Our Music Festival: A Treasured Gift
Our Music Festival: A Treasured Gift
Washington Island Music Festival Chorus members have been rehearsing every Saturday morning for the Music Festival final concert Friday night, August 12. As they leave each rehearsal for the next of their weekend activities, they may still be singing to themselves the words from Bill Olson’s Island Songs and Landscapes that have been brought to life through the melodies and harmonies composed in 2006 by Eric Ewazen of the Juilliard School in New York. The music stays in their minds and in their hearts because the words resonate with Washington Island experiences: the April days when the sun and soft breeze lure us out, the fine, cool mist enveloping us right before a summer storm, the naturalist relating the secrets of the swales and crests of the Jackson Harbor Ridges.
Many of the chorus members can still hear our favorite neurosurgeon/baritone and Island summer resident Douglas Anderson delighting the audience by singing Bill Olson’s description of July: “It’s summer. It’s hot. It’s muggy. When I wash the car it rains. Where I walk mosquitoes buzz and bite. My dog’s tongue drips on everything…It’s summer. I love it!”
Bill Olson loved Washington Island. When the chorus sings about being “calm and grateful, happy to reside on this peaceful Island” and about the hope that “those who love this blessed place face issues with good will and grace,” the music honors his memory and the memory of all the strong individuals who have been a part of our Island history and culture.
Each year the festival chorus is made up of singers with varied levels of experience with choral singing. Kathi O’Connor trains these volunteer singers to sing with professional instrumentalists. During the last two weeks of rehearsal, as they intently follow Artistic Director Stephen Colburn’s direction to make crisp entrances and smooth cut-offs, they gain choral experience; nurtured by good direction, guided by professionals, and inspired by the chance to contribute to the concert, their hearts rise up in the joy of making music. Chorus members have been heard to say “We plan our vacation around the music festival,” and “We’ve made this a part of our lives!”
The festival offers the gift of learning to everyone, in ways that have multiplied during recent years. Half an hour before each evening and afternoon concert, the audience has the chance to hear Samantha George, Associate Professor of Music at Lawrence University and former Associate Concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, give a preview of what to expect in the music. The informal explanations of this master teacher are as entertaining as they are educational. While the other musicians warm up backstage, Samantha captures the attention of those in the audience and shares details that help them listen to the music that follows.
Several years ago, in response to audience demand, the Music Festival committee expanded Samantha’s role to include three free talks at the Red Barn (Wednesday, August 3 at 10 a.m., Friday, August 5 at 2 p.m., and Thursday, August 11 at 10 a.m.). As fits the setting, these are informal opportunities to ask questions about music and learn more about the pieces to be performed at the coming concerts. Eager listeners are pleased to leave a donation in the basket as they munch on muffins or cookies and hurry back inside the Red Barn to find out who the “mystery guest” is.
Each year we learn about one specific aspect of a musician’s life when a festival artist makes a special informative music presentation at the TPAC. This year Stephen Colburn, Artistic Director of the festival who has just retired from the Milwaukee Symphony, will tell us about playing the oboe: “You don’t have to be crazy, but it helps!”
During the second week of the festival, Monday, August 8-12, children have a chance to learn about music during a free music camp for children ages 6 through 12. Kari Gordon, whom many know well through the Scandinavian Dance Festival, plans a week of lively activities, including the chance to perform at the Children’s Concert on Wednesday, August 10 at 11 a.m. At this free, hour-long concert, eager children and their parents and grandparents experience what for the youngest ones is their first live concert with orchestral musicians. Musical morsels provide a child-friendly story of what music can be.
The opportunity for children to learn about music continues throughout the year, as the Music Festival sponsors Music in the School, an organized program of music instruction that helps the local school children learn the language of music.
The entire two weeks of the music festival are a gift to the residents and visitors here. From the opening concert on Monday night August 1 to the Big Top Concert on August 18, the Washington Island Music Festival helps the local economy flourish. The professional musicians are not paid; they volunteer to spend their vacation practicing and playing chamber music with colleagues and friends. Why would they agree to this concept? They can concentrate on making music in this Island setting, and when they look out at the audience they see old friends and new.
Audience members relish not only what they hear, but what they see: chamber music is especially fun to observe as the players on stage lean towards each other, catch each other’s cues, and respond to one musical phrase after another in an intimate conversation. Their delight is communicated to the audience, which responds with exhilaration and pride in “our” musicians. Stephen Colburn has heard festival musicians say that the two weeks of the Music Festival are what they look forward to all year. He has described the musicians as “nourished by the music, the people, and the place.” Island residents and visitors are nourished in turn. For the past twenty years they have treasured the Washington Island Music Festival.
submitted by Barbara Greenfeldt
