2006 Archive
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25 DECEMBER 2006:
Some members of the
2006 Almost In Time
Dixieland Jazz Band
MANY THANKS
The music groups represented on this site receive help from many people; without that help, we could neither exist nor perform. Thanks is the exchequer of the poor, yet I draw tender on it now, for I have found that working and playing with all of you for the past year has been a gift beyond price. 
Some members of the
2006 Almost In Time
Dixieland Jazz Band
Thanks to:
ALL THE PARENTS
for rearranging your schedules, clapping at performances, schlepping and hauling (especially parents with vans), and most of all for loaning me your offspring for another year.
THE PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS
who have shared rehearsal space and equipment, and trained the fine young musicians who play in these groups. And extra thanks to those who have performed with us: it is a glory and a wonder to find so many of you willing to share your talents by taking the stage with us. We thank:ANNE NICHOLS, for being seen in public with the Solstice Brass at the Bank and the Bonfire, for inviting the SB to play at your winter concert, and especially for performing at the Gazebo with the AITDJB; you are a goddess and a heroine
BRIAN VANDERBLOEMEN, for contributing hot sax licks at the Gazebo and keen clarinet riffs at Lawrence
BILL GARVEY and DAVE HEILMAN, for inviting me into your bands, loaning music stands and horns to the SB, loaning whole musicians to the float in the Family Festival parade, inviting the AITDJB to perform at the McFarland Music Camp, and especially for graciously allowing the AITDJB to rehearse in your band room for the last six years
The 2006 Solstice Brass
THE MCFARLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT:
Dr. Jim Hickey, for offering unbelievable support from and access to MHS
Gary Schneider, for trusting me, year after year, with your PA equipment
The MHS custodians, who remain cheerful and helpful even when we run late or get noisyEVERYONE WHO HAS GIVEN US PERFORMANCE VENUES, ADVERTISING SPACE, OR FRIENDLY SUPPORT
THE MCFARLAND STATE BANK, for giving the SB a place to play indoors
NAZARETH HOUSE and HARMONY HOUSE, for giving us a chance to play our Christmas tunes one last time, once we'd finally gotten pretty good at them
THE MCFARLAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, for Christmas in the Village
THE MCFARLAND FAMILY FESTIVAL, for offering the AITDJB three venues in a single weekend
THE MCFARLAND COMMUNITY BAND, with which the AITDJB would have shared a concert, if Bill hadn't chosen the apparently-accursed piece American Salute for the program again.
The many LOCAL BUSINESSES who have been kind enough to allow us to hang advertising flyers in their windows. Thanks particularly to the McFarland Thistle for running our performance announcements; to Ken's Automotive for the use of their letterboard; and to . Asta Sepetys, Mistress of the Marquee, for programming the MHS dot matrix display to our advantage. Thanks to the Wisconsin State Journal for free access to its "Rhythm" section, and to Madison Dot Com for this Web site.
The 2006 Second String Violin Duo
performs Pine Apple RagTHE MUSICIANS
who performed with us in 2006 for the first time: Emily Raasch, Amy Kolpin, and Nick SchleicherAnd finally, to all
THE RETURNING MUSICIANS
I don't know what I've done to deserve you, but I will try never to stop. Thanks to Eric Adams, Brad Anderson, Andrea Bakunowicz, Amanda DeBoer, Becca Funk, Nora Hickey, Autumn Leonard, Isis Leonard, Anne Nichols, Bria Mason, Tonya Neumann, Glenn Nielsen, Frank Ransley, Gena Roisum, Becky Schultz, and Sara Siegmann, Zach Staszewski, Brian Vanderbloemen, and Sherry Wegner.My heartfelt thanks to the many fine musicians who have given so enthusiastically of their talents and time to make the AITDJB a success, for six years running now. It is always a delight to perform with you, and frequently to rehearse with you: age cannot wither you, nor custom stale your infinite variety. Farewell 'til the next chart.
- QuinnJump to the top of this archive or to the current news on our home page
18 DECEMBER 2006:
was presented by ensembles drawn from the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras' (WYSO's) performance groups, on Sunday 10 December 2006 at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Isis Leonard's string quartet performed an arrangement of the overture from Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks. Nora Hickey and her string quartet took on Mozart's Quartet No. 14. The audience was treated to two hours of mostly high-quality performances.
AN AFTERNOON OF CHAMBER MUSIC
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11 DECEMBER 2006:
The 83rd annual Capital Christmas Pageant took place in the Wisconsin State Capitol Rotunda on the evening of Sunday 3 December. The program comprised performances by choir and echo choir, a prelude by brass ensemble, harp and celeste accompaniment for the choirs, actors in tableaux, and illumination by the giant Wisconsin Christmas tree. Anne Nichols (AITDJB 2005 - 2006) was the graceful director; Isis Leonard (WitR 2003 - 2005, SS 2004 - 2006) and Zach Staszewski (AITDJB 2004 - 2006) were in the choir.
NO REST FOR ANNIE GAYLOR
The tip of the Christmas tree,
and a fake Liberty Bell
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4 DECEMBER 2006:
CHRISTMAS IN THE VILLAGE; AENEAS IN DIDOLast Saturday, the Solstice Brass Quartet, the Second String Violin Duo, and the Wind in the Reeds woodwind quartet had the pleasure of performing at the McFarland State Bank's portion of McFarland's Christmas in the Village celebration. This year's Solstice Brass lineup is:
The Solstice Brass at the McFarland State Bank
Frank Ransley - trumpetThe expanded lineup allowed us to tackle, and sometimes subdue, a few of the Canadian Brass' Christmas quintet arrangements. For Christmas in the Village we were also joined by international French horn celebrity Mr. Geoffrey Winter. The MHS Blue Notes vocal jazz ensemble (which includes AITDJB mainstays Andrea Bakunowicz and Zach Staszewski) also turned up at the McBank for a while; when we weren't accompanying them, we got to rest our chops.
Amy Kolpin - French horn and trumpet
Sherry Wegner - French horn
Autumn Leonard - Euphonium with bursts of trombone
Quinn Leonard - Tuba and euphonium
The Wind in the Reeds expanded their coverage of Christmas jazz arrangements originally intended for string quartet, but intrepidly managed by the group's unique combination of bassoon, alto sax, clarinet, and violin. The group also broke out a bassoon/bassoon/clarinet trio, covering the excellent Eric Fote arrangements meant for tuba/trombone/trumpet groups. Second String rounded out the program with some lovely violin duets from Ms. Shoemaker's Red Book.
Nora, Gena, Isis
A good time was had by all. Even Santa seemed jolly.
The Solstice Brass was scheduled to perform at the bonfire and treelighting ceremony Saturday evening, and we did try. Unlike some other years, in which we have tried to project an air of holiday festivity while standing on green grass, we had pretty snow and biting cold this year. We could have been poster children for the addition of antifreeze to valve oil, but by taking it in turns to warm our brasses, we got through several songs well enough.Cold, but nice
Last weekend was also Tonya Neumann's performance in Dido and Aeneas with her UW choral group, an event which I'll mention again here when I've had a chance to download the audio and listen to it.
Thanks to Pam Sam and Sheila Roissum for the photos used above, and for many others.
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27 NOVEMBER 2006:
HONORED BADGERSOn the evening of 9 November a group of talented Badger Conference musicians gave a rousing conference at the Waunakee Performing Arts Center, under the always-interesting direction of the UW's Scott Teeple. McFarland Students were well represented, with Kolin Walker in the trumpet section 9to whose parents I owe thanks for the photo below.) Nora Hickey (WitR 2005, SS 2004 - 2006) and Eric Adams (AITDJB 2005 - 2006) represented our groups.
The McFarland Badger Contingent
The performances were brisk and pleasing. Especially ambitious was a nearly-complete playing of Robert Russell Bennett's challenging Suite of Old American Dances, which puts a strain on any young musician's reading skills, but which this group handled smoothly. Dave Heilman's arrangement of Phil Faini's El Cumbanchero, for percussion ensemble, was the evening's highlight, showcasing superb musicians upon whom Dave had worked his characteristic marvels. And the band's take on Sammy Hazo's exhilarating Ride had a tempo as aggressive as any college band could dish up.
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20 NOVEMBER 2006:
THE ONLY TRAGEDY IS THAT THIS COMEDY'S RUN IS OVERI must confess to feeling some trepidation as I took my seat for the McFarland High School production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Friday night. The show's cast requirements are particularly guy-heavy - not a realm in which small-town school programs tend to have an embarrassment of riches - and there are scars from the memory of the dorky film version starring Zero Mostel. Still, Forum is a funny show, and there were some talented and likeable kids in the cast. So my expectations were high. But not very high.
Zach as Erronius
I have seldom been so delighted at having my expectations completely blown away.
The production was very good from all standpoints, and the performances superb. I laughed so much my voice was hoarse the next day; but I went back for the Saturday performance anyway. This production had heart, smarts, talent, and - above all - excellent direction. There is so much Sondheim/Shevelove/Gelbart cleverness, and the clever bits come at such a rapid fire, that it is the kind of piece amateur productions routinely botch because not enough members of the cast actually understand the jokes. That results in a show that makes audiences groan not at the puns, but at the pain of watching the performers miss them. But in the current MHS production so many of the cast were so smart that it was all the audience could do to hang on, and at least a dozen very funny lines drew fewer laughs than thy might have, merely because the house was still catching its breath - and catching up. These actors got it. Since intelligence like this is not always native-born in actors, some director here must have done rather fine preparatory work with the cast.
David Michels gave the impression that he has been growing toward the role of Pseudolus during all his time on stage at MHS. His performance gave us just the right sense of brinksmanship, diving from one loopy lie to the next without stopping to look back. As a side note it is interesting that Mr. Michels seems to be making a specialty of roles that require him to drug damsels.
The two young lovers were charming, and it was a genuine treat to watch them making eyes at each other all evening. Adorable Andrea Bakunowicz (AITDJB 2005 - 2006) was exactly as lovely and vacant as she needed to be; it would be hard for an actress to keep that beatific smile in place without letting it turn into a simper, if she weren't as nice a gal as Andrea. (If you read this, Andrea, remember that in this case 'vacant' is a complement.) And of course Andrea has an absolutely lovely voice. Tim Meisel made his turn as Hero appear effortless, as it should; he was natural all evening, with responses that gave the character a fine texture of believability.
Andrea as Philia
Zach Staszewski (AITDJB 2004 - 2006) was - I don't know how else to put this, because I seldom say it - nearly perfect. The role of Erronius does not exactly offer a lot of range. So instead of trying to milk the role, Zach just inhabited it, completely and professionally. His gentle Jewish Bronx accent and old-man wheeziness never interfered with his projection, and his physical timing made me believe he really had cataracts. After the show he was wondering at the applause he got each time he made another circuit of Rome, and I told him it was because we all love him. But that's wrong. We do love him, but we were applauding because he did a great job.
Senex and Domina were capably played by Stefan Buhalog and Bridget Norris. As one of the main pivots of misunderstanding, Senex is responsible for a good share of the momentum in some scenes, and Mr. Buhalog was equal to the task. Ms. Norris gave us several moments in which her Domina was appropriately frightening. Kristofer Buhalog was satisfyingly smarmy (and scarily hairy) as Marcus Lycus. I hope Ben DuCharme is not a pompous ass in real life, but he makes a convincing one on the stage.
One of the brightest gems of the evening was Chris Boness' creation of the twitchy, put-upon Hysterium. This fine young actor showed a real mastery of the three most important elements of good comedy, all of which are timing. Every time he had an opportunity to pull a face, add a whine to his pronunciation of a vowel, or pause that crucial split second before delivering a line, he took it - no, he pounced on it, creating at every moment a character which I think missed nothing that could have been done to make it richer. His remarkably pliable face is exactly suited to the requirements of stage buffoonery, and he seems able to snap it in an instant from maudlin horror to wide-eyed startlement, always at just the right instant. His duet with Pseudolus, in which we can see him slowly coming around to the viewpoint that it might be fun to be a girl, was a minor masterpiece.
Dead Hysterium
The production had only a few false notes, which I mention mostly out of a sense of duty - if I fancy myself a critic, I'd be a poor one if I found nothing to criticize. One thing that jarred me every time I heard it was the consistently odd pronunciation of the word 'courtesan', which turned up many times. The cast seemed trained to say something like 'kurtizan', which Random House gives as the third most preferred pronunciation (of three), and the OED does not list at all. It may have confused audience members whose previous exposure to the word was in Moulin Rouge, where everybody uses the much more standard pronunciation.
Another oddity was a casting choice, with the selection of the smallest, daintiest dancer for the role of Gymnasia. I am not impugning Kyla Miller's performance; she was wonderful. But her petiteness automatically made all the jokes about her ample size non-starters, and the choice was puzzling since there were several more substantial young women in the cast. Perhaps the choice was intended as irony; I hope that at least it was made from artistic considerations and not from a misguided attempt to spare someone's self-esteem.
The choreography was particularly strong and thorough, with no one relegated to shuffling in a box-step just because they were in the chorus. The sequence featuring Lycus' girls in their parade of flesh was particularly inventive. Kelsey Kleckner's dance sequence as Tintinabula, eponymously complete with bell-like finger-cymbals, was such a show stopper that I wished it had been placed last so I could have applauded it longer. Mary Mitchell and Ashleigh Nelson looked like they were having more fun than the DoubleMint twins; they showed good affinity, and brought a strong dose of vavoom to the stage. I hope no one overly conservative was in the audience, because Erin Shannon dished up Vibrata with so much animal magnetism that she could be used as an argument for leash laws. Finally, David Michels can dance, too - but I suppose being surrounded by a bevy of beauties gave him inspiration.
2006 MHS Musical
Theatre Cast
Anne Nichols (AITDJB 2005 - 2006) provided her usual flawless musical direction; someday this lady should screw something up, if only to keep our expectations of her excellence from becoming routine. For several years running I've said that the MHS musical theater pit orchestra was unusually fine, but here I go again: They were unusually fine. It was a special pleasure to hear a string bass, which was particularly suited to this score; I hope this is the start of a trend. Jamie Sercombe, who has sat in with the AITDJB several times at the eleventh hour, always produces precise, fitting sounds. Dave Heilman's enlightened percussion work is in a class by itself and is above comment by the likes of me. The four - count 'em, four - reeds in the pit were as many, and as good, as might be heard on Broadway; they included local legends Brian Vanderbloemen (AITDJB 2005 - 2006) and Glenn Nielsen (AITDJB 2001 - 2006).
The pit gave the actors just the right amount of support, and delivered it with sparkle. It was disappointing that the production used canned music for the dance sequences in the parade of flesh; I suppose this was done so that the dancers could rehearse without needing the orchestra to commit to ten times as many rehearsals as they already did. But live is always better than taped, and I wish we could have heard those fine woodwinds giving live backing to Tintinabula and Vibrata.
Andrea, David, and Tim,
in the trio
'Pretty Little Picture'
The set was spare, which in this case is more than adequate: more stage dressing would have got in the way of the farce. There was enough stuff to hide behind, and a few doors, and that was plenty. The balcony was an oddity, though, and all the actors had apparently been told to enter it on their knees. Why? Was the parapet too low for safety? (This is only a small kvetch; I did not consciously notice it on first viewing). No scene changes, and no costume changes except for the plot-driven disguises, must have made for a relatively placid time backstage during the run; again, complications not needed by the book were very wisely not added by the director, whose sure hand made this a wonderful show.
Drama at MHS is on an upward arc. There is a solid talent pool, and an established culture that knows that the fall musical and the spring drama are cool to be involved with, and cool to come watch. The importance of this culture cannot be overrated, because it means that not only will a smorgasboard of talent audition for parts, but that performances will sell out to hoards of parents and students who know how to enjoy the shows.
The logical next step is to elevate MHS drama to the status of a department. Talent is great, but it's not always enough: these students should have the benefit of actual theater classes, taught by professionals and taken for credit. The course offerings should at the very least cover acting, vocal arts, technical theater, dance, directing, management, and the critical study of dramatic literature. An interim step might be to offer extracurricular instruction to members of a formal Drama Club. (I might add that in an auditorium as small as the one at MHS, actors who have been properly taught to project could finally dispense with those bloody microphones).
MHS thespians and their support crews pour out their heartblood for us every year. We are all richer for it. If every parent who comes to a show would try, just for a moment, to put themselves in the shoes of the students who tread the boards, and to imagine the unique courage and dedication required to stand before an audience and perform, the District would surely get voter support for the Drama Program it really needs.
Photos courtesy of Clan Staszewski
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13 NOVEMBER 2006:
WYSO STEENBOCK CONCERTSThe WYSO Concert Orchestra performed in UW Mills Hall last Saturday, in the first installment of the 2006 Steenbock Concert Series. It was one of the finest concerts I have ever heard the orchestra execute. Almost everything sounded right.
2006 McFarland WYSO musicians
Under the direction of Christine Mata Eckel, Concert performed a slate of works that showcased the groups considerable depth of talent, if not much diversity of style. The opening piece, New York composer Robert Washburn's St. Lawrence Overture, is intended as a musical portrait of the St. Lawrence River. The violins and woodwinds did an especially fine job handling its most moving lyric sections.
Three Pieces from Swan Lake is a clever extraction by David Stone from Piotr Tchaikovsky's famous work, including 'Scene', 'Dance of the Swans', and 'Valse'. A brass choir segment sounded especially well, although last year's tuba was perhaps stronger. Note also that Isis Leonard, the group's only bassoonist, was apparently anointed an honorary brass player for this part. Ms. Eckel's prefatory comments about the enchanted swan-princesses, the lake of tears, and so forth were helpful.
The fourth movement of Brahms' First Symphony came off clean and accurate; even the French horns sounded good. The concert closed with Knightsbridge March, by Eric Coates.
Tempos were in all cases thoughtfully chosen, and the ensemble gave the impression of living up to their conductor's metric expectation. Intonation was mostly accurate, although a passage in Swan Lake that featured both of the group's oboes probably should have used only one. But overall the woodwinds sounded great, with less diversity of opinion about pitch than they have sometimes shown.
The WYSO Sinfonietta string ensemble and Philharmonia Orchestra also performed Saturday, as did the Percussion Ensemble. Youth Orchestra, featuring Nora Hickey, (the other member of McFarland's bassoon juggernaut), will perform their entry in the Steenbock series on Sunday 17 December at 2:00 PM. The program for Concert's performance explains the concert series' name thus:"Evelyn Van Donk Steenbock (1905 - 1992) loved music and was dedicated to fostering the musical talents of youth. In 1974, she established the awards for the Madison Symphony Orchestra's Young Artist Competition. She regularly attended WYSO concerts and was also an advisor to the Board of Directors. Her gifts and enthusiasm were influential to the growth and vitality of the WYSO program.The image shows: back row, L-R: Isis Leonard, Nora Hickey; front row, L-R: Yunhui Chou, Elizabeth Froden.
It is with deep gratitude that we recognize her generous support of WYSO during her lifetime and her major bequest to the WYSO Endowment by naming WYSO's annual season opening concerts in her honor."
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4 NOVEMBER 2006:
SOLSTICE BRASS AT REFORMATION SUNDAY SERVICEOn Sunday 29 October, three members of the Solstice Brass Quartet - Autumn, Quinn, and Frank - performed in a brass quintet at the McFarland Lutheran Church, under the direction of Glenn Nielsen. The ensemble consisted of three trumpets and two euphonia; Brians Hettiger and Boshers were the other two high brass.
The Senior Choir at McFarland Lutheran
The quintet appeared (and were heard) at the 8:00 and 10:30 services, performing preludes to hymns and accompanying the choir, organ, and congregation on some verses. Brass selections included A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, The Church's One Foundation, and My Hope Is built On Nothing Less.
Reformation Sunday is an anniversary observance of Martin Luther's best-known act of defiance against what he saw as fiscal corruption in the Catholic church: in 1517 he nailed a list of 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, sparking debate and rebellion.
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28 OCTOBER 2006:
ISIS IN HONORS BAND; GLENN RECEIVES HONORSIsis Leonard performed in the 2006 WSMA Middle Level State Honors Program band concert at the Middleton Marriott this weekend. Under the baton of Jay Gilbert, the group kept an audience of hundreds of parents well entertained. The audition-only program is Wisconsin's showcase for talented young instrumentalists. According to the WSMA Web site:
Not the 2006 Middle School honors band
"Across the state, 305 students in grades six, seven and eight were selected in June 2006 from more than 1,400 who auditioned to participate in the WSMA program. Auditions included individual student performances and an ensemble class, taught by an Honors adjudicator. Selection was based on several aspects of music performance. The WSMA Honors Project brings Wisconsin's finest school musicians together to work with nationally known conductors in a professional setting."The concert was superb, a tribute both to the high level of musicianship among Wisconsin middle school students, and to the energy and dedication of the fine conductors chosen by WSMA. The opening number, Anniversary Fanfare by Jay Gilbert (have you ever noticed that, year after year, it is the band directors who bring their own compositions to WSMA programs - never the orchestral, choral, or jazz people?) was short and crisp, a fine opening piece that made good musical sense. Timothy Broege's Three Pieces for American Band, Set No. 2 was constructed of 'Fanfare', 'Pavan to a Ground', and 'Fantasia'. Although the opening and closing portions provided some framing and context, the central segment was the most satisfactory of the three, a clever melding of a repeated theme into a pavan that sounded at once authentic and fresh. The result was a sort of musical sestina.
Mozart's Ave Vernum Corpus was composed as a choral motet, but the clever arrangement by Barbara Buehlman made it seem right at home in a band. Even the saxophones sounded good in it. Wisconsinite Pierre LaPlante is a favorite composer among local bands, not because he's a Wisconsinite, but because he writes crackerjack music. The Honors Band performed his Prairie Songs, a lovely, rich blend of two Wisconsin folk songs ('The Pinery Boy' and 'The Turkey Song', if you're reading this, Bria) that makes demands upon a band's technical skill in the fast parts, and upon the maturity of its musicianship in the slow parts. The IMMS band performed this piece last year, but were never able to get the tempos and chords right. The WSMA Honors Band nailed it to the barn.
The band closed with the Military Escort march, by Harold Bennett (aka Henry Fillmore, a guy who was almost John Phillip Sousa.) This Frederick Fennell arrangement may have been missing some of the pyrotechnics of the original - someone who knows the work better can correct me - but the band played it with enthusiasm.
Sound was clean and strong across most of the band - they even had some pretty good French horn players. Percussion was precise. There was some tendency for the trumpets not to hold their pitch on sustained tones, and the high woodwinds had a wider distribution of tuning that might on the whole be desirable. But the overall effect of ensemble musicianship was amazingly good: if these kids can play like this after only a few hours of rehearsal together, imagine what they must be like in their bands back home.
Glenn Nielsen is the man who started the Middle Level segment of the WSMA Honors program. At Saturday's concert, he was recognized by the WSMA administration and the audience, but not for that: he is one of the first people to contribute to a program that sponsors chairs in the WSMA ensembles, helping ensure that talented music students can perform even if they cannot afford the whole tuition.
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26 OCTOBER 2006:
WSMA HIGH SCHOOL STATE HONORS BANDNora Hickey represented McFarland at the WSMA State Honors Orchestra performance at Madison's Overture Center this afternoon. The WSMA Honors program ensembles are audition-only showcases for the finest high school music students in Wisconsin. It is an outstanding achievement to have triumphed in the highly competitive audition process and to have earned a chair in these ensembles even once; this is Nora's fifth consecutive year of performance in the program.
WSMA HS Honors Band at rehearsal
Under the direction of Lowell Graham, the orchestra met for several days' rehearsal at UW-Green Bay last June, and again for a day before Thursday's concert. The program included the Cuban Overture, by George Gershwin; Danzon No. 2, by Arturo Marquez; and Ballet Suite No. 4, by Dmitri Shostakovich.
