The Midsummer’s Music resident string quartet plays three free spring concerts.
Sister Bay, Wis. – March 4, 2022 – Hailed for their “superb playing, palpable chemistry, spirit, and emotional connection,” Midsummer’s Music’s quartet in residence, the Griffon String Quartet, announces three mid-March community outreach concerts in Northeast Wisconsin. The pay-what-you-can programs feature Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s String Quartet No. 19 in C Major and Paul Hindemith’s String Quartet No. 1 in C Major.
Mozart’s piece, nicknamed “Dissonance” due to its unusually slow introduction and daring harmonies, is the last of the “Haydn Quartets,” a set of six quartets honoring Joseph Haydn, who is generally viewed as the father of the string quartet form and a good friend to Mozart. Hindemith’s first string quartet—composed in 1914-1915—was not recognized until the mid-1990s, because it had not been published with his six other string quartets and was thought to have been lost. The technically challenging piece is very Romantic in nature, evoking thoughts of Dvořák and Brahms, oozing melody and lyricism.
The concerts begin March 18 at 5:00pm at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sister Bay, followed by March 19 at 2:00pm at the Brown County Library’s Pine St. Branch in Green Bay, and ending with a 3:00pm performance on March 20 at 3:00pm at the Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor.
Concert reservations are recommended. Free tickets are available through the Midsummer’s Music website—midsummersmusic.com—or by calling 920-854-7088 during business hours.
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 led by Midsummer’s Music. The quartet 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 Ji-Yeon Lee 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 Ukraine’s Lviv Philharmonic 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, both as educators and performers, and the ensemble has 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.
For more information visit www.midsummersmusic.com.
High-resolution photos can be downloaded at https://midsummersmusic.com/photos/.
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For Calendar Listings:
Name: Gather with the Griffon
Description: Intended for the senior members of our community, these sessions are designed to engage the mind and spirit through music and conversation. A generous grant from the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation funds a portion of the Griffon’s B Double Sharp programming to present miniconcerts for the aging or disabled, as well as their caregivers.
Dates: March 9, 2022, April 13, 2022, May 11, 2022
Time/Location: 11:30am, First Presbyterian Church, 200 S Ashland Ave., Green Bay, WI 54303
Name: Griffon String Quartet: Community Concert for Sunshine Resources
Description: The Griffon String Quartet plays for Sunshine House clients in this free community concert
Date: March 10, 2022
Time/Location: 11:00am, Sunshine Resources, 55 Yew St., Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235s
Name: Griffon String Quartet Spring Concerts
Description: Mozart’s String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K.464; Hindemith’s String Quartet No. 1 in C Major, Op. 2
Date 1: March 18, 2022
Time/Location: 5:00pm, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 2336 Canterbury Ln., Sister Bay, WI 54234
Date 2: March 19, 2022
Time/Location: 2:00pm, Brown County Library, 515 Pine St., Green Bay, WI 54301
Date 3: March 20, 2022
Time/Location: 3:00pm, Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor, WI 54209
Name: Griffon String Quartet Plays for the 88 Key Society
Description: Members of the Midsummer’s Music 88 Key Society are invited to participate in this high tea featuring cellist James Waldo.
Date: April 2, 2022
Time/Location: 2:00pm, Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor, WI 54209
Name: Griffon String Quartet Concert
Description: The Griffon String Quartet presents a special performance at St. John’s on the Lake in Milwaukee. Repertoire: Florence Price’s Five Folksongs in Counterpoint; Paul Hindemith’s String Quartet No. 1 in C Major, Op. 2
Date: April 30, 2022
Time/Location: 2:00pm, St. John’s on the Lake, 1800 N Prospect Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53202
Name: Griffon String Quartet—All Florence Price Concerts
Description: The Griffon String Quartet plays music by African American composer Florence Price.
Date 1: May 14, 2022
Time/Location: 7:00pm, Ephraim Moravian Church, 9970 Moravia St., Ephraim, WI 54212
Date 2: May 15, 2022
Time/Location: 3:00pm, SWY231, 231 N 3rd Ave., Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235
Name: Griffon String Quartet—Green Bay Rotary Banquet
Description: The Green Bay Rotary “Free Enterprise Banquet” is in its 35th year where they honor a local business or community leader. The Griffon String Quartet will perform from 5:30 – 6:30pm.
Date 1: May 16, 2022
Time/Location: 5:30pm, Green Bay Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, 3050 Airport Dr., Green Bay, WI 54313
Name: Griffon String Quartet Concerts
Description: The Griffon String Quartet 2021/2022 season end performances.
Haydn: String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 33/2 “the Joke”
Webern: Langsamer Satz
Beethoven: String Quartet No.10 in E-flat Major, Op. 74 “Harp”
Date 1: May 27, 2022
Time/Location: 7:00pm, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay, WI 54234
Date 2: May 28, 2022
Time/Location: 2:00pm, Brown County Library, 515 Pine St., Green Bay, WI 54301
Date 3: May 30, 2022
Time/Location: 3:00pm, Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor, WI 54209
Name: Griffon String Quartet Fundraising Gala
Description: A fundraising gala to benefit the Griffon String Quartet and its mission
Date 1: May 29, 2022
Time/Location: 3:00pm, Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor, WI 5