The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Grace Presents HD offers a free virtual online concert by the acclaimed Willy Street Chamber Players this Saturday at noon
Leave a Comment
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
Cellist and UW-Madison graduate student James Waldo has sent the following announcement about a FREE virtual online concert by Grace Presents, which he coordinates.
The hi-def, one-hour concert by the critically acclaimed and popular Willy Street Chamber Players (below) is at noon (CDT) this Saturday, Aug. 22.
Says Waldo:
“This is a pre-recorded event, and as such, I had the singular pleasure of sitting in the room while these fantastic musicians recorded their program. This event is not to be missed!
“Grace Presents HD brings you free, crystal-clear performances by local Madison musicians in the nave of historical Grace Episcopal Church – located downtown on the Capitol Square — from the comfort and safety of your own home.
“The Willy Street Chamber Players will have a video premiere that will be available on the Grace Presents YouTube channel on this Saturday, Aug. 22 at noon CDT. (This virtual concert is available for a limited time only!)
You can see and hear a preview of the concert in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Artists in the Willy Street Chamber Players are: Paran Amirinazari, artistic director, violin and viola; Eleanor Bartsch, violin and viola; Mark Bridges, cello; and Lindsay Crabb, cello, five-string cello.
You can find more information about the chamber music ensemble, including a link to a post in which The Ear named them as Musicians of the Year for 2016, at: http://willystreetchamberplayers.org
As is typical for The Willys, the program reflects diversity and includes both classical masters and contemporary composers:
Schubert: String trio in B-flat major, D. 47
Tania León (below) – Four Pieces for Solo Cello: II. Prayer
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber – Passacaglia
George Walker (below) – “Bleu”
J.S. Bach – Solo Cello Suite No. 6 in D major: I. Prelude and IV. Sarabande
Kimo Williams (below): “Quiet Shadows”
Beethoven: String Trio in G major, Op. 9, No. 1 / I. Adagio-Allegro
“We will be hosting a Zoom meet-and-greet with our guest artists following the performance. If you’d like to attend this virtual gathering, please RSVP to Grace Presents Program Coordinator James Waldo (gracepresents@gmail.com) for more information.
“Here is biographical background: The Willy Street Chamber Players (WSCP) are dedicated to creating community through classical music. Established in 2015, the group has become a fixture of the Willy Street neighborhood’s vibrant cultural scene.
“Recently awarded a gold medal in Madison Magazine’s prestigious “Best of Madison” reader poll, WSCP has received numerous accolades for its accessible and exciting performances, intelligent and fun programming, and community partnerships.
“Today, the group consists of four core members. Led by Artistic Director and violinist Paran Amirinazari, each player brings a fresh, imaginative take to classical music.
WSCP convenes each July – this summer’s concerts were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic — to present their popular summer concert series at Immanuel Lutheran Church (below) on Spaight Street. For these programs, the group has collaborated with many well-known guest artists from Madison and beyond.
“In addition, WSCP presents an array of events throughout the year including the admission-free Community Connect series that aims to bring classical music to inclusive spaces.
“WSCP has also performed at many other popular Madison venues including Marquette Waterfront Fest; Summer Serenades at Memorial Union Terrace; the Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesin compound in Spring Green; the Madison New Music Festival; and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA).”
OTHER DETAILS
Video recording and editing has been done by: https://www.microtonemedia.com/
Audio engineering has been done by Bruce Kasprzyk.
Grace Presents is supported in part by generous project grants from Dane Arts, the Madison Arts Commission, the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) and the Grace Episcopal Development Fund Trust as well as individual gifts and in-kind support.
