Interlochen Arts Academy students have a unique challenge ahead of them. During the 2025-26 Academy year, they will learn one of the most challenging pieces in the orchestral repertoire: the Symphony no. 4 by Charles Ives.

Scholar Jan Swafford visited Interlochen to give the Academy students and faculty an introduction to composer Charles Ives.

Regarded as one of the most important of American composers, Ives has been called everything from "iconoclast" to "maverick" with his unique approach to music composition. Ives' music often features complex orchestrations, references to American transcendentalism and a strong sense of the composer's spirituality. The music of Charles Ives is also characterized by his frequent use of musical borrowing, with melodies of hymns, patriotic songs, band music and popular tunes woven into each piece.

Pieces by Charles Ives excerpted in this presentation

Holiday Quickstep

Psalm 67

Symphony no. 1

Symphony no. 1

Decoration Day

Symphony no. 4

Ragtime Dance

Fourth of July

Trio Voci visited Studio A to perform music of Beethoven and Shostakovich. The three members of the trio are currently students at Interlochen Arts Academy.

Music performed in Studio A

Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Trio "Ghost": I. Allegro vivace e con brio

Dmitri Shostakovich, Piano Trio no. 2: IV. Allegretto - Adagio

Trio Voci members

Jad Ibrahim, violin, Latakia, Syria

Caleb Ryu, cello, Manlius, N.Y.

Hailey Culp, piano, Cumming, Ga.

Viridian Strings members Kyle Stachnik, Karisa Chiu and Joseph Skerik discuss their upcoming concert, “Interwoven Voices,” featuring Beethoven and new chamber music highlights in Traverse City.

Detroit Opera Resident Artists Brianna J. Robinson, Kendra Faith Beasley, Cole Bellamy and Cameron J. Rolling visited IPR's Studio A with Nathalie Doucet, Resident Artist Program Director.

Music performed in Studio A

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, "Se vuol ballare" from The Marriage of Figaro (Cole Bellamy, baritone)

Giacomo Puccini, "Donde lieta" from La bohème (Brianna J. Robinson)

Giuseppe Verdi, “Il lacerato spirito” from Simon Boccanegra (Cameron J. Rolling, baritone)

Francesco Cilèa, “Acerba voluttà … O vagabonda stella” from Adriana Lecouvreur (Kendra Faith Beasley, mezzo-soprano)

Resident Artist Program Director Nathalie Doucet was the collaborative pianist.

Violinists Ilmar Gavilán and Melissa White, violist Jaime Amador and cellist Felix Umansky visited IPR's Studio A to perform and talk about their current projects.

Music performed in Studio A

Fanny Mendelssohn, String Quartet in E-flat major: III. Romanze

Guido López-Gavilán, Cuarteto en Guaguancó

The Harlem Quartet is in northern Michigan to work with Interlochen Arts Academy students and perform at City Opera House in Traverse City.

Meet the MJ Brass quintet - all five musicians are Interlochen Arts Academy students, and they called themselves "MJ" because all five of their first names start with one of those two letters.

Musicians

Mauricio García de Jesús, trumpet, San Felipe Otlaltepec, Mexico

Madi Turrentine, trumpet, Groveton, Texas

Jaksen Vargas, horn, Cedar Park, Texas

Juan Beltran, trombone, Spring, Texas

June Eickholt, tuba, Colleyville, Texas

The MJ Quintet performed the first movement of the Brass Quintet no. 3 in D-flat major by Victor Ewald.

Trio Azura performs in IPR's Studio A while on their Gold Medal tour after winning this year's Fischoff National Chamber Competition. Their members are Duncan McDougall, violin, Yejin Hong, cello, and Yanfeng (Tony) Bai, piano.

New Interlochen faculty member Christopher Goodpasture on his love for the L.A. Lakers, why young musicians should play more chamber music and the "extraterrestrial" nature of Scriabin.

Interlochen faculty pianist Hyemin Kim is presenting a recital of music by composers from the 18th century to the present day.

The composers represented on her program include Franz Joseph Haydn, Robert Schumann, Claude Debussy, R. Nathaniel Dett and John Corigliano.

She recently visited IPR's Studio A to give a preview of some of the music she'll be presenting Friday night in Manistee.

Double bassist Paul Erhard and pianist Alejandro Cremaschi are presenting a unique recital of tango-inspired music in northern Michigan this week.

All of the music on their recital was composed by Luis Jorge González (1936-2016), an Argentine-born American composer who was a friend and colleague of Erhard's and Cremaschi's for many years.

All three served on the music faculty of the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Erhard and Cremaschi visited IPR's Studio A to give a preview of some of the music they'll be presenting on this week's recitals and to discuss González's musical and personal legacy.

Music performed in Studio A

Luis Jorge González, Wanderer's Songs

Luis Jorge González, Chacona Tangante (theme and variations 1-3)