Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology Nadia Chana has won a Jaap Kunst Prize for her 2023 article “Ugly Publics.” The prize recognizes the most significant article in ethnomusicology written by members of the Society for Ethnomusicology during the first 10 years of their scholarly career. Chana’s article was published in the Fall 2023 issue of the journal Ethnomusicology.
Chana’s essay takes up a collaboration between Inuk singer Tanya Tagaq and Greenlandic mask dancer Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory to theorize a form of dominant public she calls an “ugly public.”
“Ugly publics rely on the difference between audiences (the people in the room) and publics (which are not quite people and rely on a series of texts) to come into being,” Chana writes in the article’s abstract. “Ugly publics result when a dominant public is pinned down and made to feel feelings associated with minoritarian positionings. Crucially, in ugly publics, these feelings do not result from empathizing with minoritarian subjects but rather from confronting their own dominance.”
Members of the prize committee noted that “this penetrating study of audience response to a performance by Indigenous musicians confronts us, as readers, with the uncomfortable truths of race, dominance, and power in North America. In turning her gaze on the audience, Nadia Chana defamiliarizes the idea of ‘going to a concert’ that most of us accept without much further thought. Her work inspires deep reflection in us as readers, as ethnomusicologists, and as lovers of and listeners to music.”
Just a few months after earning a performance spot at one of the most distinguished choral conferences in the nation, Concert Choir has been named a winner of a 2024 American Prize in Choral Performance in the “college/university chorus—larger program” category.
The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is one of the nation’s most comprehensive series of contests in the performing arts. The American Prize is designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, directors, ensembles and composers in the United States at professional, college/university, community and high school levels, based on submitted recordings. The American Prize was founded in 2010 and is awarded annually in many areas of the performing arts.
Earlier this summer, the American Choral Directors Association announced that Concert Choir was invited through its peer-review process to perform at the national conference in Dallas, Texas. One of the highest honors in choral music, Concert Choir will perform on March 19, 2025 at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and at the Winspear Opera House. This is the second such recent invitation for Concert Choir, as the ensemble was also selected to perform at the 2022 Wisconsin Music Educators Association Convention.
Under the leadership of Dr. Mariana Farah since 2021, Concert Choir is the premier choral ensemble at the School of Music. This advanced-level flagship group performs works that span the entire breadth of the choral literary tradition and requires an advanced level of musicianship and ensemble skills from its members.
From L to R, Walter Rich, Music Education Teacher Education Program Coordinator for the School of Music; Ben Jaeger; Kaitlin Lepak, Outreach Program Manager for the Mary T. Kellner Teacher Education Center; and Tom Owenby, Associate Dean for Teacher Education and Director of the Teacher Education Center, met on October 14 to congratulate Jaeger on his Rockwell Award.
Ben Jaeger (Music Education 2000) has been named a recipient of a 2024 Rockwell Award. Awarded by the School of Education, these honors recognize exemplary teachers and other school professionals who mentor and provide high-quality field experiences to UW–Madison students who are preparing to work in schools. Recipients of these awards receive $1,000 each for their significant contribution to UW–Madison’s vital field experience program.
Jaeger, who is currently a band teacher at Vel Phillips Memorial High School in Madison, says winning the award is a “meaningful catalyst to reflect on how many future students of our student teacher will benefit from the community we create in the music programs of the Madison Metropolitan School District.”
Perhaps the most meaningful part of the process so far for Jaeger has been the student teacher quotes presented by Tom Owen, Associate Dean for Teacher Education and Director of the Mary T. Kellner Teacher Education Center.
Jaeger takes a “hands-on with scaffolding” approach to mentorship when working with UW students. This strategy, he says, establishes a safety net that allows students to take chances, and work towards building rapport and great art.
“A high quality field experience provides space for the student teacher to feel autonomy while feeling supported,” Jaeger says. “Resources are provided, guidance is given, and opportunity to become a stakeholder in the creation of art and the forming of community is available.”
Jaeger started teaching tuba and euphonium lessons, as well as recording concerts, at Memorial in the late 1990s. He directed the pep band from 1999 to 2005, continued tuba and euphonium lessons, and then started teaching full time band in 2011. He was amazed by what the students were able to accomplish musically with the right support and guidance.
“I knew I wanted to student teach here,” Jaeger says. “There was always something electric about Madison when I was a kid visiting and there has always been something special about Memorial.”
Jaeger’s advice for future music educators?
“Don’t give up. Some of the hardest days are some of the best learning. Relationships are everything. And great music is not made without great trust. Everyone in that room has my back and I have theirs and together we are invincible.”
The School of Education is honoring recipients of its 2024 Rockwell Awards during a November 9 celebration on campus.
University Opera begins the 2024-25 season with Songbird, a reimagining of Offenbach’s hilarious operetta La Périchole in 1920s New Orleans. Songbird was adapted by Eric Sean Fogel, James Lowe (musical arrangement and orchestration), and Kelley Rourke (English lyrics and book). The adaptation, a masterful mashup of 19th century operetta with the jazzy Ragtime sounds of 1920s New Orleans, makes this comedy swing.
Songbird was commissioned by the Glimmerglass Festival in 2021 and subsequently produced at Washington National Opera and Florentine Opera in Milwaukee. The UW–Madison production will be the first collegiate production of the piece. Four performances will be presented at Music Hall on the UW–Madison campus: November 22 at 7:30 pm, November 23 at 7:30 pm, November 24 at 2 pm, and November 26 at 7:30 pm. David Ronis, Karen K. Bishop Director of Opera, will direct and Oriol Sans, Director of Orchestral Activities, will conduct. Songbird will be sung in English and French with projected supertitles.
Fogel, Lowe, and Rourke transplant La Périchole, originally set in a fantasist version of Peru, to a speakeasy in 1920s New Orleans called the “Three Muses.” This is Prohibition time, but in the Three Muses, you would never know it. The liquor flows, the place is always packed, and Don Andrès, the corrupt Mayor of New Orleans, is on the take.
Vaudeville performers Songbird and Piquillo are struggling to make ends meet. Don Andrès sees their act and offers to help Songbird financially, also seeing an opportunity to satisfy his own lascivious desires. In doing so, he plunges the community into a series of dizzying, madcap escapades. Of course, this all happens amidst the celebratory chaos of Mardi Gras. In the end, love conquers all as Songbird and Piquillo outsmart Don Andrès and everyone goes back to partying. As they say in New Orleans, laissez les bon temps rouler!
The cast features Madison Barrett and Eliza Morris alternating in the title role, Ben Johnson as Piquillo, and Alex Cook as Don Andrès. As Don Andrès’s sidekicks, Michael Chiaverini will perform the role of Don Pedro and Nathan Le will be Panatellas. The “Three Muses,” cousins who run the speakeasy, will be portrayed by Danielle Bullock and May Kohler, alternating as Guadalena; Eloise Berkley and Zoë Miller as Berginella; and Rach Misner as Mastrilla. Corey Lallo will be the Mobster and Matthew Jordan will be the Priest. Rounding out the cast will be Kaitlin Case as Celeste and alum Michael Kelley as the Guide.
Juliana Gessner will be the set designer, Matthew Albrecht will be the lighting designer, and costumes will be designed by Kenneth Hoversten and Emily Popp. Sara Bartlett provides choreography, Brandon Gregory will be the sound designer, Tamara Brown will design hair and wigs, and Zak Wolff will be the props designer.
