Why I Love Present Music
Tom Strini reflects on Kevin Stalheim's final concert as Present Music's director.
May 29th, 2019
Goodbye and Good Luck
After 31 years in Milwaukee arts journalism, the last four as senior editor at TCD, Tom Strini turns the page.
Sep 2nd, 2013
The Jazz is back in the Jazz Gallery
Jazz Visions and the Riverwest Artists Association have brought live music back to a classic Milwaukee venue.
Aug 30th, 2013
Tony Bennett’s voice, unheard, looms over the Rep’s “I Left My Heart”
At the Stackner Cabaret, three good tenors still searching for just the right tone in this Milwaukee Rep tribute to Tony Bennett.
Aug 26th, 2013
Homage to Tony Bennett
In "I Left My Heart," three tenors give their takes on Tony Bennett's hits at the Stackner Cabaret, to open the Milwaukee Rep's 2013-14 season.
Aug 23rd, 2013
Guitar Extravaganza at the Wilson Center
The Sharon Lynne Wilson Center presents classical, jazz, rock and finger-style concerts, competitions and clinics Thursday through Saturday.
Aug 14th, 2013
7 things I’ve been meaning to tell you…
Florentine Opera, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, the American Philatelic Society, the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Milwaukee Ballet have news to share.
Aug 9th, 2013
Nomadic Limbs deserve your attention
Nomadic Limbs, a summer project organized by Thom Dancy, brings eight great dancers and five strong dances to Next Act Theatre.
Jul 26th, 2013
NomadicLIMBS dance collective to flex this week
Thom Dancy, formerly of Milwaukee Ballet II, reassembles his company for a second summer, with performances at Next Act Theatre this weekend.
Jul 24th, 2013
Tattoo art history at the Milwaukee Art Museum
The tattoo art of Amund Dietzel, the dean of 20th century Milwaukee needle men, gets serious curatorial attention at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Jul 20th, 2013
Aging Action Heroes, Having a Ball
Red 2 doesn't make an ounce of sense, but it's tons of fun.
Jul 19th, 2013
Journalism lesson and five more things
"Rooftop Dances" revisited, Florentine's Weil Street Opera House, farewell Joe Aaron, Jason Seed Stringtet, a ballet retirement party, First Stage's Shakespeare.
Jul 3rd, 2013
Rooftop Dances ascend again
Steven Moses and Jaimi Patterson stage new dances on the sixth floor of the Kenilworth Building. Opens 9 p.m. Thursday.
Jun 26th, 2013
Summer Evenings 3
UWM's string quartet offers Chopin concerto reduced, here-and-gone Stravinsky, sublime Ravel.
Jun 23rd, 2013
Theatre Gigante presents Guy Klucevsek at Paddy’s Pub
Klucevsek, the thinking person's accordionist, played a brilliant concert of his own music -- at an East Side bar.
Jun 21st, 2013
Guy Klucevsek, composer-accordionist, returns to Milwaukee
Theatre Gigante presents Klucevsek in concert at Paddy's Pub Thursday and Friday.
Jun 20th, 2013
Summer Evenings 2
UWM's Sunday-night music series continues without a hitch, even with Schubert as a last-minute sub for Tchaikovsky.
Jun 17th, 2013
UWM Dancing Beneath the Sun and the Moon
UW-Milwaukee's Year of the Arts ends with beguiling site-specific works by Stephan Koplowitz, at the Water Tower and the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Jun 16th, 2013
Dancing outdoors with Stephan Koplowitz
UWM's Year of the Arts grand finale puts 30 dancers at the the North Avenue Water Tower and amid the fountains outside the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Jun 12th, 2013
Music by John Tanner
Milwaukee composer's music sets the moods for "Molly Sweeney" and "Too Many Husbands" at APT in Spring Green.
Jun 10th, 2013
Fine Arts Quartet’s Summer Evenings Opener
Guest violist Juan-Miguel Hernandez and guest cellist Denis Brott fit right in with violinists Ralph Evans and Efim Boico and cellist Robert Cohen.
Jun 10th, 2013
Music of “Mad Men” makes smart Pops
MSO Pops might have found a keeper in guest conductor Steve Reineke, a charmer who can deliver musically and knows how to design a marketable program.
Jun 8th, 2013
A music festival weekend and a competition, too
PianoArts hosts its first competition for Wisconsin pianists aged 11-15, even as it puts on an array of concerts focusing on Vienna and Paris.
Jun 6th, 2013
Mystical Elgar to end the classical season
"Dream of Gerontius," Elgar's crowning achievement, is an article of faith for chorus, soloists and orchestra.
Jun 1st, 2013
Present Music’s wild party of a season finale
Present Music ends its season with a vibrant, raucous party of a chamber music concert at Turner Hall.
May 25th, 2013
MSO, de Waart, and Brahms for the Ages
Edo de Waart and the MSO give riveting readings of Brahms' Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4.
May 24th, 2013
Sean Friar among Present Music’s “Multitude”
Present Music ends its season with a multitude of pieces, including an electric guitar premiere by Sean Friar.
May 23rd, 2013
“Porgy & Bess,” distilled at 150 proof
The Skylight Music Theatre's "Porgy and Bess" is gripping, intense in Bill Theisen's chamber version of the Gershwin opera.
May 18th, 2013
Bill Theisen, exiting with “Porgy and Bess”
Gershwin's great American opera crowns Theisen's ninth and final year as Skylight Music Theatre's artistic director.
May 17th, 2013
Power-Boating on “Swan Lake”
Michael Pink's new version, though Classical in technique, moves the story along and showcases the company brilliantly.
May 17th, 2013
Gullah culture, danced at UWM
Ferne Caulker, founder of Ko-Thi Dance Company, draws personal, artistic and academic connections to coastal Carolina African-American culture in the "Sweet Grass" show that opens Friday.
May 16th, 2013
Return of the Swans
Michael Pink takes a second look at "Swan Lake" and makes it even more his own.
May 14th, 2013
Frankly Music’s maestro conducts a concluding concert
Frank Almond puts down his violin and picks up a baton for Frankly Music's season finale Monday at Wisconsin Lutheran College.
May 12th, 2013
Glorious, funny, poignant
A brilliant cast and canny direction bring Mozart's score and da Ponte's libretto into full bloom.
May 11th, 2013
Soprano Jamie-Rose Guarrine, Mezzo Adriana Zabala
Two lead singers in the Florentine's "Le Nozze di Figaro" go way back -- to Rome.
May 9th, 2013
Meet Maria Gillespie
Gillespie, newly transplanted from Los Angeles, organizes her first Milwaukee show. "Springdances" runs Thursday through Saturday.
May 8th, 2013
High-effort cabaret
Kay Stiefel and Jack Forbes Wilson work hard -- sometimes too hard -- in their revue at the Skylight.
May 4th, 2013
Brilliant young talent at the MSO this weekend
Violinist Augustin Hadelich and assistant conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong excel in Mozart and Richard Strauss.
May 3rd, 2013
Stiefel and Wilson “Sing Me a Story” at the Skylight
Skylight Music Theatre presents singing duo Kay Stiefel and Jack Forbes Wilson in a revue at the Studio Theatre.
May 2nd, 2013
“Facade” an irresistible charmer
Danceworks, Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra and Milwaukee Opera Theatre have a ball with some 1920s vintage British avant-gardiana from Edith Sitwell and William Walton.
Apr 26th, 2013
Danceworks and Friends revive “Facade”
Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra join Danceworks in Sitwell and Walton's 1920's avant-garde entertainment.
Apr 24th, 2013
Breath of fresh air from Chamber Music Milwaukee
Woodwind and brass music bring UWM's chamber music series to a charming conclusion.
Apr 19th, 2013
Four things I’ve been meaning to tell you
The Milwaukee Art Museum brings on curator Tanya Hall, Lee Ann Garrison on the late Cissie Peltz, "Eggs Benedict" update, the Pulitzer winner Ayad Akhtar.
Apr 18th, 2013
Peter Thomas’ Beethoven Cello Cycle, Part 2
Thomas and pianist Matthew Bergey take on a pair of Beethoven's more free-form cello sonatas.
Apr 15th, 2013
The Milwaukee Choral Artists exit harmoniously
Sharon Hanson and her remarkable women ended their 15-year run of glorious singing Saturday night.
Apr 14th, 2013
Milwaukee Choral Artists sing their last songs
Sharon Hansen, preparing to retire, leads the last concert of the professional women's choir she founded 15 years ago. Tonight in 'Tosa.
Apr 13th, 2013
New Opera both elegant and rowdy at Present Music
Kamran Ince's "Judgment of Midas" offers sonic delight and plenty of luscious melody; Miriam Seidel's witty libretto will make you smile through this ardent serenade to music.
Apr 13th, 2013
Kamran Ince, Pan, Apollo and Opera
"Judgment of Midas" began with an archaeological dig in Turkey, and premieres at UWM Friday.
Apr 12th, 2013
One company, three styles
Darrell Grand Moultrie's warm tribute to Sammy Davis Jr brings tap to the ballet for the first time; Amy Seiwert debuts, Tim O'Donnell gives us plenty to think about.
Apr 12th, 2013
The Florentine’s 80th season, 2013-14, revealed
Florentine to stage Verdi and Puccini chestnuts and a Baroque gem by Handel in 2013-14.
Apr 10th, 2013
Just right for Paert, Beethoven, Schubert
The Philomusica's intelligent, sensitive and distinct approach to each piece of music has won it a large audience.
Apr 9th, 2013
Third Coast Daily
We're Third Coast Daily, now, and we've consolidated to a single landing page, but our passion for Milwaukee's arts and culture burns bright as ever.
Apr 8th, 2013
MSO Pops takes on ’60s soft rock
The MSO Pops featured Billboard hits from the '60s, but the three guest singers and their arrangements didn't always sync up.
Apr 6th, 2013
Percussion refined
Percussionist Greg Beyer, pianist Mabel Kwan, cellist Chris Wild play Chenary Ung, others to open a new music weekend.
Apr 5th, 2013
Milwaukee Symphony Pops’ 2013-14 Season
MSO Pops 2013-14: Doc, American standards, love songs, trumpeters -- and the Indigo Girls!
Apr 3rd, 2013
Spectacular Baroque Singing
Milwaukee Symphony guest soprano Yulia Van Doren, countertenor Daniel Taylor, conductor Nicholas McGegan deliver brilliant Handel, Pergolesi.
Mar 30th, 2013
Ilana Setapen and 20th-century moderns
The Milwaukee Symphony Ilana Setapen ignites Prokofiev's Violin No. 2, the orchestra thrives on Neo-Classic Stravinsky and in Berio's sonic wonderland.
Mar 23rd, 2013
Bill Theisen, Frank Almond, Piano Arts, Prints
MKE arts news: Theisen to Iowa, PianoArts winner returns, Almond & Wolfram's new CD, and print shows abound.
Mar 21st, 2013
Guns N’ Rosenkavalier
MOT -- the "O" is for Opera, but it could be for Outrageous, as electric guitar meets Schubert at Milwaukee Opera Theatre.
Mar 20th, 2013
Bartok’s thrilling, surreal “Bluebeard”
Milwaukee Symphony, Edo de Waart and singers Michelle DeYoung and John Tomlinson triumph in Bartok's opera; Chihuly glass works dazzle.
Mar 16th, 2013
A new era begins
Skylight Music Theatre's Viswa Subbaraman's debut season as AD comprises seven shows new to the company.
Mar 14th, 2013
Bartok’s “Bluebeard” revisited
"Bluebeard's Castle," with Dale Chihuly's massive glass sculptures, was the MSO hit of 2009. It's back.
Mar 13th, 2013
Wild Space gets “Luscious”
Debra Loewen's Wild Space Dance company luxuriates in the sensual Thursday through Saturday.
Mar 13th, 2013
Hot news from UPAF, MAM, more
UPAF goal; MAM, War Memorial strike deal; Present Music clears up "Midas" seating; young dancer's a winner; Cecsarini honored.
Mar 12th, 2013
Florentine “Albert Herring” gets funny — eventually
Florentine Opera's staging of Benjamin Britten's 1947 comedy takes a while to find its groove. The show runs through March 17.
Mar 9th, 2013
Salerno-Sonnenberg, the intense violinist
Violinist Salerno-Sonnenberg's triumphant return; Higdon's enchanting "blue cathedral;" reinvigorated "New World" Symphony.
Mar 8th, 2013
Milwaukee Ballet’s 2013-14 Season Announced
Milwaukee Ballet's dance card lists a new take on "Snow White" from Michael Pink.
Mar 8th, 2013
Conductor Christopher Larkin returns to Vogel Hall
Larkin, who presided over the Florentine's brilliant Baroque double bill in 2011, will conduct Britten's "Albert Herring." It opens Friday.
Mar 7th, 2013
7 things I’ve been meaning to tell you
The Pfister, Bel Canto, MYSO, Conservatory, Wis. Philharmonic, Lynden Garden and the Haggerty all have news.
Mar 6th, 2013
MSO, UWM, Chicago Symphony team up for Dvorak
"Beyond the Score" immerses you in Dvorak's "New World" Symphony. Thursday night only.
Mar 5th, 2013
Rachmaninoff rules, Joyce Yang’s cool
The MSO's Rachmaninoff cycle, with pianist Joyce Yang, continues with the Piano Concerto No. 1 and the remarkable "The Bells."
Mar 2nd, 2013
Rachmaninoff, channeled by pianist Joyce Yang
Joyce Yang's relationship with music? It's complicated.
Mar 1st, 2013
Milwaukee Choral Artists honor composer Paula Foley Tillen
The MCA and Tillen have made music together for 15 years. Friday, the choir will feature Tillen's music.
Feb 27th, 2013
A violin, a piano. That’s plenty.
Frank Almond and William Wolfram team up for a CD preview party concert, with dazzling results.
Feb 26th, 2013
A violin, a CD project, a concert
Violinist Frank Almond and pianist William Wolfram will celebrate a CD launch, a long partnership and the Lipinski Stradivarius Monday night.
Feb 21st, 2013
The American Songbook, abridged
Conductor Sarah Hicks, singers Doug LaBreque and Ashley Brown perform well, but the program is all parts, no sum.
Feb 16th, 2013
Present (Chamber) Music in morning light
Present Music gives us new music at its most intimate.
Feb 15th, 2013
Seven things I’ve been meaning to tell you…
MSO Pops & me; Florentine's Grammy; Hagen's Chicago "Amelia"; "Genesis"; help the jazz kids; Above the Clouds; mandolins!
Feb 12th, 2013
Sindbad goes post-modern
Harold Meltzer + Donald Barthelme = wacky Arabian Night; plus, some glorious Brahms and solid Higdon.
Feb 12th, 2013
A little different
Edo de Waart conducts nine programs in a season that gives a nod to the mid 20th century.
Feb 11th, 2013
Exciting Russians we hadn’t heard
Guest conductor Ignat Solzhenitsyn leads an unusual Milwaukee Symphony program with great skill and conviction.
Feb 9th, 2013
Photo finish at the Genesis competition
Lauren Edson, James Gregg and Gabrielle Lamb created striking dances at Milwaukee Ballet's Genesis contest. And the winner is...
Feb 8th, 2013
Russians and a trumpeter
Conductor-pianist Ignat Solzhenitsyn is the MSO's guest, and exec director Mark Niehaus dusts off his trumpet for Shostakovich.
Feb 7th, 2013
The competing choreographers
Meet Lauren Edson, James Gregg and Gabrielle Lamb, finalists in the Milwaukee Ballet's biennial choreography contest.
Feb 5th, 2013
Mark Anderson makes theater out of nothing
Mark Anderson, of Theatre Gigante, in an excerpt from his brilliant monologue: "Me, You, Art and Trout." Video by Val Danculovich.
Feb 4th, 2013
Beethoven. That’s All.
Edo de Waart, Milwaukee Symphony dazzle as they go deep into Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 2 and 4 and two overtures. Through Sunday.
Feb 2nd, 2013
Danceworks’ “Serendipity,” happy by definition
Just keep dancing. Good things might happen.
Feb 1st, 2013
Video from the studio
Three Milwaukee Ballet dancers comment on the company's bienniel competition. TCD videographers capture them in the studio as they create new dances.
Feb 1st, 2013
Joelle Worm, Danceworks and Serendipity
Danceworks' newest member comes home to Milwaukee after years in NYC. Worm figures in the upcoming "Serendipity."
Jan 31st, 2013
Burning strings at the Conservatory
The Philomusica was brilliant Monday in quartets by Haydn, Glass and Beethoven.
Jan 29th, 2013
Kalichstein/Mozart, Edo/Bruckner
The MSO and Edo de Waart triumph in a challenging Bruckner epic.
Jan 25th, 2013
Leslie Fitzwater as Edith Piaf
Fitzwater beats cancer and returns to the stage as the tragic, heroic French singing star.
Jan 24th, 2013
M$O contract details and three more things
MSO musicians' contract terms, Present Music's February venues, MacDowell Club winners, UWM Winterdances.
Jan 23rd, 2013
Lecce-Chong leads an eclectic program
The young Milwaukee Symphony conductor excels in Sibelius' Symphony No. 5.
Jan 19th, 2013
Itzhak Perlman, exceptional still
Itzhak Perlman made every note of Beethoven's Violin Concerto count with the Milwaukee Symphony and conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong. New: Backstage photo.
