The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: The Apollo Chamber Players perform Croatian-inspired music this Saturday night in Edgerton. Plus you can now sign up for piano day at the Wisconsin Union Theater
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ALERT: The sign-up site for Open Piano Day – to be held this coming Sunday, Sept. 22, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Wisconsin Union Theater — is now available. Slots are for 15 minutes. Here is a link: https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsignup.com%2Fgo%2FfpUcsfW&data=02%7C01%7C%7C8ca06003be8b432ab9b408d73ba390d3%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637043445996735650&sdata=3qwBf6GVLZK6iN0UUywLtlKEfUnIPLfssaug5b3XTl0%3D&reserved=0
Memorial Union members and their guests are invited to attend to play the piano and to listen to the music. Here is a link to a story with more details and background: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2019/09/07/classical-music-the-wisconsin-union-theater-will-hold-an-exercising-or-playing-session-for-the-public-on-its-steinway-piano-on-sunday-sept-22-details-are-pending/
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement about a special concert of Croatian music that includes a world premiere and a Wisconsin premiere.
The Apollo Chamber Players (below) will perform this Saturday night, Sept. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Edgerton Performing Arts Center, 200 Elm High Drive, where they will give the Wisconsin premiere of Croatian Connections.
The program of chamber music is:
Medley of Croatian Folk Songs (2019, a world premiere), by Lorento Golofeev (b. 1976)
String Quartet Op. 33, No. 3 “The Bird” by Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). You can hear the last movement of the “Bird” quartet in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Intermission/Prekid
Pannonia Boundless (1997) by Aleksandra Vrebalov (b. 1970)
String Quartet No. 4 “Obala” (No. 6 in the 20×2020 project and a Wisconsin premiere) by Alexandra du Bois (b. 1981)
Introduction: “Out of sea-mist, in medias res” (Aria: Adagio lugubre)
“Istria: Hrvatska Obala” (Croatian Coast) (Rondo: Allegro assai)
“Uspavankas” (Lullabies) (Waltz: Larghetto cantabile)
“Dalmatian Hinterland” (Scherzo: Allegro pesante con fuoco)
“Tempo di Gusle” (Finale: Presto all’ungherese)
Tickets are $30 each and can be purchased online at www.edgertonpac.comor by phone at (608) 561-6093.
Croatian Connections was underwritten by Frederic Attermeier, a native of Cudahy, Wis., and was first premiered in Houston, Texas in 2016. It explores the Croatian inspirations of the “Father of the String Quartet” Franz Joseph Haydn (below), and music celebrating Croatian cultural heritage.
The Wisconsin premiere of this new string quartet inspired by folk music from Croatia and Serbia by New York City-based composer Alexandra du Bois (below, in a photo by Nick Ruechel), adds a contemporary perspective – a bridge to common ground through ethnic folk music – between often-warring cultures.
The Houston-based Apollo Chamber Players “performs with rhythmic flair and virtuosity” (The Strad) and has “found fruitful territory” (Houston Chronicle) through innovative, globally-inspired programming and multicultural new music commissions.
A recent winner of the Chamber Music America’s prestigious Residency Partnership award, this quartet has performed for sold-out audiences at Carnegie Hall twice in the past five years, and holds the distinction of being the first American chamber ensemble to record and perform in Cuba since the embargo relaxation. The string quartet is featured frequently on American Public Media’s nationally-syndicated program “Performance Today.”
This concert is in honor of the late William J. Wartmann (below) whose parents immigrated to America from Croatia. This concert is partially funded by the William and Joyce Wartmann Endowment for the Performing Arts.
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Classical music: The Middleton Community Orchestra and solo trumpeter Jessica Jensen score big with an unusual program
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By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT FM 89.9 FM. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison. He also took the performance photos.
By John W. Barker
The concert by the largely amateur Middleton Community Orchestra (below, in a photo by Margaret Barker) on Wednesday night presented a novel program at the Middleton Performing Arts Center.
