Garrett Lakes Arts Festival (GLAF) is pleased to announce that orchestral music will return to Garrett County with The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, July 17 and 18, 2009. Conductor, Lawrence Loh, will kick off the weekend, Friday at 7:30 p.m. with a lively pops concert, “An Evening of Movie Classics,” featuring music by Hollywood composers John Williams and Henry Mancini. Conductor, Andrés Cárdenes, will lead the orchestra in a program of classical repertoire Saturday, July 18, which also begins at 7:30 p.m. The classical program “Rhapsody in Blue” will include Beethoven: Consecration of the House Overture; Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue, with piano soloist Jon Kimura Parker; and Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5 (Reformation). Tickets for each concert are $35 for adults, $5 for students, and free for children five years and younger (tickets are required). Tickets can be ordered online at http://www.artsandentertainment.org or by calling the GLAF office at (301) 387-3082.

According to Skip Case, executive Director of Garrett Lakes Arts Festival, “Pittsburgh Symphony is a true world-class orchestra. Garrett Lakes Arts Festival and the Deep Creek Lake community embraced the world-class orchestra with grateful enthusiasm, at its local debut at the Wisp Resort in 2007. We are truly looking forward to their return in ‘09. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra prides itself in artistic excellence, a rich history of the world’s finest conductors and musicians.” Event sponsors for the symphony performances include Margaret Kaiser, M.D. and Eric Tribbey, Ed King and Doug McClive, M&T Bank Charitable Foundation, Jim O’Connell, Dr. Charles Walch (and Melissa, Nicole, & Maria). Sponsor Partners for the PSO performances are David A. Burdock Funeral Home, Coldwell Banker Deep Creek Realty, David and Irene Eyer, Bill and Bonnie Fedde, Judy and Jan Finkel, Albert W. Getty, D.D.S., P.C., Iris and Peter Halmos Private Foundation, Robert and Marcene Huebner, Tom and Kathy Johnson, H. Stanley Lambert III, M.D., Barbara Leighton, M.D., Herbert H. Leighton, M.D., Paul and Willetta Mateer, Cherie S. Myers, Edward WS and Jeanne H. Neff, Rickie Rubenstein and Ben Leaderman, Lew Wheeler and Debi McDonnell, and Chuck and Becky Zellefrow.

 Season Sponsors of Garrett Lakes Arts Festival are First United Trust and Investments, Garrett County Chamber of Commerce, Property Owners’ Association of Deep Creek Lake and Wisp Resort. This performance is funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art. In addition, large gifts and grants have been given by the Audrey and Howard Naylor Family Trust, The Garrett County Arts Council and The Maryland State Arts Council. For tickets and information about the program visit www.artsandentertainment.org or call the Garrett Lakes Arts Festival office at (301) 387-3082.

Friday, July 3
Kicking off the week is “Gus”, a long-form improvisational comedy troupe sponsored by the Baltimore Improv Group.  They will perform Friday, July 3, at 7:30 p.m. under the big tent on the Garrett College lawn. They will be joined by former Garrett County resident Alexander Hill, a former member of Gus who had performed with the troupe for three years prior to his relocation to New York City.  

Saturday, July 4
 

 
Saturday, July 4 will premier the traditional Independence Day Concert with BOTH the Garrett Community Concert Band and the Garrett Choral Society. The free concert will be held rain or shine, beginning at 7:30 p.m. In case of rain, the concert will be held in the Garrett College auditorium.  Round out the evening with the perfect spot to view the community fireworks display, immediately following the concert.

Sunday-Wednesday, July 5-8 [SEE BLOG BELOW]

Sunday, July 5 – Woodie Guthrie (performed by David Fenimore)       
                                  warm-up act: “Hammers and Strings”
Monday, July 6 – Jackie Robinson (performed by Gregory Kenney)    
                                  warm-up act: Billy George, marimba
Tuesday, July 7 – Eleanor Roosevelt (performed by Suzan King)          
                                  warm-up act: fiddler, Elmer Rich
Wednesday, July 8 – Alice Paul (performed by Joanna Guy)
                                  warm-up act: Sugarfoot Stompers

Warm up acts (starting at 7:00 p.m.) are always part of the Chautauqua Series of Historic Portrayals.  GLAF has just received word that the fiddler, Elmer Rich, WILL BE COMING  to be the warm-up performer for Tuesday, July 7, the night “Eleanor Roosevelt” will be speaking!!  See Youtube.