Musical preparation will be by Thomas Kasdorf, and Frankie Bones is the rehearsal pianist. The production stage manager will be Elizabeth Cantwell. Others on the production staff include Kaitlin Case, assistant director; Oliva Gacka, dramaturg; Cody Diedrich and Scott Shapiro, carpenters; Benjamin Johnson, operations manager for University Opera; Sam Speer, sound assistant; Ray Erickson, lighting board operator; Eva Perez and Owen Yang, assistant stage managers; and Katie Eggers and Kyla Moore, costume assistants.
Tickets are $32 for the general public, $27 for senior citizens, and $10 for UW–Madison students, 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-5:30 pm and Saturdays, 12 pm-5 pm. Tickets may also be purchased at the door beginning one hour before the performance. The Carol Rennebohm Auditorium is located in the Music Hall, on North Park Street at the foot of Bascom Hill.
Since his undergraduate days at UW–Madison, Cody Goetz (Piano Performance and Spanish ’17) has maintained a focus on community engaged music education opportunities.
“From the first moment I started working with Cody as an undergraduate piano major, I knew that he wanted to make a difference in the world,” Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy Jessica Johnson said. “As a student, Cody was serious about community engagement projects and deeply committed to creating partnerships that were mutually beneficial and meaningful.”
Goetz took the community engagement skills he learned in Madison and applied them to his work as executive director of the Mundi Project, a nonprofit based in Utah that works to actively break down socioeconomic and generational barriers by providing quality music experiences for all.
Last week, Mundi Project made a huge announcement: It is one of 112 organizations nationwide selected to receive an ArtsHERE grant of $130,000 as part of a new pilot program from the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with South Arts and in collaboration with the other five U.S. Regional Arts Organizations.
This grant will support the Mundi Project’s two key initiatives: creating a strategic plan and providing professional development. Project 1 involves partnering with a consulting firm to develop a three-year strategic plan, enhancing leadership, operations, service, and community engagement. Project 2 includes comprehensive professional development in community music education, trauma-informed practices, accessibility, and cultural competency for staff, board, teaching artists, and volunteers.
These initiatives will strengthen the organization’s capacity, cultivate an inclusive culture, and improve program delivery to better serve diverse communities.
“It is my firm belief that my educational experience as a Badger helped me flourish in my master’s degree program and also instilled in me a passion for community engaged music education opportunities,” Goetz said. “I am forever grateful for the nurturing music community at UW–Madison. I wanted to express my gratitude for my educational experience at UW–Madison, and how the power of my experience has led me to have early successes in my arts administration career.”
More than 4,000 organizations applied for ArtsHERE funding in late 2023 and early 2024. Applications were reviewed by multiple review panels based on published review criteria, including the applicant’s organizational capacity and their capacity-building project, alignment with ArtsHERE’s commitment to equity, and engagement with historically underserved communities.
“A fine musician and teacher, Cody always believed that music is a powerful way to connect with others and center our humanity,” Johnson said. “His work with the Mundi Project is truly transformative and life-changing for so many people.”
00Eric MurtaughEric Murtaugh2024-09-03 09:39:382024-09-03 09:42:01With marching band spirit, UW–Madison’s new TV spot highlights a far-reaching impact on the state
The School of Music is proud to present a new concert series, Live from the Mead Witter School of Music. Held the second Sunday of each month during the academic year in Collins Recital Hall at the Hamel Music Center, this series will focus on chamber music performances by faculty ensembles, top student groups, and outside artists.
The series officially begins September 8 with a performance by the Pro Arte Quartet. All performances in this series are free, non-ticketed events, and will also stream live from the School of Music YouTube channel. The series is made available by the generosity of donors to the David and Kato Perlman Live from the Mead Witter School of Music Fund.
2024/2025 Series Dates All concerts begin at 12:30 pm September 8, 2024 (Pro Arte Quartet)
October 13, 2024 (Trio Collage)
November 10, 2024 (Martha Fischer & Bill Lutes)
December 8, 2024 (Marc Fink & Friends)
January 12, 2025
February 9, 2025 (Dawn Wohn)
March 9, 2025
April 13, 2025
May 11, 2025 (Madlen Breckbill)
The School of Music is excited to announce Herb Payung as the next Assistant Director of Bands. He will serve alongside the band faculty to teach and help guide the historic University of Wisconsin Bands program in the School of Music. In addition, he will assist with aspects in both the athletic and concert band programs, and the undergraduate curriculum. Payung replaces Alexander Gonzalez, who has been hired as the Director of Bands at Southern Oregon University.
“As an alumnus of UW–Madison, I am aware not only of the well-established musical tradition of the Mead Witter School of Music, but of the tightly-knit community formed by its faculty and students,” Payung said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to re-enter this flourishing creative space in a new capacity and continue to build relationships through music making.”
Previously, Payung served as the Assistant Director of Bands at Elon University where he was involved with all aspects of the athletic band program and conducted the Concert Band. At the onset of his career, Payung taught instrumental music in eastern Pennsylvania. During his six years in public education, Payung conducted high school concert bands, jazz ensembles, pit orchestras, and marching bands. He taught courses in instrumental music and jazz improvisation. Payung also served as an elementary band director and brass and percussion instructor at the middle school level.
“We are extremely proud and excited to welcome Dr. Payung home to UW–Madison after an extensive national search by the Mead Witter School of Music,” said Corey Pompey, Associate Director of Bands and Director of Athletic Bands. “Payung is an exceptional artist-teacher and high-caliber individual. Without question, our students will benefit from all that he has to offer.”
Payung holds music degrees from Penn State University (BME, MM Wind Conducting), Boston University (MM Music Education) and UW–Madison (DMA Wind Conducting). His primary conducting teachers include Scott Teeple of UW–Madison and Dennis Glocke of Penn State University.
“We conducted a comprehensive national search to find the individual best suited for our position,” said Scott Teeple, Director of Bands in the School of Music. “Dr. Payung brings a wealth of knowledge about Big Ten band programs. He exercises a deep appreciation for our traditions, while also bringing a forward-thinking philosophy to our students and programs.”
Payung is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, the National Association for Music Education, the American Federation of Musicians, and Pi Kappa Lambda, Music Honor Society.
The American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) has announced that Concert Choir, under the direction of Dr. Mariana Farah, has been invited through its peer-review process to perform at the national conference in Dallas, Texas. One of the highest honors in choral music, Concert Choir will perform on March 19, 2025 at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and at the Winspear Opera House.
Under the leadership of Dr. Farah since 2021, Concert Choir has already performed at the Wisconsin State Music Conference and has been nominated as a finalist for the 2024 American Prize in Choral Performance.
Concert Choir is the premier choral ensemble at the School of Music. This advanced-level flagship group performs works that span the entire breadth of the choral literary tradition and requires an advanced level of musicianship and ensemble skills from its members. Any UW–Madison student wishing to be considered for placement in Concert Choir may audition, regardless of degree path.
The mission of ACDA is to inspire excellence in choral music through education, performance, composition, and advocacy. The 2025 ACDA National Conference will highlight a rich choral heritage, celebrate the music and expertise of present-day choral colleagues, and look with excitement to the next generation.
Professor Susan C. Cook and Professor Paul Rowe are retiring this spring.
Cook is a professor of musicology, and was formerly the academic associate dean for the Arts and Humanities in the Graduate School and director of the School of Music. She also held the Walt Whitman Chair in American Culture Studies as part of the Fulbright Distinguished Teaching Program in the Netherlands.
Cook’s teaching and research focuses on contemporary and American music of all kinds and demonstrates her abiding interest in feminist methodologies and cultural criticism. The author of Opera for a New Republic, she also co-edited 2 volumes of essays, Cecilia Reclaimed and most recently Bodies of Sound: Studies Across Popular Music and Dance, in collaboration with dance historian Sherril Dodds. As director of the School of Music, Cook played a critical role in the Hamel Music Center building campaign, as well as leading discussions on the department’s strategic vision and mission.
