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Celebrate the beauty of our earth and the Great Lakes with this concert dedicated to the natural wonders of our world.
We begin with an homage to indigenous/American Indian culture through music by Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, a Chickasaw classical composer. Spirit Chief Names the Animal People is the Okanogan Indian story of how Coyote retained his name, given by the Great Spirit Chief. The music recorded is the orchestral version of the three powerful animals Bear, Salmon and Eagle – along with Coyote.
Terra Nostra (Our Earth in Latin) is a 30-minute multimedia symphony about climate change composed by Christophe Chagnard, and featuring documentary film by Charlie Spears. It was created to engage, educate, inspire, and empower people to initiate personal and policy change to protect our Earth.
Terra Nostra trailer:
The Great Lakes Cantata composed by Gwyneth Walker (GLCO composer-in-residence) is a musical journey across the magnificent five lakes (each represented by the five movements within the piece) bordering the Eastern US and Canada. Texts by American and Canadian poets have been selected as lyrics for this cantata. The journey moves from East (Lake Ontario) to West (Lake Superior), stopping to explore the unique character of each lake en route.
Out into the deep of the great dark world,
Beyond the long borders where foam and drift
Of the sundering waves are lost and gone
On the tides that plunge and rear and crumble.
-excerpted Carl Sandberg lyrics, representing Lake Michigan in the cantata
To inspire, entertain and educate through live, professional, community-connected orchestral programming.
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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.
