On the program:
Corigliano’s Fantasia on an Ostinato
Beethoven’s Symphony #7 (arr. Liszt)
Schubert’s Moments Musicaux
Rachmaninoff’s Moments Musicaux
Christopher Taylor’s conceptual program features Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, arranged by Franz Liszt. Over 175 years later, NYC-based composer John Corigliano would use Beethoven’s 7th to inspire his Fantasia on an Ostinato.
On the second half of the program, Taylor will feature two takes on the title “Moments Musicaux”: first, Schubert’s version, published in the last year of his life (1828), then he’ll perform Rachmaninoff’s version from the start of his career.
BRASS FEST IV: Concerts & master classes, Saturday, September 30 & Sunday, October 1, Mills Hall & classrooms
We invite students of all ages to discover the brass quintet genre and its myriad of musical styles, and offer a chance for young brass players to meet and mingle with other like-minded musicians.
This year’s guests will be the Beaumont Brass Quintet from Michigan State University. They, along with our own fabulous Wisconsin Brass Quintet, will perform a concert on Saturday, September 30 at 8 pm, featuring arrangements (such as a Bach Partita arranged for brass by our own trombone professor, Mark Hetzler) and original brass works. Those will include “Music for Lighthorses” by David Biedenbender; “Quintet for Brass” by Andrew Duncan; and “Night-Shining White” by Zhou Tian. Cost: Free.
On Sunday, October 1, 2:30 PM, our concert will include both quintets and top college students. There will also be a reception afterwards, for all in attendance. On the program: Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” for brass and percussion. Cost: $15 adults, $5 students (MWSOM students free). Ticket information here.
For specific master class rooms & times, see posted hallway signs.
Sponsored by
Brass Fest 2014- Current and former horn students
Brass Fest 2014 with tubist Oystein Baadsvik
Brass Fest 2014
Brass Fest master class with Stockholm Brass, 2016
Brass Fest 2016 – A trove of tubas
Brass Fest 2015 with Axiom Brass
Brass Fest 2015 – Mark Hetzler, trombone
Brass Fest with pianist Johannes Wallmann
Brass Fest with alumna Somali Wilson
Brass Fest with singer Elizabeth Vik
Trumpeter Adam Rapa
Past Brass Fest guests have included tubist Oystein Baadsvik from Norway, trumpeter Adam Rapa with vocalist Elizabeth Vik, the youthful Axiom Brass from Chicago and the internationally-known Stockholm Chamber Brass on their first United States tour.
Listen to “A Little Russian Circus,” movement 1, composed by Anthony DiLorenzo, performed by Stockholm Chamber Brass, the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, and college students at Brass Fest III.
The School of Music offers a smorgasbord of performances each year; we invite you to visit our website and click on our events calendar. We also publish a season brochure that is mailed every August. To receive the brochure, please send your postal address to newsletter editor.
Welcome to the 2017-2018 academic year at the Mead Witter School of Music!
We hope you had an enjoyable, relaxing and productive summer. We’re ready to begin the fall semester with plenty of news and events.
New faculty
Introducing Alicia Lee, assistant professor of clarinet; Alex Noppe, adjunct professor of trumpet; Matthew Endres, adjunct professor of jazz drums & jazz history; Timothy Hagen, adjunct professor of flute; David Scholl, instructor of double bass; and Chad Hutchinson, adjunct professor of instrumental conducting, director of orchestras and conductor of University Opera. Read their biographies here.
New digital music studio
This fall, the Mead Witter School of Music will add a new studio to Humanities: the Electro-Acoustic Research Space (EARS). Located in a former classroom, EARS will be stuffed with the latest electronic music equipment, and will be available to faculty, students, and collaborators within the School of Music and in other departments. Read the announcement here.
Grand opening: Friday, September 15, 7:30 PM, Room 2401 (street level), Mosse Humanities Building, 455 North Park Street.
Prof. Dan Grabois in the new EARS studio, being interviewed by a writer from the local weekly, Isthmus.
Ten Years of the Perlman Piano Trio!
Last spring marked the tenth year of the Perlman Piano Trio, a student ensemble founded and supported by Kato Perlman. Learn more about the history of the trio with this special slideshow.
