The Well-Tempered Ear
Four local classical musicians perform Black women composers in a virtual holiday concert to benefit the health of Black women
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Wisconsin Ensemble (WE) Project, a quartet of local classical musicians, has announced that it will host a holiday concert to support Dane County-based non-profit, the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness (FFBWW, below).
The concert will be the first in a series of performances to benefit local and international organizations working for social justice and human interest.
This unique effort is rooted in the quartet’s desire to not only delve deeply into chamber music repertoire, but also to address some of the many pressing social justice issues of our time.
This recorded, virtual YouTube concert will be available at https://wisconsinensembleproject.com from 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 25, through 6 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 3. — times are CST — where contributions will be accepted via PayPal.
Viewers will hear the story and see the face of the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness woven through quality chamber music by Black women composers performed by WE Project artists violinists Leanne League and Mary Theodore (below ends, in a photo by Katrin Talbot); violist Christopher Dozoryst (second from right); and cellist Karl Lavine. The four play together in the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
Pieces they will perform include Strum (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom) and Voodoo Dolls by Jessie Montgomery (below top, in a photo by Jiyang Chen); Modes by Dorothy Rudd Moore (below center); and String Quartet in G Major by Florence Price (below bottom).
“This production offers viewers a meaningful program which leads to direct impact,” says WE Project member Mary Theodore who has been working with Foundation staff to coordinate the benefit over the last few weeks.
”We felt strongly about the work of the Foundation as we learned more about their mission to eliminate the startling health and economic disparities Black women face in our community,” adds Theodore. “When you donate and tune in to our concert, you will be helping to cover basic production costs and getting funds directly into the hands of this very worthy organization”.
Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness CEO Lisa Peyton-Caire (below), who launched the Black women’s health advocacy organization in 2012, says the concert is a beautiful example of how community and organizations can partner to drive social change together.
“We are elated that WE Project chose us as their first benefit recipient, and that our mission and work to transform Black women’s health in Wisconsin resonated with them,” said Peyton-Caire. “We know that ultimately it takes all of our effort to solve the inequities in our community, and this benefit concert is a beautiful example of the loving and creative ways we can join forces to do this.”
To learn more about the concert, visit https://wisconsinensembleproject.com, where you can contribute via PayPal anytime beginning now through Jan. 3.
To listen to a recent morning coffee chat between members of the two organizations, go to: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=431169757916539&ref=watch_permalink. Click on individual profiles to hear them.
To learn more about The Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness, visit https://ffbww.org.
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Will using first names with Beethoven and Mozart help fight racism and sexism in the concert hall?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Why do concert programs read simply Beethoven for Beethoven (below top), but Florence Price for Florence Price (below bottom)?
According to a recent controversial essay by Chris White (below), a professor of music theory at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, it reflects and reinforces sexism and racism.
White is calling for universal “fullnaming” to put women composers and composers of color on an equal footing with the traditional canon of dead white male composers. All people may be equal, but all composers and their music are not.
You can certainly make a case for his interesting argument against using “mononyns,” as he calls them. But it still seems less than convincing to many, including The Ear. It many ways it seems downright silly and arbitrary. Isn’t it obvious that not all composers are equal in quality of their work?
It is the latest dustup in the classical music world, coming right on the heels of, and logically linked to, the idea that Beethoven is responsible for sexism and racism in the concert hall and the so-called “cancel culture” that is allied with the social and political protest movements of the past year, including Black Lives Matter.
That was treated here in a previous post: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/09/19/did-beethoven-and-his-music-especially-the-iconic-fifth-symphony-foster-racism-exclusion-and-elitism-in-the-concert-hall-the-ear-thinks-that-is-pc-nonsense-what-do-you-think/
Here is a link to the complete article by White about the inclusion and absence of first names as it appeared on Slate: https://slate.com/culture/2020/10/fullname-famous-composers-racism-sexism.html
Funny, The Ear thinks of using only last names as little more than a function of: quality, importance and time; of fame and familiarity; and sometimes of promoting clarity and preventing confusion — not of race or gender.
