By Chelsea Rademacher
Please respond to the following questions:
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Do you know that a conjunction’s function is hooking up words, phrases, and clauses? |
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Can you name the 50 states in alphabetical order from memory? |
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Are you able to read these words because you know your ABCs? |
If you answered yes to any of these questions, chances are you have a song stuck in your head now. That’s because music is a unique educational tool — one that spans time, cultures, and nationalities. It’s also why climate scientist and oceanographer Elizabeth Maroon has teamed up with the Mead Witter School of Music to turn El Niño into an earworm.
What makes El Niño important enough to rise to the level of a Schoolhouse Rock analogy? “El Niño is the temperature in the tropical Pacific,” Maroon offers as a refresher. “It’s important because the temperature down there influences weather everywhere — globally.”
From droughts and heatwaves to monsoons and floods, small variations in temperature can have monumental impacts. But the ripple effects of El Niño don’t need to be a surprise; that’s where Maroon’s research comes in. As a faculty member in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (AOS) and a core member of the Nelson Institute’s Center for Climatic Research, Maroon studies climate predictability. Just as we can use climate models to predict the weather — What’s the overnight low tonight? Is it going to rain on my parade? — we can use climate models to predict El Niño a few months to a year or two into the future.
“You can make a forecast for El Niño just like you would a weather model forecast,” Maroon explains, “you just run the climate model longer.” (Of course, weather models don’t have oceans in them, so it’s a good thing Maroon knows a thing or two about oceans.)
She pulled a community climate prediction data set for 2023 and analyzed its forecasts. This is where the connection to music begins: “This data set is special in that it’s an ensemble prediction system,” Maroon explains. That means running multiple forecasts all starting from the same observations; in this case, the dataset has 20 forecasts. Each varies slightly at the very first time — “we’re talking one times 10 to the negative 14th Kelvin (1×10-14K). That’s all it takes for the nonlinearities in the atmosphere and the ocean to start to diverge and to give us a wider look at the possible future climates.”
A classically trained pianist, Maroon drew a connection between an ensemble forecast and an ensemble of musicians.
She remembered some work that fellow researchers had done in sonification, or turning numbers and data into notes and sound. To sonify the El Niño forecasts, Maroon hired AOS undergraduate Hunter Glassford, trained him to work with a sonification tool in the programming language Python, and got to work.
“Sonification maps numbers to a frequency in Hertz,” Maroon says. They’re taking it a step further and mapping the numbers to musical notes: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. With traditional sonification, some frequencies might wind up in between notes. For example, A is 440 Hz and B is 493.883 Hz; a data point that maps to 450 Hz would be too high for A, but too low for B (and just a hair flat for B-flat, if we’re getting specific).
While exploring the sonification with Glassford, Maroon also worked with Johannes Wallmann, professor of music and director of jazz studies in the School of Music, to explore climate science with a School of Music student. Maroon and Wallmann hired Ben Ferris, who is a composer, double bassist, and doctoral student, to create an original composition around El Niño, its forecasts, and its interpretation.
“Ben came up with like a lot of creative ways to map the science concepts in a completely original piece,” Maroon says, “And he provided feedback on the direction for the sonification.”
As Glassford mapped numbers to notes, Ferris suggested trying out different scales that he had used in his composition. For the sonification, the team eventually landed on B Lydian (which sounds like this).
Ferris brought in the UW Bridge Ensemble who are turning the science into sound. To demonstrate the sonification, they selected six members from the climate forecast ensemble and sonified them for six instruments in the UW Bridge Ensemble—two violins, one viola, one cello, one piano and one double bass. In addition to the six forecasts that Maroon is representing, she selected a trumpet to represent the observations, what really happened, the “truth.”
Glassford’s final sonifications, as well as Ferris’s new composition, will world premiere live in the Hamel Music Center performed by the UW Bridge Ensemble, during a free event hosted during UW–Madison Earth Fest on April 21 at 7:30 pm in the Hamel Music Center.
So, what does an El Niño forecast sound like? Think back to the data set that generated these notes. The trumpet starts on a single note—representing what really happened in November 2023. A violin joins in on the same note. The trumpet and violin then independently go higher (warmer) or lower (colder), depending on what really happened or what the forecast thought would happen. Now imagine six forecasts playing at once. All of them start on the same first note as the trumpet, but then all the instruments gradually spread out into different melodies.
“The forecasts do not exactly follow the observations, and you can hear that dissonance,” Maroon says. “The further you get away from where you started, the more spread there is, and the more uncertainty that you have in your forecast.”
You’ll be able to hear El Niño and understand its forecasting because of Maroon’s National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, which is funding both oceanographic research and both student contributors. CAREER Awards are grants that support promising young faculty who show great potential as innovative role models in both research and education — the two areas that the grants focus on.
For Maroon, Earth Signals is the education component; the research half gets further into her academic background of oceanography, specifically looking at how the mountain ranges on the ocean floor affect climate variability.
This is the first year of the grant’s five-year funding. If all goes according to plan, by 2030, Maroon will have supported dozens of students in exploring and researching climate science, honing real-world skills, and getting a one-of-a-kind experience to list on their resumes. She’ll also have helped bring five original compositions to life, offering the public new ways to understand and engage with climate science and oceanography.
“This is going to be a very different way to communicate science,” Maroon says. “Scientific literacy matters, and if we can use music to reach folks who don’t usually think about scientific topics, that’s a win. A better-informed populace is going to be able to understand the scientific premise of things that matter to society.”
Composer’s Statement by Ben Ferris
As an artist, it is a treat to work with scientists, especially folks doing research in climate change, a pressing issue that has broad and devastating effects on the whole world. For this composition, I wanted to look at sonification of musical elements beyond pitch and rhythm. I ended up using dissonance as the element to best communicate with the audience and musicians the feeling of tension between predictions and reality, the discomfort we might feel when things don’t go as we might expect.
I also used improvisation as a large part of the musical composition to sonify the idea of predictions in real-time with the musicians. As a concept for improvised sections, we draw on the music that we’ve already played, but develop it based on our feelings in the moment, which are in turn impacted by the choices of the other musicians. To me, this felt like a great way to experience the scientific processes involved in predictions-lots of inputs impacting what might happen.
Ensembles participate in Wisconsin Arts Celebration Project
NewsConcert Choir, University Symphony Orchestra, and Wind Ensemble participated in the 2025 Wisconsin Arts Celebration Project with each ensemble performing and recording “Yellow Birds” by composer Marie Douglas.
The Wisconsin Arts Celebration Project (WACP) began in 2023 as a collaborative project between the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the Wisconsin Arts Board created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wisconsin Arts Board. The project offers free music, lesson plans, and materials created by Wisconsin artists and educators to schools, communities, and libraries across the state.
