Oral History Interview with Mark Mayfield

This oral history is provided free by the Archives of the Interlochen Center for the Arts (ARTICA). It has been accepted for inclusion in Interlochen’s audio archive by an authorized administrator of Interlochen Center for the Arts. For more information, please contact archives@interlochen.org.

00:00:00    BRAD BAILEY
Today is July 19th, 2024. This is Brad Bailey. This is an oral history interview conducted by Brad Bailey with...

00:00:08    MARK MAYFIELD
Mark Mayfield.

00:00:10    BRAD BAILEY
On the campus of the Interlochen Center for the Arts. Nice to meet you, Mark.

00:00:14    MARK MAYFIELD
Glad to meet you, sir.

00:00:15    BRAD BAILEY
So talk to me about where you were born and what your childhood was like.

00:00:18    MARK MAYFIELD
Okay. I was born in Kokomo, Indiana, which is just north of Indianapolis, straight down 31 here. We can drive all the way up that way, five-and-a -half hours. And I got to Interlochen in 1957 because my grandmother had a cottage on Crystal Lake, and so she wanted to come up to the Sunday evening concerts. And lo and behold, we did that from '57 to '64. And then in 1965, I applied for the summer camp and came up as a piano and operetta major. Piano major. Operetta minor.

00:00:49    BRAD BAILEY
And how old were you when you first came up to Interlochen to visit your grandmother's cottage?

00:00:54    MARK MAYFIELD
Six.

00:00:55    BRAD BAILEY
What was her name?

00:00:56    MARK MAYFIELD
Cordelia Mayfield.

00:00:58    BRAD BAILEY
Does your family still own the cottage here?

00:00:59    MARK MAYFIELD
The family does not own the cottage any longer, but it still exists on Crystal and we go by and see it every now and then.

00:01:05    BRAD BAILEY
Oh, wow.

00:01:06    MARK MAYFIELD
She passed at 96. But she still lived at Crystal.

00:01:10    BRAD BAILEY
How did she first get to know about Interlochen?

00:01:13    MARK MAYFIELD
That I'm not sure. She never shared that story, but I know that we always came up on Sunday nights, not during the week, always on Sunday nights. And they did likewise when I was here. And of course, The Bowl was the original Bowl with all the hard bench seating. And it was quite different.

00:01:32    BRAD BAILEY
Different in what way?

00:01:33    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, it was larger, but the seats were very uncomfortable, I guess is the way to say it. Especially when you were watching Les Préludes for the final concert and the place was jam packed. And it was a long concert for a kid. I think I was in eighth grade.

00:01:47    BRAD BAILEY
What was Interlochen like to you? Those- those times you were here when you were six years old?

00:01:51    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, I was always involved in music and, my maternal grandmother was a graduate of Peabody. I believe it is. And so my maternal side played music, all of them, and sang. And so this grandmother also promoted that. And so when we got up, I enjoyed it, obviously the other people who listened to classical music and I said, I'm sorry, but I like this stuff, you know, this is what I like. And that's what I was learning on the piano from the age of seven on.

00:02:22    BRAD BAILEY
Okay. So talk to me about your musical education at that time.

00:02:25    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, I started, like I said, around seven in Kokomo with a good teacher, but she quickly realized that I was beyond where she could lead me. And so then I went 30 miles away to Peru, Indiana, which is where my maternal grandmother lived and took from the person that had taught all of her family. She could have been a concert pianist herself.

00:02:46    BRAD BAILEY
Who was that?

00:02:47    MARK MAYFIELD
Audrey McElheny. And she chose to stay at home instead and teach kids music. So, I took a bus to Peru every Saturday, 8:00, got home at 3:00 - 3:30 on Saturday. After my lesson, I went down to Grandma's. We talked about the time in the music, and then we played cards and ate lunch.

00:03:07    BRAD BAILEY
Wow. And this was, uh, late 50s, early to mid 60s.

00:03:10    MARK MAYFIELD
That would have been the late. That would have been '60 through '64, probably.

00:03:14    BRAD BAILEY
And so continue about your your childhood education in music.

00:03:17    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, I was always in choir, and from early on I was singing above high C levels and what have you. And so I was always participating in community events or religious or school. So, it was not a big change for me to take on the voice major before I left here instead of the piano major. I made a shift up here in my senior year, and that educated the parents the hard way. I didn't ask.

00:03:45    BRAD BAILEY
So you were still getting educated in Kokomo. When did you start taking your first classes in Peru, Indiana? But when did you start first taking your first classes at Interlochen?

00:03:54    MARK MAYFIELD
1965 Summer.

00:03:56    BRAD BAILEY
Talk to me about that.

00:03:57    MARK MAYFIELD
And I was a piano major. We had two lessons a week, and we had daily sign in times for practice hut and practice hut was not set in the practice hut and just be there. It was for grades and for comments.

00:04:10    BRAD BAILEY
Well, I want to understand how- what was the shift then realizing that, especially if you had a wonderful teacher in Peru, what was the shift in finally doing your classes from Indiana to finally coming here for the Camp?

