Since opening in 2019, the Hamel Music Center has been a nexus of musical activity for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music and the city more generally.
This spring, the Hamel Center’s two performance spaces — the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall and Collins Recital Hall — are busy with faculty and student ensemble concerts and recitals, touring performances, festivals, guest artist concerts, and a variety of other ticketed and free events.
“If you’re driving down University and you see those lights on, there is something fun going on in the Hamel, and they are on ’til 11 p.m. almost every day of the year,” said Dan Cavanagh, director of the School of Music.
Here are some of the most intriguing goings on at the venue this spring.
The university’s quartet in residence, the Pro Arte Quartet — the world’s oldest continually performing string quartet — has two performances scheduled in Hamel this semester.
Faculty ensembles
The faculty of the School of Music maintains several excellent ensembles, each with regular performances at Hamel.
The university’s quartet in residence, the Pro Arte Quartet — the world’s oldest continually performing string quartet — has two performances scheduled in Hamel this semester.
Along with standard selections from Haydn (Op. 55, No. 1) and Beethoven (Op. 59, No. 1), the quartet’s Jan. 25 concert will feature Ukrainian composer Denys Lytvynenko’s deeply emotional String Quartet No. 2, a work that balances resonant consonances with penetrating dissonances.
On March 14, the Pro Arte Quartet will be joined by professor of flute Conor Nelson to perform Amy Beach’s Theme and Variations for Flute and String Quartet.
In its March 14 concert, the quartet will be joined by professor of flute Conor Nelson to perform Amy Beach’s Theme and Variations for Flute and String Quartet, a work with rich harmonies and lyrical themes. The program also features Grammy Award-winning composer Kevin Puts’ “Credo” for string quartet, a powerful work with striking textural contrast.
Professor Anthony Di Sanza (percussion) is one half of the duo Sole Nero, which has a concert on Jan. 20 in the Hamel Music Center.
Professors Jess Johnson (piano) and Anthony Di Sanza (percussion) play as the duo Sole Nero and will have a concert on Jan. 20. This ensemble champions new music and always puts together compelling programs.
Opening with “Lead” by Dave Hollinden, this concert will feature a rare sonata for percussion, “Trust the System” by Elena Ruehr, a Madison premiere, and the world premiere of “Conversations for Percussion and Piano” by Regina Harris Baiocchi. Guest artists Alissa Freeman (piano) and Anthony DiMartinis (percussion) will join Sole Nero for the closing piece, “Variations for Two Pianos and Percussion” (2010) by Fazil Say.
Music by students
The Hamel serves as a performance space for the students of UW-Madison and their many ensembles, large and small. These include the Chamber Percussion ensemble, the Resistance ensemble, the Afro-Cuban Jazz ensemble, the Low Brass ensemble, Collegium Musicum, and many more.
UW’s annual Panorama Concert on Jan. 31 will provide a broad view of the School of Music’s various ensembles, each performing a short set. This concert will also celebrate the School of Music’s 130th year as a department on campus.
Perhaps the most overlooked opportunities to hear high-level performance in Madison, said Cavanagh, are the many doctoral student recitals.
These concerts are free to the public and the players are incredibly good performers, many of whom are sought after locally and more broadly. Visit music.wisc.edu/venue/hamel-music-center for details.
Deirdre Brenner, a lecturer in collaborative piano at UW, and guest artist Sibila Konstantinova will perform a piano duo version of the widely loved “The Planets” Suite by Gustav Holst on May 10.
Live from Mead Witter chamber series
On the second Sunday of every month, the School of Music hosts “Live from the Mead Witter School of Music,” a free chamber music series that live-streams concerts.
On May 10 as part of this series, Deirdre Brenner, a lecturer in collaborative piano at UW, and guest artist Sibila Konstantinova will perform a piano duo version of the widely loved “The Planets” Suite by Gustav Holst, a version of which was arranged by the composer himself.
Early in the semester on Jan. 11, the Live from Mead Witter chamber series will feature the Avanti Trio, a local ensemble with Alissa Freeman (piano), Hillary Hempel (violin), and Hannah Wolkstein (cello).
Early in the semester on Jan. 11, the series will feature the Avanti Trio, a local ensemble with Alissa Freeman (piano), Hillary Hempel (violin), and Hannah Wolkstein (cello).
Along with works from Mel Bonis, Bedřich Smetana, and Astor Piazzolla, the trio will perform Rita Strohl’s Piano Trio No. 2. This piece, Wolkenstein wrote in an email, was “published quite recently by the Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française, and the organization was kind enough to send us their edition and permission to perform the work.”
The Avanti Trio performed the U.S. premiere of the piece in August 2025 at Token Creek Chamber Music Festival.
Other concerts in the series will feature members of the School of Music’s faculty, including Christopher Taylor, Matther Zalkind, Sarah Braily and Julia Rottmayer.
On March 6 as part of the School of Music’s guest artist series, the chamber ensemble INTERWOVEN will perform in Collins Recital Hall.
Guest artists
In addition to directly serving the performance needs of the School of Music, the Hamel also hosts many guest artists and special events.
On March 6 as part of the School of Music’s guest artist series, the chamber ensemble INTERWOVEN will perform in Collins Recital Hall. Group members call themselves “pioneers of intercultural music that interlaces historic sonorities of Eastern Asia and Western Europe,” and critics have praised its singular ability to blend these disparate styles with pieces and arrangements that use instruments from both traditions.
Verità Baroque will perform its touring show, “The Storm of Emotions,” in Madison on Jan. 23.
Madison Early Music Festival revival
Thanks in great part to the efforts of professor of flute Taya Koenig-Tarasevich, the Madison Early Music Festival returns this year with several events and concerts over the weekend of Jan. 23-25. (The fest has been on hiatus since the pandemic.)
The weekend will feature several performances by Verità Baroque, of which Koenig-Tarasevich is a co-founder. The ensemble will be performing its touring show, “The Storm of Emotions,” which features works by Antonio Vivaldi, SJ Hanke and Alessio Barcellini. In addition, the ensemble will collaborate with the Department of Physics, play in the galleries of the Chazen Museum of Art and host Winter Wings in Wisconsin, especially for families.
The Hamel Music Center on the campus of UW-Madison is located on one of the UW campus’ busiest intersections.
An interdisciplinary concert
At such a large university where fields of study can easily become siloed, it is encouraging to see efforts across departments.
On April 21 as part of Earth Fest, UW’s Bridge Ensemble — an eight-person group that “bridges” classical and jazz music — performs in collaboration with the School of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. “Earth Signals,” a lecture recital featuring a new composition by doctoral candidate Ben Ferris, was inspired by El Niño forecasts.
The piece uses a process called sonification to convert data from El Niño directly into musical sounds. Along with hearing music composed with El Niño’s climate data, “attendees will also learn more about the science behind the weather pattern.”