Through its intentional integration of poetry, spoken word, music, dance, theater, visual art, and media art, the WACP “continues to demonstrate the interconnectedness of the arts and the unique capacity it has to teach essential human capacities.”
The 2025 WACP centers on the theme of “Connection.” Wisconsin Poet Laureate Nicholas Gulig wrote a poem titled “Yellow Birds of Morning” relating how words and music connect us to each other and the world. Gulig’s poem serves as a “touchpoint” for all of the other artistic creations involved with the project.
The project includes links to the music, poem, recordings, lesson plans, and materials, including “Yellow Birds” for concert band, string orchestra, SAA Choir, or any combination of these. Lesson plans, have been created by Wisconsin arts educators and artists.
MEMF 2026 Revival: Uniting the Arts
Early MusicThe 2026 Madison Early Music Festival (MEMF) celebrates over 20 years of excellence in early music while inaugurating a new chapter. Since its founding in 2000, MEMF has been a cornerstone of Wisconsin’s musical landscape, bringing international artists, scholars, and students together to explore historical repertoire through concerts, performance classes, and community engagement. The 2026 revival honors this legacy while expanding the festival into an immersive, interdisciplinary experience—uniting Baroque music, dance, visual art, and innovation.
Led by Verità Baroque, the festival features iconic works by Vivaldi, Telemann, and Marais alongside daring collaborations with live electronics, experimental sound, and contemporary composition. Visitors will encounter interactive performances at the Chazen Museum, Baroque dance reimagined, and lectures linking historical tuning systems with modern physics.
A highlight of community outreach will be the Interactive Educational Family Concert, beginning with a Baroque Instruments Petting Zoo and continuing with a story-driven musical journey led by Dr. Zeynep Alpan—designed to inspire curiosity and connect audiences of all ages with the expressive world of Baroque music.
MEMF 2026 unites music, dance, and visual art, revitalizing the interconnected spirit of the Baroque era in a fully multisensory festival that honors tradition while looking to the future.
MEMF Schedule of Events
Single event tickets:
Full price: $35
Senior: $30
Students: Free (ticket required)
Weekend pass (includes one ticket to all three ticketed events):
Weekend pass – Full Price: $90
Weekend pass – Senior: $75
Weekend pass – Student: Free (tickets required)
The Storm of Emotions – Verità Baroque
Friday, January 23, 2026, 7:30 pm
Collins Recital Hall, Hamel Music Center
Purchase tickets
Hailed by the BBC as “fearless in expression and musically irresistible,” Verità Baroque launches its first American tour with A Tempest of Emotions, a journey through the unleashed forces of nature and the human soul. Each work explores emotion in its rawest form: impetuous, mysterious, uncontrollable.
Immersive Art Experience with Verità Baroque
Saturday, January 24, 2026, 11 am
Chazen Art Museum
Free | No ticket required
Verità Baroque transforms the galleries of the Chazen Museum of Art into a living stage, creating a multisensory encounter with visual art. Musicians are placed throughout the museum, filling each room with live Baroque sound as visitors move from gallery to gallery.
Quantz & Physics Lecture Recital
Saturday, January 24, 2026, 7:30 pm
Collins Recital Hall, Hamel Music Center
Purchase tickets
This interdisciplinary program combines a physics lecture by Professor Dr. Elio J. König with a concert by Verità Baroque, exploring the incommensurability of acoustic waves, Baroque-era tunings, and reflections on quantum mechanical wave theory. Presented in honor of the centenary of Schrödinger’s equation, the evening bridges history, science, and innovation in a unique celebration of art and discovery.
Interactive Educational Family Concert
Sunday, January 25, 2026, 11 am
Lee/Kaufman Rehearsal Hall, Hamel Music Center
Free | Ticket required (tickets available soon)
MEMF invites families to a lively, hands-on Baroque adventure designed for all ages. The event begins with a Baroque Instruments Petting Zoo, where children and adults can see, hear, and even try instruments—each introduced as a playful “animal character” with its own unique voice and personality.
Student Showcase Concert & Dance Performance
Sunday, January 25, 2026, 7:30 pm
Collins Recital Hall, Hamel Music Center
Purchase tickets
MEMF concludes with a celebratory Student Showcase Concert, highlighting the creativity, growth, and collaboration of participants throughout the festival. Students from UW–Madison and beyond will share the results of their work in masterclasses, workshops, and rehearsals with international guest artists.
Cornelius, Wielgus receive Distinguished Alumni Award
AlumniThe School of Music is proud to announce Steven Cornelius ’75 Music Education and William Wielgus ’79 Music Education as the 2025 and 2026 recipients of the Mead Witter School of Music Distinguished Alumni Award. The award recognizes an alumnus or alumna who is making, or has made, an outstanding contribution to the music profession in service or in artistic impact.
Cornelius and Wielgus will both be honored at the January 31, 2026 Panorama Concert at the Hamel Music Center.
Cornelius has taught at University of Massachusetts Boston since 2011. His previous positions include Boston University, Bowling Green State University, Pine Manor College, and UW–Madison. He studied with Professor James Latimer as a student at UW–Madison.
“I am eternally indebted to Professor Latimer,” Cornelius said. “Over the years, Jim has taught me many things about musicianship, first as mentor, eventually as colleague, and today as friend. But perhaps the most important lessons he ever shared were about life, and the importance of commitment.”
From 1996 to 2006, Cornelius served as music and dance critic for The Blade, Toledo, Ohio’s daily newspaper. He has authored several books, including Music: A Social Experience (with Mary Natvig, 2012), Music of the Civil War Era (2004), and The Music of Santería: Traditional Rhythms of the Batá Drums (with John Amira, 1991). He also writes a blog about music and stroke recovery.
Cornelius is a board member of the Interdisciplinary Society for Quantitative Research in Music and Medicine. His performances as a percussionist include work with Metropolitan Opera, tours with New York City Opera National Company, Opera Orchestra of New York, Radio City Music Hall, Oklahoma Symphony, Taipei Symphony, Madison Symphony, and others.
“I am forever grateful for opportunities given to me at the School of Music,” Cornelius said. “Thanks to Professor Ellen Burmeister, who despite having to show me middle C on both the staff and the keyboard, expected me to progress as quickly as all the other students in her piano class. Thanks to the incredibly patient Professor Arthur Becknell, who, during my first semester in the School of Music, coached me to sing Arthur Sullivan’s ‘The Lost Chord.’ And thanks to Ugandan music specialist Professor Lois Anderson who, during the same two-year appointment, taught me to play the amadinda xylophone.
Wielgus first began his oboe studies at Pulaski High School with Gervase “Jerry” Parker, soon moving to lessons with Norbert “Nubbie” Ecker of St. Norbert College. During high school, he performed with the SNC Band under Gerald Mattern and in several theater productions under Dudley Birder, as well as with the Green Bay Youth Symphony and Green Bay Symphony. He earned degrees from the UW–Madison, Indiana University, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory, where his principal teachers were Marc Fink, Jerry Sirucek, and Ray Still.
“It was always a pleasure to continue to visit Marc over the years,”Wielgus said. “I always felt when I heard him play again I was coming home to how the oboe should be played. And I was always so grateful to that scholarship I received years ago I knew I had to return the favor so I established the William Wielgus Award Fund in Appreciation of Professor Marc Fink that each year provides funds to a deserving oboe student, now with the great Lindsay Flowers in charge of the studio.”
Wielgus served as a member of the oboe section of the National Symphony Orchestra from 1990 to 2017, upon appointment by music director Mstislav Rostropovich. He has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Louisville Orchestra and was English horn of the Oklahoma Symphony and principal oboe of the South Bend Symphony.
Currently, he is Musician in Residence at American University teaching oboe and chamber music. Previously he taught at West Virginia University, UW–Milwaukee, and St. Mary’s College. He appeared at many major summer music festivals including the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, Aspen, Tanglewood, and Spoleto, and was winner of the 1990 Aspen Woodwind Soloist Competition.
He especially is proud of the programs he has presented at conferences of the International Double Reed Society showcasing music from Wisconsin and Peru and the YouTube videos he has shared of this worthwhile music. He may also be heard on the Naxos label as principal oboist of the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra on their recordings of works by Mark Adamo and Florian Gassman.
“It is a great honor to be recognized with this award,” Wielgus said. “Not a day goes by that I don’t look back at my experiences and opportunities at UW–Madison with fondness. As an aspiring young musician from the small town of Pulaski, Wisconsin on a tricky instrument like the oboe I was given a tremendous psychological boost when I was awarded a four-year tuition-free scholarship. My undergraduate years were formed by the incredible range of performance and scholarly activities there, a great foundation to continue building upon for the rest of my career, first as an oboist in a world-class symphony orchestra and now as a solo performer and researcher.”
An active researcher on American oboists and oboe music, Wielgus has written numerous articles for the Journal of the International Double Reed Society. He is currently involved in a project to research, commission, perform, and record Peruvian oboe music, presenting recitals at the conservatories of Lima, Trujillo and Ayacucho, and premiering dozens of works of Peruvian composers. In 2018, he was the first Western oboist invited to present a recital and master class at the Uzbekistan National Conservatory.
He appeared as soloist with the Banda Nacional de Cuba and the Trujillo Symphony Orchestra in addition to programs of Peruvian music at Indiana University, the University of Arkansas, and Southern Mississippi University. In 2019, he presented a program of Uruguayan oboe music at the Universidad de la Republica in Montevideo and a program of music and poetry at the Museu de la Emigratión Gallega en la Argentina in Buenos Aires. First invited in 2015, Mr. Wielgus has performed annually at the Musica no Museu recital series in Rio de Janeiro. In 2022, he gave the world premiere of Anderson Alves’ Canções Lunares in its version for oboe and orchestra with the composer conducting the Orquestra Sinfônica de Barra Mansa. He frequently performs with the New York Kammermusiker.
In 2024, Wielgus re-discovered and edited the manuscript of “Solitude/Nocturne” for English horn and strings by former UW–Madison horn professor John Barrows, and gave the first performance in almost 90 years at American University.
Only living alumni of the Mead Witter School of Music are eligible to receive the Distinguished Alumni Award. For purposes of definition, alumni must have received at least one degree from the School of Music. The nomination deadline is November 30 each year.
University Opera presents Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro
University OperaPurchase tickets
From November 21-25, University Opera will present W.A. Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte’s monumental opera The Marriage of Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro). Directed by Karen K. Bishop Director of Opera David Ronis, and conducted by UW–Madison Director of Orchestral Activities Oriol Sans, the production will feature student performers from the School of Music, accompanied by the University Symphony Orchestra at Music Hall.
Mozart’s masterpiece is, without a doubt, one of the great works of western culture. With a sublime score, hilarious comedy, and deeply human narrative, it never fails to please. Based on Pierre Beaumarchais’ paradigm-changing play, Figaro features realistic portraits of 18th-century aristocrats and servants and mirrors the burgeoning revolutionary spirit in France in the 1780s. But it’s the story and the score that really hook us. We root for Susanna, Figaro, and Countess Almaviva, as they sing beautiful arias and ensembles and successfully teach the Count a lesson in humility.
The story centers on Count Almaviva, who wants to revive the “droit du Seigneur,” the right of a lord to bed a servant’s bride on her wedding night. Susanna – his wife’s maid and confidant as well as Figaro’s fiancé–is his current target. Figaro and Susanna, along with the Countess, devise a plan to thwart the Count’s advances and expose his inappropriate behavior. Add into the mix Mozart’s memorable score, a group of colorful supporting characters, plus additional plot twists and turns and you have the ingredients for a wonderful, enlightening, and moving theatrical experience.
This production will involve over 70 UW–Madison students–singers, instrumentalists, technicians, and stage crew–spanning a wide age range, from first year undergrads to doctoral students. The title role of Figaro will be performed, alternately, by Austin Demerath and Michael Kelley. His betrothed, Susanna, will be taken by Danielle Bullock and Hannah Ray. Count Almaviva will be played by Alex Cook while his wife, the Countess, will be split between Katie Eggers and Gillian Hollis. Kaitlin Case and Rach Misner will both take on the role of the randy page boy, Cherubino. The colorful supporting cast includes Marcellina–Amelia Eichmeier and Niha Patankar; Basilio–Jacob Zehr; Bartolo and Antonio–Jackson Ahern; and Barbarina–Kyla Moore, Eva Perez, and Haley Street.
The Two Young Ladies will be Emma Hatch and Abbey Hoffman. Besides Maestro Sans, the musical team will consist of UW–Madison faculty vocal coach Thomas Kasdorf (musical preparation and harpsichord continuo), and Michael Wu (rehearsal pianist). Graduate conducting student Katie Crim will serve as assistant conductor and conduct one performance. Doctoral student Benjamin Hanson will be in charge of choral preparation.
