The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: Thursday night brings FREE concerts of orchestral, wind and piano music at the UW-Madison – including recognition of construction workers who built the new Hamel Music Center

December 4, 2019
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By Jacob Stockinger

This is an extraordinarily busy week for classical music, as the past week of postings has demonstrated.

But there is always room for more, especially at the University of Wisconsin Mead Witter School of Music as the semester winds down.

Take the concerts on this Thursday, Dec. 5.

UW SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA and UW WIND ENSEMBLE

At 7:30 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Avenue, the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra (below top, in Mills Hall) and the UW Wind Ensemble (below bottom) will join forces for a FREE concert.

The concert will be under the two groups’ directors and main conductors — Oriol Sans (below top) and Scott Teeple (below bottom), respectively.

The program features the Symphony “Circus Maximus” – which ends with a blank gunshot — by the contemporary American composer John Corigliano (below top); “Fratres” (Brothers) by the popular 84-year-old Estonian composer Arvo Pärt with UW violin professor Soh-Hyun Park Altino (below bottom, in a photo by Caroline Bittencourt) as soloist; and “The Pines of Rome” by Italian composer Ottorino Respighi.

You can hear “Fratres” in the YouTube video at the bottom.

Billed as a “Builder Appreciation Concert” for those men and women who worked on constructing the new Hamel Music Center, there is also a pre-concert reception starting at 6:30 p.m.

Admission is free and no tickets are required.

PIANO DEPARTMENT RECITAL

Also on this Thursday, the UW-Madison piano department with present a collective recital.

It takes place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the smaller Collins Recital Hall of the Hamel Music Center.

So far, no performers or pieces on the program have been listed on the School of Music’s website.

 


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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
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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.


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Classical music: A busy week at the UW-Madison brings FREE concerts in new halls with an emphasis on new music for winds, chamber ensembles, orchestra and band

October 6, 2019
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ALERT: Tonight’s performance by the a cappella vocal group Chanticleer is SOLD OUT.

By Jacob Stockinger

It’s going to be a busy week at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music and especially in its new Hamel Music Center (below), 740 University Ave., next to the new wing of the Chazen Museum of Art.

On tap is a variety of FREE concerts, with an emphasis on new music, including compositions for winds, chamber ensembles, orchestra and band.

Earlier mistakes on dates and time have been corrected. To double check dates, times and venues as well programs, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/events/

Here is a schedule:

TUESDAY, OCT. 8

At 7:30 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, the UW Wind Ensemble (below), conducted by director Scott Teeple and guest conductor Ross Wolf, will perform a FREE program of contemporary wind music.

The program includes works by Augusta Read Thomas (below top), Jake Runestad, Larry Tuttle, Xi Wang (below bottom) and Carlos Simon.

There will be one world premiere and two Wisconsin premieres.

For more information and the complete program, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-wind-ensemble-5/

THURSDAY, OCT. 10

At 8 p.m. in Collins Recital Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble will perform a FREE recital of new music, including two works — “Wet Ink” and ” Treetop Studio” — by the critically acclaimed UW-Madison composer Laura Schwendinger (below).

Also on the “Fall Notes” program are “Wing and Prayer” by Melinda Wagner (below top) and “Pentacle” by Irish composer Raymond Deane (below bottom) who will make his UW-Madison debut.

Performers for “Fall Notes” will feature UW-Madison musicians, including clarinetist Alicia Lee, cellist James Waldo, violist Sally Chisholm, pianist Christopher Taylor and student performers.

FRIDAY, OCT. 11

At 8 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra (below) will open its season with a FREE concert under its new conductor Oriol Sans, a native of Catalonia, Spain, who studied at the Barcelona Conservatory and  who came to Madison from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

The program is: “aequilibria” by contemporary Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom); “Death and Transfiguration; by Richard Strauss; and “Symphonic Dances” by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

For more information about conductor Oriol Sans (below), go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/oriol-sans/

For more information, from Wikipedia, about composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir (below), go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_S._Þorvaldsdóttir

SUNDAY, OCT. 13

At 2 p.m., in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, the University Bands will perform a FREE concert under conductor Darin Olson (below), the assistant director of bands at the UW-Madison.

