Earth Keepers

Inspiring Canadians: Boreal Chamber Symphony formed in U.S. for annual Lake Superior Day concerts to raise protection funds.(Marquette, Michigan) - Canadian communities, musicians and environment groups are encouraged to start annual Lake Superior Day concerts by organizers of a symphony orchestra in northern Michigan created to protect North America's largest freshwater lake.The Boreal Chamber Symphony will make its debut July 15, 2007 on Lake Superior Day in Marquette, Michigan with a dramatic benefit concert.An American environment group is offering to "limited number of travel stipends" to qualified Canadian organizations who want to attend the U.S. concert to get ideas on starting a similar project on the north shore of Lake Superior."An organization in the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario has already expressed interest and may send representatives to the Marquette concert to learn more about hosting such an event," said Carl Lindquist, executive director of the Superior Watershed Partnership in Marquette.Earth Keeper volunteer media advisor Greg Peterson reports.For more information contact the concert co-sponsors: Carl Lindquist, 906-228-6095; Rev. Jon Magnuson, 906-228-5494Related websites:Superior Watershed Partnershiphttp://www.superiorwatersheds.orgThe Cedar Tree Institutehttp://www.cedartreeinstitute.comConductor Craig Randal Johnsonhttp://www.tonttu.comLake Superior Binational Forumhttp://www.superiorforum.infoStory continued:During a Monday (June 25, 2007) press conference, two percussionists demonstrated their skills using Lake Superior water and rocks to make chilling and rhythmic music that mixed with the sound of small waves rolling ashore.An interpretive dancer gracefully performed on the edge of Lake Superior with the wind rushing through her flowing costume and seed pods on her ankles adding to the soothing natural music.Haunting French horn calls, the soothing sounds of water, a thundering storm, and flowing interpretive dance using rocks, sand, and other items found along the Lake Superior shoreline are all part of the "Concert for Lake Superior: People, Place, Purpose."With a view of Lake Superior, the concert will have a water and environment theme. The audience will be surrounded by Lake Superior-related artwork.The Lake Superior watershed "is pretty much half of the watershed for the entire Upper Peninsula" and one of three watersheds in northern Michigan, said Natasha Koss, development coordinator for the Superior Watershed Partnership."We hope this concert can be a model for other communities in Canada to be able to celebrate this special day - we all share Lake Superior and we all use its waters," Koss said.The event is sponsored by the Superior Watershed Partnership and Cedar Tree Institute, Marquette non-profits that founded the Earth Keeper Initiative in 2004."Lake Superior is an international body of water, and we hope and encourage groups in Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie and other Canadian communities on Lake Superior to put on concerts or festivals which support initiatives promoting the health of the lake," said conductor Craig Randal Johnson of Minneapolis, Minnesota.The Marquette Community Foundation awarded a $1,500 grant for the concert."We wanted to help the numerous groups who are protecting Lake Superior and keeping it as beautiful as it is," Martha Conley, Marquette Community Foundation board member and chair of the foundation's grants committee. "We are a true believer in the community and Lake Superior."Lindquist said organizers "hope that the concert for Lake Superior will become an annual event that might be replicated in other communities around Lake Superior, including Canada."In 2004, the Lake Superior Binational Forum designated the third Sunday in July as Lake Superior Day in the U.S. and Canada.The binational forum is comprised of U.S. and Canadian volunteers including representatives from industry, civic organizations, environment groups and faith communities, and works with governments in both countries to protect Lake Superior.The concert will begin at 7 p.m. on July 15 at UpFront & Company, a Marquette restaurant with a large conference room that overlooks the Lake Superior lower harbor. A social hours begins at 6 p.m.The concert is free, but donations are encouraged with all proceeds used for environment projects involving the immense Lake Superior watershed."By offering this free concert we also hope that people will contribute to the Lake Superior Fund so we can continue and expand our successful Great Lakes protection programs," Lindquist said.All donations are tax deductible and go to the Lake Superior Defense Fund.Koss said the watershed partnership cares about "the big picture, what we can do as an organization and people can do as citizens to protect our beautiful lake.""We all live in it (the Lake Superior watershed), we all drink from its waters, we all swim in its water, we paddle along the shore, we fish in its rivers that drain into Lake Superior," Koss said "So it's all connected and everything we do on the land effects the water of Lake Superior."Master of ceremonies for the concert is Marquette television personality and meteorologist Karl Bohnak (WLUC-TV). The orchestra is comprised of 19 professional musicians from around the country with ties to the Lake Superior region."This concert will be a chance to lift up a vision of a good place and a clean lake - a symbol to the world of water and life," said Rev. Jon Magnuson, executive director of the Cedar Tree Institute and co-founder of the Earth Keeper Initiative."This evening will be about a beacon of hope - a shout of thanksgiving and invitation to continue a struggle to protect and defend one of the world's greatest natural resources," Rev. Magnuson said.Lake Superior is the deepest (1,333 feet) and coldest of the Great Lakes, its shoreline stretches 2,726 miles (including islands) and is fed by over 200 rivers.The orchestra was named Boreal because the word means "pertaining to, or located in, northern regions" as in "aurora borealis" - and Boreas is the Greek god of the north wind.The concept was inspired by the Baltic Sea Festival which partners classical musicians with environmental causes.Conductor Craig Randal Johnson of Minneapolis, Minnesota and members of the orchestra want to bring awareness to ecological issues.Johnson remembers the exact minute the Lake Superior concert idea was born: at 1:27 p.m. on September 14, 2006."It was one of those moments when you realize things are suddenly different, said Johnson, describing that instant as a "seed change" and a real "switch over in my thinking."At a Marquette caf