The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: This summer’s Token Creek Festival is CANCELED. Plus, a teenager’s piano “practice journal” on Instagram is instructive, entertaining and encouraging
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NEWS ALERT: This summer’s Token Creek Festival (TCF) — with the chamber music theme of Legacy to run from Aug. 21-Sept. 6 –has been CANCELED. Organizers say they hope to launch a virtual online season of archived performances at the end of the summer. Also, once modestly sized gatherings are safe again, the TCF hopes to hold an off-season event. For more information and an official statement from TCF, go to: https://tokencreekfestival.org
By Jacob Stockinger
Somewhere in New York City is a young Chinese piano prodigy who can help you get through what is often the most challenging and discouraging part of piano lessons: practicing.
His name is Auston (below) – no last name is given – and you can find him, in T-shirts and shorts, on Instagram at Auston.piano.
Auston is quite the prodigy. A 13, he plays difficult and dramatic repertoire: the Nocturne in C minor, the Scherzo No. 1 in B minor and the Ballade No. 1 in G minor, all by Chopin.
You can also hear him play the Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in C-sharp minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, by Johann Sebastian Bach; the fiendish Toccata by Sergei Prokofiev; and the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff.
One day, The Ear expects, Auston might well be among the impressive amateurs and, later, professionals who compete in international competitions.
But more than listening to him playing, his frequent social media entries – sometimes he posts two or three times a day — allow us to hear him practice. We even hear him practicing scales – so-called Russian scales that combine scales in parallel and contrary motion.
This week, he hit 100 video posts. Just yesterday Auston started sight-reading the “Winter Wind” Etude of Chopin, Op. 25, No. 11, which many consider to be the most technically difficult of all Chopin’s etudes. (You can hear the etude – played by Maurizio Pollini – and see the note-filled score in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Starting out, he often plays hands separately (below) and sight-reads the score very, very slowly, making mistakes and working out fingering. He also uses a metronome at a very slow tempo. He gets frustrated but he never gives up. He just starts over again and provides an excellent role model for aspiring piano students.
But this young man is also fun to read. In his one-minute or less entries of his “practice journal” – which he also calls his “practice journey” — he is witty and self-deprecating in his commentaries about the music and especially about himself when he makes mistakes. As seriously as he takes the piano and practicing, he doesn’t take himself too seriously.
All in all he can even encourage others – including The Ear –to persevere and go through the same frustrations of practicing and learning a new piece.
In this case, it is the piano, but the postings could easily apply to practicing any other instrument or even to singing.
Check it out.
You will be impressed.
You will admire him.
You will laugh along with him.
And you just might practice more.
If this practice journal is a pandemic project, it succeeds way beyond what you — and probably Auston himself — might expect.
Happy listening!
And patient, productive practicing!
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Classical music: The Middleton Community Orchestra announces an ambitious 2020-21 season with new guest soloists and conductors, but with no Middleton venue
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By Jacob Stockinger
Amid all the concert cancellations due to COVID-19 comes good news.
The mostly amateur and critically acclaimed Middleton Community Orchestra (MCO, below) — which has canceled and postponed concerts for the remainder of this season — has announced its five-concert line-up for the 2020-21 season.
It is undeniably ambitious on several counts.
But unfortunately it usual venue — the Middleton Performing Arts Center that is attached to Middleton High School — will be undergoing renovations.
That means that the MCO will be using other venues besides its home base (below) for its 11th season.
The new venues include the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall (below) in the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave., at the UW-Madison, which will host three of the concerts.
Also included for the other two concerts are the brand new McFarland Performing Arts Center (below) – where the MCO will give the center’s inaugural public concert on Oct. 7 — and Madison Memorial High School.
Concert dates and times are usually Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. They are Oct. 7, Dec. 16, Feb. 17, April 2 (Friday) and May 26. Admission will remain $15 with free admission for students. And, as usual, post-concert meet-and-greet receptions will be held at all performances.
The ambitious new season includes some familiar faces but also some new names.
