The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music education: The Green Lake Festival of Music opens the 17th year of its Chamber Music Camp, with FREE public concerts, this week.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear’s friends at the Green Lake Festival of Music write to tell us about a program important to music education – which means a program important to the future of classical music:
Here is the press release:
On Sunday, July 5, at the Thrasher Opera House (below bottom) in Green Lake, The Green Lake Chamber Players open the 17th annual Green Lake Music Festival Chamber Music Camp, as string and piano students (below top) from nine states, ages 11 to 20, convene at Ripon College for two weeks of stimulating music-making along with just plain fun.
Part of the fun includes a trip to Larry Miller’s farm and a shopping scavenger hunt at K-Mart.
The daily schedule includes coaching sessions by Thomas Rosenberg (Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition Director, cellist and the Camp’s Artistic Director); Samantha George, Associate Professor of Violin at Lawrence Conservatory of Music; Karen Kim, Grammy Award winning violinist; David Perry, Professor of Violin at the UW-Madison and first violin of the Pro Arte String Quartet; Renee Skerik, Instructor of Viola at Interlochen Arts Academy; Andrew Armstrong from the Amelia Piano Trio; James Howsmon, Professor of Instrumental Accompanying at Oberlin College Conservatory; and guest artists, including Shen Lu, 2014 Hilton Head International Piano Competition Winner, the Jupiter Quartet (below top), and the Bergonzi String Quartet (below bottom).
Jupiter Quartet at Studio Theatre, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. From left: Liz Freivogel, Nelson Lee, Daniel McDonough, and Meg Freivogel
Join us for the first of several Green Lake Chamber Players concerts on Sunday, July 5, at 3 p.m. This concert is a “BUY ONE, GET ONE” ticket concert. The Green Lake Chamber Players includes the Green Lake Festival Chamber Music Camp faculty and guest artists who will perform music by Alexander Scriabin, Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms. This is also the first concert in a series of matinees that offer a special package for bus pick up and ticket from Appleton, Oshkosh, and Beaver Dam. Call the Festival office for more details on this package.
The 2014 Hilton Head International Piano Competition Winner, Shen Lu (below) will perform Thursday, July 9, at 7:30 p.m. at the Thrasher Opera House, along with teaching a piano master class on Friday, July 10, at 10 a.m. John O’Conor, the Jury Chair from the 2014 Hilton Head International Piano Competition, says, “Shen Lu is a young Chinese pianist with an exciting future. His interpretations have great depth, his technique seems effortless and he communicates wonderfully with his audience.”
Students will attend master classes and five Festival concerts, and perform a variety of community service engagements in such facilities as nursing homes, service clubs, and libraries.
The program includes three public concerts – a Chamber Camp Student Recital on Saturday, July 11, and the popular “Circle of Sound” string orchestra concert at the Boston Barn on Tuesday, July 14, as part of the Boston Barn Concert package that includes appetizers and music by the Bergonzi String Quartet, and the final Chamber Music Celebration at Rodman Center for the Arts, Ripon College, on Saturday, July 18.
Please visit www.greenlakefestival.org for information about these and other artists performing throughout July at the Festival or to purchase tickets. Tickets are also available by calling the office at 920-748-9398. You can also stop by one of the following ticket outlets: Green Lake Bank (Green Lake) and Ripon Drug (Ripon).
The Green Lake Festival of Music is supported in part by the Arts Midwest Touring Arts Fund, a program of Arts Midwest, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional funding from the Wisconsin Arts Board, the Crane Group, and General Mills Foundation. Additional support comes from the Horicon Bank, Oshkosh Area Community Foundation, Agnesian Healthcare, Wisconsin Department of Tourism, Oshkosh Area Community Foundation, and private and corporate donations.
Chamber Workshop FREE Public Events
Get the inside story on the rehearsal process as you watch these artists work with talented students. All master classes will be held at the Rodman Center for the Arts at Ripon College.
- Piano Master Class with Shen Lu. Friday, July 10, 10 a.m.
- Cello Master Class with The Jupiter Quartet. Monday, July 13, 10 a.m.
- Violin Master Class with The Bergonzi String Quartet. Thursday, July 16, 10 a.m.
Chamber Workshop Concerts
- Chamber Camp Recital. Join us for this FREE community concert at the Rodman Center for the Arts, Ripon, Wisconsin on Saturday, July 11, at 2 p.m. No tickets are need for this event; seating is first come, first served.