00:04:22    MARK MAYFIELD
Yeah, it was at that time, Brad, it was just a camp experience, and I'd always been blessed with going to a camp somewhere. Because I was so interested in music, they knew about Interlochen, they'd been coming here. They said, "hey, you want to go try out for the Camp?" And that worked well. And then the following year, I was enrolled to come back to the camp in '66. And they said, "Would you like to apply for the Academy?" Well, I'm just a kid. Sure. You know, you're probably tired of me getting up at 5:30 and practicing the piano in the morning when you're trying to sleep. So I made it. I didn't understand if I would make it, but I got in. I was a piano major. Then during my time here, I shifted out of piano more towards the vocal side and musical theater like The King and I and and Annie Get Your Gun and did events like that. Then after Interlochen also.

00:05:14    BRAD BAILEY
So talk to me about that first summer, your first time you've been coming up for your visit with your grandmother. Did you still have the cottage in '65?

00:05:20    MARK MAYFIELD
Yes. Oh, yes.

00:05:21    BRAD BAILEY
So what was it like then? Finally here as a student versus a visitor to the area?

00:05:26    MARK MAYFIELD
It was different. It was fun, but it was quite a hike. I was over on the other side of the campus, and my operetta was all the way back on this side of main campus. And it was a long hike, especially in the rain. It was a lot of work, but we had fun and, you know, we had games and we did things. We did canoe trips and regular type activities in the summer. But it was it was a tighter regimentation in the summer, I think, than in the Academy, simply because they had so many more people in the summer and they had to watch the children, and I was in the intermediate level, not the high school level, which had more freedom.

00:06:08    BRAD BAILEY
So talk to me about who you studied with and then how did you really develop and learn as a musician and a student?

00:06:15    MARK MAYFIELD
Okay. Well, for the technique and the piano and stuff, it really came from Audrey. And I've told others here that that's true. But as far as repertoire and maybe performance art, it came from here. And I studied under several pianists, and Louis Konop was the the head of the department, and I studied with him one year, and then the next year I studied with Albert Jordan. And Albert Jordan was the voice department's accompanist. So I met him through that area. And and we've maintained a relationship until just recently.

00:06:51    BRAD BAILEY
Why until just recently?

00:06:52    MARK MAYFIELD
I believe he passed.

00:06:53    BRAD BAILEY
Okay. So, um, any, because I would love to understand any people or events that happened during that period of time. We'll get to that. But anything else you want to tell me now about that period that really sticks out from '65 to '69?

00:07:05    MARK MAYFIELD
The big thing that happened was getting involved in the musicals and the operas and the operettas, uh, Amahl and the Night Visitor and then The King and I, of which I was, I was the King at the end of the show. So that was kind of nice, but it took so much work for us. We put it on five nights. We practice from 2 to 6, 7 to 9, and then we did our homework, and then we went to bed and we got up the next morning. We did the same thing for a long period of time. It was rewarding and I really enjoyed the singing and acting together. So what that did that year is Dr. Konop was head of the, the piano department. And and of course, you still have a final jury. Well, I took the final journey and obviously passed it, but my emphasis in my mind had changed and migrated towards the musical theatre and voice.

00:07:59    BRAD BAILEY
Yeah, because that was- that was one thing that would be interesting to me, to try to understand how you did work with both of those very intense concentrations at the same, around at the same time, because a lot of people pick one concentration and they stick with that. How did you manage to do the two, and then what was the emphasis toward moving toward the voice?

00:08:19    MARK MAYFIELD
The- the piano I had taken since I was seven, I really believe that the skill set had been developed prior to here. As far as, you know, you might have learned technique things, but skill set as far as scales and chords and all the reading of music and what have you that had been developed.

00:08:39    BRAD BAILEY
Back with Audrey?

00:08:40    MARK MAYFIELD
Yes. And my grandmother, of course, because she was a graduate. But Dr. Konop and I, because of the musicals and not being able to rehearse, was the issue. And so I honestly quit playing piano for a period of, oh gosh, '68 through '74 altogether. Not- not playing at all. And then I started practicing again and playing again. And then finally in 1980, after all those years of difference, I did my first recital and the piece that had started in 1965, which was either too challenging or too boring for me. Beethoven's first concerto, first movement. It was the second half of my show. I- somebody played the orchestra. I played the the first movement. I had started that here in '65. Thought I didn't like it. In 1980, I performed it. I still know some of the music.

00:09:40    BRAD BAILEY
Okay, so let's back up then to '69. You graduate.

00:09:44    MARK MAYFIELD
Yes.

00:09:44    BRAD BAILEY
What happens next?

00:09:45    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, I went to IU, but I went to IU-

00:09:48    BRAD BAILEY
Indiana University?

00:09:49    MARK MAYFIELD
Yes. On campus. And several of us went there and I was in the chorus. I was in the school of business, and I knew when I left here that music was.. I loved the arts, but I wasn't concentrating like my daughter did when she left here and became a professional musician. I wasn't willing to do that anymore. So I went to School of Business at Indiana University, and that's when I worked in all my life was individual companies.

00:10:21    BRAD BAILEY
Okay. And tell me about that, that career.

