Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp has scheduled exciting and diverse activities for Experience Blue Lake, taking place on Tuesday, July 28, 2009, on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Experience Blue Lake will provide an opportunity for our alumni, supporters, and future campers to benefit from a series of clinics and performances by members of the camp’s nationally recognized faculty.  The program will include an art exhibition and sessions of interest to music, theater, dance, and art students and educators.

Activities will be held from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. in the Michigan Union, followed by a concluding concert in the University of Michigan’s famed Hill Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. All sessions are free and open to the public.

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Muskegon native Dr. Dale Nesbary, a member of Blue Lake’s Board of Trustees since 1980, has been elected the next President of Muskegon Community College.  He will succeed Dr. David Rule, MCC’s immediate past President, who left in August 2008 to assume a similar position in Oregon.

During Dr. Nesbary’s interview process, his presentations to MCC’s Board were described as “inspiring” and he was commended for his ability to “think outside the box.”  In addition, his desire to immediately begin implementing the Board’s goals of increasing fundraising and enrollment and creating new programs brought a positive and enthusiastic response.

In order to become MCC’s President, Dr. Nesbary will leave his current position as Vice-President and Dean for Academic Affairs at Adrian College. 

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Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp’s 2009 Summer Arts Festival will feature performances of Dr. James Niblock’s one-act opera, Ruth and Naomi.  The revised libretto is by Helen Niblock.  Two performances will be given during each of the camp sessions.  During Sessions 3 and 4 in late July and August, the performances will be open to the public.  Stage Direction for the production will be by Scott Jeneary.

According to James and Helen Niblock, “The story is based on the Book of Ruth as found in the Hebrew Bible.  However, as the title indicates, the role of Naomi is of equal, if not more importance since it is her (Naomi’s) influence and manipulation that determine the outcome.  The story is about the necessary and voluntary migrations of peoples and about their adjustments and assimilation in new and strange environments.  Adapting this story to a short one-hour opera necessitates telescoping events that developed over years into shorter periods of time.”

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During the 2009 season, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp’s Summer Arts Festival will present over 175 performances to its public and camper audiences.  Highlights of the upcoming season include performances of a favorite work for chorus and orchestra by students participating in Blue Lake’s International Exchange Program, as well as appearances by accomplished guest artists and world-renowned soloists.

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The Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp Faculty Winds, a 32-piece concert band, will perform at the Henry P. Vander Linde Band Shell in Holland’s Kollen Park on Thursday, August 6, 2009.  The program, conducted by Kent Krive, will begin at 7:30 p.m.  Admission is free.

Selections to be performed include works by Felix Mendelssohn (Overture for Band), Julius Fucik (Florentiner March), Charles Gounod (Ballet Music from “Faust”), John Philip Sousa (The Fairest of the Fair), Warren Barker (Hoagy Carmichael in Concert), Gioachino Rossini (William Tell Overture), Artie Shaw (Concerto for Clarinet), Igor Stravinsky (Circus Polka), Francis Poulenc (Eiffel Tower Polka), Bedrich Smetana (Polka Brilliant), Floyd Werle (Ellington Portrait), and Henry Fillmore (Circus Bee).

The performance will honor the memory of Henry Vander Linde, a well-known and greatly admired music educator from Holland, who also spent 26 years at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp as a member of its faculty.

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