Greetings! And welcome to our new Midsummer’s Season for 2022. Around 2006, I began writing a weekly column for the Door County Advocate, which usually appeared in Key to the Door. That continued for about 10 years and resulted in over 130 columns. Starting with this message, I am going to resurrect that dormant practice in this space to give a little behind-the-scenes information and some stories about what’s coming up this season. Not so much program notes, but program gossip. I hope this will add to your enjoyment of the concerts and perhaps entice you to attend and tell your friends.

This season, we are exploring some important birthdays of composers. Some of those composers are well known (Schubert is 225 this year and Cesar Franck is 200) but some are not so well known … like Joachim Raff and Friedrich Kiel, both of whom are also 200. Raff absolutely wowed audiences at the end of last season with his piano quartet. We are opening this season with that work’s sister composition—another stunner that will feature Jeannie Yu in all her glory!

In addition to these composers and some of their very best works, we have some great music by Mozart, Dvorak, Weber, and Vaughan Williams. But we are also exploring the music of four female composers, two composers of color, and an important Ukrainian composer. Plus, we have a new work by our Composer-in-Residence, Will Healy: a Trio for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano. Will’s piece is sandwiched in between two works by Mozart. Will is about the same age as Mozart was when he wrote his pieces, and Will will play the piano on his own piece just like Mozart would have. All these composers have stories to tell and important and moving things to say musically. So, I hope you will stay tuned as we delve into what’s in store for you in the coming months.

We are also paying tribute with commemorative concerts to several of our recently departed and beloved supporters. We will begin with a celebration of the life of Karl Klug, a long-time board member and significant supporter, at our Opening Night Gala on June 9th at the Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor. It all starts soon, so please check out our full schedule in our brochure or on our website, and I’ll try to provide some background and inside baseball on all the special features of the season so you won’t miss a trick. We look forward to seeing you soon and to welcoming you with some gloriously exciting and moving music. It’s been too long, and we’re ready to boogey. Please join us.

Warmest regards,

Jim