This is concert season in Waukesha when we can look forward to decent, affordable music expertly performed by students of our universities and high schools. Last December I bemoaned missing the annual Christmas at Carroll, the best Christmas concert ever. I'm not going to let that happen again! The concert is Dec. 6th and 7th, so I have plenty of time to get tickets.

A little closer to home, and all free, are UWW's concerts, the first of which is tomorrow, Nov. 17th. The Hand Bell Choir and Brass Ensemble performs tomorrow at 7:30 in the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Jazz Ensemble performs in the dining area Wed. the 19th at 7:30, and Symphonic Band, Friday the 21st, in the theatre.

In December, UWW has two concerts planned: The Choral and String Concert is Dec. 5th and 7:30 and the Christmas Concert is Dec. 15th at 7:30, both in the theatre or just outside it.

feel free to comment below with concerts you'll be attending or would like advertised

I share this machine with two teenagers and a cat, so that could explain why I haven't been doing a lot of writing lately. Fortunately, Pepi just stays put where it's warm atop the monitor, or I'd still be waiting. Now that I have the time though, thought I'd talk about what I did last weekend.

Much of what I do on weekends I hear about first on WaukeshaNOW, and last week was no exception. I find that the site's community events description is a little more in depth and easier to access than the alternative.

I went to the UWW play God Willing: A Twology not because I'd heard it was good or even because I'd heard of it before. I checked it out because it promised to be different. Two avante-garde plays in one with seating on the stage for the audience. I won't try to describe it because I can't. I can't relate it to anything I've seen before. It was entertaining, serious and thought-provoking. It was intimate and dark, quiet and loud. I guess you could say it was a good play for the university because they tried something outside "normal" and it was a good experiment. 

Saturday morning I joined my confirmation group for a service project at Jeremy House, a homeless shelter for individuals with mental issues on Moreland Blvd. We prepared breakfast for the guests and learned more about the facility. It was a worthwhile experience for all of us, and fun too.

After mass last Sunday I interviewed candidates for confirmation to see if they had any thoughts, good or bad, on the whole process and to make sure they grew spiritually in this last year of preparation. Tomorrow is confirmation rehearsal.

Later Sunday I attended Waukesha Choral Union's production of Handel's Messiah while not realizing what I came to see and hear. I penciled the Carroll College event on my calendar because WaukeshaNOW made it sound good and, the best part, it was free. I arrived after the last of the programs had been handed out and, because I've never been to "Messiah" before, didn't recognize it. Bumping into a friend at intermission, I mentioned how religious all the pieces were. "Well, it is Messiah. The whole concert is related to the bible, starting with the Old Testament and ending with the New." She showed me the program and every aria, recitation and chorus was straight from a bible verse or psalm. Up to this point the one thing I knew about "Messiah" was the Hallelujah Chorus. Two and a half hours after the start of this concert I was much better informed. It's a monumental production with orchestra, pipe organ, soloists with community members joining the chorus. The concert was fully funded by donations from individuals and businesses. It was director Gregory Carpenter's last production of Messiah. His last production with the Choral Union will be in celebration of Mozart's 250th birthday: Mozart's Requiem at St. Joe's Church in Waukesha, May 4th, with orchestra and soloist. I'm going to pencil this one in too, and hope I don't forget why.  

By now Mrs. Lee is wondering if I'm seeing someone because of being gone so much last weekend. (The family is always invited, but my tastes often differ from theirs.) I later attended Vespers, or evening prayer, at St. William. It's something I've not done before and my family wouldn't have enjoyed either. It was an interesting mix of hymns, readings, reflection and incense. All the prayer without the hassle.

After Vespers I joined 80 to 90 others from my parish to learn about Judaism and Jewish traditions in a Seder meal, something I've wanted to try but never had the chance. I felt this Lent was a good time to understand the roots of my own faith and this was a wonderful way to do it. The nicest Jewish couple, Sherry and David, led us on this trip to the past. Seder, the Passover meal, is full of lessons and history, details, ancestors, special diet and ways of preparation. I'd have to say everything had meaning and relevance and the meal was history come to life. Everything was performed in order, involved the oldest to the youngest, was entertaining and lasted about 2-1/2 hours. The education we received and meeting Sherry and David was wonderful. This meal was far more involved than any other meal I've shared, and I would happily do it again.  