Originally titled Rumba, Gershwin's Cuban Overture was the result of a month the composer spent frolicking in Cuba in 1932. Before the United States created a communist dictatorship on the island, Cuba was a playtime paradise of sun-drenched outdoor sporting and even hotter nightlife. Gershwin was fascinated by the things the Cubans were doing with percussion instruments, and captured some of the heat in this lush orchestral work.
Mexican composer Marquez also drew from Cuban wells to inform his Danzon. The form is a wild, modern urban dance, usually with an opening theme stated by a clarinet, then jazzed up by a fuller group.
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23 OCTOBER 2006:
MHS CHOIR CONCERT AIRS NEW BLUE NOTESOn Monday night McFarland concertgoers got their first look at Anne Nichols' 2006-2007 Blue Notes vocal jazz ensemble, and an encouraging look it was. At nineteen members, this group is the largest Blue Notes ever. I'm not sure yet if that's a good thing, or not, but certainly the group has plenty of power. The lineup is:![]()
Soprano:Blue Notes performed Route 66, by Bobby Troup, in an arrangement by Dick Averre, and Alice in Wonderland, arranged by D. Rutherford from a work by Hilliard and Fain.Sydney Cook, Alyssa Gray, Kelsey Beck, Lauren Sladek, Caley Polipnick, and Ally Schmaling (last year's truly magical Dorothy in The Wizard of OzAlto:
Andrea Bakunowicz, Melissa Kuehl, Amanda Maund, and Melanie WilliamsTenor:
Tim Meisel, Kolin Walker, and Zach StaszewskiBaritone:
Kristofer Buhalog, Stephan Buhalog,, and Isaac SiegmannBass:
Ben DuCharme, Michael Flaherty, and David Michaels
Concert Choir, which includes Isis Leonard, performed Songs of a Prospector, by Stephen Chatman. The text is taken from a set of poems by pioneer and miner George Winkler. Movements included: Pals, Memories, The Scout, Roses I Send to You, and The Calliope.
More review will follow, as soon as I get to listen to a recording of the show.
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Brad
16 OCTOBER 2006:
On Sunday afternoon, the University of Wisconsin bands gave a series of excellent concerts in Mills Hall. Brad Anderson (AITDJB 2001 - 2006) performed in the percussion section of the UW Concert Band, with Scott Teeple conducting. Autumn Leonard (AITDJB 2001 - 2006, SB 2001 - 2006) played euphonium with the third of three University Bands, under the direction of Michael Lorenz. Tonya Neumann (AITDJB 2003 - 2006) also performed later that evening with her University Choir ensemble; I couldn't make it to the performance and would be grateful for any program information, photos, or comments submitted to me by Gentle Readers.
AN AFTERNOON WITH THE UW BANDS
Brad's band, a clean, well-knit group, performed first. Their program consisted of:
Autumn
(not to scale)Overture to 'Candide', by Leonard BernsteinThe Shostakovich piece was particularly animated and crisp.
Amazing Grace, arranged by L. Maldonado
Second Suite in F, by Gustav Holst
In Evening's Quiet, by Charles Rochester Young
Vesuvius, by Frank Ticheli
Folk Dances, by Dmitri Shostakovich
Autumn's band, which included the orange piccolo guy, performedThe Battle Pavanne, by Tielman SusatoPolestar proved to be a surprisingly mature, listenable work. Grainger's piece was performed at a rapid (and steady) tempo that might have robbed it of a little dignity, but certainly gave it some needed clarity. I am generally surprised when a work for one type of ensemble turns out OK when rearranged for another type; Antonio d'Elia's version of Pines for wind ensemble worked surprisingly well, although alto saxophones are still not violas.
Polestar, by the UW's own Michael Leckrone
The Trombone King, by Karl King
Harvest Hymn, by Percy Grainger
Pines of the Appian Way, from 'Pines of Rome', by Ottorino Respighi
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The McFarland High School Marching Band
makes a great big letter "M"13 OCTOBER 2006:
The 2006 MHS Marching Spartans got off to a roaring start at the home football game Friday night, taking us through the ever-crowd-pleasing Malaguena, and of course Finally Victors. Anne Nichols sang The Star-Spangled Banner with the band.
ANNE NICHOLS BEWITCHING AS DOROTHY
Kids from our groups are even more heavily represented than usual this year. From the Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band, Eric Adams, Andrea Bakunowicz, Nick Bakunowicz, and Zach Staszewski were all on the field.
From the Wind in the Reeds woodwind quartet, and from the Second String Violin Duo, the pregame marching show featured Becca Funk, Nora Hickey, Isis Leonard, and Gena Roisum.
Eric Adams:
front, center, and on fire
The halftime show was a splendid condensation of The Wizard of Oz, complete with a roll-out Yellow Brick Road and drill formations that spelled OZ. Dorothy was fetchingly portrayed by Anne Nichols (AITDJB 2005 - 2006); her companions were Eric Brehm, Mike Roltgen, and Tod Lacy.
The opening drill performance, marched to a medley of Follow the Yellow Brick Road, If I Only Had A Brain, and Off to See the Wizard, was as cleanly marched as anything I've seen the MHS band do. The music sounded good, too, with clear projection decent football-field intonation; even the woodwinds came through well. Low brass was especially strong. Even with all those tubas, Andrew Garvey's distinctive, muscular sound is clearly audible. The band performed Miss Gulch and Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead! in formation, them marched again to Over the Rainbow, sung tonight by our own Anne Nichols. It was a show worth seeing, and a fine finale to Dave Heilman's string of excellent halftime shows.
Anne Nichols hits The Road
The Senior band members get their own feature each year, generally hoking it up in some pop-culture homage. This year, the targets were Michael Jackson and The Blues Brothers, both of whom made appearances on the field. The senior segment opened with Thriller, followed by a conga-line rendition of Tequila, the Blues Brothers theme, and, naturally, Finally Victors, which ended in a photo op.
The Thousand Dollar Kneel
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9 OCTOBER 2006:
A couple of weeks ago Tonya Neumann was invited to join a local R&B band on stage. Here's her report of the adventure:
TONYA AND THE HORN DOGSOnce upon a time, there was a little girl who dreamed of nothing more than to play with the renowned band, the Red Hot Horn Dawgs.
Or something like that.
Last month, I received an invitation to perform in Stevens Point with the Red Hot Horn Dawgs, a local horn band (tricky tricky) specializing in "Rock & Soul, Rhythm & Blues." As their usual saxophonist had a real job and was thus unable to attend a noon performance at the Land's End anniversary celebration, I had the opportunity to step in and sight-read - yes, sight-read. Who needs rehearsals? - hit pieces such as "Hold on I'm Comin'," "Brown Eyed Girl," and "Pick up the Pieces" at the event.
Some Horn Dogs
Performing with this talented group of musicians was quite the experience. The energy and enthusiasm they bring to each performance is contagious, and their wide variety of chart-topping music hits puts them in the prime position to perform at various venues, including the McFarland Adventures in Music Camp, Harvest Fest, and the Dry Bean. And of course, their willingness to pick up a random sax player less than 24 hours before a gig makes them an awesome group in my book, as it allowed this girl a new outlet to do what she loves - perform.
2 OCTOBER 2006:
The Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band's 2006 season came to a close with a suave James Bond bang, in three performances at the McFarland Family Festival on 22 - 24 September. Clots of rain blew through McFarland all weekend, but by chance or providence the sun always shone on us.
FROM MCFARLAND, WITH LOVE
We were the opening act on the Big Top stage, playing three of our best sets of the summer on the evening of Friday the 22nd; Isis and Nora provided between-sets Celtic and Hungarian violin duets, and Autumn performed a banjo-and-voice version of Puff, the Magic Dragon which will not soon be forgotten. The delightful, gifted Ms. Anne Nichols also joined us on stage, giving a soulful rendition of Basin Street Blues: she, too, has suffered.
007: The Spies who Loved Dixie
The Homecoming parade was Sunday, and this year's theme was "007" - although for some reason the Marching Spartans played Malaguena in the parade, and prepared a Wizard of Oz medley for the halftime show that was rained out at the Homecoming game last week - more on that when it happens. But the AITDJB got the theme and dressed the part. In the photo above (click on it to get a bigger version, if you need to), notice particularly:Brad's fingers in the iconic Bond gun pose;
Sara's snappy, fetching Marlene Dietrich look,
Glenn's hat, which at first I thought was the same one he wore for Under the Sea in 2005 and for Retro Decades in 2004, but which is demonstrably different, and
Tonya's Bond Girl costume, which almost stayed on without help, and which she tells us makes her "Helga Brandt, SPECTRE agent no. 11 in You Only Live Twice. I attempted to kill Bond by leaving him in a crashing plane, but of course 007 lived and later vengeance was had on me."After the parade we tumbled off the float and back onto the Big Top stage for our last two sets of the year. This time we were joined by Emily Raasch, who split the vocal spotlight with Zach.
Under the Big Top: Nick, Eric, Glenn, Becky
Thanks to everyone who made this such a great year: the helpful custodial and administrative staff at MHS; the parents who schlepped; and the MHS music faculty who shared their rehearsal spaces and - most importantly - their fine student musicians. Of course the deepest thanks are due the musicians themselves. Some of you travel from far away and hang around to play Dixie music; some are newcomers who have just gotten beyond the big pink bowtie. But it is a delight and a privilege to play music with each of you.
The Yeare gone by was a grand old Dame; may the Yeare to come be so grand, or the Same
29 SEPTEMBER 2006:
ELDERLY MARCHING SPARTANS REFUSE TO YIELDThey keep coming back in droves.
The 2006 Marching Alumni
For the third straight year, there was a record number of of Marching Spartan Alumni on the field at the the MHS Homecoming game. Over ninety former members of the high school marching program showed up to strut their stuff during the pregame show on 29 September, and they've still got it. Heck, some of them even have more of it now than they did when they were still in school.
The 'regular' marching band took the field first, doing their trademark run-on and performing some nice scatter drills; they marched a fine pregame show, and belted out Finally Victors with gusto. When the alumni came on, there were enough of them to form their own midfield percussion squad and to do a convincing run-on of their own. They gave us their own Victors and formed their own great big ol' Letter M. They were joined by the full band for a performance of Gimme Some Lovin', spiced by the squirms and wiggles of the McFarland Spirit Dancers team - unfortunately, we don't have cheerleaders. Then Anne Nichols sang The Star-Spangled Banner, and the football part of the evening's entertainment started.
Anne was not the only AITDJB/SB expatriate on the field. The Alumni Band also included Katie Hepler, Autumn Leonard, Tonya Neumann, Frank Ransley, Nick Schleicher, Becky Schultz, and David Wilson.
Tonight's halftime show was also to feature retiring percussion instructor Dave Heilman's last production at MHS, a rendition of The Wizard of Oz. The rolled-up Yellow Brick Road had already been sneaked out onto the the track by the home-side 50 yard line, but schizophrenic rain during the second quarter drove the directors to cancel the show. That was OK, I guess; we can all look forward to seeing the show at a later game, after it's had two more weeks of rehearsal.
25 SEPTEMBER 2006:
ALMA MATER LURES HOMING TOTS: THOUSANDS DUEWell, dozens maybe. This Friday night is MHS Homecoming, featuring a halftime show by the 2006 Marching Spartans. Also, be prepared to cheer geezers during the pregame show, when MHS alumni return to march in convict uniforms.
The 2005 Marching
Spartan Alumni
Here's a listing of some of the good stuff you have to look forward to in October:
UPCOMING EVENTS
[There used to be a list of October events here. On 2 October 2006 new material was added to the list, and it was moved to the central EVENTS LISTING page]
19 JUNE 2006:
On Thursday evening the Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band will perform a benefit concert for the New Orleans chapter of the Women's Junior League, at the corporate training center of SubZero corporation in Fitchburg. We will provide two hours of music, or at least of entertainment, including some new between-sets material and some returning classics.
AITDJB TO PLAY A JOINT THAT IS, LIKE, SO POSH
The venue is certainly the most upscale in which the AITDJB has ever performed, with the possible exception of that time we played on the sidewalk by the old library, with the piano in the back of Denny Blackmore's pickup truck. Thanks to Dave Heilman for kicking this gig our way.
I can now announce (with great delight) that Bria Mason (AITDJB 2002 - 2006; SB 2003) will be returning from Scotland to perform with us at this event. This is an AITDJB exclusive; Ms Mason will not be performing anywhere else in the States during her short summer visit.
12 JUNE 2006:
These just in:
SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS ZAMBONI
At the time of the recent UW Varsity Band Concert, certain photo were taken that could not then be released due to restrictions of copyright and good taste. Now these never-before-published images - some shocking, some merely alarming - can at last be displayed to an unsuspecting public.
SpongeBob with
Zambonie and girl
SpongeBob with
Zamboni; no girl
SpongeBob, a cow, and
stilts: what could
possibly go wrong?
Dancers in the
Phantom masquerade.
A Dip in the Locker Room
Autumn with the awesome
accordian guy
The View from
Beyond the Bleachers
5 JUNE 2006:
AITDJB TO PERFORM AT SESQUICENTENNIAL FEST!On 2 July 2006 McFarland celebrates its 150th birthday, and the Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band will be part of the party. We'll be performing in our native habitat, the Larson Park gazebo (smack dab in middle of McFarland), from 12 noon until 1:30 PM.
Award-winning banner,
designed by Becca Funk
Sesquicentennial events at the park run from 9:30 AM until 5:00 PM that day, and it's mostly free. There will be music, food, games, and merriment. The Wisconsin and Southern Railroad will offer free train rides from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM; 40-minute excursions leave on the hours. Train arrivals and departures will mark natural set breaks for the AITDJB.
For more information on this and other events, check out the McFarland Sesquicentennial home page.
Becca Funk (WitR 2003 - 2005) designed one of the banners chosen to represent McFarland spirit.
4 JUNE 2006:
Guest review by Autumn Leonard coming soon.
MHS CABARET 2006: WICKED!
29 MAY 2006:
INSIDE SCOOPIEFriendly, mild-mannered frozen dairy product? Or a chilling menace stalking our streets? You make the scoop!
Reliable witnesses saw 'Scoopie', Cluvers' cuddly custard character, accosting viewers at the Memorial Day parade in McFarland on Monday. A vast cloth smile covered Scoopie's creamy face as he worked the crowd, shaking hands with innocent bystanders and hugging those he singled out for special treatment.
Cluvers management was unavailable for contact when we tried to reach them by smoke signal during the recent wind storm, but it must be assumed that they stick by their position that Scoopie is "Just an icon to help people remember us, so they buy our custard. He's just a funny mascot for the kids to look at."
But is he??!?
Of course we all know that Scoopie is not a living being, but a person in a costume. By company policy, the Scoopie actor lives under very tight security, and his or her name is never revealed to the public for fear of reprisals from other forzen-custard agencies, or even from organizations dealing in quiescently frozen products. We are able to exclusively reveal, however, that the letters in the name of the person who played the role of Scoopie on Monday, can be rearranged to spell "AIEA CHSTWSZSKZ".
There are currently no leads on who this clandestine custard caperer may be. But when we know more, we'll dish it here first!
Also, the bands marched in the parade.
Participants included Becca Funk (WitR 2003 - 2005), Brian Vanderbloemen (AITDJB 2005), Eric Adams (AITDJB 2005 - 2006), Gena Roisum (WitR 2005), Melissa Wilcosz (WitR 2003 - 2004), Nora Hickey (WitR 2005, SS 2004 - 2006), and Scott Birrenkott (AITDJB 2005 - 2006). Andrea Bakunowicz (AITDJB 2005 - 2006) might've been in there somewhere, but I couldn't see her from where I was standing. I am pretty sure that Zach Staszewski (AITDJB 2005 - 2006) was mysteriously absent from the ranks of marching spartans.
26 MAY 2006:
The McFarland High School Pep Band concert blew the roof off the old gym Friday night, with three hours of high-quality musical variety. There is no better way to spend your You entertainment dollar (except maybe at the MHS Cabaret).
MONTY PYTHON LIVES AGAIN
Usually the MHS Pep Band Concert comes later in the year than the Cabaret show, which gives Bill an opportunity to cherry-pick the best of Anne's acts. This year the tables were turned, but from the looks (and sounds) of it, we got to hear some of the choice vocal acts at Friday night's show, as well as the instrumental thunder we've all come to expect.
The 2006 MHS Massed Band
(click on the image and you'll get something really huge, that may show your kid if you zoom in.)
The Senior Band Video is a tradition with uneven results, but this year's was clever. There was a discernable story arc, centering around the heinous theft of Bill Garvey's personal euphonium, without which his powers began to wane. As he lay curled on his couch, his vital spark fading, the Forces of Band Good set out on a quest to retrieve the horn. They fought an epic battle with the Forces of Band Evil, demonstrating that slide trombones make excellent prop weapons for impalements, but in the end it was a compromise on playlists that settled the field. Bill's beloved eupho was returned to him (do all band videos include a sequence of Andrew opening the Garveys' front door?), Bill's powers returned, and he leapt up to direct the concert while the seniors thundered into the gym and up the bleachers.
The massed band sounded very solid this year as they tore into their opening medleys, including Victors, On Wisconsin, There'll Be A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight, Macho Nacho Man, Dynamite Strut, and Final Countdown.
Friends on the bleachers included Eric Adams (AITDJB 2005 - 2006), Andrea Bakunowicz (AITDJB 2005 - 2006), Scott Birrenkott (AITDJB 2005 - 2006), Nora Hickey (WitR 2005, SS 2004 - 2006), Zach Staszewski (AITDJB 2005 - 2006), and Brian Vanderbloemen (AITDJB 2005). Zach's hat was particularly bold. Autumn Leonard (AITDJB 2001 - 2006, SB 2001 - 2005) also turned up as a repeat offender, sitting in with the massed band and wearing startling yellow pants; it was good to see him crossing slides with Scott again.
This is really a huge number of horns for such a confined space: the wall of sound they produced was mighty, and more musical this year than some others, I think. Certainly there were a lot of right notes being played. The full band performed six more sets after the opening medleys, covering Eye of the Tiger, Ewok Celebration, Disney Magic, Your Mama Don't Dance, themes from the Pirates of the Caribbean sound track, In the Stone, the theme from The Magnificent Seven, Rock and Roll #2, Hey Babe, and the Beer Barrel Polka. These last three were crowd participation numbers, and most people got it - actually, the clapping was pretty coordinated for an audience - and some folks even polka'd. The full band also closed the show, with Land of a Thousand Dances, I Got You, Light My Fire, In the Midnight Hour, Finally Victors, and You've Said It All
Part of the 2006 Drum Line, during the Marching Band Favorites medley
In between band sets we were treated to a feast of sound. The excellent MHS percussion ensembles always have a powerful presence at this event, and this year they were superb. The Wind Ensemble Percussion Ensemble (a clunky name for a slick group) performed New South Africa and a really fine arrangement of the overture to William Tell; the Concert Band Percussion Ensemble gave us Bound for Marrakech, which was particularly cool; and the Symphonic Band Percussion Ensemble played Strawberry Blonde. Every student with any kind of instrument that you play by banging on it ganged up for this year's entry in the beat-on-plastic-drums category; the program listed the piece as Lids, but I think it was something else, and would be glad of a correction. Some parts of it were performed in the dark, with glowing sticks.
The Tuba-Euphonium Octet Entertains
For the small acts, there was a very funny cover of the Jack Black / Tenacious D performance piece Tribute, a soulful rendition of Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues, some Pommettes jumping about to a canned cut of Gimme Some Lovin', Lindsey Kuehl's take on Jesus Take the Wheel, and a performance of It's the Heart that Matters Most, based on the Don Black piece as recorded by Charlotte Church, I think. The perennially wonderful Tuba/Euphonium Octet (actually a quartet with doubled parts, but listed somewhat ignominiously in the program as a 'Tuba Ensemble') played The Entertainer with their usual flair and muscle. Scott was in this group playing euphonium, which he should not think of as slumming.
But by far the strangest and most wonderful of the 'small' numbers was a little thing listed as a 'Humorous Duet'. Chris DuCharme and Scott Barbian did a spot from Monty Python's immortal 'Dead Parrot' sketch, with a twist at the end that made it even more skewed than the original, and that's saying something. This one won't be back at Cabaret, which is a shame, but those of us who were there Friday night, and laughed, should all buy matching T-shirts to advertise our coolness. Even the accents were spot-on, and the parrot was startlingly authentic.
Autumn, Andrea, Scott, and V
(blurry 'coz they move around!)
The real meat of the evening is always the jazz bands. Frank Ransley (AITDJB 2004 - 2006, SB 2003 - 2005) has served his time with the Concert Band / Symphonic Band Jazz Ensemble (familiarly known as the CBSBJE), and earned the right to perform with them. Nora performed with this group, and so did Autumn - his idea is to set a precedent for alumni participation in the concert. They played Bob Lowden's Big Band/Latin arrangement of Ernesto Lecuona's Malaguena, a piece that always draws the audience in, and followed with a full-throttle rendition of Larry Barton's Power Trip. This is intense jazz, folks, and if you missed it you missed a lot. The Early Bird Jazz Ensemble is a team that really smokes. Autumn played with them, too, joining natives Scott, Andrea, and V in performances of Chameleon, How High the Moon (which included a singing Amanda B. draped over the piano), and the Sambastic Fiesta Bahia. These kids are proof that MHS does something right.
"Hold your violin up by your head"
25 MAY 2006:
Isis Leonard (WitR 2003 - 2005, SS 2004 - 2006) and Nora Hickey (WitR 2005, SS 2004 - 2006) provided incidental music for the premiere of Driftwood, MHS's new arts and literary magazine, Thursday evening at the Library. The pair is affectionately known as the Second String Violin Duo, at least in my mind, if nowhere else.
SECOND STRING AT THE LIBRARY
Nora is a contributor to Driftwood. She wrote a Just So story about witches and rainbows which is not half bad.
20 and 21 MAY 2006:
WYSO SPRING CONCERTS WARM THE HEARTThe Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras' (WYSO's) Spring Concert series is always cause for celebration. This weekend we heard performances from five wonderful groups, one of which was graced by the presence of Isis Leonard (WitR 2003 - 2005, SS 2004 - 2006), and one by the personality of Nora Hickey (WitR 2005, SS 2004 - 2006).
Bassoons on the horizon
WYSO's Sinfonietta string ensemble, under the caring direction of Mark Leiser, performed a richly varied program on Saturday afternoon. The concert included a truly lovely rendition of Clare Grundman's Hebrides Suite. This piece seems to work well in any instrumentation for which it is arranged; Robert Longfield's version for unaccompanied strings is excellent.
The Concert Orchestra, conducted with precision by Christine Mata Eckel and including Isis among the bassoons, tackled four substantial works and came out on top. Haydn's London Symphony, arranged for youth orchestra by Merle Isaac, is a marvelous construction that repays study; Concert Orchestra had given it plenty of thought (or Ms. Eckel had, and transmitted her thoughts to her musicians). Air for Orchestra, by Frank Erickson, is new to me. It sounded rather uninvolved, but maybe I just need to hear it again. Everything Camille Saint-Saens touched is golden, and his Algerian Suite is a fine example. Concert Orchestra sank its teeth deeply into the Marche Militaire Francaise from this suite and had evident pleasure in doing it: the piece has plenty of protein. (Autumn Leonard (AITDJB 2001 - 2006, SB 2001 - 2005) performed a wind arrangement of this piece in a U-Band concert last year).
