The Well-Tempered Ear
Bach Around the Clock 2021 will incorporate many new aspects – including more audiences and artists of color — into the 10-day free virtual festival that runs March 17-26
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.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following update about Bach Around the Clock (BATC), the annual March free event to celebrate the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach (below). Like last year, the year’s will be virtual and online and spread out over 10 days, from March 17 to March 26.
The BATC 2021 Festival is shaping up brilliantly. We have about 50 participants signed up so far, with musical selections totaling more than eight hours.
As always, it has a nice mix of ages and levels of performers, from young students to seasoned professionals. It also runs from traditional instruments like the violin, viola, cello, oboe, bassoon, piano and organ as well as the human voice to more unusual instruments like the clavichord, 6-string electric bass and a saxophone quartet.
We are so grateful to all the participants who have volunteered to share their talents. (Below is the Webb Trio playing last year from home.)
Last year’s virtual format forms the basis of this year’s festival, but we’ve expanded on that in some very exciting ways.
BATC board member Melanie de Jesus (below) is producing two mini-films aimed at making the festival more accessible to participants. For the tech-challenged among us, the “How to Film Yourself” video will make it easier for musicians to participate virtually.
This film will be available this THURSDAY, Feb. 25, in time to help participants film and submit their performances by the March 5 deadline. Would you like to perform? For information about signing up for slots. Click here to let us know!
Make your own recording or request a time slot at a BATC venue where a professional videographer will create a recording for you to keep. Harpsichord, piano and organ are available.
Melanie’s “Bach for Kids” film will be published during the festival, and will introduce basic musical concepts to the youngest participants. It will culminate in a sing-along, play-along, dance-along performance of some simple Bach tunes, as demonstrated by some (very) young students at the Madison Conservatory, where de Jesus is the director.
Another significant new element of this year’s festival will be our evening Zoom events, including receptions with performers, and guest artists giving special performances, lecture/demos, master classes and panel discussions.
In keeping with this year’s theme of “Building Bridges Through Bach,” we will celebrate and feature musicians and guest artists of color.
We are thrilled to announce Wisconsin Public Radio music host Jonathan Overby (below) as our keynote speaker. Overby’s work to research and demonstrate how music, especially sacred music, serves as a cultural bridge, has taken him all over the planet. His core values are in close alignment with the theme of this year’s festival, and his address will set the tone for the rest of the festival.
The virtual format enables us to bring in guest artists from afar. Lawrence Quinnett (below), on the piano faculty of Livingstone College, a private, historically black college in Salisbury, North Carolina, will perform all six French Suites, and give a brief talk on his approach to ornamentation. (You can hear Quinnett performing French Suite No. 1 by Bach in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Clifton Harrison (below, in photo by Stephen Wright), violist in the Kreutzer String Quartet, in residence at Oxford University in England, will give a master class for interested BATC participants. Information on how to audition for this opportunity will be shared very soon.
We are extremely pleased that Trevor Stephenson (below), artistic director of the Madison Bach Musicians, will give an evening lecture and demonstration on the Goldberg Variations.
Through his performances, interviews and extremely popular pre-concert lectures, Trevor has served as a very important builder of bridges to the music of J.S. Bach in Madison and beyond. It would be hard to overstate the impact of Trevor’s work to make Bach’s music accessible to local audiences of all ages and backgrounds. We’re sure viewers will enjoy this event.
An astonishing new development resulted from BATC’s outreach efforts to local high schools: Steve Kurr (below), orchestra director at Middleton High School and former conductor of the Middleton Community Orchestra, decided to incorporate BATC into his curriculum this semester.
Fifteen of his students will perform for BATC, filmed by four other students, and then the students will all view the performances and write essays about them.
BATC is delighted with this creative initiative, looks forward to receiving the videos from this cohort of students, and hopes to expand on this kind of outreach in future years. Maybe we can include the final essays on our website, if the students agree.
There are a few other ideas still under construction; perhaps a panel discussion with educators, or one with local musical bridge-builders (aka “Angels in our Midst”)?
Please help us keep this festival free and open to all.
Bach Around The Clock is a unique program in our community. It offers everyone the opportunity to share their love of the music of Bach. There is no charge to perform or to listen.
But the festival is not free to produce! BATC provides venues, instruments, videographers, editors, and services for performers and audience.
We need your support!
Click on there link below to donate securely online with a PayPal account or credit card: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=WU7WWBW5LBMQJ
Or you can make a check out to Bach Around The Clock and mail it to: Bach Around The Clock, 2802 Arbor Drive #2, Madison, WI 53704
Bach Around The Clock is a 501(c)(3) organization; your donation is tax-deductible as allowed by the law. Donors will be listed on the acknowledgments page of the BATC website .
For the latest updates, please visit our website, bachclock.org, or our Facebook page, facebook.com/batcmadison.
We hope you will join us.
Marika Fischer Hoyt, Artistic Director, Bach Around The Clock, (608) 233-2646
Tags: "Goldberg" Variations, #501(c)(3), #ArtisticDirector, #BachAroundtheClock, #BachforKids, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOrnamentation, #BlackCollege, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoardofDirectors, #BuildingBridgesThroughBach, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #CityofMadison, #CliftonHarrison, #CoreValues, #CreditCard, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FrenchSuites, #Goldberg"Variations, #GuestArtist, #HighCulture, #HigherGround, #HistoricallyBlackCollegesandUniversities, #HomeWebpage, #HomeWebsite, #InstrumentalMusic, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #JonathanOverby, #KeynoteSpeaker, #KreutzerStringQuartet, #LawrenceQuinnett, #LivingstoneCollege, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonConservatoryofMusic, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #MakeMusicMadison, #MarikaFischerHoyt, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MelaniedeJesus, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MiddletonHighSchool, #MusicEducation, #NonprofitOrganization, #NorthCarolina, #OfColor, #OnlineConcert, #OnlineFestival, #OxfordUniversity, #PanelDiscussion, #PayPal, #PianoFaculty, #Pre-concertLecture, #Quartet-in-Residence, #SacredMusic, #SaxophoneMusic, #SecularMusic, #SteveKurr, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #TheUK, #TheUW, #TimeSlot, #TrevorStephenson, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #YouTubevideo, #ZoomMeeting, 501(3)(c), accessible, address, afar, age, aim, alignment, angels, annual, another, approach, artist, Artistic director, Arts, astonishing, audience, audition, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, Bach for Kids, background, Baroque, Baroque music, Bassoon, bassoonist, BATC, beyond, birthday, black college, blog, Blog post, blog posting, board member, bridges, brillitant, buikding, Building Bridges Through Bach, celebrate, cellist, Cello, challenge, Chamber music, choral music, Chorale, Christian, church, Classical music, clavichord, click, Clifton Harrison, composer, Concert, conductor, core values, creative, credit card, cultural, culture, curriculum, dance, dance-along, day, deadline, decide, delight, demo, demonstrate, demonstration, development, director, donate, donation, Early music, easier, eassy, editor, electric bass, element, England, enjoy, evening, exciting, expand, Facebook, feature, festival, film, format, free, French Suites, future, grateful, guest, guest artist, hard, harpsichord, HBUC, help, Higher Ground, historically, historically black universities and colleges, Home, home website, hope, hours, human, human voice, impact, incorporate, information, instrument, instrumental, instrumental music, interview, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Jonathan Overby, keynote, kids, kind, know, Kreutzer String Quartet, Lawrence Quinnett, lecture, level, link, Livingstone College, local, Lutheran, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Conservatory of Music, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mail, make, march, Marika Fischer Hoyt, master class, masterclass, Mead Witter School of Music, Melanie de Jesus, Middleton Community Orchestra, Middleton High School, mix, Music, Music education, musical, Musician, new, Nice, nonprofit, Nonprofit organization, North Carolina, of color, online, opportunity, Orchestra, organ, organist, ornamentation, outreach, overstate, overstatement, Oxford University, panel discussion, participants, performance, performer, Pianist, Piano, piano faculty, planet, play, play-along, pleased, popular, post, posting, pre-concert lecture, private, produce, professional, Quartet, reception, recording, research, residence, sacred, sacred music, Salisbury, Saxophone, seasoned, secular, secular music, selections, semester, services, share, sign-up, significant, simole, sing-along, Singing, slot, Sonata, soon, speaker, Steve Kurr, String quartet, Student, submit, talent, tax-deductible, teach, Teacher, technical, technology, The Ear, theme, thrilled, time slot, tone, total, traditional, Trevor Stephenson, tunes, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unusual, update, US, UW, UW-Madison, venue, video, videographer, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtual, visit, vocal music, voice, volunteer, way, Website, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wisconsin public radio, work, write, year, you, young, yourself, YouTube, Zoom
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra starts its four-concert Winter Chamber Series TONIGHT at 7:30. Tickets are $30 for one-time access from Friday night to Monday night
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.
By Jacob Stockinger
The new semester of virtual online concerts begins tonight with the inauguration of the Winter Chamber Series by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (WCO, below in a photo by Mike Gorski).
Tonight’s program features music by Giovanni Gabrieli, Valerie Coleman, Alec Wilder, Craig Russell and Franz Schubert. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear the first movement of the Schubert Cello Quintet, played by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.)
The programs are short and feature classic works as well as new music and neglected composers. Often single movements or excerpts rather than complete works are performed.
Concerts all debut on Fridays and remain available through Monday night. Debut dates are TONIGHT, Jan. 22; Feb. 26; March 26; and April 16. A ticket entitles the purchaser to one viewing.
Here is a description of the chamber music series from the WCO:
“While full orchestras remain sidelined, the WCO is excited to present the Winter Chamber Series. This new series will feature chamber works for multiple ensembles ranging from trios to octets, showcasing the versatility and caliber of the WCO’s 34 world-class musicians.
“Patrons will enjoy the four-concert series in the comfort of their own home, streaming each concert on WCO Live on-demand starting at 7:30 p.m. on the evening of the concert launch.
“All programs will be 60–75 minutes in length, with not only music but also stories from the WCO’s own musicians on their journey to becoming professional musicians.
“Also included is a pre-concert talk with maestro Andrew Sewell and Norman Gilliland, as well as a post-concert reflection with musicians of the WCO.”
Here is a link to the concerts, with programs plus notes by music director and conductor Sewell (below in a photo by Alex Cruz) as well as a link to purchase tickets from the Overture Center box office: https://wcoconcerts.org/concerts-tickets/winter-chamber-series
In addition, the WCO has started a musician’s relief fund. It seeks donations to pay musicians for the wages they have lost due to postponed or canceled concerts.
Here is a link: https://wcoconcerts.org/support/donate
Tags: #AlecWilder, #AndrewSewell, #ArtsPatron, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoxOffice, #BrassMusic, #CelloMusic, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusicSocietyofLIncolnCenter, #ConcertSeries, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #CraigRussell, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzSchubert, #Fridaynight, #GiovanniGabrieli, #JacobStockinger, #LincolnCenter, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Mondaynight, #MusicalExcerpt, #MusicDirector, #NeglectedComposers, #NewMusic, #NormanGilliland, #OnlineConcert, #OvertureCenter, #Pre-concertTalk, #ProfessionalMusician, #ProgramNotes, #StringMusic, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #TheInauguration, #TheUW, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ValerieColeman, #ViolinMusic, #VirtualConcert, #WindMusic, #WinterChamberSeries, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #YouTubevideo, Alec Wilder, Andrew Sewell, Arts, audience, available, become, biography, blog, box office, brass music, calibre, canceled, cellist, Cello, cello music, Chamber music, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, classic, Classical music, Coleman, comfort, complete, composer, Concert, concert series, conductor, coronavirus, Craig Russell, debut, donation, donor, Early music, ensemble, excerpt, excite, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, flute, forward, Franz Schubert, Friday, full, fund, Gabrieli, Giovanni Gabrieli, hearing, Home, Horn, host, inauguration, Jacob Stockinger, journey, length, like, Lincoln, LIncoln Center, link, listener, lost, Madison, Mead Witter School of Music, minute, minutes, Monday, movement, multiple, Music, Music director, musicians, neglected composers, new, New Music, night, Norman Gilliland, notes, Octet, one, online, Orchestra, Overture Center, pandemic, patron, post, post-concert, posting, postponed, pre-cocert, pre-concert, professional, program, program notes, purchase, purchaser, reflection, relief, remain, Russell, Schubert, semester, share, short, sidelined, single, stories, story, stream, string music, String quartet, symphony, tag, talk, The Ear, ticket, tickets, time, tonight, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, UW-Madsion, VALERIE COLEMAN, versatility, Viola, viola music, Violin, violinist, violist, virtual, WCO, Wilder, wind music, winter chamber music, Winter Chamber Series, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wisconsin public radio, YouTube
Bach Around the Clock 2021 will be virtual again. It runs March 17-26, and will feature daily performances plus new activities
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.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement to post from violist Marika Fischer Hoyt – the founder, participant and artistic director of the annual Bach Around the Clock (BATC). It is one of the most enjoyable events in the area and celebrates the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750, below).
