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Spring 5-2012
The Spirit of Triumph, James Anderson DePreist: The Life, Career and Music of an American Conductor
Darryl Eric Harris Sr. University of Southern Mississippi
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THE SPIRIT OF TRIUMPH, JAMES ANDERSON DEPREIST:
THE LIFE, CAREER AND MUSIC OF AN AMERICAN CONDUCTOR
by
Darryl Eric Harris, Sr.
Abstract of a Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts
May 2012
COPYRIGHT BY
DARRYL ERIC HARRIS, SR.
2012
ABSTRACT
THE SPIRIT OF TRIUMPH, JAMES ANDERSON DEPREIST: THE LIFE, CAREER
AND MUSIC OF AN AMERICAN CONDUCTOR
by Darryl Eric Harris, Sr
May 2012
The purpose of this research is to present an organized account of the life, career and music of this prominent American symphonic conductor. James Anderson DePreist is an
African American conductor/composer, educator and spokesman for the Americans with
Disabilities who has achieved prominence in the symphonic field while overcoming many obstacles, both physical and social. In addition to having have conducted orchestras all over the world, this maternal nephew of famed contralto Marian Anderson is best known as the arranger/composer of Theme For The Cosby Show, the 1988–1989 season, as recorded by the Oregon Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to a discography, this document also contains an exhaustive bibliography of the important articles written about DePreist,. Additional information is presented on his roles outside of music. In spite of the author having had limited access to Mr.
DePreist, his students and members of his orchestras, this author has provided a chronological account of DePreist’s immense contributions to the development of music as experienced by countless people throughout the world. Serving as a role model for the disabled, James Anderson DePreist personifies “The Spirit of Triumph.”
ii
DEDICATION
First and foremost, this document is dedicated to the greatest single parent ever, my mother, the late Ms. Willie B. “Girlie” Harris, who always shared my vision and goals, and to my family. This is also dedicated to the late Father Louis J. Benoit, S.V.D., pastor of Sacred Heart Church, and to my band directors in Greenville, Mississippi, who collectively opened up a new world to me: Mr. Winchester “Mr. Wynn” Davis at Sacred
Heart School, Mr. Roy P. Huddleston (Leroy N. Parker, assistant) at Coleman High and
Dr. Sidney J. McKay (Charles Strange, assistant) at Greenville Senior High School.
A very special acknowledgment and dedication goes to Margaret B. Robinson,
Dean Emerita of Undergraduate Studies at Case Western Reserve University in
Cleveland, Ohio.
Thanks also to The E. F. Boyd family (especially Tori), Senior Master Sergeant
Lance Cameron, USAF Retired, Hodding Carter III, Carol Jean Cooper (for the $25.00 that started me along this way), the late Kenneth Haxton of the Greenville Symphony
Orchestra, Dr. David R. Ledgerwood, Ph.D., Dr. Frederick R. Mayer, Ph.D. Lieutenant
Colonel Alan Sierichs, USAF Retired, Hallie Moore at The Cleveland Institute of Music,
Rev. Roger Smith and Rev. William Prince, Jr., owner of the Maxwell Shoe Shop on
Nelson Street in Greenville, for ‘sharing history the way you did’, and Maestro Carl
Topilow at The Cleveland Institute of Music.
Special thank you and dedication to my Godmother, Mrs. Johnnie L. Lewis and family, especially my very best friend, Rev. Ruben H. Lewis, who believed in me always.
In loving memory of my Godfather, George E. Lewis, ‘Thank You Daddy.’
iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express my profound gratitude to Dr. Jay Dean for his encouragement and support as well as help in my studies at the University of Southern
Mississippi. This appreciation extends to the members of my committee, Dr. Joseph
Brumbeloe, Dr. Gregory Fuller, Dr. Christopher Goertzen and Dr. Steven Moser.
Special thanks to the many people who also contributed to this work: Scott
Daniels of the Oregon Historical Society, Jane Gottlieb and The Juilliard School Library
Staff; Chester Lane, editor of Symphony Magazine; Paul McCarver and the University of
Southern Mississippi Library Staff; James Rullo and Bridget Campbell of Skies America
Publishing Company; Nancy Shawcross and staff at the Annenberg Rare Book &
Manuscript Library at the University of Pennsylvania; and Stephen Toombs at Case
Western Reserve University’s Kulas Music Library. Also, thanks go to Debby Dean,
Claudia Encinas, Jorge Gonzalez, Dr. Byron G. Johnson, Dr. Dominique Rene’ de
Lerma, Andrew Rhodes and Jim Svejda of KUSC-FM Radio. Thank you to my two
French translators for all their assistance, Mme. Emeline Coulon and Mme. Leah Persons.
There are some other important personal contributors to this project: Maestra
JoAnn Faletta, who excited me about this subject years ago, Dr. London Branch of
Jackson State University, Dr. Jeffrey A. Johnson, M.D., Rebekah Stark Johnson, Dr.
Maryann Kyle, Dr. Michael Lopinto, William Slocum retired music director of the
Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra, Jon Wenberg of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and Dr. William B. Woods of the Cleveland School of the Arts.
A very special note of acknowledgment to Dr. Aubrey K. Lucas.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ...... ii
DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………………iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………….…………………………………….iv
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION ...... 1
II. THE LIFE OF JAMES ANDERSON DEPREIST ...... 4
III. THE CONDUCTING CAREER OF JAMES ANDERSON DEPREIST………………………….……………………………………..27
IV. THE MUSIC, CONDUCTING PHILOSOPHY & POETRY OF JAMES ANDERSON DEPREIST………….………………………..66
V. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………….107
APPENDIXES………………………………………………………………………….113
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………...122
DISCOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………….156
SUPPLEMENTARY BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………….……..……….172
REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………....179
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure
1. James Anderson DePreist and Leonard Bernstein………………………..……...31
2. Mrs. Ethel Anderson DePreist………………………………....………….....…..35
3. James DePreist, Prince Charles and Princess Diana………………..……...….....43
4. James and Ginette Grenier DePreist………………………………….…...……..44
5. The Cosby TV Family………………………………………….……………...…73
6. U. S. Air Force C-141 “Starlifter” aircraft………………..…….…….….….….103
7. Vintage Ambulance, Circa 1960…………………………………………….….105
8. James Anderson DePreist and the Juilliard Orchestra………………………….107
9. Soprano, Leontyne Price and James DePreist…………………….……..…..….110
10. James DePreist and the Juilliard Orchestra……………………….…….……...112
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1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
American-born conductor James Anderson DePreist personifies the spirit of triumph. Despite social challenges and a series of physical maladies (that would have limited lesser men), James DePreist has become a world-class conductor, composer, educator, actor and poet.
After recuperating and rehabilitating from polio, DePreist, at the urging of then music director of the New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, entered the Dimitri
Mitropoulos International Music Competition for Conductors. He won a first prize gold medal in 1964, which led to an appointment as Assistant Conductor with Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic. Since then, DePreist has served as Associate Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C., Music Director of
L’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Conductor of The Oregon Symphony Orchestra
(of which he became Conductor Laureate), the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo
Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies at the Juilliard School (becoming in 2011 its principal conductor and Director Emeritus).
In addition to introducing his audiences to the many significant musical accomplishments of DePreist, this author will provide a discussion of one of his orchestral compositions, Theme for The Cosby Show (1988-1989 season). Listed below are the known orchestral compositions of James Anderson DePreist:
·Vision of America (1961)
·Tendrils (1961)
·A Sprig of Lilac (1964)
2
·Requiem (1965)
·Eye on America (1965)
·Themes 1-6 (for The Cosby Show)
·Theme for The Cosby Show (1988-1989)
As of today, his only well-known composition remains Theme for the Cosby Show for the 1988-1989 season. I will explore the musical significance and the varied social implications of this composition, as well as its relevance to the show’s star, Bill Cosby. In addition, I will include excerpts from DePreist’s two books of poems, This Precipice
Garden (1986) and The Distant Siren (1989), the latter of which was published with a foreword by Maya Angelou. He has been awarded numerous honorary doctorates from prestigious institutions including Dickinson College, Drexel University, The Juilliard
School, Laval University of Canada, Portland State University, and the University of
Pennsylvania (his alma mater).
Equally important will be a discussion of Maestro DePreist’s philosophy of education as he continues the task of preparing young people to become future conductors most notably as the Professor of Conducting at the Juilliard School and other highly visible music festivals throughout the world. I had attempted to interview several past and current students of Mr. DePreist, but after initial contacts, they chose not to participate, with no explanation given. The same occurred with both current and past members of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra.
DePreist has conducted numerous major orchestras in the world, and his discography includes recordings of over 150 compositions. There are only two written publications on him: Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard, (As One
3
Goes Along: as Told to Micheline Simard) and The DePreist Years by Jim Svejda. There are no dissertations or other significant writings about the many and varied contributions of this great musician. Although resources are limited, musicologist Eileen Southern of
Harvard University states:
Some of the most significant figures of the past decades are…musicians who have been much discussed in newspapers and magazines, on radio and television, but not in the more enduring forms of literature.1
DePreist’s papers, musical scores, and private recordings are presently at the
Library of Congress, the Rare Book & Manuscript Library of the Van Pelt-Dietrich
Libraries at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Archives of the Oregon Symphony
Orchestra, the Oregon Historical Society, and The Juilliard School. I have used these important resources in order to produce a work that can be used by others as they research the life, career and musical contributions of James Anderson DePreist.
1 Eileen Southern, “Review: Famous Black Entertainers of Today by Raoul Abdul,” The Black Perspective in Music, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Spring, 1976), 112-114.
4
CHAPTER II
THE LIFE OF JAMES ANDERSON DEPREIST
…much of what is
was undreamed of when,
from a lower plateau, I began
my
ascent. - James DePreist1
James Anderson DePreist was born to James Henry and Ethel Anderson DePreist on November 21, 1936, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the only child of this union. He is the maternal nephew of the legendary “Lady from Philadelphia” contralto,
Marian Anderson. In 1939, Ms. Anderson was denied permission by the Daughters of the American Revolution, for the third time (circa 1936, June 1938, and January 1939)2 to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., solely because she was of African
American descent.
Only after an intervention of then first lady Eleanor Roosevelt was Ms. Anderson invited to sing at the Lincoln Memorial on April 9, 1939. On this occasion she sang to over 75,000 people who were in attendance, and millions of others by way of radio. She, too, had overcome many injustices in her life, and triumphed over many racially- motivated obstacles that were placed in her way.
DePreist is deeply grateful to his most inspiring role model, his aunt, Marian
Anderson, who set into motion the destruction of many social barriers that had prevented
1 James A. DePreist, This Precipice Garden (Portland: University of Portland Press, 1986), 5.
2 Alan Keiler, Marian Anderson: A Singer’s Journey (New York: Scribner, 2000), 189, 190
5
many people of African descent from participating in the performing arts. In an interview with The Arizona Republic’s reporter Kenneth LaFave, DePreist said about his aunt,
She was an inescapable role model for me. It’s difficult to realize someone like that, someone larger than life, can be as close to you as a relative. But she was my aunt, and I strove to be worthy of her.3
In a letter to The New York Times on April 18, 1993, after the passing of Ms. Anderson,
James Anderson DePreist wrote about his official debut as a conductor with the National
Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C:
…I made my debut with the National Symphony in Washington, and as fate would have it, it was the orchestra’s last season in its old home, Constitution Hall. I entered the stage door, conducted my rehearsal and returned to the hotel, three simple, normal acts denied to my aunt in 1939. I called her to tell her how outraged, hurt, sorry and grateful I was. “It is inconceivable that you were not allowed to do what I’ve now so easily done,” I said. “These concerts surely are as much yours as mine.” Her response was typical: “Times have changed, and I am very, very happy for you.4
In James DePreist’s conducting career, Marian Anderson’s influence remained as a constitant and constant guiding force. Even a former Scandinavian talent agent of
Ms. Anderson’s remembered visiting their home, in the United States, and bringing her very young nephew a toy. From an interview in 1993 with DePreist, Charles Ward wrote,
As DePreist began to tour Scandinavia, he stayed at the same hotels and met many of the same people as [Marian] Anderson. She, too, built a prominent career in Scandinavia. Perhaps most touching was the gesture of Anderson’s European manager, Helmer Enwall. He [Enwall] had visited the contralto in Philadelphia when DePreist was 3 or 4 and
3 Kenneth LaFave, “PSO Guest Conductor Lives Dream.” The Arizona Republic, 20 February 2003.
4James DePreist, “Grounded in Faith, Free to Fly.” The New York Times, 18 April 1993, sec.2.
6
brought him a teddy bear. “When I came to make my debut in Stockholm some 30 years later, there he [Helmer Enwall] was with a little teddy bear, DePreist says.”5
Ms. Anderson too, was grateful to former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt who had come to her assistance when the Daughters of the American Revolution denied her use of
Constitution Hall solely because she was an African American. Years later, Ms.
Anderson answered this question about her feelings toward the Daughters of the
American Revolution, “I forgave the DAR many years ago. You lose lots of time hating people.”6 Mrs. Roosevelt’s efforts were not limited to this one event. Amongst other things, she had gone to the aid of a very controversial social program being conducted by the United States government in Tuskegee, Alabama, and without any fanfare in March
1941, in an impromptu moment, took a ride in an airplane (for thirty minutes) piloted by the African American flight instructor, Charles ‘Chief’ Anderson (no relation to Ms.
Anderson). Her interest, led in part, to the success of what was known as The Tuskegee
Airmen program. These men went on to distinguish themselves as proven military pilots and respected commissioned officers of the United States Army Air Corps, later known as the United States Air Force. As a result of these achievements, people such as astronauts Colonel Guion S. Bluford, Jr., (the first African American in space), Dr. Mae
C. Jemison (the first female African American in space), and Dr. Bernard A. Harris, Jr.,
(the first African American to walk in space) were afforded a chance to prove themselves and contribute to the world in which we live.
5 Charles Ward. “DePreist: Upholding Family Tradition Maestro’s Life, Work Reflect Principles of His Famous Aunt, contralto Marian Anderson.” The Houston Chronicle, 21 November 1993, Sunday, 2 STAR Edition.
6 Alan Keiler, Marian Anderson: A Singer’s Journey (New York: Scribner, 2000), 312.
7
Marian Anderson opened doors for future stars in opera such as Leontyne Price from Laurel, Mississippi, Grace Bumbry, who also met with similar resistance to that
Ms. Anderson had encountered when applying for a music school in her hometown of St.
Louis, Missouri, and Simon Estes, who went on to be the first African American to be invited to appear in major operatic roles at the Bayreuth Music Festival which was founded by Richard Wagner. But, of course, these acts were not limited to operatic stages, nor just to the world of music. Many people benefitted from these feats, as
DePreist recalled,
The first scores I ever read were given to me by Aunt Marian. I attended all her performances in Philadelphia, and she always made a profound impression on me. It wasn’t until I was an adult, however, that I realized her greatest influence on me was in the nature of her artistry and her humanity. She started the process of breaking down the walls.7
The musical talent in DePreist’s family was not limited to Marian Anderson. His mother, Mrs. Ethel Anderson DePreist, also a vocalist, decided to raise a family instead of pursuing a career in music:
She was the baby sister, recalled her son James DePreist, She was a contralto…Whenever she permitted herself a rare show of pride, she would mention how the teachers told her that she could have had a significant career if she chose to pursue it.8
As a singer, she joined her sisters Marian and Alyse in the choir at the Union Baptist
Church (located at Fitzwater and Martin streets in Philadelphia), singing and concertizing. In Marian Anderson’s biography, a vivid description of Ethel Anderson
DePreist gives a clear picture of what she valued most in life, and what she expected:
7 Howard Reich, “Code of Conducting: Blacks Still Fight for their Place on the Podium.” The Chicago Tribune, 13 May 1990.
8 Ralph Cipriano, “Ethel Anderson DePreist, 88; Chose Family over Music Career.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3 February 1990, Obituaries.
8
For nearly a year now, the family had looked forward to Ethel’s marriage to James [Henry] DePreist, a young man whom she had met at the Church of the Crucifixion, where both served as soloists…it was Ethel’s voice that brought her and DePreist together. Ethel had the same extraordinary range as Marian, with a low register of power and beauty that many thought comparable. James [Henry] DePreist was distinctive looking, with an olive complexion and features that reflected his partly Native American ancestry. The couple were married near the end of June 1932.9
Upon further reflection of his mother, James DePreist continued,
My mother was very much a home person. Nothing gave her greater pleasure than to care for her family and be an excellent homemaker.10
In later life, Mrs. DePreist would direct her son away from music toward another career path:
DePreist recalled that although his mother was an excellent piano player and a sight reader who often sang Handel and Bach around the house, she did not encourage her son to pursue music as a career. “She wanted me very much to be a lawyer or a doctor,” he said. “I presumed that with Marian Anderson already in the family, it was not necessary for the family to produce another musician.”11
A student in the Philadelphia (PA) public schools, young James Anderson
DePreist attended academically acclaimed Central High School, where he served in the band and orchestra programs as a percussionist, pianist and flutist under the tutelage of
Leo Ostrow. He also was a member of the Philadelphia All Senior Orchestra under famed music instructor Louis Wersen. Graduating from high school in 1952,
He recalls turning down a [music] scholarship in high school. “I said, ‘no thank you, I’m going to be a lawyer’ and then the day before law school exams I knew I was not interested. I spent most of the night talking to a
9 Alan Keiler, Marian Anderson: A Singer’s Journey (New York: Scribner, 2000), 119.
10 Ralph Cipriano, “Ethel Anderson DePreist, 88; Chose Family over Music Career.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3 February 1990, Obituaries.
11 Ibid
9
friend [Henry Jaglom] who was in my fraternity and he advised me, you cannot rid yourself of artistic impulses.12
DePreist matriculated at the University of Pennsylvania, which few African Americans had attended.
Someone in Philadelphia said the Wharton School had a pre-law major that had a lot of electives in the College [sic]. So it was almost like going to the College [sic] preparation but with the advantage of Wharton and pre-law preparation. Penn was the only place I applied, and it was where I wanted to go. Fortunately, they accepted me.” DePreist says he doesn’t remember how many black students there were at Penn at the time, although clearly there were not many. It wasn’t the type of thing that made an impression on him…emphasis was on academic subjects…Race was “irrelevant.” 13
In 1956, DePreist graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton
School of Business with a degree in economics. Subsequently he enrolled in the graduate school of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the founder and president of the jazz fraternity, president of the Kappa Kappa Psi, the national honorary band fraternity, a member of Sigma Pi Phi, as well as conductor of several musical ensembles. In 1957, as president of the University of Pennsylvania Band, he became the first African American to conduct this ensemble in public performances. These conducting accomplishments also led to his being appointed two years in a row as music director of the University of
Pennsylvania’s Mask & Wig productions, a company dedicated to presenting Broadway musicals with members of the community in the cast. Other orchestras he conducted included the Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra and the Philadelphia Contemporary Guild
12 Maggi White. “James DePreist: Taking the Symphony into a New Era.” Our Town (Portland, OR), 11 January 1984. This Week, section A, p. 3.
13 Noel Hynd, “The Compass of His Soul.” The Pennsylvania Gazette: Alumni Magazine of the University of Pennsylvania, Vol.91, no.5, March 1993, 18.
10
Orchestra. In 1961, he received a Master of Arts in film studies, and in 1976 an honorary doctorate.
Also, at the University of Pennsylvania, DePreist continued his association with a jazz ensemble he had founded, The Jimmy DePreist Trio, expanding and renaming it
Jimmy DePreist and the Downbeats, which included such future notable musicians as jazz pianist McCoy Tyner and bassist Jimmy Garrison (both of whom went on to play with John Coltrane), Spanky DeBrest (who played with Art Blakely) and Shep Meyers, who recorded with Ella Fitzgerald and Woody Herman. In addition, Meyers composed, arranged and conducted music for over 500 radio and television commercials. The success of the group caught the attention of legendary jazz great Stan Kenton. At
Kenton’s request, DePreist was invited to appear as a guest drummer, pianist, arranger, and conductor of Kenton’s jazz ensemble. As stated in Micheline Simard’s biography of
DePreist,
Stan Kenton semblait impressionné par mes ite ities dans le jazz, par les concerts que j’organisais, par l’enthousiasme que je démontrais. Il me prêta les arrangements les plus impressionnants de son repertoire…Ainsi, pour la première fois dans l’histoire de la musique de jazz, un ensemble de jeunes musiciens jouait les arrangements d’un groupe renommé. C’est à cette opportunité que je dois d’être ite dans l’Encyclopédie du jazz.14 Stan Kenton seemed impressed by my work in jazz, by the concerts that I organized, and by the enthusiasm I demonstrated. He loaned me the most impressive arrangements in his whole repertoire…Thus, for the first time in the history of jazz music, a group of young musicians played the arrangements of a famous group. It was because of this opportunity that I would be cited in an encyclopedia of jazz.