The production will be designed by Juliana Gessner, with lighting by Kenneth Ferencek, costumes by Kenneth Hoversten and Emily Popp, wigs by Jan Ross, and props by Zak Wolff. Erek Weis will be the technical director, and the production stage manager will be Nathan Lê. Others on the production team include Jackson Ahern, operations manager for University Opera; costume assistants Katie Eggers, Zoë Miller and Kyla Moore; head carpenter Scott Shapiro; lighting board operator Ray Erickson; and assistant stage managers Victoria Lopez and Rugy Montgomery.
Ticket prices range from $10 to $32, and are available in advance through the Campus Arts Ticketing office at (608) 265-ARTS and online. Tickets may also be purchased in person at the Wisconsin Union Theater Box Office Monday-Friday, 11:30 am to 5:30 pm, and Saturdays, 12 pm-5 pm, as well as at the door beginning one hour before the performance.
Update on ticket prices
NewsBeginning this year, the following concerts presented by the School of Music at the Hamel Music Center will require tickets for entry. Here’s what to expect:
$20 GA; students free (ticket required)
Concert Band
Concert Choir
Chorale
University Symphony Orchestra
Wind Ensemble
$10 GA; students free (ticket required)
All-University Philharmonia Orchestra
All-University String Orchestra
Treble Choir
University Bands
University Chorus
Other ticketed events include concerts in our Guest Artist Series, Faculty Artist Series, Faculty Ensemble Series, and Changemaker Series. Most jazz concerts will remain free, with the exception of jazz concerts featuring a guest artist and/or jazz faculty. Other free concerts include our Live from the Mead Witter School of Music chamber music series, Low Brass Ensemble, percussion ensembles, student recitals, and other student ensembles such as the Rabin String Quartet.
Plan Ahead
Check our events calendar for the latest details. Tickets are available on the Campus Arts Ticketing site or in person at the Hamel Music Center box office. To avoid lines at the box office or sold-out events, we recommend purchasing tickets in advance.
Fall Subscription Package & Student Tickets
A fall ticket subscription package is available. Choose three or more events and save 15% on individually priced tickets. Students from any institution can claim one free ticket to all School of Music concerts at the Hamel Music Center with a valid student ID.
Klorman’s new book explores Bach’s Cello Suites
FacultyProfessor of Music Theory Edward Klorman has released a new book, Bach: The Cello Suites.
Originally dismissed as curiosities, J. S. Bach’s Cello Suites are now understood as the pinnacle of composition for unaccompanied cello. This handbook examines how and why Bach composed these highly innovative works. It explains the characteristics of each of the dance types used in the suites and reveals the compositional methods that achieve cohesion within each suite.
Klorman discusses the four manuscript copies of Bach’s lost original and the valuable evidence they contain on how the Suites might be performed. He explores how, after around 1860, the Cello Suites gradually entered the concert hall, where they initially received a mixed critical and audience reception. The Catalan cellist Pablo Casals extensively popularized them through his concerts and recordings, setting the paradigm for several generations to follow. The Cello Suites now have a global resonance, influencing music from Benjamin Britten’s Cello Suites to J-pop, and media from K-drama to Ingmar Bergman’s films.
Celebrating 130 years at the School of Music
NewsThis academic year, the School of Music is proud to celebrate its 130th anniversary at UW–Madison. Music has been a feature at the university in some form since 1848, but it wasn’t until 1895 that the School of Music became an official department on campus. Since then, the school has become a hub of creativity, scholarship, performance, collaboration, and innovation.
The School of Music has a 130-year tradition of artistic excellence, now serving as a destination comprehensive music program in higher education, especially in the greater Midwest. Our traditions are strong–the Pro Arte String Quartet was the first string quartet in residence at a university in the United States, Gunnar Johanssen was the first solo artist in residence, the Wisconsin Brass Quintet and Wingra Woodwind Quintet are both celebrating long histories of performance and outreach. Many School of Music alumni go on to have successful and prominent careers in higher education, performing, composing, music education, and arts leadership.
Join us for an official 130th anniversary celebration at our annual Panorama concert on January 31, 2026. In addition to showcasing the work that goes on at the School of Music, the Panorama concert this year will recognize distinguished alumni. Tickets to Panorama are on sale October 6.
Martinez a 2025 Hispanic Heritage Awards Orchestral Fellow
StudentsValeria Martinez, a current Music Education and Trombone student at the School of Music, has been invited to join the second-ever class of Hispanic Heritage Awards Orchestral Fellows this September.
Martinez will join the American Pops Orchestra (APO) onstage at the historic Warner Theater in Washington, DC, on September 4 for the nationally televised 2025 Hispanic Heritage Awards on PBS. Martinez is one of six musicians selected as an Orchestral Fellow this year.
“I am so grateful for and elated about this opportunity,” Martinez said.
Based in Washington, DC, American Pops Orchestra was founded in 2015 with a mission to build community through music, blending popular and classical genres in innovative ways to engage new and diverse audiences.
Last year, APO’s Music Director Luke Frazier pitched the idea to the head of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation to create a small ensemble of Hispanic Heritage Awards Orchestral Fellows to perform alongside members of APO during the awards ceremony, which was televised nationally on PBS in front of a live audience at the Kennedy Center.
Participation in the Hispanic Heritage Awards Orchestral Fellows program “is a unique and meaningful opportunity for students to gain professional orchestral experience, perform on a nationally televised stage, and be part of a prestigious cultural celebration honoring Latin American heritage,” according to organizers.
Rehearsals will be held with APO on September 2 and September 3, with the performance the night of September 4.
The Hispanic Heritage Awards were established by The White House in 1988 to commemorate the creation of Hispanic Heritage Month in America and are recognized as “America’s Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration” and supported by 40 national, Latino-serving institutions. The awards recognize Latino accomplishment, vision, and cultural pride.
Teeple elected to CBDNA North Central Division presidency
FacultyProfessor Scott Teeple was elected to the presidency of the College Band Directors National Association – North Central Division. Teeple was elected by the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) membership from nine states in the Midwest region. He will be responsible for representing the region at the national meetings, and leading the professional conference for the North Central region at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2026.
CBDNA members are devoted to the teaching, performance, study, and cultivation of music, with particular focus on the wind band medium.
Teeple serves as a professor of music and director of bands at the School of Music. In this role, he conducts the Wind Ensemble, teaches graduate conducting, and oversees all aspects of the UW–Madison Band program.
Grabois named Interim Associate Director, Interim Director of Undergraduate Studies
FacultyEffective August 18, 2025, Professor Daniel Grabois will serve as Interim Associate Director of the School of Music and Interim Director of Undergraduate Studies through the end of the 2025-26 academic year.
The Associate Director position serves on the School of Music leadership team for the School of Music, advises the Director on a wide range of matters related to the operational and strategic direction of the school, and assists the Director with development and external relations as needed.
