FREE COMMUNITY CAROL SING
GREG ZELEK, ORGAN
MARC FINK, OBOE
JOHN JUTSUM, TIMPANI
DECEMBER 6, 2025 and present a
in partnership with presents
Free Community Carol Sing
Saturday, December 6, 2025 | 11:00 a.m.
Overture Hall
Greg Zelek, Organ Marc Fink, Oboe
John Jutsum, Timpani
The Overture Concert Organ is the gift of Pleasant T. Rowland. Support for all Overture Concert Organ Programs is provided by the Diane Endres Ballweg Fund. We wish to thank our other organ contributors, the Malmquist Family, Margaret C. Winston, and Friends of the Overture Concert Organ. Greg Zelek is the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Organist and Elaine and Nicholas Mischler Curator of the Overture Concert Organ
Contact Us
Madison Symphony Orchestra Administrative Office 222 W. Washington Ave. Suite 460
Madison, WI 53703
Subscriptions/Info: (608) 257-3734 info@madisonsymphony.org
Overture Center Box Office 201 State St.
Single Tickets: (608) 258-4141
Box Office Hours/Info: overture.org
GREG ZELEK
Organ
Praised as “extraordinary in the classical music world” (Jon Hornbacher, PBS Wisconsin Life) and a “musical star” (Bill Wineke, Channel 3000), Greg Zelek is the Principal Organist of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Curator of the Overture Concert Organ.
In this role, Greg performs and oversees all of the MSO’s organ programming. The MSO Organ Series regularly attracts over one thousand ticketed audience members for each of Zelek’s creatively curated and performed concerts. Since September 2017, Greg has proudly held the Elaine and Nicholas Mischler Curatorship.
In addition to his unique position in Madison, Zelek is the Curator of the J.F. Bryan Concert Organ Series for the Jacksonville Symphony and the new Northrop Organist at the University of Minnesota.
Zelek also performs frequently as a soloist throughout the United States. Always playing his solo programs from memory, Zelek has played and premiered many of the large works of the organ canon, as well as new works that showcase
the versatility of the instrument. Alongside various orchestras, Greg has performed the organ concertos of Barber, Poulenc, Rheinberger, and Jongen. Greg has also been the organist for works such as Mahler’s 8th Symphony, Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass, SaintSaëns’s Organ Symphony, Strauss’s Alpine Symphony, Respighi’s Pines of Rome, Foss’s Phorion, and Gounod’s Faust
Zelek is known for his inventive programming and collaborations. He has performed a classical and gospel concert with counter-tenor Reginald Mobley, arranged and commissioned works for cello and organ with cellist Thomas Mesa, performed in a Latin-American concert with a Cuban band from Miami, FL, and collaborated with electronic trombonist Mark Hetzler, in a concert featuring new music for organ, trombone, and percussion. He has also performed with the Canadian Brass in his continued role as Visiting Guest Artist at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, MN.
In 2016, Greg was chosen by The Diapason magazine as one of the top “20 Under 30” organists and has won prizes in numerous organ competitions. Zelek released a recording on the Overture Concert Organ in the Fall of 2022. A recipient of the inaugural Kovner Fellowship, he received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, as well as an Artist Diploma, from the Juilliard School as a student of Paul Jacobs. Greg, who is CubanAmerican and a native Spanish speaker, grew up in Miami, FL and resides in Madison, WI with his wife and daughter.
MARC FINK Oboe
Marc Fink is Emeritus Professor of Music at the Mead Witter School of Music, University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he taught oboe, chamber music, and performed in the resident faculty ensemble, the Wingra Woodwind Quintet. He performed as principal oboist of the Madison Symphony Orchestra for many years. Marc served as president of the International Double Reed Society from 1998-2002,
conference coordinator from 2006-14, and was conference host in 1999 (Madison) and 2002 (Banff). His research interests include little known oboe music by Russian composers of the 20th century, and his publications include band arrangements of oboe concerti of Hummel, Cimarosa, and Pasculli.
Marc has presented master classes and guest recitals at the Japanese Double Reed Festival of Tokyo, the series “Oboists of the World in St. Petersburg” (Russia), the Sichuon Double Reed Festival (China), Riowinds Festival (Brazil), and the South Bavarian Music Festival (Czech Republic). In addition, Marc has performed at IDRS international conferences in Frankfurt, Rotterdam, Banff, Buenos Aires, Melbourne, Birmingham, and Granada. Marc earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Indiana University where he was also awarded the Performers’ Certificate. His primary teachers include Jerry Sirucek, Ray Still, Robert Mayer, and Marcel Moyse (chamber music).
