Alice & Eleanor Bartsch at Overture Hall
Here is this week's critics' choice calendar. Lisa Gralnick & Venetia Dale
Watrous Gallery in the Overture Center, through Dec. 22. Reception: 5:30-7:30 pm
Dale once studied with Gralnick in the UW metals studio. An exhibition called "Two Generations, One Dialogue" is an investigation of our material culture, featuring ceramics that transform everyday objects.
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, 7 pm
This brand-new festival celebrates the Harlem Renaissance arts movement of the '20s and '30s with spoken-word performances, music by the Hanah Jon Taylor Quintet, and much more. Key word: self-expression. (See Spoken Word.)
Alice & Eleanor Bartsch with Samuel Hutchison
Overture Hall, 7:30 pm
The Madison Symphony Orchestra Concert Organ series features ace organist Hutchison with guest violinists the Bartsch sisters, who are UW students and MSO members. The program includes Bach's irresistible Concerto for Two Violins and Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Violins in D minor.
First Congregational United Church of Christ, 7:30 pm
The local chamber ensemble performs Wagner's joyful "Siegfried Idyll" and Mozart's "Gran Partita," which the movie Amadeus likens to "the voice of God." The guest conductor is none other than the estimable John DeMain of the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
Bartell Theatre, 7:30 pm. Also Saturday & Thursday, Nov. 9 & 14, 7:30 pm
In an evening of short plays, Mercury Players Theatre presents early work by the great Thornton Wilder, along with new works by local playwrights Philip Heckman, Nick Schweitzer, Sam White and R. Thomas Wilson. The Nov. 8 performance is free, thanks to a grant from the good old Madison Arts Commission and Wisconsin Arts Board.
Overture Center Playhouse, 7:30 pm. Also Thursday, Saturday (7:30 pm) & Sunday (2 pm), Nov. 7, 9 & 10
Forward Theater Company kicks off its season with Stephen Karam's comedy about a young man pushed to the edge by his father's death and his ailing uncle's demands. On top of that, his boss pressures him to write a memoir about his family's connection to Kahlil Gibran, author of the philosophical classic The Prophet.
Overture Center's Capitol Theater, 8 pm
The ukulele is a force to be reckoned with in the hands of this virtuoso, whose covers of Beatles songs are so stunning that they earned him a meeting with Queen Elizabeth.
UW Memorial Union Rathskeller, 9:30 pm
In exploring dark moods of their latest album, Disconnect, this Indiana crew bridge the gap between contemporary avant-garde music and classic post-punk. With Will Phalen.
High Noon Saloon, 9:30 pm
The bluegrass-powered jam band is a fixture at big camp-and-concert events like Bonnaroo. With the Giving Tree Band.
Saturday 11.9
Overture Center's Capitol Theater, 2 & 7 pm
Extend the Halloween season with this vaudeville show and screening of F.W. Murnau's creepy vampire tale, Nosferatu.
Good Style Shop, 8 pm
This Chicago indie rock act is composed of former members of Silkworm and Seam, acts that recorded for Matador and Touch and Go in the '90s. They'll dig into their latest album, Shade Perennial, amid threads from even earlier times at the Johnson Street vintage-clothing store. With Light Coma and Control.
Overture Hall, 8 pm
Two ridiculously talented songwriters show off their country-tinged tunes. Be sure to request DeMent's "Let the Mystery Be," a gorgeous ode to agnosticism, and Prine's "Illegal Smile," a song about drug-fueled adventures that ends with the smile-worthy lyric "Well done, hot dog bun, my sister's a nun."
Barrymore Theatre, 8 pm
Bolster the local hip-hop scene, which has struggled to find venues willing to host its shows, by honoring some of its most talented artists at this awards show and Boys & Girls Club benefit. Get there at 7 pm and you can strut down the red carpet with winners from last year, such as Michael Medall and King Del.
Frequency, 8 pm
This British duo claim to have met over a swordfight, which should give them some indie cred. If that's not enough, they've also performed with the Lumineers. With the Spring Standards.
UW Memorial Union Rathskeller, 9:30 pm
Equal parts charisma and craziness, this hip-hopper has ruled Milwaukee's underground music scene for several years, proving that rap plus rock needn't equal Kid Rock. With DJ Schwarz and Extreme Animals.
Robert Randolph & the Family Band
Majestic Theatre, 9 pm
Performing a blend of rock, funk and R&B that makes for wildly popular live shows, this group just released Lickety Split after three years of anticipatory salivation from fans. With Jake Clemons.
