While studying violin for four summers at Interlochen Arts Camp, Margaret Valade acquired a lifelong appreciation for the transformational power of superior arts instruction. That appreciation came full circle with the creation of a special endowment fund that allows Interlochen to renew and perpetuate a tradition of exellence in arts education.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in music from Michigan State University, Margaret developed a fascination with the Suzuki method of teaching violin; she became one of the first in southeast Michigan to use that instructional method. For 25 years Margaret taught Suzuki to pre-school students privately and at the Detroit Community Music School and the Institute for Music and Dance at Detroit’s Center for Creative Studies.
Margaret's husband, Gary C. Valade, is a Life Trustee of Interlochen Center for the Arts. In 2002 the couple made a $1 million gift to endow the Valade Master Teacher program, created with the goal of ensuring instruction at Interlochen Arts Camp from the finest musicians and educators of the day.
Beginning with its first year, the Valade Master Teacher Program was able to attract William Preucil, Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra, and Eric Kim, Principal Cellist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, to the Interlochen faculty. In summer, 2009, the program will support 16 distinguished music instructors in addition to Preucil and Kim. The Valade Faculty Recital has become an annual summer event that draws a fervent audience.
