Pro Arte Quartet Performs Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ

Midsummer’s Music, Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church, and First Presbyterian Church present Franz Joseph Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ, featuring the legendary Pro Arte Quartet, along with respected Door County and Green Bay area clergy and community leaders.

Haydn’s masterpiece was commissioned in 1786 by Father Don José Sáenz de Santa María for the Good Friday service at Oratorio de las Santa Cueva in Cádiz, Spain. Originally an orchestral work, Haydn adapted it in 1787 for string quartet. It focuses on the biblical account of Christ’s crucifixion and explores each of Christ’s seven last words through seven sonatas. While the first sonata begins slowly, the final sonata is a vivid musical depiction of the earthquake described in the Gospel of Matthew.

Pro Arte Quartet musicians are violinists David Perry and Suzanne Beia, violist Sally Chisholm, and cellist Parry Karp. Speakers leading the meditations include Reverend Katie Estes, Tonya Fehlhofer, Reverend Brit Bjurstrom Frazier, Pastor Jim Honig, Reverend Kerry Krauss, Michelle Lawrie, Cari Lewis, Reverend Mark Stephen Richards, and more.

The performances are 5:00pm, Friday, March 8, 2024, at Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church in Ellison Bay, and 3:00pm, Saturday, March 9, 2024, at First Presbyterian Church in Green Bay. Tickets are free and can be reserved at midsummersmusic.com or 920-854-7088. Donations will be accepted at the door.

Midsummer’s Music celebrates 34 years of bringing chamber music to Door County in 2024. The summer season of concerts begins June 13 and runs through September 2. Additional concerts are scheduled for September, and Autumn Music Fest returns in October. Visit www.midsummersmusic.com as schedule details are updated.

Midsummer’s Music was co-founded in 1990 by Jim and Jean Berkenstock, long-time Door County summer residents and principal orchestral players with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. What began as two concerts among friends has become one of the Midwest’s most anticipated chamber music series, bringing thousands of chamber music enthusiasts from around the globe to the magical Door County Peninsula.