Midsummer’s Music concludes its impressive 2024 summer concert series with three exhilarating programs consisting of eight thrilling concerts over nine days starting August 25. Highly regarded for mixing well-known composers with a diverse assortment of composers from various walks of life, Midsummer’s Artistic Director Jim Berkenstock promises an imaginative and enthralling concert series.
Program 1 – Romance and Rapture: “The Romance and Rapture program is inspiring, heart-rending, vivacious, captivating, and life-affirming,” says Berkenstock. “Sakari Vanderveer is one of the leading female black composers of our time and an inspiring leader in bringing young children to embrace playing string instruments. French female artist Mélanie Bonis fought great odds to become one of France’s esteemed composers. Iconic 19th century Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer Ernst von Dohnányi fled the Nazis and then the communists before emigrating to the U.S.” The program is performed on August 27 at Birch Creek in Egg Harbor, August 28 at Björklunden in Baileys Harbor, and August 31 at The Clearing Folk School in Ellison Bay.
Program 2 – Beethoven Septet: Ludwig van Beethoven wrote his Septet as a prototype for the nine symphonies that followed, and it became his most popular piece during his lifetime. John Ireland’s Sextet – probably inspired by Beethoven’s Septet – for clarinet, horn, and strings is a colorful and dramatic masterpiece of romantic English charm. The program is performed on August 29 at the Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor, August 30 at Sister Bay Moravian Church in Sister Bay, and September 1 at Woodwalk Gallery in Egg Harbor.
Program 3 – David Perry, Jeannie Yu—Chausson Concerto!: Chausson’s Concerto is a surging and impulsive masterwork, considered one of chamber music’s most dramatic and rapturous pieces. It is a unique work, orchestral in concept and monumental in scope. Théodore Dubois’s Quintet opens the program, setting the tone with gaiety and élan. The program is performed on August 25 at Hope United Church of Christ in Sturgeon Bay and September 2 at Midsummer Music’s annual Labor Day Gala at Björklunden in Baileys Harbor.
Series musicians are Lindsay Flowers, oboe; JJ Koh, clarinet; Fritz Foss, horn; Jeannie Yu, piano; David Perry, Ann Palen, and Dawn Wohn, violins; Sally Chisholm and Allyson Fleck, violas, Cole Randolph, cello; and Jeremy Attanaseo, bass.
The 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 the Labor Day Gala and other 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.
Ensemble (credit Dan Eggert): https://www.midsummersmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/midsummers-music-opener-2024-kress-56-scaled.jpg
Other high-resolution photos can be downloaded at https://www.midsummersmusic.com/photos/.
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For Calendar Listings:
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
“Under the Harvest Moon” with Eric Lewis and the Griffon String Quartet
Song selections will be autumn-themed, along with pieces from the Beneath the Waves CD by Eric Lewis and the Griffon String Quartet
September 13, 7:00 pm: Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
September 14, 3:00 pm: Trueblood Performing Arts Center, Washington Island
September 15, 7:00 pm: Tarleton Threatre, Green Bay