Gebhardt Development: Pleased to Announce Its Latest Development, Colorado Commons

(Sun Prairie, WI) – Colorado Commons, a unique market rate multifamily development, is coming to the West Prairie Village Community. This development will provide much needed housing for those seeking to live, work, and play in the City of Sun Prairie.

Read more here

Colorado Commons Site Plan

Acclaimed Verona Quartet to Perform for Wisconsin Union Theater Patrons Jan. 29

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 14, 2021

Contact Information:
Shauna Breneman, Communications Director
Email: sbreneman@wisc.edu

ACCLAIMED VERONA QUARTET TO PERFORM FOR WISCONSIN UNION THEATER PATRONS JAN. 29

MADISON – The Wisconsin Union Theater’s Concert Series will continue with a performance by the Verona Quartet on Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m. CDT, which will be preceded by a question-and-answer session with the Quartet at 7 p.m. CDT. 

The Quartet will perform String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 51, No. 2 by Johannes Brahms and String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96 “American” by Antonín Dvořák.

The Verona Quartet rose to international fame by sweeping top prizes at competitions, including the Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award in 2020.

Hailing from four different parts of the world, differences unify the Quartet’s members and music. Its music aims to show how diverse experiences can come together in harmony.

 “The Verona Quartet brings fresh approaches to classical music masterpieces,” Wisconsin Union Theater Director Elizabeth Snodgrass said. “The Quartet has risen to become one of the world’s most sought-after string quartets. We are honored to include them in our Concert Series season.”

Ticket purchase information can be found here. Tickets for this online event are $10 for UW-Madison students, $17 for Wisconsin Union members and students that do not attend UW-Madison, and $20 for all other patrons.

The performance will include the Quartet’s violinists Jonathan Ong, Dorothy Ro, and Abigail Rojansky. Due to challenges related to the pandemic, Quartet member and cellist Jonathan Dormand will not be part of the event. Instead, cellist Dmitry Kouzov will perform the String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 51, No. 2 with the Quartet, and cellist Annie Jacobs-Perkins will perform the String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96 “American” with the ensemble.

The Verona Quartet’s performance is made possible by the David and Kato Perlman Chamber Music Endowment Fund with additional support from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.

An additional Concert Series performance will occur Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. CDT and feature the Meccore Quartet.

For more than 75 years, the Wisconsin Union Theater has served as a cultural center for community members and visitors and provides a variety of performing arts events. The Theater’s Concert Series began more than a century ago and is one of the oldest uninterrupted series of its kind in the United States.

The Wisconsin Union Theater team presents the Concert Series in collaboration with the student-led Wisconsin Union Directorate (WUD) Performing Arts Committee.

The Theater team strives for all of its spaces to be accessible, and those that need accommodations can reach out to the Wisconsin Union Theater team at wisconsinuniontheater@union.wisc.edu.

For more information about the Verona Quartet, including how to purchase tickets, visit union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/verona-quartet.  

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About the Wisconsin Union Theater

For more than 75 years, the Wisconsin Union Theater has served as a center for cultural activity in the heart of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The Theater hosts performances in multiple locations, including Memorial Union, and has an expansive history of remarkable performances. The Wisconsin Union Theater is part of the Wisconsin Union, a membership organization that blends study and leisure to create unique out-of-classroom opportunities. Learn more about the Theater: union.wisc.edu/wisconsin-union-theater.

About the Wisconsin Union Directorate Performing Arts Committee

The Wisconsin Union Directorate Performing Arts Committee plans and promotes events for the historic Wisconsin Union Theater stages. The student-led committee programs a variety of events to provide a diverse and cultural experience for students, faculty, alumni, community members and visitors. Learn more: union.wisc.edu/get-involved/wud/performing-arts.

To read this release online, visit union.wisc.edu/about/news/verona-quartet.

Building a New Kind of Ballet: Madison Ballet’s New Choreography Workshop Series Beginning January 23, 2021

MADISON, WI –  Madison Ballet is collaborating with three up-and-coming dancemakers for a New Choreography workshop series that gives local dancers the chance to be a part of building a new ballet from the ground up. With no clear return to live theater performances in the coming months, Madison Ballet is using this limitation as an opportunity to create the company’s first-ever new digital works intended to be released online in spring 2021. As a prelude to the production, the company is offering a virtual workshop series featuring three Madison-based dancer/choreographers: Darwin Black (January 23), Jacob Ashley (January 30) and Rachelle Fochs (February 6).

In these 2-hour workshops, each choreographer will use dancers as both a medium and muse, exploring the interplay of themes, music, and steps to create a “sketch” of a new work. While the spring production lineup is yet to be announced, these workshops will help inform and inspire this exciting new facet of Madison Ballet’s popular repertoire series.

Offered in addition to regular School of Madison Ballet classes, each workshop includes a short warm-up class and concludes with all new choreography online via Zoom. Dancers age 9+ with previous ballet experience welcome.

