Midsummer Music’s affiliate, the Griffon String Quartet, will perform three exhilarating March concerts featuring classical music spanning 126 years, with works by Franz Joseph Haydn, Germaine Tailleferre, and Erwin Schulhoff.
Composed in 1793, Haydn’s String Quartet in C Major, Op. 74, No. 1 – along with his Op. 71 – achieved a groundbreaking distinction in the history of chamber music by being the first quartets written for performance in a public concert hall rather than an aristocrat’s private palace.
French composer Tailleferre wrote her string quartet in 1918 over a creative, two-year period. Subsequently, she was invited to join a group of composers known as Les Six who pushed the boundaries of music beyond Impressionism and Wagnerism.
Schulhoff, an Austro-Czech composer, was conscripted into the Austrian army and spent World War I on the Italian front. In 1919, he wrote his String Quartet in G Major, Op. 25, in Cologne, Germany, during a leave from the front. It has been described as a blend of late Romanticism and Impressionism.
Concerts will be at 5:00pm, March 7, at Hope United Church of Christ in Sturgeon Bay; 3:00pm, March 8, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Green Bay; and at 3:00pm, March 9, at the Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor. Admission is free, and tickets can be reserved at midsummersmusic.com or by calling (920) 854-7088. Donations will be accepted at the door. Griffon String Quartet musicians will be Roy Meyer and Alex Norris, violins, Oryann Tsaig, viola, and Jesse Nummelin, cello.
Programs are funded in part by grants from the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation, Destination Door County, the Wisconsin Arts Board, and Wisconsin Public Service.
One of the most vibrant and engaging quartets of its generation, the Griffon String Quartet was formed in the fall of 2018 as a collaboration led by Midsummer’s Music. The quartet enriches the lives of children and adults throughout northeast Wisconsin through concerts, workshops, and music education outreach. Members of the Quartet include violinists Roy Meyer and Alex Norris, violist Oryann Tsaig, and cellist Jesse Nummelin. Extraordinary professionals who have performed with orchestras and ensembles in the finest halls around the globe 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 experience 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.
A high-resolution Griffon String Quartet photo can be downloaded at:
https://www.midsummersmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/griffon-string-quartet-253.jpg
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For Calendar Listings:
Name: Gather with the Griffon
Description: The miniconcerts are designed for midday audiences. B Double Sharp programs engage the mind and spirit through music and conversation. Programs in Green Bay are funded in part by grants from the Green Bay Packers Foundation and the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation.
Dates/Times/Locations:
February 25, 2025, 1:00pm, MUSE, 330 Jefferson St., Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235
March 20, 2025, 12:00pm, First Presbyterian Church, 200 S Ashland Ave., Green Bay, WI 54303
April 17, 2025, 12:00pm, First Presbyterian Church, 200 S Ashland Ave., Green Bay, WI 54303
April 24, 2025, 1:00pm, Country View Farm, 3200 County Rd. EE, Baileys Harbor, WI 54202
May 15, 2025, 12:00pm, First Presbyterian Church, 200 S Ashland Ave., Green Bay, WI 54303
Griffon String Quartet Spring Concerts
Description: The Griffon String Quartet performs its spring 2025 concert. String Quartet in C Major, Op. 74, No. 1 • Franz Joseph Hadyn; String Quartet • Germaine Tailleferre; String Quartet No. 0 in G Major, Op. 25 • Erwin Schulhoff. Roy Meyer & Alex Norris, Violins; Oryann Tsaig, Viola; Jesse Nummelin, Cello. Admission is free. Donations will be accepted.
Dates/Times/Locations:
March 7, 7:00pm, Hope United Church of Christ, 141 S 12th Ave., Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235
March 8, 3:00pm, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1313 Main St., Green Bay, WI 54302
March 9, 3:00pm, Kress Pavilion, 7845 Church St., Egg Harbor, WI 54209