On Oct. 7, pianist Thomas Kasdorf (below) will open the season by performing the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Rachmaninoff; and then, on May 26, he will close the season with the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Beethoven as the first installment of a complete cycle of Beethoven piano concertos.
On Oct. 7, UW professor and Pro Arte Quartet first violinist David Perry (below top) will make his MCO debut in the Violin Concerto No. 4 by Mozart; and on Dec. 16, Madison Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Naha Greenholtz (below bottom) will return to play the Violin Concerto by Brahms.
On April 2, the Festival Choir of Madison (below), under its director Sergei Pavlov, will makes its MCO debut in the movie-score cantata “Alexander Nevsky” by Prokofiev.
And the teenage winners of the second Youth Concerto Competition, to be held next December, will perform with the orchestra on Feb. 17.
The conductor for three concerts will be Kyle Knox, the music director of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) and associate conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO).
A frequent MCO guest conductor, Knox has also agreed to become the ensemble’s new principal conductor and artistic adviser. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Kyle Knox conducting the MCO last December in Wagner’s Overture to the opera “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” (The Master Singers of Nuremberg) at the UW’s Hamel Music Center.)
Two guest conductors will be making their MCO debuts: UW-Whitewater professor Christopher Ramaekers (below top) on Oct. 7 and Edgewood College professor Sergei Pavlov (below bottom) on April 2.
Some repertoire still hasn’t been decided. For up-to-date information, as well as information about how to audition for the MCO, how to subscribe to its email newsletter and how to support it, go to the newly redesigned website at: https://middletoncommunityorchestra.org
“We will also try to schedule the concert with this year’s Youth Concerto Competition winners for this summer, even if it means going to an outdoor venue,” says MCO co-founder and co-artistic director Mindy Taranto. The winners are: violinists Ava Kenny and Dexter Mott, and cellist Andrew Siehr.
Adds Taranto: “We are really excited about the lineup of guest soloists and new conductors, and are especially grateful to Kyle Knox for his continued association with us. We’re going to have a fantastic year.”
Tags: #AlexanderNevsky, #AmateurMusicians, #AndrewSiehr, #ArtisticAdviser, #AssociateConductor, #AvaKenney, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrandNew, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ChristopherRamaekers, #Co-ArtisticDirector, #CommunitySupport, #CompleteCycle, #COVID-19, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DavidPerry, #DexterMott, #DieMeistersinger, #EdgewoodCollege, #EmailNewsletter, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FestivalChoir, #FestivalChoirofMadison, #FilmMusic, #FilmScore, #FourSeasons, #GuestArtist, #HamelMusicCenter, #HomeBase, #JacobStockinger, #JohannesBrahms, #KyleKnox, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #McFarlandPerformingArtsCenter, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Meet-and-Greet, #MemorialHighSchool, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MiddletonHighSchool, #MiddletonPerformingArtsCenter, #MindyTaranto, #MovieScore, #MusicDirector, #MusicMusic, #NahaGreenholtz, #PerformingArts, #PerformingArtsCenter, #PianoConcerto, #PrinicpalConductor, #ProArteQuartet, #RichardWagner, #SergeiPavlov, #SergeiProkofiev, #SergeiRachmaninoff, #SergeiRachmaninov, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #ThomasKasdorf, #UniversityofWisconsin-Whitewater, #ViolinConcerto, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouthConcertoCompetition, #YouTubevideo, acclaim, admisison, adviser, Alexander Nevsky, amateur, ambitious, Andrew Siehr, announce, artistic, artistic adviser, Arts, associate conductor, audience, audition, Ava Kenney, Beethoven, blog, Brahms, brand new, cancellations, Cantata, cellist, Cello, center, Chamber music, choral music, Christopher Ramaekers, Classical music, co-artistic director, co-founder, community, composer, Concert, concertmaster, concerto, conductor, coronavirus, COVID19, cycle, date, David Perry, debut, design, Dexter Mott, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Edgewood College, email, ensemble, Facebook, Festival Choir, Festival Choir of Madison, film, first, free, guest artist, Hamel Music Center, home base, inaugural, installment, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, join, Kyle