Mackinac Suite: Composer Andrew Perkins Conveys Island Sounds in Music

This story first appeared in the July 7, 2023, Mackinac Island Town Crier print edition

Every morning for the past two weeks upon waking, Michigan composer, conductor, and Grammy-nominated music educator Andrew Perkins has run up the hill by Fort Mackinac, passed behind it, and then down the wooden trail staircase that empties into Marquette Park. He would do some strength exercises, push-ups, and pull ups and then go back up the staircase, pick a bluff – East or West – and start running again. He would end his morning fitness routine at Lucky Bean Coffeehouse before trekking back to the Mackinac Island State Park Visitors Center building, where he has spent the last two weeks composing a three-movement concert suite named for Mackinac Island. Mr. Perkins is the second in a series of artists hosted by the Mackinac State Historic Parks’ summer artist-in-residence program.

“The Island is full of fantastic sounds,” Mr. Perkins said during his artist’s presentation Wednesday, June 28.

His composition is at a level that middle and high school students could play in concert band. It features a diverse array of sounds found around the Island. The first movement, all about the sounds of Fort Mackinac, includes trumpets playing a taps-like melody and a creative wood-block score to replicate the sound of horses’ hooves, perhaps one of the Island’s most iconic sounds.

“It’s kinda cheesy,” he said. “The whole thing is kinda cheesy.”

Much of Mr. Perkins’ artist presentation came back to his history with and inspiration from Michigan folk songs. His mother was an elementary school music teacher for 30 years, and he remembers learning from the Michigan folk song units she used to teach. One of the notable works he referenced is “Tuebor,” a suite named after the Latin word tuebor, which means “I will defend.” It is the motto on Michigan’s coat of arms. The project was commissioned, he said, and he wrote “Tuebor” in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. After being sent home, like most public-school educators, he had lots of time to devote to it.

He has pride in being a Michigander, he said, and Michigan has a rich history in folk songs. The Library of Congress has many folk song recordings, including some from musicologist Alan Lomax, who came to Michigan in 1938 to record everyone from lumberjacks to sailors old enough to have knowledge from the mid 1800s. The radio station at Western Michigan University also has a good collection of recordings from the 1950s. “Tuebor” is a nod to the rich maritime and lumbering history of Michigan, drawing inspiration from songs like the “Michigan Loggers Alphabet” and “The Bigler’s Crew.”

Mr. Perkins is a composer, conductor, and Grammy-nominated music educator with a long list of awards to his name. He holds certificates and degrees from Berklee College of Music, University of Michigan, and Michigan State University. Like his site-specific work bringing Island sounds to the world of concert band, Mr. Perkins writes much of his music about places like Alcatraz prison and the old asylum in Traverse City. But his portfolio is much more diverse. He has “silly songs,” as he calls them, like “Whyclops?!” and energetic pieces like “Clutch,” about Indy car racing in Detroit. But he also has incredibly somber, meaningful pieces, like “Vox Nostra,” commissioned for Oxford High School to honor those who lost their lives during the 2021 school shooting and the survivors.

The second movement of his Mackinac composition boasts a sweeping melody about Arch Rock, inspired by unrequited love, drawing influence from folk music like “Shady Grove.” He wanted to subtly hint to the history of the First Nations and Indigenous peoples of the Island, recalling one of the Native histories describing how Arch Rock was formed by the tears of a young, heartbroken Ojibwe woman in love with a Sky Person. But, as he spoke about it in his lecture, he didn’t want to “tread on what doesn’t need to be treaded on.” While he feels that the Indigenous stories on the Island should be told, as a white man, he’s not the right person to tell them. Instead, he wanted to capture the universal story of unrequited love, respectfully nodding to the Indigenous peoples of the Island without telling a story he feels he isn’t qualified to tell. The result is a beautiful, ethereal melody, carrying the listener into the Island’s wilderness.

The last movement, a waltz, is inspired by Grand Hotel’s old-fashioned, high society life. It’s the big finale to wrap up the suite, though it’s not quite finished. After he leaves the Island, Mr. Perkins said he wants to do a deep dive into the records from Grand Hotel to see what kinds of waltzes and other music were played at the turn of the 20th century.

One of Mr. Perkins’ favorite parts of the residency is that he gets to use all his ‘hats.’ His experiences as a public-school band teacher, his identity as a Michigander, his family history, and his love of Island history have all gone into his process during his time on the Island. He’s visited many times before but has enjoyed the calmer pace of being here for two weeks, not feeling rushed to see and do everything in just a few days.

He learned about the program through a friend from undergraduate school and was thrilled to be chosen among the applicants of such a unique residency program. There’s a tradition of artists in residence gifting something to the residency apartment above the visitor’s center, from pieces of art to kitchen scissors, Mr. Perkins said, and he gifted a set of wine glasses for the future residents to enjoy.

People visiting the Island from Ohio to Dearborn, as well as Island residents, came to hear Mr. Perkins speak about his work. His wife and children also drove up to spend time on the Island, and latecomers to the lecture were greeted by one of his kids on the porch of the Station 256 Conference Room. One visitor, Linda Pasch, saw the announcement about the workshop while walking by, and was happy to see an artist-in-residence presentation during her stay on the Island. She’s a photographer and is looking forward to applying for the residency program next year.

Mr. Perkins’ piece will debut in 2024, performed by a school band from Sebewaing at the Michigan Music Conference in Grand Rapids, after a music director asked him to premiere the piece. Mr. Perkins originally wasn’t planning to write it for anyone, but he said the cool thing about getting to commission a piece like this is that after writing it he gets to go to the school and work with the students.

“The whole vibe here is just magical. It’s just like when I was a six-year-old kid,” Mr. Perkins said. “It’s nice to be able to tap into that energy.”