The Marquee

To be honest, I was really not sure what to expect from the Anonymous 4 (according to wikipedia, named for a pun on the name used to refer to an anonymous english music theorist of the late 13th century, Anonymous IV, who is the principal source on the two famous composers of the Notre Dame school, Leonin and Perotin…read: classical music nerd joke). They began their concert explaining that they got their start on Garrison Keillor’s radio show, “A Prairie Home Companion” - which immediately rang bells in my head. As the roommate of several good Minnesotans, Prairie Home Companion was actually something I was familiar with.
   From that point on, the concert made a lot more sense to me. The Anonymous 4 and co-starring musicians Darol Anger and Scott Nygaard really did their thing well. The Americana music was totally catchy, and the way their unamplified voices blended (especially in the balcony!) sounded amazing.  At one point, one of the group (regrettably I don’t remember her name) did a solo song…just her singing…in the giant theater. Her voice powerfully filled the whole theater, and then some. I remember back in good ol mrs. johnson’s middle school choir class, we all had to do unaccompanied solos - that day will forever be remembered by me as one of the most terrifying of my whole life. To watch that woman do her solo, seemingly fearless, in front of an entire house full of people was totally remarkable.
   It was the perfect music to complement the rainy Madison night.
-courtney