For the upcoming Imagine US: Celebrating America at 250, IPR has appointed two Interlochen Arts Academy student tour ambassadors to keep us informed about how tour preparations are going.
This week, we get the latest from Sydney Kassekert, a senior in the Singer-Songwriter program at Interlochen.
Listen to Sydney's latest dispatch on demand, or read an edited transcript below.
On a new arrangement of her song "Imagine"
We have kind of a surprise encore, so look out for it. At the very end of the concert, Yo-Yo Ma and I and then the choir will be doing a different version of "Imagine." It'll be really, really beautiful.
We got an email from our creative director Diana [Wyenn], and it was [Interlochen president] Trey Devey's idea, I think, to do this encore. "Imagine" is what starts the show, and now it ends the show, but it means different things.
The beginning of the show is imagining what was happening before the Charles Ives symphony and, like, who we could be. And the ending is really like leaving it up. We have an alternate ending where Yo-Yo Ma will play something kind of cool. Maybe he'll shift around different things.
But Wesley [Stoker] and I have worked really, really hard on this score. Shout out to Wesley because he's doing such a great job.
The choir version is four parts. We have them standing out in the audience, I think. It's going to be beautiful.
They'll be singing the pre-chorus and the chorus with me, and then the ending will just kind of tone down to me and Yo-Yo Ma, and Yo-Yo Ma will end the entire show.
On the different tour city stops in Interlochen, Detroit, Philadelphia and Boston
I'm most excited for Boston because that's where I'm from. My bonus grandma is coming out. I have friends that are coming that graduated from Interlochen last year, so I think it's going be a really beautiful.
Venue-wise, I'm most excited for Philly, just because I've never been to Philadelphia before. It's gonna be a cool experience. We get to check off the day before and see the city a little bit.
And Interlochen, I think I'm just excited for all of that. Everything is just going to be so wholesome and awesome. And I'm excited for the dress rehearsal. I'm feeling so excited.
What she's looking forward to
I think everything's flourishing right now, and I'm immersed in everything.
I'm most excited to try on my dress. I'm so excited for all of it, like getting the rehearsals with the choir, but like more specifically, just to perform this.
We've worked so hard over the past few months, and I think it's going be beautiful and exciting and something that nobody's ever seen before. And I'm really, truly grateful and excited for this opportunity.
About the tour
This month, Interlochen Arts Academy students are hitting the road and going on tour.
After a kickoff performance in Interlochen on March 7, they’ll then travel to Detroit, Philadelphia, and Boston.
The tour is called Imagine US: Celebrating America at 250.
The tour program includes the premiere of a new cello concerto, composed by Wynton Marsalis and featuring Yo-Yo Ma as the soloist. The students are also performing the Symphony no. 4 by Charles Ives and RE|Member, a work by Reena Esmail.
In each city, Arts Academy Orchestra members will play alongside professional musicians from the host cities' orchestras: the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra.
All of these orchestra pieces are woven together with multidisciplinary elements.
Classical IPR has invited two Interlochen Arts Academy students to serve as tour ambassadors, giving us regular dispatches as they prepare for the tour. They’ll send updates from the road once they’re on tour, and then we’ll talk with them after they return to find out how it all went.
