Two concerts in one evening

I hate when this happens...two wonderful concerts on the same evening and I cannot attend both.

At 7:30 PM, the Menomonee Falls Symphony presents Rhythm:  The Heartbeat of Music in the Sussex Hamilton Fine Arts Center.  This will be a wonderful concert for children who have not been exposed to classical music.  They can sit on stage with the orchestra...what fun!

At 7 PM, the Concord Chamber Orchestra presents Child's Play, featuring violinist Julian Rhee performing the second Bach violin concerto.  The concert will be at St. Matthew's Ev. Lutheran Church in Wauwatosa, across from Wauwatosa East High School.

The only way that the evening could be less than wonderful is if you miss both concerts!

Concert reminder

Don't forget the Milwaukee Festival Brass concert this Saturday at 7:30 at St. John's Lutheran Church in Brookfield.  If you wish to enjoy the pre-concert dinner, it begins at 6:30.  Cost for both the concert and the dinner is $20.  Definitely a wonderful night out and a nice price!

A number of concerts coming up

The season seems to be starting earlier this year.

Don't forget the Milwaukee Festival Brass performance on Saturday October 17 at St. John's Lutheran Church in Brookfield.  The concert begins at 7:30 and features music of Gabrieli, Percy Fletcher, and Gustav Holst.  A pre-concert dinner is available beginning at 6:30.  Dinner and the concert is only $20.

A week later, the Menomonee Falls Symphony explores rhythm in music when it welcomes guest percussionist Cecilio Negron Jr., who will not only demonstrates a wide variety of percussion instruments, but will invite and include the audience throughout the concert with mesmerizing patterns of rhythm.

The concert will include light classical pieces and some Pops music.  And, if you ever wanted to see what it is like on stage, the MFSO performers will invite you to sit with them on stage for a very different concert experience.

The concert will be at the Sussex Hamilton Fine Arts Center and will begin at 7:30.  See the MFSO web site for more information and to purchase tickets.

Finally, also on October 24, the Concord Chamber Orchestra performs with guest soloist Julian Rhee, the winner of the 2015 Walter A. and Dorothy J. Oestreich Concerto Competition.  He will perform the second violin concerto of J.S. Bach.  Also on the program are works by Handel, Charles Ives, and the Beethoven Seventh Symphony.  The concert is at St. Matthew's Ev. Lutheran Church in Wauwatosa.  See the CCO web site for more information and to purchase tickets.

Upcoming Concert on Sunday October 4: The Lynx Project

You may recall a post of a neat concert combining music, poetry, and art that was to occur in late summer.  Well, that group, The Lynx Project, will be performing a concert on October 4.  Here is some information I received from Caitleen of the Lynx Project:

The concert will take place on October 4, at 2pm in WFB's Christ Church (5655 N Lake Dr, Whitefish Bay, WI 53217). The program consists of art songs with nationalistic influences by Dvorak (Gypsy Songs), Chausson, Duparc, Shostakovich (5 Satires), and a few Irish folk tunes. My wonderful colleague, Florence Mak, and I will be performing. We met at Eastman and have been performing together for a couple years now!

Our suggested donation is $5 for students and $10 for general admission. 

This concert will be serving as a preview concert for a program we will be bringing to Milwaukee in March of 2016. This new initiative, dedicated to the performance of art song, is called Lynx Project.

 

More information can be found here: http://www.lynxproject.org/

 

Or on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thelynxproject

 

 

This looks like an intriguing concert well worth attending!

First Concert Preview - Milwaukee Festival Brass

The Milwaukee Festival Brass will open its 2015-16 Season with a concert entitled Origins.   This program will explore our natural desire to look back and examine our past. 

“Studying history, finding our family tree, celebrating anniversaries – these are all ways of figuring out where we come from” said Music Director Mark A. Taylor.  “Whether through personal, institutional, or societal memory, we gain perspective on the forces that shaped us to become who we are today.”  Having been founded in 1985, the Milwaukee Festival Brass recently celebrated its 30^th Anniversary.  This milestone event will be one of many opportunities during the performance to encourage a backward glance into the past. 

The concert will include Canzona XVI á 12 by the late Renaissance master Giovanni Gabrieli, whose music represents the origins of idiomatic writing for brass instruments.  Percy Fletcher’s Labour and Love, the first major work ever composed as a test piece for brass bands, as well as Gustav Holst’s iconic Moorside Suite, will also be presented throughout the evening.  Several works from the archives of the Milwaukee Festival Brass music library, recalling the band’s earliest performances, along with James Curnow’s Fanfare and Flourishes, one of the earliest American brass band works, will round out the program.   

The Milwaukee Festival Brass will present Origins on Saturday, October 17, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 20275 Davidson Road in Brookfield, WI. As a special feature of this season opening concert, the St. John’s Church Youth Group will hold a benefit supper immediately preceding the performance.  Doors open at 07:15; concert tickets are $12, or $9 for seniors and students, while dinner tickets are available for an additional $8.  Group rates are available.  For more information, please visit the band’s website.

Concert Season Calendar

Here is the calendar of concerts as I have it. If I missed some dates or I missed a group entirely, please send me the information and I will add it to the calendar and get the information out in a post. As more information comes in, this list will be updated

And please attend some of these concerts.  You will enjoy them.

