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29 DECEMBER 2008:
SOME 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. 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. A special thanks to Eric Roisum, who has gone well above and far beyond.
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: you are an officer and a gentlewoman
BRIAN VANDERBLOEMEN, for taking to the road with us, and contributing hot sax lix
MICHELLE NAEGELE, for performing with the Solstice Brass, and especially for graciously allowing the AITDJB to rehearse in your band room
BEN PETERSEN, for giving access to school instruments, loaning music stands to the SB, loaning whole musicians to the float in the Family Festival parade, and especially for graciously allowing the AITDJB to rehearse in your band room
The 2008 Solstice Brass.
L to R: Frank Ransley,
Kolin Walker Michelle Naegele,
Autumn Leonard, Quinn LeonardTHE MCFARLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT:
Dr. Jim Hickey, for offering unbelievable support from and access to MHS
Jeff Mahoney, 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
ARLYN HALVORSON, for once again offering us a trailer to ride on, and a truck to pull it in the Family Festival/Homecoming parade - and for driving the truck without seeing any conflict of interest, even though he's President of the School Board
THE MCFARLAND STATE BANK, for giving the SB a place to play indoors when the weather was cold, and for offering us cookies
NAZARETH HOUSE and HARMONY HOUSE, for providing us with a captive audience and 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 it hadn't rained
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 the MHS Marquis Masters. Thanks to the Wisconsin State Journal for free access to its "Rhythm" section, and to Madison Dot Com for this Web site.
The 2008 Wind in the Reeds at the
McFarland State Bank. L to R:
Isis Leonard, Gena Roisum, Maia PerezTHE MUSICIANS
who performed with us in 2008 for the first time: Pat Dorn, Jerry Hrovat, David Michaels, Michelle Naegele, Beau Peregoy, Maia Perez, and Ally SchmalingAnd 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, Autumn Leonard, Isis Leonard, Anne Nichols, Glenn Nielsen, Frank Ransley, Gena Roisum, Sara Siegmann, Brian Vanderbloemen, and Kolin Walker.My heartfelt thanks to the many fine musicians who have given so enthusiastically of their talents and time to make these groups a success: eight years of the AITDJB, eight years of the Solstice Brass, six years of The Wind in the Reeds, and intermittent bursts of Second String. 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
22 DECEMBER 2008:
AN AFTERNOON OF CHAMBER MUSICOn the afternoon of Sunday 14 December 2008, students in the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras' chamber music program gave a recital at Olbrich Gardens in Madison. Ensembles were mostly of strings, with a few woodwinds represented as well.
Isis in silhouette
against the wintry Olbrich Gardens
Isis Leonard's group performed the Allegro from Karl Dittersdorf's String Quartet in E flat Major with enthusiasm. Maia Perez, playing oboe in ensemble that also included a flute, three clarinets, a French horn, and a tuba (!), gave us Johann Nepomuk Hummel's Partita in E flat Major. (Coach Abby Ryan joined the two student clarinets, instead of playing bassoon as listed in the program.)
Maia Perez at Olbrich Gardens
WYSO chamber ensemble recital
14 December 2008
15 DECEMBER 2008:
FINAL CHRISTMAS MUSIC PERFORMANCESThe Wind in the Reeds and the Solstice Brass finished out the holiday season with performances at Madison's west side Barnes and Nobel on the evening of Thursday 11 September, and at Harmony Assisted Living of McFarland and Nazareth House in Stoughton on the afternoon of Saturday 13 December.![]()
The Barnes and Noble event was a fundraiser for the McFarland music programs, with volunteers from the Music Boosters showing up to wrap gifts and accept tips: thank you, Sheryl Leemon, Brittney Leemon, Mary Daugherty and Allison Daugherty for wrapping, and Sheri Gehrke for organizing things. Acoustics in the bookstore are pretty good, and we were well received by all, especially the staff. Performing at nursing homes is always pleasant, for the audience is both captive and appreciative; we enjoyed some banter with the residents of Harmony, and all appreciated the handshakes of the genial old fellow at Nazareth.
As usual, just the top of Isis' head can be found in this image
10 DECEMBER 2008:
The McFarland High School bands gave a really delightful holiday music concert on the evening of 10 December 2008, under the direction of Ben Petersen, Brian Vanderbloemen (AITDJB 2005 - 2008), and Michelle Naegele (SB 2008). Band students wrote the program notes, which were therefore uneven but mostly charming.
MHS WINTER BAND CONCERT
Concert band played:Ray of Hope, by Masaru Kawasaki; a nifty and uplifting march.
Tricycle, by Andrew Boysen Jr.; a 5/4 thing that's hard to catch right unless the band plays it with some understanding. Concert band did.
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, arranged by Ed Huckeby; a dancey version of the old chestnut.
Symphonic band gave us:
Gena, readily photographed
Make a Joyful Noise, by James Swearingen; several of the student notators commented on the piece's patriotic feeling, rightfully I think.The Wind Ensemble, including Isis Leonard as principal bassoon, Gena Roisum as first-chair first clarinet, Becca Funk on alto sax, and Nick Bakunowicz on trumpet, performed the following program:
Candlelight Carol, by John Rutter; a lovely lullaby with constantly shifting instrumentation
Latin Bell Carol, arranged by Robert W. Smith; a Ukrainian standard spiced up with afro-Cuban rhythms, which works very well. A percussion solo break, added in the middle by our daring new director Ben Petersen, was a seamless fit and very entertaining.
English Christmas Music, arrangements of I Saw Three Ships, the Wassail Song, and Greensleeves, by Clare Grundman Amparito Roca, the wildly infectious work of Jaime Texidor Greensleeves, in a really gorgeous arrangement by Alfred Reed Manatee Lyric Overture, by Robert Sheldon
7 DECEMBER 2008:
CAPITOL PAGEANT RESONANT AS EVERThe sounds and story of the Christian part of the season resounded through the State Capitol rotunda on Sunday 7 December 2008, with two performances of the 85th annual Kiwanis Capitol Christmas Pageant. Volunteers from a confirmation group at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church - billed as "actors" in the program - formed tableaux telling the story of the birth of Jesus. An excellent brass choir added much to the performance; they were students from Madison East, I think, although they were unaccountably absent from the program. Voice students from "the Madison Area" - meaning, McFarland and LaFollette High Schools - sang carols outlining the story arc. They were divided into a main choir and an echo choir: very effective in the rotunda. Choir direction was handled by Renee Farley and our own Anne Nichols (AITDJB 2005 - 2007). There were harp and celeste accompanists, too.
The "Holiday" Tree in the Wisconsin Capitol
By my rough estimate, about 220 students participated. Among them were Isis Leonard (WitR 2003 - 2008, SS 2004 - 2008, AITDJB 2007 - 2008), Ally Schmaling (AITDJB 2008), and Beau Peregoy (AITDJB 2008). The program made certain we knew that all students were there voluntarily; God forbid that anyone in our Christianity-saturated part of the world should be coerced into practicing her own religion.
The program is the same every year, but just for posterity, here's the lineup. The first part of each entry is the carol sung by the choir; next is the title of the tableau that goes with it.Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!; Herald Angels
Ave Maria; Annunciation to Mary
Gallery Carol; Journey of Mary and Joseph
While By My Sheep; Shepherds with Their Flock
The First Noel; Shepherds See the Star
We Three Kings; Journey of the Kings
Slumber Song of the Infant Jesus; Visit of the Shepherds
Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light; Appearance of the Angels
O Holy Night; Visit of the Kings
Fanfare for Christmas; Guiding Star
Silent Night; Mary and Child
7 DECEMBER 2008:
ISIS IS A LESSONOn the evening of Sunday 7 December 2008, the McFarland Lutheran Church held a "Festival of Lessons and Carols," a delightful worship service made up of musical performances alternating with spirited readings from the Gospels. Glenn Nielsen (AITDJB 2001 - 2008) was the originator and musical coordinator of the service. For the opening prelude Isis Leonard (WitR 2003 - 2008, SS 2004 - 2008, AITDJB 2007 - 2008) played bassoon, with Jerry Hrovat (AITDJB Citizen of the Year banquet performance 2008) on clarinet, and Sue Finley on flute, in Mozart's delightful Church Sonata in F; Terry Peterson provided a pipe-organ accompaniment. Later in the evening Glenn took up his clarinet and joined the woodwinds in Kenneth Kosche's arrangement of Angels We Have Heard On High, to which Michelle Volmer performed an attractive interpretive dance within the confines of the altar rail.
