The idea for a national high school orchestra summer camp first came to Interlochen's founder Joe Maddy following the first performance of the National High School Orchestra.
In 1926, Maddy and fellow music educator T. P. Giddings assembled the first National High School Orchestra.
This orchestra included 230 high school musicians from 25 states. These students met in Detroit and rehearsed for four days. They performed for the national meeting of the members of the Music Supervisors National Conference.
Despite skepticism from many of the assembled educators and even the music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the students' performance was a smashing success.
Maddy was so inspired by what they had accomplished in just four days that 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, for example.
On this episode of the Interlochen Collection, we reconstruct that first National High School Orchestra program from 1926 with recordings from Interlochen’s archives and featuring Interlochen alumni and friends.
Read more about this first concert and how it inspired Joe Maddy to found the music camp at Interlochen in the story linked below.
Archival recordings featured in this episode
Georges Bizet, "L'Arlesienne" (incidental music)
Graham T. Overgard conducting the National High School Band
August 15, 1937, Interlochen Bowl
Georges Bizet, "L'Arlesienne" (incidental music)
Alexander Schneider conducting the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra
February 4, 1980, Corson Auditorium
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony no. 3 "Eroica" (third and fourth movements)
Joe Maddy conducting the Youth Symphony Orchestra
August 15, 1965, Interlochen Bowl
Additional recordings featured in this episode
Giovanni Bolzoni, Minuet
Neeme Järvi conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Encore!
Franz Schubert, March Militaire
Ludwig van Beethoven, Turkish March
Frederick Fennell conducting the Eastman Rochester Pops Orchestra
Frederick Fennell: Fabulous Marches for Orchestra
The archival recordings heard on this program are available thanks in part to The Association for Recorded Sound Collections' Classical Music Preservation Grant, generous support from IPR listeners and the Hamer D. and Phyllis C. Shafer Foundation.
Lisa Sheppley and Eileen Ganter provided additional research support for this episode.
