The Well-Tempered Ear
Wisconsin Ensemble Project’s string quartet program to benefit the United Way of Dane County debuts online this Friday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
This Friday night, May 14, the Wisconsin Ensemble Project will present a recorded concert (below, in an image by Katrin Talbot) in partnership with United Way of Dane County (UWDC).
This is their second in a series of performances to benefit local and international organizations.
This production offers viewers a meaningful program that leads to direct impact with a focus on housing stability and family well-being. You will hear the story and see the face of UWDC woven throughout a chamber music performance.
The program of works for string quartet includes “Park” by Daniel Bernard Roumain (below top); the “Heiliger Dankgesang” (Sacred Hymn of Thanksgiving, which you can hear played by the Alban Berg Quartet in the YouTube video at the bottom) from Beethoven’s Opus 132; and selections from Five Folksongs in Counterpoint by Florence Price (below bottom).
WE Project members and performers are local, professional musicians who work together in the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra: violinists Leanne League and Mary Theodore; violist Jen Paulson; and cellist Karl Lavine.
“The WE Project is rooted in the quartet’s desire not only to delve deeply into chamber music repertoire, but also to address some of the many pressing social justice issues of our time,” says member Mary Theodore.
When exploring organizations to partner with for their second project, the quartet was inspired by the work of United Way of Dane County. The WE Project approached United Way out of their concern over housing security, with the understanding that one of UWDC’s key goals is to help more individuals and families find pathways out of poverty through housing and employment initiatives.
The recorded production will be available by registering at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wisconsin-ensemble-project-spring-benefit-concert-registration-151923670789 from 6 p.m. this Friday, May 14, for 72 hours. Admission is free and contributions are strongly encouraged.
Contributions can be made through the website and will help to cover basic production costs and get funds directly into the hands of this very worthy organization which, most importantly, brings aid to the people they serve.
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Classical music: Applications are now being accepted for the fifth Make Music Madison on Wednesday, June 21. Read all about it and tell us what you think
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By Jacob Stockinger
Doing something for five years in a row is certainly enough to qualify it as an annual tradition.
So it is with Make Music Madison, the successful day-long, community-wide festival of free music performed outdoors by students, amateurs and professionals as individuals and in groups.
It takes place on the Summer Solstice, the longest day and shortest night of the calendar year. That means the event this year will happen on Wednesday, June 21, 2017.
So far, there are 178 artists and performers participating in 85 venues, which you can check out on the event’s website. More than 400 concerts in more than 100 venues are expected. (Below, in 2016, is the Oaknut Duo.)
For more background about the event that started in Paris, France, and now takes place nationwide, listen to the YouTube video about the 2013 celebration at the bottom.
Of course The Ear is well aware that most of the events are not classical music. But there will be some classical music. And it is clear that many students who start off in classical music often migrate to jazz, folk, pop, roots, blues, rock, swing, big band, rap, hip-hop and other kinds of music.
Some music almost inevitably leads to more music. (Below is keyboard artist Zuzu.)
Also needed are donations to the non-profit organization that organizes the event every year for less than the cost of a traffic light -or about $45,000. That’s a lot of bang for the bucks.
For more information about participating, donating and attending as well as seeing a photo gallery, go to:
http://www.makemusicmadison.org
What do you think?
Have you ever attended Make Music Madison?
What did you see and hear?
What did you think of individual performances and the entire event?
Leave word in the COMMENT section.
The Ear wants to hear.
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
