Madison's Lectures: Why did Beethoven write only 9 symphonies? 

What causes any composer to write the number of symphonies they did? Haydn made it to 104, Mozart to 41, and Tchaikovsky only 6. By looking at Beethoven's life circumstances, the publishing industry, political landscape, work style, and a host of other factors, we'll learn the reasons why Beethoven only wrote 9 symphonies, and the consequences those works had for future symphonists.

Madison Vienna is an active chamber musician, freelancer, and librarian in the greater Chicago area. Prior to her current position as the Chicago Sinfonietta’s Orchestra Librarian and Northbrook Public Library’s classical music specialist, she was an intern in the music library at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Madison holds degrees in clarinet performance from DePaul University and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with extensive studies in historical performance. She also holds a Masters in Library Science with a specialization in music from Indiana University. Her major teachers have included Eric Hoeprich, James Campbell, Julie DeRoche, and Yevgeny Dokshansky.

During her time at Indiana, Madison was the principal clarinetist of the Classical Orchestra for three years, and became known for her interpretations of Classical-era works. She has been coached extensively in chamber music with notable chamber, orchestral, and period musicians including Stanley Ritchie, Elizabeth Wright, Kurt Muroki, Sung-Mi Im, Grigory Kalinovsky, Edward Gazouleas, Menahem Pressler, Susan Warner, and Dale Clevenger.

Madison performs as a guest with orchestras around Illinois including the Illinois Symphony, Symphony 847, Lake County Symphony, Kenosha Symphony, Elgin Master Chorale, and the Northshore Choral Society. As a specialist in chamber music, she especially enjoys performing with strings and piano. She has been a three-time participant of both the Berwick Academy and Madeline Island Chamber Music Intensive.

Madison plays on a wide range of clarinets. For orchestral performances, she plays on a set of LeBlanc Opus II clarinets; for chamber, LeBlanc Concerto II clarinets; and for historically-informed performances a set of clarinets made by Joel Robinson after Grenser.