JOHN JUTSUM
Principal Timpani
Principal Timpani with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, John Jutsum has performed in the United States with the Jacksonville, Toledo and Utah Symphonies, the Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Born in Anchorage, Alaska, his early musical training was in piano, with percussion
initially a secondary pursuit. Having entered the Oberlin Conservatory as a pianist, he soon changed course and obtained a B.M. in Percussion and Music Theory from Oberlin followed by a M.M. from The Juilliard School. His principal teachers included Michael Rosen, Barry Jekowsky, Roland Kohloff, Michael Bookspan, and Paul Yancich.
After freelancing in New York City and spending summers with the Colorado Philharmonic (now National Repertory Orchestra) and as a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, he was appointed Principal Timpani of L’Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI in Torino, Italy where he performed for five years. He has performed with a variety of internationally acclaimed conductors, including Rafael Frühbeck di Burgos, Carlo Maria Guilini, Eliahu Inbal, Ferdinand Leitner, and Yuri Temirkanov.
Currently in his twenty-fifth season with the MSO, John also works as an IT director in New York State, where he resides with his wife Polly. Their daughter Robyn lives in New York City.
Access the digital program book!
Carol Sing 2025
Carol Rhapsody
Richard Purvis
O Come, All Ye Faithful
John Jutsum, Timpani
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem! Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels!
Refrain:
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord!
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation! Sing all ye citizens of heaven above! Glory to God, all Glory in the highest!
Refrain
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning, O Jesus, to Thee be all glory given; Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing!
Refrain
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!
O come, O King of nations, bind in one the hearts of all mankind. Bid all our sad divisions cease and be yourself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!
Joy to the World
Joy to the world! the Lord is come: Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.
Joy to the world! the Savior reigns: Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rock, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness, and wonders of His love, and wonders of his love, and wonders, wonders of his love.
Hanukkah Arrangements
Marc Fink, Oboe
Oh Hanukkah
I Have a Little Dreydl
Chanuka
Maoz Tsur
O Little Town of Bethlehem
O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie; Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light; The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given! So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven. No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin, Where meek souls will receive Him, still the dear Christ enters in.
Hark, the Herald Angels Sing
Hark, the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King; Peace on Earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations, rise, join the triumph of the skies; With th’angelic host proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!” Hark, the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King.”
Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hail, the Sun of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings, risen with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by, born that we no more may die, Born to raise the sons of Earth, born to give us second birth. Hark, the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King.”
Sleigh Ride
Leroy Anderson
In the Bleak Midwinter
Marc Fink, Oboe
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, In the bleak midwinter, long ago.
Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain; Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign. In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
Angels and archangels may have gathered there, Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air; But His mother only, in her maiden bliss, Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.
What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.
Angels We Have Heard on High
Angels we have heard on high, singing sweetly through the night And the mountains in reply echoing their brave delight. Gloria in excelsis Deo. Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Come to Bethlehem and see Him whose birth the angels sing; Come adore on bended knee Christ, the Lord, the newborn King. Gloria in excelsis Deo. Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Silent Night, Holy Night
Silent night! Holy night! All is calm, all is bright, Round yon Virgin Mother and Child! Holy Infant, so tender and mild, Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night! Holy night! Son of God, love’s pure Light, Radiant beams from Thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth. Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.
Silent night! Holy night! Wondrous Star, lend thy light; With the angels let us sing, Alleluia to our King. Christ the Savior is born. Christ the Savior is born.
The First Nowell John Jutsum, Timpani
The first Nowell the angel did say was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay; In fields where they lay a keeping their sheep, on a cold winter’s night that was so deep.
Refrain:
Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell! Born is the King of Israel.
They looked up and saw a star shining in the east beyond them far, And to the Earth it gave great light, and so it continued both day and night.
Refrain
Then let us all with one accord sing praises to our heavenly Lord, That hath made heaven and earth of nought, and with His blood mankind hath bought.
Refrain
Postlude Sur Un Noël, “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella”
Denis Bédard
John Jutsum, Timpani
Felix Hell, Organ
Organist Felix Hell, who first performed for us in 2012, returns to Madison with a unique and brilliant program that he calls “Cathedral of Sound: The Organ as Orchestra.” The program features his own arrangement of Beethoven’s famous Fifth Symphony , never heard before on the Overture Concert Organ. You won’t want to miss Felix’s unbelievable artistry and creativity, as he brings this massive work to life on our very own instrument!
