Interlochen Center for the Arts

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Interlochen Center for the Arts
Location
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Interlochen , Michigan United States
Information
Type	Educational institution, privately owned
Motto	Dedicated to the Promotion of World Friendship Through the Universal Language of the Arts
Established	1928
President	Trey Devey
Enrollment	Camp (summer): 3000 Academy (school year): 500
Campus	1,200 acres (490 ha), wooded, rural, between two lakes, and immediately adjacent Interlochen State Park
Color(s)	Blue   White
Nickname	Fighting Blueberries
Website	www.interlochen.org

Interlochen Center for the Arts is a tax exempt, 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, operating an arts education institution in northwest Michigan. The center is situated on a 1,200-acre (490 ha) campus in Interlochen, Michigan, roughly 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Traverse City. Interlochen draws young people from around the world to study music, theater, dance, visual arts, creative writing, motion picture arts, and comparative arts. The organization provides arts and culture programming to the Northern Michigan region.

Interlochen Center for the Arts is the umbrella organization for Interlochen Arts Camp (formerly the National Music Camp, founded 1928), Interlochen Arts Academy boarding high school (founded 1962), Interlochen Public Radio (founded 1963), and the "Interlochen Presents" performing arts series. The Interlochen College of Creative Arts (founded 2004) is an affiliated but separate non-profit corporation.

Overview[]

Interlochen Center for the Arts comprises five major divisions: the Interlochen Arts Camp, the Interlochen Arts Academy, the Interlochen College of Creative Arts, Interlochen Public Radio, and Interlochen Presents.^[1] The arts camp, an annual summer camp for young artists in grades three through twelve, provides opportunities to learn, create and perform alongside leading artists and instructors. The Interlochen Arts Academy is a fine arts boarding high school offering arts training combined with comprehensive, college-preparatory academics. The Interlochen College of Creative Arts offers programs in a variety of arts disciplines for adults.

Interlochen Arts Academy[]

Fine Arts Building in 2018

The Interlochen Arts Academy (IAA) is a pre-professional arts boarding high school, founded in 1962 by Joseph E. Maddy.^[2] As of 2019, the academy had approximately 550 students and over 350 faculty and staff.^{[citation needed]} Admission is by audition only. The academy offers majors in music performance, comparative arts, creative writing, dance, theater, film and new media, visual arts, and interdisciplinary arts. The majority of students at the academy are boarding students, including many international students.

Upon graduation, most IAA graduates continue to universities or conservatories for further study in the arts or academics. Conservatories that often admit Interlochen students include Juilliard, Eastman, Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM), School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Curtis, New England Conservatory (NEC), Oberlin Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Boston Conservatory, Peabody Institute, and CalArts. Interlochen Arts Academy graduates also matriculate at colleges and universities that do not have a primary focus on the arts.

Due to its reputation and secluded location, Interlochen Arts Academy has attracted the attention of celebrities, including children of Robin Williams, Hugh Hefner, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Alan Menken.^{[3][failed verification]}

Interlochen College of Creative Arts[]

Interlochen College of Creative Arts was founded in 2004, and offers non-degree arts programs for adults 18 years and over. Most programs are 3–7 days long, and are housed in the Mallory-Towsley Center for Arts Leadership building on Interlochen's campus. The Mallory-Towsley building was completed in summer 2011.

Interlochen Public Radio[]

Interlochen Center for the Arts is home to Interlochen Public Radio, a National Public Radio member station that broadcasts a signal to most of the lower peninsula of Northern Michigan as well as parts of eastern Wisconsin. Two listener-supported stations broadcast to northwest Michigan: Classical Music 88.7, 88.5, 94.7 and 100.9 FM; News Radio 91.5, 90.1 and 89.7 FM. Broadcasts include arts programming, news and culture from around the world, as well as local and regional news. IPR was a charter member of National Public Radio.

Founded in 1963, Interlochen Public Radio or WIAA was envisioned as an extension of the "Music From Interlochen" program which ran on the NBC radio network. The Music From Interlochen Program informed a wider audience about the activities at the then-named National Music Camp and the nascent Interlochen Arts Academy. The station was slow to catch on in its early years and some considered shutting down the operation. Interlochen Public Radio went on to establish itself with two service channels: one for music and one for news.

In 1993, Interlochen Public Radio reportedly had one of the highest rates of per capita contributions of any public radio station in the United States.^[4] The station's classical music service is broadcast from their main tower at WIAA 88.7 FM in Interlochen, along with WIAB 88.5 FM in Mackinaw City, and W234BU 94.7 FM in Traverse City. In 2000, IPR began offering a separate news service on WICA 91.5 FM in Traverse City and later added WLMN 89.7 FM in Manistee and WHBP 90.1 FM in Harbor Springs.

Interlochen Presents[]

Interlochen's Kresge Auditorium - an open air amphitheater

Interlochen Presents has a summer festival running from June through August and a performing arts series from September through May coinciding with the Academy school year. It features concerts, plays, art exhibits, readings, film screenings and dance productions presented by students, faculty, and staff, as well as both well-known and obscure guest artists. Interlochen Presents events are held in numerous venues around campus. The guest artists have included Steely Dan, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, Joshua Bell, Jason Mraz, Bonnie Raitt, Olga Kern, Sara Bareilles, Dierks Bentley, Norah Jones, Martha Graham Dance Company, Ra Ra Riot, Bob Dylan, Jewel, Carol Jantsch, Josh Groban, Paula Poundstone, Nathan Gunn, Chris Thile, and Bela Fleck. Interlochen Presents and Interlochen Public Radio serve as the primary channels by which Interlochen Center for the Arts connects with the northern Michigan region.

History[]

Interlochen in the 1940s

historical plaque, Interlochen, Michigan

From the State of Michigan historical marker on Interlochen's Osterlin Mall:^[5]

Ottawa Indians once lived in the pine forest between lakes Wahbekaness and Wahbekanetta. In the late 1800s white men came and cut the pines, leaving only a small forest between the lakes. This virgin pine was purchased in 1917 by the state and became part of one of the first state parks. When the lumber era ended, the Wylie Cooperage mill occupied the Indian village site, making barrels until the hardwood ran out. Willis Pennington's summer hotel, opened in 1909, was popular with fishermen until automobiles and better roads drew them elsewhere. Then in 1918, Camp Interlochen, one of Michigan's first girls' recreation camps, was opened, followed in 1922 by Camp Penn Loch for boys. In 1928, by arrangement with Willis Pennington, Joseph E. Maddy and Thaddeus P. Giddings established the National High School Orchestra Camp. It grew rapidly in scope, size, and reputation, becoming the National Music Camp in 1931, and affiliating with the University of Michigan in 1942. Interlochen Arts Academy was chartered in 1960 to provide year-round training in the creative arts.

From the book Interlochen, The First 25 Years:

In 1926, Joe Maddy was asked to organize and conduct the First National High School Orchestra for the Music Supervisors' National Conference (now known as the Music Educators National Conference) in Detroit. Its resounding success led to an invitation to duplicate the experience at the Dallas, Texas convention of the National Education Association's Department of Superintendence in 1927. The exuberant young musicians pled for the chance to work and play together longer than the few days the convention appearance afforded. Joe Maddy promised them a music camp! In June, 1928, at Interlochen, Michigan, in the midst of a magnificent stand of virgin pine trees between two lovely lakes, The National High School Orchestra Camp opened its doors. On leased land, with the old Hotel Pennington, several cottages, 29 new camper cabins, a hospital, water and sewer system, the new Interlochen Bowl, and $40,000 debt, this brave experiment was launched.^[6]

Interlochen was the inspiration for the 1941 Paramount motion picture There's Magic in Music (AKA "The Hard Boiled Canary").^[7] Interlochen also provided inspiration, along with Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, for Alyson Hannigan's character in American Pie.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Katalyst Media filmed a reality TV pilot for MTV at Interlochen Arts Academy. Afraid that an MTV show would ruin Interlochen's distinguished reputation, a large group of students resorted to protesting and trolling the Katalyst Media film crew in order to prevent Katalyst Media from filming viable footage. Student efforts were successful, and the pilot never aired.^{[citation needed]}

Awards and accolades[]

• National Medal of Arts: In 2006, Interlochen Center for the Arts was named recipient of the National Medal of Arts, one of the highest honors bestowed by the President of the United States and National Endowment for the Arts on individuals or institutions that have contributed substantially to the growth and advancement of the arts.^[8] Interlochen president Jeff Kimpton received the award on behalf of Interlochen Center for the Arts from President George W. Bush in an Oval Office ceremony.^[9]
• Presidential Scholars in the Arts: Interlochen Arts Academy is a perennial front-runner among American high schools in its production of Presidential Scholars in the Arts, having produced more recipients of the award than any other school in the nation.^[10]
• National youngARTS Foundation: Interlochen Arts Academy is also a perennial front-runner in the youngARTS competition, representing approximately 19% of youngARTS finalists. In connection to the youngARTS competition, three Interlochen students, Adam Blodgett '08, Alix Briggs '08, and Steven Johnson '09, were featured on HBO's Primetime Emmy-winning Masterclass series. Alumni Josh Groban has also appeared on the series as a mentor.^{[citation needed]}

Images[]

• 

  Osterlin Mall

• 

  The Stone Hotel overlooking Green Lake

• 

  The Maddy Administration Building

Notable alumni[]

This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (September 2019)

The Interlochen Alumni Organization Board serves as the liaison between Interlochen's global alumni community and Interlochen Center for the Arts. Members are elected from the Camp and Academy alumni population and serve two-year terms.

Some notable alumni are:

Further reading[]

• Boal, Dean (August 1998). Interlochen: A Home for the Arts. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-10882-4.
• Browning, Norma Lee (1992). Joe Maddy of Interlochen. Contemporary Books. ISBN 0-8092-3907-8.
• Feild, Thom (August 2006). Pine Nuts - Recollections of Summers at Interlochen. Thom Feild Design LLC. ISBN 0-9786677-0-0.

References[]

External links[]

• There's Magic in Music (1941) at IMDb
• Interlochen Center for the Arts
• Pine Nuts book website
• The Association of Boarding Schools profile

Coordinates: 44°37′45″N 85°46′06″W / 44.62927°N 85.76820°W / 44.62927; -85.76820