Kenosha, doncha know

After our exciting season opener last weekend, there was no chance we would take any time off. This weekend Fifth House takes Wisconsin by storm! Yesterday, five of us visited Tremper HS and performed for two band classes, discussed chamber music rehearsal techniques, and the privilege of working with living composers. We sure do love our school visits, and Tremper was no exception.

On this sunny day, we are doing a day-long residency at Carthage College. This morning we coached two chamber groups, playing Vaughn Williams' Household Music and Stravinsky's Octet. Look carefully, and you'll see the student ensemble's newest members, Melissa and Herine, subbing in for missing musicians on wildly innappropriate instrumentations. To quote Herine, "This is just like the nightmare I had last night." What Herine, you don't like playing bassoon lines?

As I type, our ensemble is recording works from tonight's concert for Mark Petering, our esteemed composer du jour. At 7:30, we have a concert of 5 pieces by Mark, all premieres (except for Kakadu, which was premiered on our series last weekend). Tomorrow at 3, we have another concert at First United Methodist Church in Kenosha playing another premiere by Mark, as well as Loeffler's Rhapsodies and Poulenc's Sextet for winds and piano. If you didn't know we loved you, Kenosha, you know it now.

For all of our Wisconsin fans, stay tuned. We have a residency at UW Milwaukee on February 21st, and our string quartet will perform at the Racine Art Museum on May 1st.

Till then, Wisconsin...Till then.

Thanks to all of the wonderful faculty at students at Carthage who made this weekend possible!

-AMFifth House Ensemble