Tags: #ArtisticDirector, #BaroqueMusic, #BestofMadison, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CapitolSquare, #CelloSuite, #ChamberMusic, #ChristianChurch, #CityofMadison, #ClassicalMusician, #ConcertSeries, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #CulturalDiversity, #DaneArts, #EleanorBartsch, #EmailAddress, #EpiscopalChurch, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FinancialSupport, #FrankLloydWright, #FranzSchubert, #GeorgeWalker, #GoldMedal, #GoodShepherdLutheranChurch, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #GracePresentsHD, #GraduateStudent, #GuestArtist, #HeinrichBiber, #ImmanuelLutheranChurch, #JacobStockinger, #James Waldo, #JamesWaldo, #JohannSebastianBach, #KimoWilliams, #LindsayCrabb, #LivingComposer, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonArtsCommission, #MadisonMagazine, #MadisonMuseumofContemporaryArt, #MadisonNewMusicFestival, #MadisonWisconsin, #MarkBridges, #MarquetteWaterfrontFest, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Meet-and-Greet, #MemorialUnion, #MusicianoftheYear, #NewMusic, #ParanAmirinazari, #QuietShadows, #ReaderPoll, #SpringGreen, #StringMusic, #StringTrio, #SummerSerenades, #Taliesincompound, #TaniaLeon, #TheEar, #TheWillys, #UnionTerrace, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #WilliamsonStreet, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, accesible, accolades, allegro, annoucement, array, Artistic director, Arts, audience, Audio, available, award, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Best of Madison, Biber, blog, canceled, Capitol Square, CDT, cellist, Cello, Cello Suite, Cello Suites (Bach), Chamber music, channel, Christian, Christian church, church, classic, Classical music, classicalmusic, collaborate, community, comofrt, composer, Concert, convene, cooridnate, coronavirus, critically acclaimed, crystal-clear, cultural, cultural diversity, danceamdante, Dane Arts, dedicated, diversity, donor, downtown, Early music, editing, Eleanor Bartsch, email, engineering, ensemble, Episopal, established, event, events, exciting, Facebook, fantastic, forward, Frank Lloyd Wright, Franz Schubert, free, fresh, fun, fund, funding, gathering, generous, George Walker, gift, gold, Gold medal, Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Presents HD, graduate student, grants, group, guest artist, Heinrich Biber, help, historica;, Home, hour, imaginative, Immanuel Lutheran Church, in-kind, information, intelligent, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, July, Kimo Williams, like, limited, Lindsay Crabb, link, living composers, local, located, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Arts Commission, Madison Magazine, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison New Music Festival, Mark Bridges, Marquette Waterfront Fest, Master, masterpieces, Mead Witter School of Music, medal, member, MMOCA, Music, Musician, Musician of the Year, nave, neighborhood, New Music, noon, online, pandemic, Paran Amarinazari, partnerships, passacaglia, performers, piece, pleasure, poll, popular, post, posting, prayer, pre-recorded, Prelude, prestigious, program, programming, project, quiet, Quiet Shadows, reader, reader poll, receive, record, recording, room, RSVP, safety, sarabande, Saturday, scene, Schubert, series, shadow, share, sit, solo, Spring Green, Spring Green Wisconsin, string music, string trio, Suite, summer, Summer Serenades, support, tag, Taliesin, Tania Leon, The Ear, The Willys, time, trio, turst, typical, Union Terrace, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, venue, vibrant, video, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtual, Walker, Williamson Street, Willy Street, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Terrace, women, YouTube, Zoom
Classical music: On Fridays in July, the critically acclaimed Willy Street Chamber Players will offer both past performances and some new performances to be live-streamed
Leave a Comment
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 Ear has received the following public announcement to post from the Willy Street Chamber Players (below), a terrific chamber music group that he named as “Musicians of the Year” in 2016.
For more details and to subscribe to their email list, go to: http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org
WE MISS YOU!
Today — July 10 – would have been the day of our first concert of 2020.
Although it’s sad to think about what could’ve been, we look forward to new beautiful experiences with all of you in the years to come.
In the meantime, we have some exciting news!
We didn’t want you to go without your weekly Friday evening Willy Street Chamber Players fix this July, so we have put together some video memories that we’ll be sending out over the next few weeks.
Check your inbox on Fridays this month — you may want to add us to your email address book — for a weekly archived performance.
This week would’ve been one of our favorite events: our annual admission-free Community Connect performance at the Goodman Community Center.
In honor of that, we’d like to share a fun tidbit from 2017’s performance – Astor Piazzolla’s invigorating “Four, for Tango!” (Editor’s Note: You can see it and hear in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
We hope this short preview will get you excited for archived performances from Immanuel Lutheran Church in the coming weeks.
We’ll also be announcing some special live-streamed performances happening later this summer. We can’t wait to share what we have in store!
