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From the Desk of Trey Devey: Bringing a youth voice to America250
Interlochen Arts Academy’s spring 2026 East Coast tour will feature the world premiere performances of Wynton Marsalis’ new cello concerto by preeminent cellist Yo-Yo Ma under the baton of Cristian Mӑcelaru.
Yo-Yo Ma (left; photo credit: Jason Bell) and Wynton Marsalis (right; photo credit: Joe Martinez)
Dear friends,
Earlier this month, we welcomed more than 570 young artists to Interlochen for the start of the 2024-25 Arts Academy school year.
Among this gifted cohort of high school creatives is a significant and growing class of 9th-grade students. These freshmen are arriving at Interlochen full of passion and potential. Over the next four years, they will grow exponentially as artists, citizens, and humans as they practice their art, live alongside diverse classmates, and learn from our acclaimed instructors and from each other. They will also graduate in 2028—the same year that Interlochen will mark its 100th anniversary—and I can’t help but think their journey will parallel the continued evolution of Interlochen itself.
Just like these promising young artists, Interlochen began with a dream and grew into a powerful force for change in this world. In the 96 years since Joseph Maddy made his bold idea a reality, Interlochen has become a global destination for artists and one of the leading youth arts organizations in the world. In March 2026, we will have the chance to reinforce and expand that leadership role through an exciting partnership with leading American cultural institutions and world-renowned artists.
Our nation will mark its semiquincentennial in 2026 through a dynamic series of celebrations known as America250. We felt that we needed to bring a youth voice and a creative voice to this important moment in our history, and we believed that Interlochen—with our leadership in youth arts education dating back nearly 100 years—was the right institution to lift up the creative youth development movement. It’s a special responsibility we carry.
Thus, I am pleased to share that Interlochen has begun a major partnership with The Philadelphia Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra to ensure there is a platform for a youth voice on the occasion of the American semiquincentennial in 2026. This partnership will include an East Coast tour in March 2026 to Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
The tour will include a multidisciplinary performance of Interlochen musicians, dancers, actors, creative writers, filmmakers, visual artists, and interdisciplinary artists.
Interlochen alumni who now are members of The Philadelphia Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra will perform side-by-side with our orchestra, all under the baton of Cristian Măcelaru (IAA 97-99, IAC 98), Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Interlochen’s World Youth Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Designate of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
These opportunities to perform in renowned venues and play alongside professional orchestral musicians are incredible. But our 2026 East Coast tour is made even more extraordinary—truly an “Only at Interlochen” experience—by the involvement of two of today’s most accomplished and sought-after musical artists. Famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma and renowned trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis will join this one-of-a-kind collaboration: Ma will guide our students as a guest artist and will premiere Marsalis’ new cello concerto at our performances at Interlochen on March 7, 2026; at Philadelphia’s Marian Anderson Hall on March 13, 2026; and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on March 15, 2026.
As we approach our 100th anniversary, this is the type of initiative that conveys our leadership role in arts education. It offers a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our students to learn from some of the very best and perform in major venues in cultural capitals at a defining moment in our nation’s history.
But it’s not just about the opportunity we can provide for our students. As part of the tour, Interlochen faculty will visit the greater Philadelphia area and Washington, D.C. to work with youth arts organizations in all seven of Interlochen’s disciplines: music, theatre, visual arts, film & new media, dance, creative writing, and interdisciplinary arts. Students associated with these youth arts organizations will be chosen to receive full-tuition scholarships to Interlochen Arts Camp under the newly established National Symphony Orchestra-Interlochen Scholars program and The Philadelphia Orchestra-Interlochen Scholars program, creating immersive and inclusive arts experiences to help cultivate the next generation of artists.
The East Coast tour represents two key pillars of our strategic plan for our second century, Vision 2028: Artistic excellence—as evidenced in our partnerships with some of the world’s preeminent artists and artistic institutions—and increased access to Interlochen through the creation of new scholarships for students in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. I hope that you’ll join us on campus or on the East Coast as we celebrate this significant moment in the history of both Interlochen and the United States.
Thank you for being a part of our community. Your advocacy and support of Interlochen is helping bring these once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to fruition.
With gratitude,
Trey Devey
President, Interlochen Center for the Arts
