and an enviable understanding of the various national styles of 17th and 18th century harpsichord music.”
As a student of Webb Wiggins and Arthur Haas, he earned masters and doctoral degrees in harpsichord from the Peabody Conservatory and the University of Maryland, where he also studied orchestral conducting with James Ross.
Recent highlights include performing with the National Symphony at Carnegie Hall, the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra, and conducting Mozart’s “Idomeneo” for the Maryland Opera Studio. He has also conducted numerous operas from Monteverdi to Mozart for Opera Vivente.
At the Oberlin Conservatory’s Baroque Performance Institute, Gascho conducts the student orchestra, coaches chamber music, and teaches basso continuo. A strong proponent of technology in the arts, he has used computer-assisted techniques in opera productions, in a recent recording with the ensemble Harmonious Blacksmith and percussionist Glen Velez, and in his continuo classes.
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Classical music: In a busy week, here are some other performances of violin, harpsichord, guitar and vocal music that merit your attention and attendance
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By Jacob Stockinger
It’s getting so that, more and more often, the week just isn’t long enough to cover the ever-increasing number of classical music events in the Madison area.
It is compounded by the fact that so many events mean more previews than reviews – which The Ear thinks benefits both the public and the performers.
But here are four more events that you might be interested in attending during the coming weekend:
SATURDAY
On Saturday night at 8 p.m. in Overture Hall, legendary superstar violinist Itzhak Perlman (below, in a photo by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco) will perform a recital with his longtime accompanist Rohan de Silva. (You can hear the two perform the Serenade by Franz Schubert in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The program includes the Sonata in A Major, Op. 2, No. 2, by Antonio Vivaldi; Sonata No. 1 in D Major, Op. 12, No. 1, by Ludwig van Beethoven; the “Fantasy Pieces,” Op. 73, by Robert Schumann; the Sonata No. 2 in G Major for Violin and Piano by Maurice Ravel; and selected works to be announced from the stage.
Tickets are $50 to $100. Here is a link for tickets and more information about the performers:
http://www.overture.org/events/itzhak-perlman
If you want to prepare for the concert and go behind the scenes with Perlman, here is a great interview with Perlman done by local writer Michael Muckian for the Wisconsin Gazette:
http://wisconsingazette.com/2017/04/20/itzhak-perlman-good-music-recipe-mix/
On Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Landmark Auditorium of the First Unitarian Society, 900 University Bay Drive, the Third Annual Mark Rosa Harpsichord Recital will take place. It features guest harpsichordist JungHae Kim (below top) and local baroque violinist Kangwon Kim (below bottom).
The program includes works by Arcangelo Corelli, Jean-Henri D’Anglebert, Jean-Marie Leclair, Gaspard LeRoux and Domenico Scarlatti.
Admission at the door is $15, $10 for seniors and students.
The harpsichord was built by Mark Rosa and is a faithful reproduction of the 1769 Pascal Taskin instrument at Edinburgh University. It has two keyboards, two 8-foot stops, one 4-foot stop, two buff stops and decorative painting by Julia Zwerts.
Korean born harpsichordist JungHae Kim earned her Bachelor’s degree in harpsichord at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore She then earned a Masters in Historical Performance in Harpsichord at the Oberlin Conservatory before completing her studies with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam on a Haskell Scholarship. While in The Netherlands she also completed an Advanced Degree in Harpsichord Performance under Bob Van Asperen at the Sweelinck Conservatorium.
Kim has performed in concert throughout United States, Europe and in Asia as a soloist and with numerous historical instrument ensembles including the Pierce Baroque Dance Company, the Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra, Music’s ReCreation, and Agave Baroque. She performed at the Library of Congress with American Baroque and frequently performs with her Bay Area period instrument group; Ensemble Mirable.