Mr. Rich is 89 years of age, and played fiddle with his father for square dances at Arthurdale, WV, when Eleanor Roosevelt was there to visit this community which she founded.  He will be playing again at Arthurdale this August.  Archived copies of his and his father’s playing together are in the Smithsonian Institution.  He has been the winner of many fiddler contests. 

What a treasure to have this man here for this performance!  We thank Betty Mattingly for her insight and her efforts in contacting Mr. Rich.  Betty will be performing with her own group, “Hammers and Strings”, as the warm-up performance the previous Sunday, July 5, when “Woody Guthrie” speaks.  The group will perform some of Guthrie’s wonderful American folk songs to begin the evening. 

The Maryland Humanities Council has always desired that the warm-up acts relate to the performance, if possible.  The Chautauqua Series is always extraordinary.  Please try to attend as many nights as possible. Food is available.

Playing to a sold out crowd of 700+, Beatlemania Now lived up to its reputation at the Lodge at Wisp,  in McHenry, MD.  John, Paul, George and Ringo looked and sounded so real that the audience was carried right back into the 1960′s.  The multimedia show didn’t skip a beat with its non-stop video projections of the events of days gone by: TV commercials for Camels and Anicin, Ed Sullivan Show, Nixon, Kennedy, Johnson, Vietnam, drugs, riots and love-ins.   BEATLEMANIA NOW was not just a Beatles Tribute Band – BEATLEMANIA NOW was entertaining, authentic, and elaborate.  Congratulations, Garrett Lakes Arts Festival, on a real winner.

The Board voted approval on new board member, Betty Ellington, to fill a vacancy position.

Not pictured below are board members Mary Callis, Regina Gearheart, Beth Johnson, Willetta Mateer, Melanie Reigrut, Jeff Reitz and Rickie Rubenstein.

Garrett Lakes Arts Festival is pleased to announce its new supporters who believe in the arts, and in the mission of this organization. Please share your appreciation with them whenever you have the opportunity.

Many thanks to the Property Owners’ Association of Deep Creek Lake, Inc. with their generous contribution of $5,000. We are happy to include them as one of our 2009 Season Sponsors. We also are pleased to announce that Albert W. Getty, D.D.S., P.C. is a new corporate sponsor at the $1,000 level.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank The Garrett Community Concert Band. They will be performing gratis this year at the Independence Day Concert.  This donation is kind is most appreciated.

And most of all thanks to all of YOU who have made contributions to GLAF. Your support is crucial to the survival of this organization. We can’t do it without you. Just a reminder that ticket sales are brisk for the trip to the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra on October 9. Space is limited so reserve your seat now.

Skip Case, Executive Director

Carrol Van Stone, Publicity Examiner

Deep Creek Lake is a very popular resort in the summer for couples, families, and friends because it has something for everyone..swim, boat, jet-ski, fish, white-water raft, kayak, golf, bike, arcade, miniature golf, hike, dancing, casual and fine dining, camping or luxury hotels and lakefront B&Bs.  And, even more than all that, on Saturday, June 27, visitors can hear John, Paul, George and Ringo…well almost.

Beatlemania Now is a multi-media live musical with a look-a-like and sound-a-like Fab Four recreating over 30 Beatles classics to a visual montage backdrop of the scenes from the 60s. It is an amazing experience Beatle lovers. The Beatlemania Now production, hosted by GLAF in Deep Creek Lake on Saturday, June 27 to be held at the Wisp Resort, will be a revival of the critically acclaimed Broadway production with original cast members. With tourism high this summer and the growth in support of GLAF from locals and nearby residents – Bealtemania Now ix expected to be a sell-out. 

Don’t miss out on this amazing event while on vacation at the spectacular resort (just 2 1/2 hours from D.C./Balt and 2 hours from Pittsburgh).  Click here to print a copy of the GLAF ticket-order page.

Read here for a preview of the GLAF 2009 season line-up or visit the website.

We have planned a bus trip to Wheeling, West Virginia on Friday, October 9, so we can all be a part of the 80th Anniversary of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra and the reopening of the beautiful Capitol Music Hall.  It should be a wonderful evening!  We hope that you will join us!

The Oct. 9 concert by the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Andre Ralph Smith, featuring cellist Zuill Bailey.  The works include Beethoven: Consecration of the House Overture; Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Stravinsky: The Firebird; and Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme.  The cost is$50 per person which includes your ticket to the performance, reception after the concert with the conductor, and bus transportation.  Further details will be sent to you.  Register ON-LINE or call the GLAF office at 301-387-3082.