00:10:23    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, I started at Sears retail, and I was in that for five years and lived in Cleveland and Indianapolis and then, uh, came back and worked for my father from '78 through '81, which was construction, general construction, like building places like Interlochen. And we had a great recession in 1980 and '81, in Kokomo, Indiana. And I turned 30, and I had a child, and my father was of the age where he said, "I think I need to put it in hold, I need to invest and you need to find a job", because he didn't need me in the first place. But it was a time of reconciliation and bonding. But he retired at the age of 59 because of the risk of seeing too many people take a low bid job and go out of business and lose everything. So, I was fortunate. I got on to Delco Electronics, which was the headquarters of GM at that time, and it was a challenge, but I never lost a meal. And so we've been able to come up here all that time, every summer. What you don't know is that I lived next- We bought our property in '60 or '62 from my wife's grandparents.

00:11:36    BRAD BAILEY
The one property here, or where?

00:11:37    MARK MAYFIELD
She lived down next to me in Kokomo.

00:11:40    BRAD BAILEY
Kokomo. Got it, got it.

00:11:41    MARK MAYFIELD
And so her. So we. I met her because we bought property from her grandfather. Got it. There wasn't anybody else on the road. I come up here, I do all my high school growing up here.

00:11:51    BRAD BAILEY
Yeah.

00:11:52    MARK MAYFIELD
This year will be 52 years of marriage with my wife from Kokomo.

00:11:55    BRAD BAILEY
Congratulations.

00:11:56    MARK MAYFIELD
So, you know, I've known her- I'm 73. I've known her since I was 62, or I'm- for 62 years.

00:12:03    BRAD BAILEY
Wow. So you went into a non-musical career? You know, have a very successful career. Uh, how many children did you have?

00:12:09    MARK MAYFIELD
Three.

00:12:09    BRAD BAILEY
Three children.

00:12:11    MARK MAYFIELD
And they all were in the arts at some level.

00:12:13    BRAD BAILEY
So talk to me then about your relationship with music after graduation. And, you know, because it seemed like, you know, other circumstances happened which put you in a non-musical track, but you still clearly had a very strong interest in music and in Interlochen. And so I would love to understand what that relationship was like after you graduated.

00:12:29    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, I'll tell you, the first thing that was really a thought process was that playing that piece that I started in '65. In 1980, and how that happened, I, I really don't know how I triggered on that one, but I had the music there. I had played the third movement for Audrey, and so I just picked up the first movement, which I had started here. That was the beginning of the piano again, and it revived my interest.

00:12:54    BRAD BAILEY
And what year was that again?

00:12:55    MARK MAYFIELD
That would have been '79.

00:12:57    BRAD BAILEY
'79. So from '69 to '79.

00:13:00    MARK MAYFIELD
Pretty empty.

00:13:01    BRAD BAILEY
You said '74. You said you didn't do any piano. Right. But what about voice?

00:13:06    MARK MAYFIELD
I was doing voice wherever I lived in, like community choruses. I did the Mozart Requiem. I did the Verdi Requiem.

00:13:14    BRAD BAILEY
Can you give me a rundown of it? Sort of a quick timeline of what that looked like.

00:13:17    MARK MAYFIELD
Verdi was at Indiana University, so that would have been freshman year. So that would have been '69, '70, probably '70. The Requiem was in probably '89, but in between that I was Frank Butler and Annie Get Your Gun publicly. I was in the Madrigal- Christmas Madrigals, where we performed for four nights, a three hour type performance.

00:13:41    BRAD BAILEY
And these were local Kokomo.

00:13:42    MARK MAYFIELD
Those were local.

00:13:43    BRAD BAILEY
Got it, got it.

00:13:44    MARK MAYFIELD
But it was costumed and a dinner and speech and singing with, uh. And I did that for four years. And then I also participated in the Scottish Rite drama before I had children. So that would have been in the late 70s, '76 through '80. And so it was basically community choirs and special music at churches when they asked.

00:14:04    BRAD BAILEY
And then after '80.

00:14:05    MARK MAYFIELD
After '80, I still did musicals. The last musical I did publicly was in '86. That was on the stage of Indiana University. And the year before, I did my last piano recital at eight- In '85.

00:14:18    BRAD BAILEY
So the last piano recital is '85, and the last musical was '86.

00:14:22    MARK MAYFIELD
The last musical? Yes. Not the last singing, but the last musical. Well, special request in churches and activities like that. Community choirs again. And just getting together and enjoying it. You know, when I'm surprised at is how involved when I look back at trying to understand my association and what did Interlochen give me? They didn't give me the skills. for the piano, I had those when I came here. They polished it, they polished it- and it- and it was with a lot of work. And then as a teenager, I migrated into the- I'd always love voice. I was high seas and I was left center.

00:15:04    BRAD BAILEY
Oh. Were your tenor or a baritone?

00:15:06    MARK MAYFIELD
Baritone.

00:15:06    BRAD BAILEY
Baritone, got it.

00:15:07    MARK MAYFIELD
Yeah. And so I really enjoyed that. I enjoyed German lieder here and that sort of thing. So I was really surprised to see how much, when you listed it out, that there was some involvement with the fine arts. And I think people know that in Kokomo.

00:15:24    BRAD BAILEY
Absolutely. And so what, looking back at the career, you still you had many years involved, but in music after Interlochen, what kept you interested in music at that point, even with the other, you know, pressures that you had sort of fallen under? What kept you involved and interested in music?

