string quintet | The Well-Tempered Ear

The UW Pro Arte Quartet performs the sixth installment of its must-hear Beethoven cycle in a FREE virtual online concert this Friday night. Here are the schedule and links for the rest of the cycle

February 4, 2021
1 Comment

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

This Friday night, Feb. 5, the University of Wisconsin Mead Witter School of Music’s Pro Arte Quartet (PAQ, below) will perform a FREE live virtual and online all-Beethoven concert.

The program is the sixth installment of the PAQ’s Beethoven string quartet cycle, which is part of the Pro Arte Quartet’s yearlong retrospective of Beethoven’s quartets to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of the composer (below).

Members (below, from left, in a photo by Rick Lang) are violinists David Perry; violist Suzanne Beia; and cellist Parry Karp.

The live-streamed concert begins at 7:30 CST with a short lecture by UW-Madison professor of musicology Charles Dill (below), who will introduce both string quartets: String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 18, No. 6; and String Quartet in F major, Op. 59, No. 1.

If this concert is at all like the past ones online, listeners are in for a treat. The playing is always first-rate, but – unlike what has been the case with even professional online and virtual performers – the sound and visual technology matches that quality. To The Ear, these are must-hear performances, wherever you are in the world.

Because of copyright issues, each concert will stay posted in YouTube for only 24 hours.

Here is the new schedule for the spring semester and the rest of the Beethoven cycle.

Explains cellist Parry Karp: “The schedule for this coming semester has been changed a bit because the semester started a week later and we decided to do Beethoven’s String Quintets as well.”

All virtual concerts will take place in Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall in the Hamel Music Center. But no in-person attendance will be allowed.

PROGRAM No. 6: Friday, Feb. 5, 7:30 p.m. String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 18, No. 6 (1798-1800). You can hear the last movement in the YouTube video at the bottom. String Quartet in F Major, Op 59, No. 1 (1808)

PROGRAM No. 7: Friday, March 5, 7:30 p.m. Fugue for String Quintet in D Major, Op. 137 (1817); String Quintet in C Major, Op. 29 (1801); String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3 (1808)

PROGRAM No. 8: Friday, April 9, 7:30 p.m. String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135 (1826); String Quartet in B-flat major, Opp. 130 and 133 (1825-6)

And here are links to those performances:

Feb. 5

https://youtu.be/wQajNmutqgU

https://fb.me/e/16Km8etgD

March 5

https://youtu.be/56inR_uR_b8

https://fb.me/e/GjwiUI2W

April 9

https://youtu.be/IIW_5NVgGaA

https://fb.me/e/624dKB9kS

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #All-Beethoven, #BeethovenYear, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CentralTime, #ChamberMusic, #CharlesDill, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DavidPerry, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Fridaynight, #HamelMusicCenter, #HighTechnology, #JacobStockinger, #LiveConcert, #LiveStreaming, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicProfessor, #OnlineConcert, #ParryKarp, #Pre-concertLecture, #ProArteQuartet, #SallyChisholm, #SpringSemester, #StringQuartet, #StringQuintet, #TheEar, #TheUW, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VirtualConcert, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, anniversary, Arts, audience, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, birth, blog, cellist, Cello, Central Time, Chamber music, change, Charles Dill, Classical music, composer, Concert, coronavirus, CST, David Perry, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, first-rate, free, Friday, Hamel Music Center, installment, introduce, Jacob Stockinger, lecture, like, link, listener, live concert, live streaming, live-stream, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, match, Mead Witter, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, Music, musicology, must-hear, night, online, pandemic, PAQ, Parry Karp, part, perform, playing, post, posting, Pro Arte Quartet, professor, quaity, retrospective, Sally Chisholm, schedule, semester, share, six, Sound, Spring, stream, String quartet, string quintet, tag, talk, technology, The Ear, treat, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, video, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtual, Wisconsin, world, yearlong, YouTube

New York Times music critics pick 10 MUST-HEAR online virtual classical concerts to stream for October

October 3, 2020
Leave a Comment

ALERT: Tonight’s concert by the choral group Roomful of Teeth for the Wisconsin Union Theater at the UW-Madison’s Hamel Music Center has been canceled and postponed indefinitely.

By Jacob Stockinger

Increasingly the coronavirus pandemic seems surging out of control. So it comes as no surprise that also more and more concerts of classical music are taking place virtually and online.

There are many ways to choose among local, regional, national and international concerts.

But one good guide was published this last week and featured the choice of must-hear classical concerts by critics for The New York Times.

It is an interesting and varied selection, and includes times, links and brief descriptions.

It features concerts that emphasize Black composers such as Florence Price (below top) and women composers. It covers many genres from a solo piano recital by Jeremy Denk (below bottom) – who is supposed to perform here on Dec. 11 at the Wisconsin Union Theater – to chamber music, vocal music, orchestral concerts and operas.

Curiously, there is quite bit of new music but little early music, either Renaissance or Baroque. Perhaps more will appear around the holiday times, when that music is part of the traditional holiday celebrations.

You will find contemporary composers but also lots of certified, tried-and-true classics and masterworks.

