The Well-Tempered Ear
The UW-Madison’s Wingra Wind Quintet performs a FREE online virtual concert this Wednesday night. Plus, local music critic Greg Hettmansberger has died
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NEWS ALERT: Local music critic and blogger Greg Hettmansberger (below) was killed in a car accident on Dec. 2, near Wichita, Kansas. Hettmansberger, 65, was driving when he hit a deer and then another car hit him. His wife survived but remains hospitalized in Wichita in critical condition. Here is a link to a news account: https://www.kake.com/story/42993718/man-dies-in-crash-caused-by-deer-in-pratt-county
By Jacob Stockinger
This Wednesday night, Dec. 9, the UW-Madison’s Wingra Wind Quintet (below, in 2017) will perform a FREE virtual online concert from 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Here is a direct link to the pre-recorded video premiere on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/e1NhVZJW2cA
Due to the pandemic, the Wingra Wind Quintet has been unable to perform chamber music in a traditional way since March 2020. (You can hear the quintet play “On, Wisconsin” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
In response, the quintet put together a program that allowed each member to record parts separately and have those parts edited together.
Current faculty members (below) are: Conor Nelson, flute; Lindsay Flowers, oboe; Alicia Lee, clarinet; Marc Vallon, bassoon; and Devin Cobleigh-Morrison, horn
The engineer/producer is Kris Saebo.
The program is:
The first piece “Allegro scherzando” from Three Pieces by Walter Piston (below, 1894-1976)
The Chaconne from the First Suite in E-flat for Military Band by Gustav Holst (below, 1874-1934)
“Retracing” by Elliott Carter (below, 1908-2012)
Selections from “Mikrokosmos” by Bela Bartok (below, 1881-1945)
“A 6 letter letter” by Elliott Carter
Intermezzo from the First Suite in E-flat for Military Band by Gustav Holst
“Esprit rude/esprit doux” by Elliott Carter
Since its formation in 1965, the Wingra Wind Quintet at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music has established a tradition of artistic and teaching excellence.
The ensemble has been featured in performance at national conferences such as MENC (Miami), MTNA (Kansas City), and the International Double Reed Society (Minneapolis).
The quintet also presented an invitational concert on the prestigious Dame Myra Hess series at the Chicago Public Library, broadcast live on radio station WFMT.
In addition to its extensive home state touring, the quintet has been invited to perform at numerous college campuses, including the universities of Alaska-Fairbanks, Northwestern, Chicago, Nebraska, Western Michigan, Florida State, Cornell, the Interlochen Arts Academy, and the Paris Conservatoire, where quintet members offered master classes.
The Wingra Wind Quintet has recorded for Golden Crest, Spectrum, and the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music recording series and is featured on an educational video entitled Developing Woodwind Ensembles.
Always on the lookout for new music of merit, the Wingra has premiered new works of Hilmar Luckhardt, Vern Reynolds, Alec Wilder, Edith Boroff, James Christensen and David Ott. The group recently gave the Midwest regional premiere of William Bolcom’s “Five Fold Five,” a sextet for woodwind quintet and piano, with UW-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor (below).
New York Times critic Peter Davis, in reviewing the ensemble’s Carnegie Hall appearance, stated “The performances were consistently sophisticated, sensitive and thoroughly vital.”
The Wingra Wind Quintet is one of three faculty chamber ensembles in-residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music.
Deeply committed to the spirit of the Wisconsin Idea, the group travels widely to offer its concerts and educational services to students and the public in all corners of the state. (Editor’s note: For more about the Wisconsin Idea, which seems more relevant today than ever, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_Idea.)
Portions of this recording were made at the Hamel Music Center, a venue of the Mead Witter School of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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Classical music: After 54 years at the UW-Madison, the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) will move this fall to the new McFarland Performing Arts Center.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Starting this fall, the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO, below) will have a new home for classes, rehearsals and performances.
