Exploring Color in Music and Painting
Each fall, northern Michigan becomes a living painting, drawing visitors from near and far to marvel at its colors.
GLCO’s Fall Color Tour extends that beauty into the concert hall, where music by Debussy, Mussorgsky, Bach, or Haydn joins reflections from award-winning pastellist Heidi A. Marshall in a vibrant celebration of color in sound and art. Ms. Marshall’s work has been showcased in major museums and art publications nationwide including the National Arts Club in New York, the Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio, and in leading publications such as The Pastel Journal and Plein Air Magazine to name a few.
The concert will also feature a solo appearance by Blaise Sytsma-Reed, the winner of the 2025 GLCO Young Artists Concerto Competition, performing the first movement of Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole. Blaise is a senior at Charlevoix High School and a member of the Dorothy Gerber Strings Program.
This concert is generously underwritten by Wally Klein.
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.