The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Bach Around the Clock marks Johann Sebastian’s 334th birthday next Saturday with a FREE 12-hour celebration. Here is the full schedule. Plus, Parry Karp plays all-French cello music on Thursday night
3 Comments
ALERT: This coming Thursday night, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, UW-Madison cellist Parry Karp, of the Pro Arte Quartet, will perform a FREE all-French recital with longtime piano partner Eli Kalman of the UW-Oshkosh. The program includes the Cello Sonata by Claude Debussy; the Cello Sonata by Albéric Magnard; “Granada” from “Foreign Evenings” by Louis Vierne; and Cello Sonata No. 1 by Camille Saint-Saens. For more information, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/faculty-recital-parry-karp-cello-and-eli-kalman-piano-2/
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
The event is coming a couple of weeks earlier than the actual birthday on March 21.
But next Saturday, March 2, from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m., the annual Bach Around the Clock will celebrate the 334th birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).
At 10 p.m., there will even be a birthday cake for the birthday boy and for those who are still there celebrating the Big Bang of classical music.
The FREE informal event – complete with interviews, snacks and beverages – will take place at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church (below) at 1833 Regent Street on Madison’s near west side close to Randall Elementary School.
How do you like your Bach?
Sung? Played on instruments?
As originally scored? As arranged and transcribed?
Played by students? By adult amateurs? Or by professionals?
Whatever you are looking for and love to hear, chances are good you will find it on the schedule. There will be all of the above, and more. There will be cantatas and concertos, suites and sonatas, preludes and fugues. (You can hear the instantly recognizable and frequently played Prelude No. 1 in C Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The whole event will be streamed live locally and beyond.
To get an idea of what will happen from previous events, go to the previous blog post, which has a lot of photos, or use this blog’s search engine:
For more information, here is a link to the home website that has both the full schedule and a link for streaming as well as other information about free parking as well as how to participate in and support the event.
Here is the specific link to the full schedule, with names of performers and pieces:
https://bachclock.com/concert-schedule/
Take a look. Do you have any suggestions or recommendations about what others should attend and listen to? Leave a COMMENT if you want.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AlbéricMagnard, #BachAroundtheClock, #BachCantata, #BaroqueMusic, #BigBang, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CamilleSaint-Saens, #CelloSonata, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ClaudeDebussy, #EliKalman, #EnglishHorn, #GuitarMusic, #HarpsichordMusic, #InstrumentalMusic, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #LiveStreaming, #LouisVierne, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #OboeMusic, #OrganMusic, #OriginalScore, #ParryKarp, #PianoAccompaniment, #PianoAccompanist, #ProArteQuartet, #RandallElementarySchool, #RecorderMusic, #St.Andrew'sEpiscopalChurch, #StreamedLive, #StringMusic, #StringQuartet, #TheWell-TemperedClavier, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityofWisconsin-Oshkosh, #ViolaMusic, #ViolinMusic, #WestSide, adult, Albéric Magnard, alert, amateur, arrangement, Arts, audience, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, Baroque, beverage, Big Bang, birthday, blog, boy, cake, Camille Saint-Saëns, Cantata, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Christian, Christian church, Classical music, classicalmusic, Claude Debussy, composer, concerto, counterpoint, Early music, Eli Kalman, English horn, Episcopalian, evening, event, foreign, free, French, fugue, global, Granada, guitar, harpsichord, home website, Horn, informal, instrument, interviews, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus Christ, Johann Sebastian Bach, like, link, live streaming, local, Louis Vierne, Love, Madison, Music, Oboe, Orchestra, organ, original score, parking, Parry Karp, participate, partner, performer, photo, Piano, play, post, posting, Prelude, Pro Arte Quartet, professional, Randall Elementary School, recital, recorder, schedule, search engine, share, Singing, snacks, Sonata, song, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, streamed live, String quartet, strings, Student, Suite, sung, support, tag, transcription, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, UW-Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, weeks, Well-Tempered Clavier, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: You probably know Brahms, but who are Caroline Shaw, Colin Jacobsen and Michael Kelley? The Willy Street Chamber Players will show you this Friday night
2 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
The fourth annual concert series by the Willy Street Chamber Players (below) promises to be one of the high points of the summer season.
For more background about the Willys, go to:
Three concerts in July – at 6 p.m. on July 6, 20 and 27 in the Immanuel Lutheran Church (below) at 1021 Spaight Street on the near east side – are all inviting. (A subscription to all three is $40, while admission is $15 for each one separately.)
Each concert lasts about 60 to 90 minutes with no intermission.
That’s something The Ear really likes and would like to see copied by other groups and presenters. Such a format leaves you plenty of time to do other things to start the weekend – including enjoying the post-concert reception (below) with snacks the Willys obtain from east-side providers.
The opening concert seems especially promising to The Ear.
That is because so far the Willys have had a knack for programming new music that The Ear really likes.
