February is American Music Month and that gives us cause to celebrate with performances both on campus and on the road. Some might think that “touring” and “February” don’t belong in the same sentence, especially in the upper Midwest. But tours have been part of the Interlochen experience for 80 years and many took place in February and March. As our ensembles make plans for their early March tour to Grand Rapids and Chicago, it is an ideal time to dig in to the archives and look at some tours from the past.
FEBRUARY 21, 1930: Following the second summer of the National High School Orchestra Camp, a group of students convened in Atlantic City to play for the Music Supervisors National Conference. This orchestra went on to perform in Philadelphia on the 27th, at Carnegie Hall on the 28th and finished the tour with a performance in Washington, D.C. Before returning home, the orchestra boarded the S.S.Aquatania and had their photo taken with President Herbert Hoover.
FEBRUARY 20-21, 1964: In the Academy’s second year, the orchestra performed in Bay City and Ann Arbor. The program consisted mostly of American music including a Hovhaness symphony and Deems Taylor’s suite, “Through the Looking Glass.” Taylor had become a familiar name to music listeners through the insightful essays he delivered during intermissions of the New York Philharmonic’s radio broadcasts. For the tour, Dr. Maddy added a narrative text for Taylor’s music and chose Linda Hunt, a young Academy student with a remarkable voice to read the lines. Linda went on to win an Oscar in 1982 for her role in the film “A Year of Living Dangerously” and is best-known today for her role as “Hetty” in the current “NCIS: Los Angeles” series. Echoing the 1930 tour, Interlochen returned to Philadelphia and New York City on the 17th and 18th of March. The New York City performance featured the premiere of Hovhaness’s “Variations and Fugue,” commissioned by Interlochen for the occasion and dedicated to W. Clement Stone, an important benefactor to the Arts Academy.
FEBRUARY 7-9, 1965: Thor Johnson and Dr. Maddy led the orchestra on a four-concert Michigan tour including repertoire from Haydn to Hindemith. Flutist Jean Baxtressor (IAA 65) played the haunting opening to Debussy’s Prèlude à l’après d’un faune.
FEBRUARY 21-27, 1966: Traveling extensively to promote the Academy in its fourth year, the orchestra tour included three concerts in London, Ontario -- Interlochen’s first international tour! The final performance featured three works with African-American soprano Adele Addison, a favorite soloist of Leonard Bernstein and the singing voice for Dorothy Dandrige in the 1959 film version of “Porgy and Bess.” (Does anyone remember the next tour outside our borders? Any others? Be the first to reply with a correct answer and receive a grateful nod from the archivist plus a warm welcome on your next visit!)
FEBRUARY 9 and 20, 1967: Closer to home, the orchestra played concerts in Brethren and Traverse City. Featured in three selections from Porgy and Bess were soprano Rosemarie Gore (Rosemarie Gore-Bigbee) and baritone Richard Evans. Rosemarie and Richard joined the orchestra again for a 5-concert tour in March, repeating their Gershwin selections, along with a duet from Massenet’s Thaïs.