In the relatively brief first part, it presented two unusual items.
The first was by Nebojsa “Neb” Macura (b. 1982, below right with conductor Steve Kurr), a local musician of Serbian background, who has been particularly identified with Russian folk music and ensembles. But he also plays viola in the MCO, which gave him this opportunity in the spotlight.
His piece, Polar Night, is quite brief, but in this version for full orchestra (with piano), it is grounded with secure melodic flow, and it unfolds into a tonal picture full of beautiful colors. My only reservation was that I wanted more of it — either more music in this piece or other sections around it.
Macura is obviously talented, and he has a confident sense of orchestral writing. I really look forward to hearing more of him. Indeed, the MCO might well serve as exactly the laboratory in which he can develop new creations.
The second item was only a bit longer, a Trumpet Concerto by Russian composer Aleksandra Pakhmutova (b. 1929, below). Her long career has involved her in jazz, and also in extensive scoring for films. But she has a feeling for Russian traditional song, and that could be heard in this concerto.
It is cast in only a single movement, but it proceeds episodically. There is certainly much flashy writing for the solo instrument, and local trumpeter Jessica Jensen (below) brought off her role dashingly.
The longer second part of the concert was devoted to the Symphony No. 3, the “Rhenish,” by Robert Schumann. This splendid work was inspired by observation of life along the Rhine River.
It is unusual in being written in five movements, not the conventional four. (Oddly, their individual markings were not printed in the program, but conductor Steve Kurr (below) gave a clever spoken introduction that outlined the score for the audience.)
This is a very extroverted work, calling for a lot of orchestral sonority. I suspect that a little more rehearsal time would have helped the avoidance of some blemishes: rapid passages, especially in the first movement, were roughly articulated, and there were some tiny gaffes all along.
But the players were devoted in responding to maestro Kurr’s rather propulsive tempos. This score gives a lot to do particularly to the horn section, which played with ardent splendor.
As always, then, the MCO earned further laurels for presenting this very adventurous program.
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Classical music: Flutist and activist Iva Ugrcic is Musician of the Year for 2018
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By Jacob Stockinger
The classical music scene in Madison is so rich that it is always a challenge to name a Musician of the Year.
There are just so many deserving candidates. One obvious example is conductor John DeMain, who is completing his 25th year of outstanding stewardship in directing the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Madison Opera.
But part of the intent behind such an honor is not just to recognize well-known figures. It is to encourage a broader awareness of those people who do a lot for local classical music but who often fly under the radar for many people.
That is why The Ear is naming flutist and activist Iva Ugrcic (below) as the Musician of the Year for 2018.
As both a performer and entrepreneur, Ugrcic is always very busy broadening her varied career. Being both a player and an activist, she is making a difference, musically and socially, that deserves to be recognized and supported.
Serbian by birth and educated in Belgrade and Paris, she came to Madison where she completed her doctorate in flute performance and also took business courses at the UW-Madison Business School.
She is a first-rate performer who has won a national prize for performing. While at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, she won both the concerto competition (below) and the Irving Shain competition for wind instruments in duets. (You can hear her amazing technique in the YouTube video at the bottom. In it Ugrcic performs “Voice” for solo flute by the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu.)
She now plays with the Black Marigold Wind Quintet and Sound Out Loud, both of which are based in Madison and both of which devote themselves to contemporary composers and new music.
This year, Urgcic also soloed with the Middleton Community Orchestra (below, in a photo by John W. Barker), performing to critical acclaim a relatively unknown concerto by 19th-century composer Carl Reinecke.
This year, Urgcic also took over as artistic director of the Rural Musicians Forum, which brings classical music, jazz, world music and ethnic music, played by outstanding performers to the Spring Green area, often at the Taliesin compound of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
But perhaps her most long-lasting contribution is her founding and now directing the LunART Festival that, in the same year of the Me Too movement, sought to present an all-women event that featured composers, performers, visual artists and writers.