00:15:42    MARK MAYFIELD
It was when- when I come here in the summer or anytime, because I come frequently now, But when I come here, it's like coming home. This is where I grew up, you know. Three and a half years. One summer. That's the half year. So this is home. And when I meet with people outside of here, or when we met for the 50th anniversary in 2012, it was like we had not been separate for 50 years. Our stories just went on. You know, everybody was looking for certain people to match up with. And a couple of years ago, I was- I left here and I had to I had to participate in some medical treatment. Serious medical treatment. And I saw a Facebook thing pop up because of Interlochen. I looked at it. It was my mother in the King and I. She was...She is about 6'4, and here I am. I had lost 60 pounds. I was practically bald. And she walks into my room and she's black and I'm white. And she walks in and she says to the my nurses, "I'm his mother!" And I said "She certainly is." She was the queen in the King and I.

00:16:50    BRAD BAILEY
Wow. What do you mean? She was black and you were white?

00:16:53    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, I'm Caucasian and she was African-American.

00:16:56    BRAD BAILEY
Okay.

00:16:56    MARK MAYFIELD
But she came in. I saw a little blurb in Facebook. I responded to her, and she came straight over the next day to see me. And our stories just followed off for two hours.

00:17:07    BRAD BAILEY
Got it. And who was she? She was- What was she again?

00:17:10    MARK MAYFIELD
Yeah, she was a voice major here. Claudia Polley. And she was extremely, extremely skilled.

00:17:16    BRAD BAILEY
Got it, got it. And so, because of that connection, did you know her or was it because..

00:17:20    MARK MAYFIELD
She's from Indianapolis.

00:17:21    BRAD BAILEY
Okay. So you knew her? Okay. Yes. Before. Before you had even seen the Facebook?

00:17:25    MARK MAYFIELD
Yes.

00:17:26    BRAD BAILEY
Okay. Got it, got it, got it, got it. Yeah. And so. Oh, so that that connection was something.

00:17:30    MARK MAYFIELD
It was a reconnect.

00:17:31    BRAD BAILEY
A reconnect. Got it. Got it. And then what did that do for you?

00:17:34    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, we we had a great time talking. I'm in the hospital and she's coming over, and she has a cast on herself because of an injury that she just had. But she came and we talked for two hours. And then since then,- we've been we've worked with a student that was from Kokomo that she contacted me and said, we got to do some things here. And he's performed in Indianapolis with the symphony orchestra and unbelievable talent. Never been taught. And so we were working together with that type of activity. And so we now stay in touch because we've relocated each other.

00:18:09    BRAD BAILEY
Talk to me a bit about your connection then with with other people who you knew through Interlochen through the years.

00:18:15    MARK MAYFIELD
Okay. Well, first of all, I've been involved with every president that's been on this campus as a leader. Secondly, Mary and Ken Jewell. Dr. Ken Jewell, who was my voice teacher, my choir teacher, my house parent, so to speak, for three years to where we went out to their house or they'd take us out to the boating or something. We stayed in touch with his wife after he passed in '86. We we stayed in touch with his wife up until her death, which was in the late 90s. And so she was one. Paul Morris had just passed this year. Janet Morris is his daughter. And Paul was able to lead us into a relationship with the Presidents Club, the original Presidents Club charter back in '86. And so we've- we've been able to fund a scholarship that helps kids come up here for the past 37 years.

00:19:09    BRAD BAILEY
And what's the name of it?

00:19:11    MARK MAYFIELD
The Ilse Mayfield Family scholarship.

00:19:14    BRAD BAILEY
Named after who?

00:19:15    MARK MAYFIELD
My mother. And so, you know, people like that. Emily Culler is in Advancement right now. And Beth Stoner was previously my representative. Cathy Dodge Miller right now is, is my representative, Brad. But it was Beth. And so having those scholarships and seeing those kids and coming up here, what's kept me here is seeing the growth and excellence of the way the way the institution's grown. But the kids, the performances are so professional. And so instead of going to maybe a local theater or something, we would come up here. Now I can stream it. It's fantastic. You know, I watched Collage live for the first time in, in years because I couldn't get up here. So that connection has always been there. Even when I wasn't performing, I was performing more than I thought I was.

00:20:11    BRAD BAILEY
What do you mean by that?

00:20:12    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, in the voice and the piano. And once I started piano again, you know, I was doing- I was doing stuff I had to re- I had to relearn basically, or redevelop the..

00:20:22    BRAD BAILEY
After, after-

00:20:24    MARK MAYFIELD
Because I'd been, I'd been off so long and each of my three children took music. One took dance. The oldest took dance and choir and still sings and, still sings in community choirs.

00:20:35    BRAD BAILEY
How old is your oldest now?

00:20:36    MARK MAYFIELD
She's 43.

00:20:37    BRAD BAILEY
Okay.

00:20:39    MARK MAYFIELD
And a veterinarian. And then I have twins. A boy and a girl. And he played trumpet and she played piano, pipe organ, and french horn.

00:20:49    BRAD BAILEY
How old are they now?

