ALERT: This week’s FREE Friday Noon Musicale, from 12:15 to 1 p.m. at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features S. Christian Collins and Alyssa Smith, piano and harpsichord, performing music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Domenico Scarlatti, Ludwig van Beethoven, Claude Debussy and S. Christian Collins.
By Jacob Stockinger
A friend writes:
The New Hyperion Orchestra, the New Hyperion Jazz Babies and friends celebrate the 35th anniversary of Opera Props — the supporting group for University Opera at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music — with a benefit fundraiser to support the Karlos and Melinda Moser Opera Ticket Fund.
The concert, entitled, “What’s Wrong with Me? Love, Phobias and other Ailments,” will take place on this Sunday, Nov. 8, at 7:30 p.m. in Music Hall, and will feature show tunes about maladies that have plagued the human race for centuries. (The Carol Rennebohm Auditorium is located in Music Hall, below, at the foot of Bascom Hill on North Park Street.)
Karlos Moser (below left), who founded Opera Props and saw five renovations of Music Hall during his 36 years as UW-Madison’s Opera Director, celebrates his 85th birthday this year. But age is no matter to a seasoned performer. Moser will head the concert as lead vocalist, crooning about everything from Spoonerisms to Arachnophobia.
Joining him are his wife, Melinda Moser (below right), on the piano, clarinetist Eric Ellis, violinist Rebecca Mackie, and bassist Ben Ferris. Together, they create the New Hyperion Jazz Babies, an offshoot of the Original Hyperion Oriental Fox Trot Orchestra.
“Last year, we celebrated the 40th year reunion of the founding of the OHOFTO with some of the original members,” says Moser. “We now want to pass on this rich tradition to a new generation.”
The Original Hyperion, founded in Madison in 1974 by Rick Mackie and Moser, began with a mix of students and professional musicians, who quickly established their standing in this jazz-influenced style.
In the spirit of passing the baton, the Sunday concert will conclude with a number of student musicians, including three opera ticket fund recipients and students from Sun Prairie High School, along with their musical director, Steve Sveum.
Also making special appearances are tenor Fabian Qamar and soprano Nicole Heinen, both Opera Props recipients in the graduate music program, as well as a mystery guest from Fleet, England, who was a ticket fund recipient.
Tickets are $25 for general admission, with students receiving two tickets for the price of one. In honor of Karlos Moser’s 85th birthday, every $85 donation to the Opera Fund will be met with one free ticket.
Please send donations of any amount directly to the UW Foundation online at supportuw.org/giveto/operatickets, or by mail at US Bank Lockbox, Box 78807, Milwaukee, 53278 (memo: “Moser Fund for Opera Tickets”). $85 gifts may be confirmed at kmoser@wisc.edu or 608-274-1150.
General admission tickets are available in advance through the Campus Arts Ticketing Box Office at (608) 265-ARTS and online at http://www.arts.wisc.edu/ (click “box office”). Tickets can also be purchased in person at the Wisconsin Union Theater Box Office Monday-Friday, 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Saturdays, noon-5 p.m. and the Vilas Hall Box Office, Monday-Friday, 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Beginning one hour before the performance, tickets can be purchased at the door.
All proceeds will go to the Karlos and Melinda Moser Opera Ticket Fund, which buys expensive opera tickets for UW-Madison music students.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear likes that a new season at the University of Wisconsin School of Music will officially open in an intimate rather than grand manner with a chamber music concert.
At 8 p.m. in Morphy Recital Hall on this Saturday, Sept. 6, flutist Stephanie Jutt (below) will perform Latin American music plus a classic masterpiece sonata by Johannes Brahms. The concert is FREE and OPEN to the public.
Jutt, who is a longtime professor the UW-Madison School of Music, is also the principal flute of the Madison Symphony Orchestra as well as a co-founder and co-artistic director of the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, which performs each summer in June. She also performs in the Wingra Woodwind Quintet (below, in a photo by Michael Anderson) at the UW-Madison.
