The Well-Tempered Ear
What do current music and non-music students think about the UW-Madison killing off the Choral Union?
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By Jacob Stockinger
By now, the chances are good that you have heard about the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music’s decision to kill off the campus-community Choral Union after 130 years. (The Choral Union and UW Symphony Orchestra, under recently retired choral activities director Beverly Taylor, are shown below in Mills Hall, where they performed with soloists for 50 years — in this case Johann Sebastian Bach’s “St Matthew Passion” — before moving to the Hamel Music Center.)
It has had many more hits and many more replies than any other blog post in a long time.
All of the reactions so far have been strongly negative, even outraged, with no one defending or endorsing the move.
But so far those replies, often lengthy, have been received with deafening silence and no replies or detailed explanations from either faculty members or administrators in the UW-Madison School of Music. In fact, The Ear understands that the School of Music has blocked its website and Facebook site from allowing anyone to reply:
See for yourself. Here is a link to the original blog post with its many comments and replies:
Most of the replies come from people who attend the UW Choral Union concerts or those who used to sing in it or who have been singing in it as alumni or community members and taxpayers. Some threaten withdrawing financial support. Others say it is yet another attack on the Wisconsin Idea.
But this time The Ear would like to hear from CURRENT STUDENTS — music students and other student — about what they think of the move.
Do they favor the decision to end the Choral Union? Or oppose it?
Do they think ending the Choral Union will hurt their education? Or be harmless?
What would the students like the UW-Madison School of Music to do? Continue with the plan or reverse the decision? Explain the specific reasons rather than citing generalities and banalities?
End censorship by allowing the public to reply on websites and social media?
Please spread the word to family and friends, to music and non-music students at the UW-Madison and at other schools.
The Ear wants to hear.
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The Ear is back
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear is back!
For the first time since the May 18 posting about the season’s last concert by Just Bach, The Ear can post a new entry.
For three weeks, The Ear struggled to correct the situation, but to no avail. But then yesterday everything suddenly seemed to fall into place and new postings became possible.
Some readers and subscribers have contacted The Ear to ask if he was ill or something disabling had happened. Thank you for your concern.
But let me reassure you. The absence and silence were due simply to the technological glitch on the WordPress.com platform.
In some ways, though, the involuntary sabbatical was welcome. It provided The Ear with an opportunity to consider whether he wanted to continue the blog after the past 13 years.
After much consideration, The Ear has decided to continue, at least for the time being.
But the blog will see some changes.
Stay tuned and The Ear will explain more in detail.
In the mean time, thank you for continuing to subscribe and read the blog. It has been gratifying to see both the loyalty of the readers, many of whom used the hiatus to explore the archives.
And if you have any comments or suggestions to make about the blog, please leave them in the Comment section.
The Ear wants to hear.
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Salon Piano Series cancels the rest of this season but offers a free monthly video from past concerts
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement from the Salon Piano Series that take place at Farley’s House of pianos:
Dear friends,
How we’ve missed seeing you, since last we were able to gather – in February, for pianist Shai Wosner (below, in a photo by Marco Borggreve) and his recital of heart-stopping Schubert, Scarlatti, Rzewski and Beethoven.
Since then, our pianos have sat silent, waiting for the day we can safely reopen and welcome you back.
For now, although it breaks our hearts, we do need to stay dark through the rest of the 2020-21 season, for everyone’s safety. Our highest priority is the well-being of our artists, audience and staff.
But rest assured that we are rescheduling all of our postponed performances:
Drew Petersen (below) (https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4275242) will perform next October.
Jazz great Bill Charlap (below) (https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4275248) will perform in June.
We are working to schedule Sara Daneshpour, violinist Rachel Barton Pine, Niklas Sivelov and John O’Conor over the next two seasons.
In the meantime, while we can’t gather in person, we’re pleased to announce the launch of a monthly video series featuring some of our past and upcoming artists.
December brings us the incomparable Shai Wosner and in January, Adam Neiman (below).
During these uncertain times, we appreciate remembering time spent together enjoying music.
Please take a break from your day to see and hear Shai Wosner (below) performing Domenico Scarlatti’s Sonata in C Minor, K. 230, and Frederic Rzewski’s Nano Sonata No. 12.
The video was recorded live at Farley’s House of Pianos as part of the Salon Piano Series on Feb. 23, 2020.
Click here or at the bottom for the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MCxr5ioV4o&feature=youtu.be
Last March, Shai Wosner released a 2-CD album (http://www.shaiwosner.com/recordings.html) of Schubert late piano sonatas. The album’s producer is nominated for a Grammy Award for the album.
Over the years, you have supported the intimate Salon Piano Series with your attendance, individual sponsorships and donations (https://salonpianoseries.org/donate).
We look forward to bringing you more world-class musical performances in our unique salon setting again soon.
