01-08-2025
Eliza Howell concert honors nature and neighborhood
A summer concert series featuring unique compositions written for five city parks continues this weekend at Eliza Howell Park in Brightmoor.
The big picture: Sounds from the Park is a collaboration between the Detroit Parks Coalition and Marcus Elliot, a local saxophonist, composer and educator.
Supported by a $100,000 grant awarded last year, Elliot has written music inspired by the cultures and surrounding communities for each park in the series.
If you go: The free Eliza Howell concert is Saturday from 7:30-8:30pm.
Elliot will be joined by a string quartet, a pianist and a drummer, he told BridgeDetroit.
What they're saying:"Every performance is completely different," Elliot told Bridge.
"Every park has a theme as well, so this park's theme is 'Reverence for Nature,' because there's just so much beautiful access to nature at Eliza Howell."
Eliza Howell is among the city's largest parks, with 250 acres on the northwest side along the Rouge River.
More than 2 miles of hiking trails, ponds and a wildflower prairie are among its natural attractions.
How it works: The composed music centers on interviews conducted over the past year with the parks' stewards and visitors.
"We've been taking those interviews and I've been both placing it in the music and also writing a lot of the music around the interviews," Elliot told Bridge. "We play these interviews of people in the community talking, sharing their stories and sharing why the parks are important to them and then we have the music happening."
The intrigue: The show coincides with the free Sidewalk Festival, a two-day block party-style event at the park Friday from 6-8pm and Saturday from 2-9pm.
Zoom out: Saturday's concert is the third in the Sounds From the Park series.
The first was June 14 at Chandler Park, with a house/techno vibe, followed by a percussion-heavy show on July 17 at Clark Park.