Darwin Black | January 23rd, 12pm – 2pm

Darwin Black of Newark, NJ started his dancing at the age of 16. In 2006, he graduated from Newark Arts High School under the direction of Ronnie D. Carney and Kim Richardson. After a year of training at Alvin Ailey American Dance as a Fellowship Student under the Oprah Winfrey Scholarship, he began his professional career with the Miami Contemporary Dance Company, and later joined The Sacramento Ballet. Mr. Black danced as a freelance artist for Alaska Dance Theatre, Lustig Dance Theatre, Montgomery Ballet, Nimbus Dance Works, and Momix. Later he joined TU Dance under the leadership of Tony-Pierce Sands & Uri Sands for four seasons. Mr. Black began spreading his wings into choreography with his first original work, “OFF THE BASE” premiered at The Cowles Center March of 2017. 

Jacob Ashley | January 30th, 12pm – 2pm 

A Chicago native, Jacob Ashley began his dance training at the Chicago Academy for the Arts under the instruction of Randy Duncan, Guillermo Leyva, Sandra Kaufmann, and the late Anna Paskevska. After attending Columbia College Chicago’s modern dance program, he began his professional career as an apprentice for Luna Negra Dance Theater. Mr. Ashley has been a member of Madison Ballet for 10 years, as well as a guest artist for companies such as Ballet Chicago, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, and San Diego Opera. This workshop will be his first foray into choreography with Madison Ballet.

Rachelle Fochs | February 26th, 12p, – 2pm

A Madison native, Mrs. Fochs’ training began in 1999 with Madison Ballet. She was later accepted on full scholarship to The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet, and continued her training around the country, including at Ballet Chicago and Miami City Ballet School. She began her professional career with Sacramento Ballet, in 2007, she returned to Madison Ballet, performing soloist and principal roles until her retirement in 2016. She continues to share her love of all things ballet as a Ballet Master and Director of the School of Madison Ballet. She has recently begun to choreograph, creating new works for Madison Ballet, Madison Gas & Electric’s GENRE2030 film series, Capital City Theatre’s “Find Your Light” workshops, and several works set on students of the School of Madison Ballet.

Registration Information

Registration for each standalone class is $20 and can be purchased online at https://www.madisonballet.org/choreography-workshop or by calling (608) 278-7990.

For nearly 40 years, Madison Ballet has been an integral part of the vibrant Dane County arts community. Full scale productions of inspiring traditional ballets, innovative contemporary performances, and the timeless holiday tradition of The Nutcracker reach more than 13,000 people each year. The School of Madison Ballet empowers students of all ages and skill levels with the poise, confidence, discipline, and fundamental life skills intrinsic to the study of dance. Outreach programming, presented in partnership with dozens of local school and community groups, enriches thousands of young people’s lives by introducing them to the joy of dance.

MSCR Winter Program Guide – Enjoy a variety of fun programs for all ages

January 7, 2021

For Immediate Release

Contact: Nicole Graper at ngraper@madison.k12.wi.us

MSCR Winter 2021 Program Guide
Enjoy a variety of recreation opportunities for all ages held Indoor, Outdoor and Online.

The Madison School & Community Recreation (MSCR) Winter 2021 Program Guide is available at mscr.org.

The guide is filled with a variety of recreation activities for all ages including arts & enrichment, fitness, 50+ fitness, skiing, sports, family events and more. Programs are adapted to be held safely indoor, outdoor and online. Indoor programs begin the week of January 25, following these Health & Safety Policies.

Registration is open for residents and registration opens on January 19 at 8 am for non-residents. Fee assistance is available for those who qualify.

Winter Program Guide Highlights:

• New Special Events – Join MSCR for fun programs like Parking Lot Bingo, Winter Fun in the Park and Screen Free Boredom Busters.
• Outdoors Pursuits – Explore and learn about local, natural beauty in programs like Sunset Snowshoe Hike and Orienteering at the School Forest and Winter Survival Skills.
• Adult Arts & Enrichment – express your creative side in these engaging classes: ArtChats, SoulCollage ©, Painting with the Impressionists and Textile Jewelry.
• Youth Arts & Enrichment – Plenty of ways to keep children busy with indoor and virtual dance classes, Polymer Clay Creations and virtual guitar.
• Fitness – Start the new year on the right foot with exciting virtual fitness classes like HIIT, Hatha Yoga, Mindfulness Meditation and more. Virtual fitness begins this week and a wide range of indoor fitness classes begin January 25.
• Outdoor Sports – Adults can enjoy Ice Skating and Kubb. Shuffleboard Mini-Golf (SHOLF), a fun new program, is open to all ages.

A Spanish edition of the program guide is available at mscr.org or please email mcanicoba@madison.k12.wi.us for assistance.

Register at mscr.org.  Please call 608-204-3000 for more information.

MSCR is a department of the Madison School district and offers many recreation programs for all ages at affordable prices.

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DeMarb Brophy: Your Business Has Options – Really

The revenue of small businesses – and especially restaurants, hotels, gyms and entertainment venues – is at all-time lows. This is not news.  The same small businesses have fixed costs and expenses, even if they are not operating, like rent, licensing, and equipment loans.  This is also not news.  What may be newsworthy, though, is what a bankruptcy lawyer can do for these businesses, especially now.