- “A Circle of Sound” Tuesday, July 14, 6:30 p.m. at the Boston Farm, Green Lake, Wisconsin. Be in the center of the music as The Bergonzi String Quartet, faculty and students encircle the audience in a historic Wisconsin barn. This concert is preceded with cocktails and appetizers with an Italian flair. This concert is offered only as a package.
- Chamber Music Celebration Showcase Performance. Saturday, July 18, 3 p.m., Rodman Center for the Arts (below), Ripon, Wisconsin. Hear the stars of tomorrow as the talented students perform in trios, quartets and quintets, concluding with their trademark Circle of Sound strings. A student-led preconcert conversation begins at 2:30 p.m.
Tags: Amelia Piano Trio, Arts, Arts Midwest, barn, Beethoven, Bergonzi String Quartet, Boston, Brooklyn Academy of Music, camp, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, Education, Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, Green Lake, Green Lake Festival of Music, Hilton Head International Piano Competition, Horicon, Interlochen Arts Academy, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, John O'Conor, Jupiter String Quartet, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Ludwig van Beethoven, master class, Music, Music education, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, New York City, Oberlin College, Oberlin College Conservatory, Oshkosh, Pennsylvania State University, Piano, Pro Arte Quartet, Ripon, Ripon College, Rodman Center for the Arts, Scriabin, Shen Lu, tourism, United States, University of Wisconsin Arboretum, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: The Oakwood Chamber Players will perform rarely heard Russian chamber music on this Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Oakwood Chamber Players have a well-deserved reputation not only for quality performances but also for innovative and inventive programming.
This season the group (below) has been exploring the chamber music of diverse cultures around the globe.
This weekend will see the ensemble turning to Russian culture, which is suffering these days from black eye over the Anschluss engineered by Russian President Vladimir Putin to take away the province of Crimea away from the sovereign post-Soviet state of Ukraine.
But politics is politics and music is music.
Here are the details in an official press release.
OAKWOOD CHAMBER PLAYERS PRESENT “RUSSIAN RADIUS”
Join the Oakwood Chamber Players of Madison as they continue their season’s exploration of musical cultures with “Russian Radius,” a concert featuring the characteristic sounds of Russian music.
The ensemble will demonstrate an array of pieces from many Russian composers who interpreted the grandeur and breadth of Russian culture through their music.
Performances will include the spirited “Trio Pathetique” for clarinet, bassoon and piano by Mikhail Glinka (below), who is recognized as the founder of Russian classical music. (You can listen to Glinka’s “Trio Pathetique” in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
The group will also perform the energetic Quintet for flute, clarinet, horn, bassoon and piano by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; the melodically compelling “Elegy” for viola and piano by Alexander Glazunov (below top); an arrangement for piano quartet the captivating “Polovtsian Dance” by Alexander Borodin (below middle); a Trio for flute, violin and cello by Alexander Tcherepnin (below bottom); and Waltzes for flute, clarinet and piano by Dmitri Shostakovich.
The Oakwood Chamber Players will present Russian Radius on Saturday night, March 22, at 7 p.m. in the Oakwood Center for Arts and Education (below top), 6205 Mineral Point Road, on Madison far west side; and on Sunday afternoon, March 23, at 1:30 p.m. at the Arboretum Visitor Center (below bottom) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum, on the city’s near south side.
Tickets are available at the door. They are $20 for general admission, $15 for seniors and $5 for students.
This is the fourth concert in the Season Series titled “Origination: Exploring Musical Regions of the World.” The final remaining concert is titled Down Under, and will be held May 17 and 18.
The Oakwood Chamber Players is a group of Madison-area professional musicians who perform with other well-known local groups and who have rehearsed and performed at Oakwood Village for 30 years.
Visit www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com for more information.
The Oakwood Chamber Players are a professional music ensemble proudly supported by Oakwood Lutheran Senior Ministries and the Oakwood Foundation, in collaboration with Friends of the Arboretum, Inc.