As a soloist, Kim has performed with Musica Angelica, Brandywine Baroque, the New Century Chamber Orchestra, and with the San Francisco Symphony. Kim frequently teaches and performs at summer music
SUNDAY
On Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in the St. Joseph Chapel of Edgewood College, 1000 Edgewood College Drive, the Edgewood Chorale, along with the Guitar Ensemble, will give a spring concert.
The concert also features performances by students Johanna Novich on piano and Renee Lechner on alto saxophone.
The program includes music by Gabriel Fauré, John Rutter, Frederic Chopin, Bernhard Heiden and many others.
Admission is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
Edgewood College’s Music Department was recognized by the readers of Madison Magazine with the Best of Madison 2017 Silver Award.
On Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. at the West Middleton Lutheran Church, 3773 Pioneer Road, at Mineral Point Road in Verona, the internationally acclaimed and Grammy Award-winning tenor Dann Coakwell (below) will team up with keyboardist and MBM founder-director Trevor Stephenson to perform Robert Schumann’s masterpiece song cycle Dichterliebe (A Poet’s Loves).
Just last week Coakwell sang the role of the Evangelist John in the Madison Bach Musicians’ production of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. John Passion.
Stephenson will be playing his restored 1855 Bösendorfer concert grand piano (both are below).
Also on the program are four selections from Franz Schubert’s last song collection Schwanengesang (Swansong).
This concert will start off a three-day recording session of this repertoire ― with a CD due for release later this year.
Tickets are $30. Seating at the church is very limited. Email to reserve tickets: www.trevorstephenson.com
Tags: alto, Amsterdam, annual, Arcangelo Corelli, art song, Arts, Asia, Bach, Baltimore, Baroque, Baroque violin, Bay Area, Beethoven, Bernhard Heiden, Bob Van Asperen, Bosen, Cello, Chamber music, Chopin, choral music, church, Clara Haskell, Classical music, concert grand, D'Anglebert, Dann Coakwell, Dichterliebe, Domenico Scarlatti, Early music, Edgewood College, Edinburgh, email, Europe, Fantasy Pieces, Faure, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Franz Schubert, Gaspard LeRoux, guitar, Gustav Leonhardt, harpsichord, Itzhak Perlman, Jacob Stockinger, Jean-Marie Leclair, Johann Sebastian Bach, Korea, Korean, legendary, lieder, Los Angeles, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Magazine, Mark Rosa, Music, New Century Chamber Ensemble, Oberlin, Orchestra, Overture Center, Peabody Conservatory of Music, period instruments, Piano, Ravel, recital, Rohan de Silva, Rutter, San Francisco Symphony, Saxophone, Schumann, Schwanengesang, Serenade, Sonata, song, St. Joseph, superstar, symphony, tenor, the Netherlands, United States, university, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, Vivaldi, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Gazette, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: Cellist Amit Peled will recreate a Pablo Casals concert from a century ago using Casals’ own cello. He performs on Saturday night at Farley’s House of Pianos.
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By Jacob Stockinger
These days, the gifted Israeli-born cellist Amit Peled is touring the country and recreating a concert given by Pablo Casals (below) from a century ago using Casals’ own cello, a 1733 Goffriller cello that was loaned to him by Casals widow Marta Casals Istomin.
Peled teaches at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and has performed several times with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and at other local venues.
Here is a link to his web site:
Peled (below) will perform the centennial program this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in Madison during his third appearance at Farley’s House of Pianos. He will be accompanied by a restored 1914 Mason and Hamlin piano, which was his preference. Farley’s is located at 6522 Seybold Road, on Madison’s far west side not far from the West Towne Mall.
The program includes music by George Frideric Handel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Gabriel Faure and Camille Saint-Saens.
Contrary to the rumor The Ear heard, the concert is NOT sold out, though Farley’s says that tickets are indeed selling briskly.
Advance tickets are $45; $50 at the door. Full-time students get in for $15, but those tickets must be purchased in advance and on-line, and are NOT available at the door. Service fees not included. For reservations, you can call 608 271-2626.
