Funds support the quartet’s work with marginalized communities in interactive programs.
Midsummer’s Music’s resident string quartet, the Griffon String Quartet, received its second generous grant from Project: Music Heals Us to support its work with marginalized residents in Door County. The award targets those who may not have access to live performances due to their home life, health care needs, economic needs, or physical location. Drawing from the quartet’s B Double Sharp program – where the ensemble presents miniconcerts for the aging or disabled, as well as their caregivers – the Griffon will use the funds to enhance its outreach opportunities.
For several years, the Griffon has presented virtual solo concerts for Scandia Village patients in Sister Bay via a two-way video that provides the musicians and viewers the opportunity to interact. Each weekly concert ranges from 30 to 90 minutes. The musicians have reported positive results, including a patient who had been experiencing weather-related pains saying how much the music brightened and improved her day, and that patients clapped, sang, and smiled during the performances.
With the new Project: Music Heals Us grant, the Griffon will expand its outreach to include clients of Unity Hospice, which provides specialized medical care, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support during the last months of life. The music performances will help fulfill Unity Hospice’s goal of supporting its clients’ highest quality of life possible for the time remaining.
Midsummer’s Music Executive Director Allyson Fleck said, “The Griffon’s mission is ‘Captivating every generation, bringing music to our complete community, and to educate, enrich, and excite.’ So, this exemplifies our mission that it’s every generation. Yes, we do focus on the young, but we also focus on our seniors. Music is important at any stage of life, and we’re finding that it is difficult in our rural communities for patients to experience art and culture one-on-one. A Scandia program director was so enthralled that she told one of our musicians that the miniconcerts change the residents’ lives.”
Fleck added, “The caregivers are excited, because it inspires them with a new, fresh idea concept that gives their clients time not to think about their medicine or their doctor. The patients are engaged, and they are talking to our quartet members, who say to themselves that they’re having a wonderful time. The Griffon musicians are young professionals, and here they are working with seniors, and that connection brings the best to both generations. Studies show that music is not only the first ‘latch-on’ in our lives, but it’s also one of the last. Music is a very cognitive, functional way to communicate, so when somebody’s language is no longer there, they can still sing a tune or hum it. Research says this is exactly the right approach not only for seniors but also for shut-ins.”
Project: Music Heals Us is a nonprofit organization that exists to provide encouragement, education, and healing through bringing high-quality live music performances and interactive programming to marginalized communities with limited ability to access it themselves—with a focus on the elderly, disabled, rehabilitating, incarcerated, and homeless populations. Since 2014, Project: Music Heals Us has presented over 3,000 free concerts and workshops in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice centers, retirement homes, food pantries, centers for individuals with disabilities, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and refugee centers.
One of the most vibrant and engaging quartets of its generation, the Griffon String Quartet was formed in the fall of 2018 as a collaboration led by Midsummer’s Music. The quartet enriches the lives of children and adults throughout northeast Wisconsin through concerts, workshops, and music education outreach. Musicians include violinists Roy Meyer and Alex Norris, cellist Jesse Nummelin, and guest violists. Extraordinary musicians who have performed with orchestras and ensembles around the globe 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.
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For Calendar Listings:
Gather with the Griffon
“Gather with the Griffon” miniconcerts are designed for midday audiences. B Double Sharp programs engage the mind and spirit through music and conversation. Program TBD. Roy Meyer and Alex Norris, Violins, Oryann Tsaig, Viola, Jesse Nummelin, Cello. This is not a ticketed event.
December 14, 12:00pm: First Presbyterian Church, Green Bay
Griffon String Quartet Holiday Concert
Holiday Selections
String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135 – Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 13 in G Major, Op. 106 – Antonín Dvořák
Roy Meyer & Alex Norris, Violins; Oryann Tsaig, Viola; Jesse Nummelin, Cello
Tickets for this concert are free but can be reserved at midsummersmusic.com or by calling 920-854-7088 during business hours. We ask that you pay what you can.
December 14, 5:00 pm: Art Garage, Green Bay
December 15, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
December 16, 3:00 pm: Belgian Heritage Center, Brussels
December 17, 3:00 pm: Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor