Let the Festival Begin!
Maestro Rune Bergmann’s baton leading nine performances, including a three-time Grammy-winner opening the Peninsula Music Festival, Aug. 6
The summer season draws people to Door County for a variety of reasons, whether it’s students from foreign countries working at local businesses on J-1 visas, or tourists relaxing from far-flung places, or musicians gigging the peninsula’s many venues.
Among those who return are some 80 world-class musicians and soloists from orchestras and ballets and operas and universities around the country and world, descending on Door County to give nine performances in August.
It’s known as the Peninsula Music Festival (PMF), with the musicians arriving for PMF’s Symphony series. Chief among those returning, this one from his home base near Oslo, Norway, is PMF’s Music Director and Conductor, Rune Bergmann.
Bergmann has been PMF’s maestro since his appointment in December 2022. He’s currently the Music Director of Canada’s Calgary Philharmonic, the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of Poland’s Szczecin Philharmonic, and the Chief Conductor of Switzerland’s Argovia Philharmonic.
Orchestras under Bergmann’s baton play with joy and fire, brilliance and enthusiasm, according to the numerous reviews around the world of his conducting performances. He’s described as having masterful and elegant interpretations, drawing from the music and musicians all they have to offer. To Lisa Harper, PMF executive director, he’s spellbinding, weaving the audience, musicians and music into an incredible experience.
“You leave the performance knowing you witnessed something unique and special,” she said.
