In the fall of 1962, Interlochen Arts Academy opened its doors, becoming the first independent fine arts high school in the United States.
In April 1963, Interlochen founder Joseph E. Maddy spoke with respected conductor (and Interlochen National Music Camp alumnus) Frederick Fennell about his vision for the Interlochen Arts Academy.
Listen to the audio of Maddie’s entire conversation on demand below. File edited for clarity.
Joseph E. Maddy in the early days of the Interlochen Art Academy
Interview with Frederick Fennell recorded 17 April 1963
Transcript (please note: the text has been edited for clarity, but the expressions have not been modernized)
The Interlochen Arts Academy opened last September [1962] with 134 students from 26 states and Canada. The goal of Interlochen Arts Academy was to create a college preparatory school, fully accredited academically, with a much greater emphasis on music, art, drama or dance than is considered practical in our educational system. We recognize that it takes many hours a day over many years of concentrated study while you are very young to develop the muscle skills and coordination necessary to be a performing musician or dancer.
But our school curricula do not allow such concentration. [Pianist] Van Cliburn was allowed to go home to the school next door and practice piano when he learned his school lessons. So we had to plan a boarding school where students would have many more hours each day to study than in any day school.
Educators are beginning to realize that students with exceptional talent and intelligence must have special educational opportunities to provide the challenge and motivation they need. Interlochen Arts Academy aims to meet this need by providing such students with individualized instruction, personal attention, longer periods of concentration, competition, stimulation, and fellowship with others of similar talents and interests.
Interlochen Center for the Arts
President [John F.] Kennedy said when he addressed the high school symphony orchestra of our National Music Camp that played at the White House last summer [1962]”I know there is a certain feeling among Americans that the arts are developed in solitude, that they are developed by inspiration and by sudden fits of genius.”
But the fact is that success in music or the arts comes like success in any other form of human activity, through hard work and discipline over a long period of time. Parents of truly gifted children have a serious duty, both to their children and to society, to see that these unusual talents are recognized and properly developed.
The core philosophy of Interlochen Arts Academy is based on the belief that success in any field depends on the right balance of talent, energy, ambition and interests. This healthy competition is an effective incentive for educational attainment because it is fundamental to our American way of life.
Interlochen Arts Academy is an independent, coeducational boarding school for eligible students in grades 8 through 12 who have demonstrated exceptional talent in music, art, drama, dance, or creative writing.
The school is part of the National Music Camp [now Interlochen Arts Camp]. It is assumed that every student enrolled in the academy is a candidate for higher education. Every opportunity for individual growth is directed toward this goal. The essential difference between Interlochen Arts Academy and other college preparatory high schools lies in the fact that both our academy and the instructors and arts faculty are available to our students from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., five and a half days a week .
The Interlochen student has a schedule that is tailored to his special needs and interests. The Academy is dedicated to providing a solid academic program along with a superior artistic curriculum, a program that will allow the rapid learner to progress at his or her own pace of growth under the guidance of faculty members selected for knowledge, personality, and teaching skills.
The experience of living and growing up with others of similar interests, talents and ambitions in a beautiful environment close to nature inspires the academy’s students to put forth their best efforts to achieve success in their chosen fields of endeavor. The academic faculty consists of qualified teachers who, in addition to successful teaching experience, have a common interest in the creative arts.
When the National Music Camp was established in 1928, many school administrators believed that young red-blooded Americans would not be willing to give up their summer vacations to study music, that music was not attractive enough to American children.
How wrong are they?
More than half of America’s colleges and universities now offer summer music instruction to high school students, and many thousands of young musicians spend their summers in intensive music study. Last year, [1962] when Interlochen Arts Academy was still in the planning stages, music educators as well as school administrators opposed the idea [and believed] that the highly accelerated activities programmed at the National Music Camp would be too much for students at a year-round boarding school like the proposed Academy.
What has happened now that the Academy has been running for a year, the students have achieved at least twice as much academically as well as artistically with the constant competition that prevails in every activity. The Academy’s motto is “talent-driven curriculum and achievement-driven promotion.”
Interlochen Center for the Arts
We hope to give each youth a promotion when he is ready, whether the rest of the class is ready to move on or not. The schedule of classes is quite surprising. From 8 to 10:30 every day, six days a week, art classes. This means private practice on instruments, drawing and other practice studios.
From 10:30 to 3:30 five days a week, academic classes. That’s comparable to what they get in high school anywhere else. 3:30 to 5:30, five days a week, art activities, it’s orchestra, band, drama, dance and so on. Then from 6:45 to 7:45 every night, seven days a week, special activities: clubs, lectures, recitals, concerts, opera rehearsals, and so on. And from 8 to 9:30 in the evening a study table for students who are below the norm in study hours.
The answer to how such a program works is a visit to the school where the spirit of achievement abounds. For one thing, our 75-piece high school symphony orchestra presents a full symphony concert every week. That means 32 concerts in 32 weeks. There are also weekly drama programs, student and faculty recitals, operas, oratorios, bands, choirs, and ensemble programs. Skiing, snow sculpting, snowshoeing, fencing, tennis, folk dancing, archery and all other sports that provide physical training.
Physical development, particularly the acquisition of muscle skills and coordination required of a professional dancer or instrumental musician, must occur during youth. To become a great musician or dancer, one must concentrate many hours a day for many years, while being young enough to benefit from such concentration.
The academy’s special goal is to provide opportunities and methods that will enable students to master subject matter and develop skills at a faster pace than is possible in traditional learning settings. Each student is encouraged, each student is encouraged and guided to achieve the maximum progress of which they are personally capable.
Promotions and graduation are based on exams and performance tests, not just on number of hours spent in class or assignments. Just as the individual’s personality must be integrated, so the things the individual learns, both his ideas and his skills, must be placed in relation to each other.
Everything one does in life has a moral significance. It must be good for something or someone. It must be understood and put into practice so as to contribute to a useful, balanced and morally responsible life. The Academy provides a climate of mutual interest and the kind of guidance and motivation that exceptionally talented students need.
Such as one-on-one training, personal guidance, longer periods of concentration, a competitive atmosphere and the stimulus provided by association with others of similar talents and ambitions. The curriculum focuses on talent, while advancement and promotion focus on individual achievement. We invite you to visit Interlochen, winter or summer.
Thank you.
Joseph E. Maddy Recorded April 17, 1963
