[The WORT Madison Area Classical Music Calendar is compiled by Rich Samuels, host of “Anything Goes” which airs Thursdays 5-8 am CDT]
Thursday April 9 8 pm at Mills Hall 455 North Park Street, Madison
Tom Curry, Tuba in a faculty recital
Tom Curry, tuba
Vince Fuh, piano
Ivana Ugrcic, piccolo
Visiting Faculty tubist Tom Curry and pianist Vince Fuh collaborate on this eclectic program, featuring Sofia Gubaidulina’s intensely poignant Lamento for tuba and piano, the undulating ferocity of Giacinto Scelsi’s Maknongan, and a rare performance of William Bardwell’s austere Sonata for Tuba and Piano. Ivana Ugrcic joins them for Composition no.1 by Soviet composer Galina Ustvolskaya, a brutal, severe masterpiece for piccolo, tuba and piano.
Friday April 10 12:15 pm at the First Unitarian Society, 900 University Bay Drive, Madison
The Noon Musicale presents harpist Linda Warren
Music of Britten, Chertok and Piazzola
Friday April 10 7:30 pm at Overture Center-Overture Hall 201 State Street, Madison (repeated Saturday 4/11 at 8 pm and Sunday 4/12 at 2:30 pm)
The Madison Symphony Orchestra with piano soloist Christopher Taylor
The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) will prove that first-rate talent resides right here in Madison when world-renowned pianist Christopher Taylor, who teaches as professor of piano at UW-Madison, makes his third appearance with the orchestra in a dynamic program entitled “Piano Genius”, April 10-12, in Overture Hall.
Taylor will join the MSO for two works of remarkably contrasting styles: Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto No. 4 for Clavier, one of the earliest Baroque-era keyboard concertos with a flashy and lyrical solo role; and, Franz Liszt’s Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, a lush Romantic-era concerto, full of fireworks and exuberant virtuosity. The program will close with Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 in a first-time performance by the MSO.
Audiences and critics alike hail the intensity and artistry Christopher Taylor brings to the works of masters ranging from Bach and Beethoven to Boulez and Bolcom. Though he juggled multiple academic disciplines early on, including mathematics and philosophy in addition to music, a 1993 bronze medal in the prestigious Van Cliburn Piano competition spurred a highly successful career in music performance and teaching. In addition to a full-time professorship at the UW-Madison, Taylor averages over 20 performances per year worldwide, and is currently developing an innovative double keyboard instrument to simultaneously play multiple pianos to entrancing stereophonic effect.
Bach’s Concerto No. 4 is part of a set of six concertos for the keyboard. Originally written for harpsichord, the piece is ripe with movement and ornamentation. Bach’s concertos laid a crucial formal and harmonic groundwork for centuries of composition to follow.
Liszt’s Concerto No. 1 for Piano is more than a century-long leap forward in time. Liszt’s romantic genius is unabashedly on display, with thick orchestration, cadenzas that range from delicate to thundering, and lush harmonies.
Bruckner was a country man, transplanted into bustling cosmopolitan Vienna, and he and his music were unlikely successes with audiences and critics. His music was said to “compel the element of the divine into our human world”.
One hour before each performance Michael Allsen, UW-Whitewater professor of music who also writes the MSO program notes and is a MSO musician, will lead a Prelude Discussion to enhance concertgoers’ understanding and listening experience. More background on the music can also be found in the Program Notes via: www.madisonsymphony.org/taylor
Tickets are $16 to $84 each, available at www.madisonsymphony.org/singletickets and through the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street or call the Box Office at (608) 258-4141.
Groups of 15 or more can save 25% by calling the MSO office at (608) 257-3734.
For more information visit, www.madisonsymphony.org/groups
Student rush tickets can be purchased in person on the day of the concert at the Overture Box Office at 201 State Street. College students must show a valid student ID and can receive up to two $12 or $15 tickets. More information is at: www.madisonsymphony.org/studentrush Students can receive 20% savings on seats in select areas of the hall on advance ticket purchases.
Seniors age 62 and up receive 20% savings on advance and day-of-concert ticket purchases in select areas of the hall. Discounted seats are subject to availability, and discounts may not be combined.
Saturday April 11 8 pm at Mills Hall 455 North Park Street, Madison
Guest Recital: William Chapman Nyaho
Dr. William Chapman Nyaho grew up in Ghana and studied music at Oxford University in England and in the United States. He is known around the world for his engaging piano performances of both Western classical music and piano music of Africa and the African Diaspora. Dr. Nyaho compiled and edited a five-volume graded anthology of piano sheet music by composers of African descent published by Oxford University Press. This anthology represents a wide variety of newly published material and has become quite influential in the classical music realm by expanding the repertoire available to both students and concert pianists. Dr. Nyaho has also released two critically-acclaimed CDs of his performances of solo piano music by composers from Africa and the African Diaspora. In addition to his performing and recording career, Dr. Nyaho is known for his sensitive and empowering teaching. Having served as Visiting Professor at many university campuses around the United Sates, he is universally praised for his authenticity, enthusiasm, and artistry as a clinician and teacher.
“A talented young man with a rare mixture of youthful enthusiasm and mature reliability… intelligent, sensitive and possesses remarkable character….”–Maya Angelou
For his recital, he will be playing a combination of Western and African piano repertoire.
Tuesday April 14 7:30 pm at Overture Center-Overture Hall
Organ recital by Samuel Hutchison Madison Symphony Orchestra Principal Organist and Curator
The program will include music by Bach, Mozart, Guilmant, Alain, Widor and Stanford.
Hutchison has presented many recitals in the U.S and in Europe in locations that include the Riverside Church, New York City; St. Paul’s Cathedral, London; and Notre Dame, St. Sulpice and St. Étienne-du-Mont, Paris. He also performed the complete works of J.S. Bach in a series of 11 weekly recitals for the 300th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
General admission for the concert is $20 and tickets can be purchased at www.madisonsymphony.org/hutchisonrecital, the Overture Box Office or (608) 258-4141. Student rush tickets are $10 day of show with a valid student ID (see http://www.madisonsymphony.org/studentrush).
This concert is sponsored by Friends of the Overture Concert Organ.
The Madison Symphony Orchestra marks its 89th concert season in 2014-2015 with Music Director John DeMain in his 21st year leading the orchestra. The Symphony engages audiences of all ages and backgrounds in classical music through a full season of concerts with established and emerging soloists of international renown, an organ series that includes free concerts, and widely respected education and community engagement programs. Find more information at www.madisonsymphony.org
For more Overture Concert Organ information, visit http://www.madisonsymphony
Wednesday April 15 Noon at Luther Memorial Church, 1021 University, Madison
Free organ recital featuring Bruce Bengston