Some are one-day only events but many run from a week through a month.

Here is a link to the story. PLEASE NOTE THAT TIMES ARE ALL EASTERN: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/arts/music/classical-music-stream.html

Please let The Ear know if you like this kind of listing and find it useful.

And please feel free to leave in the comment section other guides or events that the public should know about.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: "Blind Tom" Wiggins, #92ndStreetY, #African-AmericanComposer, #African-AmericanMusic, #AndrewNorman, #BachCantata, #BaroqueComposers, #BaroqueMusic, #BenjaminBritten, #BerlinGermany, #BerlinPhilharmonic, #BlackAmericans, #BlackComposer, #BlindTom"Wiggins, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrentanoQuartet, #BrentanoStringQuartet, #CarnegieHall, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusicSocietyofLIncolnCenter, #ClaudeDebussy, #ClevelandOrchestra, #ConcertProgram, #CoronavirusPandemic, #CountertenorSinger, #COVID-19, #DetroitMichigan, #DetroitSymphonyOrchestra, #EasternTime, #EricGarner, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #FlorenceItaly, #FlorencePrice, #folksongs, #FrankBridge, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzWelser-Möst, #FredericRzewski, #GeorgeWalker, #GillesVonsattel, #GustavoDudamel, #HamelMusicCenter, #HolidayConcert, #HolidayMusic, #J'NaiBridges, #JeremyDenk, #JessieMontgomery, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnAdams, #KirillPetrenko, #LawrenceBrownlee, #LosAngelesPhilharmonic, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MetropolitanOpera, #MichaelBrown, #MinimalistMusic, #MusicCritic, #NathalieJoachim, #NewMusic, #NewYorkTimes, #OnlineConcert, #OperaMusic, #OperaPhiladelphia, #OrchestralMusic, #OttorinoRespighi, #PeopleofColor, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PianoMusic, #PIanoRecital, #PianoSonata, #QuodlibetEnsemble, #RenaissanceMusic, #RoomfulofTeeth, #ScottJoplin, #SpektralQuartet, #SpokenWord, #StringQuartet, #StringQuintet, #TaniaLeon, #TenorSinger, #TheEar, #TheMet, #TheUW, #TrayvonMartin, #Tried-and-True, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VikingurOlafsson, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WilliamGrantStill, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WomenComposers, #YouTubevideo, 92nd Street Y, Adams, Africa, African, African American, African-American music, America, American, Arts, audience, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Benjamin Britten, Berlin, Berlin Philharmonic, Bert, black, Black Americans, blog, Brentano Quartet, Brentano String Quartet, Britten, cancel, canceled, Cantata, Caramoor, Carnegie Hall, celebration, cellist, Cello, certified, Chamber music, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, choose, choral music, Classical music, classicalmusic, classics, Claude Debussy, Cleveland Orchestra, comment, composer, Concert, conductor, contemporary, coronavirus, countertenor, critic, Debussy, Denk, description, Detroit, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Dudamel, Early music, earlymusic, Eastern time, emphasize, Eric Garner, Europe, Facebook, Felix Mendelssohn, Florence, Florence Price, folk, folk song, forward, Frank Bridge, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Welser-Möst, George Walker, Germany, Gilles Vonsattel, good, guide, Gustavo Dudamel, Haiti, Haitian, Hamel Music Center, Haydn, Holiday, holiday music, Holidays, images, incarceration, interesting, internation, inventive, Italy, J'Nai Bridges, Jacob Stockinger, Jeremy Denk, Jessie Montgomery, Joachim, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Adams, kind, Kirill Petrenko, know, Lawrence Brownlee, like, link, live-stream, local, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ludwig van Beethoven, masterpiece, Mead Witter School of Music, Mendelssohn, Metropolitan Opera, Mezzo-soprano, Michael Brown, Michigan, minimalism, month, Mozart, Music, music critic, must-hear, narrator, Nathalie Joachim, national, New Music, New York City, New York Times, October, Ohio, online, opera, Opera Philadelphia, Orchestra, orchestral music, Ottorino Respighi, pandemic, people of color, performer, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Pianist, Piano, post, posting, postpone, postponed, price, prison, program, public, Quodlibet Ensemble, recital, regional, Renaissance, Respighi, Roomful of Teeth, Rzewski, Scott Joplin, selection, share, singer, Singing, solo, Sonata, Spektral Quartet, spoken word, Still, stream, String quartet, string quintet, subscriber, surprise, symphony, tag, Tania Leon, Tchaikovsky, tenor, text, The Ear, the Met, theme, time, traditional, Trayvon Martin, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, useful, UW, UW-Madison, varied, Vikingur Olafsson, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtual, virtually, vocal music, Walker, ways, week, William Grant Still, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, women, YouTube

Classical music: This Saturday night brings both the Escher String Quartet to the Wisconsin Union Theater and the UW-Madison Choral Union and UW Symphony Orchestra to the Hamel Music Center

January 22, 2020
1 Comment

CORRECTION: The Ear received the following correction to the story he posted yesterday about the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and apologizes for the error:

“There was a change to our rollout in Brookfield. We are only repeating the fifth Masterworks concert on Saturday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts. We are NOT repeating this Friday’s concert in Brookfield.