Amit Peled discusses the Casals cello and the story behind it in a YouTube video at the bottom.
For more information including the specific program and background, visit:
http://salonpianoseries.org/concerts.html
Tags: Arts, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Camille Saint-Saëns, Casals, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, Farley's House of Pianos, Gabriel Fauré, George Frideric Handel, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johns Hopkins University, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Marta Casals Istomin, Mason and Hamlin, Music, Orchestra, Pablo Casals, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Piano, Sonata, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, YouTube
Classical music: Bass trombonist Alan Carr joins the Madison Area Trombone Ensemble for a concert this Thursday night. Plus, Mikko Utevsky sings art songs and plays the viola this Saturday night.
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ALERT: UW-Madison School of Music student Mikko Utevsky (below) seems a musician for all seasons.
Primarily a violist, he is also a conductor who founded and directs the Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra (MAYCO). He is also an informed and fluid writer. For this blog, he wrote about the European tour to Prague, Vienna and Budapest that the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) undertook) three years ago, and he reviews Madison Opera productions. He also sings and was in the University Opera’s recent production of “The Magic Flute” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Utevky’s unusual FREE student recital, with UW-Madison alumnus pianist Thomas Kasdorf, this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in Capitol Lakes Retirement Center, 333 West Main Street, off the Capitol Square, highlights two of his talents. Utevsky, a baritone, will sing Robert Schumann’s song cycle “Dichterliebe” (A Poet’s Loves), then pick up his viola and play the famous “Arpeggione” Sonata by Franz Schubert.
By Jacob Stockinger
A musician friend who is a trombonist writes:
The Madison Area Trombone Ensemble (MATE, below) is back for another spring concert, featuring bass trombonist Alan Carr.
Join us at 7:30 p.m. on this Thursday, April 16, at First United Methodist Church, 203 Wisconsin Avenue, off the Capitol Square.
Parking is available in FUMC’s lot, or free on the street after 6 p.m.
Admission is free, but a suggested donation of $10 is greatly appreciated.
Alan Carr will join MATE to perform “The Chief,” composed by UW-Madison Professor Emeritus John Stevens (below) who taught tuba and euphonium. The concert will also feature works by Peter Phillips, Richard Wagner, Fisher Tull, Eric Whitacre, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Eric Clapton and more.
Directed by Madison freelance trombonist and University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music alumnus Kevan Feyzi (below), MATE is comprised of top UW-Madison trombonists in groups such as Phat Phunktion, the Madison Brass Band, the Madison Mellophonium Jazz Orchestra, and the Madison Jazz Orchestra.
In just its second year of existence, MATE numbers 16 strong and is already being lauded as a leading community ensemble. (At bottom is a YouTube video with an excerpt from the inaugural concert in 2014 by the Madison Area Trombone Ensemble.)
Alan Carr (below) currently completing a DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) at the UW-Madison — where he is a Collins Fellow — and is Adjunct Professor of Low Brass at Concordia University. He holds degrees from the Julliard School in New York City and the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
He has also been a finalist in several competitions and was selected as a participant in the prestigious Alessi Seminar. Alan performed and toured for seven years with the King’s Brass, and has appeared with Ensemble ACJW, the American Brass Quintet, Isthmus Brass, and the Baltimore, Hartford, and Dubuque Symphony Orchestras.
Recently, Alan formed a consortium with a dozen other prominent American bass trombonists to commission John Stevens’ newest composition: the Kleinhammer Sonata for Bass Trombone. Premiered this spring by Alan and other consortium members, Alan will release the first recording of the piece on his forthcoming solo album “The Elephant in the Room.”
