Concerts & Events

Take to the Sky (CANCELLED)

This event has been cancelled. 

Featuring award-winning violin soloist, Dmitri Berlinsky!

Beethoven, Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68, “Pastoral Symphony” or Recollections of Country Life” expresses Beethoven’s affinity for nature and his love for walks through the country outside Vienna.

Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending is a gentle, introspective work.  It is one of the supreme achievements of English landscape painting extoling the untroubled joys of nature, the call of the lark, and the genial folk music of earlier times.

Resphighi, Gli Uccelli “The Birds” is a suite of pieces is based on various 18th century composers. The Birds is an attempt to depict the bird songs and fluttering wings of the Dove, the Hen, the Nightingale and the Cuckoo.

Einojuhani Rautavaara, Cantus Arcticus, Op. 61 Probably Rautavaara’s best-known work, Concerto for Birds and Orchestra, incorporates tape recordings of birdsongs recorded near the Arctic Circle and on the bogs of Liminka in northern Finland.

Reserved Seating: $50, $35, $25
General Admission: $25
Ages 18 and under are FREE.

Take to the Sky (Rescheduled)

Details

  • Date: Sun, June 7, 2020
  • Time:
    4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
  • Cost: Ticket Sales Temporarily Suspended

Venue

Co-Principal Trumpet

Vern is Co-Principal Trumpet in the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra (GLCO).  Vern studied trumpet with Dr. Dennis Horton, trumpet professor at Central Michigan University while in high school and later as a university student.  Before obtaining his doctorate degree at Michigan State University and completing a medical residency in ophthalmology, Vern performed two years with the Blue Water International Symphony.  Vern relocated to Petoskey in 2000 and continued his trumpet studies with Scott Thornburg, professor of trumpet at Western Michigan University. He joined the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra in 2012 and eagerly anticipates each performance. He especially enjoys playing with the orchestra’s brass quintet. Vern enjoys visiting his wife’s family and friends in Shanghai and traveling throughout China. He is an avid cyclist and skier.

Eric Lawson

Assistant Concertmaster

Violinist, violist, conductor and professor Dr. Eric Lawson has had a varied career in performance and education. Past performances as a conductor, soloist and lecturer have taken him to Austria, Brazil, China, Germany, Romania and Scandinavia. Before returning to his home state of Michigan, he was based in North Dakota where, in addition to serving as a violin instructor at Bismarck State College, Jamestown College, and the University of Mary, he was also concertmaster of the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra and established the Bismarck-Mandan Youth Symphony. Other former academic appointments have included Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Central College in Pella, Iowa and the University of North Dakota where he founded the string program and the UND Chamber Orchestra.

Here in Michigan, Dr. Lawson as been very active with the Alpena Symphony Orchestra as its concertmaster, conductor and president of the board. He also performs with many other orchestras in Northern Michigan and participates in the Traverse Symphony as a first violinist, in the Gaylord Symphony as concertmaster and as assistant concertmaster in the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra.

And finally, in what has been one of the most important experiences of his life outside of music, he also served almost four years as an Alpena County Commissioner, representing Ossineke and Sanborn Townships. In addition to serving as chair of the Salary and Personnel Committee, he also served on the Airport, Ambulance, District Court, Circuit Court Management and Jail Committees. He also represented Alpena County in Gaylord with the Northern Michigan Regional Entity Substance Use Disorder Board and continues to serve on the Northeast Michigan Community Mental Health Board. Dr. Lawson resides in Ossineke with his wife and two children.