Eventually, Jimmy DePreist and the Downbeats would appear on The Tonight Show with host Steve Allen. Indeed, DePreist would later be cited in Leonard Feather’s
14 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 38.
11
The Encyclopedia of Jazz, where he has the distinction of being the only non-renowned jazz musician mentioned. The encyclopedia states,
James Anderson DePreist…studied piano at the age [of] ten, drums in Philadelphia School system and privately with Jules Benner…had own dance band during four years of high school…Formed own quintet while at University of Penn…won Music Society of America award as best college jazz group in East, appeared on Steve Allen show’56.15
After serving in the United States Army (1958), and graduating from its basic training program as a High Honor Trainee, DePreist enrolled at the Philadelphia
Conservatory of Music to study composition with the eminent composer and teacher
Vincent Persichetti. This led to several compositions: Vision of America (1961),
Tendrils (1961), A Sprig of Lilac (1964), Requiem (1965). Also in 1965, his Eye on New
York was the theme music for the news series at New York City’s television station
WCBS-TV. In addition, DePreist arranged several spirituals for orchestra, which he had occasion to conduct during Marian Anderson’s farewell concerts in April of 1965, with the Philadelphia Orchestra and The Chicago Symphony. He described these experiences with his aunt as his “most emotional hour on the podium.”16
In 1987, he arranged and orchestrated Themes for The Cosby Show for the 1988-
1989 season on NBC. Charles Passy’s article chronicles the origin of this composition:
…a request from DePreist’s old friend from Central High School in Philadelphia, a certain ubiquitous performer by the name of Bill Cosby: would DePreist consider arranging “The Cosby Show” theme for symphony orchestra and then recording it with the Oregon Symphony? The answer was yes, and the result has made the Oregon Symphony perhaps the most widely heard orchestra in the world.17
15 Leonard Feather, The NEW edition of: The Encyclopedia of Jazz (New York: Bonanza Books, 1960), 180.
16 Will Crutchfield, “Musician’s Own Path to Podium.” The New York Times, 24 July 1984.
17 Charles Passy, “Heart & Mind: The Musical Ascent of James DePreist,” Symphony Magazine, January/February 1989, 56.
12
This theme music, originally written by Bill Cosby and Stu Gardner is still heard by more than a million people everyday, as the show remains in syndication with high ratings.
In 1962, while serving in the American Specialists Program as a specialist in
American music for the U.S. State Department in Bangkok, Thailand, DePreist continued to play jazz, he was even, ‘…playing jazz with Bhumibol Adulyadej, the king of
Thailand and his band.’18 It was during this time that DePreist contracted Post Polio
Syndrome, a life-altering disease. In a newspaper article DePreist says, “There were different strains going around. I had the Salk vaccine, but not the booster.”19 This was the result of an oversight; he had not completed the required vaccination series, missing the third dose. The disease left him paralyzed from the waist down.
As a result, DePreist was now faced with three main obstacles as a conductor in
America: (1) being African American, (2) being American born, and (3) a physical disability. With the exception of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and German conductor Alfred Hertz (1872-1942), who suffered from infantile paralysis, DePreist had few role models of men with disabilities to emulate.
In 1962, conductors with any visible physical disabilities were very rare, as were
American-born conductors, and, especially, conductors of African descent. Maestro
(Charles) Dean Dixon (1915-1976), a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music and
Columbia University, and the first African American to conduct the New York
Philharmonic, had left America for more bounteous opportunities in Europe and
18 Michael Kimmelman, “A Maestro’s Evolution: DePreist’s Difficult Path.” The New York Times, 5 June 1987.
19 Kenneth LaFave, “PSO Guest Conductor Lives Dream.” The Arizona Republic, 4 December 1998.
13
elsewhere. Maestro Paul Freeman, an African American conductor who is, as of this writing, music director of the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in Prague, as well as of the Chicago Sinfonietta, and conductor emeritus of Canada’s Victoria Symphony
Orchestra, shares this about Dixon:
Talent and determination weren’t always enough, if you were the wrong color-just look at what happened to Dean Dixon…the first black to guest – conduct the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Dixon suffered discrimination through most of his career. And though he was able to overcome mistreatment to enjoy a high international profile, the experience made him a sad, bitter man,” says Freeman, who knew Dixon.20
Even twenty years later there were other African Americans who attempted careers as conductors in America such as Leon Thompson, James Frazier, Everett Lee and Denis de
Coteau, to name a few, who met with similar professional fates. However, DePreist, vowing to make conducting his career, possessed a healthy, clear perspective on his prospects of conducting and overcoming racial obstacles. He says,
During the heyday of black power, classical music was thought to be the white man’s music and therefore antithetical to the black experience. My response is that classical music is relevant to the human experience-and to the degree that we can identify ourselves first as human beings, it is relevant to blacks too. I don’t think it’s possible to play a numbers game with symphony orchestras. I would never want to be denied the opportunity to conduct because I’m black, but neither would I want to be engaged because I’m black.21
After recuperating and rehabilitating from the effects of polio, DePreist entered the 1963 Dimitri Mitropoulous International Music Competition for Conductors, but only made it to the semifinals. However, in his second entry into this competition in 1964, he won a gold medal. Winning this competition led to an appointment as an assistant
20 Howard Reich, “Code of Conducting: Blacks Still Fight for Their Place on the Podium.” The Chicago Tribune, 13 May 1990.
21 “Salute: Musings by Eight Great Artists.” Life Magazine, Spring 1988, Vol.11, Number 5, 75.
14
conductor to Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic. Up to this time, no American had ever won this competition until Lawrence Leighton Smith of Portland, Oregon and
James Anderson DePreist of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ironically, these two would cross career paths later, as Smith was the immediate predecessor to DePreist with the
Oregon Symphony Orchestra. There were a total of six first prize winners in the 1964 competition. Of these, Edo de Waart, the Dutch-born conductor, played a pivotal part in helping DePreist establish his international career. Mr. de Waart served with DePreist as an assistant conductor to Leonard Bernstein and would go on to serve as music director of such orchestras as the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Milwaukee Symphony, the
Minnesota Symphony, the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony
Orchestras. It was at Mr. de Waart’s recommendation and request that DePreist made his highly successful European conducting debut with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in 1968. DePreist explains in this article by Stephen Wigler that conductors in general were better off going to Europe to establish their careers,
But in the next seven years, DePreist did not get the engagements that someone who had won so prestigious a prize and so many glowing notices might have expected. The problem wasn’t racism, DePreist says, so much as the American prejudice “against any American conductors, white or black.” Like such American conductors as Michael Tilson Thomas, he [James DePreist] made his career by going to Europe.22
DePreist served as music director of Philadelphia’s WCAU-TV, and the
Philadelphia Contemporary Music Guild Orchestra. He was also resident conductor of the Bangkok (Thailand) Symphony Orchestra (1963) and principal guest conductor of the
Symphony of the New World (1965), as well as music director of the Westchester (NY)
Music & Arts in Croton-on-Hudson. He was appointed as an assistant conductor of the
22 Stephen Wigler. “Major Strides by Pioneer Conductor.” The Baltimore Sun, 23 April 2000.
15
New York Philharmonic for the 1965-1966 season and in 1972, Antal Dorati invited him to be the assistant conductor of the Washington, D.C., based National Symphony
Orchestra , where he eventually became the associate and principal guest conductor. In
1975, he became the first non-Frenchman, the first American, as well as the first African
American music director of Canada’s L’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec. In 1980,
James DePreist was named music director the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, where he remained for 25 years, later being named Conductor Laureate.
DePreist also served as music director for Sweden’s Malmö Symphony Orchestra
(1991), L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo (1994), and as permanent conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra (2005). Since 2004, he has been the professor of conducting and orchestral studies at the Juilliard School in New York City, and in 2011, he became principal conductor and director emeritus of conducting and orchestral studies. In spite of the effects of polio, DePreist, (as a guest conductor of virtually every major symphony orchestra) has shown great amounts of jocularity as he works around the world. As Eric Sundquist wrote,
It takes James DePreist, who’s conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra this weekend, a little time to get from the backstage door to the podium of Symphony Hall. DePreist had polio as a young adult, and he wears leg braces and uses an arm cane. On Thursday, when he came onstage, the audience applauded, but could not sustain the welcome for the time it took DePreist to cross the stage, take the steps to the podium and sit down. By the time he settled, the hall was silent. Over his shoulder, he deadpanned: “You can breathe now.” The audience breathed, and applauded.23
He has received rock star status in Japan, so much so that his name was used in a mega popular fictional comic book series entitled Nodame Cantabile; the story of a
23 Eric Sundquist, “Waiting to Exhale.” The Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Constitution, 27 February 1999.
16
youngster who wanted to be a classical music artist who happens to be named James
DePreist. Also the former governor of Oregon, Neil Goldschmidt ascribed rock star status to DePreist, as well,
We have a saying in sports, ‘He transcends the sport,’” Goldschmidt said. “He has been so much help to other musical institutions and other arts institutions, that he has long since stopped being just the maestro.24
DePreist was also artistic director of the Grand Rapids (MI) Symphony Orchestra, the
Phoenix (AZ) Symphony Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra Festival, the Cascade Music Festival and Britt Music Festival, both respectively in Oregon, and recently, the Pasadena (CA) Symphony Orchestra.
In his senior year at the University of Pennsylvania, he was invited by the
Philadelphia Dance Academy to compose a ballet, and his composition, Vision of
America, which was conceived and choreographed by Nadia Chikovsky, was the result of this offer. DePreist comments on his time at the university:
No one had ever asked me to write anything before…In fact, the only writing I had done was arranging for the University of Pennsylvania Symphonic Band, which during the football season was also the marching band.” So, from a background of arranging the Marlboro song and the Gillette theme, he accepted the request to score a ballet…the person who was supposed to conduct the work at the premiere fell ill, leaving DePreist to conduct…It worked. For a while, his ballet music became a part of the Philadelphia Dance Academy’s repertoire. 25
As of today, his most well known musical collaboration remains Themes for the
Cosby Show. The musical significance and the varied social implications of this composition, as well as its importance to the show’s star, comedian Bill Cosby (Dr.
24 Suzan Bibis, “Oregon Conductor Bowls Over Adversity.” Daily Breeze (Torrance, CA), 27 August 1992.
25 Robert C. Bruce. “Toward A Perfect Economy of Meaning, An Interview with James DePreist.” Sfarzando, April 1997, 17-20.
17
William H. Cosby, Jr.), who went to high school with DePreist, will be discussed in a later chapter. Cosby wanted to see that the music, in addition to the television series, reflected positive images of the African American family and its own ‘Spirit of
Triumphs.’ DePreist also appeared in the movie, New Year’s Day, playing the part of a psychiatrist. The movie was directed by his fellow classmate at University of
Pennsylvania, Henry Jaglom. Movie critic, Ted Mahar offers his opinion of DePreist’s acting abilities:
Numerous friends and relatives troop through the apartment, complicating each other’s lives and providing lots of rueful but realistic fun. One of them is Lucy’s shrink, played by Oregon Symphony director James DePreist, who does not embarrass himself in his two scenes. A few sentences from him sweep away many cobwebs.26
James DePreist, encouraged and equally inspired by William Stafford, the famed poet laureate for the state of Oregon, is a published poet as well. His poetry collections are
This Precipice Garden (1986) and The Distant Siren (1989), published with a forward by
Maya Angelou.
In 2000, DePreist was awarded the Ditson Conductors Award, an award previously won by conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Antal Dorati, Louis Lane, and
Mstislav Rostropovich. In 2005, President George W. Bush awarded Mr. DePreist the coveted National Medal of Freedom, also known as the National Medal of Arts. This award is bestowed on those who are deserving of special recognition for their contributions to the growth and support of the arts in the United States. It is the same award his aunt, Marian Anderson received twice, the first time in 1963 from President
Lyndon Johnson and again in 1986 from President Ronald Reagan. Because he was
26 Ted Mahar, “Jaglom’s Personal Touch Returns.” The Oregonian, 1 June 1990.
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receiving the same honor his aunt received, the award took on an even greater personal significance. DePriest points out, “It’s important, anyway…[but] because of that connection, it means a tremendous amount.”27 In addition to these distinguished
American awards, DePreist was made an Elected Fellow of the American Academy of
Arts & Sciences and the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. He has been awarded the
Insignia of Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland, made an Officer of Cultural
Merit of Monaco, and has received the Medal of the City of Québec.
Also important is Maestro DePreist’s philosophy of education as he continues the task of preparing young people to become musicians and conductors of the future. He has accomplished this as a professor of conducting at the Juilliard School and in his many affiliations with highly visible music festivals throughout the world, including regular appearances at the Aspen and Interlochen Music Festivals. DePreist, reflecting on being an educator said, “I think it’s important for us to give back, and it’s wonderful to be asked to do it at a place like Juilliard.”28
In 2001, he was diagnosed with an incurable and irreversible disease called Focal
Segmental Glomerulosclerosis, which is a scarring of the kidney filters. This kidney disease allows its sufferers, for the most part, to live normal and reasonable lives through the treatment of dialysis. Friends and family members were not compatible for a donation, and 50,000 Americans were waiting for a kidney. The average waiting time for a cadaver kidney was more than three years, and to further complicate the situation, the waiting period for an African American male was much longer. The Oregon Symphony
27 David Stabler, “A Pinnacle for James DePreist.” The Oregonian, 9 November 2005.
28 Janelle Gelfand, “Maestro Lends His Rich History to Symphony.” The Cincinnati Enquirer, 17 April 2005.
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was informed of the illness by DePreist: “I told them, because of my relative success in dealing with polio, I’ve been entrusted with kidney disease.”29 At the imploring of his second wife, the former Ginette Grenier, DePreist was placed on call for a kidney transplant. However, he continued to work:
DePreist was placed on 24-hour call for a kidney transplant. For two years the nearly indefatigable conductor had juggled three dialysis sessions a week with international travel and symphonic performances. 30
On the morning of September 11, 2001, while watching the destruction of the
World Trade Center in New York City on television, a lady from Portland, Oregon,
Susan Baumgardner was compelled to an act of altruism. In the midst of this national emergency, she made a decision to do something lifesaving. She decided to donate her left kidney to DePreist. One of the most significant things about her decision was that she was white, and at that point in time, fear and misconceptions about inter-racial transplants existed. Despite certain fears and her own personal challenges, she made this decision. In an article, newspaper reporter Margie Boule of The Oregonian summarizes
Baumgardner’s decision:
Susan knew no statistics and had no idea what the health consequences might be for a living donor. But when her friend told her James [DePreist] needed a transplant, “I said, ‘I want to give him my kidney.’ It just came out, with no hesitation. My friend and my family just chuckled. Nobody took me seriously.”31
Baumgardner said, “I learned you could live fine with one kidney. I learned how painful dialysis was. I thought how brave he [DePreist] was, continuing his world wide
29 David Stabler, “DePreist Reveals Kidney Disease.” The Oregonian, 21 September 1999.
30 Margie Boule, “Two People United Forever by the Gift of a Better Life.” The Oregonian, 8 September 2002.
31 Ibid. .
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conducting schedule with dialysis in every port…”32 In spite of being laid off (due to budget problems) from her position as director of International Medical Services at St.
Vincent Hospital in Portland, she continued forward with the planned clandestine donation. On December 3, 2001, Dr. Viken Douzdjian led a surgical team in Portland’s,
Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital and Medical Center in a successful clandestine kidney transplant. Eventually, Baumgardner would become the CEO of the National Kidney
Foundation of both Oregon and Washington state, and would make public, the fact that she personally had donated a kidney to DePreist. In an interview regarding her decision to go public with this information, Baumgardner said,
I feel like it’s my job to tell the story now, to create a new awareness, to inspire somebody else to donate their kidney and…more than that…to inspire people to get screening and prevent kidney disease in their own families.33
He continues conducting orchestras throughout the world since retiring from the full-time duties of being a music director. Despite having had surgery on his back, a kidney transplant, hypertension and numerous other ailments, including the effects of polio (which caused him a long-time dependence on crutches and leg braces), DePreist continues to conduct, speak, teach and write throughout the world. Never letting any circumstance(s) ‘serve’ as a convenient excuse, he provides inspiration to many. Doctors consulted with DePreist after a surgery to correct a condition called Spinal Stenosis, (a narrowing, or compression of the canal that surrounds the spine) and proposed a
32 Ibid.
33 Margie Boule, “Two People United Forever by the Gift of a Better Life.” The Oregonian, 8 September 2002.
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motorized chair, as a replacement for the braces and crutches he had depended on for so many years. DePreist said,
Doctors are not thrilled with the idea of my continuing with the crutch and brace routine, which I have been using for 40 years,” he wrote in an e-mail to symphony staff and friends. “To drive home the point they have stolen my previous equipment. DePreist calls the power chair “freeing.” He can go places now that were challenging on foot, and he foresees no obstacles to pursuing guest conducting…he will ride up a ramp to the conductor’s podium…and conduct from the motorized chair.34
His legacy will be that of resilience, insight, music and poetry for generations to come.
James DePriest’s discography includes recordings of at least 72 different composers and over 150 compositions. What is unique to his discography is the high percentage of new works by composers such as Michael Daugherty, Christopher Rouse,
William Schuman and George T. Walker, in addition to the standard repertoire of composers such as Beethoven, Mozart and Shostakovich. DePreist was cited for this contribution in 2000, when he was awarded the Ditson Conducting Award for his
“consistent, effective and passionate advocacy of music by American composers.”35 In explaining his preferences for modern works and to the standard repertoire, DePreist said,
My makeup, my response to music is emotional…The only way I can keep it from becoming maudlin is to make it cerebral…I generally love music that has a romantic nature- its tenderness, passion, powers and drama…The Mozart piano concertos are as significant for me as his symphonies…” He finds himself avoiding music that is “smooth, cold and objective…I don’t succeed in that,” he said. He searches for contemporary music he can respond to positively. “I’d like to revive American works that were successful years ago,” he said. His long list includes Roy Harris’ Third Symphony, Samuel Barber’s First Symphony, Charles Ives’ Fourth Symphony and works by Walter Piston.36
34 David Stabler, “Motorized Chair is James DePreist’s New Way to Get Around.” The Oregonian, 3 April 2004.
35 Ron Cowan, “Refocusing, not Retiring.” Statesman Journal (Salem, OR), 12 January 2003.
36 Patricia Rice, “St. Louis Symphony A Joy For Guest Conductor.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 23 April 1989.
22
DePreist has conducted and recorded with European, Canadian and American orchestras, and received a Grammy Award nomination in 2003. He was instrumental in
L’Orchestre de Quebec’s 75th Anniversary recording, which featured all Canadian composers. As a disabled African American symphony conductor, James Anderson
DePreist serves as a pioneer on a number of fronts. He has overcome racism, artistic prejudices, and the debilitating effects of polio to conduct and record with the great symphony orchestras of the world. He was approached by fellow musician Itzhak
Perlman who asked him why he was trying to stand to conduct as opposed to sitting while conducting. Conductors normally do not sit as they conduct symphonic concerts.
DePreist recalls the challenge from Perlman,
For a while, you know, my press biography had a line saying ‘Mr. DePreist no longer has to conduct sitting down.’ I made an enormous effort, and managed to conduct standing in the mid-1960’s, even though I had to be very careful not to throw myself off-balance with a gesture. Then in 1969 I did my first Stockholm concert, and the soloist was Itzhak Perlman,” whose legs are also paralyzed. “He said in effect, ‘Hey, why are you trying to stand? Aren’t you more comfortable sitting down? I was, and ever since then, I have. It was a freeing experience. And I’ve certainly never felt any loss of authority from it. For one thing, since I had barely begun conducting when I contracted polio, I don’t have much of a frame of reference for doing it standing up.37
Itzhak Perlman, Evelyn Glennie, a profoundly deaf world-class percussionist, and James
DePreist continue to lead the world by example, which is that in spite of life’s many obstacles, one can succeed at anything.
