Aerial view of the Summit House where the Summer Concert Series takes place.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
SOUTH HADLEY — The Friends of the Mount Holyoke Range, a nonprofit environmental conservation organization founded in 1982, began the Summit House Sunset Concert Series in 1987, which is hosted in Skinner State Park’s historic Summit House.
This year marks the series’ 38th year.
The concert series will take place on five successive Thursdays this July. The series will feature several local bands, which began on July 3 with the Hilltown Ham Hocks.
The Valley Strummers will perform on July 10, the Dixieland Stomp will perform on July 17, the Northampton Woodwind Quintet will perform on July 24 and Old Country Road will conclude the series on July 31.
Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 the day of the show. All tickets are available online at friendsofmhr.org.
Friends of Mount Holyoke Range Concert Series Organizer Dave Meuser said the group recommends buying tickets online in advance, as the series has grown in popularity and concerts often sell out.
However, weather permitting, the Friends of Mount Holyoke Range also makes available 60 extra “Porch Tickets” on the day of the show, and the music can clearly be heard outside. Guests can bring their own folding chairs, and there’s a few benches and rocking chairs as well.
Through its partnership with Kestrel Trust, all proceeds will go toward the Friends’ ongoing mission of promoting local land conservation, raising environmental awareness and supporting the local arts and community.
The Valley Strummers concert on July 10 will feature the revival of the Summit House’s own 1919 Mehlin & Sons vintage upright piano, newly restored by Dick Damon and played by special guest pianist Darby Wolf.
Meuser talked about the restoration process of the piano and said, “It has not been played for decades, and has sat under a ‘Please Do Not Touch’ sign for no one knows how long. To my amazement, I broke the rule and tried it out, only to find it mysteriously in near-perfect tune. There were some minor technical issues, but nothing that seemed insurmountable.”
Meuser said he reached out to Damon, who he referred to as “a walking encyclopedia of vintage piano knowledge and an avid sailor with his own sailboat in Narragansett Bay.”
When Meuser cold-called Damon about the repair in May, he was sailing with his wife, and we had a nice long chat as he floated along. The piano is now fully restored and will make its 21st century debut on July 10, played by Wolf with The Valley Strummers.
Meuser also described being able to organize this concert series for the past decade as “one of the greatest and unexpected joys of my life.”
He stated, “When the Friends of the Mount Holyoke Range invited me to run their series after booking the traditional Irish band I played in, I was honored and thrilled. I love many genres of music and saw this as a way to showcase the diverse local talent that calls our area home. And of course the building itself, in my view, stands unrivaled in our region as a profoundly scenic, historic gem, with remarkable acoustics. This series brings the Summit House to life in the present.”
For anyone who’s never been to the concert series or Summit House in general, Meuser said, “Summit House concert is truly an experience like no other. Arrive early, bring a picnic supper, camp out on the porch or on the picnic grounds, lose yourself in the music, and take in the sunset all the way to the horizon. For years, I’ve watched friends and families make memories here; it’s all so delightfully majestic and simple all at once.”
