Door County Jazz Festival

media release: The inaugural Door County Jazz Festival will feature live Jazz music throughout the Door County Peninsula during the prime Wisconsin Summertime, from August 4th-9th, 2025. Launching with an impressive roster of performances at its inception,  the first-year festival is timed to the full moon in August with an appropriate theme of “Celebrating Centennial Stars Under the Sturgeon Moon,” as festival artists honor the Centennials of legendary Jazz artists Oscar Peterson, June Christy and Cal Tjader. The year 2025 holds special significance as the date also coincides with the centennial celebration of the late George Wein, who founded and produced the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island, one of the world’s most iconic celebrations of jazz. 

2025 Door County Jazz Festival Schedule Run-Down:

*For a complete listing with details and links to learn about each musician or ensemble, please visit www.doorcountyjazzfestival.com

Monday, August 4, 2025, 6-8 pm, Harborside Park, Ephraim: Adam Gaines Quintet

Gaines, associate professor of music at UWGB, holds the principal trumpet seat for the Weidner Philharmonic and also can be seen in the popular New Orleans style brass band, Brass Differential. (sponsored by UW-Green Bay and the Green Bay Jazz Orchestra)

Tuesday, August 5, 2025, 5-7 pm, Noble Square, Fish Creek: Precarious Towers

Regional all-star group including Sharel Cassity (saxophone), Johannes Wallmann (piano), and John Christensen (bass), while also joined for this performance by Ben Dameron (guitar) and Hannah Johnson (drums). All five musicians are accomplished band leaders, recording artists, touring performers and in-demand musicians. Their first album won “Best Classical, Jazz and World Album” at the 2022 Madison Area Music Awards (MAMAs), with All About Jazz raving, “the group dynamic is near perfection.” (sponsored by the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music)

Wednesday, August 6, 2025, 6-8 pm, Sister Bay Performance Pavilion, Sister Bay: MJI Quintet

The MJI Quintet features Jamie Breiwick (trumpet), Mark Davis (piano), Jeff Hamann (bass), Sam Belton (drums), and Dumah Saafir (percussion). The group’s members have worked with Jazz legends such as Benny Golson, Charles McPherson, Phil Woods, and Buddy Montgomery. They are also influential educators at MJI and other institutions. Mark Davis, co-founder of the Milwaukee Jazz Institute, also serves on the Jazz faculty at Northern Illinois University. These seasoned Milwaukee musicians can often be heard at Sam Belton’s venue, Sam’s Place Jazz Café. (sponsored by the Milwaukee Jazz Institute)

Thursday, August 7, 2025, 4-6 pm. Björklunden’s Vail Hall, Baileys Harbor: Luedtke, López, and Fernandez Guitar Trio

The Luedke, López and Fernandez Guitar Trio features Cooper Luedke on bass, Josué Ríos López on guitar and Quintin Fernandez on drums. All three studied at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, which has just celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding. (sponsored by the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music)

Friday, August 8,, 2025, 7-8:30 pm, Birch Creek Music Performance Center, Egg Harbor: Birch Creek's 50th Season Big Band Jazz Featuring Harold Jones

The Door County Jazz Festival celebrates Birch Creek programming on this date, honoring this incredible milestone as Birch Creek celebrates a remarkable 50th season with a Big Band Jazz performance honoring Harold Jones, a drum legend who played with the likes of Count Basie and Festival centennial honoree Oscar Peterson. Fans interested in attending the show at the Birch Creek Performing Arts Center can purchase tickets online at birchcreek.org.

Saturday, August 9, 2025 - 1-5 pm, Martin Park, Sturgeon Bay:

 The Point of Jazz Quintet 

Jessie Crandall and the Point of Jazz Quintet is a regional group that honed their sound at UW-Stevens Point and play regularly throughout Central Wisconsin. (sponsored by UW-Stevens Point)

and

“Jazz at 100”: Oscar Peterson at 100 feat. Johannes Wallmann, June Christy at 100 feat. Staci Griesbach, & Cal Tjader at 100 feat. Mitchell Shiner Latin Vibes with Ben Lapidus

Johannes Wallmann, who recently performed a centennial tribute to Oscar Peterson for the Madison Jazz Festival will share a tribute to the Canadian Jazz pianist. Festival Producer-Artist Staci Griesbach will celebrate Vocalist June Christy, a Jazz singer with Midwestern roots who moved to the West Coast and rose to fame with the Stan Kenton Band. Mitchell Shiner will close out the afternoon with his Latin vibes tribute to the great Cal Tjader, featuring Latin Jazz guitarist Benjamin Lapidus who has played with the likes of Tito Puente.

“It’s been a dream to bring the Door County Jazz Festival to life. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed going to the Newport, Monterey and Umbria Jazz Festivals, and each one uniquely demonstrated how destination music festivals offer such a rewarding experience. That’s what’s perfect about Door County,” said Producer and Artist Staci Griesbach. 

Griesbach continued, “I remember waving at George Wein as he rode in the golf cart through the audience at Newport’s Fort Adams Park, marveling at how his vision had set the stage for so many incredibly memorable moments in music history. The fact that this inaugural year lines up with what would have been George Wein’s 100th birthday is a sign that there’s a little bit of magic in the air.”

The festival mostly coincides with Door County’s popular “Concerts in the Park” series, featuring free music in the park where patrons can bring their picnic, lawn chair or blanket, and curl up with some great music. The Festival has teamed up with community business organizations and collaborators including the Ephraim Business Council, the Gibraltar Historical Association, Visit Fish Creek, the Sister Bay Advancement Association, Björklunden, the Birch Creek Music Performance Center and Destination Sturgeon Bay to create a community-based festival inclusive of a wide swath of Door County’s popular landscape and local charm.

The 2025 festival also features collaborations with top music education institutions, including UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music, UWGB’s Sharon J. Resch Institute of Music, the Milwaukee Jazz Institute, Lawrence University’s Conservatory of Music and UW-Stevens Point.

“Door County is one of the most beautiful places on earth, and it has a long tradition of artistic culture. A Jazz festival there is a perfect fit,” said Mark Davis, Artistic Director and Co-Founder of the Milwaukee Jazz Institute.

The Door County Jazz Festival is made possible by the support of The Door County Jazz Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) entity designed to fundraise and develop programming which celebrates and creates a Cultural Arts movement in Door County focused on community building for and creating cultural arts opportunities. The Door County Jazz Festival is also supported by top sponsors including Green Bay Packers Give Back, Associated Bank, Renards Artisan Cheese and Lautenbach’s Orchard Country Winery & Market. Additional community sponsors include Door County Medical Center, Door County Candle Company, McGranahan & Stawsky Ltd., The DöRR Hotel, Tadych’s Marketplace, Simple Life Rentals, Heid Music, True North Real Estate, and Sand Bay Beach Resort & Suites. 

For more information, visit www.doorcountyjazzfestival.com and sign up for the email list or follow on social media @doorcountyjazzfestival for updates throughout festival week.