The Director of Undergraduate Studies administers faculty-approved policies for undergraduate programs at the school, uses the School of Music Strategic Plan in guiding direction for undergraduate programs, assures concordance among UW–Madison, the College of Letters and Science, and School of Music undergraduate policy, and coordinates implementation of curriculum in all School of Music undergraduate programs.
“I’m excited for this opportunity to serve the department and our students,” Grabois said.
Grabois is Professor of Horn at the School of Music, where he plays with the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, a faculty ensemble-in-residence, and teaches a studio of undergraduate and graduate students. Other responsibilities include conducting the UW Horn Choir, which Grabois refashions each spring into Twisted Metal, a French horn rock band playing songs arranged by the students in the horn studio. At UW–Madison, he serves as curator of the interdisciplinary series SoundWaves, which he founded in 2011.
Karp, Woods, and BBC National Orchestra earn praise for Bloch recording
FacultyProfessor Parry Karp’s new album with conductor Kenneth Woods and the BBC National Orchestra is earning critical acclaim.
Released July 2025 on Signum Records, “Ernest Bloch: Schelomo – Hebraic Rhapsody, Suite for Viola and Orchestra,” was included on Gramohphone’s August 2025 “Editor’s Choice” list, which recognizes the best new classical recordings.
“The performance by Karp and Woods is all that one could wish for, conveying the atmosphere and energy of Bloch’s inspired writing and finding a breathtaking sense of fantasy in the lyrical central episode of the final movement,” Gramohphone writes. “With engineering as excellent as the performances, this is a very desirable release.”
According to the Signum Records release notes, “Schelomo: Rhapsodie Hébraïque is the most celebrated part of Ernest Bloch’s Jewish Cycle, and although originally conceived for voice, Bloch determined that only the cello could adequately embody the character of Solomon. The Suite for Viola and Piano was composed between February and May 1919, and the cello version is the work of the pianist and composer Adolph Baller and cellist Gábor Rejtő, who recorded their version in 1969. This album sees the World Premiere Recording of the cello version for orchestra, with cellist Parry Karp, who studied with Rejtő.”
“Getting to record these two masterpieces with conductor Kenneth Woods and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales is a dream come true,” Karp said in the notes.
In another review from Arcana FM, the reviewer notes the “Balance between cello and orchestra could not be bettered in the spacious yet analytical ambience of Hoddinott Hall, while Woods contributes his customary insightful observations. Aficionados and newcomers alike will find much to delight and absorb them on this release.”
Karp is Artist-in Residence, and the Robert and Linda Graebner Professor of Chamber Music and Cello at the School of Music, where he is director of the string chamber music program. He has been cellist of the Pro Arte Quartet for the past 49 years, the longest tenure of any member in the quartet’s over 100-year history.
Woods earned his Master’s in Cello Performance as a student of Karp at the School of Music from 1991-1993. He is a 2020 recipient of the Mead Witter School of Music Distinguished Alumni Award, which recognizes an alumnus or alumna who is making an outstanding contribution to the music profession in service or in artistic impact. Woods was appointed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra in 2013, , and has quickly built up an impressive and acclaimed body of work with them.
As a guest, Woods has conducted ensembles including the National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia and the English Chamber Orchestra.
Happy Dog Duo wins top prize at international chamber music competition
AlumniNathan Cheung, left, and Eric Tran, right, are Happy Dog Duo. Photo by Valentina Sadiul
Eric Tran DMA’20 Piano Performance and his piano duo Happy Dog Duo won first prize at the Anton Garcia Abril International Chamber Music Competition in Spain. Happy Dog Duo, which consists of Tran and pianist Nathan Cheung, were in a pre-selected field of 29 chamber groups from all over Europe.
The prize includes €12,000 award and the opportunity to play at various festivals, such as the Huéscar Classical Music Festival, the Hispania Música-Concerto Málaga Foundation, or the Panticosa International Festival, among others.
Happy Dog Duo has been performing piano 4-hands and 2 piano repertoire together for two decades. They have won 13 gold medals in piano duo/4-hands events at the US Open Music Competition.
They have also won the first prize and Abild American Music Award at the Ellis Duo-Piano Competition, hosted by the National Federation of Music Clubs; first prize at the MTNA-Stecher and Horowitz Two Piano Competition; and first prize at the Ohio International Duet and Duo Piano Competition. They are among the few piano duos who have performed on the only Pleyel Double Grand piano in the Western Hemisphere. Performances with orchestra include the Stanford Symphony Orchestra, Diablo Symphony Orchestra, Vallejo Symphony, and the Pittsburg Piano Festival Orchestra.
Their performances have taken them across Europe, Asia, and 20 US states, and they have appeared on Aspen Public Radio, WQXR, and NPR. Recent invitations include guest artist performances at Stanford University, the Chautauqua Institution, and the National Federation of Music Clubs Convention.
Tran graduated from Stanford University and received his MM from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He earned his DMA with Professor Christopher Taylor at the Mead Witter School of Music, where he also served as lecturer.
Klorman joins School of Music as Professor of Music Theory
FacultyThe School of Music is excited to announce Edward Klorman as Professor of Music Theory starting Fall 2025.
“I am thrilled to be joining the Mead Witter School of Music,” Klorman said. “One couldn’t ask for a more dynamic, visionary group of colleagues to work with. And since my father and sister both studied at UW, it seems that coming to Madison is a family tradition.”
Klorman’s research examines the intersections of music analysis, historical musicology, and music performance. He is the author of Mozart’s Music of Friends: Social Interplay in the Chamber Works (Cambridge, 2016), which won major awards from ASCAP, the Mozart Society of America, and the Society for Music Theory. His second book, Bach: The Cello Suites (Cambridge, 2025) examines how the Cello Suites, once dismissed as historical curiosities, have come to occupy such a prominent place in both concert life and popular culture. He has published and lectured widely at conservatories, universities, and music festivals across North America, Europe, and Asia.
An accomplished violist specializing in chamber music, he has performed as guest artist with the Borromeo, Orion, and Ying Quartets and with the Lysander Trio and was founding co-artistic director of ChamberFest Canandaigua. He is featured in three chamber music albums on Albany Records.
As baroque violist, he has performed in recital with harpsichordist Hank Knox and with Arion Orchestre Baroque, Les Boréades de Montréal, and Les Temps Perdus. He has previously taught music analysis and coached chamber music at The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, McGill University, the Aaron Copland School of Music, and the Music@Menlo festival. He is proud co-parent to Ellis, a rambunctious Portuguese Water Dog, who is not especially enamored of music theory.
Learn more about Klorman at edwardklorman.com.
Fischer, Vallon set to retire
FacultyAfter distinguished careers, Professor Martha Fischer and Professor Marc Vallon have each announced plans to retire at the end of the spring semester.
