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 Grieg Piano Concerto program, audiences will hear a thrilling quartet by a relatively obscure female composer, backed up by sumptuous works from Giacomo Puccini and Edvard Grieg with virtuosa pianist Jeannie Yu.
After her triumphant performances last season of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, Yu returns this season to offer Grieg’s magnificent romantic treasure in a stunningly beautiful arrangement with string quartet. Puccini’s hauntingly beautiful Crisantemi opens the program, followed by Emilie Mayer’s G Minor String Quartet. Of the seven quartets she wrote during the Romantic period, it is the only one published in her lifetime. Her introduction of a Bach Chorale melody into the slow movement is spine-tingling and will make concertgoers crave more from her.
In addition to Yu, musicians on the Grieg Piano Concerto program are violinists David Perry, Dawn Wohn, and Sahada Buckley, violist Allyson Fleck, and cellist Paula Kosower.
Concerts are July 20 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sister Bay, sponsored by Kaye Rogers-Ketterling in memory of Marvin Ketterling; July 25 at the Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor, sponsored by Carmen & Gene Witt; July 26 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Ephraim, sponsored by Barbara Gould; and July 27 at Muse in Sturgeon Bay, sponsored by the Anne & Richard Egan Charitable Fund and featuring Door County artist Angela Lensch. All four concerts are at 7:00pm. The Women’s Fund of Door County is a supporting sponsor for the program. The 2024 concert series is sponsored by the Jean Berkenstock Family Fund and the Susan DeWitt Davie Legacy Fund, and the season is dedicated to the memory of Jean Berkenstock.
A complete 2024 summer brochure can be downloaded at www.midsummersmusic.com.
Tickets are $39 for adults, $19 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. Order tickets 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.
Jeannie Yu (credit Heidi Hodges): https://midsummersmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Jeannie-Yu-Piano.jpg
Other high-resolution photos can be downloaded at https://www.midsummersmusic.com/photos/.
####
For Calendar Listings:
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 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
Coffee Talks: Free, engaging, informal lectures on music topics by Midsummer’s Music ensemble members, staff, and friends.
July 19, 1:00pm, Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church, Ellison Bay: J.S. Bach Reimagined: Generations of Transcriptions with Will Healy, Composer-in-Residence