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Culture Club: Midsummer’s Music Festival’s Radically Appealing 26th Season

by Allyson Fleck

For centuries people have observed and studied the links between the humanities and the sciences and even the common threads within the arts themselves. Opera and musical theater being the ultimate combination of text, art and music in one complete setting. Some great collaborators of the past include Andy Warhol and the Rolling Stones; Pablo Picasso and Erik Satie; Benjamin Britten and W.H. Auden.

Harvard University (among many other institutions) offers courses in the academic study of these relationships stating:

Words and music have long been intertwined, in the form of literary references to music, words as music (poetry), and in musical settings of poetry (to name but a few). Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines composition as “an intellectual creation…a piece of writing…a written piece of music especially of considerable size and complexity.” Throughout the ages poets and musicians [artists and musicians] have influenced each other in ways both serious and playful.

This summer, Midsummer’s Music Festival dives into the wonderful relationship between chamber music and poetry and chamber music and visual art. During our 26th season, Midsummer’s will present 34 concerts from June 17 through Sept. 5 at a variety of beautiful Door County venues. At the four programs being presented at Woodwalk Gallery, Midsummer’s will collaborate with Woodwalk artists. The artists are (in order of concert appearance) landscape painter Tom Linden, steel sculptor John Pahlas, abstract painter Pamela Anderson, and potter Anita Winkler. Each artist was given a sampling of the featured music for their program and asked to create a new piece in response to the music. Their artwork will be on display during the collaborating concert. The artists will also be available to give insights to their new work.

Nine poets from Write On, Door County will also be featured this summer on eight programs. Each poet was given the same task as the artists. They were to listen to the music and create a new work based on their reaction to the music. I should also state that the titles and composers of the works were left unknown so that the new works of art or word were based solely on aural impressions. The poets are (in order of concert appearance) Nancy Rafal, Albert DeGenova, Todd Boss, 2013-15 Door County Poet Laureate Estella Lauter, Margaret Hasse, Jitendra Suman, Ann Heyse, Sharon Auberle and current Door County Poet Laureate Ralph Murre.

It would be an understatement to say how thrilled we are to work with these wonderful artists and poets. In addition to hearing a music program and meeting with a living “composer,” you are invited to bring a picnic to enjoy with friends at the Woodwalk Gallery programs on June 26, July 10, July 17 and August 28. Come at 5 pm and enjoy your dinner with an art conversation from new owners Jillaine Burton and Andrew Seefeldt. The concerts start at 7 pm.

Midsummer’s is a truly “radically appealing” musical experience. As proud adherents to the Scandinavian tradition of Midsommar, we celebrate the longest day of the year in prolonged fashion. For us, “Midsummer” is a state of mind (what the Germans call Gemütlichkeit) that permeates Scandinavian culture and hopefully, our festival as well, not only around the solstice, but throughout the summer and beyond.

We promise exquisite musical performances, friendly and intimate settings, and great camaraderie with delicious food and beverages following concerts. When taken together, it all adds up to something truly unforgettable. There is something really “radically appealing” happening on this thin strip of land between the waters of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. We invite you to partake of the infectious spirit of “Midsummer” in true Scandinavian fashion.

Concert tickets are available to purchase individually, in subscriptions of four or eight performances, and in a flex-pack of six tickets at MidsummersMusic.com or 920.854.7088.

Allyson Fleck is Assistant Artistic Director and violist with Midsummer’s Music Festival. She lives in northern Colorado with her family and is an active freelance musician and teacher. Allyson is the Assistant Principal Viola of Fort Collins Symphony. She received her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Viola Performance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Allyson has been with Midsummer’s Music Festival since 2004.

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