The news of moving to the McFarland Performing Arts Center (below) is very good for WYSO. But The Ear feels sad to see the University of Wisconsin-Madison and WYSO parting ways after a partnership of 54 years.
It feels like the UW, a distinguished public institution, is backing away from the Wisconsin Idea of public service to the citizens who fund the university. It is embodied in the saying that “the boundaries of the university are the boundaries of the state.” (Editor’s note: For more about the Wisconsin Idea and its Progressive Era history, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_Idea)
It feels, in short, like a setback to community engagement by the UW-Madison and its Mead Witter School of Music, where WYSO once had offices and used Mills Concert Hall.
Be that as it may, here is a WYSO email newsletter’s account of what led up to the decision and move.
“The news from University of Wisconsin-Madison started trickling in a little at a time.
“First, Mills Hall (below), where WYSO had rehearsed almost every Saturday since the Humanities Building opened, was scheduled for transformation from a concert hall into a lecture hall. (You can see WYSO performing in Mills Hall in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
“Then the UW began to reconsider whether pre-college programs should actually share space with university departments.
“And there was the growth of WYSO itself — from one full orchestra to three, plus two string orchestras, a chamber music program (below top), a full array of ensembles, and the community-impact Music Makers (below bottom).
“Meanwhile, 12 minutes away, the town of McFarland opened an amazing 841-seat, state-of-the-art performing arts center (below).
“And incredibly, the adjacent middle school and high school campus (below) had enough parking and enough rehearsal space to accommodate the entire WYSO program with room to grow — all of the student musicians, all of the orchestras, and all rehearsing at the same time.
“In a unique move of creative place-making, McFarland’s School Superintendent Andrew Briddell reached out to WYSO and suggested all of the above opportunities, plus collaboration with the McFarland schools, staff and community, and the ability to build on the creative history of the town itself.
“Passionate about music and education, Andrew Briddell, earned a double major in music and English from Indiana University, a Master’s degree in bassoon from Temple University, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from the UW-Madison.
“”A talented bassoon player, Briddell (below) played with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and was music director of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Birmingham.
“What a perfect match for this collaboration!
“It was an invitation too good to pass up. So starting in the fall of 2020, the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras will be in residence at the new McFarland Performing Arts Center.”
To read more details about WYSO’s new home, including design and acoustics, go to: https://www.wysomusic.org/the-wyso-weekly-tune-up-april-17-2020-wysos-new-home/
What do you think about the new move WYSO?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: This Friday night is a FREE sampler concert of great German art songs based on great German poetry
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By Jacob Stockinger
There is a good reason why art songs are usually referred to by their German name ”Lieder.”
It is because the 19th century in Germany remains a Golden Age when great German Romantic composers such as Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann drew inspiration from great German Romantic poets such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (below top) and Heinrich Heine (below bottom).
You can hear a generous sampler of such works, including many well-known individual songs and a famous complete song cycle, this Friday night in a FREE concert at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall.
The singers are guest tenor Wesley Dunnagan (below top) and UW faculty baritone Paul Rowe (below bottom, in a photo by Michael R. Anderson).
The pianists are Benjamin Liupaogo (below top) and UW graduate Thomas Kasdorf (below bottom), who is substituting for Martha Fischer.
The concert is also a partnership between the UW School of Music and the UW German Department. And it marks the 50th Wisconsin Workshop, a series based on the Wisconsin Idea.