“We will perform a Family Series concert of “Beethoven Lives Next Door” on Sunday, March 29, at 3 p.m. at the same Brookfield venue.”

By Jacob Stockinger

The upcoming weekend is a busy one for classical music.

The busiest night is Saturday night when two major concerts will take place: a performance by the Escher String Quartet and the postponed concert by the UW Choral Union and UW Symphony Orchestra with soloists.

Here are details:

ESCHER STRING QUARTET and DAVID FINCKEL

The concert by the Escher String Quartet (below) with cellist David Finckel (below bottom. formerly of the critically acclaimed Emerson String Quartet) takes place on this Saturday night, Jan. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Shannon Hall of the Wisconsin Union Theater.

The performance is part of the special season celebrating the centennial anniversary of the Concert Series.

The program includes the sublime Quintet in C Major, D. 956, with two cellos, by Franz Schubert and the String Quartet in A minor by the great early 20th-century Viennese violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler (below).

Tickets are $30-$50. For more information and to reserve tickets, go to: https://artsticketing.wisc.edu/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=CFC3765F-5F1D-4663-BCA0-985BE3049CF5

For more information about the Escher String Quartet, including a video performance and detailed background, go to: https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/escher-string-quartet-with-david-finckel/

UW CHORAL UNION

Also on this Saturday night at 8 p.m., in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall in the new Hamel Music Center at 740 University Avenue, the UW Choral Union and UW Symphony Orchestra (below top), along with two vocal soloists – soprano Chelsie Propst (below middle) and baritone James Harrington (below bottom) — will perform a concert originally scheduled for Dec. 7 and then postponed.

The program, without intermission, is one 80-minute work: the epic and influential “A Sea Symphony” by the great 20th-century British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (below).

General admission tickets are $18 for the general public and faculty or staff; and $10 for UW students. To reserve tickets, go to Campus Arts Ticketing at: https://artsticketing.wisc.edu/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=412623A4-4FB9-40D6-BC23-A425360713EA

Beverly Taylor (below), the longtime director of choral activities at the UW who will retire this spring, sent the following note:

“The text by American poet Walt Whitman presents four symphonic scenes of great breadth and imagination, with lush harmonies and constantly varying tempos and dynamics.” (You can hear the Waves section, or third movement, from “A Sea Symphony” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #20thCentury, #ASeaSymphony, #BaritoneSinger, #BeverlyTaylor, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrookfieldWisconsin, #ChamberMusic, #ChelsiePropst, #ChoralMusic, #ConcertSeries, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DavidFinckel, #EmersonStringQuartet, #EscherStringQuartet, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FritzKreisler, #HamelMusicCenter, #JacobStockinger, #JamesHarrington, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MusicReview, #RalphVaughanWilliams, #SaturdayNight, #ShannonHall, #SharonLynneWilsonCenterfortheArts, #SopranoSinger, #StringQuartet, #StringQuintet, #TheEar, #TheU.K., #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWChoralUnion, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #ViolinistVirtuoso, #VocalMusic, #WaltWhitman, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #YouTubevideo, 20th-century, A Sea Symphony, acclaimed, activity, American, American poetry, anniversary, Arts, audience, background, baritone, Beethoven, Beverly Taylor, blog, breadth, British, Brookfield, busy, celebrate, cellist, Cello, centennial, Chamber music, Chelsie Propst, choral, choral music, Classical music, classicalmusic, composer, Concert, concert hall, concert series, conductor, correction, critically acclaimed, David Finckel, details, director, dynamics, Emerson String Quartet, English, epic, error, Escher String Quartet, Facebook, Family, forward, Franz Schubert, Fritz Kreisler, great, Hamel Music Center, harmony, imagination, influence, influential, information, Jacob Stockinger, James Harrington, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, lush, Madison, major, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Music, music critic, music review, night, online, Orchestra, performer, poet, Poetry, post, posting, postpone, quintet, Ralph Vaughan Williams, retire, Retirement, Saturday night, scene, sea, Season, Second Viennese School, series, Shannon Hall, share, Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, soloist, soprano, Spring, String quartet, string quintet, sublime, symphonic, symphony, tag, Tempo, text, The Ear, ticket, U.K., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW Choral Union, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW-Madison, venue, Vienna, Viennese, Viola, Violin, violinist, vocal music, Walt Whitman, waves, Website, weekend, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, YouTube

Classical music: The critically acclaimed and popular Willy Street Chamber Players start their fifth summer series with a FREE community concert this Friday

July 2, 2019
2 Comments

IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE 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

The Ear has received the following announcement for a remarkable and must-hear summer series of chamber music concerts that from its very beginning seems to have found a successful formula that resonated with the public It relies on informality, affordable tickets, first-rate musicianship, short concerts, eclectic programs that mix classics with sure-fire new music, support for their local community.

Now in their fifth year, the Willy Street Chamber Players (WSCP, below) have become an established part of the Williamson Street neighborhood.

