Getting to Know Us: Jennifer F.!

Getting to know us is a chance for our audience to get to know the person behind to face, behind the voice that brings them beautiful music when they attend our concerts.  We'd love for everyone to "make friends" with us!

Our inaugural contestant in our getting to know us segment comes from our soprano 2 section and is the lovely (and well read) Jennifer F.!

(Photo credit to Kristine Anderson, who also made the gown)

Jennifer has been with the WCC for 3 years now, but her love of music started well before.  She attended the Preschool of the Arts her in Madison in its early years.  There she gained her start in singing and they performed musical shows for senior citizens, and in arcane skills like solfege and counting rhythms. She was a little shy at that age (as many of us are) so she enjoyed singing in groups.

In middle school, Jennifer tried her hand at piano for 2 years, but it didn't really take.  She did promise her piano teacher that she would continue with music by singing in choirs because she loves it, and she has ever since!   She couldn't list all the choirs she had sung with; suffice to say 3 high school choirs, 4 college choirs, 2 different choirs in grad school, and three community choirs before she returned to
Madison in 2004. While she wasn't a music major in college, but took enough music
credits on the side to advance an extra year in the housing lottery by the time she was a junior!  That's a lot of singing!

With such a love of singing, its no wonder that she eventually joined the WCC.  She had been back in Madison for a couple of years and was singing with two rather informal choirs, which were fun for socializing.  Looking for a bit more of a challenge, she joined the WCC.  Jennifer says, "Being with people every week who care about the music like I do, and with a terrific conductor, is very
satisfying. To me, performances are icing on the cake."

Jennifer has been around to sing a lot of great music with the WCC, and this year has been no exception.  It was a tough question, but her favorite piece she's sung was Jean Belmont Ford's Sand County that we performed at our November concert, O Voluptuous Earth, and again in March at the Madison Reads Leopold event.  (editor's note: come to our May 20th concert, She is One of Us, to hear us sing another Belmont piece, Sky Loom.)  Jennifer loves the piece because it is SO meaty with all kinds of challenges built into it, yet it's so beautiful that you are motivated to meet the challenges.

Outside of choir, Jennifer works as the Patients' Librarian at Mendota Mental Health Institute, a state hospital for the mentally ill.  She has a background in health sciences librarianship that let her to the job.  Her job is like that of a librarian in a small public library (purchasing popular materials, cataloging,
handling reference and interlibrary loan requests, running a book club, etc.), only with a smaller budget than most public libraries.  We made the mistake of asking what her favorite book is, which is foolish to ask a librarian, how could she choose?

Jennifer has some other very cool hobbies, which we'll let her tell in her own words:  This is the other part of my musical (and other) experiences: I take part in a medieval/Renaissance re-creation group called the Society for Creative Anachronism. I've been doing this about 14 years and in three different cities. There are events all over the US; in our "Kingdom" we have an event almost every
weekend. I've had volunteer roles such as newsletter and website editor, newcomer contact, choir conductor, and Provost of an annual performing arts event. I teach classes on various aspects of music, crafts, and history, and have earned the highest arts award in the Society, the Laurel, in the area
of Bardic Arts (music and poetry composition/performance/research). I sing my own songs and other peoples', as well as music from the period, solo and with several choirs. When not being a Bard, I practice other period arts such as embroidery, costuming, dancing, painting, cooking, and entirely too much camping in the summer. (You've got to camp if you want to stay up until 3 am singing
around the fire!)  And when not being a Renaissance woman, I like to walk, swim, travel, knit,
read, and play around on the computer.

And now, the Lightening Round!

Favorite...

Color: Caribbean blue
Food: Artichokes
Period in history: early-to-mid 1500s (Europe)
Time of the year: Spring and Fall
Famous dead person: Shakespeare
Composer: Orlando Lasso
Movie: The Breakfast Club
Anything else: I love singing with the WCC and hope I'll be doing it for a long
time!

We also hope that Jennifer will be singing with the WCC for a long time.  We hope that you will come here Jennifer and the rest of us at our next concert!

A Tale of Two Haydns

written by: Marin C. (alto)

There are some pieces of music that stick with you your whole life. I can still remember the setting vividly, although some years have passed.  I can close my eyes and picture the darkened auditorium, the orchestra sitting in front of me, me standing at the end of the front row of altos watching my director.  I can even still sing the first pages of the piece, even though we sung in Latin. 

The choir was my High School Varsity Choir, and I was a senior.  It was the only year I had an open time to sing in the choir.  The piece was Haydn's Te Deum.  When my choir director handed us the piece he told us that we'd remember this one and how to sing it forever.  He was right.  Those memories are some of my favorite memories of my senior year of high school.

