25 DECEMBER 2006:

Some members of the
2006 Almost In Time
Dixieland Jazz Band

MANY THANKS

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 noisy

EVERYONE 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 Rag

THE MUSICIANS

who performed with us in 2006 for the first time: Emily Raasch, Amy Kolpin, and Nick Schleicher

And 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.

- Quinn

Back to the News

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18 DECEMBER 2006:

AN AFTERNOON OF CHAMBER MUSIC

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.

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11 DECEMBER 2006:

NO REST FOR ANNIE GAYLOR

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.

The tip of the Christmas tree,
and a fake Liberty Bell

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4 DECEMBER 2006:

CHRISTMAS IN THE VILLAGE; AENEAS IN DIDO

The Solstice Brass at the McFarland State Bank

Last 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:

Frank Ransley - trumpet
Amy Kolpin - French horn and trumpet
Sherry Wegner - French horn
Autumn Leonard - Euphonium with bursts of trombone
Quinn Leonard - Tuba and euphonium

The 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.

Nora, Gena, Isis

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.

A good time was had by all. Even Santa seemed jolly.

Cold, but nice

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.

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 BADGERS

The McFarland Badger Contingent

On 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 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 OVER

Zach as Erronius

I 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.

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.

Andrea as Philia

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.

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.

Dead Hysterium

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.

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.

2006 MHS Musical
Theatre Cast

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.

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).

Andrea, David, and Tim,
in the trio
'Pretty Little Picture'

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.

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 CONCERTS

2006 McFarland WYSO musicians

The 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.

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.

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."

The image shows: back row, L-R: Isis Leonard, Nora Hickey; front row, L-R: Yunhui Chou, Elizabeth Froden.

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4 NOVEMBER 2006:

SOLSTICE BRASS AT REFORMATION SUNDAY SERVICE

The Senior Choir at McFarland Lutheran

On 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 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 HONORS

Not the 2006 Middle School honors band

Isis 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:

"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 BAND

WSMA HS Honors Band at rehearsal

Nora 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.

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 NOTES

On 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:

Sydney Cook, Alyssa Gray, Kelsey Beck, Lauren Sladek, Caley Polipnick, and Ally Schmaling (last year's truly magical Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz

Alto:

Andrea Bakunowicz, Melissa Kuehl, Amanda Maund, and Melanie Williams

Tenor:

Tim Meisel, Kolin Walker, and Zach Staszewski

Baritone:

Kristofer Buhalog, Stephan Buhalog,, and Isaac Siegmann

Bass:

Ben DuCharme, Michael Flaherty, and David Michaels

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.

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:

AN AFTERNOON WITH THE UW BANDS

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.

Autumn
(not to scale)

Brad's band, a clean, well-knit group, performed first. Their program consisted of:

Overture to 'Candide', by Leonard Bernstein
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

The Shostakovich piece was particularly animated and crisp.

Autumn's band, which included the orange piccolo guy, performed

The Battle Pavanne, by Tielman Susato
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

Polestar 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.

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The McFarland High School Marching Band
makes a great big letter "M"

13 OCTOBER 2006:

ANNE NICHOLS BEWITCHING AS DOROTHY

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.

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.

Eric Adams:
front, center, and on fire

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.

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.

Anne Nichols hits The Road

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.

The Thousand Dollar Kneel

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.

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9 OCTOBER 2006:

TONYA AND THE HORN DOGS

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:

Once 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.

Some Horn Dogs

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.

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.

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2 OCTOBER 2006:

FROM MCFARLAND, WITH LOVE

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.

007: The Spies who Loved Dixie

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.

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."

Under the Big Top: Nick, Eric, Glenn, Becky

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.

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

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29 SEPTEMBER 2006:

ELDERLY MARCHING SPARTANS REFUSE TO YIELD

The 2006 Marching Alumni

They keep coming back in droves.

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.

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25 SEPTEMBER 2006:

ALMA MATER LURES HOMING TOTS: THOUSANDS DUE

The 2005 Marching
Spartan Alumni

Well, 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.

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]

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19 JUNE 2006:

AITDJB TO PLAY A JOINT THAT IS, LIKE, SO POSH

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.

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.

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12 JUNE 2006:

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS ZAMBONI

These just in:

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

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5 JUNE 2006:

AITDJB TO PERFORM AT SESQUICENTENNIAL FEST!

Award-winning banner,
designed by Becca Funk

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.

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.

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4 JUNE 2006:

MHS CABARET 2006: WICKED!