Find out more about Alan and the Kleinhammer Sonata at http://www.carralan.com
This performance is a part of International Trombone Week, from April 12–19, organized by the International Trombone Association. More info here: https://www.trombone.net/itw/
Tags: Arpeggione, art song, Arts, baritone, bass trombone, blog, brass, Budapest, Chamber music, Classical music, Dichterliebe, Eric Clapton, Eric Whitacre, Euphonium, Europe, Fisher Tull, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, John Stevens, Johns Hopkins University, Madison, Madison Area Trombone Ensemble, Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra, MAYCO, Mikko Utevsky, Mozart, Music, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Peter Phillips, Prague, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Richard Wagner, Robert Schumann, Schubert, Sonata, song, song cycle, The Magic Flute, Thomas Kasdorf, tour, Trombone, Tuba, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, Vienna, Viola, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Youth Symhony Orchestras, Writer, WYSO, YouTube
Classical music: J.S. Bach turns 330 on Saturday. At noon in Grace Episcopal Church, the Madison Bach Musicians mark the event with a FREE concert of baroque music. On SATURDAY night at 8 the Wisconsin Brass Quintet plays a FREE concert in Mills Hall. And on Sunday afternoon, Madison native pianist Kathryn Ananda-Owens performs a Mozart concerto at St. Olaf College, and the performance will be streamed live.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Three items deserve attention today.
J.S. BACH TURNS 330 ON SATURDAY
This Saturday is the 330th birthday of composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). That means you can expect to hear a lot of Bach played on Wisconsin Public Radio and streamed by other radio stations and music institutions from around the country and world.
To mark the occasion, the program “Grace Presents” – which takes place at Grace Episcopal Church, 116 West Washington Avenue, on the Capitol Square – is presenting a FREE concert by the early music group the Madison Bach Musicians from noon to 1 p.m.
Explains MBM founder and director Trevor Stephenson: “Madison Bach Musicians (MBM) was formed to foster a love of music and to provide education about great music within the community. MBM is dedicated to presenting the music of Bach-as well as works by other great composers of the Baroque, Renaissance and Classical periods — to both the general public and to educational institutions through performances, lectures, and workshops.
“Bach’s music was chosen as a focal point because of its outstanding beauty, variety and profundity, and because it speaks with urgency to modern audiences.
In pursuit of the greatest clarity of musical texture, MBM performs primarily on period instruments, using historically informed performance practices, and the ensemble sizes are typical of those used by Bach himself. MBM provides a unique forum for experienced professional and exceptionally talented young professional musicians to work together in an exciting period performance style.”
Grace Presents is a FREE monthly concert series that takes place in the historic Grace Church on Madison’s Capitol Square. The series features a diverse range of music, everything from classical and folk to jazz and bluegrass.
Members of the Madison Bach Musicians (below) include: Kangwon Kim, baroque violin; Martha Vallon, viola da gamba and baroque cello; Chelsea Morris, soprano; and Trevor Stephenson, harpsichord.
Here is the program for Saturday’s concert:
Sonata No. 4 in D major from Sonatae unarum fidium by Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (below, 1623-1680)
Sonata in G Major, BWV 1027, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Adagio; Allegro ma non tanto; Andante; Allegro moderato
Prelude & Fugue in E-flat minor, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I by Johann Sebastian Bach
Violin Sonata in F major, HWV 370, by George Frideric Handel (below, 1685-1759)
Adagio; Allegro; Largo; Allegro
Recitative and Aria from “Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid” BWV 58, by Johann Sebastian Bach. (You can hear the beautiful music in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
Aria from “Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm” BWV 171, by J.S. Bach
The harpsichord (below) to be played in Saturday’s concert was made by area instrument builder Norman Sheppard in 2009 and is modeled on a circa 1720 German double-manual instrument by Michael Mietke of Berlin, one that Bach bought and used.
PLEASE NOTE: Madison Bach Musicians will repeat the FREE concert on this Sunday, March 22, at 3 p.m. in the West Middleton Lutheran Church, 3763 Pioneer Road in Verona.
WISCONSIN BRASS QUINTET PERFORMS SATURDAY NIGHT
The Wisconsin Brass Quintet (below, in a photo by Megan Aley) performs a FREE concert SATURDAY night at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall — NOT tonight as incorrectly first stated here.
