A Solstice Celebration: The Second Annual High Tea
The apex of this year witnessed a shining fusion of some of the
Island's finest talent, skill, and beauty in the form of the second
annual High Tea and Song Recital. Held at John and Sally Fogg's
newly opened Deerwood Lodge on Lake Michigan near Barney's Lake,
the High Tea showcased three jewels in the crown of the community's
evolving cultural landscape: the glowing log Lodge itself; Deerwood
Chef Deborah Harwood's culinary artistry; and soprano Martha Guth's
masterful and moving interpretation of song.
The Tea emerged as an inspiration of Deborah and Martha's early
last year, Martha explains. “We decided that we wanted to
do something that involved both of our work and talents. We thought
of this idea to do a High Tea, and this is the result. Now it's
the second year, and hopefully we can continue this on.”
This year the event has taken on an added purpose as a benefit
for the Beaver Island Music Fund, a fledgling organization intended
to foster and promote musical education and events within the
Island community. The Music Fund has collected seed money in a
recently established bank account, and has just been granted sponsorship
by the BIHS so it can have non-profit status. The public will
hear further updates on this worthwhile effort in the months to
come.
The more than seventy who attended the afternoon event were chauffeured
down the meandering paved drive through the forest above Barney's
Lake, ending in the impressive sight of Deerwood's great expanse
nestled unobtrusively among rolling lakeside hills. Within, the
Lodge's Great Room welcomed them in warm tones of burnished Island
timbers and hardwood floors. A wall of towering windows there
illuminated the tasteful furnishings and fieldstone fireplace,
and framed a vista of High Island to the west. Admirers wandered
through the balconies, suites, and hallways of the grand new resort,
marveling at the fine craftsmanship and loving attention to detail
that was revealed at every turn.
Arrayed around the lower rooms were elegantly presented trays
of hors d'ouevres for every taste, featuring such creative delicacies
as chocolate- dipped cherries rolled in crushed pistachios, smoked
whitefish canapés, bruschetta with pears and feta spread,
and vegetarian sushi. Deborah and her catering staff outdid themselves
in every way, offering the delighted attendees not only an exquisitely
delicious array of flavors, but a gracious illustration of culinary
art itself, expertly balanced in subtlety, harmony, and presentation.
The centerpiece of the benefit was the song recital. Accompanied
on grand piano by her uncle Dr. Robert Holst, a man of diverse
musical talents, Martha led the audience on a journey through
the American musical landscape of the past century. Arranged in
four sets of related themes, the first group covered compositions
by such luminaries of the American stage as Leonard Bernstein,
Steven Sondheim, and Aaron Copland.
From the very first piece, Bernstein's A Quiet Place, Martha
commanded the audience's rapt attention, drawing them nearer and
nearer into the embrace of her soaring voice, which became a vehicle
that transported them deep into the innermost realms of landscape
and heart. The silence grew around her, leaving only the expressions
of her sound and face to fill the hushed room. By the time she
delivered the traditional spiritual Steal Away, many seated before
her were moved to tears, a phenomenon that was to accompany much
of the presentation to follow that day.
The second set featured musical adaptations, by Ned Rorem and
Aaron Copland, of poems by Emily Dickinson, e.e. cummings, and
others. A standout selection in this set was contemporary composer
John Musto's treatment of Langston Hughes' Litany, a poignant
plea of compassion for the urban poor. This was followed by a
song cycle by composer Ralph Vaughan Williams and a trio of traditional
Irish and English folk songs by famed vocal composer Benjamin
Britten, culminating in the classic The Last Rose of Summer.
The duo bowed to great applause and returned for an encore, a
delightfully melodramatic tale of a woman's descent into a sordid
life in Paris. This piece truly displayed the astounding technical
skill and impressive range mastered by this young soprano whose
gifts have been shared with the community for years.
Moments like the one offered to the people of Beaver Island on
Summer Solstice are far more than mere entertainment. They are,
above all else, a gift of great graciousness generously given
us by the hard work of many contributors; motivated by both a
deep love for the arts and an enduring affection for the place
we call our home. This writer felt a special significance in the
Great Room of Deerwood Lodge on the longest day of the year, as
he listened to the strains of a great voice uplift and move all
who were present. He remembered a summer night years ago when
three friends paddled a canoe out upon the waters of Barney's
Lake, and sat for a time under the moonlight. Eventually one of
them began to sing an aria, and the sound of her voice echoing
off the natural amphitheater of trees that ringed the still waters
is a recurring delight. Hearing the same voice many years afterward,
in another locale not far from that same lake, seemed to resonate
as a kind of cycle fulfilled, and as a spring of song that continues
to give.
– Robert Cole
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