'Cello cases: last surviving
descendants of the late
Cretaceous giant beetles
Some of the best fun of the afternoon was found in Concert Orchestra's performance of Robert W. Smith's The Great Steamboat Race. The piece is available for band, too, but the orchestral arrangement is its original form, I think. It is carefully spiced by a wonderful mixture of hisses, clangs and sighs; flutists roll their instruments around, bending pitches to the breaking point; the percussion parts call for shaken water jugs. It sounds like a stunt piece, but it's not, though it is strongly programmatic: the music is not just about a steamboat race, but a specific race that included the Robert E. Lee. The audience was engulfed in sounds of stern wheels and steam whistles so evocative we could feel the clinkers in our eyes as the smokestacks chuffed. In case we had any doubts, there was a short, slightly drunken quote from Lewis Muir's Waiting for the Robert E. Lee, and even a few bars of Dixieland beat. A good time was had by all.
The WYSO Percussion Ensemble performed Street Beat I by Sherrie Maricle as their entry in the seemingly obligatory 'whack on some junk' category, before moving to a much more convincing take on Londonderry Aire in an arrangement by Thomas Davis. As the keyboards held the last chord, seniors aging out of the ensemble silently left the stage in a traditional ceremony that is moving no matter how many times one sees it.
Richard Judd's creation
for the
Art of Note campaign
The Philharmonia Orchestra, explosively conducted by Thomas Buchhauser, opened with a rich, clean performance of Franz Schubert's Rosamunde Overture. They did not fare quite so well in the 'Nocturne' and 'Wedding March' from Felix Mendelssohn's incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream. The trouble was caused mostly by French horn players who had difficulty centering their tone when choosing among harmonics that are too close together on that archaically-designed instrument; the rest of the brass was excellent, especially the first trombone. The fourth movement of Dvorak's 8th symphony is one of my favorite sequences in the standard repertoire, and Phil played it very well. Here the brass shone again, especially the trombones.
WYSO's Spring concerts are the 'concerto' events, in which we are treated to performances by winners of WYSO's concerto contests: the best of the best. Hong-En Chen, a violinist in Phil, gave an alacritous performance of the Allegro movement from Dmitri Shostakovitch's second piano concerto, which has recently been brought to a larger audience by the 'Steadfast Tin Soldier' segment in Fantasia 2000.
Sunday belonged to the Youth Orchestra and its talented concerto soloists. We heard Saint-Saens' 'Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Jaque Ibert;s Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, and the third movement of Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor. The 'cello work was stunning.
The orchestra performed two works as bookends: Night on Bald Mountain, by Modest Mussorgsky, and the largo and allegro movements from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Antar' symphony. The Mussorgsky was bravely and powerfully done, with the extremely cool bassoon part brought well forward by Nora. The performers grokked the transition from the profane to the sacred in a way that the Disney executives for the first Fantasia film did not. In fact the group's orgiastic climax of evil was rather startling. Youth clearly has the pick of the WYSO brass; they were above praise in this demanding piece. 'Antar' was spicy and exotic and very Rimsky-Korskovy, but I kept wanting it to be Scheherezade; this is another I'll need to hear again before I can well evaluate it.
I hope Nora bought the CD.
16 MAY 2006:
EIGHTH GRADE BAND TACKLES LAPLANTEThe Eighth Grade band performed a set of pieces that expressed widely different moods Thursday night. They opened with Brian Balmages' Chant and Savage Dance, a work with wild mood swings all its own: Dave's program notes tell that it is meant to reflect tribal ceremonies involving harvests, war, healing, and change.
A young Scott Brown practices
his contraophecleide
The band also performed an arrangement of The Legend of Danny Boy, arranged by James Swearington and with copious program notes, and Len Orcino's vigorous Grand Galop Comique. The evening's centerpiece was Pierre LaPlante's dense, lovely Prairie Songs. The work is built around the tunes of "The Turkey Song" and "The Piney Boy", which is a Dead Lovers Song that would be right at home in any collection that included Teen Angel or Running Bear Loved Little White Dove.
On stage were Becca Funk (WitR 2003 - 2005), Gena Roisum (WitR 2005), Isis Leonard (WitR 2003 - 2005, SS 2004 - 2005), Melissa Wilcosz (WitR 2003 - 2004), and, oddly, Quinn Leonard (AITDJB 2001 - 2006, SB 2001 - 2006).
Scott Brown's scheduled performance of "Flight of the Bumblemee" upon the rarely-heard double contraophecleide, was canceled due to aging valve-pads. Scott denies that any restraining orders have been filed "by either camp." He thinks that groups attempting to bar him from performing the piece have "no reason that would stand up in court", and he hopes to be ready for that performance in time for next week's MHS Pep Band concert.
15 MAY 2006:
Students of Gail Shoemaker's Suzuki program gave a recital yesterday afternoon at the United Church of Christ in McFarland.
SUZUKI AT CHURCH
11 MAY 2006:
MHS BANDS HOLD AUDIENCE SPELLBOUNDWhen Bill Garvey ordered the doors at the back of the auditorium closed and all the lights turned off, the audience knew they were in for a scare - or a delight. We were right on both counts.
Daniel Bukvich's evokative Voodoo for concert band is packed full of tricks and surprises, as well as good music, and the MHS Wind Ensemble made the most of it at Thursday night's concert. The piece was performed on a nearly-dark stage, with only a dim orange glow for the musicians to read by. With the doors closed the auditorioum was nearly black, serving as a properly spooky setting for the piece, although the lamp on the conductor's stand should perhaps have been pointed down a little more to keep it from the audience's eyes. The score included howls, yips, claps, and screams, all of which the mostly-upperclassmen ensemble performed with evident glee. Many of the performers raked the audience with flashlight beams at odd intervals, and some left the stage to do frenzied dances in the aisles, while Aaron Siegmann's light crew made will 'o the wisps flit on the backdrop and legs. But the star was certainly the music itself, a haunting work with plenty of interesting percussion. The whole was very effective, and the audience loved it.
8 MAY 2006:
BRAD TO WAM EUROPEBrad Anderson (AITDJB 2001 - 2005) will be touring in Europe this summer with the Wisconsin Ambassadors of Music (WAM), a group of high school students from around the state of Wisconsin that form a concert band and a choral group. They will embark on a two-week tour in June and July, perfroming in France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and England, among other places. As part of their preparation, WAM members will attend a three-day performance camp.
Brad, version 2004
Brad describes his role as that of a "semi-staff member". As one the few college students asked to accompany the group, he'll be performing "the more challenging percussion parts", but also coaching and schlepping. He will also sing bass/baritione with the choral group. MHS's Dave Heilmann will travel with the group as an instructor.
The groups will perform different selections at different concerts in Europe. The 199-piece band will draw from the following pool of pieces:"2001" segue into "Fanfare and Flourishes" by James CurnowThe choral repertoire will include:
"Summon the Heroes" by John Williams
"Marche des Parachutistes Belges" or "March of the Belgian Paratroopers" by Pierre Leemans
"Star Spangled Spectacular" George M. Cohan
"Ride" by Samuel R. Hazo
"Stars and Stripes" by you know who
"Latina" (Brad's part is arranged by Mr. H, so he's not sure who wrote this)
"On Wisconsin" (a very purdy piece)
"Songs of Sailor and Sea" by Robert W. Smith
"Armed Forces Salute" arr. by Bob Lowden
"America, the Beautiful" (performed as the British national anthem) by Samuel Augustus Ward
"Selections from the Phantom of the Opera" arr. A. L. Webber (the arrangement played at the MHS Pep Band concert last year)
"American Riversongs" by Pierre La Plante (as played recently by the McFarland Community Band)
"Elijah Rock"
"Ubi Caritas" (some McFarland choir members should recognize it; Autumn might refer to it as "Uber Carrots" or something like that)
"For the Beauty of the Earth" by John Rutter
"Every Time I feel the Spirit" traditional spiritual
"Domine Filie Unigenite" by Vivaldi
7 MAY 2006:
Isis Leoanrd (WitR 2003 - 2005, SS 2004 - 2005) and Kolin Walker performed two movements from Czerny's Sonatina Op. 156 No. 2 for piano four hands at Trinity Lutheran Church in Madison, as part of a recital given by students of Kolin's piano teacher. Isis and Kolin had performed the piece in WSMA festivals this spring, earning a *1 at District and a 1 at State.
TWO AT TRINITY
1 MAY 2006:
McFarland music students had an outstanding day at the WSMA State Solo and Ensemble Festival, held Saturday on the UW-Whitewater campus. McFarland soloists and ensembles performed capably and musically in a wide range of events, earning pounds and pounds of medals. Many of these are "1" ratings, the highest awarded at the Festival. Eric Adams (AITDJB 2005) earned the additional honor of receiving a WSMA Exemplary SOlo Recognition Project award for his snare drum solo.
MCFARLAND HAULS HOME HARDWARE FROM STATE
1 MAY 2006:
UPCOMING EVENTS - MAY 2006
The Wizard of Oz4 & 5 May 7:00 PMPiano recital
6 May 2:00 and 7:00 PM
MHS Auditorium7 May 2006"Ten Who Made a Difference" banquet
Isis and Kolin8 May 2006 7:30 PMMHS Band Concert
MHS
Foredinner music by the Second String Violin Duo11 May 20067th and 8th Grade Band Concerts
MHS Auditorium18 May 2006 7:00 and 8:00 PMYoung Voices of Madison
IMMS Cafetorium18 & 19 May 2006Lawrence University Symphonic Band Concert
Overture Center
MHS A Cappella ChoirFriday 19 May 2006 8:00 PMMHS A Cappella Choir Concert
Appleton, Wisconsin
Brad AndersonFriday 19 May 2006 7:00 PMWYSO Spring Concerts
Overture Center, Madison20 May 2006 1:30 PMWYSO Spring Concerts
Mills Concert Hall
UW Madison
Chamber orchestra - Isis21 May 2006 2:00 PM7th and 8th Grade Choir Concert
Mills Concert Hall
UW Madison
Youth orchestra - Nora23 May 2006 7:30 PMMHS Pep Band Concert
IMMS Cafetorium26 May 2006 7:30 PMMemorial Day Parade
MHS Old Gym29 May 2006 noon-ish
Marching bands
ARCHIVE of event listings
Corrections and additions to this list are very welcome.
Early Bird trombones
on the move24 APRIL 2006:
The McFarland instrumental jazz program gave its final regular concert of the year Monday night, and it was an evening of delights. All four bands have grown in stature, power, and poise since February, proving once again that music - jazz particularly - is one of the things our schools do well.
MCFARLAND JAZZ AGES WELL
At Indian Mound Middle School, the seventh and eighth grade classes each comprise a separate jazz band. The High School also fields two jazz bands, but members are drawn from all four grades, which is part of the reason why the MHS ensembles are larger. It is therefore wrongheaded to say that the IMMS jazz bands "look thin" or "don't have enough members", or that it's "a shame they need to be filled out by teachers and by students from other grades" - comments I have heard in the hallway. In fact the two younger bands are the training grounds for the great musicians we hear in the MHS ensembles, and we should be happy that they can take advantage of the learning opportunities that come with being reinforced by older musicians.
Brian Vanderbloemen (AITDJB 2005) always picks charts that are substantial but are also fun to hear and, by Monday night's evidence, fun to play. Michael Sweeney's arrangement of Kiss the Girl from Disney's The Little Mermaid was a wonderful piece, played well by the Seventh Grade Jazz Ensemble. (Mr. V. claims he only watches Disney films because of his offspring). The New Orleans Rhythm Kings' immortal Tin Roof Blues also came off soundly in this set, arranged by Andy clark and played at a rather brisk tempo that made a a good showcase for a solo by guest trumpeter Kolin Walker. He could have sung the lyric; that would have been cool, too. The Seventh Grade set closed with In the Midnight Hour, by Wilson Pickett, neatly arranged for beginning jazz ensemble by Jerry Nowack.
Becca Funk &
Master Garvey
Kolin showed up again with Dave Heilman's Eighth Grade Jazz Ensemle, this time at the piano, taking solo turns in Dean Sorenson's Vertical Version and in Are You Ready to Rock by Larry Neeck. Becca Funk (WitR 2003 - 2005) picked up the soprano saxophone for solos in both of these charts and also in On the Flip Side by Greg Yasinitsky. Judging by the way her eyes were glinting, she enjoys the instrument, and in fact it was a pleasure to hear her play. I'm also happy to report that contrary to initial forecasts Gena Roisum (WitR 2005) gave us a clarinet solo in Vertical, which is an edgy, lively piece that gave the young soloists good meaty stuff to work with. Of course Gena did a fine job, as she always does.
Gena Roisum
The McFarland High School Concert/Symphonic Band Jazz Ensemble (hereafter I'll call them the McFHSC/SBJE, or better yet just the CSBJE - does anyone else think it's high time this slick group got a less clunky name?) took the stage next, under the often-genial direction of Bill Garvey. The CSBJE opened with a full-throttle rendition of Larry Barton's Power Trip, projecting an intensity they sustained throughout a set that exlored some of the rich variety of jazz styles. Dean Sorenson's excellent swing chart River City Blues got a fine treatment that would have been right at home in Memphis, or at least on Milwaukee's Riverwalk. Eric Adams (AITDJB 2005) took an outstanding percussion break in Bob Lowden's Big Band/Latin arrangement of Ernesto Lecuona's Malaguena. The jazz bands have played this before, but it's so perfect and obsessive that it's always a crowd-pleaser, and no one is tired of it. Eric will play with the AITDJB again this summer. Nora Hickey (SS 2004 - 2006, WitR 2005) was one half of a perfectly respectable trombone duet in this piece.
Nora Hickey
Bruce Pearson's Where You Want to Be is a rock/funk chart that sounds like it demands good coordination among parts of the rhythm section, and on Monday night it got that from the CSBJE. Nora played a bassoon solo in this number, but it was improperly miked: a directional mike was placed not at the instrument's thorax but near the bell. A mike here would get a harsher tone, but on Monday Nora's mike was pointed too far away from the instrument anyway, and may not even have been turned on: her solo was unfortunately completely inaudible. Last but certainly not least let me note that Frank Ransley (SB 2003 - 2005, AITDJB 2004 - 2005) was sitting in with the CSBJE trumpet section; he selflessly comes to MHS at unhealthy early hours to rehearse with them. I'm very happy to say that Frank, too, will be back in the gazebo with the AITDJB for the 2006 summer season.
When I saw that Andrea Bakunowicz (AITDJB 2005) was wearing her L.B.D. Monday night, I hoped that might mean that she'd be singing a number or two; she has a lovely voice. Instead she twice played her alto sax in duets out in front of the Early Bird Jazz Ensemble. She sounded great, and is certainly keeping up her chops - she'll lend her cheerful presence to the AITDJB again this summer. Scott Birrenkott (AITDJB 2005) will also be back for a turn with the Dixie band. He had fire-breating solos in two of Early Bird's numbers Monday night, and was an anchor of the Trombone Wave. (But his cornet-sized plunger mute wasn't much use to him; Scott, you can borrow mine if you are desperate).
Andrea Bakunowicz
Early Bird is one of McFarland School District's finest products. Stack 'em up against any team or group from any MHS student organization, sports included: MHS's premier jazz ensemble shines bright and stands tall. (Of course Anne Nichols's (AITDJB 2005) Blue Notes vocal jazz ensemble is having a helluva year, too, aren't they?) Monday night's Early Bird perfomance under the direction of Dave Heilman was first class all the way. They opened with a familiar-sounding Mike Tomaro arrangement of Duke Ellington's Caravan, capturing the haunting joy I feel from the tune when it's in the hands of a good vocalists. Scott's solo was grand; I could have listened to another sixteen bars.
Scott Birrenkott
Next up was Come In From the Rain, a newish arrangement (I think) by Paul Jennings from the Melissa Manchester original. This featured Dr. Greg Balfany, who has been working with the jazz ensembles and performed with each of them. Alan Blaylock has made an arrangement of Louis Armstrong's Struttin' With Some Barbecue that must have been a real monster to work up for performance, but sounded just spectacular - and it was good to see the brass get up and move around, too. Andrea was a featured duetist in this one. The final number of the night was Festia Bahia, by Victor Lopez, which I thought sounded familiar but could not quite place - I supposed getting to enjoy it for the first time again is a fringe benefit of addled memory. Andrea was smooth as silk in her duet, and Scott's solo was cleanly understated.
About Dr. Balfany: In the past I've made grumbling noises in this space about guest artists who come to coach the jazz bands, and have such fragile egos that they need to take solos in every piece with every band at the resulting concert. Dr. Balfany is an extraordinary jazz musician and master of saxophones who is both an active performer and a highly engaged music professor at UW-La Crosse. On Monday night all the pieces had plenty of room for students to take solos, so his presence on stage does not seem to have squeezed anyone out (although he did play solos in eight of the evening's fourteen numbers). He was simply luminous in Come In From the Rain
24 APRIL 2006:
Schedules for most of the State Solo and Ensemble Festivals have been posted on the WSMA Web site. McFarland students will go to the festival in Whitewater on 29 April 2006. Performance times and sites for all McFarland students are available here, in lists sorted by performance time, by performer, by site, and by event.
STATE SOLO AND ENSEMBLE SCHEDULES
20 APRIL 2006:
AUTUMN SPONGES HIS WAY ONTO THE KOHL CENTER STAGEON AND ON AND ON WISCONSIN: The University of Wisconsin Varsity Band gave the first of three Spring Concert performances Thursday night, and it was as usual not so much a concert as an exhibition of music as extravaganza. Before describing Autumn's part in the extravagance, I must mention that Tonya Neumann (AITDJB 2003 - 2005) and Nick Schleicher (SB 2002) performed with the band itself: Tonya on saxophone and Nick on trumpet.
2005 UW Varsity Band in the Kohl Center>
The Varsity Band concert is always a frenetic mixture of over-the-top spectacle, and this year is no exception. There are guest artists of all musical sorts, pyrotechnics, gymnasts, flying cows, confetti, cheerleaders, high school marching bands, more pyrotechnics, drum majors (this year including a miniature one), costumes, light shows, stilt-walkers, dancers, yet more pyrotechnics, singalongs . . . you get the picture; or if you don't, go see the show. Oh, and the Varsity Band plays, too.
An early segment featured a medley of cartoon theme songs, which director and manic ringmaster Mike Leckrone claiming he wanted to contain only "the classics": Scooby Do, Mickey Mouse (a singalong moment), the Flintstones, and their ilk. But the Simpsons crept in, as did SpongeBob SquarePants, who offered Autumn his first moment in the follow spot. Mostly hidden inside a SpongeBob costume, Autumn pranced through the aisles shaking hands with excitable alumni. On Friday night, SpongeBob was promoted to a stage crossing. During a rather well-done medley of On Wisconsin variations in the styles of other cultures (or their pastiches), Autumn manipulated a Thai bird tethered to a long pole, dancing it above a roaring crowd. (Coincidentally, he is not the only AIDJB member to perform with birds on strings this month; see 8 April, below). Finally, during the "Masquerade" sequence in a Phantom of the Opera medley, Autumn and a partner danced a sort of tight gavotte on the catwalk at the top of the band's bleachers.
Broadway star Tom Wopat was among this year's guest artists. Several of the instrumental guests displayed better musical quality, with top honors in my book going to classical guitarist Javier Calderón of the UW music faculty, and to Sergei Belkin, an accordionist whose rendition of the Carnival of Venice and its variations was beyond belief. UW alumnus Grant Manhart brought his student jazz band The Dominant 7, and they are a powerhouse: percussion, bass, and seven trumpets who all seem to be young Clifford Browns.
Any show with indoor rockets, fountains, and flashpots has to be good, and the FX crew certainly piled on the powder Thursday night. Leckrone's annual video was as funny as ever, and he made his second-act entrance riding the flying cow mentioned above. The Thursday crowd mumbled a bit on the "Varsity" singalong - I think the real fanatics come on Saturday - but there were people polkaing in the aisles during Beer Barrel, and everyone knows the words to Hey, Baby. It was a grand three hours.
16 APRIL 2006:
Frank Ransley and Quinn Leonard were part of a brass quartet that performed at McFarland Lutheran Church on Easter Sunday, under the patient direction of Glenn Nielsen. The group played arrangements of Christ the Lord is Risen Today, Christ is Risen, and 'Tis a Blessing to be Simple at two morning services, joined at times by organist Peter Johnson, by the church's voice choir and its excellent Handbell Choir (both of which Glenn also directs), and by the congregation. A rousing time was had by all.
EASTER BRASS
15 APRIL 2006:
Donald Margulles' four-role play Sight Unseen is hilarious and wrenching, complex and direct, ambiguous and true: in short, everything theatre should be. It is a masterwork; don't miss it. The Wisconsin University Theatre) will present eight performances: April 14, 15, 20 - 22, and 27 - 29. All shows are at 7:30 PM in the UW's Mitchell Theater. Autumn Leonard is Assistant Master Electrician for the production.
SEEN "SIGHT UNSEEN"? SEE IT!
Ensemble 13
10 APRIL 2006:
The Wisconsin Youth Orchestra (WYSO) chamber ensembles gave their final performances of the season Saturday in Morphy Hall, presenting a varied and delightful program. Works representing a wide range of styles were handled gracefully and insightfully by the talented WYSO musicians. Isis Leonard and Nora Hickey were among the performers.
WYSO CHAMBER ENSEMBLES PROVIDE AN AFTERNOON OF DELIGHTS
Isis' group, Ensemble 13, performed the Sarabande and March from Rinaldo, by Georg Friederich Handel, with the rich lyricism it deserves. They also played the Allegro Molto from Mozart's String Quartet K. 155. The group performed first among five ensembles, yet, as is often the case, it was the Mozart that people walked out of the hall whistling.
Amanda undergoing
Bird Handler Hair Prep
2006 Carleton ITW cast
8 APRIL 2006:
The lovely and talented Miss Amanda DeBoer recently took the stage in a Carleton College Student Musical Theatre (SMuT) production of Stephen Sondheim's demanding musical Into the Woods. Amanda operated Cinderella's birds on stage. She writes that the production "turned out fabulously" and was very well received.
THE BIRD WHISPERER
Midori
3 APRIL 2006:
Noted violinist and teacher Midori has cancelled all upcoming workshops and performances, due to serious illness in her family. She had been scheduled to work with a WYSO chamber ensemble group that includes Isis Leonard, to prepare for a joint performance. Neither the workshop nor Midori's own performance at the Wisconsin Union Theater has been rescheduled. We all offer her our hopes for the best.
MIDORI CONCERTS AND WORKSHOPS CANCELLED
31 MARCH 2006:
APRIL 2006
PERFORMANCE EVENTS FOR APRIL 2006UW Varsity Band "Run Out" Concert2 April 2006Into the Woods
Oshkosh
Tonya Neumann, Katie Hepler, Nick Schleicher7 and 8 April 2006WSMA Middle Level Honors Auditions
Carleton College
Amanda DeBoer, Bird Operator7 April 2006: La Crosse, Wausau, Kettle MoraineWYSO Chamber Ensembles Recital
8 April 2006: Eau Claire, Fort Atkinson, Kaukauna8 April 2006 1:30 & 3:30 PMLawrence University Symphonic Band and
Morphy Hall
UW Madison
Isis and Nora
New Horizons Band concertSaturday 8 April 2006 8:00 PMUW Varsity Band Spring Concert
Appleton, Wisconsin
Brad Anderson7:30 PM 20, 21, and 22 April 20067-12 Jazz concert
Kohl Center
Tickets: $18; maybe a little less through Tonya
Tonya Neumann, Katie Hepler, Nick Schleicher; maybe Autumn Leonard24 April 2006 7:30 PMWSMA State Solo and Ensemble Festival
MHS Auditorium29 April 2006
UW-Whitewater
27 MARCH 2006:
SOLSTICE BRASS GOES EQUINOCTIALFor thousands of years, cultures advanced enough to keep astromical records have noted that, starting at the Summer Solstice in late June, the nights grow longer and the days shorter. It's no huge leap to imagine that if the nights keep getting longer, eventually there will be no day at all. Crops will die; animals will die; everything will die. Most cultures have therefore a tradition of performing rituals on the night of the Winter's Solstice, the longest night of the year, to ensure that the cycle will turn and that the nights will grow shorter again. Many of these customs involve bonfires kept alight all night: by association, the Sun's fire will not die either, but will grow again, and the days will lenghthen; Spring will come, and all life will not be snuffed out. These rites are older by far than any modern religion; they have been performed for millennia, and so far, every year, the sun keeps coming back. It's hard to argue with success.