Professor of Voice Paul Rowe has also served on the voice faculties of the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, Vanderbilt University, State University of New York at Purchase, Lehigh University and Nazareth College of Rochester, the Berkshire Choral Festival, and the Tennessee State Governor’s School. He was the Artistic Director of the Madison Early Music Festival, an annual festival he helped found in 2000.
Rowe has maintained a wide ranging performing career throughout the United States for the past 20 years. He has performed with many of the leading American musical organizations including the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa at Symphony Hall in Boston and Carnegie Hall in New York, American Ballet Theater at the Metropolitan Opera and Kennedy Center, and Musica Sacra at Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall. He has appeared as well with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Alabama and Arkansas symphony orchestras, the Folger Consort, and the Ensemble for Early Music, among many other groups.
The School of Music is thrilled to announce Albert Pinsonneault as the incoming Associate Director of Choral Studies starting this fall. Pinsonneault will teach choir, conducting, and the graduate choral literature seminar.
“I am so honored to join the faculty at the Mead Witter School of Music and to begin my work making art collaboratively in this community,” Pinsonneault said. “I have a lifelong passion for ensemble singing and I am grateful for the opportunity to share, critically examine, and produce music here.”
Pinsonneault is founder and artistic director of the Madison Choral Project, a 24-voice professional chamber choir based in Madison. A fierce advocate for new music, he has commissioned and premiered dozens of new works for choir. He received second place in the American Prize for Professional Choirs in 2020, performed at Midwestern ACDA Regional conferences (2018, 2020), presented at ACDA National in 2017, and will headline the Iowa Choral Directors Association state conference in 2024. His booklet Choral Intonation is published through Graphite and in active use at over 150 high schools, universities, churches, and community choruses.
Pinsonneault was Director of Choral Activities at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota where he oversaw a large undergraduate choral program involving 200 student musicians, a nationally televised Christmas program, and a history of international travel. From 2015-2019 he was Associate Director of Choral Organizations at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, where he helped administer a distinguished doctoral program in choral conducting, led two choirs, taught the graduate choral literature sequence, and served on dissertation committees.
A native of Minnesota, Pinsonneault attended St. Olaf College (BM Piano Performance) and the University of Minnesota (MM Choral Conducting) before completing his studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (DMA Choral Conducting, minor in Music Theory).
Professor Les Thimmig, who taught at UW–Madison for over 50 years, died April 28, 2024.
Leslie L. Thimmig (“Les”) grew up in Joliet, Illinois, where he played his saxophone as a teenager in jazz clubs. He graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree in composition, and was awarded MMA and DMA degrees in composition from Yale University. He taught music theory at Yale before joining the faculty of the University of Victoria, British Columbia, to direct the composition/theory department. In 1971, Thimmig joined the music faculty at UW–Madison to direct the composition program. He later added woodwind performance and jazz studies to his teaching curriculum.
Thimmig was an internationally known soloist and composer. His compositions have been performed in North and South America, Europe, and Africa, and his commissioned work for the Da Capo Chamber Players premiered in Carnegie Hall. His jazz career included performances with the orchestras of Woody Herman, Lionel Hampton, Oliver Nelson, and Duke Ellington. He recalled fondly his dates in the Catskill Mountains with prominent band leaders of the ’60s, and his work during the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and 2000s with leading artists.
Additional performing affiliations included membership in The Thimmig-Johnson Duo (Madison), Present Music (Milwaukee), Adam Unsworth Ensemble (Ann Arbor), New Sousa Band (San Francisco), and Chicago Clarinet Ensemble. He was leader of the Les Thimmig 7, which performed his compositions exclusively.
Thimmig was revered as a devoted teacher and mentor by his students. His positive attitude and skill at enhancing their performance–and his excitement at assisting graduate students preparing for doctoral evaluations–were essential to what he believed was his obligation to the university.
In the jazz field, Thimmig’s role at the university evolved over the years. When he first arrived, he was involved with the UW Jazz Ensemble for a short period of time. Then he helped teach classes for a jazz major that was first developed in 1979, even though the major was short lived. From 1982 to 1988, Thimmig helmed the UW Jazz Ensemble again. While never his sole focus, jazz remained an important part of Thimmig’s career.
Thimmig most recently ran the Jazz Composers Group, one of several jazz ensembles at the School of Music. Sometimes called a “laboratory,” it was a place where jazz students were able to experiment under Thimmig’s tutelage. With a foundation library of Thimmig’s work, the group slowly became centered on student writing each semester.
A project proposal submitted by Oriol Sans, Director of Orchestral Activities and Assistant Professor in Orchestral Conducting, and Cat Richmond, Music Ensemble Librarian, has been funded by the Library Collections Enhancement Initiative. Jeanette Casey, Head of Mills Music Library, also provided support for the proposal.
The Library Collections Enhancement Initiative is a program to strengthen campus research capacities by providing UW–Madison libraries with flexibility to address critical and emerging collections needs.
The UW–Orchestral Library, housed in the School of Music, is a crucial tool for creative research for conducting faculty, graduate students in orchestral conducting, and students in the orchestral ensembles at UW–Madison. These performing bodies include the UW–Madison Symphony Orchestra, the All-University Strings ensemble, and the Medical Sciences Orchestra. This library serves these various stakeholders on a regular basis by providing essential performance materials for research and study, as well as music for each programmed concert.
This project augments the Library holdings with current editions of recently published full orchestral scores and parts. These publications are informed by recent musicological research, and will improve the scholarly commitment to both students and faculty. With these contemporary editions, students will be exposed to the most informed canonical standards of orchestral music and performance practice.
Additionally, providing newly researched and edited repertoire of historically under-represented composers and modern composers will encourage a broadened understanding of diverse musical practices, and pedagogical initiatives, while further aligning the Orchestral Library with the School of Music’s objective to expand musical boundaries.
Finally, widening the music catalog to include orchestral music scores and performance materials in recently developed and genre-bending fields, such as dance music, opera, and film music, will further UW–Madison’s commitment to innovation and foster engagement with a broader audience.
The Library Collections Enhancement Initiative is supported by the OVCR with support from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF).
Todd Reck, Undergraduate Advisor for the School of Music, was chosen as a 2024 College of Letters & Science Early Career Advising Award recipient. Reck formally received the award at the L&S Award Ceremony and Reception on April 17 at the Pyle Center on the UW–Madison campus.
Those honored with an L&S Academic Advising Award are “exceptional advisors,” and “have demonstrated exemplary performance both in terms of their positive impact on students and through distinctive contributions to their department, unit, and/or the College of Letters & Science.”
Reck was nominated by Student Services and Curriculum Manager Diana Wheeler, Assistant Director Wendy Johnson, Professor Martha Fischer, and undergraduate student Michael Wu (who was advised by Reck as a student at the School of Music).
Reck joined the department in September 2021, and works to provide academic advising to undergraduate music students, including prospective, pre-declared, and declared majors and double majors in all music programs within the School of Music to ensure timely degree completion and an excellent student experience.
The 2024 Creative Arts Awardees have been announced by the UW–Madison Division of the Arts. Laura Schwendinger, Professor of Composition, leads a distinguished list of faculty, staff, and student recipients who will be honored publicly at a special gala event on May 2, 2024 at the Hamel Music Center. Peter Dominguez, Professor of Double Bass and Jazz Studies, will be awarded with an Emily Mead Baldwin Award in the Creative Arts, and Magdalena Sas, a PhD candidate in cello performance, will be awarded with a Graduate Student Creative Arts Award.
