The Birch Creek Music Performance Center near Egg Harbor celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2015. Birch Creek attracts young musicians from across the United States and abroad for intensive music instruction with a faculty of renowned musicians and teachers. Students have the opportunity to learn from highly skilled instructors during sessions in percussion and steel band, symphony, big band, and, vocal jazz. It all started in 1975 when Jim Dutton and his wife, Fran, bought an A frame house on the north side of County E, near Egg Harbor. Two years later, they purchased the 40-acre Tischler farm and began creating the Birch Creek campus. From 53 students in 1978, the enrollment has grown to more than 500 annually. In 1992, the Dutton’s sold Birch Creek to a reorganized board of trustees. Jim Dutton died in 1999. Under the current arrangement, numerous improvements have been made, including the construction of three new, year-round facilities, the product of a three million dollar capital campaign. There are now 12 buildings on the property. The 40th anniversary season will be highlighted Thusday night with a program entitled, “Four Decades of Hits in the Barn”, featuring the world-class Birch Creek percussion and steel band faculty. The concert begins at 8PM, with student ensemble prelude music at 7:30PM in the gazebo. For more information on the Birch Creek Music Performance center go to their web site www.birchcreek.org
