Photo Credit: Mark Frohna
The circle of life in the performing arts plays out this summer in Milwaukee. The local theater scene recently lost a mainstay company with In Tandem Theatre’s closure but is also witnessing the launch of new musical ensemble: Antioch Trio.
In Tandem Theatre was founded in 1998 by husband-and-wife team Chris and Jane Flieller. In the past 21 years, In Tandem produced comedies, dramas and more than 20 original works by local and international playwrights, though the company may be best known for its original and irreverent Christmas productions. Its final production was The Fabulous Lipitones this past May.
Jane explains the reason for the closing: “The time had come to either push for expansion or go in another direction. It made sense for us to do the latter, personally and professionally. We are very proud of our accomplishments. Building our own space, the Tenth Street Theatre, gave us the autonomy we desired while providing affordable space for other groups. We will miss that a lot.”
Retirement is not yet in their plans. Chris is pursuing a teaching career, leading an acting class at Marquette University this fall. Jane accepted the development director position with Next Act Theatre. “I received an offer I didn’t want to pass up,” she said. David Cecsarini—Next Act’s producing artistic director—notes, “Jane certainly knows the ins and outs of the theater business and has lots of institutional memory. We’re very happy she’s onboard.”
Chris and Jane’s work with In Tandem won them “Artists of the Year” awards from the Milwaukee Arts Board in 2017. “We’ve both been around a long time, and we’ve seen organizations come and go,” says Jane. “But through it all, Milwaukee has maintained a vibrant arts scene not possible without the support of those who come and watch. As long as we have audiences, we will have art.”
The Family Business
Antioch Trio, a new chamber music ensemble, will debut in September to help celebrate Milwaukee’s first Hispanic Heritage Month.
Husband-and-wife team Stefan Kartman (cellist) and Jeannie Yu (pianist) will be joined by their violinist son, Jonah Kartman. Stefan and Jeannie are busy teachers and performers in Milwaukee and tour around the world, having recently returned from a chamber music festival in China. Stefan’s father was a professional musician who played violin in a string quartet and taught at Northwestern University. Stefan and Jeannie met while both were attending the Julliard School, just as Stefan’s mom and dad had met decades earlier.
At just 17 years of age, Jonah Kartman has already won several musical competitions and is currently studying at the Julliard Prep School. His parents didn’t encourage nor dampen Jonah into a musical life but, as Stefan remarked, “We just hope Jonah will be ‘professionally functional,’ whether it be in chamber music, orchestral playing or teaching.”
The Antioch Trio’s concert program includes the C minor piano trio by Felix Mendelssohn, which is the first piece Stefan and Jeannie played together as students at Julliard, the first piece they both played with Stefan’s father years ago and which now becomes the first piece publicly performed with their son, Jonah. Additional music is by the Hispanic composers Pablo de Sarasate and Astor Piazzolla. The concert takes place Saturday, Sept. 14, at St. Joseph Center Chapel, 1501 S. Layton Blvd.