Schwendinger will receive the Creative Arts Award, which recognizes and honors extraordinary artistic projects and endeavors of the highest quality carried out by tenured members of the UW–Madison arts faculty. Schwendinger is the award-winning composer of Artemisia, winner of the 2023 American Academy of Arts and Letters Charles Ives Opera award, one of the largest such awards to composers of opera, was the first composer to win the Berlin Prize in 1999 and is a 2009 Guggenheim Fellow.
The Creative Arts Awards program enables the Arts Division to recognize and support research and outreach in all areas of the creative arts at UW–Madison. Eight awards are open to a variety of arts practitioners, researchers, students (both undergraduate and graduate), staff and faculty from arts academic departments, co-curricular arts units and programs. The gala awards ceremony, presented by the Division of Arts, is a celebration of diverse and groundbreaking creative arts research that spans disciplines and departments across UW–Madison.
After competitive national searches, the School of Music is thrilled to announce the hiring of Dawn Dongeun Wohn as Assistant Professor of Violin, and Matthew Treviño as Assistant Professor of Voice. Wohn and Treviño join the faculty this fall.
Wohn, who is currently in a teaching faculty role at the School of Music, has performed in concert halls across five continents including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. She has appeared as a soloist for live-broadcast performances with orchestras such as the Korean Broadcasting Symphony and the Aspen Conducting Orchestra, The New York Sinfonietta, and Japan’s Telemann Ensemble. In addition, she has performed recitals across the world including Carnegie Weill Hall, Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, and Jordan Hall.
Her debut solo album Perspectives, featuring works by female composers, was featured by the New York Times, Spotify and Apple Music and was chosen as one of WQXR’s best albums of the year. Her recent release, Unbounded by Delos Music, explores music by American women.
“I’m very excited to continue working for the School of Music in this new position,” Wohn said. “I love working with our curious, creative and open-minded students, and our collaborative and supportive faculty and staff. I am happy to be able to add my voice and be able to serve our School of Music community.”
Hailed as “a bass of rare talent,” Treviño most recently performed the role of Bonze in Madama Butterfly and Ferrando in Il Trovatore with L’Opéra de Montréal, Dr. Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro with Calgary Opera’s and Austin Opera, Dr. P in Nashville Opera’s revival of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Friar Laurent in Roméo et Juliette with Florentine Opera, and Dr. Grenvil in La Traviata with the Calgary Opera.
Treviño is currently the chair of the voice department at McGill University in Montreal. A devoted and passionate educator, he is committed to a teaching approach which includes the science of healthy singing, a sensitivity to the artist’s physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing, and an unyielding commitment to guiding students towards a more productive life both personally and professionally.
“I am thrilled to join the faculty of the School of Music’s voice department and look forward to contributing to the school’s already stellar reputation,” Treviño said. “My wife, son, and I are so excited to begin our adventure in a city as vibrant and beautiful as Madison, and I’m eager to be a contributing member of its educational and artistic community. I’m humbled by this opportunity to teach, mentor, and guide the students at UW–Madison and help propel the School of Music to even greater heights.”
After recently winning The American Prize for its 2022 production of Sweeney Todd, University Opera closes the 2023-24 season by returning to the crossover between classical voice and contemporary musical theatre, presenting The Light in the Piazza by Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas. Four performances will be presented at Music Hall on the UW–Madison campus: March 15 at 7:30 pm; March 16 at 7:30 pm; March 17 at 2 pm; and March 19 at 7:30 pm. Vocal coach Thomas J. Kasdorf will stage direct, and Professor Oriol Sans, Director of Orchestral Activities, will be the music director for the production.
The winner of six Tony Awards in its original Broadway run, including Best Original Score, The Light in the Piazza follows Margaret Johnson and her daughter Clara in the summer of 1953 on their vacation in Italy, where the return of a windswept hat by a handsome stranger sets the pair on an unexpected journey. A lush, soaring operatic score by Adam Guettel (Days of Wine and Roses, Floyd Collins) and book by Craig Lucas (Prelude to a Kiss, An American in Paris) brings this tale of love, regret, and hope to life. Joining the cast will be a 16-piece student orchestra, helmed by Sans and graduate assistant Daewon Kang.
The ensemble cast for the University Opera production features Madison Barrett and Eliza Morris alternating in the role of Margaret Johnson, and Isabel Celata and Avery Brutosky as her daughter Clara. Will Volmar and Benjamin Johnson will both portray Fabrizio Nacarelli, with Grady Hayden as his father, Signor Nacarelli, and Eloise Berkley and Katie Eggers sharing the role of his mother, Signora Nacarelli. Michael Chiaverini and Corey Lallo will share the role of Giuseppe Nacarelli, with May Kohler and Minseon Lee splitting performances as Giuseppe’s wife, Franca. Evan Mitchell will perform the role of Roy Johnson, Brendin Larson will appear as Tour Guide, and Augustine Ahn will play Priest. Rounding out the cast is an ensemble of skilled undergraduate performers, including Samuel Arnold, Riley Brutto, Elizabeth Cantwell, Alex Cook, Eric Luebke, Isabella Nowka, and Elena Paul.
The scenic concept is by Greg Silver, scenic construction by Zane Enloe and Scott Shapiro, and guest artist (and UW-Madison alumnus) Matthew Albrecht will be the lighting designer. Costumes will be designed by Kenneth Hoversten and Emily Popp. Sara Bartlett provides choreography, and Zak Wolff will be the propertiess designer. Musical preparation will be by William Preston, and Frankie Bones is the rehearsal pianist. Others on the production staff include Alissa Berman, production stage manager; Meghan Stecker and Eva Perez as assistant stage managers; Benjamin Johnson, operations manager for University Opera; and Katie Eggers and Kyla Moore, costume assistants.
Tickets are $30 for the general public, $25 for senior citizens, and $10 for UW–Madison students, 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-5:30 pm, and Saturdays, 12-5 pm. Tickets may also be purchased at the door beginning one hour before the performance. The Carol Rennebohm Auditorium is located in the Music Hall at the foot of Bascom Hill on Park Street.
Professor ScottTeeple, Director of Bands, has been inducted into the American Bandmasters Association (ABA). He’s conducting the United States Navy Band in concert in Washington, D.C. on March 7, 2024 as part of the ABA convention and induction.
Being a member of ABA is one of the highest honors in the profession. Membership is granted through an extensive process that acknowledges the quality of someone’s work, musicianship, and contributions to the field. To be accepted into membership, an individual must be nominated by a group of members, submit a dossier of materials including a CV and performance recordings, and then be voted upon by the membership committee and the full membership of the organization.
Dr. Kevin Geraldi, Director of Bands at the University Illinois, and Dr. Mary Schneider, Director of Bands at Eastern Michigan University, served to nominate Teeple.
“Scott is most deserving and it was my honor to be one of his sponsors,” Geraldi said.
Founded in 1929, ABA recognizes outstanding achievement on the part of concert band conductors and composers. The current invitational membership comprises approximately 300 band conductors and composers in the United States and Canada.
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Chana wins Jaap Kunst Prize
EthnomusicologyAssistant Professor of Ethnomusicology Nadia Chana has won a Jaap Kunst Prize for her 2023 article “Ugly Publics.” The prize recognizes the most significant article in ethnomusicology written by members of the Society for Ethnomusicology during the first 10 years of their scholarly career. Chana’s article was published in the Fall 2023 issue of the journal Ethnomusicology.