No program is available.


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Classical music: The UW-Madison School of Music seeks volunteers to help “tune” two new concert halls all-day this Thursday and Friday in the soon-to-open Hamel Music Center

September 17, 2019
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By Jacob Stockinger

Here is a chance for music lovers to combine civic duty with private pleasure.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music is looking for volunteers of any kind to help “tune” the two new concert halls in the soon-to-open Hamel Music Center (below), located at 740 University Avenue next to the Chazen Museum of Art’s newer wing. The official opening celebrations for the $56-million building are Oct. 25-27.

“Tuning” the hall is the term that acousticians apply to the process of adjusting the hall to how it will sound when audiences are in attendance. Halls sound very different from when they are empty to when they are occupied.

The School of Music team is looking for volunteers to help tune the larger concert hall on Thursday, Sept. 19, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and the smaller recital hall on Friday, Sept. 20, from 9:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

Volunteers can be from the university of from the general public. Two halls are involved: the larger Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, which can seat up to 662; and the smaller Collins Recital Hall (below, in an architect’s rendering), which can seat up to 299.

Volunteers can study, work quietly on computers, check out the new facility, use the time as quiet time or sample for free some of the UW’s performers. Individuals and groups will be performing during the adjustments being made by the sound engineers.

Visitors will be asked to remain silently in their seats while the “commissioning” for a particular setting is in process. Breaks are scheduled for people to come and go. Start and stop times are approximate.

The musicians and kinds of music include: a symphony orchestra; a choir; brass, wind, percussion and string ensembles, including a string quartet; solo piano; and jazz.

Volunteers can attend as many sessions as they want, but they are asked to arrive 15 minutes prior to the scheduled time they wish to attend and sign up for.

For more information, including schedules and details about the kind of music to be performed and how to behave, here is a link to a story and schedules: https://www.music.wisc.edu/tuning/

If you go, use this blog’s Comment section to let The Ear know what the experience was like – even though he may also see you there.


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Classical music: This Friday night, the UW Symphony Orchestra depicts visual art in sound. Plus, two all-student string orchestras perform Saturday afternoon and the UW Wind Ensemble performs Saturday night

April 25, 2019
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CORRECTION: The concert by Sonata à Quattro TONIGHT at Oakwood Village West is at 7 p.m. — NOT 8 p.m. as mistakenly stated in Tuesday’s blog posting.

By Jacob Stockinger

This weekend, two student orchestras will give FREE concerts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.

On Friday night, April 26, at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Symphony Orchestra (below top) under conductor Chad Hutchinson (below bottom), who has won prizes and acclaim for his programming, will give a FREE “gallery tour” concert exploring how visual art is depicted in sound.

The program opens with “Finding Rothko” (2006), by American composer Adam Schoenberg (below).

The musical work depicts four Abstract Expressionist paintings by the Russian-American master Mark Rothko (below top, above his 1956 painting in Orange. You can hear the “Orange” section of the musical work in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

To read the composer’s notes, go to: https://adamschoenberg.com/works/finding-rothko/

To find out more about the composer, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Schoenberg

The concert concludes with the dramatic, dark and moody “Pictures at an Exhibition” — in the classic orchestration by Maurice Ravel – by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky (below).

The musical work is a set of vignettes evoking drawings and watercolors by Viktor Hartmann (below top), including the famous ending with “The Great Gate of Kiev” (below bottom).

SATURDAY

On Saturday afternoon, April 27, at 2 p.m. in Mills Hall, the All-University Strings (below, in a  photo by Jeff Miller for University Communications) – made up of non-music majors – will perform a FREE concert.