Jan 17th, 2013
Elegance and Passion
Violinist Frank Almond, cellist Tamas Varga and pianist Stephen Beus play from the heights of the classical tradition.
Jan 15th, 2013
Beethoven Cello Sonata cycle begins
Cellist Peter Thomas and pianist Matthew Bergey's Sunday-night opener packs the Wisconsin Conservatory Recital Hall.
Jan 14th, 2013
Tamas Varga, Vienna Phil’s principal cellist
Frankly Music brings cellist Varga, violinist Frank Almond, pianist Stephan Beus together Monday and Tuesday.
Jan 12th, 2013
MSO cellist, recitalist, bandmate
MSO cellist Peter Thomas commences a complete Beethoven sonata cycle Sunday. Then he'll get out the electric cello to play with I Am Not a Pilot.
Jan 10th, 2013
Five things I’ve been meaning to tell you
Edo de Waart leads CSO; Rogue Violins debut; Pfister arts; MARN news; Neumeier's Hamburg Ballet in Chicago.
Jan 8th, 2013
Classical Music and Dance
Tom Strini looks ahead to big things happening in Milwaukee music and dance this spring.
Jan 7th, 2013
Gershwin’s “Porgy” at the Pops
Jeff Tyzik leads the MSO through "Porgy and Bess" and some unusual bits of Gershwiniana.
Jan 5th, 2013
Musical Night on the Town
The Milwaukee Symphony and later, at Via on Downer, the Chris Hanson Band make New Year's Eve a blast.
Jan 1st, 2013
Andreas Delfs, MSO
Delfs, the orchestra's former music director conducts a Viennese New Year's Eve gala. But he's thinking beyond 2013.
Dec 30th, 2012
Chris Hanson Band
The Chris Hanson Band celebrates its second year together on New Year's Eve at Via Downer.
Dec 29th, 2012
Robin Pluer sings “Time Machine,” Eric Segnitz’s new holiday song
The day after Christmas is perfect for a song about second chances and recapturing the past. TCD video by Breanne Brennan.
Dec 26th, 2012
Your Mother Dances saucy and sweet at Christmas
Elizabeth Johnson's company ranges from sexy cheerleaders to the most beautiful Nativity dance in this must-see dance concert.
Dec 21st, 2012
Your Mother Dances says Merry Christmas
Elizabeth Johnson returns from North Carolina to join her dance company in concert Thursday through Saturday.
Dec 19th, 2012
Four things I’ve been meaning to tell you
Off the Wall's "Gigi," MSO musicians' contract, overheard at "The Nutcracker," arts personnel changes.
Dec 16th, 2012
The full list of reviews
Messiah, Nutcracker, A Christmas Carol, Rudolph, Cudahy Caroler -- seen 'em all. Read TCD's reviews before you go.
Dec 13th, 2012
MSO’s “Messiah” unto us is born in Hales Corners
Conductor James Judd brings engaging ideas to "Messiah," and orchestra, chorus and Florentine Opera soloists respond.
Dec 13th, 2012
MSO “Messiah” Florentine soloists
The Milwaukee Symphony will feature the Florentine Opera's resident quartet in "Messiah" hometown tour.
Dec 12th, 2012
Milwaukee Ballet’s “Nutcracker,” an energized holiday tradition
Milwaukee Ballet: A beautiful sight, we're dancing tonight, dancing in a ballet wonderland.
Dec 8th, 2012
Christopher Taylor’s holy, brainy Messiaen
Christopher Taylor's shows total command of Messiaen's monumental "Vingt Regards sur L'Enfant Jesus."
Dec 8th, 2012
“Nutcracker” spotlight on Meindersee, Chen
The Milwaukee Ballet's "Nutcracker" gives Janel Meindersee and Mengjun Chen places in the sun. Or snow.
Dec 6th, 2012
Messiaen’s epic “Vingt Regards”
Christopher Taylor will play all 20 meditations -- over 2 hours' worth -- on the baby Jesus Friday evening.
Dec 5th, 2012
The Prometheus Trio exposes, transcends, conceals
Prometheus Trio, guest violist Matthew Michelic find the essence of Martinu, Faure and Haydn. Program repeats Tuesday.
Dec 4th, 2012
Milwaukee Art Museum names new photo curator
Lisa Sutcliffe to arrive at MAM in January, from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Dec 3rd, 2012
Doc’s Swingin’ Christmas Pops
Doc Severinsen returns to preside over one of the MSO's best-ever Holiday Pops programs.
Dec 1st, 2012
“West Side Story” flickers above the MSO
The Milwaukee Symphony's "West Side Story" is cool enough, but the rationale behind this production is hard to fathom.
Nov 24th, 2012
Tonight, to-niight… “West Side Story”
The Milwaukee Symphony, led by Sarah Hicks, to Bernstein's score live with the 1961 classic "West Side Story" film.
Nov 23rd, 2012
Six things I’ve been meaning to tell you…
Hansen/MCA; Winters/MWA; Lind/Florentine; Alex Ross; UWM King Lear; Met Auditions; Ex Fabula. Catching up.
Nov 20th, 2012
Present Music’s happy Thanksgiving
Present Music illuminates St. John Cathedral with mesmerizing Ives and Timothy Andres' beautiful new "Comfort Food."
Nov 18th, 2012
Alba Consort (NEW)
Early Music Now crowd ignores the flaws and flaws and loves the Alba Consort's medieval jams.
Nov 17th, 2012
David Parsons, vibrant dance in Brookfield
David Parsons Dance, one of the world's great companies, set the crowd to cheering Saturday at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center.
Nov 17th, 2012
Composer Timothy Andres
Timothy Andres cooks up "Comfort Food" for Present Music's Thanksgiving program.
Nov 15th, 2012
Dawn Helsing Wolters to step down at the Rep
Helsing Wolters, the Rep's executive director, will leave Milwaukee's theater company at the end of the current season.
Nov 13th, 2012
Intense Beethoven Opus 130
The Fine Arts Quartet burns up Beethoven, lulls with Hermann, and plays Beach that makes you go "hmmm..."
Nov 11th, 2012
MSO + Christoph Konig = thrills
Christoph Konig, guest conductor, clicks with the MSO in Schubert, Lutoslawski, Weber, Liszt.
Nov 9th, 2012
Another brilliant young guest conductor
Michael Francis leads us through painterly Hindemith, revelatory Franck; Todd Levy's intense in Weber's Clarinet Concerto.
Nov 3rd, 2012
At UWM, an immense Year of the Arts
UWM chancellor Mike Lovell, Peck School dean Scott Emmons on the year-long celebration of the School of the Arts' 50th.
Nov 1st, 2012
Present Dance (and music too)
Present Music turns over the stage to dancers from the Milwaukee Ballet and UWM. Repeat performance Saturday (10/27).
Oct 27th, 2012
Present Music (Kevin Stalheim), present dance (Tim O’Donnell)
Present Music, the Milwaukee Ballet, UWM Dance Department get together for a big concert Friday.
Oct 25th, 2012
The Florentine Opera’s Carmen and Don Jose
Funny, friendly Audrey Babcock and Noah Stewart, as opera's top dysfunctional couple in Bizet's "Carmen" at the Florentine.
Oct 24th, 2012
Blues, sex, talent, intensity at the Rep’s Stackner Cabaret
The Rep's "Blues in the Night" honors the Blues and the bluesy, from Bessie Smith to Johnny Mercer and beyond.
Oct 22nd, 2012
Rational bodies in motion
The Alverno Presents series brings Trisha Brown's elegant, skilled dances and dancers back to Milwaukee.
Oct 21st, 2012
“La Boheme” goes dancing
Michael Pink (cough) makes a pretty good (cough) ballet out of (cough) Puccini's "La Boheme." Through Sunday at Uihlein Hall.
Oct 19th, 2012
Milwaukee Ballet goes to the opera… or vice-versa
Michael Pink's latest narrative ballet is based on Puccini's "La Boheme," with a wordless score arranged by Andrews Sill.
Oct 17th, 2012
Frankly Music puts Levy, clarinet to the fore
Frank Almond's chamber series opens with guests from the Milwaukee Symphony, with principal clarinetist Todd Levy featured.
Oct 16th, 2012
Art, commerce and employee relations
Art, esprit de corps, public relations and just plain fun combine in the "side work" photo show at Transfer and Via restaurants in Milwaukee.
Oct 14th, 2012
Political, but not polemical
Windfall Theatre stages David Mamet's 2007 comedy; it's more farce than satire.
Oct 13th, 2012
Bridge to Somewhere
The Prometheus Trio shows why British composer Frank Bridge deserves attention; and strong Mozart, Saint-Saens.
Oct 9th, 2012
Barbara Cook, queen of NY cabaret, at Alverno College
Barbara Cook, Broadway's ingenue of the 1950s, can still deliver the American songbook.
Oct 7th, 2012
Ravel and Debussy, aglow at the MSO
Through guest conductor Olari Elts, soprano Karen Wierzba and the Milwaukee Symphony, the French composers cast their spells.
Oct 6th, 2012
Three Decades on the scene
TCD's Tom Strini has covered Milwaukee's arts for 30 years, as of Oct. 4, 2012.
Oct 4th, 2012
What’s So Funny? Danceworks and The Show
What has modern dance always lacked? Fart noises. Problem solved.
Sep 30th, 2012
Russian brass and flash
Conductor Sebastian Lang-Lessing makes an explosive MSO debut with "Russian Fireworks."
Sep 29th, 2012
This is your brain on reality. Maybe.
Mark Anderson's new monologue, under the Theatre Gigante banner, keeps it light and funny as it runs deep.
Sep 28th, 2012
Stand-up dancers, step-up comics at Danceworks
"The Show" comedy collective hooks up with Danceworks Performance Company to make jokes move.
Sep 27th, 2012
Mozart’s delight, Adams’ 9/11, Mahler’s ascension
Edo de Waart returns to the MSO podium with a brilliant soprano, Miah Persson.
Sep 22nd, 2012
Wild Space, exotic in a parking ramp
Debra Loewen's "Milwaukee 360" isn't just about Downtown views from a high perch. It's very much about dancing.
Sep 21st, 2012
Up on the roof with Wild Space
Debra Loewen's dance company takes in the view from the top floor of a Pabst complex parking structure. Show opens Thursday.
Sep 19th, 2012
Elvis Costello at the BMO Harris Pavilion
Elvis Costello and the Imposters pack a rock 'n' roll punch outdoors on Saturday night.
Sep 16th, 2012
NYC and Portland, Ore., meet at Danceworks
Kelly Anderson, of Milwaukee and NYC, and Suniti Dernovsek's Portland-based bobbevy company land in Milwaukee.
Sep 15th, 2012
Mendelssohn, Varga, Almond — Soul Mates
Guest conductor Gilbert Varga and violinist Frank Almond bring four Mendelssohn works to full bloom.
Sep 14th, 2012
Mark Niehaus, from trumpeter to orchestra CEO
Niehaus and symphony board chairman Douglas Hagerman on this unprecedented move.
Sep 13th, 2012
Mark Niehaus, Doug Hagerman interview
Bold appointment of principal trumpeter as chief executive unprecedented with a major orchestra.
Sep 12th, 2012
Violinist Frank Almond
Almond talks and plays Mendelssohn, in a video with Tom Strini. Almond is the soloist in the MSO season opener.
Sep 10th, 2012
Presidential “Assassins” sing, dance and shoot
The Rep opens its Powerhouse season with Sondheim's funny, bitter musical about the afterlife of audacious killers.
Sep 8th, 2012
Small objects, big story at the Milwaukee Art Museum
Grete Marks' pottery marked a rare business success of Bauhaus ideals, but economic upheaval and Nazi oppression put an end to it.
Sep 7th, 2012
First Contact
Viswa Subbaraman comes to the Skylight Music Theatre by way of Paris and Texas.
Sep 6th, 2012
Six things I’ve been meaning to tell you…
A classroom "Candide," Youngblood event, free Frank Almond concert, Hamlisch on the radio, Nohl Fellowships, Uihlein Ushers.
Sep 5th, 2012
Five pieces by four composers
Kevin Stalheim's group plays music by Reich, Haas, Clyne and Greenstein at Marcus Center Vogel Hall.
Sep 2nd, 2012
Next Act Theatre
How do you get to Next Act Theatre? Practice practice practice? No. Follow the bird.
Aug 31st, 2012
Hypnotic Jade
Jade Jablonski recreates the dream-like "Artifact" for videographer Garrett Katerzynske and TCD.tv; a 19th-century bank vault co-stars.
Aug 24th, 2012
Bonnie Raitt, Mavis Staples rock Uihlein Hall
Bonnie Raitt, Mavis Staples and their bands shoot out the lights; Paul Cebar a surprise guest.
Aug 23rd, 2012
Show goes on despite radio bullies
This Just In: The show will go on, starting Aug. 31 at Next Act Theatre.
Aug 22nd, 2012
Seven new collaborations at Danceworks
Danceworks pairs choreographers with artists from other fields, with some very good results.
Aug 18th, 2012
Time slows down at the Alchemist Theatre
Time traveler Natalie Ryan returns for another on-stage sci-fi comedy adventure.
Aug 17th, 2012
Present Music
Present Music, growing apace and new, improved and even less predictable in 2012-13.
Aug 15th, 2012
Sit-com runs deep
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre reveals the surprising depth of Herb Gardner's vintage, wisecracking comedy.
Aug 11th, 2012
Danceworks
Danceworks keeps growing, as joy trumps recession.
Aug 9th, 2012
The Last Author of the Great American Songbook
Marvin Hamlisch, the MSO's principal Pops conductor, died in Los Angeles Monday.
Aug 7th, 2012
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre strategizes to make a mark on our theater world. "A Thousand Clowns" opens Friday.
Aug 6th, 2012
Milwaukee Ballet
The Milwaukee Ballet, with five years of good balance sheets and the Harmony Initiative, is on a roll.
Aug 1st, 2012
Rooftop Dances
Videographer Garrett Katerzynske and dancers Steven Moses, Jaimi Patterson and friends collaborate on a gorgeous new video for TCD.
Jul 29th, 2012
Skylight Music Theatre
The Skylight is fixing what needs fixing and moving on -- to Bill Theisen's farewell season as artistic director.
Jul 26th, 2012
Saturday night improv at Danceworks
De Facto Dance, of New York, and a band of locals make it up as they go along.
Jul 22nd, 2012
The Milwaukee Rep
Mark Clements aims to provoke and have a good time doing it in the Milwaukee Rep's 2012-13 season.
Jul 19th, 2012
Diana Krall, sexy and smart at the Riverside
Krall and her great band spread the jazz tent over standards and rock songs alike.
Jul 17th, 2012
Three Things I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You
Sunday with Alverno Presents at the Lynden, Arthur Miller's "Salesman in Beijing," $ for the ballet's Harmony Initiative,
Jul 13th, 2012
Rooftop Dances
Moses, Patterson and friends will be back on the roof overlooking the Milwaukee River for two shows Saturday night.
Jul 7th, 2012
Six musical things I’ve been meaning to tell you
Catching up with Karen Deschere, Frank Almond, Present Music, Elizabeth Johnson, PianoArts, Rae Cassidy, the Chris Hanson Band.
Jul 5th, 2012
Dancing in the sky
Steven Moses and Jaimi Patterson, two of the brightest lights of Milwaukee dance, produce their first show -- on a roof overlooking the Milwaukee River.
Jul 3rd, 2012
Two violas, no waiting
The FAQ plays viola quintets by Mozart and Brahms to close its Summer Evenings of Music series.
Jun 28th, 2012
Florentine Opera
The Florentine, once the stodgiest Milwaukee arts group, has moved to Riverwest. It will evolve further in 2012-13.
Jun 28th, 2012
The last Summer Evening of Music, Soulstice Theatre hi-jinks
The FAQ plays on and Kathy Pyeatt sings with the Milwaukee Summer Philharmonic.
Jun 26th, 2012
Wild Space Dance 25th bash
Artistic director Debra Loewen, dancers present and past, audience and friends celebrate a quarter-century of Wild Space dance.
Jun 24th, 2012
Optimist Theatre’s richly textured “MacBeth”
Shakespeare's Scottish tragedy hits home, outdoors at Alverno College.
Jun 23rd, 2012
Alums dance at Turner Hall
Dancers spanning the 25-year history of Debra Loewen's company gather for a celebratory concert at Turner Hall Saturday.
Jun 21st, 2012
About New York… six things I’ve been meaning to tell you
Cindy Sherman, Frank Sinatra High, PS1, Whitney Biennial/remarkable Morans, How to Succeed, Life in the East Village.
Jun 18th, 2012
Present Music’s big finish
Michael Daugherty's "Labyrinth of Love" is a big hit at its premiere, and Robin Pluer never sounded better.
Jun 16th, 2012
Composer in the rehearsal room
The celebrated Michael Daugherty comes to Milwaukee for a Present Music premiere. PM will unveil "Labyrinth of Love" Friday night.
Jun 14th, 2012
No one sounds tired at the finish line
Guest conductor Matthias Pintscher leads an energized concert of newer music at the end of the MSO's classical season.
Jun 8th, 2012
Composer-conductor Matthias Pintscher
Matthias Pintscher, in his MSO debut, conducts his own "Ex Nihilo."