DePreist is a global ambassador, not limited to any one cause, group or specific area, but the entire world. As to the issue of race, he shows more aplomb in his abilities,
37 Will Crutchfield, “Musician’s Own Path to Podium.” The New York Times, 24 July 1984.
23
as well as what needs to be accomplished. In an interview with Leonard Boasberg of the
Philadelphia Inquirer, DePreist says,
I have always found it pointless to look for, presume or in an ex-post- facto way attribute to prejudice things that did not come about. I don’t think it’s possible to live an examined life as a black American without sooner or later encountering examples of prejudice. What becomes important is that you have to go beyond that, you almost assume that it can be there, not that it will be there, but never use it as the operative reason why something doesn’t happen, because then it becomes both a crutch and an excuse.38
When South Africa faced the dismantling of its long-held government-sanctioned apartheid, it brought to the world’s attention, the horrors of apartheid while displaying the courage of such notable people as Bishop Desmond Tutu, as well as jailed advocate and future president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. In a display to the world in 1999,
South Africa sent forth as its ambassador to the United States, the South Africa National
Orchestra to perform in the famed Hollywood Bowl. The managing director of the Los
Angeles Philharmonic, Ernest Fleischmann, a native of South Africa, approached
DePreist and asked if he would lead the tour of the orchestra. DePreist consented, recognizing the importance of the art and not necessarily what else the country once stood for. He said,
All of the nonmusical aspects have importance because of the change taking place in that country, a country in which I would not have been welcomed. All of those things are inescapably symbolic, but the reason one would go there is that the orchestra is credible. And bringing that orchestra to the Hollywood Bowl is a nice touch.39
The life of James Anderson DePreist serves as a testimony as well as an inspiring
38 Leonard W. Boasberg, “Today, Another Side of Conductor James DePreist.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 24 June 1987.
39 David Stabler. “Now Boarding for Air DePreist the Arts Stage & Sound.” The Oregonian, 4 April 1997
24
testament that despite obstacles, one can achieve, if they are willing to try. The story of
Marian Anderson, as well as her life’s testimony, continues to inspire. DePreist says,
It’s important to place certain aspects of what we do in a historical context. But my feeling is-and that’s the attitude of my aunt-that race is absolutely irrelevant to what we do.40
Combined, Marian Anderson and James Anderson DePreist display…The Spirit of Triumph...His life, career and purpose for being, despite the many obstacles is summed up as follows from a commencement speech he made in Portland in 2000:
The exact nature of your life’s voyage will depend upon you and your choices but also upon forces over which you will have absolutely no control – so you should take along humility.
In the course of your trip you will find that dreams can indeed come true – that carefully devised plans can succeed, but not necessarily according to your timetable --- so come prepared with patience.
Parts of your journey will be uphill, an obstacle - laden paths through long tunnels of frustration and despair, but you will discover these to be the most useful and illuminating experiences of your life, revealing the true fabric of your character and the power of your faith…so develop endurance.41
Hampered by social and physical issues, DePreist went on to reach the apex of his chosen profession, conducting. His family instilled in him early the virtues that would see him through life in spite of any setbacks, life, humility, patience and endurance.
Aunt Alice [Alyse] spoiled the boy; Aunt Marian, regal and stunning, provided a financial underpinning and injected a sense of the international music scene based on her world tours as a singer. His mother loved and disciplined him; his grandmother gave him religious faith and acceptance
40 Michael Anthony, “DePreist’s Focus Is on Making Music.” The Star Tribune (St Paul, MN), 8 November 1991.
41 James A. DePreist, “Commencement Address for the Oregon Episcopal School” (Delivered on 9 June 2000 in Portland, Oregon), Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
25
of fortuity. Together they all plotted his course from their row house on Martin Street to Thaddeus Stevens Elementary School, and on through the University of Pennsylvania. Life had a steadiness for the boy: He sprang from plateau to plateau as inexorably as crown fire springing from treetop to treetop through a forest. 42
The vision of Rev. Wesley Parks, pastor of the Union Baptist Church in
Philadelphia was to encourage unconditional support for the career of the young Marian
Anderson, who went on to become one of the most successful concert singers of her time.
The vision of Marian Anderson was too, to unconditionally support the career efforts of others, including a nephew who would carry on the mantle of opening doors for those with apparent obstacles, of any sort.
James Anderson DePreist has proven to be leader and visionary of music with his many contributions of recordings and writings. He has done nothing less than the great conductors of the past, the difference being, he achieved despite setbacks that would have thwarted a lesser person. The Afro-Guyanese conductor W. Rudolf Dunbar opened doors for people of color to conduct world class orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic; Dean
Dixon opened doors for people of color to conduct orchestras in America such as the
New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein opened doors for Americans to become music director of orchestras in America, and DePreist continues that vision.
His education at the University of Pennsylvania, with degrees in economics and film studies, proved to be exactly what the Oregon Symphony Orchestra needed and appreciated as he saved their financial situation and proselytized his message of music and musical outreach. The orchestra under DePreist went on to be the most heard orchestra in the world through the medium of television. As a composer, he has
42 Chris Boehme, “The Maestro: Oregon Symphony Conductor James DePreist.” Northwest: The Oregonian’s Sunday Magazine, 29 June 1986.
26
contributed as other great conductors have to the symphonic repertoire as well as in other genres such as jazz and popular music. As an educator, he is responsible for setting in motion the foundation for future conductors, and he has done this as Director of
Conducting and Orchestral Studies at The Juilliard School, as well as at other highly visible festivals. It is important for him to share his philosophies of music and education as well as the realities of obstacles that could hamper the ministry of music – reaching the masses. James Anderson DePreist has and continues to be the one who exemplifies...The
Spirit of Triumph.
Much of what is seems to describe a future song of part of, sung in distant groves for a loving few.
Much of what is seems to tease; a lesson of limits with splendid escapes, a half-filled glass and blurred response
Much of what is still the wind for goals kept aloft by gusts of faith, but much of what is was undreamed of when, from a lower plateau, I began my ascent - James DePreist43
43 James A. DePreist, This Precipice Garden (Portland: University of Portland Press, 1986), 5.
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CHAPTER III
THE CONDUCTING CAREER OF JAMES ANDERSON DEPREIST
Grounded enough to fly without fear – James DePreist1
The symphony orchestra in the United States circa 1848 strongly reflected
Austro-German traditions, values, and influences. Many of the imported orchestral musicians, as well as conductors and soloists, were trained in these musical traditions, which were firmly established in American orchestras, such as the New York
Philharmonic:
… The New York Philharmonic, founded in 1842…the orchestra’s prime movers were German-born or trained…As of 1875, German music comprised 80 percent of the [Philharmonic’s] repertoire. The orchestra’s prospectus intoned: “The chief object will be, to elevate the Art, improve musical taste, and gratify those already acquainted with classic[al] musical compositions, by performing the Great Symphonies and Overtures of Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Spohr, Mendelssohn, and other great Masters, with a strength and precision hitherto unknown in this country [The United States].”2
Around that same time, Europe found itself again in a series of political revolutions, which began in France in 1848. These were protests against political corruption, poor economic conditions, and voting restrictions. These revolutions quickly failed, but led to tens of thousands dying, and forced many more into exile.
With this mass exodus of refugees, countless musicians fled Europe and relocated to the United States, where operatic and symphonic organizations were beginning to flourish. Many conductors of the Austro-German tradition were employed to lead
1 James A. DePreist, The Distant Siren (Salem, OR: Willamette University Press, 1989), 9.
2 Joseph Horowitz, Wagner Nights: An American History (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1994), 36.
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American orchestras, while others became répétiteurs in leading opera houses. This large- scale availability of musicians trained in the Austro-German tradition caused the near exclusion of American-trained conductors, singers and instrumentalists. Harold
Schonberg stated the prevailing conditions at this time in the establishment of symphonic music in North America:
The History of Music in the United States was, until the end of World War I, primarily a reflection of German traditions…Most American orchestras were staffed predominantly by Austro-Germans, with a contingent of Italians backing them up…All of those eminent figures had little trouble securing important positions. It meant that the Austro-German musical traditions would be perpetuated. It also closed the door, for the time being, on American conducting talent, especially where the major orchestras were concerned.3
However, American talent would breakthrough first in the area of composition with a significant number of young composers such as Easley Blackwood, Marc
Blitzstein, Aaron Copland, Adolphus Hailstork and Quincy Jones, all of whom went to
France to study with Nadia Boulanger at the American Conservatory of Music in
Fountainbleau. Another student of Mme. Boulanger was Kenneth Klein, who would later focus primarily on conducting and was a contestant in the Dimitri Mitropoulous
International Music Competition for Conductors along with James DePreist. With these
American composers returning to the United States, they began to spark deep public interest in their musical output. Still, American conductors, such as Ingolf Dahl, Philip
Glass, Thea Musgrave, and Walter Piston, would have no impact for many years to come.
It is a common misconception thought that Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) was the first American conductor to be appointed to a major orchestra in the United States.
3 Harold Schonberg, The Great Conductors (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1967), 342.
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However, he was, in fact, preceded by at least seven others.4 The founder and conductor of the Chicago Symphony, Theodore Thomas (1835-1905) was born in Antwerp,
Belgium, but was trained in the United States. In 1943, the Los Angeles Philharmonic appointed Chicago-born and American-trained conductor Alfred Wallenstein (1898-
1983) as its music director. Mr. Wallenstein remained in Los Angeles from 1943 to
1956. In 1947, the Cincinnati Symphony appointed Thor Martin Johnson (1913-1975) as its music director, a position he held until 1958. Prior to Johnson’s appointment, the
Cincinnati Symphony had been led by such conducting luminaries as Leopold Stokowski,
Eugéne Ysaÿe, Fritz Reiner, and Sir Eugene Goosens. Other American-born conductors receiving appointments to important orchestral positions prior to Bernstein’s would include Robert Whitney (1937 in Louisville), Howard Mitchell (1950 at the National
Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C.), Milton Katims (1954 in Seattle), and Izler
Solomon (1956 in Indianapolis).
In 1958, the New York Philharmonic appointed its then assistant conductor,
Leonard Bernstein, to the position of music director. America now had its first bona fide conducting superstar. Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and trained at
Harvard University with Walter Piston. He studied conducting with the legendary conductor Fritz Reiner at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and had further conducting studies with another significant conductor, Serge Koussevitzky, at
Tanglewood in the Berkshires, the summer home of the Boston Symphony. It was from this European - influenced training that Bernstein became the bridge to the American
School of Conducting.
4 Harold Schonberg, The Great Conductors (New York: Simon & Schuster), 343, 352.
30
The tradition of the Austro-German conductor was to intern in one of the many
European opera houses as a répétiteur before ascending to the role of a conductor.
Neither Bernstein, Johnson, nor Wallenstein had any previous operatic conducting experience, but Bernstein had amassed a significant amount of experience in the musical theatre as was chronicled by New York Times reporter, Donal Henahan:
It was Mr. Bernstein’s fate to be far more than routinely successful, however. His [Leonard Bernstein] fast-burning energies, his bewildering versatility and his profuse gifts for both music and theater coalesced to make him a high-profile figure in a dozen fields, among them symphonic music, Broadway musicals, the ballet, films and television.5
This foray into the theatre may have given Bernstein an edge in his ascent to the position as music director of a major symphony orchestra. The astute and knowledgeable Harold
Schonberg of the New York Times says,
American-trained musicians have little opportunity to gain experience in an opera house-the route of every Austro-German conductor. Bernstein had always been around the theatre, however, and his performances at La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera and the Vienna Staatsoper had whetted his appetite. He always had a dramatic flair…Bernstein and opera would appear made for each other.6
It was believed that the sacred traditions of classical music were best upheld and maintained by the capable hands of those indigenous conductors, who were intimate with it. The embracing of these traditions excluded anyone who was not inculcated in such
European practices. A description of the old-style conductor is provided by Kenneth
Turan:
Ask Armand Sarro, the Symphony’s (sic) personnel manager and a veteran of 47 years of working with orchestras, what the old-style conductors were like and he will simply clench both fists very hard and say one word: “Tense.” European
5 Donal Henahan, “Leonard Bernstein, 72, Music’s Monarch, Dies.” The New York Times, 15 October 1990.
6 Harold Schonberg, The Great Conductors (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1967), 358.
31
born and trained, they were autocratic and imperious in the extreme. Fritz Reiner was described as a sadist; his piercing, hood-eye look, it was said, could paralyze a musician. George Szell was called his own worst enemy until the Metropolitan Opera’s Rudolph Bing countered, “Not while I’m alive.” And Arturo Toscanini, the old curmudgeon himself, would fall into rages described by an observer as “among the most horrifying sounds I have ever heard. He would almost double up, his mouth opened wide, his face red, as if on the verge of an apoplectic fit. Then a raucous blast of unbelievable volume would blare forth.” Mr. Nice Guy he was not.7
Figure 1. James DePreist and Leonard Bernstein, from Jim Svejda, The DePreist Years (Beaverton, Oregon: Skies America Publishing, 2003), 5.
After winning the prestigious Dimitri Mitropoulous International Music
Competition for Conductors in 1964, and serving as an assistant conductor to Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, DePreist determined the professional direction he
7 Kenneth Turan, “A Maestro with Gusto: The National Symphony’s Disarming James DePreist. The Washington Post/Potomac, 21 July 1974.
32
wanted to take. He possessed the musical assumed requirements and established rudiments of conducting required for one to be the most consummate musician possible; strong pianistic skills, the ability to read an open orchestral score at sight, and a thorough knowledge of the symphonic repertoire, music history and performance practices.
DePreist also fulfilled this requirement by demonstrating his abilities as a percussionist and pianist in a variety of groups, including his own jazz ensembles. He, too, had received commissions and written several ballet scores, which were received to critical acclaim. According to the account provided by Frank Brookhouser, in the Evening
Bulletin, DePreist even performed as piano soloist in a command performance in
Thailand:
Philadelphia’s young percussionist-conductor James A. DePreist…gave a command performance for Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit…left the role of conductor for a time to play Beethoven’s “Emperor Piano Concerto” [Ludwig van Beethoven’s, Concerto, piano, no.5, op.73, E-flat Major (Emperor)] from memory. It was one of the few times in his career that he has appeared publicly at the piano8
Bernstein and DePreist shared musical similarities in that they both were composers, arrangers, and performers. These traits were also shared by other notable and successful ‘European’ conductors, including Antal Dorati, Dimitri Mitropoulos, André
Previn Leopold Stokowski, George Szell and Arturo Toscanini. Szell was a pianist prior to focusing solely on conducting; Dorati, a pianist of note, will be remembered for his compositional output. Stokowski, an organist, wrote numerous orchestral arrangements, especially the music of J. S. Bach, and Toscanini, a cellist, wrote several original pieces and arrangements, including a cadenza used by bassoonist Leonard Sharrow in his recording of Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto with Toscanini conducting the NBC Orchestra.
8 Frank Brookhouser, “Man About Town.” The Evening Bulletin (Philadelphia, PA), 20 August 1962.
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It was Hans von Bulow (1830-1894) who established the first professional career as a conductor, and it was he who set the bar for others to follow. The art of being a combination composer, arranger, and performer/conductor is nothing new. It was expected, if not demanded that the conductor, in addition to the technical skills required to lead an orchestra, have the highest levels of pedagogy, performance, and scholarship.
DePreist’s career was off to a brilliant start, fulfilling the traditional requirements of becoming a music director. After serving his military obligation in the United States
Army (Fort Knox, Kentucky), he became a composition student of Vincent Persichetti at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. Mr. Persichetti, himself was a 1939 conducting graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Fritz Reiner. As time elapsed, DePreist would make contact with several other eminent musicians who would assist him in developing his career, including Dutch conductor, Edo de Waart.
Noted musicologist and educator Eileen Southern in her review of Raoul Abdul’s book, Famous Black Entertainers of Today, tells how specific conditions made it possible for many artists, especially minority artists seeking careers, to succeed and especially with emphasis on James DePreist. There are four points emphasized:
(1)The most importance of the environment-most came from families that encouraged the development of their talents; (2) the importance of perseverance- most had to overcome formidable obstacles, particularly racism, and DePreist had to wage a battle against polio (which attacked him the same year he entered the Mitropolous International Conductors’ Competition and went as far as the semi- finals); (3) the importance of good training and the opportunity to gain experience during the training period; and, finally, (4) the importance of having friends in high places to provide the necessary “big break.”…[pianist, Andre] Watts was helped by Bernstein…and DePreist was given his lucky break by Dutch conductor Edo DeWaart (sic).9
9 Eileen Southern, “Review: Famous Black Entertainers of Today by Raoul Abdul,” The Black Perspective in Music, Vol.4, No.1 (Spring, 1976), 113.
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Families that Encouraged the Development of Talents
It is likely that his mother had the most significant influence on his career as a musician, in spite of wanting him to go into the legal or medical profession. In his early years of organizing concerts in his hometown of Philadelphia, it was Mrs. DePreist, who in a very quiet maternal manner, offered James DePreist the greatest advice, guidance, and support. DePreist says of his mother,
A chaque fois, je lui disai: <
Every time I told her, “We will have a big enough audience tonight, you’ll see.” But the receipts were never enough. Maybe I was giving out to many [complimentary] tickets…My mom was the best superintendent I could ever wish for. To pay for the concerts expenditures, I tried to contact a college radio station, we lost $900.00. My mom, once again, paid for it.
She was very wise in the management of finances, having been widowed, and raising a son on her own. She, too, sought educational advancements:
Ethel had begun a secretarial course in night school and was away several evenings during the week working toward a [secretarial] diploma.11
DePreist reflects on his mother’s unique abilities:
En fait, ma mere n’a jamais refuse de m’aider. Durant sa vie, elle a gagné beaucoup Moins d’argent que ma tante Marian ou moi, mais c’est toujours elle qui, en cas de besoin, nous servait de banquier. Elle devait savoir gérer ses aaffaires mieux que nous!12
10 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 37.
11 Alan Keiler, Marian Anderson: A Singer’s Journey (New York: Scribner, 2000), 95.
12 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 43.
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Actually, my mom never refused to help me. During her life [time], she earned much less money than my Aunt Marian or me, but it was always her, when we needed it, who would act as a banker. She must to have known how to handle her business better than us!
Mrs. Ethel DePreist, while caring for her elderly mother, also managed the financial affairs for her sister, Marian Anderson as she concertized throughout the world.
Mrs. DePreist was perhaps able to envision that music would be the future choice of her only child, “Jimmy” as it had been the choice for her eldest sister. She was determined that he would receive the best education and preparation:
His mother, was determined that he would get the best education possible,sent him to the old, highly rated Thaddeus Stevens Elementary School, at 13th and Spring Gardens Street, a considerable trek from his house, and later he won entrance to Central High [School], an even longer trek…13
Figure 2. Mrs. Ethel Anderson DePreist from The Papers of Marian Anderson at The Rare Book & Manuscript Library of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Libraries at the University of Pennsylvania
13 Leonard W. Boasberg, “Today, Another Side of Conductor James DePreist.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 24 June 1987.
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Her wisdom and patience, no doubt stemmed from her own mother, Mrs. Anna
(Annie) Delilah Rucker Anderson, who undoubtedly passed on to him her greatest understanding in encouragement and development of his spiritual life. She, too had experienced many obstacles but had fortitude and remained resilient. She passed this dependence on faith on to her daughters: Marian, Ethel and Alyse, and no doubt, on to her sole grandchild, Jimmy. When a crisis arose, it was the calm maternal voice of Ethel
Anderson DePreist that placed everything in perspective for the life of her son. It was this voice that no doubt calmed him during a rehearsal and performance of his first orchestral piece in 1961.
