Around this time every year is the
International Festival at the Overture Center, with free performances of music and dance from throughout the world, mainly locally based groups from or inspired by such places as Ghana, Bulgaria, Mali, Brazil, Russia, China, and Mexico. The festival begins with two guys playing long alphorns in the lobby. This year I managed to hear them after I'd made quick visits to the nearby library and the winter farmers' market. Some local organizations sell ethnic foods that I think cost too much, around $8 for small platefuls. I tried what was labeled as Caribbean taco, which wasn't so good because of the poor quality tortilla, and then a cup of cannoli cake.
One of my favorite things to do at the festival is to talk with representatives of the
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Madison at their table. I like to ask about their experiences and then pick up literature to share with my students.
I only attended two major performances this year: the
UW Russian Folk Orchestra and most of the acts put on by the Madison Chinese Cultural Association. The Russian music was beautiful, especially one piece with a flute soloist. The Chinese acts began with a group of
guzheng musicians accompanied by an
erhu and (I think) a
dizi. While looking over the list of types of music, I now wish that I'd stuck around longer or returned to hear more. [The schedule of performances is available through the Festival's web page.]
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| UW Russian Folk Orchestra, Madison's International Festival, February 21, 2015 in the Overture Hall |
An advantage of living in Madison is to see and hear different kinds of musical instruments being played. Every spring the UW Javanese
Gamelan Ensemble performs for free on campus. Soon after Christmas the
Madison Marimba Quartet also performs for free, but I missed the most recent show.