In the meantime, these performances are a way to recapture the live concert experience, including commentary from artistic director Tim Farley, with videography by Tom Moss.
Those on our e-newsletter list, available at our website at https://salonpianoseries.org/contact.html, will receive a video link each month, and the videos are also available on our social media channels.
Stay safe, stay healthy and keep listening.
Sincerely,
The Salon Piano Series Board of Directors
Tags: #AdamNeiman, #AmericanJazz, #ArtisticDirector, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoardofDirectors, #BrownPaperTickets, #ChamberMusic, #CityofMadison, #CompactDisc, #ConcertSeason, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DomenicoScarlatti, #E-newsletter, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Farley'sHouseofPianos, #FranzSchubert, #FredericRzewski, #GrammyAward, #InPerson, #JacobStockinger, #JohnO'Conor, #LiveConcert, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonWisconsin, #NanoSonata, #NewMusic, #NIklasSivelov, #OnlineConcert, #PianoMusic, #ProductionStaff, #PublicHealth, #RachelBartonPine, #RecordedMusic, #SalonPIanoSeries, #SaraDaneshpour, #ShaiWosner, #SocialMedia, #TheEar, #TimFarley, #TomMoss, #UncertainTimes, #VirtualConcert, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, Adam Neiman, Album, appreciate, artist, Artistic director, Arts, assured, attend, audience, award, Baroque, Baroque music, Beethoven, blog, Board of Directors, break, Brown Paper Tickets, CDs, Chamber music, channel, Classical music, commentary, Compact Disc, composer, Concert, coronavirus, COVID19, dark, day, December, Domenico Scarlatti, donate, donation, e-newletter, Early music, email, enjoy, everyone, experience, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, Farley's House of Pianos, forward, Franz Schubert, Frederic Rzewski, friend, gather, gorgeous, Grammy, Grammy Award, great, healthy, heart, heart-stopping, in person, incomparable, individual, Jacob Stockinger, January, Jazz, John O'Conor, June, Keyboard, Kirkpatrick, like, link, listen, listening, live, live concert, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, missed, month, monthly, Music, musical, nano, nano sonata, Neiman, New Music, newsletter, Niklas Sivelov, O'Conor, October, online, pandemic, perform, performance, Pianist, Piano, piano music, post, posting, postpone, postponed, priority, producer, public her;th, Rachel Barton Pine, recital, recorded music, remember, reopen, reschedule, rescheduling, rest, safe, safely, safety, salon, Salon Piano Series, Sara Daneshpour, Scarlatti, Schubert, Season, see, seeing, setting, Shai Wosner, share, silence, silent, social media, Sonata, sponsorship, staff\, support, tag, The Ear, ticket, Tim Farley, time, times, together, Tom Moss, uncertain times, unique, United States, video, videographer, videography, Violin, virtual, welcome, Wisconsin, working, world-class, Wosner, YouTube
The Willy Street Chamber Players give a virtual concert in November plus personalized live “micro-concerts” with tickets that go on sale this Wednesday. Plus, the Madison Symphony Orchestra organ concerts start TONIGHT with a FREE online recital by Greg Zelek
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ALERT: Tonight, Oct. 13, at 7:30 p.m. CDT, the Madison Symphony Orchestra will open its concert organ series with a FREE streamed virtual online concert MSO virtual concert live from Overture Hall. The performer is MSO organist Greg Zelek (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers) and the program includes music by Debussy, Franck, Durufle and Satie among others. For more information and to register, go to: https://madisonsymphony.org/event/greg-zelek-2020-streamed/
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following note that once again cements the reputation that the Willy Street Chamber Players have for inventive, innovative and ingenious programming, even during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Willy Street Chamber Players (below) have announced a reimagined 2020 season titled 1NTERLUDE. The project includes two unique events designed with safety in mind and aims to provide meaningful artistic experiences during the pandemic.
BEYOND THE SCREEN
BEYOND THE SCREEN is a virtual concert that will air online on Sunday, Nov. 15, at noon CST. The program will explore two colorful works for violin and cello by Kodaly (below top) and Ravel (below bottom) as well as other unique works. (You can hear Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
While viewing, audience members will be encouraged to submit questions and insights via an online form.
After the performance, members of the group will host a virtual “reception” on ZOOM where they’ll answer submitted questions and lead a discussion.
MICRO-CONCERTS
The chamber music group is also announcing an entirely new way to experience live music during coronavirus pandemic: 1-on-1 “micro-concerts”that will start on Saturday, Nov. 2, and occur on a variety of dates this fall.
Tickets go on sale beginning this Wednesday, Oct. 14. Up to two guests from the same household can sign up for a 10-minute slot at the location of their choice to view a “living, breathing musical art exhibit.”
Locations include the new Arts + Literature Laboratory (below top), Garver Feed Mill and A Place To Be (below bottom), all on Madison’s east side.
