Music Director,

Music Director of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra since 2000, Andrew Sewell continues to raise the artistic quality of both orchestras with proven success. About a recent performance, The Wichita Eagle stated, "Andrew Sewell led an inspired performance - among his best. He caught hold of the piece's perpetual energy, that ever-building momentum, and the musicians were able to convey that from bold start to rousing finish."  In Madison, with the release of two award winning CDs, Close to the Music and Momentum, he has “improved the quality of the chamber orchestra in every aspect” (Wisconsin State Journal). In March 2008, the WCO released a third CD entitled Mozart - the Early Concerti with pianist, Adam Neiman, under the international VAI label.

In addition to his two directorships, Maestro Sewell is in demand as a guest conductor, having led major orchestras in North America including the Toronto, Detroit, Milwaukee, Columbus, and Syracuse Symphony Orchestras, as well as abroad with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony of Mexico, Kyushu Symphony (Japan), Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Christchurch Symphony, and City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong. Since 2003, he has been a guest conductor for the summer Masterworks Festivals held in Winona Lake, Indiana and in Winchester, England.

A native of New Zealand, Maestro Sewell received his music training on the violin, piano and cornet, and began conducting at age 16. Six years later, he made his professional opera debut with the Mercury Opera and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. He was then awarded the Australian Guarantee Corporation’s Young Achiever’s Award allowing him to further his studies abroad. Sewell holds a Master of Music degree in Conducting from the University of Michigan. His previous appointments include Music Director and Conductor of the Mansfield Symphony (Ohio), Resident Conductor of the Toledo Symphony and Assistant Conductor of the Memphis Symphony.

Highlights of the 2008-09 season included a two week residency with the Monterey Symphony, and his debut at the Peninsula Music Festival (WI) in August 2009.  In 2010, he returns to guest conduct five concerts with the Syracuse Symphony.

New Zealand honored Sewell in 1997 as the first recipient of the Aotea Performing Arts Trust’s “Star” Award, for which he spent time conducting in Finland and England. Between his duties in Wichita, Maestro Sewell resides in Madison with his wife, Mary and their three children, Anna, Lydia, and Alistair.

News

Madison Concerts On The Square

Thank you for joining us for our 25th celebratory season of Concerts on the Square! We had an extraordinary turnout this year and we hope you enjoyed each of the programs. We thank you for being a great audience and helping to continue this summertime tradition in Madison.

Our indoor Masterworks series begins its 49th anniversary season this fall with performances comprised of internationally acclaimed artists and exceptional programs for each concert. The Family Concert Series, a series designed to share our love of music with people of all ages, includes the annual Halloween concert (costumes encouraged!) and the new Blue Jeans concert. And don’t miss the Holiday Pops concerts – bring the whole family to start off the holiday season right!

We look forward to seeing you this season and remember to get close to the music!

--Andrew Sewell, Music Director

Masterworks 2008 Preview

Press

Reviews:
CONDUCTOR ANDREW SEWELL IMPRESSES PENINSULA MUSIC FESTIVAL (August, 2009)
First-class Performances at Monterey Symphony
Symphony Continues Its Stellar Run—On a Scandinavian Note
Bravura Concert Closes WCO's Great Season
Sewell's Adventuresome Spirit Displayed In Fine Performance

CONDUCTOR ANDREW SEWELL IMPRESSES PENINSULA MUSIC FESTIVAL

August, 2009

The Peninsula Music Festival gave us a program of baroque and classical period compositions under the direction of guest conductor Andrew Sewell. The program was called "From The Old Times."

An obviously talented artist, Sewell hails from New Zealand and is currently music director of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Wichita Symphony. His many accomplishments include directing orchestras of Toronto, Detroit and Milwaukee. Has has also led ensembles in Japan, Auckland and Mexico.

The program was imaginative and engaging. The concert also gave members of the orchestra a chance to display their skills. The first half was given over to the works by J.S. Bach and his well-respected son, J.C. Bach.

