The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: UW-Madison’s first countertenor Gerrod Pagenkopf returns to perform on Sunday night as a member of the acclaimed choral group Chanticleer. Here’s how he got from here to there. Part 1 of 2
1 Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE 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: Madison Symphony Orchestra organist Greg Zelek did not announce his encore after he received a standing ovation at the MSO concert Sunday afternoon. It was the final movement from the Organ Symphony No. 1 by Louis Vierne.
By Jacob Stockinger
This coming Sunday night, Oct. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the inaugural concert in the new Hamel Music Center’s main concert hall, the critically acclaimed a cappella singing group Chanticleer (below) will kick off the centennial anniversary celebration of the Concert Series at the Wisconsin Union Theater.
Tickets are $45 for the public; $40 for faculty staff and Union members; and $10 for students. For more information about the performers and the “Trade Winds” program, go to: https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/chanticleer/
Among the 12 members of the San-Francisco-based Chanticleer is Gerrod Pagenkopf, who is in his fifth year with the group as both a countertenor and the assistant music director. (You can hear Pagenkopf singing music by Henry Purcell in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For a biography of Gerrod Pagenkopf, go to: https://www.chanticleer.org/gerrod-pagenkopf
Pagenkopf (below) is a graduate of the UW-Madison. When he performed here as a student, his high, clear countertenor voice was a new experience and made those of us who heard him sit bolt upright and take notice. “He is going places,” we said to each other. And so he has.
But Pagenkopf’s story is not only about him. It is also about the rediscovery of countertenors, about the changing public acceptance of them, and about the challenges that young musicians often face in establishing a professional performing career. So today and tomorrow, The Ear is offering a longer-than-usual, two-part interview with Pagenkopf.
Here is Part 1:
When were you at the UW-Madison?
I was a student at the UW-Madison from the fall of 1997 until I graduated in May of 2002. Although I received a bachelor’s degree in music education, performing ended up being a huge part of my last few semesters.
Growing up in rural Wisconsin about 30 miles north of Green Bay, I always thought that if you liked music and were good at it, you were supposed to be a teacher. It wasn’t until I was a junior that my voice teacher, the late Ilona Kombrink, and I discovered that I had a viable solo voice. Although I received the music education degree, embarking on a solo career became more important to me.
What did you do and how well did your studies and performances here prepare you for the life of a professional musician?
I was very lucky to have ample opportunities for performing during my time at the UW. Singing in choirs was very important to me. For many years I sang in the Concert Choir under Beverly Taylor (below top) as well as in the Madrigal Singers under Bruce Gladstone (below bottom,, in a photo by Katrin Talbot). I think there was one semester where I sang in just about every auditioned choir.
Beverly Taylor also gave me a lot of solo opportunities in the large-scale works that the Choral Union performed: Bach’s “St. John” and “St. Matthew” Passions, and Handel’s “Israel in Egypt.” For a 23-year-old to have those masterworks, along with the B Minor Mass and “Messiah,” on his resume was very impressive.
I was also lucky enough to perform with University Opera, singing in the chorus at first, but then singing a solo role in Handel’s “Xerxes” my final semester, and then returning as an alumni artist to sing Public Opinion in Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld” and several years later Polinesso in Handel’s “Ariodante.” Director Bill Farlow took a lot of chances on my young, “raw” countertenor voice and gave me several opportunities to succeed.
I should also note the importance of the guidance and mentorship of Professor Mimmi Fulmer (below, performing at Frank Loyd Wright’s Hillside Theater at Taliesin in Spring Green) after I graduated from UW. She afforded me the opportunity to sing in recital with her numerous times — usually Brahms and Mendelssohn duets. But she also was a catalyst in bringing me back to Madison several years later to sing with the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble. Our continued relationship is actually the primary reason Chanticleer is singing in Madison this fall.
How do you feel about returning to perform at your alma mater with Chanticleer?
I’m over the moon about it. It still feels like a dream that I’m singing in Chanticleer. To be able to bring a group that I’m so proud to be a part of back to Madison feels like a great personal triumph. And to be the opening performance in the new Hamel Center (below) is such an honor!