Ticket prices will operate on a “pay what you can” structure. The group has suggested a $20 donation per concert.
“When you enter the room and sit down, two members of the Willy Street Chamber Players will curate a personalized concert just for you, says Willy Street co-founder and violinist Eleanor Bartsch (below). “The musicians will choose from a wide variety of solo and duo works in the moment. Micro-concerts are solely about the music. You enter the room as you are, in silence and with an open mind.”
Adds violinist Paran Amirinazari (below), who is the artistic director and co-founder of the Willys: “We encourage you to make your concert what you need it to be in this time: 10 minutes of meditation, healing, escape, positivity, relaxation or simply beautiful music.”
For more information, including safety guidelines such as masks and social distancing, go to: www.willystreetchamberplayers.org
Tags: #APlacetoBe, #ArtExhibit, #ArtisticDirector, #ArtsandLiteratureLaboratory, #Beautifulmusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CelloMusic, #CesarFranck, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusicians, #CityofMadison, #ClaudeDebussy, #ConcertOrgan, #ConcertSeries, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DuetMusic, #EastSide, #EleanorBartsch, #EricSatie, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Frenchcomposer, #FrenchMusic, #GarverFeedMill, #GregZelek, #HomeWebsite, #HungarianMusic, #JacobStockinger, #LiveStreaming, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #MauriceDuruflé, #MauriceRavel, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #OnlineConcert, #OpenMind, #OvertureHall, #ParanAmirinazari, #PayWhatYouCan, #PublicHealth, #RayChen, #SignUp, #SocialDistancing, #TheEar, #TheUW, #TheWillys, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViolinMusic, #VirtualConcert, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #YouTubevideo, #ZoltanKodaly, 1NTERLUDE, A Place to Be, aim, announce, answer, Art, artistic, Artistic director, Arts, Arts and Literature Laboratory, audience, Beautiful music, beginning, blog, breathing, cellist, Cello, cello music, cement, Cesar Franck, Chamber music, choice, choose, Classical music, Claude Debussy, colorful, composer, Concert, concert series, coronavirus, covid, curate, dates, Debussy, designed, discussion, donation, duet, duo, Durufle, east, east side, Eleanor Bartsch, encourage, enter, Erik Satie, escape, events, exhibit, experience, Facebook, fall, form, forward, founder, France, Franck, free, French, Garver Feed Mill, give, Greg Zelek, group, guest, guidelines, healing, home website, household, Hungarian, Hungary, information, ingenious, innovative, insights, interlude, inventive, Jacob Stockinger, Kodaly, like, link, live, living, location, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, masks, Maurice Durufle, Maurice Ravel, Mead Witter School of Music, meaningful, Meditation, members, micro-concert, mind, minutes, MSO, Music, musical, musicians, need, new, note, November, occur, October, online, open mind, organ, Overture Center, Overture Hall, pandemic, Paran Amarinazari, pay what you can, performer, personalized, positivity, post, posting, price, program, programming, project, provide, Public health, question-and-answer, questions, Ravel, Ray Chen, reception, recital, register, relaxation, reputation, room, safety, same, Satie, series, share, side, sign-up, silence, slot, social distancing, solo, Sonata, stream, structure, submit, suggested, tag, The Ear, ticket, time, tonight, two, unique, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, variety, view, viewing, Viola, Violin, violinist, virtual, way, Website, Wednesday, Willy Street Chamber Players, Willys, Wisconsin, works, YouTube, Zelek, Zoltan Kodaly, Zoom
Did Beethoven and his Fifth Symphony foster racism, exclusion and elitism in the concert hall? The Ear thinks that is PC nonsense. What do you think?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Controversy has struck big among classical music critics and fans — just in time for the Beethoven Year that will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth this December. Plans call for celebrations by the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, and others.
At question is what seems yet another fallout and dust-up from the Black Lives Matter movement and the current struggle to foster social justice and racial equality.
In some ways, it all seems inevitable.
Now the history-denying advocates of cancel culture are suggesting that Beethoven (below) and his music – especially the popular Fifth Symphony (you can hear the famous opening in the YouTube schematic video at the bottom) – fostered white privilege and the rise of racism, sexism and homophobia in the concert hall.
That seems like quite an accusation for a single composer and a single piece of music that was premiered in 1808.
The assertion is food for thought. But not much.
In the end The Ear finds it a stretch and a totally bogus argument. He thinks that Beethoven attracted far more performers and audiences than he repelled. Others, including famed critic Norman Lebrecht in his blog Slipped Disc and a critic for the right-wing newspaper The New York Post, agree:
https://slippedisc.com/2020/09/beethovens-5th-is-a-symbol-of-exclusion-and-elitism/
The Ear also thinks it is political correctness run amok, even for someone who, like himself, advocates strongly for diversity of composers, performers and audiences – but always with quality in mind — in the concert hall.
