The Well-Tempered Ear

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.

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:

http://scottgendel.com

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

 

 

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