Recently awarded the silver medal in Madison Magazine’s prestigious “Best of Madison” reader poll in the category of “Best Classical Music Group,” WSCP has received numerous accolades for its accessible and exciting performances, intelligent and fun programming, and dedication to community partnerships.

The group has also been named “Musician of the Year”for 2016 by this blog.

The Summer Series concerts are on Friday evenings at 6 p.m. in the sanctuary of the beautiful Immanuel Lutheran Church (below) at 1021 Spaight St. The church is right on Lake Monona in the Williamson Street neighborhood. Enjoy 60-90 minutes of inspiring and unforgettable live music, then go explore the neighborhood with the remaining daylight hours.

Following the performance, enjoy a reception provided by one of our Willy Street restaurant partners. (Past contributors have been the Underground Butcher, Let It Ride Cold Brew Coffee, Madison Sourdough, the Willy Street Co-Op, Festival Foods, Roman Candle Pizza and more.)

While you enjoy your snacks, chat with the friendly musicians and ask them about the performance, the pieces and the group. We love interacting with our awesome audience.

A season pass is $40. Admission to individual concerts is $15. For tickets and more infomation, got to: http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org/2019-summer-series.html

COMMUNITY CONNECT – This is a FREE and family-friendly concert with all ages welcome for music, interactive learning, conversation and connections.

It takes place this Friday, July 5, at 6 p.m. at the Goodman Community Center (149 Waubesa Street on the east side), as is posted on the home website — NOT at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center, which is listed in the printed brochure but is undergoing construction.

The program – “Growing Sound: A Sonic Exploration” – features music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, John Corigliano, Antonin Dvorak, Friedrich August Kummer and Alberto Ginastera.

SUMMER SERIES 1

Friday, July 12, at 6 p.m. – Mozart and Mendelssohn

Prize-winning UW-Madison graduate Danny Kim, viola (below)

PROGRAM:

Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 1 in A major, Op. 18 (1826)

Simon Steen-Andersen: Study for String Instrument No. 1 (2007)

Mozart: String Quintet No. 2 in C minor, K. 406/516b (1787)

SUMMER SERIES 2

Friday, July 19, at 6 p.m. – Bassoon and Strings

UW-Madison Professor Marc Vallon, bassoon (below)

PROGRAM:

Beethoven: Allegretto for Piano Trio in B-flat major, WoO. 39 (1812)

Jennifer Higdon: “Dark Wood” (2001)

Franz Danzi: Bassoon Quartet in D minor, Op. 40, No. 2 (ca. 1820)

Alberto Ginastera: String Quartet No.1, Op. 20 (1948)

SUMMER SERIES 3

Friday, July 26, at 6 p.m. – Christopher Taylor, piano (below)

PROGRAM:

Ernest Bloch: Three Nocturnes (1924)

Jessie Montgomery: “Voodoo Dolls” (2008)

Dvorak: Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81 (1887) with UW-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor. (You can hear the first movement of Dvorak’s beautiful and melodic Piano Quintet in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

For more information, including background, biographies of the musicians, critics’ reviews, photos and how to support the Willy Street Chamber Players, go to:

http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AlbertoGinastera, #AntoninDvorak, #BassoonMusic, #BassoonQuartet, #BestofMadison, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ChristopherTaylor, #CriticalAcclaim, #DannyKim, #ErnestBloch, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FamilyFriendly, #FelixMendelssohn, #FestivalFoods, #FoodandDrink, #FranzDanzi, #FriedrichAugustKummer, #GoodmanCommunityCenter, #HomeWebsite, #ImmanuelLutheranChurch, #JenniferHigdon, #JessieMontgomery, #JohnCorigliano, #LakeMonona, #LetItRide, #LiveMusic, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonMagazine, #MadisonSourdough, #MarcVallon, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MelodicMusic, #MusicianoftheYear, #MusicReview, #NewMusic, #PianoQuintet, #PianoTrio, #Prize-Winning, #RomanCandlePizza, #SimonSteen-Andersen, #Steen-Andersen, #StringInstruments, #StringMusic, #StringQuartet, #StringQuintet, #TheEar, #UndergroundButcher, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VoodooDolls, #Wil-MarNeighborhoodCenter, #WilliamsonStreet, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WillyStreetCo-op, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, accessible, accolade, admission, affordable, age, Alberto Ginastera, Antonín Dvořák, Arts, audience, awesome, background, Bassoon, beautiful, Beethoven, Best of Madison, blog, brochure, category, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, chat, Christian, Christopher Taylor, church, Classical music, classics, coffee, community, composer, Concert, connection, construction, contributor, cost, Danny Kim, dark, daylight, dolls, drink, east, eclectic, Ernest Bloch, established, event, exciting, explore, Facebook, Family, family-friendly, Festival Foods, first-rate, food, formula, forward, Franz Danzi, free, Friday, Friedrich August Kummer, friendly, fun, Goodman Community Center, group, grow, growing, home website, Immanuel Lutheran Church, informal, informality, inspiring, instrument, intelligent, interacting, Jacob Stockinger, Jennifer Higdon, Jessie Montgomery, John Corigliano, jours, Lake Monona, Let It Ride, link, live, live music, Love, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Magazine, Madison Sourdough, Marc Vallon, Mead Witter School of Music, melodic, melody, member, Mendelssohn, Montgomery, movement, Mozart, Music, Musician, Musician of the Year, neigborhood, New Music, nocturne, numerous, part, partner, partnership, pass, performance, performer, photo, Pianist, Piano, Piano Quintet, Piano Trio, piece, pizza, poll, printed, prize, program, public, Quartet, reader, reception, repairs, restaurant, review, Roman Candle Pizza, sanctuary, series, share, short, Simon Steen-Andersen, snack, sonic, Sound, String quartet, string quintet, strings, study, subscriber, success, successful, summer, support, sure-fire, tag, The Ear, tickets, trash, Underground Butcher, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vibrant, video, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, Voodoo, we, Website, welcome, Wil-Mar, Williamson Street, Willy Street Chamber Players, Willy Street Co-op, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, wood, word, YouTube