Such was its inaugural success in 2018 that it won a national prize from the National Flute Association and a second festival will take place from June 9 through June 9, 2019.
2019 will also see the release of her second solo recording devoted to the music of the contemporary Romanian composer Doina Rotaru, even while she is working on a recording of “Beer Music” by contemporary American composer Brian DuFord.
And all that is just the beginning for such a promising talent. We will be hearing much more from her and about her in years to come.
To see her impressive biography, as well as updated activities, video and audio clips, photographs and other information, go to: https://www.ivaugrcic.com/bio
Here is one more thing that speaks to The Ear. It feels important, even necessary, to recognize the positive contributions of an immigrant at a time when the current “America First” administration under President Donald Trump seems so paranoid and negative, so xenophobic and afraid of foreigners.
The U.S government should be less intent on condemning or stigmatizing immigrants, whether legal or undocumented, and should put more emphasis on their contributions and on the long and distinguished history they have in the United States.
Iva Urgcic is yet another example of the talent we Americans stand to lose if we do not accept and encourage the gifts that immigrants bring in so many ways — from the arts, medicine, education and technology to everyday life and work.
Please join The Ear is expressing gratitude and congratulations to Iva Urgcic.
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Classical music: The Middleton Community Orchestra and solo flutist Iva Ugrcic turn in polished performances of a fun program to kick off the new season
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By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT 89.9 FM. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison. He also took the performance photo.
By John W. Barker
The opening concert on Wednesday night by the largely amateur Middleton Community Orchestra (below top), under the baton of Steve Kurr (below bottom), was a relatively brief but pithy one, with only three short works on the program.
The opener was Autumn, the most frequently played section of the ballet The Seasons, Op. 67 (1899), by Alexander Glazunov (below) and one of the composer’s most frequently heard pieces. It is a rondo-like sequence of varied dance movements, full of lyricism and bright colors. The Middleton players dug into it with gusto.
Second came the Flute Concerto in D Major, Op. 283, by the prolific 19th-century German composer Carl Reinecke (1824-1910, below). He was conservative as a teacher and as a prolific composer.
Among his concertos, this one was his last, written just two years before his death. It is an engaging work, not notable for great ideas, but amiable, with a good virtuosic workout for the soloist.
The soloist was the Serbian-born flutist Iva Ugrcic, an absolute whiz of a player, and, among other things, a product of the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music doctoral program. She played with super-precision and confidence, giving her instrument great personality.
Without intermission, the concert ended with the Symphony No. 100, known as the “Military,” by Franz Joseph Haydn (below). It was first played in 1794 among the composer’s “London” Symphonies during his second visit to England. But it may well have been begun while he was in Vienna, for it reflects a particular fad popular there.
This was the use in orchestral writing of an adaptation of the sounds of the Turkish Janissary band. In the second movement, whose tune was taken from an earlier chamber work of his, Haydn introduced recurrently the “Turkish” instruments (two clarinets, triangle, cymbals, bass drums) with startling effect.
At the movement’s end, a trumpet call brings these novelties back for a crashing conclusion. And then, in the fourth movement’s ending, the “Janissary” instruments return for another razzle-dazzle finish. (You can hear the fourth movement in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
It’s all great fun, and the orchestra players seemed to find their own enjoyment in it.
The MCO continues its steady growth as a polished and reliable ensemble — all 98 players!
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Classical music: The Ear offers a big shout-out and good luck to three girl choirs in the Madison Youth Choirs. They are headed this week to a major world youth festival in Aberdeen, Scotland and give a FREE send-off concert this Tuesday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
Two years ago, it was the boy choirs of the Madison Youth Choirs that were invited to sing at the prestigious international festival in Aberdeen, Scotland.
It is, after all, the oldest youth arts festival in the world, about 40 years old and features performers form around the world.
