GRAYLING-Two local high school jazz ensembles played to a packed house at AuSable Artisan Village (AAV) last week. The Roscommon High School jazz group, under the direction of Seth Kilbourn, and the Grayling High School jazz band, directed by Matthew Bishop, provided the music for the monthly ‘Third Wednesday Concert’ in November.
It was a busy week for the Grayling jazz band, many of whose members were participating in a band concert at the high school on Thursday as well as working on a stage production that is well under way. Not only did Mr. Bishop squeeze in the time to get the jazz band prepared for the Wednesday concert at Artisan Village, the students gave a lively and outstanding performance.
The Roscommon High School jazz band showcased a different approach to their performance. Upon a signal from Mr. Kilbourn, several of the players demonstrated their ability to take the lead solo. The designated student took over without missing a beat, playing with style and aplomb, much to the delight of the audience.
AAV is also supporting the visual arts. The Grayling High School arts department, under the instruction of Mr. Mark Binert, will display their creative work at the art gallery. This special show will be on display through much of the month of December. After the first of the year, the gallery will host a competition of the Grayling High School photography class.
To further expand art programming for children, students, and the general community, AuSable Artisan Village is launching a crowd-funding campaign. Their goal is to raise at least $25,000 which will finance building renovations. A big component of these renovations will include classroom space in the lower level to accommodate all levels of talent and all age groups. The crowd funded project is being submitted to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) for their approval and when the goal is reached, MEDC will match the contributions dollar for dollar. This will allow AuSable Artisan Village to complete as much as $50,000 in renovations.
Providing a venue for the next generation of emerging artists is part of the mission of the AuSable Artisan Village, and the November concert was an excellent example of our up and coming local performing arts talent.
AuSable Artisan Village is currently asking for pledges to be applied to their goal.
Pledge forms are available at online at http://www.aavart.org/contact/ or in person at the art gallery. The exact amount of the drive will be determined by the success of early pledges. Terry Dickinson, the director for AuSable Artisan Village, said ‘We have to make our goal high enough to complete the renovations, and realistic enough to be able to raise the funds. If we do not reach our goal, we do not get the matching contribution from MEDC, so failure is not an option.’ Last year, the art gallery raised the funds to purchase their building, thanks to generous support from dedicated art patrons. Therefore, Dickinson believes that this effort to raise the funds to complete the necessary renovations will also be successful.
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Au Sable Media Group, LLC, is a veteran-owned company that owns and operates the Roscommon County Voice, Crawford County Voice, Michigan Boomers and Voice of the Au Sable.
Our focus is on the positive people and events that make Northern Michigan a great place to live, vacation, work and play.
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