Hailed for “superb playing, palpable chemistry, spirit, and emotional connection,” Midsummer Music’s quartet in residence, the Griffon String Quartet, will perform three free community concerts featuring contemporary Uruguayan composer Miguel Del Aguila, Polish female composer Grażyna Bacewicz, and the great Czech composer Antonín Dvořák.
According to CD Hotlist, “Miguel del Aguila’s chamber music is that rarest of things: unmistakably modern music built around a core of fundamental grace.” His catalog of works includes opera, orchestral, choral, solo, and chamber works, as well as incidental music for theater and film. Humorous, ironic, and sometimes mocking of Latin dance, Presto II – beginning in the style of 1920’s jazz – has fun with the form and protocol of the classical string quartet tradition.
Bacewicz’ String Quartet No. 4 – written in 1951 – is neoclassical in style, with influences of Polish folk music combined, at times, with Spanish-style music. It won first prize at the Concours International pour Quatuor à Cordes in Liège, Belgium, and received a lot of press coverage, earning Bacewicz the Polish State Award of 2nd Degree.
The Griffon welcomes acclaimed pianist Rie Tanaka to join the ensemble for Dvořák’s Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81, which, according to earsense.org, “… occupies a lofty place in the chamber music canon shared perhaps only by two other works for the same ensemble from Schumann and Brahms. All three works feature the mighty sounds of a string quartet paired with a grand piano, a sonic grandeur matched only by the magnificent scale and span of these mountainous masterworks, epic in their expressiveness.”
Along with Tanaka, Griffon String Quartet musicians for the performances are Roy Meyer and Alex Norris, violins, Clara Qiyun Zhao, guest viola, and Jesse Nummelin, cello.
The first concert is at 7:00pm on May 24 at the Art Garage in Green Bay. The second concert is at 7:00pm on May 25 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sister Bay. The third concert is at 3:00pm on May 26 at the Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor. Free tickets are available through Midsummer Music’s website – midsummersmusic.com – or by calling 920-854-7088 during business hours.
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. GSQ enriches the lives of children and adults throughout northeast Wisconsin through concerts, workshops, and music education outreach. The extraordinary musicians, who have performed with orchestras and ensembles around the globe, 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 professional experience, both as educators and performers, and they have 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.
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 (Midsummer Music’s 2024 Summer Concert Schedule):
Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Magic
Phantasie Trio Alice Verne-Bredt
Quartet No. 2 in E-flat Major, K. 493 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sextet in D Major, Op. 110 Felix Mendelssohn
June 13, 7:00 pm: Opening Night Gala, Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor; special guest emcee Norman Gilliland
June 15, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
June 16, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
June 18, 7:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
David Perry Leads Mendelssohn Octet—and More!
Octet in C Minor, Op. 15a (1850) Woldemar Bargiel
Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20 Felix Mendelssohn
June 19, 7:00 pm: Björklunden, Baileys Harbor
June 21, 7:00 pm: Sister Bay Moravian Church, Sister Bay
June 23, 5:00 pm: Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
June 27, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
Dvořák and Brahms
Quintet No. 1 in A Major, Op. 5 Antonín Dvořák
Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34 Johannes Brahms
June 22, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
June 28, 7:00 pm: Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church, Ellison Bay
June 29, 7:00 pm: Wilson/Beck Residence Dinner Concert, Fish Creek
June 30, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Beethoven, Haydn, and Schumann: Fairy Tales and Ghosts
Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tales), Op. 132 Robert Schumann
Trio in C Major, Hob. XV:27 Franz Josef Haydn
Trio No. 5 in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 (“Ghost”) Ludwig van Beethoven
July 5, 7:00 pm: Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church, Ellison Bay
July 6, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 7, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Bastille Day Celebration: Join the party at each concert!
Suite en parties, Op. 91 (1927) Vincent d’Indy
Suite Basque, Op. 6 (1901) Charles Bordes
Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10 Claude Debussy
July 11, 7:00 pm: Music/Wine-paring concert—Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 12, 7:00 pm: Sister Bay Moravian Church, Sister Bay
July 13, 7:00 pm: Music/Wine-pairing concert—Björklunden, Baileys Harbor
July 14, 5:00 pm: Music/Wine-pairing concert—Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
Bach to the Future
Selections from The Musical Offering, BWV 1079 Johann Sebastian Bach
Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140 [Will Healy, arr.] Johann Sebastian Bach
Root Position (MM Commission, 2023/2024) Will Healy
Selections Featuring Will Healy and George Meyer
July 18, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 19, 7:00 pm: Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church, Ellison Bay
July 21, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Grieg Piano Concerto and Jeannie Yu
Crisantemi Giacomo Puccini
Quartet in G Minor, Op. 14 (1860) Emilie Mayer
Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16 [Per Tengstrand, arr.] Edvard Grieg
July 20, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
July 25, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 26, 5:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
July 27, 7:00 pm: Muse, Sturgeon Bay
Bruch and Brahms
Quartet in D Major, Op. 11, No. 1 (1795) Adalbert Gyrowetz
Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. Posthumous (1918) Max Bruch
Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 111 Johannes Brahms
July 28, 5:00 pm: Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
August 2, 7:00 pm: Courtney/Reschka Salon Concert with Grand Reception, Sister Bay
August 3, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
August 4, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
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