For more information and background, go to:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/faculty-recital-paul-rowe-voice-martha-fischer-piano/
If you want to prepare and check out some of the repertoire, here is the complete program:
GEDICHTE VON JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE (1749-1832)
Felix Mendelsson (1809-1847): Ich Wollt’ Meine Lieb’
Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Erster Verlust; Nähe des Geliebten; Rastlose Liebe; Musensohn; Schäfers Klagelied; An die Entfernte; Erlkönig
GEDICHTE VON HEINRICH HEINE (1797-1856)
Clara Schumann (1819-1826): Lorelei; Sie liebten sich beide; Ihr Bildnis
Franz Schubert: Ihr Bild; Das Fischermädchen
Franz Liszt (1811-1886): Lorelei
Felix Mendelssohn: Abendlied
Intermission
Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Dichterliebe, Opus 48 (1840)
Im wunderschönen Monat Mai
Aus meinen Tränen sprießen
Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne
Ich will meine Seele tauchen
Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome
Ich grolle night (sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the YouTube video at bottom)
Und wüßten’s die Blumen, die kleinen
Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen
Hör’ ich das Liedchen klingen
Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen
Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen
Ich hab’ im Traum geweinet
Allnächtlich im Traume seh’ ich dich
Aus alten Märchen
Die alten, bösen Lieder
Tags: alumnus, art song, Arts, baritone, Benjamin Liupaogo, Clara Schumann, Classical music, composer, cycle, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, faculty, Franz Schubert, German, Germany, Goethe, graduate, individual, Jacob Stockinger, lieder, Liszt, Lorelei, Madison, Mendelssohn, Music, Paul Rowe, Piano, poem, poet, Poetry, Robert Schumann, Romantic, Romanticism, sampler, Schubert, singer, song, song cycle, tenor, Thomas Kasdorf, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, well-known, Wesley Dunnagan, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Idea, workshop, YouTube
Classical music: Don’t “monetize” the Pro Arte Quartet, which performs three FREE concerts this week. It embodies the Wisconsin Idea
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By Jacob Stockinger
It’s no secret that the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music is strapped for money, especially for hiring staff and funding student scholarships — if less so for the construction of new buildings that are financed by selling naming rights.
Certain events, such as the UW Choral Union, have always charged admission. And most UW-Madison musical events, especially faculty and student performances, remain, thankfully, FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
But under increasing financial pressure, a few years ago the UW started charging admission to more events: the UW Brass Festival, the UW Concerto Competition Winners’ Concert and the annual Schubertiade to name a few.
So one can well imagine the temptation to “monetize” — charge admission to – concerts by the popular Pro Arte String Quartet (below, in a photo by Rick Langer), which typically draws both critical acclaim and large audiences.
Yet The Ear thinks that would be a mistake, even if the purpose or intent is the best.
The Pro Arte Quartet, which ended up here from its native Belgium when it was exiled here on tour during World War II when Hitler and the Nazis invaded and conquered Belgium, is a primary example of The Wisconsin Idea in action.
The Wisconsin Idea – under siege now by the governor and many legislators — is that the boundaries of the UW are the borders of the state and that the UW should serve the taxpayers who support it.
No single musical group at the UW does that job that better than the hard working Pro Arte Quartet, which has done it for many decades.
The quartet practices for three hours every weekday morning. It tours and performs frequently in Madison and elsewhere in the state, including Door County. It has played in Carnegie Hall in New York City and toured Europe, South America and Asia. It has commissioned and premiered many new works. It has made numerous outstanding recordings. It is a great and revered institution.
The Pro Arte Quartet is, in short, a great ambassador for the state of Wisconsin, the UW-Madison and the UW System. It has given, and will continue to give, countless listeners a start on loving chamber music.
If you are unfamiliar with the history of the Pro Arte Quartet, which is now over 100 years old and is the longest lived active quartet in the history of Western music, go to this link:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/pro-arte-quartet/
And you might consider attending or hearing one of the three FREE PUBLIC performances this week in the Madison area:
THURSDAY
From 7 to 9 p.m., the Pro Arte Quartet will perform FREE at Oakwood Village Auditorium, 6209 Mineral Point Road on Madison’s far west side near West Towne. The program is the same as the one listed below on Saturday.
The Oakwood Village concert is OPEN to the public.
