Trevor Nuckols, Brownsville, Texas
Academy Class of 2010
Guten Tag, Ni Hao, Lei Ho, konnichi wa, Dobar den, Xin Chào, Buenos Tardes, shalom, mArHAbA, goddag, ahn nyeong ha se yo, Bonjour… Hello! And to my fellow Texans - "Howdy!"
Any way you say it - you’re welcome here.
As you will hear many times during your stay here, "Art Lives Here", it’s not just a motto; it really is a way of life. We have the opportunity in daily life, to not only study under the world’s foremost renowned guest artists, but we also have the opportunity to interact with them one-on-one. Not only is Interlochen a special place to nurture and grow in your arts area, but it’s the only place you can live and breathe all of the areas art in one setting. Some of you have traveled thousands of miles to be here, and some of you who arrived from just down the road- either way we can all call this special place, "home."
The wonderful magic of Interlochen is that this is a place where we can grow and build upon our art with not only our teachers, but with our friends around us-who are in a way, a new gateway to learning. Be amazed by the sacrifice and dedication of the faculty, and be inspired by their accomplishments, fill yourself up with their knowledge, they are definitely here for us; And faculty- model excellence for us, don’t let us settle for mediocrity; challenge us to reach our highest potential. Mediocrity is insufficient. Dr. Joe Maddy was a true visionary and his spirit still lives on at Interlochen, he encouraged the pursuit of excellence and said that, "kids don’t know that they can’t do, so they do."
There is never a dull moment here at Interlochen, for instance: pay a visit to Byron Hanson’s studio, where you’ll be amazed at this man’s infinite encyclopedic knowledge-trust me there is always something you can learn from him. Do not limit yourself to just your performance area, take advantage of all of the opportunities here. Attend Dance Recitals, Red Wheelbarrow Readings, Opera Workshops and Choir Concerts, MPA Screenings, Composition Seminar, Theatre Productions and Musicals, Visual Art Galleries and Thesis Projects, Orchestra and Band Concerts, because this is not only a place where art is living, it’s a place where art is being created before our very eyes. That spirit lives on at Interlochen, and you really have a unique opportunity here to push the upper limits, through performance and interacting with people pulling for your highest potential. Whether it’s looking out onto the lake from Kresge Auditorium, sharing some laughs at the Coffeehouse, or being a part of the informal groups that form to share your gift, these all add to the magic that is Interlochen.
Aside from your artistic experience, you’ll also have the opportunity to develop relationships that will hopefully last your lifetime. Perhaps your room mate will be from another country, and you’ll get to enhance not only your vision of a whole new perspective of the world, but enhance theirs as well. I’ve learned that opening up a care package containing salted eel and seaweed snacks can be a good thing. In order to survive at Interlochen, we must all find a way to work together. The days will be long, the winters will be cold, and the work can be difficult, but the fruits of our labor will be worth it. For returning students, let’s continue to build upon the great experiences that we have had. For the new, we look forward to the gifts you bring to build upon this legacy that add to this heritage.
By the way, if you’re wondering if they take the rules seriously here at Interlochen, the short answer is yes. To returning students, we have all witnessed highly talented people who had to leave because they thought the rules didn’t apply to them. For further reference, please enroll in Ms. Driscoll’s Political Philosophy class to understand what happens to those who broke the rules.
We are the next generation. We are the future leaders and artistic citizens that came here to create a better world through our art form. Whatever we aspire to be, whatever our future holds, Interlochen is our utopia, where dreamers come, and artists leave.
Norma Lee Browning, the author of "Joe Maddy of Interlochen" described the magic this way: "We entered the rustic gates of Interlochen just as Howard Hanson, the famous composer and conductor was raising his baton for the first strains of his "Romantic Symphony". A white moon hung like a thin cradle over the peak of the rough-hewn, outdoor Interlochen Bowl. Beyond was the lake shimmering with the moonlight, and the whole magnificent setting of towering Norway pines was ablaze with music. The audience was sitting on row after row of hard-backed wooden benches, a vast sea of faces transfixed with enchantment in the deepening twilight. And on stage was the orchestra, more than a hundred young boys and girls playing their hearts out in a great moving symphony, a performance not only technically competent but full of depth and perception that would have been extraordinary in performers twice their age."
In following this year’s theme "Artists as Revolutionaries", whether we express ourselves through a painting, a book, a film, a piece of music, or a dance, we seek to be agents of positive change. The great revolutionist Che Guevara once said, "At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. ... We must strive every day so that this love of living humanity will be transformed into actual deeds, into acts that serve as examples, as a moving force."
The virtuoso pianist and former artist faculty here at Interlochen, Van Cliburn once said, "In Berlin, Moscow, Helsinki, and Vienna, I have watched in wonder as the glorious music of Brahms, or Beethoven, or Tchaikovsky, or Richard Strauss, suspended national enmities, and softened the look in men’s eyes... and I am sure of this, if there is a universal language, it is music. Nowhere in the world is there a place or a man turning out more musical missionaries, than Dr. Joseph Maddy at Interlochen. Interlochen is a magic word in the musical world." -Welcome to the magic that is Interlochen.
Thank You.