TRAVERSE CITY – In collaboration with the American Folklife Center and its 75th anniversary celebration of Alan Lomax’s field recordings of Michigan folk music for the Library of Congress, SEEDS After School students have been working all spring with the Earthwork Music Collective and Blackbird Arts to create a performance at the City Opera House on May 9.
Throughout the spring, middle and high school students from Benzie Central, Brethren, Forest Area, Frankfort, Kalkaska, Manistee, and Suttons Bay Schools have been preparing for the performance by studying local history, exploring personal journeys, learning songs from the Lomax archives, and writing new material for the concert production.
Seth Bernard, founder of the Earthwork Music Collective and one of the musician-instructors explains the project: “With the students, we’re listening to old recordings, discussing what we hear in them and rewriting them based on our own experiences and perspective. What’s been coming out is music that is true to the times that we live in and also dips into the rich, local cultural heritage.”
The public is invited to join in this celebration of community.
Performance and Ticket Details
Friday, May 9 – 7:30 pm at the City Opera House in Traverse City. Tickets are on sale now at the City Opera House website, $12 adults, $5 students and kids under 10 are free. Doors open at 7pm.