Chana’s essay takes up a collaboration between Inuk singer Tanya Tagaq and Greenlandic mask dancer Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory to theorize a form of dominant public she calls an “ugly public.”
“Ugly publics rely on the difference between audiences (the people in the room) and publics (which are not quite people and rely on a series of texts) to come into being,” Chana writes in the article’s abstract. “Ugly publics result when a dominant public is pinned down and made to feel feelings associated with minoritarian positionings. Crucially, in ugly publics, these feelings do not result from empathizing with minoritarian subjects but rather from confronting their own dominance.”
Members of the prize committee noted that “this penetrating study of audience response to a performance by Indigenous musicians confronts us, as readers, with the uncomfortable truths of race, dominance, and power in North America. In turning her gaze on the audience, Nadia Chana defamiliarizes the idea of ‘going to a concert’ that most of us accept without much further thought. Her work inspires deep reflection in us as readers, as ethnomusicologists, and as lovers of and listeners to music.”
Concert Choir wins American Prize
ChoralJust a few months after earning a performance spot at one of the most distinguished choral conferences in the nation, Concert Choir has been named a winner of a 2024 American Prize in Choral Performance in the “college/university chorus—larger program” category.
The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is one of the nation’s most comprehensive series of contests in the performing arts. The American Prize is designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, directors, ensembles and composers in the United States at professional, college/university, community and high school levels, based on submitted recordings. The American Prize was founded in 2010 and is awarded annually in many areas of the performing arts.
Earlier this summer, the American Choral Directors Association announced that Concert Choir was invited through its peer-review process to perform at the national conference in Dallas, Texas. One of the highest honors in choral music, Concert Choir will perform on March 19, 2025 at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and at the Winspear Opera House. This is the second such recent invitation for Concert Choir, as the ensemble was also selected to perform at the 2022 Wisconsin Music Educators Association Convention.
Under the leadership of Dr. Mariana Farah since 2021, Concert Choir is the premier choral ensemble at the School of Music. This advanced-level flagship group performs works that span the entire breadth of the choral literary tradition and requires an advanced level of musicianship and ensemble skills from its members.
Jaeger a 2024 Rockwell Award recipient
AlumniFrom L to R, Walter Rich, Music Education Teacher Education Program Coordinator for the School of Music; Ben Jaeger; Kaitlin Lepak, Outreach Program Manager for the Mary T. Kellner Teacher Education Center; and Tom Owenby, Associate Dean for Teacher Education and Director of the Teacher Education Center, met on October 14 to congratulate Jaeger on his Rockwell Award.
Ben Jaeger (Music Education 2000) has been named a recipient of a 2024 Rockwell Award. Awarded by the School of Education, these honors recognize exemplary teachers and other school professionals who mentor and provide high-quality field experiences to UW–Madison students who are preparing to work in schools. Recipients of these awards receive $1,000 each for their significant contribution to UW–Madison’s vital field experience program.
Jaeger, who is currently a band teacher at Vel Phillips Memorial High School in Madison, says winning the award is a “meaningful catalyst to reflect on how many future students of our student teacher will benefit from the community we create in the music programs of the Madison Metropolitan School District.”
Perhaps the most meaningful part of the process so far for Jaeger has been the student teacher quotes presented by Tom Owen, Associate Dean for Teacher Education and Director of the Mary T. Kellner Teacher Education Center.
Jaeger takes a “hands-on with scaffolding” approach to mentorship when working with UW students. This strategy, he says, establishes a safety net that allows students to take chances, and work towards building rapport and great art.
“A high quality field experience provides space for the student teacher to feel autonomy while feeling supported,” Jaeger says. “Resources are provided, guidance is given, and opportunity to become a stakeholder in the creation of art and the forming of community is available.”
Jaeger started teaching tuba and euphonium lessons, as well as recording concerts, at Memorial in the late 1990s. He directed the pep band from 1999 to 2005, continued tuba and euphonium lessons, and then started teaching full time band in 2011. He was amazed by what the students were able to accomplish musically with the right support and guidance.
“I knew I wanted to student teach here,” Jaeger says. “There was always something electric about Madison when I was a kid visiting and there has always been something special about Memorial.”
Jaeger’s advice for future music educators?
“Don’t give up. Some of the hardest days are some of the best learning. Relationships are everything. And great music is not made without great trust. Everyone in that room has my back and I have theirs and together we are invincible.”
The School of Education is honoring recipients of its 2024 Rockwell Awards during a November 9 celebration on campus.
University Opera to present collegiate premiere of Songbird
University OperaPurchase tickets
University Opera begins the 2024-25 season with Songbird, a reimagining of Offenbach’s hilarious operetta La Périchole in 1920s New Orleans. Songbird was adapted by Eric Sean Fogel, James Lowe (musical arrangement and orchestration), and Kelley Rourke (English lyrics and book). The adaptation, a masterful mashup of 19th century operetta with the jazzy Ragtime sounds of 1920s New Orleans, makes this comedy swing.
Songbird was commissioned by the Glimmerglass Festival in 2021 and subsequently produced at Washington National Opera and Florentine Opera in Milwaukee. The UW–Madison production will be the first collegiate production of the piece. Four performances will be presented at Music Hall on the UW–Madison campus: November 22 at 7:30 pm, November 23 at 7:30 pm, November 24 at 2 pm, and November 26 at 7:30 pm. David Ronis, Karen K. Bishop Director of Opera, will direct and Oriol Sans, Director of Orchestral Activities, will conduct. Songbird will be sung in English and French with projected supertitles.
Fogel, Lowe, and Rourke transplant La Périchole, originally set in a fantasist version of Peru, to a speakeasy in 1920s New Orleans called the “Three Muses.” This is Prohibition time, but in the Three Muses, you would never know it. The liquor flows, the place is always packed, and Don Andrès, the corrupt Mayor of New Orleans, is on the take.
Vaudeville performers Songbird and Piquillo are struggling to make ends meet. Don Andrès sees their act and offers to help Songbird financially, also seeing an opportunity to satisfy his own lascivious desires. In doing so, he plunges the community into a series of dizzying, madcap escapades. Of course, this all happens amidst the celebratory chaos of Mardi Gras. In the end, love conquers all as Songbird and Piquillo outsmart Don Andrès and everyone goes back to partying. As they say in New Orleans, laissez les bon temps rouler!
The cast features Madison Barrett and Eliza Morris alternating in the title role, Ben Johnson as Piquillo, and Alex Cook as Don Andrès. As Don Andrès’s sidekicks, Michael Chiaverini will perform the role of Don Pedro and Nathan Le will be Panatellas. The “Three Muses,” cousins who run the speakeasy, will be portrayed by Danielle Bullock and May Kohler, alternating as Guadalena; Eloise Berkley and Zoë Miller as Berginella; and Rach Misner as Mastrilla. Corey Lallo will be the Mobster and Matthew Jordan will be the Priest. Rounding out the cast will be Kaitlin Case as Celeste and alum Michael Kelley as the Guide.
Juliana Gessner will be the set designer, Matthew Albrecht will be the lighting designer, and costumes will be designed by Kenneth Hoversten and Emily Popp. Sara Bartlett provides choreography, Brandon Gregory will be the sound designer, Tamara Brown will design hair and wigs, and Zak Wolff will be the props designer.
Musical preparation will be by Thomas Kasdorf, and Frankie Bones is the rehearsal pianist. The production stage manager will be Elizabeth Cantwell. Others on the production staff include Kaitlin Case, assistant director; Oliva Gacka, dramaturg; Cody Diedrich and Scott Shapiro, carpenters; Benjamin Johnson, operations manager for University Opera; Sam Speer, sound assistant; Ray Erickson, lighting board operator; Eva Perez and Owen Yang, assistant stage managers; and Katie Eggers and Kyla Moore, costume assistants.