The program includes music by William Mathias, James Stephenson, Anders Hillborg and Malcolm Arnold.
Here is a link to background about the members of the faculty ensemble that was founded in 1972 at the UW-Madison School of Music:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/events/wisconsin-brass-quintet-faculty-recital/
Here is link to the program:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/2015-0321-WBQ.pdf
ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON, MADISON-BORN PIANIST KATHRYN ANANDA-OWENS STREAMS MOZART’S D-MINOR PIANO CONCERTO WITH HER OWN CADENZAS
The following news has come to the attention of The Ear: Pianist Kathryn Ananda-Owens (below), is a graduate of James Madison Memorial High School on Madison’s far west side and the first winner of Wisconsin Public Radio’s Neale-Silva Young Artists Competition. She was promoted to full professor at St. Olaf College in February.
On this Sunday at 3:30 p.m., with the St. Olaf Orchestra, she will perform the dark, dramatic and lovely Piano Concerto in D Minor, K. 466, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (below) — with her own cadenzas. (The concert will be live-streamed. St. Olaf officials say to tune in 10 minutes ahead).
For anyone who might be interested, here is the link to the streaming part of the website, and scroll to March 22:
http://www.stolaf.edu/multimedia/streams/upcoming.cfm?category=concerts
By way of background, the Mozart piano concerto cadenzas were the study of Ananda-Owens’ doctoral dissertation and lecture recital at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore that is attached to Johns Hopkins University.
Mozart wrote cadenzas for some, but not all, of his 27 piano concertos. No one else has analyzed the topic in-depth, and she is more than halfway through turning her dissertation into a book, thanks to a sabbatical during academic year 2012-13. She annually lectures at the Juilliard School (and occasionally at some other places, including internationally) on this topic.
Tags: Anders Hillborg, Arts, Bach, Baltimore, Baroque, bluegrass, brass, cadenza, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Classical, Classical music, concerto, Early music, folk, George Frideric Handel, Handel, harpsichord, hirn, Historically informed performance, historically informed performance practices, Horn, Jacob Stockinger, James Stephenson, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johns Hopkins University, Juilliard School, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Malcolm Arnold, Music, Orchestra, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Piano concerto, Renaissance, Schmelzer, Sonata, St. Olaf College, Tempo, Trevor Stephenson, Trombone, Trumpet, viola da gamba, Violin, vocal music, William Mathias, Wisconsin Brass Quintet, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: Cellist Amit Peled celebrates historical mentor Pablo Casals with Casals’ own cello. Peled performs this Friday night with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
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By Jacob Stockinger
There is much to look forward to during this Friday night’s MUST-HEAR “Masterworks” concert by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra under the baton of its longtime music director Andrew Sewell.
But clearly the big draw is the Israeli-born cellist Amit Peled (below), who is a now a very successful teacher at the Peabody Conservatory that is attached to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and who also tours the globe performing.
The concert is at 8 p.m. in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center.
Tickets cost $15, $37, $62 and $65. Call the Overture Center box office at (608) 258-4141.
Amit Peled has played here with the WCO before, and he showed then that his talent is as big as he is, a 6’5” man who projects a big presence physically and musically.
But Peled is also a congenial, humorous and curious musician who knows how to find an unusual angle, a new take on old music.
As an homage, Peled recently recreated a century later a concert by Pablo Casals, who remains perhaps the most famous and influential cellist in history, by performing the same program.
The program included a solo suite by Johann Sebastian Bach since it was Casals who first discovered them and then who convinced the experts and the public that they were not exercises but genuine gorgeous music.
It also included a Catalan folk song, “The Song of the Birds,” which Casals himself arranged and frequently performed as an anthem to the need for freedom from Nazism and Fascism for his homeland. In fact it became a signature of Casals, and Peled will perform the same piece here.
