Peter Jakubowski
Madison’s Sound Out Loud has won The American Prize for chamber music performance in the college/university division. The award, announced Jan. 3, annually recognizes the nation’s best performing artists, ensembles and composers.
“It was actually kind of a surprise,” says the group’s pianist, Kyle Johnson. The competition is based on submitted recordings. “I just sent everything we had and then kind of forgot about it.”
Sound Out Loud came together around two years ago. All but one of its six members have received or are progressing toward advanced degrees at the UW-Madison School of Music.
“I’ve watched — and listened — with delight as the individuals in Sound Out Loud, some of them students I’ve had the privilege of teaching in my courses, have collaborated, developed their skills and found enthusiastic audiences for their exciting repertory,” says Susan Cook, a professor and director of the School of Music.
“New music” refers to what some would call “contemporary classical.” Sound Out Loud specializes in commissioned works and music from the early 20th century to the present. It borrows styles and instruments from the Middle East and Asia, and, on occasion, from children’s playrooms; besides electronic sound, toy pianos are sometimes featured.
The American Prize in the Performing Arts recognizes professional or amateur excellence that otherwise might go unnoticed. Asked for comment, chief judge David Katz shares notes from Sound Out Loud’s evaluation:
“Exceptionally skilled performances of important contemporary and near-contemporary repertoire in a variety of styles, displaying passion in their process. A better example of a chamber ensemble committed to its mission could hardly be imagined.”
Followers of new music may suspect that Sound Out Loud’s name is a play on the late John Cage, a 20th-century composer who raised eyebrows with his conceptual “4”33’.” The 1952 composition specifies four minutes and 33 seconds of complete silence on the part of the musicians.
“There actually is no good story behind the name of the group,” says Johnson. “We wanted a name that was accessible and broad-minded. What's more broad-minded than thinking of music as simply sound?”
