Eighteen-year-old Lucas is an avid horticulturalist and ecologist, his mom Amanda Harberg says.
Their whole family witnessed his love of plants during the last two years of the pandemic.
"As I watched him grow these marvelous plants and vegetables, I was inspired by the metaphor for my growing family," Harberg said.
In celebration, she composed a three-movement piece for violin, clarinet, cello and piano called "Lucas's Garden."
"Each movement is a different side of my family's interactions and my growing children," Harberg explained.
The movements of "Lucas's Garden" are sweeping and sometimes quite dramatic, reflecting both the details of Lucas's plants and the dynamics of the family.
"When you look under a microscope," Harberg said, "something as simple as moss becomes huge and like a forest - full of relationships with other beings and other plants."
"The complexity of all this growth takes on a whole new life. There's lots of wonderful drama there," she said, laughing.
Harberg and her fellow Interlochen Arts Camp faculty members Jeffrey Lastrapes, Giancarlo Latta and YaoGuang Zhai visited IPR's Studio A recently to perform "Lucas's Garden."
Harberg has also composed music for her other child, Lucas's sibling Sydney.
Sydney is a bassoon major at Interlochen Arts Camp this summer, and they and their mom will perform a tango by Harberg on the faculty music composition recital this Tuesday, July 12.
Just like many of the students, the music faculty members at Interlochen Arts Camp are also excited to be here for the summer.
"It's this marvelous community where I've had the most meaningful collaborations," Harberg says.
They get to perform with different people and play different music during the six weeks of camp than they do the rest of the year.
"It's so special," Harberg says. "It's so magical."
Sometimes these professional relationships grow beyond Interlochen.
Last week, YaoGuang Zhai gave the world premiere performance of Harberg's Clarinet Concerto at the International Clarinet Association'sClarinetFest.
"I wouldn't have met Yao had we not been teaching together at Interlochen," Harberg said.
Harberg, Lastrapes, Latta and Zhai will perform "Lucas's Garden" Wednesday, July 13 during a faculty chamber music recital.
It starts at 8 p.m. in the Dendrinos Chapel and Recital Hall. Admission is free.
Wednesday's faculty chamber recital will also be webcast. Learn more about how to attend in person or stream here.
Stefan Wiebe engineered this edition of Studio A.
Kacie Brown provided digital production assistance.
