The Midsummer’s Music resident string quartet to be featured at the September 21 night market
The acclaimed Griffon String Quartet will open their second full season as the Midsummer’s Music resident ensemble with a free performance at Green Bay’s igNight Market on Saturday, September 21, at 7:30pm. Hailed for their “superb playing, palpable chemistry, spirit, and emotional connection,” the Griffon String Quartet will perform previews of pieces they will perform during the season which runs through May 2020, including a selection of movements from Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110.
Presented by Fox Communities Credit Union, the traveling night market series features local artisans and makers, interactive live art demonstrations, original live music from local and national touring performers, life-size games, and food and drink. The September 21 event, to be held from 5:00pm to 10:00pm at 200 N Pearl St. – in the lot behind Beernsten’s Candies in Green Bay – is the final igNight Market this year.
One of the most vibrant and engaging quartets of their generation, the Griffon String Quartet was formed in the fall of 2018 as a collaboration between Midsummer’s Music, the Fine Arts Institute at East High in Green Bay, and St. Norbert College in De Pere. The GSQ is a groundbreaking project to enrich the lives of children and adults throughout Northeast Wisconsin through concerts, workshops, and music education outreach. Members of the Quartet include violinists Roy Meyer and Vinicius Sant’Ana, violist Blakeley Menghini, and cellist Ryan Louie. Extraordinary musicians who have performed with orchestras and ensembles around the globe in the finest halls from Carnegie Hall and Brazil’s Teatro Municipal de São Paulo to Japan’s Suntory Hall, and won prestigious music competitions and awards, they 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, and 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.