It features performances by student, amateur and professional individuals and groups — local, regional and national. (Performance photos come from last year’s videos, thanks to Rich Samuels, who recorded and edited the WORT-FM radio show devoted to BATC 2020, which you can hear in the impressive 3-hour YouTube video at the bottom. Listen to it in its entirety or skip around.)
The Bach Around the Clock (BATC) Board of Directors is delighted to present the BATC 2021 Festival, a series of online and virtual events designed to make the joy of Bach’s music as widely available as possible.
Our theme this year is Building Bridges with Bach, and we look forward to expanding our activities to reach new performers and new audiences. (Below is pianist Vibhu Akella playing an electric keyboard.)
The 2021 Virtual Festival launches on Wednesday, March 17, with a concert by our Ensemble-In-Residence, Sonata à Quattro (below, in a photo by Barry Lewis). SAQ will present a program recorded in Luther Memorial Church, as part of the monthly Just Bach concert series.
BATC will add a new festival program every day for 10 days, through March 26, with all programs posted FREE on our home website at https://bachclock.com. (Below is the Webb Trio.)
Interested performers should visit the “Contact/Sign Up” page to submit their proposals and ideas.
BATC participants, who are located far and wide, have two options this year: they can pre-record their performances at home or elsewhere and submit them electronically; or they can request to perform in a BATC concert venue with a professional recording crew. (Below is cellist Derick Handley.)
We will provide keyboard players with the use of a concert-level piano, organ and harpsichord in a space roomy enough to safely accommodate small ensembles. (Below is harpsichordist Dan Sullivan.)
The resulting videos will be incorporated into one of the festival day’s free public programs, and will be available to the performers to keep. This option might be particularly attractive for high school seniors, looking to augment their college applications. (Below is clarinetist Brian Gnojek.)
Other new festival initiatives include Bach Chorale sing-alongs; evening Zoom receptions; mini-courses to help participants of all ages take part; and possibly a Guest Artist. More details will be announced closer to the festival.
The BATC Board hopes the 2021 Festival provides an outlet for musicians to share their talent and passion with the warmly appreciative local community.
Live music nourishes the soul of performer and audience member alike, and the transcendent, life-giving joy woven into the music of Johann Sebastian Bach is something we need now more than ever.
Tags: #10Days, #AtHome, #AudienceMember, #BachAroundtheClock, #BachChorale, #BaroqueMusic, #BarryLewis, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoardofDirectors, #BrassMusic, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianaLiberis, #ChristianChurch, #ConcertSeries, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #ElectricKeyboard, #Ensemble-in-residence, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FrenchHorn, #GuestArtist, #HighSchool, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #JustBach, #LiveMusic, #LutherMemorialChurch, #MarikaFischerHoyt, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicaAntiqua, #OnlineConcert, #OnlineFestival, #RecordedMusic, #RichSamuels, #SarahBrailey, #SignUp, #SonataaQuattro, #TheEar, #TheUW, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VirtualConcert, #VirtualFestival, #VocalMusic, #WindMusic, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, #ZoomMeeting, 10 days, 2021, accommodate, add, ages, amateur, announcement, annual, application, appreciative, area, around, Artistic director, Arts, at home, attractive, audience, augment, available, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, Bach chorale, Baroque, Barry Lewis, BATC, birthday, blog, Blog post, blog posting, Board of Directors, brass, bridge, building, celebrate, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Chorale, Christian church, Christianity, church, clarinet, clarinetist, Classical music, closer, college, community, composer, Concert, concert series, concert-level, concerto, contact, coronavirus, courses, crew, daily, days, delight, designed joy, details, Early music, edit, electric, electric keyboard, electronically, elsewhere, enjoyable, enough, evening, event, ever, every day, everyday, expand, Facebook, far, festival, forward, founder, free, group, guest artist, hear, high school, home website, Horn, hour, idea, impressive, incorporate, individual, initiative, interested, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joy, Just Bach, keep, Keyboard, launch, life-giving, like, link, listen, live, live music, local, locate, Luther Memorial Church, march, Marika Fischer Hoyt, Mead Witter School of Music, member, mini-course, Music, Musica Antiqua, Musician, need, new, nourish, online, option, Orchestra, organ, organist, outlet, page, pandemic, pandemic playlist, participant, Passion, performer, photo, Pianist, Piano, play, playing, pre-record, present, professional, program, proposal, provide, public, reception, record, recorded, recorded music, recording, Rich Samuels, roomy, safely, Sarah Brailey, senior, seniors, share, sign-up, sing-along, skip, Sonata, Sonata à Quattro, soul, space, Student, submit, symphony, tag, talent, The Ear, theme, transcendent, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, venue, Viola, Violin, violist, virtual, virtual festival, vocal music, we, Website, wide, Wind, Wisconsin, WORT, year, YouTube, Zoom
The UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra will provide a welcome break on Election Night
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.
By Jacob Stockinger
If you find yourself needing some relief or a short break from vote counting and the barrage of election news this coming Tuesday night, Nov. 3, the masked and socially distanced UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra (below) fits the bill.
The group’s refreshingly short, one-hour and intermission-free online video premiere begins at 7 p.m. CST on YouTube. There is no fee for watching the event in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall in the Hamel Music Center, although donations are welcome.
No in-person attendance is allowed.
The program features “Strum” (1981) by Jessie Montgomery (below, in a photo by Jiyang Chen); the famous and familiar Adagietto from the Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler (which you can hear with conductor Claudio Abbado in the YouTube video at the bottom); and the youthful Sinfonia No. 7 in D minor by Felix Mendelssohn, who wrote 13 of the string symphonies between the ages of 12 and 14.