Here is a link to more information:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/pro-arte-quartet-at-oakwood-village/
SATURDAY
At 8 p.m., in Mills Hall, the Pro Arte Quartet, joined by University of Maryland guest pianist Rita Sloan (below top), will perform a FREE program that features the Fuga in E-flat Major, (1827) by Felix Mendelssohn; the String Quartet No. 20 in F major, Op. 46, No. 2 (1832-33) by the prolific but neglected 19th-century French composer George Onslow (below bottom); and the rarely heard Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84, (1919) by Sir Edward Elgar. (You hear the lovely slow movement from the Elgar Piano Quintet in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For information, go to:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/pro-arte-quartet-6/
SUNDAY
At 12:30 p.m. in the Brittingham Gallery III (below) of the Chazen Museum of Art, the Pro Arte Quartet will perform for “Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen,” where over the years it has become the chamber music ensemble in residence.
The program is the same as the one on Saturday night.
Here is information about reserving seats and also a link for streaming the concert live via the Internet:
Do you have an opinion about the Pro Arte Quartet?
Should admission to Pro Arte concerts be started? Or should the quartet’s performances remain free?
Leave a COMMENT below with the why and your reasoning.
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Let us now praise string teacher Janet Jensen, who retires after almost 50 years at the UW-Madison. Her final concert with the All-University Strings is Saturday afternoon at 4 in Mills Hall.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Loyal readers know that The Ear is a big supporter of music education and amateur music-making.
All the more reason to honor Janet Jensen (below), then, who is retiring as the string pedagogue at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music.
Jensen has spent almost 50 years teaching strings not only to specialists but also to music educators and amateur student musicians.
Her final concert with the All-University Strings (below) is this Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. in Mills Hall. It will also feature the Sonora Strings from the Suzuki Strings of Madison plus soloists John Povolny and Lili Kim as well as guest conductors Mikko Rankin Utevsky and Brandi Pease.
The FREE concert will feature string music by Johann Sebastian Bach (the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, which you can hear in a YouTube video at the bottom); Antonio Vivaldi; John Rutter; Ernest Bloch; Edvard Grieg; Leonard Bernstein; and others.
©UW-Madison University Communications. Photo by Jeff Miller
In a prepared statement, Jensen (below, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) said:
“This concert marks the 25th anniversary of my leadership. It also marks my retirement from the School of Music, where I’ve been a student, staff member and faculty member – an association spanning nearly 50 years.
“In my dual faculty roles of Professor of String Pedagogy and Associate Director I have had the opportunity to serve many populations – colleagues, music majors and non-majors – but I’ve found particular authenticity in the All-University String Orchestras and in bringing majors and non-majors together.
“That sense of authenticity derives from several sources. A former, and maybe future, public school music teacher, I realized that musical groups for non-music majors in fact serve the teachers, mentors and programs that produced them.
“I’m a product of public education and the beneficiary of tenets of the Wisconsin Idea and University Extension programs, so it also became clear to me that such musical groups extend UW’s impact beyond the campus to the state borders and beyond.
“Deeply influenced by the values inherent in community music programs and life-long learning in music, I realized that providing a musical setting that could be balanced with multiple degrees and academic loads would better ensure that non-majors would opt to keep music in their lives — and, as they themselves become voters, parents and advocates, in the lives of others.”
Here is a link to a website posting with the compete program plus a very informative and even moving set of remarks by Jensen who discusses the program, her personal background and her commitment to a broad music education:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/all-university-strings-2/
Tags: amateur, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, concerto, Early music, Ernest Bloch, faculty, Grieg, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Rutter, Leonard Bernstein, Madison, mentor, Music, Music education, Orchestra, pedagogy, staff\, strings, Suzuki, symphony, Teacher, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW Extension, Viola, Violin, Vivaldi, Wisconsin Idea, YouTube
Classical music education: Educator Harv Thompson receives the Rabin Youth Arts Award from the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO)
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement and is pleased to post it:
The Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) Board of Directors is pleased to announce the 2016 Rabin Youth Arts Award recipient.