Sunrise at Stonehenge, Winter Solstice 2003
By the time of the Spring Equinox in late March, the days have grown as long as the nights; on the following days, there will be more hours of sunlight than of shadow. It's a time of celebration, for it means that last year's Solstice rites were effective. Traditionally, it's a time when people have exchanged gifts of eggs - always a symbol of life - and have begun preparations for the new agricultural year. The Spring Equinox was associated with the rebirths of solar deities such as Mithras and Eastre throughout Europe and the Near and Middle East. The Council of Nicea decreed the formula which is still used to calculate the date of the Easter holy day: it is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.
The Solstice Brass Quartet, always mindful of the public good, has done its part for years at McFarland's Christmas bonfire, ensuring that life on Earth will survive. This year, three members of the Brass will take part in an Easter celebration, too. Autumn, Quinn, and Frank will be among the musicians performing during services at McFarland Lutheran Church on Easter Sunday, 16 April 2006.
20 MARCH 2006:
I enjoy eighth grade band concerts, because I like to hear how much the students have improved since seventh grade, and to see which ones really love to play their instruments. Sometimes, I enjoy the concerts for the sake of the music, too. Last Thursday night's Spring COncert, featuring performances from the recent WSMA Solo and Ensemble Festival, was one of those sometimes.
EIGHTH GRADE BAND AND SOLOISTS WOW CAFETORIUM CROWD
The band began the evening with Rollercoaster, an evocative and very enjoyable work by Jim Mahaffey. From the audience this piece sounded like a difficult one for a Middle School band: lots of runs and accidentals, large-interval leaps, challenging rhythms, and some rather high notes in the trumpets and maybe the French horns. If it really was a stretch for the band, then kudos to Dave Heilman for putting them through it, and to the band for surviving it. Current and former Wind in the Reeds members Becca Funk, Isis Leonard, Gena Roisum, and Melissa Wilcosz were part of the performance. The full band also closed the concert, playing Rise of the Vulcan by David Shaffer.
In between, we were treated to a selection of very fine Festival performances. The joint 7th and 8th grade percussion ensemble is headed to State this year (with a perfect card from District), and on Thursday night they were magnificient. The ensemble had members enough to man the many instruments required by Chris Brooks' rich, varied Mozambique, and they made the most of it in a really joyful performance.
Among the other WSMA events, Gena gave a fine rendering of part of her Carnival of Venice clarinet solo (she got a 1 in class B at District), and Isis played some of the more exciting bits of Telemann's Sonata in F for bassoon (which she is taking to State)
13 MARCH 2006:
The MHS Blue Notes Vocal Jazz Ensemble musicians are the real deal, and it's always a pleasure to hear them sing. This year they are State-bound, stylin', and stronger than ever, with help from our own Andrea Bakunowicz and Zach Staszewski. They opened Monday night's excellent MHS Choir concert with a moving take on I'll Be Seeing You (In All the Old Familiar Places), by Irving Kahal and Sammy Fain by way of a Darmon Meader arrangement. The enlarged group made good use of soloists, and of a featured quartet that included Zach and Andrea - but I hope the ensemble does not continue to add singing members; eighteen is enough jazz vocalists to wrangle at one time. Blue Notes is also taking Operator, a la Manhattan Transfer, to State. So far I have heard this number only as they were warming it up at District, but any group that can sing "nnnnnn" softly and make it sound that good in four parts (six? help me, Anne) has my full confidence.
MHS CHOIRS GIVE A CONCERT ABOUT SHEEP
Sophie Nelson made a loving sigh of Se Tu M’ami, Se Tu Sospiri, her WSMA Solo and Ensemble piece, and scored the evening's first sheep reference; her curtsey was cute, too. (Sophie must also get a special citation for her choice of the opening topic in her report for Franz Fest"). The eclogue continued as John Langel sang The King of Love My Shepherd Is. I listened carefully to the fine performance of Hans Leo Hassler's clever, intricate madrigal Come Let Us Start a Joyful Song, but heard nary a baa. Nor were sheep explicit in Sing All Ye Joyful, by Ruth Watson Henderson. The music was both gay and pleasant, with text supposedly taken from The Hobbit - I couldn't really pin it down, but it sounded like the nonsense that the Elves are singing when Bilbo and Co. arrive in Rivendell. Maybe the tranquil parts were sheepish.
Some of the ophecleides in
Scott Brown's personal collection
Mindful of sheep and protocol, Franz Schubert included an Agnus Dei in his Mass in G. Sometimes it is good (for me, at least) to hear a substantial musical work that you can understand in real time, while you're listening to it; this Mass is one of those. The massed choirs performed it quite ably and aptly, and seemed to have a good grasp of what was going on. Special thanks are due to the string accompanists: a quartet (half of which was drawn from the pool of talented Stenborg string women) plus a bass. The ability to perform a work of this depth in the midst of Solo and Ensemble season, and to attract qualified accompanists, is a tribute to the quality of the MHS choral music program.
Finally, Scott Brown's scheduled performance of "Sabre Dance" upon the rarely-heard E-flat alto ophecleide, was cancelled once again (see 1 March, below). This time the excuse given was "severe instrument failure". He was kind enough to share with us this photo of some of the ophecleides in his collection, and I also have an image of a much younger Scott Brown practicing his contraophecleide, which I will post in due time.
12 MARCH 2006:
40TH ANNIVERSARY WYSO CONCERT A SMASHNora Hickey performed with the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras' (WYSO) Youth orchestra at Overture Center's newly-opened Capitol Theater Sunday evening. The concert was superb as usual.
Nora (center, lurking behind bassoon)
on the Capitol Theater stage
Richard Wagner's sinuous harmonies used to draw censure from an uptight church, which felt that music ought not to be that ambiguous, sensuous, and full of tension. Youth's Sunday performance of Wagner's Overture to "Rienzi" showed why the establishment worried. The musicians captured Rienzi's parade of abductions, uprisings, and bloodthirsty torch-waving crowds very well, transmitting a sense of seething tragedy to the audience.
Benjamin Britten sparks strong emotions. His opera Gloriana was a complete failure during his lifetime, intensely disliked by the Queen to whom he dedicated it, and who was the namesake of its title character ("Gloriana" was not of course the real name of the original queen, but then Britten usually orbits at at least two degrees of separation from reality.) The "Courtly Dances" music from the opera proved more durable and has been performed more or less regularly, helping at last to drag the rest of the opera back, kicking and screaming, from obscurity. Britten takes homely English, or at least Englished, tunes and serves them up not quite straight but with a twist of lurking psychosis that breaks out at odd moments in the form of braying harmonies and stuttered rhythms. Youth understood this music remarkably well.
Intermission was preceded by a span during which some guy talked about how great everyone associated with WYSO is (they are; flowers and kudos to them all) and followed by Raiph Vaughn Williams' London Symphony. Williams has a way with dense, passionate material, and London is among his best; Nora had passages of extended bassoon prominence which she carried off with her usual magbassoonificence.
12 MARCH 2006:
SECOND STRING WAILS AT VFWThe Second String Violin Duo gave the Old Time Fiddlers a between-sets break at the Stoughton VFW Sunday afternoon, taking the stage with several of Gail Shoemaker's Suzuki-method students while the Fiddlers took a bite and a sup. Isis Leonard and Nora Hickey performed a selection of Eastern European violin duets. These included such favorites as A Lady Had a Rooster and My Life Is Very Sad. The VFW audience was the salt of the earth, and received the performance well.
SS @ VFW
11 MARCH 2006:
The University Theater opened its spring season with James Maxwell's stage adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Autumn Leonard worked on the production as an electrician.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AT UW
The show had a good heart. It will inevitably be compared to the recent film: bring it on: this incarnation of the stage play stands up very well, especially when UT's Elizabeth Bennet is matched against Keira Knightly's unseasoned-mashed-potatoes effort on screen. The ensemble cast was mostly quite fine, although the talent pool seems to be shallower among men than among women: the principals were very able, but the smaller roles were not especially well handled. Mr. Collins was superb, a character that is hateful when he is not pitiable, loathsome when not hateful, and pitiable the rest of the time.
The production was well attended, with a nearly full house through its closing performance Saturday night.
Autumn Leonard, underlit in
"Le Nozze di Figaro"5 MARCH 2006:
Wisconsin University Opera's performance of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro in Music Hall Sunday afternoon was superb on all counts, combining remarkable voices, brilliant musical direction, and acting skills superior to some professional performances available on video. The Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band's own Autumn Leonard was in the chorus.
AUTUMN FIGURES IN FIGARO SELLOUT
Mozart's warm, human opera was brought brilliantly to life by the energy and skill of these fine performers. All the principal vocalists were excellent, a tribute to the strength of the University Opera program. Baritone Thomas Weis' Figaro romped through the performance like a properly chutzpah-drunk improvisational MC, gleefully executing deceptions he instigated and falling in instantly with those he didn't. Kerianne Carlton's pure, vibrant soprano was perfect for Susanna. Keith Dixon brought to Count Almaviva a baritone rich and supple enough to express the complex feelings of a man who can't tell from moment to moment if he's in charge of everything, or the butt of everyone's jokes. Soprano Seong Shin Ra was a standout, her voice at once so powerful and so heartbreakingly expressive that her Countess Almaviva stood in exquisite relief even among so fine a cast.
Keith Dixon and Seong Shin Ra
in "Le Nozze di Figaro"
Kristofer Barber's Dr. Bartolo was a minor masterpiece of dignified comedy, or comic dignity. Jill Woodhouse was absolute mistress of the role of Marcellina, who it appeared she was channeling from Beyond, in flesh and spirit; I missed her cut aria telling how rams don't make war upon ewes. Chad Graham made a deliciously cherubic smarminess of Basilio, suiting the part so well that he should perhaps worry a bit. (I missed his cut, too; what fun could he have had with the skin of an ass?). Barbarina is given one of the most lovely melodies known to man, as she searches for the lost pin at the start of Act IV. Jacqueline King brought me to tears.
Bartolo, Figaro, and Marcellina
share a special moment of discovery
Ah, but Cherubino! Of course everyone loves Cherubino, and a performer of even middling ability can mine from the role's rich lode of humanity a product sure to gain audience response. But Rachel Grasser's luminous performance Sunday looked to me like a labor of love informed by a bright, quick talent. Her soprano voice was the perfect instrument for Cherubino, delivering Ms. Grasser's every thought, emotion, and inspiration directly to the audience's hearts, clear and unimpeded. She is the sort of performer who makes me wish I had bought more tickets.
Ensemble work was clean and personal throughout, with some of the loveliest moments found in Carlton and Seong's duets. Every time the Countess and Susanna gang up on a man and sing identical lines at him in parallel thirds, the man backs down, changes tactics, or apologizes for something; Carlton and Seong wielded this weapon with deadly, delightful precision on Sunday.
Rachel Grasser (left) as Cherubino,
and Jacqueline King as Barbarina
The stage direction and acting were universally smart and informed, a far cry from operas that are, so to speak, nothing but voice, with "actors" who can do little more than hit their mark and then stand stock-still to deliver the next aria. Again taking recorded Figaros as reference, as for example the Glyndebourne Festival productions of 1994 and 1973, it is no exaggeration to say that the acting at the UW production was superior. People on stage knew what they were doing, and why, and had the vaulting talent needed to manage movement and facial expression while singing difficult music. The virtuosity was astonishing, and my hat is off to the entire cast. Stage Director William Farlow is a treasure. All the roles had clearly received imaginative direction, right down to the chorus members; Autumn always had something worth doing while he was on stage, and did it, singing the while.
The acoustics in Music Hall are quite good, and its size and configuration gave Sunday's performance both the closeness of intimacy, and the room for spectacle: in short, just what Figaro needs. All three nights of the run have sold out, and on Sunday the close-packed audience took part in the special magic created only when hundreds of people are thoroughly captivated by a live performance. Laughter swept the theater again and again, much of the thanks for which goes to the outstanding surtitles, whose completeness and aptness of phrase are yet another reason to prefer this Figaro.
Figaro and his (?) Susanna
It would be presumption to comment on Musical Director James Smith (also of WYSO); he is above praise. But he wrung wonders from the fine pit ensemble. The School of Music Wind Octet, under the direction of Marc Vallon, gave a pre-curtain performance that was a tasty sampling of music from the opera. Playing from among the audience in the back row of the balcony, they made us feel as if we'd been invited into a friend's home for some musical conviviality.
The set was spare, mostly some colored hangings and a few essential objects: a chaise for the Countess to feel faint upon, a bit of cloth so we could all pretend Cherubino was hidden, and so forth. It was enough. (The Cap Times reviewer got it wrong.) The lack of clutter left our attention upon such props as mattered at the moment, and more importantly upon the wonderful characters and the talented cast who were creating them.
4 MARCH 2006:
WYSO CONCERT ORCHESTRA IS LORD OF THE RINGSThe Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras' (WYSO) Percussion Ensemble, Concert Orchestra, and Philharmonia performed today in Mills Hall on the UW campus, with Isis Leonard on hand as bassoonist in Concert.
WYSO Concert Orchestra in Mills Hall
I have already described the sound of WYSO ensembles as "mature", so here are some new adjectives. The Concert Orchestra produces a surprisingly muscular sound for a group that's short two trombones - cues help, but the low brass deserve lots of credit for the quality of this concert. The lone tuba and lone trombone were authoritative and clear, especially the tuba, who had some nice feature passages and a fine duet with a trumpet. And the woodwinds were superb all afternoon, providing a flexibility and soulfulness that could be the envy of elder orchestras. The clarinets and bassoons were especially praiseworthy.
The group opened with Bellingrath Gardens by Ralph Ford, followed by the Marche and Impromptu from Bizet's Jeux d'Enfants; the Bizet was right on, lively and idiosyncratic. Vignettes, by Theron Kirk was sprightly and schizophrenic. The next piece was a suite arranged by John Whitney, upon themes from Howard Shore's score for The Fellowship of the Ring. This was a puzzling work: melodies were taken up and then dropped, sometimes abruptly, then returned to later without much enhancement or alteration of embellishments. In terms of performance and execution, though, the piece was a great success; the French horns, who were on exposed display whenever the Three Runners theme came up, met the challenge especially handily. Carl Strommen's Prairiesong, the closing piece, featured a lovely bassoon soli passage.
4 MARCH 2006:
MCFARLAND S&E PERFORMERS ADVANCE TO STATE IN DROVESHundreds of talented young McFarland musicians saw the fruition of thousands of hours of preparation and rehearsal as they performed in the Wisconsin School Music Association District Solo and Ensemble Festival in Middleton today. The results were, as usual, a wonderful tribute to the dedication and talent of McFarland's fine (but understaffed) music programs. Bill Garvey, Dave Heilman, Anne Nichols, Brian Vanderbloemen, and Evan Riley should be very proud, for they have helped create one of the few things of lasting value: music.
Isis and Nora performing Joplin's "Pine
Apple Rag" at the McFarland Library
Many of the best students performed in more than one event at the District festival, generally a solo and one or more ensembles; many play more than one instrument, or perform in both instrumental and vocal events. The most exceptional performers in the most advanced event classification at the critically judged festival are invited to advance to the State Solo and Ensemble competition, held in April at UW-Whitewater. McFarland has dozens of performances advancing, and many students going to State in more than one event. In the smaller world of the AITDJB, the Wind in the Reeds, and the Second String Violin Duo, Eric Adams, Scott Birrenkott, Andrea Bakunowicz, Nora Hickey, Isis Leonard, and Zach Staszewski are all advancing in at least one event, and most in several. Together these six earned at least 16 starred-first Class A ratings, which are tickets to State (they may have a few more I don't know about yet; the number is a minimum).
1 MARCH 2006:
SOLO AND ENSEMBLE PERFORMERS PRESHOW IN NEW LIBRARYMcFarland's Wisconsin School Music Association District Solo and Ensemble Festival is this Saturday in Middleton, and if the sneak preview held tonight at our fantastic new Library is any indication, Saturday will be a day of fine music.
Isis and Nora performing (?) Bach's "Art of
the Fugue" at the McFarland Library, with
assistance from Scott Brown
A good crowd was on hand to view IMMS students' art, and Bill Garvey's annual use of S&E contestants to provide background music gave the students an excellent chance to try their performances before an appreciative audience. Anne Nichols' Blue Notes Vocal Jazz Ensemble, including the AITDJB's own beloved Zach Staszewski and Andrea Bakunowicz, are on the curve to excellence. They will be performing "Operator" and another piece at the District contest. If they can clean up what the judges like to call "vertical alignment problems" - and I am sure they will - the group is surely destined to advance to the State contest.
Zach also performed with a Class A clarinet trio, and will be in clarinet choir at District. Andrea has a vocal duet and a saxophone choir, in addition to Blue Notes.
Isis Leonard and Hora Hickey gave a solid rendering of a selection from Bach's Art of the Fugue, with Isis on violin and Nora on bassoon instead of 'cello. When all goes well and the balance is right, these two give a very musical performance; I'd expect them to advance, too.
A recently-bald Scott Birrenkott switched from trombone to baritone for the MHS Tuba-Euphonium Octet's performance of The Entertainer. They have good color and a really, really powerful tuba section; if the adrenaline is high enough on Saturday, they should also advance to State.
Scott Brown's scheduled performance of "Sabre Dance" upon the rarely-heard E-flat alto ophecleide, was cancelled due to intermittent windiness. Expect more updates.
1 MARCH 2006:
WYSO CONCERT TOUR BRINGS REAL MUSIC TO SUBURBAN YOUNG 'UNSOn Wednesday Isis Leonard, a bassoonist in the Concert Orchestra ensemble of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra (WYSO) program, traveled with the orchestra on its annual performance tour. Under the baton of Christine Mata Eckel, the group gave concerts at Mt. Horeb Intermediate Center, Wisconsin Heights Middle School, and Glacier Creek Middle School. They performed a range of modern and elderly works, not incidentally getting in some extra practice for this Saturday's Winterfest Concert. Isis says the performances were well received.
Christine Mata Eckel
WYSO philosophy holds that tours expand and augment the regular WYSO music programs by providing unique experiences for the musicians: "WYSO members can experience significant individual growth in a setting totally apart from the daily support network of home and school. We believe the WYSO touring experience offers development potential for a member to grow independently, to increase teamwork skills and to build on the strengths of the family/school network while outside of that environment."
Every season, each of the four WYSO orchestras gives touring concerts in Madison and throughout the state. The Youth Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra generally perform in a scheduled one-day tour. Concert Orchestra and Sinfonietta typically embark on a local one-day tour to area schools or school-based cultural events. On occasion, the Youth Orchestra is asked to perform outside of Wisconsin, and every two or three years they tour nationally or internationally.
1 MARCH 2006:
UPCOMING EVENTS - MARCH 2006
WYSO Concert Orchestra Tour1 March 2006 1:30 PMWind Ensemble concert
Dane County schools
Concert orchestra - Isis LeonardFriday 3 MarchThe Marriage of Figaro
UW-Stevens Point
Becky Schultz3 and 7 March 2006 7:30 PMWYSO Winterfest Concerts
5 March 2006 3:00 PM
Music Hall, UW Madison
Autumn LeonardSaturday 4 March 2006 1:30 PMDistrict Solo and Ensemble Contest
Mills Concert Hall
UW Madison
Concert orchestra - IsisSaturday 4 March 2006Lawrence University Percussion Ensemble
Middleton High School
(Students too numerous to mention)Saturday 4 March 2006 8:00 PMChamber Ensemble recital
Appleton, Wisconsin
Brad AndersonSaturday 4 MarchUW Varsity Band "Run Out" Concert
UW-Stevens Point
Becky Schultz6 March 2006UW Varsity Band "Run Out" Concert
Brodhead
Tonya Neumann, Katie Hepler, Nick Schleicher7 March 2006WYSO Winterfest Concerts
LaCrosse
Tonya Neumann, Katie Hepler, Nick Schleicher12 March 2006 6:00 PMMHS Choir Concert
Mills Concert Hall
UW Madison
Youth Orchestra
Nora Hickey13 March 2006 7:30 PM8th Grade Band Concert16 March 2006 8:00 PMMHS Band Concert
IMMS Cafetorium21 March 2006UW Varsity Band "Run Out" Concert
MHS Auditorium
Zach Staszewski, Eric Adams, Scott Birrenkott, Andrea Bakunowicz7 March 2006UW Varsity Band "Run Out" Concert
LaCrosse
Tonya Neumann, Katie Hepler, Nick Schleicher21 March 20067th & 8th Grade Choir Concert
Tomah
Tonya Neumann, Katie Hepler, Nick Schleicher23 March 2006 7:30 PMUW Varsity Band "Run Out" Concert
IMMS Cafetorium27 March 2006
West Allis
Tonya Neumann, Katie Hepler, Nick Schleicher
ARCHIVE of event listings
Corrections and additions to this list are very welcome.
27 FEBRUARY 2006:
CONCERT SHOWS OFF JAZZ PROGRAM'S STRENGHTSThe instrumental jazz program for grades 7 - 12 is a gem in the District's crown, and last Monday night we saw plenty of sparkle as four bands, each excellent for their age bracket, gave daring, exciting performances. I always leave a McFarland jazz concert feeling happier than I was when I came in. More McFarlanders should come take advantage of this free therapy.![]()
(Send me a concert photo;
I'll put it here)
Brian Vanderbloemen has had several years now to shape the next academic generation of McFarland jazz musicians, and his time spent teaching technique and spirit was showcased to good effect in solid and occasionally brilliant performances by the 7th grade and 8th grade bands Monday night. The younger group featured some startling set work by Leif Larson, and we heard a fine alto sax solo by Barry Bakunowicz. In the eighth-graders' performance it was especially promising to hear the lively piano break by Kolin Walker in El Gato: it's a good sign of strong piano work to come. Any day you can hear a decent soprano sax solo is a good day, and Becca Funk made the leap from alto to soprano rather gracefully, taking turns in all three charts her group performed that night. Gena Roisum did a fine job as the lone clarinet - which is to say, I could hear her. I look forward to what she'll do when she gets her hands on a tenor sax.
Kids who started under Brian are now beginning to percolate up into the MHS jazz bands, which were already strong; as Bill and Dave start to wield the new tools Brian is sending them, the bands are only getting stronger. The MHS Concert/Symphonic Band Jazz Ensemble featured our own strong-willed Nora Hickey, playing bassoon among the trombones and taking a solo in Doug Beach's Reverend Bob. She was audible, and her solo came through much better than some she played last year, but the microphone was placed at the bell of her bassoon, from which it is still not clear to me that much sound comes. Miking the Big Pipes seems better accomplished by putting the pickup a little distance in front of the performer, pointed more or less toward the instrument's guts; I can't see how that could be accomplished gracefully on the jazz stage, though, without setting Nora off to the side as a separate entity. The Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band's Eric Adams lent splendid Latin spice to No Peppers, No Tomatoes, another Doug Beach / George Shutack chart. Eric is up-and-coming, increasingly fluid and assured, and looked like he was having a good time during his percussion duet with Dave. I am pleased to say that he'll be back in the Gazebo with the Dixie band this summer. Finally, Frank Ransley was also on stage, rounding out the trumpet line. He has been heroically attending early-morning rehearsals and doughnut-tastings. I am delighted that he, too, will be performing with the AITDJB again this summer.
The Early Bird Jazz Ensemble is not only excellent for its age bracket: it's just excellent. Bill and Dave do a great job of picking charts from all over the jazz roadmap; by the time a musician makes it into Early Bird, they've had a chance to wrangle with everything from Latin to rock, standards to near-funk, and plenty more. They are solid enough to grips with a great arrangement like The Incredibles, skillfully distilled by Stephen Bulla from Michael Giacchino's excellent film score. Early Bird played this piece at the 2005 Pep Band concert, and I loved it then. Monday night it was even more bold and confident. Bravo to the band for revisiting it! Scott Birrenkott, who stepped up to the red bowtie with the AITDJB at the 2005 McFarland Family Festival last fall, had sleek trombone solos in Bubblehead, Big Mama Cass, and another in George Shutack's 'Chili Pepper' series, Romancing the Chili Pepper. Scott will be back with the AITDJB this summer, and judging by his work on stage Monday night we'll have a good season. (And speaking of work on stage: is it conceivable that David Michaels could play anything but bari sax? Loved his riffs in Big Mama Cass.) Lastly I must offer cheers for Early Bird's wonderful tradition of including a vocal soloist now and then - one per concert would not be too many, I think. Andrea Bakunowicz could not have been more perfectly suited to perform You Made Me Love You (even without Judy Garland's "Dear Mr. Gable" intro). To my taste, her rendition had it all over, say, Al Jolson's. And yes, we'll get to hear more of Andrea on tenor sax, and maybe vocals, with the AITDJB this summer.
Wrap up? An electric concert, with signs all over it of more great concerts to come. Kudos to all involved!
Midori
20 FEBRUARY 2006:
Isis Leonard and the other members of her Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) chamber ensemble group will be studying with noted violinist and teacher Midori. Midori is a talented soloist with an international reputation, and a powerful force in music education. She has founded programs to involve young people in orchestra and to bring Japanese and Western musical traditions to a better mutual understanding. She performs over 100 concerts each year, often teaching master classes to local violin students at the cities in which she is performing.
ISIS TO STUDY WITH MIDORI
Midori will perform at the Wisconsin Union Theater on Friday 7 April 2006, and will teach at the Wingra Middle School one day during the week of 3 April.
13 FEBRUARY 2006:
ZACH DIES FOR HONOR IN A PLAY OF LOVEZach Staszewski took the stage Friday and Saturday nights as the fiery Tybalt in an MHS production of Romeo and Juliet, showing an intense darkness of character some might not have suspected in him. As the rash young man who slays Mercutio while the play is tipping from comedy to tragedy, Zach stalked the stage looking as though he might at any moment explode. His gravity looked like suppressed rage to me, and made for a powerful stage presence. When he made his final entrance, for his appointment to be killed by Romeo, his gaze was so stern it could have quarried stone. I think from now on I'll have to wonder what lies behind his more usual smiles.
Luke, Lauren, and Zach
The young lovers were played by Isaac Siegmann and Erin Shannon with a freshness that I found endearing, though they may be weary by now of both those descriptors. Shannon in particular was bright as a new penny Friday night, showing signs of close direction in the balcony scene, and was better still on Saturday. The pair also brought some serious snogging to the MHS stage. Chris DuCharme made a fine job of being poor Paris, to whom nobody - even for a moment - wishes success in his quest of Juliet. And he died with a most convincing death rattle. David Michaels' assurance in the role of Friar Laurence was a pleasure to watch. His Friar was properly fatherly and tranquil and, even though he's a drug dealer, formed a solid anchor for the rest of the mercurial characters. Luke Spring showed powers of vocal nuance and expression that lifted Capulet rather above the low profile that might be expected of that role in a school production. It's encouraging to see that the MHS drama program has enough depth that they could afford to assign the part a good actor. And every time Bobby Rothwell takes part in a production, I am happy to see him on stage; I wish him all the best.
Lauren Meyer has built an MHS drama career out of portrayals of powerful older women, and in this play she was a force of nature. She delivered the "Romeo must not live" line as if she were a professional knife thrower; if it had been aimed at me, I'd've been scared spitless. Not every school has a young woman with enough brass to play the Nurse as she ought to be played, but Bridget Norris went far in the right direction, milking her trimmed speeches for plenty of juice. I look forward to seeing what she'll tackle next year. And lastly, Mercutio, the play's pivot and the engine of the whole plot - each time I see the play, I become more convinced that he is its actual main character. It would have been unimaginable that anyone but JT Stocks be cast, and he lived up to all expectations. He gave us both barrels every moment he was on stage, and yet still kept back enough range to build his "plague" lines from inside joke to satisfying rant. There is madness in Mercutio that JT did not quite explore - partly because of line cuts - but if he lands this part again some day in another production, I would enjoy seeing him.
The dances at the feast were done prettily and unselfconsciously, no small achievement in a sequence that involves the entire company. At the feast we also got the surprise treat of hearing Aaron Siegmann as the Troubadour pop star that stops conversation. The several swordfights were done well enough, and were as believable as they needed to be, but ran perhaps a little long for such a shortened form of the play.
Isaac stabs Zach
Costumes and properties were excellent, as always, and well fitted to each character's rank, station, and function in the play (I suppose it is no accident that Mercutio got the sword with a crossguard so big it's actually unseemly). One caveat: actual dancing tights for men may be more expensive than are disposable women's panty hose, but it is transparently clear which are more suitable on stage.
The five-entrance set was attractive and clean. Two platforms with stone facades and an entrance between them made up its stationary portion; the right platform had one entrance, the left, two entrances and The Balcony. The very clever design also included three large, movable Gothic arches which were shifted between scenes. These were used to excellent effect, defining clerestories, cells, and wings entrances as needed. There were a few other odds and ends: a removable fountain so Mercutio could wet his brow, some catafalques in the tomb scene, and of course a tree with a convenient stump so Romeo could get at Juliet for more snogging (clearly audible on the body mikes). The whole set was a perfect sufficiency.
In fact the whole production was admirable, considering that it was built upon so few scraps of the original text, a brutal abridgement far removed from the deft recensions we have seen on the MHS stage in Much Ado About Nothing and in The Importance of Being Earnest, for example. Whole swaths of colorful dialogue were missing entirely, many short speeches had had lines sifted out of them, and few even of the more important soliloquies remained intact. Much of the fever was sacrilegiously subtracted from Mercutio's brain, and the poor Nurse, compared to the gushing bawdy Shakespeare meant for her mouth, was cut nearly to dumbshows. Particularly galling were instances of one line of a rhyming pair being left in, but its fellow being inexplicably cut out. The cutting was a disservice both to those familiar with the play, who spent the evening tensely listening for lines that never came, and - worse - to those meeting Shakespeare for the first time, who were robbed of much of the Bard's best fire. We love Shakespeare for the vibrant characters he draws for us, and for the wonderful words with which he draws them. It is not well to hobble the actors who must portray the one, by allotting them so few of the other.
6 FEBRUARY 2006:
AUTUMN IN MOZART'S "MARRIAGE OF FIGARO"Autumn Leonard is a chorus member in a UW-Madison production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, preparing now for performances in early March. Autumn's light baritone was last publicly heard at a benefit for victims of Hurricane Katrina, held at the Kit Kat Klub or some such wretched State Street hive of scum and villainy. Figaro will find him in a more condign performance space: UW's Music Hall, the delightful, churchy building at the foot of Bascom Hill. Autumn is following where his grandfather has gone before; Kenneth Leonard spent time performing and conducting in Music Hall as he pursued his Master's degree in music.
Autumn, feeling festive at the McBank
Here are the details on the opera production:The Marriage of Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro)University Opera notes that they are presenting The Marriage of Figaro "to celebrate the bicenquinquagenary of the birth of Mozart". Figaro was composed in Vienna at the height of Mozart's career. Its first performance, on May 1, 1786, was an enormous success, so popular that Emperor Joseph II had to issue a decree banning encores. (No, this is not similar to what happened to Brokeback Mountain in Salt Lake City). Figaro remains one of most beloved, and most performed, masterpieces of opera buffa.
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte
William Farlow, Director
James Smith, Conductor
UW Chamber Orchestra
Sung in Italian with English surtitles
Friday, March 3, at 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 5, at 3 pm
Tuesday, March 7, at 7:30 pm
Carol Rennebohm Auditorium
Music Hall, University of Wisconsin - Madison
General public $18, UW-Madison students $10
Ticket information and other details are available here: University Opera
The play from which the libretto for Figaro is taken is a sequel to the play The Barber of Seville, familiar to modern audiences through Rossini's great opera. Mozart's librettist removed political content from the popular Figaro play - material that would have offended the Viennese imperial censors (the French Revolution was only a few years away) - and faithfully translated the rest into Italian. With Mozart's masterpiece of a score, the result is a witty yet profound tale of love, betrayal, and forgiveness. In Barber, Count Almaviva, with substantial help from Figaro, wooed and won the lovely Rosine away from her crusty old ward and would-be husband, Dr. Bartholo. In Figaro, the Count has married Rosine but their marriage has gone sour because of his philandering. Figaro has quit barbering and is now the Count's major-domo. Bartholo is back to seek revenge on Figaro, with the help of the slimy music-master, Don Bazile. Adding to the fun are an amorous teenager, a scheming old maid, a drunken gardener, and a silly young girl. Much happens on a single "folle journée" - a crazy day.
As to the plot: think of the film Amadeus. Figaro is the opera that Mozart is chortling about in the film, as he explains to the stuffy court music establishment how funny, natural, and human it is that the opera begins with a guy measuring a room to see if his wedding bed will fit in it - "no, really, it'll be wonderful, just fund the production"; that sort of thing. Here are three synopses: SHORT, MEDIUM, and WELL DONE. Better yet, go to the library and look in "Kobbe's Opera". Or (best), go to Music Hall and hear Autumn! He's sure to be a dashing peasant lad, or whatever he is, and his personal brand of native chutzpah will we hope be a welcome addition to the show.
30 JANUARY 2006:
Last weekend, Isis Leonard took part in the first-ever Madison Suzuki "retreat", which finished Sunday with a demonstration of synchronized sound production in the Capitol Rotunda. The rich, complex acoustics in the Rotunda present ensembles with a range of challenges, most of which the Suzuki groups were able to overcome. The violins in particular sounded very well in the space, and it was a great pleasure to find a few 'cellos on hand on to provide a glimpse of a different Suzuki playlist.
VIOLINS IN THE VAULT
In most cases an ensemble member must give as much, if not more, attention to listening to the group as to watching the conductor. But in the Rotunda, reverberation from the many hard, flat surfaces is very strong and much delayed - an acoustic engineer might say that the sound is very "wet". As a result, if a player in the Rotunda listens too much to the ambient sound she will fall behind; if everyone listens, the whole group slows down and the piece dies a retarded death. Cohesion therefore depends upon visual cues. The Suzuki emphasis on memorization stood the group in good stead here - the players had no scores to read and so could look at the conductor all the time, and they are used to monophonic arrangements. The several vibrantly visual conductors were a boon as well. Tempos were quite solid throughout, and I heard nobody stravaging behind.
The Rotunda space is punctuated by large wings and galleries, which means that the bell curve of net reverb vs. echo time is not tightly centered around one time value, but has a great deal of temporal dispersion - that is, some echoes come back relatively soon, but many come back later and others much later. The effect can turn multivoice pieces into mush, unless they are one player to a part. But Sunday's mostly-unison playing suffered very little from this problem, and from where I was listening I could always tell what note was being played when. The violins in particular were refreshingly clean and clear, with just enough wetness to the sound to give it a sense of grand scale: on the whole, well suited to the venue.
Finally, frequency dispersion from the Rotunda's many sharp edges is rather high, so that low-pitched instruments with strong harmonics can sound muddy when massed (here I am thinking specifically of TubaChristmas), to the point of not sounding like any real instrument at all. But the violins were affected very little by this issue, at least to my ear, and retained their distinctive timbre.
There were some minor problems: the spoken announcements and the piano accompaniment were mostly swallowed up by the vast caverns of the Capitol wings, and never made it to the audience's ears. But the all-parent audience knew when to clap, so these things were not missed.
23 JANUARY 2006:
DOUBLE THE REEDS, DOUBLE THE FUNFrank Zappa, unquestionably one of the most creative and original musicians of the last fifty years, said in an interview: "The bassoon is one of my favorite instruments. It has a medieval aroma, like the days when everything used to sound like that. Some people crave baseball . . . I find this unfathomable, but I can easily understand why a person could get excited about playing the bassoon." Both the "medieval aroma" and the excitement of playing were on vivid display at the concert culminating the UW's Double Reed Days workshop last Sunday. There were 42 oboes, English horns, and bassoons on stage at once - so many that the staff must not have killed any off during Master Classes*. The sound was described by conductor Alan Goodman as "formidable", and he was right - a massed choir of double reeds produces an effect not to be believed by someone who hasn't heard it.
A formidable collection of bassoon, oboe, and
English horn players at the UW's Double Reed Days
Isis Leonard and Nora Hickey both took part in the Double Reed Days workshop and played first bassoon, or perhaps primus inter pares, at Sunday's concert. The two are co-founders of United Bassoonists of Madison, and are also the founding members (actually, the only members) of the Second String Violin Duo.
Double Reed Days was organized by UW oboist Marc Fink and UW bassoonist extraordinaire Marc Vallon. With guest Goodman, they also taught Master Classes and conducted the ensembles, and under their guidance the choir melded solidly into a single, beautiful polyphonic instrument. The medieval aroma was most evident in the group's performance of Johann Caspar Friedrich Fisher's five-part suite, Journal do Printems II. (It is possible that Vallon did not use his left little toe when conducting this piece, but all the rest of him was involved, and he looks like the kind of conductor who it is impossible for the performers to misunderstand.) The bassoons were especially evocative in the lentement segment, providing a rich flavor rarely heard in arrangements that call for brass or strings, or even other reeds, in addition to bassoons.
In more diverse ensembles, English horns stand out because they sound like nothing else on this planet, unless perhaps like some semi-mythical Amazonian bird. They certainly sound like nothing else in a wind ensemble or orchestra. It is therefore a rare delight to hear them standing out, instead, because they are one distinct set of colours in a natural spectrum of double-reed voices - which on Sunday even included the awesome presence of a contrabassoon. I think such an opportunity gives the English horns at once more freedom and more support than they generally enjoy. Vallon's witty arrangement of Two Beatles Classics was a splendid example, using these elegant instruments to excellent effect. In the Michelle segment of the piece, the melody was too understated and seemed lost at sea. But Eleanor Rigby was perfectly suited to this treatment and was a joy to hear, especially in the dexterous rendering of the former 'cello part.
The group's closing piece was Aram Khatchaturian's Sabre Dance, also arranged by Vallon for double reed ensemble. I missed the trombones a little, as I'd expected to, since Pan himself probably couldn't do a true glissando on a bassoon. But I didn't miss them much, and - surprisingly - didn't miss the percussion at all. A well-disciplined reed player can deliver plenty of punch. The skillful distribution of parts and the enthusiastic musicianship of the players made the arrangement a success.
"Those two purple people"
Finally I must note another performance we attended on Sunday, one which overlapped with the Double Reed Days concert. Attendees of this second event were explicitly forbidden to mention it, so I won't - explicitly. But I will say that I have never heard a more charming evocation of Flight of the Bumblebee by a flutist accompanied by live bees. And, that such a masterful rendition of Bolling's jazz suite would make one suspect that the flutist had some trick up her sleeve, except that in this case she clearly didn't.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MARC VALLON
* For those of you who don't know this hoary, standard oboe joke, here it is (with due apologies to Becky): Q: How do you get two oboes to play in tune? A: Shoot one of them.
16 JANUARY 2006:
RARE BRIA FOOTAGE DISCOVERED IN VAULTSThe official recording of MHS Cabaret 2004 was made on a pair of VHS camcorders, and it's a slick production. But VHS image and sound quality are not exactly the kinds of things you'd write home to the Empress about, so those of us who were delighted by Bria Mason's performance of Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps were pretty much free to remember it any way we wanted to. Until now.
Brad on congas, Tyler Mackey and Autumn Leonard
on handclaps, and the incomparable
Bria Mason on vocals
The vaults recently yielded a previously-unremembered tape made privately at the performance on a sometimes handheld DVD camcorder. The recording is incomplete and fragmentary. For some sequences the camcorder was left running but placed on the floor of the auditorium, under the seats - those sequences have audio that's a bit boomy and video that is uninteresting except to used-chewing-gum enthusiasts. Nevertheless much of the audio is superior to the official version, and I am pleased to debut some of it here.
Bria performed the piece three times: at Cabaret, at the 2004 Pep Band Concert (her sauciest rendition, unfortunately not preserved), and at an AITDJB concert. Sara Siegmann accompanied her on piano, Brad Anderson on congas, in a run that included a conga-and-Bria number in Anything Goes, and Autumn Leonard and Tyler Mackey were dudes in sombreros doing strategic handclaps.
19 JUNE 2006:
On Thursday evening the Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band will perform a benefit concert for the New Orleans chapter of the Women's Junior League, at the corporate training center of SubZero corporation in Fitchburg. We will provide two hours of music, or at least of entertainment, including some new between-sets material and some returning classics.
AITDJB TO PLAY A JOINT THAT IS, LIKE, SO POSH
The venue is certainly the most upscale in which the AITDJB has ever performed, with the possible exception of that time we played on the sidewalk by the old library, with the piano in the back of Denny Blackmore's pickup truck. Thanks to Dave Heilman for kicking this gig our way.
I can now announce (with great delight) that Bria Mason (AITDJB 2002 - 2006; SB 2003) will be returning from Scotland to perform with us at this event. This is an AITDJB exclusive; Ms Mason will not be performing anywhere else in the States during her short summer visit.
12 JUNE 2006:
These just in:
SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS ZAMBONI
At the time of the recent UW Varsity Band Concert, certain photo were taken that could not then be released due to restrictions of copyright and good taste. Now these never-before-published images - some shocking, some merely alarming - can at last be displayed to an unsuspecting public.
SpongeBob with
Zambonie and girlSpongeBob with
Zamboni; no girlSpongeBob, a cow, and
stilts: what could
possibly go wrong?Dancers in the
Phantom masquerade.A Dip in the Locker Room
Autumn with the awesome
accordian guyThe View from
Beyond the Bleachers
5 JUNE 2006:
AITDJB TO PERFORM AT SESQUICENTENNIAL FEST!On 2 July 2006 McFarland celebrates its 150th birthday, and the Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band will be part of the party. We'll be performing in our native habitat, the Larson Park gazebo (smack dab in middle of McFarland), from 12 noon until 1:30 PM.Award-winning banner,
designed by Becca Funk
Sesquicentennial events at the park run from 9:30 AM until 5:00 PM that day, and it's mostly free. There will be music, food, games, and merriment. The Wisconsin and Southern Railroad will offer free train rides from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM; 40-minute excursions leave on the hours. Train arrivals and departures will mark natural set breaks for the AITDJB.
For more information on this and other events, check out the McFarland Sesquicentennial home page.
Becca Funk (WitR 2003 - 2005) designed one of the banners chosen to represent McFarland spirit.
4 JUNE 2006:
Guest review by Autumn Leonard coming soon.
MHS CABARET 2006: WICKED!
29 MAY 2006:
INSIDE SCOOPIEFriendly, mild-mannered frozen dairy product? Or a chilling menace stalking our streets? You make the scoop!
Reliable witnesses saw 'Scoopie', Cluvers' cuddly custard character, accosting viewers at the Memorial Day parade in McFarland on Monday. A vast cloth smile covered Scoopie's creamy face as he worked the crowd, shaking hands with innocent bystanders and hugging those he singled out for special treatment.
Cluvers management was unavailable for contact when we tried to reach them by smoke signal during the recent wind storm, but it must be assumed that they stick by their position that Scoopie is "Just an icon to help people remember us, so they buy our custard. He's just a funny mascot for the kids to look at."
But is he??!?
Of course we all know that Scoopie is not a living being, but a person in a costume. By company policy, the Scoopie actor lives under very tight security, and his or her name is never revealed to the public for fear of reprisals from other forzen-custard agencies, or even from organizations dealing in quiescently frozen products. We are able to exclusively reveal, however, that the letters in the name of the person who played the role of Scoopie on Monday, can be rearranged to spell "AIEA CHSTWSZSKZ".
There are currently no leads on who this clandestine custard caperer may be. But when we know more, we'll dish it here first!
Also, the bands marched in the parade.
Participants included Becca Funk (WitR 2003 - 2005), Brian Vanderbloemen (AITDJB 2005), Eric Adams (AITDJB 2005 - 2006), Gena Roisum (WitR 2005), Melissa Wilcosz (WitR 2003 - 2004), Nora Hickey (WitR 2005, SS 2004 - 2006), and Scott Birrenkott (AITDJB 2005 - 2006). Andrea Bakunowicz (AITDJB 2005 - 2006) might've been in there somewhere, but I couldn't see her from where I was standing. I am pretty sure that Zach Staszewski (AITDJB 2005 - 2006) was mysteriously absent from the ranks of marching spartans.
26 MAY 2006:
The McFarland High School Pep Band concert blew the roof off the old gym Friday night, with three hours of high-quality musical variety. There is no better way to spend your You entertainment dollar (except maybe at the MHS Cabaret).
MONTY PYTHON LIVES AGAIN
Usually the MHS Pep Band Concert comes later in the year than the Cabaret show, which gives Bill an opportunity to cherry-pick the best of Anne's acts. This year the tables were turned, but from the looks (and sounds) of it, we got to hear some of the choice vocal acts at Friday night's show, as well as the instrumental thunder we've all come to expect.
The 2006 MHS Massed Band
(click on the image and you'll get something really huge, that may show your kid if yo zoom in.)
The Senior Band Video is a tradition with uneven results, but this year's was clever. There was a discernable story arc, centering around the heinous theft of Bill Garvey's personal euphonium, without which his powers began to wane. As he lay curled on his couch, his vital spark fading, the Forces of Band Good set out on a quest to retrieve the horn. They fought an epic battle with the Forces of Band Evil, demonstrating that slide trombones make excellent prop weapons for impalements, but in the end it was a compromise on playlists that settled the field. Bill's beloved eupho was returned to him (do all band videos include a sequence of Andrew opening the Garveys' front door?), Bill's powers returned, and he leapt up to direct the concert while the seniors thundered into the gym and up the bleachers.
The massed band sounded very solid this year as they tore into their opening medleys, including Victors, On Wisconsin, There'll Be A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight, Macho Nacho Man, Dynamite Strut, and Final Countdown.
Friends on the bleachers included Eric Adams (AITDJB 2005 - 2006), Andrea Bakunowicz (AITDJB 2005 - 2006), Scott Birrenkott (AITDJB 2005 - 2006), Nora Hickey (WitR 2005, SS 2004 - 2006), Zach Staszewski (AITDJB 2005 - 2006), and Brian Vanderbloemen (AITDJB 2005). Zach's hat was particularly bold. Autumn Leonard (AITDJB 2001 - 2006, SB 2001 - 2005) also turned up as a repeat offender, sitting in with the massed band and wearing startling yellow pants; it was good to see him crossing slides with Scott again.
This is really a huge number of horns for such a confined space: the wall of sound they produced was mighty, and more musical this year than some others, I think. Certainly there were a lot of right notes being played. The full band performed six more sets after the opening medleys, covering Eye of the Tiger, Ewok Celebration, Disney Magic, Your Mama Don't Dance, themes from the Pirates of the Caribbean sound track, In the Stone, the theme from The Magnificent Seven, Rock and Roll #2, Hey Babe, and the Beer Barrel Polka. These last three were crowd participation numbers, and most people got it - actually, the clapping was pretty coordinated for an audience - and some folks even polka'd. The full band also closed the show, with Land of a Thousand Dances, I Got You, Light My Fire, In the Midnight Hour, Finally Victors, and You've Said It All
Part of the 2006 Drum Line, during the Marching Band Favorites medley
In between band sets we were treated to a feast of sound. The excellent MHS percussion ensembles always have a powerful presence at this event, and this year they were superb. The Wind Ensemble Percussion Ensemble (a clunky name for a slick group) performed New South Africa and a really fine arrangement of the overture to William Tell; the Concert Band Percussion Ensemble gave us Bound for Marrakech, which was particularly cool; and the Symphonic Band Percussion Ensemble played Strawberry Blonde. Every student with any kind of instrument that you play by banging on it ganged up for this year's entry in the beat-on-plastic-drums category; the program listed the piece as Lids, but I think it was something else, and would be glad of a correction. Some parts of it were performed in the dark, with glowing sticks.