Classical music: The Oakwood Chamber Players will play music by Russian, British, Canadian and American composers this Saturday night and Sunday afternoon

March 1, 2019
1 Comment

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.

ALERT: If you attend the concert by the Cuarteto Casals tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Shannon Hall of the Wisconsin Union Theater, you night want to read local writer and amateur cellist Paul Baker’s interview with the Chicago-born violist who analyzes the interpretation of each piece on the program. Here is a link to Baker’s blog “Only Strings” where you can find the interview: https://onlystringswsum.wordpress.com/author/pbaker/

For more information about the group and the concert, go to yesterday’s post: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2019/02/28/classical-music-this-friday-night-the-wisconsin-union-theater-presents-a-world-class-spanish-string-quartet-and-will-also-announce-the-special-programs-for-its-centennial-anniversary-next-season/

By Jacob Stockinger

This coming weekend, the Oakwood Chamber Players (below) continue their season theme of Vignettes with compositions that depict concepts and stories.

The program includes dances from Panama, a string quartet from Russia and interpretation of the natural world woven into a composition by an American composer.

Performances will take place Saturday night, March 2, at 7 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, March 3, at 2 p.m. Both concerts will be held at the Oakwood Center for Arts and Education, 6209 Mineral Point Road, on Madison’s far west side not far from West Towne Mall.

Tickets can be purchased with cash or personal checks at the door: $25 for general admission, $20 for seniors, and $5 for students. Visit www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com or call (608) 230-4316 for more information.

Five Novelettes for string quartet by Russian composer Alexander Glazunov (below) showcase the composer’s imagination and romantic writing. From the opening elegance in the Spanish style to the spirited Hungarian character in the finale, each of the five contrasting movements is graceful and captivating.

Red Hills Black Birds was composed by American composer Libby Larsen (below) for clarinet, viola and piano after she viewed contrasting paintings of New Mexico by Georgia O’Keeffe. Many of O’Keeffe’s works embody a sense of perspective, color and horizon. Larsen’s music uses her impressions of O’Keeffe’s art as her compositional focus. She reimagines six paintings of the southwest and shapes her composition to concepts of breadth and timelessness.

Dash for flute, clarinet and piano by American composer Jennifer Higdon (below) is a riotous musical chase. The composer chose these three instruments specifically for their capability of velocity. The unrelenting pulse creates a breath-taking technical sprint for the players.

O Albion by British composer Thomas Adès (below) is excerpted from his string quartet Arcadiana. The music has an ethereal quality and mesmerizes with its slow beauty and simplicity. (You can hear “O Albion” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Trio for flute, clarinet and bassoon is an upbeat piece written by Canadian composer, bassoonist and jazz pianist Bill Douglas. His writing brings together both classical and jazz influences.

The concert concludes with Danzas de Panama by William Grant Still (below) for string quintet and flute. A noted 20th century African-American composer, Still based this piece on Panamanian folk tunes collected in the 1920s. He used the lushness of the songs and compelling rhythms with great success. He was a talented orchestrator and it is hard to resist the panache and charm of the four movements: Taborita, Mejorana, Punto and Cumbia y Conga.

Oakwood Chamber Players members are Marilyn Chohaney, flute; Nancy Mackenzie, clarinet; Amanda Szyczs, bassoon; and Maggie Townsend, cello. They will be joined by guest artists Elspeth Stalter-Clouse, violin; Ariel Garcia, viola; Brad Townsend, bass; and Satoko Hayami, piano.

This is the fourth of five concerts in the Oakwood Chamber Players’ 2018-2019 season series entitled Vignettes. Remaining concerts will take place on May 18 and 19.