Harv Thompson will receive the award in the category of Artistic Achievement. The award will be presented at Arts Day on this Wednesday, March 9, at the Monona Terrace in the Hall of Ideas at 9 a.m.
Deserving individuals and organizations from across the state were nominated for their support of youth arts across all disciplines.
Harv Thompson (below) is Professor Emeritus of Theater at the UW-Madison and the UW-Extension. A firm believer in the “Wisconsin Idea,” Thompson considers the boundaries of the University System to be the boundaries of the state. His passion for arts education throughout Wisconsin is deeply rooted in his belief that the state has a commitment to bring the UW’s arts offerings to the diverse audiences found in every corner of Wisconsin.
Thompson’s career ran on two tracks: his theater endeavors and his administrative leadership. Harv served over 20 years as department chair for the UW-Extension’s Continuing Education in the Arts Department.
His role at the UW-Extension included maintaining a link between UW arts professors and the UW-Extension youth program of 4-H. Over 50,000 children state-wide are enrolled in 4-H and his leadership helped develop and maintain funding for 4-H arts programs including: Arts Camp, Arts Leadership lab, Showcase Singers, Drama Company and Art Team.
Thompson (below) is also founder of the Wisconsin Theater Association, which was developed to assist public schools in their theater offerings including classes and live performances of plays and musicals. Since its inception, the Wisconsin Theater Association has provided educational resources and performances to thousands of students throughout the state of Wisconsin.
Twenty-five years ago, Thompson founded the Wisconsin High School Theater Festival (below). For every year since, hundreds of high school students attended the three-day festival to participate in a variety of educational workshops and to view live theater performances by both their high school peers and by professional theater groups. Thousands of high school students have benefited from the festival’s 25-year run, and Harv continues to remain closely involved in the planning and execution of the festival to this day.
The Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, located in Madison, Wisconsin, presents the Rabin Youth Arts Awards in honor of their founding conductor, Marvin Rabin (below), as a means to honor those who follow in his footsteps.
The awards are a forum for promoting quality youth arts programs and honoring those who work diligently to provide arts opportunities for children throughout Wisconsin. They also serve as a means to elevate awareness in our community about the importance of arts education for all children.
Now celebrating its 50th season, WYSO membership has included more than 5,000 young musicians from more than 100 communities in southern Wisconsin. WYSO, currently under the artistic direction of James Smith, includes three full orchestras, a string orchestra, a chamber music program, a percussion ensemble, a harp ensemble and a brass choir program. For more information, visit www.wysomusic.org
Tags: 4-H, art education, Arts, arts education, brass, camp, Chamber music, Choir, classes, Classical music, culture, drama, Education, harp, high school, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, Marvin Rabin, Music, Music education, musicals, Orchestra, percussion, plays, public schools, singers, strings, students, theater, theatre, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Extension, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Idea, Wisconsin Theater Association, Wisconsin Youth Symhony Orchestras, WYSO, young people, Youth
Classical music: Collaborative pianist and UW-Madison professor Martha Fischer is The Ear’s “Musician of the Year” for 2015
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By Jacob Stockinger
There is now so much outstanding classical music in the Madison area that it is hard to single out one performer or even one group as the Musician of the Year.
So this year The Ear was wondering how to honor all the musicians who generally go nameless but perform so well — all those string, brass, wind and percussion players and all those singers –- and not just the higher-profile conductors or soloists.
Then he was sitting at the astounding debut recital by Soh-Hyun Park Altino, the new violin professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, given the night of the terrorist attacks in Paris.
Her partner was faculty pianist Martha Fischer.
And then is when The Ear decided that the Musician of the Year for 2015 should be Martha Fischer (below).
I’d say “accompanist,” but we really don’t call them accompanists any more. The better term, and the more accurate term, is collaborative pianist.
And if you heard Martha Fischer play the thorny piano parts of the violin sonatas by Charles Ives and Johannes Brahms, you know you heard amazing artistry. (Park Altino also played a solo work by Johann Sebastian Bach.)
