Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra

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courtesy Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra

Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra in 2019.

Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra

The fourth concert in its Masterworks season is a milestone for the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra: a world premiere by acclaimed classical and jazz composer William Banfield, the WCO composer in residence. Revelation is Banfield’s 14th Symphony; joining the WCO are the Edgewood College Chamber Singers, Festival Choir of Madison, Madison Youth Choirs, and soloists Angela Brown, Ben Johnson and William Volmar. Also: A pre-concert discussion by Banfield, Festival Choir artistic director Sergei Pavlov, and WCO music director Andrew Sewell takes place at 6:30 p.m., and a reception follows the concert.

media release: The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (WCO) presents the fourth concert of the Masterworks series with “Revelation”. Featuring a world premiere of a composition by WCO Composer in Residence Dr. William Banfield, the concert will take place on Friday, March 22 at 7:30 PM in Capitol Theater at the Overture Center for the Arts. Standard ticket rates are available and Pay What You Wish pricing is available for certain seating areas. Tickets can be purchased online at overture.org/wco or by calling the Overture box office at 608.258.4141.

Masterworks IV features the WORLD PREMIERE of Symphony No. 14 Revelation by Dr. Bill Banfield. The Composer in Residence for the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Dr. Banfield has produced new works and helped in developing new audiences in our community. Guest artists include the Madison Youth Choirs, Festival Choir of Madison, and Edgewood College Chamber Singers. Soloists include Angela Brown soprano, Ben Johnson tenor, and William Volmar baritone. Opening the concert is Symphony No. 1 in G major op. 4, composed in 1901 by British composer Edwin York Bowen, whose music shows influences by Rachmaninov, Chopin and Tchaikovsky.

Banfield is an award-winning composer whose symphonies, operas, chamber works have been performed and recorded by major symphonies across the country. Few have a wider, performed professional composing output, that has had public concert performances, reviews, radio, recordings of some 12 symphonies, seven operas, nine concerti, chamber, jazz and popular forms. This alone making Banfield one of the most performed, recorded composers of his generation.

“People are fixated on movements in the moment. But ‘Revelation’ is about actions to transform the times,” says Banfield. “Revelation, Rebound, Radiance, it seems to me are value sets to find the ‘spit and the spirit’, to live afresh. I wanted to explore what this meant as a contemporary music, American composer. The joy and the weight of the pen at the service is music is what I found. The greatest value in music is how it lifts people. The ‘Revelation’ symphony is our own commitment to music that hopes to inspire and lift.”

In addition to the concert, ticketholders are also welcome to attend the pre-concert discussion beginning at 6:30 PM in the Wisconsin Studio on the third floor of the Overture Center for the Arts with Maestro Andrew Sewell, Sergei Pavlov, and Dr. Banfield. The discussion will focus on the repertoire being performed and the inspiration drawn from the original works. Following the concert, an event will be held in the same location to celebrate the world premiere of Symphony No. 14 Revelation and the culmination of Dr. Banfield’s Residency with the WCO.

Pay What You Wish pricing is available in the middle and rear balcony sections of the venue for the performance with a minimum of $10 per ticket.

“Revelation” will take place on on Friday, March 22 at 7:30 PM in Capitol Theater at the Overture Center for the Arts. Standard ticket rates are available and Pay What You Wish pricing is available for certain seating areas. Tickets can be purchased online at overture.org/wco or by calling the Overture box office at 608.258.4141.

To keep up-to-date with performance schedules, community members can sign up for email updates on the WCO website or follow the orchestra on Facebook and Instagram. To donate, visit http://wcoconcerts.org/donate .

Masterworks 2023/24 Performance Schedule

• Majestic Brahms - Nov. 10, 2023

• Norwegian Fantasy - Jan. 26, 2024

• Goodyear Returns - Feb. 16, 2024

• Revelation - March 22, 2024

• Virtuoso Violin – April 19, 2024

About the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra

Maestro Andrew Sewell and the musicians of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (WCO) bring national caliber music to more than 250,000 music lovers annually. No other arts organization in Wisconsin performs free for more people each year. Founded in 1960, the WCO is one of Madison’s gems, a national-caliber chamber orchestra behind the now four-decade summer tradition of Concerts on the Square.

The WCO also presents the classical Masterworks series at the Overture Center, the annually sold-old Messiah, and education concerts for families and children. In 2021, the WCO launched its first Composer in Residence program, bringing in acclaimed composer, author, musician, and professor Dr. Bill Banfield to write major works while in residence. While headquartered in Madison, the orchestra has played around the state. To learn more about the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra visit http://wcoconcerts.org .