Interlochen Center for the Arts

History

In 1925, Music Supervisors National Conference President Edgar B. Gordon asked conductor and educator Joseph E. Maddy to assemble talented high school musicians from around the US to perform at the conference's 1926 gathering in Detroit, Michigan. The resulting ensemble, the National High School Orchestra, performed at Detroit's Orchestra Hall on April 16, 1926. The orchestra was asked to reconvene in 1927 and 1928.

In 1927, Maddy incorporated the National High School Orchestra Camp, and began searching for ideal locations, eventually narrowing it down to sites in Maine and Michigan. He was invited by Interlochen businessman Willis Pennington to tour his hotel and summer camp properties, adjacent to Interlochen State Park (Camp Interlochen and Camp Penn Loch, for boys and girls, respectively). Maddy chose the site, and, in 1928, the first season of the National High School Orchestra Camp convened. In 1932, the Camp changed its name to the National Music Camp; despite the addition of other artistic disciplines, the name remained until 1991, when it was updated to Interlochen Arts Camp.

In 1944, Maddy purchased Camps Interlochen and Penn Loch, absorbing them into the National Music Camp.

Interlochen Arts Academy, a year-round arts boarding school affiliated with the Camp and housed on the same campus, opened in 1962. The school, which combines college-preparatory academics with conservatory-caliber arts training, was the first of its kind in the United States.

In 1963, Interlochen Public Radio (WIAA) started to broadcast. Originally broadcasting eight hours per day, it grew enough within a decade to become a charter member of National Public Radio. Interlochen Public Radio became a network in 1989 with the addition of WICV. Interlochen bought contemporary Christian station WDQV in 2005 and converted it into a third satellite for the eastern portion of the market, WIAB.

Campus and programs

Interlochen Arts Camp (IAC)

A camp has existed on the current site since 1918, when Camp Interlochen for girls was opened. In 1922, Camp Penn Loch for boys opened. In 1944, the two were merged together with what was then called the "National High School Orchestra Camp" to form the National Music Camp. Over the years, the camp expanded beyond instrumental music to include theatre, dance and other areas of study.

In 1991, Interlochen Arts Camp began after restructuring from the National Music Camp.

Campers are divided into three groups:

Junior Division - Grades 3-6

Intermediate Division - Grades 6-8

High School Division - Grades 9-12

All summer campers and staff members wear the traditional Interlochen camp uniform, which is dark blue pants, and light blue shirts, along with a lanyard that identifies their specific division or camp role. On Sundays, a white shirt is required to be worn.

The camp combines traditional camp activities with professional performing arts training and performance opportunities. Campers live in rustic cabins divided by division. Varying lengths of camp are offered, with most campers enrolling in two and three week programs. A limited number of six week programs are also offered.

To provide more opportunities for students, Interlochen opened a day camp for students that do not wish to live on campus. The day camp is operated from the Interlochen Community Center.

Interlochen has partnered with the high school music programs at Ann Arbor Public Schools since 1977, when Huron High School and Pioneer High School began bringing their music students (choir, marching band, orchestra) to Interlochen. This typically happens in late August prior to school starting, but after the regular camp season has ended. Skyline High School joined this tradition upon its opening in 2008.

Interlochen Arts Academy (ICA)

Beginning in 1962, Interlochen Arts Academy is a year-round boarding school that combines traditional high school studies and activities with professional performing arts training and performance opportunities. Students live on campus in dormitory style residence halls, although it is not required to live on campus.

Dormitories:

Thor Johnson Hall - named after Thor Johnson

Mozart-Beethoven Hall - named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven

Brahms Hall - named after Johannes Brahms

Picasso Hall - named after Pablo Picasso

Hemingway - named after Ernest Hemingway

DeRoy Hall - named after the Deroy Family

Dow Hall - named after the Dow Family

Interlochen College of Creative Arts (ICCA)

The Interlochen College of Creative Arts provides continuing education programs for adults to further their creative studies or try a new one. While programs vary year to year, many are offered each year with returning participants. Some of the long running programs include:

Interlochen Adult Choir and Choral Conducting Camp

Interlochen Adult Flute Camp

Interlochen Adult Guitar Camp

Interlochen Symphonic Band Camp

Interlochen Chamber Music Camp

Interlochen Presents

Throughout the year, the Interlochen Presents department books large and small acts to play at the multiple stages that exist on the Interlochen campus. Summer concerts are scheduled each year, known as the "Interlochen Arts Festival" which typically runs from June through August.

