Fesitval- GLC

Grand Rapids 40th Annual Festival Of The Arts June 5-7, 2009. A weekend of music, dance, demonstrations, food, movies, and art in the closed off streets of downtown Grand Rapids. On Sunday the 7th the Great Lakes Chorus performed on the outdoor Calder Stage named after the giant 4 story red steel monument behind it. The Great Lakes Chorus performed 6 mostly uptune songs directed by Curt Struyk and Assistant Director Aaron Bouwman. Curt also performed on stage between the Chorus set in the Grand Rapids Chapter International quartet Wildcard.

Wildcard Webpage GreatLakesChorus.org/Retired/Wildcard

Grand Rapids Chapter quartet Shades Of Grey with their new bass John Baker also performed on stage.

Shades Of Grey Webpage GreatLakesChorus.org/SOG

Chapter quartet Vocal Artisans performed along Ottawa street as a wandering quartet.

Vocal Artisan Webpage GreatLakesChorus.org/VA

It was overcast for awhile which kept the heat down. There was a lot of positive feed back from everyone from the audience, other performers, directors, educators, and even the sound crew. After the show, as I stood in lines sampling all the different food tents and stage performances in my bright yellow chorus shirt and black tux pants, I was repeatedly told by people how much they enjoyed the performance. It felt real good!

Thank yous to Lynn Weaver for taking many of these photos.

*Side Note; Alexander Calder 1898–1976, aka Sandy Calder, was an American sculptor and artist and inventor of the mobile. The Grand Rapids monument is know by locals simply as The Calder but is officially named the La Grande Vitesse translated as "the great swiftness" or "the grand rapids". It measures fifty-four feet long, forty-three feet high, thirty feet wide, and weighs over 42 tons.

Historic also as the first grant by the federal National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in its public arts initiative for $45,000 to the city of Grand Rapids.

For high speed internet users the Slideshow function link in the upper right corner of the album is recommended or click here