Midsummer’s Music Festival kicks off with a Gala Opening Night concert event on Friday, June 13 at the Birch Creek Music Performance Center in Egg Harbor. A 7 p.m. prelude concert will be performed again this year by students of the Door County String Academy. Special guest, Joel Kersebet, of Base Camp Coffee Shop in Sister Bay, will share reflections of his life in Brittany, France. He will then open the Festival Season with a Champagne Toast.
The “main course” for the evening will feature the world-class musicians of Midsummer’s Music in a program entitled “French Ambiance.” Members of the ensemble include performers from the Pro Arte Quartet, the Lyric Opera of Chicago orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony, and the Chicago Philharmonic. Two members, David Perry, violin, and Sally Chisholm, viola, have just returned from a triumphant European tour with the Pro Arte Quartet from UW Madison.
The Midsummer’s Music Festival, now in its 24th season, presents classical chamber music by world class musicians in outstanding and unique venues throughout Door County, including private homes, art galleries and churches.
Jim Berkenstock, co-founder of the festival, “couldn’t be more excited over the programs we have put together for this summer. At least eighteen of the works are new discoveries, but they include fantastic works by Mozart, Mendelssohn, Richard Strauss, Max Bruch, and many more. I know my fellow-musicians are eager to dive into this treasure trove of musical gems.”
Tickets for the opening night gala are $60. Advance reservations are required. There will be two encore performances of this first program of the season – one on June 14 at Björklunden in Bailey’s Harbor and Sunday, June 15 at the Sister Bay Moravian Church.