Midsummer’s Music Awarded Green Bay Packers Foundation Grant

The Midsummer’s Music Resident String Quartet program was recently selected to receive a $5,000 community grant from the Green Bay Packers Foundation.

This past September, Midsummer’s Music, the Fine Arts Institute at East High in Green Bay, and St. Norbert College in DePere launched a ground-breaking project to enhance student learning and academic achievement through increased exposure to – and participation in – music. The Resident String Quartet is a professional chamber music ensemble that will visit school classrooms throughout Door and Brown Counties, where they will demonstrate music techniques and engage students in educational principles. In addition, the ensemble will perform at community events for all ages.

Midsummer’s Music founders Jim and Jean Berkenstock attended the awards ceremony and luncheon, which took place in the Lambeau Field Atrium on December 5. Approximately 450 individuals in attendance heard remarks from Packers President Mark Murphy, Foundation Chair Gerald Canoni, and Foundation Secretary Bobbi Jo Eisenreich.

Jim Berkenstock stated, “This is the culmination of a lengthy granting process involving a great deal of work. I want to thank Allyson [Fleck] and Donna [Johnson] for their efforts in creating a splendid application that captured the essence of our program in a very convincing way.”

Midsummer’s Music was among 230 civic and charitable groups across Wisconsin selected through a grant application process to receive $800,000 from the Green Bay Packers Foundation in this 2018 granting cycle. This year, the Foundation focused on arts and culture, athletics, and education causes.

Midsummer’s Music was co-founded in 1990 by Jim and Jean Berkenstock, long-time Door County summer residents and, until retirement, principal orchestral players with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The Festival has drawn on the extraordinary talent of professional musicians and artist/faculty of universities throughout the Midwest. Offering chamber music for winds, strings, and piano performed in intimate settings throughout Door County, venues include art galleries, churches, and private homes. From such masters as Mozart, Schubert, and Dvořák to some lesser-known but very accomplished composers, each concert is an unforgettable musical experience.