Love beneath the pines
From a chance meeting at the Melody Freeze to a borrowed sweater for “Collage,” six couples share how Interlochen brought them together.
For thousands of alumni, faculty, and staff, Interlochen Center for the Arts is more than a Camp, a school, or a workplace—it’s a tight-knit community united by a shared passion for the arts. Students and staff alike forge unbreakable friendships, transformational mentorships, and lifelong connections.
But for a select few, the bonds formed at Interlochen blossom into something deeper: romance. This Valentine’s Day season, we asked couples who met at Interlochen to share their love stories. In the words of Leslie Kleinberg Zacks (IAC/NMC 86-87, IAA 87-89, IAC St 89-90, 92), their responses celebrate “those little moments at Interlochen when your life changes in an instant, the moments you look back on and realize that's when the rest of your life started.”
Sumit Sengupta and Cassie Brooks at Interlochen in 1984 (left) and 2020 (right).
From the Melody Freeze to Emerald Beach
Many couples are brought together by well-meaning friends eager to play matchmaker. In Sumit Sengupta (AS 77-80, IAC St 82-84) and Cassie Brooks’ (IAC St 82-84) case, the role was performed by a gaggle of talkative junior girls.
During the summer of 1983, Sumit, an Intermediate Boys counselor, was roving outside the Melody Freeze while Cassie, a Junior Girls counselor, was helping her campers make purchases at the Scholarshop.
“When I came outside, all my girls were talking to this guy on the bench,” Cassie says.
When the couple met again at Maddy Gras, Sumit asked Cassie on a date. Four years later—after a “compressed and intense six weeks” at Camp, a reunion during the 1984 season, and a long-distance relationship—Sumit and Cassie were married.
“During that first summer, someone said to me, ‘I bet you’ll get married, have kids, and send them to Interlochen,’” Cassie says. “That’s exactly what happened.”
Today, the couple has three adult children—Claire (IAC 01-09, IAC St 10-13, 15-16), Quinn (IAC 04-05, 07-12, IAC St 13-14, 17), and Raef (IAC 07-13, IAA 13-15, IAC St 16, 18). Collectively, the Sengupta family has spent 49 summers working or studying at Interlochen. Sumit is currently a member of Interlochen’s Board of Trustees, while Cassie serves as a volunteer. The couple are building a home on Green Lake between Penn Colony and Emerald Beach.
“Moving to Interlochen has been our dream for many years,” Sumit says. “We’ll be living almost exactly one mile from the place where we met. I don't know that there’s any other place in the world where this could have happened other than Interlochen. It means so much to us.”
Brooke (left) and Nicholas (right) Heinzmann hanging out on Osterlin Mall as students at Interlochen Arts Camp.
Sweater-sharing sweethearts
When Brooke (Bloedorn) Heinzmann (IAC 09-10, IAC St 13) was eagerly anticipating her first summer at Interlochen Arts Camp, love was the last thing on her mind. Yet each time she clicked “play” on her favorite promotional video, she came face-to-face with her future husband, Nicholas (IAC 07-10).
“He was in a World Youth Symphony Orchestra (WYSO) video from the prior year that I’d obsessively watched before I came to Camp,” Brooke said. “I recognized him the first time I saw him.”
As members of different ensembles—Nicholas played cello in WYSO, Brooke was an Interlochen Symphony Band flutist—the duo didn’t meet until the evening of “Collage.” Nicholas had forgotten his performance sweater on the Pines side of Camp, so Brooke’s cabin-mate, a member of Nicholas’ string quartet, asked Brooke if Nicholas could borrow hers. The connection was immediate.
“We talked until he had to perform, and he asked me to go with him to the mixer after “Collage,” Brooke said. “When the mixer was over, he walked me back towards my division. He tried to kiss me in front of the chapel, but he missed my mouth!”
Brooke and Nicholas have been together ever since, dating long-distance during their high school and college years. The pair married in 2014 and now have two children, ages 2 and 5.
Reagan Pendergast (left) and Anna Tomlinson (right).
Closed campus, open hearts
In March 2020, Arts Academy students were devastated to learn that the school’s campus would be temporarily closing due to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic. But for Anna Tomlinson (IAC 17, IAA 17-20) and Reagan Pendergast (IAA 18-20), the closure offered a silver lining: the push they needed to become “more than friends.”
“When we learned that students would be sent home, we spent the last of our time on campus together,” Anna says. “Finally, the morning before leaving, we confessed our feelings for each other in an emotional goodbye.”
Anna and Reagan stayed in touch virtually, using their “shelter in place” time to advance their budding relationship.
“With little else to do other than talk to each other, our connection grew stronger,” Anna says. “Long distance has been challenging but entirely worth it, and thankfully we have been able to visit each other often—and play lots of Minecraft together in between!”
Rachel Francisco (top) and Timo Anderson (bottom) during an off-campus excursion.
Changing plans—and perspectives
When Camp counselor Rachel Francisco (AS 84, IAC/NMC 85-87, IAC St 90-93, 95) met Melody Freeze staff member Timo Anderson (IAC/NMC 82-84, IAC St 90-92, 95) during the summer of 1991, it wasn’t exactly love at first sight.
“I told my friends that I thought he was ‘cute but dumb,’” Rachel recalls. “I don’t think he knew I existed.”
Timo soon had an opportunity to challenge Rachel’s first impression. When the friend who had offered to drive them to a large group outing at Otter Creek Beach canceled due to illness, Timo, Rachel, and the other passengers opted to go out for pizza instead.
“We ended up sitting across from each other,” Rachel says. “Timo told me about the year he spent in Japan as a foreign exchange student, which immediately changed my mind about him because I was a Japanese language major.”
The two quickly became inseparable—but Rachel didn’t expect things to last.
“I always intended that we'd break up at ‘Les Préludes,’ but Timo had other plans,” she says. “Suffice to say, 30 years and two beautiful children later, Timo was right.”
Orion Rapp (left) and Shelby Lewis (right).
Connecting through creativity
When Arts Camp Instructor of Theatre Shelby Lewis (IAA 02-05, IAC St 05, 15, 17, 19, IAC Fac 16, 19-21, IO Fac 20-21) headed to the nearby Hofbrau Steakhouse & American Grille during the summer of 2016, she had no idea that love was on the menu.
“I met a tall, dark, and handsome oboe player and was instantly swept away by his humor, smile, talent, and impressively swoopy hair,” Shelby says of her first encounter with former Oboe Teaching Assistant Orion Rapp (IAC St 10, 13-16). “We realized we were both teaching our art forms down the street at Interlochen.”
Six years later, Shelby and Orion’s shared passion for the arts is still central to their relationship.
“I attend his orchestra concerts, and he attends my Shakespeare performances,” Shelby says. “I am deeply thankful to Interlochen for changing my life in many, many ways, but this particular gift is quite special. I am forever grateful to have found a fellow creative to spend my life with, who values the unique magic of the arts—and Interlochen—as much as I do.”
Jeff Zacks (second from left) and Leslie Zacks (far right) with their children.
Sharing the love
Delia Zacks (IAC 17-19, 21) loves to share her parents’ love story with peers at Interlochen Arts Camp. Not that she’d ever admit it.
”Every summer when we drop off Delia, we entertain ourselves by telling everyone we pass, ‘We met here!’” says Delia’s mother, Leslie Kleinberg Zacks. "Delia acts like we are so embarrassing, but I'm told the minute we leave she tells everyone, ‘My parents met here.’”
Leslie and her husband, Jeff (IAC/NMC 84-86, IAC St 89, 92), met in Stone Cafeteria during the summer of 1989, when Leslie was working as an admissions representative and Jeff was serving as a High School Boys counselor. Leslie and Rachel Gottlieb—Leslie’s Admission colleague and former Arts Academy roommate—happened to arrive for lunch at the exact same moment as the entire High School Boys staff.
“Rachel and I made our way to the soda fountain to fill our cups when two counselors came up to do the same,” Leslie says. “That was the moment when I met my husband, Jeff, and his lifelong best friend, Dan Velicer.”
Although Leslie and Jeff didn’t start dating until several years later, their shared summers at Interlochen laid the foundation for a successful relationship.
“We never let each other wander too far out of sight as we both navigated our way through separate colleges,” Leslie says. “The unique bond we formed at Interlochen proved stronger than any others we encountered as we grew into adulthood. Seven years later, Rachel, Dan, and a very long list of Interlochen friends stood beside us when we married.”
Today, the same love for Interlochen that first connected Jeff and Leslie unites the whole Zacks family.
“We are very fortunate to have Interlochen as our shared passion and common concept of home,” Leslie says.