Knox, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, McFarland, McFarland Performing Arts Center, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, Memorial High School, Middleton Community Orchestra, Middleton High School, Middleton Performing Arts Center, Mindy Taranto, movie, Mozart, MSO, Music, Music director, Naha Greenholtz, newsletter, opera, Orchestra, outdoor, outdoors, Overture, PAC, performers, Performing arts, Performing Arts Center, Pianist, Piano, post, posting, postpone, praise, Prelude, principal, principal conductor, Pro Arte Quartet, professor, Prokofiev, public, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, reception, redesigned, remainder, renovations, Richard Wagner, score, Season, Sergei Pavlov, Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Rachmaninov, share, singer, soloist, String quartet, Student, students, summer, support, symphony, tag, teenage, The Ear, The Master Singers, Thomas Kasdorf, tickets, time, United States, university, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, UW-Whitewater, venue, Violin, vocal music, Wagner, Wednesday, winner, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WYSO, Youth, Youth Concerto Competition, YouTube
Classical music: The Madison Opera, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Middleton Community Orchestra, Festival Choir, Oakwood Chamber Players and First Unitarian Society cancel concerts because of the coronavirus
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By Jacob Stockinger
The state health emergency declared by Gov. Tony Evers has now become a national emergency declared by President Trump.
Six more local groups have cancelled concerts as the pandemic of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 spreads exponentially and threatens the health of both the public and the performers:
The Festival Choir of Madison (below) has cancelled its concert TONIGHT of Yiddish music at the First Unitarian Society of Madison.
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below, in a photo by Mike Gorski) has cancelled and postponed all concerts through March. They include the “Beethoven Lives Next Door” Family Series concerts THIS MORNING at the Goodman Community Center and on March 29 in Brookfield; and the third Masterworks Concert in Madison with harpist Yolanda Kondonassis on March 27 in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center.
Says Joe Loehnis, CEO of the WCO: “We ask for your patience as we work to determine all of the options we will be able to offer to ticket holders. We are deeply grateful for your understanding.
“We’ll also keep you informed of the status of all our upcoming performances as we continue to monitor the situation closely over the coming days and weeks.
“To learn more about our contingency planning, please visit our website at http://bit.ly/2wSMCbe.
“If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call us at (608) 257-0638, or email, wco@wcoconcerts.org.
“Thank you for your patronage and support.”
The Oakwood Chamber Players (below) have cancelled their concerts on Saturday and Sunday, March 21 and 22, at Oakwood Village University Woods on the far west side.
The Middleton Community Orchestra (below, below in a photo by Brian Ruppert) has cancelled its upcoming concert of teenage concerto winners with guest conductor Kyle Knox on Wednesday, April 8, and postponed it until large gatherings become safe again.
The FREE Friday Noon Musicale series at the First Unitarian Society of Madison will be live-streamed without an audience. Says music director Drew Collins:
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the First Unitarian Society of Madison will alter the schedule for its Friday Noon Musicale recital series.
Beginning March 20, 2020…
- Musicales will be live-streamed from Atrium Auditorium (below, in a photo by Zane Williams) here: https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2Ffusmadison%2Fvideos&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cce899e33b3124e28489608d7c70cdac6%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637196730328671160&sdata=mpn5tbESRbSx8tSaoKTi8RH7TpmkdGC5xTu1iyyJaEk%3D&reserved=0
* No audience members will be permitted.
* Outside doors will be locked.
* In cases where the performers are not able or willing to play, notification will be made via https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=www.fusmadison.org%2Fmusicale&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cce899e33b3124e28489608d7c70cdac6%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637196730328671160&sdata=069CmBdvgPRWjGi%2BiCEUdeD%2Fth2zVBJlzJowWcnH%2BFc%3D&reserved=0and no live-stream will be broadcast.