Tags: Alexander Borodin, Alexander Glazunov, Anschluss, Arboretum, Arts, Bassoon, Cello, Chamber music, clarinet, Classical music, Crimea, Dmitri Shostakovich, flute, Horn, Jacob Stockinger, Lutheran, Lutheranism, Madison, Mikhail Glinka, Music, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Oakwood Chamber Player, Oakwood Chamber Players, Oakwood Village, Oakwood Village West, Piano, Piano Quartet, post-Soviet, Russia, Sunday, trio, Trio Pathetique, Ukraine, University of Wisconsin Arboretum, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Vladimir Putin, Waltz, YouTube
Classical music: Hear the cold! Oakwood Chamber Players will perform a “Nordic” program of Icelandic, Finnish and Danish chamber music this Saturday and Sunday. Plus, a Pro Arte Quartet dinner is Thursday night at the University Club.
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ALERT: The University Club, 803 State St. will host another Arts Outreach dinner with the Pro Arte String Quartet (below) tomorrow night, Thursday, Jan. 30. Cocktails and appetizers are at 5:30 p.m.; a three-course dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m.; and a concert of Mendelssohn’s Quartet in E Minor and Haydn’s Quartet in D Major, Op. 20, No. 4, will take place at 7:30 p.m. The cost is $40 a head. Reservation are required and, along with menu choices, can be made here: Make your reservation online! You can also call (608) 262-5023. For more information, visit uclub@uclub.wisc.edu and http://artsoutreach.wisc.edu/pro_arte.html
By Jacob Stockinger
The title of Ann Beattie’s first collection of short stories — “Chilly Scenes of Winter” — comes immediately to mind.
Haven’t yet had enough of the “bitter” and “dangerous” polar vortex cold this winter? Well, you can hear it as well as feel it and fight it.
This weekend, the Oakwood Chamber Players (below) of Madison, Wisconsin, will present two performances of “Nordic,” a concert that reflects the musical landscapes created by composers influenced by the contrast of dark and light in their Northern physical environments. The concert is typical of the innovative and creative approach that the Oakwood Chamber Players usually take to their eclectic programming. Few local groups perform as many unknown or neglected composers or works. They also make intriguing connections and provide original contexts.
Featured composers this time include Sveinbjorn Sveinbjornsson, Jean Sibelius and Carl Nielsen.
The Oakwood Chamber Players will present Nordic on this coming Saturday, Feb. 1, at 7 p.m. in the Oakwood Village Center for Arts and Education (below top), 6205 Mineral Point Road; and on Sunday Feb. 2 at 1:30 p.m. at the Visitor Center (below bottom) in the University of Wisconsin Arboretum.
Tickets are available at the door, and are $20 for general admission, $15 for seniors and $5 for students.
Here are program based largely on a press release:
Icelandic composer Sveinbjorn Sveinbjornsson (below) is known primarily as the writer of the Iceland’s National Anthem. He wrote romantic music in the style of Felix Mendelssohn. The mark of his individual compositional voice is the northern folk elements incorporated into his music, which will be heard in the rich melodies of his Piano Trio for violin, cello and piano.
The essence of the darkly expressive Finnish identity can be heard in compositions by Jean Sibelius (below), from his famous tone poem “Finlandia” to his symphonies, and is echoed in the Suite in A Major for String Trio for violin, viola and cello that is on the program.
Carl Nielsen (below) is Denmark’s most noteworthy and widely performed composer, famous for his symphonies. The Oakwood Chamber players will perform his Woodwind Quintet (at the bottom in a YouTube video played by members of the Berlin Philharmonic), which captures a variety of moods from lilting melodies, tour-de-force technical passages, to individual cadenzas that showcase an inherent understanding of the characteristics of each instrument.
This is the third concert in the 2013-14 Oakwood Chamber Players’ season series titled “OrigiNATION: Exploring Musical Regions of the World.” Upcoming concerts include:
- Russian Radius – March 22 and 23
- Down Under – May 17 and 18
The Oakwood Chamber Players is a group of Madison-area professional musicians who play with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and other groups and who have rehearsed and performed at Oakwood Village for 30 years.
For more information, visit www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com
The Oakwood Chamber Players are a professional music ensemble proudly supported by Oakwood Lutheran Senior Ministries and the Oakwood Foundation, in collaboration with Friends of the Arboretum, Inc.
Tags: Ann Beattie, Berlin Philharmonic, Carl Nielsen, Cello, Chamber music, Chilly Scenes of Winter, Classical music, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Sibelius, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Nordic, Oakwood Chamber Players, Piano, Piano Trio, quintet, string music, string trio, University of Wisconsin Arboretum, Violin, Visitor Center, winter, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, woodwinds, YouTube
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