The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: Meet Conor Nelson, the new flute professor at the UW-Madison

August 13, 2020
8 Comments

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

The UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music has a new flute professor who follows Timothy Hagen in taking the place of retired longtime predecessor Stephanie Jutt, who continues to perform locally with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society..

He is Conor Nelson (below) and he starts later this month at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.

Here is the biography — impressive for both his performing and his teaching –that the university released: 

“Praised for his “long-breathed phrases and luscious tone” by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Canadian flutist Conor Nelson is established as a leading flutist and pedagogue of his generation.

“Since his New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, he has frequently appeared as soloist and recitalist throughout the United States and abroad.

“Solo engagements include concertos with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Flint Symphony, and numerous other orchestras.

“In addition to being the only wind player to win the Grand Prize at the WAMSO (Minnesota Orchestra) Young Artist Competition, he won first prize at the William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition. He also received top prizes at the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition, the Haynes International Flute Competition as well as the Fischoff, Coleman and Yellow Springs chamber music competitions. (Editor’s note: In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Conor Nelson perform the second and third movements of the Flute Sonata by French composer Francis Poulenc.)

“With percussionist Ayano Kataoka (below left, with Nelson), he performed at Merkin Concert Hall, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Hall and Izumi Hall. A recital at the Tokyo Opera City Hall received numerous broadcasts on NHK Television. Their CD entitled, “Breaking Training” was released on New Focus Recordings (NYC). His second CD, “Nataraja,” with pianist Thomas Rosenkranz, is also available on New Focus.

“He has collaborated with pianist Claude Frank on the Schneider concert series in New York City and appeared at numerous chamber music festivals across the country including the OK Mozart, Bennington, Skaneateles, Yellow Barn, Cooperstown, Salt Bay, Look and Listen (NYC), Norfolk (Yale), Green Mountain, Chesapeake, and the Chamber Music Quad Cities series.

“He is the Principal Flutist of the New Orchestra of Washington in Washington, D.C., and has performed with the Detroit, Toledo and Tulsa Symphony Orchestras. He also performed as guest principal with A Far Cry, Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco, and the Conceirtos de la Villa de Santo Domingo.

“A respected pedagogue, Dr. Nelson has given master classes at over 100 colleges, universities and conservatories.

“Prior to his appointment at UW-Madison, he served as the flute professor at Bowling Green State University for nine years and as the Assistant Professor of Flute at Oklahoma State University from 2007-2011.

“His recent residencies include Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea; the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China; the Conservatorio de Musica de Puerto Rico; and the Associacao Brasileira de Flautistas in Sao Paulo.

“He is also a regular guest of the Texas Summer Flute Symposium and has been the featured guest artist for 11 flute associations across the country. His former students can be found performing in orchestras, as well as teaching at colleges, universities and public schools nationwide. They have also amassed over 60 prizes in young artist competitions, concerto competitions and flute association competitions.

“Nelson received degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, Yale University and Stony Brook University where he was the winner of the school-wide concerto competitions at all three institutions. He is also a recipient of the Thomas Nyfenger Prize, the Samuel Baron Prize and the Presser Award.

“His principal teachers include Carol Wincenc, Ransom Wilson, Linda Chesis, Susan Hoeppner and Amy Hamilton. Nelson is a Powell Flutes artist and is the Assistant Professor of Flute at UW-Madison where he performs with the Wingra Wind Quintet.”

 


Posted in Classical music
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Classical music: Today at noon you can hear Japanese marimba music. At the UW-Madison, tonight offers a FREE concert of Eastern European music by the Wingra Wind Quintet. Tomorrow night is a FREE concert of vocal music by UW Chorale

November 8, 2019
3 Comments

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.

ALERT: TODAY, Nov. 8, from 12:15 to 1 p.m. at the FREE Friday Noon Musicale at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, the veteran international marimbist Rebecca Kite (below) — who teaches and concertizes — will perform a program that features music of Handel, herself and contemporary Japanese composers including Keiko Abe and Minoru Miki. Kite recently moved to Madison.