“Stay tuned for the upcoming launch of our SoundCloud channel, curated by Rich Samuels, where you will be able to listen to highlights from the Musicales.
In related news, the Madison Symphony Orchestra announced Friday that it will make a decision about upcoming concerts next week. But since the Overture Center later announced it is closing its doors until April 13 and cancelling all performances, it would seem that the MSO performances of the Dvorak Requiem on April 3, 4 and 5 will be cancelled. But that has not yet been officially confirmed by the MSO.
In addition, the Madison Opera has cancelled its production of Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld” on April 17 and 19.
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Classical music: University Opera updates and stages Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” on this Friday night, Sunday afternoon and Tuesday night. Plus, here are the winners of the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Final Forte
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NEWS UPDATE: If you missed it, here are the results of Wednesday’s night Final Forte teenage concerto competition with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, which was broadcast live from Overture Hall on Wisconsin Public Radio and PBS Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin Public Television).
First and second place prizes of a $2,000 scholarship went to pianist Michael Wu and pianist Jessica Jiang, respectively. The two runners-up — violinists Emily Hauer and Jonah Kartman — each received a scholarship of $1,000.
Here is a link to more information, photos and background – including teachers — for each of the four contestants as well as the dates for rebroadcasting the finalists’ concert on radio and TV.
By Jacob Stockinger
The prize-winning University Opera and UW Symphony Orchestra will stage three performances of “Cosi fan tutte” (So Do They All, or Women Are Like That), the late comic and seriously satirical opera by Mozart about love, gender roles and cheating on partners.
The performances are in Old Music Hall on Bascom Hill on this Friday night, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday afternoon, March 1, at 2:30 p.m.; and Tuesday night, March 3, at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $25 for general admission with reserved seats, $20 for seniors (62 and up) and $10 for UW students.
As usual, UW students will alternate certain roles during the three performances. (Below is returning singer Anja Pustaver, one of the three Despina’s in the production.)
The stage director is David Ronis, the head of the opera program at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. He has won numerous national awards during his tenure at the UW-Madison for his inventive re-imaginings of well-known operas and musicals.
The student orchestra will be conducted by Oriol Sans, the acclaimed new professor of conducting and director of Orchestral Activities at the UW-Madison. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear the Overture to “Cosi” played by the Metropolitan Opera conducted by James Levine.)
Below is a studio photo by radio host Norman Gilliland of members of the production when they appeared on Wisconsin Public Radio. From left are: conductor Oriol Sans, director David Ronis, soprano Julia Urbank and soprano Cayla Rosche.
The opera has been updated to the Roaring Twenties, at a time when the women’s suffrage movement and other women’s rights issues were gaining traction. The re-staging also seems especially timely and contemporary, given the #MeToo and Time’sUp movements.
Here is a link to the full press release with the complete cast and production staff as well as a sketch of the abstract stage set (below) designed by Joseph Varga and other information, including a detailed synopsis and an explanation of the reason for setting the opera by in the Roaring 20s: https://www.music.wisc.edu/2020/02/10/cosi-fan-tutte/
Here is a link to a shortened version – with information about tickets and parking — on the Mead Witter School of Music’s home website under Concerts and Events: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/university-opera-mozarts-cosi-fan-tutte/2020-02-28/
