Summer Suites to feature violinist from Twin Cities:
Violinist Erika (Van Den Hul) Hoogeveen, with the Mill City String Quartet of the Twin Cities, will perform at the Orange City Arts Council’s Summer Suites on Thursday, June 6. Three musical ensembles will perform in three backyard gardens. Desserts will be served. Tickets are available at the Orange City town hall and Dove Bookstore. Corporate sponsor is Pizza Ranch.
ORANGE CITY – Three lovely gardens will be featured in the Orange City Arts Council’s annual Summer Suites, along with a variety of music and dance. Summer Suites will be held Thursday, June 6 from 6:30 – 8:45 pm.
The progressive concert/ garden tour will be held at the homes of Jonathan and Glenda Grossmann, Arlyn and Bea Schaap, and Gary and Amy Vande Vegte. Refreshments include rich chocolate desserts, buttery cookies and fresh fruit.
Corporate sponsor of Summer Suites is Pizza Ranch.
From the road, Jonathan and Glenda Grossmann’s yard is oaks, maples, flowering crab apples and spirea. But drive in, and you’ll find dozens of other trees, shrubs and perennials: including rhododendron, hydrangea, magnolia, birch, serviceberry, autumn purple ash, and Colorado blue spruce. Their oak leaf mountain ash has orange berries; they have five varieties of apple trees. The old-fashioned lilacs are blooming, and the semi-dwarf Miss Kim Korean lilacs are just beginning.
At the Grossmann garden, Trevor McMahan, Coralyn Kutzner and Ann Calsbeek will perform ensemble and solo pieces on marimba, plus pieces featuring other percussion instruments: the cajon, the djembe, and, of course, the cow bell. Kutzner will do a solo on the toms; McMahan and Calsbeek will do a marimba duet by Alice Gomez; the three plan to perform McMahan’s arrangement of Such Great Heights.
Dancers to perform with Summer Suites:
The Orange City Arts Council’s Summer Suites will feature a marimba solo accompanied by dancers Martina Hoogland, left, of rural Sioux Center, and Ava Grossmann, of Orange City. Other Summer Suites performers will be violinist Erika Hoogeveen and The Bluestem Players: Andy Juhl and Bridget Durst. Gardens are at the homes of Jonathan and Glenda Grossmann, Gary and Amy Vande Vegte and Arlyn and Bea Schaap.
One of the marimba solos will be accompanied in dance, by Ava Grossmann and Martina Hoogland. Students at Unity Christian High, both were part of the Unity drill team which went to state. Grossmann, of Orange City, has taken dance for 12 years, and Hoogland, of rural Sioux Center, for eight years, both from Robin’s School of Dance. They both love hip hop… but their dance at Summer Suites will be lyrical.
The Vande Vegte garden will feature violinist Erika (Van Den Hul) Hoogeveen, originally from Sioux Center, now from St. Paul. She will perform selections from three pieces: Partita No. 3 in E Major for Solo Violin by Bach, Sonata No. 2 for Solo Violin by Ysaye, and The Art of Bowing by Tartini.
Gary and Amy Vande Vegte also have a beautiful yard, with a huge variety of plants, including euonymus, geranium, nepeta, parthenocissus, peonia, stachys, wielgelia, gergenia, climbing hydrangea, columbine, echinacea, Karl Foerster grass, sedum, tricolor beech tree, primrose, asiatic lily, daffodil and pulmonaria.
The Vande Vegtes have two porches, accented with flowers, and a brick patio on the east. Their large yard is filled with a variety of hostas: blue angel, Francee, golden tiara, big daddy, guacamole, paradigm, minuteman and sum & substance.
The other plant-lovers featured during this year’s Summer Suites are Arlyn and Bea Schaap.
The Schaaps love roses, and have many tea roses on the south side of the house. Their new shade garden has been a necessity, because of the linden tree… so they’re enjoying hostas, astilbes and the delicate coral bells. They also have a small herb garden, and a fountain featuring two children and a dog, symbolizing their love for their 12 grandchildren and the many children they’ve known during Mr. Schaap’s 40-plus years of teaching and serving as a school administrator.
The Schaaps also have hand or footprints of each of their grandchildren, in the island in the center of the backyard, “Grandpa’s Garden.” And they love birds, even the beautifully-colored blue jays. The cardinal has become a Noah’s rainbow to them, said Bea, symbolizing God’s faithfulness.
Performing at the Schaaps will be Andy Juhl and Bridget Durst, The Bluestem Players. Juhl, from rural Marcus, plays guitar and harmonica, and Durst, from Cherokee, plays ukelele, to accompany their unique and beautiful vocals. Hear them at andyjuhl.com.
Advance tickets are necessary for Summer Suites. Discounted tickets are available through June 3, at $7.50 for adults, $5 for students, and $22 for families, at the Orange City town hall and Dove Christian Book Store in Orange City and True Vine Christian Book Store in Sioux Center. After June 3, ticket prices are $10, $7 and $30. Maps and schedules are provided to ticket purchasers.
At the Grossmanns, people are requested to park at Landsmeer Golf Club parking lot to the south. Valet service will be available in the Grossmann’s driveway for those who have difficulty walking.
For more information, contact Orange City Arts Council, 712-707-6514 or ocArts@orangecityiowa.com. For more information, see: http://orangecityarts.net/2013/05/summer-suites-music-dance-gardens-goodies/
- Ukelele, guitar, harmonica and vocals:
Another Summer Suites musical group on June 6 is The Bluestem Players. Andy Juhl and Bridget Durst are singer/ songwriters from rural Marcus and Cherokee, respectively, and will perform with ukelele, guitar, harmonica and vocals. The third backyard garden in Orange City will feature music by three percussionists. Two local dancers will perform a piece with one of the Summer Suites ensembles. See orangecityarts.net .
Percussionists to perform at Summer Suites:
Ann Calsbeek, Trevor McMahan and Coralyn Kutzner (l-r) will perform at the third Summer Suites garden on June 6. The three will play solos, duets and a group piece, featuring the marimba, plus toms, the cajon and more.