Tickets are $32 for the general public, $27 for senior citizens, and $10 for UW–Madison students, 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-5:30 pm and Saturdays, 12 pm-5 pm. Tickets may also be purchased at the door beginning one hour before the performance. The Carol Rennebohm Auditorium is located in the Music Hall, on North Park Street at the foot of Bascom Hill.
Nonprofit led by alumnus awarded NEA grant
AlumniSince his undergraduate days at UW–Madison, Cody Goetz (Piano Performance and Spanish ’17) has maintained a focus on community engaged music education opportunities.
“From the first moment I started working with Cody as an undergraduate piano major, I knew that he wanted to make a difference in the world,” Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy Jessica Johnson said. “As a student, Cody was serious about community engagement projects and deeply committed to creating partnerships that were mutually beneficial and meaningful.”
Goetz took the community engagement skills he learned in Madison and applied them to his work as executive director of the Mundi Project, a nonprofit based in Utah that works to actively break down socioeconomic and generational barriers by providing quality music experiences for all.
Last week, Mundi Project made a huge announcement: It is one of 112 organizations nationwide selected to receive an ArtsHERE grant of $130,000 as part of a new pilot program from the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with South Arts and in collaboration with the other five U.S. Regional Arts Organizations.
This grant will support the Mundi Project’s two key initiatives: creating a strategic plan and providing professional development. Project 1 involves partnering with a consulting firm to develop a three-year strategic plan, enhancing leadership, operations, service, and community engagement. Project 2 includes comprehensive professional development in community music education, trauma-informed practices, accessibility, and cultural competency for staff, board, teaching artists, and volunteers.
These initiatives will strengthen the organization’s capacity, cultivate an inclusive culture, and improve program delivery to better serve diverse communities.
“It is my firm belief that my educational experience as a Badger helped me flourish in my master’s degree program and also instilled in me a passion for community engaged music education opportunities,” Goetz said. “I am forever grateful for the nurturing music community at UW–Madison. I wanted to express my gratitude for my educational experience at UW–Madison, and how the power of my experience has led me to have early successes in my arts administration career.”
More than 4,000 organizations applied for ArtsHERE funding in late 2023 and early 2024. Applications were reviewed by multiple review panels based on published review criteria, including the applicant’s organizational capacity and their capacity-building project, alignment with ArtsHERE’s commitment to equity, and engagement with historically underserved communities.
“A fine musician and teacher, Cody always believed that music is a powerful way to connect with others and center our humanity,” Johnson said. “His work with the Mundi Project is truly transformative and life-changing for so many people.”
With marching band spirit, UW–Madison’s new TV spot highlights a far-reaching impact on the state
Marching BandNew series celebrates chamber music
ChamberThe School of Music is proud to present a new concert series, Live from the Mead Witter School of Music. Held the second Sunday of each month during the academic year in Collins Recital Hall at the Hamel Music Center, this series will focus on chamber music performances by faculty ensembles, top student groups, and outside artists.
The series officially begins September 8 with a performance by the Pro Arte Quartet. All performances in this series are free, non-ticketed events, and will also stream live from the School of Music YouTube channel. The series is made available by the generosity of donors to the David and Kato Perlman Live from the Mead Witter School of Music Fund.
2024/2025 Series Dates
All concerts begin at 12:30 pm
September 8, 2024 (Pro Arte Quartet)
October 13, 2024 (Trio Collage)
November 10, 2024 (Martha Fischer & Bill Lutes)
December 8, 2024 (Marc Fink & Friends)
January 12, 2025
February 9, 2025 (Dawn Wohn)
March 9, 2025
April 13, 2025
May 11, 2025 (Madlen Breckbill)
Payung named Assistant Director of Bands
FacultyThe School of Music is excited to announce Herb Payung as the next Assistant Director of Bands. He will serve alongside the band faculty to teach and help guide the historic University of Wisconsin Bands program in the School of Music. In addition, he will assist with aspects in both the athletic and concert band programs, and the undergraduate curriculum. Payung replaces Alexander Gonzalez, who has been hired as the Director of Bands at Southern Oregon University.
“As an alumnus of UW–Madison, I am aware not only of the well-established musical tradition of the Mead Witter School of Music, but of the tightly-knit community formed by its faculty and students,” Payung said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to re-enter this flourishing creative space in a new capacity and continue to build relationships through music making.”
Previously, Payung served as the Assistant Director of Bands at Elon University where he was involved with all aspects of the athletic band program and conducted the Concert Band. At the onset of his career, Payung taught instrumental music in eastern Pennsylvania. During his six years in public education, Payung conducted high school concert bands, jazz ensembles, pit orchestras, and marching bands. He taught courses in instrumental music and jazz improvisation. Payung also served as an elementary band director and brass and percussion instructor at the middle school level.
“We are extremely proud and excited to welcome Dr. Payung home to UW–Madison after an extensive national search by the Mead Witter School of Music,” said Corey Pompey, Associate Director of Bands and Director of Athletic Bands. “Payung is an exceptional artist-teacher and high-caliber individual. Without question, our students will benefit from all that he has to offer.”
Payung holds music degrees from Penn State University (BME, MM Wind Conducting), Boston University (MM Music Education) and UW–Madison (DMA Wind Conducting). His primary conducting teachers include Scott Teeple of UW–Madison and Dennis Glocke of Penn State University.
“We conducted a comprehensive national search to find the individual best suited for our position,” said Scott Teeple, Director of Bands in the School of Music. “Dr. Payung brings a wealth of knowledge about Big Ten band programs. He exercises a deep appreciation for our traditions, while also bringing a forward-thinking philosophy to our students and programs.”
Payung is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, the National Association for Music Education, the American Federation of Musicians, and Pi Kappa Lambda, Music Honor Society.
Concert Choir invited to perform at ACDA conference
ChoralThe American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) has announced that Concert Choir, under the direction of Dr. Mariana Farah, has been invited through its peer-review process to perform at the national conference in Dallas, Texas. One of the highest honors in choral music, Concert Choir will perform on March 19, 2025 at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and at the Winspear Opera House.
Under the leadership of Dr. Farah since 2021, Concert Choir has already performed at the Wisconsin State Music Conference and has been nominated as a finalist for the 2024 American Prize in Choral Performance.
Concert Choir is the premier choral ensemble at the School of Music. This advanced-level flagship group performs works that span the entire breadth of the choral literary tradition and requires an advanced level of musicianship and ensemble skills from its members. Any UW–Madison student wishing to be considered for placement in Concert Choir may audition, regardless of degree path.
The mission of ACDA is to inspire excellence in choral music through education, performance, composition, and advocacy. The 2025 ACDA National Conference will highlight a rich choral heritage, celebrate the music and expertise of present-day choral colleagues, and look with excitement to the next generation.
Cook, Rowe set to retire
FacultyProfessor Susan C. Cook and Professor Paul Rowe are retiring this spring.
Cook is a professor of musicology, and was formerly the academic associate dean for the Arts and Humanities in the Graduate School and director of the School of Music. She also held the Walt Whitman Chair in American Culture Studies as part of the Fulbright Distinguished Teaching Program in the Netherlands.
Cook’s teaching and research focuses on contemporary and American music of all kinds and demonstrates her abiding interest in feminist methodologies and cultural criticism. The author of Opera for a New Republic, she also co-edited 2 volumes of essays, Cecilia Reclaimed and most recently Bodies of Sound: Studies Across Popular Music and Dance, in collaboration with dance historian Sherril Dodds. As director of the School of Music, Cook played a critical role in the Hamel Music Center building campaign, as well as leading discussions on the department’s strategic vision and mission.