Here is a direct link to the UW-Madison music school’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/TMNCy9qooCM
Just a personal note of appreciation and encouragement from The Ear: If you are a fan of orchestral music and pay attention to the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Middleton Community Orchestra, for example, then you owe to it yourself to become acquainted with the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra if you don’t already know it.
It is that good, as you can hear for yourself in this virtual concert during the pandemic. You will probably find yourself wanting to hear more.
The programs are outstanding and often feature neglected, modern and contemporary music as well as classic repertoire, and the playing is usually first-rate.
The orchestra sounds exceptionally good, often even professional, under its new conductor Oriol Sans (below), a native of Spain who arrived here last season from a post at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Sans has provided remarkable leadership both in the orchestra’s programs and in accompanying the University Opera productions and the UW Choral Union.
For more information, including the names of the orchestra’s members, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-madison-symphony-orchestra-video-premiere/
If you listen to it, please let us know: What did you think?
Did the performances please or impress you?
Did you like or dislike the scheduling on Election Night?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BarcelonaSpain, #BillLutes, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CentralStandardTime, #CentralTime, #ChoralMusic, #ChoralUnion, #ClaudioAbbado, #ContemporaryMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DonaldTrump, #ElectionDay, #ElectionNight, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #GustavMahler, #HamelMusicCenter, #JacobStockinger, #JessieMontgomery, #JoeBiden, #LivingComposers, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #ModernMusic, #NeglectedMusic, #NewMusic, #OnlineConcert, #OrchestralMusic, #OriolSans, #PresidentDonaldTrump, #SocialDistance, #SociallyDistanced, #StringMusic, #TheEar, #TheUW, #Tuesdaynight, #U.S.Congress, #U.S.Senate, #UniversityOfMichigan, #UniversityofMichigan-AnnArbor, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #UW-MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #UWChoralUnion, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, accompany, acquainted, Adagietto, allow, appreciation, Arts, attendance, audience, ballot, Barcelona, barrage, bill, blog, break, Central Standard Time, channel, choral music, Choral Union, classic, Classical music, classicalmusic, Claudio Abbado, composer, Concert, conductor, Congress, contemporary, coronavirus, CST, Democrat, Democratic, Donald Trump, donation, Election, Election Day, Election Day (United States), encouragement, Facebook, familiar, famous, fan, federa;, fee, Felix Mendelssohn, first-rate, forward, free, Gustav Mahler, Hamel Music Center, hear, impress, information, intermission, Jacob Stockinger, Jessie Montgomery, Joe Biden, leadership, like, link, living composers, local, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mahler, mask, masked, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, members, Middleton Community Orchestra, modern, more, Music, names, need, neglected, new, New Music, night, note, online, opera, Orchestra, orchestral music, Oriol Sans, owe, pandemic, personal, playing, please, poll, post, posting, premiere, President, President Donald Trump, presidential, production, professional, program, refreshing, regional, relief, remarkable, repertoire, repertory, Republican, Season, Senate, share, short, sinfonia, social distance, socially distanced, Spain, standard, state, string music, strum, Student, symphony, tag, Teacher, The Ear, Tuesday night, United States, University of Michigan, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, US, UW, UW Choral Union, UW-Madison, UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra, virtual, vocal music, vote, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, you, yourself, YouTube, YouTube channel, YouTube video
Should you keep practicing at 90? Ask famed cellist Pablo Casals
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.
By Jacob Stockinger
Do you ever get old enough and accomplished enough to stop practicing?
Just ask the legendary Catalan cellist Pau (Pablo) Casals (below).
That’s the same Pablo Casals (1876-1973) who spent his entire life learning and performing, as you can read in his Wikipedia biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Casals.
That’s also the same pioneering Pablo Casals who also first discovered, recorded and popularized the solo cello suites by Johann Sebastian Bach, which you can sample in the YouTube video at the bottom. It was recorded in 1954 when Casals was 77.
What do you think about his remark?
Do you agree with Casals?
Would you still practice at 90?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CatalanCulture, #CelloMusic, #ChamberMusic, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #JacobStockiner, #JohannSebastianBach, #MusicEducation, #PabloCasals, #PauCasals, #PracticingMusic, #ProfessionalMusician, #RecordedMusic, #SoloCelloSuites, #SoundSample, #TheEar, #Wikipediabiography, #Wikipediaentry, #YouTubevideo, 90years, agree, Arts, Bach, Baroque, biography, blog, Catalan, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, Concert, discover, Early music, enough, Facebook, fame, famed, first, forward, hear, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, learning, legendary, life, like, link, Madison, Music, Music education, old, Pablo Casals, Pau Casals, perform, performing, pioneer, pioneering, popularized, post, posting, practicing, professional, read, recorded, remark, sample, share, Solo Cello Suites, Spain, Spanish, spent, Student, tag, The Ear, thjnk, United States, Wikipedia, YouTube
The Madison Bach Musicians will open its new season with a virtual online concert of Haydn and Mozart this Saturday night and Sunday afternoon
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.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement, about a promising contrast-and-compare concert, from the Madison Bach Musicians:
The Madison Bach Musicians (MBM) will start its 17th season this Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, Oct. 3 and 4, with a virtual chamber music concert and livestream event featuring the irrepressibly joyous, witty and poised music of Classical-era masters Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791).
The performances features period instruments and historically informed performance practices.
See details near the bottom about the schedules and how to buy tickets.
Performers are violinist Kangwon Kim and cellist James Waldo (on gut-strung period instruments), fortepianist Trevor Stephenson, and soprano soloist Morgan Balfour — winner of the 2019 Handel Aria Competition. (Below top is Kangwon Kim; below middle is James Waldo; and below bottom is Morgan Balfour.)
The broadcast will begin with a 30-minute pre-concert lecture by MBM artistic director Trevor Stephenson (below, in a photo by Kent Sweitzer) illuminating the program’s repertoire, the lives of Haydn and Mozart, and the aesthetic aims of the period instruments.
While most of the pieces on the program are buoyant and full of celebration, the concert will begin with a pensive and melancholy work commensurate with our current pandemic times.
