The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: The world premiere of John Harbison’s Sonata for Viola and Piano this Sunday night headlines a busy weekend at the UW that includes wind music and band music

February 16, 2019
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By Jacob Stockinger

This is a big and busy weekend at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.

The most publicized event this week, justifiably, is the world premiere of a new Sonata for Viola and Piano by composer John Harbison, who has won many awards and honors including a Pulitzer Prize and a MacArthur “genius” Fellowship. The guest pianist, from Minnesota, is Timothy Lovelace.

The premiere takes place in Mills Hall on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. The Pro Arte Quartet will also play the “Sunrise” Quartet by Franz Joseph Haydn and “Four Encores for Stan” by Harbison. Pro Arte violist Sally Chisholm (below, in a photo by Rick Langer) will perform the new work that was written for her. It was commissioned by an anonymous patron to mark the composer’s 80th birthday.


Admission is $25.

For more information about the concert, the piece and tickets, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/2018/12/17/world-premiere-of-john-harbisons-viola-sonata/

In addition, Harbison (below) will give a free and public master class on Monday, Feb. 18, from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Mills Music Library Seminar Room (Room B162G in the Memorial Library).

But that is far from the only important or noteworthy event going on.

Here is a day-by-day schedule, not including the concert by the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras’ Youth Orchestra with guest clarinetist Amitai Vardi that takes place TODAY in Mills Hall at 4 p.m. Here is a link to more about the WYSO concert:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2019/02/15/classical-music-wisconsin-youth-symphony-orchestras-wyso-to-perform-the-annual-winterfest-concerts-this-saturday-and-march-2/

TODAY

At 3 p.m. in Morphy Hall, the winners’ FREE concert of the Irving Shain Woodwind-Piano Duo Competition will take place. To see the four winners and their complete programs, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/irving-shain-woodwind-piano-duo-competition-winners-recital-2/

At 7:30 p.m., faculty member bassoonist Marc Vallon (below, in a photo by James Gill), who plays with the Wingra Wind Quintet, and friends will give a FREE concert. Music to be performed includes works by Robert Schumann, John Harbison, Ida Gotkowsky, Emmanuel Chabrier, Georges Bizet, Jules Massenet and Marc Vallon, although specific titles are not listed. For more information, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/faculty-recital-marc-vallon-bassoon-2/

SUNDAY

At 2 p.m. in Mills Hall, a FREE concert will be the inaugural Wind Ensemble Concerto Competition and its winner Midori Samson (below). Scott Teeple is the faculty conductor, and Cole Hairston and Ross Wolf are graduate student conductors. The concert will be STREAMED LIVE. Here is a link to the streaming portal, which also has an archive of other streamed concerts: https://www.music.wisc.edu/video/

At 4 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Concert Band will perform a FREE concert under the baton of its retiring director Mike Leckrone (below).

The program, subject to change, include: “Nessum Dorma” by Giacomo Puccini; “Universal Judgment” by Camille de Nardis; “Psalm for Band” by Vincent Persichetti; “La Boutique Fantastique” by Gioacchino Rossini, arranged by Ottorino Respighi; and “Nobles of the Mystic Shrine” by John Philip Sousa.

Here is a link to the program: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-concert-band/


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Classical music: Tonight brings an all-Bach organ recital at Overture Hall. At the UW-Madison, this week brings music for band, brass and strings

October 23, 2018
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By Jacob Stockinger

TONIGHT, Tuesday, Oct. 23

At 7:30 p.m. in Overture Hall, Paul Jacobs (below) will perform an all-Bach program. Jacobs, who is the only organist to have won a Grammy Award, is the chair of the organ department at the Juilliard school in New York City and was the teacher and mentor of Greg Zelek, who is the new organist for the Madison Symphony Orchestra.

Heralded as “one of the major musicians of our time” by Alex Ross of The New Yorker and as “America’s leading organ performer” by The Economist, the internationally celebrated Jacobs combines a probing intellect and extraordinary technical mastery with an unusually large repertoire, both old and new. He has performed to great critical acclaim on five continents and in each of the 50 United States.