Jun 7th, 2012
2010 Winner David Ko returns for PianoArts Competition
Ko will play a recital Friday, bestow awards to the 2012 piano competition winners, and make several appearances in between.
Jun 5th, 2012
Russian thrills from a Peruvian guest conductor
Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the Milwaukee Symphony excel with Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" and Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky."
Jun 2nd, 2012
British Isles, from within and without
Conductor Christopher Warren-Green, violinist Jennifer Frautschi and the Milwaukee Symphony play Walton, Bruch and Vaughan Williams.
May 26th, 2012
Rowdy and Touching
A rare run of Harvey Schimdt and Tom Jones' last musical, directed by Dale Gutzman.
May 25th, 2012
Bach’s “Goldberg” redux
A string quintet version of Bach's monumental keyboard work, "Goldberg Variations," at the Conservatory Monday.
May 21st, 2012
The Florentine’s powerful “Idomeneo”
Spectacular singing and a smart production make Mozart's last opera seria urgent and modern.
May 19th, 2012
Complex and compelling
Visiting dance professor, near the end of his year at UWM, presents dance of high seriousness.
May 17th, 2012
Thoroughly modern opera seria
Mozart summed up and pushed forward an outdated opera style in in 1780. John LaBouchardiere pushes it a little further.
May 17th, 2012
Dislocated dancing
Gerald Casel, visiting professor of dance at UWM, gets intense about disorientation. Concert opens Thursday.
May 16th, 2012
That went well
Edo de Waart and the Milwaukee Symphony bring out the ring and shimmer. NEW: Link to NY Times review.
May 12th, 2012
Peter Pan returns to the Milwaukee Ballet
Lighting designer David Grill and set designer Rick Graham are tweaking "Peter Pan" to make the hit even bigger the second time around.
May 9th, 2012
“Veronica’s Position” slightly exaggerated
In Rich Orloff's comedy, In Tandem Theatre revisits the 1989 Robert Mapplethorpe/National Endowment for the Arts controversy.
May 7th, 2012
Chen’s spectacular “Unveiling Iris”
Qigang Chen's Chinese/Western musing on a Greek goddess as Universal Woman precedes first-class Brahms.
May 5th, 2012
Milwaukee Museum Mile’s Grand Opening Sunday
North Point Lighthouse, Museum of Wisconsin Art, Charles Allis, Villa Terrace, Jewish Museum partner up May 6.
May 3rd, 2012
Humble Magnificence at MAM
The Milwaukee Art Museum showcases dazzling work made from pins, mylar sheets, plastic straws, buttons and plastic rods.
May 2nd, 2012
Youngblood Theatre’s Smart Horror Show
"Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom," Jennifer Haley's rippin' good yarn about role-play gamers run amok, well-told.
Apr 29th, 2012
Fifteenth anniversary program
Danceworks celebrates its 15th anniversary with a slate of new dances and revivals.
Apr 28th, 2012
Mystic music from Messiaen, Debussy, Bruckner
Edo de Waart transcends with Messiaen, dazzles with La Mer and lays out the Bruckner's drama.
Apr 27th, 2012
Carnegie Hall Preview No. 1
The Milwaukee Symphony previews its Carnegie Hall program at home, this weekend and next.
Apr 26th, 2012
Zombie Horror Chiller (Youngblood) Theatre
Youngblood Theatre does Jennifer Haley's "Neighborhood 3" in a basement. Where horror characters should never go.
Apr 26th, 2012
Schumann and odd stuff
At the Wisconsin Conservatory, Jacob, Tisdel and Klabunde find gold in the familiar and the obscure.
Apr 24th, 2012
Walton and Elgar at Wisconsin Lutheran
Frank Almond and friends play British music from the mid-century.
Apr 17th, 2012
Frankly Music’s Orion Weiss
Orion Weiss, a young pianist in steep ascent, makes his Milwaukee debut with violinist Frank Almond and friends Monday night.
Apr 16th, 2012
“Buffalo Nation” thrills, then pauses for lecture
Jerome Kitzke and Kathleen Masterson's spectacular cantata about America's iconic animal to repeat Sunday at Lincoln Center.
Apr 15th, 2012
Present Music Roams with the Buffalo
Jerome Kitzke and Kathleen Masterson's "Buffalo Nation," to premiere this weekend, sings of America's iconic beast.
Apr 12th, 2012
“One Time”… I saw a really good play
In Richard Lyons Conlon's gentle, ingenious love story, Sonia and Mason are the sum of the stories they tell.
Apr 9th, 2012
“Othello” gives Iago his due
Gerard Neugent makes an ingratiating devil of an Iago, amid a Venetian militia recast as a modern biker gang.
Apr 8th, 2012
“Othello” on Two Wheels at the Milwaukee Rep
Director Mark Clements posits Othello's Venetians as a motorcycle gang. It makes sense, especially in Milwaukee.
Apr 7th, 2012
Gaffigan and Almond shine
James Gaffigan gives us bright Haydn and vivid Dvorak, Frank Almond gets everything to be had from Glazunov's Violin Concerto.
Apr 7th, 2012
Conductor James Gaffigan
Getting to know James Gaffigan before his third guest-conducting stint with the Milwaukee Symphony.
Apr 5th, 2012
UPAF Kickoff, New York coolness, Florentine Day, MacDowell Club
Milwaukee's Art Scribe never runs out of things to tell you.
Apr 5th, 2012
The Milwaukee Symphony at the Basilica
A chamber-sized MSO and chorus do 20th/21st-century music at the Basilica of St. Josaphat with viola soloist Robert Levine.
Mar 31st, 2012
Spring moderns
The Milwaukee Ballet's Spring Series offers dances by Matthew Neenan, Alejandro Cerrudo and Lila York.
Mar 30th, 2012
Violist Robert Levine’s new trick
Derek Bermel's bluesy "Soul Garden" takes the violist out of his comfort zone. Fine with him.
Mar 29th, 2012
The Fine Arts Quartet, all in for Saint-Saens
The Fine Arts Quartet and pianist Cristina Ortiz give us to ponder the French composer's place in the scheme of things.
Mar 25th, 2012
“Honour,” sex, betrayal and confusion
Renaissance Theaterworks opens Joanna Murray-Smith's smart, wicked comedy of sexual manners.
Mar 24th, 2012
Cellist Robert Cohen, of the Fine Arts Quartet
British cellist takes the chair long occupied by the late Wolfgang Laufer.
Mar 23rd, 2012
Philomusica Quartet, with guest violist Erin Pipal
The Philomusica Quartet, convincing with Mendelssohn and Shostakovich, wrestles Beethoven's Opus 127 to a draw.
Mar 20th, 2012
Patsy Cline lives — at the Milwaukee Rep
At the Stackner Cabaret, Kelley Faulkner becomes Patsy Cline and Angela Iannone is her laugh-a-minute pal, Louise.
Mar 18th, 2012
Ferrara, Renaissance music’s avant-garde hotbed
Piffaro and The King's Noyse (strings, winds) survey musical daring in 16th-century Italy.
Mar 17th, 2012
Intense as opera gets
A brilliant new Susannah is born as Betty Waynne Allison makes her debut in Carlisle Floyd's 1955 classic.
Mar 17th, 2012
An ad tycoon’s existential afternoon
John Kishline's 1992 play, revived and revised, opens at the Next Act space under the Theatre MXT banner.
Mar 16th, 2012
The Florentine, Carlisle Floyd and their Susannah
Soprano Betty Waynne Allison makes her Florentine debut in the title role of Carlisle Floyd's 1955 opera.
Mar 14th, 2012
A Smart Sweetie at the Skylight
Gordon and Caird's new musical gives us an adorable Modern Girl, vintage 1912.
Mar 11th, 2012
Goulding golden in Sibelius Violin Concerto
Young violinist makes a smashing Milwaukee debut, conductor Jun Markl gets everything out of Tchaikovsky's Fourth.
Mar 9th, 2012
Percussionist Patti Cudd opens Unruly Music
Percussion virtuosity and strange sounds abound in new music by six composers.
Mar 9th, 2012
The Skylight’s “Daddy Long Legs”
Rob Hancock plays the title role in a new musical about a man largely dreamed up by a smart, charming young woman.
Mar 8th, 2012
An ageless artist
Tony Bennett and his superb quartet make jazz king again for a night at Marcus Center Uihlein Hall.
Mar 7th, 2012
A Tony Bennett Q&A
Tony Bennett and his singing daughter, Antonia, will appear together in Uihlein Hall Tuesday night.
Mar 5th, 2012
Present Music’s multimedia 30th birthday bash
Present Music brings dancers, video artists and a talented batch of composers in their 30s to Turner Hall.
Mar 4th, 2012
Amanda Schoofs does it all
Composer, vocalist, visual artist Amanda Schoofs represents Present Music's 30 interdisciplinary years.
Mar 2nd, 2012
TCD’s March Artist of the Month
Edmund Mathews' meditations on industry, migration and work grace TCD's window in the Shops at Grand Avenue in March.
Mar 2nd, 2012
Brain fever in “Flu Season”
Will Eno shows what happens to the play when the playwright goes to pieces during the writing. Not pretty, but pretty funny.
Mar 2nd, 2012
Youngblood Theatre’s “Flu Season” in the hospital
Will Eno's "Flu Season" to play in UWM's Northwest Quadrant, until lately Columbia Hospital.
Feb 28th, 2012
Adrienne Danrich’s Harlem Renaissance in Milwaukee
Brilliant singing, inspiring history and infectious enthusiasm for a crucial time in American life make this a must-see show.
Feb 26th, 2012
Sublime Brahms and more
The Arcas String Quartet partners with Todd Levy (clarinet), Gregory Flint (horn) and Margaret Butler (oboe).
Feb 24th, 2012
Entrepreneur Diva at UWM
Soprano Adrienne Danrich wrote "An Evening in the Harlem Renaissance" and will perform it here Saturday.
Feb 23rd, 2012
Blarney at the Boulevard Theatre
In Conor McPherson's "This Lime Tree Bower," three Irish share their intertwined stories with one another and the rest of us.
Feb 23rd, 2012
Those Florentine Opera “Elmer Gantry” Grammy Awards
Music awards are a dime a dozen. But the Florentine's mean something.
Feb 21st, 2012
Angels with vielles
Shira Kammen & Margriet Tindemans caress 14th-c. Italian songs with vielles, harp and rebec. Danny Mallon adds the dance beat.
Feb 18th, 2012
Four things I’ve been meaning to tell you
Next Act's "Vigil," the Eisner remade, the Pfister seeks a writer, a Haiti conference at the Lynden.
Feb 18th, 2012
Milwaukee Ballet madness at the Pabst
Milwaukee Ballet's three premieres include Mauro de Candia's outrageously funny "Purple Fools."
Feb 17th, 2012
Milwaukee Ballet’s competition champ returns
Mauro de Candia, winner of the 2011 Genesis Choreography Competition, returns with a new dance this weekend.
Feb 14th, 2012
Valentine Haikus, love in 17 syllables
Seven haikus for Valentine's Day, 2012. Because we love you all madly.
Feb 14th, 2012
A tempestuous “Tempest,” after Haydn and Brahms
Clarinetist William Helmers makes a fourth for Paul Moravec's "Tempest Fantasy," after Shakespeare.
Feb 13th, 2012
Tchaikovsky’s drama, Copland’s blast
Milwaukee Symphony: A Russian's take on "Romeo and Juliet," plus some "Nutcracker," and some all-American Copland.
Feb 11th, 2012
Relax. Enjoy the meal.
Choreographer Debra Loewen's "Delicious" advances from casual dining to haute cuisine to a jolly mess.
Feb 10th, 2012
The Florentine’s romantic for tenor Matt Richardson
Richardson and the Florentine Opera's other three other young resident singers featured in Valentine's concert this weekend.
Feb 9th, 2012
Home Cooking with Wild Space
Debra Loewen and her Wild Space dancers celebrate the joy of cooking. And eating. And making a mess.
Feb 8th, 2012
Gregory Martens, TCD’s Artist of the Month
Cancer specialists gave Greg Martens a year to live in 2006. Today, he's an artist, about to finish his MFA.
Feb 7th, 2012
The Rep’s “Mockingbird” memory
The Rep's graceful "To Kill a Mockingbird," Harper Lee's landmark novel, is a memoir, not a tract.
Feb 5th, 2012
Joyce Yang’s sublime Rach 2
Edo de Waart and the MSO are serious about Rachmaninoff, and so is Joyce Yang, a great young pianist.
Feb 4th, 2012
“La Pasion Flamenca” in South Milwaukee
Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana comes to SMPAC Saturday. Meet Ms Santana, the company's founding director.
Feb 3rd, 2012
Violinist Gil Shaham is special
Gil Shaham spreads the joy in the Brahms' concerto, de Waart and the MSO reprise Schubert's Eighth.
Feb 2nd, 2012
Lisztomania hits Frankly Music
William Wolfram, Frankly Music's guest pianist, reminds us what all made Liszt's 19th-century groupies scream and faint.
Jan 30th, 2012
Fine Arts Quartet, with its new cellist
Cellist Robert Cohen gave his first concert Sunday as a full-fledged member of UWM's quartet in residence.
Jan 29th, 2012
A powerful “Rite,” luxuriant Schubert
The Milwaukee Symphony's Edo De Waart takes on very different challenges in Stravinsky and Schubert.
Jan 27th, 2012
Mark Metcalf directs “A Wrinkle in Time”
First Stage has a great friend in Mark Metcalf, known for his TV and movie work. He's directing his first show there.
Jan 26th, 2012
Soprano, chamber music colleague
Chamber Music Milwaukee: Phillips, Todd Levy, Brian Zeger, Greg Flint and Ted Soluri in a memorable program.
Jan 26th, 2012
Opera star sings chamber music
Susanna Phillips follows up Lyric Opera run as Lucia di Lammermoor with Chamber Music Milwaukee. What's going on here?
Jan 24th, 2012
We’re lucky to hear “Carmina Burana”
Andreas Delfs conducts an compelling performance of Carl Orff's cantata on medieval poems of lust and Fortune.
Jan 21st, 2012
The Sequel! Just like in the movies
Danceworks Performance Company had a hit last year with a concert based on movies. Time to roll Take 2.
Jan 19th, 2012
Delfs returns with “Carmina”
Carl Orff's spectacular secular cantata is a Delfs specialty; and he and spouse Amy assembled a Brahms/Dvorak "dance mix."
Jan 19th, 2012
Crush up your Shakespeare
"The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)" is really stupid -- and really funny.
Jan 16th, 2012
Rep’s interns tell us about the dark side
In the second annual Rep Lab show, the interns take over and give eight miniature plays within two hours.
Jan 15th, 2012
Evan Rogister, an eloquent young guest conductor
Rogister gets to the meaning of Tchaikovsky and Sibelius; Mark Niehaus commands Arutiunian's Trumpet Concerto.
Jan 14th, 2012
NEW 1/13! Four Things I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You
MIAD Interactive, APT succession, Conservatory news, UPAF Ride route.
Jan 13th, 2012
Jason Powell’s new comix opera a sure hit
Milwaukee Opera Theatre presents evil schoolgirls in uniform, a shapely superheroine, an oily villain and some of the funniest lyrics since Gilbert & Sullivan.
Jan 13th, 2012
Mark Niehaus blows his horn
The MSO's principal trumpet player will be the soloist in Alexander Arutunian's 1949 concerto.
Jan 11th, 2012
Democracy inaction
NEW! Now with concert photos by Angela Morgan. Low voter turnout leads to a blast of a concert at Turner Hall.
Jan 8th, 2012
Seven things I’ve been meaning to tell you
Young UWM photogs, Pfister's Krokodiloes, FREE stuff, MSO moves, winter Lynden, Rep talk, First Stage extends.
Jan 6th, 2012
Present Music by Secret Ballot
Present Music's 30th anniversary program chosen by audience vote.
Jan 6th, 2012
Charm, yes, but a little TMI
Niffer Clarke and Richard Carsey's new Skylight show is fun until it gets a little too personal.
Jan 5th, 2012
Make the most of it
Even if you already love ThirdCoast Digest, we bet we can show you some things you've never seen before. Check out 16 site features you should be using.
Jan 4th, 2012
A Big Show with a Big Heart
Blue Man's dazzling Marcus Center show shakes Uihlein Hall, but the Blue Men remain lovable.
Jan 4th, 2012
TCD Artist of the Month
Knight's artworks on vintage pop imagery adorn ThirdCoast's Grand Avenue showcase in January.
Jan 3rd, 2012
Kirk Massey
Blue Man Group comes to Marcus Center Uihlein Hall Jan. 3-8.
Dec 31st, 2011
Sparkling Gershwin to toast in the New Year
Marvin Hamlisch, Kevin Cole, Sylvia McNair, Ryan VanDenBoom and the orchestra align in the best Pops concert of Hamlisch's tenure.
Dec 31st, 2011
Five things I’ve been meaning to tell you (12/22)
"Nutcracker" revisited, Harmony Initiative progress, shows at UWM, Paul Goldberger at MAM, Mad Hot Coffee.
Dec 22nd, 2011
NEW! “Nutcracker” cast rotations
Here are the Milwaukee Ballet principal casts for "The Nutcracker," which closes Dec. 26.
Dec 22nd, 2011
Neil Haven’s R-rated Christmas show
"Who Killed Santa?" is just the thing for those who've have good, clean, family holiday fun up the wazoo.
