In 2022, Manship Artists Residency partnered with the Artists for the Great Marsh to offer a year-long residency to a composer to create a piece for youth voices and piano on the human and natural history of the Great Marsh. The residency involved many local organizations and institutions including the Rockport Public Schools, Endicott College and Rockport Music. It culminated in a concert that included two other compositions inspired by the Great Marsh to serve as a vehicle to inspire the public to learn more so we can protect the living ecosystem that is the Great Marsh. Close to 90 musical artists and aligned practitioners participated in this concert which took place in March 2023.
The concert was a celebration of a great natural treasure and the ways it sustains us and inspires us. Manship Artists Residency acknowledged the vision of Peter Van Demark of Artists for the Great Marsh, and the artists whose compositions, voices, and music resonated throughout the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport. Poet Caroline Harvey collaborated with LJ White in writing the libretto, Robert Bradshaw premiered of his new composition and video of the Great Marsh, and to Robert Honstein presented his string quartet. The concert began with Robert Honstein’s The Great Marsh string quartet, which was premiered by Music at Eden’s Edge in 2016, and continued with a new piece by Gloucester composer Robert Bradshaw, On The River: Jones Creek Salt Marsh, performed by a piano quintet and accompanied by stunning visuals. Cellist Jacques Lee Wood leads the string and piano ensembles. The final piece, Great Marsh Songs was composed by Manship Artist LJ White, with text by Caroline Harvey. Rebecca Kenneally conducted the Endicott Singers and the choruses of Rockport Middle and High School, rehearsed by Patti Pike. Christopher Lawnsby is the pianist for the Great Marsh Songs. A reception prepared by Willow Rest followed the concert.
