John DeMain Launches His 25th Madison Symphony Season

Five years have flown; shall we shoot for 30?   I hadn’t thought about it until I sat down to write this review, but five years can really fly by at my age…2013 marked John DeMain’s 20th anniversary as music director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and I was favored with penning an article for…

Bianconi Soars; Overture Hall Roars

MSO players get their wish—and audience approves that, too It was one of those nights at Overture Hall on Friday. John DeMain returned from his recent forays into Turandot with Virginia Opera (a reliable source indicated the reviews were off the charts), and we had another return that was as welcome. There’s some sort of…

Madison Symphony Runs the Gamut from the Very New to the Tried and True

Symphony of Steven Stucky proves compelling; Garrick Ohlsson makes Brahms boil and bubble In closing the penultimate program of their 2015-2016 season Sunday afternoon at Overture Hall, the Madison Symphony Orchestra challenged their audience with music just four years old, then rewarded them with two chestnuts roasted to a turn. MSO music director John DeMain…