It is why we say Bach (below) when we mean Johann Sebastian, and why we say Wilhelm Friedemann or Carl Philipp Emmanuel or Johann Christian when we mean one of his sons.
It is why we say Richard Strauss to distinguish him from Johann Strauss.
But it also why Haydn means Franz Joseph (below), not his less important brother Michael Haydn.
And why the American composer Henry Cowell is listed with his full name and not just Cowell.
Perhaps one day – if we hear enough of the music by the recently rediscovered Black female composer Florence Price often enough and like it enough – she will be known simply as Price. After all, the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu is not usually listed as simply Takemitsu.
Actually, the Ear prefers using full names for all composers — famous or not, male or female, white or black — especially when it is for the general public. But it seems more a matter of politeness, respect and education than of sociopolitical change and social justice.
That is not to say that those of us in classical music don’t see a need to correct the racism and sexism of the past, to foster diversity and inclusiveness. White has a point. Still, the whole idea of using both names in all cases seems more than a bit naïve, superficial and simplistic as a solution to racism and sexism.
It sounds a lot like the kind of theoretical speculation and contrarian thinking you might expect from an assistant professor trying to get noticed and make his mark on big contemporary issues so that he can get tenure and become an associate professor. A high public profile certainly helps that.
But whatever you think of White’s motives or purpose, his essay is causing a “meltdown” on Twitter: https://mybroadband.co.za/forum/threads/‘fullnaming’-mozart-and-beethoven-to-fight-sexism-and-racism-twitter-squabbles-over-slate-article.1108776/
Should you want to know more about Professor White or to leave a message of either support or disagreement, here is a link to his home website: http://www.chriswmwhite.com
What do you think about the idea of using first names for all composers as a way to combat racism and sexism in classical music?
The Ear wants to hear.
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The Madison New Music Festival launches the Wisconsin Composers Project with a virtual online concert this Friday night, Sept. 25
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement to post:
The Madison New Music Festival is pleased to announce the launch of the Wisconsin Composers Project.
Both a community resource and annual series, the project consists of a database and a virtual concert meant to increase composers’ visibility and encourage local curators and performers to collaborate with their neighbors.
We invite all Wisconsin-affiliated composers to sign up to be included in the database on our website: https://madisonnewmusic.org/aboutwcp
Please join us for the live streaming event of the Wisconsin Composers Project Concert on this Friday night, Sept. 25, at 7:30 p.m. CDT on our website at https://madisonnewmusic.org and enjoy new music from all over Wisconsin from the comfort and safety of your home.
The pre-recorded concert will profile five Wisconsin-based composers (below) and performances of their works, one of which refers to the pandemic quarantine.
Audience members will hear directly from the composers about their music and influences, and enjoy the diversity of the Wisconsin musical community.
Featured composers and their works include:
Brent Michael Davids (above, top left): In Wisconsin Woods, performed by the composer. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear the UW-Whitewater Chamber Singers and the Medicine Bear Singers perform “Sanctus: Singing for Power” from Davids’ Requiem for America.)
Jerry Hui (above, top right), a UW-Madison graduate who now teaches at UW-Stout: Quarantine Canzonets, performed by soprano Jennifer D’Agostino and baritone Michael Roemer.
Laura Schwendinger (above, bottom left), an internationally recognized and prize-winning composer and UW-Madison professor: All the Pretty Little Horses, performed by cellist Trace Johnson.
Asha Srinivasan (above, top center): Dyadic Affinities, performed by tubist Tom Curry.
Lawren Brianna Ware (above, bottom right): Borealis, performed by the composer.
The suggested donation to stream this concert is $15 per person.
For more information, please visit our website at madisonnewmusic.org or find us on Facebook (@Madison New Music Festival) or Instagram (@madisonnewmusic).