“Professor Fischer and Professor Vallon have made innumerable contributions to the university and our school over the years,” Dan Cavanagh, director of the School of Music, said. “I have particularly benefited from their wise counsel, exceptional musicality, and warm personalities since arriving here two years ago. We wish them both the best in retirement, and know that their contributions will live on for years to come.”
In addition to her current duties as Associate Director and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Fischer has served as Professor of Piano and Collaborative Piano since 2000.
Her approach to piano pedagogy, emphasizing both technical proficiency and expressive artistry, has shaped the careers of many students. In 2022, she received the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award, which recognizes the university’s finest educators. Fischer’s students have gone on to hold positions as freelance performers and within academe, as well as to take their collaborative training into areas outside music where the lessons learned in her classroom continue to inform and strengthen their work.
Throughout her career, Fischer has recorded numerous albums, showcasing her versatility and interpretative skills. Her collaborations include recordings with trombonist Mark Hetzler, soprano Julia Faulkner, baritone Paul Rowe, tubist John Stevens, hornist Lin Foulk, and many others. For the past 12 years, Fischer and her husband Bill Lutes have presented their annual Schubertiade on campus, an all-Schubert concerts of lieder, vocal ensembles, and piano music in the style of the original Schubertiade.
In 2020, Fischer’s project “Replacement of Workhorse Musical Keyboard Instruments for Research and Performance” was one of 17 proposals funded through a Research Core Revitalization Program grant by by the UW–Madison Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education and Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. This initiative provided funds for the purchase of replacement pianos in faculty studios and practice rooms, as well as an 1820s-style Viennese fortepiano.
Vallon joined the School of Music faculty in 2004, where in addition to his teaching duties, he has been a member of the Wingra Wind Quintet, one of three faculty chamber ensembles in-residence at the School of Music. His career is marked by contributions to both contemporary and early music, his dedication to teaching, and his extensive performance history.
Vallon started playing professionally at the age of 18 during his conservatory studies and joined the Paris-based Orchestre National de France and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, performing under many renowned conductors including Sergiu Celibidache, Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, Karl Boehm, and Lorin Maazel. He also collaborated with the Ensemble Intercontemporain, conducted by Pierre Boulez, and took part in the first performance of Boulez’s major work, Répons.
In the 1980s, Vallon became a pioneer in the early music movement, serving as principal bassoonist with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra for over 20 years 1. His expertise in historical performance practice has been showcased through collaborations with leading ensembles such as La Chapelle Royale, Les Arts Florissants, and Tafelmusik. Vallon’s collection of early instruments, ranging from originals to copies dating from 1670 to 1920, reflects his deep commitment to preserving and performing early music.
His name can be found on more than 100 commercial recordings, among them his acclaimed rendering of the Mozart bassoon concerto with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. Vallon performs and conducts Baroque music with the Madison Bach Musicians.
Zalkind joins School of Music as Assistant Professor of Cello
FacultyThe School of Music is excited to announce Matthew Zalkind as Assistant Professor of Cello starting Fall 2025. Praised for his “impressive refinement, eloquent phrasing, and singing tone” by The New York Times, Zalkind regularly performs throughout the United States and abroad as a recitalist, soloist, and chamber musician. He was awarded First Prize in the Washington International Competition, as well as top prizes in the Beijing International Cello Competition and Korea’s Isang Yun Gyeongnam International Competition.
“I am incredibly excited to join the Mead Witter School of Music,” Zalkind said. “I’ve admired this prestigious program for many years, and I’m truly thrilled to become a part of it.”
As a soloist, Zalkind has performed recitals at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, the Moscow Conservatory in Russia, the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater in Washington, DC, and the Beijing Concert Hall in China. He has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Utah Symphony, Albany Symphony, Hongzhou Philharmonic, Musica Viva Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Tongyeong International Music Festival Orchestra, Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestra, Juilliard Symphony Orchestra, and numerous other North American orchestras. He has performed under the baton of celebrated conductors including Ludovic Morlot, Thierry Fischer, Giancarlo Guerrero, and David Alan Miller.
An active chamber musician, Zalkind has appeared at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, New York’s Alice Tully Hall, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a former member of the acclaimed Harlem String Quartet, he toured internationally with jazz legends Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, and Gary Burton. He regularly participates in prominent chamber music festivals, including Marlboro and Musicians from Marlboro tours. Alongside his wife, cellist Alice Yoo, Zalkind is the Co-Artistic Director of the Denver Chamber Music Festival, a premier destination for world-class chamber music in Colorado.
Zalkind is a dedicated teacher and currently serves as Associate Professor of Cello at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. His students have been recognized on national and international concert stages. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, as well as a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan. A native of Salt Lake City, his primary mentors included Richard Hoyt, Pegsoon Whang, Hans Jørgen Jensen, Timothy Eddy, and Richard Aaron. Zalkind performs on a rare Italian cello made by Florentine maker Luigi Piatellini in 1760.
Gong to perform in Preliminary Round of Chopin Competition
AlumniShuguang Gong MM’23 has been selected to perform in the Preliminary Round of the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, considered to be “the most important musical event in Poland and one of the most important competitions in the world.” Gong is one of “171 artists from 28 countries from a record number of 642 applications” who will perform in the Chamber Hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic in Warsaw, Poland for the Preliminaries from April 23 to May 4, 2025.
Gong’s May 4 recital is available to view on the Chopin Institute’s YouTube channel.
“I’m honored to participate in the 19th International Chopin Piano Competition,” Gong said. “This opportunity allows me to share my favorite music with a wider audience, and I am looking forward to growing both artistically and personally through this experience. I would like to thank all my friends from Madison for their support!”
The Chopin Competition is one of the oldest music events of its kind in the world. The competition was initiated in 1927 and has been held every five years since 1955, and is one of the few competitions devoted entirely to the works of a single composer.
The qualification process for the October competition proceeds in two stages. For the first stage, pianists send in audio-video recordings of their performances of selected works by Chopin. These recordings are assessed by the Qualifying Committee, which selects approximately 160 pianists to take part in the Preliminaries. The jury then selects 80 pianists to take part in the October 2025 competition. Competition auditions will be held in public, in three stages and a final, with 40 participants admitted to Stage II, 20 participants to Stage III, and no more than 10 pianists to the final.
The Sound of Science
StudentsBy Chelsea Rademacher
Please respond to the following questions:
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If you answered yes to any of these questions, chances are you have a song stuck in your head now. That’s because music is a unique educational tool — one that spans time, cultures, and nationalities. It’s also why climate scientist and oceanographer Elizabeth Maroon has teamed up with the Mead Witter School of Music to turn El Niño into an earworm.
