The Pianos Have Arrived

Judy and Carl Jackson will play their annual two-piano benefit concert on Sept. 15 at Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church, Ellison Bay, to honor and support the work and community of Scandia Village. The 4 pm event is titled Partners in Compassion, in keeping with the theme of Scandia Village capital campaign, which successfully entered its next phase of expansion by breaking ground in the last week of August. The Jacksons are very pleased to partner with this important facility, where many of our friends, family and neighbors reside.

Judy and Carl always present a program of music that engages the audience, with a variety of styles and sounds, heard in a happy conversation between the two pianists at two remarkable pianos. The Steinway concert grand piano is affectionately known as “The Esther Browning Steinway,” which is owned by the Peninsula Music Festival and has been generously shared with Shepherd of the Bay Church for many years in the off season. Peter Nehlsen owns the Baldwin concert grand piano that “lives in the barn” at Birch Creek for its summer concert season and then returns to Washington Island, after Peter shares this impressive instrument for the annual two-piano benefit event every September.

This hour-long concert will feature energetic music from the C minor Concerto by J. S. Bach, colorful selections From the Bohemian Forest by Antonin Dvorak, dances by Camille St-Saëns, Dmitri Shostakovich and Richard Strauss, a visit to some sights, sounds and scenes from “Carnival at New Orleans” by Darius Milhaud and a very entertaining two-piano piece, “Paraphrase on the Famous Russian Gypsy Air” by the American composer, Gregory Stone.

A freewill offering will be accepted to benefit the Capital Campaign at Scandia Village. As an accompaniment to the music, you will have the opportunity to bid on many attractive items in a silent auction. A reception follows the concert.