This week, on Thursday, 68 members of three girl choirs in the Madison Youth Choirs – the Capriccio (below top, in a photo by MYC director Michael Ross), Cantilena and Cantabile (below bottom) choirs — along with three conductors, are headed to the same festival.
NOTE: You can hear a FREE send-off sampler concert on this Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the Covenant Presbyterian Church, 326 South Segoe Road.
It is a BIG DEAL.
The repertoire the girls will sing covers classical music (Franz Schubert); folk music from Canada, Serbia, Bulgaria and Peru; and more popular music. Plus, they will sing in several languages. They will also sing a song composed in the Terezin concentration camp, or death camp, in Hitler’s Nazi Germany during World War II.
They will also give the world premiere of a piece – based on two Scottish melodies including a traditional walking song and the beautiful “The Water Is Wide” — that they commissioned from composer Scott Gendel, who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music. (You can hear James Taylor sing a heart-breaking version of “The Water Is Wide” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The Ear heard the girls sing live last week on the Midday program with Norman Gilliland on Wisconsin Public Radio. And they sounded great.
What an honor, especially in the wake of the concert tour to Italy two weeks ago by the Youth Orchestra of the Wisconsin Youth Chamber Orchestras.
Madison sure seems to be doing a fine job providing music education to its young people while many other areas of the state and country are cutting back on arts education and where many politicians and businesspeople are mistakenly trying to turn public support to the so-called STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and math — at the expense of the arts. But the arts and the sciences really feed each other, and success in one field often helps to assure success in the other.
Here is a link so you can learn more about the tour and how to support or join the Madison Youth Choirs, which serves young people in grades 5-12:
http://www.madisonyouthchoirs.org
http://www.madisonyouthchoirs.org/aberdeen
And here is a link to the festival itself:
And finally here is a link to the Facebook page for the Madison Youth Choirs, with face photos of participants:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/448022498728594/
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Classical music: The Madison Youth Choirs’ Winter Concerts this Sunday will explore links between science and music. Plus, the UW Wind Ensemble performs a FREE concert Thursday night.
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ALERT: Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Wind Ensemble will perform a FREE concert. The program features “Concerto X” by Scott McAllister with clarinet soloist Wesley Warnhoff, adjunct professor of clarinet. It is a work based on grunge music that was born in the heavy metal music of the late 80s and early 90s, including a melody from Nirvana’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” Also on the program is “In Wartime” by David Del Tredici, which was inspired by the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001; and the Second Suite in F Major for Military Band by Gustav Holst.
By Jacob Stockinger
A friend at Madison Youth Choirs writes:
On this Sunday, Dec. 13, the young singers of Madison Youth Choirs (MYC, seen below at the Winter Concert last year) will present the 2015 Winter Concert Series, “Inquiry: Science, Music, Imagination” at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Madison, 1609 University Avenue, near Camp Randall.
Over 14 weeks of rehearsals in preparation for the concerts, the 330 young vocalists (ages 7-18) in MYC’s nine performing choirs have been learning to use the tools of observation, experimentation, and analysis to reach a deeper understanding of their choral repertoire.
Students have also begun to recognize the role that resilience plays in both scientific and musical fields, learning how to work through moments of frustration and uncertainty to reach new discoveries.
The choirs will perform a varied program, including works by Benjamin Britten, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Vincent Persichetti; a Peruvian lament, a Spanish villancico, and a newly-created arrangement of the oldest-known surviving English song.
Tickets for each of the three concerts (high school ensembles at 1:30 p.m., boychoirs at 4 p.m., girlchoirs at 7 p.m.) will be $10 for general admission, $5 for students age 7-18 and free for children under 7.
Audience members will need a separate ticket for each concert.
Here is the schedule:
1:30 p.m. High School Ensembles featuring a guest appearance by the MYC-Capitol Lakes Intergenerational Choir
4 p.m. Boychoirs
7 p.m. Girlchoirs
Tickets available at the door, $10 for general admission, $5 for students 7-18, and free for children under 7
This concert is generously endowed by the Diane Ballweg Performance Fund with additional support from the American Girl’s Fund for Children, BMO Harris Bank, the Madison Community Foundation, and the Wisconsin Arts Board.
Here is a repertoire list for the programs:
1:30 p.m. Concert (Featuring High School Ensembles)
Cantilena
Bel Tempo Che Vola ……………….Jean Baptiste Lully
Weep No More………………………..David Childs
Songbird…………………………………Sarah Quartel
Sound the Trumpet………………….Henry Purcell
When I Set Out for Lyonesse……Keith Bissell
Ragazzi (below in a photo by Karen Holland)
Regina Coeli (sung in Italian)……Gregorian chant, ca. 10th century
Regina Coeli (sung in Italian)……Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Song of Peace……………………………Vincent Persichetti
Dulaman (sung in Gaelic) …………Michael McGlynn
Cantabile
Utopia………………………………………………………..Moira Smiley
Lacrimoso son io (K. 555, sung in Italian)…….Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The Gods Have Heard My Vows…………………….Thomas Weelkes
Palomita……………………………………………………..Traditional Peruvian lament
Hoj, hura, hoj!………………………………………………………..Omar Macha
Cantabile and Ragazzi
Apple-Tree Wassail………………………Stephen Hatfield
MYC/Capitol Lakes Intergenerational Choir and Combined Choirs
Forever Young……………………………..Bob Dylan
4 p.m. Concert (Featuring Boychoirs)
Combined boychoirs, Purcell, Britten, Holst, Ragazzi
Intonent Hodie…………………………………..Anonymous (probably 12th century)
Sainte Nicholaes (sung in Latin)…………..Godric of Finchale
Purcell
Singt den Herrn (sung in German)…Michael Praetorius
Who Can Sail……………………………..Norwegian Folk Song, Arr. Jeanne Julseth-Heinrich
Rolling Down to Rio……………………Edward German
Britten (below with Purcell Choir in a photo by Karen Holland)
Rattlesnake Skipping Song……Derek Holman
Tit-for-Tat…………………………….Benjamin Britten
Jerusalem……………………………..Sir Hubert Parry, poem by William Blake
Holst (below with Pucell and Britten choirs in a photo by Karen Holland)
Riu Riu Chiu (sung in Spanish)….Anonymous, from Villancicos de diversos Autores
Anima Mea (sung in Latin)……….Michael Praetorius
The Sound of Silence…………………Paul Simon
Ragazzi
Regina Coeli (sung in Italian)………Gregorian chant, ca. 10th century
Regina Coeli (sung in Italian)………Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Song of Peace……………………………..Vincent Persichetti
Dulaman (sung in Gaelic) ……………Michael McGlynn
Combined boychoirs, Purcell, Britten, Holst, Ragazzi
Hava Nashira (sung in Hebrew)……….Traditional Hebrew canon
7 p.m. Concert (Featuring Girlchoirs)
Choraliers
Hava Nashira (sung in Hebrew)……….Traditional Hebrew canon
You’ll Never Guess What I Saw………….Ruth Watson Henderson
Suo Gan…………………………………..Welsh Lullaby, Arr. by Alec Rowley
Tailor of Gloucester…………………..English Folk Song, Arr. by Cyndee Giebler
Con Gioia (below in a photo by Karen Holland)
Donkey Carol………………………….John Rutter
Mid-Winter…………………………….Bob Chilcott
Fancie……………………………………Benjamin Britten
Capriccio (below in a photo by Mike Ross)
Sound the Trumpet………………………………Henry Purcell
An die Musik (D. 547, sung in German, heard at bottom in a YouTube video with soprano Elizabeth Schwarzkopf and pianist Gerald Moore)…..Franz Schubert
Palomita (sung in Spanish)……Traditional Peruvian lament, Arr. by Randal Swiggum
Niska Banja………………………….Serbian Gypsy Dance, Arr. by Nick Page
About the Madison Youth Choirs (MYC): Recognized as an innovator in youth choral music education, Madison Youth Choirs (MYC) welcomes singers of all ability levels, annually serving more than 1,000 young people, ages 7-18, through a wide variety of choral programs in our community. Cultivating a comprehensive music education philosophy that inspires self-confidence, personal responsibility and a spirit of inquiry leading students to become “expert noticers,” MYC creates accessible, meaningful opportunities for youth to thrive in the arts and beyond.
Tags: 9/11, analysis, Art, Arts, band, Baroque, Benjamin Britten, BMO Harris Bank, Bob Dylan, boychoir, chant, choral music, clarinet, Classical music, concerto, dance, David DelTredici, Donkey Carol, England, English music, experiment, folk song, Franz Schubert, George Frideric Handel, girlchoir, Gregorian chant, grunge, gypsy, Hebrew, Henry Purcell, high school, Holst, Hubert Parry, intergenerational, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Jean-Baptiste Lully, John Rutter, Madison, Madison Youth Choirs, Michael Praetorius, Mozart, Music, Nirvana, Norway, Norwegian, observation, Palestrina, Paul Simon, Persichetti, Peru, Piano, science, Scott McAllister, September 11 attacks, Serbia, solo, song, Spain, Spanish, Suite, terrorism, traditional, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, vocalist, winds, winter, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: Four UW-Madison concerto competition winners and a student composer will be featured in a special concert and reception this coming Sunday night at 7.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The big event at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music this week, is the “Symphony Showcase” concert on Sunday evening at 7 p.m. in Mills Hall.
The concert will spotlight the annual concerto competition winners plus a new work by a student composer.
It is a special ticketed event that includes a post-concert reception in the lobby outside Mills Hall. Tickets cost $10; students get in for free.
The competition winners (below from left to right, in a photo by Michael R. Anderson) are: Keisuke Yamamoto; Ivana Ugrcic; Jason Kutz; and Anna Whiteway.
Here are brief profiles including the works they will perform and the teachers they study with:
Jason Kutz, piano, a master’s candidate studying with collaborative pianist Martha Fischer. Kutz, who also performs and composes jazz music, is a native of Kiel, Wisconsin, and studied recording technology and piano at UW-Oshkosh. He will perform “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” Op. 43, by Sergei Rachmaninoff, which contains the famous 18th Variation (which you can hear at the bottom in a popular YouTube video as performed by Arthur Rubinstein and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Fritz Reiner.)
Ivana Ugrcic, flute, a doctoral student and Collins Fellow studying with flutist Stephanie Jutt. A native of Serbia, Ugrcic has performed as a soloist and chamber musician all over Europe, and received her undergraduate and master’s degrees from University of Belgrade School of Music. She will perform “Fantaisie Brillante” (on Themes from Bizet’s Carmen) by Francois Borne.
Keisuke Yamamoto, violin, an undergraduate student of Pro Arte violinist David Perry, earning a double degree in music performance and microbiology. Keisuke, born in Japan but raised in Madison, received a tuition remission scholarship through UW-Madison’s Summer Music Clinic, and also won honors in Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Bolz Competition, among others. He will perform “Poème,” Op. 25 by Ernest Chausson.
Anna Whiteway, an undergraduate voice student, studying with Elizabeth Hagedorn, visiting professor of voice. Whiteway is a recipient of a Stamps Family Charitable Foundation scholarship as well as the Harker Scholarship for opera. Whiteway, who was praised in 2013 for her singing in University Opera’s production of “Ariodante” by George Frideric Handel, will star in the The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart this spring. For this night’s performance, she will sing Je veux vivre (Juliette’s Aria) by Charles Gounod.
The composition winner this year is graduate student Adam Betz (below), a Two Rivers native who wrote a work titled Obscuration. Betz received his undergraduate degree from UW-Oshkosh, where he was named Outstanding Senior Composer. He also holds a master’s degree from Butler University in Indianapolis.
Here is a link to Betz’s website:
http://adambetz.webstarts.com/about.html
The opening work, the curtain-raiser so to speak, is advertised to be Capriccio Italienne by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. But an orchestra player says it will be the Overture to the operetta “Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss, Jr.
The concert will also feature the UW Symphony Orchestra under chief conductor James Smith (below top) and graduate student conductor Kyle Knox (below bottom).
Tags: aria, Ariodante, Arthur Rubinstein, Arts, Bizet, Butler University, Capriccio italienne, Carmen, Charles Gounod, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Classical music, composer, concerto, conductor, Early music, Ernest Chausson, flute, Francois Borne, Fritz Reiner, George Frideric Handel, Gounod, Indianapolis, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Jazz, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mozart, Music, opera, Orchestra, Piano, Poème, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, rhapsody, Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, Serbia, Tchaikovsky, technology, University of Belgrade, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Oshkosk, Violin, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music education: The Madison Youth Choirs perform the 11th Annual Spring Concert Series this Sunday afternoon and night. They will premiere a new work about Shakespeare’s “Macbeth by UW-Madison alumnus Scott Gendel.
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By Jacob Stockinger
On this Sunday afternoon and evening, May 18, 2014, the Madison Youth Choirs (MYC, below) will ends the celebration of their 10th anniversary and celebrate the return of spring with a lively concert series featuring several groups whose membership total over 300 talented young singers.
All concerts will take place in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center for the Arts in downtown Madison.
Tickets are $10-$20, and can be purchased in three ways:
1. online at www.overturecenter.com
2. By phone at (608) 258-4141
3. In person at the Overture Center box office, 201 State St., Madison, Wisconsin.
Throughout this season, focused on the theme “Arts & Minds,” MYC’s singers have discovered connections between visual and vocal expressions of human creativity, using both mediums as a lens to explore the world.
Concert selections will include works from a wide variety of musical eras and cultures, including classical pieces by Bach and Vivaldi, traditional folk songs in Hebrew and Japanese, and contemporary pieces by Cindy Lauper and Eric Whitacre (below), creator of the “Virtual Choir,” which has become a global phenomenon on YouTube.
MYC’s boychoirs will make history with the world premiere of University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music alumnus Scott Gendel’s “Sound and Fury,” featuring text from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.”
This ambitious new work by Gendel will be a fitting prelude to the boychoirs’ upcoming summer tour to Scotland, where they will perform in the invitation-only Aberdeen International Youth Festival (below).
For more information about Scott Gendel, visit:
Continuing its commitment to celebrating the work of outstanding local music teachers, MYC will also present the Music Educator of the Year Award to Jan Vidruk. Ms. Vidruk (below center ) is a nationally recognized leader in early childhood education who has inspired young people in music and movement classes for over 40 years.