The opportunity to write a musical composition was a tremendous opportunity for him, and then to have it played by members of the Philadelphia Orchestra was even more fortuitous. However, as happens with any tyro, there were perhaps mistakes in the parts, and as conductor and composer, DePreist felt the full force of this common setback. The composition had been scrutinized by Persichetti, but there were apparently several problems. At the rehearsal, something indeed went awry. DePreist recalls the events:
Le ballet commençait à prendre forme. Tel qu’il avauit été entendu avec Nadia, je l’orchestrais pour dix-huit musiciens. Un mois avant la première, Nadia me telephone. <
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The ballet started to take shape. As it had been agreed with Nadia [Chilkowsky], I was orchestrating it for 18 musicians. A month before the premiere, Nadia called me. “We have got lucky, Jimmy. I am very happy. We will have members of the Philadelphia Orchestra to play. Fifty musicians, can you believe it! This is fantastic.” For me, it was not that fantastic. I had to modify all the orchestrations. I asked for my friend’s help in order to transcribe the scores that I had composed for each instrument. It was [both] a laborious and difficult [task], and as time went by [I realized] I couldn’t do it alone. There were many mistakes in the parts; and I was way too late [to correct them]. During the rehearsal with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, we discovered the mistakes, one after the other. The first violin [concertmaster] was outraged. “You should have more respect for us. Really!” I was sorry, and I was seriously beginning to doubt that I could complete the order. I came back home, walking, very slowly. I was desperate. I was taking time to think, to find a solution.
In further reflection, DePreist continues,
Je montrai a mon professeur, Vincent Persichetti, le ballet que j’etais en train de composer. Il trouva mon travail interessant.15
I [had] showed my teacher, Vincent Persichetti, the ballet that I was composing. He thought that my work was interesting.
On the eve of the premiere of this, his first musical composition, ‘Vision of America,’ with Nadia Chilkowsky and the Academy of Dance of Philadelphia, DePreist in his moments of frustration and despair, had resigned in his mind to stop the project from going forth:
En arrivant a la maison, je confiai ma detresse a ma mere; <
When I arrived home, I confided my distress to my mother, “I am going to cancel my project in the musical domain. I spent this afternoon, the most awful moment in my life. There were way too many problems with the score. The musicians
14 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 43-44.
15 Ibid, 41.
16 Ibid, 43.
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were discouraged. And it is not my fault. I thought my music was finalized! I still can’t understand why it doesn’t work.”
Mrs. Ethel DePreist’s greatest encouragement to her son, would continue to have an effect on him, especially in future events. In a profound yet concrete way, she said simply of the situation,
C’est une situation temporaire, Jimmy. Je vais prier. La priere est plus puissante que les members de l’orchestre.17
It is a temporary situation, Jimmy. I am going to pray. Prayer is more powerful than the orchestra musicians.
Mrs. DePreist intervened with ‘fervent and effectious prayer,’ James DePreist faced the hindrance and did not retreat, and the concert went on as scheduled. In a description of the event, he said:
Je n’en croyais pas mes Oreilles. Une transformation radical. Et il etait de meme avec tous les members de l’orchestre. Nous avons joue et ce fut excellent. Pourtant la musique etait identique a cet après-midi! Rien n’avait ete modifie. Meme le critique le plus important de Philadelphie a mentionne le success de la soiree.18
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. A radical transformation. It was the same thing with all the other members of the orchestra. We played and it was excellent. Yet the music was identical to this afternoon’s! Nothing was modified. Even the most important music critic in Philadelphia mentioned the success of the evening.
It was this evening in 1961 that would launch the career of James Anderson DePreist.
While in rehabilitation from the effects of polio, he met his first wife, Betty
Louise Childress, who was his physical therapist at the Magee Memorial Hospital in
Philadelphia. She became his wife on August 10, 1963, and their marriage produced two daughters, Jennifer and Tracy. DePreist says,
17 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage, Inc, 1980), 43.
18 Ibid, 45.
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Jusqu’à maintenant, Presque à tout niveau, ma vie s’est inscrite sous le signe de la chance. Peut-être que ma plus grande fortune repose sur la presence fidèle de toutes ces femmes remarquables qui m’ont entouré et soutenu…ma grand-mère, ma tante Marian…Betty, qui a donné chaque parcelle de sa personne pour que se realize mon rêve et qui qui est une mere exemplaire, s’il se trouve un tel modèle. Tracy et Jennifer, mes deux soleils [fille] soleils. Elles me sont une source intarissable d’émerveillement, de joies et de délices…19
Up until now, on almost every level, my life was written under the sign of luck. Maybe my biggest luck lies of the faithful presence of all these remarkable women who surrounded me and supported me…my grandmother, my mother, my Aunt Marian…Betty, who gave every piece of herself so that my dream could come true, and who is a model mother, if there is such a model. Tracy and Jennifer, my two [daughters]. They are an inexhaustible source of amazement, joy and delight.
This first marriage would end in divorce. However, as his career moved forward, he would face more challenges and obstacles, and he would meet someone who would become his constant source of strength and inspiration, his second wife, Ginette Grenier.
Perseverance and Overcoming Formidable Obstacles
James Anderson DePreist is no stranger to overcoming mammoth physical, social or personal challenges. His family would serve him well as he fought the many battles that presented themselves. The onset of polio may have discouraged a lesser person, but
DePreist forged ahead, looking not at the negative impact, but the positive resolve. From an interview in 1965, John Mollenson says in conversation with DePreist,
But polio, though it eventually hindered the use of his legs, didn’t get Mr. DePreist down. His favorite word, to judge from an interview…is “positive.” Far from home in a Bangkok hospital, the fever and paralysis were not exactly positive things, but they did not present “an emotional, and mental problem,” he [James DePreist] said. “Perhaps that came from a religious upbringing, to the faith I learned from my mother [Mrs. Ethel Anderson DePreist] and Aunt Marian—if you are able to accept the positive things, you must also be able to accept the negative.”20
19 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 161.
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In 1976, he was invited to become the music director of L’Orchestre
Symphonique de Québec, a position normally reserved for Frenchmen. Faced with new confrontations, DePreist was now poised to finally direct his own orchestra, albeit in a community steeped in French European traditions. His mettle would be challenged, and again he would reflect on the ‘faith learned’ from his grandmother, mother and aunts.
Faith and fate were now pivotal, as he reflected on his ascent in the symphonic music world. Now in Canada, he reminisced on how he got there and through which channels:
…je fis mes débuts avec les orchestrers de Philadelphie, New York, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Chicago, Pittsburgh et Boston…tout en poursuivant, parallèlement, ma carrier en Europe. Bon nombre de ces engagements ne m’auraient pas été devolus si le hazard ne m’avait place au bon endroit, au bon moment21
…I did my debuts with the orchestras of Philadelphia, New York, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Boston…while I was still completing, in parallel,my career in Europe. Many of these engagements would not have been possible if fate had not placed me in the right place at the right moment.
But now, James Anderson DePreist, an African American musician with polio, was chosen to lead this ensemble. Because of his success in this position, in 1977 he was chosen as the Musician of the Year by High Fidelity/Musical America magazine. Here is an account written by Jack Hiemenz, outlining the reasons why DePreist was chosen for this honor:
ANY CANADIAN MUSICIAN could tell you why L’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, the county’s oldest orchestra, would never dream of hiring an American as its music director. Since the orchestra is largely subsidized by the Canadian government, there exist strong pressures for it to provide a forum for native music and musicians. Moreover, Quebec (sic) city is the very heartland of French nationalist sentiment: its orchestra’s brochure is written in French only, and the Canadian pieces on this season’s program are French Canadian pieces. Given
20 John Mollenson, “Music Winner: Nephew of Marian Anderson.” The New York Herald Tribune, 3 January 1965.
21 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 147.
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Canada’s suspicions of an all-too-intrusive American culture, and given French Canada’s determination to maintain its cultural identity against an outside English-speaking world, it is hard to imagine that region’s leading orchestra chosing (sic) as its leader anyone other than another French Canadian – or failing that, to bypass the rest of North American continent entirely, and to bring in a Frenchman. Instead, mirabile dictum, they have brought in an American, and a black one to boot.22
There were concerns about verbal communication, but DePreist challenged himself and promised the orchestra and management to start his tenure as music director by communicating the rehearsals in French. DePreist recalls the process of events, leading up to his appointment as music director of L’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec:
C’est la meme année, pour un motif semblable, que je me retrouvai invite à l’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec pour la première fois. La reaction du public au cours de ce concert fut étonnante. La saison suivante, on m’offrait de revenir pour deux semaines…L’exécutif de l’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec était à la recherché d’un directeur musical. Lorsqu’on m’approcha afin de vérieier si le poste m’intéressait, je me montrai quelque peu hesitant. Je ne parlais pas du tout français. Il y eut vote chez les musiciens. Je fus choisi. Le contrat fut signé en 1975. On donna une conference deresse à l’Auberge des Gouverneurs; j’y lus mon discours en français. Je tenais à prouver au public québécois mon désir d’apprendre leur langue. Un member de l’orchestre, afin d’exprimer son mécontentement face à ma nomination à Québec, publia une letter dans le quotidian Le Soleil. Selon lui, l’OSQ [l’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec] devait avoir à sa direction un chef francophone. Ce fut la seule objection. Je la relevai comme un défi. Quand je parus devant les musiciens, je m’empressai de leur promettre, dans un français très maladroit, que j’apprendrais leur langue. < The same year, for the same reason, I was invited to guest conduct L’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec for the first time. The audience[‘s] reaction during the concerts was surprising. The following season, I was asked to come back for two weeks…The executive of L’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec was looking for a music director. When they contacted me to [inquire] if the position interested me, 22 Hiemenz, Jack. “Musician of the Month: James DePreist.” High Fidelity/Musical America xxvii/3, March 1977. MA-8. 23 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 147-152. 42 I was a little bit hesitant. I could not speak French at all. There was a vote amongst the musicians. I was chosen. The contract was signed in 1975. A press conference was given at the Governor’s Inn; I read my speech in French. I wanted to prove to the [Québec] audience that I strongly wanted to learn their language. A member of the orchestra, in order to express his discontent about my appointment in Québec, published a letter in the daily newspaper Le Soleil. According to him, L’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec should have a [F]rancophone conductor at its head. It was the only objection. I took it as a challenge. When I presented myself in front of the musicians, I hurried to promise them in a very awkward French, that I would learn their language. “I agree. You need a director who can speak French. I am still only a guest conductor. Wait! When I return as your musical director, I will speak French. Barbara Novak in the Canadian magazine, Music Magazine, put this all in perspective, as she writes about the appointment of DePreist, as music director of the L’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec: It is obvious that DePreist is the right man in the right place. He is a black man of towering height, genial disposition and with the ability to embrace the French language and culture, if not the nationalist sentiments.24 In further reflection on the benefits of learning French, DePreist shares with Noel Hynd of The Pennsylvania Gazette in this article: The year I went to Quebec (sic), was the same year that the Parti Quebeçois came to power. There were some separatists in the orchestra who didn’t have anything against me personally or musically, but they felt that the director of their orchestra should speak French. I told them that I agreed, and that when I became their music director, I would speak French. That was a special goal that I set for myself. And I did it. First, I got a book that dealt fundamentally and in a marvelous way with grammar…I worked and worked and worked. And then I had friends, young people at the radio station [at Laval University] who, for their humorous delight, invited me to come and do on-air interviews in French. Fifteen minutes every Saturday. And they would correct me on the air-“Mais, non, Jimmy! Ce n’est pas ca”-so that everybody in Quebec was aware of my efforts to learn French…things got better.25 24 Barbara Novak, “James DePreist Awakens Quebec City.” Music Magazine, January/February 1979, Vol.2, No.1. 25 Noel Hynd, “The Compass of His Soul.” The Pennsylvania Gazette: Alumni Magazine of the University of Pennsylvania, Vol.91, no.5, March 1993, 24. 43 Continuing in the conversation, Learning French also bore two unexpected dividends. Number one: he met and married his second wife, Ginette, a French Canadian whose family speaks only French. And number two: “I was thinking of learning in terms of a livelihood and loving the French language, I had not the foggiest idea that, for the 1994-95 season, I would become the music director of Monte Carlo Philharmonic. The only reason that’s even conceivable is that I spoke French…26 Again, fate, or being in the right place at the right time, would become very true for James Anderson DePreist. Soon after his appointment as music director of the orchestra, Figure 3. Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana with James DePreist, from the papers of James DePreist at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library of the Van Pelt- Dietrich Libraries of the University of Pennsylvania. he would meet a French Canadian radio producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Company, the lady who was to become his second wife, Ginette Grenier: 26 Noel Hynd, “The Compass of His Soul.” The Pennsylvania Gazette: Alumni Magazine of the University of Pennsylvania, Vol.91, no.5, March 1993, 26. 44 Her father wanted her to be a singer. She wanted to be a nurse. Instead, she went to work as a production secretary for the French-speaking Canadian Broadcasting (Corporation) in Quebec (sic) City, the heart of French-speaking Canada.27 She would become essential in making DePreist’s life successful; she was to be an inspiration as well as one who uniquely understood the formidable obstacles he faced and how to succeed over these challenges. David Stabler writes about their meeting: Their romance was a secret, a tour de force of deception…no one knew…Then, one day, [Ginette] Grenier was helping her sister-in-law pick out a wedding dress. ”After we choose one for you, you’ll have to help me choose one,” Grenier said casually. There was screaming and tears. Who was he? Grenier took a breath. “Well, he’s not Catholic, he’s not Canadian, he’s got two children, he’s black and he’s handicapped.”28 The couple wedded in two separate ceremonies in 1980, a religious service in Philadelphia, and a civil service in Canada. Understanding better than anyone the obstacles faced by DePreist from all aspects of his life, Ginette too had experienced physical as well as social obstacles that she overcame. David Stabler further states in this interview with Ginette DePreist: Flexibility on her side comes, perhaps from overcoming former obstacles: a car accident at the age of 24 that shattered her facial and femur bones; forging a career in a male-dominated industry…29 Together, they would forge a partnership that has served humanity and the arts in a very unique and powerful way. This unique partnership, defines ‘The Spirit of Triumph,’ overcoming obstacles and adversities together. Ginette DePreist sees her role-and it is a role-as cultural attaché, political liaison, hostess, guardian, public relations officer and champion to her husband…Ginette DePreist rarely misses dress rehearsals, following the music with score in hand. 27 David Stabler, “Who Conducts the Conductor? Couple Forges Close, Old-Fashion Union Despite Differing Likes, Backgrounds.” The Oregonian, 9 October 1988. 28 Ibid. 29 Ibid. 45 She attends every performance, sipping champagne with big-time donors at intermission, offering an assessment of the concert afterward. She accompanies her husband on all out-of-town trips. She escorts politicians to concerts, throws dinner parties for guest artists and sees that influential people get involved in symphony business. She is her husband’s companion in all things…”It’s what I want to do. I choose to embrace it…Jimmy calls me his artistic consultant.”30 Fig. 4. James and Ginette Grenier DePreist from Jim Svejda, The DePreist Years “I should have been content to know from the distant safety of an unpursued beginning, that you exist…” 31 The first written impression of Ginette Grenier DePreist, as captured in the poetry of James Anderson DePreist, from This Precipice Garden. 30 David Stabler, “Who Conducts the Conductor? Couple Forges Close, Old-Fashion Union Despite Differing Likes, Backgrounds.” The Oregonian, 9 October 1988. 31 James A. DePreist, This Precipice Garden (Portland: University of Portland, 1986), 50. 46 Importance of Good Training & Opportunities to Gaining Experience Winning the Dimitri Mitropoulous International Music Competition for Conductors, and being invited to be an assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic for the 1964 to 1965 season, DePreist reflected: Une semaine après le concours, je reçus une lettre de Leonard Bernstein dans laquelle il disait avoir été impressionné par mon travail et croire que, vraisemblablment, tout ce qui me manquait était de l’expérience. Ce témoignage fut, pour moi, la belle des recompenses après les efforts investis lors du concours. J’avais peut-être rate, mais un directeur musical pour qui j’avais beaucoup d’admiration, m’avait remarqué et croyait en moi. C’était beaucoup.32 One week after the contest [Dimitri Mitropoulous International Music Competition for Conductors], I received a letter from Leonard Bernstein in which he said he was impressed by my work, and that he believed that what I was lacking was experience. This testimony, was for me the best [forward] after all the efforts I had put into that contest. Maybe I had failed, but for a music director whom I had a lot of admiration for, had noticed me and believed in me. That meant a lot. Subsequently, he was asked to be the principal guest conductor of the Symphony of the New World, of which Benjamin Steinberg was the music director. Même si j’avais élu domicile à Rotterdam, je ne devais pas perdre contact avec le continent américain. J’acceptai de diriger quelques concerts, entre autres avec le Symphony of the New World, un orchestra professionnel new-yorkais. Comme je reçus une excellente critique dans le New York Times, les gérants de l’orchestre me nommèrent chef invite principal. A chaque saison, j’aurais un concert à diriger avec le Symphony of the New World au Lincoln Center. Ce n’était pas beaucoup, mais cela suffisait pour garder mon nom devant la critique américaine.33 Even if I had settled in Rotterdam, I couldn’t lose my contact with the American continent. I agreed to conduct several concerts, amongst others with the Symphony of the New World, a professional orchestra from New York. As I received an excellent critique in the New York Times, the orchestra[‘s management] appointed me principal guest conductor. During each season, I 32 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 92. 33 Ibid, 126. 47 would have a concert to conduct with the Symphony of the New World in Lincoln Center. It was not much, but it was enough to keep my name before the American critics. With the Symphony of the New World, DePreist would share conducting duties with Everette Lee and George Byrd. Bernstein had always insisted that ‘experience’ was the key to one’s success, and attempted to assist DePreist in getting appointed to an orchestra to do so. Unfortunately, orchestras were not quite ready to be led by an African American, so DePreist followed the path of other conductors, not only conductors of color, but of Americans going to Europe, to train and get the necessary experience in leading orchestras. He had discussed his career options with Antal Dorati, and Maestro Dorati advised DePreist to seek ‘music and not popularity.’ < “In life, there are more important things than money or popularity, If you really want a career as a music conductor, you have to build it, piece by piece. To achieve this, you need patience and lots of experience.” This meeting with Dorati would have a more profound impact in the near future, as DePreist went forth in search of a career in classical music. Friends in High Places, The Big Break Because of his aunt’s career, James DePreist was privileged to meet many notable musicians associated with Marian Anderson such as Pablo Casals, at the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico. In Allan Keiler’s biography on Miss Anderson he writes, 34 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 98. 48 [Marian] Anderson brought her nephew, Jimmy, to San Juan with her, as a graduation present [1958], and to share with him the unique atmosphere surrounding [Pablo] Casals and the festival musicians.35 Also, he would meet George Szell when Szell was guest conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra with Miss Anderson as soloist as well as Dimitri Mitropoulous, who was the conductor of the Metropolitan Opera the night of Miss Anderson’s historic debut. DePreist was in attendance on this evening as recorded by Alan Keiler: …when he was 18 and attended her [Marian Anderson] Metropolitan debut. The debut, at age 57 when other singers have retired, had been delayed because of racism. It was 19 years after her New York recital debut and 25 years after her successful London and German debuts. She sang Ulrica in “Un Ballo in Maschera.” She was the first black soloist at the Met.36 Mitropoulous provided the aspiring young conductor with both visual and aural inspiration. It was here on this historic occasion, January 7, 1955, that started the decision process for DePreist, a process he would follow fervently for decades to come. Mitropoulous, aware of the significance of the evening, was still dedicated to the art of the music, not to the other extraneous events of the evening. Nineteen-fifty five began for Mitropoulous in the Metropolitan Opera House, where he conducted Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera (sic). While opera fans anticipated great vocalism from the main singers—Zinka Milanov, Roberta Peters, Leonard Warren, and Richard Tucker—the attention of all America was focused on one of the supporting singers: at the age of fifty-two [she often used February 27, 1902 as opposed to February 27, 1897], contralto Marian Anderson was about to become the first black singer to appear at the Met in its seventy-one- year history.37 35Alan Keiler, Marian Anderson: A Singer’s Journey (New York: Scribner, 2000), 301. 36 Patrice Rice, “St. Louis Symphony A Joy For Guest Conductor.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 23 April 1989. 37 Walter R. Trotter, Priest of Music: The Life of Dimitri Mitropoulous (Portland: Amadeus Press, 1995), 370. 