Just because Beethoven was such a great creative artist is hardly cause to blame him for the inability of other artists to succeed and for non-white audiences taking to classical music. Other forces — social, economic and political — explain that much better.
Yes, Beethoven is a towering and intimidating figure. And yes, his works often dominate programming. But both musicians and audiences return to him again and again because of the originality, power and first-rate quality of his many works.
Beethoven himself was deaf. That would certainly seem to qualify him as inclusive and a member of an important category of diversity.
No matter. The writers are happy to blame Ludwig and his work for exclusion and elitism. They argue that people of color, women and LGBTQ people have all felt alienated from classical music because of Beethoven’s legacy.
Of course, there is elitism in the arts. People may be equal, but creative talent is not.
And clearly, Beethoven was a towering and intimidating figure – more for the quality of his music than for the simple fact that it exists. Such exclusion and elitism have to do with other factors than the composition of the Fifth Symphony.
If The Ear recalls correctly, when he died Beethoven was given the largest state funeral up to that time for a non-royal, non-politician or non-military person.
And how do you explain that Beethoven’s music, so representative of Western culture, appeals deeply to and attracts so many Asians and Asian-Americans, and became both banned and symbolically central to those opposed to Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China?
But these days being provocative can become its own reward.
You can read the analysis and decide about its merits for yourself, then let us know what you think in the Comment section.
Here is a link to the opinion piece in Vox Magazine, a free online journal: https://www.vox.com/switched-on-pop/21437085/beethoven-5th-symphony-elitist-classism-switched-on-pop
What do you think about the idea that Beethoven played a large and seminal role in fostering an elitist and exclusive culture in classical music?
Did you ever feel alienated from classical music because of Beethoven or know others who have?
What is your favorite Beethoven composition?
The Ear wants to hear.
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UW-Madison will forego in-person concerts through the fall and go virtual. The FREE online concerts start TONIGHT, Monday, Sept. 14, at 6-8:30 p.m. with a graduate student recital
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PLEASE NOTE: The following post has been updated with more information since it first appeared.
By Jacob Stockinger
In ordinary times, the yearlong schedule would be set and concerts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music would be already well underway.
But these are not ordinary times – as you can tell from the silence about the UW season that usually presents some 300 events.
It has taken time, but the music school has finally worked out the basic approach to concerts during the pandemic. It will allow worldwide listening.
Audiences will NOT be present for any Mead Witter School of Music concerts or recitals this fall. Instead, a live stream of faculty recitals and all required student recitals, many of them in the new Hamel Music Center (below), will be available.
The portal to the live streaming, along with a scheduling clock and time countdown, can be found at: youtube.com/meadwitterschoolofmusic
The concert season starts tonight at 6:30 to 8 p.m. The performer is graduate student flutist Heidi Keener (below), who is giving her recital for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. The recital was postponed from March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On the school of music’s concert website you will find a biography and the program — just hover the computer’s cursor over the event: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/recital-heidi-keener-dma/.
The same information will also be on the YouTube website for the actual concert. Just click on MORE: https://youtu.be/gA6S3OXUKCc
Given so few calendar listings so far, clearly the format is still a work-in-progress.
For updated listings of other events, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/events/
The next events are slated for Oct. 2 with a student recital and another installment of the Pro Arte Quartet’s Beethoven cycle (below).
That other programs and dates are still missing is not surprising.
The entire UW-Madison from classes to sports, is in a state of flux about how to deal with the pandemic, with in-person classes paused through Sept. 25, and possibly longer.
Many questions about concerts remain as the process plays out.
All live-stream concerts will be free. But they will NOT be archived, so they will be taken down as soon as they end.
A donation link to the UW Foundation will be included to help cover the costs of the livestreaming and also other expenses.
Will choral concerts even take place, given that singing is especially risky because the singers can’t wear masks and social distancing is nearly impossible to provide with groups?
What about chamber music groups like the Pro Arte Quartet, the Wingra Wind Quintet and Wisconsin Brass Quintet? Many faculty members, who have to teach virtually and online right now, are no doubt concerned about the possible health risks of playing in groups.
And what about the excellent UW Symphony Orchestra, which The Ear considers a must-hear local orchestral ensemble? Those musicians too will have a hard time social distancing – unless individual safe performances at home or in a studio are edited and stitched together.
So far, though, we know that the University Opera will offer “I Wish It Were So,” an original revue of the American opera composer Marc Blitzstein on Oct. 23.
Here is a link to a story with more details about the production: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/08/07/classical-music-the-university-opera-announces-a-new-season-that-is-politically-and-socially-relevant-to-today-the-two-shows-are-a-virtual-revue-of-marc-blitzstein-and-a-live-operatic-version-of/
What do you think of the plans for the concert season?
