Midsummer’s Music excels in pairing celebrated composers with diverse, lesser-known composers, and its upcoming program – “David Perry Leads Mendelssohn Octet—and more!” – is no exception. The program’s four performances run June 19 through June 27 and feature violinist David Perry, who enjoys an international career as a chamber musician, soloist, orchestral musician, and educator, in Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet and Woldemar Bargiel’s Octet. The two German composers, who were born only 19 years apart, knew each other, as Bargiel attended the Leipzig Conservatory, which Mendelssohn founded.
Mendelssohn composed his String Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20, in the fall of 1825 when he was merely 16 years old. Written for four violins, two violas, and two cellos, this work created an entirely new chamber music genre. The piece is a first-rate masterwork that is on par with compositions by the finest composers, earning Mendelssohn the reputation of the greatest prodigy in Western musical history.
In 1850, at the age of 21, Bargiel, who was composer Clara Schumann’s half-brother, wrote his Octet in C Minor, Op. 15a. This early work of Bargiel impresses with its command of the language of his mentor, Mendelssohn, and it shows great familiarity with the styles of Ludwig van Beethoven and Robert Schumann. Interestingly, while the Octet was written in 1849/1850, it was eventually published in 1877.
A member of the Pro Arte Quartet and Concertmaster of the Chicago Philharmonic, Perry has served as guest concertmaster with the China National Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, and the American Sinfonietta among others. He also served as concertmaster for the Aspen Chamber Symphony. Active since the late 1980s with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, renowned for playing without a conductor, he can be heard on many of their Deutsche Grammophon recordings. Perry’s discography also includes chamber and solo recordings on the Delos, Sonos, and Naxos labels.
In addition to Perry, the musicians are violinists Suzanne Beia, Ann Palen, and Roy Meyer, violists Allyson Fleck and Larissa Mapua, and cellists Mara McClain and Jesse Nummelin.
Concerts are at 7:00pm on June 19 at Björklunden in Baileys Harbor, sponsored by Joan & Stefan Anderson; 7:00pm on June 21 at Sister Bay Moravian Church in Sister Bay, sponsored by the James & Nancy Huebner Charitable Fund; 5:00pm on June 23 at Woodwalk Gallery in Egg Harbor, sponsored by Genie & David Meissner; and 7:00pm on June 27 at the Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor, sponsored by Bob & Alice Chrismer. The 2024 concert series is sponsored by the Jean Berkenstock Family Fund and the Susan DeWitt Davie Legacy Fund, and the season is dedicated to the memory of Jean Berkenstock.
A complete 2024 summer brochure can be downloaded at www.midsummersmusic.com.
Tickets are $39 for adults, $19 for students, and children 12 and under are free with an adult. Premium prices apply for special events. Flex Packs of six tickets for the price of five tickets are also available. Order tickets at www.midsummersmusic.com or by phone at 920-854-7088.
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://www.midsummersmusic.com/photos/.
David Perry (credit Heidi Hodges): https://midsummersmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/David-Perry-Violin.jpg
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For Calendar Listings:
Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Magic
Phantasie Trio Alice Verne-Bredt
Quartet No. 2 in E-flat Major, K. 493 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sextet in D Major, Op. 110 Felix Mendelssohn
June 13, 7:00 pm: Opening Night Gala, Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor; special guest emcee Norman Gilliland
June 15, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
June 16, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
June 18, 7:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
David Perry Leads Mendelssohn Octet—and More!
Octet in C Minor, Op. 15a (1850) Woldemar Bargiel
Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20 Felix Mendelssohn
June 19, 7:00 pm: Björklunden, Baileys Harbor
June 21, 7:00 pm: Sister Bay Moravian Church, Sister Bay
June 23, 5:00 pm: Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
June 27, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
Dvořák and Brahms
Quintet No. 1 in A Major, Op. 5 Antonín Dvořák
Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34 Johannes Brahms
June 22, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
June 28, 7:00 pm: Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church, Ellison Bay
June 29, 7:00 pm: Wilson/Beck Residence Dinner Concert, Fish Creek
June 30, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Beethoven, Haydn, and Schumann: Fairy Tales and Ghosts
Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tales), Op. 132 Robert Schumann
Trio in C Major, Hob. XV:27 Franz Josef Haydn
Trio No. 5 in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 (“Ghost”) Ludwig van Beethoven
July 5, 7:00 pm: Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church, Ellison Bay
July 6, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 7, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Bastille Day Celebration: Join the party at each concert!
Suite en parties, Op. 91 (1927) Vincent d’Indy
Suite Basque, Op. 6 (1901) Charles Bordes
Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10 Claude Debussy
July 11, 7:00 pm: Music/Wine-paring concert—Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 12, 7:00 pm: Sister Bay Moravian Church, Sister Bay
July 13, 7:00 pm: Music/Wine-pairing concert—Björklunden, Baileys Harbor
July 14, 5:00 pm: Music/Wine-pairing concert—Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
Bach to the Future
Selections from The Musical Offering, BWV 1079 Johann Sebastian Bach
Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140 [Will Healy, arr.] Johann Sebastian Bach
Root Position (MM Commission, 2023/2024) Will Healy
Selections Featuring Will Healy and George Meyer
July 18, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 19, 7:00 pm: Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church, Ellison Bay
July 21, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Grieg Piano Concerto and Jeannie Yu
Crisantemi Giacomo Puccini
Quartet in G Minor, Op. 14 (1860) Emilie Mayer
Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16 [Per Tengstrand, arr.] Edvard Grieg
July 20, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
July 25, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 26, 5:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
July 27, 7:00 pm: Muse, Sturgeon Bay
Bruch and Brahms
Quartet in D Major, Op. 11, No. 1 (1795) Adalbert Gyrowetz
Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. Posthumous (1918) Max Bruch
Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 111 Johannes Brahms
July 28, 5:00 pm: Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
August 2, 7:00 pm: Courtney/Reschka Salon Concert with Grand Reception, Sister Bay
August 3, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
August 4, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Romance and Rapture
Obsidian, rippled, moonlight, gleams (2019) Sakari Dixon Vanderveer
Quintet No. 2 in C Major, Op. 124 Mélanie Bonis
Sextet in C Major, Op. 37 (1935) Ernst von Dohnányi
August 27, 7:00 pm: Birch Creek Music Performance Center, Egg Harbor
August 28, 7:00 pm: Björklunden, Baileys Harbor
August 31, 3:00 pm: The Clearing Folk School, Ellison Bay
Beethoven Septet
Sextet (1898) John Ireland
Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20 Ludwig van Beethoven
August 29, 5:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
August 30, 7:00 pm: Sister Bay Moravian Church, Sister Bay
September 1, 5:00 pm: Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
David Perry, Jeannie Yu: Chausson Concerto!
Quintet in F Major (1905) Théodore Dubois
Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, Op. 21 Ernest Chausson
August 25, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
September 2, 3:00 pm: Labor Day Gala, Björklunden, Baileys Harbor
Coffee Talks: Free, engaging, informal lectures on music topics by Midsummer’s Music ensemble members, staff, and friends.
June 14, 10:00am, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim: The Healing Power of Sound with Maja Jurisic, MD
July 11, 1:00pm, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim: Impressionism and Depression: Music and Society in France 1870–1914 with Peter Conroy, PhD
July 19, 1:00pm, Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church, Ellison Bay: J.S. Bach Reimagined: Generations of Transcriptions with Will Healy, Composer-in-Residence