49 Before his departure to the Far East in 1962, sensing he needed direction and guidance in his career as a conductor, DePreist called on his aunt to arrange a meeting with Leonard Bernstein. With the greatest admiration for Bernstein, DePriest sought sage advice and guidance as well as encouragement: Seul, je n’aurais pu obtenir ce rendez-voous. Mais l’importance que cela prenait pour moi, me fit le demander a ma tante. Je ne voulais pas que ma carrier, --celle que je finirais par choisir--, soit due a Marian Anderson. Je me refusais de gagner quelque faveur parce que j’etais le neveu d’une contralto reconnue. Non, ce que je souhaitais n’etait pas une entrée dans le monde artistique, mais une simple rencontre, une consultation aupres d’un specialist que je jugeais des plus experimentes.38 Alone, I could have not gotten that appointment. But the importance it had to me made me ask my aunt. I did not want my career that I was going to be choosing to be due to Marian Anderson. I refused to gain any favor because I was the nephew of the famous contralto. No, what I wanted was not entry into the artistic world, but a simple meeting, a consultation with a specialist that I thought was the most experienced. In his meeting with Bernstein, DePreist received the ultimate challenge, one that changed the course of the life, career, and music of this future music director and orchestra conductor. Bernstein said, “You’ll find out all the things you can do and the one thing you can’t do without,” Bernstein told him. In other words, accept all the musical challenges that come along. “If you are a conductor,” Bernstein advised, “you will eventually emerge as one.”39 In 1972, Antal Dorati asked DePreist to join him in Washington, D.C., as the associate conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra, and imparted great wisdom of his most important career development philosophies; such as this from Dorati’s own 38 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 49. 39 Noel Hynd, “The Compass of His Soul.” The Pennsylvania Gazette: Alumni Magazine of the University of Pennsylvania, Vol.91, no.5, March 1993. 50 important philosophy of conducting. This would be in addition to the very wise advice DePreist was given after winning the Dimitri Mitropoulous International Music Competition for Conductors: The conductor’s personal relationship with his orchestra is an enigma – and a very difficult and sensitive matter altogether…By and large, I think the conductor’s knowledge of his material, honesty of purpose and clarity of instruction (verbal and gestured) will convince an orchestra, and will produce good and willing collaborators…The rule is: know what you want to say, and say it briefly and, if you can, not dully. If you bore your collaborators, you’re lost. Don’t ask for anything that you cannot get, but insist on getting what you have asked for. Don’t lose patience or your temper. Let others lose theirs before you do, if they must. Do not try to be omniscient, you aren’t. Admit your mistakes. But do not make so many that admitting them would be embarrassing. Do not command, but suggest. Do not order a repeat playing of a section or any other correction without explaining, in a few words, your reason for it…The conductor plays no instrument. He gives signs to other people. The more discreetly he can do that, the better for them, for himself and for his listeners. What the conductor’s movements must be is to be understandable to the players. The clearer the better. Clear beat is a skill – a small skill at that…40 This philosophy of conducting was very important to the development of DePreist’s music career. He considered Maestro Antal Dorati to be his most accessible and important mentor, colleague, and friend. More importantly, advice given by Dorati would shape and direct the professional life of DePreist for decades to come: ‘There will be careers that will be much flashier than yours; people will zip by. Don’t focus on careers – other people’s or your own. You have to do things that are prudent, but focus on the music-making and let the career take care of itself.’41 The Dutch conductor Edo de Waart and DePreist were fellow contestants in the Dimitri Mitropoulous International Music Competition for Conductors. They shared the gold medal with four others: Ricardo del Carmen of Guatemala, Jacques Houtmann of 40 Antal Dorati, Notes of Seven Decades (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981), 315-317. 41 Wynne Delacoma, “James DePreist Keeps Tight Hold on Strings.” Chicago Sun –Times, 17 May 1992. 51 France, Lawrence Leighton Smith of the United States and Niklaus Wyss of Switzerland. Serving as assistant conductors of the New York Philharmonic along with Frenchman, Jacques Houtmann, and DePreist and de Waart forged a friendship that would have a major impact on his career. After serving his assistantship with the New York Philharmonic and Bernstein, DePreist went to Rotterdam, The Netherlands, to establish residency, hoping to start a career in Europe. Eventually, with a recommendation from Edo de Waart to the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, an opportunity presented itself, and thus, the professional career of James Anderson DePreist was off to an outstanding start. DePreist reflected, J’assistai à une repetition que Edo De Waart tenait avec son orchestre de quatre- vingt-dix musiciens [The Netherland Wind Ensemble]. J’aurais bien voulu être à sa place, avoir sa chance. J’avais hate que ma carrier se precise. Je me sentais tellement partagé; une chamber d’hôtel aux Pays-Bas, une maison à New York. Je ne svais vraiment plus quoi faire…Au début de septembre, nous étions installés. Je visais, dans l’immédiat, à obtenir un engagement avec un orchestra impressionnant. Il me semblait que c’était le meilleur moyen pour un jeune chef de se faire connaitre et de s’assurer d’assurer d’autres offers. Par l’intermédiare de Edo, je rencontrai les gérants de l’Orchestre de Rotterdam. On ne pouvait rien m’offrir. Un peu plus tard, Edo me proposa de le remplacer pour un concert qu’il devait annuler en raison d’un autre engagement à Londres. < I attended a rehearsal that Edo de Waart was having with his orchestra of 19 musicians [The Netherlands Wind Ensemble]. I would have liked to be in his place, to have his luck. I couldn’t wait for my career to [become] more focused. I felt so hesitant; a hotel room in the Netherlands, a house in New York. I really didn’t know what to do anymore…At the beginning of September, we were settled. I was aiming for the near future, at obtaining an engagement with an impressive orchestra. It seemed to me the best way for a young conductor to get famous and get other offers. Through Edo [de Waart], I met the directors [management] of the Orchestra of Rotterdam [The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra]. They could 42 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 124-125. 52 not offer me anything. A little later, Edo proposed to replace him for a concert he had to cancel, because of another concert [engagement] in London. “The directors [orchestra management] of the Orchestra of Rotterdam [Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra] approved my choice. The concert would be given on 22 February 1969.” It was still very far away, but, it was a first engagement. A secure[d] offer. I thanked Edo very sincerely for the opportunity that he was giving me. Once again, these words, Mon rêve était devenu une réalité. J’étais reconnu comme chef d’orchestre et je n’avais plus à craidre pour mon avenir. 43 My Dream was now a reality. I was recognized as head of the orchestra, and I no longer had a fear for my future. After many futile attempts, trials and tribulations, the career of James Anderson DePreist was heading for stardom, as well as history. Although DePreist stands on his own merits as a musician, poet and conductor, the importance of his aunt, who had given him recordings, scores and other forms of personal support needs to be mentioned. Her contributions, professionally and familial, also played a very important part in the development of his career. Most importantly, the many doors she opened, the careers for which she is responsible, and the continuation of her stellar legacy rest with her maternal nephew, James Anderson DePreist and his legacy: …on July 9 and 10 [1966], in a concert at Grant Park, Illinois, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by DePreist, [Marian] Anderson sang for the last time in public. She narrated [Aaron] Copland’s Preamble For a Solemn Occasion and, at the end of the program, offered a group of spirituals [orchestral arrangements by James Anderson DePreist]. In addition, DePreist conducted Dvorak’s Seventh Symphony and the Suite from Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé. For half a century, since Anderson’s performance that summer afternoon in 1915 43 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 138. 53 when she sang with the other students of Mary Saunders Patterson, music had been her deepest passion and sacred responsibility. It was left to her nephew, Jimmy, now to embody those ideals.44 While battling against the ravaging effects of polio in 1962, he recalled another person who came his way, almost immediately upon his return to the United States; his pastor, Reverend James Kirkland of the Union Baptist Church, where the Anderson family had been members since the early 1900s. DePreist recalls the visit and strong encouragement from the minister, Je suis reste trios jours dans le salon a me faire dorloter par ma mere, ma grand- mere et ma tante Alyse. Le premier visiteur que je recus fut le minister baptiste, le Reverend Kirkland! Quand il a commence a me dire < I stayed for three days in the living room, being taken care of by my mother, my grandmother and my Aunt Alyse. The first visitor that I got was the Baptist minister, the Rev. Kirkland! When he started to tell me, “You will walk as you did before…” I did not have to listen to the rest, for I remembered [his affirmations], “Put your hand in hand…REACH UP!” Rev. Kirkland believed that DePreist would walk again. With the aid of canes, braces, and other devices, he did indeed rise to the challenge. By 1962, the African American conductor Dean Dixon had long since left the United States in search of the oasis that would allow him to practice his craft without any social barriers. Dixon met with great success in Europe, as he triumphed over adversities and obstacles too. Even in the 1950s DePreist applied to a predominantly white northern school, an Ivy League school at that, and was admitted, 44 Allan Keiler, Marian Anderson: A Singer’s Journey (New York: Scribner, 2000), 320-321. 45 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 87. 54 Je fis une demande d’admission au Wharton School of Finance and Commerce de ‘Université de Pennsylvanie afin de me preparer à des etudes en droit. Il ne me vint pas à l’idée que j’aurais pu être refuse. Je n’avais pas eu la prudence de m’inscrire à un autre endroit comme le faisaient la majorité des étudiants. Encore là, j’étais certain qu’il n’y aurait pas de problems!46 I filed an application for admission to the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania in order to prepare myself for studies in law. It never occurred to me that I could have been refused admission to the school. I did not take the precaution to apply to another school, as most students did. Once again, I was certain that there would be no problems, I got lucky and got admitted without any difficulties. The dearth of black conductors and female conductors, posed a problem for any aspiring young minority conductor, as there were no role models ‘per se.’ However, DePreist would overcome this challenge in the ‘Spirit of Triumph.’ However, with adversity and challenges come pain and turmoil. DePreist said, I would be hard pressed to cite justifications for saying I’ve been deprived of opportunities. Many of my colleagues who are not African-American would be happy to have had the opportunities I have. In 1964, if there was a prejudice I faced in the United States it was against American conductors. This was before the emergence of Michael Tilson Thomas, Jimmy Levine, and Leonard Slatkin. Lenny [Bernstein] and Thomas Schippers were the exceptions. Otherwise, no one in the United States was giving American conductors serious opportunities; they were asked only to do pops concerts. If some European conductor were ill and there was a Mahler symphony to be done, it would never occur to someone to give it to an American. And so there was nobody here who’d had a chance to develop experience to do such a thing even if they were called. When I went to Europe [in 1967] I found a complete openness to the possibility of building a serious career. It was the manager of the Rotterdam Philharmonic who said, ‘For your first concert we don’t want you to do a light program, because people will think that’s all you can do.’ That was my speech! So my program included the Schubert “Unfinished” and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. This was certainly not the heaviest program one could imagine, but it was not one I would ever have been offered in the United States.47 46 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc., 1980), 31. 47 James Reel, “An Interview with James DePreist.” Fanfare, November/December 1995, Vol. 19. No.2. 55 Although rare, DePreist had several black predecessors who had charted paths of opportunities for him as a symphonic orchestra conductor. These include W. Rudolph Dunbar (1907-1988) born in Nabaclis, British Guiana, was the first person of African descent to conduct such august ensembles as the Berlin Philharmonic and London Philharmonic Orchestras. Dunbar trained at the Institute of Musical Art (The Juilliard School) as a clarinetist, and was founder of the world renowned School of Modern Clarinet Playing in London in the 1940s. Dunbar also published Treatise on Clarinet Playing, which went to at least 10 editions. Dunbar also was a much sought after clarinet soloist and was once invited by Claude Debussy’s widow to perform in her home in Paris: His interest in European classical music brought him to London, by way of Paris where Claude Debussy’s widow invited venerable ears to hear him [W. Rudolph Dunbar] at a recital in her home in the early thirties.48 As a conductor, Dunbar had several major accomplishments, especially for a ‘man of color’ in the era in which he lived. …Dunbar brought off an impressive number of “firsts,” among them, first black man and youngest of any race (at that time) to conduct the London Philharmonic (1942), first black man to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic (1945), first person to conduct a Festival of American Music in Paris (1945), first black man to conduct orchestras in Poland (1959) and Russia (1964), and first conductor to promote in Europe the compositions of black composers, particularly those of William Grant Still.49 Dunbar studied composition in Paris with Paul Vidal, and conducting in Vienna with the notable conductor and scholar of the Austro-German traditions, Felix 48 “Obituary of Rudolph Dunbar: A Conductor’s Baton in His Knapsack.” The Guardian (London), 7 July 1988. 49 “In Retrospect: W. Rudolph Dunbar: Pioneering Orchestra Conductor,” The Black Perspective in Music, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Fall, 1981), 193-225. 56 Weingartner, once a student of Franz Liszt. Weingartner, a leading published authority on Beethoven, served as soloist for the Beethoven’s 5th Piano Concerto, “Emperor” with Dunbar conducting. With these successes, it would seem that Dunbar’s career would be on a continual up-rise, as he impressed both orchestra musicians as well as very critical Austro-German audiences. In an article about his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, an unidentified critic stated, Rudolph Dunbar, a slender young Negro who learned his music in New York, led the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra today in a concert of classical music and American syncopation. He won an ovation of astonishing warmth. Members of the orchestra which has been known to ignore the conductor and play music its own way, agreed that Dunbar was a musical top-notcher. The audience of 3,500 German civilians, with a sprinkling of Allied servicemen, applauded Dunbar’s conducting of symphonies by Tchaikovsky and Von Weber (sic), but saved its loudest cheers for something Berliners had never heard before---the syncopated strains of composer William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony…Afterwards …An old German in the audience, looking at Dunbar remarked to his wife: “And I thought they were a decadent race.” Dunbar, a graduate of Columbia [U]niversity’s music school in New York, is the first Negro to wield a baton over the 65-year old Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.50 The reviews about Dunbar, a man who was a foreign correspondent for the Associated Negro Press as well as a correspondent for the Allied Forces in France were excellent. Dunbar would conduct other orchestras, such as the Hollywood Bowl, Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti and the Moscow State Symphony Radio and Television Orchestra. At the height of his conducting career, Dunbar enjoyed exceptional successes, but as fate would have it, these successes would be short-lived. Dunbar’s musical star faded into obscurity as is recorded in his printed obituary: 50 “In Retrospect: W. Rudolph Dunbar: Pioneering Orchestra Conductor,” The Black Perspective in Music, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Fall,1981), 204. 57 The post-war years took away much of the orchestral success and, though there were engagements with some US orchestras, the racism Dunbar appeared to have vaulted earlier on was cited by him as the reason for his failure to break through on to international rostrums. Dunbar became a case history of the prejudice meted out to others he had campaigned against; and his energies in later years were channeled into political fight against racism. Dunbar’s life seems to be the stuff movies are made of: perhaps one will be of his. –J C.51 Truly, a remarkable conducting pioneer, W. Rudolph Dunbar died in London on June 10, 1988. There were other conductors ‘of color’ who would be pioneers also. The American, George Byrd (1926-2010) who was born in Anson County, North Carolina, would be one. Graduating from the Juilliard School of Music in 1951, he found no orchestral conducting work in the United States and went on to the Paris Conservatory of Music and pursued further studies with Herbert von Karajan, maestro of the Berlin Philharmonic. In an article published in The New York Times in 1970, Byrd is referenced and quoted in discussing his plight: …George Byrd, a black American now living in Munich, who has conducted major orchestras in London, Paris and Berlin, and who writes with the air of one who has abandoned hope for an American career, “I have applied for several jobs as permanent conductor in Eastern and Western Europe and I am very keen on seeing who will actually engage me.”52 Byrd spent most of his career in Europe, but in 1967 was appointed as an assistant conductor for the American Ballet Theater in New York City. …A second appointment of significance was made by the American Ballet Theater, which selected George Byrd as one of its assistant conductors…Mr. Byrd is a native of North Carolina, but until he was engaged by the ballet company, he was virtually unknown in this country. The reasons are not hard to find…He 51 “Obituary of Rudolph Dunbar: A Conductor’s Baton in His Knapsack.” The Guardian (London), 7 July 1988. 52 Allen Hughes, “For Black Conductors, A Future? Or Frustration?” The New York Times, 15 March 1970. 58 began by studying, first at the Paris Conservatory and later with Herbert von Karajan, and then conducted concerts and operas in France, Belgium, Switzerland, England, West Germany, East Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland and Yugoslavia.53 Byrd’s appointment to the American Ballet was followed in 1968 by another African American, Henry Lewis (1932-1996), a graduate of University of Southern California, being named as the music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra originally known as the Newark Symphony Orchestra. Henry Lewis was the first black instrumentalist of any modern American major symphony orchestra, being appointed in 1948 at age 16 as a bassist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Lewis became the conductor of the 7th Army Symphony Orchestra in Germany from 1955 to 1956, and when he returned to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, he was appointed as assistant conductor (1961-1965) by Zubin Mehta. In February 1975, James DePreist commented about both the dearth of American as well as African American conductors as leaders of major orchestras: There was a time…when you didn’t see blacks conducting symphony orchestras because you didn’t see Americans conducting the major orchestras in this country. It’s the same way people feel about handbags and shoes and scarves – imported is better. You don’t begin by conducting in Boise, Idaho, and working your way up. Your Boise Idahos have to be in Europe. There’s a greater opportunity to learn about serious music abroad. Everybody is waiting for some stamp of approval; you know, get more experience and we’ll hire you.54 In the 1960’s, there was the emergence of Affirmative Action, a program which gave members of minority groups opportunities to achieve. DePreist believes fervently 53 Allen Hughes, “And Now There Are Three.” The New York Times, 17 March 1968, D19. 54 Maralyn Lois. Polak, “James DePreist: ‘I’m At Home At The Top.’” Today/The Philadelphia Inquirer, 9 February 1975. 59 that music is at the foremost and no socialized programs should be placed above the art. In his career, he has not focused on music specifically by African American composers or soloists; it has been all in reference to music. DePreist says, If I have to err, I’d rather err on the side of proper artistic reception rather than any kind of social reason. It’s possible that the symphony has a role as a social mechanism, but you have to be very careful you can compromise artistic considerations.55 Surrendering to any form of tokenism was simply not acceptable to James Anderson DePreist; it was music or nothing else. He is against choosing music based on race, ethnicity, or gender. I have never programmed pieces because of the ethnicity or the gender of the composer. This tends to lead to ghettoization and devalues the quality of the music. I think if I were a woman and a composer I would want my work considered for performance because of its quality, not for a concert ghettoized for women or ghettoized for blacks. There are legitimate ways to focus on the contributions of African-American artists, for instance as part of a Martin Luther King Day celebration. But in the main, the only way that music is going to be considered on its own merits is when it can stand without the aid of these special programs or special crutches. In that context it’s very important that works of outstanding African Americans or women should be conducted by conductors that are not necessarily African-American or women. My programming depends completely on whether I respond to the music or not. My friends who are African-American composers clearly know that if I play their music, it’s because I like their music.56 He is indeed following in the footsteps of his aunt Marian Anderson, who worked to remove racial overtones from the performance of music. Recalling his conducting debut in Washington, D.C., ironically at the same facility his Aunt Marian had been denied to sing at in 1939, DePreist says, 55 David Stabler, “James DePreist: Devil’s Advocate of Diversity.” The Oregonian, 5 September 1993. 56 James Reel, “An Interview with James DePreist.” Fanfare, November/December 1995, Vol. 19. No.2. 60 How incredibly hard it was for blacks in the days my aunt was building a career,” says DePreist, who recalls conducting at Washington’s Constitution Hall where his aunt was once denied a performance [1939] from DAR [Daughters of the American Revolution] pressure. “She was actually not allowed to sing, to do what she wanted in that building, even stay in a hotel, because she was black…And I realized how easy it was for me. Checking into a hotel. Doing what I wanted to do and not thinking about it. It seemed natural, almost automatic. I felt I belonged there as much as anybody else. Just like when I was going to Central [Central High School in Philadelphia] and there were only a handful of black students. It was moment of mixed emotions. I felt more privileged, yet angry. I realized it was not automatic for my aunt, and I almost resented the ease with which I was able to do it.57 In further reflection of his conducting debut with the Washington, D.C. based National Symphony Orchestra, DePreist says: I remember calling her that day I walked into Constitution Hall and thanking her for being the kind of person she is and for being the kind of person she was in the face of such circumstances…making it possible for so many people to see how stupid bigotry is.58 Speaking of his aunt in a 2002 interview on the Cable News Network, Mr. DePreist says, My Aunt Marian [Anderson] used to say that she wasn’t cut out for hand to hand combat. Her approach to life was to lead and fight by example of personality and character.59 In 1989, his mettle would be tested by a series of events occurring in the state of Michigan, especially as it related to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Several legislators, State Senator David Holmes and State Representative Morris Hood, Jr., threatened to withhold significant amounts of funding to the struggling Detroit Symphony unless more blacks were ‘immediately’ hired to its ranks. Conductor Michael 57 Maralyn Lois. Polak. “James DePreist: I’m At Home At The Top.” Today/The Philadelphia Inquirer, 9 February 1975. 