Pairing well known composers with more obscure composers, composers of color, and women composers is a Midsummer’s Music hallmark.
Midsummer’s Music is a leader among chamber music organizations in presenting works by lesser-known composers – especially composers of color and women composers – often alongside household names like Beethoven and Mozart. With its Brahms in the Spotlight program, audiences will be treated to all three: a contemporary woman composer of color, a relatively unfamiliar 18th century composer, and the renowned Johannes Brahms.
“One of my finest works,” is what Brahms said to Clara Schumann about his String Quintet in F Major, Op. 88, for two violins, two violas, and a cello, a piece dating from 1882 when Brahms was 49. He wrote “in the spring of 1882” by each movement, which is why the work is also known as “Spring.” The nickname also applies to the fresh and colorful mood of the music.
Brahms was the inspiration for Sir Arthur Somervell’s masterful Clarinet Quintet in G Major. While most of Somervell’s compositions were for voice, this chamber piece from 1913 is now considered an extraordinarily fine work; however, when it finally premiered in 1919, its Romantic style was already out of fashion, and it was nearly lost to the ages.
Brahms’ and Somervell’s two works are preceded by the hauntingly beautiful, African American Spiritual-inspired Movements for String Quartet by Nkeiru Okoye, a young American composer of Nigerian ancestry. Okoye is described as an “activist through the arts,” who creates works that affirm traditional and new audiences. Of her many styles of music, she is most known for her accessible classical music with African American and West African influences.
Brahms in the Spotlight program musicians are JJ Koh, clarinet; David Perry and Ann Palen, violins; Christopher Dozoryst and Allyson Fleck, violas; and Paula Kosower, cello.
Performances are 7:00pm, July 6, at Egg Harbor’s Kress Pavilion, sponsored by Mike & Susan Stoehr; 7:00pm, July 7, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Ephraim, sponsored by Barbara Gould; 7:00pm, July 8, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sister Bay; and 5:00pm, July 9, at Woodwalk Gallery in Egg Harbor, sponsored by Susan DeWitt Davie.
A complete 2023 summer brochure can be downloaded at www.midsummersmusic.com.
Tickets are $38 for adults, $17 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. Tickets can be ordered 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/.
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For Calendar Listings:
Women to be Heard
Musica Larga Ilse Fromm-Michaels
Quartet in E-flat Major Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
String Quintet in A Minor, Op. 7 Johanna Müller-Hermann
June 22, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
June 23, 7:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
June 24, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
June 25, 5:00 pm: Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
Remembering Rachmaninoff, Remembering Tchaikovsky
Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11, “Accordion” Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
Trio élégiaque No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 9, “In Memory of a Great Artist” Sergei Rachmaninoff
June 29, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
June 30, 7:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
July 1, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
July 2, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Brahms in the Spotlight
Movements for String Quartet Nkeiru Okoye
Quintet in G Major Sir Arthur Somervell
String Quintet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 88, “Spring” Johannes Brahms
July 6, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 7, 7:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
July 8, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
July 9, 5:00 pm: Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
Eric Lewis Meets Will Healy
Door County favorite Eric Lewis joins forces with Midsummer’s own Composer-in-Residence Will Healy to create a truly one-of-a-kind program. Being presented only twice, you do not want to miss a single note of this incredible collaboration, including a world premiere by Will!
July 13, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 14, 7:00 pm: Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church, Ellison Bay
Emperor Concerto & Jeannie Yu
Quartet in D Major, Op. 8 Bernhard Henrik Crusell
Symphony No. 95 in C Minor (Salomon arr.) Joseph Haydn
Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73, “Emperor” (Lachner arr.) Ludwig van Beethoven
July 15, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
July 16, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
July 19, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 21, 7:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
Haydn (Michael) & Mendelssohn
String Quintet in C Major, P. 108 Michael Haydn
Phantasy Quartet Ernest John Moeran
Quintet No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 87 Felix Mendelssohn
July 20, 7:00 pm: Old Gibraltar Town Hall, Fish Creek
July 22, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
July 23, 5:00 pm: Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
July 26, 7:00 pm: Sister Bay Moravian Church, Sister Bay
Schubert Trio
Piano Trio No. 2 Dmytro Klebanov
Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat, D. 898 Franz Schubert
July 27, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 28, 7:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
July 29, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
July 30, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
19th Century French Rapture
Quintet in C Minor, Op. 42 Louis Vierne
Quintet No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 7 Charles-Marie Widor
August 23, 7:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
August 24, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
August 25, 7:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
August 26, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
Splendid Stories
Four Two-Bit Contraptions Jan Bach
En Saga, Op. 9 (Gregory Barrett arr.) Jean Sibelius
Quintet in G Major, Op. 77 Antonín Dvořák
August 27, 5:00 pm: Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
August 29, 7:00 pm: Björklunden, Baileys Harbor
August 30, 7:00 pm: Mutchler Residence Salon Concert, Sturgeon Bay
August 31, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
September 3, 3:00 pm: The Clearing Folk School, Ellison Bay
Celebratory Fireworks!
Piano Quartet in D Minor, Op. 25 Dora Pejacevic
Café Music Paul Schoenfeld
Piano Quartet in C Minor, Op. 13 Richard Strauss
September 1, 7:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
September 2, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
September 4, 3:00 pm: Labor Day Gala, Björklunden, Baileys Harbor