7 things I’ve been meaning to share

1. Frank Almond plays the Lipiniski Stradivarius, on indefinite loan from an anonymous owner since 2008. Every Milwaukee music lover knows that Almond, concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and proprietor of Frankly Music, plays on one of the greatest violins in the world.

But some people might not know that the Lipiniski bears the name of a previous owner, Karol Lipiniski (1790-1861), a beloved musical figure in Poland. Lipinski, known as Paganini’s leading rival, toured Europe extensively and was renowned throughout the continent. In 1839, he settled in Dresden, where he served as concertmaster for the Saxon king and trained many of the leading violinists of the next generations. He retired to his estate in Poland in the last year of his life. (Source: Oxford Music Online.)

In 1948, the Polish government established the Karol Lipinski University of Music, in Wroclaw. Naturally, the university is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the death of Lipinski this academic year. Almond and the Lipinski Strad will help celebrate; Almond is on his way to Poland to play a concert at the school on Friday, Dec. 9. On Sunday, Dec. 11, he will give a recital and present a master class for academy students. Both appearances are a part of Lipinski Day celebrations throughout Poland in honor of the famed virtuoso, who died Dec. 16, 1861.

2. The Florentine Opera’s risky ventures into new American work have paid off with a some Grammy Award prestige. The

company mounted the second production ever of Elmer Gantry, by composer Robert Aldrich and librettist Herschel Garfein, in March of 2010. More important, the Florentine managed to find funding for a commercial recording of the opera, which Naxos has released worldwide. That recording caught the attention of the Grammy nominations committee. The Florentine’s recording garnered nominations for Best Contemporary Composition, Best Engineered Album (Byeong-Joon Hwang and John Newton), and Producer of the Year (Blanton Asplaugh), all in the special Classical category.

3. Steve Murphy, best known in Milwaukee as on-air talent and program director at WFMR classical radio, has landed a full-time job as music director/on air at Classical

93.7 KDB in Santa Barbara, Cal. Murphy, a prominent member of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus and a friend to music, has been looking for full-time employment since WFMR closed more than four years ago. He’s a great guy, and I wish him the best. He deserves to get to live in Santa Barbara, one of the loveliest towns in America.

4. Before the Nov. 25 MSO concert, principal trumpeter Mark Niehaus delivered a good-humored eulogy for cellist Laddie Junkunc. Junkunc played in the Milwaukee Symphony for four decades and was notorious for muttering jokes that cracked up everyone around him at rehearsal.

Junkunc died Nov. 17 at the age of 73; he had retired from the MSO in 2005. Niehaus shared a remarkable piece of information about him: Junkunc had grown up as a Chicago-area violin prodigy, toured Europe as a violinist, and won a seat in the MSO violin section. At age 30, Junkunc decided that he preferred the cello, took a leave to study with Janos Starker at Indiana University, then won the audition for an open spot among the MSO cellos. No one else has ever done that, and I’ve never heard of such a thing elsewhere.

5. Demand for tickets has been so great for Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, that First Stage has added performances at 7 p.m.Thursday, Dec.15; 1 and 3:30 p.m.Wednesday, Dec. 28; and 1 and 3 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 29. For tickets and details, visit the First Stage website or call Marcus Center box office, 414 273-7206.

6. The Milwaukee Rep’s artisans behind the scenes will show their wares from 1 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, at the Rep’s annual Holiday Artisan Craft Fair. Here is the list of Rep staffers and some of the things they make in their off-hours: Lara Dalbey, Hair and Make-up Supervisor – Hand-felted items; Rey Dobeck, Costumes First Hand – Artisan beaded jewelry; Megan Gadient, Graphics Designer – Holiday and all-occasion watercolor greeting cards; Margaret Hasek-Guy, Soft Properties Artisan – Hand painted scarves and hand-dyed linen bags; Sarah Heck, Properties Crafts Artisan – Hand-bound books and leather crafts; Pete Koenig, Production Shopper – Milwaukee photographs; Erik Lindquist, Properties Carpenter – Handmade picture frames and artisan woodcrafts; Jill Lyons, Properties Painter and Graphic Artist – Repurposed crafts and gifts; Jef Ouwens, Costumes First Hand – Artist designed and created hats; Jenny Thurnau, Costume Shop Assistant – Handcrafted resin jewelry; Rachel Stenman, Cabaret Staff – Ceramic jewelry and mixed-media gifts; Anna Warren, Properties Crafts Artisan – Embroidered Goods.

They will hold the fair in the Rep’s Stiemke Theater, in the company’s complex at 108 E. Wells St.

7. Finally, I want to note the passing of Tim Cuprisin, from cancer, on Nov. 23 at age 53. Tim and I were colleagues for over 20 years at the Journal and then the Journal Sentinel. For the last 15 or so years, after the merger of the papers, we occupied desks just a few feet apart. We never tired of giving each other a hard time, which was great fun for both of us. I admired Tim’s industry and honesty, and his fearlessness in pointing out the avarice, pomposity and tedious predictability of Milwaukee’s right-wing radio jackasses. He was a fine writer and even better commenting on the radio.

We left the paper at the same time, the summer of 2009, when I became a partner at ThirdCoast and Tim settled into gigs on radio and at OnMilwaukee.com. His passing is a shame; Milwaukee media needed Tim, and I see no one capable of filling his role.