Performances venues include:

Interlochen Bowl - opened in 1928, used for concerts and the annual end of camp performance, Les Preludes

Kresge Auditorium - opened in 1948, and used for large acts and major gatherings. The auditorium is named after the Kresge Family and the The Kresge Foundation.

Corson Auditorium - opened in 1975, a traditional Broadway style theatre used for musicals and large acts that prefer an indoor or more intimate setting, named after the Corson family.

Dendrinos Chapel - opened in 1981, and named after Michael P. Dendrinos, a 13 year boy who died in 1971 and was the son of Interlochen board member Peter Dendrinos.

Upton-Morley Stage, opened in 2011, an outdoor theatre space

Phoenix Theatre, opened in 1994, a smaller indoor theatre and flexible black box space

Harvey Theatre, opened in 1998, a smaller indoor theatre

Interlochen Shakespeare Festival

Beginning in 2008, and located at the Morley-Upton stage, a Shakespeare play is chosen each year and performed. Actors often include Interlochen affiliated alumni.

2023 - Julius Caesar

2024 - The Comedy of Errors

2025 - Measure for Measure

2026 - A Midsummer Night's Dream

Walter E. Hastings Museum

Located on the campus of Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Walter Hastings Museum contains the archive of Walter E. Hastings (1887-1965), a photographer and naturalist that spent several years creating work on the land in and around Interlochen. Opened in 1956, the museum contains photographs, a mineral collection, and other artifacts he curated during his lifetime.

Interlochen Public Radio

Interlochen Center for the Arts is home to Interlochen Public Radio (or IPR), a National Public Radio member station that broadcasts a signal to most of the lower peninsula of Northern Michigan as well as parts of eastern Wisconsin. Two listener-supported stations broadcast to northwest Michigan: Classical Music 88.7, 88.5, 94.7 and 100.9 FM; and News Radio 91.5, 90.1 and 89.7 FM. Broadcasts include arts programming, news and culture from around the world, as well as local and regional news. IPR was a charter member of National Public Radio.

Founded in 1963, Interlochen Public Radio or WIAA was envisioned as an extension of the Music From Interlochen program which ran on the NBC radio network. The Music From Interlochen program informed a wider audience about the activities at the then-named National Music Camp and the nascent Interlochen Arts Academy. The station was slow to catch on in its early years and some considered shutting down the operation. Interlochen Public Radio went on to establish itself with two service channels: one for music and one for news.

In 1993, Interlochen Public Radio reportedly had one of the highest rates of per capita contributions of any public radio station in the United States. The station's classical music service is broadcast from their main tower at WIAA 88.7 FM in Interlochen, along with WIAB 88.5 FM in Mackinaw City, and W234BU 94.7 FM in Traverse City. In 2000, IPR began offering a separate news service on WICA 91.5 FM in Traverse City, and later added WLMN 89.7 FM in Manistee and WHBP 90.1 FM in Harbor Springs.

Stone Hotel and Cottages

Interlochen operates the Stone Hotel and Cottages from within the Interlochen campus. Named after W. Clement Stone, the hotel provides traditional hotel rooms that are open to the public, along with cottages and cabins scattered across the Interlochen campus. The current hotel opened in 1958 and was built from money donated by W. Clement Stone after the original hotel, built in 1909, the Pennington, was demolished in 1954.