Common Bankruptcy Misconceptions

Let’s correct some common misconceptions about bankruptcy before we get started.  Bankruptcy does not mean that your business will stop operating, and it does not mean that your equipment will be auctioned off farm-style.  The kind of bankruptcies that keep businesses operating are not just for United Airlines and Guitar Center.  They can work for small businesses.  Bankruptcy will not drive away all of your customers or your vendors.  This is a common concern but largely unfounded.  Your bank will not necessarily hate the idea of you filing bankruptcy.  Almost always, they end up working with us and not against us.

So, How Can a Bankruptcy Help Small Businesses and their Owners Alleviate their Financial Troubles?

Bankruptcy can allow you to reorganize your business to make it stronger.  If you are ready to step away from operating your business, bankruptcy can give you a way to sell your business while it continues to operate.

In a reorganization, you can actually reduce the amount of your mortgage or equipment loans, permanently.  Your business would propose and get court approval of a plan of reorganization.  That plan could provide for the “cram down” of your secured creditors’ debt. 

For example, if your equipment loans have a balance of $200,000, but the equipment is only worth $125,000, then the plan could reduce the amount of the equipment loan to $125,000.  The plan could modify the interest rate, too, but it can actually decrease the amount of the secured debt.  How do we get to the value of the equipment?  It would need to be appraised. When is the value of equipment for restaurants, hotels, bars, gyms and the like likely to be at its lowest?  Now.  So, by filing for bankruptcy now, you may be able to reduce the amount of your monthly payments most drastically and permanently.

Why Would Your Lender Not Hate the Idea?

If you just default and turnover the keys to your lender, they are going to be stuck selling their collateral.  Lenders are in the business of making loans, not selling empty restaurants or gym equipment.  Like in 2008 when lenders found themselves in the real estate business because of the foreclosures, lenders are going to be overwhelmed with restaurant equipment, for example, in the coming months.  The market for that restaurant equipment will be flooded and, therefore, the value for that equipment will decrease.  The costs of selling the equipment are high.  Even if you reduce the amount of their secured debt in a bankruptcy, the value of the equipment is the highest in use and in place – in your business.  Lenders prefer to keep your equipment with you, and take your payments over time.

Filing the bankruptcy automatically imposes a stay on collection.  It gives you the breathing room to put this plan together.  It gives you relief from past due rent, past due collections.  It allows you to deal with only your obligations going forward and gives you space to avoid with past due amounts. 

Why Do You Need a Bankruptcy Lawyer to Help with the Process?

These are just a few of the ways that filing a bankruptcy can help you.  The analysis is more complicated than this, of course, and you need a lawyer experienced in the process.  You also need some cash to stay afloat during the process.  This cash can come from a variety of sources, including some stimulus money.  You should not assume that a reorganization will not work for you.  Many business bankruptcy attorneys will not charge you for the initial call if decide not to hire them, and they will discuss fees at that initial call.  You should talk with a bankruptcy lawyer who files Chapter 11 cases before you give in to your landlord or turn the keys over.  You have options.

Alternatives to Reorganizing

As an alternative to reorganizing, a bankruptcy can allow you to sell your business while it is operating.  This option looks different than the reorganization because the goal is to actually sell the business as an operating business. 

For example, last summer my firm filed a Chapter 11 case the day before the business’s eviction hearing. The owners knew they wanted to head toward a sale, and that’s what we did. Filing the Chapter 11 allowed the company to do three things. First, it stopped the eviction process and gave the company some breathing room. Second, it allowed the company to continue operating and paying its employees.  Because the company was not paying its past due debts, it had the breathing room to stay current going forward.  Third, it signaled to the market of buyers for the business that there would, in fact, be a sale in a structured process.

After a couple of months, a buyer who would start the sale process came forward. This buyer put in an offer to purchase, which we then got approved by the court. From there, other parties interested in operating the company decided to join the process, and then the auction of the operating business was scheduled from there. The auction worked exactly as intended. Two parties participated and, at the end of the day, the sale price increased by 70% over the initial offer.  More importantly, the company will pay its creditors five or six times more than it would have if the eviction had continued and the Chapter 11 had never been filed.   In the process, the owners of the company reduced the amount they owe on their personal guarantees.

Going forward, the owners of the company are staying on with the buyer as employees. The buyer will keep operating in the same space. They will keep using local vendors. The business will stay in Madison. 

Now is a good time to move forward with a bankruptcy that will lead us to a sale.  In six months, we expect that there will be more businesses for sale inside of bankruptcies than there will be buyers for those businesses.  If you are ready to be done having the sole responsibility for operating your business, now is the time to consider this sale option.

Protect Yourself

Whatever you do, do not bury your head in the sand right now.  Reach out to a bankruptcy lawyer, not just your regular business lawyer.  The reorganization and sale options might not work for every business, but they will work for many.  It would be a mistake to spend your last dollar, cash in your retirement, or turn over your keys to your landlord or lender without fully exploring all of your options.