Here is the rave review by The Ear:
Now, The Ear has to disclose that he knows Martha Fischer and is a friend of hers as well as of her husband Bill Lutes.
But none of that takes away from Fischer’s many accomplishments, which too often fly under the radar and go uncredited.
Indeed, by honoring her, The Ear also hopes to draw attention to and to honor the many mostly anonymous ensemble and chamber players, including those in the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below top in a photo by Greg Anderson), the Middleton Community Orchestra, the Madison Opera Chorus and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra as well as the UW Symphony Orchestra, the Edgewood College orchestras and choirs, the UW Chamber Orchestra and the UW Choral Union (below bottom) and other UW choirs.
Too often, the members of those groups and so many others — such as the Ancora and Rhapsodie String Quartets, the Oakwood Chamber Players and the Willy Street Chamber Players, the Madison Choral Project, the Festival Choir and the Wisconsin Chamber Choir — pass unnoticed or under-noticed, much like Fischer. But like her, they deserve attention and respect.
Because they too are collaborators.
They serve the music. The music does not serve them.
And the truth is that most music-making is collaborative -– not solo performing.
In addition, Fischer is also the model of the kind of academic that Gov. Scott Walker and the go-along Republican Legislators don’t seem to recognize or appreciate. They prefer instead to scapegoat and stigmatize public workers, and to hobble the University of Wisconsin with budget cuts and so-called reforms.
Remember that old saying: Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach? It’s nonsense, especially in this case.
Martha Fischer is someone who both teaches and performs. She also participates in faculty governance and heads up the committee searching for a new opera director. When The Ear asked her for an update on the search, she provided records with complete transparency up to the limits of the law. Our corrupt, secretive and self-serving state government leaders should be so honest and so open.
Fischer is a first-rate collaborator who performs and records regularly with other faculty instrumentalists and singers. They include UW trombonist Mark Hetzler, trumpeter John Aley and singers baritone Paul Rowe and soprano Julia Faulkner, who has since moved on to the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
A model of the Wisconsin Idea in action, Fischer also serves as a juror for piano competitions, gives talks around the state and helps recruit talented students.
As a researcher, Fischer – who trained at the Julliard School, Oberlin College and the New England Conservatory of Music — traveled to England and interviewed famous collaborative pianists about playing Schubert’s art songs.
By all accounts, Fischer is a phenomenal teacher of both undergraduate and graduate students. The Ear has heard her students in concerto and solo recital performances, and was impressed. He also talked to her students and heard nothing but praise for her teaching.
He has heard Fisher herself sing, from Schubert lieder to Gilbert and Sullivan songs. She does that amazingly well too.
Fisher is one of the co-founders, co-organizers and main performers of the UW’s Schubertiades (below). The third annual Schubertiade is on Saturday, January 30, at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall. Go there and you can hear her sing and play piano duets and other chamber music. It is always one of the outstanding concerts of the year.
Well, The Ear could go on and on. The personable but thoroughly professional Martha Fischer works so hard that there are plenty of reasons to honor her.
So, for all the times her playing and other talents have escaped attention, The Ear offers a simple but heartfelt Thank You to the Musician of the Year for 2015.
Please feel free to leave your thanks and remarks in the COMMENTS section.
If you want to hear Martha Fischer in action, here is a link to the SoundCloud posting of her playing the Brahms Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100, for Violin and Piano with violinist Soh-Hyun Park Altino:
https://soundcloud.com/uw-madisonsom
Then listen to the delicacy, balance and subtleties, of Fischer’s playing in this YouTube video of a lovely Romance for Trumpet and Piano:
Tags: academic, accompaniment, accompany, accompanying, Ancora String Quartet, Arts, Bach, baritone, Boston, Cello, Chamber music, Charles Ives, Chicago, Choir, choral music, Classical music, collaborative, collaborative piano, Compact Disc, concerto, Edgewood College, Franz Schubert, governor, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Juilliard School, Julia Faulkner, legislator, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music, New England Conservatory, New York City, Oberlin College, Orchestra, Paris, Paul Rowe, performer, recital, recording, reform, Republican, Romance, Schubertiade, Scott Walker, singer, soing, solo, Sonata, song, soprano, SoundCloud, String quartet, Teacher, terrorism, terrorist attacks, Trumpet, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW Choral Union, Violin, vocal music, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Idea, YouTube
Classical music: Even as the school year winds down, there are several noteworthy events and concerts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music this weekend.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Even as the school year winds down, there are several noteworthy events and concerts at the University of Wisconsin this weekend.