Mozart composed the Sonata in E minor for violin and fortepiano in 1778 at the age of 22 while on tour in Paris. His mother, who was with him on the tour, became suddenly ill and died unexpectedly. This sonata is the only piece of instrumental music Mozart ever composed in the key of E minor, and its blend of gravitas, sparseness and tenderness is heartbreakingly poignant.
Mozart’s Piano Trio in G major, composed in 1788, shows him at his sunniest and most affable, with one brilliant and catchy tune after another suspended effortlessly — at least in Mozart’s hands! ― within the balance of Classical form.
The program’s first half ends with five of Mozart’s songs. Mozart truly loved the soprano voice, and he lavished some of his greatest writing upon it. The set includes perhaps his best-known song, Das Veilchen (The Violet)―which is also, oddly enough, Mozart’s only setting of a text by the German poet Goethe.
The second half of the concert is devoted to the music of Mozart’s near contemporary, Joseph Haydn, who was just 24 years older than Mozart.
Though the two composers came from very different musical and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Haydn (below) was lower working class, rural, and musical but not professionally trained.
Mozart (below) was urban, solid middle class, musically trained, sophisticated, and ambitious.
Both managed to carve out successful careers in the fertile musical culture of Vienna and its environs. They certainly knew each other and even made music together on occasion, playing in string quartets — with Haydn on violin and Mozart on viola.
Haydn composed two sets of English Canzonettas (songs) during his visits to England during the early 1790s.
The Mermaid, with its flirtatious beckoning, stretches the confines of the parlor setting (where this music was most likely performed) and suggests a cabaret environment. Fidelity, on the other hand, stays within the parlor style, emphasizing how the bond of devotion can overcome physical separation. Haydn brilliantly interweaves stormy, naturalistic episodes with declarations of unbending loyalty.
The concert will close with Haydn’s mercurial Piano Trio No. 27 in C major. Also composed during his London visits in the 1790s, this trio is the first of a set of three dedicated to the London-based virtuoso pianist Therese Bartolozzi. The Presto finale―with its unbridled high spirits―is a supreme example of Classical Era cheeky, theatrically conceived wit. (You can hear the finale in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
SCHEDULE AND TICKETS
As a result of public health guidelines in response to Covid-19 that do not allow for an in-person audience, we will livestream our concert from Grace Episcopal Church, downtown on Capitol Square, on Saturday evening for at-home viewing. (Below are Trevor Stephenson and Kangwon Kim rehearsing in masks at Stephenson’s home.)
The event will begin with a pre-concert talk by Trevor Stephenson at 7:30 p.m., and after the 8 p.m. concert, the musicians will remain on stage to answer questions submitted by our audience.
On Sunday, starting at 3 p.m. we will rebroadcast the Saturday evening recording and follow that with a live question-and-answer session with our musicians from their homes.
After purchasing tickets for $15 per household, you will be sent a link to access the performance. The recorded lecture and video will be available for up to 72 hours after they take place.
To purchase tickets, go to: https://madisonbachmusicians.org/oct-3-4-haydn-mozart/ or to: https://madison-bach-musicians.square.site/product/haydn-mozart-oct-3-4-livestream/54?cs=true
For information about the Madison Bach Musicians’ full season, go to: https://madisonbachmusicians.org/season-overview/
Tags: #ArtistcDirector, #BaroqueChamberMusic, #Baroquesinging, #BaroqueViolin, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CapitolSquare, #ChamberMusic, #ChristianChurch, #Classicalcomposer, #Classicalera, #Classicalform, #ClassicalStyle, #ConcertSeason, #Contrast-and-Compare, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzJosephHaydn, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #GreatBritain, #GutStrings, #HandelAriaCompetition, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #InstrumentalMusic, #JacobStockinger, #James Waldo, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohannWolfgangvonGoethe, #KangwonKim, #LifeandDeath, #LiveStreaming, #LondonEngland, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonWisconsin, #MajorKey, #MakeMusic, #Middle-Class, #MiddleClass, #MinorKey, #MusicalStyle, #OnlineConcert, #ParisFrance, #PeriodInstruments, #PianoTrio, #PianoVirtuoso, #Pre-concertLecture, #PublicHealth, #RecordedMusic, #SharonLynneWilsonCenterfortheArts, #SopranoSinger, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #TheFortepiano, #TheMermaid, #TheViolet", #TrevorStephenson, #ViennaAustria, #ViolinSonata, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WorkingClass, #YouTubevideo, aesthetic, afternoon, ambitious, answer, aria, Artistic director, Arts, at home, audience, Austria, Austrian, available, Bach, background, Baroque, Baroque music, beckoning, begin, best-known, blog, bond, bouyant, brilliant, Broadcast, buy, cabaret, canzonetta, Capitol Square, career, carve, catachy, celebration, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, cheeky, Christian, church, Classical era, Classical form, Classical music, compare, composed, composer, conceived, Concert, contemporary, contrast, coronavirus, culture, death, deatils, declaration, dedicated, devoted, devotion, different, downtown, Early music, effortless, effortlessly, eit, emphasize, England, English, environment, environs, episode, esthetic, Facebook, fertile, fidelity, fie, finale, flirtatious, fortepiano, forward, Franz Joseph Haydn, George Frideric Handel, German, Germany, Goethe, grace, Grace Episcopal Church, gravitas, great, Great Britain, greatest, guidelines, gut, gut strings, gut-strung, half, Handel, Handel Aria Competition, hands, Haydn, Health, hear, heartbreaking, help, historically informed performance practices, Home, household, illuminate, in person, information, instrument, instrumental music, interweave, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Joy, joyous, Kangwon Kim, key, Kim, lavished, lecture, like, link, live, lives, livestream, London, Love, loved, lower, loyalty, lyric, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, major key, Make Music, manage, masks, Master, melancholy, mermaid, minor key, minute, Morgan Balfour, MorganBalfour, Mother, Mozart, Music, musica, musical, Musician, naturalistic, night, odd, oddly, older, on-stage, online, only, onstage, overcome, pandemic, Paris, parlor, pensive, performer, period instruments, physicsl, Piano, Piano Trio, piece, play, poet, Poetry, poignancy, poignant, poise, post, posting, pre-concert, pre-concert lecture, professional, professionally, program, public, Public health, Q&A, question, recorded, rehearsal, rehearse, remain, repertoire, repertory, response, result, rural, Saturday, schedule, Season, separation, session, set, setting, share, Singing, socio-economic, solid, Sonata, song, sophisticated, soprano, sparseness, stormy, String quartet, style, subscriber, suddenly, sun, Sunday, sunny, suspended, tag, talk, tenderly, tenderness, text, The Ear, The Violet, theatrical, ticket, together, tour, trained, Trevor Stephenson, trio, tune, UK, unbendng, unexpected, United States, urban, Vienna, viewing, Viola, violet, Violin, Violin Sonata, violinist, violist, virtual, virtuoso, visit, vocal music, voice, winner, Wisconsin, wit, witty, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, working class, writing, year, YouTube
Classical music: This year’s virtual Bach Around the Clock proved a 10-day success. Here is a news update with a date for 2021
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.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following message from artistic director and violist Marika Fischer Hoyt (below top) about this year’s virtual Bach Around the Clock and the dates for next year’s festival when amateur and professional musicians will again celebrate the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750):
Greetings! I hope this finds you well and finding ways to maintain equilibrium in these tumultuous times.