The Oakwood Chamber Players are a group of Madison-area professional musicians who have rehearsed and performed at Oakwood Village for over 30 years. They have also played in other local groups, including the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Oakwood Chamber Players is a professional music ensemble proudly supported by Oakwood Lutheran Senior Ministries and the Oakwood Foundation.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #African-AmericanComposer, #AlexanderGlazunov, #AmateurMusician, #AmericanComposer, #Bassmusic, #BassoonMusic, #BillDouglas, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BritishComposer, #CanadianComposer, #CelloMusic, #ChamberMusic, #ChicagoIllinois, #ChristianReligion, #ClarinetMusic, #CuartetoCasals, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FluteMusic, #FolkDance, #FolkTune, #JazzPianist, #JenniferHigdon, #LibbyLarsen, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicalInterpretation, #MusicEnsemble, #NaturalWorld, #NewMexico, #OakwoodChamberPlayers, #OakwoodVillage, #OakwoodVillageWest, #OnlyStrings, #PanamaDances, #PaulBaker, #PersonalCheck, #PianoMusic, #RedHillsBlackBirds, #RomanticMusic, #RussianComposer, #SaturdayNight, #SeniorCitizen, #StringQuartet, #StringQuintet, #Sundayafternoon, #TheSouthwest, #ThomasAdès, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViolaMusic, #ViolinMusic, #WestSide, #WestTowneMall, #WilliamGrantStill, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #YouTubevideo, admission, African American, afternoon, Albion, Alexander Glazunov, amateur, American composer, Arcadiana, Art, Arts, audience, bass, Bassoon, beauty, Bill Douglas, bird, black, blo, breadth, Canada, Canadian, captivating, cash, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, character, charm, chase, Chicago, Christian, clarinet, Classical music, color, compelling, composer, Composition, concept, Concert, contrast, Cuarteto Casals, dance, dances, DASH, depict, Education, elegance, ethereal, Facebook, finale, five, flute, Focus, folk tune, forward, graceful, hill, horizon, Hungarian, imagination, impressions, influence, information, instrument, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Jennifer Higdon, Libby Larsen, like, link, lushness, Lutheran, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mead Witter School of Music, members, mesmerizes, ministries, ministry, movement, Music, Musical composition, natural world, New Mexico, night, novelette, Oakwood Chamber Players, Oakwood Village, Oakwood Village West, Only Strings, opening, orchestrator, paintings, panache, Panama, Panamanian, Paul Baker, performer, personal check, perspective, Pianist, Piano, players, post, posting, professional, program, Pulse, quality, quintet, red, Red Hills Black Birds, Religion, rhythm, riotous, Romantic, Russian, Russian composer, Saturday, Season, senior, sense, shape, share, simplicity, slow, song, southwest, Spanish, sprint, story, String quartet, string quintet, Student, success, Sunday, tag, technical, theme, Thomas Ades, tickets, timelessness, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unrelenting, velocity, vignette, Viola, Violin, weekend, west, west side, West Towne Mall, William Grant Still, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, word, woven, writing, 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

July 5, 2018
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:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2018/06/15/classical-music-the-willy-street-chamber-players-announce-their-five-impressive-july-concerts-three-with-admission-and-two-for-free-as-both-subscription-and-single-tickets-go-on-sale/

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

Posted in Classical music
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: Grammy winners Takacs Quartet and pianist Garrick Ohlsson perform a MUST-HEAR concert of Mozart, Brahms and Shostakovich this Sunday night at the Wisconsin Union Theater. Plus, you can hear a FREE performance of string music by Johan Halvorsen and Philip Glass this Friday at noon

November 30, 2017
Leave a Comment

ALERT: This week’s FREE Friday Noon Musicale at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features the Passcaglia Duo of Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen and String Quartet No. 5 by American contemporary composer Philip Glass.

Performers are violinists Kaleigh Acord, Elspeth Stalter and Ela Mowinski; violist Shannon Farley; and cellist Morgan Walsh. The concert, which runs from 12:15 to 1 p.m., will be streamed live on the Facebook page of Noon Musicales.

By Jacob Stockinger

Separately and together, The Ear loves piano and strings.

So you can imagine the appeal of a concert that will take place this Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. in Shannon Hall at the Wisconsin Union Theater.

That’s when the veteran and venerable Takacs Quartet (below) and acclaimed pianist Garrick Ohlsson will join forces in a terrific all-masterpiece program.

The concert has all the makings of a MUST-HEAR event for chamber music fans.

The award-winning Takacs Quartet, founded 42 years ago in Hungary and widely recorded and honored, will play two string quartets.

The late String Quartet No. 21 in D Major, K. 575, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (below), is the first of the composer’s three so-called “Prussian” quartets.

Known for a more relaxed style than the earlier “Haydn” quartets by Mozart, the Prussian quartets were composed for the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II (below), who was a talented amateur cellist.

The Takacs will also perform the seven-movement String Quartet No. 11 in F minor by Dmitri Shostakovich (below). It is one of The Ear’s very favorite of the 16 quartets written by the Russian composer who endured the torments and treacheries of the Stalinist terror in the Soviet Union.

Then Garrick Ohlsson (below) will join in for the Piano Quintet in F Minor by Johannes Brahms. It is one of the four or five crowning quintets for piano and string quartet.

The Ear loves the playing of both artists and the program should be deeply interesting and moving. The Takacs possesses a mastery of many styles and has recorded numerous quartets by Haydn, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Smetana, Janacek and, more recently, by Dvorak as well as a terrific complete cycle of the 16 Beethoven quartets.