Jacobs made musical history at age 23 when he played Bach’s complete organ works in an 18-hour marathon performance on the 250th anniversary of the composer’s death. (You can hear Jacobs play Bach in the YouTube video at the bottom.) Jacobs has premiered works by Samuel Adler, Mason Bates, Michael Daugherty, Wayne Oquin, Stephen Paulus, Christopher Theofanidis and Christopher Rouse, among others.

During the 2018-19 season, Jacobs will perform the world premiere of John Harbison’s “What Do We Make of Bach?” for organ and orchestra with the Minnesota Orchestra under conductor Osmo Vanska; with the Cleveland Orchestra he will give the American premiere of Austrian composer Bernd Richard Deutsch’s “Okeanos” for organ and orchestra.

For more details about Jacobs, his complete all-Bach program and tickets ($20), go to: https://madisonsymphony.org/event/paul-jacobs/

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 24

At 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Concert Band will perform a FREE concert of music by Leonard Bernstein (excerpts from “Candide”), Vincent Persichetti, Percy Grainger, Mark Markowski and Steven Bryant.

For more information about the performance and the program, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-concert-band-fall-concert-2/

THURSDAY, Oct. 25

At 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the Wisconsin Brass Quintet and special guest UW percussionist Anthony DiSanza (below, in a photo by Katherine Esposito) will perform a ticketed concert of genre-bending music by Michael Tilson Thomas, Pat Metheny, Modest Mussorgsky, Alan Ferber, James Parker and David Sanford.

Admission is $17 for adults, $7 for students and children.

For more information about the performers, the program and how to purchase tickets, go to:

https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/wisconsin-brass-quintet-with-anthony-disanza-professor-of-percussion-2/

Members of the Wisconsin Brass Quintet (below, from left, in a photo by Michael R. Anderson) are: Daniel Grabois, horn; Mark Hetzler, trombone; Matthew Onstad, trumpet; Tom Curry, tuba; and Alex Noppe, trumpet.

SATURDAY, Oct. 27

At 8 p.m. in Mills Hall, the Pro Arte Quartet will perform a FREE concert.

The program features: the String Quartet in C Major, D. 46 (1813), by the young Franz Schubert; Three Rags for String Quartet (“Poltergeist” from 1971, “Graceful Ghost” from 1970, and “Incinteratorag” from 1967) by William Bolcom; and the String Quartet in E minor, Op. 44, No. 2 (1837), by Felix Mendelssohn.

For more information about the Pro Arte Quartet and its long, historic and fascinating background, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/pro-arte-quartet-3/

Members of the Pro Arte Quartet (below, from left, in a photo by Rick Langer, are: David Perry and Suzanne Beia, violins; Sally Chisholm, viola; and Parry Karp, cello.)


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Music education: Madison Youth Choirs perform their Spring Concert series “Seriously Funny” this Sunday

May 10, 2018
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By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following announcement to post:

“This spring, the Madison Youth Choirs singers (below) are exploring the unexpected ways that elements of humor, from irony and incongruity to improvisation and timing, are reflected in a wide variety of classical and contemporary musical compositions.

“We’re learning that music, like humor, is a kind of language, operating with its own sense of logic, patterns, and conventions that composers can twist to surprise us and take our musical journey to new places.

“As we study the complexity of humor as a mode of creative expression, we are discovering the power of satire, wit, and misdirection to help us reexamine our assumptions, musical and otherwise.

“In our culminating concert series, our singers will present works including “No, di voi non vo’ fidarmi” by George Frideric Handel; Timothy Takach’s “I Will Howl” by Timothy Takach; the “Fugue for Tinhorns” from Guys and Dolls; and the second movement of Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein.”

The MYC Spring Concerts, “Seriously Funny: Musical Humor, Wit, and Whimsy” will take place this Sunday afternoon and evening, May 13, at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Ave., across from Camp Randall Stadium.