The Tuba-Euphonium Octet Entertains
For the small acts, there was a very funny cover of the Jack Black / Tenacious D performance piece Tribute, a soulful rendition of Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues, some Pommettes jumping about to a canned cut of Gimme Some Lovin', Lindsey Kuehl's take on Jesus Take the Wheel, and a performance of It's the Heart that Matters Most, based on the Don Black piece as recorded by Charlotte Church, I think. The perennially wonderful Tuba/Euphonium Octet (actually a quartet with doubled parts, but listed somewhat ignominiously in the program as a 'Tuba Ensemble') played The Entertainer with their usual flair and muscle. Scott was in this group playing euphonium, which he should not think of as slumming.
But by far the strangest and most wonderful of the 'small' numbers was a little thing listed as a 'Humorous Duet'. Chris DuCharme and Scott Barbian did a spot from Monty Python's immortal 'Dead Parrot' sketch, with a twist at the end that made it even more skewed than the original, and that's saying something. This one won't be back at Cabaret, which is a shame, but those of us who were there Friday night, and laughed, should all buy matching T-shirts to advertise our coolness. Even the accents were spot-on, and the parrot was startlingly authentic.
Autumn, Andrea, Scott, and V
(blurry 'coz they move!)
The real meat of the evening is always the jazz bands. Frank Ransley (AITDJB 2004 - 2006, SB 2003 - 2005) has served his time with the Concert Band / Symphonic Band Jazz Ensemble (familiarly known as the CBSBJE), and earned the right to perform with them. Nora performed with this group, and so did Autumn - his idea is to set a precedent for alumni participation in the concert. They played Bob Lowden's Big Band/Latin arrangement of Ernesto Lecuona's Malaguena, a piece that always draws the audience in, and followed with a full-throttle rendition of Larry Barton's Power Trip. This is intense jazz, folks, and if you missed it you missed a lot. The Early Bird Jazz Ensemble is a team that really smokes. Autumn played with them, too, joining natives Scott, Andrea, and V in performances of Chameleon, How High the Moon (which included a singing Amanda B. draped over the piano), and the Sambastic Fiesta Bahia. These kids are proof that MHS does something right.
"Hold your violin up by your head"
25 MAY 2006:
Isis Leonard (WitR 2003 - 2005, SS 2004 - 2006) and Nora Hickey (WitR 2005, SS 2004 - 2006) provided incidental music for the premiere of Driftwood, MHS's new arts and literary magazine, Thursday evening at the Library. The pair is affectionately known as the Second String Violin Duo, at least in my mind, if nowhere else.
SECOND STRING AT THE LIBRARY
Nora is a contributor to Driftwood. She wrote a Just So story about witches and rainbows which is not half bad.
20 and 21 MAY 2006:
WYSO SPRING CONCERTS WARM THE HEARTThe Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras' (WYSO's) Spring Concert series is always cause for celebration. This weekend we heard performances from five wonderful groups, one of which was graced by the presence of Isis Leonard (WitR 2003 - 2005, SS 2004 - 2006), and one by the personality of Nora Hickey (WitR 2005, SS 2004 - 2006).Bassoons on the horizon
WYSO's Sinfonietta string ensemble, under the caring direction of Mark Leiser, performed a richly varied program on Saturday afternoon. The concert included a truly lovely rendition of Clare Grundman's Hebrides Suite. This piece seems to work well in any instrumentation for which it is arranged; Robert Longfield's version for unaccompanied strings is excellent.
The Concert Orchestra, conducted with precision by Christine Mata Eckel and including Isis among the bassoons, tackled four substantial works and came out on top. Haydn's London Symphony, arranged for youth orchestra by Merle Isaac, is a marvelous construction that repays study; Concert Orchestra had given it plenty of thought (or Ms. Eckel had, and transmitted her thoughts to her musicians). Air for Orchestra, by Frank Erickson, is new to me. It sounded rather uninvolved, but maybe I just need to hear it again. Everything Camille Saint-Saens touched is golden, and his Algerian Suite is a fine example. Concert Orchestra sank its teeth deeply into the Marche Militaire Francaise from this suite and had evident pleasure in doing it: the piece has plenty of protein. (Autumn Leonard (AITDJB 2001 - 2006, SB 2001 - 2005) performed a wind arrangement of this piece in a U-Band concert last year).'Cello cases: last surviving
descendants of the late
Cretaceous giant beetles
Some of the best fun of the afternoon was found in Concert Orchestra's performance of Robert W. Smith's The Great Steamboat Race. The piece is available for band, too, but the orchestral arrangement is its original form, I think. It is carefully spiced by a wonderful mixture of hisses, clangs and sighs; flutists roll their instruments around, bending pitches to the breaking point; the percussion parts call for shaken water jugs. It sounds like a stunt piece, but it's not, though it is strongly programmatic: the music is not just about a steamboat race, but a specific race that included the Robert E. Lee. The audience was engulfed in sounds of stern wheels and steam whistles so evocative we could feel the clinkers in our eyes as the smokestacks chuffed. In case we had any doubts, there was a short, slightly drunken quote from Lewis Muir's Waiting for the Robert E. Lee, and even a few bars of Dixieland beat. A good time was had by all.
The WYSO Percussion Ensemble performed Street Beat I by Sherrie Maricle as their entry in the seemingly obligatory 'whack on some junk' category, before moving to a much more convincing take on Londonderry Aire in an arrangement by Thomas Davis. As the keyboards held the last chord, seniors aging out of the ensemble silently left the stage in a traditional ceremony that is moving no matter how many times one sees it.Richard Judd's creation
for the
Art of Note campaign
The Philharmonia Orchestra, explosively conducted by Thomas Buchhauser, opened with a rich, clean performance of Franz Schubert's Rosamunde Overture. They did not fare quite so well in the 'Nocturne' and 'Wedding March' from Felix Mendelssohn's incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream. The trouble was caused mostly by French horn players who had difficulty centering their tone when choosing among harmonics that are too close together on that archaically-designed instrument; the rest of the brass was excellent, especially the first trombone. The fourth movement of Dvorak's 8th symphony is one of my favorite sequences in the standard repertoire, and Phil played it very well. Here the brass shone again, especially the trombones.
WYSO's Spring concerts are the 'concerto' events, in which we are treated to performances by winners of WYSO's concerto contests: the best of the best. Hong-En Chen, a violinist in Phil, gave an alacritous performance of the Allegro movement from Dmitri Shostakovitch's second piano concerto, which has recently been brought to a larger audience by the 'Steadfast Tin Soldier' segment in Fantasia 2000.
Sunday belonged to the Youth Orchestra and its talented concerto soloists. We heard Saint-Saens' 'Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Jaque Ibert;s Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, and the third movement of Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor. The 'cello work was stunning.
The orchestra performed two works as bookends: Night on Bald Mountain, by Modest Mussorgsky, and the largo and allegro movements from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Antar' symphony. The Mussorgsky was bravely and powerfully done, with the extremely cool bassoon part brought well forward by Nora. The performers grokked the transition from the profane to the sacred in a way that the Disney executives for the first Fantasia film did not. In fact the group's orgiastic climax of evil was rather startling. Youth clearly has the pick of the WYSO brass; they were above praise in this demanding piece. 'Antar' was spicy and exotic and very Rimsky-Korskovy, but I kept wanting it to be Scheherezade; this is another I'll need to hear again before I can well evaluate it.
I hope Nora bought the CD.
16 MAY 2006:
EIGHTH GRADE BAND TACKLES LAPLANTEThe Eighth Grade band performed a set of pieces that expressed widely different moods Thursday night. They opened with Brian Balmages' Chant and Savage Dance, a work with wild mood swings all its own: Dave's program notes tell that it is meant to reflect tribal ceremonies involving harvests, war, healing, and change.A young Scott Brown practices
his contraophecleide
The band also performed an arrangement of The Legend of Danny Boy, arranged by James Swearington and with copious program notes, and Len Orcino's vigorous Grand Galop Comique. The evening's centerpiece was Pierre LaPlante's dense, lovely Prairie Songs. The work is built around the tunes of "The Turkey Song" and "The Piney Boy", which is a Dead Lovers Song that would be right at home in any collection that included Teen Angel or Running Bear Loved Little White Dove.
On stage were Becca Funk (WitR 2003 - 2005), Gena Roisum (WitR 2005), Isis Leonard (WitR 2003 - 2005, SS 2004 - 2005), Melissa Wilcosz (WitR 2003 - 2004), and, oddly, Quinn Leonard (AITDJB 2001 - 2006, SB 2001 - 2006).
Scott Brown's scheduled performance of "Flight of the Bumblemee" upon the rarely-heard double contraophecleide, was canceled due to aging valve-pads. Scott denies that any restraining orders have been filed "by either camp." He thinks that groups attempting to bar him from performing the piece have "no reason that would stand up in court", and he hopes to be ready for that performance in time for next week's MHS Pep Band concert.
15 MAY 2006:
Students of Gail Shoemaker's Suzuki program gave a recital yesterday afternoon at the United Church of Christ in McFarland.
SUZUKI AT CHURCH
11 MAY 2006:
MHS BANDS HOLD AUDIENCE SPELLBOUNDWhen Bill Garvey ordered the doors at the back of the auditorium closed and all the lights turned off, the audience knew they were in for a scare - or a delight. We were right on both counts.
Daniel Bukvich's evokative Voodoo for concert band is packed full of tricks and surprises, as well as good music, and the MHS Wind Ensemble made the most of it at Thursday night's concert. The piece was performed on a nearly-dark stage, with only a dim orange glow for the musicians to read by. With the doors closed the auditorioum was nearly black, serving as a properly spooky setting for the piece, although the lamp on the conductor's stand should perhaps have been pointed down a little more to keep it from the audience's eyes. The score included howls, yips, claps, and screams, all of which the mostly-upperclassmen ensemble performed with evident glee. Many of the performers raked the audience with flashlight beams at odd intervals, and some left the stage to do frenzied dances in the aisles, while Aaron Siegmann's light crew made will 'o the wisps flit on the backdrop and legs. But the star was certainly the music itself, a haunting work with plenty of interesting percussion. The whole was very effective, and the audience loved it.
8 MAY 2006:
BRAD TO WAM EUROPEBrad Anderson (AITDJB 2001 - 2005) will be touring in Europe this summer with the Wisconsin Ambassadors of Music (WAM), a group of high school students from around the state of Wisconsin that form a concert band and a choral group. They will embark on a two-week tour in June and July, perfroming in France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and England, among other places. As part of their preparation, WAM members will attend a three-day performance camp.Brad, version 2004
Brad describes his role as that of a "semi-staff member". As one the few college students asked to accompany the group, he'll be performing "the more challenging percussion parts", but also coaching and schlepping. He will also sing bass/baritione with the choral group. MHS's Dave Heilmann will travel with the group as an instructor.
The groups will perform different selections at different concerts in Europe. The 199-piece band will draw from the following pool of pieces:"2001" segue into "Fanfare and Flourishes" by James CurnowThe choral repertoire will include:
"Summon the Heroes" by John Williams
"Marche des Parachutistes Belges" or "March of the Belgian Paratroopers" by Pierre Leemans
"Star Spangled Spectacular" George M. Cohan
"Ride" by Samuel R. Hazo
"Stars and Stripes" by you know who
"Latina" (Brad's part is arranged by Mr. H, so he's not sure who wrote this)
"On Wisconsin" (a very purdy piece)
"Songs of Sailor and Sea" by Robert W. Smith
"Armed Forces Salute" arr. by Bob Lowden
"America, the Beautiful" (performed as the British national anthem) by Samuel Augustus Ward
"Selections from the Phantom of the Opera" arr. A. L. Webber (the arrangement played at the MHS Pep Band concert last year)
"American Riversongs" by Pierre La Plante (as played recently by the McFarland Community Band)
"Elijah Rock"
"Ubi Caritas" (some McFarland choir members should recognize it; Autumn might refer to it as "Uber Carrots" or something like that)
"For the Beauty of the Earth" by John Rutter
"Every Time I feel the Spirit" traditional spiritual
"Domine Filie Unigenite" by Vivaldi
7 MAY 2006:
Isis Leoanrd (WitR 2003 - 2005, SS 2004 - 2005) and Kolin Walker performed two movements from Czerny's Sonatina Op. 156 No. 2 for piano four hands at Trinity Lutheran Church in Madison, as part of a recital given by students of Kolin's piano teacher. Isis and Kolin had performed the piece in WSMA festivals this spring, earning a *1 at District and a 1 at State.
TWO AT TRINITY
1 MAY 2006:
McFarland music students had an outstanding day at the WSMA State Solo and Ensemble Festival, held Saturday on the UW-Whitewater campus. McFarland soloists and ensembles performed capably and musically in a wide range of events, earning pounds and pounds of medals. Many of these are "1" ratings, the highest awarded at the Festival. Eric Adams (AITDJB 2005) earned the additional honor of receiving a WSMA Exemplary SOlo Recognition Project award for his snare drum solo.
MCFARLAND HAULS HOME HARDWARE FROM STATE
1 MAY 2006:
UPCOMING EVENTS - MAY 2006
The Wizard of Oz4 & 5 May 7:00 PMPiano recital
6 May 2:00 and 7:00 PM
MHS Auditorium7 May 2006"Ten Who Made a Difference" banquet
Isis and Kolin8 May 2006 7:30 PMMHS Band Concert
MHS
Foredinner music by the Second String Violin Duo11 May 20067th and 8th Grade Band Concerts
MHS Auditorium18 May 2006 7:00 and 8:00 PMYoung Voices of Madison
IMMS Cafetorium18 & 19 May 2006Lawrence University Symphonic Band Concert
Overture Center
MHS A Cappella ChoirFriday 19 May 2006 8:00 PMMHS A Cappella Choir Concert
Appleton, Wisconsin
Brad AndersonFriday 19 May 2006 7:00 PMWYSO Spring Concerts
Overture Center, Madison20 May 2006 1:30 PMWYSO Spring Concerts
Mills Concert Hall
UW Madison
Chamber orchestra - Isis21 May 2006 2:00 PM7th and 8th Grade Choir Concert
Mills Concert Hall
UW Madison
Youth orchestra - Nora23 May 2006 7:30 PMMHS Pep Band Concert
IMMS Cafetorium26 May 2006 7:30 PMMemorial Day Parade
MHS Old Gym29 May 2006 noon-ish
Marching bands
ARCHIVE of event listings
Corrections and additions to this list are very welcome.
Early Bird trombones
on the move24 APRIL 2006:
The McFarland instrumental jazz program gave its final regular concert of the year Monday night, and it was an evening of delights. All four bands have grown in stature, power, and poise since February, proving once again that music - jazz particularly - is one of the things our schools do well.
MCFARLAND JAZZ AGES WELL
At Indian Mound Middle School, the seventh and eighth grade classes each comprise a separate jazz band. The High School also fields two jazz bands, but members are drawn from all four grades, which is part of the reason why the MHS ensembles are larger. It is therefore wrongheaded to say that the IMMS jazz bands "look thin" or "don't have enough members", or that it's "a shame they need to be filled out by teachers and by students from other grades" - comments I have heard in the hallway. In fact the two younger bands are the training grounds for the great musicians we hear in the MHS ensembles, and we should be happy that they can take advantage of the learning opportunities that come with being reinforced by older musicians.
Brian Vanderbloemen (AITDJB 2005) always picks charts that are substantial but are also fun to hear and, by Monday night's evidence, fun to play. Michael Sweeney's arrangement of Kiss the Girl from Disney's The Little Mermaid was a wonderful piece, played well by the Seventh Grade Jazz Ensemble. (Mr. V. claims he only watches Disney films because of his offspring). The New Orleans Rhythm Kings' immortal Tin Roof Blues also came off soundly in this set, arranged by Andy clark and played at a rather brisk tempo that made a a good showcase for a solo by guest trumpeter Kolin Walker. He could have sung the lyric; that would have been cool, too. The Seventh Grade set closed with In the Midnight Hour, by Wilson Pickett, neatly arranged for beginning jazz ensemble by Jerry Nowack.Becca Funk &
Master Garvey
Kolin showed up again with Dave Heilman's Eighth Grade Jazz Ensemle, this time at the piano, taking solo turns in Dean Sorenson's Vertical Version and in Are You Ready to Rock by Larry Neeck. Becca Funk (WitR 2003 - 2005) picked up the soprano saxophone for solos in both of these charts and also in On the Flip Side by Greg Yasinitsky. Judging by the way her eyes were glinting, she enjoys the instrument, and in fact it was a pleasure to hear her play. I'm also happy to report that contrary to initial forecasts Gena Roisum (WitR 2005) gave us a clarinet solo in Vertical, which is an edgy, lively piece that gave the young soloists good meaty stuff to work with. Of course Gena did a fine job, as she always does.Gena Roisum
The McFarland High School Concert/Symphonic Band Jazz Ensemble (hereafter I'll call them the McFHSC/SBJE, or better yet just the CSBJE - does anyone else think it's high time this slick group got a less clunky name?) took the stage next, under the often-genial direction of Bill Garvey. The CSBJE opened with a full-throttle rendition of Larry Barton's Power Trip, projecting an intensity they sustained throughout a set that exlored some of the rich variety of jazz styles. Dean Sorenson's excellent swing chart River City Blues got a fine treatment that would have been right at home in Memphis, or at least on Milwaukee's Riverwalk. Eric Adams (AITDJB 2005) took an outstanding percussion break in Bob Lowden's Big Band/Latin arrangement of Ernesto Lecuona's Malaguena. The jazz bands have played this before, but it's so perfect and obsessive that it's always a crowd-pleaser, and no one is tired of it. Eric will play with the AITDJB again this summer. Nora Hickey (SS 2004 - 2006, WitR 2005) was one half of a perfectly respectable trombone duet in this piece.Nora Hickey
Bruce Pearson's Where You Want to Be is a rock/funk chart that sounds like it demands good coordination among parts of the rhythm section, and on Monday night it got that from the CSBJE. Nora played a bassoon solo in this number, but it was improperly miked: a directional mike was placed not at the instrument's thorax but near the bell. A mike here would get a harsher tone, but on Monday Nora's mike was pointed too far away from the instrument anyway, and may not even have been turned on: her solo was unfortunately completely inaudible. Last but certainly not least let me note that Frank Ransley (SB 2003 - 2005, AITDJB 2004 - 2005) was sitting in with the CSBJE trumpet section; he selflessly comes to MHS at unhealthy early hours to rehearse with them. I'm very happy to say that Frank, too, will be back in the gazebo with the AITDJB for the 2006 summer season.
When I saw that Andrea Bakunowicz (AITDJB 2005) was wearing her L.B.D. Monday night, I hoped that might mean that she'd be singing a number or two; she has a lovely voice. Instead she twice played her alto sax in duets out in front of the Early Bird Jazz Ensemble. She sounded great, and is certainly keeping up her chops - she'll lend her cheerful presence to the AITDJB again this summer. Scott Birrenkott (AITDJB 2005) will also be back for a turn with the Dixie band. He had fire-breating solos in two of Early Bird's numbers Monday night, and was an anchor of the Trombone Wave. (But his cornet-sized plunger mute wasn't much use to him; Scott, you can borrow mine if you are desperate).Andrea Bakunowicz
Early Bird is one of McFarland School District's finest products. Stack 'em up against any team or group from any MHS student organization, sports included: MHS's premier jazz ensemble shines bright and stands tall. (Of course Anne Nichols's (AITDJB 2005) Blue Notes vocal jazz ensemble is having a helluva year, too, aren't they?) Monday night's Early Bird perfomance under the direction of Dave Heilman was first class all the way. They opened with a familiar-sounding Mike Tomaro arrangement of Duke Ellington's Caravan, capturing the haunting joy I feel from the tune when it's in the hands of a good vocalists. Scott's solo was grand; I could have listened to another sixteen bars.Scott Birrenkott
Next up was Come In From the Rain, a newish arrangement (I think) by Paul Jennings from the Melissa Manchester original. This featured Dr. Greg Balfany, who has been working with the jazz ensembles and performed with each of them. Alan Blaylock has made an arrangement of Louis Armstrong's Struttin' With Some Barbecue that must have been a real monster to work up for performance, but sounded just spectacular - and it was good to see the brass get up and move around, too. Andrea was a featured duetist in this one. The final number of the night was Festia Bahia, by Victor Lopez, which I thought sounded familiar but could not quite place - I supposed getting to enjoy it for the first time again is a fringe benefit of addled memory. Andrea was smooth as silk in her duet, and Scott's solo was cleanly understated.
About Dr. Balfany: In the past I've made grumbling noises in this space about guest artists who come to coach the jazz bands, and have such fragile egos that they need to take solos in every piece with every band at the resulting concert. Dr. Balfany is an extraordinary jazz musician and master of saxophones who is both an active performer and a highly engaged music professor at UW-La Crosse. On Monday night all the pieces had plenty of room for students to take solos, so his presence on stage does not seem to have squeezed anyone out (although he did play solos in eight of the evening's fourteen numbers). He was simply luminous in Come In From the Rain
24 APRIL 2006:
Schedules for most of the State Solo and Ensemble Festivals have been posted on the WSMA Web site. McFarland students will go to the festival in Whitewater on 29 April 2006. Performance times and sites for all McFarland students are available here, in lists sorted by performance time, by performer, by site, and by event.
STATE SOLO AND ENSEMBLE SCHEDULES
20 APRIL 2006:
AUTUMN SPONGES HIS WAY ONTO THE KOHL CENTER STAGEON AND ON AND ON WISCONSIN: The University of Wisconsin Varsity Band gave the first of three Spring Concert performances Thursday night, and it was as usual not so much a concert as an exhibition of music as extravaganza. Before describing Autumn's part in the extravagance, I must mention that Tonya Neumann (AITDJB 2003 - 2005) and Nick Schleicher (SB 2002) performed with the band itself: Tonya on saxophone and Nick on trumpet.2005 UW Varsity Band in the Kohl Center>
The Varsity Band concert is always a frenetic mixture of over-the-top spectacle, and this year is no exception. There are guest artists of all musical sorts, pyrotechnics, gymnasts, flying cows, confetti, cheerleaders, high school marching bands, more pyrotechnics, drum majors (this year including a miniature one), costumes, light shows, stilt-walkers, dancers, yet more pyrotechnics, singalongs . . . you get the picture; or if you don't, go see the show. Oh, and the Varsity Band plays, too.
An early segment featured a medley of cartoon theme songs, which director and manic ringmaster Mike Leckrone claiming he wanted to contain only "the classics": Scooby Do, Mickey Mouse (a singalong moment), the Flintstones, and their ilk. But the Simpsons crept in, as did SpongeBob SquarePants, who offered Autumn his first moment in the follow spot. Mostly hidden inside a SpongeBob costume, Autumn pranced through the aisles shaking hands with excitable alumni. On Friday night, SpongeBob was promoted to a stage crossing. During a rather well-done medley of On Wisconsin variations in the styles of other cultures (or their pastiches), Autumn manipulated a Thai bird tethered to a long pole, dancing it above a roaring crowd. (Coincidentally, he is not the only AIDJB member to perform with birds on strings this month; see 8 April, below). Finally, during the "Masquerade" sequence in a Phantom of the Opera medley, Autumn and a partner danced a sort of tight gavotte on the catwalk at the top of the band's bleachers.