McFarland Lutheran, sans dancer
Christmas at the Mcbank
The Wind in the Reeds, 2006
Santa at the McBank
6 DECEMBER 2008:
On the chilly morning of Saturday 6 December 2008, the SB quintet performed at the McFarland State Bank's portion McFarland's Christmas in the Village commercial festival. We played a lineup of classic and jazzy seasonal music, and were joined for some unrehearsed carols by members of the MHS Blue Notes and other vocal groups. Attendance was dandy. This year, it was Frank who brought crutches.
CHRISTMAS IN THE VILLAGE A CHILLING SUCCESS
Later that morning the Wind in the Reeds woodwind trio, this year supplemented by Maia Perez on oboe, performed in the same venue. We all received punch and cookies. In the afternoon, the reeds also performed in one of McFarland's most hallowed and traditional spots for Christmas music: the Tru-Valu hardware store. Here we set out Gena's clarinet case as a donation box, and were soon rolling (well, tiptoeing) in green, all for the MHS music programs.
Last year, the Solstice Brass' annual performance at the village bonfire was nixed by sleet, but this year we toughed it out. There were plenty of frozen valves, and our collaboration with the choir was a bit thin, but no music burned and no battery packs exploded; a good time and cocoa were had by all.
Wind in the Reeds at the McBank, 2008
L to R: Isis Leonard, bassoon; Gena Roisum, clarinet; Maia Perez, oboe
1 DECEMBER 2008:
The Solstice Brass Quintet , McFarland's wildly popular Christmas brass ensemble, and The Wind in the Reeds, our equally beloved woodwind quartet, will perform at the Barnes and Noble bookstore on Madison's west side, beginning at 6:30 PM on Thursday 11 December. The event is a fundraiser for MHS music programs.
SOLSTICE BRASS, WIND IN THE REEDS TO PERFORM AT BARNES AND NOBLE
Autumn among the Dancers
UW Varsity Band Concert, 2005
24 NOVEMBER 2008:
MICHELLE NAEGELE JOINS THE SOLSTICE BRASSMichelle Naegele, instructress of instrumental music at McFarland High School, joins the Solstice Brass this season as a trumpet and as principal (only!) French horn. Michelle taught for eight years in Muskego, Crandon, Kenosha, and Mequon before coming to McFarland in 2007. She holds a B.A. in Fine Arts in Music Education and a Master of Music in Wind Conducting. Since 1997, Michelle has been a piano accompanist for the Milwaukee Ballet School.
Michelle Naegele 2008
Hot Box Dancers
"Guys and Dolls" at MHS, 2005
Ally Schmaling's head has
fallen ker-plop upon
Beau Peregoy's shoulder17 NOVEMBER 2008:
Ally Schmaling (AITDJB 2008) and Beau Peregoy (AITDJB 2008), the Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band's nifty vocalists, landed the lead roles in the MHS production of Oklahoma!, and the casting couldn't have been better. The show ran 13, 14, and 15 November 2008; all performances were at 7:00 PM in the MHS Auditorium, and the house was packed every night. Many people will know Oklahoma! only from the 20th Century Fox film version, which is beautiful if you can get the 70mm version. But live is always better. I enjoyed the MHS production much more than I do the film - which is no more than I've come to expect from our drama program. McFarland performers reward their audiences richly. Pay a pittance for a ticket, and in return, the cast, crew, and orchestra will give you their hearts. I wouldn't have missed this show for all the bloomers in Persia.
MHS' "OKLAHOMA!" SO MUCH MORE THAN OK
If you throw a dart at the U. S. map you can bet seven to two on hitting some local production of Oklahoma!; and why not? It's a book musical, meaning that the songs and story are chemically co-dependent, in a good way. With that much help even an indolent audience can understand what's happening on stage, and understanding is often all it takes to keep an audience interested while it's sitting and satisfied when it leaves. That's the bread and butter of Broadway. But in high school theater the need for understanding is even more acute: without it, no matter how good the actors are, ticket-holders have paid merely for the privilege of engaging in communal progeny-appreciation. Oklahoma! is easy to understand. Here's a synopsis:
The Gals of Oklahoma!
In 1906, in the Oklahoma Territory, baritone cowboy Curly McLain (Beau Peregoy) loves lyric-soprano farm-girl Laurey Williams (Ally Schmaling). She loves him, too, but they are both too pig-headed to admit it during the first act. Laurey's hulking farmhand, dramatic baritone Jud Fry (a bad man? or just misunderstood?), wants his boss-lady for himself. Conflict! Meanwhile soprano Ado Annie is dallying with (at least) two men of other tessituras; she can't decide which she wants, and cain't say no to either. There's a bit of slapstick agrarian angst betwixt herders and farmers, and Curly makes a blackly lighthearted attempt at convincing Jud to commit suicide for the common good, but the self-thwarting lovers pretty much what tension there is.
The Guys of Oklahoma!
(And Aunt Eller, the brassy old thing)
Oklahoma! was not the first book musical, but it was the first to succeed on a grand scale, and its construction has come to be understood as the template upon which later shows are built, or from which they try experimental deviations. When "musical theater" was a-borning as a genre, the songs did not need to bear any intrinsic relationship to the plot or action. (For examples preserved on celluloid, see any Marx Brothers film before they chucked out Zeppo for being a schmuck.) Those shows were essentially revues, patched together to showcase the particular talents of performers and artists; any organising principle robust enough to make a good prom theme could serve in place of a plot. Then came a period of evolution, during which the songs were knit more closely to a story arc. If the songs were not revelations of the characters who sang them, they were now at least halfheartedly apropos to the character type; if they did not actually underpin action, they often bore a six-degrees-of-separation relationship to some aspect of the production. Shows of this sort are still made: when Andrew Lloyd Webber, for example, tried to write a romance involving people rather than trains or cats, he coughed up Phantom of the Opera. The Phantom sound track yanks most of the levers that a musical theater score must if it is to get radio time, but manages the operation with blankly generic automation: many of the songs could be plugged into other sockets in the book, or dealt randomly to different characters, without interfering noticeably with the show's story. "Say you'll love me every waking moment" or "Think of me, think of me fondly, when we say goodbye": who sings which, and when, and to whom? Does it matter?
Alyssa Gray,
emoting to beat the band
But the Golden Age of Broadway was the time of the book musical. To the definition above we might add that the book show is musical theater which aims to evoke other emotions in addition to mirth. The story matters; it should have conflict and tension and all those other reference points so important to us Occidentals. Song and dance must arise naturally from plot and character, while simultaneously propelling the plot and developing the characters. Further, song styles should be interconnected, and the overall musical style relevant. Show Boat managed all that in 1927, and pointed out that material from pop culture could be as ductile as the classics. By the time composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II collaborated for the first time, on 1943's Oklahoma!, audiences and critics had accepted the book musical as the form for musical theater, and were primed to swoon over some really good show. Oklahoma! was that show: it was a box office smash, running for over five years and 2,212 performances on Broadway - a record at the time. Then came a ten-year national tour, also a record. In 1944, a Pulitzer Prize was awarded to Rodgers and Hammerstein, in the category of "Special Awards And Citations - Letters." The show was revived on Broadway before the national tour ended, and has been filmed and re-staged many times since. It was as sure a bet to play well in McFarland as in Peoria, and the audience was entranced each time I went to the show. And what a show!
