The Midday

Actor James Ridge talks about Madison Symphony Orchestra's "Beyond The Score"series. These programs combine live actors, multimedia, and the orchestra to present deep, entertaining background for a featured work - followed by a performance of that work. On Sunday, January 19, the program will be "Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No. 5: Pure Propaganda?" Mr Ridge along with other American Players Theatre actors Colleen Madden, Marcus Truschinski and Sarah Day, and MSO pianist Dan Lyons will be on stage to tell the story of Prokofiev’s grand patriotic wartime work.

Norman welcomes violinist Rachel Barton Pine to The Midday. She plays several short selections. She'll be playing the Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor at a free concert with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra at the Hamel Music Center on Friday, December 27.

Norman welcomes guitarists Miles McConnell and Gabor Szarvas to The Midday. Together they're known as Red and Black. They perform several pieces by Granados, Bach and Lennon & McCartney and others.

Isthmus Brass conductor John Stevens and tuba player Mike Forbes talk about the free concert they'll be giving on Thursday, December 12 at First United Methodist Church in Madison. Norman plays several selections from their album "We need a little Christmas."

Norman talks to cellist Dinesh Traynor who was the Grand Prize winner of the 2019 Betty Frost Jenkins Young Artist Concerto Competition and will performed with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra on December 7 and 8. He's a senior in High School in Stevens Point. He performs several selections by Bach and Saint-Saëns in the WPR studio.

The Midday comes to you live from Mills Concert Hall on the UW-Madison campus where flutist Holly Venkitaswaran and piano accompanist Vincent Fuh are featured. Venkitaswaran attended Hamilton High School in Lisbon, Wisconsin and is currently a freshman at Vanderbilt University. She was a finalist in the 2019 Bolz Young Artist Competition.

Norman chats with Flutist Timothy Hagen and pianist accompanist Ben Corbin. They will be playing a faculty recital at the new Hamel Music Center on Saturday, November 16th at UW-Madison. Norman plays parts of several selections from the recital.

Norman visits with pianist Joyce Yang who will be performing Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Madison Symphony Orchestra on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 8-10 at the Overture Center in Madison.

Ruthanne Bessman interviews cellist Amit Peled during The Midday. He'll be giving a recital with pianist Daniel del Pino as part of the Salon Piano Series at Farley's House of Pianos on Saturday, October 5th in Madison. He is currently a professor at the Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University and performs using the cello of Pablo Casals.

Kyle Knox is Music Director and conductor of the Madison Youth Symphony Orchestra. He trained at Julliard and then was a clarinetist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He's working on a project called "The Soldier's Tale" (L'Histoire du Soldat) by Igor Stravinsky. This will be a special benefit concert for the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra's Chamber Music Program on Sunday, July 28 at the Wisconsin Union Play Circle at UW-Madison.