Local historian emeritus and classical music reviewer John W. Barker has penned an authoritative biography of the Pro Arte Quartet, with a comprehensive look at the members and the music. Titled “The Pro Arte Quartet: A Century of Musical Adventure on Two Continents,” it is the first full biography of the quartet, which is comprised of members David Perry, Suzanne Beia, Sally Chisholm, and Parry Karp. The 353-paged book, published by Boydell & Brewer, Limited, will be available for purchase on November 15th. The book was commissioned in 2011 by the School of Music. Learn more here.
Music Education program scores high in online magazine
College Magazine, an online publication founded as a print magazine in 2007 by a student at the University of Maryland, placed UW-Madison above such luminaries as Johns Hopkins and Berklee.
The Madison approach to music ed emphasizes community outreach, research, and social justice, says Associate Professor Teryl Dobbs, chair of the music education program. “We recently created an entire revision of the entire undergraduate music ed degree and teacher licensure program… for 21st century students and the diverse students that our own students will teach,” Dobbs said. The story was sponsored by the National Association of Music Merchants. Read the story here.
Over the past several years, Prof. Dobbs has traveled the world presenting her research into the Holocaust and music education as part of the “Performing the Jewish Archive” project. In Vienna last spring, she joined with former visiting professor Elizabeth Hagedorn to present ideas on curriculum revisions to develop deeper understandings of music outside the usual university canon.
On Sept. 17, hear Prof. Dobbs along with Prof. Rachel Brenner of the Center for Jewish Studies and Jessica Kasinski, recent DMA graduate, in a “University of the Air” program with Emily Auerbach and Norman Gilliland. “Why Teach the Holocaust?” will air from 4 to 5 PM on the Ideas Network of Wisconsin Public radio. It will be archived at https://www.wpr.org/programs/university-air
The School of Music will offer two new classes this fall. Please contact the instructor (click the name below) to learn if you may register or possibly audit. Non-majors are welcome.
Music 497 – Jazz History
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 AM- 12:15 PM, room 2411 Humanities. With Matthew Endres,adjunct professor of jazz history & drums
This course focuses on cultural influences on the western development of jazz. By exploring historical and ethnographic works by scholars in ethnomusicology, history, anthropology, and communication, this course examines cultural aspects that influenced traditional and contemporary genres of jazz. Along with learning about the music that has influenced today’s popular genres through interactive participation and conversation, you’ll also develop tools to create case & field studies to study music through culture, and vice versa. Limit: 30 students.
Music 268, Lab 3 – Drumming the World Ensemble
Wednesdays, 1:20 to 3:15 PM, room 1321 Humanities. Open to all students; required for music education majors.
With Todd Hammes,percussion instructor. Drumming the World Ensemble is a structured drum circle wherein the music will be created by the class based on the study and application of drumming traditions from around the world. Instruments provided and will include Djembe, Conga, Dumbek, Darabuka, Bells, Rattles, and found objects. Limit: 15 students.
Concerts are free admission unless otherwise indicated.
Canceled: Annual Labor Day Karp Family concert
Faculty Recital: Mimmi Fulmer, voice, with guest pianist Craig Randal Johnson.September 10 @ 1:30 pm. Music celebrating Finland’s 100th anniversary of independence.
Faculty Recital: Paul Rowe, voice; Martha Fischer, piano.September 15 @ 8:00 pm. A program of German art songs, in partnership with the German Department.
Faculty Recital: Jeanette Thompson, soprano, with guests Thomas Kasdorf, piano; and Paul Rowe, baritone. September 22 @ 7:00 pm. Lieder and spirituals.
Faculty Recital: Christopher Taylor, piano.September 23 @ 8:00 pm. $5 – $15. SOM students and faculty free admission.
Christopher Taylor performing in Mills Hall, Feb. 2015. Photo by Michael R. Anderson.
Pro Arte Quartet –September 24 @ 7:30 pm. David Perry and Suzanne Beia, violin; Sally Chisholm, viola; and Parry Karp, cello. An all-Mozart program with guest cellist Jean-Michel Fonteneau and guest clarinetist Alicia Lee.