I’d like to thank you all again for making our 10-day 2020 Virtual Festival (one example is in the YouTube video at the bottom) such a success.
After the sad cancellation of our in-person festival, it was wonderful to see so many of you playing and singing Bach! It reminded me of the Dr. Seuss book; the COVID Grinch may have stolen the trappings of our festival, but we just held it anyway! (Below are members of the Suzuki Strings from a previous BATC festival.)
With the summer over, the BATC board of directors is looking ahead to next year’s festival, which will take place on Saturday, March 20, 2021. We don’t yet know what format it will take — whether in-person, virtual or some combination — but we will explore all available options.
If you have suggestions, please contact us.
Meanwhile, with so many concerts canceled, I hope you can find other ways to include music in your lives. I’ll continue posting Bach-related articles and performance links on our Facebook page.
If you have the means, please consider donating to artists and ensembles whose livelihoods have vanished for the foreseeable future.
Thank you again for being part of the BATC community, and please take care.
Tags: #AfricanHoliday, #AmateurMusicians, #BachAroundtheClock, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ClarinetMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #HarpsichordContinuo, #InstrumentalMusic, #InstrumentalPlayer, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarikaFischerHoyt, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #NewsUpdate, #NextYear, #ProfessionalMusician, #SopranoSinger, #SuzukiStrings, #SuzukiStringsofMadison, #TheEar, #TheUW, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VioladaGamba, #ViolinistVirtuoso, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #YouTubevideo, amateur, Articles, artists, Arts, audience, available, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, Baroque, Baroque music, BATC, birthday, blog, Book, canceled, cancellation, care, celebrate, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, clarinet, Classical music, classicalmusic, combination, community, composer, Concert, concerto, contiue, coronavirus, day, donating, Dr. Seuss, Early music, ensemble, equilibrium, example, explore, Facebook, festival, foreseeable, format, forward, future, greetings, Grinch, harpsichord, hope, in person, include, instrumental music, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, like, link, livelihood, lives, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, maintain, Marika Fischer Hoyt, me, Mead Witter School of Music, means, member, message, Music, musicians, news, next year, one-day, online, option, other, pandemic, participant, Piano, play, player, playing, popular success, post, posting, professional, remind, share, Singing, Sonata, soprano, stolen, success, sucessful, suggestion, summer, Suzuki, Suzuki Strings, Suzuki Strings of Madison, tag, take, The Ear, times, trappings, tumultuous, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, update, UW, UW-Madison, vanished, Viola, viola da gamba, Violin, violinist, virtual, vocal music, ways, well, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wonderful, year, YouTube
Classical music: Meet the “Stay at Home” Symphony Orchestra. How do they sound so close and tight? Plus, today is May Day. What music would you play to celebrate workers?
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: Today is May Day, a time to honor workers. What music would you play to celebrate and thank all the frontline workers — doctors, nurses, EMTs, police officers, firefighters, bus drivers, cleaners and janitors, grocery store workers, delivery people and others — who are now so indispensable?
By Jacob Stockinger
Many musicians — both singers and instrumentalists (below) — are self-isolating and doing their at-home best to keep those of us also sheltering in place entertained by performing virtual concerts.
It is something listeners can be grateful for. The players do an admirable and free public service during the COVID-19 crisis and coronavirus pandemic.
Of course, the virtual performances also have practical purposes.
The musicians keep their skills sharp during isolation.
And the virtual performances help to keep the names of individuals and groups, of composers and pieces, in the public’s mind at a time when live concerts have all been canceled or postponed.
There are many, many virtual concerts to choose from – made by local, regional, national and international musicians, some amateurs and some professional.
Many of them are solo performances given by an individual member of an orchestra, chamber music group or choral ensemble as well as big-name soloists such as pianist Emanuel Ax and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
The individual ones are appreciated and impressive, even if some of the performances seem amateur-like in the sound or awkwardness.
What really impresses The Ear is when large groups, such as symphony orchestras and choirs, perform something with all the players at home and yet somehow the whole finished product sounds incredibly tight in and incredibly professional.
Last Saturday, the Metropolitan Opera even held a four-hour online gala with singers and instrumentalists from all over the world.
It makes The Ear wonder why they sound so good. How they do it, with all the complications and variables of timing and tempo, of rhythm, pitch and dynamics?
Is it the planning?
The processing and editing?
In any case, a very good example comes from the “Stay at Home” Symphony Orchestra playing Mozart’s Overture to the opera “The Marriage of Figaro.”
You can hear the YouTube video of the performance below.