What makes El Niño important enough to rise to the level of a Schoolhouse Rock analogy? “El Niño is the temperature in the tropical Pacific,” Maroon offers as a refresher. “It’s important because the temperature down there influences weather everywhere — globally.”
From droughts and heatwaves to monsoons and floods, small variations in temperature can have monumental impacts. But the ripple effects of El Niño don’t need to be a surprise; that’s where Maroon’s research comes in. As a faculty member in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (AOS) and a core member of the Nelson Institute’s Center for Climatic Research, Maroon studies climate predictability. Just as we can use climate models to predict the weather — What’s the overnight low tonight? Is it going to rain on my parade? — we can use climate models to predict El Niño a few months to a year or two into the future.
“You can make a forecast for El Niño just like you would a weather model forecast,” Maroon explains, “you just run the climate model longer.” (Of course, weather models don’t have oceans in them, so it’s a good thing Maroon knows a thing or two about oceans.)
She pulled a community climate prediction data set for 2023 and analyzed its forecasts. This is where the connection to music begins: “This data set is special in that it’s an ensemble prediction system,” Maroon explains. That means running multiple forecasts all starting from the same observations; in this case, the dataset has 20 forecasts. Each varies slightly at the very first time — “we’re talking one times 10 to the negative 14th Kelvin (1×10-14K). That’s all it takes for the nonlinearities in the atmosphere and the ocean to start to diverge and to give us a wider look at the possible future climates.”
A classically trained pianist, Maroon drew a connection between an ensemble forecast and an ensemble of musicians.
She remembered some work that fellow researchers had done in sonification, or turning numbers and data into notes and sound. To sonify the El Niño forecasts, Maroon hired AOS undergraduate Hunter Glassford, trained him to work with a sonification tool in the programming language Python, and got to work.
“Sonification maps numbers to a frequency in Hertz,” Maroon says. They’re taking it a step further and mapping the numbers to musical notes: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. With traditional sonification, some frequencies might wind up in between notes. For example, A is 440 Hz and B is 493.883 Hz; a data point that maps to 450 Hz would be too high for A, but too low for B (and just a hair flat for B-flat, if we’re getting specific).
While exploring the sonification with Glassford, Maroon also worked with Johannes Wallmann, professor of music and director of jazz studies in the School of Music, to explore climate science with a School of Music student. Maroon and Wallmann hired Ben Ferris, who is a composer, double bassist, and doctoral student, to create an original composition around El Niño, its forecasts, and its interpretation.
“Ben came up with like a lot of creative ways to map the science concepts in a completely original piece,” Maroon says, “And he provided feedback on the direction for the sonification.”
As Glassford mapped numbers to notes, Ferris suggested trying out different scales that he had used in his composition. For the sonification, the team eventually landed on B Lydian (which sounds like this).
Ferris brought in the UW Bridge Ensemble who are turning the science into sound. To demonstrate the sonification, they selected six members from the climate forecast ensemble and sonified them for six instruments in the UW Bridge Ensemble—two violins, one viola, one cello, one piano and one double bass. In addition to the six forecasts that Maroon is representing, she selected a trumpet to represent the observations, what really happened, the “truth.”
Glassford’s final sonifications, as well as Ferris’s new composition, will world premiere live in the Hamel Music Center performed by the UW Bridge Ensemble, during a free event hosted during UW–Madison Earth Fest on April 21 at 7:30 pm in the Hamel Music Center.
So, what does an El Niño forecast sound like? Think back to the data set that generated these notes. The trumpet starts on a single note—representing what really happened in November 2023. A violin joins in on the same note. The trumpet and violin then independently go higher (warmer) or lower (colder), depending on what really happened or what the forecast thought would happen. Now imagine six forecasts playing at once. All of them start on the same first note as the trumpet, but then all the instruments gradually spread out into different melodies.
“The forecasts do not exactly follow the observations, and you can hear that dissonance,” Maroon says. “The further you get away from where you started, the more spread there is, and the more uncertainty that you have in your forecast.”
You’ll be able to hear El Niño and understand its forecasting because of Maroon’s National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, which is funding both oceanographic research and both student contributors. CAREER Awards are grants that support promising young faculty who show great potential as innovative role models in both research and education — the two areas that the grants focus on.
For Maroon, Earth Signals is the education component; the research half gets further into her academic background of oceanography, specifically looking at how the mountain ranges on the ocean floor affect climate variability.
This is the first year of the grant’s five-year funding. If all goes according to plan, by 2030, Maroon will have supported dozens of students in exploring and researching climate science, honing real-world skills, and getting a one-of-a-kind experience to list on their resumes. She’ll also have helped bring five original compositions to life, offering the public new ways to understand and engage with climate science and oceanography.
“This is going to be a very different way to communicate science,” Maroon says. “Scientific literacy matters, and if we can use music to reach folks who don’t usually think about scientific topics, that’s a win. A better-informed populace is going to be able to understand the scientific premise of things that matter to society.”
Composer’s Statement by Ben Ferris
As an artist, it is a treat to work with scientists, especially folks doing research in climate change, a pressing issue that has broad and devastating effects on the whole world. For this composition, I wanted to look at sonification of musical elements beyond pitch and rhythm. I ended up using dissonance as the element to best communicate with the audience and musicians the feeling of tension between predictions and reality, the discomfort we might feel when things don’t go as we might expect.
I also used improvisation as a large part of the musical composition to sonify the idea of predictions in real-time with the musicians. As a concept for improvised sections, we draw on the music that we’ve already played, but develop it based on our feelings in the moment, which are in turn impacted by the choices of the other musicians. To me, this felt like a great way to experience the scientific processes involved in predictions-lots of inputs impacting what might happen.
Cornish awarded 2025 ACLS Fellowship
FacultyAssistant Professor of Musicology Gabrielle Cornish has been awarded a 2025 ACLS Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). The longest running program at the organization, ACLS Fellowships support outstanding scholarship in the humanities and social sciences.
After four years of restricting ACLS Fellowships to early-career scholars due to the impact of COVID-19, the 2024 competition was re-opened to scholars across all career stages. Cornish has been recognized as one of 62 outstanding scholars from a pool of over 2,300 applicants through a multi-stage peer review process.
ACLS Fellowships provide up to $60,000 to support scholars for six to 12 months of full-time research and writing. Awardees who are independent scholars, adjunct faculty, or have teaching-intensive roles receive an additional stipend between $3,000 and $6,000.
Cornish’s research explores how music and sound helped to construct Soviet identity during the Cold War. Using archival research, musical analysis, historical sound studies, and interviews, it argues that the Soviet government strategically considered sound and music within a broader politics of socialist modernity—that is, a socialist alternative to capitalist models of cultural and technological development.
