April 2026 marks 100 years since the concert that gave Joe Maddy "Just an Idea" to start a summer camp for high school musicians.
In April 1926, Joe Maddy assembled 230 high school musicians from 25 states in Detroit. This National High School Orchestra performed in Orchestra Hall, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's music director Ossip Gabrilowitsch conducted some of the pieces.
Maddy was inspired by what the National High School Orchestra had accomplished in just four days. He began to think about what heights young musicians could reach if they were together for a longer period of time - like for several weeks at a summer camp.
Soon after the National High School Orchestra's first performance, Maddy published an essay titled "Just an Idea," where he laid out his initial idea for a summer music camp that would last eight weeks. In this essay, Maddy laid the groundwork for what would become the National High School Orchestra and Band Camp (renamed to the National Music Camp in 1932 and to Interlochen Arts Camp in 1991).
This April 16, Classical IPR is celebrating "Just an Idea" Day, which marks 100 years since the National High School Orchestra concert that gave Joe Maddy "just an idea" to start an arts camp at Interlochen.
Our friends at Performance Today are joining the "Just an Idea" celebration.
During the first hour of the program on Wednesday, April 15, Performance Today will broadcast the Overture to "Nabucco" by composer Giuseppe Verdi.
The concert recording features musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra performing side by side with Interlochen's World Youth Symphony Orchestra. DSO Music Director Jader Bignamini led the performance.
Listen on Classical IPR at around 10:06 a.m. Episodes are also available on the Performance Today website for 30 days after broadcast.
The performance took place in Kresge Auditorium at Interlochen Center for the Arts in July 2024. Michael Culler engineered the recording.