Slick Sam Siegmann inspects
a pair of bloomers
Ally Schmaling was simply radiant as Laurey Williams, all sweetness, light, and confusion. Ally has a fresh and deceptively simple acting style; everything she does on stage seems the most natural thing in the world. A good actress can make you forget you're watching an actress, but one of Ally's calibre lets you forget you're watching a character: her Laurey was not a made-up thing, but a real person, a young woman with a beating heart. Ally's deft, lovely voice enchantingly embodied the role, and her perfect intonation made transitions from speech to song seem unforced, as they must if we are to buy the whole musical theater premise of people who bust out singing whenever their souls are too brimming for prose.
Isis Leonard Descends into the Pit
Beau Peregoy's rich, warm singing voice carried Curly over the hurdle from blunt cowpoke to heart-on-his-sleeve young lover. The ages-long first scene could chew up a less resilient performer, but Beau carried it off every night, and still arrived at the big title number with enough energy to strut his spiffy white suit and get the audience all riled up over Ohhhklahoma. His suicide sales pitch to Jud was so convincing that it might easily have ended the show early by removing The Rival; by Saturday night, Beau had this scene down so pat he could have sold refrigerators to Eskimos. And his sense of timing is impeccable: all three nights, I was actually worried that Curly wouldn't get back to the auction with his saddle in time to stop Jud from getting Laurie.
Ben DuCharme: not as
menacing when he's recovering
from a well-earned bow
Bridget Norris was all over Aunt Eller like a crow on a June bug, playing the headstrong old woman as a force of nature. If she pointed a gun at me and told me to sing, I'd sing, even if I knew it was a prop. Was her line changed from "lots of things happen to women" to "lots of things happen to folks"? If it was, I'd bet Bridget had a hand in that.
Ben Psyk gives Alyssa Gray
an Oklahoma Hello
Of all the personalities in the show, Jud Fry elicits the most divergent reactions among the other characters, ranging from Aunt Eller's defence of him as a hardworking man who should not be begrudged his taste for racy pictures, to Laurey's near-hysterical fear. We know what to expect from everybody else; but who is Jud? If this variety is to make any sense at all, Jud must be played as more than a Flat Me bad guy. Ben DuCharme brought plenty of depth to the role. It was a good choice to keep Jud's song instead of cutting it to match the film version; Ben sang it admirably, using it as the character's crux, and making all his other actions believable.
Ben Psyk as Will Parker was properly hapless but sound of heart, his head so in a whirl over Ado Annie that he needed no other reason for having trouble holding on to his money. But neither was he a Milquetoast; he spit some sparks when he tried to lay down the law about how his willful gal must behave, and when he resorted to pinning her down in the only way she's equipped to understand, he did it with panache.
I thought the snort Winnie Karanja tacked onto Gertie Cummings' horsey laugh was delightful, but that's not enough to make a character; she delivered her lines well, too.
Kolin Walker (AITDJB 2008, SB 2007 - 2008) was bright and active both as overridden Marshal Cord Elam and as a member of the chorus. His face always had something going on, and he appeared to embody the performer's true spirit: he wanted to be there, doing that show for us.
But what can I say about Sam Siegmann? His Ali Hakim was too honest to be a shyster, and too shifty to be cowpoke; too free to be a farmer, and (almost) too smart to be husband. I guess he must be a pedlar. Sam milked the role for all it was worth, and sometimes more, putting his wicked sense of comedic timing to devastating use. I'm not sure what his accent was meant to be (he might have been checking for bells on my leg when he told me it was Persian, and he learned it on the Web), but he managed it consistently, and kept it both exotic and understandable. Kudos!
Jud Fry may talk big about arson, but Alyssa Gray's wholesomely lusty Ado Annie was the real barn-burner in this show. She was fulgent from horn to hoof, visually, dramatically, and vocally alive every instant she was on stage. Of a character that can be a scatterbrained skank, she made an Ado Annie who was shrewd but single-minded, and ripe with enthusiasm. Her performance Thursday night was already packed with detail and nuance; incredibly, it got better each night. Oh, and she can sing, too.
Glenn and V:
woodwinds extraordinaire
The AITDJB was well represented in the pit orchestra, with Isis Leonard (WitR 2003 - 2007, SS 2004 - 2007, AITDJB 2007 - 2008), Glenn Nielsen (AITDJB 2001 - 2008), Brian Vanderbloemen (AITDJB 2005 - 2008), Michelle Naegele (soon to be a member of the Solstice Brass), and of course the incomparable Anne Nichols (AITDJB 2005 - 2007). I know I say this every year (even years when my daughter is not in the pit), but the orchestra sounded fantastic. Dave Heilman held down two (three?) percussion parts with his usual grace and incisiveness. Ben Peterson, new music faculty at MHS, showed that he can play bass as well as he can marshall kids. Glenn and V. could not, of course, have been more perfect on clarinet, bring that instruments considerable vocabulary to bear on the show's moods. It has been said of Michelle Naegele that her "afterbeats kicked butt". And Isis held her own among the big dogs; the bassoon's wry commentary was important, and she made it speak.
Kolin Walker in midair
(and what a shame I don't have
an image of his real
tendon-pulling moment!)
Eric Brehm's direction was wise and careful. He has some fine materials at his disposal among MHS thespians, and he used them. But neither did he stint in shaping the cameos and chorus into living components of a vibrant show. (Among the chorus, Kolin Walker and Brittney Leemon were particularly good at projecting reactions that made them look involved in the central action). Brehm's staging was quite conservative, with regard for example to which sequences to play in front of the curtain, or what all the roles were supposed to be about. But that's as it should be, for this show in this situation. Everything was clean. His actors were well prepared, able to take mishaps in stride by avoiding loops and covering for dropped phrases. Regional pronunciation was universally present and mostly self-consistent among the leads and supporting actors, although I was confused about what was going on with the plural of 'woman.'
Brittney Leemon, looking
alert and interested
Choreography was smooth and appropriate, a pleasure to watch: within the dancers' capabilities, but not insultingly bland. I particularly enjoyed Will Parker's pas de trois with the ladies of a sort a gentleman never mentions. Typically spare scenery was just right, especially the artful backdrop. Nice windmill, too. Sound was OK. Mic cue problems on Thursday night were mostly resolved by Friday, as was the occasional crackle in the ampificiation system. The latter seems to originate between the mic receiver and the amp or preamp, since when it happened it affected everyone's mic at once, increasing its annoyance.
One other quibble: while comedic timing is difficult or impossible to teach, audience awareness is something that can be learned. More than a few good lines were lost to the audience's hearing because actors forged ahead while we were still laughing at the previous line. This is not to say that the audience should be allowed to hold the actors hostage with regard to pacing. But when there are two funny lines back to back, the second one can be even funnier if the audience is allowed just enough time to almost finish laughing at the first one, before being hit with the second. This sort of thing can be practiced. Does the drama department need a volunteer to help them practice it? If the next MHS show is as good as this Oklahoma!, I'd be happy, as an unbiased observer, to come to dress rehearsals and laugh.
Dixie 2004
AITDJB 2004
10 NOVEMBER 2008:
WYSO CONCERT A FEAST OF BASSOONERYThomas Buchhauser, conductor of WYSO's Philharmonia Orchestra, is known as the Overture King, with good reason: he includes one in nearly every program. They do please audiences. And an overture's need to pack references to a dozen differently-coloured themes into a short work pretty much guarantees that there'll be a good bassoon part. So Isis makes out pretty well. Here's the program from Saturday's Phil concert:![]()
Most of Isis Leonard's head, in concert
Three Dances from the Music to Henry VIII, by Edward GermanActually some of the juiciest bassoon stuff was in the Shostakovich dances; and of course Bizet can't keep his hands off a double reed. Isis handled it all with superior marksmanship and emotion.