58 Martin Clark, “Great Singer Faced Race Ban with Dignity.” Tempo/The Oregon Journal, 4 February 1982. 59 James A. DePreist. Interview on Cable News Network [CNN]. 2002. 61 Morgan, who served as an assistant conductor from 1986-1993 with the Chicago Symphony, wrote to the New York Times: “To negate our hard won achievements and carefully developed skills by suggesting that we should now be hired by color is to render meaningless an entire life’s work.” 60 The Detroit Symphony however immediately hired bassist Richard Robinson permanently to its bass section with no formal audition. In its defense of the ascribed solution, Detroit Symphony’s managing director, Deborah Borda stated, It was an action for survival, the final volley in a complex situation that had fomented for a decade and made the Detroit Symphony a symbol for racism in the community. Without Detroit’s response, the orchestra would have been forced into an immediate Chapter 11 because of the dire political and financial challenges it faced.61 With this hiring, artistic prerogatives were being challenged throughout the United States, as well as the world. This case in Detroit was a serious challenge to orchestras everywhere as DePreist remarks, As well-intentioned as they are, affirmative-action programs are based on the underlying assumption that blacks are not qualified musicians, that something special had to be done for them, which simply is not true.62 It was determined at this time of events that blacks composed a mere one percent of nearly 4,000 classical musicians that were playing in major orchestras of the United States. The basic argument here is, “You cannot legislate talent.” African Americans or people of color came to the Detroit Symphony and departed almost as soon as they 60 Michael Morgan, Letter. Orchestrating a Decline in the Arts. The New York Times, 11 April 1989. 61 K. Robert Schwarz, Black Maestros on the Podiums, But No Pedestals. The New York Times, 11 October 1982, sec. 2. 62 Terry Barnes, “The Classical World Resists Integration: Orchestras Are 1 Percent.” The Record (New Jersey), 13 November 1992. 62 arrived. The stigma of favoritism was too much to bear. Meanwhile, the Detroit Symphony found itself in need of replacing its music director’s position, and DePreist became a very important candidate. James DePreist, a black conductor who is the highly regarded music director of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, was approached by the Detroit Symphony to replace the departing [Günther Herbig], who will become music director of the Toronto Symphony. Mr. DePreist declined the offer. “It’s impossible for me to go to Detroit because of the atmosphere,” Mr. DePreist told the [Portland Oregonian]. “People mean well, but you fight for years to make race irrelevant, and now they are making race an issue.63 At the time of Richard Robinson’s hiring, former professor of cello at the University of Southern Mississippi, Rebekah Stark Johnson, was a touring member of the orchestra, and on tour in 1989, when this crisis erupted. In an interview, she puts in perspective the view of the orchestral players as well as the administration’s, concerning the hiring of Robinson, and the feelings toward DePreist: In my opinion, I really don’t think that DePreist had the international reputation that the [Detroit] Symphony was looking for when replacing [Günther] Herbig. They had such big name conductors for many years, and of course seeing that they chose [Neeme] Jarvi gives you a pretty good idea that they were needing someone with a big name and with lots of recording and international appeal. I never really heard anything of race being an issue with DePreist…And I never heard anyone make a reference to his race as an issue…As far as [Richard] Robinson was concerned…I know they needed extras (subs) for the European tour…I don’t know how they chose Robinson for that particular gig for the European tour. I am certain that he was probably qualified for the position, they (The Detroit Symphony) were very picky about who played with them, and I know they would not have had him play with them if they didn’t already know his playing. I think that while we were on tour that the threat of financial cuts was apparent if they did not hire an African American. I really don’t know how they made the choice, but they held a meeting, I believe in Madrid, and all the full time contracted members of the orchestra were expected to attend in order to vote. There was no discussion about this decision among the players of the orchestra…I 63 Isabel Wilkerson, “Discordant Notes in Detroit: Music and Affirmative Action.” The New York Times, 5 March 1989, Special to the New York Times. 63 just remember being in Germany, in Hamburg, and we found out that Robinson was suddenly a new member of the orchestra 64 Though it is apparent that racism exists, it has not been at the center of James DePreist’s thoughts. He has stood his ground, not to be molded into something or someone he is not. In denouncing the Detroit situation, DePreist says, It’s insulting and it defeats the purpose of one’s training, a musician’s engagement should not be the result of anything other than the quality of your music-making. If the assumption gets around that every African-American has gotten into an orchestra because of some compensatory program in which standards have been changed, that robs you of the prize you’re seeking.65 James DePreist’s concern is to make music, and all else is ‘ancillary.’ In the many years following his major appointments, the symphony ranks have filled with talented and competitive conductors of African descent including Harry Davidson, Leslie Dunner, William Eddins, Margaret Harris, Tania J. Leon, Kay George Roberts, Andre Raphael [Smith], Willie Anthony Waters and Thomas Wilkins, to name just a few. Several of the above-mentioned conductors share similar thoughts with DePreist, that race is irrelevant; it is ‘nationality’ that has posed its share of problems for these conductors’ careers. DePreist says further, Conductors are measured by the same yardstick as handbags…If it’s imported, ipso facto, it’s better…I don’t find myself worrying about that a useful expenditure of my time…It’s about making music. We’re not engaged in some grand social or political struggle. That’s ancillary.66 American born and trained conductors were indeed rare, but James DePreist 64 Johnson, Rebekah Stark, E-mail to the author. 20 February 2012. 65 K. Robert Schwarz, “Black Maestros on the Podiums, But No Pedestals.” The New York Times, 11 October 1982, sec. 2. 66 Mary Jane Alexander, “Blacks Still Few in Top ranks of Conducting.” The (Columbia, SC) State, 30 August 1992. 64 forged ahead with vision and aplomb, fully aware that there were strikes against him as he launched his career in conducting. DePreist basically stated that it was not necessarily racism that thwarted his immediate rise after winning the prestigious Dimitri Mitropoulous International Music Competition for Conductors, but the prejudice against American conductors. Being of African descent was never a concern, but being an American did pose several thought provoking moments. DePreist in a letter to the New York Times in response to an article by Robert Schwarz from October 11, 1992, entitled, “Black Maestros on the Podium, but No Pedestal” states, What self-respecting musician would really want to be engaged for reasons primarily other than artistic? In my view, any orchestra that engages a conductor, soloist or player because that individual is black not only offends the process but also demeans the musician and compromises the artistic integrity of the institution. Any prize artificially pushed toward our grasp is a prize not worth having.67 Many people along the way genuinely believed in the career aspirations of James Anderson DePreist; there have been many influences from his family down to Lazlo Halasz, who once served as a piano accompanist to Marian Anderson as well as Maestro Leonard Bernstein, who also tried to find a solution to eradicate racism in music as early as 1947. Mr. Bernstein in an article to the New York Times says, I believe that the prejudice which exists against the Negro everywhere becomes a double-barreled load in the field of music…No matter how much talent he starts with, that talent in the hands of incompetent teachers is often twisted and warped and stunted until the growing artist can no longer be helped because too many bad faults have been inculcated…The Negro discovers the reality of his situation at a very early stage in his development; and if his musical impulse is truly strong, he will naturally channel his talents in the direction of jazz and commercial music…There are no Negroes employed in the orchestras of the ballet or opera companies…At the City Center Opera Company, Laszlo Halasz has tried to lower the barrier by using Camilla Williams in appropriate roles…But there is an 67 James A. DePreist, Letter. ‘A Prize Not Worth Having.’ The New York Times, 25 October 1992. 65 enormous prerequisite to all this. First, the greatest good would come from removing from their psyches the stigma which makes them turn away from serious musical study. This is a social, not a musical problem. And that is why everything we can do to fight discrimination-in any form or field-will ultimately work toward ameliorating the musical situation.68 Indeed many persons contributed to the unfolding ‘of a work in progress,’ the life and career of this American conductor. DePreist captures the moment so eloquently in the summation of this chapter on his career: Fleetingly, despite the mist of circumstances I seem to apprehend an outline of context- a suggestion of texture and density of cast shadows – dispassionately real yet evanescent – an interim view from future’s hindsight informing the present of a work in progress – James DePreist69 68 Leonard Bernstein, “The Negro in Music: Problems He Has to Face In Getting a Start.” The New York Times, 2 November 1947. 69 James Anderson DePreist, The Distant Siren (Salem, OR: Willamette University Press, 1989), 13. 66 CHAPTER IV THE MUSIC, CONDUCTING PHILOSOPHY & POETRY OF JAMES ANDERSON DEPREIST Oh! To be a conductor, to weld a hundred men into one singing giant, to build up the most gorgeous arabesques of sound, to wave a hand and make the clamoring strings sink to a mutter, to wave again, and hear the brass crashing out in triumph, to throw up a finger, then another and another, and to know that with everyone the orchestra would bound forward into a still more ecstatic surge and sweep, to fling oneself forward and for a moment or so keep everything still, frozen, in the hollow of one’s hand, and then to set them all singing and soaring in one final sweep, with the cymbals clashing at every flicker of one’s eyelid, to sound the grand Amen. -J. B. Priestley1 The history of conducting is full of composers who were also conductors, and James Anderson DePreist is part of this timeline. In terms of the historical development of the orchestra as it relates to the conductor, initially there was no one person in charge. Also, there was a time when the composers acted as conductor’s and directed their own music, such as in the position of Kapellmeister. One of the most interesting early conductors would no doubt be Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687) “…who held a lifetime monopoly over opera productions in Paris…[who] disdained waving a bow or tapping a foot to beat time, but stood in front of the band and banged heavily on the floor with a wooden staff.”2 Other conductors might sit in elaborate chairs, dip a pinch of snuff, and roll a sheet of paper, establish a tempo and wave in the air while maintaining the pulse. Following in the footsteps of Gasparo Spontini (1774–1851), Ludwig Spohr (1784– 1 J. B. Priestly, in The Great Conductors, by Harold Schonberg (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1967), 15. 2 Norman Lebrecht, The Maestro Myth: Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power (New York: Birch Lane Press, 1991), 13. 67 1859), Louis Antoine Jullien (1812–1860), and Hector Berlioz (1803–1869), Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) is credited with bringing the art of conducting into focus the way it is today. He was the first to stand in front of the orchestra with a smaller baton and generally take charge of an entire performance. Later, Richard Wagner (1813–1883) is credited with having extended Mendelssohn’s contribution by becoming a hyper- romanticist, one full of wild and intense gesticulations or histrionics. Others would come along and establish more autocratic control over all aspects of the music. There are stories about conductors such as Franz Liszt (1811–1886), Gustav Mahler (1860–1911), Arturo Toscanini (1867–1957) and Fritz Reiner (1888–1963), some true, some perhaps fictional and exaggerated. All in all, it became the sole responsibility of one individual to take charge and execute performances of the music. Given this great responsibility, conductors should fully explore the world of musical composition and the art of orchestration. Many conductors are also composers, whose works exist in oblivion, or have been destroyed by their own hand, but there are some compositions by well known conductors that have survived. Some pieces are more well known than others, for example, Dimitri Mitropolous’ compositions have not been heard since he conducted them himself. There are also in existence recordings of the symphonies of Wilhelm Furtwangler, a Concerto for Double Bass by Serge Koussevitzky, symphonic music by George Szell, Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Eugene Goosens and others. These aforementioned conductors were, of course, better known to the world as conductors, not composers. Antal Dorati and Lukas Foss enjoyed relative amounts of success as both composers and conductors, while Aaron Copland is known primarily as a composer. Mr. 68 Copland enjoyed conducting, but recognized composition was indeed his forte. He never thought of himself as a conductor, but took advantage of the tremendous opportunities to conduct whenever possible. Leopold Stokowski, another great conductor, was recognized as an outstanding arranger and orchestrator. Then of course, there are the numerous musical compositions of Morton Gould, who was recognized both as a composer and conductor. The already mentioned Afro-Guyanese conductor, W. Rudolph Dunbar (1907- 1988), too, wrote his musical composition, Dance of the Twenty-First Century, written for the Footlights Club of Cambridge University. 3 It was performed on a radio broadcast on NBC (National Broadcasting Company) in 1938. Antal Dorati (1906-1988) was known for his very mature musical compositions, such as Symphony in Five Movements and the Madrigal Suite. Noted Finnish conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen (1958- ) was a former music director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, but opted to leave that post to concentrate mainly on composition. He is credited with having written concerti for the piano, saxophone and violin. Another well known and respected conductor is the former music director of the Minneapolis Symphony (the Minnesota Orchestra), Stanislaw Skrowaczewski (b. 1923), known for his very large-scale orchestral works as well as a very important concerto for the English horn and orchestra. The thing that all of these conductors have in common is the fact that they are composers as well. In his initial preparation, James DePreist was proving to be a composer as well. Other famous conductor/composers include Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), the prolific and brilliant Leonard Bernstein and Pierre Boulez (b. 1925), all of whom were 3 Footlights Club-is an amateur theatrical club, managed by students at Cambridge University, England. 69 one-time music directors of the New York Philharmonic. André Previn (b. 1929) composed Hollywood film scores and other musical works, as well as the immortal composers/conductors: Hector Berlioz (1803-1869), Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), and Richard Wagner (1813-1883). The Compositions of James Anderson DePreist DePreist enrolled in the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. With Law school no longer a consideration, film music was now his desired goal. He graduated with a master’s degree in film studies. DePreist would study composition, harmony, orchestration and theory at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. I thought I would write music for movies,” muses DePreist. But already he felt a different pull, “a subliminal propensity,” as he describes it, “to lead larger forces” in music. That meant conducting, not composing. Yet, he would earn a degree in film and, 30 years later, compose and arrange music for the opening theme of The Cosby Show…4 Starting with the first ballets commissioned by Nadia Chilkovsky’s Academy of Dance in Philadelphia, DePreist had a number of symphonic compositions to his credit. Vision of America and Tendrils (1961), A Sprig of Lilac (1964), Requiem and Eye on New York (1965) and Themes 1-6 and Themes for The Cosby Show (1987). He published several pieces of popular music such as My Last Goodbye and No Special Day, both copyrighted in 1956. Like Bernstein, who had performed and published popular musical works under the pseudonym, Lenny Amber, DePreist published under various spellings of his name such as Jimmy DePreist, Jimmy DePriest, as well as James DePriest which he used when 4 Noel Hynd, The Compass of His Soul.” The Pennsylvania Gazette: Alumni Magazine of the University of Pennsylvania, Vol.91, no.5, March 1993, 20. 70 he acted in the movie, New Year’s Day which was written and directed by Henry Jaglom. He would gain some degree of success in commercialized music from the time that he served as the music director for the television show, “One Nation Under God,” which aired on the Philadelphia ABC affiliate, WFIL-TV. Further commercial opportunities would present themselves to the aspiring young composer. DePreist said, Apres le dernier concert que je donnai avec mon orchestra de jazz a l’universite, une dame se presenta dans ma loge. Elle s’appelait Nadia Chilkowsky et dirigeait l’Academie de danse de Philadelphie. Elle me demandait de lui composer un ballet. C’etait pour le moins inattendu, mais comme j’en avais pris l’habitude a la petite ecole, j’acceptai la proposition sans me demander si j’etais vraiment capable de composer un ballet. L’experience me tenait et Nadia avait confiance en moi. Cela me suffisait pour relever le defi.5 After the last concert I played with my jazz orchestra at the university, a woman came into my dressing room. Her name was Nadia Chilkovsky, the director of the Academy of Dance in Philadelphia. She asked if I would compose a ballet. It was much unexpected, but as I was use to it in elementary school, I accepted the proposition without wandering if I was capable of composing a ballet. The experience was tempting and Nadia trusted me. This was enough for me to take up the challenge. This composition was the Vision of America (1961), in which DePreist had the opportunity to conduct members of the Philadelphia Orchestra. This premiere would be followed by another ballet, also written in 1961, Tendrils. As with any creative artist, there would be inevitable revisions, especially as he progressed and matured in the musical composition arena. DePreist shared with Micheline Simard, Je terminai le troisieme ball que m’avait cammande Nadia. La musique j’avais compose sur un texte de Whitman, < 5 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 38-39. 71 ordinaries…). Le ballet fut presente a la television. Quand j’ai entenduu < I had finished the third ballet that Nadia had ordered. The music that I had composed, based on a text by [Walt] Whitman, “Leaves of Grass,” seemed way better than my other two ballets. It is the only composition that I have kept; the other two [compositions] I destroyed because I thought they were too ordinary. The ballet was presented on television. When I heard MY music, I was less impressed by it than by the exceptional poetry of [Walt] Whitman’s text. However, the ballet was well appreciated by the public. Pleased with his successes to this point, DePreist further remarked, L’experience que je prenais a l’Academie de danse et les cours que je suivais ne pouvaient faire autrement que me donner le gout de poursuivre une carrier comme compositeur.7 The experience that I was gaining at the Dance Academy and the classes that I was taking could not do anything but give me the desire to be a composer. Many times, compositions either survive or no longer become available at a composer’s discretion. This is common practice among composers, so it is not uncommon at all to ponder what might, or might not have been. James DePreist had long been researching the idea of combining, or making more compatible, the genres of classical music and jazz, with an emphasis on improvisation. This may have been why commercial music was more appealing to him as a young composer, as opposed to the conventional and regimented forms in classical music. In an article published in the University of Pennsylvania alumni magazine in 1959, he wrote, Jazz composers, some of considerable repute, now frequently write extended works like rondos, suites, ballets, and symphonies, hence freeing themselves from the limitations of the 32-bar popular song and the 12-bar blues, the conventional 6 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 93. 7 Ibid, 41. 72 jazz forms…Classical composers have displayed a heightened interest in the utility of jazz within the framework of their compositional tools. But it is clear that the discussion concerning the similarity between the two idioms in regard to their respective musical content has received its impetus from the “classication” of jazz rather than from the “jazzation” of the classics…Lectures, television programs, panel discussions and seminars have educated more listeners to the subtler and more profound aspects of the idiom. As a result, modern jazz is now recognized as serious music performed for listening and not for dancing. The psychological impact of Charles Munch conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall on a Thursday and Dave Brubeck and Dizzy Gillespie being featured on the same stage the next evening is, historically considered, almost too great to be gauged. But it is not an exaggerated example of the equality of concert performances for jazz and classical music today.8 This writing and subsequent discussions that DePreist had with jazz notables: Jimmy Giuffre, Stan Kenton, John Lewis, Johnny Richards and composer Gunther Schuller, would have a long-term effect on his own writings. As director of the Philadelphia Contemporary Guild Orchestra, he had the opportunity to present a concert, featuring the convergence of jazz and classical music to the audiences of Philadelphia. This concert took place at the University of Pennsylvania in May 1958. The ideas, the music, and the concert were prophetic of what would later develop in his musical output, when more than twenty-five years later, he would be contacted by Bill Cosby, his former high school classmate who had a musical request that was destined to make history: It was a call from out of the blue, exclaims James DePreist…The Oregon Symphony conductor was delighted about an invitation from his classmate to record a new arrangement of the “Cosby Show” theme for the new television season…The call came from Bill Cosby who has been tracking DePreist’s musical career since the two shared the delights of jazz music together at Central High School in Philadelphia. Cosby ordered an orchestral-type theme…The piece also has a jazz influence which DePreist claims helps to reflect Cosby’s personality…What fame will 8 Jimmy DePreist, “A New Music.” The Pennsylvania Gazette: Alumni Magazine of the University of Pennsylvania, Vol.57, no.10, June 1959. 19, 20, 31. 73 come from this melodic opportunity is unknown to the orchestra and its conductor. Even DePreist is a bit skeptical about the possibilities. “I’ll believe it after the theme has run for thirteen weeks,” say DePreist, who is a self-described fatalist. He philosophizes that, “Everything that’s positive in my career has come completely out of the blue”-just like the call from Cosby.9 Figure. 