Oshkosh Horn Choir schedules their next concert

The Oshkosh Horn Choir, directed by Dr. Bruce Atwell, will perform on Tuesday April 3 In the Music Hall of the Arts and Communications Center on campus at 7PM. They will be joined by Dr. Atwell's students, creating combination of students in recital and a community music concert. The neat thing is that you will hear only French Horns that evening. Featured on the program is a number of jazzy pieces in the first half, followed by some excerpts from The Royal Fireworks Music By George Frederick Handel. I'm looking forward to hearing those excerpts just for the richness of the French Horn sound. The best news is that the concert is free. If you are in the Oshkosh area that evening, I highly recommend attending this concert. Great music and a great deal. You also get to hear the up and coming musicians currently learning their craft. To me, that is a wonderful Tuesday evening.

Concert Preview: Milwaukee Metropolitan Community Concert Band

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Community Concert Band will perform in the Schwan Concert Hall on the campus of Wisconsin Lutheran College on Saturday March 31st at 7 PM.  Director Karen Lippert has chosen the theme Surprise! for the concert.  So, while this is a concert preview, I do not have any idea what they will be playing!

The email they sent describes the concert as follows:  Will it be rock, paper or scissors?   Who will be holding the baton?   What type of new (make that old) horn might you see/hear for the first time?  What more surprises are in store for you?  You'll just have to show up to find out [and bring a friend and/or family member with you too]!!! 

If you need more information, please call (262) 538-4464 or email kmlippert@wi.rr.com.

Not a lot of news

But March has arrived and many concerts are coming up.  So, here is a reminder for your calendar.  The Milwaukee Festival Brass perform at 3 PM on Sunday March 25 at Wisconsin Lutheran College.  The Knightwind Ensemble perform twice.  The first is Friday March 30 in the Chapel of Lawrence University in Appleton at 8 PM.  The second is on Sunday April 1st at 3 PM in the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center.  Check the web sites for all the details.

Obie Yadgar used to close his shows with the phrase Find a Concert and Go to it!  I've listed three concerts in March that will be well worth attending.  You get to take the next step.

Knightwind Ensemble to perform in the Fox Valley

The final arrangements are being made now for Milwaukee's Knightwind Ensemble to perform in the Chapel at Lawrence University in Appleton on Friday evening March 30.  For those of you who may not be familiar, the Chapel is the site for all of the larger groups that perform on campus.  You can reach the Lawrence University area by taking College Avenue east from Highway 41, and continue through the downtown area.  The University is just past downtown and the Chapel is right on College Avenue.

The program, Songs and Dances, is the same one that will be presented at the South Milwaukee PAC on Sunday April 1.  The post from Sunday February 5 has a description of the program written by the KWE Music Director Dr. Erik Janners.  You can also check the Knightwind web site for all the details.

The Concert in the Lawrence U. Chapel will begin at 7 PM.  Tickets will be available at the door.  I hope to see you there.

Concert Preview: Milwaukee Festival Brass

Join the Milwaukee Festival Brass, under the direction of Dr. Martin Rowden, on Sunday March 25th at 3pm in the Schwan Concert Hall on the campus of Wisconsin Lutheran College.  The concert is entitled Best of the British, and will feature all music from the UK.

Included on the concert is a fantastic championship test piece: Journey into Freedom by Eric Ball, one of the most renown composers of British Brass Band music. For those of you who are not familiar, Brass Bands in Britain compete in performance in their respective divisions, not unlike college athletic teams here in the US.  Journey into Freedom is a piece that all the competing bands would play for judges (who are screened from the performers so that only the music performance is judged).  Test pieces, such as this one, are deliberately difficult, and will test all of the musical and technical qualities of the band.

Other offerings on the concert include Moorside Suite by Gustav Holst, Londonderry Aire, and music from the motion picture 633 Squadron.

The concert is also a fund raiser/non perishable food raising occasion for Hunger Task Force. Bring 2 or more non-perishable food items to the event and get a discount on admission!

For more information, please check the MFB web site:  http://www.mfbrass.org/

Concert Preview: Kettle Moraine Symphony

Mark your calendar for Sunday February 26th at 3:30.  The Kettle Moraine Symphony will present a Mostly Mozart concert at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in West Bend.  The concert will feature selections from “The Marriage of Figaro” K. 492, as featured in the play and film “Amadeus”, with special guest vocal artists from the West Bend Community. Mozart's contributions will conclude with the ever-popular “Eine Kleine Nachtmusic”.

There are also two pieces from Serge Prokofiev: His “Classical Symphony” (No.1 in D Major) and his Serenade No. 13.

See the Kettle Moraine Symphony web site for more information.

Concert Preview: Knightwind Ensemble

I received some information from the Music Director of the Knightwind Ensemble, Dr. Erik Janners.  The concert is on Sunday April 1 (no foolin') at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center.  Rather than my rewording his summary of their upcoming concert, here are his words.

The theme of the Knightwind Ensemble’s spring concert is “Songs and Dances.” The concert opens with Julie Giroux’s wonderful overture To Walk With Wings, which is a concert overture style work that traces the development of flight. This is followed by Don Hunsberger’s masterful transcription of JS Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, originally for organ. The first half closes with a performance of Martin Ellerby’s Venetian Spells. Written in 1997, each of the four movements of this work pays homage to a great composer associated with the city of Venice, including Vivaldi, Stravinsky, Monteverdi, and Gabrieli.


The second half of the concert opens with the major work of this program, Piece of Mind for Wind Ensemble by the composer and pianist Dana Wilson. The work, also in four movements like the Ellerby, showcases the composer’s thoughts about various states of mind through music, with movement titles including Thinking, Feeling, Remembering, and Being. A truly incredible work, infused with jazz elements, eastern scales, and a shocking rhythmic intensity. Following that is Percy Grainger’s classic Colonial Song, and we close the concert with David Holsinger’s Scootin’ on Hardrock, which is subtitled “Three Short Scat-Jazzy Dances.” This is one of the most enjoyable works I know from the standpoint of sheer fun, and really will make you want to get up and dance!

For more information, see the Knightwind Website.  You can also visit the South Milwaukee PAC web site.