Symphony #1 in C Major, by Georges Bizet
First Ballet Suite, by Dmitri Shostakovich
Overture to Poet and Peasant, by Franz von Suppe
The 2003 Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band
Tonya Neumann, Becky Schultz, David Wilson, Autumn Leonard,
The Thorson, Amanda DeBoer, Bria Mason;
Brad Anderson, Quinn Leonard;
Glenn Nielsen (not shown)
Bria Mason in a radio booth
2 NOVEMBER 2008:
Among the many sgallas worn by Bria Mason (AITDJB 2002 - 2006, SB 2003), the one she keeps nearest her mixtly-metaphoric heart is perhaps her deep involvement in the Edinburgh University Folk Society (EUFolksoc). During her four years in Edinburgh she's become a Folksoc fixture; usually she's President or something, as she is now. On Sunday 2 November she took her talents to airwaves, appearing as guest presenter on Fresh Folk, a Folksoc-mediated radio show playing "all the best old and new folk music from all over the world". Picking up the live broadcast in the States is dicey at best, but they also stream. They play scads of good stuff. Check them out!
BRIA MASON TAKES TO THE AIR
Bria is a natural for radio, with a first-rate voice and an engaging personality; a show near Allhallows' Eve was a natural for her, as that's a topic on which she can speak with some knowledge and passion. And she played Mrs. Ravoon, to boot!
Pretty Shiny Things
The 2008 Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band float
Isis plays Monti
1 NOVEMBER 2008:
Playing on a new set of Gypsy strings, Isis Leonard (WitR 2003 - 2007, SS 2004 - 2007, AITDJB 2007 - 2008) gave a fiery performance of Vittorio Monti's Czardas for violin and piano on Sunday. The event was a recital for students in the Suzuki Strings of Madison program, and was held at Madison's Covenant Presbyterian Church (which, apropos of nothing, has a very pleasant labyrinth).
ISIS' TZIGANE CZARDAS
Monti was an Italian violinist and conductor who flourished during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As a composer he was a one-hit wonder, but his Czardas is a staple of Gypsy orchestras everywhere. Isis' interpretation of the piece was at once colourful and precise, milked for drama but not to the point of bathos. And she managed the infamous false-harmonics section admirably.
Dixie music: serious business
a Roisum, Ally Schmaling, and Beau Peregoy
under the Big Top Tent at the
McFarland Family Festival, 20 September 2008
The door to the
Schlosskirche at
Wittenberg. Luther
nailed his theses here.27 OCTOBER 2008:
Well, some of them, anyway.
SOLSTICE BRASS REFORMS!
Last Sunday was Reformation Sunday, observed by Lutherans and some other Protestants in remembrance of the 16th-century movement to break away from the Catholic Church's perceived overindulgences and other malpractices. Glenn Nielsen (AITDJB 2001 - 2008), as musical director for the McFarland Lutheran Church, likes to turn out a brass group for this holiday, as he does for Easter. Autumn Leonard (AITDJB 2001 - 2008, SB 2001 - 2007), Frank Ransley (SB 2003 - 2007, AITDJB 2004 - 2008), and Quinn Leonard (SB 2001 - 2008, AITDJB 2001 - 2008) were part of this season's six-member ensemble, performing under Glenn's direction, with and without the Lutheran Senior Choir.
The music was pretty lively for a Lutheran church, featuring as pre- and postludes Tilman Susato's Three Dances. Susato was an early Renaissance musician, composer, publisher, and printer, with premises in Antwerp 'at the Sign of the Crumhorn'. His Three Dances are a Ronde, a Pavanne, and a Salterelle; you can listen to them (although not us playing them) here: Co-Op Press.
Also on the program was Robert A. Hobby's new work Clouds of Witnesses Surround Us, for SATB, Organ, Brass Quartet, Timpani, and "optional congregation". We did without the last two named, and it sounded grand. (The title refers to Hebrews 12 directly, not via the Wimsey mystery.) The brass group also joined the choir for two hymns.
"Up a Fifth" at MHS Cabaret 2005
Featuring Zach Staszewski (far right)
Members of the 2008 Marching Spartans
prepare for their final performance of the season.
20 OCTOBER 2008:
SWINGIN' IN THE RAIN
It was raining on the football field at game time last Friday night, but the footballers seemed willing to go on. The band did, too, and their last performance of the 2008 season was musically much more solid than was their show at Homecoming. Pregame formations included the standard "M" for McFarland, and a perhaps-unfortunate "BJ" for enemy team Brodhead/Judah - but, hey, the BJs chose their own school name and have to live with the consequences. We heard Hail to the Victors during the "M", of course. Then we were treated to Illinois Loyalty, the school song of the BJs. Having moved to the Rock Valley North athletic conference for reasons that were explained in the McThistle (and which are not, therefore, entirely clear to me), McFarland teams are holding first place in about 79 different sports this year. One advantage of the move is that our footballers get to grind up kids from smaller schools as if they were Wienerschnitzel-fodder, as for example in the Spartan's 40-0 Homecoming victory massacre vs. East Troy. (Sparta vs. Troy: put that in your Mud Show and smoke it! If this were baseball, it'd be a Homer.) But the real advantage is that we get to hear the band play some new school songs.
Pregame finished up with a marching-band version of 25 Or 6 To 4, the 1970 Billboard Hot 100 hit by Chicago (the band, not the asteroid), and if you don't think that was surreal, you didn't live through the '70s. Why did Mr. Peterson choose this song? Does he believe Chicago's claim that the lyric is, somehow, "not drug related"? Actually it's kinda cool that he snuck one in under the radar of the school's Thou Shalt Not Glorify Drugs policy. Or maybe the title merely refers to a McFarland baseball score, now that we're in the new athletic conference. Anyway, the band played well and at good tempo. We don't have cheerleaders at McFarland - not the kind who actually lead cheers, I mean - so during 25 Or 6 to 4, the McFarland High School Dance Team came out and jumped around.
At each Halftime performance the band has built its show a bit more. On Friday, in addition to the John Williams sequence of Twentieth Century Fanfare, Star Wars, ET, Jurassic Park, and Raiders of the Lost Ark that we've heard before, they performed Apache (Jump On It) and Final Countdown, done as mostly-Senior features to recognize the 45 band members who will by this time next year be MHS alumni. And the show closed, of course, with Finally Victors.
Eric Adams, Sticks of Fury
McFarland High School Pep Band Concert, 2007
13 OCTOBER 2008:
GLENN NIELSEN IS SIMPLY GIFTED
Glenn Nielsen performed Joseph Brackett's Shaker dance song Simple Gifts at a farewell party for David and Barbara Houghton held on 30 September. The Houghtons have been a blessing to McFarland, giving generously of their time, talents, and funds in support of many causes on the side of Light and Truth - the Libraries in particular. Glenn was accompanied by Joyce Wildt on guitar, and as they played, Meg Nielsen spoke of the Houghtons' civic spirit. The Second String Violin Duo
Nora Hickey and Isis Leonard, 2004
6 OCTOBER 2008:
RANKS OF MARCHING ALUMNI CONTINUE TO SWELL WITHOUT BURSTING
Bill Garvey returns to conduct the 2008 March Spartans and Alumni
The Homecoming program ran thusly:
Pregame:Anne Nichols sang the National Anthem with her usual intelligence, and with extra gusto: those belting workouts to tackle Muzzy continue to pay dividends.Hail to the Victors
Go You Northwestern (the school song of enemy footballers East Troy)
Malaguena (a joint feature of the Regular and Alumni Bands, and the Dance Team
Halftime:Twentieth Century Fanfare
Star Wars
Jurassic Park
Grease (with the Dance Team)
Raiders March
WYSO Concert Orchestra
with Isis Leonard, 4 March 2006
The 2008 Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band's float
in the McFarland Homecoming/Family Festival parade
28 SEPTEMBER 2008:
THE FLOAT WAS SHINY
Vocalists
Ally Schmaling (AITDJB 2008) and
Beau Peregoy (AITDJB 2008)
threw glittery bead necklaces to the happy McFarlanders lining the route of the 2008 Homecoming/Festival Parade last Sunday, but I think that's only part of the reason why we saw so many smiling faces. It warms my heart to know that people feel a genuine appreciation for the Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band: they like hearing our live music, and would miss us if we were gone. Thank you!This year's homecoming theme was "Candyland", but the band expressed a certain resistance to dressing up like a pack of Dum-Dums. So we went with our usual costume. The white hats were $9 apiece at Farm and Fleet in 2001, and replacements are no longer available; when they finally grow manky from the sweat of too many brows, we'll have to strike out upon a new adventure in headgear. Our big red bow ties come from Mallatt's Pharmacy in Madison, which continues to carry them - for some reason the bow ties we wear are shelved in the clown supplies section; go figure. But at least our tie supply is safe.