Do you have any suggestions?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Madison Bach Musicians will hold their sixth annual summer workshops on baroque music online July 28-31. Registration ends July 26
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement to post from the Madison Bach Musicians – who are known for their authentic interpretations with period instruments and historically informed performance practices:
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Here is a preview video on YouTube video:
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Classical music: June is Gay Pride month. How many LGBTQ classical composers and performers do you know about? Which ones are your favorites or most surprise you?
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ALERT: This Sunday, the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society’s Virtual Chamber Music Festival begins online. It is called “Bach’s Lunch” and will send out short concerts every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday through Sunday, June 28, when a grand finale is planned. It is FREE. But you have to sign up by emailing crownover@bachdancinganddynamite.org
By Jacob Stockinger
This past week the Rainbow flags (below) have started flying, including at the Wisconsin state Capitol.
Last year was the 50th anniversary of the riot or uprising at the Stonewall Inn in New York City that eventually gave birth to a worldwide movement to insure that queer people deserve and will receive human rights.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Pride, which started with parades and marches to celebrate that initial victory and the start of a global gay liberation movement that continues and widens today.
On this first weekend in June 2020, it seems fitting to recall the many LGBTQ composers and performers in classical music.
The gay rights movement has opened the closet doors not only of individual lives today but also of historical figures. When The Ear was taking piano lessons and started going to concerts and listening to recordings, and learning about classical music, the subject remained shrouded in silence and secrecy.
You could read and hear about Tchaikovsky (below top) and Leonard Bernstein (below bottom, in a photo by Jack Mitchell) – to take a very popular composer and a renowned composer-conductor — but no one mentioned the role of homosexuality in their lives and careers.
So here are several lists that may teach you something new about gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer musicians – both composers and performers.
Some of the calls seem very iffy to The Ear. For example, Beethoven, Schubert and Chopin (below and in the YouTube video at the bottom) lived at a time when a homoerotic friendship did not necessarily mean a queer sexual identity. But one way or the other, historical proof and documentation can be hard to come by. And clearly there is much more to find out about the past.
Take a look. No longer is such information a rarity. From both the quantity and quality of the entries, at least you will see how scholars are taking new looks and undermining the heterosexual assumption that has wrapped so many historical and even contemporary figures in a wrong or mistaken identity.
Freedom, acceptance and respect are not zero-sum games in which one party can win only if another party loses. There is enough of each to go around.
So enjoy the information, whether it is new or not, and the respect it should inspire for the central role of LGBTQ people in the arts both past and present.
Here is a pretty comprehensive alphabetical list from Wikipedia of LGBT composers, both living and dead. It includes Chester Biscardi (below), who did graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. You don’t have to click on each name. Just hover the cursor arrow over the name and you will see a photo and biographical blurb:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_composers
And here is a list, also in alphabetical order and also from Wikipedia, of LGBT musicians and performers, not all of them classical. It works by clicking on sub-categories that include nationality – though one wonders if musicians from extremely homophobic countries and cultures are included:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_musicians
Here is a similar list from QueerBio.com that also includes links to similar lists for rock, country, hip-hop, jazz, Christian music and more:
https://queerbio.com/wiki/index.php/LGBTQ_Classical_Music_Composers
Here is a more selective list from The Advocate, an LGBT magazine, of 18 queer composers who made history and you should know about:
And here is a similarly selective list from radio station WFMT in Chicago of 15 LGBT composers — including Corelli, Handel (below) and Lully — you should know about:
https://www.wfmt.com/2015/06/25/15-queer-composers-know/
From Arts Boston, here are 10 contemporary composers who are queer:
http://artsboston.org/2018/06/21/10-contemporary-lgbtq-composers-you-should-know/
Finally, here is a list from the Spotify streaming service that features many samplings of actual pieces by historical and contemporary queer composers:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX75gMjYMWCsk
Which names most surprised you?
If you have questions, comments or additional names and information to add — The Ear doesn’t see the acclaimed pianist Jeremy Denk listed — please leave word in the Comment section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Happy Pride, everyone!
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Classical music: Here are the classical music nominees for the 2020 Grammy Awards. They make a useful holiday gift guide and highlight the trend toward more diversity
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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
Today is Black Friday followed by Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday — all with special deals and sales.
With that in mind, here is a list of the recently announced nominees in classical music for the 2020 Grammy Awards.
Although it is a self-serving list for a competition sponsored by The Industry, it can also be good way to find holiday gifts to give to others or to receive for yourself.
The list can be useful for spotting trends and finding new releases you may not have heard of.
For example, this year seems especially good for new music or recent works and contemporary composers. You won’t find any Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky or Mahler although you will find Berlioz, Schumann, Wagner, Bruckner, Berg, Rachmaninoff and Copland.