Dec 18th, 2011
MSO’s Hometown “Messiah” tour
Handel's oratorio is a Christmas perennial in Milwaukee. And when the performers don't treat it that way -- great!
Dec 15th, 2011
A little cheekier
Michael Pink changes "The Nutcracker" just enough to keep you on your toes every December.
Dec 11th, 2011
Hearing the Renaissance clearly
Stile Antico shows how a brainy composer, Thomas Tallis, made music that turns off your brain and lifts you to a spiritual plane.
Dec 11th, 2011
Delving into new rep, mastering the familiar
Timothy Klabunde, Scott Tisdel and Stefanie Jacob play music by Georges Onslow, Frank Bridge and Dvorak.
Dec 6th, 2011
7 things I’ve been meaning to share
RE: Tim Cuprisin, Laddie Junkunc, Frank Almond, Florentine Grammy, Steve Murphy, First Stage, Rep Artisans Fair.
Dec 4th, 2011
A Gentle Christmas
With Jeff Tyzik conducting, the MSO's Holiday Pops are short on glitz and long on warmth.
Dec 3rd, 2011
So bad it’s good
In Tandem Theatre's holiday music-hall sendup of "A Christmas Carol," everything goes wrong in exactly the right way.
Dec 2nd, 2011
Frankly Music’s Epic Bach
Frank Almond, Edward Arron and Kyle Armbrust play a sonically lush, rhythmically bracing Goldberg Variations.
Nov 28th, 2011
Lawrence Renes spins “The Planets”
Guest conductor Renes leads Holst's astrological suite and Elgar's "Enigma Variations."
Nov 26th, 2011
Bach’s “Goldberg,” for strings at Frankly Music
Frank Almond mounts a trio take on Bach's epic keyboard piece Monday and Tuesday. In May, the Philomusica Quartet take it up.
Nov 25th, 2011
Philomusica Quartet + Mathieu Dufour
Dufour, the Chicago Symphony's principal flutist, excels with the excellent Philomusica Quartet at the Wisconsin Conservatory.
Nov 22nd, 2011
A fitting, coherent Thanksgiving concert
Present Music's Kevin Stalheim built an entire program around its venue, the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.
Nov 20th, 2011
Handel, master of opera
Two splendid singers, countertenor Daniel Taylor and soprano Deborah York, do arias and duets with the Theatre of Early Music.
Nov 19th, 2011
Handel floats, Bach sinks
Conductor Lecce-Chong and chamber-sized MSO shine in a program with two of Handel's "Water Music" Suites.
Nov 18th, 2011
Bud, the African drummer
Bud, 6, is a young star of Ton Ko-Thi, the youth company of Milwaukee's Ko-Thi African Dance Company. The kids perform Saturday.
Nov 17th, 2011
Panther women win, advance in NCAA
An artful 3-0 win over Illinois State means that UWM gets Ohio State next.
Nov 13th, 2011
Marvin and two excellent singers do Broadway
Hamlisch, Christiane Noll and Doug LaBrecque open the Milwaukee Symphony' Pops season.
Nov 12th, 2011
Dazzling, ambitious, and a little off
Danceworks, Milwaukee Opera Theater and Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra stage Astor Piazzolla's tango opera.
Nov 11th, 2011
MSO special concert really is special
The Milwaukee Symphony, pianist Joyce Yang, conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong and Tchaikovsky have a ball at Uihlein Hall.
Nov 10th, 2011
Tango opera brings 3 Milwaukee companies together
Danceworks, Milwaukee Opera Theater and the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra will open Piazzolla's "Maria de Buenos Aires" Thursday.
Nov 9th, 2011
Meet Francesco Lecce-Chong
The new assistant conductor leads his first big public programs Wednesday at Uihlein Hall and Nov. 18-20 at the Basilica.
Nov 8th, 2011
Jon Peterson is THE Song Man Dance Man
At The Rep's Stackner Cabaret, Peterson echoes George M, Astaire, Darin, Sammy Jr., Gene, O'Connor, Newley.
Nov 7th, 2011
Petronio Dance Company’s “Underland” at Alverno Presents
Petronio's dark, sexy dance, to Nick Cave's dark, sexy songs, evolves into something heavenly.
Nov 6th, 2011
Two intense women
Calaf gets to sing "Nessun dorma," but Turandot and Liu are the core of this staging of Puccini's Orientalist fantasy.
Nov 5th, 2011
Florentine Opera’s fairy-tale “Turandot”
Director Eric Einhorn and soprano Lise Lindstrom on their approach to Puccini's opera and its title role.
Nov 1st, 2011
Extreme Violins at the Basilica
Violinists Ilana Setapen and Frank Almond show the unlikely kinship of Piazzolla and Vivaldi in an intense concert.
Oct 29th, 2011
Bloody good fun
The vampire tale on the dance stage is a grand entertainment.
Oct 28th, 2011
Violin-centric at the Basilica
Concertmaster Frank Almond and associate CM Ilana Setapen to play "Four Seasons" by Vivaldi and Piazzolla.
Oct 27th, 2011
Meet Deanna Tillisch, UPAF’s new president
The United Performing Arts Fund has a great story to tell, and Tillisch intends to spread the word.
Oct 24th, 2011
Choral singing in the Nordic tradition
Milwaukee Choral Artists survey sophisticated Northern European school little known in the US.
Oct 23rd, 2011
Julian Kuerti’s fine MSO debut
The young Canadian conductor leads a program of music by Ligeti, Mozart and Mendelssohn.
Oct 22nd, 2011
Are you tough enough for TCD.tv?
Video artist Nicholas Strini gets inside New York City's boxing world.
Oct 21st, 2011
I’ve been meaning to tell you…
...about the Met Auditions, democracy at Present Music, UPAF's new prez, the MSO, today's Harry Van Oudenallen Memorial service, and Skylight $.
Oct 21st, 2011
A modest play, done well
You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll get the message at the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre.
Oct 16th, 2011
Celebrity Catfight at Renaissance Theaterworks
Jennifer Rupp and Marcella Kearns duke it out as thinly-veiled versions of Joan Crawford and Bette Davis.
Oct 15th, 2011
De Waart, MSO shape Schumann, Mahler symphonies
Romantic music doesn't play itself; maestro, orchestra shepherd mass, momentum.
Oct 14th, 2011
I’ve been meaning to tell you…
The topics: Mahler's Titan, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford not quite live, Leslie Fitzwater and Edith Piaf, Chinese on the march at MAM.
Oct 13th, 2011
Error, malice and death row
Next Act Theatre stages a play crafted from the words of the unjustly convicted.
Oct 9th, 2011
Tan Dun’s “Water Concerto,” high-viscosity Schubert and Brahms
Soloist Yuri Yamashita commands a unique and fascinating concerto.
Oct 8th, 2011
Wet music
Soloist Yuri Yamashita, the MSO and Edo de Waart will play Tan Dun's "Water Concerto."
Oct 7th, 2011
Next Act Theatre opens its new home
"The Exonerated" is the first show in the company's game-changing venue.
Oct 6th, 2011
Modern jazz with deep roots
Wynton and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra inspire on the Marcus Center Presents series.
Oct 4th, 2011
Dan Nimmer, jazz pianist, comes home to play
Milwaukee's own Dan Nimmer plays with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
Oct 3rd, 2011
Cellist Joe Johnson drops in for a recital
The MSO's admired former principal cellist will play at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music Tuesday night.
Oct 1st, 2011
Frankly Music makes big music
Violinist Frank Almond, cellist Robert de Maine and pianist Andrew Armstrong burn brightly in difficult music by Rachmaninoff, Zwilich and Brahms.
Sep 26th, 2011
Fine Arts Quartet, once more with feeling
Guests Menahem Pressler (piano) and Desmond Hoebig (cello) contribute to a strong concert.
Sep 25th, 2011
Inspired Beethoven
Conductor Edo de Waart and the MSO show mastery of core repertoire.
Sep 24th, 2011
Fine Arts Quartet’s Ralph Evans on the FAQ’s next chapter
The quartet in residence at UWM enters its 65th season in search of a cellist to replace the late Wolfgang Laufer.
Sep 23rd, 2011
In “Kinshasa Symphony,” art trumps life
Milwaukee Film Festival: Claus Wischmann and Martin Baers chronicle the life of an all-African symphony orchestra amid the poverty of The Congo.
Sep 23rd, 2011
Balanced budget, Beethoven, new season
A furious fund-raising drive carries the day; the "Grosse Fugue" challenges ears on opening weekend.
Sep 22nd, 2011
MAM’s big acquisition part of a bigger picture
Copley's "Alice Hooper," an important Colonial painting, fills a gap in the museum's holdings and signals re-invigoration of the early American collection.
Sep 20th, 2011
Prometheus Trio plays Lalo, Ysaye, Beethoven
The Wisconsin Conservatory's trio in residence opens its 12th season. Program to be repeated at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Sep 20th, 2011
The Skylight’s clever, tuneful “The Rivals” is a hit
Kirke Mechem's new comic opera, after the Sheridan play, charms with melody and crackles with jokes.
Sep 17th, 2011
Loewen’s intelligent design at the Pritzlaff
Fascinating images by Tom Bamberger, the mystery of a great old building, 14 beautiful women dancing make a great experience.
Sep 16th, 2011
Kirke Mechem gives The Skylight a new comic opera
The Skylight will open "The Rivals," by a composer who knows how to tell a joke.
Sep 15th, 2011
Wild Space is in the (Pritzlaff) building
Debra Loewen's dance company goes site-specific in the old industrial Third Ward.
Sep 13th, 2011
Frank Almond, the Lipinski Strad and the “Devil’s Trill”
Joel Van Haren captures the charm and virtuosity of violinist Frank Almond.
Sep 10th, 2011
MAM celebrates Calatrava addition’s 10th anniversary
The architect's stream-of-consciousness drawings, never before shown, yield insight into Milwaukee's iconic building.
Sep 7th, 2011
A design for living well, despite everything
Jeffrey Hatcher's smart play about Lunt and Fontanne shows both the smart set's elegant ways and its human frailties.
Sep 3rd, 2011
Strini’s been meaning to tell you…
Farewells to Tom DuBuque and Harry Van Oudenallen, a new opera in the works, uke fest, failed frieze.
Aug 30th, 2011
A photo of the passage of time
The Milwaukee Art Museum is showing Kenneth Josephson's "Chicago 1960." This photo is no frozen moment.
Aug 30th, 2011
More than a concert
Present Music about water, about our city, about life, about art, with a beautiful new work by Kamran Ince.
Aug 28th, 2011
Kamran Ince at the center of Present Music’s “Water” concert
Ince's composition began with the sounds of the sea.
Aug 26th, 2011
Dance
Dancers work hard for the money, and to bring thrilling stuff your way this fall.
Aug 25th, 2011
Music
TCD's fall classical music guide, looking ahead to Milwaukee's autumn of heart-piercing honied melodies.
Aug 22nd, 2011
Eurekas and Uh-ohs in the DanceLab
Great stuff from Steven Moses and Simon Eichinger/Joseph Pikalek, funny mime from Molly Mingey, and pieces that don't get off the ground.
Aug 20th, 2011
Boulevard Theatre’s “Circle Mirror Transformation”
Annie Baker's play is scenes from a small-town theater class gone horribly, hilariously and touchingly wrong.
Aug 19th, 2011
“Landscape (Garden at St. Tropez)”
Henri Edmond Cross' thousands of dashes evoke the lushness and dazzle of a Mediterranean garden in full summer sun.
Aug 17th, 2011
APT’s “The Tempest,” all about magic and the magic of theater
American Players Theatre mounts transporting Shakespeare under the stars in Spring Green.
Aug 15th, 2011
It hurts to laugh.
In Rajiv Joseph's black comedy about self-destruction, Rob Maass and Tess Cinpinski are fearless and honest.
Aug 12th, 2011
Haim Steinbach’s sly “pink accent2”
This Milwaukee Art Museum piece is just wacky, until you think it over.
Aug 12th, 2011
Hilarious tragedy in Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s opener
Mary MacDonald Kerr, MCT stalwart, directs Beth Henley's domestic tragicomedy.
Aug 11th, 2011
Youngblood Theatre’s “Gruesome Playground Injuries” — more than skinned knees
Meet Kayleen and Doug. In the Emergency Room.
Aug 10th, 2011
Gregorovius’ “View of Danzig”
Strini's ongoing survey of the Milwaukee Art Museum's permanent collection turns to an obscure 1825 celebration of urban architecture.
Aug 6th, 2011
Angela Iannone peels Katharine Hepburn’s layers
In Tandem Theatre brings Iannone back as Hepburn in "Tea at Five."
Aug 5th, 2011
A new relationship
When it comes to the arts, we're not like other media.
Aug 3rd, 2011
A Milwaukee theater “Success” goes to India
John Kishline's "Success," a hit for Theater X in 1991, gets a second life on a six-city tour of success-obsessed India.
Aug 1st, 2011
The speech Barack Obama ought to give right now
The debt ceiling deal is an economic and moral disaster for America. The president should say so.
Aug 1st, 2011
Dancer Kelly Anderson: languid, sensual, beautiful
Kelly Anderson made a dance just for us, in the second in our series of art videos directed by Joel Van Haren.
Jul 29th, 2011
A rock ‘n’ benefit for the Broadway Theatre Center
Tommy Hahn's band, Revolush, will play a set and back hits from rock musicals, to benefit the Skylight Opera Theatre and building.
Jul 27th, 2011
Birth and death again and again and…
Alverno Presents opens its season early, with the intensity of Butoh at the Lynden Sculpture Garden.
Jul 23rd, 2011
Eiko & Koma’s “Raven” to hover over the Lynden Garden
Legendary exponents of the dark Butoh dance style will perform in a dried-up pond Saturday. It's sold out.
Jul 22nd, 2011
Seven (more) things Strini’s been meaning to tell you
HBO's musically savvy "Treme," Marcus Center news, Present Music big show, Public Theater grant, UPAF news, MBC and UWM work together, the Choral Artists up for a prize.
Jul 21st, 2011
Daniel Burkholder and company, in somber at Danceworks
Two danced tragedies, one private and implicit, the other public and explicit, from Burkholder's Washington DC PlayGround company.
Jul 15th, 2011
Daniel Burkholder, from DC to UWM to Danceworks
Washington choreographer and his DC-based PlayGround company will present his master's thesis program in public.
Jul 14th, 2011
Emmylou Harris, silk and steel at the Pabst Theater
Opener Corey Chisel charms and wins a big ovation from Harris' big crowd.
Jul 13th, 2011
LeGendre and Foster’s Wonderland at UWM
Don't miss "The Museum of Narrow Places," a performance-art labyrinth concocted by UWM dancers. Just one more showing, 8 p.m. Saturday.
Jul 9th, 2011
Crime and Punishment, abridged at APT
Dostoyevsky's novel, in American Players Theatre's 90-minute version, engages, bores, and re-engages.
Jul 5th, 2011
APT’s “Taming of the Shrew” a sly boost for Shrew Liberation
Surrender to a man is a feminist victory for Woman in this smart APT production.
Jul 4th, 2011
American Players Theatre’s intimate, subtle and varied “Glass Menagerie”
In Tennessee Williams' classic of American family dysfunction, APT finds the rueful laughter amid the sorrow.
Jul 3rd, 2011
In APT’s “The Critic,” the theater makes fun of itself — and what fun!
Director William Brown and a virtuosic American Players Theatre cast brings Sheridan's 1779 burlesque to hilarious life.
Jul 2nd, 2011
These dancers don’t take the summer off
NEW: Updated times, details. Alverno Presents & Lynden Sculpture Garden, UWM, Danceworks and the Milwaukee Ballet School keep moving right through July.
Jun 29th, 2011
Seven things Strini’s been meaning to tell you
UPAF, Youngblood, Skylight, MSO, UWM Dance, Creative Alliance, JMKAC, First Stage have been bouncing around in his head and now on our pages.
Jun 26th, 2011
Our video series begins with Youngblood Theatre
Video artists Joel Van Haren and Kelly Anderson premiere TCD.tv with a gripping scene from Mickle Maher's "An Apology."
Jun 23rd, 2011
Chops and charm for Present Music
Avant-garde diva, a big hit with Present Music in two prior visits, returns Saturday.
Jun 16th, 2011
MSO ends its season with a gripping Mahler “Resurrection”
Edo de Waart leads the orchestra, chorus and soloists through one of Western culture's greatest musical adventures.
Jun 11th, 2011
Cellist Wolfgang Laufer has died
Laufer was cellist of the Fine Arts Quartet from 1979 until March of this year.
Jun 9th, 2011
Fine Arts Quartet off and on in Summer Evening 2
FAQ veterans mesh, in the end, with guest cellist Eric Kim.
Jun 5th, 2011
MSO, cellist Xavier Phillips get personal with Elgar
Edo de Waart has his forces fully engaged with music by Elgar, Hindemith and Dvorak.
Jun 3rd, 2011
Cellist Xavier Phillips
A French cellist, on the eve of his Milwaukee debut, ponders, with disarming frankness, life and art.
Jun 2nd, 2011
Good news and a good start
The Fine Arts Quartet and guests Ilana Setapen (violin) and Xiayin Wong (piano) excel in Wolf, Chausson and Schubert.