This time is no different.
Along with the regular members, who rotate in and out, a guest singer, mezzo-soprano Jazimina MacNeil (below), who sang a new work by John Harbison with the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte String Quartet this past winter, will team up to present new works.
The three contemporary composers and their works are: “Cant voi l’aube (composed in 2015 and heard in the YouTube video at the bottom) by Caroline Shaw (below top), a composer whose work the Willys have performed before with great success; “For Sixty Cents” (2015) by Colin Jacobsen (below middle, in a photo by Erin Baiano); and “Five Animal Stories” for string sextet and “Ashug” (2018) by Michael Kelley (below bottom).
Then to leaven newness with something more classic and familiar, the concert will close with the String Quintet No. 2, Op. 111, by Johannes Brahms. (The Willys have been working their way through the string quintets and sextets of Brahms with terrific performances.)
Other concerts will include:
On July 20, six arias from the opera “Porgy and Bess” by George Gershwin as transcribed and played by UW-Madison soprano saxophonist Les Thimmig (below) and the rarely performed String Quintet in A Major, Op. 39, by the Russian composer Alexander Glazunov ;
And on July 27, a program featuring wind music that includes “Night Music in the Streets of Madrid,” Op. 30, No. 6, by Luigi Boccherini; the Overture on Hebrew Themes by Sergei Prokofiev “Light Screens” (2002) by Andrew Norman (below); and the Kaiser Waltzes of Johann Strauss II, as arranged by Arnold Schoenberg.
The three local soloists for the final concert are: flutist Timothy Hagen (below top) and clarinetist Alicia Lee (below middle), who both teach at the UW-Madison and are members of the Wingra Wind Quintet, and pianist Thomas Kasdorf, who is finishing his doctorate at the UW-Madison and has often soloed with the Middleton Community Orchestra.
For more information about the Willy Street Chamber players—including a FREE community concert at the Goodman Community Center on Friday, July 13, at noon (with an instrument “petting zoo” for children at 11 a.m.) and at the Wisconsin Union Terrace — go to:
http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org
Tags: #AlexanderGlazunov, #AliciaLee, #AndrewNorman, #ArnoldSchoenberg, #CarolineShaw, #ChristianReligion, #ColinJacobsen, #ContemporaryComposer, #ContemporaryMusic, #GoodmanCommunityCenter, #ImmanuelLutheranChurch, #JaziminaMacNeil, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannStraussII, #JohnHarbison, #KaiserWaltzes, #LesThimming, #LivingComposers, #LuigiBoccherini, #LutheranChurch, #LutheranReligion, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MemorialUnion, #MichaelKelley, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #OvertureonHebrewThemes, #PorgyandBess, #ProArteQuartet, #RussianComposer, #SergeiProkofiev, #SopranoSaxophone, #StringQuintet, #StringSextet, #SummerSeason, #ThemeAndVariations, #ThomasKasdorf, #TimothyHagen, #UnionTerrace, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WindMusic, #WindQuintet, #WingraWindQuintet, #YouTubevideo, Alicia Lee, Andrew Norman, animal, aria, arranged, arrangement, Arts, Boccherini, Caroline Shaw, Cello, Chamber music, church, clarinet, classic, Classical music, Colin Jacobsen, composer, Concert, contemporary music, familiar, flute, georgegershwin, Gershwin, Glazunov, Goodman Center, Goodman Community Center, Hebrew, Jacob Stockinger, Jazmina Macneil, Johann Strauss, Johannes Brahms, kaiser, living composers, Madison, Madrid, Mead Witter School of Music, Memorial Union, Mezzo-soprano, Michael Kelley, Music, Music of Spain, New Music, opera, Overture, performance, Piano, Pro Arte Quartet, program, programming, Prokofiev, reception, Religion, Russia, Russian, Saxophone, Schoenberg, series, singer, snacks, soprano, Spain, stories, story, string quintet, string sextet, subscription, summer, theme, Thomas Kasdorf, Timothy Hagen, Union Terrace, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, video, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Waltz, Willy Street Chamber Players, wind music, winds, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Terrace, YouTube
Classical music: The Willy Street Chamber Players wrap up their third season this Friday night at 6 with music by Mozart, Schubert and Osvaldo Golijov
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
This Friday night, the acclaimed Willy Street Chamber Players (below) wrap up their third summer series.
The 90-minute performance is at 6 p.m. in the Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1021 Spaight St., on Madison’s near east side.
A post-concert reception will be held with snacks from the Underground Food Collective and the Willy Street Coop.
Tickets are $15 at the door.
The program is typical for the relatively new group – a small ensemble making big waves — in that it features regular members with a guest performer, and also mixes old music and new music, sometimes with an unusual twist.
The program offers three works.