All-University Strings is comprised of two non-major string orchestras — named Orchestra One and Orchestra Two – that are open to all interested string players who are not music majors. Director Pedro Oviedo will conduct.

No word on the program, which is unfortunate. The Ear suspects that if the public knew the program, the concert might draw a bigger audience.

Then at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Wind Ensemble (below top), conducted by Scott Teeple (below bottom), will perform a FREE concert of works by Jim Territo, William Schuman, Charles Ives, Percy Grainger and Paul Hindemith.


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Classical music: This week at the UW-Madison features three FREE concerts: the UW Wind Ensemble, pianist Leon Fleisher with the Pro Arte Quartet and the UW Symphony Orchestra in music by Prokofiev and Sibelius

October 4, 2016
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By Jacob Stockinger

This week there are three FREE concerts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music that merit your attention and attendance:

WEDNESDAY:

On Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW-Madison Wind Ensemble (below top) will perform a concert of theater music under director Scott Teeple (below bottom).

UW Wind Ensemble

Scott Teeple conducting

The concert features special guest soloist, percussionist Darin Olson (below), assistant director of the University of Wisconsin Marching Band.

The program includes music from “The Three Penny Opera” by Kurt Weill; the wind octet “Figures in the Garden” by Jonathan Dove; the Concertino for Timpani with Brass and Percussion by Michael Colgrass; the “Nocturno” by Felix Mendelssohn; and the “Geschwindmarsch” (Wind March) by Paul Hindemith.

For more information, visit:

http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-wind-ensemble-5/

darin-olson

THURSDAY

Famed pianist Leon Fleisher (below top) will perform a FREE noon concert with the Pro Arte Quartet (below bottom, in a photo by Rick Langer).

A single work is featured but it is a great one, an undisputed masterpiece: The Piano Quintet in F Minor by Johannes Brahms.

The concert is from noon to 1 p.m. in Mills Hall.

For more information and background, visit:

http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/special-guest-artist-concert-the-legendary-leon-fleisher-in-concert-with-pro-arte-quartet/

Leon Fleisher

PAQ-8BIT03

FRIDAY

At 8 p.m. on Friday night in Mills Hall, the UW Symphony Orchestra (below) will perform under its director and conductor James Smith.

The ingenious program features two terrific fifth symphonies that are NOT the most famous Fifth Symphony, the one by Ludwig van Beethoven: these are instead the Symphony No. 5 in B-flat by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev; and the Symphony No. 5 by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius

You can listen to the exciting and moving finale of the Sibelius symphony, performed by the Finnish conductor Essa-Pekka Salonen and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra  in the YouTube video at the bottom. It is one of The Ear’s favorites.)

UW Symphony violins 2015

Smith_Jim_conduct07_3130

Three student recitals, including graduate recitals in viola and piano, are also on the schedule this week. For information, visit:

http://www.music.wisc.edu/events/


Classical music: The Madison Symphony Orchestra’s FREE Christmas Carol Sing is this Saturday morning at 11 a.m. in Overture Hall. Plus, FREE UW Wind Ensemble concert, featuring a world premiere, is this Friday night.

December 4, 2014
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By Jacob Stockinger

FREE MADISON SYMPHONY CAROL SING

The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) invites the entire community to a sing-along with the Overture Concert Organ (below) at a FREE Christmas Carol Sing in Overture Hall, 201 State Street, on this coming Saturday, Dec. 6, at 11 a.m. (A sample, with “Adeste Fideles” or “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” at Westminster Abbey in England is at the bottom in a YouTube video.)

Overture Concert Organ overview

All ages are welcome and the event is FREE. No registration or tickets are required.

MSO Principal Organist and Curator Samuel Hutchison (below, in a photo by Joe DeMaio) will lead the carol singing, which will last approximately 45 minutes.