Throughout my studies at UW-Madison, I was torn between the solo performance track and the choral career. I managed to straddle both, but my dream was always to make ensemble singing my career. Way back in the early 2000s, I heard Chanticleer sing at Luther Memorial Church, and I thought, “That’s what I want to do!”
I went down several other paths since that concert — mostly in the realm of solo, operatic singing — but it’s incredibly rewarding to be able to say I achieved my dream, and I’m coming back to place where the seed of that dream was planted almost 20 years ago.
Tomorrow: How countertenors re-emerged and were treated, the “Trade Winds” program and Pagenkopf’s future plans
Tags: #ACappella, #ACappellaMusic, #AlmaMater, #AppletonWisconsin, #Bachelor'sDegree, #BaroqueMusic, #BeverlyTaylor, #BillFarlow, #BlogInterview, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BMinorMass, #BruceGladstone, #ChoralMusic, #ChoralUnion, #ChristianChurch, #ConcertChoir, #CriticalAcclaim, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #FrankLloydWright, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GerrodPagenkopf, #GreenBay, #GregZelek, #GrowningUp, #HamelMusicCenter, #Handel'sMessiah, #HandelOpera, #HenryPurcell, #HillsideTheater, #IlonaKombrink, #IsraelinEgypt, #JacquesOffenbach, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #Large-scale, #LouisVierne, #LutherMemorialChurch, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadrigalSingers, #MessiahOratorio, #MimmiFulmer, #MusicCritic, #MusicDirector, #MusicEducation, #OperaChorus, #OperaMusic, #OrpheusintheUnderworld, #PublicOpinion, #SanFrancisco, #SchoolofMusic, #SpringGreen, #St.JohnPassion, #St.MatthewPassion, #StandingOvation, #Sundayafternoon, #SundayNight, #Taliesincompound, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinBaroqueEnsemble, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #YouTubevideo, a cappella, acceptance, acclaim, achieve, alma mater, alumni, alumnus, anniversary, artist, Arts, assistant, audience, audition, B Minor Mass, Bach, Bachelor's degree, Baroque, Beverly Taylor, Bill Farlow, biography, blog, Brahms, Bruce Gladstone, career, catalyst, celebration, centennial, cetennial, challenges, chance, chances, Chanticleer, Choir, choral music, Choral Union, chorus, Christian, church, Classical music, clear, composer, Concert, Concert Choir, concert series, countertenor, critically acclaimed, dream, duet, Early music, encore, experience, face, Facebook, faculty, fall, Felix Mendelssohn, final, forward, Frank Lloyd Wright, future, George Frideric Handel, Gerrod Pagenkopf, graduate, Green Bay, Greg Zelek, growing up, guidance, Hamel Music Center, Handel, Handel opera, Henry Purcell, high, Hillside Theater, Ilona Kombrink, impressive, interview, Israel in Egypt, Jacob Stockinger, Jacques Offenbach, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, like, link, Lord, Louis Vierne, luck, lucky, Luther Memorial Church, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, madrigal, Madrigal Singers, mass, masterwork, member, Mendelssohn, mentor, Messiah, Mimmi Fulmer, moon, movement, Music, music critic, Music director, Music education, new, night, Offenbach, opera, opinion, opportunities, oratorio, organ, organist, Orpheus in the Underworld, ovation, part, Passion, perform, performances, performer, performing, personal, plan, prepare, primary, program, public, public opinion, Purcell, raw, reason, reception, recital, rediscovery, relationship, resume, role, rural, Saint Matthew Passion, San Francisco, School of Music, seed, semester, share, sing, singer, Singing, solo, song, Spring Green, Spring Green Wisconsin, St Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, standing ovation, Student, studies, succeed, success, Sunday, Sunday afternoon, tag, Taliesin, Teacher, time, today, tomorrow, TradeWinds, triumph, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, UW Choral Union, UW-Madison, UW-Madison School of Music, viable, vocal music, voice, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Barque Ensemble, Wisconsin Union Theater, work, Xerxes, young, YouTube
Recent Comments
| MARTIN LUTHER LUTE |… on Classical music: Who was the e… | |
 | Brian Jefferies on Classical music: A major reass… |
 | welltemperedear on What made Beethoven sick and… |
 | rlhess5d5b7e5dff on What made Beethoven sick and… |
| welltemperedear on Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: The gala opening this weekend of the UW-Madison’s new Hamel Music Center is SOLD OUT. What do you think of the building, the music and the event? Plus, veteran music critic John W. Barker has died
7 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE 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: Word arrived late last night that the respected longtime music critic John W. Barker, a retired UW-Madison professor of medieval history, died Thursday morning. He wrote locally for Isthmus, The Capital Times and this blog. Details will be shared when they are known.
