String basses and string quartets

Music

Milwaukee Symphony: The MSO, after a weekend with the Florentine Opera and a two-week hiatus, is back in action on its own this weekend. Doublebass star Edgar Meyer and the orchestra’s own principal bassist, Zack Cohen, will be featured along with guest conductor Perry So in concerts at 11:15 a.m. Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12-14. A profile of Cohen is coming soon on the TCD Arts & Culture page. As always, we will review the opening performance. An aside: Scott Kreger, a bass player in the MSO, told me of attending the Aspen summer music institute when Meyer was there. Kreger said that Meyer made his way around town carrying his bass without a case or cover. So wherever he was, he could play. Which he did, everywhere, constantly. “You’d see Edgar waiting for a bus, playing his bass,” Kreger said. Which is a completely charming image.

 

Fine Arts Quartet: Guest pianist Xiayin Wang will join violinists Ralph Evans and Efim Boico, violist Nicolò Eugelmi and cellist Wolfgang Laufer at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14, at the UWM Zelazo Center. Schumann’s Opus 132 Trio (Märchenerzählungen) and Opus 47 Piano Quartet are on the program, with Franck’s Piano Quintet. Do arrive early (2 p.m.) for the talk by the knowledgeable and entertaining Stephen Basson, former principal bassoonist of the MSO. Admission to FAQ concerts is free this season, and attendance was way up at the first concert. So do call the Peck School of the Arts box office, 414-229-4308, to assure a seat. Admission to the Saturday open rehearsal, noon-1 p.m. at Zelazo is also free, but no ticket is required for that.

Vocal Arts Series: At 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14, Valerie Errante, soprano; Elena Abend, piano; René Izquierdo, classical guitar; and Scott Cook, cello, will perform works by Purcell, Mahler and others at the Cedarburg Cultural Center. The will play the same program they performed Oct. 2 at UWM, where they are members of the music faculty. Tickets are $5-$40 at the Cedarburg Cultural Center website.

 

Philomusica Quartet: Our good friends Sascha Mandl and Jeanyi Kim (violins), violist Nathan Hackett and cellist Adrien Zitoun will play at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 15. The venue is the vibrant Helen Bader Hall at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, where the Philomusica is in residence. The program: L. Boccherini’s String Quartet in B-flat, Op. 2 No. 2 (G 160); Beethoven’s String Quartet in Bb, Op. 18 No. 6; Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44. Tickets are $22 and $20. Links and details here.

Theater

Sunset Playhouse: In the age of hip-hop and pop rock, some kids still want to sing and dance in musical comedies. Seven of them are in the Sunset’s Evening of Rising Stars, which opens Thursday, Nov. 11, and runs through Nov. 20. The kids are alright: Allie Babich, Haley Haupt, Billy Krager,  Sam Mullooly, Emily Pogorelc, Eva Stokes and Jessica Surprenant. Tickets are $15, right here.

No, we don’t highlight every single event in the On Stage column.  Because then it would be our performance calendar, which does list every single event we know of. And which you should check every single day. Starting now, OK?

Ongoing
Youngblood Theatre: Freakshow, through Nov. 20.
Pink Banana Theatre: Tape, though Nov. 21.

Last Chance
Soulstice Theatre: The Foreigner, through Nov. 13.
The Rep: Laurel and Hardy and My Name Is Asher Lev, both through Nov. 14.
First Stage: Peter Pan and Wendy, through Nov. 14.