Arts, Culture & Humanities

Concerts in the Park is a summertime musical entertainment series that enhances the vitality of our arts and cultural community and makes Kalamazoo a great place to live and work. Its mission is to provide a variety of musical experiences through free concerts for the greater Kalamazoo community. This program allows the Arts Council to provide opportunities that support our s local musicians and showcase Kalamazoo as a vibrant destination. Since 2011, Concerts in the Park has made a concerted effort to bring a diverse mix of music to the series each summer. Concerts in the Park has featured big band, bluegrass, jazz, soul, gospel, Klezmer, American roots, Irish, country and vocal music. For some attendees, Concerts in the Park is the first exposure to a new genre of music. For others it is an opportunity to hear music that they otherwise might not have the financial resources to enjoy. For all it is a beautiful opportunity to connect with community on a Sunday afternoon. New for 2014 will be the addition of Third Thursdays Jazz, a collaboration with Fontana Chamber Arts and s Parks and Recreation Department. Held in Bronson Park beginning June 19, this series will invigorate s mission to program the Rotary Stage at Bronson Park and create a new and energetic series that benefits all partners.

www.kalamazooarts.org

As true today as it was 85 years ago, theatre and the performing arts remain important elements of not only the human experience, but also the vitality of a community. This is especially true in a world that is becoming more virtual and less face-to-face. Even though e-mail and social media have made it easier for us to communicate with one another, they have also had an effect on our ability as humans to communicate with one another, resolve conflict effectively, and form vital social connections. The theatrical arts provide an opportunity for creative expression, social and emotional development, and communication skill development. Cultural opportunities and outlets are also important in building a diverse, educated and engaged community. Theatre productions offer an especially effective opportunity for this, as plays and musicals often highlight new or unfamiliar cultures, allowing a viewer to see inside the mind of a character different from them and examine events from multiple vantage points. Because the Civic attracts individuals from all over Kalamazoo County, participation introduces people to others that they may not have ever met otherwise resulting in greater awareness and tolerance of others.

www.kazoocivic.com

At the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center (Book Arts) you can print on a 100-year-old press, learn to make paper and set type, bind books, and explore the vast world of book arts. Since 2005 founder Jeff Abshear has attracted students aged 6 – 80+, artists, interns, and the “book curious” to revive and preserve the book arts.

A classroom and studio, gallery and shop, the Book Arts is a destination for visiting artists and writers from around the country. Master printmakers, makers of miniature books, pop-up book artists, and poets take time to share their craft, work in a classroom setting with students of all abilities, and create unique works of art in the Book Arts studio. The Book Arts’ own Poets in Print presents award-winning writers and is recognized as one of the best reading series in the Midwest. Exhibits vary from the invitational accordion books show in May (which draws international entries), to student, member and faculty shows, and exhibits that bring in celebrated artists from near and far.

The Make a Book from Scratch class is a perennial
favorite with K-12 students who create their own books of poetry. “I’ll never tire of seeing the delight on their faces when they realize they’ve made something with their own hands,” says Abshear. Or as one student put it, “I love getting messy with pulp!”

www.kalbookarts.org

Little seeds can mature into trees that nurture a community in unexpected ways. Such a seed was planted in September 1939 when a young man named Eugene Andrie founded the Kalamazoo Little Symphony, an audition-based youth orchestra.

Almost 75 years later the Little Symphony has grown into the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Society (Junior Symphony Society), a canopy organization that supports four orchestras (Training, Concert, Symphonic and Junior Symphony). The Kalamazoo Junior Symphony, now under the expert leadership of Conductor and Music Director Andrew Koehler, offers affordable, high-quality concerts at the historic Chenery Auditorium.

In addition to providing an intensive musical education for its members, the Junior Symphony Society has a long history of community outreach. Ensembles On The Road sends some of the Junior Symphony’s most advanced musicians to educate, perform, answer questions and offer instrument petting zoos to the Boys and Girls Clubs, area elementary and middle schools, developmentally disabled youth facilities, and senior citizen residences, among others.

To extend its reach the Junior Symphony Society is excited to launch its 75th Anniversary Scholarship Fund Drive with the aim of raising $150,000 in scholarship money. In the last few years Kalamazoo has experienced a unique surge in music programs that serve disadvantaged youth, including the Kalamazoo Symphony and Crescendo Academy’s Marvelous Music as well as the Kalamazoo Symphony and Communities in Schools’ Kids in Tune, for which many Junior Symphony Society musicians serve as mentors. With the next 25 years in mind, the Junior Symphony Society looks forward to the upcoming centennial as it prepares to welcome the musicians of tomorrow.

www.kalamazoojuniorsymphony.org