Washington Saxophone concert cancelled for April 18

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.”