Tags: #AddressBook, #AstorPiazzolla, #BBCYoungMusicianoftheYear, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ClassicalMusician, #CommunityConnect, #CommunityOutreach, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #FacebookPage, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GoodmanCommunityCenter, #HomeWebsite, #ImmanuelLutheranChurch, #JacobStockinger, #LiveStreaming, #LutheranChurch, #ModernComposers, #MusicEducation, #MusicianoftheYear, #NewMusic, #SendOut, #SpecialEvent, #TheEar, #WilliamsonStreet, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #YouTubevideo, acclaimed, add, address, admission, announce, announcement, annual, archive, Arts, audience, Ástor Piazzolla, Baroque, beautiful, blog, Book, Cello, Chamber music, check, Christian, church, Classical music, classicalmusic, community, Community Connect, community outreach, composer, Concert, connect, coronavirus, critically acclaimed, dance, details, Early music, editor, email, evening, event, experience, Facebook, Facebook page, favorite, first, fix, forward, four, free, Friday, fun, Goodman, Goodman Community Center, happen, Home, home website, honor, Immanuel Lutheran Church, inbox, invigorate, invigorating, Jacob Stockinger, July, later, like, link, live-stream, live-streamed, livestream, look, Lutheran, Madison, memories, memory, modern, month, Music, Music education, Musician of the Year, new, New Music, note, online, out, pandemic, performance, Piano, post, posting, preview, public, receive, sad, send, send out, share, short, special, store, stream, subscribe, summer, tag, tango, terrific, The Ear, think, tidbit, today, United States, video, Viola, Violin, wait, Website, week, weekly, Williamson Street, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, year, YouTube
Classical music: The Willy Street Chamber Players postpone their sixth season from this summer to next summer because of the coronavirus pandemic
Leave a Comment
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 Ear has received the following announcement from the Willy Street Chamber Players, one of his favorite classical music groups, summer or winter. Their programming and performing are first-rate. Indeed, in December of 2016, The Ear named the Willys “Musicians of the Year.” For an overview of the ensemble, see the YouTube video at the bottom.
For more information and links, go to: http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org
| Dear WSCP Family,
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the postponement of this July concert series to summer 2021.
Just a few weeks ago, we were hard at work putting the finishing touches on an amazing 2020 summer season. We had no idea the COVID-19 pandemic would soon bring everything to a screeching halt.
As we have continued to monitor the situation, we have become increasingly convinced that postponement is the best path forward. The health and safety of our audience, musicians and community remain paramount.
We are eager to find ways to serve our community during this extremely difficult time and will begin by highlighting some of our wonderful Willy Street neighbors, friends and past partnerships on our Facebook page.
As a subscriber to our mailing list, you’ll also have access to some very special video memories and unique surprises in the coming months to thank you for for your support.
We are devastated we won’t be able to share our music with you this July, and our hearts go out to everyone affected by COVID-19. We will get through this together.
We know that we have created something truly special together over the past five years and look forward to continuing our beautiful east side tradition for years to come.
Stay safe, keep in touch and see you soon, WSCP
|
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #COVID-19, #EastSide, #FacebookPage, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #JacobStockinger, #MailingList, #MusicianoftheYear, #TheEar, #WilliamsonStreet, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #YouTubevideo, 2020, 2021, ago, amazing, annouce, Arts, audience, Bach, blog, Chamber music, communty, Concert, convinced, coronavirus, devastated, difficult, ear, east side, ensemble, Facebook, favorite, finishing, first-rate, forward, friends, halt, hard, healthy, heart, heavy, highlight, idea, Jacob Stockinger, July, like, link, list, Madison, mailing, memories, monitor, Music, Musician of the Year, musicians, overview, page, pandemic, paramount, partnership, path, performance, performer, performing, Piano, post, posting, postponement, program, programming, safe, Season, series, serve, share, situation, tag, The Ear, time, together, touches, tradition, United States, University of Wisconsin–Madison, video, Viola, Violin, week, weeks, Williamson Street, Willy Street Chamber Players, winter, Wisconsin, wonderful, work, year, years, YouTube
Classical music: After opening on Friday night, the Willy Street Chamber Players will perform a FREE and PUBLIC concert at Oakwood Village West on Saturday night at 7
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
You might recall that this Friday night, July 12, at 6 p.m., the critically acclaimed Willy Street Chamber Players will open their fifth summer season at Immanuel Lutheran Church at 1021 Spaight Street on the near east side. (Tickets are $15.)
