Midsummer’s Music presents three exciting programs in 10 memorable concerts to finish the summer season.
Midsummer’s Music’s 2021 season-end features three powerful programs in 10 intense concerts starting August 26 with the world premiere of the Door County Concerto by Composer Fellow Quinn Mason and culminating in a not-to-be-missed fundraiser extravaganza on Labor Day. World-class musicians include JJ Koh, clarinet; Fritz Foss and Julie Thayer, horns; David Perry, Ann Palen, and Eleanor Bartsch, violins; Sally Chisholm, Allyson Fleck and Madlen Breckbill, violas; James Waldo and Cole Randolph, cellos; Drew Banzhaf and David Scholl, basses; and Jeannie Yu, piano.
The programs begin with Make No Small Plans and Mason’s Door County Concerto, Beethoven’s Sextet in E-flat Major, Op. 81b, and Brams’ Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115. The program title illustrates how these three composers have flourished in the spotlight—Mason with an impressive and rapidly growing list of achievements and awards; Beethoven, who battled encroaching deafness while composing some of his most magnificent pieces; and Brahms, a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the Romantic period who was an inspiration for a generation of composers.
Next is the Sex! (as in Six) program with Richard Strauss’ Sextet from the Opera, Capriccio; Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 (Fischer arrangement). The suggestive title describes the all-sextet program. While Beethoven and Strauss are virtually household names, Schoenberg, who is almost Strauss’ exact contemporary, is one of the most influential musical figures of the 20th century—and one of the most reviled by many music lovers for some of his output. His Verklärte Nacht piece is dramatic and breathtakingly moving.
The final program for Midsummer’s 2021 summer season is Celebrating Our First 30 Years!, featuring special guest John Clare from Symphony Hall on SiriusXM and St. Louis 107.3 classical, who will narrate John Harbison’s Four Encores for Stan and entertain concertgoers as the host for the Labor Day fundraiser benefit concert. Also included on the program is Libby Larsen’s Four on the Floor, a fast-moving, piano-pounding, boogie-woogie favorite among Midsummer’s patrons, and the Quartet in G Major, Op. 202, No. 1, by Joachim Raff, a composer Midsummer’s recently introduced to audiences who have responded with great enthusiasm for his stunningly beautiful pieces.
Make No Small Plans plays at 7:00pm, August 26, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sister Bay; 7:00pm, August 27, at the Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor; 7:00pm, August 28, at Hope United Church of Christ in Sturgeon Bay; and 4:00pm, August 29, at Woodwalk Gallery in Egg Harbor.
Sex! (as in Six) plays at 7:00pm, September 1, at the Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor; 7:00pm, September 2, at Hope United Church of Christ in Sturgeon Bay; and 4:00pm, September 5, at Woodwalk Gallery in Egg Harbor.
Celebrating Our First 30 Years! plays at 7:00pm, September 3, at the Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor; 7:00pm, September 4, at SWY231 in Sturgeon Bay; and 3:00pm, September 6, for the fundraiser benefit concert at Björklunden in Baileys Harbor.
Tickets for all concerts except the Labor Day fundraiser are $30 for adults and can be ordered at www.midsummersmusic.com or by phone at 920-854-7088. Labor Day tickets start at $100 and can also be ordered online or by phone. All programs are subject to change.
Coffee Talks – free, informal presentations on music topics by Midsummer’s Music musicians and friends – resume starting Saturday, August 28, at 10:00am at the Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor with 2021 Composer Fellow Quinn Mason talking about his Door County Concerto that Midsummer’s Music will premiere during the Make No Small Plans program. On Saturday, September 4, St. Louis 107.3 and SiriusXM’s John Nasukaluk Clare headlines the Coffee Talk program. Clare is the first Native American to lead an all-classical radio station and Midsummer’s special guest narrator during the Celebrating Our First 30 Years! program in early September.
Reservations for concerts and coffee talks are recommended. Before making plans or purchasing tickets, concertgoers should review Midsummer’s COVID-19 policy at midsummersmusic.com.
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.
High-resolution photos can be downloaded at https://midsummersmusic.com/photos/.
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For Calendar Listings:
Make No Small Plans
Sextet in E-flat Major, Op.81b • Ludwig van Beethoven
Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115 • Johannes Brahms
Door County Concerto (World Premiere) • Quinn Mason, 2021 Composer Fellow
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)
Symphony No. 6 (Fischer arrangement) • Ludwig van Beethoven
Sextet from the Opera, Capriccio • Richard Strauss
Verklärt Nacht • Arnold Schoenberg
September 1, 2021, 7:00pm – Donald and Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor, WI
September 2, 2021, 7:00pm – Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay, WI
September 5, 2021, 4:00pm – Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor, WI
Celebrating Our First 30 Years!
Four Encores for Stan • John Harbison with special guest narrator John Nasukaluk Clare
Four on the Floor (1983) • Libby Larsen
Quartet in G Major, Op. 202, No. 1 • 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 – Fundraiser Benefit, Björklunden, Baileys Harbor, WI
Coffee Talks
August 28, 2021, 10:00am – Quinn Mason, 2021 Composer Fellow: Donald and Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor, WI
September 4, 2021, 10:00am — John Nasukaluk Clare, St. Louis 107.3 and SiriusXM: 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