50 | JUNE 9 • 2022 

C

omposer Perry Goldstein 
expressed a Motor City mood 
in advance of his stint as com-
poser-in-residence for the Great Lakes 
Chamber Music Festival, which will be 
marking its 29th anniversary June 10-25. 
Entering three pieces into this year’s pro-
gramming, which has a recurring theme 
related to nature and the environment, he 
will be premiering two pieces that commu-
nicate different examples of the melodic 
spectrum. 
“Jittery Engine,
” the piece with local 
resonance because of the auto industry, 
will be performed June 24 at the Detroit 
Institute of Arts and brings a contemporary 
soundscape into the schedule that features 
some 40 musicians in concerts, workshops, 
artistic discussions and community events 
at different venues across the metro area. 
“‘Jittery Engine’ was written for a group 
called F-Plus, which performs on violin, 

clarinet and marimba,
” Goldstein said. “It’s 
a quirky, funny piece in which the machine 
parts sometimes gel and sometimes don’t 
quite.
” 
The other premiering work, “Birding by 
Ear,
” has lyrics written in collaboration with 
the recent Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist 
Richard Powers, author of the climate-fo-
cused novel The Overstory. The composition, 
moving listeners from city to countryside, 
will be voiced June 16 at Temple Beth El by 
baritone Randall Scarlotta, appearing with 
violinist, cellist and pianist.
“Rick and I are old friends, so he pro-
vides text for me,
” said Goldstein, join-
ing his friend for an open talk at 2 p.m. 
Wednesday, June 15, at the Bloomfield 
Township Public Library. “This will be the 
fourth of our collaborations. 
“I typically ask him for text, and I write a 
set of songs that I think is appropriate. Only 
on one occasion did I have a particular sub-

ject in mind, and it was a commission from 
the U.S. Military Academy Band at West 
Point about the Robert Falcon Scott expedi-
tion to the South Pole.
” 
The third Goldstein piece, “Quartet 
for Alto Saxophone and String Quartet,
” 
is going to be performed by Timothy 
McCallister, University of Michigan 
alto-saxophone professor, with a group 
from Stony Brook University in New York 
state, where Goldstein has been teaching for 
30 years and recently stepped down as chair 
of the Department of Music. 
The piece, to be heard June 21 at St. 
Hugo of the Hills, asserts the Americana 
roots of Goldstein’s music with the second 
movement offering variations on a tune 
that might be thought of as an urban spir-
itual.
“One of the beauties behind the Great 
Lakes Chamber Music Festival is that it 
provides an opportunity for musicians 

A wide variety of events are set for June 10-25.

Great Lakes Chamber Music 
Festival Marks 29 Years

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ARTS&LIFE
MUSIC

A scene from 
last year’s 
festival 