Jun 2nd, 2011
The Rep’s Mark Clements reflects, looks ahead
The artistic director seeks to build on a spectacular first season at the helm of Wisconsin's biggest theater company.
May 25th, 2011
Youngblood’s take on Faust, MSO’s Wicked Divas
Even on Memorial Day weekend, actors and musicians are stirring.
May 24th, 2011
Burlesque, bitter and funny
In Josh Schmidt's breakthrough musical, life was terrible and hilarious in 1923. Kinda like now.
May 22nd, 2011
Milwaukee Ballet’s fun “Coppelia” (Review)
Michael Pink's revival eschews the cute and cloying and embraces the fresh and funny. And the style and technique are impeccable.
May 20th, 2011
Composer Josh Schmidt, on “The Adding Machine”
The rising-star discusses the Skylight's staging of his 2008 musical, already a hit in Chicago and New York.
May 19th, 2011
“Coppelia” returns to the Milwaukee Ballet
Actor Dan Mooney will play Dr. Coppelius in Michael Pink's revival of the 1870 comedy.
May 18th, 2011
Sweet ballet, a tough musical, a uke, more
MBC dusts off "Coppelia," Skylight brings home "The Adding Machine," Bel Canto + MSO, funk in Brookfield, hi-tech art at UWM.
May 17th, 2011
Florentine’s Baroque double bill is pitch-perfect
The Florentine Opera's "Venus and Adonis" and "Dido and Aeneas" are at once thoroughly modern and authentically Baroque.
May 15th, 2011
Delfs returns to a warm welcome
MSO Chorus shines in Lauridsen's "Lux Aeterna"; Delfs, in top form, brings Tchaikovsky's Fifth to full boil.
May 14th, 2011
Ed Burgess, chair of the UWM Dance Department, has died
UPDATE Saturday May 13: Blog established for posting memories of Ed Burgess.
May 12th, 2011
Andreas Delfs returns
Extensive travel has given Milwaukee's former music director a long view of the classical music world. It's not reassuring.
May 12th, 2011
Alpin Hong, more than a pianist
Hong -- young, hip and hilarious -- will complete a two-week South Milwaukee residency with two programs this weekend.
May 11th, 2011
Delfs returns, a three-opera weekend and Mad Hot
The Florentine stages a Baroque double bill, Windfall puts on a one-man opera, Delfs conducts the MSO, and more.
May 10th, 2011
The Florentine’s charming Venus
Greer Davis, a Florentine young artist in 2008-09, returns as the goddess of love and beauty on a Baroque double bill.
May 10th, 2011
Performing Arts 2011-12, all in one place
Print out this this comprehensive guide to the coming arts season and paste it on your refrigerator. Or just bookmark it. It's quite something.
May 8th, 2011
Hamlisch excels at Hamlisch and more
Marvin Hamlisch's love for American popular music runneth over at the Pops, and a Milwaukee high school student has a star turn.
May 7th, 2011
Nijinsky and Isadora, a meeting of minds
Um... what were they thinking?
May 6th, 2011
No No Nanette, Yes Yes Marvin
UWM revives 1920s musical, Marvin Hamlisch does his own thing at Pops, ghosts of Isadora and Nijinsky haunt Gigante, and more.
May 3rd, 2011
One King, Six Royal Weddings
The Flanders Recorder Quartet and guests offer a musico/poetic survey of the busy love life of Henry VIII.
Apr 30th, 2011
Danceworks gets physical and brainy in Bay View
Danceworks has never done anything like the brilliant "Stone Soup," a 45-minute abstraction of the highest order.
Apr 28th, 2011
Cirque de la Pops
Cirque de la Symphonie brings out the artistic side of the circus.
Apr 28th, 2011
Danceworks, organically grown
Danceworks Performance Company takes its latest show to Sweetwater Organics, an indoor aquaponics farm in Bay View.
Apr 27th, 2011
A high-brow week, except for those Brain Thieves
An incredible five theater openings this week, plus Danceworks, Pops, and Early Music Now.
Apr 26th, 2011
Dazzling French, odd Germans
Prometheus Trio's season finale includes Ravel, Boulanger, Schumann and Beethoven. Repeat performance Tuesday night.
Apr 26th, 2011
“Les Miz” and more
Touring show lands at the Marcus Center, Boulevard opens a Shaw and Wilder double bill, George Winston's at the Pabst, percussion at UWM, chamber music at the Conservatory.
Apr 19th, 2011
The Rep’s powerful “Death of a Salesman”
In Arthur Miller's classic mid-century play, the worst lies are the ones you tell yourself.
Apr 16th, 2011
Uihlein’s amazing accidental acoustics
The MSO sounds great surrounded by plywood, guest conductor Gilbert Varga and pianist Kirill Gerstein shine.
Apr 15th, 2011
Wild Space Dance takes us on a pleasant trip
"How to Get from Here to There" is less about place and more about the state of Being There.
Apr 14th, 2011
Back in Uihlein Hall — barely
Marcus Center people are doing what they can to create a suitable environment for the orchestra, in the wake of damage to the acoustical shell in Uihlein Hall.
Apr 14th, 2011
The Rep’s Laura Gordon, on “Death of a Salesman”
Rep veteran Gordon plays opposite long-time colleague Lee E. Ernst in Arthur Miller's mid-century American classic.
Apr 14th, 2011
Dance in a less Wild Space
Debra Loewen's Wild Space Dance Company performs in a clean, well-lighted theater, for a change.
Apr 13th, 2011
Classic American theater leads a busy week
The Rep and Chamber Theatre revive classic dramas, four nights of Unruly Music, guitar at UWM, Wild Space on stage, two orchestras get busy, doc film at UWM.
Apr 12th, 2011
Wild Beethoven, dramatic Brahms, bright Haydn
The Wisconsin Conservatory of Music's string quartet in residence concluded its season Monday night.
Apr 12th, 2011
Mark Morris Dance Group feels the music, at the Wilson Center
A genius choreographer at the top of his game, with a brilliant company as his muse and instrument.
Apr 10th, 2011
Hamlisch’s MSO Pops Cole Porter show
The Pops soldier on at the Riverside Theater while Uihlein Hall is closed for repairs.
Apr 9th, 2011
Pleasant breezes from brass and winds
More rare and wonderful repertoire, expertly played, at UWM's mixed-ensemble chamber series.
Apr 8th, 2011
Update on Uihlein Hall repairs
Marcus Center management hopes repair the stage and backstage machinery in time for the April 15 MSO concert.
Apr 5th, 2011
Mark Morris dance, MSO’s Cole Porter and more
Lots of classy stuff, plus a trailer park musical from Carte Blanche. Juicy links inside.
Apr 5th, 2011
Rep’s intern show, UWM matters and more
Do see the Rep's interns (last chance 2 p.m. Sunday); and check out the catch-up items to see how much UWM matters in the arts.
Apr 3rd, 2011
Virginia Woolf drowns, dolphin rescues Arion
Singing actresses Diane Lane and Susan Wiedmeyer take on challenging one-woman shows.
Apr 2nd, 2011
3 good dances, lots of great dancing
Thursday night, Darrell Grand Moultrie's dazzling Frequencies Lit led a strong mixed-rep program. The company looks terrific.
Apr 1st, 2011
Milwaukee Opera Theatre showcases two big talents
Singing actors Diane Lane, Susan Wiedmeyer featured in monodramas by Dominick Argento and Ben Krywosz.
Mar 31st, 2011
Three Choreographers, three stories
Darrell Grand Moultrie, Diane Coburn Bruning and the Milwaukee Ballet's own Petr Zahradnicek bring distinct dances to MBC.
Mar 30th, 2011
Sing, sing, sing!
Singing from the Florentine, SMPAC and Wilson Center; Milwaukee Ballet mixed-rep, interns gone wild at the Rep, and big-time jazz at UWM.
Mar 29th, 2011
Half funny, half not
Playwright goes for heart-tugging when wisecracks and one-liners would have been enough.
Mar 26th, 2011
MSO’s lively music from the Age of Enlightenment
Conductor Christopher Seaman brings out the nuance in the orchestra, the Naughton twins and Todd Levy deliver the solo goods.
Mar 25th, 2011
Todd Levy plays Stamitz’s Clarinet Concerto
Johann Stamitz --not a household name. But he was crucial to the development of the orchestra and the clarinet's place in it.
Mar 24th, 2011
Joshua Bell, with the MSO and the kids; slideshow
Celebrated violinist rehearses Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the MSO, then meets MYSO and String Academy kids Wednesday afternoon.
Mar 23rd, 2011
It’s like speed dating, but artsy
This week: violin virtuoso Joshua Bell plays with the MSO, Off the Wall takes on Brecht and We Six takes the "A Train" with Billy Strayhorn.
Mar 22nd, 2011
Chopin and Schumann con brio
Violinist Frank Almond, pianist Adam Golka and cellist Anthony Ross put their stamps on Chopin and Schumann.
Mar 22nd, 2011
Iva Bittova a sensation with Present Music
Unique composer-singer-violinist charms and amazes; Present Music ensemble ignites Steve Reich's new "Double Sextet."
Mar 19th, 2011
Brainless comedy, super singing
The Florentine Opera's staging of Rossini's "Italian Girl in Algiers" charms, amuses, impresses.
Mar 19th, 2011
Iva Bittova, Present Music’s guest diva
Czech singer-violinist-composer is one of a kind, and a winning presence.
Mar 18th, 2011
Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” goes Chicago, 1958
Dmitri Tosca's updated libretto levels the playing field in the battle of the sexes and makes the opera almost modern.
Mar 17th, 2011
An Italian Girl in Algiers, a Skylighter at the Florentine
Bill Theisen, Skylight AD, directs the Florentine Opera's staging of Rossini's early comedy.
Mar 16th, 2011
Artsy abundance, wrapped neatly for you, boyo
Tá fáilte romhat. (You're welcome.)
Mar 15th, 2011
Gil Shaham masters Walton’s Violin Concerto
Walton's concerto is very, very good. But very, very difficult. That's why we haven't heard it here since 1992.
Mar 12th, 2011
Musical Americana Sunday in Milwaukee
The Festival City Symphony and the Bel Canto Chorus, separately and accidentally, put on concerts of American music.
Mar 11th, 2011
The Milwaukee Ballet’s Storybook 2011-12 season
"Dracula," "The Nutcracker" and "Peter Pan." Big story ballets by Michael Pink, coming in 2011-12.
Mar 10th, 2011
Fantastic Romantic Berlioz
The story behind the "Symphonie Fantastique" is even crazier than the music. This just in: 50% OFF promo code inside!
Mar 10th, 2011
Arts from Africa and everywhere
Five continents will represent in Milwaukee culture this week. Missed Australia, but really -- who needs Antarctica?
Mar 8th, 2011
Missing man formation
Long-time cellist Wolfgang Laufer announces his retirement before Sunday's concert. FAQ plays on with guest cellist Robert Cohen.
Mar 7th, 2011
Funny as hell
In August Wilson's 1982 play, the good-humored grace of talented African-Americans bends under the pressure of American racism.
Mar 6th, 2011
Wild Night at the MSO
John Adams' "Harmonium" blows the doors off Uihlein Hall; de Waart delivers a noble "Adagio for Strings" and a sparkling "Eroica."
Mar 4th, 2011
Adams’ metaphysical “Harmonium”
John Adams probes the edge of awareness. Barber's "Adagio for Strings" and Beethoven's "Eroica" symphony complete the program.
Mar 2nd, 2011
Got those Eroica Black Bottom blues, oh yes
An August Wilson classic, the MSO goes classical, classical guitar at UWM, plus string quartet, accordion, Afro-Caribbean, dinner theater.
Mar 1st, 2011
the Pearl Harbor of the class war
Scott Walker dropped his bomb on the workers of Wisconsin. But the middle class is standing -- and ready to fight.
Feb 28th, 2011
Six arts stories for the price of one!
Danceworks extends Vaudeville! smash, Cultural Alliance changes mission and name, WCM and MCC prosper, MCO struggles, MONC news.
Feb 25th, 2011
A rookie impresario arranges an aria recital
Jean-Pierre Riffard brings Slovak soprano Katarina Vovkova, with baritone Alexandr Vovk, to her Milwaukee debut. The cause: Textbooks for Nigerian students.
Feb 23rd, 2011
What’s on your head and at Uihlein Hall?
"Hair," of course! Also this week: lots going on at UWM, a European soprano recital, "Murder at Howard Johnson's" and "10 Perfect" at Stritch University.
Feb 22nd, 2011
Boulevard’s Becky Shaw, a sweet romantic comedy — NOT!
In Gina Gionfriddo's comedy, five characters obsess on their feelings, hurt one another and have no idea of how amusing they are.
Feb 20th, 2011
Danceworks’ “Vaudeville,” brilliant show-biz with big, odd twists
Kelly Anderson and the Danceworks Performance Company look back in time to get post-modern.
Feb 18th, 2011
Setapen spectacular in Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
Carlo Rizzi, in his MSO debut, impresses with Stravinsky and Shostakovich.
Feb 18th, 2011
Vaudeville, from Danceworks and a real character
Danceworks Performance Company and Kelly Anderson put on a thoroughly modern old-time show.
Feb 17th, 2011
Guest conductor Carlo Rizzi
Italian conductor, long ensconced in Cardiff, Wales, makes his MSO debut.
Feb 17th, 2011
Chamber Theatre puts its stamp on “Mauritius”
In Theresa Rebeck's play, two sisters and a trio of shady men try to get their hands on a pair of rare, valuable stamps.
Feb 16th, 2011
Vaudeville, orchestras and stamps. Oh my.
Setapen with the MSO, Chamber Theatre's thriller, Chamber Orchestra gets busy, First Stage for the little kids, Windfall's dark comedy
Feb 15th, 2011
Chamber Music Milwaukee hosts rising star soprano
Susanna Phillips, soprano, covers spectrum, writer Richard Walters surprises as composer and pianist, and art students deck the hall.
Feb 15th, 2011
Early Music Now’s Plaine & Easie
Stellar singing, excellent playing, and a fascinating program of lute-centric music c. 1600.
Feb 12th, 2011
Arlo Guthrie charms with the MSO Pops
The 1960s-70s iconic folksinger is just as you remember him, only better.
Feb 12th, 2011
Hello, Frank Lloyd Wright
The Milwaukee Art Museum's Wright show points to the practical, sustainable qualities of America's most visionary architect.
Feb 11th, 2011
Win-Win
Two very strong entries in MBC's Genesis Competition, and one interesting but flawed dance. Attend and vote for your favorite.
Feb 11th, 2011
Milwaukee Ballet’s truly International competition
Choreographers from Mexico via Canada, Australia and Italy via Berlin are finalists in Milwaukee Ballet Company's biennial.
Feb 9th, 2011
A packed arts weekend starts Tuesday this week
Arlo at the MSO, competition at the Ballet, three theater openings, three chamber concerts and Frank Lloyd Wright at MAM. Skylight discount code inside!
Feb 8th, 2011
with ears and hearts wide open
Sensitivity to detail, grasp of the big picture, a feel for the feelings and high energy make for gripping Shostakovich, Gorecki and Beethoven.
Feb 7th, 2011
Four stellar guest artists
Ax sensational in Beethoven's Piano Concert No. 4; Silvestrelli, Forbis and Wray powerful in Wagner.
Feb 5th, 2011
Wagnerian voices, pianist Emanuel Ax
MSO's German Festival ends with Act 1 of The Valkyrie and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4.
Feb 3rd, 2011
NEW! The show must go on. NOT!
Snow shuts down The Rep, Youngblood, Skylight; also, other stuff I've been meaning to tell you.
Feb 2nd, 2011
Alice in String Quartet Land and more
Off the Wall takes on Lewis Carroll, those UWM dance kids, the Fine Arts and the Philomusica get busy, MSO German Fest goes on, Riverdance returns.
Feb 1st, 2011
4 to Tango
Frank Almond and friends play tangos and have the most fun ever.
Feb 1st, 2011
Brahms, Schumann, Beethoven
De Waart illumines Schumann's dense Symphony No. 3, Garrick Ohlssohn shines in Beethoven's "Emperor" Piano Concerto.
Jan 29th, 2011
Now I really want the Packers to beat the Steelers
Because I really want the Milwaukee Art Museum to win that bet with Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Art.
Jan 28th, 2011
Wild Space takes it to the bank
Debra Loewen's new Past Present brims with dreamy, arresting moments, but there's a slow patch in the middle.
Jan 28th, 2011
German Fest 2, Gaudeamus baby!
Brahms' "Academic Festival Overture"; you know it well, right? No you don't.
Jan 27th, 2011
Wild Space dances downtown in elegant space
The gorgeously refurbished Milwaukee County Historical Society, in 1913 a Beaux Arts bank, is home of Debra Loewen's latest site-specific dance.
Jan 26th, 2011
Without football, what would we have? Plenty.
Dance with Wild Space and Heidi Latsky, music with MSO, Fest City and Frankly Music, openings at the Rep and the Skylight, jazz and more.
Jan 25th, 2011
Sly Brahms, sparkling Beethoven, epic R. Strauss
MSO, de Waart polish three brands of German Romanticism. Pianist Brautigam gives a pithy Beethoven Concerto No. 3.
Jan 22nd, 2011
Two big boys of Milwaukee theater play “Big Boys”
Norman Moses and David Cecsarini play business rivals in an executive-suite comedy by Rich Orloff, at Next Act.