Flash forward to this year.  It was a new choir, a new auditorium, a new orchestra.  The setting was grander, the orchestra bigger, the choir more experienced.  Of course I'm talking about the WCC's performance of Haydn's The Creation.

Haydn wrote both works within the same few years.  I remembered lots of similarities between the two Haydn pieces.  Both were fun to learn and a joy to perform.  This performance of The Creation will always remind me how I felt as a teenager performing the Te Deum, and how much I've grown since then as a person and a performer.  I also feel blessed by this wonderful music. 

We never totally know where life will take us.  Did Haydn know the scope of the numbers of people that his works would touch?  Maybe not.  Do we know the scope of who our works will touch?  Probably not. 

I hope I can say, several years from now, that I remember passages of music from The Creation.  I wonder what kind of person I'll be the next time I sing one of Haydn's works.  Whatever happens, and when ever it does, I know I'll still look back fondly and remember what it was like to sing the Te Deum, and now The Creation, and cherish those memories fondly.


(more on Haydn's Te Deum)

Spotlight on Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael and Adam & Eve

Its concert week!  All this week we'll be spotlighting different aspects of the concert that you will enjoy on Saturday.  Don't forget to purchase your tickets by clicking the Brown Paper Ticket link on the left.

One of Haydn's challenges in presenting the Creation was to choose "voices" that would share the story.  In Part I (that starts in the beginning and goes through the 4th day) and Part 2 (the 5th & 6th days) the story is narrated by three angles, Gabriel (Soprano), Uriel (Tenor) & Raphael (Bass).

Gabriel

In the Bible, the Angel Gabriel is seen by Daniel in the Old Testament and helps explains Daniel's dreams.  We see Gabriel again in the New Testament and fortells the births of John the Babtist and Jesus Christ in the Book of Luke.


In Haydn's Creation, Gabriel praises God & the work of the second day, brings forth grass & celebrates the creation of plants, brings forth water in plenty, celebrates the creation of birds, and more.


On Saturday, Gabriel will be sung by Soprano Deanna Horjus-Lang

Uriel

Uriel is known in some Jewish & Christian faiths as the fourth archangel.  He is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, but is referenced in The Book of Enoch, an ancient Jewish religious work not specifically known as scripture.

In The Creation, Uriel portrays the defeat of Satan's hosts (from Paradise Lost by John Milton), tells of the Heavenly Host proclaimng the third day, tells of the lights in the firmament, the sun & the moon, celebrates he creation of man, then woman, and more.

On Saturday, the part of Uriel will be sung by Tenor J. Adam Shelton.

 

J. Adam Shelton has performed numerous roles with companies such as Des Moines Metro Opera and the University of Wisconsin Opera Theatre, as well as appearances in Novafeltria, Italy with La Musica Lirica.

Raphael

Raphael, is also not mentioned in the Bible, but is believed to be an archangel.  He is mentioned in the Book of Enoch, and the Deuterocanonical Book of Tobit.  In Islam he is the Angel responsible for signaling the coming of Judgment Day by blowing the horn, Sûr.

In Haydn's Creation, Raphael tells of the beginning, tells how God made the firmament, tells of the seperation of waters & creation of seas, mountains, rivers & brooks, tells of hte creation of whales and all manner of other beasts, and more.

On Saturday, Rapael will be sung by Baritone Brian Leeper.

Brian Leeper has performed over twenty major roles with symphonies and opera companies in the US and abroad, including a national radio broadcast performance of Candide with the Cleveland Orchestra.

Part III of The Creation takes place in the Garden of Eden, as we share in the first happy moments of Adam & Eve.  In the Garden, the first couple thank and praise God, then share a love's duet.

On Saturday, Eve will be sung by WCC's own Soprano Madeline Olson.

Adam will be sung by UW-Madison Masters student Baritone Michael Roemer.

We hope to see you Saturday at 7:30pm to hear these wonderful soloists, along with our amazing orchestra & choir.

(author's note:  These pictures were taken using my flip camera while I stood in the alto section of the choir.  I highly recommend you come to the concert to see a much better view from the audience!)

Spotlight on the Stoughton Chamber Singers

Its concert week!  All this week we'll be spotlighting different aspects of the concert that you will enjoy on Saturday.  Don't forget to purchase your tickets by clicking the Brown Paper Ticket link on the left.

Its good to have musical friends, so on that note (pun intended) the WCC is pleased to introduce you to our friends, the Stoughton Chamber Singers from Stoughton, WI, who will be performing with us on Saturday. 

Pictures from the rehersal of the WCC & SCS on March 22nd.