The theme of the weekend seemed to lean toward religion. Not a bad thing with Holy Week beginning tomorrow.

I'm sad because I missed Christmas at Carroll this year. It was last weekend. I'd been looking forward to it all year ever since last December's concert. It was the best concert I'd ever been to and I wanted to do it again. I know I can't do everything and there's always next year, but darn!!

There's plenty of other good things going on today and this weekend to help me forget my sadness: The Waukesha Civic Theater begins it's two weekend run of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever tonight. I heard that "Mary" sings so beautifully that it brings tears to the eyes.   A free holiday concert at UWW at 7:30, which I probably will be going to, is tonight. Also tonight is the Carroll College Jazz Ensemble. And on Sunday after the Packer game is the Carroll College Chamber Strings Ensemble, a free concert at 4:00 p.m..

12/8 update ------------- Interesting Experiment -------------------------

I just read about something fun and completely different in yesterday's Freeman. At 7:00 p.m. today, Sat. 12/8, the Carroll Players will perform a two-act comedy that they had only 24 hours to rehearse and create stage sets for. The so-called guerrilla theater production is a first for Carroll College and is meant to be fun and educational more than a great play. The five dollar ticket price is a fundraiser for the Carroll Players. The play will be in the Otteson Main Stage Theater.

Don't go near Shattuck Music Center / Hall / Auditorium this weekend at Carroll College / University if you don't enjoy great music. Besides the wonderful offering this Sunday at 3:00; a combination of the Waukesha Choral Union, Carroll Concert Choir and Children's Choir of Waukesha, there's world-class sax player Johan Stengard on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. 

I don't want to recommend one over the other, they both sound great, but the Johan concert is a benefit for the St. Vincent De Paul Society. As you may already know, the Society helps the poor in our area and any proceeds from the concert go to help the needy in Waukesha. As a member of the Society, I know there are plenty of underemployed, injured, homeless, unemployed . . . in the city that could use some help. 

Tickets for the Johan concert are $15.00 at the door. I guarantee you'll walk away from the concert feeling good . . . in more ways than one.  

Missed the last bus to my regular stop Monday evening. The alternate was to wait 20 minutes for the next coach and take it all the way to Downtown Waukesha. Without phone change, I walked to Christina's Family Restaurant on Delafield St. to see if I could call from there.

At Christina's I noticed a free-standing sign on the sidewalk, (a sandwich board?) advertising gyros on a stick. Now my familiarity with gyros is extremely limited, but I thought it was a sandwich and wondered how the stick fits in. Peggy was nice enough to tell me all about the sandwich and George let me use the phone.

Two things in my favor; First, I was on my own for dinner Monday night so nothing but leftovers to look forward to. Also, my wife told me to stay right where I was and they'd come to get me. By now it must be around 7:00 p.m. so I ordered a gyro and found it really delicious. There is a rather tall cylinder of lamb meat in view behind the grill gyrating on a verticle spit, cooking in front of a red hot heating element. The meat is taken off the cylinder in long thin slices. It's served on pita bread, not a stick. The spit is the only stick involved. For less than $7.00 I devoured an interesting sandwich, ate a cup of hot cream of mushroom soup and shared piping hot fries with the son who came to get me. A heck of a good deal I would immediately repeat.

If anyone has wondered who Christina's Restaurant was named for . . . be sure to check out the trio of choirs Sunday the 28th at 3:00 at Carroll College. Christina will be one of the featured soloists.

 

I just read an ad in the Freeman for a Carroll College concert and have to mention it because I know how great the students are, because it's coming up this Friday, and because it's only two dollars.

The 7th Annual Benefit Concert will be held in the Shattuck Music Center, 218 N. East Ave, with proceeds supporting VH1's Save the Music Foundation. From 4:00 - 7:00 Carroll's Chamber Ensembles will be performing. At 7:30 featured performer Carroll College Jazz Ensemble with special guest soloist Steve Wiest on Trombone followed by four area bands: Hillcrestroad, Sheersight, Totschlager and Solset.

With tickets only $2.00 at the door you can't go wrong but don't hesitate because Friday is tomorrow.
Contact Carroll College at 524-7182 for more info.