Jan 20th, 2011
The new exec, and Germanfest in January
Maryellen Gleason's first days as the MSO's president/CEO, and a rundown of the orchestra's German Festival.
Jan 19th, 2011
A big theater weekend, and German music
Youngblood Theatre revives an interrupted hit, Hank Williams at the Rep, Big Business at Next Act and Germans at the MSO.
Jan 18th, 2011
Geoffrey Gordon’s Trombone Concerto, Megumi Kanda a hit
Guest conductor James Gaffigan impresses with a complex new concerto, contemplative Ives and essential Mozart.
Jan 15th, 2011
Itzhak Perlman special at the MSO
He's the world's most famous violinist for a lot of good reasons.
Jan 14th, 2011
Good news
Good news about Milwaukee arts institutions. See, it happens sometimes.
Jan 13th, 2011
A new trombone concerto, Itzhak Perlman
Principal trombonist Megumi Kanda premieres Geoffrey Gordon concerto. Perlman plays a special one-nighter Thursday.
Jan 12th, 2011
Orchestras gone wild, big theater openings
Ilana Setapen featured in MYSO big concert, Perlman and a premiere at the MSO, The Rep turns to Hitchcock, Renaissance and Uprooted Theaters team up.
Jan 11th, 2011
Margaret Leng Tan’s mischief and mystery
The Queen of the Toy piano enchants a big crowd at Turner Hall. Osvaldo Golijov's tango-flavored "Last Round" thrills it.
Jan 9th, 2011
Mamma Mia! at the Marcus, toy piano at Turner Hall
Present Music brings the Queen of the Toy Piano to Milwaukee, and ongoing shows go on.
Jan 4th, 2011
Packing up Christmas
Christmas by Krebs cares about design. Which is to say: It cares about you.
Jan 3rd, 2011
The Skylight’s Collier and Cobb serve Gershwin & Friends well
The classic songs wouldn't carry the day without the talented and appealing Cynthia Cobb and Parrish Collier.
Dec 30th, 2010
Sha Na Na Pops in to open 2011
Sha Na Na started as a 1969 nostalgia act about 1950s doo-wop. History blurs after 40 years, but they're still crazy man crazy for the music.
Dec 30th, 2010
New Year’s Eve and beyond with Gershwin and Friends at the Skylight
The Skylight's new revue spotlights Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Fats Waller and Duke Ellington.
Dec 28th, 2010
MSO, Sha Na Na, party like it’s 1959
Not quite all is calm post-Christmas, as the Skylight, MSO and the Racine Theatre Guild ring in the New Year.
Dec 28th, 2010
Santa’s Steamroller
Mannheim Steamroller, durable and inexplicable, plays its Christmas show at the Milwaukee Theatre; other local holiday shows roll on.
Dec 21st, 2010
A video Christmas card from Elizabeth Johnson and YMD
A sweet, simple dance that embodies the warmest, noblest sentiments of the season, from Your Mother Dances to you via TCD.
Dec 20th, 2010
Mr. B’s classic NY strip ‘n’ salad
Chef Brent Perszyk shares the sort of fare he personally enjoys: Steak hot from a fiery oven, with a few flavorful greens on the side.
Dec 18th, 2010
gunslinger cool, fuzzy and warm
Jingle bell time is a swell time to rock and roll.
Dec 18th, 2010
Knapp leads a scintillating MSO “Messiah”
The MSO performs Handel's oratorio through Sunday. Don't have a ticket? Then wait for the Second Coming. The run is SOLD OUT.
Dec 16th, 2010
Elizabeth Johnson, dancing on her own grave
"But it's really kind of cheery," she says. And there's the holiday cheer of David Parker's "Nut/Cracked" on this Your Mother Dances outing.
Dec 14th, 2010
“Hostages,” “In a Black Mood.” Merry Xmas.
Sure, sure, they sound a little grinchy. But even the season's darker shows have their grins, too.
Dec 14th, 2010
Cooking with the Pfister’s Robert Ash
Robert Ash, executive chef at the Pfister Hotel, makes a cool cold-weather salad. With a bonus drink recipe from Blu!
Dec 11th, 2010
A perfect “Nutcracker” from the Milwaukee Ballet
Michael Pink's "The Nutcracker" spins out a fleet, clear story, and a bright cast articulates it to a T.
Dec 11th, 2010
The Nutcracker, the Milwaukee Ballet, and Michael Pink
Artistic director Michael Pink has a new five-year contract with MBC. God bless us everyone.
Dec 8th, 2010
What’s Christmas without a lotta Spam?
Seasonal fare, both profound and fun, will co-exist with Monty Python this weekend.
Dec 7th, 2010
At home with the Prometheus Trio
Interesting programs, beautifully played, in the most welcoming atmosphere.
Dec 6th, 2010
Jeff Tyzik’s MSO Christmas card
Tyzik's music, warmth and jokes win over a big MSO Holiday Pops crowd.
Dec 4th, 2010
Jeff Tyzik’s Holiday Pops
Jeff Tyzik takes the Pops seriously because, well, it's music.
Dec 2nd, 2010
Ghosts of Christmas Past
The MSO, The Rep, Next Act, Bel Canto serve seasonal comfort food.
Nov 30th, 2010
Frankly Music’s smart, sensitive Chopin and Schumann
Violinist Frank Almond, pianist William Wolfram, violist Max Mandel and cellist Stephen Balderston know how genius ought to sound.
Nov 29th, 2010
Cold-weather cooking with top Milwaukee chefs
Dream Dance Steak's resident genius Jason Gorman dreams up a native Wisconsin side dish you can make at home. A TCD exclusive.
Nov 27th, 2010
Tchaikovsky’s Orchestrion
We like the idea of genius springing from nowhere. It doesn't. Also: A surprise MSO ticket discount ticket code inside!
Nov 24th, 2010
Australian Bombshell, more Almond
Caroline O'Connor debuts at the Rep, Frankly Music honors Chopin and Schumann and hints at a Barber premiere, Mark Bucher's Boulevard exit.
Nov 23rd, 2010
I’m grateful
Present Music's annual concert at the cathedral offers engaging music and the noblest seasonal sentiments.
Nov 21st, 2010
Skylight’s Pinafore smart and saucey
Gary Briggle, John Muriello and Aliche Berneche shine in Bill Theisen's clever staging.
Nov 21st, 2010
Present Music’s Special Thanksgiving arrangement
How Present Music, Milwaukee Choral Artists and Anonymous 4 arranged for some special music by John Tavener to be heard in Milwaukee.
Nov 20th, 2010
Frank Almond + Barber Violin Concerto = Beauty
Frank Almond releases the glorious warmth in Barber's melodies; Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra gleams for de Waart.
Nov 20th, 2010
Designing business
Alberto Alessi makes beauty work in the abstract and in the marketplace.
Nov 19th, 2010
Samuel Barber at 100
Frank Almond, MSO concertmaster, will be the soloist in Barber's Violin Concerto this weekend.
Nov 18th, 2010
Skylight Holiday Cruise for “H.M.S. Pinafore”
A Gilbert & Sullivan favorite with a few new wrinkles.
Nov 17th, 2010
A big theater week
Four theater offerings open, two more continue, the MSO keeps busy and Present Music upholds its Thanksgiving tradition.
Nov 16th, 2010
Philomusica Quartet’s bright energy
The Philomusica brings enthusiasm, and the skill and savvy to back it up, to bear on Boccherini, Beethoven and Schumann.
Nov 15th, 2010
Basses are Aces at the MSO
Edgar Meyer and Zachary Cohen burn up the big strings; Perry So conducts an elegant MSO debut.
Nov 12th, 2010
our next competitive advantage?
The arts, repositioned from pricey civic ornament to key business asset.
Nov 11th, 2010
Back to Bassics
Edgar Meyer, world's most famous bass player, and Zachary Cohen, MSO principal bassist, featured with the MSO this week. Meet Zach.
Nov 9th, 2010
String basses and string quartets
MSO's back in action, with bassist Edgar Meyer. String quartets play on Sunday and Monday, and theater companies roll on.
Nov 9th, 2010
EMN’s “Fretwork” mixes new and old, with mixed results
Early Music Now presents the British viol ensemble in a suite of pieces from Sir Francis Drake's day, laced together with new bits by composer Orlando Gough.
Nov 7th, 2010
Pink Banana’s “Tape” checks into the Downtown Best Western
Milwaukee theater company stages a play set in a hotel room in a real hotel room.
Nov 6th, 2010
Music on the high seas, assorted gems
Early Music Now presents music from Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the globe. Plus, lots of cheap or free stuff.
Nov 2nd, 2010
Film composers at Chamber Music Milwaukee
Zelazo a Psycho-Free Zone Monday, as Bernard Herrmann and other film composers go soft and sweet off screen.
Nov 1st, 2010
Youngblood’s “Freakshow”
Carson Kreitzer's play seems to be about freaks in a failing traveling show. It's really about something closer to home.
Oct 30th, 2010
Meet the MSO’s Ilana Setapen
"I do consider myself a fiery, aggressive player. And I do think it's a show."
Oct 29th, 2010
Milwaukee Ballet’s “Esmeralda”
Michael Pink's "Hunchback" returns with a new name, a cleaner look, a super cast. But it remains overwrought.
Oct 29th, 2010
Jason Powell’s comix opera
Milwaukee Opera Theater commissioned "Fortuna the Timebender vs. The Schoolgirls of Doom." Really. Premieres Thursday.
Oct 27th, 2010
MSO has a new president/CEO
Maryellen Gleason will leave the Phoenix Symphony to take over the Milwaukee Symphony's business side.
Oct 27th, 2010
The Ballet’s “Hunchback” reborn as “Esmeralda”
Milwaukee Ballet's Michael Pink renames and rethinks his ballet after the Victor Hugo novel.
Oct 26th, 2010
Freaky theater, cinematic chamber music
Youngblood stages Freakshow in a warehouse, and Chamber Music Milwaukee shows the arty side of movie composers.
Oct 26th, 2010
Deep talent at Saturday’s Wisconsin Met Auditions
A record seven singers from the Wisconsin District will advance to the regional Metropolitan Opera Auditions, in St. Paul in February.
Oct 24th, 2010
Songs of War and Peace
Sharon Hansen's Milwaukee Choral Artists and the Chicago Chamber Choir join for a cause.
Oct 24th, 2010
The Florentine’s “Rio de Sangre”
Don Davis' "Rio," the Florentine's first-ever world premiere, is a hard ride that's worth the trip.
Oct 23rd, 2010
Rio de Sangre, an opera with a muse
Soprano Kerry Walsh worked with composer Don Davis since the inception of Rio de Sangre, which the Florentine premieres Friday.
Oct 21st, 2010
Bloody theater and bloody good singing
Latino Arts opens its Day of the Dead celebration Friday, and Saturday is grand day for singing.
Oct 19th, 2010
African/Modern dance at Alverno
Compagnie Jant-Bi's "Waxtaan" is witty, worldly, up-to-date and thoroughly African.
Oct 16th, 2010
MSO’s Mozart at the Basilica
Todd Levy's elegant A Major Clarinet Concert, de Waart's intense Requiem. (FYI: Saturday and Sunday SOLD OUT.)
Oct 15th, 2010
Those Rhode girls and MCT’s “Main-Travelled Roads”
Molly Rhode directs Chamber Theatre's Wisconsin-themed musical, and sister Alissa Rhode is the music director.
Oct 14th, 2010
Lee Erickson on Mozart’s Requiem
This just in Friday afternoon: This weekend's concerts are SOLD OUT.
Oct 13th, 2010
From Downtown to Oconomowoc, arts gone wild
The MSO takes a road trip, original compositions from Ludovico Einaudi at the Marcus, and Milwaukee Chamber Theatre opens "Main Travelled Roads" this week.
Oct 12th, 2010
The MSO’s Rachmaninoff
Joyce Yang is brilliant in Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. And forget what you think you know about Rachmaninoff; listen to what Edo de Waart thinks.
Oct 9th, 2010
Rachmaninoff, seriously
Pianist Joyce Yang, stellar in Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto last season, returns with the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini -- music with a back story.
Oct 7th, 2010
Murder Castle, Unruly Music, MAM’s Euro Mo/Po-Mo Show
Two big art openings, lots of theater, music old and new. And more -- because this is Milwaukee, biggest arts mecca north of Chicago and east of Minneapolis.
Oct 5th, 2010
Danceworks’ fascinating “Lying”
This very strong edition of the Danceworks Performance Company looks at lying eight different ways... maybe nine different ways.
Oct 2nd, 2010
MSO’s amazing Mahler 7, plus Kalichstein’s Beethoven
De Waart and the MSO render Mahler's wonderland of a seventh symphony in vivid colors. Kalichstein delivers a clear, taut Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2.
Oct 1st, 2010
The maestro on Mahler
Edo de Waart talks about Mahler, his Symphony No. 7, and what they mean for an orchestra.
Sep 30th, 2010
Getting to know Danceworks guest artist Amii LeGendre
LeGendre, a little different sort of dancer, works with prison inmates in New York.
Sep 29th, 2010
Rep’s “Laurel and Hardy” shines late
Boredom, thy name is exposition. But once through that, Gerard Neugent and Bill Theisen bring the movies' first great comedy team back to life.
Sep 28th, 2010
Milwaukee Ballet announces partners for new building
The Milwaukee Ballet, UWM's dance program and a Downtown Medical College sports medicine clinic will share a planned new facility.
Sep 28th, 2010
Music, Dance, Theater; got ’em all.
The Rep lights three stages. UWM's Chamber Music Milwaukee opens in Brookfield(!). Renaissance Theaterworks says: be pretty. Danceworks is lying. Roses for Early Music Now.
Sep 28th, 2010
A weighty “Metamorphosen” at Frankly Music
Strauss' "Metamorphosen," the composer's response to the disaster of World War II and the Reich, is devastating at Frankly Music's opener.
Sep 28th, 2010
The MSO’s big opening night
Beethoven's Ninth, Copland's Appalachian Spring, and a curtain-raiser by John Adams.
Sep 25th, 2010
Beethoven 9, but Adams and Copland, too
Copland's "Appalachian Spring" is a landmark not only in American music, but also in dance.
Sep 23rd, 2010
Bill Theisen plays Oliver Hardy in the Rep’s Laurel & Hardy
On stage, Theisen is doing his Oliver Hardy impression. Otherwise, he's acting more like James Brown -- the hardest-working man in Milwaukee show business.
Sep 23rd, 2010
Music, music, music
The Milwaukee Symphony and Frankly Music open their seasons, and the previously launched theater season rolls on.
Sep 21st, 2010
Present Music and that other Prokofiev
Jordan Lee (DJ Madhatter) makes a smashing Present Music debut in Gabriel Prokofiev's Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra.
Sep 19th, 2010
The Rep’s “Cabaret,” a blockbuster with guts
Mark Clements debut as the Rep's artistic director gives the company its first big musical. It's a knockout.
Sep 18th, 2010
Turntables, String Quartets at Present Music Saturday
When a high-brow meets a low-brow, they might both be British composer Gabriel Prokofiev, PM's guest artist Saturday.
Sep 16th, 2010
Concert Music
Last season was all about Edo de Waart and the MSO. 2010-11 is about Edo, too, but it's also about opera. And more, much more.
Sep 14th, 2010
The Season’s first big weekend
The Rep -- and its blockbuster "Cabaret" -- the Skylight, Present Music, Next Act Theatre, the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra and more are off and running.
Sep 14th, 2010
Prometheus Trio’s noteworthy opener
I love a piano, especially in the hands of someone who can make it sound like something else.
Sep 14th, 2010
Dance
Milwaukee's dancers might be the city's most creative and resourceful arts community. Here's what they're up to this season.
Sep 13th, 2010
Fine Arts Quartet free at last
The FAQ opens season in fine form, to a house of over 500 as free admission more than doubles its audience.
Sep 12th, 2010
Don’t Miss Anything!
We're rolling out Milwaukee's 2010-2011 arts season in five stories over five days. Starting now.
Sep 12th, 2010
A Wild Space late-summer night’s dream
Debra Loewen's new site-spefice "A Place for Everything," enchants the Lynden Sculpture Garden. [Friday update: New photos by Paul Gaudynski.]
Sep 10th, 2010
The MSO
The Milwaukee Symphony is the final snapshot in TCD's summer series on the state of the performing arts in our town.
Sep 8th, 2010
Sept. 7-13, A New Arts Season Begins
Labor Day has come and gone. Now it's time to get out those season tickets and feed your soul.
Sep 7th, 2010
Wild Space Dancers amid greenery and steel
On Thursday, Debra Loewen's Wild Space dance company opens a new site-specific work at the Lynden Sculpture Garden.
Sep 7th, 2010
The real-life drama of the Lady Elgin, on stage
A ship went down and hundreds drowned in a maelstrom of politics and philosophy on the brink of the Civil War. John Kishline and Edward Morgan tell the story in a new play.
Sep 5th, 2010
Neil Haven’s “The Playdaters”
Neil Haven's new play is a hilarious romantic comedy. Or maybe a hilarious anti-romantic comedy.
Aug 26th, 2010
Sloan’s “Isadora Duncan, 1911″
John Sloan's painting of the scandalous goddess of early modern dance concludes our summer series on the Milwaukee Art Museum's permanent collection.