Another favorite seems to be the rediscovery of older composers such as Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919-1996, below) whose centennial has become an occasion for bringing his neglected works to the forefront.
You can also see that like the Oscars, the Grammys seem to be paying more attention to women composers and conductors, artists of color and crossovers or mixed and hybrid genres.
For complete lists of all 84 categories, go to this site and click on the categories that interest you: https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/2020-grammy-awards-complete-nominees-list
The 62nd annual Grammy Awards will be presented on Sunday, Jan. 26, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast live on CBS television.
- Best Engineered Album, Classical
An Engineer’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)
- AEQUA – ANNA THORVALDSDÓTTIR
Daniel Shores, engineer; Daniel Shores, mastering engineer (International Contemporary Ensemble) - BRUCKNER: SYMPHONY NO. 9
Mark Donahue, engineer; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) - RACHMANINOFF – HERMITAGE PIANO TRIO
Keith O. Johnson & Sean Royce Martin, engineers; Keith O. Johnson, mastering engineer (Hermitage Piano Trio) - RILEY: SUN RINGS
Leslie Ann Jones, engineer; Robert C. Ludwig, mastering engineer (Kronos Quartet) - WOLFE: FIRE IN MY MOUTH
Bob Hanlon & Lawrence Rock, engineers; Ian Good & Lawrence Rock, mastering engineers (Jaap Van Zweden, Francisco J. Núñez, Donald Nally, The Crossing, Young People’s Chorus Of NY City & New York Philharmonic)
- Producer Of The Year, Classical
A Producer’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)
- BLANTON ALSPAUGH
- Artifacts – The Music Of Michael McGlynn (Charles Bruffy & Kansas City Chorale)
• Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique; Fantaisie Sur La Tempête De Shakespeare (Andrew Davis & Toronto Symphony Orchestra)
• Copland: Billy The Kid; Grohg (Leonard Slatkin & Detroit Symphony Orchestra)
• Duruflé: Complete Choral Works (Robert Simpson & Houston Chamber Choir)
• Glass: Symphony No. 5 (Julian Wachner, The Choir Of Trinity Wall Street, Trinity Youth Chorus, Downtown Voices & Novus NY)
• Sander: The Divine Liturgy Of St. John Chrysostom (Peter Jermihov & PaTRAM Institute Singers)
• Smith, K.: Canticle (Craig Hella Johnson & Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble)
• Visions Take Flight (Mei-Ann Chen & ROCO) - JAMES GINSBURG (below)
- Project W – Works By Diverse Women Composers (Mei-Ann Chen and Chicago Sinfonietta)
• Silenced Voices (Black Oak Ensemble)
• 20th Century Harpsichord Concertos (Jory Vinikour, Scott Speck and Chicago Philharmonic)
• Twentieth Century Oboe Sonatas (Alex Klein and Phillip Bush)
• Winged Creatures & Other Works For Flute, Clarinet, And Orchestra (Anthony McGill, Demarre McGill, Allen Tinkham and Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra) - MARINA A. LEDIN, VICTOR LEDIN
- Bates: Children Of Adam; Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem (Steven Smith, Erin R. Freeman, Richmond Symphony & Chorus)
• The Orchestral Organ (Jan Kraybill)
• The Poetry Of Places (Nadia Shpachenko)
• Rachmaninoff – Hermitage Piano Trio (Hermitage Piano Trio) - MORTEN LINDBERG
- Himmelborgen (Elisabeth Holte, Kare Nordstoga & Uranienborg Vokalensemble)
• Kleiberg: Do You Believe In Heather? (Various Artists)
• Ljos (Fauna Vokalkvintett)
• LUX (Anita Brevik, Trondheimsolistene & Nidarosdomens Jentekor)
• Trachea (Tone Bianca Sparre Dahl & Schola Cantorum)
• Veneliti (Hakon Daniel Nystedt & Oslo Kammerkor) - DIRK SOBOTKA
- Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
75. Best Orchestral Performance Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra.
- BRUCKNER: SYMPHONY NO. 9
Manfred Honeck, conductor (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) - COPLAND: BILLY THE KID; GROHG
Leonard Slatkin, conductor (Detroit Symphony Orchestra) - NORMAN: SUSTAIN
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic) - TRANSATLANTIC
Louis Langrée, conductor (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra) - WEINBERG: SYMPHONIES NOS. 2 and 21
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, conductor (City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & Kremerata Baltica)
- Best Opera Recording
Award to the Conductor, Album Producer(s) and Principal Soloists.
