In tune with the community

Deanna Relyea

Rotary Club of Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

In the lively Ann Arbor music scene, everyone knows Deanna Relyea as a champion of challenging music, but also as a champion of the arts as a way to build community. In 1984, Relyea founded the Kerrytown Concert House, which has hosted private and public performances ever since. 

The nonprofit, 110-seat space features all kinds of music and is home to Edgefest, a festival of avant-garde jazz. “One season, there were three groups that wanted to play on the same day,” Relyea says. “So we said, ‘OK, we’ll call it a festival.’”

Edgefest, which marked its 20th year last fall, draws a small but serious fan base from around the country and internationally. It’s also a community event, with a guest artist training local middle school students in improvisation and other musical techniques.

The kids and their families then come to the concert house and participate in a New Orleans-style music parade with the Edgefest artists. Relyea, who grew up in a musical family – her nephew John Relyea is a world-renowned opera singer, for example – joined the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor a few years after establishing the concert house.

Now, three Rotarians serve on the concert house board, and the club uses the venue for one of its annual social events. “Most of the club members are really keyed in to the local cultural life and know about the concert house and support it,” Relyea says.

– Nikki Kallio

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