Sopranos & Basses

 Altos & Tenors

For the past four years, The Stoughton Chamber Singers, have enlivened the community's cultural scene with performances of music from the Twelfth to the Twentieth Century in a number of sites in and around Stoughton. John Beutel, former choral director at the Stoughton High School, has directed the group since its inception.

The Chamber Singers' first concert was June 24, 2007, in Cooksville, Wisconsin, at a historic wood-frame church. Since that first concert, the Singers have prepared two programs each year, in the late spring and during the Christmas season, performing at Cooksville, the Stoughton Opera House, the Stoughton Victorian Ball, and Vincenzo's Wine and Coffee Bar.

The group has varied in size from 16 to 21 members, many of whom have performed in other community choirs and with the Stoughton Village Players theater group.  A number of the Singers also play instruments, including accordion, piano, banjo, mandolin, guitar, flute, percussion and recorders.

During the Christmas season, the Singers perform in full Renaissance costume. Included here are photographs of some of the singers taken before the December 2010 performance titled “There Will Always Be an England.”

On May 22, 2011, the Stoughton Chamber Singers will present their spring concert of American music at the Stoughton Opera House. 


The WCC is grateful to the Stoughton Chamber Singers for singing with us, and we're looking forward to an excellent concert Saturday!

Spotlight on the Madison Masonic Center

Its concert week!  All this week we'll be spotlighting different aspects of the concert that you will enjoy on Saturday.  Don't forget to purchase your tickets by clicking the Brown Paper Ticket link on the left.

The beautiful and historic Madison Masonic Center is the venue perfect for us to present Haydn's The Creation.  A mason himself, Haydn's music resonates through the hall's auditorium, a delight no matter where you are sitting.  Have you ever been to the center?  Allow us now to give you a sneak peak into what you'll experience when you join us Saturday evening. 

This five & a half minute video will take you from the parking garage, just a block down Johnson Street, past a brilliant view of the capital building and up the steps of the Masonic Center itself.  Once inside, we'll view the room where you can attend John W. Barker's pre-concert lecture, and finally decend down the hallway and into the auditorium. 




The Masonic Center is located at 301 Wisconsin Ave, directly north of the capitol.  There is limited parking behind the building of Johnson St., but we also recommend using either parking garage number 8 or 4.  Also, parallel parking on the street is allowed after 6pm.

To learn more about the Masonic Center visit the Madison Masonic Center Home Page.

Spotlight on Bob Gehrenbeck's Radio Interviews

Its concert week!  All this week we'll be spotlighting different aspects of the concert that you will enjoy on Saturday.  Don't forget to purchase your tickets by clicking the Brown Paper Ticket link on the left.

(For more on WCC Artistic Director, Bob Gehrenbeck, click here.)

The Wisconsin Chamber Choir is thankful to have support from our local community and is pleased to announced that our Artistic Director, Bob Gehrenbeck will be giving 2 radio interviews on Wednesday, (tomorrow!) March 30th to promote Saturday's The Creation concert.

For those looking for something to listen to on their way to work, tune in to A Musical Offering with host Ena Foshay on WORT 89.9 FM from 7:00-7:45am. 

For a relaxing lunch hour, tune into The Midday on WERN 88.7 FM at noon.

Gehrenbeck will discuss the WCC’s upcoming performance of Haydn’s Creation and selections from the oratorio will be played.

We hope you will be listening tomorrow!  Let us know in the comments if you did and what you think. 

Spotlight on John W. Barker

Its concert week!  All this week we'll be spotlighting different aspects of the concert that you will enjoy on Saturday.  Don't forget to purchase your tickets by clicking the Brown Paper Ticket link on the left.

The Wisconsin Chamber Choir is proud to announce that once again Prof. John W. Barker will be giving a pre-concert lecture before our concert Saturday.  The lecture will begin at 6:30pm in the library at the Madison Masonic Center (301 Wisconsin Ave., Madison, WI)  All that have purchased tickets to the concert are invited to this lecture.  Those that come early will be reserved the best seats in the auditorium for the concert. 

John W. Barker is an emeritus professor at UW-Madison. He specializes in medieval history and is a popular lecturer on opera and early music. He is an active music critic, journalist, and author. He currently hosts WORT FM’s program “Musica Antiqua.” He regularly reviews performances of classical music for Isthmus and recordings for The American Record Guide.

The WCC was honored last year to have Prof. Barker present a pre-concert lecture at our performance of J. S. Bach's St. John Passion. We are pleased to have him here with us again this year.

The lecture will include history and musical selections.  Those that attend will have a greater understanding of this wonderful piece we're excited to perform for you.  We hope to see you there!