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Celebrating Bach

Organist William Weinmann will help launch the Waupaca Bach Festival with a performance at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, at the Central Waters Brewery in Amherst.

A church musician since 1968, Weinmann is currently director of music at Frame Memorial Presbyterian Church and organist at St. Joseph Parish, both in Stevens Point.

With degrees from Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, and the University of Iowa at Iowa City, Weinmann has performed both classical and theater organ recitals in the states of Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. He teaches organ privately in Stevens Point, and teaches piano at Lessons from the Art in Iola.

He will play some of J.S. Bach’s most dramatic works for the “Bach in the Brewery” concert. The free event also includes a Bach impersonator contest.

Dr. Trevor Stephenson, a harpsichordist from Madison, is scheduled to present two free programs Monday, Sept. 30, at First United Methodist Church, 720 Demarest, Waupaca.

At 3:30 p.m., Stephenson will present “All Hands on the Harpsichord,” an after-school event which will give students a hands-on experience with a replica of a Baroque era harpsichord and the music of Bach.

At 6:30 p.m., Stephenson will perform on the harpsichord and discuss the life, times and works of Bach. The Winchester Academy program is free and open to the public.

Another after-school event is slated for 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, at the Waupaca Area Public Library. The film, “Bach’s Fight for Freedom,” will be screened and refreshments served. The event is free.

A free concert featuring members of area choirs will perform Bach’s choral music at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 206 E. Badger St., Waupaca. Weinmann is also scheduled to perform on the organ.

An open mic performance, “Bach Around the Clock,” is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, at Little Fat Gretchen’s restaurant, 108 S. Main St., Waupaca. Area musicians of all ages and all instruments are invited to participate by sending an email to [email protected]. The event is free.

Bach’s Greatest Hits

The Waupaca Bach Festival will culminate with “Bach’s Greatest Hits” at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 415 S. Main St., Waupaca.

General admission to the concert is $10. Music teachers and students may attend at no charge. Baroque period refreshments will be served after the concert. Advance tickets are available at Embellishments in downtown Waupaca.

The concert will feature Nell Jorgensen Buchman on piano, Stacey Berk on oboe and mezzo-soprano Michelle Peterson.

Peterson has sung in concert and opera throughout New York City, and appeared in “Live from Lincoln Center: Pavarotti Plus” televised broadcasts on PBS. She was a guest artist at the Americas Society, and has recorded Spanish classical music with the Americas Vocal Ensemble.

In Wisconsin, Peterson has given recitals at Lawrence University, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, the Neenah Public Library First Friday concert series, the Winchester Academy and has appeared as a soloist for the Waupaca Fine Arts Festival spring concerts.

She holds a master’s degree in classical voice performance from New York University, and has done advanced study at the Westchester Summer Vocal Institute. She teaches voice privately and at UW-Stevens Point Arts and Culture Outreach.

Since receiving a master’s degree in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma in 1994, Buchman has pursued a career as an accompanist, teacher and performer at Lawrence University, Academy of Music, and throughout Wisconsin.

She has a private studio, teaches class piano, music for the very young and coordinated the Lawrence Academy of Music’s Piano Festival for several years.

Buchman has performed at the Neenah Library, UW-Stevens Point, Pine Mountain Music Festival, with the Raleigh Symphony, the Cimarron Opera Company, the Brevard Music Center Orchestra and was a guest on North Carolina Public Radio’s lunchtime concert series.

Berk is professor of oboe and music theory at UW-Stevens Point, where she was awarded the 2009 University Excellence in Teaching Award. She is an active recitalist, principal oboist with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra and member of Trio Canna.

She performed solo and chamber works at the 2009 International Double Reed Society Conference in Birmingham, England, and the 2007 IDRS Conference in Muncie, Indiana. She has performed as a concerto soloist with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, the UWSP Symphony and String Orchestras, the Marshfield Symphony and the Wausau Symphony.

She has performed with Trio Canna on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Live from the Chazen” series and at schools and venues across the Midwest. She is also a guest clinician and performer at numerous schools and colleges.

Berk has performed with the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra, the Cedar Rapids Symphony and the U.S. Air Force Band of the West, among others. She was a founding member of the award-winning Polaris Wind Quintet and previously taught at Grinnell College, Drake University and Our Lady of the Lake University.

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