By Jacob Stockinger

Tonight and tomorrow night feature two noteworthy and FREE concerts of chamber music for winds and choral music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music.

Here are details:

WINGRA WIND QUINTET

TONIGHT, Nov. 8, at 8 p.m. in the Collins Recital Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave., the UW-Madison’s Wingra Wind Quintet  performs a FREE concert of music from Eastern Europe.

Works by Bela Bartok, Leos Janacek, Gyorgy Kurtag and Endre Szervanszky will be featured.

The guest artist is clarinetist Brian Gnojek (below).

For more information about the concert, the works on the program and background of the Wingra Wind Quintet (below, in 2018, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) as an acclaimed faculty chamber music ensemble, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/wingra-wind-quintet-2/2019-11-08/

UW CHORALE

This Saturday night, Nov. 9, in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the Hamel Music Center, the UW Chorale (below) will perform a FREE concert with an eclectic theme.

The program is called “How to Spice Up Your Life.” Selections include works about music, dance, chat, sports, love, outings and cooking.

The concert includes a performance of PDQ Bach’s The Seasonings, a parody of baroque oratorios, featuring faculty soloists Julia Rottmayer and Paul Rowe with student soloists Angela Peterson and Charles Hancin. (You can hear Part I of “The Seasonings” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

For more information, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-chorale-3/

 


Posted in Classical music
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Classical music: The gala opening this weekend of the UW-Madison’s new Hamel Music Center is SOLD OUT. What do you think of the building, the music and the event? Plus, veteran music critic John W. Barker has died

October 25, 2019
7 Comments

PLEASE HELP THE EAR. 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.

ALERT: Word arrived late last night that the respected longtime music critic John W. Barker, a retired UW-Madison professor of medieval history, died Thursday morning. He wrote locally for Isthmus, The Capital Times and this blog. Details will be shared when they are known. 

By Jacob Stockinger

This weekend, Oct. 25-27, marks the official gala opening of the new Hamel Music Center (below, in a photo by Bryce Richter for University Communications) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music. It is located at 740 University Ave., next to the new wing of the Chazen Museum of Art, which has a special exhibit relating to the new music center.

The impressive $58-million structure, which has taken many years to fund  (completely privately) and then to build, will celebrate its opening tonight, Saturday night (while the 14th annual Halloween FreakFest on State Street is happening) and Sunday afternoon.

The performers will include distinguished alumni, faculty members and students.

Here is a link to an overall schedule as published on the School of Music’s home website: https://www.music.wisc.edu/hamel-music-center-opening-schedule/

Thanks to an astute reader who found what The Ear couldn’t find, here is a complete schedule — long, varied and impressive — of works and performers: https://www.music.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191025-Hamel-Music-Center-Opening-Weekend.pdf

And here is a link to the official UW-Madison press release with more background and details about the building: https://news.wisc.edu/mead-witter-school-of-musics-hamel-music-center-opening-this-fall/

UW-Madison composer Laura Schwendinger (below) has been commissioned to write a Fanfare that will receive its world premiere tonight.

The opening promises to be a success, complete with receptions at the end of each performance.

In fact, the public has signed on enough that the FREE tickets to all events are SOLD OUT, according to the School of Music’s home website.

Taste is personal and varies, and The Ear has heard mixed reviews of the new building. (For the special occasion, you can hear “The Consecration of the House” Overture by Beethoven, performed by the La Scala opera house orchestra in Milan under Riccardo Muti, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Basically, people seem to agree that the acoustics are much improved over Mills Hall and Morphy Recital Hall in the old Humanities Building.

But public opinion seems more divided over other aspects, from the overall external architecture and interior design to the smaller size of the big hall, the seats and seating layout, and the restrooms.

So if you go – or have already gone – let the rest of us know what you think about those various aspects of the new building and about the various performers and programs.

As a warm-up preview, here are photos of the main halls or spaces, all taken by Bryce Richter for University Communications:

Here is the 660-seat Mead Witter Concert Hall:

Here is the 300-seat Collins Recital Hall:

And here is the Lee/Kaufman Rehearsal Hall:

But what do you say? You be the critic.