Professor of Voice Paul Rowe has also served on the voice faculties of the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, Vanderbilt University, State University of New York at Purchase, Lehigh University and Nazareth College of Rochester, the Berkshire Choral Festival, and the Tennessee State Governor’s School. He was the Artistic Director of the Madison Early Music Festival, an annual festival he helped found in 2000.
Rowe has maintained a wide ranging performing career throughout the United States for the past 20 years. He has performed with many of the leading American musical organizations including the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa at Symphony Hall in Boston and Carnegie Hall in New York, American Ballet Theater at the Metropolitan Opera and Kennedy Center, and Musica Sacra at Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall. He has appeared as well with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Alabama and Arkansas symphony orchestras, the Folger Consort, and the Ensemble for Early Music, among many other groups.
Pinsonneault joins Choral faculty
FacultyThe School of Music is thrilled to announce Albert Pinsonneault as the incoming Associate Director of Choral Studies starting this fall. Pinsonneault will teach choir, conducting, and the graduate choral literature seminar.
“I am so honored to join the faculty at the Mead Witter School of Music and to begin my work making art collaboratively in this community,” Pinsonneault said. “I have a lifelong passion for ensemble singing and I am grateful for the opportunity to share, critically examine, and produce music here.”
Pinsonneault is founder and artistic director of the Madison Choral Project, a 24-voice professional chamber choir based in Madison. A fierce advocate for new music, he has commissioned and premiered dozens of new works for choir. He received second place in the American Prize for Professional Choirs in 2020, performed at Midwestern ACDA Regional conferences (2018, 2020), presented at ACDA National in 2017, and will headline the Iowa Choral Directors Association state conference in 2024. His booklet Choral Intonation is published through Graphite and in active use at over 150 high schools, universities, churches, and community choruses.
Pinsonneault was Director of Choral Activities at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota where he oversaw a large undergraduate choral program involving 200 student musicians, a nationally televised Christmas program, and a history of international travel. From 2015-2019 he was Associate Director of Choral Organizations at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, where he helped administer a distinguished doctoral program in choral conducting, led two choirs, taught the graduate choral literature sequence, and served on dissertation committees.
A native of Minnesota, Pinsonneault attended St. Olaf College (BM Piano Performance) and the University of Minnesota (MM Choral Conducting) before completing his studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (DMA Choral Conducting, minor in Music Theory).
Remembering Les Thimmig, 1943-2024
FacultyProfessor Les Thimmig, who taught at UW–Madison for over 50 years, died April 28, 2024.
Leslie L. Thimmig (“Les”) grew up in Joliet, Illinois, where he played his saxophone as a teenager in jazz clubs. He graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree in composition, and was awarded MMA and DMA degrees in composition from Yale University. He taught music theory at Yale before joining the faculty of the University of Victoria, British Columbia, to direct the composition/theory department. In 1971, Thimmig joined the music faculty at UW–Madison to direct the composition program. He later added woodwind performance and jazz studies to his teaching curriculum.
Thimmig was an internationally known soloist and composer. His compositions have been performed in North and South America, Europe, and Africa, and his commissioned work for the Da Capo Chamber Players premiered in Carnegie Hall. His jazz career included performances with the orchestras of Woody Herman, Lionel Hampton, Oliver Nelson, and Duke Ellington. He recalled fondly his dates in the Catskill Mountains with prominent band leaders of the ’60s, and his work during the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and 2000s with leading artists.
Additional performing affiliations included membership in The Thimmig-Johnson Duo (Madison), Present Music (Milwaukee), Adam Unsworth Ensemble (Ann Arbor), New Sousa Band (San Francisco), and Chicago Clarinet Ensemble. He was leader of the Les Thimmig 7, which performed his compositions exclusively.
Thimmig was revered as a devoted teacher and mentor by his students. His positive attitude and skill at enhancing their performance–and his excitement at assisting graduate students preparing for doctoral evaluations–were essential to what he believed was his obligation to the university.
In the jazz field, Thimmig’s role at the university evolved over the years. When he first arrived, he was involved with the UW Jazz Ensemble for a short period of time. Then he helped teach classes for a jazz major that was first developed in 1979, even though the major was short lived. From 1982 to 1988, Thimmig helmed the UW Jazz Ensemble again. While never his sole focus, jazz remained an important part of Thimmig’s career.
Thimmig most recently ran the Jazz Composers Group, one of several jazz ensembles at the School of Music. Sometimes called a “laboratory,” it was a place where jazz students were able to experiment under Thimmig’s tutelage. With a foundation library of Thimmig’s work, the group slowly became centered on student writing each semester.
Orchestral Library project funded by Library Collections Enhancement Initiative
NewsA project proposal submitted by Oriol Sans, Director of Orchestral Activities and Assistant Professor in Orchestral Conducting, and Cat Richmond, Music Ensemble Librarian, has been funded by the Library Collections Enhancement Initiative. Jeanette Casey, Head of Mills Music Library, also provided support for the proposal.
The Library Collections Enhancement Initiative is a program to strengthen campus research capacities by providing UW–Madison libraries with flexibility to address critical and emerging collections needs.
The UW–Orchestral Library, housed in the School of Music, is a crucial tool for creative research for conducting faculty, graduate students in orchestral conducting, and students in the orchestral ensembles at UW–Madison. These performing bodies include the UW–Madison Symphony Orchestra, the All-University Strings ensemble, and the Medical Sciences Orchestra. This library serves these various stakeholders on a regular basis by providing essential performance materials for research and study, as well as music for each programmed concert.
This project augments the Library holdings with current editions of recently published full orchestral scores and parts. These publications are informed by recent musicological research, and will improve the scholarly commitment to both students and faculty. With these contemporary editions, students will be exposed to the most informed canonical standards of orchestral music and performance practice.
Additionally, providing newly researched and edited repertoire of historically under-represented composers and modern composers will encourage a broadened understanding of diverse musical practices, and pedagogical initiatives, while further aligning the Orchestral Library with the School of Music’s objective to expand musical boundaries.
Finally, widening the music catalog to include orchestral music scores and performance materials in recently developed and genre-bending fields, such as dance music, opera, and film music, will further UW–Madison’s commitment to innovation and foster engagement with a broader audience.
The Library Collections Enhancement Initiative is supported by the OVCR with support from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF).
Reck wins Early Career Advising Award
AwardsTodd Reck, Undergraduate Advisor for the School of Music, was chosen as a 2024 College of Letters & Science Early Career Advising Award recipient. Reck formally received the award at the L&S Award Ceremony and Reception on April 17 at the Pyle Center on the UW–Madison campus.
Those honored with an L&S Academic Advising Award are “exceptional advisors,” and “have demonstrated exemplary performance both in terms of their positive impact on students and through distinctive contributions to their department, unit, and/or the College of Letters & Science.”
Reck was nominated by Student Services and Curriculum Manager Diana Wheeler, Assistant Director Wendy Johnson, Professor Martha Fischer, and undergraduate student Michael Wu (who was advised by Reck as a student at the School of Music).
Reck joined the department in September 2021, and works to provide academic advising to undergraduate music students, including prospective, pre-declared, and declared majors and double majors in all music programs within the School of Music to ensure timely degree completion and an excellent student experience.
