Midsummer’s Music, Wisconsin’s oldest summer chamber music series, launches its second annual Autumn Music Fest during the first three weekends of October. Featuring the Pro Arte Quartet, the Griffon String Quartet, violinist David Perry, and pianist Jeannie Yu, the six concerts will be held in various Door County venues.
Autumn Music Fest’s opening weekend spotlights UW–Madison’s esteemed string quartet, the Pro Arte Quartet, performing works by Joseph Haydn and Franz Schubert, and special guest emcee John Clare, host of Symphony Hall on SiriusXM.
The program, titled Schubert’s Death and the Maiden, opens with Haydn’s String Quartet in G Major, Op. 33. After a 10-year hiatus, Haydn composed a set of six string quartets, which launched a new movement genre called Scherzi (the Jokes). Mozart was so impressed that he responded by writing his own set of six pieces, which he dedicated to Haydn. The program’s eponymous title comes from the second piece—Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, “Death and the Maiden.” It has been called one of the pillars of the chamber music repertoire and was written at the time when the composer realized he was dying. The quartet first played in 1826 in a private home, yet it was not published until three years after Schubert’s death.
Pro Art Quartet musicians are violinists David Perry and Suzanne Beia, violist Sally Chisholm, and cellist Parry Karp. Schubert’s Death and the Maiden will be performed at 7:00pm, October 5, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sister Bay, sponsored by Jim Jaeschke, and 3:00pm, October 6, at the Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor, sponsored by Carol & Ken Boyd in celebration of their 85th birthdays.
Ticket prices for the October 5 and 6 concerts are $39 for adults, $19 for students, and children 12 and under free when accompanied by a paying adult. Tickets can be ordered at www.midsummersmusic.com or by phone at 920-854-7088.
The complete Autumn Music Fest calendar can be viewed at www.midsummersmusic.com.
Autumn Music Fest – running October 5 through October 20 – features six concerts with world-class musicians, drawing on the extraordinary talent of artists from Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, Des Moines Metro Opera, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Lincoln Center Auditorium, China National Symphony, the Apollo Music Festival, and the Ravinia Festival, among others. Additional concerts in the series include performances by the Griffon String Quartet, an affiliate of Midsummer’s Music, and violinist David Perry with pianist Jeannie Yu.
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.
High-resolution photos can be downloaded at https://www.midsummersmusic.com/photos/.
Pro Arte Quartet (credit Rick Langer): https://www.midsummersmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/paq-8bit16_choice.jpg
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For calendar listings:
Autumn Music Fest, October 5 to October 20
Schubert’s Death and the Maiden
Pro Arte Quartet
String Quartet in G Major, Op. 33, No. 5, Hob.III:41, “How do you do?” • Joseph Haydn
String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, D. 810, “Death and the Maiden” • Franz Schubert
October 5, 7:00pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
October 6, 3:00pm: Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
Haydn and Ginastera’s Haunted Ride
Griffon String Quartet
String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 74, No. 3 “Rider” • Joseph Haydn
Ritornello • Caroline Shaw
String Quartet No. 1 • Alberto Ginastera
October 12, 7:00pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
October 13, 3:00pm: Muse, Sturgeon Bay
Brahms and Beethoven
David Perry, violin, and Jeannie Yu, Piano
Violin Sonata in G Major, No. 1 • Johannes Brahms
Midsummer Moon • Rebecca Clarke
Piano Sonata No. 20 in G Major, Op. 49, No. 2 • Ludwig van Beethoven
October 19, 7:00pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
October 20, 3:00pm: Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor