Lakeside Dinner Series - Opening Exhibit and Performance "Art and Music Inspired by the North Woods"

Kay Lorbiecki, Artist:  Kay began to study drawing with colored pencil and pastels in 2005. Three years later, she picked up a paint brush, dipped it into acrylic paint and the colors just started flowing off the brush. All of her paintings begin with photographs she has taken in the northwoods. She draws the design in pencil, then pastels and may combine elements from several photographs.The colors just happen. Usually, it starts with some shadow or touch of vibrant color in the photograph and from there the colors literally decide themselves as she paints. All the colors in Kay’s paintings are out there in the world, punched up, but nothing outside the realm of what is real. The wildlife in her paintings are creatures she knows. Their story and personality inspire the painting so viewers can share that moment in time. Her work has won numerous awards including Honorable Mention 2007 Manito Art League Fine Art Show and Best in Show 2008 Presque Isle Fine Art Show. Kay’s work can be seen at Moondeer Gallery in Boulder Junction, WI. Kay and her husband Steven live in Presque Isle with their rescue Airedales Justice and Liberty. She is always working on some new scene. And, gladly accepts commissions.

Stephen J. Platko, Composer:  Stephen received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in music education from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and has an Advanced Study Degree in Administration. He served as the Supervisor of Fine Arts for a Community High School District in Illinois. After a 36-year career as a music educator and conductor, he devoted his energies to music composition and to directing the Tinley Park Arts Alive Community Band. The band became a forum for many of his original compositions. Stephen's works have been performed internationally; his most recent compositions include "Panikhikia", a requiem for a capella choir, and the "Quintet for Winds" which premiered in 2013. His accomplishments and service earned him the Illinois Humanities Council's "Studs Terkel Award."  Stephen has written three song cycles for solo voice and piano including "From the North Woods," that comprise eight songs using a wide range of compositional elements adn the original poetry of the composer. "From the North Woods" celebrates the beauty and wonderment of northern Wisconsin. Each song providing the listener with a miniature soundscape of the sights and sounds of the lakes and forests. Stephen and his wife Georgine reside in Plainfield, Illinois and have been summer residents of Presque Isle for the past 39 years.

Martha Sayles, Soprano Soloist: Martha is a graduate of the Northwestern School of Music in Evanston, Illinois with a degree in Music Education. She taught elementary music classes in Illinois for several years and then pursued a career in church music where for 25 years she directed adult, youth, and hand bell choirs. Martha's ten year membership in the Chicago Chamber Choir gave her a wonderful opportunity to experience the beauty of fine choral music. Martha is an accomplished solo performer, and is a sought-after soloist throughout the Joliet-Chicago area. Martha has been a singer and assistant conductor with the Pops Revival Chorus and currently with the Vacation Voices Choir in Eagle River, Wisconsin. She and her husband Dean are residents of Plainfield, Illinois and summer residents of Three Lakes, Wisconsin.