Core members of the Willys (below, from front left) are: violist Rachel Hauser, violinist Eleanor Bartsch, cellist Lindsay Crabb, cellist Mark Bridges and violinist Paran Amirinazari.
Rachel Hauser will not play. But the others will be joined by two guest violists and University of Wisconsin-Madison alumni: prize-winning Danny Kim (below top) of the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and Nicholas Jeffery (below bottom) of Chicago’s Ursa Ensemble. Here are links to more information about each of them:
https://www.bso.org/strings/danny-kim-viola.aspx
For more information and biographies of the local performers, go to the website: http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org/2019-summer-series.html
Put your cursor first on ABOUT and then on PLAYERS.
But The Ear has now received word that the Willys will also perform a FREE concert that is open to the public on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Oakwood Village West (now called University Woods) retirement center, 6205 Mineral Point Road. The concert is sponsored by Kato Perlman (below), a well-known and generous supporter of classical music in Madison.
The program is the same as the previous night’s except for the contemporary work “Study for String Instrument No. 1” (2007) by Simon Steen-Andersen: the String Quintet No. 1 in A minor (1826), Op.18, by Felix Mendelssohn (1826), and the String Quintet No. 2 in C minor (1787), K. 406/516b by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. (You can hear the first movement of the Mozart quintet, played by the Dover Quartet, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Now in their fifth season, the Willy Street Chamber Players (WSCP) has become an established part of the vibrant Williamson Street neighborhood on Madison’s east side.
Recently recognized in Madison Magazine’s prestigious “Best of Madison” reader poll in the category of “Best Classical Music Group,” WSCP has received numerous accolades for its accessible and exciting performances, intelligent and fun programming, and community partnerships.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BostonSymphony, #ChristianChurch, #Classicalera, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DannyKim, #DoverQuartet, #EastSide, #EleanorBartsch, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #GuestArtist, #HomeWebsite, #ImmanuelLutheranChurch, #KatoPerlman, #LindsayCrabb, #LivingComposer, #MadisonMagazine, #MarkBridges, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #NicholasJeffery, #OakwoodVillage, #OakwoodVillageWest, #ParanAmirinazari, #Prize-Winning, #RachelHauser, #RetirementCenter, #SimonSteen-Andersen, #StringQuartet, #TheWillys, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityWoods, #UrsaEnsemble, #UWAlumni, #ViolaQuintet, #WestSide, #WilliamsonStreet, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, accessible, accolade, alumni, Arts, audience, award, biographies, biography, blog, Boston, Boston Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, category, cellist, Cello, Chicago, Christian, church, Classical era, Classical music, classicalmusic, composer, Concert, contemporary, core, critically acclaimed, Danny Kim, donor, Dover Quartet, east side, Eleanor Bartsch, exciting, Facebook, Felix Medelssohn, forward, free, Friday, fun, generous, guest, Immanuel Lutheran Church, information, instrument, intelligent, Jacob Stockinger, like, Lindsay Crabb, link, Living composer, Madison, Madison Magazine, Mark Bridges, Mead Witter School of Music, member, Mozart, Music, neighborhood, new, Nicholas Jeffery, night, Oakwood Village, Oakwood Village West, Orchestra, Paran Amirinazari, partnership, performer, player, prize, programming, public, quintet, Rachel Hauser, reader, recall, Retirement, Saturday, Season, share, Simon Steen-Andersen, sponsor, string, String quartet, study, subscriber, summer, supporter, tag, The Willys, ticket, United States, university, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Woods, Ursa Ensemble, UW, UW-Madison, Viola, viola quintet, Violin, violinist, violist, Website, west side, Williamson Street, Willy Street Chamber Players, Willys, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Woods, YouTube
Classical music: The critically acclaimed and popular Willy Street Chamber Players start their fifth summer series with a FREE community concert this Friday
2 Comments
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
The Ear has received the following announcement for a remarkable and must-hear summer series of chamber music concerts that from its very beginning seems to have found a successful formula that resonated with the public It relies on informality, affordable tickets, first-rate musicianship, short concerts, eclectic programs that mix classics with sure-fire new music, support for their local community.
