Birch Creek Announces 2024 Concerts

A previous performance at Birch Creek. Photo courtesy of Birch Creek Music Performance Center.

Tickets on sale now

Birch Creek Music Performance Center’s 2024 summer concert season will feature performances by advanced students and faculty musicians, who study and teach by day and perform by night in the historic Dutton Concert Barn.

Opening night is June 20. The inaugural performance, titled “Percussion at the Disco: I Just Want to Celebrate the 70s!”, is a Percussion, Steel Pan and World Music concert.

Six more Percussion, Steel Pan and World Music concerts, June 21-29, follow opening night. 

Performances will be led by Program Director Dan Moore, Professor of Music and Director of Percussion at the University of Iowa. The percussion series will feature a diverse range of styles, including Caribbean grooves with Chicago Youth Symphony Percussion Director Scott McConnell, as well as percussive jazz, authentic world music and original compositions.

Symphony session concerts will feature an 85+-piece full symphony orchestra led by Program Director Ricardo Castañeda, Principal Oboist of Lake Forest Symphony and Chicago Sinfonietta. Conducted by Taka Matsunaga, the performances will take place July 4-6 and July 11-13.

Symphony session concerts will feature the emotive melodies of Bernstein and Gershwin and the intricate harmonies of Rachmaninoff, Verdi, Beethoven and more.

This summer,“A Birch Creek Symphonic Fourth” will take place on July 4 at 3 pm. The July 5 performance will feature the winners of Birch Creek’s annual Clampitt Concerto Competition. The following day, July 6, will feature Gershwin’s “Piano Concerto in F” played by faculty soloist Jodie DeSalvo. On July 12, faculty violinist Elizabeth York will play Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending.”

Big band jazz classics will be performed July 17-20, July 24-27, July 31-Aug. 3 and Aug. 7-10. Program Director Jeff Campbell, Professor and Chair of Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media at the Eastman School of Music in New York, will lead the Birch Creek Jazz Faculty Orchestras. These performances will transport concertgoers back to the golden age of jazz, featuring the timeless sounds of legends like Ellington, Basie and Miller. 

Students will be featured in pre-concert combo performances and big band numbers. Afternoon matinee concerts are held on June 22 and 28 at 3 pm. 

Evening concerts begin inside the Dutton Concert Barn at 7 pm, with pre-concert music from the Kane Gazebo at 6:30 pm.

Tickets cost $33 for adults, $10 for students and $6 for children. Premium seating is available for $40. Attendees who purchase three concert tickets can receive a fourth ticket for free, and group rates are available for parties of 10 or more. 

For a full concert schedule and online ticket purchases, visit birchcreek.org/tickets. Tickets can also be ordered by calling the box office at 920-868-3763, Monday through Thursday 9 am – 4 pm or Friday 9 am – 2 pm. 

Birch Creek Music Performance Center is located at 3821 Cty E in Egg Harbor.