A year in the making, Beneath the Waves is a collection of instrumental tunes and songs featuring Door County, WI, favorite Eric Lewis and Midsummer Music’s resident professional ensemble, the Griffon String Quartet.
In September 2022, Memphis-based musician Eric Lewis teamed up with Midsummer Music’s resident professional ensemble, the Griffon String Quartet, to record six original tunes and songs – along with a new arrangement of a traditional fiddle tune – to craft the Beneath the Waves CD. On September 9, 2023, Midsummer’s Music proudly presents the five musicians to celebrate the release of the CD with an unforgettable concert and reception.
The project’s title is also one of the recording’s instrumental pieces, which was written following a trip to Rosemary Beach, FL, where Lewis scattered his parents’ ashes. Later, when recording an early demo in Memphis, Lewis discovered a midi patch for a virtual instrument called “Beneath the Waves.” It was clear that would be the name of the piece. And knowing the history of the famed Le Griffon shipwreck, from which the Griffon String Quartet takes its name, it only makes it more fitting that this collaboration came to fruition.
Lewis explained, “It has been a great desire of mine to collaborate with the Griffon String Quartet and Midsummer’s Music for some time now. It is a dream come true to perform this music with such high caliber musicians and to preserve it on record. The Griffon String Quartet really brings this music to life!”
The musicians are Eric Lewis, guitar and vocals; Roy Meyer and Alex Norris (Clayton Tilotson, recording), violins; Nick Jeffery, viola; and Jesse Nummelin (Jake Hannigan, recording), cello.
The September 9 concert begins at 7:00pm at Northern Sky Theater’s Gould Theater in Fish Creek, WI, and is sponsored by Jim & Jean Berkenstock, NEW Radio, Dennis & Bonnie Connolly, Todd & Sheryll Rockway, the MMG Foundation, and Wisconsin Public Radio.
Tickets, which can be purchased at midsummersmusic.com or by calling 920-854-7088, are $38 for adults, $17 for students, and children 12 and under are free with an adult. The CD can be purchased at the event and – starting September 9 – digitally through Midsummer Music’s website. The recording was made and mastered by Hans Christian at Studio 330 in Sturgeon Bay, WI.
One of the most vibrant and engaging quartets of its generation, Midsummer’s Music founded the Griffon String Quartet in the fall of 2018. The quartet enriches the lives of children and adults throughout northeast Wisconsin through concerts, workshops, and music education outreach. Griffon members are professional musicians who have performed with orchestras and ensembles in the finest halls around the globe – from Carnegie Hall and Brazil’s Teatro Municipal de São Paulo to Japan’s Suntory Hall – and have won prestigious music competitions and awards. All are equally dedicated to music education and inspiring the next generation of music lovers. They have advanced degrees and significant experience, both as educators and performers, and the ensemble has been recognized for “its 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.
For more information visit www.midsummersmusic.com.
Beneath the Waves CD cover: https://www.midsummersmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/elewisandgriffonstringquartet-01-cmyk.jpg
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For Calendar Listings:
19th Century French Rapture
Quintet in C Minor, Op. 42 Louis Vierne
Quintet No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 7 Charles-Marie Widor
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
Gather with the Griffon
A free midday miniconcert that is part of the Griffon String Quartet’s B Double Sharp programming designed for seniors to engage the mind and spirit through music and conversation.
September 7, 12:00pm: First Presbyterian Church, Green Bay
Beneath the Waves CD Release Concert and Reception
Eric Lewis and the Griffon String Quartet
September 9, 7:00pm: Gould Theater at Northern Sky Theater, Fish Creek