Broadway star Tom Wopat was among this year's guest artists. Several of the instrumental guests displayed better musical quality, with top honors in my book going to classical guitarist Javier Calderón of the UW music faculty, and to Sergei Belkin, an accordionist whose rendition of the Carnival of Venice and its variations was beyond belief. UW alumnus Grant Manhart brought his student jazz band The Dominant 7, and they are a powerhouse: percussion, bass, and seven trumpets who all seem to be young Clifford Browns.
Any show with indoor rockets, fountains, and flashpots has to be good, and the FX crew certainly piled on the powder Thursday night. Leckrone's annual video was as funny as ever, and he made his second-act entrance riding the flying cow mentioned above. The Thursday crowd mumbled a bit on the "Varsity" singalong - I think the real fanatics come on Saturday - but there were people polkaing in the aisles during Beer Barrel, and everyone knows the words to Hey, Baby. It was a grand three hours.
16 APRIL 2006:
Frank Ransley and Quinn Leonard were part of a brass quartet that performed at McFarland Lutheran Church on Easter Sunday, under the patient direction of Glenn Nielsen. The group played arrangements of Christ the Lord is Risen Today, Christ is Risen, and 'Tis a Blessing to be Simple at two morning services, joined at times by organist Peter Johnson, by the church's voice choir and its excellent Handbell Choir (both of which Glenn also directs), and by the congregation. A rousing time was had by all.
EASTER BRASS
15 APRIL 2006:
Donald Margulles' four-role play Sight Unseen is hilarious and wrenching, complex and direct, ambiguous and true: in short, everything theatre should be. It is a masterwork; don't miss it. The Wisconsin University Theatre) will present eight performances: April 14, 15, 20 - 22, and 27 - 29. All shows are at 7:30 PM in the UW's Mitchell Theater. Autumn Leonard is Assistant Master Electrician for the production.
SEEN "SIGHT UNSEEN"? SEE IT!
Ensemble 13
10 APRIL 2006:
The Wisconsin Youth Orchestra (WYSO) chamber ensembles gave their final performances of the season Saturday in Morphy Hall, presenting a varied and delightful program. Works representing a wide range of styles were handled gracefully and insightfully by the talented WYSO musicians. Isis Leonard and Nora Hickey were among the performers.
WYSO CHAMBER ENSEMBLES PROVIDE AN AFTERNOON OF DELIGHTS
Isis' group, Ensemble 13, performed the Sarabande and March from Rinaldo, by Georg Friederich Handel, with the rich lyricism it deserves. They also played the Allegro Molto from Mozart's String Quartet K. 155. The group performed first among five ensembles, yet, as is often the case, it was the Mozart that people walked out of the hall whistling.
Amanda undergoing
Bird Handler Hair Prep2006 Carleton ITW cast
8 APRIL 2006:
The lovely and talented Miss Amanda DeBoer recently took the stage in a Carleton College Student Musical Theatre (SMuT) production of Stephen Sondheim's demanding musical Into the Woods. Amanda operated Cinderella's birds on stage. She writes that the production "turned out fabulously" and was very well received.
THE BIRD WHISPERER
Midori
3 APRIL 2006:
Noted violinist and teacher Midori has cancelled all upcoming workshops and performances, due to serious illness in her family. She had been scheduled to work with a WYSO chamber ensemble group that includes Isis Leonard, to prepare for a joint performance. Neither the workshop nor Midori's own performance at the Wisconsin Union Theater has been rescheduled. We all offer her our hopes for the best.
MIDORI CONCERTS AND WORKSHOPS CANCELLED
31 MARCH 2006:
APRIL 2006
PERFORMANCE EVENTS FOR APRIL 2006UW Varsity Band "Run Out" Concert2 April 2006Into the Woods
Oshkosh
Tonya Neumann, Katie Hepler, Nick Schleicher7 and 8 April 2006WSMA Middle Level Honors Auditions
Carleton College
Amanda DeBoer, Bird Operator7 April 2006: La Crosse, Wausau, Kettle MoraineWYSO Chamber Ensembles Recital
8 April 2006: Eau Claire, Fort Atkinson, Kaukauna8 April 2006 1:30 & 3:30 PMLawrence University Symphonic Band and
Morphy Hall
UW Madison
Isis and Nora
New Horizons Band concertSaturday 8 April 2006 8:00 PMUW Varsity Band Spring Concert
Appleton, Wisconsin
Brad Anderson7:30 PM 20, 21, and 22 April 20067-12 Jazz concert
Kohl Center
Tickets: $18; maybe a little less through Tonya
Tonya Neumann, Katie Hepler, Nick Schleicher; maybe Autumn Leonard24 April 2006 7:30 PMWSMA State Solo and Ensemble Festival
MHS Auditorium29 April 2006
UW-Whitewater
27 MARCH 2006:
SOLSTICE BRASS GOES EQUINOCTIALFor thousands of years, cultures advanced enough to keep astromical records have noted that, starting at the Summer Solstice in late June, the nights grow longer and the days shorter. It's no huge leap to imagine that if the nights keep getting longer, eventually there will be no day at all. Crops will die; animals will die; everything will die. Most cultures have therefore a tradition of performing rituals on the night of the Winter's Solstice, the longest night of the year, to ensure that the cycle will turn and that the nights will grow shorter again. Many of these customs involve bonfires kept alight all night: by association, the Sun's fire will not die either, but will grow again, and the days will lenghthen; Spring will come, and all life will not be snuffed out. These rites are older by far than any modern religion; they have been performed for millennia, and so far, every year, the sun keeps coming back. It's hard to argue with success.Sunrise at Stonehenge, Winter Solstice 2003
By the time of the Spring Equinox in late March, the days have grown as long as the nights; on the following days, there will be more hours of sunlight than of shadow. It's a time of celebration, for it means that last year's Solstice rites were effective. Traditionally, it's a time when people have exchanged gifts of eggs - always a symbol of life - and have begun preparations for the new agricultural year. The Spring Equinox was associated with the rebirths of solar deities such as Mithras and Eastre throughout Europe and the Near and Middle East. The Council of Nicea decreed the formula which is still used to calculate the date of the Easter holy day: it is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.
The Solstice Brass Quartet, always mindful of the public good, has done its part for years at McFarland's Christmas bonfire, ensuring that life on Earth will survive. This year, three members of the Brass will take part in an Easter celebration, too. Autumn, Quinn, and Frank will be among the musicians performing during services at McFarland Lutheran Church on Easter Sunday, 16 April 2006.
20 MARCH 2006:
I enjoy eighth grade band concerts, because I like to hear how much the students have improved since seventh grade, and to see which ones really love to play their instruments. Sometimes, I enjoy the concerts for the sake of the music, too. Last Thursday night's Spring COncert, featuring performances from the recent WSMA Solo and Ensemble Festival, was one of those sometimes.
EIGHTH GRADE BAND AND SOLOISTS WOW CAFETORIUM CROWD
The band began the evening with Rollercoaster, an evocative and very enjoyable work by Jim Mahaffey. From the audience this piece sounded like a difficult one for a Middle School band: lots of runs and accidentals, large-interval leaps, challenging rhythms, and some rather high notes in the trumpets and maybe the French horns. If it really was a stretch for the band, then kudos to Dave Heilman for putting them through it, and to the band for surviving it. Current and former Wind in the Reeds members Becca Funk, Isis Leonard, Gena Roisum, and Melissa Wilcosz were part of the performance. The full band also closed the concert, playing Rise of the Vulcan by David Shaffer.
In between, we were treated to a selection of very fine Festival performances. The joint 7th and 8th grade percussion ensemble is headed to State this year (with a perfect card from District), and on Thursday night they were magnificient. The ensemble had members enough to man the many instruments required by Chris Brooks' rich, varied Mozambique, and they made the most of it in a really joyful performance.
Among the other WSMA events, Gena gave a fine rendering of part of her Carnival of Venice clarinet solo (she got a 1 in class B at District), and Isis played some of the more exciting bits of Telemann's Sonata in F for bassoon (which she is taking to State)
13 MARCH 2006:
The MHS Blue Notes Vocal Jazz Ensemble musicians are the real deal, and it's always a pleasure to hear them sing. This year they are State-bound, stylin', and stronger than ever, with help from our own Andrea Bakunowicz and Zach Staszewski. They opened Monday night's excellent MHS Choir concert with a moving take on I'll Be Seeing You (In All the Old Familiar Places), by Irving Kahal and Sammy Fain by way of a Darmon Meader arrangement. The enlarged group made good use of soloists, and of a featured quartet that included Zach and Andrea - but I hope the ensemble does not continue to add singing members; eighteen is enough jazz vocalists to wrangle at one time. Blue Notes is also taking Operator, a la Manhattan Transfer, to State. So far I have heard this number only as they were warming it up at District, but any group that can sing "nnnnnn" softly and make it sound that good in four parts (six? help me, Anne) has my full confidence.
MHS CHOIRS GIVE A CONCERT ABOUT SHEEP
Sophie Nelson made a loving sigh of Se Tu M’ami, Se Tu Sospiri, her WSMA Solo and Ensemble piece, and scored the evening's first sheep reference; her curtsey was cute, too. (Sophie must also get a special citation for her choice of the opening topic in her report for Franz Fest"). The eclogue continued as John Langel sang The King of Love My Shepherd Is. I listened carefully to the fine performance of Hans Leo Hassler's clever, intricate madrigal Come Let Us Start a Joyful Song, but heard nary a baa. Nor were sheep explicit in Sing All Ye Joyful, by Ruth Watson Henderson. The music was both gay and pleasant, with text supposedly taken from The Hobbit - I couldn't really pin it down, but it sounded like the nonsense that the Elves are singing when Bilbo and Co. arrive in Rivendell. Maybe the tranquil parts were sheepish.Some of the ophecleides in
Scott Brown's personal collection
Mindful of sheep and protocol, Franz Schubert included an Agnus Dei in his Mass in G. Sometimes it is good (for me, at least) to hear a substantial musical work that you can understand in real time, while you're listening to it; this Mass is one of those. The massed choirs performed it quite ably and aptly, and seemed to have a good grasp of what was going on. Special thanks are due to the string accompanists: a quartet (half of which was drawn from the pool of talented Stenborg string women) plus a bass. The ability to perform a work of this depth in the midst of Solo and Ensemble season, and to attract qualified accompanists, is a tribute to the quality of the MHS choral music program.
Finally, Scott Brown's scheduled performance of "Sabre Dance" upon the rarely-heard E-flat alto ophecleide, was cancelled once again (see 1 March, below). This time the excuse given was "severe instrument failure". He was kind enough to share with us this photo of some of the ophecleides in his collection, and I also have an image of a much younger Scott Brown practicing his contraophecleide, which I will post in due time.
12 MARCH 2006:
40TH ANNIVERSARY WYSO CONCERT A SMASHNora Hickey performed with the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras' (WYSO) Youth orchestra at Overture Center's newly-opened Capitol Theater Sunday evening. The concert was superb as usual.Nora (center, lurking behind bassoon)
on the Capitol Theater stage
Richard Wagner's sinuous harmonies used to draw censure from an uptight church, which felt that music ought not to be that ambiguous, sensuous, and full of tension. Youth's Sunday performance of Wagner's Overture to "Rienzi" showed why the establishment worried. The musicians captured Rienzi's parade of abductions, uprisings, and bloodthirsty torch-waving crowds very well, transmitting a sense of seething tragedy to the audience.
Benjamin Britten sparks strong emotions. His opera Gloriana was a complete failure during his lifetime, intensely disliked by the Queen to whom he dedicated it, and who was the namesake of its title character ("Gloriana" was not of course the real name of the original queen, but then Britten usually orbits at at least two degrees of separation from reality.) The "Courtly Dances" music from the opera proved more durable and has been performed more or less regularly, helping at last to drag the rest of the opera back, kicking and screaming, from obscurity. Britten takes homely English, or at least Englished, tunes and serves them up not quite straight but with a twist of lurking psychosis that breaks out at odd moments in the form of braying harmonies and stuttered rhythms. Youth understood this music remarkably well.
Intermission was preceded by a span during which some guy talked about how great everyone associated with WYSO is (they are; flowers and kudos to them all) and followed by Raiph Vaughn Williams' London Symphony. Williams has a way with dense, passionate material, and London is among his best; Nora had passages of extended bassoon prominence which she carried off with her usual magbassoonificence.
12 MARCH 2006:
SECOND STRING WAILS AT VFWThe Second String Violin Duo gave the Old Time Fiddlers a between-sets break at the Stoughton VFW Sunday afternoon, taking the stage with several of Gail Shoemaker's Suzuki-method students while the Fiddlers took a bite and a sup. Isis Leonard and Nora Hickey performed a selection of Eastern European violin duets. These included such favorites as A Lady Had a Rooster and My Life Is Very Sad. The VFW audience was the salt of the earth, and received the performance well.SS @ VFW
11 MARCH 2006:
The University Theater opened its spring season with James Maxwell's stage adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Autumn Leonard worked on the production as an electrician.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AT UW
The show had a good heart. It will inevitably be compared to the recent film: bring it on: this incarnation of the stage play stands up very well, especially when UT's Elizabeth Bennet is matched against Keira Knightly's unseasoned-mashed-potatoes effort on screen. The ensemble cast was mostly quite fine, although the talent pool seems to be shallower among men than among women: the principals were very able, but the smaller roles were not especially well handled. Mr. Collins was superb, a character that is hateful when he is not pitiable, loathsome when not hateful, and pitiable the rest of the time.
The production was well attended, with a nearly full house through its closing performance Saturday night.
Autumn Leonard, underlit in
"Le Nozze di Figaro"5 MARCH 2006:
Wisconsin University Opera's performance of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro in Music Hall Sunday afternoon was superb on all counts, combining remarkable voices, brilliant musical direction, and acting skills superior to some professional performances available on video. The Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band's own Autumn Leonard was in the chorus.
UW'S FIGARO OPENS TO SELLOUT
Mozart's warm, human opera was brought brilliantly to life by the energy and skill of these fine performers. All the principal vocalists were excellent, a tribute to the strength of the University Opera program. Baritone Thomas Weis' Figaro romped through the performance like a properly chutzpah-drunk improvisational MC, gleefully executing deceptions he instigated and falling in instantly with those he didn't. Kerianne Carlton's pure, vibrant soprano was perfect for Susanna. Keith Dixon brought to Count Almaviva a baritone rich and supple enough to express the complex feelings of a man who can't tell from moment to moment if he's in charge of everything, or the butt of everyone's jokes. Soprano Seong Shin Ra was a standout, her voice at once so powerful and so heartbreakingly expressive that her Countess Almaviva stood in exquisite relief even among so fine a cast.Keith Dixon and Seong Shin Ra
in "Le Nozze di Figaro"
Kristofer Barber's Dr. Bartolo was a minor masterpiece of dignified comedy, or comic dignity. Jill Woodhouse was absolute mistress of the role of Marcellina, who it appeared she was channeling from Beyond, in flesh and spirit; I missed her cut aria telling how rams don't make war upon ewes. Chad Graham made a deliciously cherubic smarminess of Basilio, suiting the part so well that he should perhaps worry a bit. (I missed his cut, too; what fun could he have had with the skin of an ass?). Barbarina is given one of the most lovely melodies known to man, as she searches for the lost pin at the start of Act IV. Jacqueline King brought me to tears.Bartolo, Figaro, and Marcellina
share a special moment of discovery
Ah, but Cherubino! Of course everyone loves Cherubino, and a performer of even middling ability can mine from the role's rich lode of humanity a product sure to gain audience response. But Rachel Grasser's luminous performance Sunday looked to me like a labor of love informed by a bright, quick talent. Her soprano voice was the perfect instrument for Cherubino, delivering Ms. Grasser's every thought, emotion, and inspiration directly to the audience's hearts, clear and unimpeded. She is the sort of performer who makes me wish I had bought more tickets.
Ensemble work was clean and personal throughout, with some of the loveliest moments found in Carlton and Seong's duets. Every time the Countess and Susanna gang up on a man and sing identical lines at him in parallel thirds, the man backs down, changes tactics, or apologizes for something; Carlton and Seong wielded this weapon with deadly, delightful precision on Sunday.Rachel Grasser (left) as Cherubino,
and Jacqueline King as Barbarina
The stage direction and acting were universally smart and informed, a far cry from operas that are, so to speak, nothing but voice, with "actors" who can do little more than hit their mark and then stand stock-still to deliver the next aria. Again taking recorded Figaros as reference, as for example the Glyndebourne Festival productions of 1994 and 1973, it is no exaggeration to say that the acting at the UW production was superior. People on stage knew what they were doing, and why, and had the vaulting talent needed to manage movement and facial expression while singing difficult music. The virtuosity was astonishing, and my hat is off to the entire cast. Stage Director William Farlow is a treasure. All the roles had clearly received imaginative direction, right down to the chorus members; Autumn always had something worth doing while he was on stage, and did it, singing the while.
The acoustics in Music Hall are quite good, and its size and configuration gave Sunday's performance both the closeness of intimacy, and the room for spectacle: in short, just what Figaro needs. All three nights of the run have sold out, and on Sunday the close-packed audience took part in the special magic created only when hundreds of people are thoroughly captivated by a live performance. Laughter swept the theater again and again, much of the thanks for which goes to the outstanding surtitles, whose completeness and aptness of phrase are yet another reason to prefer this Figaro.Figaro and his (?) Susanna
It would be presumption to comment on Musical Director James Smith (also of WYSO); he is above praise. But he wrung wonders from the fine pit ensemble. The School of Music Wind Octet, under the direction of Marc Vallon, gave a pre-curtain performance that was a tasty sampling of music from the opera. Playing from among the audience in the back row of the balcony, they made us feel as if we'd been invited into a friend's home for some musical conviviality.
The set was spare, mostly some colored hangings and a few essential objects: a chaise for the Countess to feel faint upon, a bit of cloth so we could all pretend Cherubino was hidden, and so forth. It was enough. (The Cap Times reviewer got it wrong.) The lack of clutter left our attention upon such props as mattered at the moment, and more importantly upon the wonderful characters and the talented cast who were creating them.
4 MARCH 2006:
WYSO CONCERT ORCHESTRA IS LORD OF THE RINGSThe Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras' (WYSO) Percussion Ensemble, Concert Orchestra, and Philharmonia performed today in Mills Hall on the UW campus, with Isis Leonard on hand as bassoonist in Concert.WYSO Concert Orchestra in Mills Hall
I have already described the sound of WYSO ensembles as "mature", so here are some new adjectives. The Concert Orchestra produces a surprisingly muscular sound for a group that's short two trombones - cues help, but the low brass deserve lots of credit for the quality of this concert. The lone tuba and lone trombone were authoritative and clear, especially the tuba, who had some nice feature passages and a fine duet with a trumpet. And the woodwinds were superb all afternoon, providing a flexibility and soulfulness that could be the envy of elder orchestras. The clarinets and bassoons were especially praiseworthy.
The group opened with Bellingrath Gardens by Ralph Ford, followed by the Marche and Impromptu from Bizet's Jeux d'Enfants; the Bizet was right on, lively and idiosyncratic. Vignettes, by Theron Kirk was sprightly and schizophrenic. The next piece was a suite arranged by John Whitney, upon themes from Howard Shore's score for The Fellowship of the Ring. This was a puzzling work: melodies were taken up and then dropped, sometimes abruptly, then returned to later without much enhancement or alteration of embellishments. In terms of performance and execution, though, the piece was a great success; the French horns, who were on exposed display whenever the Three Runners theme came up, met the challenge especially handily. Carl Strommen's Prairiesong, the closing piece, featured a lovely bassoon soli passage.
4 MARCH 2006:
MCFARLAND S&E PERFORMERS ADVANCE TO STATE IN DROVESHundreds of talented young McFarland musicians saw the fruition of thousands of hours of preparation and rehearsal as they performed in the Wisconsin School Music Association District Solo and Ensemble Festival in Middleton today. The results were, as usual, a wonderful tribute to the dedication and talent of McFarland's fine (but understaffed) music programs. Bill Garvey, Dave Heilman, Anne Nichols, Brian Vanderbloemen, and Evan Riley should be very proud, for they have helped create one of the few things of lasting value: music.Isis and Nora performing Joplin's "Pine
Apple Rag" at the McFarland Library
Many of the best students performed in more than one event at the District festival, generally a solo and one or more ensembles; many play more than one instrument, or perform in both instrumental and vocal events. The most exceptional performers in the most advanced event classification at the critically judged festival are invited to advance to the State Solo and Ensemble competition, held in April at UW-Whitewater. McFarland has dozens of performances advancing, and many students going to State in more than one event. In the smaller world of the AITDJB, the Wind in the Reeds, and the Second String Violin Duo, Eric Adams, Scott Birrenkott, Andrea Bakunowicz, Nora Hickey, Isis Leonard, and Zach Staszewski are all advancing in at least one event, and most in several. Together these six earned at least 16 starred-first Class A ratings, which are tickets to State (they may have a few more I don't know about yet; the number is a minimum).
1 MARCH 2006:
SOLO AND ENSEMBLE PERFORMERS PRESHOW IN NEW LIBRARYMcFarland's Wisconsin School Music Association District Solo and Ensemble Festival is this Saturday in Middleton, and if the sneak preview held tonight at our fantastic new Library is any indication, Saturday will be a day of fine music.Isis and Nora performing (?) Bach's "Art of
the Fugue" at the McFarland Library, with
assistance from Scott Brown
A good crowd was on hand to view IMMS students' art, and Bill Garvey's annual use of S&E contestants to provide background music gave the students an excellent chance to try their performances before an appreciative audience. Anne Nichols' Blue Notes Vocal Jazz Ensemble, including the AITDJB's own beloved Zach Staszewski and Andrea Bakunowicz, are on the curve to excellence. They will be performing "Operator" and another piece at the District contest. If they can clean up what the judges like to call "vertical alignment problems" - and I am sure they will - the group is surely destined to advance to the State contest.
Zach also performed with a Class A clarinet trio, and will be in clarinet choir at District. Andrea has a vocal duet and a saxophone choir, in addition to Blue Notes.
Isis Leonard and Hora Hickey gave a solid rendering of a selection from Bach's Art of the Fugue, with Isis on violin and Nora on bassoon instead of 'cello. When all goes well and the balance is right, these two give a very musical performance; I'd expect them to advance, too.
A recently-bald Scott Birrenkott switched from trombone to baritone for the MHS Tuba-Euphonium Octet's performance of The Entertainer. They have good color and a really, really powerful tuba section; if the adrenaline is high enough on Saturday, they should also advance to State.
Scott Brown's scheduled performance of "Sabre Dance" upon the rarely-heard E-flat alto ophecleide, was cancelled due to intermittent windiness. Expect more updates.
1 MARCH 2006:
WYSO CONCERT TOUR BRINGS REAL MUSIC TO SUBURBAN YOUNG 'UNSOn Wednesday Isis Leonard, a bassoonist in the Concert Orchestra ensemble of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra (WYSO) program, traveled with the orchestra on its annual performance tour. Under the baton of Christine Mata Eckel, the group gave concerts at Mt. Horeb Intermediate Center, Wisconsin Heights Middle School, and Glacier Creek Middle School. They performed a range of modern and elderly works, not incidentally getting in some extra practice for this Saturday's Winterfest Concert. Isis says the performances were well received.Christine Mata Eckel
WYSO philosophy holds that tours expand and augment the regular WYSO music programs by providing unique experiences for the musicians: "WYSO members can experience significant individual growth in a setting totally apart from the daily support network of home and school. We believe the WYSO touring experience offers development potential for a member to grow independently, to increase teamwork skills and to build on the strengths of the family/school network while outside of that environment."