The Ear and others hope to see COMMENTS from listeners and especially performers. What is it like to perform there? Or to sit and listen?

What does the public think of the new building and concert halls? Are you satisfied? What do you like and what don’t you like?

Should some things have been done – or not done – in your opinion?

Does the building and do the concert halls live up to the expectations and hype?

The Ear wants to hear.


Posted in Classical music
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Classical music: Here is a year-long list of concerts at the University of Wisconsin Mead Witter School of Music. They start Tuesday night with the 40th annual Karp Family Labor Day Concert

September 1, 2019
Leave a Comment

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

Get out your datebooks and calendars.

Here is a complete listing for major concerts and events at the University of Wisconsin Mead Witter School of Music during the new 2019-20 season.

The calendar starts with the FREE season-opening 40th annual Karp Family Labor Day Concert this coming Tuesday night, Sept. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall. The program features chamber music by Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Dvorak. For more information about the program and performers, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/40th-karp-family-concert/

Using the search engine on this blog, you could also consult whenever individual or group you want. You could print it out and have it in hand instead of the usual brochure, which will not be printed this year. See a previous blog post: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2019/08/19/classical-music-the-uw-madison-school-of-music-will-not-have-a-complete-brochure-for-the-new-season-go-to-the-website-and-sign-up-for-an-email-newsletter-the-30th-karp-family-labor-day-concert-is-s/

Most concerts this season will take place in the new Hamel Music Center (below), which has a three-day opening celebration Oct. 25-27.

Please note that just a few programs are listed. For other programs, and for information about any admission charge, you can go to the School of Music’s home website closer to the event and click on Concerts and Events: https://www.music.wisc.edu/events/

Tuesday, Sep 3, 2019

Karp Family Concert

page1image4520 page1image4840

7:30 PM

page1image6592

Mills Hall

Sunday, September 29, 2019,

Jessica Martin & John O’Brien – Nordic song recital

4:00 PM

Morphy Hall

Monday, Sept. 30, 2019

Beth Wiese, Tuba, Guest Artist Recital

7:30 PM

Morphy Hall

Friday, October 4, 2019

Pro Arte Quartet

8:00 PM

Mills Hall

Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019

Chanticleer

7:30 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019

Wind Ensemble

7:30 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Friday, October 11, 2019

UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra

8:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sunday, October 13, 2019

University Bands

2:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Contemporary Jazz & Blue Note Ensemble

7:30 PM

Collins Hall

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Wisconsin Brass Quintet – Faculty Concert Series

7:30 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Thursday, October 17

Jazz Faculty Quintet with special guest Michael Dudley, trumpet

7:30 PM

Collins Hall

Monday, October 21, 2019

Afro-Cuban Jazz Ensemble and UW Jazz Orchestra

7:30 PM

Play Circle

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Concert Band

7:30 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Wed, October 23, 2019

Jazz Composers Group & Jazz Standards

7:30 PM

Collins Hall

Thu, October 24, 2019

Parry Karp with Eli Kalman, piano

7:30 PM

Collins Hall

Friday, October 25, 2019

Opening Celebration Weekend: Hamel Music Center. Please check our website for details.

All Day

740 University Avenue

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Opening Celebration Weekend: Hamel Music Center. Please check our website for details.

All Day

740 University Avenue

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Opening Celebration Weekend: Hamel Music Center. Featured Event: Collins Fellows Concert