Moreover, Peled performed this concert on Casal’s own cello, a superb 1733 Goffriller instrument, which Peled got on loan from Casals’ widow and which he had restored. (You can hear Amit Peled talk about and play the famed Casals cello in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
And that is the same cello he will bring to his date in Madison.
Here is a link to a story – two conjoined stories really — that NPR (National Public Radio) did about Peled and the Casals cello.
On the same cello, Peled will also perform the “Tarantella” by David Popper – another favorite of Casals — and the rarely played Cello Concerto by Robert Schumann (below), a late work written as the composer was descending into the mental illness that would eventually claim his life.
Adding to the concert’s appeal are two other works.
One is the penultimate symphony by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (below), the dark, dramatic and appealing Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550.
The performance by the WCO (below top) should be a lively treat, given the complete mastery of the Classical-era style that conductor Andrew Sewell (below bottom) continues to demonstrate.
Another attraction is the Suite for String Orchestra by Frank Bridge (below), who was the teacher of famed 20th-century British composer Benjamin Britten. And if you have heard Sewell, who originally hails from New Zealand, you know he has a way for finding neglected repertoire and possesses a special fondness of and talent for performing British works.
For more information about the WCO and this concert, visit:
http://www.wcoconcerts.org/performances/masterworks-iv
And here is a link to Amit Peled’s website, where you can find more information including reviews, recordings, biographical facts and more:
Tags: Amit Peled, Arts, Bach, Baltimore, Baroque, Benjamin Britten, bird, birds, British music, Cello, Cello Concerto, Classical music, concerto, David Popper, Frank Bridge, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johns Hopkins University, Madison, Mozart, Music, NPR, Orchestra, Pablo Casals, Peabody, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Peabody Institute, Robert Schumann, Song of the Birds, Suite, Tarantella, United States, YouTube
Classical music: Can you sing? Famed diva Jessye Norman thinks you can -– and should try. She says it is good for your physical health and mental health.
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By Jacob Stockinger
We have just come through Christmas and the holiday season where the instrument of choice – quite appropriately – is the human voice, both solo and in choruses.
Do you sing?
Can you sing?
The famous Grammy Award-winning soprano diva Jessye Norman (below) thinks you can -– and should, or at least try to.
In an interview with the Deceptive Cadence blog for NPR (National Public Radio), Norman explains why all people can sing.
She also explains why you should: Singing, she says, is healthy for your body and mind.
She may be 69, but Norman, who was born in Georgia but now lives in France, is not retiring from singing, even if she is cutting down on professional appearances. She is following her own advice and so continues to sing, as she recently did on The David Letterman Show in New York City.
The interview traces her career from her earliest years in Augusta, Georgia, through training at the famed Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. It has samples of her fabulous voice, and also her remembrances of great voices she has admired in others, such as the great history-making African American contralto Marian Anderson (below, during her historic concert at the Lincoln Memorial).
She also names some favorite orchestral music and instrumental music, including a prelude from the opera “Lohengrin” by Richard Wagner, as conducted by James Levine (below top) of the Metropolitan Opera; a cello sonata by Johann Sebastian Bach performed by cellist Yo-Yo Ma (below middle); and a Beethoven piano concertos performed by pianist Alfred Brendel (below bottom) and the conductor Simon Rattle along with the Berlin Philharmonic.
Norman also singles out American jazz composer Duke Ellington (below) for praise.
And the NPR interview includes some fine music audio samples.