Some notable cabins on campus include:

Fay Maddy House - named after Fay Maddy, wife of Joseph E. Maddy

Tremaine Cottage - named after Charles Tremaine and family, arts administrator

Canfield Cottage - named after Leila Canfield and family, one of Interlochens first board members

Greenleaf Cottage - named after Leland Greenleaf and family, of Greenleaf Instruments

Bonbright Cottage - named after Della Bonbright and family

Nesbitt Cottage - named after the Nesbitt family

Frolich House - named after Edward Frolich and family

Dow Guest Suites - named after the Dow family

Sustainability

In 2019, Interlochen Center for the Arts was recognized by the US Department of Education as a Green Ribbon School, making progress in the areas of sustainability, environmental impact reduction, and the health and well-being of its staff and students. Interlochen is committed to creating and enacting a Climate Action Plan that places emphasis on learning and engagement, sustainable operations, and buildings and operations. Interlochen uses green solar energy, and has charging stations for vehicles on campus, water-bottle filling stations, and uses local and regional foods.

Interlochen has a botanical lab and community garden, with permaculture, an orchard, native plants, mushrooms, poly tunnels and raised beds, chickens, aquaponics and a honeybee apiary.

Interlochen has industrial compost facilities built in 2019. The compost facility processes tons of food waste in combination with dried leaves and woodchips that are collected each year on campus during fall leaf pickup and chipped, downed branches and trees. The compost is used on campus.

Awards and accolades

In 2006, Interlochen Center for the Arts was named recipient of the National Medal of Arts from then-president George W. Bush.

In 2021, Interlochen Center for the Arts became the 14th musical organization inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame.

Former Interlochen students are recipients of some of the top arts industry awards in the world, with the Center's alumni receiving 29 Emmy Awards, 158 Grammy Awards, 36 Tony Awards, and Jimmy Awards. More than 50 Interlochen students have been recognized as Presidential Scholars in the Arts, more than 700 YoungArts Winners, hundreds of students earn recognition as Scholastic Winners in Art & Writing, as well as several other prestigious competitions and programs. Interlochen alumni Mary Oliver, Tom Kitt, George Crumb, Beverly Gage, and Margo Jefferson, have received the Pulitzer Prize, as well as over a dozen finalists.

In 2024, Interlochen Public Radio's podcast Points North earned recognition from the national Edward R. Murrow Award, which recognized the podcast's excellence in journalism.

In 2025, Niche recognized Interlochen as the #1 best high school for the arts in the nation.

Interlochen's Sustainability Department has earned numerous awards and recognitions, including Michigan Green Schools, US Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools, and holds certificates with Certified Naturally Grown, USDA People's Garden, Michigan Agricultural Environmental Program, and more.

Controversies

Sex traffickers Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell used the summer camp to find underage girls according to the United States Department of Justice. Epstein had attended Interlochen summer camp in 1967, when he was a teenaged bassoon player. Beginning in 1990, Epstein donated more than USD $400,000 to Interlochen. Contributions ended by 2008 when the relationship was terminated.

In 2024, Interlochen hired a law firm to investigate reports that staff and faculty sexually abused students. The investigation's scope was expanded to include Jeffrey Epstein's activities. They found 70 accounts of sexual conduct by 47 faculty and staff members, spanning from the 1950s through the 2010s. Interlochen posted the full report on their website.

Faculty and guest artists

Lauren Bernofsky - composer

Allen Britton - educator

Margaret Brouwer - composer

Van Cliburn – pianist, 1961–2007

Roderick Cox - conductor

George Crumb - composer, 1957, 1958, and 1961

Albert Austin Harding - director of bands

Leslie B. Dunner - director of academy orchestras

Richard Ellsasser - organist and composer

Percy Grainger – composer and pianist, on faculty 1930–44

Louis Langrée - conductor

Cecil Leeson - saxophonist

Howard Hanson – composer and conductor, visiting conductor 1928–31; composed the "Interlochen Theme", which was later used in his Symphony No.2

Marie Hartwig - camp counselor

John S. Hilliard - composer

Milt Jackson - jazz vibraphonist

Jerry Junkin - conductor

Dennis Kim - violinist

Homer Keller - composer

Casey Kriechbaum - composer

Yo Yo Ma - cellist who embarked on national tour with orchestra