First, we heard J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, which features two solo violas. The J.C. Bach work was his "Sinfonia Concertante" for violin and cello.

Sewell wrapped up the program with Mozart's 29th symphony. It is astonishing to realize that the composer was 18 years old when he wrote this work. It's beautiful, youthful, and elegant. The conductor's interpretation of this music was fresh and unaffected. I believe Sewell's direction was true to what the composer intended.

First-class Performances at Monterey Symphony

By Nathalile Plotkin
Herald Correspondent
Updated: 04/24/2009

The sixth concert of the Monterey Symphony season delighted a full house Monday evening with a brilliant program featuring Alexander Sitkovetsky as violin soloist and Andrew Sewell, a very adept guest conductor. Sewell, the conductor of the Wichita Symphony, took over the reins of a most enjoyable yet complex program as a substitute for the Italian conductor Giampaolo Bisanti, whose musical choices celebrated his cultural background by calling it " A Tribute to Italian and American Music." Sewell was a masterful yet understanding and sensitive leader who elicited finely honed performances from both the orchestra and the soloist.

The program began with a sprightly and sparkling rendition of the delightful Overture to " Il Segreto di Susanna"by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari. Played lightly and bringing out the humor of this impish work, Sewell's clear decisive baton made the orchestra's response disciplined and clear.

The Russian-born, British-educated violinist, who became a protege of Yehudi Menuhin, is definitely of world-class caliber, and the Peninsula audiences who heard him can consider themselves fortunate to have encountered this impressive musician.

Paganini, in the "Violin Concerto in D Major," enriched and complicated the technical development of the instrument. He was a phenomenal performer and extended the range of the performer and the instrument, asking him to play elaborate single and double harmonics among other enhancements and in general, raised the bar for the agility and accuracy of the performer. Sitkovetsky calmly and magisterally navigated the virtuosic pitfalls of the bravura passage work demanded of his technical expertise, yet could easily alternate these bristling difficulties with tenderly singing, warm toned aria-like melodies with refined sensitivity.

The first movement cadenza is a collection of almost every possible violinistic test of skill. There were flying scales and arpeggios, and a long list of hair-raising difficulties. The soloist covered them all accurately and without stress.

The second movement featured more singing operatic melodies which had a pleading quality. Drama built, but lead to another touching episode. Dynamic contrasts and coloring were beautifully and passionately expressed.

The delicately dancing third movement was playful yet virtuosic. The soloist was always in close rapport with the conductor and their excellence led to a cheering, stamping audience ovation, which was definitely well earned and deserved. The orchestra provided strong support and added much excitement to the interpretation.

Sitkovetsky rewarded the audience with an encore, the "Sarabande," from the Bach Unaccompanied Partita No. 2.

The other major work on the program was another definitely highly polished audience pleaser. The Tchaikowsky "Capriccio Italien" gave Sewell and the orchestra a chance to show their depth and versatility.

A trumpet fanfare began the work like a bugle call and the symphony winds and brasses answered resonantly. Rich string tone followed and gradually the full orchestra entered the fray, complete with clashing cymbals to add to the spirited and brilliant performance. Sewell kept his forces under exact control and the net result was another standing ovation.

There were two other works on the program. "Strut" by American composer Michael Daugherty was an opportunity for the orchestra strings to show what they could do on their own. They played with spirit and energy and concertmaster L.P. How delivered some very well-played solos.

The little known 19th century Italian composer and pianist Giuseppe Martucci was represented by four of his short piano works arranged for orchestra. These are gentle works that still could show off the responsiveness of the orchestra, making these unfamiliar works a new listening experience for the audience. It might be more interesting to hear some of Martucci's orchestral compositions.

This concert was indeed a memorable evening of first-class performances.

Symphony continues its stellar run—on a Scandinavian note

The Wichita Eagle
March 11, 2007
By Chris Shull

During its last few concerts the Wichita Symphony Orchestra has conveyed a deep, rich tone across the ensemble. It has never sounded better.