1:00 PM

Collins Recital Hall, Hamel Music Center

Wed, October 30, 2019

Master Class with Violist Nobuko Imai

6:30 PM

Collins Hall

Thu, October 31, 2019

Violist Nobuko Imai with Pro Arte Quartet

12:00 PM

Collins Hall

Fri, November 1, 2019

page1image108248 page1image108832

Madrigal Singers

8:00 PM

page1image111056 page1image111376

Mead Witter Hall

page1image112688

page2image1376 page2image1960

Sat, November 2, 2019

Alicia Lee, faculty clarinet

page2image4624 page2image4944

8:00 PM

page2image6696

Collins Hall

Sun, November 3, 2019

Wind Ensemble

2:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Fri, November 8, 2019

Wingra Wind Quintet

8:00 PM

Collins Hall

Sat, November 9, 2019

UW Chorale

8:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Thu, November 14, 2019

UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra

7:30 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Fri, November 15, 2019

University Opera: Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

7:30 PM

Music Hall

Sun, November 17, 2019

University Opera: Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

2:00 PM

Music Hall

Tue, November 19, 2019

University Opera: Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

7:30 PM

Music Hall

Sat, November 16, 2019

Low Brass Ensemble

4:00 PM

Collins Hall

Sat, November 16, 2019

Combined Choirs

8:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sat, November 16, 2019

Timothy Hagen, faculty flute

8:00 PM

Collins Hall

Fri, November 22, 2019

UW Concert Choir

8:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Fri, November 22, 2019

Pro Arte Quartet

8:00 PM

Collins Hall

Fri, November 22, 2019

UW Jazz Orchestra

5:00-7:00 PM

Rathskeller

Saturday, Nov 23, 2019

Undergrad Audition Day

All day

Sat, November 23, 2019

World Percussion Ensemble

12:00 PM

Music Hall

Sat, November 23, 2019

Brass Ensembles

1:00 PM

??

Sun, November 24, 2019

UW Concert Band with Winds of Wisconsin

5:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Mon, November 25, 2019

Chamber Percussion Ensemble

7:30 PM

Mills Hall

Tue, November 26, 2019

Opera Scenes

7:30 PM

Music Hall

Mon, December 2, 2019

Piano Studio Recital

6:30 PM

Collins Hall

Tue, December 3, 2019

Jazz Composers & Contemporary Jazz Ensembles

7:30 PM

Collins Hall

Wed, December 4, 2019

page2image114704 page2image115288

Jazz Standards Ensemble & Afro-Cuban Jazz

7:30 PM

page2image117776 page2image118096

Collins Hall

page2image119368

page3image1376 page3image1960

Thu, December 5, 2019

UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra & UW Wind Ensemble

page3image4848 page3image5168

7:30 PM

page3image6920

Mead Witter Hall

Fri, December 6, 2019

Saxophonist Greg Ward with the Blue Note Ensemble and UW jazz faculty

8:00 PM

Collins Hall

Sat, December 7, 2019

UW & Madison Metropolitan Jazz Festival

Final Concert, 3:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sat, December 7, 2019

Choral Union: Ralph Vaughan Williams’s “A Sea Symphony”

8:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sun, December 8, 2019

University Bands

2:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sun, December 8, 2019

Choral Concerts at Luther Memorial Church

2:00 PM

Luther Memorial Church

Sun, December 8, 2019

Choral Concerts at Luther Memorial Church

4:00 PM

Luther Memorial Church

Sun, December 8, 2019

All-University Strings

4:30 PM

Mead Witter Hall

BEGIN 2020

Sun, January 26, 2020

Annual Schubertiade

3:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sat, February 1, 2020

Christopher Taylor and Friends — Beethoven Symphony Extravaganza

8:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Wed, February 5, 2020

Daniel Grabois, horn

7:30 PM

Collins Hall

Thu, February 6, 2020

UW Symphony Orchestra

7:30 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sat, February 8, 2020

The Knights

8:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sun, February 16, 2020

UW Wind Ensemble

2:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Monday, February 17, 2020

Chamber Percussion Ensemble

7:30 PM

Mills Hall

Tue, February 18, 2020

Concert Band

7:30 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Thu, February 20, 2020

Parry Karp, faculty recital

7:30 PM

Collins Hall

Fri, February 21, 2020

Marc Vallon & Friends

8:00 PM

Collins Hall

Sunday, Feb 23, 2020

Les Thimmig, faculty recital

2:00 PM

Collins Hall

Sat, April 18, 2020

Low Brass Ensemble

4:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Fri, February 28, 2020

page3image113344 page3image113928

Pro Arte Quartet

8:00 PM

page3image116192 page3image116512

Collins Hall

page3image117784

page4image1440 page4image2024

Sat, February 29, 2020

Wingra Wind Quintet

page4image4648 page4image4968

8:00 PM

page4image6720

Collins Hall

Fri, February 28, 2020,

University Opera – Mozart’s Così fan tutte

7:30 PM

Music Hall

Sun, March 1, 2020

University Opera – Mozart’s Così fan tutte

2:00 PM

Music Hall

Tue, March 3, 2020

University Opera – Mozart’s Così fan tutte

7:30 PM

Music Hall

Sun, March 1, 2020

Winds of Wisconsin

5:30 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Wed, March 4, 2020

Afro-Cuban Jazz Ensemble & Jazz Composers Group

7:30

Collins Hall

Thu, March 5, 2020

Blue Note Ensemble & Jazz Standards Ensemble

7:30 PM

Collins Hall

Sat, March 7, 2020

UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra with guest pianist Wu Han

8:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sun, March 8, 2020

University Bands

2:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Tue, March 10, 2020

Percussion Department Recital

7:30 PM

Collins Hall

Weds March 11, 2020

UW Jazz Orchestra

7:30 PM

Play Circle

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Wisconsin Brass Quintet – Faculty Concert Series

8:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Thu, March 12, 2020

UW Wind Ensemble

7:30 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Fri, March 27, 2020

Le Domaine Musicale with Marc Vallon and Friends

8:00 PM

Collins Hall

Sun, March 29, 2020

Concert Band

2:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sun, April 5, 2020

Beethoven Competition Winners’ Recital

3:30 PM

Collins Hall

Sun, April 5, 2020

“Symphony Showcase” Concerto Winners’ Solo Concert

7:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sat, April 11, 2020

Chorale

8:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Fri, April 12, 2019

Perlman Trio Chamber Concert

3:00 PM

Collins Hall

Tue, April 14, 2020

Opera Scenes

7:30 PM

Music Hall

Wed, April 15, 2020

Contested Homes: Migrant Liberation Movement Suite

7:30 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Thu, April 16, 2020

Pro Arte Quartet

7:30 PM

Collins Hall

Fri, April 17, 2020

Combined Choirs

8:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sat, April 18, 2020

Low Brass Ensemble

4:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sat, April 18, 2020

page4image124992 page4image125576

UW-Madison Choral Reunion concert featuring Concert Choir, Madrigals and alumni

8:00 PM

page4image128328 page4image128648

Mead Witter Hall

page4image129960

page5image920 page5image1504

Mon, April 20, 2020

Afro-Cuban Jazz Ensemble & Blue Note Ensemble

page5image4056 page5image4376

7:30 PM

page5image5960

Collins Hall

Tue, April 21, 2020

Jazz Standards Ensemble & Jazz Composers Group

7:30 PM

Collins Hall

Wed, April 22, 2020

Chamber Percussion Ensemble

7:30 PM

Mills Hall

Thu, April 23, 2020

UW Jazz Orchestra with the UW Honors Jazz Band

7:30 PM

Music Hall

Fri, April 24, 2020

Concert Band and Wind Ensemble

7:30 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sat, April 25, 2020

All-University Strings

2:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sat, April 25, 2020

Choral Union: Giuseppe Verdi’s “Requiem”

8:00 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sun, April 26, 2020

Choral Union: Giuseppe Verdi’s “Requiem”

7:30 PM

Mead Witter Hall

Sun, April 26, 2020

page5image44360 page5image44944

University Bands 2 PM Mead Witter Hall

Posted in Classical music
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Classical music: On Thursday and Friday nights, brass music and a modernist homage to Martin Luther King round out UW-Madison concerts before spring break

March 13, 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.

By Jacob Stockinger

Spring Break at the University of Wisconsin-Madison starts on Saturday. But there are noteworthy concerts right up to the last minute.

THURSDAY

On this Thursday night, March 14, at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the acclaimed Wisconsin Brass Quintet (below, in 2017, in a photo by Michael R. Anderson) will perform a FREE concert.

