When I think of Interlochen, I can’t help but thinking of lines. Morning line-up, lines for meals, lines for tickets, lines at the Melody Freeze.
The animal kingdom is filled with lines, too.
Take baby skunks. Skunk kits look just like adults, only cuter.
They develop musk glands when they are about eight days old, and they learn how to spray after a few weeks.
Kits stay in their nests for about the first three weeks of their lives, but when they do emerge, the stubby-legged infants follow their mother in a single-file line.
The plays of Shakespeare are filled with references to herbs and flowers.
“There’s fennel for you and columbines. There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died.”
In "Hamlet," when Ophelia mentions flowers, Shakespeare was making statements that probably were quite obvious to his audiences.
In Elizabethan times, fennel was the symbol of flattery, while columbines signified marital infidelity and ingratitude. Daisies were symbols of unhappy love.
The Embrace Everything series is an exploration and celebration of the music of Gustav Mahler.
Throughout his life, Mahler insisted that music had to, literally, embrace everything. This makes his compositions unusually rich in what they offer both audience and musicians.
Each episode of the series explores a different Mahler symphony and includes interviews with leading conductors, music scholars and musicians. Additionally, Mahler’s own words and those of his contemporaries will be read by actors.
Hosted by WKAR's Jody Knol, Great Lakes Concerts is a weekly co-production of WKAR, WRCJ and Interlochen Public Radio.
Listen Mondays at 6 p.m. on Classical IPR.
This week's playlist
Wang Jie: "America the Beautiful"
Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra Morihiko Nakahara, conductor (Recorded in Michigan Theater on November 2, 2019)
Aaron Copland: Ballet suite, "Appalachian Spring" Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra Mark Gibson, conductor (Recorded in Hill Auditorium on September 13, 2019)
Since the 1940s, Hugh Downs has been known to most Americans as a television host on programs including "Tonight: Starring Jack Paar," "Today" and "20/20."
Downs, who died July 1 at the age of 99, was also a composer of classical music. He hosted the PBS classical music program "Live from Lincoln Center" during the 1990s.
For many years, it's been a summertime tradition to come to the Interlochen campus on Saturday nights to hear performances of the World Youth Wind Symphony (WYWS).
This year, we're celebrating in a new way, with concerts on the radio! Join us on the 4th of July for a rousing evening of band music from Interlochen!
Tune in Saturday, July 4 at 8pm or listen any time below. Happy 4th!
PROGRAM FOR JULY 4, 2020
Northern Pines March John Philip Sousa Joseph E. Maddy 1956 National High School Band
The Little Betsie River connects the two lakes at Interlochen. Then the Betsie River flows from Green Lake to Lake Michigan.
They were named for a duck: a merganser.
Early maps of Lake Michigan bear names given by the French. They called the Betsie "la Reviere du Bec-Scie," or "the River of the Saw Beaks."
The French called mergansers “saw beaks” because of the serrations on the ducks’ narrow bills. These sawtooth edges aid the birds in capturing and holding onto the slippery fish that make up the bulk of their diet.
Singers, wind players, actors and dancers all have to deal with the basic need to have enough breath to produce their art.
Our beloved loons have breath control under control. These remarkable birds can dive and stay under water for about three minutes, maybe more. And that is while undergoing strenuous exercise!
You can watch them disappear beneath the surface, but it is anybody’s guess where they might resurface.
The ethereal back and forth of double choirs in European cathedrals. The African American call and response form in jazz and gospel music. And my personal favorite: several brass choirs stationed around the sides of Kresge Auditorium echoing back and forth through the hall and into the mall.
The dawn chorus at Interlochen is rather like antiphonal music. Birds take turns singing.
Have you ever noticed how often singers sing about nature?
Take Gilbert and Sullivan. Librettist Sir William Schwenk Gilbert was remarkably knowledgeable in matters "vegetable, animal and mineral."
For example, in "The Mikado," Nanki Poo and Koko, addressing the shade intolerance of woodland wildflowers, sing, “The flowers that bloom in the spring / tra la / breathe promise of merry sunshine.”
For the first time since 1928, campers, staff and faculty will not convene in person at Interlochen Center for the Arts this summer.
But the sounds of camp will still emanate from Interlochen via Classical IPR.
Between June 27 and July 19, Classical IPR will have hourly, daily and weekly features celebrating the past, present and future of camp at Interlochen.
Enjoy an hour of great music from the Great Lakes region every Monday at 6 p.m. on Classical IPR.
Jody Knol is your host. Great Lakes Concerts is co-produced by Interlochen Public Radio, WKAR and WRCJ.
This week's program
Bedrich Smetana: 3 Dances from "The Bartered Bride" - Polka; Furiant; Dance of the Comedians Lansing Symphony Orch Timothy Muffitt, conductor (recorded live, May 19, 2017, Great Hall, Wharton Center)
Music written for voice constituted nearly half of today's program. We heard ensembles VOCES8, Anonymous 4, The London Opera Chorus, Cambridge Singers, and the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers, along with the voices of Bryn Terfel, Renata Tebaldi, Renee Fleming, Carol Vaness, Jussi Bjoerling, Joan Sutherland, Carlo Bergonzi, Emma Stone, Dawn Upshaw, Peggy Wood, Christopher Plummer, Julie Andrews, and Charmian Carr.
1. Claude Debussy, Children’s Corner Suite, Yoshiko Okada
For many years, it's been a summertime tradition to come to the Interlochen campus on Saturday nights to hear performances of the World Youth Wind Symphony (WYWS).
This year, we're celebrating in a new way, with concerts on the radio!
Tune in to Classical IPR for three Saturday nights for "An Evening with the World Youth Wind Symphony."
Listen to the first episode this coming Saturday, June 27, or listen any time below.
Multi-instrumentalist Kevin LaRose is also an Interlochen Center for the Arts campus safety officer.
Every Thursday at 3 a.m. during his rounds, Kevin makes a video of himself playing a different instrument in a variety of locations on the Interlochen campus.
Scroll down to see Kevin's video for the week.
Can you correctly identify (1) what instrument he's playing, and/or (2) where on the Interlochen campus he is?
On Friday, June 26, the nationally syndicated classical music Performance Today will feature music performed at Interlochen Center for the Arts.
Join Classical IPR during the 11 a.m. hour as Performance Today broadcasts a recent performance given by the Harlem Quartet at Interlochen's Dendrinos Chapel and Recital Hall. The quartet played three rags by William Bolcom.