Every season, each of the four WYSO orchestras gives touring concerts in Madison and throughout the state. The Youth Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra generally perform in a scheduled one-day tour. Concert Orchestra and Sinfonietta typically embark on a local one-day tour to area schools or school-based cultural events. On occasion, the Youth Orchestra is asked to perform outside of Wisconsin, and every two or three years they tour nationally or internationally.
1 MARCH 2006:
UPCOMING EVENTS - MARCH 2006
WYSO Concert Orchestra Tour1 March 2006 1:30 PMWind Ensemble concert
Dane County schools
Concert orchestra - Isis LeonardFriday 3 MarchThe Marriage of Figaro
UW-Stevens Point
Becky Schultz3 and 7 March 2006 7:30 PMWYSO Winterfest Concerts
5 March 2006 3:00 PM
Music Hall, UW Madison
Autumn LeonardSaturday 4 March 2006 1:30 PMDistrict Solo and Ensemble Contest
Mills Concert Hall
UW Madison
Concert orchestra - IsisSaturday 4 March 2006Lawrence University Percussion Ensemble
Middleton High School
(Students too numerous to mention)Saturday 4 March 2006 8:00 PMChamber Ensemble recital
Appleton, Wisconsin
Brad AndersonSaturday 4 MarchUW Varsity Band "Run Out" Concert
UW-Stevens Point
Becky Schultz6 March 2006UW Varsity Band "Run Out" Concert
Brodhead
Tonya Neumann, Katie Hepler, Nick Schleicher7 March 2006WYSO Winterfest Concerts
LaCrosse
Tonya Neumann, Katie Hepler, Nick Schleicher12 March 2006 6:00 PMMHS Choir Concert
Mills Concert Hall
UW Madison
Youth Orchestra
Nora Hickey13 March 2006 7:30 PM8th Grade Band Concert16 March 2006 8:00 PMMHS Band Concert
IMMS Cafetorium21 March 2006UW Varsity Band "Run Out" Concert
MHS Auditorium
Zach Staszewski, Eric Adams, Scott Birrenkott, Andrea Bakunowicz7 March 2006UW Varsity Band "Run Out" Concert
LaCrosse
Tonya Neumann, Katie Hepler, Nick Schleicher21 March 20067th & 8th Grade Choir Concert
Tomah
Tonya Neumann, Katie Hepler, Nick Schleicher23 March 2006 7:30 PMUW Varsity Band "Run Out" Concert
IMMS Cafetorium27 March 2006
West Allis
Tonya Neumann, Katie Hepler, Nick Schleicher
ARCHIVE of event listings
Corrections and additions to this list are very welcome.
27 FEBRUARY 2006:
CONCERT SHOWS OFF JAZZ PROGRAM'S STRENGHTSThe instrumental jazz program for grades 7 - 12 is a gem in the District's crown, and last Monday night we saw plenty of sparkle as four bands, each excellent for their age bracket, gave daring, exciting performances. I always leave a McFarland jazz concert feeling happier than I was when I came in. More McFarlanders should come take advantage of this free therapy.![]()
(Send me a concert photo;
I'll put it here)
Brian Vanderbloemen has had several years now to shape the next academic generation of McFarland jazz musicians, and his time spent teaching technique and spirit was showcased to good effect in solid and occasionally brilliant performances by the 7th grade and 8th grade bands Monday night. The younger group featured some startling set work by Leif Larson, and we heard a fine alto sax solo by Barry Bakunowicz. In the eighth-graders' performance it was especially promising to hear the lively piano break by Kolin Walker in El Gato: it's a good sign of strong piano work to come. Any day you can hear a decent soprano sax solo is a good day, and Becca Funk made the leap from alto to soprano rather gracefully, taking turns in all three charts her group performed that night. Gena Roisum did a fine job as the lone clarinet - which is to say, I could hear her. I look forward to what she'll do when she gets her hands on a tenor sax.
Kids who started under Brian are now beginning to percolate up into the MHS jazz bands, which were already strong; as Bill and Dave start to wield the new tools Brian is sending them, the bands are only getting stronger. The MHS Concert/Symphonic Band Jazz Ensemble featured our own strong-willed Nora Hickey, playing bassoon among the trombones and taking a solo in Doug Beach's Reverend Bob. She was audible, and her solo came through much better than some she played last year, but the microphone was placed at the bell of her bassoon, from which it is still not clear to me that much sound comes. Miking the Big Pipes seems better accomplished by putting the pickup a little distance in front of the performer, pointed more or less toward the instrument's guts; I can't see how that could be accomplished gracefully on the jazz stage, though, without setting Nora off to the side as a separate entity. The Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band's Eric Adams lent splendid Latin spice to No Peppers, No Tomatoes, another Doug Beach / George Shutack chart. Eric is up-and-coming, increasingly fluid and assured, and looked like he was having a good time during his percussion duet with Dave. I am pleased to say that he'll be back in the Gazebo with the Dixie band this summer. Finally, Frank Ransley was also on stage, rounding out the trumpet line. He has been heroically attending early-morning rehearsals and doughnut-tastings. I am delighted that he, too, will be performing with the AITDJB again this summer.
The Early Bird Jazz Ensemble is not only excellent for its age bracket: it's just excellent. Bill and Dave do a great job of picking charts from all over the jazz roadmap; by the time a musician makes it into Early Bird, they've had a chance to wrangle with everything from Latin to rock, standards to near-funk, and plenty more. They are solid enough to grips with a great arrangement like The Incredibles, skillfully distilled by Stephen Bulla from Michael Giacchino's excellent film score. Early Bird played this piece at the 2005 Pep Band concert, and I loved it then. Monday night it was even more bold and confident. Bravo to the band for revisiting it! Scott Birrenkott, who stepped up to the red bowtie with the AITDJB at the 2005 McFarland Family Festival last fall, had sleek trombone solos in Bubblehead, Big Mama Cass, and another in George Shutack's 'Chili Pepper' series, Romancing the Chili Pepper. Scott will be back with the AITDJB this summer, and judging by his work on stage Monday night we'll have a good season. (And speaking of work on stage: is it conceivable that David Michaels could play anything but bari sax? Loved his riffs in Big Mama Cass.) Lastly I must offer cheers for Early Bird's wonderful tradition of including a vocal soloist now and then - one per concert would not be too many, I think. Andrea Bakunowicz could not have been more perfectly suited to perform You Made Me Love You (even without Judy Garland's "Dear Mr. Gable" intro). To my taste, her rendition had it all over, say, Al Jolson's. And yes, we'll get to hear more of Andrea on tenor sax, and maybe vocals, with the AITDJB this summer.
Wrap up? An electric concert, with signs all over it of more great concerts to come. Kudos to all involved!
Midori
20 FEBRUARY 2006:
Isis Leonard and the other members of her Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) chamber ensemble group will be studying with noted violinist and teacher Midori. Midori is a talented soloist with an international reputation, and a powerful force in music education. She has founded programs to involve young people in orchestra and to bring Japanese and Western musical traditions to a better mutual understanding. She performs over 100 concerts each year, often teaching master classes to local violin students at the cities in which she is performing.
ISIS TO STUDY WITH MIDORI
Midori will perform at the Wisconsin Union Theater on Friday 7 April 2006, and will teach at the Wingra Middle School one day during the week of 3 April.
13 FEBRUARY 2006:
ZACH DIES FOR HONOR IN A PLAY OF LOVEZach Staszewski took the stage Friday and Saturday nights as the fiery Tybalt in an MHS production of Romeo and Juliet, showing an intense darkness of character some might not have suspected in him. As the rash young man who slays Mercutio while the play is tipping from comedy to tragedy, Zach stalked the stage looking as though he might at any moment explode. His gravity looked like suppressed rage to me, and made for a powerful stage presence. When he made his final entrance, for his appointment to be killed by Romeo, his gaze was so stern it could have quarried stone. I think from now on I'll have to wonder what lies behind his more usual smiles.Luke, Lauren, and Zach
The young lovers were played by Isaac Siegmann and Erin Shannon with a freshness that I found endearing, though they may be weary by now of both those descriptors. Shannon in particular was bright as a new penny Friday night, showing signs of close direction in the balcony scene, and was better still on Saturday. The pair also brought some serious snogging to the MHS stage. Chris DuCharme made a fine job of being poor Paris, to whom nobody - even for a moment - wishes success in his quest of Juliet. And he died with a most convincing death rattle. David Michaels' assurance in the role of Friar Laurence was a pleasure to watch. His Friar was properly fatherly and tranquil and, even though he's a drug dealer, formed a solid anchor for the rest of the mercurial characters. Luke Spring showed powers of vocal nuance and expression that lifted Capulet rather above the low profile that might be expected of that role in a school production. It's encouraging to see that the MHS drama program has enough depth that they could afford to assign the part a good actor. And every time Bobby Rothwell takes part in a production, I am happy to see him on stage; I wish him all the best.
Lauren Meyer has built an MHS drama career out of portrayals of powerful older women, and in this play she was a force of nature. She delivered the "Romeo must not live" line as if she were a professional knife thrower; if it had been aimed at me, I'd've been scared spitless. Not every school has a young woman with enough brass to play the Nurse as she ought to be played, but Bridget Norris went far in the right direction, milking her trimmed speeches for plenty of juice. I look forward to seeing what she'll tackle next year. And lastly, Mercutio, the play's pivot and the engine of the whole plot - each time I see the play, I become more convinced that he is its actual main character. It would have been unimaginable that anyone but JT Stocks be cast, and he lived up to all expectations. He gave us both barrels every moment he was on stage, and yet still kept back enough range to build his "plague" lines from inside joke to satisfying rant. There is madness in Mercutio that JT did not quite explore - partly because of line cuts - but if he lands this part again some day in another production, I would enjoy seeing him.
The dances at the feast were done prettily and unselfconsciously, no small achievement in a sequence that involves the entire company. At the feast we also got the surprise treat of hearing Aaron Siegmann as the Troubadour pop star that stops conversation. The several swordfights were done well enough, and were as believable as they needed to be, but ran perhaps a little long for such a shortened form of the play.Isaac stabs Zach
Costumes and properties were excellent, as always, and well fitted to each character's rank, station, and function in the play (I suppose it is no accident that Mercutio got the sword with a crossguard so big it's actually unseemly). One caveat: actual dancing tights for men may be more expensive than are disposable women's panty hose, but it is transparently clear which are more suitable on stage.
The five-entrance set was attractive and clean. Two platforms with stone facades and an entrance between them made up its stationary portion; the right platform had one entrance, the left, two entrances and The Balcony. The very clever design also included three large, movable Gothic arches which were shifted between scenes. These were used to excellent effect, defining clerestories, cells, and wings entrances as needed. There were a few other odds and ends: a removable fountain so Mercutio could wet his brow, some catafalques in the tomb scene, and of course a tree with a convenient stump so Romeo could get at Juliet for more snogging (clearly audible on the body mikes). The whole set was a perfect sufficiency.
In fact the whole production was admirable, considering that it was built upon so few scraps of the original text, a brutal abridgement far removed from the deft recensions we have seen on the MHS stage in Much Ado About Nothing and in The Importance of Being Earnest, for example. Whole swaths of colorful dialogue were missing entirely, many short speeches had had lines sifted out of them, and few even of the more important soliloquies remained intact. Much of the fever was sacrilegiously subtracted from Mercutio's brain, and the poor Nurse, compared to the gushing bawdy Shakespeare meant for her mouth, was cut nearly to dumbshows. Particularly galling were instances of one line of a rhyming pair being left in, but its fellow being inexplicably cut out. The cutting was a disservice both to those familiar with the play, who spent the evening tensely listening for lines that never came, and - worse - to those meeting Shakespeare for the first time, who were robbed of much of the Bard's best fire. We love Shakespeare for the vibrant characters he draws for us, and for the wonderful words with which he draws them. It is not well to hobble the actors who must portray the one, by allotting them so few of the other.
6 FEBRUARY 2006:
AUTUMN IN MOZART'S "MARRIAGE OF FIGARO"Autumn Leonard is a chorus member in a UW-Madison production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, preparing now for performances in early March. Autumn's light baritone was last publicly heard at a benefit for victims of Hurricane Katrina, held at the Kit Kat Klub or some such wretched State Street hive of scum and villainy. Figaro will find him in a more condign performance space: UW's Music Hall, the delightful, churchy building at the foot of Bascom Hill. Autumn is following where his grandfather has gone before; Kenneth Leonard spent time performing and conducting in Music Hall as he pursued his Master's degree in music.Autumn, feeling festive at the McBank
Here are the details on the opera production:The Marriage of Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro)University Opera notes that they are presenting The Marriage of Figaro "to celebrate the bicenquinquagenary of the birth of Mozart". Figaro was composed in Vienna at the height of Mozart's career. Its first performance, on May 1, 1786, was an enormous success, so popular that Emperor Joseph II had to issue a decree banning encores. (No, this is not similar to what happened to Brokeback Mountain in Salt Lake City). Figaro remains one of most beloved, and most performed, masterpieces of opera buffa.
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte
William Farlow, Director
James Smith, Conductor
UW Chamber Orchestra
Sung in Italian with English surtitles
Friday, March 3, at 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 5, at 3 pm
Tuesday, March 7, at 7:30 pm
Carol Rennebohm Auditorium
Music Hall, University of Wisconsin - Madison
General public $18, UW-Madison students $10
Ticket information and other details are available here: University Opera
The play from which the libretto for Figaro is taken is a sequel to the play The Barber of Seville, familiar to modern audiences through Rossini's great opera. Mozart's librettist removed political content from the popular Figaro play - material that would have offended the Viennese imperial censors (the French Revolution was only a few years away) - and faithfully translated the rest into Italian. With Mozart's masterpiece of a score, the result is a witty yet profound tale of love, betrayal, and forgiveness. In Barber, Count Almaviva, with substantial help from Figaro, wooed and won the lovely Rosine away from her crusty old ward and would-be husband, Dr. Bartholo. In Figaro, the Count has married Rosine but their marriage has gone sour because of his philandering. Figaro has quit barbering and is now the Count's major-domo. Bartholo is back to seek revenge on Figaro, with the help of the slimy music-master, Don Bazile. Adding to the fun are an amorous teenager, a scheming old maid, a drunken gardener, and a silly young girl. Much happens on a single "folle journée" - a crazy day.
As to the plot: think of the film Amadeus. Figaro is the opera that Mozart is chortling about in the film, as he explains to the stuffy court music establishment how funny, natural, and human it is that the opera begins with a guy measuring a room to see if his wedding bed will fit in it - "no, really, it'll be wonderful, just fund the production"; that sort of thing. Here are three synopses: SHORT, MEDIUM, and WELL DONE. Better yet, go to the library and look in "Kobbe's Opera". Or (best), go to Music Hall and hear Autumn! He's sure to be a dashing peasant lad, or whatever he is, and his personal brand of native chutzpah will we hope be a welcome addition to the show.
30 JANUARY 2006:
Last weekend, Isis Leonard took part in the first-ever Madison Suzuki "retreat", which finished Sunday with a demonstration of synchronized sound production in the Capitol Rotunda. The rich, complex acoustics in the Rotunda present ensembles with a range of challenges, most of which the Suzuki groups were able to overcome. The violins in particular sounded very well in the space, and it was a great pleasure to find a few 'cellos on hand on to provide a glimpse of a different Suzuki playlist.
VIOLINS IN THE VAULT
In most cases an ensemble member must give as much, if not more, attention to listening to the group as to watching the conductor. But in the Rotunda, reverberation from the many hard, flat surfaces is very strong and much delayed - an acoustic engineer might say that the sound is very "wet". As a result, if a player in the Rotunda listens too much to the ambient sound she will fall behind; if everyone listens, the whole group slows down and the piece dies a retarded death. Cohesion therefore depends upon visual cues. The Suzuki emphasis on memorization stood the group in good stead here - the players had no scores to read and so could look at the conductor all the time, and they are used to monophonic arrangements. The several vibrantly visual conductors were a boon as well. Tempos were quite solid throughout, and I heard nobody stravaging behind.
The Rotunda space is punctuated by large wings and galleries, which means that the bell curve of net reverb vs. echo time is not tightly centered around one time value, but has a great deal of temporal dispersion - that is, some echoes come back relatively soon, but many come back later and others much later. The effect can turn multivoice pieces into mush, unless they are one player to a part. But Sunday's mostly-unison playing suffered very little from this problem, and from where I was listening I could always tell what note was being played when. The violins in particular were refreshingly clean and clear, with just enough wetness to the sound to give it a sense of grand scale: on the whole, well suited to the venue.
Finally, frequency dispersion from the Rotunda's many sharp edges is rather high, so that low-pitched instruments with strong harmonics can sound muddy when massed (here I am thinking specifically of TubaChristmas), to the point of not sounding like any real instrument at all. But the violins were affected very little by this issue, at least to my ear, and retained their distinctive timbre.
There were some minor problems: the spoken announcements and the piano accompaniment were mostly swallowed up by the vast caverns of the Capitol wings, and never made it to the audience's ears. But the all-parent audience knew when to clap, so these things were not missed.
23 JANUARY 2006:
DOUBLE THE REEDS, DOUBLE THE FUNFrank Zappa, unquestionably one of the most creative and original musicians of the last fifty years, said in an interview: "The bassoon is one of my favorite instruments. It has a medieval aroma, like the days when everything used to sound like that. Some people crave baseball . . . I find this unfathomable, but I can easily understand why a person could get excited about playing the bassoon." Both the "medieval aroma" and the excitement of playing were on vivid display at the concert culminating the UW's Double Reed Days workshop last Sunday. There were 42 oboes, English horns, and bassoons on stage at once - so many that the staff must not have killed any off during Master Classes*. The sound was described by conductor Alan Goodman as "formidable", and he was right - a massed choir of double reeds produces an effect not to be believed by someone who hasn't heard it.A formidable collection of bassoon, oboe, and
English horn players at the UW's Double Reed Days
Isis Leonard and Nora Hickey both took part in the Double Reed Days workshop and played first bassoon, or perhaps primus inter pares, at Sunday's concert. The two are co-founders of United Bassoonists of Madison, and are also the founding members (actually, the only members) of the Second String Violin Duo.
Double Reed Days was organized by UW oboist Marc Fink and UW bassoonist extraordinaire Marc Vallon. With guest Goodman, they also taught Master Classes and conducted the ensembles, and under their guidance the choir melded solidly into a single, beautiful polyphonic instrument. The medieval aroma was most evident in the group's performance of Johann Caspar Friedrich Fisher's five-part suite, Journal do Printems II. (It is possible that Vallon did not use his left little toe when conducting this piece, but all the rest of him was involved, and he looks like the kind of conductor who it is impossible for the performers to misunderstand.) The bassoons were especially evocative in the lentement segment, providing a rich flavor rarely heard in arrangements that call for brass or strings, or even other reeds, in addition to bassoons.
In more diverse ensembles, English horns stand out because they sound like nothing else on this planet, unless perhaps like some semi-mythical Amazonian bird. They certainly sound like nothing else in a wind ensemble or orchestra. It is therefore a rare delight to hear them standing out, instead, because they are one distinct set of colours in a natural spectrum of double-reed voices - which on Sunday even included the awesome presence of a contrabassoon. I think such an opportunity gives the English horns at once more freedom and more support than they generally enjoy. Vallon's witty arrangement of Two Beatles Classics was a splendid example, using these elegant instruments to excellent effect. In the Michelle segment of the piece, the melody was too understated and seemed lost at sea. But Eleanor Rigby was perfectly suited to this treatment and was a joy to hear, especially in the dexterous rendering of the former 'cello part.
The group's closing piece was Aram Khatchaturian's Sabre Dance, also arranged by Vallon for double reed ensemble. I missed the trombones a little, as I'd expected to, since Pan himself probably couldn't do a true glissando on a bassoon. But I didn't miss them much, and - surprisingly - didn't miss the percussion at all. A well-disciplined reed player can deliver plenty of punch. The skillful distribution of parts and the enthusiastic musicianship of the players made the arrangement a success."Those two purple people"
Finally I must note another performance we attended on Sunday, one which overlapped with the Double Reed Days concert. Attendees of this second event were explicitly forbidden to mention it, so I won't - explicitly. But I will say that I have never heard a more charming evocation of Flight of the Bumblebee by a flutist accompanied by live bees. And, that such a masterful rendition of Bolling's jazz suite would make one suspect that the flutist had some trick up her sleeve, except that in this case she clearly didn't.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MARC VALLON
* For those of you who don't know this hoary, standard oboe joke, here it is (with due apologies to Becky): Q: How do you get two oboes to play in tune? A: Shoot one of them.
16 JANUARY 2006:
RARE BRIA FOOTAGE DISCOVERED IN VAULTSThe official recording of MHS Cabaret 2004 was made on a pair of VHS camcorders, and it's a slick production. But VHS image and sound quality are not exactly the kinds of things you'd write home to the Empress about, so those of us who were delighted by Bria Mason's performance of Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps were pretty much free to remember it any way we wanted to. Until now.Brad on congas, Tyler Mackey and Autumn Leonard
on handclaps, and the incomparable
Bria Mason on vocals
The vaults recently yielded a previously-unremembered tape made privately at the performance on a sometimes handheld DVD camcorder. The recording is incomplete and fragmentary. For some sequences the camcorder was left running but placed on the floor of the auditorium, under the seats - those sequences have audio that's a bit boomy and video that is uninteresting except to used-chewing-gum enthusiasts. Nevertheless much of the audio is superior to the official version, and I am pleased to debut some of it here.
Bria performed the piece three times: at Cabaret, at the 2004 Pep Band Concert (her sauciest rendition, unfortunately not preserved), and at an AITDJB concert. Sara Siegmann accompanied her on piano, Brad Anderson on congas, in a run that included a conga-and-Bria number in Anything Goes, and Autumn Leonard and Tyler Mackey were dudes in sombreros doing strategic handclaps.
9 JANUARY 2006:
NORA HICKEY GIVES 'EM BOTH BARRELSIf bassoons were built with all their tubing in a straight line, they would be awkwardly much taller than their players. To avoid the spectacle of bassoonists mounting stepladders to reach their mouthpieces, which is especially distracting to the audience during performances of works with intermittent rests, bassoons are manufactured with a bend (or "half Nelson") in the middle. For ease of portability, most models of modern bassoon can be disassembled into between eight and ten thousand separate pieces. However, in 1879 Osvaldo Bassinetta, the renowned bassoonist and lepidopterist, missed a performance of P. D. Q. Bach's A Bassoonata because he was unable to finish assembling his bassoon in time: the concert was to begin at 7:30 P. M., but by the time Osvaldo finally got his last dull-bladed clincher in place, he found that it was January 3, 1926. Since that time most bassoonists have, between performances, disassembled their instruments only partly. The average bassoon now resting in its case has been broken down into a mere one hundred and eight parts, the most important of which are the Bell, the Heckler, and the Thorax.
Nora and bassoon
Nora Hickey, a founding member of the Second String Violin Duo and also an avid bassoonist and coelocanthropist, took part in a concerto competition given by the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) last Saturday at the UW. Nora performed Johann Nepomuk Hummel's F major Grand Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra. It seems double reeds seldom compete in the event, and reeds of any kind seldom win it, but it need hardly be said that Nora's performance must have been magbassoonificent. The competition was closed to the public.
Jazz bands are getting under way in McFarland, and incessantly-practiced Solo and Ensemble pieces are coming to fruition, so there will be many pleasant things to report here soon. Meanwhile, please have a look at this slideshow photo retrospective of our 2005 ensembles. Just click on the link; the slides change automatically every ten seconds, and each image has an instructive caption below it. (Yes, Becca and Gena, I know there are no photos of you in the slideshow. That's not because I love you less than the others, but because I don't have any nice performance photos of you yet).