October

·         Sat.   17  7:30  Milwaukee Festival Brass at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Brookfield

·         Sat.   24  7:00  Concord Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Wauwatosa

·         Sat.   24  7:30  Menomonee Falls Symphony at the Sussex Hamilton Fine Arts Center

·         Sat.   24  7:30  Lakeshore Symphonic Band at the Cedarburg Performing Arts Center

·         Sun.  25  3:00  Knightwind Ensemble at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center

November

·         Sat.    7   3:00 Milwaukee Metropolitan Community Concert Band at Wisconsin Lutheran College

·         Sat.  14  7:30 Waukesha Area Symphonic Band at Carroll University

December

·         Fri.    4  7:00  Greenfield Concert Band at the Greenfield High School Performing Arts Center

·         Sat.   5  7:00 Concord Chamber Orchestra at the Basilica of St. Josephat

·         Sat.   5  7:00  Milwaukee Festival Brass, St. Sebastian Church, Milwaukee

·         Sun.  6  3:00 Menomonee Falls Symphony at Hamilton Fine Arts Center

·         Sat.   6  3:00  Milwaukee Festival Brass, Oak Creek Centennial Church

·         Fri.   11  7:30 Waukesha Area Symphonic Band at Carroll University performing Holiday Music

·         Sat.   12  2:00 Milwaukee Metropolitan Community Concert Band at Mitchell Park Domes

·         Sun.  13  6:00 Lakeshore Symphonic Band at the Basilica at Holy Hill

·         Sat.   19  TBA  Horns A Plenty Christmas performance in Appleton, WI (more to follow)

January

·         Sun.  31  1:30 Concord Chamber Orchestra at Nicolet High School performing Chamber Music

·         Sun.  31  3:00 Knightwind Ensemble at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center

February

·         Fri.  12  6:30 Menomonee Falls Symphony performing a dinner concert at the Silver Spring Country Club

·         Sat.  13  6:30 Menomonee Falls Symphony performing a dinner concert at the Silver Spring Country Club

·         Sat.  27  7:00  Milwaukee Festival Brass at Pius XI High School Performing Arts Center

·         Sun. 28  4:00 Lakeshore Symphonic Band at the Cedarburg Performing Arts Center

March

• Sat.  12  7:00  Concord Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Wauwatosa
•  Sat. 20 7:00 Milwaukee Metropolitan Community Concert Band at Wisconsin Lutheran College

April

·         Sun. 10  3:00 Knightwind Ensemble at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center

·         Fri.  22  7:00 Greenfield Concert Band at Whitnall High School

·         Sat. 23  7:30 Menomonee Falls Symphony at the Sussex Hamilton Fine Arts Center

·         Fri. 29  7:30  Waukesha Area Symphonic Band at Carroll University

May

·         Sat.  21  7:00 Concord Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church

·         Sun.  22  3:00  Milwaukee Festival Brass at Pius XI High School Performing Arts Center

·         Sun. 22  4:00 Lakeshore Symphonic Band at Cedarburg Performing Arts Center

·         Mon. 30 3:00 Wauwatosa Community Band performing a Memorial Day Observance at the Milwaukee

Community Music Groups in Southeastern Wisconsin

Southeastern Wisconsin and the Milwaukee metro area are very fortunate to have an active arts scene. The number of community bands and orchestras is huge compared to other areas of the country. A friend of mine moved to the South where there were two community bands in the entire state. He's glad to be back here and playing every week - it is a type of relaxation he can get nowhere else.

If you have thought about getting back into playing, or you were just interested in the different groups in the area, this post is for you. I've published this information for the last few years, and I still get emails from folks new to the area looking for a group to play with. It all comes down to a simple fact:  if you live in the Milwaukee area and want to play with a community music group, there are lots of opportunities at all skill levels!

Here's the list that I have. If you have more information about other groups, send me an email and I'll add it to this post.

Sunday: The Milwaukee Metropolitan Community Concert Band is under the direction of Karen Lippert. They welcome all players regardless of ability and play traditional concert band music. You can check their web site for more information.

Monday: The Menomonee Falls Symphony, under the direction of Mike Kamenski, rehearses on Monday evenings in Sussex at Hamilton High School. An audition is required.   You can get more information on the concerts, and on joining the orchestra, from their web site.

Tuesday: The Wauwatosa Community Band, under the direction of Donna Kummer, rehearses at Longfellow Middle School. Tosa Band performs as a symphonic band and also as Tosa Jazz, so folks who like both genres of music may find a good fit with this group. See their web site for more information.

Tuesday: For the folks in the western suburbs, the Waukesha Area Symphonic Band also rehearses on Tuesday. The group is directed by Rick Kirby, who has also composed music for some of the concerts. Their web site also has more information.

Tuesday: The Milwaukee Festival Brass, the only British style Brass Band in the area, rehearses on Tuesday as well. This group is unique in that they have an apprentice program for high school students as well as a youth British Brass Band. All the details are on their site.
Wednesday:  The Concord Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Jamin Hoffman, rehearses at Nicolet High School and requires an audition.  See their web site for information.

Wednesday: The Milwaukee American Legion Band is a traditional, patriotic-style community band. They are directed by Mike Van Pelt. Their site has information on their history, which is extensive, and on joining.

Wednesday: The Lakeshore Symphonic Band serves the north shore and Ozaukee County communities, performing their concerts at the Cedarburg Performing Arts Center. Click here for their information.

Wednesday: The Knightwind Ensemble performs difficult music, and as a result, auditions are required. Their web site has all the audition information.

Thursday: The Milwaukee Concert Band is another group with a long history, having been sponsored at one time by the Civic Music Association. See their new web site for more information.

Thursday: The Suburban Concert Band is based in West Allis and is sponsored by the West Allis Rec department.  They also use a Facebook and you can find it here.
Thursday:  The Greenfield Concert Band is relatively new, having been in existence for only a few years.  They rehearse at Greenfield High School in the Performing Arts Center and do require an audition in order to place new members into the sections.  See their web site for information.

Thursday: The Greendale Village Band welcomes members of all playing abilities. They are a part of the School System in the Village of Greendale, and you can get more information from their web page.

And if I missed information on your group, send me an email and I'll be sure to post it.