FRIDAY
At 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Wind Ensemble will perform a FREE concert under director Scott Teeple.
The Wind Ensemble is the premier wind/percussion ensemble in 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.
Jacob Klingbeil will assist as graduate student guest conductor.
YOUniversity Band will be side-by-side with community musicians
The program includes:
Gvorkna Fanfare by Jack Stamp
Baron Cimetieres Mambo by Donald Grantham
Irish Tune from County Derry by Percy Grainger
Starwars Trilogy, by John Williams/arr. Donald Hunsberger
SATURDAY
At 1:30 p.m. in Morphy Recital Hall, a FREE Doctoral Recital: Russian Literature and the Music Salon. It is a multimedia concert with narration.
This doctoral project, organized by pianist Oxana Khramova, involves several students and faculty members from various departments.
It will be devoted to writers and composers who were connected to St. Petersburg in their lives and works: Nikolai V. Gogol, Anna A. Akhmatova, Joseph A. Brodsky, Sergei Prokofiev and Alfred Schnittke.
Listeners will experience their masterpieces through the prism of Russian music, language and visual images. By attempting to combine literature, music and art. participants hope to recreate the atmosphere of St. Petersburg’s culture (as recreated in the museum photo below).
Participants include:
Oxana Khramova, piano, DMA candidate, School of Music, where she is a student of Christopher Taylor
with
Yana Groves, piano, DMA candidate, School of Music
Nicole Heinen, soprano, MM candidate, School of Music
Ilona Sotnikova, visual images and literature, PhD candidate, Department of Slavic Languages and Literature
Conor Ryan, narrator, Undergraduate Student, Department of Slavic Languages and Literature
At 4 p.m., in Mills Hall, the All-University String Orchestra will give a FREE concert under the baton of director Janet Jensen (below, in a photo by Katrin Talbot). Sorry, no word on the program.
From 4 to 6 p.m. the Wingra Woodwind Quintet will hold its 50th Anniversary Party at the University Club (below), 803 State St., next to the Humanities Building.
Embodying the Wisconsin Idea and serving as role models to our students, the Wingra Quintet has a rich tradition and will honor current and former members.
Former members who plan to attend are Robert Cole, flute, Marc Fink, oboe, Glenn Bowen, clarinet, Richard Lottridge, bassoon, Douglas Hill, horn, and Nancy Becknell, horn. (Below are photos from 1990 and 2010.)
A short program of 20 minutes is planned and then we will celebrate with hors d’oeuvres and beverages catered by the University Club. Everyone is invited to enjoy the food, music, and good company of current and former members of the Wingra Quintet.
Please RSVP to news@music.wisc.edu
Learn about the rich history of the WWQ here: http://www.music.wisc.edu/wingra-woodwind-quintet/
SUNDAY
At 1 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Women’s Chorus (below) and University Chorus will give a FREE concert. Anna Volodarskaya and Sarah Guttenberg will conduct.
This event is FREE. Registration is encouraged, but not required.
No program has been announced.
Tags: Akhmatova, Alfred Schnittke, Arts, Bassoon, Brodsky, Chamber music, choral music, chorus, clarinet, Classical music, flute, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Gogol, Horn, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, Percy Grainger, Prokofiev, Russia, Russian literature, Russian music, salon, Schnittke, string music, strings, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, vocal music, wind instruments, winds, Wingra Woodwind Quintet, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Idea, women's chorus
Classical music education: Here is a shout-out for Susan Cook, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, who defended music education and music performance as part of the Wisconsin Idea that is now under attack by state Republicans.
