We Have Fun, Too

A classical music concert is generally perceived to be a rather serious affair. Dress clothes must be worn, clapping must only occur at proper intervals, and high standards are constantly expected of musicians. As a result, people tend to think of classical musicians as rather serious people, somewhat un-inclined to engage in non-musical activities. But the reality is that we do have lives beyond our craft, and the ensemble of Midsummer’s Music Festival (MMF) is no different. When the final chords of the music have faded and the instruments have been put away, we’re not hesitant to go out and have some fun – often in unusual, but immensely enjoyable, ways. So, as we look forward to the start of our 24th season, I thought it appropriate to share some of our more memorable non-musical adventures.

Perhaps our most prized tradition is the annual mini-golf tournament at The Red Putter in Ephraim, which was instigated in 1993 by my dad, MMF’s venerated cellist Walter Preucil. With clubs in hand, us musicians divide into teams and take over the course, and when the last putter has successfully navigated the notoriously unpredictable barn door in hole no. 18, the scores are tabulated and the winners are announced. I believe MMF director Jim Berkenstock holds the record for the greatest number of wins – he usually places in the lower 40s – but I can’t check the records prior to 2003 since my dad hid all the score cards up until that year in a cave at Peninsula State Park (it was supposed to be a time capsule, but we never found them again).

Mini golf, however, is the least taxing of the MMF ensemble’s athletic endeavors. In 2011, my dad, my mother Stephanie Preucil, and violinist David Perry took advantage of a day off to bike all the way from Sturgeon Bay to Gills Rock, and during another season, my dad and some other ensemble members completed what they called the “summit” bike ride, pedaling from our lodging in Ephraim all the way to the peninsula’s “summit” – the Rock Island lighthouse.

More unusual events have been held as well; in 2004, my dad and David Perry challenged each other in a competition they called “Lost in Door County,” in which one of them would sit blindfolded in the back of our van while the other drove out to some godforsaken part of the peninsula at dawn, at which point the blindfolded individual would be unmasked and have to find his way back to Ephraim by bike.

Impressively, both my dad and David successfully accomplished their respective challenges, with each making it back in time for a late breakfast. The most extreme feat of athleticism I’ve witnessed, however, was in 2007 when both my parents decided to canoe to a concert at the Hardy Gallery. Clad in their formal wear, the two paddled from a beach across Eagle Harbor and arrived at the Hardy dock just twenty minutes prior to the start of the evening’s program. Sometimes, I wonder whether I really am related to them.

Of course, what recounting of lore would be complete without details of the pranks that have transpired over the years? Unsurprisingly, my dad has been the source of most of these. Once, while taking a member of the ensemble to Rock Island for the first time, he asserted that the island was actually named after the great Russian composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff. Unsurprisingly, she was quite skeptical of his claim, but found herself shocked minutes later after dad surreptitiously convinced the lighthouse tour guide to include the Rachmaninoff anecdote in her lecture.

Another time, while on a ferry to a Washington Island concert, my dad asked pianist Bill Koehler if he could check a detail in his music. When Bill gave him the part, my dad proceeded to feign losing his grip and threw it overboard into the watery depths of Death’s Door. Bill later remarked that his heart had “leapt” to his throat, but all was well – my dad had, of course, copied the music in advance and had a replacement ready to go. And just last year, my dad somehow got a hold of one of the big Midsummer’s “Concert Here” signs and placed it quietly against David’s front door in the dead of night. We haven’t seen it since, so we’ll have to keep an eye out this year (or at least exercise due caution when opening our cottage door in the mornings).

I share these anecdotes not only as an admonishment to watch out for my dad, if you ever take this gig, but to show that we really are just a laid-back group of folks who greatly enjoy each other’s company, both in and out of performance. After all, music is really about having fun – when you think about it, humans didn’t start making music thousands of years ago to compete with each other, boost their egos, or create an excuse to wear fancy clothes (how could they? Tuxedos hadn’t even been invented yet). They created it as a form of expression that was intended to be simply enjoyed. Here at Midsummer’s, we firmly believe in that principle – and since we have so much fun making music together, we figure we can have just as much fun doing other activities as well…however strange they might sometimes be.

For more information about Midsummer’s Music Festival and their 2014 schedule, visit midsummersmusic.com or call 920.854.7088.

Peninsula Arts and Humanities Alliance, Inc., which contributes Culture Club throughout the summer season, is a coalition of non-profit organizations whose purpose is to enhance, promote and advocate the arts, humanities and natural sciences in Door County.