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Lila Downs
Friday, April 11, 8:00 pm
Tickets: $32/26/18, UW-Madison students $10
Lila Downs is Back!
Back by popular demand, Lila Downs, star of the 2005 Madison World Music
Festival returns to
the Wisconsin Union Theater this month. The daughter of a Mixtec cabaret singer and a Scottish/ American cinematographer, Downs began singing and
performing mariachi songs when she was eight years old. She was featured on the soundtrack to the movie Frida and performed at the 75th Academy
Awards when the theme song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song. Downs performs her own compositions as well as selections of native
Mesoamerican music. Tickets to see this world music sensation are going fast, get yours
here.
Emily Semmelman
Above: Franz Liszt
Top Seven Craziest Things About Eastern European
Composers!
7. Antonín Dvořák spent the summer of 1893 in Spillville, Iowa (population 386 in the 2000 Census)
6. Béla Bartók composed the Mikrokosmos, a learning guide to teach young students how to play the piano. They are still around, and
popular, today!
5. Béla Bartók was one of the founders of the field of Ethnomusicology.
4. According to Wikipedia, Richard Strauss married soprano Pauline de Ahna in 1894. She was famous for being bossy, ill-tempered, eccentric, and
outspoken, but the marriage was happy, and she was a great source of inspiration to him.
3. Franz Liszt's full first name is actually Franciscus.
2. Hungarian born Liszt spoke fluent French, German and Italian, but very poor Hungarian.
1. On December 25, 1828 Franz Liszt had the measles (and as a result had to
cancel his solo
performance).
To learn more, be sure to attend Jeffery Siegel's Keyboard Conversations on
May
6th!
Courtney Byelich
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The special
events for the 2008-2009 season include two fantastic and very
different dance
performances, two thirds of our Louisiana sounds showcase and, again, a
free concert by the winners of the Neale Silva Young Artists
Competition.
Savion Glover,
the world's premier tap dancer, will be coming to Madison with his Bare
Soundz, which includes two other dancers, on Saturday, November 8,
2008, for the first time ever. A review by
Nuvo.net
speaks for itself:
"Astounding
percussive qualities flowed from mind to body to feet in Bare Soundz, a
virtuoso performance of tap dancing in Savion Glover's new 'hot blend
of
rhythm and cadence' from jazz to reggae."
Diavolo,
performing here on Friday, 2/27/2009, is a company of dancers, gymnasts
and actors
who dance with amazing machine-like contraptions and to ever-changing
backgrounds. Check out their video 'cause
words can't
really describe it.
We'll be
showcasing the three major musical genres of Louisiana next season.
Trombone Shorty
and Orleans Avenue, providing the sound of New Orleans jazz, will be
discussed as
part of the Jazz Series in a future e-newsletter. We are also thrilled
to bring an incredible new, Grammy nominated, Cajun band, the Pine
leaf
Boys to
Music Hall on Thursday, 11/13/2008, and the veteran Buckwheat
Zydeco for
a dance party in Great Hall on Wednesday, 2/18/2009. The former,
according to
the New
York
Times, represent "the core of a
renaissance in Cajun and Creole music...[with] a hard-rocking approach
to the old acoustic instruments." Buckwheat
Zydeco, who
came to
the
limelight
in 1984 with his Zydeco Boogaloo, headlines "A hot band playing at the
top of
their game," according to Living Blues, providing a "propulsive,
rollicking dance party music...a swamp-boogie joy ride" according to
People
Magazine.
Finally, enjoy
another free concert by the best young Wisconsin players. The winners
of the Neale Silva Young Artists Competition will be performing in the theater
on Wednesday, 4/29/2009 and those in the audience will be able to brag
eventually that they saw them first.
Remember, order forms are available on our website or by clicking here.
Esty Dinur
Carrots and Sticks: Join our Green Campaign
It's a carrot...and a stick. Well, not a stick but a plea for you to
do a little bit
to help reduce our and your carbon consumption. Our brochures are beautiful and we're very proud of them but we're increasingly aware of the
environmental cost of continuing to produce them--the trees, the energy it takes to cut and transport them, the energy to convert them into paper,
ship the paper, print it and again ship it to you...
We'd like to do less of this, and here's the carrot: let us know that you'd
like to opt out
of our brochure mailing list. Instead, you'll be able to enjoy a whole lot of information online. Here is an example of what our 2008-2009
website
will include--a lot more than the brochure. Please email ted@wut.org, give your Full Name,
Address, City, State, Zip and Telephone Number and
express your desire to no longer receive our paper brochures. Thank you very much!
Esty Dinur
Above: Lila Downs in the 2005 World Music Fest.
Photo by Paula White
From the Archives
Here is Lila Downs singing her heart away to thousands of people on the
Terrace at the 2005
Madison Word Music Festival. She's coming back. Come
see
her!