–Greg Zelek
MUSIC
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Sinfonia from Cantata No. 29
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Fantasy in F Minor, K. 608
MAJOR SPONSORS
Friends of the Overture Concert Organ
Thomas Rae Smith
Jennifer Younger and Tom Smith
Thomas Rae Smith
ADDITIONAL SPONSORS
Mark Huth and Meghan Walsh
SAMUEL BARBER
Adagio for Strings
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (arr. FELIX HELL )
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
An Evening of Intimate Chamber Music
Featuring Nine MSO Musicians & Greg Zelek
As the MSO celebrates 100 years this season, it seems only fitting to bring some of my MSO colleagues with me on stage to showcase their talent and our unique pairing. While the organ can be a loud instrument, it can also be used in a softer and more subtle way. With works like Handel’s G minor Organ Concerto and movements from Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto and Coleridge-Taylor’s Nonet , this program will demonstrate the versatility and more intimate side of our instrument. I’m also excited that the audience will get a chance to hear many individual orchestral musicians showcased, as they perform some works as soloists with the organ. Sit back, relax, and let this incredible music fill you with joy and peace!
– Greg Zelek
PRESENTING SPONSOR
William Steffenhagen
MAJOR SPONSORS
Peter and Leslie Overton
Judith Werner, in memory of Stephen Caldwell
Condon and Mary Vander Ark
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL
Organ Concerto in G minor, HWV 289
SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR
Movements from Nonet
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Movements from Clarinet and Horn Concertos
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Double Concerto
ORGAN SPECIFICATION
Johannes Klais Orgelbau — Bonn, Germany
2004 • 72 Ranks
GREAT
4-1/2” wind
Principal
Principal
Offenflote
Salicional
Gedeckt
Principal
Rohrflote
Quinte
Octave
Cornett V
Mixtura mayor V
Trompete
Trompete
SWELL (enclosed)
4-1/2” wind
Bordun
Tibia
Bordun
Viola da Gamba
Voix Celeste
Fugara
Transversflote
Quintflote
Octavflote
Terzflote
Plein jeu IV
Basson
Trompette harmonique
Basson-Hautbois
Clairon harmonique
Tremulant
CHOIR (enclosed)
4” wind
Geigen Principal
Suavial
Rohrflote
Gemshorn
Unda maris
Octave
Viola
Waldflote
Quinte
Terz
Mixtura minor IV
Clarinet
Tremulant
Principal
Stentor Gamba
Gamba Celeste
Tuba
Tuba
French Horn
PEDAL
5” wind
Vox Balinae (Resultant)
Double Open
Untersatz
Open Wood
Violon (Gt)
Bourdon (Sw)
Subbass
Octavbass
Harmonic Flute (Solo)
Stentor Gamba (Solo)
Gedackt
Octave
Contra Bombarde
Trompete
Clairon
General Pistons
General Toe Studs
Divisional Pistons
Pedal Divisional
Toe Studs
Divisional
Cancel Pistons
Sequencer
Programmable
and Tutti
Gt to Ped
Gt to Ped
Sw to Ped
Sw to Ped
Ch to Ped
Ch to Ped
Solo to Ped
Solo to Ped
Sw to Sw
Sw Unison Off
Sw to Sw
Sw to Gt
Sw to Gt
Sw to Gt
Ch to Gt
Ch to Gt
Ch to Gt
Solo to Gt
Solo to Gt
Solo to Gt
Gt to Gt
Gt Unison Off
Gt to Gt
Sw to Ch
Sw to Ch
Sw to Ch
Solo to Sw
Solo to Sw
Solo to Ch
Solo to Ch
Ch to Ch
Ch Unison Off
SHARE THE GIFT OF MUSIC
Today’s Carol Sing is presented by the Madison Symphony Orchestra. The MSO is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and free programs, like this annual Carol Sing, are made possible through generous donations.
If you enjoy today’s event, and especially if you have enjoyed the Carol Sing for years, please consider supporting the Madison Symphony Orchestra with a tax deductible donation of any amount. Your gift helps the MSO continue sharing this and more free programs free programs with our community. Thank you!
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark™ Live in Concert features John Williams’ GRAMMY® Award-winning score performed live to the film at Overture Hall. Indiana Jones is the classic hero in this adventure set in the 1930s which follows the quick-witted and determined archaeologist as he hunts for the Lost Ark of the Covenant. MAR 28-29,
MAJOR PERFORMANCE SPONSORS
Madison Media Partners
Lake Ridge Bank
Zaia and Peleus Parker Hooper Corporation
JANUARY 23–25
KAZEM ABDULLAH Guest Conductor
YEFIM BRONFMAN Piano
Frank | Strauss | Brahms
FEBRUARY 20–22
Playful Pursuits
TANIA MILLER Guest Conductor
RACHEL BARTON PINE Violin
Mendelssohn | Korngold | Debussy | Stravinsky
MARCH 20–22
JOHN DEMAIN Conductor EMANUEL AX Piano Strauss | Mozart | Ortiz | Respighi
APRIL 10–12
LAURA JACKSON Guest Conductor LOS ANGELES GUITAR QUARTET López | Rodrigo | Sibelius
MAY 1–3
