I-Fu Wang Photos

Sub-Series

Staff Only

Scope and Contents note

From the Fonds:

Photography has always been important to the National Music Camp, and photos exist from the earliest years of the Camp. Beginning in circa 1944, a concerted effort was made each year to fully document camp life. A professional photographer was on site throughout the season, taking high quality, usually staged, photographs. These consisted of group shots of each of the camper cabins, and numerous individual shots of campers and instructors. These photos were developed on-site in the campus darkroom.

The campers at NMC were divided into age groups called Junior, Intermediate and High School. There was also a University contingent from the University of Michigan for many years. The sequence of negatives reflects these divisions. Two other typical divisions are General camp photos and Post-camp photos. General photos are often simply of the High Schoolers who constituted the majority of the campers at NMC, but also include more generic and candid shots of camp life. Post-camp indicates that camp had concluded, and these photos document the routines associated with closing down the camp for the summer.

When the Arts Academy began in the 1962-63 school year, the tradition of photography was continued, and similar high-quality shots were taken of the students. Theses are generally all numbered sequentially, and not divided into the four classes of Freshman, Sophomore, etc. It was around this time that the 4 x 5 large format was supplemented, and then supplanted, by the 120 film medium format, approximately 2.25" x 2.25".

Dates

2018-07-27

Biographical / Historical

"I-Fu Wang is associate professor of violin at the Michigan State University College of Music. He began his musical training at the age of 4 in his native country, Taiwan. Upon receiving a scholarship to the Interlochen Arts Academy, he came to the United States at the age of 13 to continue his secondary education, and later enrolled as a student at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. His former teachers include Ivan Galamian, Paul Makanowitzky, Jaime Laredo, and Felix Galimir. Wang was a member of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, with which he performed throughout the United States and internationally. As a chamber musician, he has performed regularly with Music From Marlboro, the Kennedy Center Theater Chamber Players, the Fontana Festival of Music and Art, and as a guest artist with various chamber music series throughout the nation. For many years Wang was the music director of the Renaud Chamber Orchestra and concertmaster of the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra. His violin students can be found in major orchestras and/or teaching in universities here and abroad."