Cooper’s Glen Update
Greetings GLAMA Friends and Supporters:
As you likely know, GLAMA’s activities include Slow-Jams and Community Sings at the Kalamazoo Public Library, as well as monthly open jams at Boatyard Brewing Company. In addition to these activities, GLAMA has organized and sponsored the annual Cooper’s Glen Music Festival, which includes hands-on workshops and concerts by local and nationally known artists. Cooper’s Glen has been held at the Kalamazoo Radisson Plaza Hotel in February for the past several years. The goal of all of these activities is to carry out GLAMA’s mission of preserving, performing and promoting acoustic music.
After Cooper’s Glen 2018, GLAMA Board members reviewed the event and determined a number of challenges needed to be addressed in regard to it:
- Costs have continued to rise;
- Winter weather is unpredictable and often impacts attendance;
- In 2018, the festival was held during peak flu season, also likely impacting attendance;
- There are ongoing concerns over how to 1) engage a younger audience and 2) promote diversity;
- Planning and staging a major annual event like the Cooper’s Glen Music Festival involves a year-long investment of time, energy, expertise and collaborative camaraderie. GLAMA Board and Committee members have consistently participated in this effort. At this time, it is clear the future of such an event depends on the willingness of additional individuals to share the work load…and experience the rewards.
In the interest of finding the best ways to meet these challenges, GLAMA Board members determined it would be prudent to put the Cooper’s Glen Music Festival on hold for 2019 while we 1) gather additional information, 2) move to recruit added board and committee members with specific skills, and 3) review options for other activities and a potential, successful event/festival in 2020.
While we pursue new opportunities that accomplish our mission, our monthly activities – Slow-Jam, Community Sing and Open Jam – will continue with dates and times posted on http://greatlakesacoustic.org . Planning is also underway for a concert in the fall of 2019, and we will soon be adding a new GLAMA sponsored Open Mic/Coffee House event to our regular schedule. Stay tuned and thank you for your support of and attendance at GLAMA related events.
