The final performance in a three-part premiere of the "Lake Superior Suite," a long-developed piano composition by the late Marquette resident and piano teacher William E. Weber, will take place Thursday, November 6, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. The concert coincides with the church’s 150th anniversary and marks one of the first public performances of the suite in its complete, three-movement form.
Weber, born in 1933 and remembered as a dedicated teacher and prolific composer, refined the work over the course of decades, continuing to revise it until his passing in 2011. Although he wrote many pieces for students and various instrumental groupings, those closest to him viewed the Lake Superior Suite as his life’s central musical effort—his most ambitious and expressive piece. Despite his passion for recording and revising, Weber struggled to achieve a final version he felt captured its full scope, and he was unable to hear the entire work performed from start to finish.
That has changed with the involvement of life-long friend Daniel Rydholm, a retired social worker and champion of Weber's music, and NMU faculty pianist Dr. Theresa Camilli, who took an interest in the score and devoted months to shaping a concert-ready interpretation. Her first two performances drew strong audiences and enthusiastic reception, with listeners responding to the work’s atmosphere, emotional range, and sense of place. Each venue in the series highlights the suite differently—Reynolds Recital Hall provided a formal concert setting, while the Federated Women’s Clubhouse offered a more intimate environment. The November 6 performance at St. Paul’s will take place in the chapel, adding another layer of closeness and reflection to the experience.
The three movements of the suite form a musical tone poem inspired by Lake Superior’s landscape and seasonal character. One movement evokes gulls soaring above Sugarloaf Mountain, another reflects the restless water and rocky shoreline at Black Rocks, and the final movement captures the lake in autumn, with shifting moods and color. Weber, a lifelong Upper Peninsula resident who briefly left the region only during his college years at the University of Michigan, developed the piece out of a deep personal connection to the lake and its rhythms.
Public Radio 90's Kurt Hauswirth spoke with Rydholm about Weber's music:
With Weber’s passing, his compositions, teaching materials, and personal records were entrusted to the NMU Archives earlier this year. The collection includes scores, documentation of his artistic life, family history, and photographs from summers spent along Lake Superior. The donation ensures that his work is preserved for researchers, performers, and community history.
The performance series has also showcased another side of Weber’s creative legacy. Between 1967 and 1975, he produced a substantial body of abstract paintings inspired by the colors and atmosphere of the Upper Peninsula. For many audience members, his artwork has become a meaningful keepsake; nearly all of the displayed pieces at earlier concerts were purchased, with proceeds benefiting NMU music scholarships. Additional works will be available at the St. Paul’s event, continuing that support for future students.
Those involved in the preservation and performance of the suite hope the music will continue into the wider piano repertoire—challenging performers, representing the Upper Peninsula on new stages, and offering the broader classical world a sense of place rooted in Lake Superior and Marquette’s artistic history. A professional recording of the work is being considered while the music is actively in performance, opening the possibility of sharing the entire suite with radio listeners across the region.
The final concert of the premiere series takes place on Thursday, November 6, at 6 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. The event is free and open to the public.