Now in their fifth year, the Willy Street Chamber Players (WSCP, below) have become an established part of the Williamson Street neighborhood.
Recently awarded the silver medal in Madison Magazine’s prestigious “Best of Madison” reader poll in the category of “Best Classical Music Group,” WSCP has received numerous accolades for its accessible and exciting performances, intelligent and fun programming, and dedication to community partnerships.
The group has also been named “Musician of the Year”for 2016 by this blog.
The Summer Series concerts are on Friday evenings at 6 p.m. in the sanctuary of the beautiful Immanuel Lutheran Church (below) at 1021 Spaight St. The church is right on Lake Monona in the Williamson Street neighborhood. Enjoy 60-90 minutes of inspiring and unforgettable live music, then go explore the neighborhood with the remaining daylight hours.
Following the performance, enjoy a reception provided by one of our Willy Street restaurant partners. (Past contributors have been the Underground Butcher, Let It Ride Cold Brew Coffee, Madison Sourdough, the Willy Street Co-Op, Festival Foods, Roman Candle Pizza and more.)
While you enjoy your snacks, chat with the friendly musicians and ask them about the performance, the pieces and the group. We love interacting with our awesome audience.
A season pass is $40. Admission to individual concerts is $15. For tickets and more infomation, got to: http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org/2019-summer-series.html
COMMUNITY CONNECT – This is a FREE and family-friendly concert with all ages welcome for music, interactive learning, conversation and connections.
It takes place this Friday, July 5, at 6 p.m. at the Goodman Community Center (149 Waubesa Street on the east side), as is posted on the home website — NOT at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center, which is listed in the printed brochure but is undergoing construction.
The program – “Growing Sound: A Sonic Exploration” – features music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, John Corigliano, Antonin Dvorak, Friedrich August Kummer and Alberto Ginastera.
SUMMER SERIES 1
Friday, July 12, at 6 p.m. – Mozart and Mendelssohn
Prize-winning UW-Madison graduate Danny Kim, viola (below)
PROGRAM:
Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 1 in A major, Op. 18 (1826)
Simon Steen-Andersen: Study for String Instrument No. 1 (2007)
Mozart: String Quintet No. 2 in C minor, K. 406/516b (1787)
SUMMER SERIES 2
Friday, July 19, at 6 p.m. – Bassoon and Strings
UW-Madison Professor Marc Vallon, bassoon (below)
PROGRAM:
Beethoven: Allegretto for Piano Trio in B-flat major, WoO. 39 (1812)
Jennifer Higdon: “Dark Wood” (2001)
Franz Danzi: Bassoon Quartet in D minor, Op. 40, No. 2 (ca. 1820)
Alberto Ginastera: String Quartet No.1, Op. 20 (1948)
SUMMER SERIES 3
Friday, July 26, at 6 p.m. – Christopher Taylor, piano (below)
PROGRAM:
Ernest Bloch: Three Nocturnes (1924)
Jessie Montgomery: “Voodoo Dolls” (2008)
Dvorak: Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81 (1887) with UW-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor. (You can hear the first movement of Dvorak’s beautiful and melodic Piano Quintet in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For more information, including background, biographies of the musicians, critics’ reviews, photos and how to support the Willy Street Chamber Players, go to:
http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org
Tags: #AlbertoGinastera, #AntoninDvorak, #BassoonMusic, #BassoonQuartet, #BestofMadison, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ChristopherTaylor, #CriticalAcclaim, #DannyKim, #ErnestBloch, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FamilyFriendly, #FelixMendelssohn, #FestivalFoods, #FoodandDrink, #FranzDanzi, #FriedrichAugustKummer, #GoodmanCommunityCenter, #HomeWebsite, #ImmanuelLutheranChurch, #JenniferHigdon, #JessieMontgomery, #JohnCorigliano, #LakeMonona, #LetItRide, #LiveMusic, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonMagazine, #MadisonSourdough, #MarcVallon, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MelodicMusic, #MusicianoftheYear, #MusicReview, #NewMusic, #PianoQuintet, #PianoTrio, #Prize-Winning, #RomanCandlePizza, #SimonSteen-Andersen, #Steen-Andersen, #StringInstruments, #StringMusic, #StringQuartet, #StringQuintet, #TheEar, #UndergroundButcher, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VoodooDolls, #Wil-MarNeighborhoodCenter, #WilliamsonStreet, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WillyStreetCo-op, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, accessible, accolade, admission, affordable, age, Alberto Ginastera, Antonín