Not everyone was able to join us on the float. Present and wailing were:
Glenn Nielsen (AITDJB 2001 - 2008),Missing were:
Frank Ransley (SB 2003 - 2007, AITDJB 2004 - 2008),
Gena Roisum (AITDJB 2007 - 2008, WitR 2005 - 2007),
Autumn Leonard (AITDJB 2001 - 2008, SB 2001 - 2007),
Ally Schmaling (AITDJB 2008),
Beau Peregoy (AITDJB 2008),
Brad Anderson (AITDJB 2001 - 2008),
Isis Leonard (WitR 2003 - 2007, SS 2004 - 2007, AITDJB 2007 - 2008), and
Quinn Leonard (SB 2001 - 2008, AITDJB 2001 - 2008).
Andrea Bakunowicz (AITDJB 2005 - 2008),We missed you all. So long 'till the next chart!
Amanda DeBoer (AITDJB 2001 - 2008),
Brian Vanderbloemen (AITDJB 2005 - 2008), and
Eric Adams (AITDJB 2005 - 2008), all of whom had other commitments.
Sara Siegmann (AITDJB 2004 - 2008) is in Turkey, and declined to fly home for the parade.
Kolin Walker (AITDJB 2008, SB 2007) was absent due to concussion.
And two of our 2008 guest performers - Pat Dorn and David Michaels - could not join us.
The Red Hot Horn Dawgs
with Tonya Neumann, 2006
The 2008 Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band
singing " 'gins to play" at the McFarland
Family Festival.
L to R: Beau Peregoy, Ally Schmaling, Frank Ransley,
Gena Roisum, Pat Dorn, Andrea Bakunowicz,
Autumn Leonard. Hidden are Brad Anderson,
Quinn Leonard, and Isis Leonard.">
27 SEPTEMBER 2008:
IT'S NOT A FESTIVAL UNLESS THERE'S A DIXIE BAND
The Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band wrapped up its eighth red-letter year at the McFarland Family Festival last weekend, with three sets under the Big Top on Saturday and a float in the parade on Sunday. We were happy be joined by Pat Dorn on Saturday, sitting in for Glenn on clarinet. New vocalists Ally Schmaling and Beau Peregoy acquitted themselves with aplomb, and we hope they'll be back next year.We trotted out some old chestnuts for the Big Top show; but also, striving as ever to bring cutting-edge Dixieland jazz to the good people of McFarland, we showcased some new favourites: Weary Blues, Sweet Georgia Brown, Smoke House Ramble, and Maple Leaf Rag all debuted on our playlist this year.
The band was well received on Saturday, especially since we performed near the lunch tables during the noon hour, when many were captive. Autumn Leonard provided between-sets entertainment in the form of banjo with voice support, or contrariwise singing with banjo support. He performed Still Alive, Jamaica Farewell, When I'm Sixty-Four, Freeze Ray, and two other things.
A Forest of Bassoons
Isis Leonard at the UW's 2006 Double Reed Days
26 SEPTEMBER 2008:
MARCHING BAND MAKES BIG "M" ON FIELD
The 2008 Marching Spartans in their first show of the season
The Marching Spartans sounded good and looked sharp for their first outing of the season. Under the direction of new man Brian Petersen, with field assistance from Michelle Naegele and Brian Vanderbloemen (AITDJB 2005 - 2008), the band marched a pre-game drill and part of a halftime show. Appetizers included Hail to the Victors, listed in the program as "a salute to [our] fall athletes", and a rendition of On Wisconsin, the school song of enemy team Jefferson. Next up was a brass-and-woodwinds rendition of Michael Jackson's Thriller, an arrangement that always seems bland to me - let's drive the analogy 'till the doors fall off, and call Thriller the fruit course. While the fruit played, the Poms and Dance Team jumped about. The band's sound on these old chestnuts was cleaner and better married than it generally is this early in the fall. There were a few irregular entanglements in the front lines, but mostly the marching was clean.
The halftime show was a John Williams tribute, and here the band's separate practice at marching and playing really paid off. The show opened with the Twentieth Century Fanfare, and included themes from Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and ET.
University of Edinburgh production of THE BARTERED BRIDE
Bria Mason, 2006
22 SEPTEMBER 2008:
GENA IN A DORIAN MODE
Trombones at a Dorian music camp
"I arrived at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, on June 22 for the weeklong senior high Dorian music camp after an Iowan friend's recommendation. The first thing I did was (gulp) an audition. For clarinet I auditioned for band and orchestra (at camp there was also choir, musical theatre workshop, organ and guitar workshops, etc), and had been planning on auditioning for jazz band on tenor sax. However, I chickened out after realizing the mad skills of the other saxophonists, and that audition was cancelled. I fit into the 200 some piece band (there were 35 flutes!) as second clarinet, first chair. I was also able to be in the Wind Ensemble, a pared-down group that played "The Rakes of Mallow." I was excited and a bit apprehensive when I saw that I had made it into orchestra, especially since the other clarinet was section leader. I'd never played in an orchestra, and I loved it. The first day it was so cool seeing all the string instruments warming up and getting a feel for everything. It was a challenge (and I was never told to play softer, but that's not to say I didn't try.) :) McFarland's new band teacher, Mr. Petersen, was a counselor at the camp and directed one of our band songs (Methuselah II), and I got to meet him, so that was cool. Actually, our conductor got really sick, so we ended up with a different conductor for each band song. But it all worked out. Eugene Rousseau (saxophonist, check him out on Wikipedia!) came to camp and gave several masterclasses for the woodwind players. He was so good."
The camp's ensembles performed their closing concerts on Saturday 28 June; I am posting this in September because I only just now got hold of a recording of the event. The orchestra performed:
Crown Imperial Coronation March, by William Walton
Montagues and Capulets, from Sergei Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet Suite
A Gaelic Overture, by David O'Fallon
the Waltz from Peter Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty
Leroy Anderson's immortal Blue Tango
The Concert Band program ran thus:
The Rakes of Mallow, by the versatile Mr. Leroy Anderson
Abracadabra, by Frank Ticheli
On the Mall, by Edwin Goldman
Solas Ane (Yesterday's Joy), by Sammy Hazo
Cloudburst, by Eric Whitacre Methuselah II, by Masaru Tanaka
Carleton College production of INTO THE WOODS
Amanda DeBoer, 2006
15 SEPTEMBER 2008:
RETURN OF THE MARCHING SPARTANS
The McFarland Spartans gear up, without their gear
This year's shows will have a John Williams theme: when we open our windows, bits of Star Wars, E. T., and Raiders of the Lost Ark come drifting from the practice field of an evening. But I, for one, miss Bill Garvey's quiet voice gently instructing the students.
Guys and Dolls
The Hot Box Dancers in the 2005
McFarland High School production of Guys and Dolls
8 SEPTEMBER 2008:
ERIC WAMS EUROPE
Eric Adams in Austria
Click here to hear the Seefeld performance (it's an mp4 file; if you can't play it, let me know.) Or, click here to hear the 2005 MHS percussion ensemble's rendition. Or, try the YouTube video.
Solstice Brass 2003
L to R: Autumn Leonard,
Danielle Meissen, Frank Ransley
1 SEPTEMBER 2008:
AITDJB VOCALISTS SWEEP TOP SPOTS IN OKLAHOMA!