Here is a link:
And here is one of my favorite and landmark or legendary performances by Jessye Norman: “Im Abendrot.” It is one of the “Four Last Songs” by Richard Strauss that was recently used in the movie “The Trip to Italy” to such great and repeated effect:
Tags: African American, Alfred Brendel, America, American music, Ann Arbor, Arts, Augusta, Bach, Baltimore, Baroque, Beethoven, Berlin, Berlin Philharmonic, CBS, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, chorus, Christmas, Classical music, Compact Disc, composer, concerto, conductor, contralto, David Letterman, David Letterman Show, Duke Ellington, film, Four Last Songs, France, Georgia, Grammy Award, holiday music, Im Abendrot, Jacob Stockinger, James Levine, Jazz, Jessye Norman, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lincoln, Lohengrin, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Metropolitan Opera, Michigan, movie, Music, New York City, NPR, opera, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Piano, Piano concerto, Prelude, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Simon Rattle, sing, Singing, solo, soloist, Sonata, song, soprano, the Met, The Trip to Italy, U.S., University of Michigan, US, vocal music, Wagner, Yo-Yo Ma, YouTube
Classical music: University of Wisconsin percussion group Clocks in Motion will give a FREE concert of unusual new music, including the world premiere of the winner of its first composing contest, this Sunday afternoon. Plus, on Saturday a harpsichord recital of Baroque masters will be given at the First Unitarian Society.
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ALERT: This Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the Landmark Auditorium at the historic Meeting House at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, Stephen Alltop of Northwestern University will give a harpsichord recital. The program features the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (Toccata in E minor, Preludes and Fugues in D major and D minor from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I), Domenico Scarlatti (two sonatas), Jean-Philippe Rameau (Suite in A Minor), Franz Joseph Haydn (Sonata No. 6 in G Major) and George Frideric Handel (Suite in G Minor). A free will offering will be taken.
By Jacob Stockinger
Clocks in Motion, Madison’s cutting-edge new music ensemble, will present Unfamiliar Voices 1.0, an expansive program featuring music from both the heart of the established percussion ensemble literature and the forefront of modern percussion composition.
The FREE performance is this coming Sunday, Feb. 16, at 3 p.m. in Mils Hall. It will celebrate composer and UW-Madison student Ben Davis, the 2014 Clocks in Motion Call for Scores winner, with the world premiere of his exciting new work, “Night.”
The ensemble will also perform the meditative percussion quartet, “Threads,” by Paul Lansky and the grand percussion sextet, “Kryptogramma,” by Georges Aperghis.
Ben Davis (below), a composer, trumpeter and teacher from Richmond, Virginia, writes for unique instruments built by Clocks in Motion. His new work employs sixxen — large aluminum keyboard instruments that are tuned microtonally (vastly different from the standard repeating 12-tone scale in most western music).
The three sets of sixxen (below, in the foreground with other percussion instruments) in the piece are purposefully out of tune with each other, creating an entrancing sound cloud of beading frequencies for the listener. In contrast, the other three players in the piece each play a bombastic multi-percussion setup of tom toms, snare drums, kick drums, and china cymbals. Davis’ innovative work is sure to impress.
Paul Lansky (below) shares some insightful thoughts on his 2005 work: “Threads… is a half-hour long ‘cantata’ for percussion quartet in ten short movements. (You can hear it at the bottom in a YouTube video performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.)
Adds Lansky: “There are three “threads” that are interwoven in the piece: Arias and Preludes that focus on the metallic pitched sounds of vibraphones, glockenspiel and pipes; Choruses in which drumming predominates; and Recitatives made largely from John Cage-like noise instruments, bottles, flower pots, crotales, etc. The aim of the different threads is to highlight the wide range of qualities that percussion instruments are capable of, from lyrical and tender to forceful and aggressive, and weave them into one continuous ‘thread.’ The movements are performed without interruption.”
Georges Aperghis’ 1970 composition “Kryptogramma” is a massive undertaking. Puzzling instrumental combinations and bizarre rhythmic structures make this one of the most fascinating and complex percussion ensemble works ever written.
“Kryptogramma” means “concealed text/writing”. In the words of composer Aperghis (below): “Every cyptogram [in the piece] conceals a text or number sequence, behind which information is hidden…simple rhythms…are developed in a tapestry of soaring movements, and…subjected to a mass of variation.”
