Local musicians attend summer music academy
Lyra Steidel of Wrentham performs on vibraphone during a concert at Birch Creek Music Performance Center in Door County,
Lyra Steidel (Wrentham), Adelyn Reilly (Wrentham), and Julia Brideau (Norfolk) recently spent two weeks in Door County, WI studying at Birch Creek Music Performance Center. These King Philip Regional High School students were among 61 musicians from throughout the country to attend the Symphony session at the prestigious academy whose unique mission is to provide intensive, performance-based instruction to promising student musicians by immersing them in a professional, mentoring environment.
Birch Creek celebrates its 51st concert season in 2026 and continues to support a student-to-faculty ratio of approximately 2:1. This provides students with an abundance of personal attention from their faculty mentors, who represent top music educators and performers from around the country. Students are given the opportunity to hone their technical skills and learn all the aspects of life as a professional musician firsthand. During their two-week residency this summer, students attending the Symphony session performed seven concerts alongside their teachers in front of paying concertgoers.
Ricardo Castañeda is the Program Director of the Symphony program. 2026 marks his 29th year on faculty at Birch Creek, and 26th year as Program Director. He holds his bachelor's and master's degrees in music performance from Northwestern University. In addition to his active freelance career, Castañeda is currently Principal Oboist with the Chicago Sinfonietta, and solo English Horn with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also on faculty at University of Illinois - Chicago and Northeastern Illinois University.
Birch Creek Music Performance Center in Egg Harbor, WI is a residential summer music academy for advanced student musicians. With a performance emphasis, students are taught by nationally known performers and educators during the day, and perform in concerts alongside them at night. Four sessions focus on Percussion, Steel Pan & World Music, Symphony, and Big Band Jazz. 2026 concert information and session dates are posted at BirchCreek.org/Tickets.
