By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
A bucket of clothes pins and a race for a wind-blown sheet of music?
It must be an outdoor summer concert where weather, planes, passerby and wind are all part of the show.
With blue skies overhead, a light breeze and clothes pins to hold their music in place, members of Northwestern Michigan College's Community Band serenaded 250 people during the inaugural Concert on the Lawn performance. The concert series will feature six concerts over the rest of the summer.
The approximately 50 adults in the community band kicked off the concert with their "Star Spangled Banner," a traditional fanfare that opens all their concerts. They then played classic marches by John Philips Sousa interspersed with a medley of Broadway songs as well as selections from Sound of Music and West Side Story. The concert wound up with "America the Beautiful," with some attendees singing along.
"Performing outdoors is always very challenging and interesting," said conductor John Beery, curator of Interlochen Arts Academy's Greenleaf collection of antique instruments and a veteran conductor.
Beery, who takes over the baton from Tom Riccobono every summer, leads the band at a variety of outdoor venues around town, including performances at the National Cherry Festival and the Music House Museum. The band acclimates to the vagaries of summer performances with the help of clothes pins or clear plastic holders over their music.
"It's even harder for the conductor, because I have 30-40 pages of score," he joked after an audience member retrieved a wayward sheet of music for a band member.
The multi-generational audience spread themselves on the verdant lawns behind the Pavilions, sitting on blankets or lawn chairs and sipping lemonade or munching picnic fare sold by Pavilions staff. Many Pavilions residents enjoyed the concert as well, either on the lawn or under a large tent near the building.
Held behind the Grand Traverse Pavilion with nearby Building 50 as a backdrop, this summer's series highlights local music talent. Jeff Haas, Claudia Schmidt, Bill Sears, Harry Goldson, the Grand Traverse Pipes & Drums and the Cherry Capital Chorus and Sweet Adelines will put in appearances.
"There's something so very special about enjoying a Traverse City sunset and listening to great music on the historic lawn of the Grand Traverse Pavilions," noted Patti DeAgostino, community relations director for the Pavilions. "When it's summertime and the evening features some of the top artists in Michigan, it's even more special."
After each concert, a free-will offering will be taken to raise funds for a hoped for addition to the lawn: a outdoor amphitheater. That ambition is in the beginning planning stages but could one day provide a formal home for the concert series as well as other outdoor performances.
Concerts on the Lawn at the Grand Traverse Pavilions will be held weekly every Thursday evening at 7 p.m. behind the facility. Upcoming performers are listed below:
• July 20 - Grand Traverse Pipes & Drums
• July 27 - NMC's Community Band
• August 3 - Bill Sears Quartet
• August 10 - Jeff Haas & Friends with Claudia Schmidt
• August 17 - Harry Goldson Quartet
• August 24 - The Cherry Capital Chorus & Sweet Adelines