Schwendinger leads list of Creative Arts Awards recipients
AwardsThe 2024 Creative Arts Awardees have been announced by the UW–Madison Division of the Arts. Laura Schwendinger, Professor of Composition, leads a distinguished list of faculty, staff, and student recipients who will be honored publicly at a special gala event on May 2, 2024 at the Hamel Music Center. Peter Dominguez, Professor of Double Bass and Jazz Studies, will be awarded with an Emily Mead Baldwin Award in the Creative Arts, and Magdalena Sas, a PhD candidate in cello performance, will be awarded with a Graduate Student Creative Arts Award.
Schwendinger will receive the Creative Arts Award, which recognizes and honors extraordinary artistic projects and endeavors of the highest quality carried out by tenured members of the UW–Madison arts faculty. Schwendinger is the award-winning composer of Artemisia, winner of the 2023 American Academy of Arts and Letters Charles Ives Opera award, one of the largest such awards to composers of opera, was the first composer to win the Berlin Prize in 1999 and is a 2009 Guggenheim Fellow.
The Creative Arts Awards program enables the Arts Division to recognize and support research and outreach in all areas of the creative arts at UW–Madison. Eight awards are open to a variety of arts practitioners, researchers, students (both undergraduate and graduate), staff and faculty from arts academic departments, co-curricular arts units and programs. The gala awards ceremony, presented by the Division of Arts, is a celebration of diverse and groundbreaking creative arts research that spans disciplines and departments across UW–Madison.
Wohn, Treviño join Music faculty
FacultyAfter competitive national searches, the School of Music is thrilled to announce the hiring of Dawn Dongeun Wohn as Assistant Professor of Violin, and Matthew Treviño as Assistant Professor of Voice. Wohn and Treviño join the faculty this fall.
Wohn, who is currently in a teaching faculty role at the School of Music, has performed in concert halls across five continents including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. She has appeared as a soloist for live-broadcast performances with orchestras such as the Korean Broadcasting Symphony and the Aspen Conducting Orchestra, The New York Sinfonietta, and Japan’s Telemann Ensemble. In addition, she has performed recitals across the world including Carnegie Weill Hall, Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, and Jordan Hall.
Her debut solo album Perspectives, featuring works by female composers, was featured by the New York Times, Spotify and Apple Music and was chosen as one of WQXR’s best albums of the year. Her recent release, Unbounded by Delos Music, explores music by American women.
“I’m very excited to continue working for the School of Music in this new position,” Wohn said. “I love working with our curious, creative and open-minded students, and our collaborative and supportive faculty and staff. I am happy to be able to add my voice and be able to serve our School of Music community.”
Hailed as “a bass of rare talent,” Treviño most recently performed the role of Bonze in Madama Butterfly and Ferrando in Il Trovatore with L’Opéra de Montréal, Dr. Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro with Calgary Opera’s and Austin Opera, Dr. P in Nashville Opera’s revival of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Friar Laurent in Roméo et Juliette with Florentine Opera, and Dr. Grenvil in La Traviata with the Calgary Opera.
Treviño is currently the chair of the voice department at McGill University in Montreal. A devoted and passionate educator, he is committed to a teaching approach which includes the science of healthy singing, a sensitivity to the artist’s physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing, and an unyielding commitment to guiding students towards a more productive life both personally and professionally.
“I am thrilled to join the faculty of the School of Music’s voice department and look forward to contributing to the school’s already stellar reputation,” Treviño said. “My wife, son, and I are so excited to begin our adventure in a city as vibrant and beautiful as Madison, and I’m eager to be a contributing member of its educational and artistic community. I’m humbled by this opportunity to teach, mentor, and guide the students at UW–Madison and help propel the School of Music to even greater heights.”
University Opera presents The Light in the Piazza
University OperaPurchase tickets
After recently winning The American Prize for its 2022 production of Sweeney Todd, University Opera closes the 2023-24 season by returning to the crossover between classical voice and contemporary musical theatre, presenting The Light in the Piazza by Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas. Four performances will be presented at Music Hall on the UW–Madison campus: March 15 at 7:30 pm; March 16 at 7:30 pm; March 17 at 2 pm; and March 19 at 7:30 pm. Vocal coach Thomas J. Kasdorf will stage direct, and Professor Oriol Sans, Director of Orchestral Activities, will be the music director for the production.
The winner of six Tony Awards in its original Broadway run, including Best Original Score, The Light in the Piazza follows Margaret Johnson and her daughter Clara in the summer of 1953 on their vacation in Italy, where the return of a windswept hat by a handsome stranger sets the pair on an unexpected journey. A lush, soaring operatic score by Adam Guettel (Days of Wine and Roses, Floyd Collins) and book by Craig Lucas (Prelude to a Kiss, An American in Paris) brings this tale of love, regret, and hope to life. Joining the cast will be a 16-piece student orchestra, helmed by Sans and graduate assistant Daewon Kang.
The ensemble cast for the University Opera production features Madison Barrett and Eliza Morris alternating in the role of Margaret Johnson, and Isabel Celata and Avery Brutosky as her daughter Clara. Will Volmar and Benjamin Johnson will both portray Fabrizio Nacarelli, with Grady Hayden as his father, Signor Nacarelli, and Eloise Berkley and Katie Eggers sharing the role of his mother, Signora Nacarelli. Michael Chiaverini and Corey Lallo will share the role of Giuseppe Nacarelli, with May Kohler and Minseon Lee splitting performances as Giuseppe’s wife, Franca. Evan Mitchell will perform the role of Roy Johnson, Brendin Larson will appear as Tour Guide, and Augustine Ahn will play Priest. Rounding out the cast is an ensemble of skilled undergraduate performers, including Samuel Arnold, Riley Brutto, Elizabeth Cantwell, Alex Cook, Eric Luebke, Isabella Nowka, and Elena Paul.
The scenic concept is by Greg Silver, scenic construction by Zane Enloe and Scott Shapiro, and guest artist (and UW-Madison alumnus) Matthew Albrecht will be the lighting designer. Costumes will be designed by Kenneth Hoversten and Emily Popp. Sara Bartlett provides choreography, and Zak Wolff will be the propertiess designer. Musical preparation will be by William Preston, and Frankie Bones is the rehearsal pianist. Others on the production staff include Alissa Berman, production stage manager; Meghan Stecker and Eva Perez as assistant stage managers; Benjamin Johnson, operations manager for University Opera; and Katie Eggers and Kyla Moore, costume assistants.
Tickets are $30 for the general public, $25 for senior citizens, and $10 for UW–Madison students, 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-5:30 pm, and Saturdays, 12-5 pm. Tickets may also be purchased at the door beginning one hour before the performance. The Carol Rennebohm Auditorium is located in the Music Hall at the foot of Bascom Hill on Park Street.
Teeple inducted into American Bandmasters Association
FacultyProfessor Scott Teeple, Director of Bands, has been inducted into the American Bandmasters Association (ABA). He’s conducting the United States Navy Band in concert in Washington, D.C. on March 7, 2024 as part of the ABA convention and induction.
Being a member of ABA is one of the highest honors in the profession. Membership is granted through an extensive process that acknowledges the quality of someone’s work, musicianship, and contributions to the field. To be accepted into membership, an individual must be nominated by a group of members, submit a dossier of materials including a CV and performance recordings, and then be voted upon by the membership committee and the full membership of the organization.
Dr. Kevin Geraldi, Director of Bands at the University Illinois, and Dr. Mary Schneider, Director of Bands at Eastern Michigan University, served to nominate Teeple.
“Scott is most deserving and it was my honor to be one of his sponsors,” Geraldi said.
Founded in 1929, ABA recognizes outstanding achievement on the part of concert band conductors and composers. The current invitational membership comprises approximately 300 band conductors and composers in the United States and Canada.
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