Dvořák, Arts, audience, awesome, background, Bassoon, beautiful, Beethoven, Best of Madison, blog, brochure, category, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, chat, Christian, Christopher Taylor, church, Classical music, classics, coffee, community, composer, Concert, connection, construction, contributor, cost, Danny Kim, dark, daylight, dolls, drink, east, eclectic, Ernest Bloch, established, event, exciting, explore, Facebook, Family, family-friendly, Festival Foods, first-rate, food, formula, forward, Franz Danzi, free, Friday, Friedrich August Kummer, friendly, fun, Goodman Community Center, group, grow, growing, home website, Immanuel Lutheran Church, informal, informality, inspiring, instrument, intelligent, interacting, Jacob Stockinger, Jennifer Higdon, Jessie Montgomery, John Corigliano, jours, Lake Monona, Let It Ride, link, live, live music, Love, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Magazine, Madison Sourdough, Marc Vallon, Mead Witter School of Music, melodic, melody, member, Mendelssohn, Montgomery, movement, Mozart, Music, Musician, Musician of the Year, neigborhood, New Music, nocturne, numerous, part, partner, partnership, pass, performance, performer, photo, Pianist, Piano, Piano Quintet, Piano Trio, piece, pizza, poll, printed, prize, program, public, Quartet, reader, reception, repairs, restaurant, review, Roman Candle Pizza, sanctuary, series, share, short, Simon Steen-Andersen, snack, sonic, Sound, String quartet, string quintet, strings, study, subscriber, success, successful, summer, support, sure-fire, tag, The Ear, tickets, trash, Underground Butcher, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vibrant, video, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, Voodoo, we, Website, welcome, Wil-Mar, Williamson Street, Willy Street Chamber Players, Willy Street Co-op, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, wood, word, YouTube
Classical music: The Willy Street Chamber Players mix classical and contemporary string quartets and again show off their exceptional artistry and adventurousness
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT-FM 89.9. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison. Barker also provided the performance photo.
By John W. Barker
A Place to Be, at 911 Williamson Street, is a former store converted into a kind of near East Side clubhouse. Amid the chaos and entanglements of this weekend, it has been, indeed, the place to be for lovers of chamber music.
Just as last year, the Willy Street Chamber Players gave a concert in this intimate “chamber” on last Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
The string quartet fielded from the larger group consisted of violinists Paran Amirinazari and Eleanor Bartsch (who alternated recurrently in the first and second chairs), violist Beth Larson and cellist Mark Bridges.
Their program mixed music of two traditional classical composers with that of two contemporaries.
Opening the program was the String Quartet in D, Op. 20, No. 2 (1772), by Franz Joseph Haydn, which was played with delightful elegance and spirit.
Later came Felix Mendelssohn’s “Four Pieces for String Quartet,” dating from 1843 to 1847 and published as a set designated Op. 81. These called for a richer playing style, which the Willys managed easily, and with strong feeling for the extensive fugal writing in two of the movements.
For more recent material, the group offered a tango tidbit by the Argentinian Astor Piazzolla, and a recent work (2005) by Hawaiian-American, Harlem-based, crossover composer, string player and band leader Daniel Bernard Roumain.
The piece by Piazzolla (below), Four for Tango (1988, presumably scored for him by somebody else), is a kind of anti-quartet venture, requiring defiant employment of unconventional string sounds.
Even more unconventional is the three-movement String Quartet No. 5 (2005) by Roumain (below). Given the subtitle of “Rosa Parks,” it pays tribute to the heroic African-American civil rights leader who sparked the desegregation of buses in Montgomery, Alabama.
Roumain is a classically trained musician who draws upon a range of Black music styles in his compositions. He too asks the players to break norms by using hand-clapping and foot-stomping as well as exaggerated bowings.
His musical ideas are interesting but few, and developed only in constant, almost minimalist, repetition. I was impressed, however, by his command of quartet texture, and by how the instruments really could work both together and in oppositions, especially in the long first movement. (You can hear the String Quartet No. 5 “Rosa Parks” by Daniel Bernard Roumain in the YouTube video at the bottom. It is performed by the Lark Quartet, for which it was composed.)