Ally and Beau on the Capitol steps
In 1906, in the Oklahoma Territory, baritone cowboy Curly McLain (Beau) loves lyric-soprano farmgirl Laurey Williams (Ally). She loves him, too, but they are both too stubborn to show it during the first act. Laurey's hulking farmhand, Jud Fry, wants her for himself, and although Laurie is uneasy around Jud, she's not above flirting with him to get Curly's goat. Meanwhile Ado Annie is dallying - gently - with different two men and having trouble deciding which one she wants; she cain't say no to either of them. There's also a bit of slapstick agrarian angst betwixt herders and farmers, and one loverboy makes a blackly lighthearted attempt at convincing his rival to commit suicide for the common good, but most of the dramatic tension comes from the lovers' setups. As it should.
MHS Cabaret 2008 Seniors
25 AUGUST 2008:
18th COMMUNITY BAND SEASON GOES OUT WITH WICKED GOOD FAITH
Isis Leonard warms on up
The band performed rather well, even on the technically challenging Rush, especially considering that there were only four rehearsals between this concert and the previous one. One casualty of the season was the march section from Paul Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis; the band had done some preliminary spadework on a challenging arrangement of this piece, and was coming along nicely, but time constraints kept it from being really developed. Next year?
- The Star-Spangled Banner (A flat version)
- Cable At Night, arranged by Paul Jennings; a medley including themes from "I Love Lucy", "I Dream of Jeannie", "The Munsters", "Bewitched", and "The Bob Newhart Show"
- Seven Inch Framed, by Dick Brosse
- American Riversongs, a folksong setting for band, by local composer Pierre La Plante
- Rush, a mixed-meter extravaganza by Sammy Hazo
- The Liberty Bell March, by John Phillip Sousa
- John Williams In Concert, a medley arranged by Paul Lavender, featuring themes from E.T.; the Imperial Death March, Main Title theme, and Cantina Band melody from Star Wars; the NBC News Mission Theme; Olympic Spirit; and the shark bit from Jaws
- Selections from "Wicked". a medley drawn from the Broadway show with music by Stephen Schwartz; this arrangement, by Jay Bocock, included No One Mourns the Wicked, Dancing Through Life, No Good Deed, and Defying Gravity
- Semper Fidelis, by John Phillip Sousa; arranged by James Scott
Go BACK TO THE TOP or TO OUR HOME PAGE
The 2002 Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band
L to R: Jonathan Alden, Glenn Nielsen, Steve Thorson, Becky Schultz,
Autumn Leonard, Quinn Leonard, Amanda DeBoer; Brad Anderson hidden
18 AUGUST 2008:
ANNE IS MUZZY ALL OVER
Anne Nichols as Muzzy Van Hossmeer
It has been suggested (not by me!) that Anne was so perfectly cast as Muzzy that the result scarcely counts as acting, and in fact her portrayal of the singer and bon vivant appeared frighteningly natural. But it's clear that McFarland's own Voice Goddess approached the role through hard work and thorough preparation. Everything she did, whether egging on the young lovers or cavorting with chorus boys, was spot-on and brilliant. Muzzy's character solves the plot - those in need a synopsis can find one here: TMM - and although that's slightly less true in the stage version than in the film, as usual it turns out that things would fall completely apart without Anne.
It takes a lot of power to live up to a showcase number like Long As I'm Here With You. Anne's got it. The image above shows Muzzy and Muzzy's Boys romping through Long As I'm Here, but even if it were a recording it couldn't convey the excitement of Anne nailing the nosebleed seats: she just cranked it up and let it fly. In her other big number, Only In New York, she showed more nuance than may be usual for this role. The piece is an advice bulletin from Muzzy to Millie, and Anne managed to keep the tone of a tete-a-tete without sacrificing any volume.
Often enough, the difference that makes a show superb on Broadway but merely fun in local theater lies with the cast of supporting characters. Four Seasons is apparently awash in talent. Every speaking role in this production was covered by a competent, sometimes a brilliant, actor; and they could all sing, to boot. The standout was Jace Nichols in his portrayal of Millie's boss, Mr. Trevor Graydon: think of a Buzz Lightyear who knows he's comic, controlled by an intellect of wickedly precise timing, and sporting a resionous bass/baritone singing voice. Amy L. Welk was excellent as the evil Mrs. Meers, who runs Millie's hotel as a body-snatching operation; every time she spoke or moved, she was over the top without ever jumping the shark, and the audience loved her. And until I encountered Katrina Williams Brunner's Miss Flannery, I never knew how sexy and hilarious elbows could be.
The production was backed by a really fine 22-piece orchestra, which also included some familiar faces. Jerry Hrovat, who sat in with the AITDJB for the 2008 McFarland Citizen of the Year banquet, was in the pit playing flute, bari sax, and bass clarinet with his usual elegant grace. Sam Livingston, who did some time at McFarland High School, was technically in the pit but actually on the stage-right apron, which was cool, because it was fun to watch him covering what seemed to be three mallet parts at once.
An aside on the music: in his program notes, director Andrew Abrams points out that not all the music in the show was written for the show, and challenges us to identify it. The dances extracted from Duke Ellington's adaptation of the Nutcracker Suite were clear enough. Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life! / I'm Falling In Love With Somebody comes from Victor Herbert's Naughty Marietta. And the bit lifted from Ruddigore is the patter song My Eyes Are Fully Open, done there by Mad Margaret and Sirs Ruthven and Despard Murgatroyd; it appears here as The Speed Test. As for which songs were retained from the 1967 Julie Andrews film, and which were new for the stage - well, I was having to much fun to pick those nits.
The 2003 Wind in the Reeds ensemble
L to R: Isis Leonard, Quinn Leonard, Melissa Wilcosz, Becca Funk
A small portion of the AITDJB audience at the
Dane County Farmers' Market, 2 August 2008
11 AUGUST 2008:
CHAIN-LINK FENCES RESTRAIN VAST AITDJB AUDIENCE AT FARMERS' MARKET
The Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band performed within the hearing of hundreds or thousands of people on Saturday 2 August 2008 at the Dane County Farmers Market. The band took over the steps of the Wisconsin State Capitol, on the State Street side: our Front Line had a clear shot all the way to the University. As early as four hours before our noon performance time, the Capitol square was dense with a circulating, restless mass of people. Capitol police tore up sidewalks on the two sides of the square flanking State Street, and erected a double layer of tall chain-link fences, apparently all for the band's protection. The churning crowd roiled against the barriers, but was kept at distance greater than the range to which the average Wisconsinite can accurately throw delicious, locally-grown produce.
Amanda DeBoer
2008
lolecule 2008
A 2008 Front Line
A new permutation of our Front Line
4 AUGUST 2008:
FOUR FOR FORTIFICATION
The AITDJB has strengthened itself with an infusion of four new members, all of whom performed in a really great Dixie concert at the Larson Park gazebo on Thursday 31 July. Biographies of the new folk will be posted as soon as they overcome their shyness and modesty - traits common to most jazz musicians - and send me some material; if the links that follow don't work today, they will soon. The new members are:
David Michaels, bari sax;
Beau Peregoy, vocals;
Ally Schmaling, vocals; and
Kolin Walker, trumpet. They all acquitted themselves in manners befitting proud AITDJB-ers. (It need hardly be mentioned that each of the new members had his or her Pink Bowtie Moment at the concert. Copies of the images are available free; the originals may be destroyed for a nominal fee.)
David Michaels
2008
Beau Peregoy
2008
Beau Peregoy is the first bass voice to sing solo vocals with the band, and he casts a new light on such standards as Muskrat Ramble and Midnight in Moscow. We all look forward to watching his repertoire expand.
Ally Schmaling
2008
Kolin Walker
2008
Kolin Walker is a veteran of the McFarland Musketeers and various of Quinn's "enrichment" groups at school, despite which he came on board the Solstice Brass last winter as second trumpet. His steadily-maturing tone bodes well for his performances in the AITDJB's front line.
Our special guests for this concert were the Fiddlin' Fun Fiddlers, under the direction of Shelley Lampe and accompanied by Joe Dever. The Fiddlers performed two between-sets sets, and sounded fantastic. We made an announcement in support of McFarland's long-overdue string music program, due to get off the ground this fall; response was lively.
The 2005 Solstice Brass: Smokin'!
