The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Here’s how to apply Madison Symphony Orchestra cancellation refunds to a subscription ticket for next season. Plus, the Oakwood Chamber Players cancel two concerts in May
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ALERT: In accordance with the state’s Stay at Home order, concerts by the Oakwood Chamber Players (below) that were scheduled for Saturday night, May 16, and Sunday afternoon, May 17, at Oakwood Village University Woods, on the far west side, have been CANCELED.
By Jacob Stockinger
Now that the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below in a photo by Peter Rodgers) has canceled the rest of its current season, The Ear and others have wondered how to apply refunds to a subscription ticket for the MSO’s 2020-21 season, with the theme of “Ode to Joy: Beethoven and Beyond.” (See the YouTube promotional video at the bottom.)
The MSO recently announced cancellations because of the COVID-19 pandemic and closing of the Overture Center with detailed descriptions of how you could donate the tickets to benefit musicians or exchange them for vouchers to one concert in the next season.
But missing was the possibility of applying the cost of tickets to this season’s cancellations to a subscription ticket for next year.
So The Ear called Peter Rodgers, the marketing director for the MSO, to get a clarification.
It turns out that the MSO administrative staff met with representatives of the box office at the Overture Center to discuss various refund options.
Rodgers said the box office is very busy handling refunds from other events that have been canceled. That has made for complex mechanical or technical difficulties in applying one season’s subscription tickets to another.
It is true that you can apply this season’s ticket or tickets to one subscription concert next season, but there is no guarantee of securing your current seat preference, according to Rodgers.
If you want apply this season’s refunds and keep your seat for all the concerts or selected one next season, Rodgers said that the best solution is to ask for the refund and then pay in full for the next season’s subscription tickets.
Here is a link to more information about the MSO’s next season with performers and programs: https://madisonsymphony.org/concerts-events/2020-2021-symphony-season-concerts/
Single tickets go on sale Aug. 15.
You can renew online, by mail and by calling (608) 257-3734. The deadline for subscription renewals or new subscriptions, with a discount of up to 50 percent, is Thursday, May 7.
Here is a link to the page for online renewals or new subscriptions: https://madisonsymphony.org/concerts-events/subscribe-now/
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Classical music: Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra will start this summer’s six Concerts on the Square in late July and move them to Tuesdays at 6 p.m. Plus, other changes for the WCO are in the works
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcements from the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra:
Greetings to the family of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (WCO, below in photo by Mike Gorski)!
For 37 summers, Concerts on the Square (below) has brought us together as a community to enjoy world-class music with our friends, family and neighbors.
To try and ensure these performances continue despite uncertain times, the WCO is delaying the start of Concerts on the Square to July 28, 2020 — starting at our new time, Tuesdays at 6 p.m.
The opening concert will feature 2020 Gilmore Young Artist Maxim Lando (below, in a photo by Matt Dine) – who recently gave a solo recital on the Salon Piano Series at Farley’s House of Pianos – performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1
It’s our hope that by delaying the concerts by five weeks, larger community gatherings will be safe and permitted, and we can continue to entertain the thousands of patrons who join us at each Concerts on the Square performance.
We plan to retain the same number of key performances. Visit www.wconconcerts.org for an up-to-date schedule, the names of guest artists and the programs.
Concerts on the Square is something we all look forward to each year, which is why our goal is to preserve it this summer. We will all be eager to get outside and enjoy the WCO tradition, but we need to be smart and safe about it.
The series will return to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays next year.
Here is the complete schedule of the series of FREE concerts that draw an average of 20,000 people to the downtown Capitol Square for each concert:
Concerts on the Square #1 – Tuesday, July 28, 6 p.m.
Concerts on the Square #2 – Tuesday, Aug. 4, 6 p.m.
Concerts on the Square #3 – Tuesday, Aug. 11, 6 p.m.
Concerts on the Square #4 – Tuesday, Aug. 18, 6 p.m.
Concerts on the Square #5 – Tuesday, Aug. 25, 6 p.m.
Concerts on the Square #6 – Tuesday, Sept. 1, 6 p.m.
The WCO moved the series to Tuesday for scheduling needs and to avoid interrupting other local performances in late summer.
To keep up-to-date with performance schedules, community members can sign up for email updates on the WCO website or follow the orchestra on Facebook and Instagram.