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By Jacob Stockinger
If you attended the recent concert by the winners of the UW-Madison School of Music Concerto Competition, you heard something extraordinary besides terrific music by Johann Strauss, Francois Borne, Ernest Chausson, Charles Gounod, Sergei Rachmaninoff and UW-Madison graduate student in composition Adam Betz from the four soloists, two conductors and the UW Symphony Orchestra.
At the beginning of the concert Susan Cook (below), who is a respected musicologist and the relatively new director of the School of Music, stood before the large house and defended music education and music performance as part of the Wisconsin Idea.
That long-celebrated idea that was formulated in the Progressive Era – that the publicly funded university exists to serve all the citizens of the state –- is under attack from anti-intellectual, budget-cutting Republicans who are being led by presidential wannabe Gov. Scott Walker.
Clearly, Walker and the conservative Republicans are once again picking on public workers — this time university professors — as overpaid and underworked scapegoats.
In addition, they are insisting that the university has to do more to foster economic development with the implication that the arts and humanities are not doing their fair share compared to the sciences, the professions and engineering. Why not turn the UW-Madison into a trade school or vocational school?
So they seem determined to dismantle the great University of Wisconsin or reduce it to a second-rate institution. And they are annoyed and disapproving that UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank is playing politics right back at them by marshalling alumni and faculty, staff and students, to fight back against the record $300 million budget cut.
Too bad the state legislators don’t rank as high among state legislatures as the UW-Madison does among public universities. They should be taking lessons – not giving them.
Anyway, Susan Cook (below) eloquently defended music education and music performance. She pointed out the diversity of the students in the School of Music. She pointed out the national distinctions that the school and its faculty have earned. And she pointed out how many of the school’s teachers and performers tour the state, and even the country and world, to share their art and knowledge. Surely all of that fulfills the ideals of the Wisconsin Idea.
In addition, the growing body of research studies show that music education plays a vital role in all education and in successful careers in other fields. But one doubts whether the Republicans will consider that as central to economic development -– even though businesses lament the lack of a prepared workforce.
Cook got loud and sustained applause for her remarks.
She deserved it.
Cook stood up and, as the Quakers say, spoke truth to power.
So The Ear sends a big shout-out to Susan Cook and hopes that all music fans will second her views and protest and resist what the governor and state legislature want to do to gut the UW-Madison.
Brava, Susan Cook!
The Ear says leave a Comment and show both the politicians and the School of Music that you stand with Cook and want to preserve the quality of the UW-Madison, in the arts and humanities as well as in the sciences and technology, to be maintained.
Tags: Arts, Arts and Letters, Chamber music, Charles R. Van Hise, Chausson, Classical music, composer, concerto, conductor, conservative, economic development, Francois Borne, Gounod, history of music, humanities, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Strauss, liberal arts, Madison, Mission statement, musicology, Orchestra, professions, Progressive Era, public universities, Public university, Quakers, Rachmaninoff, Rebecca Blank, Republicans, science, Scott Walker (politician), symphony, technology, university, University of Wisconsin System, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Idea
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.
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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.)
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.
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:
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.
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.
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).
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]](https://welltempered.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/marc-vallon-2011-james-gill-baroque-modern2.jpg)
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).
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.
Tags: Adeste Fideles, Arts, baritone, Bassoon, Bonn, cathedral, choral music, chorus, Christmas, Classical music, commission, Germany, hymn, Jacob Stockinger, James Stephenson, Klais, Klais Orgelbau, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music, O Come All Ye Faithful, Oconomowoc, Orchestra, organ, Overture Center, Richard Wagner, sing-along, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, wind ensemble, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Idea, YouTube
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