FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 13, 2021
Violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins Makes MSO Debut in January
The MSO performs Wynton Marsalis’ violin concerto January 21-23, 2022
Madison, Wis. – The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) starts the second half of its 2021-2022 Symphony season with Music Director John DeMain and the MSO performing music from Wynton Marsalis, Kabalevsky, and Saint-Saëns.
“Premiere Debut” features the MSO debut of prizewinning violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins as she performs the Madison premiere of Wynton Marsalis’ exciting Violin Concerto, which has been called a tour de force exhibition from the hand of America’s foremost jazz and classical artist. The MSO will also perform Kabalevsky’s Overture to Colas Breugnon, followed by Saint-Saëns majestic Symphony No. 3 in C minor, “Organ” performed by the MSO’s Principal Organist and Curator of the Overture Concert Organ Greg Zelek.
“Our January concert is a real double header with the Madison premiere of jazz great Winston Marsalis’ Violin Concerto, performed by the amazing Kelly Hall Tompkins(debut) and the great Organ Symphony (no. 3) featuring our own super star organist Greg Zelek at the keyboard,” said Music Director John DeMain. “A feast of compelling and soul stirring music in one great concert.”
The MSO will perform the Premiere Debut concerts on Friday, January 21 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, January 22 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, January 23 at 2:30 p.m. in Overture Hall, 201 State Street.
Concert, Ticket and Event Details
The lobby opens 90 minutes prior to each concert. The Symphony recommends concert attendees arrive early for each performance to make sure they have time to pass through Overture Center’s security stations. A Prelude Discussion takes place one hour before each Symphony concert by Randal Swiggum that is free to all ticketholders (there is no pre-concert discussion for organ concerts).
Single tickets for all Symphony and Organ concerts are on sale now through the Overture Center Box office. Tickets can be purchased online at overture.org, in-person or by phone by calling (608) 258-4141 during Box Office hours (visit overture.org for current schedule).
Three performances of the Premiere Debut concerts will take place and ticket prices range from $20 to $98. More information about the January 21-23 concerts can be viewed at madisonsymphony.org/panorama.
Health & Safety precautions
The Symphony has received overwhelming positive response to the comprehensive safety measures that Overture Center for the Arts, and Overture Resident Companies have put in place, that include proof of vaccination or negative test and wearing masks. Water will be available for purchase as refreshments before the concerts, and during intermission (no intermission for the organ concert). More information about the many safety protocols can be found at overture.org/health, and madisonsymphony.org/faq.
Money Back Guarantee
The MSO will continue to offer a refund for tickets to any concert that cannot be performed for any reason. The MSO will adhere to all public health guidelines and cooperate with Overture Center for the Arts to assure the safety of its audiences, musicians and staff. Programs, dates, and artists subject to change.
About Kelly Hall-Tompkins
Acclaimed by The New York Times as “the versatile violinist who makes the music come alive” and as a 2017 New York Times “New Yorker of the Year,” for her “tonal mastery” (BBC Music Magazine) and “Groundbreaking” recording projects (STRINGS Magazine), and featured in the Smithsonian Museum of African-American History, violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins is trailblazing an innovative, creative and entrepreneurial career as a soloist and chamber musician. Winner of a Naumburg International Violin Competition Honorarium Prize, Concert Artists Guild Career Grant, and Sphinx Medal of Excellence, Ms. Hall-Tompkins has appeared as soloist as the Inaugural Artist in Residence with the Cincinnati Symphony and with orchestras including the Dallas Symphony, Oakland Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Tulsa Philharmonic, Greenville Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of New York, Gateways Music Festival, for the Manhattan School Centennial Gala at Carnegie Hall with co-soloist Glenn Dicterow, under the baton of Leonard Slatkin, and a Brevard Festival Orchestra under the baton of Keith Lockhart. Additional concerts and recitals include the cities of Kiev, Ukraine; New York, Washington, Cleveland, Toronto, Chicago, Baltimore, and Greenville, South Carolina, and at festivals in France, Germany and Italy.
About Greg Zelek
Praised as “extraordinary in the classical music world” (Jon Hornbacher, PBS Wisconsin Life), Greg Zelek is the Principal Organist of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Curator of the Overture Concert Organ, where he oversees all of the MSO’s organ programming. Since September 2017, Greg has proudly held the Elaine and Nicholas Mischler Curatorship. In addition to concertizing throughout the United States, Greg regularly performs with orchestras as both a soloist and professional ensemble member, including the Florida Orchestra, Ridgewood Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, MET Orchestra, and Miami Symphony Orchestra. In 2016, Greg was chosen by The Diapason magazine as one of the top “20 Under 30” organists, a feature which selects the most successful young artists in the field. He was the First Prize winner in the 2012 Rodgers North American Classical Organ Competition, the 2012 West Chester University Organ Competition, and the 2010 East Carolina University Organ Competition. A recipient of the inaugural Kovner Fellowship, Greg received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, as well as an Artist Diploma, from the Juilliard School as a student of Paul Jacobs.
About the Madison Symphony Orchestra
The Madison Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 96th season in 2021–2022. The MSO has grown to be one of America’s leading regional orchestras, providing Madison and south-central Wisconsin with cultural and educational opportunities to interact with great masterworks and top-tier guest artists from around the world. Learn more at madisonsymphony.org
Major funding for the January symphony concert provided by: Wisconsin State Journal, Irving & Dorothy Levy Family Foundation, Inc., Fernando and Carla Alvarado, MGE Foundation, Elaine and Nicholas Mischler, Skofronick Family Charitable Trust, and University Research Park.
Additional Funding is provided by: Stafford Rosenbaum LLP, John Fields and Robert Benjamin, Jane Hamblen and Robert Lemanske, Janet Hyde, Shree Kalluri and Family, Reynold V. Peterson, and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Contact: Peter Rodgers, Director of Marketing
Phone: (608) 260-8680 x226
Mobile: (415) 713-0235
Email: prodgers@madisonsymphony.org
Web: madisonsymphony.org
Link to “Ravishing Rhapsody” October concert photos: https://bit.ly/mso2021octsymphony
Link to “Greg Zelek” October concert photos: https://bit.ly/mso2021octorgan