Tonight, Tomorrow and Sunday: Monumental Moments feat. Kyle Knox and Naha Greenholtz
“For our second subscription series, I have invited Associate Conductor Kyle Knox to make his subscription concerts debut as our guest conductor. Kyle has done such a fine job with our Education and Community Engagement concerts as well as his work as music director of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, that I wanted all of our patrons to have a chance to meet him and experience his fine mettle on the podium. Bernstein, Shostakovich, and a major Brahms transcription make up this concert, and our beloved concertmaster Naha Greenholtz will solo in the Shostakovich violin concerto. Since Kyle and Naha are married, we should have some intense music making to look forward to. The performance of the orchestral version of Brahms’ G minor piano quartet will be an MSO premiere, and is a stunning work of great power and beauty, not to be missed.”
— John DeMain, Music Director
WATCH: Interviews with Kyle and Naha
Kyle Knox and Naha Greenholtz sat down with the MSO ahead of our October 20-22 concerts to talk about how they are preparing for the performances and what the audience can expect to hear. Watch all five short interview clips on our website, including a passage from the cadenza of Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto!
Upcoming Performances & Other News
MSO on the Go: Free Community Concerts
Thursday, November 9, 7:00 p.m. — VAHS Performing Arts Center, 234 Wildcat Way, Verona
Saturday, November 11, 1:00 p.m. — Mitby Theater, 3550 Anderson St., Madison
Join your Madison Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Associate Conductor Kyle Knox for two FREE community concerts this November in Verona and East Madison! MSO On the Go is a new series that brings the musicians of the Madison Symphony to performing arts centers in your community. The program features music the whole family will enjoy, plus a special appearance by the winner of our 2023 Fall Youth Concerto Competition, Lorenz Fradkin-Annen, violin. These concerts are free and open to the public and no tickets are necessary.
Ken Cowan, Organ
Saturday, November 11, 7:30 p.m.
“After his last performance in Madison in 2017 alongside his wife, violinist Lisa Shihoten, Ken Cowan now returns to Overture Hall for a solo concert. With a program featuring selections from Elgar’s Organ Sonata and Bach’s powerful Prelude and Fugue in E minor, as well as Mr. Cowan’s own virtuosic transcription of Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz, I know the audience will be awed by Mr. Cowan’s incredible technique and refined artistry.” – Greg Zelek, Principal Organist and Curator of the Overture Concert Organ
Knapp Family Endows Section Cello Chair
The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is pleased to announce a generous gift from Robert “Charlie” and Judy Knapp to endow and name a section cello chair in the orchestra: The Knapp Family Chair. The MSO musician who currently holds the Knapp Family Chair is cellist Karen Cornelius. Karen has been a member of the orchestra since 2004.
Discover more about why this endowment holds a special meaning for the Knapps
Community Events
Luther Memorial Church: Reformation Vespers
Friday, Oct. 27
Featuring J.S. Bach’s Cantata Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (BWV 80) presented by the Luther Memorial Choir and orchestra, conducted by Andrew Schaeffer. Prelude by organist Bruce Bengtson. Learn more.
Madison Opera: Tosca
November 3 & 5
Rome, 1800. As political storms gather, the opera singer Floria Tosca risks everything to save her lover, the painter Cavaradossi, from sinister police chief Baron Scarpia. Based on a French play that scandalized critics and was a smash hit with audiences, Puccini’s 1900 opera is theatrically sensational, musically thrilling, and justifiably renowned. Don’t miss this tour de force of soaring music and headlong drama. Learn more and buy tickets.
UW Opera: La Calisto
November 17-21
Inspired by the myth of Calisto from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Francesco Cavalli’s Baroque opera La Calisto explores themes of gender and power, sex and consent, revenge and justice, mortality and morality. With a lot of comedy thrown in. Learn more and buy tickets.
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