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Anonymous Four Sing Americana with Darol Anger and Scott
Nygaard
Anonymous 4, the esteemed vocal quartet, will perform a program of American music from the 19th-century, drawing from Southern shape-note books and
spiritual hymns. Among many others, their songs include 'Shall We Gather by the River,' 'Gloryland,' and 'Wayfaring Stranger.' Anonymous 4 prides
itself on the historical significant of the musical pieces they choose.
Playing with the quartet will be Darol Anger on fiddle and mandolin, and Scott Nygaard - the "bluegrass-newgrass" guitarist. Don't miss out on this
amazing show! Tickets available here.
Emily Semmelman
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June 5-8, Free (except for Roy Haynes)
Saturday, June 7, 8:00 pm
Tickets: $32/26/18, UW-Madison students $10
Catch Some Jazz and Some Breeze
"The Isthmus Jazz Festival is now a once-a-year cultural institution, like
the Art Fair on
the Square. Call it the Music Fair of the Hip." Wisconsin State
Journal
The Isthmus Jazz Festival is returning to the Union Terrace in style from
June 5-8. This
year, we're bringing a mix of new local and regional artists as refreshing as the cool summer breeze from Lake Mendota. You'll enjoy both as you
relax to the sounds of world class performers such as Richie Cole and regional legends like Randy Sabien. If all these hours of free music is not
enough for your hungry ears, you can join our performers for an after-hours concert at a local bar. For those who want preferred seating, reserved
parking, a pre-festival reception and other amenities, patron tickets will once again be available for purchase. For more information, please see the
related article in this month's e-newsletter.
Jazz drummer Roy Haynes headlines the festival, bringing his expressive,
personal style to
the Union Theater stage in a ticketed event Saturday, June 7th. Haynes has performed or recorded with nearly all of jazz's big names including
Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughan, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Thelonious Monk. Don't miss your chance to see this extraordinary 81-year-old
legend!
Rose Gear
Above: Madisalsa in the 2007 Jazz Fest. Photo by Paula
White.
Enjoy Jazz? Become an Isthmus Jazz Fest
Patron!
Become a patron of the Isthmus Jazz Festival. As a patron you'll be
supporting the
development of new artists through our young jazzers program, helping bring the best jazz artists available and making it possible for the fest
to be a sizzling success year after year.
You will also receive exclusive benefits, including supporting Madison's
premiere free
showcase of jazz artists. Other benefits include one ticket to the Roy Haynes June 7
concert at the Wisconsin Union Theater, reserved patron seating, reserved parking for the festival, a Memorial Union weekend guest pass, free
beverages in the patron area, an exclusive opportunity to meet and greet the performers, and the festival kickoff party. Patron tickets will be
available on Tuesday, 4/8, buy them in person, by phone at 608-262-2201 or by fax at 608-265-5084.
Rachel Tatge
Above: Kyle T.J. Traska, one of the winners of the 2007 Neale-Silva Young
Artists
Competition
These Kids Can Play!
Wisconsin Public Radio's annual Neale-Silva Young Artists' Competition makes its Union Theater debut this month, featuring the cream of the crop of
young artists studying classical music. This concert was created to showcase Wisconsin's best young talent in classical music. The event is free and
was made possible by a grant from the estate of the late classical music enthusiast and former University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Eduardo
Neale-Silva.
The winners of the competition receive a cash prize and the opportunity to perform in the historical Wisconsin Union Theater. The event is also
broadcast
live on the NPR News and Classical Music Network of Wisconsin Public Radio.
Join us for a free night with Wisconsin's up-and-coming classical musicians!
Emily Semmelman
Meet Our Staff:
Susan Dibbell, Assistant Director for Social Education
What is your Union history?
Started working at the Union in 1980 as a student employee. I provided office
assistance to
the Membership Director, Personnel Office, and filled in throughout the Union as needed. Even worked in the Theater when office staff was on
vacation.
What does your current job entail?
I am the Assistant Director for Social Education. I work collaboratively with
the staff and
students who are responsible for the Union's total social, cultural, recreational and educational program. I have the best job on campus.
What are your other interests?
International travel and cooking.
Please share a memorable theater moment or two.
There are so many and they are all so varied. I love the total Union arts
experience. My
husband and I have dinner on State Street then wonder to the Union to get an ice cream cone. We then view the Lakefront On Langdon Gallery
exhibition, then move to the secnd floor and the Porter Butts and Class of '25 galleries. From there we move toward the Theater and check out the
Theater Gallery exhibit. After the show, rather than moving directly to our car in Lot 6, we stroll across the Terrace to the Rath to check out the
live band. Where else can you have this kind of experience?
Newsletter staff:
Editor: Esty Dinur
Layout Designer: Claire Weissenfluh
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