P erformance erformance The UW Wind Ensemble travels to New York’s historic Carnegie Hall for a concert on March 9. Catch them in performance before they depart: Tuesday, LEY. February 24, 7:30 p.m., Mills Hall. Adults $10.00/StudentsPHOTO BY MEGAN Free.A UNIVERSITY of O F School Music WISCONSIN Faculty Concert Series • Guest Artist Series • Student Ensembles MADISON SPRING 2015 In 2015, the UW Percussion Ensemble celebrates its 50th anniversary with a trip to China. Join us for a send-off show: Friday, March 20, 8:00 p.m., Mills Hall. Adults $10.00/Students Free. PHOTO BY MICHAEL R. ANDERSON. showcase series HIGHLIGHTING OUR STUDENTS & FA C U LT Y TICKETS: ADULTS $10.00, STUDENTS FREE. (Tickets available at the Vilas Hall box office and at the door) Christopher Taylor – Jan 23 Join us on Feb 8 for Symphony Showcase, featuring concerto winners Keisuke Yamamoto, Ivana Ugrcic, Jason Kutz, and Anna Whiteway. Christopher Taylor, piano: Faculty Recital Fri, Jan 23, Mills Hall, 8:00 p.m. The program will include Beethoven’s Symphony #6 as transcribed by Franz Liszt, From 12 Etudes by William Bolcom, and Brahm’s Sonata no. 3 in f minor, op. 5. Schubertiade: A Celebration of the Music of Franz Schubert Fri, Jan 30, Mills Hall, 8:00 p.m. UW collaborative pianist Martha Fischer, husband-pianist Bill Lutes, and UW faculty and students perform a selection of songs, vocal ensembles and instrumental chamber music by composer Franz Schubert. This year’s Schubertiade will also feature guest cellist Norman Fischer from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. “Symphony Showcase” Sun, Feb 8, Mills Hall, 7:00 p.m. Our gala annual concert and reception featuring the winners of the UW Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition: Jason Kutz, piano; Ivana Ugrcic, flute; Keisuke Yamamoto, violin; and Anna Whiteway, voice. UW Wind Ensemble – Carnegie Hall Concert Tues, Feb 24, Mills Hall, 7:30 p.m. The UW Wind Ensemble, under the direction of conductor Scott Teeple, will perform in New York’s historic Carnegie Hall on March 9 as part of the New York Wind Band Festival. Join us as we celebrate their accomplishments and wish them bon voyage! The program will include works by Vaughan Williams, Kathryn Salfelder, Percy Grainger, and others. This trip is supported by Lau and Bea Christenson as well as the UW-Madison School of Music, the Band Program, and hard-working students. UW Percussion Ensemble – China Concert Fri, Mar 20, Mills Hall, 8:00 p.m. In 2015, the UW-Madison percussion program, directed by Anthony di Sanza, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the UW Percussion Ensemble by traveling to Shenyang and Beijing, China for a series of concerts in collaboration with the Shenyang and Chinese Conservatory Percussion Ensembles. The March concert in Mills Hall is at once a celebration of the ensemble’s first 50 years and a send off for the China tour. The program will offer a potpourri of music from the United States, China, Mexico and Brazil and will feature James Latimer (UW-Madison, Emeritus Professor of Percussion) conducting Toccata for Percussion by Carlos Chavez, which was performed on the UW-Madison Percussion Ensemble’s first concert on March 5, 1965. This trip is supported in part by Dr. and Mrs. Robert W. Graebner and the UW-Madison China Initiative. UW Jazz Orchestra and UW High School Honors Jazz Band Wed, Apr 29, Music Hall, 7:30 p.m. The Jazz Orchestra and Honors Band, under the direction of Johannes Wallmann, will perform music ranging from the classic big band repertoire to contemporary and cutting-edge concert jazz music by today’s leading jazz composers. For complete program details and for further information, please check www.music.wisc.edu Special Events this Spring “Seventy Degrees Below Zero” Showcasing the music of British composer Cecilia McDowall WINNER OF THE 2014 BRITISH COMPOSER AWARD FOR CHORAL COMPOSITION Feb, 19 – 21, PLEASE SEE INSIDE FOR DETAILS. Our festival will feature the first-ever United States residency of British composer Cecilia McDowall and the U.S. premiere of her symphonic work Seventy Degrees Below Zero, commissioned in 2012 by the City of London Sinfonia and the Scott Polar Research Institute, based in Cambridge, England. Seventy Degrees Below Zero is a cantata for solo voice (to be sung by faculty tenor James Doing) and orchestra, inspired by a phrase written by British captain Robert Falcon Scott to his wife prior to his death while returning from an expedition to the South Pole: “Dear, it is not easy to write because of the cold – 70 degrees below zero.” Joining us on Friday, Feb 20, will be Michael DuVernois of the UW-Madison IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center, who will sketch an entertaining history of Cecilia McDowall polar research from the past to the present, including UW-Madison’s role