5. The Cosby TV Family from Cosby Family website. In their student days, Cosby and DePreist (members of the percussion section in the Central High School Band) often discussed the merits of jazz as “Jimmy” was already performing professionally with one of his jazz groups. Cosby credits the influence of jazz as being the driving force that helped shape and mold his own personal life as well as his comedy acts. He discussed the influence music had had on his life in an article published in the Vancouver, Washington’s newspaper, The Columbian: 9 Jean Parker, “True To the Music.” Horizons, October 1988, Vol.9, no.10. 74 The name Bill Cosby usually evokes memories of hilarious human comedy…and sometimes pudding. But music? Well, not really. The stand-up comedian, writer, actor and longtime Jell-O pudding pitchman has said that the masters of jazz, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Mingus and Miles Davis helped shape his life and his comedy…Cosby has said he was drawn to jazz at an early age, and in turn, those legendary performers helped him find new, innovative ways to express his ideas.10 The importance and success of the television series, running for eight seasons in the number one prime-time slot, is credited to the artistic control Bill Cosby exerted over the production. This was a unique show in which the African American family was portrayed in a positive light, no longer in domestic or subservient roles. The show touched on controversial issues, showing that problems such as drug abuse, teenage pregnancy or family conflicts, were not limited to families or neighborhoods in lower economic areas. At the same time, The Cosby Show portrayed two highly successful parents, a bilingual lawyer and a doctor, raising four children, which eventually becomes a blended family. The show accurately reflects issues that families experience while still remaining a loving family. In an article for The New York Times, Andrew Greeley highlights points about the importance of The Cosby Show: As we laugh we see the virtues required for conflict resolution: such frequently honored but difficult qualities as patience, trust, sensitivity, honesty, generosity, flexibility and forgiveness…The show(s) rarely draw explicit moral conclusions for us…A modern version of the medieval morality play has slipped into prime- time television almost without anyone noticing…”The Cosby Show” rarely attempts to preach directly on the need for family love. It doesn’t have to. Albert Bergesen, a sociology professor at the University of Arizona and a student of popular culture argues that the appeal of “The Cosby Show” is to be found in the intensity of family love “into which we slip when the program begins. It is like a Franklin stove radiating warmth around which we crowd on a cold winter night. We know about rising divorce rates, single-parent families, abortion, incest, wife beating, teen-age pregnancy, but when the Huxtables are on the screen we absorb their affection of a functioning intact family and feel good. When the program is over, we are more hopeful for families and for our own 10 “Bill Cosby Unveils The Music in Comedy and in Everyday Life.” The Columbia (Vancouver, WA), 7 October 1999. 75 family. It isn’t merely the gentle moral lesson. It’s the appeal of love.” An escape? When I listen to Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony it’s an escape too. But it’s also a renewal. “Cosby” in No.1 because it has mastered the art of renewing hope for the family. Your family. “The Cosby Show,” then, provides moral paradigms and displays warm and renewing love.11 Mr. Greeley further points out Cosby’s reasons and goals for the show: Family life has been the raw material of much of Bill Cosby’s humor from the beginning of his career, and it has always been a humor of love. Perhaps his doctorate in education [William H. Cosby, Jr., “An Integration of the Visual Media via ‘Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids’ into the Elementary School Curricular As a Teaching Aid and Vehicle to Achieve Increased Learning.” Ph.D. diss., University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 1976] has made him more reflective about what he is doing, more conscious of the moral and religious issues he is tackling; but he has always been in his own way a minister of the word.12 For Dr. Cosby, the music for this show was just as important as the content of the show’s message. He sought the very best musicians to bring forth his positive message through the music. He had collaborated with composer Stu Gardner for the theme music, Kiss Me, and over the course of the series collaborated with Lester Brown, Herbie Hancock, Craig Handy, Quincy Jones, Bobby McFerrin, Grover Washington, Jr., and James DePreist to provide their unique and diverse musical talents and contributions to the show. The Cosby Show frequently featured many great inspiring artists and diverse stars, often introducing them to the mass audience; Plácido Domingo, Lena Horne, Riley “B. B.” King, Miriam Makeba, Tito Puente, and Nancy Wilson among others. In another collaboration with composer Stu Gardner, Cosby would write an orchestral composition, 11 Andrew Greeley, “Today’s Morality Play: The Sitcom as Today’s Morality Play,” The New York Times, 17 May 1987. 12 Ibid. . 76 dedicated to his wife, entitled, “Overture to Camille.” DePreist was challenged to reflect the values shared by himself and Cosby in the musical theme. DePreist’s most important commercial musical composition would serve as an avenue for millions to hear the convergence of classical music and jazz as theme music for The Cosby Show. This unique outreach of the symphony orchestra had its challenges as well for the composer/arranger. In an article in Salt Lake City’s The Deseret News, on the recording of the music for The Cosby Show, DePreist said, The Oregon Symphony has recorded in secret next year’s theme music for The Cosby Show as arranged by its musical director…Musical director James DePreist…said he believed that the 84- piece symphony created the “orchestral sound” that [Bill] Cosby wanted…The theme for next season will not include vocals, unlike the current theme. DePreist said that rearranging the theme was difficult but that he was satisfied with the arrangement and recording session, which lasted several hours. “The most difficult thing of all is to try to provide an arrangement of a theme that already exists,” he said. “Each incarnation of the theme has an individual distinction. It was Cos’ idea to have a clearly orchestral sound for this arrangement of the theme, so I tried to give him what he asked for. It’s a matter of melding the spirit of that show, which is obviously upbeat, within a context that is orchestral. So the orchestral contribution is the nature of the sound, the sound that only a symphony orchestra can create.”13 The jazz-influenced theme, lasts for only 60 seconds, but it achieves the goals of DePreist by merging the two musical forms together, and presenting the fruition of his work to countless millions through the medium of television. He learned the value of the television medium first hand from Leonard Bernstein, his mentor at the New York Philharmonic. Bernstein mastered the usage of television to its fullest, reaching countless audience members with such programs as: Omnibus, The Young People’s Concerts, and The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures at Harvard, The Unanswered Question: 13 “A Hush-Hush Recording of Cosby’s New Theme.” The Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT), 4 June 1988. 77 Six Talks at Harvard. Donal Henahan in The New York Times says, “Bernstein used the T.V. media to get the music out.”14 Because of the rising popularity of television shows, the theme songs or instrumental music became nationally iconic pieces of music, because of their instant recognition. In the 1950s, the theme song to Car 54, Where Are You? was often used in everyday conversations, especially by children. Other shows, such as The Addams Family, would call to mind the snapping of fingers in rhythm to the music. Stories were told in one minute of music, such as Cheers, The Jetsons and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Instrumental music, too, conjured up the images of the television show. Charles Gounod wrote The Funeral March of the Marionettes, used in the famous Alfred Hitchcock Hour television series. The driving bass line (ostinato) of Henry Mancini’s Peter Gunn Theme, Lalo Schifrin’s Theme Music for Mission Impossible, music in 5/4 time (most popular music is in 4/4), and the most famous television of all themes, Gioachino Rossini’s, finale to William Tell Overture used in the television series, opening credits of, The Lone Ranger, served as immediate musical communicators for these national broadcasts. The task set before DePreist was to come up with a piece that would be instantly recognized and also have appeal. DePreist reflected, Someone gives you a year’s time to write a minute’s worth of music, so you take your time. It’s got to be something identifiable, but something that will wear well. People will hear it every week.15 14 Donal Henahan, “Leonard Bernstein, 72, Music’s Monarch, Dies.” The New York Times, 15 October 1990. 15 Roger Anthony, “This Symphony Program Will Feature Songs in the Key of TV.” The Oregonian, 2 March 1996. 78 Cosby’s request was for a strictly instrumental piece which could be presented in one minute. So, the daunting task was to incorporate improvised and structured parts, juxtapose pre-existing music from prior seasons with new original music, and present it in a one-minute format. DePreist continues to reflect to the time of the recording of the music for The Cosby Show: Soon, the clock becomes the composer’s enemy: “It’s a whole different ballgame when you’re doing music for TV or a film. You have to think in terms of seconds.” Ultimately, DePreist went through five or six versions of the theme. “I was writing right up until the last day. I had an intro that could be cut down bar – by- bar, if necessary.16 As a result, television audiences were able to enjoy the sounds of a symphony orchestra in conjunction with a popular television show. This, too, proved to be a tremendous boost to the educational outreach goals of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra. The theme music for The Cosby Show is heard by millions each week as the show is still very popular in syndication, perhaps making the Oregon Symphony one of the most widely heard orchestras in the world. As it was important for Dr. Cosby to reach the world with his messags; it was equally as important for DePreist to reach the world with his music. There were, of course, financial incentives and realizations, but it was, and is, the outreach to the masses that was important to both. James DePreist, in a speech on June 16, 1988, at the Opening General Luncheon of the American Symphony Orchestra League’s National Conference said, I am having great difficulty beginning any kind of conversation with those of us in this business without explaining Bill Cosby. Were I to conduct the Mahler Sixth in one of the most incandescent performances imaginable, afterwards, the first question would probably be “what is Bill Cosby really like?” I spent last night with Bill – he was appearing in Cincinnati – and in trying to assess the 16 Roger Anthony, “This Symphony Program Will Feature Songs in the Key of TV.” The Oregonian, 2 March 1996. 79 possible positive fallout of the Oregon Symphony’s recording the theme for next year’s Cosby Show it came home to me: there were approximately eight or ten thousand people there to hear Cosby at Riverbend in Cincinnati, and before he started his show, Cosby did a promo for the Cincinnati Symphony’s classical concerts coming up this weekend. Now I have not yet worked out the exact financial terms for carrying Bill around with me as I travel, but I do think it is a positive step to have a show that is that singularly popular using symphonic music for its theme. And I hope that people – especially young people – will recognize that there is a different sound there.17 Educational outreach is important to every important symphony orchestra. Through television, DePreist made orchestral music more accessible than ever. The goals were simply to present the very best of live quality music to the largest audience possible. DePreist had wanted to combine classically-influenced music with jazz, and with The Cosby Show Theme, he was able to accomplish this. Reflecting on past attempts to combine the two genres, DePreist said, In the conservatory [Philadelphia Conservatory of Music], I had written two ballets, arrangements for Stan [Kenton’s Band] and several mixed media experiments with jazz players and members of the Philadelphia Orchestra.18 In her article for The Columbian newspaper, Julia Anderson sums this project up by saying, DePreist is a charismatic leader and committed to raising the symphony [The Oregon Symphony Orchestra] from its position as a solid regional orchestra to a higher plain. His goal is to create an internationally known orchestra with an expanded touring, broadcasting and recording schedule. Steps in that direction include initiating recordings and bringing the music of the symphony to millions by recording the theme music for television’s The Cosby Show.19 17 James A. DePreist, “Money Is Not the Bottom Line” (A speech presented to the Opening General Luncheon of the American Symphony Orchestra League’s National Conference), June 16, 1988. Symphony Magazine, August/September 1988. 18 Robert Lindstrom, “Maestro DePreist Find’s Life’s Work Exhilarating, Humbling.” The Sunday Oregonian, 6 November 1977. 19 Julia Anderson, “Balance-Sheet Music: Symphony Attains Budgetary Stability.” The Columbian (Vancouver, WA), 17 June 1990. 80 Collaborations of this sort were not new to DePreist and the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, and he is quick to add that The Cosby Show Theme was not a gimmick. He believes strongly that it is the responsibility of the orchestra director to venture beyond the traditional walls, as Robin Roth wrote, DePreist believes that as musical director, his job is to broaden the appeal of the Oregon Symphony through a series of pop and jazz collaborations. While he says…he likes rock music (“as long as it’s good; I don’t like noise)…he listens to Tracy Chapman and Sade…he would like to work with Sting.20 As music director, he has explored modern music, music from classical to contemporary, and even performed with such groups as Blood, Sweat and Tears. He emphasizes that these are not gimmicks, but a way of reaching the audience through new means. We do things differently than any other symphony orchestra. You must do everything without relying on something that’s not naturally a part of what you do. The orchestra is a resource that can do a lot of things. [Collaborations] are fine if they don’t sound artificial. If it’s effective and natural-and it can be-it can enhance everything. Experiencing a variety of audiences is worthwhile, but it’s not about a symphony orchestra trying to be a rock band. The symphony is not supposed to be a high-falutin’ private reserve. Symphony orchestras limit audiences through elitism and snobbery.” 21 In his discussions on new music, he made clear that he believes in exploring new possibilities. When the question was posed to him as to whether rap music qualifies as a new form of jazz, and is it considered an art form. DePreist responded, What amazes me is the capacity of the performers to remember the words and the scansion. And, if that same skill could be applied to their knowledge of Latin, I think that these people could really be bright. It is interesting to the degree that it harnesses a highly-elevated concept of rhythm and, really, scansion to language. And some of the messages, if 20 Robin Roth. “Music For The People: James DePreist Brings High Culture Down to Earth.” Our Town (Portland, OR), 22 April 1996. 21 Ibid. 81 you listen to some of the lyrics of the songs, they are marvelously inventive and yes, it’s more a form or quasi-sung verse than it is music; it’s more akin to that. But I have been astonished at the memory powers of some of the performers.22 As for symphonic classical music, DePreist continues to introduce audiences to new music. In the excerpt for the following article, he shares how it is possible to accomplish this delicate matter with audiences all over the world: DePreist continues to champion the cause of contemporary American music. Conceding that audiences do tend to be “conservative and even lazy,” he also noted that they “don’t want to have their intelligence insulted by an orchestra that plays only Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart…if an audience trusts you as Music Director,” he adds, “they will be more likely to go along with you on your forays into new music.”23 He states that it is the responsibility of the music director to promote and build the orchestral season in a manner that is attractive to both audiences and players. “One must select new music progressively. Nothing will kill an appetite more quickly than an avalanche of music that is [un]decipherable,”24 continues DePreist. Impressive as it is, DePreist, from the very beginning of his career, chose and sought music outside the common repertoire; music that young conductors would normally avoid in favor of the more established ‘warhorse’ repertoire. In his constant search for new music, he shared what the personal appeal was to him: My makeup, my response to music is emotional. The only way I can keep it from becoming maudlin is to make it cerebral. Once I have mapped out the music, on that plane, then I make it visceral. I generally love music that has a romantic nature – its tenderness, passion, powers 22Janet Foxman, “Interview: Oregon Symphony Music Director James DePreist Thoughtfully Answers Our Questions.” The Statesman Journal (Salem, OR), 18 October 1996. 23 “Alumni Profile: James DePreist, W’58.” Wharton Alumni Magazine: The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Winter 1990. 24 David Stabler, “Oregon Symphony Director Says his Job’s Not All Sweet Music, DePreist Tells City Club of Unusual Path to Podium.” The Oregonian, 31 October 1987. 82 and drama…The Mozart piano concertos are as significant for me as his symphonies…I’d like to revive American works that were successful years ago.”25 This belief and its practice is substantiated in another article by David Stabler: DePreist’s programs can look like a list of obligations to board members and traditionalists – heavy on warhorses. But he’s actually a committed fan of contemporary music, and he’s good at making sense of it. He doesn’t champion any particular composer, but lyrical Americans such as Samuel Barber, Benjamin Lees, Ellen Taafe Zwilich, Tomas Svoboda and Gian Carlo Menotti pop up regularly. He also has a persuasive way of bringing out the sonic anguish of Dmitri Shostakovich, one of the great symphonists of the 20th century. He abhors the latest trend in European mystic minimalists: Arvo Pärt, Henryk Gorecki…26 During his seventh year as music director of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, DePreist battled the local press over the presentation of new music, educational outreach, and of the orchestra’s reputation of being an elitist organization. These battles were initiated by David Stabler, music critic for The Oregonian newspaper. DePreist responded passionately to what he considered, false assumptions published in an article on February 15, 1987. In this article, James DePreist states, False Assumption No.4: Masterworks have lost their vitality; audiences are tired of the well known warhorses. [Depriest’s response]:…It is not the playing of masterpieces that insults an audience’s intelligence but the presumption that listeners need slide shows or other gimmicks to enjoy great music. False Assumption No.3: Because there are fewer contemporary works than usual in next season’s program, the orchestra is not taking risks. [DePreist’s response]: Of all the indices of orchestra risk – taking, perhaps none is more superficial and misleading than that of playing new music. As any concert – goers, critic or true musician knows, there are far 25 Patricia Rice, “St. Louis Symphony A Joy for Guest Conductor.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 23 April 1989. 26 David Stabler, “The Oregon Symphony: Second Century.” The Sunday Oregonian, 3 September 1995. 83 more musical challenges in meeting demands of a Mozart or Haydn symphony than in most contemporary works, and in the final analysis it is by the quality of their performances of masterpieces that good orchestras become great. Does that mean that we can ignore new music? Absolutely not!...the enormous challenge of making the familiar sound fresh and vital, technically secure, brilliant and moving before an audience that knows and loves the music, has bases for comparison, and is expectant of a memorable performance. That is true risk taking!...As for collaboration with the jazz group [Oregon] – a great idea but hardly a new one – where was David when the Oregon Symphony collaborated with the legendary Modern Jazz Quartet and in yet another concert presented David Amram’s “Ode to Lord Buckley” for alto sax[ophone] and orchestra? Where was David when the Oregon Symphony and the Symphonic Choir presented John Adam’s Harmonium – one of America’s finest living composers?...he missed our performance of [Samuel] Barber’s 3rd Essay, Violin Concerto, and 2 Scenes from Anthony and Cleopatra, [Bela] Bartok’s Music for Strings, Percussion & Celeste, Concerto for Orchestra, and Bluebeard’s Castle, [Leonard] Bernstein’s Chicester Psalms (sic) [Chichester Psalms], [Boris] Blacher’s Paganini Variations, [Karel] Husa’s Music for Pregue (sic) [Music for Prague 1968], [Ernest] Bloch’s Sinfonia Breve, Michael Colgrass’ 3rd Symphony, [Norman] Dello Joio’s Meditation on Ecclesiastes…This is a body of work – most of them Oregon Symphony premieres – and a range of composers of which any orchestra can be proud. Given this track record, given this programming history in which the number of American and 20th- century works has consistently exceeded the number of classical works for the past six seasons, an emphasis on standard repertoire next season is downright revolutionary.27 Bernstein, DePreist’s mentor, introduced and performed copious amounts of contemporary classical music, including much of his own. He felt that it was important for one to continue branching out, constantly exploring new music and its values. He (Bernstein) once wrote in The New York Times, “I don’t want to spend my life, as [Arturo] Toscanini did, studying and restudying the same 50 (sic) pieces of music,”28 27 James A. DePreist, “DePreist Defends Symphony: ‘On the Edge of a Precipice, Only a Fool Does Cartwheels.’” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), 1 March 1987. 28 Donal Henahan, “Leonard Bernstein, 72, Music’s Monarch, Dies.” The New York Times 15 October 1990. 84 DePreist is continuing the legacy of his mentor and teacher by discovering and performing new and contemporary music. DePreist said, I’m always looking for new music to perform, and I find things…but I also find so many things in the standard repertory that need doing. Take the Schoenberg ‘Pelleas and Melisande’ for instance…After I go through the repertory I’ll be more interested in finding new works, but I look forward to the time when I can say I’ve done all the standards at least one [once].29 In summation on his philosophy of music, especially contemporary music, DePreist in terms of finding workable contemporary scores states, The idea is to try to find music that you want to do again, that audiences might want to hear again. I find that there’s only a small percentage of new music that I’m glad is finished when it’s over.30 With such passion and determination for contemporary music, it is easy to ascertain from any discography of DePreist, that he is dedicated to presenting a legacy that gives voice to many composers who might not have had opportunities to be heard. Recording is important to any orchestra, especially music that may gain popularity in future times. When asked if there were perhaps more composers, or music that he would like to conduct beyond the standard repertoire, DePreist responded, I have been able to conduct so many pieces for such a wide variety of audiences and with different orchestras. Ultimately, I want to record them because that is the only permanent record of how the music is understood. Recording is the only way critics and the public around the world to know what an orchestra can do; to know its caliber of talents. 31 29 Daniel Webster, “DePreist Calls Daughter’s Birth Omen of Success.” The Philadelphia Inquirer 28 June 1970. 30 Sarah Bryan Miller, “DePreist Relishes Conducting With Composer Looking On.” St. Louis Post- Dispatch, 2 April 2000, Five Star Lift Edition. 31Vivian Cheadle, “James DePreist: The Maestro Bids Adieu as Music Director.” Senior Life (Portland, OR), September 2002. 