By Adam Glaser
Ann Arbor Summer Festival

This year’s Ann Arbor Summer Arts Festival, set for June 19–July 11, will celebrate the event’s 10th anniversary.

The festival will feature a number of performers returning by popular demand from previous seasons, as well as a variety of talent new to the festival stage. As in past years, the festival will showcase some of the nation’s finest artists in music, dance, comedy and children’s programming.

Ann Arbor’s Chenille Sisters and the Smothers Brothers will kick off the festival June 19 at the Power Center for the Performing Arts. The program will be preceded by an Opening Night Supper at 5:30 p.m. at the Alumni Center.

Two other musical comedy performances are scheduled: Riders in the Sky, a group that will appear in a new television series this fall on CBS, will be here June 27. The Capitol Steps, which has had sold-out Festival audiences since 1990, will perform July 4.

Other presentations include:

Music: Jazz pianist Dorothy Donegan, June 23; the Four Freshmen, June 24; jazz and blues vocalist Joe Williams, June 26; Preservation Hall Jazz Band, June 29; the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, July 1; Saffire—The Uppity Blues Women, July 2; Gordon Lightfoot, July 3; The Neville Brothers, July 5; The Persuasions and the Throat-Singers of Tuva in “A Celebration of the Voice,” July 7; George Shearing, July 8; Emmylou Harris, July 9; Mel Torme, July 10.

Dance: Whitley Setrakian and Peter Sparling, June 22; Ohio Ballet, June 25; Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theatre, June 30.

Classical music: St. Clair Trio, June 28; Virtuoso Organist Series: Marilyn Mason and Cantata Singers, June 27, University String Ensemble, July 4; organist Jerzy Erdman, July 11; Twilight Organ Concerts: Detroit Handbell Ensemble, July 7; organist Roland Munch, July 9.

Activities for kids, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. at Top of the Park and Power Center lawn preceding each ticketed family show: Wild Swan Theatre presenting Wind in the Willows June 20; Riders in the Sky concert, June 27; singer/songwriter Bill Harley, July 4; Bill Shontz’s “Green-Up Show,” July 11.

Special events:

10th Anniversary Party, July 17, featuring live entertainment, a movie and an enormous birthday cake. Proceeds benefit the free concerts and movies at Top of the Park.

Visual artists exhibiting at the festival will talk about their work, followed by a reception in their honor, June 20.

Ten Years of Festival Posters: award-winning artist Bill Burgard will talk about the inspiration behind the artwork that hangs on the walls of homes and offices around town, June 28.

“Music in the Next Century,” an informal lecture with Detroit Free Press art critic John Guinn, July 10.

Two-Continent Canoe Expedition and Quilts, presentation by Valerie Fons Kruger about her 33-month canoe journey from the Arctic Ocean to Cape Horn, July 11.

Top of the Park

Dinner, snacks and cool drinks will be available at Top of the Park and free concerts will be presented each night at 7 p.m. Full-length feature films will be shown at 10 p.m. Sundays–Wednesdays.

Festival tickets may be purchased by phone, 764-2538, or at the Burton Memorial Tower 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Saturday.

To receive a copy of the 1993 season brochure, call 747-2278.

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