The program by the faculty ensemble  includes music by William Byrd; Isaac Albeniz; Leonard Bernstein; Aaron Copland; David Sampson; Anton Webern; Joan Tower; Ennio Morricone; and Reena Esmail.

For more details, including the names of quintet members and guest artists who will participate as well as the complete program with lengthy notes and background about the quintet, go to:

https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/wisconsin-brass-quintet-3-14-2019/

FRIDAY

On this Friday night, March 15, at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, UW-Madison bassoonist Marc Vallon (below, in a photo by James Gill) – who worked in Paris with the renowned 20th-century composer and conductor Pierre Boulez – will host another concert is his series of “Le Domaine Musical” that he performs with colleagues.

Vallon explains:

Every year, I put together a concert devoted to the masterpieces of the 1950-2000 period. We call it “Domaine Musical,” which was the group founded in Paris by Pierre Boulez in the 1950s. Its subtitle is : “Unusual music for curious listeners.”

“The series offers Madison concert-goers an opportunity to hear rarely performed music of the highest quality, played by UW-Madison faculty, students and alumni.

“The program features a deeply moving piece by Luciano Berio, O King, written in 1968 after the murder of Martin Luther King Jr.” (You can hear “O King” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

The all-modernist program is:

Pierre Boulez (below), Dialogues de l’Ombre Double (Dialogues of the Double Shadow) for solo clarinet and electronics.

Luciano Berio (below), O King and Folk Songs.

Also included are unspecified works by Karlheinz Stockhausen and Timothy Hagen.

Guest performers are Sarah Brailey, soprano (below); Alicia Lee, clarinet; Leslie Thimmig, basset horn; Sally Chisholm, viola; Parry Karp, cello; Timothy Hagen, flute; Yana Avedyan, piano; Paran Amirinazari, violin; and Anthony DiSanza, percussion.

For more information, including a story about a previous concert in “Le Domaine Musical,” go to:

https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/le-domaine-musical-with-marc-vallon/


Posted in Classical music
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Classical music: This week features FREE music for horn, violin, flute and voice at the UW-Madison

February 6, 2018
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

This will be a busy week at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, with a lot of FREE concerts and special events happening especially on SUNDAY.

Here is a schedule:

WEDNESDAY

This Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, Daniel Grabois — UW-Madison professor of horn and director of the Electro-Acoustic Research Space (EARS) – will be joined by several other faculty members for a FREE concert of trio music by Dana WilsonHeinrich von Herzogenberg and John Harbison (his “Twilight Music,” which you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

For a complete list of performers and the full program, go to:

https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/faculty-recital-daniel-grabois-horn/

For information about Daniel Grabois (below, in a photo by James Gill), go to:

https://www.music.wisc.edu/faculty/daniel-grabois/

SUNDAY

Starting on Sunday at 11 a.m., the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music will host Flute Day, in which middle school and high school students are invited to participate.

There will also be a FREE public concert at 5 p.m. with guest flutist George Pope (below top) and UW-Madison faculty flutist Timothy Hagen (below bottom), who is a member of the Wingra Wind Quintet. The UW-Madison Flute Ensemble will also perform. No word on the program, sorry.

To register and find out more information about workshops and master classes, go to:

https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/flute-day/

On Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in Morphy Recital Hall a FREE recital of songs by Jean Sibelius and Edvard Grieg will be performed by soprano Anna Hersey (below), who teaches at UW-Oshkosh and specializes in Scandinavian songs, and pianist Alan Johnson.

https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/guest-artists-anna-hersey-soprano-alan-johnson-piano/

On Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in Morphy Hall, guest violinist Blaise Magniere, who was a founding member of the Avalon String Quartet and who teaches at Northern Illinois University, (below) will perform a recital of solo violin music by Johann Sebastian Bach. He will also hold a free and open master class on MONDAY morning at 9 a.m. in Morphy Hall.

For the full program, go to:

https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/guest-recital-blaise-magniere-violin/


    Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 1,232 other subscribers

    Blog Stats

    • 2,491,662 hits
    May 2024
    M T W T F S S
     12345
    6789101112
    13141516171819
    20212223242526
    2728293031