Midsummer’s Music Announces Labor Day Concerts

“Hot!” is the word Artistic Director, Jim Berkenstock, uses to describe Midsummer’s Music Festival’s Labor Day program, which runs September 3 – 6.

The concerts feature two French composers, Édouard Lalo and Camille Saint-Saëns. Lalo’s “Trio Number 3 in A Minor, Opus 26” is considered to be his finest and most finished chamber composition. “This piece for violin, cello, and piano grows gradually more heated and ends like a rocket!” explains Berkenstock. The other piece, Saint-Saëns’s “Quartet in B-flat Major, Opus 41,” for violin, viola, cello, and piano “Starts off wistfully but there is a growing passion throughout the piece.”

The hottest of all the pieces is the “Black Tango” by Patrick Horn. Fusing two different styles of music, classical and popular, the “Black Tango” promises to be everything its name indicates and more. This fiery composition is written for violin, viola, cello, and piano. “I won’t be surprised if the audience wants to get up and dance!” says Berkenstock.

The program features world-class violinist David Perry, violist Sally Chisholm, cellist Walter Preucil, and pianist William Billingham who is replacing William Koehler. Koehler, who broke his elbow on July 8 and still performed with Midsummer’s Music that evening, is recovering well after surgery.

The Labor Day program opens on Thursday, September 3 at 7:30 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Ephraim. The next evening’s concert, Friday, September 4, is being held at 7:30 pm in Birch Creek Music Performance Center’s Juniper Hall. Saturday’s program will be held at 7:30 pm at the Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church in Ellison Bay, and the concert series wraps up on Sunday afternoon at 3 pm at the Ephraim Moravian Church.

Tickets are $25/adults, with youth 17 and under free. Advance reservations are recommended and can be made by visiting http://www.midsummerSmusic.com or by calling 920.854.7088.