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From the Desk of Trey Devey: Celebration and anticipation
With the 2022-23 Interlochen Arts Academy year on the horizon, we reflect on a summer of returns and renewal.
Junior students react to a performance at "Collage."
Dear Friends,
Just over a week ago, the 95th season of Interlochen Arts Camp concluded with the annual performance of “Les Préludes.” Over my five years as president of Interlochen Center for the Arts, I’ve come to appreciate the experience for not only its artistic, historic, and sentimental merits, but also for the contemplative space it provides. “Les Préludes,” by its title and tradition, compels us to both celebrate our achievements and anticipate the events yet to come.
As I reflect on this summer, it’s impossible to miss the recurring themes of return and renewal. After two years of disruption, our summer activities were finally restored not just to normal, but to exciting new heights.
Interlochen Arts Camp hosted its first full-capacity season since 2019, welcoming a record-breaking 3,024 young artists from 42 countries and 53 U.S. states and territories. Students mingled freely with peers, rehearsed and performed together, and resumed visits to local destinations such as Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra returned to Interlochen for a three-day residency, and parents, families, and friends were invited back to campus to enjoy hundreds of student performances, presentations, exhibitions, and screenings.
The Interlochen Arts Festival also returned with a full summer series featuring sold-out concerts by Darius Rucker and Bonnie Raitt and a stellar performance of “Collage” by Arts Camp students. The Interlochen Shakespeare Festival presented captivating performances of Martyna Majok’s Sanctuary City and a critically acclaimed reimagining of Shakespeare’s Othello.
The Interlochen College of Creative Arts offered programs in music, creative writing, visual arts, and gardening for artists and learners of all ages. Our final program of the summer—the perennially popular Adult Chamber Music Camp—will conclude this weekend.
Across the street and in a variety of unexpected locations, Interlochen Public Radio’s Sound Garden Quintet and PULSE Saxophone Quartet presented free performances as part of the sophomore seasons of IPR Live and the Sound Garden Project. IPR also shared the talents of Interlochen Arts Camp’s students and faculty with listeners around the world through weekly World Youth Symphony Orchestra broadcasts and In Studio A With segments.
As we wrap up our summer season, our attention shifts to Interlochen Arts Academy and the anticipation of events yet to come. In just over two weeks, we will welcome our students to the 2022-23 academic year. I’m thrilled for them to take their places in our community and embark on an artistic and academic journey unlike any other.
This year at the Academy promises to be a remarkable one. Throughout the year, students will examine our theme—Interdisciplinary Perspective and Collaboration—through community meetings, residence life programming, and several exciting collaboration and performance opportunities.
A centerpiece of our theme is Mukti, a performance inspired by the Hindi word meaning “freedom” or “liberation.” Mukti will be presented on March 3, 2023, at the newly renovated David Geffen Hall as part of the New York Philharmonic’s Liberation Festival. The two-part program will begin with original student works centered on themes of individual and societal liberation, which will be devised by our students in collaboration with Chair of Contemporary Music Courtney Kaiser-Sandler and Instructor of Theatre Gulshirin Dubash. The program’s second half will be led by Interlochen Arts Academy conductor Dr. Leslie Dunner and performed by the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra and members of the New York Philharmonic, featuring orchestral works by Valerie Coleman, Jonathan Bailey Holland (IAA 88-92, IAC/NMC 89), Mary Watkins, and John Wineglass.
Stay tuned for more details about our partnership with the New York Philharmonic, ticketing information, and exclusive behind-the-scenes coverage.
In addition, our three-year exploration of the art and music of the African diaspora will resume this fall with the return of composer William Banfield. During his visits, Banfield will workshop his forthcoming opera, Edmonia, with students and faculty from multiple artistic disciplines. Additional guest artists representing the African diaspora will visit us throughout the year, including jazz pianist and R&B singer Patrice Rushen.
I hope you, too, will visit us throughout the year, either in person or virtually, for our many performances, Family Weekend, and our upcoming Academy Reunion Weekend. We are delighted to once again open our doors and share the joy of the arts with our friends, neighbors, and alumni. I encourage you to take this opportunity to reconnect with us and renew your creative spirit as you reflect on your own Interlochen experiences.
With gratitude,
Trey