Clocks in Motion members are Dave Alcorn, Jennifer Hedstrom, Sean Kleve, Michael Koszewski James McKenzie, and Joseph Murfin. For the concert on Feb. 16, Clocks in Motion will welcome percussionists Vincent Mingils and Somali Wilson as guest performers.
All performers are either current or former students of the UW-Madison percussion studio.
Hailed as “nothing short of remarkable” (ClevelandClassical.com), Clocks in Motion is a group that performs new music, builds rare instruments, and breaks down the boundaries of the traditional concert program.
Formed in 2011, the ensemble is currently in residence at the University of Wisconsin School of Music. The individual members of Clocks in Motion’s unique skill sets and specialties contain an impressive mix of musical styles including, rock, jazz, contemporary classical music, orchestral percussion, marching percussion, and world music styles.
Among its many recent engagements, the group served as resident performers and educators at the Interlochen Arts Academy, Rhapsody Arts Center, University of Michigan, Baldwin-Wallace University, and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.
Admission is free. For more information, including repertoire, upcoming events, biographies, and media, visit http://clocksinmotionpercussion.com.
Tags: Arts, Baldwin-Wallace University, Baltimore, Ben Davis, Chamber music, Classical music, Clocks, Clocks in Motion, Contemporary classical music, Domenico Scarlatti, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Franz Joseph Haydn, fugue, George Frideric Handel, Georges Aperghis, harpsichord, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, John Cage, Johns Hopkins University, Madison, microtone, Musical ensemble, New Music, Northwestern University, Paul Lansky, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Peabody Institute, percussion, Percussion instrument, Prelude, Rock, sixxen, Sonata, Suite, Sunday, toccata, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Well-Tempered Clavier, YouTube
Classical music: Native daughter and St. Olaf College pianist Kathryn Ananda-Owens returns to Madison for FREE recital of Mozart, Debussy and Justin Merritt on this Friday at noon at the First Unitarian Society.
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By Jacob Stockinger
When I first met Kathryn Ananda-Owens (below), I was a journalist reporting on education and she was a promising student at Memorial High School where she had just won a prestigious national science award and competition.
But she was also a very gifted young pianist, and music proved to be the profession she ended up pursuing. Indeed, she became the winner of the first annual Neale-Silva Young Artists Competition held in 1993 by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Kathy studied at Oberlin College and then the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. For many years now, she has been a professor of piano at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, which is renowned for its music department and especially its choral music.
She has toured in Asia and Europe, has perform solo recitals chamber music and concertos with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the St. Olaf Orchestra. She has performed at Lincoln Center in New York City and has made several Compact Disc recordings.
Here is a link to a biographical sketch:
http://wp.stolaf.edu/music/people/kathryn-ananda-owens/
Kathy returns to Madison periodically, but not always to play in public. But she will perform this Friday at the FREE Noon Musicale held weekly in the Landmark Auditorium (below top and bottom) of the historic First Unitarian Society of Madison Meeting House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built at 900 University Bay Drive, from 12:15 to 1 p.m.
Her program is a terrific combination of the old classics and new music.
Kathy will play Mozart’s dramatic Sonata in C Minor K. 457 and two of Debussy’s “Estampes” (Prints): “Pagodes” (Pagodas, played by David Cabassi during the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in a popular YouTube video at that bottom) and “Jardins Sous la Pluie” (Gardens in the Rain.)
In addition she will perform a contemporary work that was written for her: “Album Leaves” by Justin Merritt (below), who has been in residence at St. Olaf College.
Tags: Arts, Asia, Baltimore, Classical music, Claude Debussy, Compact Disc, David Cabassi, Debussy, Estampes, Europe, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Frank Lloyd Wright, Garden, Gardens in the Rain, Jacob Stockinger, Johns Hopkins University, Justin Merritt, LIncoln Center, Madison, Minnesota, Mozart, New York City, Orchestra, Pagodas, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Piano, rain, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, St. Olaf College, St. Olaf Orchestra, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, wisconsin public radio, YouTube
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