Category: News

Brown County Civic Music Association has announced the rescheduling of two concerts that had been postponed by this spring’s coronavirus pandemic. The new dates and information:

Maxwell Street Klezmer Band
Thursday, Sept. 3, 7 p.m.
Ashwaubenon Performing Arts Center

Washington Saxophone Quartet (Holiday Concert)
Saturday, Dec. 12, 7:30 p.m.
Green Bay West H.S. Holter Auditorium

The Ashwaubenon PAC represents a change in venue for the Klezmer concert, which had originally been scheduled for West High School which was unavailable on the new date. It will be the second Civic Music visit ever to the Ashwaubenon auditorium, which was the site of a 2018 piano duo concert by Anderson and Roe.

The Washington Saxophone Quartet concert remains at West, but the shift to a December date will result in a change in repertoire, with the quartet offering its popular holiday-favorites program.

Civic Music subscribers who kept their unused tickets from the cancelled concerts (March 14 for Klezmer, April 18 for Washington Saxophone) may use them for admission. If tickets have been lost or misplaced, 2019-20 subscribers should visit the check-in table in the lobby to claim replacements.

New subscribers for the 2020-’21 Civic Music series will find that both of the rescheduled concerts from the previous subscription series will be free “bonus concerts.”

The Washington Saxophone Quartet concert previously scheduled for Saturday, April 18, as part of the Brown County Civic Music series has been cancelled.

Series subscribers are advised to retain their tickets. Association board president Christopher Sampson says both Civic Music and the Quartet are interested in rescheduling for later 2020. A summer date is possible, should public-health guidelines permit, but Civic Music is also considering the desirability of inviting Washington Saxophone Quartet for a holiday concert addition to the December or late November calendar. Such a holiday concert would be a make-up date for current subscribers, and a sixth concert for new subscribers at no additional charge.

Brown County Civic Music has announced cancellations for two concerts as part of its current season: the saxophone quartet and, earlier this month, the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, both of which had been scheduled for Green Bay West High School’s Holter Auditorium.

The fate of the fifth and final scheduled event — a Thursday, May 7 visit by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra — remains to be determined. Barring a major reversal, it will not take place at the Weidner Center. The Center informed Civic Music earlier this week that the facility must follow state and university directives and cancel all public events through at least mid-May. In contrast, the MSO has officially cancelled all its concerts only through the end of April. As of March 19 the Symphony was continuing to hold the May 7 date for a possible Green Bay visit.

“It seems like things are changing day by day, but as of now the Symphony would like to wait another week or two to see if the coronavirus outlook suddenly improves,” Sampson says. “I’m not optimistic. But if we get an official all-clear or some sudden vaccine and, most important, definitive assurance that it’s safe for all our members to attend, it’s at least theoretically possible we could host a concert sometime in May, at some venue or another.

“We’re certainly also exploring possibilities to rebook for fall or just wait until April 2021 and their next annual appearance.”

If you’re a ticket-buying subscriber to the Brown County Civic Music series, you’re eligible to attend our annual membership meeting to voice your opinion and share suggestions. Date and location TBA, but right now we’re looking at late June. We’ll let all know via email and newsletter around the time of our special “Opera in the Garden” recital earlier in the month.

It’s going to be a terrific season:  In the fall we’ll host the vocal group Cantus (one of the best in America)… We’ll also be bringing in a world-class recitalist to play the world-class pipe organ at the Weidner… In Spring, we’ll have another excellent Russian chamber orchestra… followed by a crossover quartet: four brothers from Vienna… and, again, the Milwaukee Symphony to close the season, this time with a special guest artist at the Weidner.

• Raul Prieto Ramirez, organist – Fri. Oct. 12, 2018
• Cantus vocal ensemble – Sat. Nov. 10, 2018
• Siberian Virtuosi chamber orchestra – Sat. March 9, 2019
• Janoska, classical/crossover combo – Thur. April 4, 2019
• Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra – Sat. May 11, 2019

Purchase your membership by June 1^st for a chance to win a lodging/gaming overnight hotel stay or one of four restaurant gift certificates from our supporters: Alpha Delights European Bakery & Café,  Black & Tan, Galley 57, and Union Hotel.

Most members should have already received their season-ticket brochure in the mail. You can also renew or enter a new order online. The site is up and running at  www.bccivicmusic.org/tickets.

The Brown County Civic Music Association received word late Friday night (Nov. 13) that the Solid Brass Ensemble could not get flights from New York City to Chicago to Green Bay due to fog and winter weather cancellations. The Saturday night, Nov. 18 concert of Brown County Civic Music, which would have featured the Solid Brass Ensemble at West High School’s Holter Auditorium, has been CANCELLED.

Civic Music is currently investigating possibilities for rescheduling Solid Brass for later in our 2017-18 season. Ticket-holders are asked to keep their tickets so that they may use them for entry into the rescheduled concert. When the new concert date is determined, details for the rescheduled concert will be available here on bccivicmusic.org and will also be sent out in our E-notes newsletter. Sign up for E-notes here.