On this program, Jutt and Venezuelan pianist Elena Abend will offer audiences a look at some of the beautiful and spicy music written by Latin American composers, including Argentinean composers Carlos Guastavino (below top), Astor Piazzolla (below middle) and Angel Lasala (below bottom).
Jutt recently traveled to Argentina to research this repertoire, and will be recording it with Elena Abend later this year in New York City.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, pianist Elena Abend (below) has performed with all the major orchestras of her country. Receiving her Bachelor and Master degrees from the Juilliard School, she has performed at venues such as the Purcell Room in London’s Royal Festival Hall, Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Academy of Music with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as the Wigmore Hall in London, Toulouse Conservatoire, Theatre Luxembourg, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C., Chicago Cultural Center and the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee.
More performances include Ravinia and Marlboro Music Festivals, live broadcasts on Philadelphia’s WFLN, The Dame Myra Hess Concert Series on Chicago’s WFMT and Wisconsin Public Radio at the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison. She has recorded for the Avie label and numerous recording and editing projects for Hal Leonard’s G. Schirmer Instrumental Library and Schirmer Performance Editions.
Elena Abend currently serves on the Piano and Chamber Music Faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Program:
Milonga en Re (at bottom in a YouTube video) Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Tanguano Astor Piazzolla (1912-1992)
Introduccion y Allegro Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000)
With ELENA ABEND, PIANO
Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 120 Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) as arranged for flute by Stephanie Jutt
With UW Piano Professor CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR (below)
INTERMISSION
Poema del Pastor Coya Angel Lasala (1914-2000)
Con la Chola y el Changuito Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000)
Fuga e Misterio Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
By Jacob Stockinger
A piano recital by Father Robert Koopmann (below), a member of the Order of St. Benedict, called “Celebrating Benedict” will be presented next Sunday, July 21, at 4 p.m. in the Assembly Room, Holy Wisdom Monastery, 4200 County Road M, Middleton. Here are links to the monastery’s website and to a map with directions on how to get there:
The 70-minute program includes the Prelude in G-sharp minor, Opus 32, No. 12; Prelude in E-flat major, Opus 23, No. 6; and the Prelude in C Major, Op. 32, by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943); the Rondo in D Major, K. 485 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791); the “Prelude, Chorale and Fugue” by César Franck (1822-1890); Intermezzo in B Minor, Op. 119, No. 1; Intermezzo in A Major, Op. 118, No. 2; and Capriccio in G minor Op. 116, No. 3, by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897); “Jeux D’Eau” (Waterplay or Fountain, played by Martha Argerich in a YouTube video at the bottom) by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937); and Two Sacred Improvisations by the pianist Robert Koopmann, “Adoro Te Devote” and “Precious Lor.”
Donations will be accepted at the door or online to support the mission of the Benedictine Women of Madison at Holy Wisdom Monastery (below). A light reception will follow the concert.
If you do plan on attending this concert, please let Mike know by this Wednesday, July 17 at mikesb@benedictinewomen.org or call (608) 836-1631, ext. 124 so that food and seating can be provided for all. More information is at the Holy Wisdom website.
Father Bob Koopmann is a longtime friend of the sisters at Holy Wisdom Monastery. He is Professor of Music and President Emeritus, and has been on the faculty of Saint John’s University and the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota since 1975, where he has taught piano, music literature, and courses on creativity and the creative process.
He has performed as a piano soloist and accompanist, as well as in chamber ensembles and with orchestras throughout the USA and abroad, including 20 states, Europe, South Africa, Chile, Kenya, and Tanzania.
He has released a number of recordings since 1994. His doctorate is from the University of Iowa, with other degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Saint John’s University, and post-doctoral work with faculty from The Royal Academy (London) and The Juilliard School (New York).
Koopmann was president of Saint John’s University from 2009 until July 2012. He was on sabbatical for the 2012-2013 academic year, studying music, theology, and spirituality in Berkeley, California and New York City.
He will present a concert tour in Japan in August.