Tags: #BascomHill, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BroadwayMusical, #CaylaRoche, #Classicalera, #CosifanTutte, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DavidRonis, #DukeandDuchessofSussex, #EmilyHauer, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FinalForte, #Fridaynight, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #JamesLevine, #JessicaJiang, #JonahKartman, #JosephVarga, #JuliaUrbank, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MeToo, #MeToomovement, #MetropolitanOpera, #MichaelWu, #MusicHall, #NewsUpdate, #NormanGilliland, #OperaMusic, #OriolSans, #OvertureHall, #PBSWisconsin, #PianoConcerto, #PressRelease, #Prize-Winning, #ProductionStaff, #Roaring20s, #RoaringTwenties, #SeniorCitizen, #SopranoSinger, #Sundayafternoon, #TelevisionBroadcast, #TheEar, #TheMet, #Time'sUp, #Tuesdaynight, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinPublic Radio, #WisconsinStudio, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #Women'sRights, #Women'sSuffrage, abstract, acclaim, alternate, audience, award, background, Bascom Hill, blog, Broadcast, cast, Cayla Rosché, cheating, Classical, Classical era, comic, Competition, Concert, concerto, contemporary, contestant, Cosi fan tutte, costume, costumes, date, David Ronis, director, Emily Hauer, era, event, Facebook, Final Forte, finalist, first, forward, Friday, Friday night, gain, gender, head, Home, home website, host, imagine, information, inventive, Jacob Stockinger, James Levine, Jessica Jiang, Jonah Kartman, Joseph Varga, Julia Urbank, late, like, link, live, Love, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mead Witter School of Music, Met, Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Orchestra, Michael Wu, miss, movement, Mozart, Music Hall, musical, national, news, night, Norman Gilliland, opera, Orchestra, Oriol Sans, Overture, Overture Hall, parking, partner, PBS, PBS Wisconsin, performer, photo, Pianist, Piano, play, post, posting, press, prize, production, production staff, professor, program, Radio, rebroadcast, results, rights, Roaring 20s, Roaring Twenties, role, satirical, scholarship, second, senior, set, setting, share, shorten, singer, Singing, sketch, soloist, soprano singer, staff\, stage, Student, studio, suffrage, Sunday, Sunday afternoon, synopsis, tag, Teacher, teenage, teenager, Television, tenure, The Ear, the Met, tickets, time, timely, traction, Tuesday, Tuesday night, TV, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, update, UW, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW-Madison, version, Violin, violinist, vocal music, Website, Wisconsin Pubic Radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, women, women's rights, women's suffrage, YouTube
Classical music: This Wednesday brings a FREE Just Bach concert and the FREE Final Forte concerto competition of the Madison Symphony Orchestra on Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television
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By Jacob Stockinger
This Wednesday, March 13, brings two noteworthy and FREE events: this month’s midday Just Bach concert; and, at night, the annual Final Forte teenage concerto competition of the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
Here are details about both events:
JUST BACH
This month’s FREE hour-long performance by Just Bach (below, in a photo by John W. Barker) will take place at Luther Memorial Church, 1021 University Avenue, starting at 1 p.m. Food and drink are permitted and free-will donations are accepted.
The program this Wednesday is: the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor “Dorian” for organ, BWV 538, by Johann Sebastian Bach; the cantata “Herr, Ich Warte auf dein Heil” (Lord, I Wait for Your Salvation) by Johann Michael Bach, a cousin of Johann Sebastian; and the famous cantata “Christ lag in Todesbanden” (Christ Lay in the Bonds of Death”), BWV 4, by Johann Sebastian Bach. (You can hear the opening Sinfonia and Chorus to the latter in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Here is a list of upcoming performances and programs for the second semester:
https://justbach.org/concerts/
And here is a link to the home page and website with links to information about the performers and more.
FINAL FORTE
Then on Wednesday night, starting at 6:45 p.m. in Overture Hall of the Overture Center, the four finalists in the annual Final Forte teenage concerto competition, held by the Madison Symphony Orchestra, will compete accompanied by the MSO and conductor John DeMain.
The public is invited to attend the FREE event, but tickets but must be reserved in advance.
The performances will also be broadcast live starting at 7 p.m. by both Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) and Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR).
The four finalists, from dozens of statewide applicants who took part in the two preliminary rounds, are (below, from left): violinist Monona Suzuki of Fitchburg playing Ravel; cellist Grace Kim of Waunakee playing Saint-Saens; flutist Holly Venkitaswaren of Lisbon playing Pierce; and pianist Antonio Wu of Madison playing Rachmaninoff.
