Central Michigan University

Monday, July 28, 2008

CMU composer creates musical tribute to Mackinac Island

The legend of Mackinac Island landmark Arch Rock was among the inspirations for "Echoes of Mackinac," a new composition by CMU School of Music faculty member Scott Harding. The work will premiere Aug. 3 during a concert on the island.

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Lindsay Allen
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The beauty and legends of one of Michigan's favorite tourist hotspots will come to life in a soon-to-premiere musical composition. Central Michigan University School of Music faculty member Scott Harding was commissioned by the Mackinac Island Community Foundation to compose an instrumental piece about the island and will unveil it to the public in August.

Harding describes the piece, "Echoes of Mackinac," as a "musical documentary" of three movements that highlight the early Native American legends of the island, the attempt to reclaim the island from the British at the end of the War of 1812 and the atmosphere of the Grand Hotel during the Roaring '20s.

Written for flute, clarinet, violin, bass and percussion, "Echoes of Mackinac" will premiere Aug. 3 during the Mackinac Island Community Foundation's Summer Concert Series at 2 p.m. at St. Anne's Catholic Church, 300 Huron St. on Mackinac Island. Harding will perform on percussion, and his wife, Tess Miller, will play the flute; other performers will include Jonathon Holden on clarinet, Carrie Holden on violin and Melissa Straus on bass.

Another performance of "Echoes" already is planned, as Harding and an as-yet-unannounced ensemble are slated to perform Oct. 25 at CMU as part of the sixth annual Michigan Story Festival.

"Echoes" is not Harding's first musical tribute to the island, where he and Miller spend a great deal of time at her family's cottage each summer. He composed "Scenes of Mackinac" in 2001, making what he calls his "first foray into attempting to musically capture the island as I saw it at the time.

"Mackinac has become very dear to my soul; we often use the term 'island time' when we're there in reference to the slower pace of life that seems to exist there as nowhere else," said Harding. "I feel as though I've come to know the island in ways that most tourists never really get to see, and I hope that the presentation of my music makes it so that those people get a little of the insight that I've gained by coming here regularly."

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Scott Harding