Aug 25th, 2010
In Tandem Theater opens Neil Haven’s new satire Thursday
"The Playdaters" is a buddy comedy and a romantic comedy, with a couple of twists.
Aug 24th, 2010
A Mighty Wind on the Silk Road
Serious music is heading down the Silk Road. Yo-Yo Ma is its Marco Polo.
Aug 19th, 2010
Beth Lipman’s dazzling glass
Ninth in a series on MAM's permanent collection: Beth Lipman's "Laid Table," a virtuoso showpiece with a meditative after-image.
Aug 19th, 2010
Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble at the Pabst tonight
Violinist Johnny Gandelsman talks about life on the Silk Road.
Aug 19th, 2010
The Milwaukee Rep
A new leadership team brings new ideas to the Milwaukee Repertory Theater.
Aug 17th, 2010
People, arts and ideas, in six episodes
Farewell to Doug Drake, MCT's "Jeeves" is a riot, more TV is coming, MAM membership has its privileges, Present Music's cool on the 'net, two degrees of separation.
Aug 16th, 2010
Rodchenko’s “Composition”
Seventh in TCD's summer series on the Milwaukee Art Museum's permanent collection: OK, a couple of triangles; what's to see?
Aug 12th, 2010
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre
Eighth in TCD's series of snapshots of our arts groups: MCT rides out the recession and carves out an identity.
Aug 10th, 2010
Food, music and the life worth living
Food is more than food at the Laurie Raphael Restaurant. It resonates. It intensifies life. It does what art does.
Aug 9th, 2010
Caillebotte’s Boating on the Yerres
Sixth in our summer series on the Milwaukee Art Museum's permanent collection: An Impressionist melding of a moment and ideas.
Aug 5th, 2010
Bel Canto Chorus
Seventh in a summer series of snapshots of local performing groups. The venerable Bel Canto is finally finding its niche.
Aug 3rd, 2010
Mad dogs, Englishmen and modern dancers
UWM's grad students in dance, here for the annual summer intensive, are dancing in the park and on the stage. Dancemakers, Summer Edition, runs July 30 & 31.
Jul 29th, 2010
MAM’s Brilliant Russian Icon
Fifth in a summer series on works from the Milwaukee Art Museum's permanent collection: The 16th-century Portable Iconostasis.
Jul 28th, 2010
Skylight Opera Theatre
The sixth installment in our summer series of snapshots of local performing arts groups: Whither the Skylight, after last summer's crisis?
Jul 27th, 2010
Gabriele Munter’s “Green House, Murnau”
Fourth in a summer series on piece from the MAM's permanent collection -- which happens to include the largest collection of Munter paintings outside Germany.
Jul 22nd, 2010
The Milwaukee Ballet
The fifth installment in our summer series of snapshots of Milwaukee arts groups: Michael Pink and Dennis Buehler, in lean times, make no small plans.
Jul 20th, 2010
Rudy Burckhardt’s “An’ I’ve got a nickel”
The third entry in our summer series on the Milwaukee Art Museum's permanent collection is an art photograph that's just like a jazzy pop tune.
Jul 15th, 2010
Danceworks works
The fifth in our summer series of snapshots of Milwaukee arts groups: Danceworks grows and even prospers amid hard times.
Jul 13th, 2010
Screen Dance at Danceworks
Dances for film, screened in the open air on a summer night by the river.
Jul 11th, 2010
Bad Example’s “Fahrenheit 451”
Books good. Book burning bad. TV bad. Conformity bad.
Jul 9th, 2010
Button, Button…
Who's got the button? Tara Donovan.Donovan's "Bluffs" is part 2 in our series on the MAM's collection. (Enter the Bluffs-related contest at the end of the story.)
Jul 7th, 2010
Wild Space Dance
A snapshot of Debra Loewen's dance company; fourth in a summer series profiling Milwaukee performing arts groups.
Jul 6th, 2010
Wild Space’s Randy Talley exits to the East
Talley, a 15-year stalwart of the Wild Space Dance Company, has moved to Pittsburgh, along with Brenda Lee Johnston, former director of the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center.
Jul 5th, 2010
1+1+1=way more than 3 at Frankly Music
Violinist Frank Almond, pianist Jeewon Park and cellist Edward Arron make big music of trios by Haydn, Brahms and John Musto.
Jul 1st, 2010
Fragonard’s The Shepherdess
Fragonard's The Shepherdess is the first in TCD's summer series of long looks at works in the Milwaukee Art Museum's permanent collection.
Jul 1st, 2010
Present Music
Milwaukee's outstanding new-music group is the third subject in TCD's summer series of snapshots of arts groups.
Jun 28th, 2010
Fine Arts Quartet’s summer finale
A strong concert and a bit of news from the string quartet in residence at UWM.
Jun 27th, 2010
Fine Arts Quartet Summer Evening No. 3
Soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams shoots out the lights and goes home. Pianist Katherine Chi barges in among the guys.
Jun 21st, 2010
Present Music’s Wherehouse lightning
Can new-music chamber concerts be sexy? Oh yes.
Jun 19th, 2010
Du Yun, Present Music’s Wherehouse diva
Du Yun, Present Music's guest, is at home performing in clubs or composing for the Detroit Symphony.
Jun 17th, 2010
Next Act Theatre
This portrait of Next Act Theatre is the first TCD's summer series of snapshots of Milwaukee's arts groups.
Jun 14th, 2010
Hamlisch’s Patriotic Pops
The MSO's closing program is more Americana than Americanism, as Hamlisch minimizes the jingo and maximizes the jingle.
Jun 11th, 2010
An early July 4
Marvin Hamlisch ends the orchestra season with patriotic numbers by songwriters whose hearts beat true to the red, white and blue.
Jun 10th, 2010
Fine Arts Quartet’s summer opener
Pianist Christopher Taylor is the quartet's guest artist on a satisfying program.
Jun 7th, 2010
Thoughts and notes as the season winds down
The Fine Arts Quartet, Frankly Music, those incredible dance students at UWM, Edo and Antwerp, the MSO and Carnegie Hall.
Jun 4th, 2010
de Waart and Mahler’s Third
The MSO's music director has conducted Mahler's Symphony No. 3 dozens of times over 35 years. It remains a fascinating puzzle, just provisionally solved.
Jun 4th, 2010
Garth Fagan, from dance rebel to elder statesman
Renowned modern-dance choreographer broke through to popular culture with "The Lion King." His residency at UWM culminates in Summerdances shows this weekend.
Jun 3rd, 2010
The Skylight’s Evening with a very human Gilbert & Sullivan
Dale Gutzman ingeniously weaves operetta artifice, Skylight tradition and compelling character development.
May 30th, 2010
Ilana Setapen’s Milwaukee debut recital
The young violinist, the new associate concertmaster of the MSO, plays a smashing recital at the Wisconsin Conservatory.
May 29th, 2010
The MSO, Trpceski and Saint-Saens
FRIDAY NIGHT UPDATE: LINK TO REVIEW OF ILANA SETAPEN'S RECITAL! See link at the end of the MSO review, or clink on the headline in the More Stories box.
May 28th, 2010
Everything Old Is New Again at the Skylight
Dale Gutzman returns to direct after a 25-year absence, with Gilbert & Sullivan fantasy inspired by the Skylight's very first show.
May 27th, 2010
Pianist Simon Trpceski
Meet Macedonia's gift to the classical music world.
May 27th, 2010
The great Joe Johnson
The MSO's principal cellist, exiting for the Toronto Symphony, gives a fond farewell with a brilliant recital.
May 25th, 2010
An imaginative Florentine Rigoletto
Georgia Jarman is an extraordinary Gilda, Noele Stollmack's set is way cool, and conductor Joseph Rescigno is in his element.
May 22nd, 2010
The Skylight’s rockin’ Rent
Donna Drake directs the 1989 rock version of La Boheme, set on the mean streets of New York.
May 20th, 2010
Georgia (and Gilda) on my mind
Soprano Georgia Jarman is Rigoletto's ill-fated daughter in the Florentine Opera staging of Verdi's 1851 opera.
May 20th, 2010
Hey! We’re on TV!
TCD's Jon Anne Willow and Tom Strini are co-hosts and co-producers of Arts Digest, MPTV's new arts magazine show. Premiere is set for 8 p.m. Monday, Channel 10.
May 17th, 2010
Old songs, new twists
Kelly Anderson, Jill Anna Ponasik and Nathan Wesselowski weave dance and a story around 26 Italian Songs and Arias.
May 14th, 2010
Flying high, keeping the kids up late
Michael Pink's new story ballet is fun for the company and the audience.
May 14th, 2010
What is “26”?
The Milwaukee Opera Theatre's show, with Jill Anna Ponasik, Nathan Wesselowski and Kelly Anderson, requires some explanation. So does Milwaukee Opera Theatre.
May 12th, 2010
Behind the Scenes of Milwaukee Ballet’s Peter Pan
UPDATE TUESDAY: Show is SOLD OUT. But if you do have a Peter Pan ticket, flash it at our Arts Fever event at the downtown Hilton and get in for $5. Food, performances, fun, starting at 5:30.
May 10th, 2010
Frankly Music, a new CD, and Arts Fever; MSO Cancels Tuesday Chamber Concert
WHOOPS! The MSO has canceled the Tuesday-night concert, due to poor ticket sales.
May 9th, 2010
Present Music goes Middle Eastern
Trumpeter/santoorist/composer/singer Amir ElSaffar and friends bring Iraqi music to Milwaukee.
May 9th, 2010
East Meets West Meets Jazz at Present Music Saturday
Amir ElSaffar's journey from classical trumpeter to jazz man to student of Iragi Maqam to muscial integrator
May 7th, 2010
TCD and the arts
In little more than a year, TCD has become an important player on Milwaukee's arts scene. We're celebrating with a big spring event. Please come.
May 6th, 2010
de Waart, MSO and Chorus
Transcendent singing and playing in two profound works, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and Brahms' A German Requiem.
May 1st, 2010
Big nights for Lee Erickson’s MSO Chorus
The 150-voice symphony chorus is at the heart of Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and Brahms' A German Requiem.
Apr 30th, 2010
Youngblood Theatre runs deep for laughs
It's a play about a desperate boiler room fund-drive. Wait; it's about superheroes. No, it's about a theater company. Or it's about Shakespeare...
Apr 25th, 2010
The MSO, de Waart and cellist Joe Johnson
Johnson is marvelous in Saint-Saens Cello Concerto, and de Waart and the orchestra get to the heart of Faure and Tchaikovsky.
Apr 23rd, 2010
Wild Space made me happy
Maybe we can't define or explain happiness, but we know it when we see it.
Apr 22nd, 2010
MSO: Lang Lang — Wow Wow
Lang Lang is still a young man, but musically he is all grown up.
Apr 21st, 2010
Wild Space Dance, Speaking of Happiness
Debra Loewen, collaborators Monica Rodero and Dan Schuchart, and the Wild Space troupe dance about happiness. Which turns out to be not so simple.
Apr 21st, 2010
An emergency soloist, a swan song and Lang Lang
Principal cellist Joseph Johnson replaces Masafumi Hori. Johnson to leave the MSO for Toronto Symphony. Lang Lang returns.
Apr 20th, 2010
The surprising Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra
Under Richard Hynson, the MCO appears to have finally found its niche.
Apr 17th, 2010
Give me that old-time avant-garde
The Unruly Music Festival opens with C2, a flute and cello duo, and a mixed bag that includes some old-time academic music.
Apr 16th, 2010
Danceworks clowns around
Dani Kuepper's family-friendly suite of silly dances isn't just for kids.
Apr 13th, 2010
MSO Pops Movie Music
Guest Pops conductor Jack Everly focuses on big scores for big films in a well-prepared, well-performed concert.
Apr 10th, 2010
Hooray for Hollywood
The people and the story behind Hooray for Hollywood, the national anthem of the movie business.
Apr 8th, 2010
Ohlsson’s great Chopin at the MSO
De Waart makes sense of Elgar's sprawling Symphony No. 1 and has fun with a rarely heard Berlioz overture.
Apr 2nd, 2010
A long look at a great painting
Raphael's The Woman with the Veil is the only painting in the Milwaukee Art Museum's latest show. That one painting is plenty.
Apr 2nd, 2010
MSO extends de Waart’s contract five years
Runaway artistic and box office success leads to long-term agreement with music director Edo de Wart.
Apr 2nd, 2010
Brush Up Your Berlioz
The MSO will play the Overture to Beatrice and Benedict, Berlioz's opera after Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Shakespeare loomed large in the composer's life.
Mar 31st, 2010
Frankly Music and the Lipinski Stradivarius
Frank Almond brings out the best in a great violin.
Mar 30th, 2010
More Amazement from Present Music
Kevin Stalheim's group plays Schoenberg, John Adams, Raymond Scott's crazy stuff from mid-century and Mason Bates' electronica crossover.
Mar 28th, 2010
Hanreddy’s “Seven Keys” to hilarity
Joe Hanreddy bows out with Seven Keys to Slaughter Peak as The Rep's AD. It's a funny love letter to theater and the joys of making stuff up.
Mar 27th, 2010
Two brand-new dances and one new to us at the Milwaukee Ballet
Caniparoli's new dance is a masterpiece, Opdenaker's is smart and lovely, Zahradnicek's has potential.
Mar 26th, 2010
Present Music connects cartoons to the avant-garde
John Adams, Schoenberg, Raymond Scott, Warner Brothers cartoons, Mason Bates connected? Oh yes, they are.
Mar 25th, 2010
That “Rooster” guy returns to Milwaukee Ballet
Val Caniparoli's witty, fun "Gustav's Rooster" was a hit for the company last May. He's back, with a world premiere for MBC's Pure Dance program.
Mar 24th, 2010
Caravan Ensemble at Early Music Now
As the Jewish southern diaspora reached from Persia to Spain, it accreted many musical traditions into its own.
Mar 20th, 2010
The Florentine’s Elmer Gantry
A flawed masterpiece brings a great American novel to the opera stage.
Mar 20th, 2010
Chamber Music Milwaukee fetes Libby Larsen
Libby Larsen is funny, charming and warm -- just like her music.
Mar 18th, 2010
MSO’s interim exec and other crunchy bits of arts news
MSO board member Don Tyler will mind the store during the search for a new president/exec. Plus remarks on dance, an update on TCD arts coverage, and more.
Mar 17th, 2010
The Florentine stages Elmer Gantry, an All-American opera
Composer Robert Aldridge and librettist Herschel Garfein worked 18 years to make their dream of an opera a reality.
Mar 16th, 2010
Grim energy from Wayne McGregor’s Random Dance
The daring dance company in residence of Sadler's Wells, London, landed at Alverno College Saturday night.
Mar 14th, 2010
Skylight’s Day in Hollywood/Night in the Ukraine
A little strain Hollywood, a whole lot of Marx Brothers fun in the Ukraine.
Mar 13th, 2010
MSO’s All-American program
Guest Giancarlo Guerrero leads lively Copland, Adams and Gershwin; Todd Levy premieres Marc Neikrug's beautiful new Clarinet Concerto.
Mar 12th, 2010
Neikrug/Levy world premiere
Todd Levy will play Marc Neikrug's new Concerto for Clarinet with guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
Mar 11th, 2010
Trey McIntyre, the real deal in dance
The world hasn't quite discovered McIntyre's brilliant company. Look out world.
Mar 10th, 2010
Baby, you can keep your hat on
Couple featured in the Skylight Opera Theatre's A Day in Hollywood/Night in Ukraine supplement acting income by making hats. Lots and lots of hats.
Mar 8th, 2010
Joyful Beethoven night at the MSO
Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony expresses more than one kind of joy. Edo de Waart gets that.
Mar 6th, 2010
A more modern Modern Dance
Trey McIntyre has mastered the art of choreography for the stage. Now, he's reaching beyond the stage.
Mar 4th, 2010
The Romantic Beethoven
Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony was part of a larger Romantic movement that sought spiritual sustenance in Nature.
Mar 3rd, 2010
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane and Company at Alverno College
Can a dance tell us what America is? In Serenade/The Proposition, Bill T. Jones and his collaborators get close to the essence.
Feb 28th, 2010
Laughs, Thrills and Terror
Danceworks Performance Company puts on a strange, brilliant and wildly diverse evening based on movie archetypes.
Feb 26th, 2010
Dancing about the movies
Nine -- count 'em! -- Danceworks choreographers look to film for inspiration.
Feb 24th, 2010
Joe Hanreddy’s next act at UWM
Longtime artistic director of the Milwaukee Rep will be integral to a new fellowship program for directors and designers.
Feb 21st, 2010
McGegan accentuates the positive
When Nic McGegan comes to town, it's fun to go hear the symphony.
Feb 19th, 2010
MSO Exec Mark Hanson Moves to Houston Symphony
Hanson brought smart business practice to the Milwaukee Symphony and restored credibility with donors.
Feb 19th, 2010
Prometheus Trio
Beethoven with his long hair down, Ewazen looking backward, Dvorak as serious as he gets.
Feb 15th, 2010
Brooklyn Rider at Frankly Music
A different sort of string quartet guests on Frank Almond's chamber music series Tuesday.
Feb 15th, 2010
Early Music Now Presents Ensemble Lipzodes
Spanish Renaissance music exported to Guatamala circa 1600 sounds pretty much like Spanish Renaissance music.