Brass Fest IV with the Beaumont Brass, the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, and college & high school brass musicians – September 30 – October 1. The 4th year of UW-Madison’s Brass Fest will include two days of concerts, clinics and master-classes to entertain and educate brass musicians and fans of all ages. With guest quintet, the Beaumont Brass from Michigan State University, the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, top college performers and area high school players.
Sunday concert @ 2:30 PM: College & high school students perform with Wisconsin Brass Quintet & Beaumont Brass Quintet. Reception immediately following Sunday’s concert. Ticketed: $15 adults, $5 non-SOM students.
News and Events from the Mead Witter School of Music University of Wisconsin-Madison October 18, 2016
Music + Athletic Training double major a “huge opportunity” for SOM student
Robert Medina is now a graduate, but his UW-Madison legacy will live on in a new video that highlights his choice to major in both jazz trumpet and athletic training. “I saw this huge opportunity,” says Robert Medina. “I’ve been able to switch around the order in which I take classes to accommodate the athletic training program.” There are jobs for people with such skills, says Andrew P. Winterstein, athletic training program director. “There’s athletic trainers now who work with Cirque du Soleil, with ballet companies, touring Broadway shows.” Click to watch video.
Musicians Health Symposium will offer insight into common health disorders faced by musicians
On Friday, October 21, the School of Music will present a Musicians Health Symposium featuring a panel of doctors and therapists experienced in many kinds of common ailments faced by musicians. These include performance anxiety, disorders involving hearing, movement, and voice, and much more. Students and faculty are strongly encouraged to attend, and the public is welcome. 3650 Humanities, 12-4:45 PM. Learn more at this link. http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/musicians-health-symposium/
Upcoming guest artists at the School of Music in November – Free and Open to the Public
Steven Ebel, a tenor who discovered his vocal talents at UW-Madison and followed them with a successful international singing and composing career, will offer master classes and a concert on November 14, 15 and 16. He’ll teach classes on stage fright and breathing strategies, and offer lessons. http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/steven-ebel-tenorcomposer/
Laurie Smukler, a violinist and teacher at The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and the Conservatory of Music at Bard College, will visit on November 18 and 19 for a series of master classes and a concert with Victor Asuncion, piano and UW-Madison Professor Soh-Hyun Altino, violin. The program will include Prokofiev’s Sonata for two violins, Op. 56; Ralph Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending; and Brahms’s Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108. http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/distinguished-guest-artist-residency-laurie-smukler-violin-free-event/ Smukler’s 2015 master class at Juilliard was a hit. Read about it here.
Steven Ebel
Laurie Smukler
Brass Fest III popular with high school students, audience
High school students from twelve area schools were welcomed to the stage of Mills Hall for our third Brass Fest, where they performed a beautiful rendition of Giovanni Gabrieli’s Canzon duodecimi toni, written in 1597. The schools represented included Madison West High School; Madison East High School; Middleton High School; Kromrey Middle School; Edgewood High School; Pewaukee High School; Mount Horeb High School; Clark Street Community School; Sun Prairie High School; St. Ambrose School; Cedarburg High School; Madison Memorial High School; and a homeschooled student.
The two days of Brass Fest III featured the acclaimed Stockholm Chamber Brass (in its first-ever tour of the States), along with the Wisconsin Brass Quintet and advanced college musicians. The first concert featured Stockholm Chamber Brass (read this review by local blogger and critic Greg Hettsmanberger) and the second night offered the full complement of musicians performing works by Brian Balmages, Dmitri Shostakovich, Gustav Mahler, and Anthony Di Lorenzo, among others.
A master class with Annamia Larsson, hornist of the Stockholm Chamber Brass.
A master class with Jonas Bylund, trombonist with Stockholm Chamber Brass.
A stage full of musicians.
Comments from high schoolers ranged from “it made me more aware of higher level playing” to “it helped us grow as musicians.”
Limited edition T-shirts still available, only $3.00! Send an email to the editor with your request.
New webpages on our site
Music master classes: a page listing master classes at the School of Music. Master classes are open to the public and provide insight for performers and audience members alike.
Meet our Students
Emily Borley, a senior double majoring in literature and music education, tells about her journey at the School of Music, including an unexpected tragedy early in her final year.
The School of Music offers a smorgasbord of performances each year; we invite you to visit our website and click on our events calendar. We also publish a season brochure that is mailed every August.
