The Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck enjoyed the artistic leadership of Joan Conway for more than ten years. Over that time, Joan devoted countless hours and untold effort to strengthening and improving the festival in every conceivable way. She continues to be a valuable member of the CMFS family. One of her many contributions was the establishment of the intern program – an effort on her part to offer student musicians the opportunity to work, for a small remuneration, with the festival in a variety of ways. In the process, they learn many real-world aspects of concert mounting and production that add immeasurably to the understanding of what a career in music can mean. During Joan’s tenure, many interns have passed through the program, including one of our current Artistic Directors, Jennifer Walvoord.

At the time of Joan’s resignation as Artistic Director the Board of Directors voted to name the intern program in her honor – The Joan Conway Young Artists Program – and to establish an endowment that will provide self-sustaining funds to carry the program into the future. This will be a permanent legacy celebrating Joan’s lifelong dedication to the nurturing of young musicians. Thanks to the generosity of many of our patrons, the fund has consistently grown in a few short years.