But the Takacs has recorded little Mozart (two string quintets) and little Shostakovich (one quartet and a piano quintet), so The Ear looks forward to hearing the quartet’s take on those composers.

The Takacs has recorded the Brahms Piano Quintet, but with British pianist Stephen Hough and Hungarian pianist Andras Schiff, but that work too should be a memorable performance with Ohlsson, the only American ever to win the International Chopin Piano Competition. (You can hear the energetic and lyrical opening movement from the Takacs-Hough recording in the YouTube video at the bottom, which has an intriguing and colorful bar graph to emphasize the structure.)

Tickets are $10-$47. For more information about purchasing tickets plus a video and more background about the artists, go to:

https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/takacs-quartet-with-garrick-ohlsson/

Posted in Classical music
Tags: amateur, American, András Schiff, Arts, bar, bar graph, Beethoven, British, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, Chopin International Piano Competition, Classical music, Compact Disc, composer, cycle, duo, Dvorak, event, Facebook, fan, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Franz Schubert, Frederick, free, Friday, Friedrich Wilhelm II, Garrick Ohlsson, Grammy, graph, Haydn, hear, Hungary, interesting, Jacob Stockinger, Janacek, Johan Halvorsen, Johannes Brahms, live, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, masterpiece, moving, Mozart, Music, musicale, night, noon, Norway, Norwegian, page, passacaglia, Philip Glass, Piano, Piano Quintet, program, Prussia, Prussian, quintet, relaxed, Russia, Russian, Schumann, Shannon Hall, Smetana, Soviet, Soviet Union, Stalin, Stephen Hough, stream, String quartet, string quintet, strings, style, Sunday, terror, terrorist, torment, U.S., UK, United Kingdom, United States, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, USSR, venerable, Veteran, Viola, Violin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube

Classical music: Farley’s underappreciated Salon Piano Series shines again with duo-pianists Robert Plano and Paola Del Negro

September 29, 2017
1 Comment

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

Roberto Plano appeared last season in a four-piano concert in the Salon Piano Series at Farley’s House of Pianos. This year, to open the 2017-18 season in the same series on last Sunday afternoon, the Boston-based pianist brought along his pianist wife, Paola Del Negro, for a duo program of utter fascination. (They are below.)

The first half of the program was devoted to music for piano-four hands, the duo alternating between primo and secondo parts. Robert Schumann’s six “Pictures From the East,” Op. 66, are examples of the composer’s important duo output.

Burgmein was the pen name of the covert composer better known as the influential music promoter and publisher Giulio Ricordi (below). His set of six duet pieces evoking characters from the Italian Renaissance Commedia dell’Arte tradition followed.

Then came two of the Hungarian Dances (No. 2 and 5) by Johannes Brahms in their original piano-duo form. (You can hear them play Hungarian Dances by Brahms in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Ending the program’s first half was one of its biggest hits. After composing the great orchestral cycle of six patriotic scenes called “My Country,” Bedrich Smetana (below) made four-hand piano arrangements of each. Plano and Del Negro played that for the popular “Moldau.” This arrangement managed to capture a good deal of the orchestral original’s coloristic and dramatic effects, and was played with particular power.

The entire second half was devoted exclusively to a major work by Brahms, his Sonata for Two Pianos, Op. 34b. This work was created first as a string quintet, then later discarded. But the two-piano version (below) was superseded by Brahms’ transformation of its material into a Quintet for Piano and Strings (reckoned as plain Op. 34).

The Quintet — which, by the way will be performed by the UW’s Pro Arte Quartet in the Salon Series next March — is, of course, one of the composer’s masterpieces. But the Two-Piano Sonata survives on its own merits. The parallel material is presented cogently, all of it redistributed in consistently keyboard terms, as against the mixed media of the Quintet.

The duo played it with the necessary Brahmsian burliness and power, and on Farley’s wonderful vintage pianos it sounded simply magnificent.

As an encore, the duo played a two-piano arrangement of an energetic tango piece by Astor Piazzolla, but then followed with another, in this case, an eight-hand piano trifle in which the Plano-Del Negro duo were joined as parents by their two young daughters (below). The audience could hardly resist that!

Plano and Del Negro are great discoveries. And once again, the Salon Piano Series has shown itself as one of the exciting, if too-little-known of Madison’s musical treasures.

For more information about the Salon Piano Series and its upcoming concerts, go to: http://salonpianoseries.org

Posted in Classical music
Tags: American Record Guide, Arts, big, big hit, Brahms, Burgmein, Chamber music, character, Classical music, color, Commedia dell'Arte, composer, covert, critic, cycle, dance, daughters, discovery, drama, duet, duo-pianists, duo-piano, Early music, effect, emeritus, Farley's House of Pianos, four-hand, History, hit, host, Hungarian, Hungarian Dances (Brahms), Hungary, influential, Isthmus, Itaky, Italian, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, John W. Barker, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, major, masterpiece, material, media, Medieval, mixed media, Moldau, Music, My Country, Orchestra, patriotic, patriotism, Paula Del Negro, pen name, photo, Piano, Piano Quintet, Piazzolla, Pictures From the East, power, Pro Arte Quartet, professor, promoter, publisher, Radio, Renaissance, review, Ricordi, Roberto Plano, Salon Piano Series, Schumann, Sonata, string quintet, tango, tradition, transformation, treasure, two-piano, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin, work, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube

Classical music: Starting this Sunday night, the next month is busy for the UW-Madison’s acclaimed Pro Arte Quartet with FREE concerts of music by Mozart, Brahms and Schubert

September 18, 2017
1 Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

The opening concert of the new season of the Pro Arte Quartet (below, in a photo by Rick Langer) is this coming Sunday night, Sept. 24, at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall.

