Washington Saxophone Quartet

Veterans, variety, virtuosity! Ever listened to NPR’s “All Things Considered”? If so, you’ve enjoyed engaging musical interludes by this D.C. foursome of former military-band standouts. They delight audiences with the amazing range of their instruments — baritone to soprano — evoking the refined sounds of a string quartet, the harmonies of an organ prelude or the improvisation of jazz.

No rescheduling, yet, for Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

Brown County Civic Music has rescheduled two of the three spring 2020 concerts cancelled by concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic, with only the postponed Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concert still unresolved as of mid-April.

The MSO evening at the Weidner Center was to have been the fifth and final scheduled event of the season, initially planned for Thursday, May 7. The venue pulled out in March, and the MSO informed Civic Music in early April that it was cancelling the rest of its spring and early summer concerts.

Christopher Sampson, Civic Music board president, says the organization is looking at late summer and early fall dates for a possible makeup concert. He says Civic Music will make every effort to honor the commitment to this year’s subscribers. However, the second half of 2020 is especially busy for the Milwaukee Symphony with the planned opening of the orchestra’s new home concert hall in downtown Milwaukee and what is already a tight concert schedule.

If the MSO cannot be rescheduled for 2019-20 Civic Music subscribers, Sampson says the association’s board of directors is considering other options. Those could include a substitute attraction; a voucher offer that could bring complimentary tickets for the next regularly scheduled MSO appearance in 2021; or the ability to declare the unusable tickets a tax-deductible donation, or request a nominal, pro-rated refund.

New dates announced for Klezmer, Saxophone concerts

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.”