For more information about the performers, what they will perform and how to obtain tickets, as well as background on the competition, including impressive radio and television ratings, go to:
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Classical music: Famed pianist Byron Janis reached out for Chopin. Did Chopin return the favor from beyond the grave?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Recently, The Ear posted a story by pianist Jeremy Denk that, to his mind, did the best job ever of explaining why the music of Frederic Chopin appeals so universally.
Here is a link:
Then more recently The Ear heard another story that involved the famed pianist Byron Janis (below), who studied with Vladimir Horowitz when he was a teenager.
He then went on to a spectacular virtuosic career before his hands were partially crippled by severe psoriatic arthritis. (You can hear him play less virtuosic music very poetically in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Through his piano playing and his library searches, Janis has reached out to Chopin, with some impressive results, including discovering lost manuscripts of famous waltzes.
But more surprising is Janis’ claim that, through a death mask, Chopin has returned the favor from beyond the grave and reached out to him in a paranormal or supernatural way.
The story was broadcast on National Public Radio (NPR). It aired on the Saturday version of Weekend Edition with Scott Simon, and then was posted on the blog Deceptive Cadence.
Here is a link:
What do you think?
Do you believe Byron Janis’ story and explanation?
What do you think of his Chopin playing?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Tonight is that start of six weekly Concerts on the Square with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and guest artists under conductor Andrew Sewell. Here’s what you need to know
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By Jacob Stockinger
Tonight marks the first of this summer’s Concerts on the Square, performed by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below) and guest artists under the baton of music director Andrew Sewell.
The FREE community event was first proposed by famed “American Girl” dolls creator, businesswoman and philanthropist Pleasant Rowland decades ago when she worked downtown and lamented how abandoned the Capitol Square got after dark. This is the 34th season of the popular Concerts on the Square. Each concert now draws tens of thousands of listeners.
The concerts will take place on the King Street corner of the Capitol Square. They run from 7 to 9 p.m. on six consecutive Wednesdays (rain dates are Thursdays). But of course people gather hours earlier to socialize and picnic.
Although pop,rock, folk and film music is often featured, tonight’s program is mostly classical – composers are Leonard Bernstein, Louis Moreau Gottschalk and Otto Nicolai — and performing will be this year’s winner of the WCO teenage concerto competition. She is violinist Emily Hauer (below) and she hails from Appleton, Wisconsin, where she has studied at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music.
Here is a link to all you need to know about tonight, from the programs and a performer’s detailed biography to vendor menus, the way to volunteer and the ground rules for concert etiquette:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/concerts-on-the-square-1-2/
You can see and hear a sampler of Concerts on the Square in the YouTube video at the bottom.
For future planning, here is a link to all six concerts with similar information:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performance-listing/category/concerts-on-the-square
Should you want to know more about WCO maestro Andrew Sewell (below), music director since 2000 — and who has also just been named the music director of the San Luis Obispo Symphony in California — here are some profiles and interviews that make for good reading while you wait for the music to start.
Here is an excellent profile done by Sandy Tabachnik in 2014 for Isthmus:
http://isthmus.com/music/andrew-sewell-the-malleable-maestro-of-the-wisconsin-chamber-orchestra/
And here is some background about the New Zealand-born Sewell, who became an American citizen 10 years ago, along with links to other news stories about his latest appointment:
https://welltempered.wordpress.com/tag/sewell/
And from the “Only Strings” blog of Paul Baker, who hosts a show of the same name on WSUM 91.7 FM, the student-run radio station at the UW-Madison, here is an interview with ever-gracious Sewell:
https://onlystringswsum.wordpress.com/author/pbaker/page/3/
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Classical music: Two FREE “garage” performances of Fresco Opera Theatre’s “The Ugly Duckling” remain in Fitchburg and Madison on Saturday and Sunday afternoons
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following information from Fresco Opera Theatre:
Take “The Ugly Duckling” — the fairy tale by Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen — mashed up with opera and all set in the context of a typical John Hughes movie.
Fresco revisits the joys that were the ’80s.
The hair.
The fashion.
The mean girls.
The cute boys.
