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.
This weekend, on Sunday at 12:30 p.m., the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Chazen Museum of Art offers monthly Sunday chamber music concert with two masterworks featuring the ensemble-in-residence at the museum for more than 30 years: the Pro Arte Quartet.
The program is, in essence, a showcase for master and apprentice ensembles.
This weekend’s “Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen” will feature the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet in the last string quartet – No. 15 in G major, D. 887 — by Franz Schubert.
That’s the same quartet the opening of which was used so effectively by Woody Allen in the soundtrack of the great film “Crimes and Misdemeanors.” (You can hear the opening movement, played by the Juilliard String Quartet, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For more about the dramatic historical background of the Pro Arte Quartet (below, in a photo by Rick Langer) — now the oldest surviving string quartet in history — go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/pro-arte-quartet/
Then, after intermission, together with the graduate student Hunt Quartet, the Pro Arte Quartet will perform the wonderful Octet in E-Flat Major, Op. 20, by Felix Mendelssohn, who composed this masterpiece at 16.
The Hunt Quartet is the graduate string quartet for the Mead Witter School of Music. As project assistants within the School of Music, the quartet performs concerts at the School of Music, University events, as well as community outreach.
Members work closely with faculty, including the Pro Arte Quartet, and with cello Professor Uri Vardi as their principal coach. Other artists who have worked with the Hunt Quartet include violist Nobuko Imai, violist Lila Brown and members of the Takacs String Quartet.
The quartet is also the integral part of the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s “Up Close and Musical” program, visiting area schools to teach students about fundamentals of music and the string quartet. This fall, the Hunt Quartet visited Lindbergh Elementary, Stoner Prairie Elementary, Blessed Sacrament School, Sauk Trail Elementary, Thoreau Elementary and Shorewood Hills Elementary.
The Hunt Quartet is sponsored by Kato Perlmanand the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
This year’s members (below, from left, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) are Kyle Price, cello; Vinicius “Vinny” Sant’Ana, violin; Blakeley Menghini, viola; Chang-En Lu, violin.
The concert starts at 12:30 p.m. CDT in Brittingham Gallery 3 and will runs until about 2 p.m. It is free and open to the public. You can attend in person. But you can also live-stream the concert.
Here is a web page with more information about the groups, the program, attendance and a link for streaming:
K-12 classes in public schools and private schools will also start, if they haven’t already, as will another year of music lessons.
And so will the new concert season.
Coincidentally, The Ear came across a post from Forbes magazine that deals with whether students should be allowed to major in music (below, in a photo by Shutterstock).
Many parents, and many politicians too, feel that more practical, higher paying fields are better investments of energy, time and especially money.
The same logic applies these days to the arts and humanities versus the so-called STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Anyway, the advice columnist Liz Ryan answered the question with 10 reasons why it is a good idea to let a student major in music.
The Ear –- who is an avid defender of the liberal arts and of college years not as a trade school but as a chance to explore and experiment — thought that whether you are a student, parent or teacher, you might be interested in reading the reasons why a music major makes sense.
The Ear’s friends at the Madison Symphony Orchestra have asked for the following announcement to be posted.
The Ear is more than happy to do so. For one, he believes in the lifelong benefits of music education as it applies to many other fields and to learning and life enhancement in general by fostering creativity and imagination. Just listen to the Australian musiceducator talking about the benefits of music education in the YouTube video at the bottom.
A lifelong teacher himself, The Ear also thinks that these days teachers are getting an undeserved bad rap from state and national politicians – especially Republicans – who are looking for scapegoats to blame for their own bad stewardship and inadequate funding of public education.
Here is the announcement:
The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO), in partnership with Ward-Brodt Music, is accepting nominations for its Award for Excellence in Music Educationto one outstanding music educator in southern Wisconsin.
Nominations will be accepted until January 15, 2016 and the nomination form can be found on the Madison Symphony website.
Cultivating the artistic growth of young students is one of the most unique and challenging jobs for teachers in Wisconsin.
Recognizing this challenge, the Award for Excellence in Music Education is intended to salute and honor one outstanding individual who displays leadership, passion, dedication, and innovation within the music classroom, positively affecting the lives of her or his students and the community at large.
The award will consist of a commemorative plaque and a $500 prize, to be presented at the recipient’s school.
These prizes have been made possible through the generosity of Ward-Brodt Music of Madison, Wisconsin.
To be qualified, the nominee must teach within a 75-mile radius of Madison in a public or private K-12 school and instruct a band, orchestra, choir or general music course.
Colleagues, current or former students, parents of students, or friends can nominate a music educator for the award.
The review panel will consist of representatives from public and private school administration, teachers, university staff, community members and one MSO representative. (For the sake of full disclosure, The Ear should announce that he has also accepted an invitation to serve on the panel.)
And from 10 until noon, will also feature band, choral and instrumental music from the Honors Concerts of the Wisconsin School Music Association. That involves middle school and high schools students from around the state.
Then from noon to 3 p.m. there is a special National Public Radio (NPR) program for Thanksgiving that includes the British pianist Stephen Hough, who has performed several times in Madison at the Wisconsin Union Theater and with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and who also held master classes at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music. (The NPR show features music and stories, and will also include Chris Kimball of the popular TV show and magazine America’s Test Kitchen, which he is leaving because of a contract dispute. By the way, you can stream Wisconsin Public Radio,)
But you might also be interested to stream some other music. WQXR, the famed classical musicradio station in New York City, has put together the Top 5 musical expressions of giving thanks. The website has audio and visual performances of the works that you can stream.
And if you have other ideas about music that is appropriate for Thanksgiving this year, please leave them in the COMMENT section, preferably with a YouTube link if possible.