- BENJAMIN: LESSONS IN LOVE & VIOLENCE
George Benjamin, conductor; Stéphane Degout, Barbara Hannigan, Peter Hoare & Gyula Orendt; James Whitbourn, producer (Orchestra Of The Royal Opera House) - BERG: WOZZECK
Marc Albrecht, conductor; Christopher Maltman & Eva-Maria Westbroek; François Roussillon, producer (Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra; Chorus Of Dutch National Opera) - CHARPENTIER: LES ARTS FLORISSANTS; LES PLAISIRS DE VERSAILLES
Paul O’Dette & Stephen Stubbs, conductors; Jesse Blumberg, Teresa Wakim & Virginia Warnken; Renate Wolter-Seevers, producer (Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble; Boston Early Music Festival Vocal Ensemble) - PICKER: FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Gil Rose, conductor; John Brancy, Andrew Craig Brown, Gabriel Preisser, Krista River & Edwin Vega; Gil Rose, producer (Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Boston Children’s Chorus) - WAGNER: LOHENGRIN
Christian Thielemann, conductor; Piotr Beczała, Anja Harteros, Tomasz Konieczny, Waltraud Meier & Georg Zeppenfeld; Eckhard Glauche, producer (Festspielorchester Bayreuth; Festspielchor Bayreuth)
- Best Choral Performance
Award to the Conductor, and to the Choral Director and/or Chorus Master where applicable and to the Choral Organization/Ensemble.
- BOYLE: VOYAGES
Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing) - DURUFLÉ: COMPLETE CHORAL WORKS
Robert Simpson, conductor (Ken Cowan; Houston Chamber Choir) - THE HOPE OF LOVING
Craig Hella Johnson, conductor (Conspirare) - SANDER: THE DIVINE LITURGY OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
Peter Jermihov, conductor (Evan Bravos, Vadim Gan, Kevin Keys, Glenn Miller & Daniel Shirley; PaTRAM Institute Singers) - SMITH, K.: THE ARC IN THE SKY
Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing)
- Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
For new recordings of works with chamber or small ensemble (twenty-four or fewer members, not including the conductor). One Award to the ensemble and one Award to the conductor, if applicable.
- CERRONE: THE PIECES THAT FALL TO EARTH
Christopher Rountree and Wild Up - FREEDOM & FAITH
PUBLIQuartet - PERPETULUM
Third Coast Percussion - RACHMANINOFF – HERMITAGE PIANO TRIO
Hermitage Piano Trio - SHAW: ORANGE
Attacca Quartet
79. Best Classical Instrumental Solo Award to the Instrumental Soloist(s) and to the Conductor when applicable.
- THE BERLIN RECITAL
Yuja Wang - HIGDON: HARP CONCERTO
Yolanda Kondonassis; Ward Stare, conductor (The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra) - MARSALIS: VIOLIN CONCERTO; FIDDLE DANCE SUITE
Nicola Benedetti; Cristian Măcelaru, conductor (Philadelphia Orchestra) - THE ORCHESTRAL ORGAN
Jan Kraybill - TORKE: SKY, CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN
Tessa Lark; David Alan Miller, conductor (Albany Symphony)
80. Best Classical Solo Vocal Album Award to: Vocalist(s), Collaborative Artist(s) (Ex: pianists, conductors, chamber groups) Producer(s), Recording Engineers/Mixers with 51% or more playing time of new material.
- THE EDGE OF SILENCE – WORKS FOR VOICE BY GYÖRGY KURTÁG
Susan Narucki (Donald Berman, Curtis Macomber, Kathryn Schulmeister & Nicholas Tolle) - HIMMELSMUSIK
Philippe Jaroussky & Céline Scheen; Christina Pluhar, conductor; L’Arpeggiata, ensemble (Jesús Rodil & Dingle Yandell) - SCHUMANN: LIEDERKREIS OP. 24, KERNER-LIEDER OP. 35
Matthias Goerne; Leif Ove Andsnes, accompanist - SONGPLAY
Joyce DiDonato; Chuck Israels, Jimmy Madison, Charlie Porter and Craig Terry, accompanists (Steve Barnett and Lautaro Greco) - A TE, O CARA
Stephen Costello; Constantine Orbelian, conductor (Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra)
- Best Classical Compendium
Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s) and Engineer(s) of over 51% playing time of the album, if other than the artist.
- AMERICAN ORIGINALS 1918
John Morris Russell, conductor; Elaine Martone, producer - LESHNOFF: SYMPHONY NO. 4 ‘HEICHALOS’; GUITAR CONCERTO; STARBURST
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Tim Handley, producer - MELTZER: SONGS AND STRUCTURES
Paul Appleby & Natalia Katyukova; Silas Brown & Harold Meltzer, producers - THE POETRY OF PLACES
Nadia Shpachenko; Marina A. Ledin & Victor Ledin, producers - SAARIAHO: TRUE FIRE; TRANS; CIEL D’HIVER
Hannu Lintu, conductor; Laura Heikinheimo, producer
- Best Contemporary Classical Composition
A Composer’s Award. (For a contemporary classical composition composed within the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year.) Award to the librettist, if applicable.
- BERMEL: MIGRATION SERIES FOR JAZZ ENSEMBLE & ORCHESTRA
Derek Bermel, composer (Derek Bermel, Ted Nash, David Alan Miller, Juilliard Jazz Orchestra & Albany Symphony Orchestra) - HIGDON: HARP CONCERTO
Jennifer Higdon, composer (Yolanda Kondonassis, Ward Stare & The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra) - MARSALIS: VIOLIN CONCERTO IN D MAJOR
Wynton Marsalis, composer (Nicola Benedetti, Cristian Măcelaru & Philadelphia Orchestra) - NORMAN: SUSTAIN
Andrew Norman, composer (Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic) - SHAW: ORANGE
Caroline Shaw, composer (Attacca Quartet) - WOLFE: FIRE IN MY MOUTH
Julia Wolfe, composer (Jaap Van Zweden, Francisco J. Núñez, Donald Nally, The Crossing, Young People’s Chorus Of NY City & New York Philharmonic)
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Did incompetence and political correctness kill the UW Choral Union?
19 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
It’s time for some answers.
The taxpaying, music-loving public is owed that much.
But for the past two weeks, administrators in the University of Wisconsin’s Mead Witter School of Music have stonewalled concerns expressed by the public and alumni.
The school has continued its censorship of social media with a dismissive silence, and offered no specific explanation or reason why the campus-community, town-and-gown UW Choral Union (below) needs to be killed off after 130 years.
But ever since The Ear broke the story, which has only drawn outrage and anger, sources — who asked to remain unnamed — have offered reasons for the very unpopular move by a public university. The Ear can say now that multiple sources agree in their allegations.
If you need to catch up, here is a link to the original blog posting and comments on June 12:
So the time has come to pass along what the sources say to the general public.
Now it is up to the School of Music to confirm or deny that what the sources say is true.
IS IT INCOMPETENCE?
Everyone who works with her or studies and performs under her has nothing but praise for Mariana Farah (below), the new Director of Choral Activities, as a person, colleague and teacher.
She has been singled out especially for her excellent, outstanding work with small choirs — a cappella choirs and choirs that use piano accompaniment, like the UW Choral Union.
But sources say she has no experience or very little in conducting an orchestra in combination with a large choir.
That is why the Choral Union’s performance last April of Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms” and Felix Mendelssohn’s “Laudab Sion” (Praise Zion) was conducted not by Farah, but by Oriol Sans (below), the highly praised conductor of the UW Symphony Orchestra. That also explains why the two shorter choral works were included in a symphony concert along with Bela Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra.
If that is true, it seems a major disqualification for her current position — an oversight, mistake or deliberate policy decision by the administration and the faculty search committee that is hard to understand.
If The Ear recalls correctly, the UW has never had a choral director who could not conduct orchestras and also teach graduate students to do the same.
If that is true, it seems like Farah is simply not yet experienced enough to lead a major choral program in a Big 10, world-famous university and a very highly rated music school.
Perhaps the school could arrange for conducting the Choral Union to go to Sans. But choral union members say he is more interested in the instrumental orchestra than in the choir. Besides, Sans has plenty of his own duties including teaching, rehearsing and conducting UW Symphony concerts, and accompanying the prize-winning opera program at the UW.
Or maybe the school could hire outside conductors — maybe bring back former director Beverly Taylor who is still working with the Madison Symphony Orchestra — to fill in, although that seems unlikely given budget constraints.
IS IT POLITICAL CORRECTNESS?
So what explains why Farah now heads the choral department at the UW?
Sources say much of the blame has to do with political correctness.
Farah was desirable because is Brazilian and a woman of color who is interested in exploring new and alternative repertoire — not the great chorus-and-orchestra masterpieces by “dead white men” like Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi and Brahms. And apparently that is what the School of Music wanted too when it hired her over other candidates.
These are serious allegations that the sources are making.
The timing is also unfortunate. This is the last week of duties for the current director of the School of Music, Susan C. Cook (below), who oversaw the hiring of Farah.
Her successor, Dan Cavanagh (below) from Texas, takes office this Saturday and will possibly walk into a major scandal or conflict that he will need to resolve right away.
In addition, some Republicans in the Wisconsin State Legislature are strong critics of “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” in the academic world. And this move feeds right into their concerns about shortchanging students and the public when it comes to basic skills and customary benefits.
That means the UW School of Music might be facing even more severe budget cuts.
But if the allegations are true, the administrators at the School of Music will have brought their misfortune upon themselves.
The Ear and the public are waiting to hear what the School of Music says besides the ill-timed, secretive announcement and banal, vague generalities about resources and core mission that they first offered.
Do you know anything more about the situation?
Do you have an opinion as to whether the decision should be reversed and the Choral Union should continue to exist?
Leave a comment in the Comment section.
The Ear wants to hear.
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