Are there other such performances that you can point out to The Ear and you would like to see posted on this blog?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AmateurMusician, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BusDriver, #ChoralMusic, #Classicalera, #COVID-19, #EmanuelAx, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GroceryStore, #LiveMusic, #MarriageofFigaro, #MayDay, #MetropolitanOpera, #OrchestralMusic, #PoliceOfficers, #ProfessionalMusician, #PublicHealth, #Self-Isolation, #ShelterinPlace, #SocialDistance, #SocialDistancing, #Stayathome, #StayatHomeSymphonyOrchestra, #SymphonyOrchestra, #TheMet, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #Yo-YoMa, #YouTubevideo, admiran;e, amateur, Arts, at home, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, big-name, blog, bus driver, cancel, canceled, celebrate, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, Choir, choral music, Classical, Classical music, cleaner, complications, composer, Concert, coronavirus, crisis, delivery, doctors, dynamics, editing, Emanuel Ax, EMT, entertain, era, example, execution, Facebook, finish, firefighters, forward, free, frontline, gala, good, grateful, grocery, grocery store, group, hear, Home, honor, impress, impressive, indispensible, individual, instrumentalists, international, isolation, Jacob Stockinger, janitor, Johann Sebastian Bach, like, link, listeners, live music, local, Ludwig van Beethoven, Ma, Marriage of Figaro, May Day, member, Metropolitan Opera, mind, Mozart, Music, national, nurses, online, opera, Orchestra, Overture, pandemic, perform, performer, Pianist, Piano, piece, pitch, planning, play, police, police officers, post, posting, postpone, practical, processing, product, professional, Public health, purpose, regional, self-isolating, share, sharp, shelter, shelter in place, singer, skill, social distance, social distancing, solo, soloists, Sound, stay at home, Stay at Home Symphony Orchestra, symphony, symphony orchestra, tag, Tempo, The Marriage of Figaro, the Met, tight, time, timing, United States, variable, Viola, Violin, virtual, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, workers, Yo-Yo Ma, YouTube
Classical music: The coronavirus forces the cancellation of Bach Around the Clock plus concerts by pianist Drew Petersen and violinist Gil Shaham. Other groups will wait and see. Read local and national overviews
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.
By Jacob Stockinger
The pandemic of the coronavirus (below, from by the federal Centers for Disease Control) has now put Wisconsin into a public health emergency, as declared Thursday morning by Gov. Tony Evers, and continues to take its toll on the local art scene – and does so very quickly.
Since yesterday, the threat posed by the coronavirus and COVID-19 has forced the cancellation of three more major musical events:
The biggest is the cancellation of Bach Around the Clock 2020 on Saturday, March 28.
BATC is the FREE annual event celebrating the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). It runs for 12 hours, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and offers dozens of performances by student, amateur and professional musicians.
A Saturday night concert and Sunday afternoon master class by up-and-coming pianist Drew Petersen (below) — for the Salon Piano Series at Farley’s House of Pianos– has been cancelled and postponed until the summer.
And the March 28 recital by violinist Gil Shaham (below) and pianist Akira Eguchi at the Wisconsin Union Theater has been cancelled
Some other major groups are taking a wait-and-see approach about cancelling events. They include: the Madison Opera, the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
You can read more about them, and about other local arts events, including pop music as well as museum openings and exhibitions, in a comprehensive overview by Michael Muckian in Isthmus: https://isthmus.com/news/news/coronavirus-impacts-arts-events/
And here is an excellent story from National Public Radio (NPR) about the national context of how the Coronavirus is impacting the arts across the U.S. https://www.npr.org/2020/03/12/814992409/in-the-age-of-covid-19-event-cancellations-precipitate-a-large-economic-impact
DETAILS ABOUT POSTPONEMENTS AND REFUNDS
Here is the announcement from BATC artistic director Marika Fischer Hoyt (below):
“Dear friends and colleagues,
“We on the BATC board have been carefully monitoring this rapidly-developing situation: the exponentially increasing number of cases being diagnosed in the U.S., the recommendations from the medical community, and responses from other organizations large and small.
“After careful consideration, we have decided, regretfully, that the most responsible course of action is to cancel the BATC festival this March.
“We on the board are so grateful to the performers, hosts and donors, who have invested time, talent and resources in this year’s festival. Our hope is to reschedule for a date in the fall. Stand by for more information on that soon.
“But for now, we ask for your understanding.
“I hope, even though we can’t celebrate his music together on the March 28, that we will all find ways to enjoy Bach’s music this month.”
For more information, go to: https://bachclock.com and facebook.com/batcmadison
Here are details about the Drew Petersen cancellations:
“Sadly, we are postponing both the Drew Petersen concert on March 14 and his master class on March 15 until the summer.
“New dates for the concert and master class are yet to be determined. We will announce them via email, the Salon Piano Series website and on social media for the Salon Piano Series.
“We know you’ll understand that our concern for your health and well-being made this decision necessary.
“You may request a refund or keep your ticket for the concert in the summer. Everyone who bought a ticket will have one week after the announcement of the new concert date to request a refund.
“If you would like a refund immediately, please follow the instructions below. Please allow several business days for refunds to be processed.
Paper Tickets: If you have a paper ticket, please take a photo of your ticket and email the photo to cristofori@salonpianoseries.org
explaining that you would like a refund.
Online Tickets: “If the ticket is not part of a season ticket, call Brown Paper Tickets at 1-800-838-3006.
If your ticket is part of a season ticket, contact Salon Piano Series at 608-271-2626. Refunds for season ticket holders will be issued through Salon Piano Series by check, not through Brown Paper Tickets.
Tickets Ordered by Phone
If you purchased a ticket by phone, contact Salon Piano Series at 608 271-2626 to request a refund.