The Retirement Band
28 JULY 2008:
BILL GARVEY RETIRES AGAIN
After teaching instrumental music at MHS for 31 years, Bill Garvey has retired. Again. The beloved band director has had a slew of farewells already: tearful final concerts; a last, thundering Pep Band show with a tribute from the UW Marching Band; a retirement dinner. Rumour has it that he told his wife, Michelle: "No more. I do not want a surprise party." Naturally, she threw him a surprise party.
A few hundred of Bill's close friends gathered in the banquet room above the Coliseum bar in Madison on the evening of Saturday 19 July. Bill's brass quintet performed at a wedding nearby, then led him, in his innocence, to the room where we all were waiting. Frank Ransley on trumpet, Quinn Leonard on eupho, and Isis Leonard on bassoon were joined by John Berg on trumpet in welcoming Bill by playing Hail To the Chief and On Wisconsin. His jaw dropped. I think it was surprise.
After that, things got rowdy, what with Bill's old college roommates and student teachers telling us what they really thought of him; I'll draw the curtain here, and say no more.
It's Community Band season!
21 JULY 2008:
COMMUNITY BAND SLIPS ONE IN UNDER THE WIRE
Isis (aiming barrel of bassoon
at the camera)and Eric's head
The Star-Spangled Banner
Celebration Galop by Justin Riley, who was a student teacher at MHS last year. Mr. Riley conducted his work in its world premier performance this evening, and joined the MCB trombone section for our other numbers.
Gaelic Rhapsody, by Eliot A. Del Borgo
Second Suite for Military Band by Gustav Holst
Les Miserables, in a medley arranged for "young band" by Johnnie Vinson
All Glory Told, by James Swearingen
the Rondo from Robert Jager's Third Suite for concert band
The Stars and Stripes Forever
AITDJB members who performed with the band include Gena Roisum, Frank Ransley, Quinn Leonard, Isis Leonard, Scott Birrenkott, and Eric Adams; Glenn Nielsen and Autumn Leonard were on leave of absence.
Gena Roisum with the 2008 McFarland Community Band
14 JULY 2008:
LOLECULE TO BOND WITH AITDJB
The blokes of lolecule
Lolecule and their music have appeared several times on the UW student-run radio station, WSUM. If you want to judge the folkiness of their music yourself, you can find videos on YouTube. A good place to start is Insert Line Here
Lolecule will be joining us live as the between-sets entertainment during our performance at the Dane County Farmers' Market on Saturday 2 August.
Blue Notes gals at State, 2004
Tonya Neumann, far left;
Amanda DeBoer, next to Tonya
Ally Schmaling
7 JULY 2008:
NEW BLOOD IN THE AITDJB
For the 2008 season the Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band are pleased to welcome three new members. Bios, and pink-bowtie images, will be posted here soon.Ally Schmaling (right) and Beau Peregoy join us as vocalists. Kolin Walker will be spelling Frank on trumpet for a few pieces.
The AITDJB at the McFarland Citizen of the Year banquet
March 2008
l to r: Frank Ransley, Glenn Nielsen, Jerry Hrovat, Autumn Leonard
(Eric Adams's ear behind Glenn's arm)
30 JUNE 2008:
BLUES IN THE NIGHT JOYOUS AND UPLIFTING
Gena Roisum, taking
a solo in 2006
But we turn out for the music, not the atmosphere, and much of the music was excellent. Directors Bill Garvey, Michelle Naegele, Anne Nichols (AITDJB 2005 - 2007), and Brian Vanderbloemen (AITDJB 2005 - 2008), and student teachers Pat Hanson-Schmitt and Justin Riley, deserve to be proud of their charges.
The MHS Blue Notes vocal jazz ensemble opened the show. The group has grown from its first incarnation as a tightly-knit octet, to this year's 16-member force; the size feels a bit unwieldy at times, but having a double octet at her disposal gives Ms. Nichols a great deal of flexibility in the arrangements she can choose. At Blues in the Night we heard Blue Skies (sadly, without the clean, pure solo we learned to love when Kate Mackey sang it); a superb arrangement of The Night We Called It a Day; Why Don't You Write Me, featuring lovely solos by Ben Psyk and Sydney Cook; and, from the a capella group Undefined, some song with a name I am not cool enough to know. The Blue Notes sounded great, and were bound to do well at State - which they did. Here's this year's roster:
Soprano: Kelsey Beck, Sydney Cook, Alyssa Grey(This summer, the Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band is happy to welcome Ally and Beau, who will lend us their vocal talents, and Kolin, who will play trumpet.)
Soprano 2: Melissa Kuehl, Caley Polipnick, Ally Schmaling
Alto: Audra Cohen, Amanda Maund, Melanie Williams
Tenor: Michael Flaherty, Ben Psyk, Kolin Walker
Bass: Danny DeBoer, Ben DuCharme, Beau Peregoy, Brandon Zimmerman
Here's the official District blurb for the Blue Notes, quoted from the 2008 Blues in the Night program:
"The Blue Notes started in 1998 as an auditioned vocal jazz ensemble under the direction of Anne Nichols at McFarland High School. Students are required to audition for the ensemble in the fall and must be in one of the three curricular choirs at McFarland High School. Once students are chosen, they remain in the group for the duration of their high school years to keep the group as consistent as possible. This year our group is comprised of 16 young musicians.
"Since the group was founded, they have successfully competed at district and state solo/ensemble festivals every year, receiving 1* and 1 ratings respectively. The Blue Notes also function as musical ambassadors to McFarland High School performing at community events throughout the year. The group primarily performs vocal jazz music in 4 to 8 parts.
Other past performance opportunities have included opening for the professional a cappella group "Rockapella" for the Muscular Dystrophy Benefit Concert at Oregon High School and the collegiate a cappella group "MadHatters" in the spring of 2006 at Overture Hall."
While I'm quoting hunks of text, here's what the same program had to say about the McFarland Jazz Ensembles:
"Jazz Ensemble in McFarland Schools is provided as an opportunity for students to learn about and perform a uniquely American art form. Rehearsal time is scheduled outside of the normal school day (and for some it's very early in the morning) with the intent to allow students to have experiences with a different type of ensemble than the Concert Bands that meet during the school day.OK. That said, we did in fact hear some inspired improvisational work from McFarland jazz musicians.
"The Jazz Ensembles perform a wide variety of music, from Blues to Swing to Rock to Latin and more. The idea is to expose students to to a wide array of different styles and concepts of music, broadening their exposure to music from different times and origins.
"Jazz Ensemble also allows students the chance to more freely and openly express themselves through improvised solos on their instruments. This 'spontaneous composition' is the backbone of Jazz. In fact when Jazz was in its infancy, very little of it was written down. The music was created from the minds of musicians willing to take a chance on something new that had never been done before, and then share that with other performers - usually people who played by ear. Notation came later, which is good, because sometimes the piece of paper with the markings on it can limit the creative mind."
The IMMS band performed In the Midnight Hour, It Don't Mean a Thing, and Uncle Milo's Sideshow. Kevin Bennett is an up-and-coming bari sax player of whom I look forward to hearing more.
The McFarland High School Early Bird Jazz II Ensemble gave us this set:
Low Rider, with solos by Gena Roisum (AITDJB 2007 - 2008, WitR 2005 - 2006) and Alex Brown;
Tiger of San Pedro, featuring Alexander Brown, Kolin Walker, and Becca Funk (WitR 2003 - 2007);
In the Stone;
Pennsylvania 6-5000, with a trumpet solo by Kolin;
Uptown Stomp, with solos by Gena, Becca, Kolin and Sam Bussen; and
Songarama, showcasing Becca and Kolin in a duet which grew to a trio with the addition of Gena
Have I mentioned that members of the AITDJB and Friends dominated this part of the show?
The MHS Early Bird Jazz I Ensemble played the following charts:
In the Mood
Esperanto
Bye Bye Blackbird
Stompin' at the Savoy
Mercy Mercy Mercy
The group gave us a chance to hear Nora Hickey (WitR 2005 - 2007, SS 2004 - 2007) slumming it on trombone, and of course the wonderful Eric Adams (AITDJB 2005 - 2008) on set.
