A Brief History of the Peninsula Music Festival

Thursday August 6, 1953 marked the first concert of the Peninsula Music Festival. In 1951, the Festival was just an idea. Thor Johnson founder and conductor of the Festival had a dream of organizing a festival built around a chamber orchestra, performing the rich repertory for small orchestra which was seldom heard. He had mentioned this idea to Mr. and Mrs. Lorenz Heise who were extremely interested in the idea due to their love for music. After a few years of committee meetings and budget planning, the organization was formed.

A budget of $10,000 was proposed and needed to be raised before the start of the Festival. Though there were mixed feelings on the success of raising that amount of money, an eager team of volunteers went "door to door" in search of funds to help start this musical dream. Plans were made to start the first Festival performances in August of 1953 with eight different chamber orchestra performances including a concert especially for young people. Concerts would be performed in the Gibraltar School gymnasium. The first Festival was a huge success proving that, from this point on, there would be no one who could stop this organization from growing. Thor Johnson along with Lorenz Heise and Kay Wilson of Ephraim were the backbone of this Festival.

It was a huge shock and tragedy when Thor passed away in 1975. The twenty-two year Festival Orchestra had lost its artistic leader and needed to proceed on. The loss was a difficult one, but many stepped in to keep the momentum of this great Festival going. Michael Charry was appointed music director in 1978. After Mr. Charry's resignation in 1982, Byron Hanson became Music Coordinator. As Music Coordinator, Byron brought in many guest conductors to help lead the orchestra.

In 1985 Victor Yampolsky was appointed as Music Director and Conductor with a unanimous decision by the Festival Committee. Each year since, the Festival has grown. Concerts once being held in the Gibraltar gymnasium are now held in the state of the art Door Community Auditorium in Fish Creek. A Festival that was once a small chamber group is now a full symphony orchestra of 64 members. An idea that was presented 50 years ago has shown what the dedication of many volunteers, putting in endless hours can do. The Peninsula Music Festival is now Northeast Wisconsin's only Professional Orchestra, presenting nine concerts each August.

The Peninsula Music Festival has added other activities to make a more year around presence in Door County. The Youth String Program was added in1997 to offer the children of Door County the opportunity to learn a string instrument. After twelve years under the PMF umbrella, the youth string program now operates as a separate entity (click on Youth Strings for more information). The PMF also awards annual scholarships to local students and has an extensive internship program for the young people of Door County. (click on Apply for Our Scholarship or Apply For An Internship for more information.) The Festival also works with the local schools to provide, supplement and support other music education opportunities.

In 1998, the Peninsula Music Festival added the Winter Concerts Series to bring chamber music to Door County throughout the year. Now called the "February Fest", these chamber concerts bring members of the PMF orchestra and favorite guest artists back to Door County so our audience can see how talented these musicians are in intimate settings throughout the county.

The Peninsula Music Festival is the only fully professional orchestra in northeast Wisconsin and only one of two professional orchestras in the entire state of Wisconsin. The PMF is in good company with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra! For over fifty years, the Peninsula Music Festival has been the preeminent arts organization in Door County.