Performance are: 1:30 p.m. for Girlchoirs; 4 p.m. for Boychoirs; and 7 p.m. for High School Ensembles.

Tickets will be available at the door: $10 for general admission; $5 for students 7-18; and free for children under 7. A separate ticket is required for each performance.

This concert is supported by American Girl’s Fund for Children, BMO Harris Bank, Dane Arts with additional funds from the Endres Mfg. Company Foundation, The Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of The Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation. This project is also supported by the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the state of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.

About the Madison Youth Choirs (MYC):

Recognized as an innovator in youth choral music education, Madison Youth Choirs (MYC) welcomes singers of all ability levels, annually serving more than 1,000 young people, ages 7-18, through a wide variety of choral programs in our community.

Cultivating a comprehensive music education philosophy that inspires self-confidence, personal responsibility, and a spirit of inquiry leading students to become “expert noticers,” MYC creates accessible, meaningful opportunities for youth to thrive in the arts and beyond.

For further information, go to www.madisonyouthchoirs.org or call (608) 238-7464.

Here is the Repertoire List for MYC 2018 Spring Concert Series, “Seriously Funny: Musical Humor, Wit and Whimsy”

1:30 P.M. CONCERT (FEATURING MYC GIRLCHOIRS)

Choraliers

“Bee! I’m expecting you!” by Emma Lou Diemer

“A Menagerie of Songs” by Carolyn Jennings

Con Gioia

“When V and I” by Henry Purcell

“The Fate of Gilbert Gim” by Margaret Drynan

“The Cabbage-Tree Hat,” traditional Australian folk song

Capriccio (below)

“Papageno-Papagena Duet” (from The Magic Flute) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

“Ich jauchze, ich lache” (from BWV 15) by Johann Sebastian Bach

“J’entends le Moulin,” French folk song, arr. Donald Patriquin

Combined Choirs

“Funiculi, Funicula” by Luigi Denza

4 P.M. CONCERT (FEATURING MYC BOYCHOIRS)

Combined Boychoirs

“Sumer is icumen in,” Anonymous, 13th century Middle English piece

Purcell Boychoir 

“When V and I” by Henry Purcell

“Modern Major-General” from The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan

“Weevily Wheat,” arr. Dan Krunnfusz

Britten Boychoir  (below)

“Gloria Tibi” by Leonard Bernstein

“The Plough Boy,” Traditional, arr. Benjamin Britten

Holst Boychoir

“Il est bel et bon” by Pierre Passereau

“Hopkinton” by William Billings

Ragazzi Boychoir

“I Will Howl” by Timothy Takach

“Rustics and Fishermen,” part V of Choral Dances from Gloriana by Benjamin Britten

“Fugue for Tinhorns” from Guys and Dolls by Frank Loesser

Combined Boychoirs

“Chichester Psalms” II. Adonai ro-i by Leonard Bernstein

7 P.M. CONCERT (FEATURING HIGH SCHOOL ENSEMBLES)

Cantilena

“A Girl’s Garden” from Frosting by Randall Thompson

“Love Learns by Laughing” by Thomas Morley

“Turn, Turn, Then Thine Eyes” from The Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell

“My Funny Valentine” from Babes in Arms by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart

“Etude 1 pour les cinq doigts d’après Monsieur Czerny” by Claude Debussy

Ragazzi

“I Will Howl” by Timothy Takach

“Fugue for Tinhorns” from Guys and Dolls by Frank Loesser

Cantabile

“sam was a man” by Vincent Persichetti, text by e.e. cummings

“No, di voi non vo’ fidarmi” by George Frideric Handel

“Cruel, You Pull Away Too Soon” by Thomas Morley

“This Sky Falls” by Jocelyn Hagen

“Svatba,” Traditional Bulgarian, arr. H.R. Todorov

Cantabile and Ragazzi

Choral Dances from Gloriana by Benjamin Britten

 


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