The Greencastle Summer Music Festival announces its 15th season of “bringing the community together with friends making music for friends.” Every Wednesdayfrom May 22 through August 14, the festival will present concerts at 7:30pm in Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church.
All concerts are free and open to the public. Artistic and administrative expenses are covered by donations from local individuals and businesses including the Inn at DePauw and Bridges Craft Pizza and Wine Bar, an endowment at the Putnam County Community Foundation, and, this year, a grant from the Putnam County Visitors and Convention Bureau.
Over the course of the summer, the festival presents a wide variety of classical, blues, jazz, gospel, and contemporary music. New “friends” this year include pianist/composer Cathie Malach, the Canadian clarinet and accordion duo Bridge & Wolak, gospel artist Jason Powell, and the Indiana Wind Symphony. Returning favorites include pianist Claude Cymerman, jazz artists Steve Snyder and Sandy Williams, Duo Diez (guitar and viola), Percussion Group DePauw, and Blues great Tad Robinson and his band.
Eric Edberg, now retired from the DePauw music faculty, started the festival in 2005 as a biweekly classical chamber series. “I had a summer with not much to do,” Edberg says, “and there was almost nothing happening in Greencastle except for the ParkFest concerts and the Putnam County Playhouse. Gobin had just received a wonderful concert grand piano, and with its excellent acoustics and easy parking seemed liked the perfect place for relaxing and informal mid-week concerts by professional musicians. Over time, our sense of mission and our budget have grown, as has the Greencastle music scene! We continue to be Putnam Country’s only indoor summer concert presenter that’s not a bar or restaurant. I’ve loved seeing our programming expand beyond classical music.
“So many people have done so much to make this work,” Edberg continues. “Joanne Kissinger and her family started our endowment, with great support from Ellie Ypma. Stu Fabe was our first board president and led the charge to raise over $60,000.00 for the endowment. We have great volunteers including David Knott, Carol Krag, and Tim Wait, and our terrific executive director is Chris Flegal, who is also at the helm of the United Way.”