Glee Club in performance with the National Symphony, 1947, courtesy UVA Special Collections Library
The Virginia Music Festival was an annual musical event held at the University of Virginia in the late 1940s. The Virginia Music Festival was started as an "experiment" in musical performances in the state--a non-profit organization bringing "the best in music to the Old Dominion." Its founders included Dr. Meta Glass, president of Sweet Briar College, and Edward Stettinius, Jr., UVA alum, former secretary of state, and then-rector of the University. Performances were hosted in Scott Stadium at the University.
In its first year, 1947, performers included the National Symphony Orchestra. In subsequent years, there were school band competitions[1] and folk musicians[2], the latter program curated by Appalachian folk historian Bascom Lamar Lunsford.
The Virginia Glee Club is documented to have participated in the inaugural performance in 1947, singing the Brahms Alto Rhapsody with the National Symphony Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera soprano Mona Paulee.[3] The group also participated in 1948 as part of a 200-voice choir that combined singers from Virginia, Hollins, Randolph-Macon Women's College, Mary Washington, Mary Baldwin, Radford, Roanoke, and Washington and Lee under the direction of Virginia Glee Club director Stephen Tuttle.[4] The group performed four choruses from the Bach B Minor Mass with the Detroit Symphony.
External links[]
This article has more context at Jarrett House North, the blog of the historian of the Virginia Glee Club Alumni and Friends Association.
References[]
- ↑ "Awards for School Bands: Stettinius offers prizes for best in Virginia". New York Times: p. 55. 1948-01-25. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30E11FA3C5D157B93C7AB178AD85F4C8485F9.
- ↑ "Folk musicians to take part in 1950 Virginia Music Festival". The Free Lance Star (Fredericksburg, VA): p. 19. 1950-04-27. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=archive&ct=res&cd=1-0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.google.com%2Fnewspapers%3Fid%3Dtf8TAAAAIBAJ%26sjid%3DgIoDAAAAIBAJ%26pg%3D6425%2C3791152%26dq%3Dvirginia-music-festival%26hl%3Den&ei=JLfpSsqALJODgQfMlNWbAQ&usg=AFQjCNG0hE-mT-blrhgjgrxLlyJwtxR6aw.
- ↑ "Virginia Music Fete Proves Successful". New York Times: p. Books 23. 1947-06-18. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60E11FE3958147B93CAA8178DD85F438485F9.
- ↑ "Music Festival Starts Tonight: 200 Glee Club Singers to Join Symphony in Bach Mass". The Free-Lance Star (Fredericksburg, VA). 1948-05-21. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tf8TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gIoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6425,3791152&dq=virginia-music-festival&hl=en.