today. Often inspired by extra-musical influences, McDowall’s writing combines a rhythmic vitality with expressive lyricism. In 2008, the Phoenix Chorale won a Grammy Award for “Best Small Ensemble Performance” for its Chandos CD, “Spotless Rose: Hymns to the Virgin Mary,” which included Three Latin Motets composed by McDowall. Writes Guy Rickards of Gramophone: “Her idiom [is] one of euphonious tonality and expressive clarity, with challenging vocal lines that avoid being overly taxing.” Colloquium Feb 19; Concert Feb. 20 (Tickets required: adults $20); Concert Feb. 21 (free). For a complete schedule, please see www.music.wisc.edu/cecilia-mcdowall/ “Honoring George Crumb at 85” Celebrating the composer’s 85th birthday with concerts and master classes. Mar 20 – 23, PLEASE SEE INSIDE FOR DETAILS. Grammy- and Pulitzer-Prize winning avant-garde composer George Crumb is known for his unusual timbres and innovative voice and instrumental techniques. Crumb’s music often juxtaposes contrasting musical styles, ranging from music of the western art-music tradition, to hymns and folk music, to non-Western musics. Our four-day festival will feature performances by a variety of guest and local musicians. Vox Balaenae, a work for electric flute, cello, and piano, is inspired by the recordings of whale songs and will be performed on March 20 by Lakeshore Rush, a Chicago-based new music ensemble featuring several School of Music alumni. George Crumb Cellist Parry Karp of Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet will solo with the UW’s Contemporary Chamber Ensemble on March 21 in a performance of Crumb’s Sonata for Solo Cello. Making her first Madison appearance on March 22 will be New York City violinist and violist Miranda Cuckson, described by the New York Times as “a prodigiously talented player who [can] make even the thorniest contemporary scores sing.” She will perform works by Crumb, UW-Madison composer Laura Schwendinger, Sebastian Currier and Augusta Read Thomas. On March 23, Chicago musicians Due East, with Erin Lesser on flute and Greg Beyer on percussion, will present Crumb’s well-known Madrigals, Books 1-4 in a multi-media triptych video montage that becomes a magical and powerful “environment.” PLEASE NOTE: Tickets are required for Miranda Cuckson (adults $20) and Due East (adults $10). Students are free to both. For a complete schedule, please see www.music.wisc.edu/george-crumb/ “Rediscovering Rameau” PLEASE SEE INSIDE FOR DETAILS. The year 2014 marks the 250th anniversary of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s death, and celebrations of the composer and music theorist’s life are taking place in France and around the world. Performers and scholars from across campus will gather to describe Rameau’s world, his ideas, the works of philosophers and artists he interacted with, and to demonstrate the scientific discoveries that informed his music theories. It will provide a unique opportunity to learn about this period, as well as one of its most fascinating musicians. The UW-Madison and community partners will offer a series of free public events in February, March and April, culminating with two ticketed concert performances of Rameau’s one-act opera, Pygmalion, by the Madison Bach Musicians. For a complete schedule, please see www.music.wisc.edu/rameau/ For news and concert announcements, send an email to [email protected] CALENDAR of EVENTS Free admission except where noted $ January February Christopher Taylor, piano $ “Rameau the Composer” SHOWCASE SERIES Thur, Feb 5, Room L-170, Fri, Jan 23, Mills Hall, 8:00 p.m. Chazen Museum of Art, 7:00 p.m. TICKETS: $10.00 ADULTS, STUDENTS FREE. With music theorist Brian Hyer, music historian Performing works of Beethoven, Brahms, Jeanne Swack, and music by John Chappell and Bolcom. Stowe and Edith Hines. Les Thimmig, bass clarinet: PART OF OUR “REDISCOVERING RAMEAU” EVENT SERIES. Faculty Recital “Symphony Showcase” $ Premiere of Thimmig’s “Cerulean Traces: 24 SHOWCASE SERIES Angles of Vision on the Blues” Sun, Feb 8, Mills Hall, 7:00 p.m. Sun, Jan 25, Mills Hall, 2:00 p.m. TICKETS: $10.00 ADULTS, STUDENTS FREE. Schubertiade: Featuring the winners of the UW Symphony A Celebration of the Orchestra Concerto Competition. Music of Franz Schubert $ Daniel Grabois, horn, with pianist SHOWCASE SERIES Christopher Taylor: Faculty Recital Fri, Jan 30, Mills Hall, 8:00 p.m. Wed, Feb 11, Mills Hall, 7:30 p.m. TICKETS: $10.00 ADULTS, STUDENTS FREE. Featuring music by Su Lian Tan, Robert Maggio, Pro Arte Quartet: and others. Ensemble-in-Residence UW Concert Band Sat, Jan 31, Mills Hall, 8:00 p.m. Sun, Feb 22, Mills Hall, 2:00 p.m. With Emily Birsan, Soprano. Michael Leckrone, director The program will include works of Haydn, Schönberg, and Dvorak. Shain Woodwind-Piano Duo Competition Winners’ Recital Sun, Feb 22, Morphy Hall, 3:30 p.m.