Sam Hutchison with organ (c) JoeDeMaio

For more holiday singing, come 45 minutes early to each performance of A Madison Symphony Christmas concert to hear the Madison Symphony Chorus sing Christmas carols in the festively-lit lobby of the Overture Center

Here is a link to more information about the concert:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/classical-music-qa-soprano-alyson-cambridge-talks-about-crossing-genres-and-how-to-attract-ethically-diverse-audiences-to-classical-music-and-opera-she-sings-with-the-madison-symphony-orchestra/

Those concerts are on Friday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 6, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 7, at 2:30 p.m. in Overture Hall and tickets can be purchased at www.madisonsymphony.org/singletickets and through the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street or by calling the Box Office at (608) 258-4141.

With a gift from the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation, the Madison Symphony Orchestra commissioned the Overture Concert Organ, which is the stunning backdrop of all MSO concerts.

MSO Principal Organist Samuel Hutchison programs and curates the instrument that was custom-built by Klais Organ Works in Bonn, Germany.

In addition to the Free Farmers’ Market Concerts, the instrument is featured in the annual MSO Christmas concert, along with several Free Community Hymn Sings and a Christmas Carol Sing.

See details for all organ performances at www.madisonsymphony.org/organperformances.

Support for all Overture Concert Organ programs is provided by the Diane Endres Ballweg Fund. For more information, please contact the MSO at (608) 257-3734 or email info@madisonsymphony.org.

UW-MADISON WIND ENSEMBLE

This Friday night, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music and the UW Wind Ensemble (below) will present “The Wisconsin Idea and a Premiere” with faculty soloists UW-Madison bassoonist Marc Vallon and UW-Madison baritone Paul Rowe.

UW Wind Ensemble performance

The UW Wind Ensemble continues its tradition of “Wisconsin Idea” performances when it shares the stage with the Oconomowoc (Wisconsin) High School Wind Symphony (below), Michael Krofta, conductor.

Ocononmowoc HS Wind Symphony

The UW Wind Ensemble will give the premiere performance of “A Dialogue with Self and Soul,” a concerto commissioned by the UW-Madison from composer and conductor James Stephenson (below).

James Stephenson composer

Basoonist Marc Vallon (below top, in photo by James Gill) and baritone Paul Rowe (below bottom, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) will be faculty soloists.

Marc Vallon 2011 James Gill (baroque & modern)[2]

Paul Rowe

Closing the program will be a sneak peek of the March 2015 Carnegie Hall performance and Wisconsin premiere of “The Frozen Cathedral” by John Mackey. Also included is Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral by Richard Wagner/Cailliet.

This concert will be streamed live on the Internet! Please check this link and sign up for a reminder preceding the concert.

Here is a link:

https://new.livestream.com/accounts/1969065/UWWEwOconomowocHS

The ensemble’s director is Scott Teeple (below).

Scott Teeple

The Wind Ensemble is the premier wind and percussion ensemble at the UW-Madison School of Music. Repertoire varies from classical wind compositions to contemporary works. The Wind Ensemble actively commissions new works from world-renowned composers, often performing with internationally acclaimed soloists and guest conductors.

 

 

 


Classical music: It will be a busy week with many FREE concerts of many different kinds of music at the University of Wisconsin School of Music. Plus, the Miro Quartet of Austin, Texas, will perform Haydn, Schubert and Philip Glass on Friday night.

February 17, 2014
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By Jacob Stockinger

The next two weeks will be especially busy ones at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music.

All save one of the concerts will be FREE, and they include orchestral music, percussion, strings, winds and even lectures linking science and music.

The one major non-free exception is a notable MUST-HEAR: The acclaimed Miro Quartet (below) as presented by the Wisconsin Union Theater, will perform on Friday night at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall. The Miro Quartet is in residence at the University of Texas-Austin. (You can hear it playing Beethoven in a YouTube video at the bottom.)

miro quartet informal

The program of Classical and contemporary masterpieces of features the “Lark” Quartet, Op. 64, No. 5, by Franz Joseph Haydn; Franz Schubert’s well-known and the String Quartet No. 14 “Death and the Maiden”; and Philip Glass’ Quartet No. 5 (1991).