“Ultimately, this project presents a model for rethinking aesthetic modernism in the late socialist context and, in doing so, reintroduces the Soviet Union into broader discourses of musical modernism, invention, and the ‘new’ in twentieth-century music history,” Cornish writes in the project abstract.
The ACLS Fellowship Program is funded primarily by the ACLS endowment, which has benefited from the generous support of esteemed funders, institutional members, and individual donors since our founding in 1919.
University Opera presents A Little Night Music
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From March 14-16, University Opera, in collaboration with the Wisconsin Union Theater, will present a special production of Stephen Sondheim’s popular musical A Little Night Music. Directed by Karen K. Bishop Director of Opera, David Ronis, and conducted by UW–Madison Director of Orchestral Activities, Oriol Sans, the production will feature student performers from the School of Music, accompanied by the UW–Madison Symphony Orchestra.
University Opera is proud to join with other Madison area companies in presenting “A Spring of Sondheim, a series of four Sondheim shows in four months.” A Little Night Music, in March, follows Four Seasons Theatre’s production of Company (February), and precedes Music Theatre of Madison’s Marry Me A Little (April) and Middleton Players Theatre’s Merrily We Roll Along (May).
A Little Night Music is set in early 20th-century Sweden on the longest night of the year. Sondheim’s ravishing score, featuring his best-known song “Send in the Clowns,” is entirely written in ¾ time. The story explores the tangled web of affairs centered around actress Desirée Armfeldt and the men who love her: a lawyer named Fredrik Egerman and Carl-Magnus Malcolm, a military officer.
When the traveling actress performs in Fredrik’s town, the estranged lovers’ passion rekindles. This strikes a flurry of jealousy and suspicion between Desirée; Fredrik; Fredrik’s wife, Anne; Desirée’s current lover Carl-Magnus; and Carl-Magnus’ wife, Charlotte. Both men–as well as their jealous wives–agree to join Desirée and her family for a weekend at Desirée’s mother’s country estate. In the perpetual twilight of the Nordic summer, lovers waltz in and out of each other’s lives and arms during a weekend romp filled with possibility, second chances, and endless surprises.
The large production will involve over 70 UW–Madison students–singer-actors, instrumentalists, technicians, and stage crew–spanning a wide age range, from freshmen to doctoral students.
The central role of Desirée Armfeldt will be performed by Madison Barrett. Her lovers, Fredrik Egerman and Carl-Magnus Malcolm will be played, respectively, by Alexander Cook and Grady Hayden. Fredrik’s young wife, Anne, will be doubled by Isabella Nowka and Elena Paul. Likewise, both Ben Johnson and Nathen Lê will take on the role of Fredrik’s son, Henrik. Charlotte, Carl-Magnus’ wife, will be performed by Kaitlin Case and Eliza Morris and Avery Brutosky and Danielle Bullock will share the role of the Egerman’s maid, Petra.
Guest alumna Jessica Kasinski will play Desirée’s mother, Madame Armfeldt, and Haley Street will play Desirée’s daughter, Fredrika. The quintet of “Liebeslieders” will be: Minseon Lee (Mrs. Nordstrom), Katie Eggers and Zoë Miller (Mrs. Segstrom), Brendin Larson and Rach Misner (Mrs. Anderssen), Ben Johnson and Nathan Lê (Mr. Erlanson) and Corey Lallo (Mr. Lindquist). Rounding out the cast will be Matthew Jordan as Frid, Lydia Jewell as Malla, Kyla Moore as Osa, and Camille Bruce-DeMuri. In addition to the orchestra, the musical team will consist of UW–Madison vocal coach Thomas Kasdorf (musical preparation), and Frankie Bones (rehearsal pianist). Graduate conducting student Elijah Schuh will serve as assistant conductor and conduct one performance.
The production will be designed by Em Allen with lighting by Zak Stowe, costumes by Kenneth Hoversten and Emily Popp, wigs by Jan Ross, and sound by Taylor Marshall. Dustin Strobush will be the technical director, and the production stage manager will be Alissa Berman. Others on the production staff include Zak Wolff, props designer; Ben Johnson, operations manager for University Opera; Sam Speer, sound assistant; and assistant stage managers Meghan Stecker, Lily Balge, and Lillian Doyle.
Ticket prices range from $15-$47 and are available in advance through the Campus Arts Ticketing office at (608) 265-ARTS and at artsticketing.wisc.edu. Tickets may also be purchased in person at the Wisconsin Union Theater Box Office Monday-Friday, 11:30 am-5:30 pm and Saturdays, 12 pm-5 pm. Tickets may also be purchased at the door beginning one hour before the performance.
A Little Night Music is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.
Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition Winners Announced
StudentsThe School of Music recently announced Minha Jeon, piano, and Stephen Dubetz, clarinet, as winners of the 2024 Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition.
Jeon will perform Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Symphony Orchestra at the February 21, 2025 concert at the Hamel Music Center.
“Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 was a significant challenge for me,” Jeon said. “It felt very different from my natural tendencies as a musician, which made it a piece I wanted to push myself to overcome. While preparing for this competition, I focused entirely on this work, determined to approach it with everything I had. I’m glad that the effort led to a positive outcome, and it has given me a bit more confidence to take on a wider variety of repertoire in the future.”
Dubetz will perform Carl Nielsen’s Concerto for Clarinet with Symphony Orchestra next fall.
“Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto written for the composer’s friend, clarinetist Aage Oxenvad,” Dubetz said. “It’s a pitched battle between tonalities centered around the note ‘F’ and the note ‘E’ may be a reflection of Oxenvad’s mental health, as he suffered from what today may be diagnosed as bi-polar disorder. Played through in one movement, the concerto dazzles, dances, and delights as one simple, two-note theme transforms again and again through various tempi, textures, and moods.”
The 2024 competition was held December 2 in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall. The competition is open to full-time students majoring in music from all areas (brass, jazz, keyboard, strings, percussion, voice, and woodwind). Students are required to compete with substantial complete works for soloist and orchestral accompaniment as defined by each area.
“I’m especially thankful to Professor Christopher Taylor, whose creative ideas helped me find solutions to many of the difficulties I faced,” Jeon said. “Winning this competition has made the process all the more rewarding, and I’m happy to have had this opportunity to grow as a musician.”
Dubetz expressed similar sentiments.
“It is an honor to be one of the winners of this year’s competition,” Dubetz said. “The representatives from each division were all stellar performers and musicians of the highest caliber. Being selected from among a diverse pool of incredible talent is both immensely validating and a real dream-come-true.”