The four Willys dug into this novel repertoire with zest and careful control. In the entire program, indeed, they displayed an utter joy in making music together. Their artistry and their exploratory adventurism mark the group, more than ever, as Madison cultural treasures, richly deserving of their designation by The Ear as “Musicians of the Year for 2016.”
They will be giving FREE and PUBLIC performances at: Edgewood High School’s Fine Arts Fest (Feb. 14); the Northside Community Connect Series at the Warner Park Community Center (Feb. 19); the Marquette Waterfront Fest (June 11); and at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin compound in Spring Green (June 12). And we await impatiently their announcement of plans for their third series of Friday concerts this July.
For more information about concerts and about the group, go to: http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org
Then click on concerts or events.
Tags: A Place to Be, African American, Alabama, American Record Guide, Argentina, Arts, Cello, Chamber music, civil rights, Classical music, composer, crossover, Daniel Bernard Roumain, desegregation, Early music, Edgewood High School, Frank Lloyd Wright, fugue, Hawaii, Haydn, History, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, John W. Barker, July, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, Medieval, Mendelssohn, Montgomery, Music, Piazzolla, professor, Radio, Rosa Parks, Spring Green, String quartet, summer, Taliesin, tango, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Williamson Street, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube
Classical music: Two concerts of great music by Bach and Schubert are on tap for Saturday afternoon and Saturday night
Leave a Comment
ALERT: Although it is listed on the Events Calendar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, there is NO concert TONIGHT by UW Symphony Strings.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear wants to draw your attention to two smaller but very worthwhile concerts this Saturday.
GRACE PRESENTS
This Saturday afternoon, from noon to 1 p.m., the Grace Presents concert series offer harpsichordist Trevor Stephenson in a FREE lecture-performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1.
The FREE concert takes place at Grace Episcopal Church, 116 West Washington Avenue, on the Capitol Square.
Writes Stephenson who is the founder and director of the Madison Bach Musicians: “In the lecture, entitled Odyssey of the Soul, I’ll discuss the large-scale structure of the WTC – how it tells a story from the beginning of beginnings in C major out to the final frontier (and edge of tonality itself) in B minor.
“I’ll also talk about and demonstrate how 18th-century Well Temperament is made and how Bach (below) integrates the variety of its sound colors with the expressive message of each piece that I’ll be playing.”
The program includes: Prelude and Fugue in C major; Prelude and Fugue in C minor; Prelude in C-sharp major; Prelude and Fugue in E-flat/D-sharp minor; Prelude and Fugue in F major; and Prelude and Fugue in B minor.
The harpsichord that Stephenson (below, in a photo by Kent Sweitzer) will play was made in Madison in 1999 by Norman Sheppard (sheppardkeyboards.com). It is modeled on a 4-octave Flemish instrument of 1669 by Couchet.
MOSAIC CHAMBER PLAYERS
The Mosaic Chamber Players will give an all-Schubert program this Saturday night, March 19, at 7:30 p.m. in the Meeting House of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed First Unitarian Society of Madison. The concert will conclude the group’s 2015-16 season.
The Mosaic Chamber Players will be performing two of Schubert’s late works: the Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat Major, D. 929 (you can hear the haunting and lovely slow movement played by violist Isaac Stern, cellist Leonard Rose and pianist Eugene Istomin in a YouTube video at the bottom); and the rarely heard Fantasy for Violin and Piano in C Major, D. 934.
There will be a reception following the program.
Tickets are $15, $10 for seniors, and $5 for students. Only check or cash will be accepted.
The Mosaic Chamber Players (below, from left) is made up of pianist and founder Jess Salek; violinist Laura Burns (below middle); cellist Michael Allen; and violinist Wes Luke. The various members play with the Madison Symphony Orchestra,the Rhapsodie String Quartet; the Ancora String Quartet; the Willy Street Chamber Players; the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Madison Youth Choirs and other local ensembles.
The chamber music group has been praised as “among the finest purveyors of quality chamber music in Madison” by critic John W. Barker on The Well-Tempered Ear blog.
