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 John Murray
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Pilot, Northwest Airlines
Blue Lake affiliation: Camper, 1974; IYSO, 1975; Staff, 1976
Instrument: Trumpet |
The 1975 International Youth Symphony Orchestra was a truly memorable group for Blue Lake’s Founder and President Fritz Stansell. So much so, that he devotes nearly three full pages of his book Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp: The Early Years to the exploits of the group.
Among the interesting happenings that year, according to Mr. Stansell, were a young man who took Bronx cheer solos during jazz concerts; a student who practiced secretly with his Swedish host families and then surprised the group by giving a performance of Copland’s A Lincoln Portrait entirely in Swedish; two girls from the orchestra showing up at rehearsal looking like Valkyries with their long braids twisted around coat hangers; and percussionists masquerading as violinists.
John Murray, a trumpeter in the IYSO that year, has his own share of memories of the group and of the three years he spent at Blue Lake as a camper, member of the IYSO, and staff member.
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 Former Blue Lake faculty member Don Warnaar passes away
Family plans memorial scholarship fund at Blue Lake |
Muskegon-area music educator, trumpeter, and big band leader Don Warnaar passed away on August 31 at age 70 after a short illness.
Don Warnaar was also an early and long-time faculty member at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, where he gave private trumpet lessons, taught classes in trumpet technique, led sectional rehearsals, and played in the Festival Orchestra.
Mr. Warnaar’s wife, Joan, his daughters, and their families are creating a scholarship fund at Blue Lake in his memory, in consultation with the Development Office. Initial donations have already been made and further donations would be gratefully accepted.
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 Michigan artist Maria Ruggiero commissioned
to provide paintings for Blue Lake’s Gershwin Theatre lobby |
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Michigan Artist Maria Ruggiero was recently commissioned to create three paintings that are now prominently displayed in Blue Lake’s year-old theatre in Camp Gershwin. The two generous and long-time Blue Lake benefactors who commissioned these works have asked to remain anonymous. Ms. Ruggiero presented these paintings to the camp on Friday, June 15, and returned on Thursday, June 28, to consult on their installation. Another of Ms. Ruggiero's canvases hangs outside the entrance to Blodgett Recital Hall.
Maria Ruggiero, an Associate Professor of Art at Eastern Michigan University, received her MFA in Studio Art from Kent State University in 1997 and her BFA in Studio Art and English from Michigan State University in 1995.
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 Adrian Cook moves to year round staff as
Blue Lake’s Assistant Camp Director
[Editor: The following is taken from President Fritz Stansell’s January 2007 report to Blue Lake’s Board of Trustees.]
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Adrian Cook started his first season on the year round staff as Assistant Camp Director during the Summer 2007. He grew up in Swartz Creek, Michigan, and graduated from Swartz Creek High School in 1993. Adrian attended Western Michigan University and graduated in 1997 with a teaching certificate and a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Chemistry, Physics, and Math. While at Western, he was a member of the University men’s track team where he threw the hammer and participated in the shot put. In 2001, he received his Master’s degree in Secondary School Administration. For the past ten years, Adrian has been a chemistry teacher at Heritage High School in Saginaw, Michigan, where he also coaches the shot put and discus events on the men’s track team. He has coached numerous conference champions and has also had several athletes participate at the state and collegiate levels.
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 In other Blue Lake news. . . . |
Review calls Opera Department’s production of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi “powerful and professional.”
In its second season, Blue Lake’s Opera Department continued to receive complimentary reviews from members of the Michigan press. This year’s production of Giacomo Puccini’s one-act comic masterpiece, Gianni Schicchi, directed by Kenneth Beachler and conducted by Dr. James Niblock, was the subject of an extended article in the Lansing State Journal in advance of the production’s premiere. Fran Schattenberg, the reviewer for the White Lake Beacon (Muskegon County, Michigan), attended the Opening Night performance on July 29, 2007. In her review, published in the July 8 edition of the newspaper, Schattenberg called Blue Lake’s production “powerful, prodigious, and professional” and a “must-see.”
Former Blue Lake staff member starts Yahoo! Group for other staff alums.
Greg Webber of Knoxville, Tennessee (Counselor, Lifeguard, Staff Chorus 1987-1988; Counselor, Bus Driver, Staff Chorus 1992), has begun a Yahoo! Group for his fellow Blue Lake Staff Alumni. Greg says that the group will "allow us all to reconnect on our own terms, on our own time." Clicking on the link below will take you directly to the group, which is in the "Groups - Fine Arts - Education" subcategory. Greg is the moderator of the group, which is not an "official" part of Blue Lake's website or Alumni Association.
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