Feb 13th, 2010
MSO, conductor Rossen Milanov, pianist John Lill
Milanov makes a strong showing in tricky music; Lill commands Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto.
Feb 12th, 2010
Milwaukee Ballet’s Innovative Motion
Luc Vanier's experiment, Salvatore Aiello's comedy and pathos, and Tim O'Donnell's formalized fury.
Feb 12th, 2010
Stravinsky’s Petrouchka
A set of Stravinsky/Nijinsky/Diaghilev ballets set Paris afire and launched Stravinsky's career.
Feb 10th, 2010
Super String Quartet Sunday
The Philomusica plays at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, the Fine Arts plays at UWM-Zelazo.
Feb 7th, 2010
Present Music, Burkina Electric
Afro-pop meets the avant-garde, and a good time is had by all.
Feb 7th, 2010
MSO Pops Gershwin with Hamlisch and Cole
Gershwin is still the man for a surefire Pops program.
Feb 5th, 2010
Present Music, Lukas Ligeti, Burkina Electric
Lukas Ligeti, son of legendary composer György Ligeti, goes his own, Africa-tinged musical way.
Feb 5th, 2010
Falling in love again and again
Infatuation comes and goes in a marriage. Love endures.
Feb 4th, 2010
Those UWM dancers; Video update Wednesday 2/3
A sneak preview of UWM's Winterdances, coming this week, and way ahead to Summerdances.
Feb 2nd, 2010
Gershwin
This week's MSO concert pays tribute to George Gershwin, who was more than just a songwriter.
Feb 2nd, 2010
The Skylight’s Marriage of Figaro
Lovely singing, smart acting, brisk pacing and flawless comic timing bring out the warmth and humor of Mozart's masterpiece.
Jan 31st, 2010
Edo de Waart, MSO, pianist Ingrid Fliter
Esa-Pekka Salonen's Gambit, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 3 and a recent "distillation" of Wagner's Die Meistersinger make an odd, happy program.
Jan 30th, 2010
Mozart on my mind
Music that draws its beauty from a civility that is sophisticated, not naive.
Jan 28th, 2010
Wild Space dances with Bamberger’s videos
Tom Bamberger's images are equal partners with Debra Loewen's dancers in upcoming show in a vast industrial space.
Jan 27th, 2010
Andrew Wilkowske, a Skylight Figaro for all seasons
Andrew Wilkowske's dream assignment, singing both Mozart's and Rossini's Figaros in the same season, almost didn't happen.
Jan 26th, 2010
MSO and Chorus, Nikolaj Znaider
The MSO serves a remarkable evening of Faure, Elgar and Gabrieli.
Jan 22nd, 2010
Violinist Nikolaj Znaider
Nikolaj Znaider, so strong in prior visits, returns to Milwaukee to play Elgar's Violin Concerto.
Jan 20th, 2010
Shameless self-promotion
Do come hear the Festival City Symphony play A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Jan. 31.
Jan 18th, 2010
MSO, cellist Johannes Moser, conductor Paul Daniel
A great young cellist makes a sensational MSO debut.
Jan 15th, 2010
Cellist Johannes Moser
Please see the TCD Arts and Culture page for the Moser/MSO review.
Jan 13th, 2010
The Rep’s Yankee Tavern
Go ahead and laugh at that 9/11 conspiracy -- until THEY come to make YOU disappear for knowing too much!
Jan 10th, 2010
Catey Ott Dance Collective
Beautiful, full-bodied dancing, quirky choreography in Total Emersion, at Danceworks.
Jan 8th, 2010
The arts groups’ Christmas money trees
Here'$ a how'd-they-do on A Christmas Carol, The Nutcracker, Messiah, Holiday Pops and Plaid Tidings.
Jan 7th, 2010
Three expatriate dancers (and one comedian) home for the holidays
Sarah Wilbur (L.A.) and Katie Sopoci Drake (Hollywood, Fla.) drop in for updates on their lives. Catey Ott (NYC) drops in to Danceworks with her company.
Jan 5th, 2010
Cirque (with Photo Gallery)
The MSO Pops start 2010 with the surreal, dreamy Cirque de la Symphonie.
Dec 31st, 2009
The Long and Short of the Skylight
Colin Cabot and Paula Dewey Cabot reminisce about the Skylight in a 50th-anniversary show meant to help the company survive.
Dec 29th, 2009
Critic as matchmaker, via Facebook
It's funny how things work out in the new, Internet world of the music business.
Dec 28th, 2009
Pa-rumpah-pum-pummm (updated Wednesday)
51 Christmases with that relentless drummer boy.
Dec 23rd, 2009
Concord’s Didgeridoo Concerto
Australian composer Sean O'Boyle, local didgeridooist Hal Kacanek and the Concord Chamber Orchestra join in a North American premiere.
Dec 18th, 2009
MSO’s itinerant Messiah
Milwaukee Symphony Chorus shines in Handel's signature oratorio in Hales Corners.
Dec 16th, 2009
The Milwaukee Ballet’s Nutcracker
MBC's The Nutcracker opens with gorgeous classical dancing and high energy.
Dec 12th, 2009
Early Music Now presents Anonymous 4
Milwaukee has been an important stop for A4, long the hottest attraction in early music.
Dec 11th, 2009
A visual preview and a defense of the Milwaukee Ballet’s Nutcracker
As we look forward to the dance company's holiday favorite, TCD shares a photo gallery from previous shows and a video sneak peek at the 2009 performance.
Dec 9th, 2009
Prometheus Trio
Spirit and awareness trump the occasional imperfection as the Prometheans play Mozart, Sibelius, Hohvaness and Schumann.
Dec 7th, 2009
MSO Holiday Pops, Hamlisch
The concert review is on top; an interview with Hamlisch follows.
Dec 4th, 2009
Updated Friday 12/4
That Valdes Latin Jazz dynasty, an early Christmas present for the MSO; also Polly Morris, Danceworks, Plaid's Ding, best Christmas video ever.
Dec 1st, 2009
Tim John files for Democratic nomination for governor
John, a businessman with family ties to Miller Brewing, will challenge Barrett in the primary. John's issue: Jobs, especially in Milwaukee's inner city.
Nov 28th, 2009
The Skylight’s Plaid Tidings
Great performances and just the right tone mark the Skylight's sweet and goofy new holiday show.
Nov 28th, 2009
The Skylight’s holiday show
Paul Helm is forever plaid. Seriously; he was in Forever Plaid in Platteville, and now he's in the holiday spinoff, Plaid Tidings, at the Skylight.
Nov 25th, 2009
Present Music’s Thanksgiving
Kevin Stalheim has assembled a program of new music informed by history and tradition.
Nov 22nd, 2009
The Florentine’s Tosca
The Florentine has a spare new set for Tosca. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Nov 21st, 2009
Meet composer Alexandra du Bois
Present Music, the Milwaukee Choral Artists and the Milwaukee Children's Choir will premiere du Bois' In Beauty May I Walk Sunday.
Nov 20th, 2009
Florentine’s Tosca not the same old, same old
Director Dean Anthony and designer Noel Stollmack intend to bring new life to Puccini's iconic opera.
Nov 17th, 2009
Shostakovich at Frankly Music
Frank Almond ponders how life and art intersect in Shostakovich's music. Almond and friends also play the daylights out of it.
Nov 16th, 2009
Fine Arts Quartet and guest
After a fuzzy start, the Fine Arts Quartet found its focus Sunday afternoon, with guest violist Guillermo Figueroa.
Nov 15th, 2009
Bruckner’s grandeur at the MSO
Guest conductor Lawrence Renes shapes Bruckner's Symphony No. 8, an Alpine panorama in sound.
Nov 13th, 2009
Renes on Bruckner
Lawrence Renes has led 13 different orchestras through Bruckner's vast Symphony No. 8. What has he learned?
Nov 10th, 2009
The 2009 Nohl Fellowship winners
The Nohl Fellowships are something like the Academy Awards for Milwaukee artists. Meet this year's winners.
Nov 10th, 2009
Philomusica Quartet
String quartet in residence at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music plays a strong concert of 20th-century music.
Nov 8th, 2009
Those Panther soccer girls
Monday night update: Panthers will open their NCAA tournament vs. Central Florida Friday in Madison.
Nov 7th, 2009
MSO’s happy Mozart, epic Shostakovich
Young conductor Shi-Yeon Sung makes an impressive debut, pianist Jeremy Denk renders civilized Mozart.
Nov 6th, 2009
Theatre Gigante, words then action
Malcolm Tulip's clever word puzzles, and David Gaines' wild, one-man "Seven Samurai"
Nov 5th, 2009
Shi-Yeon Sung
Shi-Yeon Sung, at 34, left Korea for Europe, European classical music and conducting.
Nov 5th, 2009
Simone Ferro at Danceworks
Ferro's new dances yield strong ensemble works, weak solos.
Nov 2nd, 2009
MSO’s dark Bluebeard, sunny Mozart
Chihuly's sculptures respond to Bartok's intense opera score after a psychological fable.
Oct 31st, 2009
Musique, plasir at Chamber Music Milwaukee
Music by Honegger, Gaubert, Milhaud and Ravel is aural joy.
Oct 29th, 2009
Simone Ferro’s Danceworks show
Simone Ferro, of the UWM dance factory, goes home to Brazil for inspiration and home to Milwaukee for collaborators.
Oct 28th, 2009
Steve Murphy’s fall; MSO Chorus at St. Anthony’s
We heard a big crash during the MSO Chorus concert Saturday at St. Anthony's Church. It was Steve Murphy.
Oct 24th, 2009
Michael Pink’s new Cinderella
Dance and narrative merge nicely in the Milwaukee Ballet's latest fairy tale.
Oct 22nd, 2009
Michael Pink on his new Cinderella ballet
The Milwaukee Ballet's Michael Pink, a natural storyteller, bends the old fairy tale to make it work for dance.
Oct 21st, 2009
First Stage posts surplus
Dig into a bowl overflowing with artsy news items.
Oct 20th, 2009
Bel Canto sings Handel; nice try
We all know "Messiah." Richard Hynson airs "Israel in Egypt," one of Handel's 18 other oratorios.
Oct 17th, 2009
Impressive young pianist with the MSO
Joyce Yang, 24, shows mature command of Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 3.
Oct 16th, 2009
Skylight Reinstates Theisen
Bill Theisen, fired as artistic director in June, will serve as A.D. through June 2011.
Oct 14th, 2009
the Rep’s Clements, Helsing Wolters
Mark Clements and Dawn Helsing Wolters, new leaders at Milwaukee Rep, talk issues, big and small.
Oct 13th, 2009
Rachmaninoff X 2
Edo de Waart begins a trek through Rachmaninoff with the Symphony No. 2, Piano Concerto No. 3. Joyce Yang debuts.
Oct 13th, 2009
Choral Artists ride the waves
Sharon Hansen leads her women's choir in a program of music about the sea (and a large lake we know).
Oct 10th, 2009
German Art Songs as they ought to be heard
The singers and their songs are in their element at UWM's Hefter Mansion.
Oct 9th, 2009
Met Auditions Winners
The Wisconsin District will send a record six singers to the regionals in Minneapolis.
Oct 6th, 2009
Frankly Music’s Glazunov and Brahms
Frank Almond and friends -- including legendary cellist Lynn Harrell -- draw a big crowd on Packers-Vikings night.
Oct 5th, 2009
Fine Arts Quartet’s Saint-Saens Sunday
Nicolo Eugelmi, the FAQ's new violist, fits right in.
Oct 4th, 2009
MSO, de Waart, Almond and Johnson
Autumnal Brahms, precious "Five Elements" and a bright Beethoven Seventh at the second classical subscription program of the new season.
Oct 2nd, 2009
Forever Tango, Forever Hot
Luis Bravo's long-running tango show stops for a one-night stand at the Marcus Center.
Oct 2nd, 2009
Milwaukee Ballet Gets $1 million to think big
Executive director Dennis Buehler is looking for just the right partner or partners to collaborate on a new or restored facility and other services.
Oct 1st, 2009
A talk with Edo de Waart
The MSO's music director on Mahler 5, Beethoven 7, tuning and feeling at home with his new orchestra.
Oct 1st, 2009
De Waart jets to the Met in October
MSO music director to fill in for James Levine, music director of New York's Metropolitan Opera.
Sep 30th, 2009
Yo-Yo Ma, Edo de Waart, MSO
Yo-Yo Ma plays Schumann with the MSO. De Waart reprises Mahler 5.
Sep 30th, 2009
Skylight leadership firms up plans
Lounsbery, Jensen and Cabot discuss the near future of the Skylight Opera Theatre; link to Oct. Skylight benefit in New York.
Sep 28th, 2009
De Waart’s triumphant start
De Waart's vibrant Mahler 5 bowls over opening night crowd, and mezzo Sasha Cooke dazzles in her Milwaukee debut.
Sep 26th, 2009
Chamber Music Milwaukee opens strong
The links between the UWM Music Department and the MSO yield great musical results.
Sep 24th, 2009
Young Mezzo Sasha Cooke to debut with MSO
MSO Update: MSO adds 90 seats to Uihlein Hall, announces $5 ticket promotion.
Sep 23rd, 2009
Prometheus Trio
Pianist Stephanie Jacob, violinist Timothy Klabunde and cellist Scott Tisdel open the 10th Prometheus season in top form.
Sep 21st, 2009
Fred Berman’s massive retrospective at Inova
Milwaukee artist shows a lifetime of visions and ideas at UWM.
Sep 20th, 2009
Skylight’s singing and comedy trump crisis
A brilliant "Barber of Seville" opens the Skylight Opera Theatre's 50th season.
Sep 19th, 2009
This week at the MSO Pops
"Symphonic blues" has to be an oxymoron, right? Not so fast.
Sep 17th, 2009
Dancing Upstairs, Downstairs at Turner Hall
Debra Loewen's Wildspace Dance Company performs in the gym and the ballroom Friday and Saturday.
Sep 16th, 2009
Theisen, Beaumarchais, Rossini and Mozart
The Skylight will stage both "Figaro" operas as a cycle this season, starting Sept. 18 with "The Barber of Seville."
Sep 16th, 2009
Rep’s Soultime at the Apollo
Superb performers in a show that lacks big rhythm.
Sep 13th, 2009
Present Music, Kahane and Adams
Present Music opens with a fascinating new talent and a modern master.
Sep 13th, 2009
Gabriel Kahane with Present Music Saturday
Present Music brings Gabriel Kahane's mixed musical idioms to Milwaukee Saturday.
Sep 10th, 2009
Unruly Music minifest opens Downtown
Susan Bender was glorious, but Marcus Center Vogel Hall was nearly empty.
Sep 8th, 2009
UWM gives up on Pieces of Eight site
The old Pieces of Eight restaurant site will not be the new home of UWM's new Freshwater Sciences Institute.
Sep 4th, 2009
Musical Meditation, then Oppression
Jon Mueller, Jim Schoenecker, David Bailey, video by David Dinnell at Marquette U. Thursday night.
Sep 4th, 2009
A Sweet Night at the Skylight
50th Anniversary Tuesday night was a much-needed lovefest after a summer of discord.
Sep 2nd, 2009
Jump Cut Pop at the Haggerty
Jon Mueller and friends layer music and video amid vintage and modern collages Thursday at Marquette U. art museum.
Sep 1st, 2009
Don’t you tell me there’s nothing to do.
Present Music and the Skylight Opera Theatre put on events Monday and Tuesday.
Aug 31st, 2009
Eriks Klavins, long-time MSO violinist
Eriks Klavins, long-time principal second violinist of the MSO, has died.
Aug 21st, 2009
Dale Gutzman Returns to the Skylight
Gutzman, banished from the Skylight in the 1980s, returns in the summer where anything can happen.
Aug 20th, 2009
Artist Roy Staab’s Swags in the Woods
Milwaukee artist Roy Staab festoons the Urban Ecology Center's woodsy amphitheater in Riverside Park.
Aug 19th, 2009
Joan Lounsbery returning to the Skylight
Managing director of the Skylight in the '90s, Lounsbery comes out of retirement to help put the house in order.
Aug 18th, 2009
Great American Kitchens at MIAD
Kitchens have become the most glamorous, expensive spaces in American homes. MIAD surveys a century of them.
Aug 12th, 2009
A Skylight prediction
Will all the strife and embarrassing press ruin the Skylight's season? No. Strini tells you why.
Aug 7th, 2009
Theisen, Cabot, Kurtenbach Comment
Eric Dillner is out. Crowds gathered on Catalano Square last night to celebrate. Now, Colin Cabot, William Theisen, Terry Kurtenbach speak out on the saga and what's to come.
Aug 5th, 2009
Dillner Out at the Skylight
Managing director Eric Dillner, the center of controversy since artistic director Bill Theisen was fired, has resigned.
Aug 5th, 2009
Why I Won’t Cancel My JS Subscription
So Strini's not at the newspaper anymore. Will he continue to buy it and read it?
Aug 5th, 2009
Threats of violence in the Skylight mess?
Skylight management has maintained that artists have threatened managing director Eric Dillner. Is there anything to it?
Aug 4th, 2009
Welcome to Strini’s Culture Desk
Friday was my last day as music and dance critic at the Journal Sentinel. It was great. But it’s over, and I’m not looking back.
Aug 3rd, 2009