Tags: Ancora String Quartet, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Capitol Square, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, Couchet, Early music, Eugene Istomin, fantasy, Flemish, Franz Schubert, fugue, Grace Episcopal Church, harpsichord, Isaac Stern, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Leonard Rose, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Youth Choirs, Mosaic Chamber Players, Music, octave, Piano, Prelude, Rhapsodie String Quartet, Sonata, temperament, Trevor Stephenson, trio, tuning, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Well-Tempered Clavier, Williamson Street, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, YouTube
Classical music: The Willy Street Chamber Players offer an appetizing preview of its second summer season with masterful performances of string quartets by Mozart, Webern, Shostakovich and Philip Glass. Plus, the Pro Arte Quartet concert on Feb. 3 has been CANCELLED
Leave a Comment
ALERT: The concert on next Wednesday night, Feb. 3, by the University of Wisconsin-Madison‘s Pro Arte Quartet has been CANCELLED due to an injury of one of its players.
By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who for 12 years hosted an early music show every other Sunday morning on WORT FM 89.9 FM. He serves on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison. Barker also took the performance photo.
By John W. Barker
The Willy Street Chamber Players have already awakened us to Madison’s East Side as a promising new locale of our musical life. And in presenting their program in A Place to Be, the old store converted into a conversation haven at 911 Williamson Street, they have given us further reminder of that area’s lively community life and activities.
On last Saturday and Sunday afternoons, the Willys offered an hour-long program, admission-free but by reservation. (I attended the Saturday performance.)
The small space was certainly the kind of intimate venue ideal for music by string quartet: indeed, it made for virtually an in-your-face confrontation.
Four members (below) of the Willys’ core ensemble were on hand. Violinists Eleanor Bartsch and Paran Amirinazari (alternating in second and first chairs), violist Beth Larson and cellist Mark Bridges made up a well-balanced string quartet.
Their program of four works displayed anew the level of enthusiastic music-making these players have set for themselves, but also of their wide-ranging mix of repertoire.
The opening piece was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s beloved Serenade, Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music). As first violinist, Bartsch – who won honors at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music — set an exuberant tone for what became a newly fresh masterpiece.
The second work, Anton Webern’s early Langsamer Satz (Slow Movement), can sometimes seem too extended for its 9-minute length. But these players imparted a forward-moving pulse to its heavily Late Romantic character that made it a lovely experience. And I must say that Larson made me aware for the first time of just how significant a role the viola part has in holding together the dense texture.
The contemporary American composer Philip Glass (below) is inevitably typecast as the arch-exponent of minimalist repetition. His 9-minute String Quartet No. 2 “Company” certainly reflects such techniques, but its four short movements allow a dispersion of their effects without making them unwelcome.
I found myself impressed, too, at least by Glass’s awareness of the characters of the four instruments—their different ranges and potentials for interaction. (You can hear Philip Glass’ String Quartet No. 2 performed by Brooklyn Rider in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
Finally, Dmitri Shostakovich’s 15-minute, four-movement String Quartet No. 1, dating from 1938, revealed a composer enjoying energy and affirmation, with only traces of the deeper, darker, more introverted writing that would come about in his subsequent 13 quartets. Particularly striking was the nostalgic second movement, largely dominated by the viola, the role of which Larson brought off to eloquent perfection.
These two concerts served as mid-season reminders of the projected second summer season by the ensemble (below), to come in July. Full announcement of its program details and other news will come in a week or so. But the teasing hints about the repertoire ahead sounded fascinating. I, for one, found my mouth watering at many of them.
So you are all on notice, then, that this exciting ensemble, bursting with youthful talent, will once again bring special novelty and artistry to another summer’s musical life.
Tags: A Place to Be, American music, American Record Guide, Arts, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Rider, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, composer, Early music, emeritus, injury, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, John W. Barker, Langsamer Satz, Langsammer Satz, Late Romantic, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, Medieval history, minimalism, minimalist music, Mozart, Music, Philip Glass, Pro Arte Quartet, professor, Romantic, Shostakovich, Slow movement, store, String quartet, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Viola, Violin, Webern, Williamson Street, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | welltemperedear on What do you think of the… |
 | Scott on What do you think of the… |
| welltemperedear on Yunchan Lim’s Chopin etudes ar… |
 | bratschespeilerin on What do you think of the… |
 | MARVIN P WICKENS on Yunchan Lim’s Chopin etudes ar… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 