Sunday 11.10
NOTEWORTHY: Sesame Street debuts, 1969.
Capitol Square, 7 am
Watch as more than 5,000 marathoners and half-marathoners wend their way through the chilly streets of Madison and environs. There's also a kids' race around the Square starting shortly after 7.
Overture Hall, 3 pm
The 1940s musical revue evokes Swing Era masters like Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller. A big band plus costumed singers and dancers pay homage to the Greatest Generation's excellent musical taste.
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Barrymore Theatre, 8 pm
The New Orleans trombone and trumpet player performs a cool mixture of jazz, funk and hip-hop with his band. Last year he performed at the White House along with B.B. King and Keb' Mo' as part of a Black History Month celebration.
Monday 11.11
Majestic Theatre, 8:30 pm
Formed in Texas 20 years ago, this band helped launch the alt-country movement. Since then, frontman Rhett Miller has grown into a sterling songwriter and solo artist. With Trapper Schoepp & the Shades.
Orpheum Theater, 8:30 pm
The pint-sized artist's loud, gimmick-laden dubstep has taken a beating from critics, but his half-shaved 'do has kept plenty of hairdressers in business, despite catching on fire at his birthday party earlier this year. To his credit, Skrillex has shown his versatility by embracing more elements of electro house on his new EP and scoring the soundtrack to the film Spring Breakers. With Bro Safari and Valentino Khan.
Frequency, 9 pm
This singer dons a fuzzy bunny mask when he unleashes lo-fi garage rock and sweet bubblegum pop. Isthmus critic Bob Koch describes 2009's Raw Romance as "uniquely frank vignettes on the search for love." With New Years Gang.
Tuesday 11.12
NOTEWORTHY: In response to Iran hostage crisis, President Jimmy Carter halts petroleum imports into U.S. from Iran, 1979.
How a Changing Climate Is Changing Our Wisconsin Way of Life
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, 7 pm
Patty Loew moderates this discussion of the effects of climate change on agriculture, wildlife habitats, and traditional ways of hunting and gathering. Panelists include Jim St. Arnold of the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission and Stanley Temple of the Aldo Leopold Foundation.
Barrymore Theatre, 7:30 pm
Here's a chance to see two solid songwriters in one night. Nathanson's The Last of the Great Pretenders is a passionate love letter to San Francisco, while Radin's Wax Wings is an ode to romance itself.
Colin Meloy, Eleanor Friedberger
Majestic Theatre, 8 pm
Meloy, the Decemberists' frontman, lives to cover songs by Morrissey, the Kinks and Sam Cooke. Fiery Furnaces' Eleanor Friedberger will open the show and perhaps do some duets. Prepare to be blown away.
Wednesday 11.13
Orpheum Theater, 7:30 pm
MGMT made a killing with their 2007 debut, Oracular Spectacular, which spawned the millennial anthems "Kids" and "Time to Pretend" and landed on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. See if a live performance of their new, self-titled album has similar appeal. With Kuroma.
Majestic Theatre, 8:30 pm
Though they're likely to focus on the magical modern dance grooves that thrust them into the limelight, the Aussie act's new album, Free Your Mind, also ventures into folk-pop territory and '90s house-music sounds. (See The Bin.) With Larry Gus, Kirin J Callinan and DJ Nick Nice.
Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas
Frequency, 8:30 pm
Hailing from Detroit, this swamp-blues and soul act sounds like Adele marooned a raft on the the banks of the southern Mississippi, happily deciding to never leave. With the Traveling Suitcase.
Segredo, 9 pm
There's a good chance you've heard this West Virginian rapper's tracks blasting from frat houses while driving down Langdon Street. Be among the first to hear his new album, Pretending Perfection, in concert. With Cato.
Thursday 11.14
NOTEWORTHY: First G-20 economic summit begins in Washington, D.C., 2008.
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, 6 pm
Wisconsin Triennial artist Gabriel Pionkowski will discuss his work and his creative process, and then participants will create their own masterpieces while enjoying pairings of local foods and wines.
Papo Vazquez & the Mighty Pirate Troubadours
UW Music Hall, 8 pm
The Grammy-nominated trombonist and composer will lead a free educational program on Latin jazz at Centro Hispano on Wednesday (6:30-9:30 pm). Then, at Thursday's Isthmus Jazz Series show, he'll blow the roof off Music Hall with fusions of American jazz and Puerto Rican dance music. (See Tour Stop.)
Edited by Pheidippides