This sound and savvy was on terrific display Saturday night in Century II Concert Hall. Conductor Andrew Sewell led the orchestra through a program that was rich with sonic power and bluster, one whose Scandinavian-music theme included the Piano Concerto by Norway's Edvard Grieg and the Symphony No. 2 by Finland's Jean Sibelius.

The Sibelius was most impressive. The sprawling piece -- bold and brassy -- offers both sweeping gestures and folksy interludes. The music somehow captures the epic grandeur of the North, and Sewell sculpted and paced the work to best capture its scale.

The symphony's second movement was brooding and masculine; its third began in a rhythmic frenzy that was soothed by a lullaby introduced by oboist Andrea Banke.

Sibelius is one of music's great symphonists, and his Second Symphony, from 1902, contains echoes of Tchaikovsky and Brahms back to Beethoven. But his music retains an unforgettable sound -- intense and liberating, with contrasts of warm and cold, darkest mystery and silvery light.

Sewell introduced the concert with a short work for strings, "December," by American Michael Torke. A dancing snippet intensified through the orchestra, then subsided, then built again. It teased the ear, somewhere between minimalism and a fiddle tune.

And the orchestra sounded terrific.

Bravura Concert Closes WCO's Great Season

The Capital Times :: LIFESTYLE :: C3
Saturday, April 29, 2006
By Michael Muckian Special to The Capital Times
\The writer retains the copyright for this article

First there was a pause, then applause. Lots of applause.

Cheers followed, and the audience rose to its feet as pianist Philippe Entremont and conductor Andrew Sewell, hands clasped, bowed to bring the curtain down Friday on the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra's inaugural season in the Capitol Theater. A mostly full house cheered Entremont's virtuoso performance of Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 58," but they might as well have been cheering for a season of superlative performances.

Entremont's delivery was emotionally rich and technically perfect, his hands exhibiting a grace, speed and agility most pianists would find hard to match. His trills at the keyboard's high end were remarkably fluid, and there were moments when the French pianist drowned out the rest of the orchestra with the power of his sound, a fitting close to an impressive season.

WCO, under Sewell's direction, delivered a finely honed performance of the Beethoven work, one worthy of an orchestra much larger and more seasoned. The composer, whose music served as a bridge between the Classical and Romantic periods, brought elements of both to the concerto, from the opening Allegro moderato to the bright, vivacious Rondo: Vivace that closes the 40-minute composition. Entremont's performance captured the musical evolution with vivid clarity, spurred by WCO's more than capable support.

The original program had been altered, with Entremont himself substituting the Beethoven work for the originally scheduled piano concerto by Bach and Shostakovich. A confusing program distributed to patrons offered notes from the originally scheduled performance, raising the question of what a performer of Entremont's stature might have done with a more diverse program.

Friday's final program was less diverse than most WCO concerts, something that has come both to characterize the orchestra and to invigorate its fans. But it did allow the guest artist to deliver a superb performance and Sewell to indulge his personal preference for showcasing composers from Great Britain.

The evening's performance opened with Sir Edward Elgar's "Serenade for Strings, Op. 20." WCO's string section handled the three-movement work with the power and aplomb of a full orchestra. Much of the work of Elgar, known mostly for the graduation march "Pomp and Circumstance," is being joyfully rediscovered. "Serenade for Strings" was already one of his better known works, much of it having to do with the grace and emotion contained in its passages. WCO executed well, giving special emotive interpretation to the achingly lovely Larghetto that bridged the work.

Sewell followed Elgar with "Serenade in G" by English composer E.J. Moeran, of which WCO performed all eight brief movements, rather than the more popular six. The composition contained bright orchestral colors and a variety of musical characters, from delicate string sections to bold brass passages.

Such variations are in keeping with the stylistic elements Sewell brings to the WCO itself. As with Moeran's composition, those influences capture our imagination and keep us appreciating what the WCO brings long after the season has ended.

Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra
Philippe Entremont, pianist
Andrew Sewell, conductor
Capitol Theater in Overture Center

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