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Classical music: Tonight is that start of six weekly Concerts on the Square with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and guest artists under conductor Andrew Sewell. Here’s what you need to know
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By Jacob Stockinger
Tonight marks the first of this summer’s Concerts on the Square, performed by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below) and guest artists under the baton of music director Andrew Sewell.
The FREE community event was first proposed by famed “American Girl” dolls creator, businesswoman and philanthropist Pleasant Rowland decades ago when she worked downtown and lamented how abandoned the Capitol Square got after dark. This is the 34th season of the popular Concerts on the Square. Each concert now draws tens of thousands of listeners.
The concerts will take place on the King Street corner of the Capitol Square. They run from 7 to 9 p.m. on six consecutive Wednesdays (rain dates are Thursdays). But of course people gather hours earlier to socialize and picnic.
Although pop,rock, folk and film music is often featured, tonight’s program is mostly classical – composers are Leonard Bernstein, Louis Moreau Gottschalk and Otto Nicolai — and performing will be this year’s winner of the WCO teenage concerto competition. She is violinist Emily Hauer (below) and she hails from Appleton, Wisconsin, where she has studied at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music.
Here is a link to all you need to know about tonight, from the programs and a performer’s detailed biography to vendor menus, the way to volunteer and the ground rules for concert etiquette:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/concerts-on-the-square-1-2/
You can see and hear a sampler of Concerts on the Square in the YouTube video at the bottom.
For future planning, here is a link to all six concerts with similar information:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performance-listing/category/concerts-on-the-square
Should you want to know more about WCO maestro Andrew Sewell (below), music director since 2000 — and who has also just been named the music director of the San Luis Obispo Symphony in California — here are some profiles and interviews that make for good reading while you wait for the music to start.
Here is an excellent profile done by Sandy Tabachnik in 2014 for Isthmus:
http://isthmus.com/music/andrew-sewell-the-malleable-maestro-of-the-wisconsin-chamber-orchestra/
And here is some background about the New Zealand-born Sewell, who became an American citizen 10 years ago, along with links to other news stories about his latest appointment:
https://welltempered.wordpress.com/tag/sewell/
And from the “Only Strings” blog of Paul Baker, who hosts a show of the same name on WSUM 91.7 FM, the student-run radio station at the UW-Madison, here is an interview with ever-gracious Sewell:
https://onlystringswsum.wordpress.com/author/pbaker/page/3/
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Classical music education: Watch it on public television, hear it on public radio, stream it live or see it in person – “The Final Forte” teenage finalists’ FREE concert with the Madison Symphony Orchestra is this Wednesday night at 7
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By Jacob Stockinger
This Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Overture Hall of the Overture Center, four teenage finalists will perform the final round of the Bolz Young Artist Competition in a free live concert with the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO).
It will be broadcast live on Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) and Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), and available via live streaming on wpt.org, at 7 p.m.
The public can also reserve FREE tickets to attend the concert in person.
The Final Forte finalists are selected from a group of young artists who competed in the Bolz Young Artist Competition’s two preliminary rounds.
This year’s Final Forte features (below, in a photo by Amandalynn Jones, from left): violinist Julian Rhee of Brookfield, who will play the first movement of the Violin Concerto in D Major by Peter Tchaikovsky; harpist Naomi Sutherland of Viroqua, who will play the “Sacred and Profane Dances” by Maurice Ravel; pianist Michael Wu of Sun Prairie, who will play the first movement of the Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor by Camille Saint-Saens; and violinist Yaoyao Chen of Menasha, who will play the first movement of the Violin Concerto in D minor by Jean Sibelius.
Each of the finalists will perform with music director John DeMain and the MSO as they complete for top honors and scholarships that will be awarded at the end of the broadcast. WPR’s Lori Skelton and Jim Fleming will co-host the event.
More information, biographies and video profiles (also available on YouTube) for each finalist can be found at: http://madisonsymphony.org/finalforte
To reserve free seats at The Final Forte, call (608) 257-3734 or register online at: http://madisonsymphony.org/finalforte
IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a live concert broadcast. All audience members must be seated by 6:45 p.m. in Overture Hall, prior to the start of the concert.
