Sonatas for Viola: Two World Premieres
July 6, 2024 at 5:00pm
Tickets: $25 ($10 Student)
Two sonatas for viola and piano receive world premiere performances!
Commissioned by violist Madlen Breckbill, these two works for viola and piano composed by Micah Behr and Nolan Veldey were completed early this year. This concert will mark the first public performance of these works, with both composers at the piano.
As music strengthens through familiarity, both new compositions will be performed twice, with a conversation with the composers and samples of earlier compositions in between.
Both Micah and Nolan are Madison-based composers and creatives. Through their compositions, we get to know their musical perspectives and their understanding of the voice of the viola.
Performers
Wisconsin violist & violinist Madlen H. Breckbill lived in Berlin (Germany) for four years working as an orchestral trainee with Konzerthaus Berlin, as the violist of the TAÏGA String Quartet in Denmark and as a chamber music trainee with Villa-Musica in Rheinland Pfalz. As an orchestral player, Madlen toured China and Japan, and performed under the batons of Sir Roger Norrington, Leon Fleisher, Christian Eschenbach, & Ivan Fischer. As a chamber musician, Madlen has performed across Europe, Canada, and the US, collaborating with Martin Beaver, Ernst Kovacic, Steven Dann, and cellist Richard Lester (to name just a few).
In 2019, Madlen started the Stoughton Chamber Music Festival (SCMF), facilitating chamber music collaborations dedicated to diverse and experiential programing, including programs entitled CYCLES, SUN, and MOON. This August, SCMF will return for it’s 6th season at Chorus Public House and the Stoughton Opera House.
In recent years, Madlen has performed as a chamber musician with trio with(out), Bach Dancing Dynamite Society, Midsummer Music, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, The Happenstancers and West End Micro Music Festival (both in Toronto).
Madlen is a graduate of UW-Madison where she studied with David Perry and the Glenn Gould School in Toronto, where she studied with Paul Kantor, Barry Shiffman, Erica Raum and Steven Dann. Madlen holds a Masters in music on Viola from UW-Madison where she studied with Professor Chisholm as a Collins Fellow.
Micah Behr graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Doctorate in Viola Performance. He composes, teaches, and serves as Worship Director for Geneva Campus Church.
Nolan Veldey (b. 1990) received a B.M. in theory and composition from Lawrence University in 2013, and he is currently pursuing a M.M. in composition at the University of Maryland. His composition teachers have included Mark Wilson, Joanne Metcalf, Asha Srinivasan, and Giovanni Verrando. He has also studied piano performance with Michael Mizrahi and improvisation with Matthew Turner.
Nolan’s music has been described as having "exceptional artistry, imagination and skill," and "consistently connecting with audiences." His recent projects have included a song cycle using text from Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology, a commission for the Levels Quintet, and a string quartet, which was read by the Jack Quartet in 2017.