A match made in heaven!
Midsummer’s Music earns high praises for presenting works by lesser-known composers – especially composers of color and women composers – often alongside household names like Bach and Mozart. With its Emperor Concerto & Jeannie Yu program, audiences will hear one exhilarating quartet by a relatively obscure composer, backed up by sumptuous works from Beethoven and Haydn with virtuosos pianist Jeannie Yu and flutist Heather Zinninger.
Yu masterfully takes on Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, which dates from May 1809, when Napoleon’s army was besieging Vienna, along with the Austrian Imperial family and all of the court. Beethoven, like many Viennese, sheltered underground. After the Austrian forces surrendered, Beethoven departed the city and resumed composing, producing two back-to-back masterpieces, including his Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73, also known as “Emperor,” due to its imperious grandeur.
Austrian composer Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 94 in G Minor – more commonly called the “Surprise Symphony” – is so nicknamed for the “surprise,” a startlingly loud chord that interrupts the otherwise soft, gentle flow of its second movement. The “surprise” was not part of the original score, and Haydn added it on a whim for its London premiere in 1792. Colorful anecdotes offer speculations on the origin of the surprise, with one of the most popular being to awaken a drowsy patron during the concert. Zinninger is featured in the chamber version of the piece, as well as the next work.
Nearly all of Finnish-Swedish composer Bernhard Henrik Crusell’s compositions include the clarinet; however, his Quartet in D Minor, Op. 8, is an arrangement he wrote for flute and strings of his third Clarinet Quartet at the request an important French diplomat. Throughout the 19th century, it was a very popular Romantic piece and was performed quite frequently.
In addition to Yu and Zinninger, program musicians are David Perry and Sahada Buckley, violins, Allyson Fleck, viola, Mara McClain, cello, and Drew Banzhaf, bass.
Performances are 7:00pm, July 15, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sister Bay, sponsored by Roy & Betsy Gill; 5:00pm, July 16, at Hope United Church of Christ in Sturgeon Bay, in memory of James Hoehn, MD, and sponsored by Sandy Zingler; 7:00pm, July 19, at the Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor, sponsored by Elmer Lewis in memory of Ann Lewis; and 7:00pm, July 21, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Ephraim, sponsored by Arlene Johnson & Chris Weidenbacher.
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/.
Jeannie Yu: https://midsummersmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Jeannie-Yu-Piano.jpg
Heather Zinninger: https://midsummersmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/h-yarmel-7.jpg
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For Calendar Listings:
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 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