Hot Box dancers in the 2005 MHS production of
Guys and Dolls
23 JUNE 2008:
SONORA STRINGS HIT D.C.
The Jefferson Memorial,
built specially for the
Sonora Strings performance.
Simple Gifts, arranged by
The Merry Birdcatcher, from The Magic Flute, by W. A. Mozart
The Adagio from Vivaldi's Concerto in G minor
A Gavotte by J-P Rameau
Fiddle Faddle, by Leroy Anderson
16 JUNE 2008:
ANNE GETS MUZZY
Carol Channing
(not Anne Nichols)
For ticket information, click on the Wisconsin Union Theater link.
9 JUNE 2008:
PHIL AT OLBRICH
The Overture King
Toccata, by Girolamo Frescobaldi;The concert, originally scheduled to take place al fresco in the Great Circle, was moved inside due to threatening storm clouds. The Gardens' "multipurpose" room could not accommodate all who wished to hear Philharmonia perform, but luckily for those of us who sat outside on the terrace, the rain held off and a fine time was had by all.
Masquerade Suite, mvts. iii, iv, and v, by Aram Khachaturian;
Hungarian March from Hector Berlioz's Damnation of Faust;
The waltz from Eugene Onegin, by Piotr Tchaikovsky;
Overture to Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna, by Franz von Suppe;
American Riversongs, by Pierre LaPlante; and
A Pirates of the Caribbean medley, arranged by Ted Ricketts from Klaus Badelt's film scores.
2 JUNE 2008:
THE BASSOON SPEAKS
Nora and her Holey Wonder
Konzertstuck, by Franz Berwald
Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra, Mvt. 1, by Johann Hummel
The Flight of the Bumblebee, by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Trumpet Prelude, Cowboys, Indians, and Trumpet Postlude, by Mark Goddard; performed with David Reichards
Pine Apple Rag, by Scott Joplin; arranged for two bassoons by Daniel Kelley; performed with Isis Leonard
Peter and the Wolf, by Sergei Prokofiev; arranged by Joachim Linckelmann; performed with Zach Aniel (horn), Elise Larson (oboe), Erin Steele (flute), and Kristina Teuschler (clarinet)
Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra, by Carl Maria von Weber.
DeAnn Larson served as Nora's piano accompanist.
26 MAY 2008:
BILL GARVEY'S LAST MEMORIAL DAY PARADE EVER
On Monday 26 May, the McFarland Marching Spartans took part in the McFarland Memorial Day parade under the direction of Michelle Naegele,
Brian Vanderbloemen, and, for the last time, Bill Garvey. Marching with him were Eric Adams, Nora Hickey, Isis Leonard, Gena Roisum, and Kolin Walker, members of our music groups.
In honor of Bill's long years of service, I present this image from the 1965 McFarland Memorial Day parade. (That date was before even his time.) A whole video clip is available on YouTube, here: MC1965.
Or you can watch it from this embedded viewer:
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23 MAY 2008:
MCFARLAND HIGH SCHOOL PEP BAND CONCERT
The MHS Pep Band Concert on the evening of Friday 23 May 2008 was a real barn-burner, well up to the standards of previous years. There was noise. There was drumming. There were the mandatory renditions of Ewoks, Pirates, and the Beer Barrel Polka. There were even special guests - some surprising, some not; ranging from Bucky Badger to Dave Heilmann, and one other fellow who's larger than life. Here's a complete rundown of the evening's gala:
19 MAY 2008:
BRIA MASON WINS GOLD AT STIRLING MOD
Bria making
mouth music
A Scottish Mod is rather like a Welsh Eisteddfod, but in Gaelic; does that help? A Mod is a festival of Scottish Gaelic culture: traditional music, song, arts, poetry, storytelling, and so forth. Formal competitions form a central part of the Mod, with the right to compete in various events being won by audition. Audition measures, among other things, a contestant's fluency in Scottish Gaelic. Bria holds a gold card, meaning that her audition placed her among the most proficient performers in Scotland.
Bria performed in event 28: female voice 2 songs, singing Tàladh Choinnich Òig (Young MacKenzie's Lullabye) and Cumha do Uilleam Siosal (Lament for William Chisholm), and in event 29: Female voice 1 song: own choice, performing the lovely Cead Deireannach nam Beann (Last Farewell to the Mountains) . She took first place in event 28.
18 MAY 2008:
SUZUKI STRINGS AT WISCONSIN UNION THEATER
On Sunday 18 May, the
Sonora Strings, a violin choir of advanced students drawn from the
Suzuki Strings of Madison program, performed a concert at the venerable Wisconsin Union Theater. Works included pieces by Vivaldi, Dvorak, Bach, and Anonymous.
Isis Leonard (WitR 2003 - 2007, SS 2004 - 2007, AITDJB 2008) was among the performers, who sounded very well.
Diana Popowycz, Maestro of Sonora Strings, ran the concert with her typical flair and precision, allowing more advanced students to showcase their abilities, while younger players joined in on the pieces they were able to play. The Sonora Strings showcase was particularly delightful; they should please audiences during their upcoming Washington D.C. tour.
17 MAY 2008:
MHS CABARET FEATURES PIECES OF SONDHEIM
2008 Singing Seniors
The Blue Notes vocal jazz ensemble was cool and elegant with its rendition of Nate Mendl's arrangement of Car Wash. Kolin Walker, who joined the Solstice Brass last winter, is a member of Blue Notes; he also performed Love Song, by Sara Bareilles, as a duet with Kelsey Beck, and ably took the solo turn in the Being Alive segment of the Sondheim medley. Beau Peregoy did a fine job with a fragment of Into the Woods, singing with Bridget Norris.
Among the other numbers, standouts were A Couple of Swells, as rendered by Brandon Zimmermann, Melanie Kloes, and Kyla Miller; and Jenny, performed by Mikey Flaherty and Sam Siegmann. Judy Garland and Fred Astaire were the definitive Swells, in MGM's film Easter Parade, which won Irving Berlin the 1948 Academy Award for best score; you can watch Fred and Judy do their inimitable thing here: Swells. But the performers at Cabaret brought their own cache to the number, serving it up with obvious delight and intelligence: qualities not always present in a student effort. Jenny is a Flight of the Conchords schtick, quite representative of their angst-meets-dada approach to songcrafting; Flaherty and Siegmann had the thing nailed down perfectly. They looked genuinely pained which, in this case, is praise.
14 MAY 2008:
MHS MUSIC AWARDS LOADED
12 MAY 2008:
WYSO CHAMBER ENSEMBLES ROCK MORPHY
A Christmas ensemble
at Hilldale Mall
17 MARCH 2008: A CONCERT OF SOLOS
Eric Adams
Look for the Silver LiningMusic by Jerome Kern, arranged for trumpet ensemble by Bill Holcombe. The eight trumpers included Nick Bakunowicz (AITDJB 2006), and Eric Adams (AITDJB 2005 - 2008) accompanied on set.Variations on Blue Bells of ScotlandArranged by D. Marlatt for alto sax and piano.Furioso and Valse in D MinorWritten by Earl Hatch; performed by Matt Rush, marimbist.Cumberland CrossComposed by Carl Strommen; performed by the MHS Concert Band.EpigramsA flute ensemble by Anne McGinty.OrionComposed by Jan Van der Roost; performed by the MHS Concert Band.Main StreetA trombone ensemble by Ernest Miller.Phantom PhireAn exuberant snare drum solo, performed with astonishing fire by Eric Adams (AITDJB 2005 - 2008) (who went on to win a WSMA Exemplary Solo Project award for his rendition of the piece at State).Emperata OvertureComposed by Claude T. Smith; performed by the MHS Symphonic Band.Doctor Graduss and PannussomA piano solo by Claude Debussy, flawlessly executed by Leif Larson.A Vision of MajestyKeystone ChopsHornist's NestConcerto in F MajorThe Barber of SevilleMarche Des Parachutistes BelgesRoumanian Folk DancesFirst Suite