Carroll College has been on my radar a lot more since I had the pleasure of experiencing "Christmas at Carroll," (see 12/3 blog) but their latest event almost went unnoticed by me. I have the Carroll Arts Calendar and it wasn't in there. I didn't see it in the paper. As a matter of fact it wasn't even listed on the Carroll website. The only way I found out about a joint choirs concert Sunday was by clicking on the Weekender on WaukeshaNOW. But they didn't have to advertise, First Presbyterian Church, where it was held, was packed.

It was appropriate to hold the joint efforts of the Concert Choir, Women's Ensemble, Vocal Collective and Chorale in an historic building. Not only did the music span the centuries from the Renaissance to present but just a couple hours earlier, in a Sunday homily at my church, I heard the pastor speak about feeling God in arts, architecture and music.

We knew we were in for quite a special afternoon when we noticed the usher wearing a tux. It turns out this busy fellow, Timothy C., also played piano and sang tenor in the Chorale, directed and sang in the Collective and directed the Concert Choir. The biggest applause of the day was for a song Tim harmonized in with the other men of the Vocal Collective, the 1950s song, Silhouettes.

The song I enjoyed most? Requiem, a song written to remember the thousands of lost lives after the 2004 tsunami. All the members of the Women's Ensemble stood in a single line across the front of the sanctuary and half way down each side. It's the most beautiful, meaningful song performed with such feeling that it momentarily took my breath away. A free will collection was taken at intermission in support of the choirs and if I could hear just that one song performed again I'd gladly give more than just another three dollars.

So, there's always something good to do in the area if you know where to look. And when it comes to Carroll College something to do is always exciting, professional... and inexpensive.

If you voted YES on the death penalty question in November then don't see Carroll College Theater's production "Dead Man Walking" this weekend.

The play, about the beginning of Sister Helen Prejean's crusade to befriend and advocate for death row inmates, is set around Angola prison and favors forgiveness.  Sister Prejean understands Jesus' teachings to mean that killing is horrible but killing one doesn't justify killing another.

The play is more thought provoking than entertaining and, with what's going on in the news lately, is very timely. The director, Rob Goodman of First Stage, produced a flawless play with excellent actors and crew and the set design really worked well to broaden our thinking. The steel bars were constantly rearranged to suggest, in some way, that we are all in our own prison.

A unique aspect of this play is that there are talk-back discussions after each performance. Even though only about a fourth of the sold out crowd stayed after the Friday night play, it was interesting to talk to the actors, director, a nun and someone who's met Sister Prejean and heard her speak. 

Another interesting thing about the play is the smoking. Even though no smoking is allowed in the theater, two of the actors smoke several times during the play. They don't inhale.

The cost of the play is $15.00 for adults. I got there around the beginning and still got a ticket but it was pretty full by the time it started. It plays at the Otteson Mainstage Theatre on the Carroll campus today and tomorrow only, 2/24 and 2/25, at 2 pm and 7 pm. If you go, try to see the art in the Rowe Art Gallery in the same building during the 15 minute intermission. It's really great.

After years of searching I think I've finally found the true meaning of Christmas -- right here in Waukesha. There's nothing to prove that I was at Christmas at Carroll, no photography allowed, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a blessed event. I wonder, if Jesus were born today would the birth be recorded with a digital camera?

The two hour performance by the Carroll College Wind Symphony, Concert Choir, Women's Ensemble, Vocal Collective and Chamber Ensembles was flawless. A couple thousand people together in one room and no cell phones rang. No microphone problems because there weren't any. No amplification was needed because no one in the audience was talking. We didn't even applaud until the concert was over.

It was the best ten dollars I ever spent. To get my ticket on concert day yet still find seating front and center! My thanks to all the people who thought they'd miss something by sitting in the front row. I sat so close I could feel it. The Wind Symphony conductor even sat next to me between his sets. I was just one of many who felt that close to the experience -- the audience stood on five occasions to join with the choirs in song. If someone would have led us in prayer I would have done that too; though I'm not sure they didn't, the concert was very spiritual.

I can't imagine the hours of preparation something like this would take. Thirty-four songs or readings in six parts. Four conductors with over 120 vocalists and instrumentalists - some with dual roles. A two hour concert using five different areas of the Shattuck Music Center and not one miscue. Not one sour note. Not one dropped instrument or tipped chair.

The concert was about the miracle of a birth and, like birth, it was flawless.

There's just one more chance to catch the Christmas at Carroll College concert before December 2007. The last performance of the year is at 7:30 tonight, 12/3. Get there an hour early to buy your tickets, and try to sit in the front row!