For the past couple of years, the quartet has instructed at the Kansas Suzuki camp.
Sister Bay, Wis. – August 6, 2021 – The Griffon String Quartet, hailed for “superb playing, palpable chemistry, spirit, and emotional connection,” provided essential instruction to students attending the Suzuki Strings annual chamber music camp in Manhattan, Kansas, in July.
Under the direction of Dr. Laura Eakman, the camp educates children ages 6-17 on violin, viola, cello, and bass. Running from 9:00am to 4:00pm each day, the demanding schedule includes sight-reading classes, lesson classes for each instrument, outreach performances, chamber music coaching, a conductor-less chamber orchestra, and much more. Instruction utilizes a rehearsal strategy from professional quartets—whose members must always be in sync—where the chamber music group plays together but while facing away from one another. Mid-week faculty concerts featured a collaboration with pianist Amanda Arrington and works by Beethoven, Villa-Lobos, and Schumann.
For the past couple of years, members of the Griffon String Quartet have traveled to Kansas to teach at the Suzuki camp. An annual highlight of the camp is the students’ outreach performance to an enthusiastic audience at Big Lakes Developmental Center, an organization that provides services to persons with developmental disabilities. One Big Lakes resident was so enthralled by the music this year that he danced in the center of the room during the chamber orchestra’s passionate performance of Pizz-a Tango.
Griffon violist Blakeley Menghini expressed her excitement about the camp: “This year’s level at camp was higher than any year we have seen in the past! The students really blew us away with their adaptability, creativity, communication, and hard work. Chamber music is so amazing for teamwork, communication, self-expression, decision making, and discipline. It’s also an incredibly fun and rewarding experience for students to blend their sound, breathe together, make eye contact, plan out a musical story, and give high-level performances in just 6 days!”
The Quartet’s connection to the camp is based on a friendship between Blakeley and Dr. Eakman, who were classmates at Northern Illinois University. Through the years, the two women have stayed in contact and collaborated on projects during the summers. Along with Blakeley, Griffon violinist Vinicius Sant’Ana and cellist Ryan Louie participated in the camp instruction.
One of the most vibrant and engaging quartets of their generation, the Griffon String Quartet—Midsummer’s Music’s resident ensemble—was formed in 2018 to enrich the lives of children and adults throughout northeast Wisconsin through concerts, workshops, and music education outreach. Extraordinary musicians who have performed with orchestras and ensembles around the globe in the finest halls from the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center and Brazil’s Teatro Municipal de São Paulo to Ukraine’s Lviv Philharmonic Hall, and won prestigious music competitions and awards, they are equally dedicated to music education and inspiring the next generation of music lovers. Each member of the Griffon String Quartet has advanced degrees and significant professional experience, both as educators and performers, and the ensemble has been recognized for “their youthful vigor, which is absolutely infectious!”
Midsummer’s Music was co-founded in 1990 by Jim and Jean Berkenstock, long-time Door County summer residents and principal orchestral players with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. What began as two concerts among friends has become one of the Midwest’s most anticipated chamber music series, bringing thousands of chamber music enthusiasts from around the globe to the magical Door County Peninsula.
For more information visit www.midsummersmusic.com
Photos:
Ryan Louie, Blakeley Menghini, Vini Sant’Ana, pianist Amanda Arrington
Students facing away from each other while playing
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For Calendar Listings:
The Beethoven Sphere
Music by Ludwig van Beethoven and Ferdinand Reis
August 20, 2021, 7:00pm – St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay, WI
August 21, 2021, 7:00pm – TBA
August 22, 2021, 4:00pm – Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor, WI
Make No Small Plans
Music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, and 2021 Composer Fellow Quinn Mason; world premiere of Door County Concerto
August 26, 2021, 7:00pm – St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay, WI
August 27, 2021, 7:00pm – Donald and Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor, WI
August 28, 2021, 7:00pm – Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay, WI
August 29, 2021, 4:00pm – Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor, WI
Sex! (as in Six)
Music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Strauss, and Arnold Schoenberg
September 1, 2021, 7:00pm – Donald and Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor, WI
September 2, 2021, 7:00pm – Salon Concert, private residence, Sister Bay, WI
September 5, 2021, 4:00pm – Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor, WI
Celebrating Our First 30 Years!
Music by John Harbison, Libby Larsen, and Joachim Raff
September 3, 2021, 7:00pm – Donald and Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor, WI
September 4, 2021, 7:00pm – SWY231, Sturgeon Bay, WI
September 6, 2021, 3:00pm – Björklunden, Baileys Harbor, WI
Coffee Talks
August 28, 2021, 10:00am – Quinn Mason, 2021 Composer-in-Residence Fellow: Donald and Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor, WI
Midsummer’s Music presents the Pro Arte Quartet
September 19, 2021, 3:00pm – Donald and Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor, WI