The Pro Arte Quartet will give an all-Mozart program, featuring Alicia Lee (below), the new clarinet professor at the UW-Madison. The works to be performed are the G Major “Haydn” String Quartet, K. 387, called the “Spring” Quartet, and the famed late Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581. (You can hear the sublime slow movement of the Clarinet Quintet in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Here is a link to biographies of new faculty members at the UW-Madison School of Music, including that of Lee:

http://www.music.wisc.edu/2017/06/20/new-faculty-hires-at-the-school-of-music/

In early October, the internationally celebrated violist Nobuko Imai (below) returns to the UW-Madison campus, on her way from Europe to a concert in Minneapolis.

Her master class on viola and chamber music will be on Wednesday, Oct. 4, at 7:30 p.m. Morphy Recital Hall. It is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

The following day, Thursday, Oct. 5, at NOON in Mills Hall, Imai will perform a FREE public concert with members of the Pro Arte Quartet and guest cellist Jean-Michel Fonteneau (below).

The program is a single work, a masterpiece: the Brahms G Major Viola Quintet, Op. 111. It is legendary for the first viola part, according to a member of the quartet, and Imai would herself be legendary in this role.

Cellist Fonteneau is a member of the San Francisco Trio, and is familiar to Madison audiences through his many acclaimed appearances with the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society.

Adds Pro Arte violist Sally Chisholm: “This particular concert is another gesture to all the long-time supporters of the Pro Arte and the Madison community who remain part of our legacy.”

The Pro Arte’s second concert, also FREE and open to the public, is Saturday night, Oct. 28, in Mills Hall. It is will be all Schubert – the flute and piano theme and variations, and the Schubert Octet, featuring members of both the Wingra Wind Quintet and the Pro Arte Quartet.

Says Chisholm: “The Schubert Octet has been much discussed up and down the fourth floor of the School of Music for several years, and suddenly, we said “Let’s do it!”

“We checked calendars, and the Wingra was free to join us on Oct. 28. Whether this is a first performance of the Schubert, or one of many, the feeling is always that we never have the chance to perform it often enough. We hope it brings us all together with hope and joy.”

The Pro Arte Quartet’s longtime cellist Parry Karp continues to teach and coach chamber musicians, but he has been sidelined by a finger injury and will not yet be back to perform these concerts. He is scheduled to return to performing in November, according to Chisholm.

Classical music: More chamber music should be performed at the Goodman Community Center on the east side. Are there other underused venues?

July 21, 2017
2 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Last Saturday morning, The Ear headed off to the Goodman Community Center (below), on the near east side just off Atwood Avenue.

The reason was to hear a noontime concert by one of his favorite chamber music groups: The Willy Street Chamber Players.

The summer concert was part of the new and FREE Community Connect series by The Willys. And the terrific performances of works by Caroline Shaw, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Astor Piazzolla and Johannes Brahms seemed to draw in a good-sized crowd that was younger and even included some children.

Clearly, The Willys have indeed connected to the community in a different part of town than where they usually perform.

But another of the great things about The Willys is that they also explore new venues.

For the past two winters, they have performed a season preview concert in “A Place to Be” on Williamson Street.

What struck The Ear this time, however, was the Evjue Community Room (below) at the Goodman Center.

The handsomely rehabbed room sure seems an ideal venue for chamber music.

Why, The Ear wondered, was it the first time he was there for a concert?

The room seats about 100, making it ideal for intimate music.

It has lots of natural light, which the players (below) said they really like for reading music.

And the acoustics were superb, no doubt the result of the cream-colored brick, the dark wood, the glass windows and the metal ductwork – all hard surfaces that made for clarity and sufficient volume, even in the back rows. It is, as they say in the biz, a “live” space.

Take a look:

The Ear sure hopes the Goodman Center will see the return of The Willys.

More to the point, he also hopes that other chamber music groups will also use the center. It would be a wonderful spot for recitals and small groups of all kinds.

What do you think of the Goodman Center as a venue for classical music and other kinds of music?

Do you know of other underused performance spaces around the Madison area that you would recommend?

The Ear wants to hear.

	welltemperedear on Today is World Piano Day. Deut…
	Ginny Moore Kruse on Today is World Piano Day. Deut…
	welltemperedear on Today is World Piano Day. Deut…
	welltemperedear on Today is World Piano Day. Deut…
	Ronnie on Today is World Piano Day. Deut…

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: