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Interlochen Center for the Arts

Non-profit corporation in Green Lake Township, Michigan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Interlochen Center for the Arts (/ˈɪntərˈlɒkən/ IN-tər-lock-ən; also known as ICA or Interlochen and previously known as the National Music Camp) is a non-profit corporation which operates arts education programs and performance venues. Established in 1928 by Joseph E. Maddy, Interlochen Center for the Arts is located on a 1,200-acre (490 ha) campus in Green Lake Township, Grand Traverse County, Michigan, immediately south of the eponymous community of Interlochen and about 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Traverse City.[2][3]

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School history

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Score sheets at Interlochen's Music Library in the 1940s

In 1925, Music Supervisors National Conference President Edgar B. Gordon asked conductor and educator Joseph E. Maddy to assemble talented high school musicians from around the US to perform at the conference's 1926 gathering in Detroit, Michigan. The resulting ensemble, the National High School Orchestra, performed at Detroit's Orchestra Hall on April 16, 1926. The orchestra was asked to reconvene in 1927 and 1928.[4] [5]

In 1927, Maddy incorporated the National High School Orchestra Camp, and began searching for ideal locations, eventually narrowing it down to sites in Maine and Michigan.[6] He was invited by Interlochen businessman Willis Pennington to tour his hotel and summer camp properties, adjacent to Interlochen State Park (Camp Interlochen and Camp Penn Loch, for boys and girls, respectively).[7] [8] Maddy chose the site, and, in 1928, the first season of the National High School Orchestra Camp convened. In 1932, the Camp changed its name to the National Music Camp; despite the addition of other artistic disciplines, the name remained until 1991, when it was updated to Interlochen Arts Camp.[9]

In 1944, Maddy purchased Camps Interlochen and Penn Loch, absorbing them into the National Music Camp.[4]

Interlochen Arts Academy, a year-round arts boarding school affiliated with the Camp and housed on the same campus, opened in 1962. The school, which combines college-preparatory academics with conservatory-caliber arts training, was the first of its kind in the United States. [10]

In 1963, Interlochen Public Radio (WIAA) started to broadcast. Originally broadcasting eight hours per day, it grew enough within a decade to become a charter member of National Public Radio. Interlochen Public Radio became a network in 1989 with the addition of WICV. Interlochen bought contemporary Christian station WDQV in 2005 and converted it into a third satellite for the eastern portion of the market, WIAB.[citation needed]

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Programs

Interlochen Center for the Arts is the umbrella organization that encompasses summer program Interlochen Arts Camp,[11] arts boarding high school Interlochen Arts Academy,[12] National Public Radio (NPR) charter station Interlochen Public Radio,[13] performance series Interlochen Presents, adult arts program Interlochen College of Creative Arts,[14] online arts program Interlochen Online,[15] and lodging and dining provider Interlochen Hospitality.

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Artistic Majors at Interlochen Arts Academy

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Interlochen Arts Academy hosts a number of artistic majors which students students select from. Each major hosts a robust variety of artistic classes that students can take while studying in their major. Several of the artistic majors have specialized tracks that students can select from.

Music: Music majors can choose from classical, opera, jazz, music production and engineering, composition, popular performance, and singer-songwriting.[16] Students take classes in theory, can participate in various ensembles, and enjoy weekly private lessons with some of the most prestigious lesson instructors in the world.

Dance: Dance majors study ballet, contemporary, and other dance genres.[17] Dance students take classes in topics like pointe, pas de deux, contemporary, kinesiology and more.[18]

Theatre: Theatre students can choose from classical acting, musical theatre, and design and production majors. Theatre students take classes in topics such as acting techniques, audition techniques, song for musical theatre, improv, and more.[19]

Visual Arts: Visual Arts students study in multiple 2D and 3D genres, including ceramics, fibers, drawing, painting, sculpture, art history, and more.[20]

Creative Writing: Creative Writing students explore writing genres such as poetry, fiction, non-fiction, playwriting, screenwriting, writing the novel, among many other topics.[21]

Film and New Media: Film and New Media students can choose from traditional live action film or animation majors. They take classes in areas of lighting, screenwriting, sound, and work through the filmmaking process from producing to post-production editing.[22]

Interdisciplinary Arts: Interdisciplinary Arts students explore a host of artistic forms using both a collaborative and individual approach to multidisciplinary areas of artistic exploration. Students can take classes from many of the other artistic disciplines on campus.[23]

Sustainability

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In 2019, Interlochen Center for the Arts was recognized by the US Department of Education as a Green Ribbon School, recognizing Interlochen as one of 35 schools in the nation that year for making progress in the areas of sustainability, environmental impact reduction, and the health and well-being of its staff, students, and school community.[24] Interlochen is committed to creating and enacting a Climate Action Plan[25] that places emphasis on learning and engagement, sustainable operations, and buildings and operations.[26] With audacious goals in place, Interlochen has made significant advances in its sustainability efforts on campus to include the purchase of green solar energy[27], electric charging stations for vehicles on campus, 39 water-bottle filling stations, sourcing local and regional foods, and industrial on-site composting.

Interlochen's sustainability efforts are campus-wide, but many of these initiatives can be seen at their RB Annis Botanical Lab and Community Garden. This site boasts several environmentally friendly features, such as permaculture, an orchard, native plants, mushrooms, hoophouses and raised beds, chickens, aquaponics, backyard composting, and a honeybee apiary. Visitors are invited to visit and encouraged to explore the site.

Built in 2019, Interlochen hosts one of the only school-based mid-sized industrial compost facilities, operated entirely on campus.[28] The compost facility processes tons of food waste in combination with dried leaves and woodchips that are collected each year on campus during fall leaf pickup and chipped, downed branches and trees. The compost is managed on-site by staff and then used on campus in the garden produce beds, flower beds, and to enrich campus grounds.

The Sustainability Department offers weekly classes from early June through the end of August each year on topics related to nature, art, and sustainability. Classes range in topics from watercolor painting, farm-to-table cooking, mocktails, botanical art, poetry, and more.[29]

Interlochen Public Radio

Main article: Interlochen Public Radio
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Dancers rehearsing at Interlochen, 1969

Interlochen Center for the Arts is home to Interlochen Public Radio (or IPR), 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; and 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.[30] 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.

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Awards and accolades

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National Medal of Arts: In 2006, Interlochen Center for the Arts was named recipient of the National Medal of Arts.[31][32]

American Classical Music Hall of Fame: In 2021, Interlochen Center for the Arts became the 14th musical organization inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame.[33]

Each year, a remarkable number of Interlochen alum are awarded with some of the most prestigious arts industry awards[34] in the world, including Emmy Awards[35], Grammy Awards[36][37], Tony Awards[38], and Jimmy Awards[39]. More than 50 Interlochen students have been recognized as Presidential Scholars in the Arts[40], more than 700 YoungArts Winners[41], hundreds of students earn recognition as Scholastic Winners in Art & Writing[42], as well as several other prestigious competitions and programs.

Interlochen Public Radio’s podcast Points North earned prestigious recognition with the national Edmund R Murrow Award[43] recognizing their excellence in journalism. IPR has received many awards over the years, recognizing their contributions to journalism.[44]

In 2025, Niche recognized Interlochen as the #1 best high school for the arts in the nation.[45]

Interlochen’s Sustainability Department has earned numerous awards and recognitions, including Michigan Green Schools[46], US Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools[47], and holds certificates with Certified Naturally Grown[48], USDA People’s Garden[49], Michigan Agricultural Environmental Program[50], and more[51].

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Gallery

Notable alumni

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Notable visitors and faculty

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References

Further reading

External links

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