Guest review by Autumn Leonard coming soon.

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29 MAY 2006:

INSIDE SCOOPIE

Friendly, 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.

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26 MAY 2006:

MONTY PYTHON LIVES AGAIN

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).

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.

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"Hold your violin up by your head"

25 MAY 2006:

SECOND STRING AT THE LIBRARY

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.

Nora is a contributor to Driftwood. She wrote a Just So story about witches and rainbows which is not half bad.

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20 and 21 MAY 2006:

WYSO SPRING CONCERTS WARM THE HEART

Bassoons on the horizon

The 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).

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.

'Cello cases: last surviving
descendants of the late
Cretaceous giant beetles

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).

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.

Richard Judd's creation
for the
Art of Note campaign

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.

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.

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16 MAY 2006:

EIGHTH GRADE BAND TACKLES LAPLANTE

A young Scott Brown practices
his contraophecleide

The 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.

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.

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15 MAY 2006:

SUZUKI AT CHURCH

Students of Gail Shoemaker's Suzuki program gave a recital yesterday afternoon at the United Church of Christ in McFarland.

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11 MAY 2006:

MHS BANDS HOLD AUDIENCE SPELLBOUND

When 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.

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8 MAY 2006:

BRAD TO WAM EUROPE

Brad, version 2004

Brad 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 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 Curnow
"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)

The choral repertoire will include:

"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

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7 MAY 2006:

TWO AT TRINITY

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.

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1 MAY 2006:

MCFARLAND HAULS HOME HARDWARE FROM STATE

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.

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1 MAY 2006:

UPCOMING EVENTS - MAY 2006

The Wizard of Oz

4 & 5 May 7:00 PM
6 May 2:00 and 7:00 PM
MHS Auditorium

Piano recital

7 May 2006
Isis and Kolin

"Ten Who Made a Difference" banquet

8 May 2006 7:30 PM
MHS
Foredinner music by the Second String Violin Duo

MHS Band Concert

11 May 2006
MHS Auditorium

7th and 8th Grade Band Concerts

18 May 2006 7:00 and 8:00 PM
IMMS Cafetorium

Young Voices of Madison

18 & 19 May 2006
Overture Center
MHS A Cappella Choir

Lawrence University Symphonic Band Concert

Friday 19 May 2006 8:00 PM
Appleton, Wisconsin
Brad Anderson

MHS A Cappella Choir Concert

Friday 19 May 2006 7:00 PM
Overture Center, Madison

WYSO Spring Concerts

20 May 2006 1:30 PM
Mills Concert Hall
UW Madison
Chamber orchestra - Isis

WYSO Spring Concerts

21 May 2006 2:00 PM
Mills Concert Hall
UW Madison
Youth orchestra - Nora

7th and 8th Grade Choir Concert

23 May 2006 7:30 PM
IMMS Cafetorium

MHS Pep Band Concert

26 May 2006 7:30 PM
MHS Old Gym

Memorial Day Parade

29 May 2006 noon-ish
Marching bands

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ARCHIVE of event listings

Corrections and additions to this list are very welcome.

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Early Bird trombones
on the move

24 APRIL 2006:

MCFARLAND JAZZ AGES WELL

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.

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.

Becca Funk &
Master Garvey

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.

Gena Roisum

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.

Nora Hickey

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.

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.

Andrea Bakunowicz

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).

Scott Birrenkott

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.

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

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24 APRIL 2006:

STATE SOLO AND ENSEMBLE SCHEDULES

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.

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20 APRIL 2006:

AUTUMN SPONGES HIS WAY ONTO THE KOHL CENTER STAGE

2005 UW Varsity Band in the Kohl Center>

ON 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.

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.

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16 APRIL 2006:

EASTER BRASS

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.

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15 APRIL 2006:

SEEN "SIGHT UNSEEN"? SEE IT!

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.

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Ensemble 13

10 APRIL 2006:

WYSO CHAMBER ENSEMBLES PROVIDE AN AFTERNOON OF DELIGHTS

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.

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.

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Amanda undergoing
Bird Handler Hair Prep

2006 Carleton ITW cast

8 APRIL 2006:

THE BIRD WHISPERER

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.

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Midori

3 APRIL 2006:

MIDORI CONCERTS AND WORKSHOPS CANCELLED

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.

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31 MARCH 2006:

PERFORMANCE EVENTS FOR APRIL 2006

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Sunrise at Stonehenge, Winter Solstice 2003

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