When Midsummer’s Music begins its 24th season on Friday night at Birch Creek with a spectacular opening Gala, its “French Ambiance” program preceded by a champagne toast will be just a hint at the “Feast for the Senses” that will follow. “Twenty-four concerts for our twenty-fourth season,” said Terese Boeck, Marketing Manager for Midsummer’s Music. “We have something for everyone,” she continued, “from restaurant concerts, concerts in homes, galleries, and museums, to a grand celebration at the Ellison Bay Manor on July 6th, Wisconsin’s largest private residence – it’s a month-long party.”
The six different programs that comprise the festival’s June-July residency include works of Brahms, Mozart, Schubert, St. Saens, and Richard Strauss, plus a few relatively unknown discoveries that are sure to please. “Our concerts are casual and comfortable, but the main thing is, they are captivating,” said Jim Berkenstock, Artistic Director of Midsummer’s Music. “We aim to deliver stunningly riveting performances. We work really hard to offer the very best, but we want everyone to relax and enjoy the experience and get into the passion and emotion of the music with us,” he continued. Berkenstock offers casual commentary before each work and an inviting reception is always included following the performance in which audience members can visit with each other and converse with the musicians in the ensemble.
Midsummer’s Music includes world-class musicians from top-flight professional groups across the Midwest. Players from the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Chicago Philharmonic, the Pro Arte Quartet from UW Madison, and artist faculty from major Midwest universities make up the 16 -member ensemble of winds, strings, and piano. “We are like the Door County weather – ever changing,” said Executive Director, Mark Kunstman. “We may be winds and piano on one work and then strings, winds, and piano on the next, but we are constantly changing. It makes for a varied and enchanting evening because no two works call for the same combination.” Midsummer’s Music will present 18 different works for various groupings from June 13 through July 15, and another six works in two different programs from August 26th to September 1.
Those interested are encouraged to make arrangements soon because many concerts sell out due to limited seating and the intimate nature of the various venues where audience members sit in close proximity to the performers. Please call 920-854-7088.