When John Randolph Phelps arrived at Interlochen to celebrate his 100th birthday, he was greeted with a remarkable gift. The former dean of college men at Interlochen Arts Camp was the guest of honor as summer faculty at Interlochen Arts Camp premiered one of his musical compositions – nearly seventy years after he wrote it.
In 1941, when he was in his early thirties, Phelps composed a piano concerto that he called Piano Concerto No. 1 in hopes that many more piano concertos would follow. Although he wrote and arranged hundreds of pieces for organ, choir, orchestra and band ensembles, recorder and even a "mini" piano concerto for very young pianists, he never composed another full-length piece like a symphony or concerto.
In the years that followed, Phelps served as an important mentor to his great nephew, Rick Phelps, who has been on the summer faculty for several years. When Rick was studying conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, his great uncle presented him with a gift of several of his published scores, and one of his hand-written, hard bound copies of the Piano Concerto. As he examined the pieces, the younger Phelps found himself drawn to the Piano Concerto and made it a personal mission that one day he would hear it performed. As his great uncle’s 100th birthday approached, Rick resolved that this would be the year and decided that Interlochen would be the perfect place to accomplish the goal.
Rick recruited a small orchestra with the help of Rose Shylam Grace, a member of the piano faculty, who also performed as the soloist on the piece. On July 14, 68 years after he wrote the piece, John Randolph Phelps watched his nephew conduct the piano concerto. “This was the right place and the right time,” said Rick Phelps. “The performance would have never happened if the faculty and staff at Interlochen were not as passionate and supportive as they were. Rose, in particular showed incredible energy and enthusiasm for the piece. This whole experience was such a demonstration of Interlochen’s ideals of lifelong participation and love of music.”