“The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra is alive and well – and there is nothing more we want than to perform for our community during these uncertain times,” says Joe Loehnis (below), CEO of the WCO. “At the same time, we want to be responsible and mindful of community safety. In that light, we believe the best thing to do is to push the start of Concerts on the Square into late July.”
OTHER NEWS
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra is also using this time to move the organization forward for its fans.
In the coming weeks the orchestra is rolling out a new logo and new website, as well as launching the Friends of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra membership program.
#Coucherto: WCO MUSICIANS PERFORM ONLINE
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra is home to talented and creative musicians, so it’s no surprise they are reaching for their instruments during the stay-at-home order.
Sharing solo performances from their homes as part of the WCO’s #coucherto series, orchestra members are delivering music – and messages – for everyone to enjoy while stuck on their sofas.
“Our musicians are the backbone – the lifeblood – of the WCO, and we couldn’t just sit back and not perform,” Loehnis said. “I firmly believe music makes everything better and if we can provide a bright spot for our community right now we’re going to jump at the opportunity.”
The #coucherto series is available on the WCO’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and website pages. Additionally, the WCO will share previously recorded concerts during the order.
MUSICIAN RELIEF FUND IS LIVE
With live performances delayed, the WCO remains committed to helping its musicians.
Through its newly created Musicians Relief Fund, the orchestra has raised more than $10,000 to help pay its musicians during this time. The WCO is working on several fronts to ensure its artists receive financial support.
“Our musicians aren’t just wonderful artists, they’re wonderful people. They’re our friends. They have families. And it’s vital as an organization we support them at all times,” says maestro Andrew Sewell (below, in a photo by Alex Cruz), who is in his 20th year as WCO’s music director. “The music will go on. But first and foremost, we need to do everything we can to help our musicians.”
To donate, visit wcoconcerts.org/donate.
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Classical music: What music is helping you get through the Coronavirus by staying home? Help create a Pandemic Playlist
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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
Starting today, Wisconsin joins other states and countries in proclaiming a stay-at-home emergency condition to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.
That means non-essential businesses and schools are closed; restaurants can only deliver food and do pick-up; and residents must stay at home except for essential services and travel such as buying food, seeing a doctor and getting medicine.
For a couple of weeks, many of us have already been spending almost all our time hunkering down at home.
And the Internet and other mass media are full of helpful hints about how to handle the loneliness, fear and anxiety that can come with self-isolation and self-quarantining.
For many, music proves a reliable coping strategy.
Since there are no live concerts to preview or review, now seems like a good time for The Ear to ask readers: What music helps you deal with the isolation of staying at home?
Is listening to music a part of your daily schedule, structure or routine?
Maybe you are using the time to discover new music or neglected composers, works and performers.
Maybe you are using the time to revisit old favorites by Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.
Maybe you prefer darker and deeper, more introverted works such as symphonies by Mahler, Bruckner and Shostakovich?
Maybe you prefer the stories and drama of operas by Verdi and Puccini, oratorios by Handel and songs by Schubert?
Maybe, like The Ear, you find the music of Baroque Italian composers, such as the violin concertos by Vivaldi and Corelli, to be a great, upbeat way to start the day with energy and a good mood.
One more modern but neo-classical work that The Ear likes to turn to — a work that is rarely heard or performed live – is the beautiful “Eclogue” for piano and strings by the 20th-century British composer Gerald Finzi (below).
Finzi wrote it as a slow movement to a piano concerto, but then never finished the concerto. The “Eclogue” — a short pastoral poem — was never performed in his lifetime. So it continues to stand alone.
But like so much English pastoral music, the poignant Eclogue feels like sonic balm, some restorative comfort that can transport you to a calmer and quieter place, put you in a mood that you find soothing rather than agitated.
Hear it for yourself and decide by listening to it in the YouTube video at the bottom, then let The Ear know what you think.
Perhaps you have many other pieces to suggest for the same purpose.
But the series of reader suggestions is meant to be ongoing.
The idea is to build a collective “Pandemic Playlist.”
So right now and for this time, please post just ONE suggestion – with a YouTube link, if possible — in the Comment section with perhaps what you like about it and why it works for you during this time of physical, psychological and emotional distress from COVID-19.
What do you think of the idea of creating a Pandemic Playlist?
The Ear hopes that you like his choice, and that he and other readers like yours.
Be well and stay well.
Let’s get through this together.
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