Along with the sometimes frigid weather that accompanies the beginning of the month, February is also a time for cultural enrichment in Big Rapids when the Festival of the Arts returns.
The 2009 Festival of the Arts included a command performance of the Grand Rapids Symphony. The festival featured two free performances for the Big Rapids community. The symphony performed a special concert for Big Rapids students in the Big Rapids High School Auditorium.
“We’ve really tried to reach out to the children this year,” said Festival organizer and Ferris State University professor Bruce Dilg. “That’s why we made the effort of getting that second performance for the children of Big Rapids.”
This year’s schedule was a diverse selection of 57 events, casting a spotlight on everything from architecture to dancing, ice sculpting to foreign films. Dilg said the goal of this festival, a true collaboration between FSU and the city’s arts community, is “building bridges and helping to enhance lives through the arts.”
Some of the featured performers in this year’s festival included:
Mike Thompson: The Detroit Free Press editorial cartoonist has his work syndicated in more than 400 publications via Copley News Service. Thompson, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, has had his work reprinted in such publications as Time, Newsweek, Forbes, New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
Gretchen Minnhaar: An award-winning contemporary artist who examines American cities in their struggle to survive;
Hugo Wolf Quartett: An internationally-renowned chamber music group. The group has won prestigious competitions including: the Fifth International String Quartet Competition, first prize at the 45th International G.B. Viotti Chamber Music Competition, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Special Prize and the European Cultural Award for chamber music;
Saline Fiddlers: This multi-member fiddler ensemble has introduced an alternative style of music education to public school students. They have been honored to perform three times at the White House and twice on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center, as well as at the state of Michigan’s Presidential Inaugural Ball; and
Bryan Galloup: Owner of Galloup Guitars in Big Rapids, Galloup runs a full-service guitar facility dedicated to preserving fine stringed instruments, training craftsmen for the future of lutherie and building the finest line of hand-crafted guitars.
Festival organizer Scott Cohen said this year’s festival will be another test in preparation for Ferris State University’s 125th anniversary celebration in 2010.
After the success of last year’s festival, Cohen said rounding up performers this year has been much easier.
“Instead of coming to people with an explanation of what we’re trying to achieve, we’ve had people from city hall and a lot of local merchants coming to us, very eager to participate,” he said. “I think there’s a definite sense of excitement. Instead of residents looking at this time of year as a cold period, they’re now looking forward to it.”
Big Rapids Mayor Mark Warba agreed, noting that February has become an ideal time of year to hold the festival.
“It’s typically a month you’d rather forget than look forward to,” he said. “But having a festival like this, you begin to look forward to it — it reinvigorates you.”
For more information about the Festival of the Arts or Ferris State University, please visit them online at www.ferris.edu.