The dramatic “Quartettsatz” (1820), or “quartet movement,” by Franz Schubert (below) was intended be a part of another string quartet. It never found that home, and now exists as a popular work on its own. (You can hear it played by the Amadeus Quartet in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
“The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind” (1994), by the eclectic contemporary Argentinean-American composer Osvaldo Golijov (below, in a photo by Kayana Szymczak for the New York Times), has proven to be among contemporary music’s more popular works. (It has been performed in Madison at the Wisconsin Union Theater and by the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society.)
As you can gather from the title, it has Hebraic or Yiddish elements typical of Golijov, who is Jewish and has lived in Israel, and it possesses an appealing klezmer sound. The featured soloist is guest clarinetist Michael Maccaferri (below)
Ending the concert is the popular and supremely beautiful “Sinfonia Concertante” for Violin and Viola in E-flat Major, K. 364, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was composed originally for a string orchestra and is usually performed that way.
But The Willys, always inventive, will use an anonymous “house music” reduction for string sextet that was done in 1808, almost 30 years after the composer’s death.
The Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society has done many similar reductions of piano concertos by Mozart and symphonies by Franz Joseph Haydn with great success.
So The Ear is very anxious to hear this transcription or arrangement, which could make yet another great masterpiece even more accessible with smaller forces at less expense.
To The Ear, it has all the makings of yet another MUST-HEAR concert by a MUST-HEAR group.
See you there.
Tags: African American, Amadeus Quartet, American, Argentinia, Arts, Bach, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Cello, Chamber music, clarinet, Classical music, co-op, collective, concerto, coop, drama, dramatic, Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind, food, Franz Schubert, Haydn, Hebrew, Herbaic, house music, Israel, Jacob Stockinger, Jew, Johann Sebastian Bach, klezmer, Madison, Michael Maccaferri, Mozart, Music, Osvaldo Golijov, Quartettsatz, reception, series, Sinfonia Concertante, Sinfonie Concertante, snacks, String quartet, string sextet, summer, ticket, Underground Food Collective, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Willy Street Chamber Players, Willy Street Coop, Wisconsin Union Theater, Yiddish, YouTube
Classical music: This Friday night at 6 the Willy Street Chamber Players open their new summer season with music by Brahms, Wolf and Higdon
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
Over the past two years, the Willy Street Chamber Players have sure caught on.
That’s little wonder because they consistently turn in must-hear, top-quality performances with accessible but innovative programs that mix old and new works in a shorter-than-usual format. For all those reasons, The Ear named them Musicians of the Year for 2016.
This season The Willys have already performed a preview winter concert and a spring community concert at Warner Park. Then earlier this spring and summer, they warmed up, so to speak, by opening the Rural Musicians Forum season in Spring Green and then also played at the Marquette Waterfront Festival.
This Friday at 6 p.m. the Willys will open the three-concert regular summer season of 2017.
Here is an announcement:
“The Willy Street Chamber Players will begin their third annual Summer Series this Friday night, July 7, at 6 p.m. Join these energetic young chamber musicians for an exciting concert that has something for everyone.
“The concert will begin with two short works: “Amazing Grace” by contemporary American composer, and Pulitzer Prize winner, Jennifer Higdon (below) and the delightful “Italian Serenade” by Hugo Wolf.
The special guest will be violinist Suzanne Beia – who performs with the UW-Madison Pro Arte Quartet and is also concertmaster of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and assistant concertmaster with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Beia (below) will join the group in a performance of the gorgeous String Sextet No. 2 in G major by Johannes Brahms. (You can hear the Shanghai Quartet, performing live in Tokyo, play the second and third movements in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
“All this will take place in the beautiful sanctuary (below) of Immanuel Lutheran Church, on Lake Monona at 1021 Spaight Street.
“The concert will run about 80 minutes.
“It will be followed by a reception where guests can meet the musicians and share snacks provided by Festival Foods Madison and Let It Ride Cold Brew Coffee.
“Tickets are $15 and additional information about the group and its upcoming performances — including reviews and a schedule of the Community Connect series as well as a concert at Allen Centennial Gardens — can be found at www.willystreetchamberplayers.org.”
And here is a post with more details about this summer’s concerts:
Tags: Allen Centennial Gardens, Amazing Grace, Arts, beautiful, beauty, Brahms, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, coffee, community, Concert, concertmaster, festival, food, Garden, guest, Hugo Wolf, Italian, Italian Serenade, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Jennifer Higdon, Johannes Brahms, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marquette, movement, Music, Musician, new, New Music, old, perform, play, Pro Arte Quartet, program, Pulitzer Prize, reception, review, Rural Musician Forum, sanctuary, Serenade, sextet, Shanghai, Shanghai Quartet, short, snacks, Spring, Spring Green, string sextet, strings, summer, Suzanne Beia, symphony, Tokyo, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Willy Street Chamber Players, winter, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | Ronnie on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Polly Kuelbs on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
| welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Ann Boyer on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 