Teenage angst at its best, and what better way to convey it than through opera?
Best of all – WE BRING THE SHOW TO YOU!
This is fun for the whole family, whether you are an opera fan, unfamiliar with opera, or frankly even think you hate opera. This is a totally awesome production!
The final two FREE “garage” performances (below top, by Max Wendt, and below bottom) are this Saturday at 2 p.m. at 4412 Sentinel Pass in Fitchburg and Sunday at 2 p.m. at 21 Shea Court, on Madison’s west side)
This is part of Fresco’s 2017 season of outreach. All that we do this year will be FREE OF CHARGE to get people interested in the fine arts.
We will have our Opera Unplugged series starting up at the end of July, which will take place on the Capitol Square during the Saturday morning Dane County Farmers’ Markets.
This is a great opportunity for families of young children to introduce them to opera.
For more information about Fresco Opera Theatre, including portraits of the cast for “The Ugly Duckling”; past productions; dates and places of Opera Unplugged productions; opera at Olbrich Gardens; and how to support the company, look at the YouTube video at the bottom and go to: http://www.frescooperatheatre.com
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Classical music: The Edgewood College Concert Band performs its 23rd annual benefit concert to fight hunger this Friday night. Plus, the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s “Final Forte” competition concert is TONIGHT at 7
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ALERT: Just a reminder that TONIGHT at 7 p.m., the final round of the youth concerto competition with the Madison Symphony Orchestra will take place under the direction of MSO music director John DeMain.
You can stream it, or watch and hear the four finalists – two violinists, a pianist and a harpist – live on Wisconsin Public Television and Wisconsin Public Radio. You can also attend the concert in Overture Hall of the Overture Center for FREE if seats are still available.
For more information, including the program and biographies of the teenage performers, go to:
By Jacob Stockinger
This Friday night at 7 p.m., the Edgewood College Concert Band will perform a FREE donation concert to benefit a community food program. (Below is a poster from 2013.)
The concert will be in the St. Joseph Chapel, 1000 Edgewood College Drive.
Admission is FREE with a freewill offering to benefit the Luke House community meal program.
The Edgewood College Concert Band will play under the direction of Walter Rich (below). You can hear a sample of the concert band, taken from its 2013 Christmas concert, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The program offers a variety of styles and features music by William Byrd, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Claude Debussy. A Folk Song Set of Wisconsin by the American composer Barry E. Kopetz (born in 1951, below) will be also be featured.
The Music Department at Edgewood College has hosted benefit concerts for Luke House since 1994.
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Classical music: The amateur, acclaimed and affordable Middleton Community Orchestra suspends its new season until further notice
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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
At a time when many concert schedules are getting complicated due to virtual online concerts and other alternatives because of the coronavirus pandemic and Covid-19, the message couldn’t be simpler.
The Middleton Community Orchestra (below) has suspended its new season until further notice.
You can check for additional information by going to the website: https://middletoncommunityorchestra.org
There it says: “Concerts are postponed until further notice. Check back here and join our email list for updates to the season.”
It’s too bad.
The season took a lot of organizing. It was going to take place in alternative venues because the Middleton Performing Arts Center, attached to Middleton High School, is undergoing renovations. (In the YouTube at the bottom, you can hear the MCO performing the Overture to Wagner’s opera “Die Meistersinger.”
It was also to feature new soloists including violinist David Perry of the UW-Madison Pro Arte String Quartet, and two guest conductors from Edgewood College and the UW-Whitewater.
It could also mean another cancellation of the new teenage concerto competition and concert as well as the cancellation of conductor Kyle Knox’s inaugural season as the MCO’s new music director (below).
Here is the largely amateur, well planned, unquestionably ambitious and very affordable season that was scheduled: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/03/30/classical-music-the-middleton-community-orchestra-announces-an-ambitious-2020-21-season-with-new-soloists-and-conductors-but-with-no-middleton-venue-for-the-season/
Do you have comments for the MCO?
The Ear wants to hear.
Share this:
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