Tickets are $25 for the general public; $21 for UW faculty and staff and for Memorial Union members; and $10 for UW students.

Here is a link to more information that includes tickets, sound samples and critical reviews:

http://www.uniontheater.wisc.edu/Season13-14/Miro-String-Quartet.html

miro quartet playing

TUESDAY

At 7:30 p.m.in Mills Hall, the accomplished UW Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of director James Smith, the Overture to “La scale di seta”  (The Silk Ladder) by Gioacchino Rossini;
 the Chamber Symphony by Franz Schreker; the
 “Classical” Symphony by Sergei Prokofiev; and the
 “Winter’s Tale” by Lars-Erik Larsson.

UW Chamber Orchestra entire

WEDNESDAY

At 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, guest artist Todd Reynolds (below) will give a FREE recital. Reynolds is the violinist of choice for such well known individual and ensemble performers as composers as Steve Reich and Meredith Monk and the group Bang on a Can. He violinist, composer, educator and technologist is known as one of the founding fathers of the hybrid-musician movement.

Todd Reynolds will be performing compositions of his own from his critically acclaimed 2011 CD “Outerborough,” including music by Michael Gordon, David Little, Michael Lowenstern and Ingram Marshall, and a couple of pieces written and improvised  especially for the evening, right there, from the stage and in real time.

Todd Reynolds

THURSDAY

At 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Western Percussion Ensemble (below) will perform a concert that features the monumental work “Strange and Sacred Noise” by the contemporary American composer John Luther Adams (below), whose work was also featured recently by Clocks in Motion. Directors of the Western Percussion Ensemble are Tom Ross and Anthony Di Sanza.

Western Percussion Ensemble

FRIDAY

At 7 p.m. in the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery (below), at 330 North Orchard Street, across from the Union South, the ongoing SoundWaves program, curated by UW hornist Daniel Grabois, program will explore the science and art of wood. Here is a summary that, unfortunately, offers no information about the music and specific topics and speakers:

Wood You Could You? The Science and Music of Wood

“SoundWaves combines scientific lectures about the world with live classical music performances. Each event revolves around a theme, exploring it first from many scientific angles and then through the lens of music. The program concludes with a live performance of music related to the evening’s theme.

“The science lectures are delivered using language that the curious layman can understand, with a minimum of jargon and formulas. The music lectures, while demanding careful listening, are likewise designed for the layman and not the specialist.

“Every SoundWaves event brings UW-Madison scientists from several departments together with UW-Madison School of Music faculty performers to explore a topic that is relevant to our world and our lives. SoundWaves is free and open to the public. This series generally is held in the evening at the Town Center of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.’

8 p.m. in Mills Hall: The Miro Quartet. (See above.)

WID_night10_2152

SATURDAY

At 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Wind Ensemble (below) will give concert under director Scott Teeple that features the Wisconsin premiere of a work by composer Roger Zare

Works on the program include “Smetana Fanfare,” by Karol Husa; “Mar Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility),” by Roger Zare (Wisconsin premiere); and “Ecstatic Waters for Wind Ensemble and Electronics,” by Steven Bryant.

UW School of Music

SUNDAY

At 2 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Concert Band will perform under Mike Leckrone (below). Sorry, no details about the program are available yet.

leckrone

Then at at 3:30 p.m. in Morphy Recital Hall, the Hunt Quartet will perform a FREE concert. The program includes Franz Joseph Haydn’s “Sunrise” Quartet, Op. 76, No. 4, and Bela Bartok’s String Quartet No. 1.

The Hunt Quartet (below, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) is comprised of outstanding graduate students from the School of Music, and is sponsored by the Madison Symphony Orchestra.

This year’s members (from the left) include Ju Dee Ang, Elspeth Stalter-Clouse, Paran Amirinazari and Lindsey Crabb.

hunt quartet 2013-14

 

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