The Madison Symphony Orchestra began its 99th season with a concert weekend Reunion featuring Greg Zelek & Tommy Mesa. Read reviews and check out what the audience thought of the weekend below!
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Madison Symphony Orchestra kicks off 99th season with ‘Reunion’
Noah Fellinger // Cap Times
The Madison Symphony Orchestra opened “Reunion” on Friday evening in Overture Hall, a moving introduction to the 2024-’25 symphony season and a welcome to friends and symphony-goers old and new.
“We’re going to have fun this season and I’m so glad you’re a part of that,” executive director Robert Reed said at the start of the evening. “To those new to the MSO, you’re welcome here!”
Starting the program was Valerie Coleman’s “Umoja,” a celebration of freedom and diversity. Meaning “unity” in Swahili, “Umoja” began as a simple tune written for a women’s choir. Coleman reimagined the piece several times, arriving at a grand, orchestral version with layers of rich complexity, never losing sight of the original’s sweet simplicity.
The symphony imbued the pastoral melody of “Umoja” with exquisite texture. At times, a gossamer quality called to mind the flutter of butterflies. This posed a contrast to the thundering drums and hint of menace underpinning the piece, representing the threat of hatred to rip communities apart.
Joseph Jongen’s “Symphonie Concertante” is one of the most popular works featuring orchestra and organ, chosen by artistic director John DeMain to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the MSO’s Overture concert organ. The performance served as a showcase of the technical mastery of the MSO’s principal organist, Greg Zelek.
Read the full review on The Cap Times’ website
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MSO Starts 99th Season
Bill Wineke // Madison Independent Arts Review
The Madison Symphony Orchestra opened its 99th year with a rousing organ concert and a half-empty house.
Apparently, many people who purchase season subscriptions to the symphony also are fans of Vice President Kamala Harris, who was in town to speak to 10,000 enthusiasts at the Alliant Energy Center.
MSO officials said many ticket holders switched their Friday night seats for seats at either tonight’s concert or the Sunday afternoon concert.
But they did miss kind of an historic night. The orchestra is beginning its 99th season. Conductor John DeMain is beginning his 31st year here. The Overture opened 20 years ago, in 2004. We can’t just take those things for granted.
And the program is great.
It features both the MSO organist Greg Zelek, always a Madison favorite, a cellist Tommy Mesa, who met Zelek when they each studied at Juilliard. They have played together at Zelek’s organ concerts, but, this time, each had a soloist role in different presentations.
Zelek played Joseph Jongen’s “Symphonie Concerante for Organ and Orchestra” and Mesa soloed in Tchaikovsky’s “Variations on a Rocco Theme for Cello.”
Then the two played an encore together, which pretty much brought down the house.
Actually, everything pretty much brought down the house.
There were empty seats everywhere and those who were in attendance were in a raucous and appreciative mood. People clapped and hooped and leapt to their feet at the end of every composition.
Also, there’s something about the opening night of the symphony that lifts one’s spirit.
DeMain strides to the podium. The drums roll. The people stand up and sing “The Star Spangled Banner” in tune (that doesn’t happen many places).
No matter what else is going wrong in the world, for a couple of hours on a September Friday good-natured beauty takes the stage.
Kamala would have enjoyed it.
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Madison Symphony Orchestra pulls out all the stops for 99th Season Opening
Isaiah Trice // Daily Cardinal
As Madison Symphony Orchestra’s music director John DeMain stepped onstage for the 99th season opening Friday night, concertgoers thundered with applause for the longtime leader of the ensemble.
After Maestro DeMain conducted the Star-Spangled Banner, he quickly turned to a contemporary work by composer Valarie Coleman titled “Umoja: Anthem of Unity.” Umoja means “unity” in Swahili and represents the first principle in the African diaspora holiday Kwanzaa.
The undertones of that definition were present in the composition’s three-part structure throughout the 12-minute piece. The culturally-inspired piece ended with a grand spectacle from the ensemble, complete with a xylophone and beating crash cymbal signifying a triumphant sense of harmonic unity from its final chord.
Next, the organ was pushed on the stage, and the crowd watched on with curiosity as it was electronically powered on. But the famous backdrop façade of the large pipes in the 20-year-old Overture Hall remained still as statues, not giving any indication that its depths would soon bellow with Belgian Composer Joseph Jongen’s Symphonie Concertante Op.81.
Principal organist Greg Zelek entered the stage with Maestro DeMain to generous applause honoring the organ’s 20th year in service, and soon enough, Zelek started gliding effortlessly across the keys, producing a rich and commanding tone.
Read the full review on the Daily Cardinal’s website
Hear what the audience had to say…
“Valerie Coleman’s composition and the beautiful performance by the musicians. Also this was the first time I heard Greg Zelek perform…just wonderful!”
“The beauty of the music performed. The skilled and wonderful performance by the musicians in the orchestra. The magnificent individual performances by Greg Zelek and Tommy Mesa.”
“The duo encore was so very special! Knowing that they were friends added to the absolute joy of such fitting music performed so well. I also found the melding of the organ and orchestra in the Jongen amazing in every way. Also, I had never heard a cellist play perfect harmonics up so very high. Wow!”
“”What a delightful afternoon” is what I said to my concert companion when the concert had finished. Such a wide variety of music, splendidly performed. I could have stayed in my seat and heard the concert a second time.”
“We were not familiar with any of the composers, except Tchaikovsky, but we were impressed with all the pieces that were performed. It is so nice to be able to attend the introductory comments and then to delve further into the program notes.”
“The Valerie Coleman piece was amazing and performed beautifully. Greg Zelek and Tommy Mesa were amazing musicians. Their joint encore was really special. MSO performed extremely well – really impressive.”
“Quality of performance. We owe a great and robust Wisconsin thank you to Maestro John DeMain and his orchestra for attracting such talented soloists. BRAVO”
