Isthmus' 2023 Madison summer music, theater and dance calendar
Locate those lawn chairs, break out the sunscreen…summer is here again. Here’s our 2023 calendars listing concert series, festival schedules, and dance and theater performances in Madison, Dane County...
View ArticleBack to Bovre
For the uninitiated, Bovre’s music is lush and crunchy guitar rock ’n roll. You like hooks? Marques was a master.
View ArticleBach Dancing and Dynamite Society’s “Off the Cuff” summer chamber music...
Co-artistic directors Jeffrey Sykes and Stephanie Jutt take their roles as curators “very seriously,” says Sykes. “We never program anything unless we are completely convinced it’s worth the audience’s...
View ArticleKat and the Hurricane write about the hard things but also just want people...
Kat and the Hurricane have won several Madison Area Music Awards, including Best New Artist in 2020, as well as Rock Album of the Year and Rock Song of the Year in 2021.
View ArticleWhat’s new about this year’s Make Music Madison?
The city will celebrate the diversity of musicians and musical genres as Madison becomes a stage on June 21.
View ArticleSingin' in the garage
By taking the timeless music of great composers' masterpieces and weaving them into contemporary, oft-satirical narratives, Madison's Fresco Opera breaks down barriers and captivates audiences.
View ArticleOrton Park Festival returns Aug. 25-27 as a 3-day event
East Madison's late-summer bash downsizes by a day to 'go easier on the park, the neighbors, and the organizers.'
View ArticleCollaborators chime in on NEWSKI’s latest album ‘Friend Rock’
“Weirdo-ism, drifter culture, environmental apocalypse, depression as a result of social media, and finding the comedy in heartache” — that’s how Brett Newski describes his band’s latest LP.
View ArticleTwo of Madison’s first rap crews regroup for a Mad Lit concert
An Aug. 11 show will bring two of the city’s earliest rap crews back to the stage for the first time in a long while: Fresh Force and Black Poets Society.
View ArticleStronger than a ’90s trend
Toad the Wet Sprocket is experiencing a second chapter of their career with a 2021 album, a new greatest hits collection, and a lot of tour stops.
View ArticleClassical on the UW-Madison campus is joyous and unpredictable
The UW-Madison’s classical music scene will offer new sounds and sonic fusions, new artists, and new ways of hearing old standards this fall. Music comes to Shannon Hall, the concert halls at the Mead...
View ArticleMSO, WCO, Madison Opera cozy up to contemporary composers, but still embrace...
For Madison’s major classical music performance groups, the fall season balances old masterworks with newer compositions from lesser known, more diverse composers. The result is a blend of music and...
View ArticleThe shaper of moods
UW-Madison lured Davis away from a full-time performing career in New York City to join the music faculty — one of the greatest gets in Wisconsin history. For nearly 50 years, he performed and taught...
View ArticleJohn DeMain prepares to hand over the reins at Madison Symphony Orchestra
DeMain is only the orchestra’s fourth music director in its 98-year history, a testament to the strong bond that forms among the conductors, musicians, staff and administration.
View ArticleSlow Pulp returns to Madison in support of their latest album
With the recent release of their critically acclaimed sophomore album, Yard, Slow Pulp is touring North America and Europe.
View ArticleLongtime Crystal Corner booker Joe Lambert retires
After two-plus decades booking music at the Crystal Corner Bar, Joe Lambert retired officially in October; Bobby Hussy will book shows going forward.
View ArticleFriko is on the rise
At the tail end of an eventful year that’s included stops at South By Southwest, Summerfest, and Bonnaroo, Friko will bring their explosive sound to the High Noon Saloon on Dec. 10.
View ArticleUW premieres ‘Everlasting Faint,’ a true crime opera
An opera about ‘ghosts and moms taking down the patriarchy’ is both timeless and of-the-moment.
View ArticleMama Digdown’s Brass Band at 30
Co-founders Erik Jacobson and Roc Ohly go deep on how they built the band, kept it going and created a community of fans and collaborators over three decades.
View ArticleFrom indie rock mainstays to pop stars on the rise: Five albums I loved in 2023
We look back at the year that was. Isthmus music contributor Stephen Coss reflects on five outstanding spins.
View ArticleFive favorite spins and streams: 2023 Madison records
There are a lot of talented, motivated and prolific musicians in the Madison scene. Just using the Madison tag on Bandcamp will deliver a cornucopia of music (and a Madison WI tag gets you some more).
View ArticleMadison Opera’s 'The Anonymous Lover' broadens repertoire
Premiering in 1780 in Paris, 'The Anonymous Lover' is a comedic work and the only surviving opera by Chevalier Saint-Georges.
View ArticleCoppia Concerts pairs wine and chamber music
‘Learning about wines is similar to learning about music,’ says co-founder Dawn Wohn. ‘They are both open-ended experiences.’
View ArticleOr Does it Explode mixes Midwest emo and political awareness
Or Does It Explode seamlessly merges elements of Midwest emo and post-hardcore, crafting a distinct sound.
View ArticleMadison’s The Flavor that Kills latest album is ‘Book of Secrits’
The band will play an album release show at The Bur Oak on March 15.
View ArticleSleater-Kinney persevere through tough times
We talk with longtime Sleater-Kinney vocalist Corin Tucker.
View ArticleChakari Daezhare is finding her voice
Chakari Daezhare has been creating songs at a blistering rate. Last year, she released two EPs as well as a couple of singles. Then, in early January, she dropped her first full album.
View ArticleWisconsin Chamber Orchestra’s 'Harmony in Black' album is the first of a...
There are few contemporary musical voices as expressive as those of William Banfield and Patrice Rushen. The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra plays works from both on Harmony in Black, the first of a...
View ArticleNur-D, Sierra Green to headline 2024 Marquette Waterfront Festival
Michael McDermott, Trapper Schoepp, Anna Vogelzang, Don't Mess With Cupid also join the June 8-9 east side bash.
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