00:20:50    MARK MAYFIELD
They're 42, in September. September. So we gave them a choice of when they were grew up. One- one was going to be a fine art. You pick the fine art and that's how that developed. And so they were all in band together and marching band was big down there. Not orchestra, but marching band in high school.

00:21:09    BRAD BAILEY
Did they, did they come here at Interlochen as well?

00:21:11    MARK MAYFIELD
The young man doesn't. But, uh, his sister was here about five years ago, and the music building was just a hole. It was formed. I mean, they were working on it. And so we took her on a tour throughout the whole campus, and she brought her husband from- they're Texans. And, uh, she went on to play professionally for ten years, or play for five years professionally and then teach for five years.

00:21:36    BRAD BAILEY
Okay. Wow. And then your other, your other children.

00:21:39    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, the boy, the boy is now manufacturing employee at Chrysler.

00:21:44    BRAD BAILEY
So do they. Sorry. Did they come for Camp or Academy?

00:21:47    MARK MAYFIELD
Only the young lady came to Camp. They all had to take a fine art. But only the youngest girl, 42, Andrea, came to Camp and she came as an intermediate, then as a high school girl, and then came back as a high school counselor. And then she's come back with us to see the place, and she'll carry on the scholarship name when, when that happens.

00:22:07    BRAD BAILEY
How did watching Collage for the first time feel? You said that because you hadn't been up here in a few years. What did- how did that feel when you were watching it live for the first time after so many years of not coming up?

00:22:17    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, not being able to come up during the, during the performances, right. It was fantastic to see the technology since Covid to where we've developed the ability for us to stream or be live, and this was a live concert and so it was just fantastic. I just stayed there on the computer till it was over. You know, it's like you can come in or you can stay out, but don't talk. And, and my wife likes Collage a lot, too. She's not a musician, but she she's been coming up since 1970 with me. So she's got a history here, too.

00:22:52    BRAD BAILEY
So talk to me again about where your daughter is performing and where she is right now as a performing musician.

00:22:57    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, she was a performing musician in Culiacan, Mexico for five years after college, so it would have been the 2008 to 2014 or '15. She then taught music, private horn lessons in Richardson, Texas, which is a little suburb just outside the beltway of Dallas. And since, she's gotten married, she went back to school and became a teacher in special high education, high math, fancy math for sixth and seventh graders. And because she speaks Spanish fluently and English, she's got classes that are like half and half. And so she's in the Frisco, Texas area, which is just again another subdivision of of Dallas, so to speak.

00:23:43    BRAD BAILEY
So when your wife, did she have any musical background or training?

00:23:47    MARK MAYFIELD
No.

00:23:47    BRAD BAILEY
So how do you think the love of music and arts was able to get transferred to your children?

00:23:53    MARK MAYFIELD
You know, I think it just was a way of life for us. And of course, the one girl, the oldest girl heard me practicing that 1980, because she was born in 81, she heard most of that for a year in the womb before she came along. And then practicing for the '85, they were all around, and I was singing and acting locally. And so, so basically they saw it. You know, we had a upright piano in the home which was played, and the kids played it. I sang to the kids when I would ride the bike with the oldest, I would just like singing. So I'd just sing a song and she'd pick it up and,and I took her over to see Audrey several times.

00:24:32    BRAD BAILEY
Wow. And so when did Audrey pass away?

00:24:35    MARK MAYFIELD
I'd say eight years now.

00:24:38    BRAD BAILEY
Not long ago.

00:24:39    MARK MAYFIELD
No, no.

00:24:40    BRAD BAILEY
What did she think, then, of your trajectory, your music trajectory? Because she's known you pretty much your whole life?

00:24:45    MARK MAYFIELD
Yeah, well, I grew up with my mother and my sister and my aunts. She wrote a very nice thing in a little dictionary when she was not against me coming to Interlochen. And the saying that I remember her putting in there was not about being able to play the piano or do this, but she put in that you're a musician and I congratulate you, and that, that meant a lot coming from an old family friend. That could have been a concert on the tour. I mean, she really could have.

00:25:13    BRAD BAILEY
Did you think she regretted not being able to go and..

00:25:16    MARK MAYFIELD
No, I think she- I think that was a choice that she made willingly. And then she taught an awful lot of us her skills. But she was the type of teacher that if if you had not done your homework, she didn't have to talk to you. She would just look at you, and then you would feel the shame and the guilt because you knew that you hadn't done the homework. And that's why you're performing poorly. I mean, she was that type of teacher. you wanted to perform for her, you wanted to do well. The first piece she ever played for me was the national anthem. As a kid, and I still try to replicate her style on that when I play it for other organizations, simply because it's in my memory.

00:25:54    BRAD BAILEY
What's her style for that?

00:25:56    MARK MAYFIELD
It was just heavy and tremolo and the bass on, you know. And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air. It was just the way she played those and brought up those deep bass chords. And it was the first piece, you know. So it has a memory for me. Kind of like the concerto in '65 here, and then I play it in '80.

00:26:15    BRAD BAILEY
So what other pieces stick out to you that you think?

00:26:18    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, I love the German lieder, and I did a lot of German lieder with Dr. Jewell.

00:26:23    BRAD BAILEY
Here?

00:26:23    MARK MAYFIELD
Yes. Schubert's, Schubert's particularly. And, uh, I enjoyed those very much. And I was able to do them, you know, when they're in your range, it makes so much difference. But it was fun. My voice lessons were at like 8 or 8:30 in the in the morning. That's incredibly lousy after you have to eat breakfast. Because we had to eat breakfast back then when I came here. You know, they checked you off and you eat breakfast in there. So you're having some milk with your cereal because they're only serving syrup, and then you're going straight into a voice lesson. But I enjoyed it. I learned, I've got the books at home. It's a little harder at this age to sing like you want to, but it's still an interest. And I don't think I ever lost my interest in the arts. And in fact, I've taken up since Covid, acrylic painting. Well, I couldn't draw anything up here. I never drew a I- you know, I might doodle on my notebook when I'm trying to not pay attention in school, but now I'm doing acrylic painting. And so the arts, writing, reading, music, going to concerts, not going to concerts, you know, sponsoring stuff and then working here. Obviously, I've been involved here with the role that I've taken on as with the Engagement Council.

00:27:37    BRAD BAILEY
Yeah. And talk to me about the Engagement Council, uh, and your current board work you're doing here now?

00:27:42    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, the work currently is, or the title, I guess, is chairman of the Engagement Centennial Team. And so Ian and I will meet with another gentleman weekly at minimum, when we're looking at hiring, it's like six and seven times a week. It depends on the frequency that we need. But I've been basically the project manager. I made my commitment to them in the hospital. I was on an all day meeting like this with a headset on, and I had the uniform on. They had sent me a bed blanket that was the blue, and so it was on the bed. And so after eight hours of listening to all the sessions go on for the Engagement Committee, I told them yes.

00:28:25    BRAD BAILEY
Why?

00:28:26    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, this is a priority to me. I mean, I'll be 80 when this is over, assuming that the disease doesn't rebound. So it is a high priority to me. You know, I've been on the campus every year, but two years. I've been on the original president's charter. I continue to keep that up, even on fixed income. We've been blessed. I've been on the Alumni Council for ten years, and I was on the Engagement Council six and then they rewrote the- so that I could be employed by them to do this job, so that we started working on the Centennial '19, and it won't be done until '29, you know. So it's, it is a commitment. And then seeing those kids that we scholarship that's rewarding because they usually the kids are generous to us. They'll let us talk to them when we're on campus and stuff. They'll come and meet me. And so we've seen people from around the world.

00:29:23    BRAD BAILEY
How does that feel?

00:29:24    MARK MAYFIELD
It's great. It's passing it on. And, you know, every generation has their own, what I'll call, magic of Interlochen. There are moments of Interlochen, and as teenagers, you're going to have negative memories and positive memories, but coming back is like being at home. The reason I come here and the reason I believe my wife brings me because I can't drive it all by myself now, is because she knows it brings peace to my spirit. I mean, I just start relaxing immediately. So it's a different.. this work is a little heavier. And then, then than what we knew it would be. But it's taking what I've had for lessons. And Interlochen actually taught me lessons of life much more than music. They gave me repertoire. They gave me ability to perform. They gave me graciousness of hearing great performances for the past 50, 60 years. But they taught me how to think, how to make life decisions, how to lead life lessons, I call them, and I've shared those with Trey in the past, and those are what are critical to me. And I believe that as we keep to the foundational vision of Joe Maddy, but adapt to technology and creativity that will remain successful. And so I want to launch the second- It's my it's my going away. It's what I can leave with them. I'm doing what I can. I can't do what some of the people can do. I can't do what a Jewel does or a Josh Groban, but I can do what I do and what I've been trained to do. So I've taken my business and trying to employ it for the benefit as a volunteer.

00:31:07    BRAD BAILEY
Oh, absolutely. And so what is that fundamental vision of Joe Maddy that you think needs to be integrated with the technology?

00:31:14    MARK MAYFIELD
I believe it's arts education of people that have an interest in it, but it's to a degree of excellence, and the standard doesn't lower, the standard stays where high levels. And what I've seen happen is I've seen most of us come up to the higher level. Now it doesn't happen with every kid. Obviously I switched from piano to voice, but I found an art that I really loved, you see, and I'd been taking the other for 11 years, and I said, nah, let's go explore this other area. So I think it's the fact that it's arts education and the way it can and should influence our culture. For me, it's a peaceful, healing element, even if it's a challenging, harsh, modernistic to my ear symphony. I just love it. I told a kid a couple of years ago, I said, "You know what my channels are on my radio?" I said, it's XM Sirius Radio, you know? And he said, "no, I don't know." And he was a good friend. And I said, "Well, my first one is Symphony Hall because I had a symphony every Sunday here. And the second one is opera." I said, "Now, how many of you have opera on your-" I was teaching some kids some things about priorities, "How many, how many of you have that? How many? Either one of those?" They said, "Well, we know what a symphony is, but we don't want to listen to opera." I said, "Well, if you listen to it, you might like it." And the other thing was, I was here in the 60s, and I had good friends here that were totally different than me, where they're from. I mean, Korea, Detroit, big cities, little cities and all ethnicities. And I always felt at home. I always felt accepted, and I always liked that diversity. And I think that's what I like about Interlochen. If you want to see a film, go down and watch the kids sing, for me, or go to a piano recital or Sunday, go to the organ recital. It doesn't have to be just music. Go over to the art. Look at their art. So helping the students go forward and helping students get here so they can experience it is the big driver for me.

00:33:33    BRAD BAILEY
And so you mentioned, you know, the physicality of calming down. And I would like to understand, you know, and the importance of, you know, your wife driving you up here so that you can experience that in person. Talk to me a little bit more about what that physically feels like. You know, sort of, if you could sort of take us to to how you do calm down, how Interlochen does calm you down.

00:33:54    MARK MAYFIELD
Sure. Yeah. Let's go back to when I was first here as a student, because that's who I'm trying to reach and get here. We would have concerts every Sunday night, mandatory, during the winter and, well, okay, so you're a teenager, you got all sorts of emotions going on. You've got all sorts of pressures. You've got your arts, you've got your academics, you've got your relationships. And then, of course, you always have finances, right? That's part of life. I could go in mad as a teenager to those concerts and come out not a bit angry at anything. It was just like it erased it all. And so music has always done that for me. And so we had talked about, for several years, we had talked about moving up in this area. And then we, we noticed that we're triangulated with Interlochen and our children on distance and timing, and it's peaceful to me when I come up instead of work. It's not work. It's love for the institution and wanting it to succeed for future generations. It just lowers the blood pressure, and it's a joy that day in and day out may be missing. Not all the time, by any means. I'm not, I'm not a depressed person, but I am surprised at how much it really has meant to me and how long we've stayed invested, and all the ways that I'm still invested.

00:35:16    BRAD BAILEY
So do you think that, that Interlochen itself, when you were going through the illness period, do you think Interlochen helped with that in different ways?

00:35:23    MARK MAYFIELD
Yeah, I do, and the Engagement Council, and in fact, within days of learning of it, all sent a hand signed electronically hand signed, but all the scripts are theirs. And this gift of a you know.. And I couldn't believe it. But that's the community we were, you know, they'd seen me working for them and they and I mean, it was immediate. It was probably the first week and it just meant a lot, you know, I don't know how else to put it. It, it- we still got the blanket, I still got the card. And I have a couple shelves in my, at least two shelves in my bookcases- I have seven, seven or so bookcases in my office because I love to read, and Interlochen taught me that too, but they're totally Interlochen. Ones with my- I have three, ones my daughter's memories, ones my memories, and ones the more business type involvement that I've been, you know, like fundraising or other things.

00:36:27    BRAD BAILEY
You said a box or no?

00:36:29    MARK MAYFIELD
Three shelves of book- on bookcases. Three different. So I got about ten feet of memorabilia that I look at daily.

00:36:38    BRAD BAILEY
Okay, wow. And could you give us sort of a brief snapshot of what that memorabilia looks like?

00:36:42    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, the fir- the Engagement Council did give us a nice handcrafted art piece by a student when we rolled off officially because we had to. So it's there and it's a cabin. And then on the back side, Ian has written words of endearment and encouragement to us. And so I've got that. And it's in a thick plexiglas that it's very safe from all the animals that I let in the room with me. I have the Music Building as it was finished, and I was here for the dedication of that. We were here for the dedication of the the Dow Dance and the dormitory. We have all the little lanyards of all the different times we've been up here that we've done something, whether it was Engagement Council or 50th reunion in 2012. All those lanyards are there and they remind you of that type of activity. And then there's postcards that other people have sent. I have the Maddy coin. Someone gave me the Maddy coin, and then another relative built me a wood base for it. Behind me on the wall is the presidents charter, with my name signed on it by the president or by whoever wrote. All over my desk are 50th anniversary, Interlochen Alumni Center, and, you know, there's reminders on my desk under a glass seal. So the cat again can't move it every time he sees it, that is truly Interlochen. So if a person walked into my office, I would think that they would definitely know that the arts are important to me.

00:38:19    BRAD BAILEY
And so talk to me then about your favorite place on campus. What's your favorite place on campus and why?

00:38:24    MARK MAYFIELD
I like The Mall a lot, and Kresge specifically for concerts and stuff. I like the outdoors. I, I sit and if I'm not watching the conductor like on WYSO, I like watching the water and it calms me. But I'm listening to the music, every now and then. I'm watching the conductor. I do like watching the kids, but every now and then you'll see me look out there and I'll see the lake. And it just settles me. It's peaceful. So I like The Mall a lot because I can see more people at one time. I like to watch the people. I like to hear the kids and see what they're doing.

00:39:00    BRAD BAILEY
Mhm.

00:39:01    MARK MAYFIELD
I'm not up here for like, Festival. I come up here to hear kids perform. That's who I want to see. DSO, I'm gonna enjoy it. I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna enjoy it. But WYSO on Sunday, with DSO side by side is why I like to come up and and hear those concerts. But Kresge because of the calming effect of the water in the background. And I used to be able to watch all the aspens towards the campsite. Not, not the main, you know. And they put the screens up now for the sun. I've only been coming here since '57. But now they got the, now they got shade for us. So I can't look out that side. I have to look out through the other way, but that's okay.

00:39:42    BRAD BAILEY
Um, until, you know, of all the memories you've had here, what's your top memory, if that is possible?

00:39:48    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, yeah, I think I can, because it involved.. It was in 1967. Uh, my favorite aunt, well, at 4:00 in the afternoon, we only had one phone in the dorms. It was at the desk in the front where everybody was, the officer of the dormitory and the phone- My room was the very last one down the hall, and at 4:00 it rang. And I walked out in the hallway and I said, "That's got to be for me." I had no way of knowing that it was for me. My great aunt had passed away. That night, we were supposed to sing, and we did sing Brahms Requiem in German. And when my mother passed, the choirs of Kokomo from the churches came together because I was part of them. And they sang Brahms Requiem for her. So I would say probably as a concert, that was one, because of family connections and those memories. But the other would have been singing either with Dave Brubeck, that was a big one, singing his oratorio with him, and then Aaron Copeland was on campus during that time, and we did In The Beginning, which was a very difficult, challenging piece. And I still have a tape reel of it. I don't have a tape recorder to play, but I have it on tape reel and it was that meaningful to me.

00:41:04    BRAD BAILEY
And so how would you describe Interlochen to someone who has never been here?

00:41:08    MARK MAYFIELD
It is a camp and a school that will teach a child a lot more than they can even imagine, if they'll take advantage of every opportunity that the faculty and staff will present them with. It is expensive, but its returns in life are, I believe, much more meaningful than other encounters. Philanthropy, obviously I've got the scholarship established, Brad. Indiana University doesn't get my funds. Interlochen gets my funds. And it's a priority. And so I think if a child that is interested in the arts, any of them, I think they would feel comfortable here and welcomed and encouraged to excel. Now it's up to the child on how well they do with that environment. Some children need more attention than others. Others of us are more independent I guess, and take the challenge on themselves. It all depends on the personality and how they've been raised at home. But this place is special. It does teach excellence. It teaches life lessons. I had to learn how to study. College was easy after, but it wasn't easy the first six weeks here. I didn't used to do any homework. And now I'm in forced study in our rooms, and that's okay. That's a, that's a thing that changed over time. But I had to learn to study. I didn't know how to study. I didn't need to study in my hometown. My grades were straight A's at home. My parents drove up the first day after the first grade card because now they're paying for a private school, right? And those grades weren't the same. And yet I was working my tail off trying to learn how to do all that stuff. So when I went to college though, it was, it was pretty easy. All you had to do was apply yourself.

00:43:01    BRAD BAILEY
And so what's your hope for Interlochen's future.

00:43:04    MARK MAYFIELD
Well I want it to be here. I am looking forward to the celebration as a launching of the second century, not a birthday party. It's important that we've been around a hundred years coming up in in 2028, '29. But if it stops, then, then we've lost. We've lost. I want Interlochen to be the world leader in arts and arts education.

00:43:27    BRAD BAILEY
And so what is your advice for future Interlochen students who come through here.

00:43:31    MARK MAYFIELD
With all the energy and all the hopes and dreams that you have? Take advantage of every opportunity. It'll seem like you can't do more. It'll seem like you're overloaded, et cetera, etc, etc.. But don't do what a lot of us did, and what I probably did, which was take a little bit easier route out, you know, and not take advantage of every single opportunity. Go for it. You're only here 1 to 4 years or in the summer, you're only here for 3 to 6 weeks, you know. Take advantage of what you got because it's so rich. Like I said, the repertoire that I got, both vocally and pianistically was what was is still in my house with my now grand piano. I did piano tuning here, too. We tore one apart and sent it back to Cincinnati and then put it back together. But that's an opportunity I would have never gotten in a regular high school down in Kokomo. How do you tear a piano apart and rebuild it? I mean, you know, it just isn't normal stuff.

00:44:35    BRAD BAILEY
And so, last question why does art matter in our world today?

00:44:40    MARK MAYFIELD
Well, I think it can be, I believe Kresge, where it's a universal language that can bring commonality and resolve issues if we'll let it. And I think it's a way of expressing the art is a way of expressing one's inner being and sharing it with the world. I obviously still stay in the music world primarily, but I love a good play here. I love a good dance performance. I like to watch the kids art every time. So I think it's necessary for teaching kids how to think differently and how to be creative. And maybe opinionated is even the right word, but not divisive. I think the arts can bring us together instead of divide us.

00:45:28    BRAD BAILEY
Well, great. Well, thank you so much. I think we've covered quite a lot in the one hour. Is there anything you would like to add or that you think we haven't covered or talked about?

00:45:37    MARK MAYFIELD
No, I don't think so. I just think the memories are special. And until you've experienced Interlochen, at least for one summer, you might not understand the magic of the place because it's, in a way and you haven't seen it, but I love the woods. I've stayed involved with the friends. I've stayed involved with staff. I enjoy being able to contribute both monetarily and in a different methodology. And so I support it.

00:46:09    BRAD BAILEY
Okay. Well thank you again for for making the time and effort today. So this concludes my oral history interview with-

00:46:16    MARK MAYFIELD
Mark Mayfield.

00:46:18    BRAD BAILEY
Conducted by Brad Bailey on the campus of the Interlochen Center for the Arts.