By Jacob Stockinger
This weekend, Oct. 25-27, marks the official gala opening of the new Hamel Music Center (below, in a photo by Bryce Richter for University Communications) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music. It is located at 740 University Ave., next to the new wing of the Chazen Museum of Art, which has a special exhibit relating to the new music center.
The impressive $58-million structure, which has taken many years to fund (completely privately) and then to build, will celebrate its opening tonight, Saturday night (while the 14th annual Halloween FreakFest on State Street is happening) and Sunday afternoon.
The performers will include distinguished alumni, faculty members and students.
Here is a link to an overall schedule as published on the School of Music’s home website: https://www.music.wisc.edu/hamel-music-center-opening-schedule/
Thanks to an astute reader who found what The Ear couldn’t find, here is a complete schedule — long, varied and impressive — of works and performers: https://www.music.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191025-Hamel-Music-Center-Opening-Weekend.pdf
And here is a link to the official UW-Madison press release with more background and details about the building: https://news.wisc.edu/mead-witter-school-of-musics-hamel-music-center-opening-this-fall/
UW-Madison composer Laura Schwendinger (below) has been commissioned to write a Fanfare that will receive its world premiere tonight.
The opening promises to be a success, complete with receptions at the end of each performance.
In fact, the public has signed on enough that the FREE tickets to all events are SOLD OUT, according to the School of Music’s home website.
Taste is personal and varies, and The Ear has heard mixed reviews of the new building. (For the special occasion, you can hear “The Consecration of the House” Overture by Beethoven, performed by the La Scala opera house orchestra in Milan under Riccardo Muti, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Basically, people seem to agree that the acoustics are much improved over Mills Hall and Morphy Recital Hall in the old Humanities Building.
But public opinion seems more divided over other aspects, from the overall external architecture and interior design to the smaller size of the big hall, the seats and seating layout, and the restrooms.
So if you go – or have already gone – let the rest of us know what you think about those various aspects of the new building and about the various performers and programs.
As a warm-up preview, here are photos of the main halls or spaces, all taken by Bryce Richter for University Communications:
Here is the 660-seat Mead Witter Concert Hall:
Here is the 300-seat Collins Recital Hall:
And here is the Lee/Kaufman Rehearsal Hall:
But what do you say? You be the critic.
The Ear and others hope to see COMMENTS from listeners and especially performers. What is it like to perform there? Or to sit and listen?
What does the public think of the new building and concert halls? Are you satisfied? What do you like and what don’t you like?
Should some things have been done – or not done – in your opinion?
Does the building and do the concert halls live up to the expectations and hype?
The Ear wants to hear.
Share this:
Tags: #AaronCopland, #AnthonyDiSanza, #ArpeggioneSonata, #ArthurBenjamin, #AstorPiazzolla, #AugustaReadThomas, #BandMusic, #BeverlyTaylor, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrassMusic, #BryceRichter, #CapTimes, #ChamberMusic, #ChazenMuseumofArt, #ChenYi, #ChoralFantasy, #ChoralMusic, #ChristopherTaylor, #ClassicalGuitar, #ClaudeDebussy, #CollinsRecitalHall, #CommissionedMusic, #ConcertChoir, #ConcertHall, #ConsecrationoftheHouse, #CoreyPompey, #EmeritusProfessor, #EuphoniumMusic, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FluteMusic, #FranzSchubert, #Fridaynight, #GuitarMusic, #HalloweenFreakfest, #HamelMusicCenter, #HomeWebsite, #HumanitiesBuilding, #InteriorDesign, #IsthmusMagazine, #IsthmusNewspaper, #JamesSmith, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnAdams, #JohnCage, #JohnW.Barker, #KarlheinzStockhausen, #KarlosMoser, #LaScala, #LauraSchwendinger, #Lee/KaufmanRehearsalHall, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MarcFink, #MarcVallon, #MarkHetzler, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MedievalHistory, #MillsHall, #MorphyRecitalHall, #MusicCommission, #MusicCritic, #Musicfaculty, #NewMusic, #OldBuilding, #OperaHouse, #OperaMusic, #OrchestralMusic, #OriolSans, #ParryKarp, #PaulCollins, #PersonalTaste, #PianoMusic, #PressRelease, #ProfessorEmeritus, #PublicOpinion, #RebecccaBlank, #RiccardoMuti, #RichardLottridge, #RichardStrauss, #SaturdayNight, #SergeiRachmaninoff, #SergeiRachmaninov, #SoldOut, #SopranoSinger, #StateStreet, #StephenSondheim, #Sundayafternoon, #SusanC.Cook, #TenorSinger, #TheCapitalTimes, #TheEar, #TimothyHagen, #TomCurry, #TraditionalMusic, #TyroneGreive, #TyroneGrieve, #UniversityCommunications, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UW-MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #UWChorale, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #VincenzoBellini, #ViolaMusic, #ViolinMusic, #VocalMusic, #WindEnsemble, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WorldPremiere, #YouTubevideo, Aaron Copland, acoustics, afternoon, alumni, Anthony DiSanza, architecture, Argentina, Arpeggione sonata, Art, Arthur Benjamin, artistic, Arts, audience, Augusta Read Thomas, Ástor Piazzolla, Bach, background, band music, Bassoon, Beethoven, Bellini, Beverly Taylor, blog, blue, brass, Brazil, Brazilian music, Bryce Richter, build, building, Campus, Cap Times, celebrate, Cello, Chamber music, chancellor, Chazen, Chazen Museum of Art, Chen Yi, Choir, choral, Choral Fantasy, choral music, Chorale, Christopher Taylor, clarinet, Classical music, classicalmusic, Claude Debussy, collage, Collins Recital Hall, comments, commission, commissioned music, communication, composer, Concert, Concert Choir, concert hall, conductor, consecration, Consecration of the House, Corey Pompey, critic, death, Debussy, design, details, die, died, director, distinguished, do, done, donor, ensemble, Euphonium, event, exhibit, expectations, external, Facebook, faculty, Fanfare, fantasy, fest, flute, folk song, folksong, forward, frak, Franz Schubert, freak, Freakfest, free, Friday night, fund, gala, graduates, guitar, Halloween, Halloween Freakest, Hamel Music Center, History, Holiday, home website, Horn, House, humanities, humanities building, hype, impressive, improved, information, interior, interior design, Isthmus, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, James Smith, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Adams, John Cage, John W. Barker, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Karlos Moser, La Scala, Laura Schwendinger, Lee/Kaufman Rehearsal Hall, link, listeners, live, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, madrigal, major, Marc Fink, Marc Vallon, Mark Hetzler, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, Medieval, Milan, Mills Hall, mixed, mixed reviews, Morphy Recital Hall, Mosse Humanities Building, Mozart, Music, music critic, music faculty, new, New Music, news, Oboe, occasion, Octet, offically, old, old building, opening, opera, Opera house, opinion, Orchestra, orchestral music, Oriol Sans, Overture, Parry Karp, Paul Collins, performer, performers, photo, photograph, photographer, Piano, pieces, post, posting, press, press release, preview, private, private schools, program, public opinion, publicity, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, reader, Rebecca Blank, reception, rehearsal, restroom, review, Riccardo Muti, Richard Lottridge, Richard Strauss, satisfaction, satisfied, Saturday night, say, schedule, Schubert, seat, seating, Serenade, share, social, sold-out, something, Sonata, soprano, space, special, State Street, Stephen Sondheim, Strauss, structure, Student, subscriber, success, Sunday, Sunday afternoon, Susan C. Cook, symphony, tag, tango, taste, tenor, The Capital Times, The Ear, think, Thursday, ticket, time, Timothy Hagen, Tom Curry, tonight, traditional, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba, Tyrone Greive, Tyrone Grieve, United States, University Communications, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW Concert Choir, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW Wind Ensemble, UW-Madison, UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra, vary, Veteran, Vincenzo Bellini, Viola, Violin, vocal music, warm up, weekend, wind ensemble, wind music, winds, wing, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, word, world, world premiere, years, you, YouTube