Here is the Concert Information, Schedules and Programs for Sunday, May 18, 2014
1 p.m. – Choraliers (below in a photo by Cynthia McEahern
Hashivenu…Traditional Hebrew
Bee! I’m Expecting You… Emma Lou Diemer
Ae Fond Kiss… Traditional Scottish, arr. Kesselman
The Duel… Paul Bouman
Kojo no Tsuki… Traditional Japanese, arr. Snyder
Con Gioia (below in a photo by Karen Holland)
For the Beauty of the Earth… John Rutter
The Jabberwocky… Jennings
Tres Cantos Nativos dos Indios Krao… Leite
Annie Laurie… arr. Rentz
Capriccio (below in a photo by Mike Ross)
Hark! The Echoing Air… Henry Purcell
Hotaru Koi… Ro Ogura
The Seal Lullaby… Eric Whitacre
Niska Banja… Traditional Serbian, arr. Nick Page
4 p.m.: Purcell
Gloria Tibi (from Mass)… Leonard Bernstein
Simple Gifts… Traditional
Orpheus with his Lute… Ralph Vaughan Williams
Laudamus Te (from Gloria in D Major)… Antonio Vivaldi
Britten
The Lord Bless You and Keep You … John Rutter
Er Kennt die rechten Freudenstuden … Johann Sebastian Bach
Holst
The Bird…William Billings
The Cowboy Medley…arr. R. Swiggum
Anthem (from Chess)…Anderson/Ulveas, arr. R. Swiggum
Ragazzi (below in a photo by Dan Sinclair)
dominic has a doll… Vincent Persichetti
Si, Tra i Ceppi… George Frideric Handel
Fair Phyllis… John Farmer
Madison Boychoir (Purcell, Britten, Holst — below in a photo by Karen Holland — and Ragazzi combined)
Sound and Fury (world premiere)… Scott Gendel, text from Macbeth
Will the Circle Be Unbroken?… Traditional, arr. R. Swiggum
7:30 p.m. High School Ensembles
Cantilena
How Merrily We Live… Michael Este
Salut Printemps… Claude Debussy
Hope… Andrew Lippa
Hope is the Thing… Emma Lou Diemer
Ragazzi
dominic has a doll… Vincent Persichetti
Si Tra i Ceppi… George Frideric Handel
Fair Phyllis I Saw Sitting…John Farmer
Cantabile
Cruel, You Pull Away Too Soon… Thomas Morley
Chiome d’Oro… Claudio Monteverdi
Mountain Nights… Zoltan Kodaly
Las Amarillas…Stephen Hatfield
Time After Time… Cyndi Lauper, arr. Michael Ross
Cantabile and Ragazzi
Come Thou Fount of Ever Blessing…arr. Mack Wilberg
A Hymn for St. Cecilia…Herbert Howells (heard at bottom in a YouTube video)
This project is supported by American Girl’s Fund for Children, the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation, the Kenneth A. Lattman Foundation, American Family Insurance, Dane Arts with additional funds from the Evjue Foundation, charitable arm of The Capital Times, and BMO Harris Bank. This project is also supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the state of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
ABOUT THE MADISON YOUTH CHOIRS (MYC)
Recognized as an innovator in youth choral education, MYC inspires enjoyment, learning, and social development through the study and performance of high-quality and diverse choral literature. The oldest youth choir organization in Wisconsin, MYC welcomes singers of all ability levels, challenging them to learn more than just notes and rhythms. Singers explore the history, context, and heart of the music, becoming “expert noticers,” using music as a lens to discover the world. MYC serves more than 500 young people, ages 7-18, in 11 single-gender choirs.
In addition to a public concert series, MYC conducts an annual spring tour of schools and retirement centers, performing for more than 7,000 students and senior citizens annually. MYC also collaborates with professional arts organizations including the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Ballet, and Madison Opera, while continually supporting and recognizing the work of public schools and music educators throughout the area.
In summer 2014, MYC boychoirs will travel to Scotland for their first appearance at the invitation-only Aberdeen International Youth Festival.
For further information about attending or joining, visit http://www.madisonyouthchoirs.org contact the Madison Youth Choirs at info@madisonyouthchoirs.org, or call (608) 238-7464
Tags: Aberdeen International Youth Festival, Antonio Vivaldi, Arts, Arts & Minds, Bach, Baroque, Benjamin Britten, BMO Harris Bank, boy choir, boychoir, Choir, choral music, Classical music, Claude Debussy, Claudio Monteverdi, Cyndi Lauper, Debussy, Emma Lou Diemer, Eric Whitacre, George Frideric Handel, girl choir, girlchoir, Gustav Holst, Hebrew, Henry Purcell, Herbert Howells, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Japanese, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Rutter, Leonard Bernstein, Madison, Madison Ballet, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Youth Choirs, Michael Ross, Music, Music education, Overture Center, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Renaissance, Scotland, Scott Gendel, Serbia, St. Cecilia, Thomas Morley, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vincent Persichetti, Wisconsin, YouTube, Zoltan Kodaly
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