Tags: #AkiraEguchi, #AmateurMusician, #ArtExhibition, #ArtisticDirector, #BachAroundtheClock, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrownPaperTickets, #BusinessDay, #CentersforDiseaseControl, #ChamberMusic, #COVID-19, #Drew Petersen, #DrewPetersen, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Farley'sHouseofPianos, #GilShaham, #Gov.Evers, #Gov.TonyEvers, #HealthEmergency, #HomeWebsite, #IsthmusMagazine, #IsthmusNewspaper, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarikaFischerHoyt, #MichaelMuckian, #NationalPublicRadio, #OvertureCenter, #PopMusic, #ProfessionalMusician, #PublicHealth, #SalonPIanoSeries, #SocialMedia, #TheU.S., #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #Up-and-Coming, #Wait-and-See, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinUnionTheater, Akira Eguchi, amateur, annual, approach, Art, Artistic director, Arts, audience, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, Baroque, Baroque music, BATC, birthday, blog, board, Brown Paper Tickets, Business, business day, cancel, cancellation, case, CDC, celebrate, Centers for Disease Control, Chamber music, check, Classical music, classicalmusic, community, composer, comprehensive, concern, Concert, coronavirus, date, day, declare, diagnose, donor, dozens, Early music, edia, enjoy, event, exhibition, exponential, Facebook, fall, Farley's House of Pianos, federal, festival, find, forward, free, Gil Shaham, Gov. Tony Evers, governor, grateful, Health, health emergency, home website, hope, host, hour, impact, increase, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, large, like, link, local, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, march, Marika Fischer Hoyt, medical, Michael Muckian, monitor, morning, Museum, Music, musical, national, National Public Radio, Newspaper, NPR, number, opening, opera, Orchestra, organization, Overture Center, overview, pandemic, paper, performer, phone, Pianist, Piano, pop music, post, posting, postpone, postponement, professional, public, Public health, quick, recital, refund, reschedule, response, run, Salon Piano Series, scene, Season, share, small, social, state, story, Student, summer, symphony, tag, talent resources, threat, ticket, toll, Tony Evers, U.S., understanding, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Violin, violinist, virus, way, Website, well-being, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, year, yesterday, young
Recent Comments
 | Mary Friedel-Hunt on What do you think of the… |
 | music88 on Yunchan Lim’s Chopin etudes ar… |
 | diacon2 on Who was the better pianist? Ma… |
 | welltemperedear on Classical music: Madison Opera… |
| welltemperedear on Classical music: Was Bernard H… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: This summer’s Token Creek Festival is CANCELED. Plus, a teenager’s piano “practice journal” on Instagram is instructive, entertaining and encouraging
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 ALERT: This summer’s Token Creek Festival (TCF) — with the chamber music theme of Legacy to run from Aug. 21-Sept. 6 –has been CANCELED. Organizers say they hope to launch a virtual online season of archived performances at the end of the summer. Also, once modestly sized gatherings are safe again, the TCF hopes to hold an off-season event. For more information and an official statement from TCF, go to: https://tokencreekfestival.org
By Jacob Stockinger
Somewhere in New York City is a young Chinese piano prodigy who can help you get through what is often the most challenging and discouraging part of piano lessons: practicing.
His name is Auston (below) – no last name is given – and you can find him, in T-shirts and shorts, on Instagram at Auston.piano.
Auston is quite the prodigy. A 13, he plays difficult and dramatic repertoire: the Nocturne in C minor, the Scherzo No. 1 in B minor and the Ballade No. 1 in G minor, all by Chopin.
You can also hear him play the Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in C-sharp minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, by Johann Sebastian Bach; the fiendish Toccata by Sergei Prokofiev; and the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff.
One day, The Ear expects, Auston might well be among the impressive amateurs and, later, professionals who compete in international competitions.
But more than listening to him playing, his frequent social media entries – sometimes he posts two or three times a day — allow us to hear him practice. We even hear him practicing scales – so-called Russian scales that combine scales in parallel and contrary motion.
This week, he hit 100 video posts. Just yesterday Auston started sight-reading the “Winter Wind” Etude of Chopin, Op. 25, No. 11, which many consider to be the most technically difficult of all Chopin’s etudes. (You can hear the etude – played by Maurizio Pollini – and see the note-filled score in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Starting out, he often plays hands separately (below) and sight-reads the score very, very slowly, making mistakes and working out fingering. He also uses a metronome at a very slow tempo. He gets frustrated but he never gives up. He just starts over again and provides an excellent role model for aspiring piano students.
But this young man is also fun to read. In his one-minute or less entries of his “practice journal” – which he also calls his “practice journey” — he is witty and self-deprecating in his commentaries about the music and especially about himself when he makes mistakes. As seriously as he takes the piano and practicing, he doesn’t take himself too seriously.
All in all he can even encourage others – including The Ear –to persevere and go through the same frustrations of practicing and learning a new piece.
In this case, it is the piano, but the postings could easily apply to practicing any other instrument or even to singing.
Check it out.
You will be impressed.
You will admire him.
You will laugh along with him.
And you just might practice more.
If this practice journal is a pandemic project, it succeeds way beyond what you — and probably Auston himself — might expect.
Happy listening!
And patient, productive practicing!
Share this:
Tags: #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GiveUp, #HomeWebsite, #InstagramPost, #InstagramVideo, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnHarbison, #LastName, #MassGathering, #MaurizioPollini, #MusicEducation, #NewsAlert, #NewYorkCity, #PianoConcerto, #PianoLessons, #PianoMusic, #PianoVirtuoso, #PracticingMusic, #PublicHealth, #RoleModel, #RoseMaryHarbison, #SergeiProkofiev, #SergeiRachmaninov, #SocialMedia, #TheEar, #TheWell-TemperedClavier, #TokenCreekChamberMusicFestival, #TokenCreekFestival, #WinterWind, #YouTubevideo, 100, admire, alert, all, amateur, archive, Arts, Asia, asian, aspiring, audience, auston.piano, available, Bach, Ballade, Baroque, blog, canceled, challenge, challenging, Chamber music, China, Chinese, Chopin, Classical music, commentary, Competition, composer, concerto, coronavirus, correct, discouraging, Early music, encourage, end, entry, etude, event, Facebook, festival, fiendish, fingering, frequent, frustrated, frustration, fugue, fun, gathering, give up, hand, hands, happy', Harbison, himself, home website, impress, impressive, information, Instagram, ironic, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Harbison, journal, journey, last, last name, launch, lessons, like, link, listening, mass gathering, Maurizio Pollini, metronome, mistake, mistakes, modest, Music, music educaiton, name, never, New York City, news, nocturne, notes, off-season, one hundred, online, organizer, pandemic, patient, performance, persevere, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff), piano lessons, Pollini, post, posting, practice, practicing, Prelude, prodigy, productive, professional, project, Prokofiev, provide, Public health, Rachmaninov, role model, Rose Mary Harbison, safe, Scherzo, score, Season, self-deprecating, separately, Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei Rachmaninov, seriously, share, shorts, sight-reading, social media, start, statement, Student, succeed, summer, T-shirt, tag, teenage, Tempo, The Ear, The Well-Tempered Clavier, theme, toccata, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, Token Creek Festival, United States, virtual, virtuoso, Website, Winter Wind, Wisconsin, witty, working, young, YouTube