MUSIC MAN FROM MARS WORKS MAGIC ON WATER

He comes from Mars, has been compared to River City's Professor Hill and captains a vessel that both adorns and serenades life along the water like a larger-than-life flute.

Sounds too much like fiction? Actually Robert Austin Boudreau, something of an international music man, can honestly claim all of those as facts that bring heightened quality to his life and much more.

Boudreau, who lives on a hilltop farm in Mars, Pa., learned how to mix river water, modern music, moonlight and fireworks some 38 years ago. He has been entertaining and mesmerizing audiences with that very mixture ever since.

His outlook on life provides some insight into his ability to remain young at heart. "If you don't look at the mirror, you tend to forget how old you are," he quipped.

In a more serious vein, Time magazine once said :"It just may be that there is no greater innovative force in American music than Robert Boudreau."

Writer Zane Knauss described Boudreau as "at once a skilled musician, an entrepreneur, a dreamer who by his own dedication and will, and the dedication of his associates, makes unusual artistic dreams come true. Perhaps he is the very last of America's fabled Showboat Captains."

Boudreau will be in Cape Girardeau conducting the American Wind Symphony Orchestra (AWSO) July 14-15. Budreau, at the helm of a 195-foot vessel that is 38-feet wide and draws 7 feet of water, will entertain music fans here at Southeast Missouri State July 14 via miniconcerts at noon.

"I understand the river is a little lower than it was at this time last year," said Boudreau, mindful that a flood kept all boats away from the Riverfront Park. "I'm happy for that, and I'm glad to be back. Cape Girardeau is a nice place to play and show some of our artwork," he said. Boudreau's last visit to Cape Girardeau was in 1984.

Added Boudreau,"The orchestra brings together many different groups with the sponsors to organize our visit. It's groups such as schools, churches, government and volunteers that help make this happen. We try to show sponsoring companies how to use arts to promote their image in the community.

"We can increase their visibility, give their employees special opportunities to enjoy the orchestra's music and give them a chance to work with their city governments and organizations."

Boudreau will shift serious attention away from himself if he senses too much praise is being aimed at him. "Actually, I'd have to call myself a professional beggar, because that's essentially what I do. I hold out my hand and each city comes through to keep these talented musicians on my boat."

Perhaps the most unique contribution was bestowed by the Baltic Shipping Company, which paid for the orchestra's performance in Leningrad with 20,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

Boudreau and the AWSO will entertain a crowd gathered along the banks of the Mississippi July 15 at 8 p.m. All performances are free to the public. However, there will be a push to raise $15,000 in corporate and private sponsorships to keep the Counterpoint II boat in operation.

Counterpoint II is also a floating arts center, which calls home Pittsburgh, Pa. The barge-like vessel carries examples of contemporary American and European crafts.

The art collection, which has been assembled over a 38-year period, symbolizes the sharing of art and music among several countries. A large kinetic light sculpture by Finland's Eino Ruutsalo dominates one end of the gallery space. A wood sculpture from Pennsylvania provides a backdrop for ceramics, sculpture, paintings, glass, dimensional wall pieces, furniture, textiles and even some hand-crafted musical instruments.

The craft, which features a 75-foot-wide stage, has a retractable acoustical shell that rises on hydraulic lifts for performances. The vessel has traveled some 400,000 miles on the waterways of the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean and Northern Europe since it was launched in 1976.

The art is complemented by the American Wind Symphony Orchestra's music. Since 1957, over a thousand instrumentalists have performed with the AWSO. Former musicians can be found in every major symphony orchestra, including the Concertgebouw, the Japan Philharmonic, and the New York, Chicago, Boston and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras.

Boudreau was born on a farm in Bellingham, Mass., and began studying trumpet with George Mager of the Boston Symphony. After receiving degrees in English Literature and Music from Boston University and Julliard, Boudreau studied as a Fulbright Scholar at the Paris Conservatory. He performed in New York with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Goldman Band on trumpet.

He moved to Pittsburgh and joined the faculty at Duquesne, with the idea of starting something like the American Wind Symphony Orchestra. He was introduced to Pittsburgh's rivers, the Allegheny, the Monongahela and the Ohio, and the idea to combine contemporary music for woodwinds, brass and percussion with America's waterways was born.

Boudreau begged and borrowed to build his first floating stage. Today, the silvery, low-slung Point Counterpoint II is the ultimate product of his persistence, tenacity and imagination. It was launched in 1976 in much the same fashion as his dreams, with uncommon grace and style.