A Renaissance Outreach from Midsummer’s Music Festival

Two of the musicians from the Chicago Early Music Consort will be giving five demonstrations of Renaissance period instruments to students at Door County area schools and in Green Bay. The consort will be in Door County for “A Renaissance Christmas” concert series on December 11, 12 and 13.

Midsummer’s Music Festival, the organization that sponsors the series, includes community outreach in their mission statement. Executive Director, Kathleen Pearson, explains, “Midsummer’s Music has long presented outreach programs to educate and entertain adults and youth. It is through the cooperation and commitment of the Chicago Early Music Consort that we have expanded our community outreach program to this time of year.”

Last year, Dr. Phillip Serna, the Consort’s viol musician, gave a demonstration at Gibraltar to the middle and high school band and choral students. His presentation, “Viols in our Schools” was well received by the students, and this year Dr. Serna will be giving four demonstrations as part of Midsummer’s Music Festival’s community outreach. Serna started the presentations on Thursday, Dec. 10 at Washington Middle School/ Green Bay East High School, and on Friday, Dec. 11 he will be giving three demonstrations for the fourth through sixth grade students at Sevastopol.

“I always look at the speaking as being part of the performance. The most important thing we do should always be to infect the students with a sense of enthusiasm about our instruments and its literature,” says Serna.

The fifth presentation will be at Gibraltar on Friday, December 11 by Gary Berkenstock, Artistic Director and Founder of the Chicago Early Music Consort. Berkenstock will be demonstrating five Renaissance woodwind instrument families: the recorder, crumhorn, rackett, shawm, and dulcian.

Berkenstock explains, “Most students are intrigued by something so different from their own experiences. Since these are all band students, they should be able to relate to the origin of some of their modern day instruments.”

The students are all encouraged to attend “A Renaissance Christmas” concerts with their families on either Saturday, December 12 at Shepherd of the Bay at 7 pm, or on Sunday, December 13 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Ephraim at 2 pm. There is no charge for youth 17 and under, tickets for adults are $20. To learn more about the upcoming concerts, call 920.854.7088 or visit http://www.midsummerSmusic.com.