The Final Forte broadcast on WPT and WPR has won numerous honors including an Emmy nomination, and has reached several hundred thousand viewers and listeners in the area Madison and statewide.
REBROADCASTS
“The Final Forte” will be rebroadcast at the following times:
The Wisconsin Channel (WPT-2): Saturday, April 1, at 3:30 p.m.
Wisconsin Public Radio: Sunday, April 2, at noon
Milwaukee Public Television (Channel 36.1): Sunday, April 2, at 1 p.m.
Wisconsin Public Television (WPT-1): Sunday, April 2, at 2 p.m.
BACKGROUND AND SPONSORS
“Wisconsin Young Artists Compete: The Final Forte” is a partnership among the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television.
The even is part of WPT’s multiyear Young Performers Initiative, a statewide effort to raise the visibility of the arts, celebrate the creative achievements of Wisconsin’s young people and support the arts in education.
The Bolz Young Artist Competition is made possible by a generous endowment from The Eugenie Mayer Bolz Family Foundation.
Major funding for “Wisconsin Young Artists Compete: The Final Forte” is provided by Diane Ballweg, Julie and Larry Midtbo, Fred and Mary Mohs, Stephen Morton, Joe and Maryellyn Sensenbrenner, and The Boldt Company. With additional funds from A. Paul Jones Charitable Trust, James Dahlberg and Elsebet Lund, W. Jerome Frautschi, Ann and Roger Hauck, Elaine and Nicholas Mischler, Kato Perlman, Sentry Insurance Company, The Estate of Norene A. Smith, Paul Guthrie in memory of Ella Guthrie, Judith and Nick Topitzes, and Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.
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Classical music: The New Yorker magazine opens up its on-line archives. You can read for FREE fascinating profiles of pianists Lang-Lang, Helene Grimaud and Jeremy Denk; of mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato; and of violinist Christian Tetzlaff. Follow these links on NPR.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Two of the best sources for reading about classical music are NPR (National Public Radio) with its Deceptive Cadence blog; and The New Yorker magazine, which features Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Alex Ross (below) on its staff.
These days a lot of publications are figuring out how to “monetize” their websites and on-line stories since they are losing readers of printed editions.
Perhaps David Remnick, the reporter-turned-editor of the The New Yorker who has more than doubled the magazine’s circulation and inaugurated a series of best-selling books of story and cartoon collections, may have a new and unorthodox approach. He seems to be thinking “outside the box” and in reverse: Use the web to increase the profile, and profitability of the print edition.
That approach may mean opening up to FREE ACCESS some of the stories that will give people a taste of what they are missing if they do not subscribe to or regularly read the source.
Whatever the reasoning, The New Yorker has opened up its archives to classical music fans with five not-to-miss profiles and stories about high-profile musicians.
They include the Chinese phenomenon and superstar pianist Lang-Lang (below), who is often dismissed by critics as “Bang-Bang” for his Liberace-like flamboyance and unmusicality, but who remains the most sought-after classical pianist in the world. (At bottom, you can see and hear the opening of a BBC documentary about Lang Lang on YouTube.)
Others include the American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who is highly articulate about the world of singing and opera; the French woman and highly individualistic pianist Helene Grimaud, who aims for unusual interpretations; the German violinist Christian Tetzlaff, who is renowned for eschewing the customary path of virtuosity; and the famous essay on taking piano lessons “Every Good Boy Does Fine” by American pianist Jeremy Denk (below), who recently won a MacArthur “genius grant”; who has performed recitals twice in Madison at the Wisconsin Union Theater; and who will be releasing a book-length volume of his essays and postings on his acclaimed blog “Think Denk” this fall.
The weekend is a good chance to catch up on such reading. You will learn a lot if you read these stories.
And maybe you, like The Ear, will also become a loyal New Yorker reader. When it calls itself “the best magazine in the world,” it is not kidding.
That goes for politics, social trends, art and culture, and even poetry.
Here is a link, which also features some audio samples:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2014/08/12/339560307/read-these-while-theyre-still-free
Tags: Alex Ross, American, Arts, BBC, blog, Book, cartoon, Chamber music, China, Chinese, Christian Tetzlaff, Classical music, David Remnick, documentary, France, French, genius grant, German, Germany, Jacob Stockinger, Jeremy Denk, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Joyce DiDinato, Joyce DiDonato, Lang Lang, Liberace, MacArthur Fellow, Madison, Mezzo-soprano, mezzosoprano, New Yorker, NPR, opera, Piano, profile, Pulitzer Prize, sinigng, the Internet, Violin, Website, Wisconsin Union Theater, YouTube
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Classical music: Legendary Austrian pianist and scholar Paul Badura-Skoda dies at 91. In the 1960s, he was artist-in-residence at the UW-Madison School of Music
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By Jacob Stockinger
Paul Badura-Skoda, the celebrated Austrian pianist who was equally known for his performances and his scholarship, and who was artist-in-residence at the UW-Madison in the mid-1960s until 1970, died this past Tuesday at 91.
A Vienna native, Badura-Skoda was especially known for his interpretations of major Classical-era composers who lived and worked in that city including Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert.
He was the only pianist to have recorded the complete sonatas by those composers on both the modern piano and the fortepiano, the appropriate period instrument.
If memory serves, Badura-Skoda’s last appearances in Madison were almost a decade ago for concerts in which he played: the last piano sonatas of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert; a Mozart piano concerto with the UW Chamber Orchestra; and a solo recital of Bach, Mozart, Schubert and Chopin at Farley’s House of Pianos.
But he also performed and recorded Bach, Chopin and Schumann among others. And Badura-Skoda was also renowned as a conductor, composer, editor and teacher.
You can find many of his recordings and interviews on YouTube. Normally, this blog uses shorter excerpts. But the legendary Paul Badura-Soda is special. So in the YouTube video at the bottom you can hear Badura-Skoda’s complete last recital of Schubert (Four Impromptus, D. 899 or Op. 90), Schumann (“Scenes of Childhood”, Op. 15) and Mozart (Sonata in C Minor, K. 457). He performed it just last May at the age of 91 at the Vienna Musikverein, where the popular New Year concerts take place.
Here are links to several obituaries:
Here is one from the British Gramophone Magazine:
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/pianist-paul-badura-skoda-has-died-at-the-age-of-91
Here is one from WFMT radio station in Chicago, which interviewed him:
https://www.wfmt.com/2019/09/26/pianist-paul-badura-skoda-dies-at-age-91/
Here is one, with some surprisingly good details, from Limelight Magazine:
https://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/news/paul-badura-skoda-has-died/
And here is his updated Wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Badura-Skoda
But you will notice a couple of things.
One is that The Ear could not find any obituaries from such major mainstream media as The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. But each had many other feature stories about and reviews of Badura-Skoda’s concerts over the years in their areas.
The other noteworthy thing is that none of the obituaries mentions Badura-Skoda’s years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music in the 1960s, where he helped to raise the profile and prestige of the School of Music. Getting Badura-Skoda to join the university was considered quite an unexpected coup.
So here are two links to UW-Madison press releases that discuss that chapter of his life and career.
Here is an archival story from 1966 when Badura-Skoda first arrived at the UW-Madison:
http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/UW/UW-idx?type=turn&entity=UW.v67i8.p0011&id=UW.v67i8&isize=text
And here is a press release that came from the UW-Madison News Service eight years ago on the occasion of one of Badura-Skoda’s many visits to and performances in Madison:
https://news.wisc.edu/writers-choice-madison-welcomes-badura-skoda-again-and-again/
Rest in Peace, maestro, and Thank You.
It would be nice if Wisconsin Public Radio paid homage with some of Badura-Skoda’s recordings since a complete edition was issued last year on the occasion of his 90th birthday.
If you wish to pay your own respects or leave your memories of Paul Badura-Skoda and his playing, please leave something in the comment section.
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