85 Unlike many other tyro conductors, recordings and the availability of opportunities to record came rather early to DePreist. At the suggestion of Pierre Boulez, who succeeded Leonard Bernstein as music director of the New York Philharmonic, it was recommended that DePreist explore earlier works of a younger Wolfgang A. Mozart. With the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (a.k.a. The Delos Chamber Orchestra) DePreist recorded Mozart symphonies 4, 5, and 29. After making his European conducting debut, DePreist was presented with a unique opportunity. He was invited by Jaroslav Sevcik to come to Prague and make four recordings for the Supraphon Record Label. From an account as described to Micheline Simard in the book, Au fur et a’ mesure: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard, DePreist reflected, Monsieur Jaroslav Sevcik projetait d’importantes séries d’enregistrement à Prague pour le printemps suivant. Je discutai répertoire avec lui et nous nous sommes entendus sur le fait que j’enregistrerais quarter albums pour sa compaignie. L’entente fut célèbrée par un copieux diner auquel Betty avait été conviée. Elle reçut même de la part de Sevcik un très beau present. Lorsu’il nous quitta, ses mots furent des plus chaleureux. < Mr. Jaroslav Sevcik projected an important series of recordings in Prague for the Spring. I discussed the lit of important repertoire with him, and We came to an agreement that I would record four albums for his company. This agreement was celebrated by a huge dinner in which Betty had been invited. She even received from Mr. Sevcik, a beautiful present. When he left us, his words of departure were really warm, “I will see you again in Prague, Mr. and Mrs. DePreist.” This agreement was voided in 1968, when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Russia), along with its allies in the Warsaw Pact, invaded Czechoslovakia in order to halt reforms established by the Prague Spring Political Liberalization Reform. As a result of this tumultuous political event, the orchestra dissolved, making the recording deal no 32 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 114. 86 longer an option. DePreist sums up the importance of recording music for the sake of keeping some type of permanent record, Recording for me is absolutely essential. What we do as musicians normally evaporates as soon as it’s created…Recording is an opportunity to inscribe in permanence the thoughts one has about a work.”33 James DePreist is an important part of this history that has taken several centuries to evolve. It is a complex and arduous undertaking, as author Harold C. Schonberg, in his book, The Great Conductors provides a definition and description: In addition to presiding over some five-score players (many of whom are convinced they could do a better job) and welding them into a precision instrument, the conductor must play several instruments well and have a working knowledge of every instrument in the orchestra; must be able to read the entries in a full score as easily as an accountant reads the entries in a ledger; must, while reading a score, assimilate its structure and meaning, decide what the composer wanted and then stimulate his men into achieving the vision; must have stocked in mind, ready for instant use, all of the standard works in the repertoire and a good deal non-standard besides; must have the technique and memory that can break down and assimilate a contemporary new work; must have the kind of ear that can spot one wrong note in a welter of orchestral noise; must have absolute pitch (most great conductors have had this ability to hear a note or combination of notes and instantly rattle them off); must be able to compose, orchestrate and analyze; must keep track of musicological research, especially that pertaining to performance practice; must have the knack of assembling programs that will advance the cause of art without permanently alienating the public; and above all must have-in addition to an elephant-like constitution-the mysterious thing known as projection: the ability to beam his physical and musical personality directly forward into the orchestra and directly backward into the lap of every listener in the audience…The audience must be enveloped in white-hot belief, and a conductor is great in direct ratio to his powers of communication…Somebody has to take the lead; somebody has to assume responsibility; somebody has to hold things together…The conductor is a soloist and the orchestra is his instrument. How he plays it depends upon his technique, imagination, resource, sensitivity.34 33 Amy Martinez Starke, “Portland Maestro Covers Fanfare.” The Oregonian, 5 January 1996. 34 Harold C. Schonberg, The Great Conductors (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1967), 21, 22. 87 DePreist, who started as a jazz musician, and trained to be a composer of film music, eventually settled into the role of being a symphony orchestra conductor. With no formal training as a conductor, he learned this craft mainly by observing other conductors as they worked with orchestras, such as the Philadelphia Orchestra. The legendary author of the book The Grammar of Conducting (used as the standard text for many conducting courses), Max Rudolph, is too a self-taught conductor. The key to the conductor’s success, Rudolph and DePriest would point out is: observation of the great ones in action. DePreist said, “I’d sneak into rehearsals at the Academy [Academy of Music in Philadelphia], when I was in high school, to watch the great conductors…”35 Opportunities to exert his leadership abilities came early for him at the University of Pennsylvania as student leader of both the marching and symphonic bands, eventually leading his own jazz ensembles, working with Stan Kenton, and finally conducting his own music with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra. His philosophy of conducting remains rather important for any conductor to grasp and understand. DePreist stated: Conductors have highly-developed egos in that we want people to hear music as we feel it. I have a strong conviction about all the music I choose to perform. I enjoy the effort of altering people’s states of being-emotionally and intellectually- by bringing them music that has altered mine. I enjoy making people feel either happy or sad or agitated or disturbed. And in communicating with an orchestra, I find very challenging the search for exactly the right phrase, the right word, to describe the sound I’m seeking. If it’s precise, the musicians get a graphic picture of what you want without going through, ‘no, not that loud; no softer, no!’ Once we were doing a piece in Stockholm with a lot of woodwind writing that sounded rather baroque and reverent. So I told the orchestra, it should sound like the smallest people in the world going to church. They all knew what I wanted.36 35 Maralyn Lois Polak, “James DePreist: ‘I’m At Home At The Top.” Today, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 9 Feb 75. 36 Ibid. 88 DePreist continues this logical approach to conducting in another article, elaborating on the same shared principles with Kenneth Turan of The Washington Post: Then as now, what DePreist liked best about conducting was the sensation of “achieving what you ideally hear in your head, achieving yourself, in a sense, in actual concrete sounds. It is egotistical to feel that your particular vision of the work, after all the visions people have heard – and I like that mixed metaphor of heard visions very much – is still worth hearing. But you must understand that the score is an incomplete picture – the score says ‘adagio’ but there is a whole range of how slow slow is – and the total picture calls for realization via your insights into the score. And to project that picture convincingly to an orchestra and have them project it to the audience, and have that move them, that is what I like.37 Conducting theories are practiced and developed in competitions as well as in the experience gained afterwards from conducting orchestras. The intent of the competition is to serve as a catalyst for their development as conductors. The publication commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Dimitri Mitropoulos International Music Competition for Conductors, stated the goals and purposes of the competition: A unique and distinguished launching pad for young conductors. For every winner, it has proved a turning point; each has gone on to achieve staus [status] in the musical world…Their processes (of the Competiton), as devised by Leonard Bernstein and a group of dedicated associates from the conducting world, have been proven to be effective and dependable, productive of high results. The outcome of the three weeks’ time involved, in which four stages of sifting and winnowing take place, has shown to be fair and telling revelation of talent.38 As mentor to DePreist, Leonard Bernstein was in a unique position to educate him in the practices of Dimitri Mitropoulos, as Bernstein had observed earlier in the beginning of his own conducting career. Mitropoulos was constantly teaching and nurturing new conducting talent, and Bernstein was a direct recipient. Bernstein shared what he had 37 Kenneth Turan, “A Maestro With Gusto.” Potomoc of the Washington Post, 21 July 1974. 38 Dimitri Mitropoulos International Music Competition 10th Anniversary Supplement. “A Great Adventure in the Art of Peace, The Story of the Dimitri Mitropoulos International Music Competition.” January 1972 Supplement. 89 learned and observed from Mitropoulos, the name sake of one of the most important international conducting competitions. Mitropoulos writes, …first, to create a single, unified, balanced, flexible musical instrument out of the hundred or so musicians in the orchestra; second, to reproduce, with their proper interrelationships and balances, the combinations of sounds that a composer of any given work intended to be heard; third, to present any piece of music in such a way as to make sure its unique structural features may be clearly understood; and fourth, to present music, eloquently, with the degrees and qualities of emotional stress implied by the score.39 DePreist personifies the things taught to him by Bernstein, which are now central points in his teaching career, as well as in his philosophy of conducting. He captured these instructions through Bernstein, as he formulated this philosophy. Below, DePreist discusses these lessons: When asked what kind of feeling he experienced when conducting an 80-member symphony orchestra, DePreist said, “I feel a combination of humility and power, humility because you’re dealing with masterworks. The power isn’t yours, it’s lent to you by the musicians, if they respect you. When you get the sounds that you want, then that is such a total involvement of yourself doing exactly what you want to do that the labor involved is an exhilarating kind of labor. It’s a marvelous kind of life involving work. Conducting is a personal vision, but you share it with a lot of people. It’s gratifying, rewarding, and if you really bring it off, it should be humbling.”40 Another important doctrine of Mitropoulos, from an article, “The Making of Conductor”, The best conductors I think, are those who have the coordinated ability to think musically and convey it simultaneously through motions, by the intensity of their thought and by their establishment of a rapport with their men. Those who have this gift will make conductors. Without it, one may become a fine scholar, a musicologist, a composer – but never a good conductor…The conductor does not stand alone on the podium; he finds himself between the orchestra and the audience. He can move his listeners by the performed work only if he has previously comprehended each musician as an individual human being. The 39 William Trotter, Priest of Music: The Life of Dimitri Mitropoulos (Portland: Amadeus, 1995), 133. 40 Robert Lindstrom, “Maestro DePreist Finds Life’s Work Exhilarating, Humbling.” The Sunday Oregonian, 6 November 1977. 90 interpretation represents a communal effort; it requires unity, and in no case does it move from the conductor’s baton to a pack of subjugated slaves…In the history of music, there are only two main types of conductor: the tyrant and the colleague. For myself (Mitropoulos), I choose to be the second type.”41 It is apparent that DePreist digested these established practices of Mitropoulos when he had the opportunity to see first-hand Mitropoulos conduct at the Metropolitan Opera on the evening of Marian Anderson’s historic debut. Also, he likely attended rehearsals for that debut, as he was always accompanying Ms. Anderson. Witnessing these types of rehearsals would provide DePreist with opportunities to see established conductors. DePreist said: I never studied conducting – the rudiments can be taught in half an hour. Practically everything I’ve learned is from watching conductors in rehearsal and in concert; you see what works and techniques that are effective. I have also learned from talking to musicians in the orchestra; they are the guys who are making the music – not the guy who is waving the stick.42 During DePreist’s tenure as an assistant conductor with the New York Philharmonic, he would be the recipient of many teachings that would help him develop into the role of a music director. With this aplomb, DePriest was now face to face with demonstrating all that he was taught. He would meet important musicians such as Aaron Copland and Mstislav Rostropovich, along with other numerous great conductors that he would observe in rehearsals and concerts with the orchestra. It is important for conductors to employ a certain amount of their personality into the music, such as tempo, balance and musical flow. One of the first orchestral accompaniments that DePreist would provide would be for the eminent principal flutist of 41William Trotter, Priest of Music: The Life of Dimitri Mitropoulos (Portland: Amadeus, 1995), 167, 168. 42 Barbara Novak, “James DePreist Awakens Quebec City.” Music Magazine, January/February 1979, Vol.2, No.1. 91 the New York Philharmonic, Julius Baker, in a performance of the flute concerto by Carl Nielsen. DePreist tells the story to Micheline Simard: Julius Baker, le soliste de l’orchestre, me confia dès notre première rencontre: < Julius Baker, the orchestra’s soloist, told me during our first meeting, “I would like to change the tempo Bernstein took. But if you mention the idea comes from me, not only will I deny it, but I will also hurry and kill you!!!” Things were going really well with the flutist. I noted his remarks with a lot of pleasure. The concerto was prepared as he wished. Now, in a manner of speaking, the young conductor had to be ‘thinking on his feet,’ accommodating to the soloist, and not offending his mentor/teacher Bernstein in the process. No longer was he receiving instruction, but rather, dispensing it. Meanwhile, Bernstein who was at the concert with DePreist’s first wife, Betty, reacted, in the following manner: Durant le concert, Lenny était dans la sale de projection ec compaigne de Betty. Elle me rapport par la suite l’indignation du directeur musical lorsqu’il entendit le concerto…< During the concert, Lenny was in the projection room with Betty. She told me (DePreist) afterwards the musical director’s indignation when he heard the concerto, “It is too slow,” at some point, “It is too fast!” he said later on. Our interpretation was really different from the one he was expecting, but he never knew I had conducted the work according to the soloist’s wishes. 43 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 106. 44 Ibid, 106. 92 As time passed, DePreist would continue to add to his self-confidence as he continued to prepare as a cover conductor for any other of the staff conductors, or guest conductors who could not fulfill their obligations on a moment’s notice. This involved score preparation, as well as knowing the varying performance practices and orchestrations of the pieces. DePreist discusses the recording of a symphony by Jean Sibelius with Micheline Simard: La personnalité, le talent et le genie de Leonard Bernstein m’impressionnaient beaucoup. Nombre de critiques et de musiciens ont essayé de l’attaquer; c’était, chaque fois, injustifié. Il ne le méritait pas du tout. Il est vraiment meilleur que tout ce qu’on peu en penser ou en dire…Lors des nombreux enregistrements que Bernstein fit, jepus admirer l’ampleur de son travail, la claret qu’il réussissait à render dans ses symphonies, tant dans le tempo que dans l’expression. Pendant ces enregistrements, Edo [de Waart], Jacque [Houtman] et moi, nous éttions installés dans la sale de contrôle avec le réalisateur des Columbia. Nous devions suivre attentivement les partitions et noter toutes les erreurs que nous remarquions. Comme j’étais le seul adjoint d’expression anglaise, il me fallait inscrire les erreurs perçues, puis les montrer à Bernstein.45 The personality, the talent and gifts of Leonard Bernstein impressed me a lot. Many critics and musicians tried to attack him; it was each time, not justified. He did not deserve it at all. He is really better than anything you can say…During the recordings that Bernstein did, I could admire the extent of his work, the clarity that he managed to put in his symphonies, as much in the tempo as in the expression. During the recordings, Edo [de Waart], Jacques [Houtman] and I, were sitting in the control room with the Columbia Records producer. We had to follow the scores with attention, and note all the mistakes that we noticed. As I was the only English speaking assistant, I had [the task] to write down the mistakes, and then show them to Bernstein. DePreist encountered a problem in the score that he mentioned to Bernstein: J’avais observe un retard à la fin de la sixième symphonie de Sibelius, qui n’était pas du tout dans la partition. Je trouvais l’interprétation extraordinaire, sauf pour ce retard. Je le mentionnai à Lenny. I had observed a delay at the end of the 6th symphony of [Jean] Sibelius, which was not at all in the score. I thought that the interpretation was extraordinary, except for this delay. I mentioned this to Lenny. 45 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 106-107. 93 The conversation between DePreist and Bernstein: JD: Pourquoi ce retard à la fin? ---Why is there a delay at the end? LB: Tu n’aimes pas ça? ---You don’t like it? JD: Non, pas vraiment… ---No, not really… Je lui expliquai brièvement comment je percevais son execution. Le retard était, certes, permis, mais pesonnellement je trouvais qu’il était preferable de ne pas le faire. Une simple question de gout. Si j’osais lui communiqué mon doute, c’était par emballement pour le reste de la symphonie. Suite à mon intervention, le silence tomba subitement dans la sale de contrôle où se trouvaint mes collègues et les employès. Lenny avait, probblement, été très surprise de mon audace. Il se leva et annonça à toute l’equipe de travail: < I explained to him briefly how I perceived his executions. The delay was allowed, but personally, I thought it was preferable not to do it. A simple matter of taste. If I had dared to tell him my doubt, it was because of the enthusiasm for the rest of the symphony. After my intervention, silence fell suddenly in the control room with my colleagues and employees. Lenny had probably, been very surprised by my boldness. He stood up and announced to the entire working team: “We will go back and execute the DePreist-Sibelius ending…” My objections must have been relevant, because he had taken it into account. But, as it was Leonard Bernstein, the situation was delicate. After all, I was only a conductor who was learning; he had been a conductor for many years already. The conducting principles were passed from Mitropoulos to Bernstein; who passed them to his young apprentice, James DePreist. Now, DePreist had opportunity to apply the theory to an actual application. Antal Dorati, first met DePreist when he served as a judge for the Dimitri Mitropoulos International Competition for Conductors in 1964. He saw too, the aplomb 46James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 107-108. 94 blossoming in DePreist and invited him to Stockholm, to conduct the orchestra Stockholm Philharmonic. Dorati said, I thought he showed outstanding talent at that time. Since then he has served as guest conductor with the Stockholm Philharmonic, where he made such a success that later in the season, after the death of Ernest Ansermet [1883-1969], the players asked he be re-engaged. And he has conducted that orchestra every year since then.47 Obviously pleased with DePreist’s success since winning the competition, Dorati was perhaps reminded of the advice he had once given DePreist as he was about to embark on his career. DePreist recalls, I remember when we [were] all euphoric after the prize winners’ concert with the New York Philharmonic, Dorati told us, ‘There will be careers that will be much flashier than yours; people will zip by. Don’t focus on careers – other people’s or your own. You have to do things that are prudent, but focus on the music making and let the career take care of itself.48 That advice was not to focus on making a career, but concentrate on making music, and obviously, DePreist had followed Dorati’s advice, much to Dorati’s pleasure. When Dorati appointed DePreist as his associate conductor in Washington, D.C., Paul Hume and Lon Tuck in the Washington Post wrote: Summing up his personal view of De Preist (sic) in a recent interview, Dorati said, “I would say that he (DePreist) has an authoritative modesty.” Yesterday Dorati praised DePreist for the “steady” development of his career, avoiding the life of the wunderkind [wonder kid] who may try to go too far to fast.49 As DePreist was now working with Dorati, he was sure to get Dorati’s conducting philosophy first-hand. Dorati’s preeminent quote on the philosophy of conducting is 47 Paul Hume and Lon Tuck, “Dorati’s New Right-Hand Man.” The Washington Post, 17 December 1971, sec. C1. 48 Wynne Delacoma, “James DePreist Keeps Tight Hold on Strings.” The Chicago Sun-Times, 17 May 1992. 49 Paul Hume and Lon Tuck, “Dorati’s New Right-Hand Man.” The Washington Post, 17 December 1971, sec. C1. 95 from his book, Notes of Seven Decades, which he imparted to the budding young conductor, and was sure to shape his execution of this delicate art: The complete mastering of a score, as it has to be mastered by the conductor, is a complex affair that cannot be properly described. It entails not only knowledge of the notes written on the pages but also their “checks and balances” – the form of the piece, its emotional content, its possible extra-musical implications, its style within a larger, aesthetic and historical scope, its special place and meaning in the composer’s mind and body so deeply that it is stored in the subconscious and emerges on the occasion of the performance as ingredients of an “improvisation”, that is, spontaneous re-creation.50 It was a unique opportunity to have the theory and applications of two great conductors, Bernstein and Dorati, teaching such a young and aspiring conductor. What is unique is that both at one time had worked with the legendary aunt of DePreist, Marian Anderson. Bernstein had accompanied her on piano in a New York City recital, and she was a guest artist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra when Mr. Dorati was music director there. So in learning from both maestri, DePreist was indeed off to a brilliant career as a conductor. The philosophies, discussions, and conducting opportunities would serve him well in years to come, as he conducted virtually every major orchestra in the world, and taught at several very important schools and festivals, including the Aspen, Interlochen, Tanglewood Festivals, as well as The Juilliard School. The rehearsal techniques of James DePreist reflects the valuable tenets shared by both Bernstein and Dorati. It seems as if it is the philosophy of Dorati that reflects best in the conducting philosophy of DePreist; as he either conducts, rehearses an orchestra, or teaches his conducting students. Dorati’s philosophy from his book states that, 50 Antal Dorati, Notes of Seven Decades (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981), 307. 96 Know what you want to say, and say it briefly…If you bore your collaborators, you’re lost. Don’t ask for anything that you cannot get, but insist on getting what you asked for…Don’t lose your patience or your temper…Do not try to be omniscient…Do not command, but suggest…51 Musicians are in agreement as to DePreist’s rehearsal techniques and it is apparent that he has consistently embodied the teachings of Mitropoulos by way of Bernstein and Dorati. Notice the unity of the following two musicians in their views on DePreist’s conducting: Rehearsals are what it’s all about for the orchestra. That’s where the work takes place. Jimmy was always pleasant. I always thought that’s the way to get things done. --Jerome Magill, double bass player from 1957 to 1996. He was first and foremost very humane in his dealings with musicians. --Niel DePonte, principal percussion.52 Musicians are somewhat offended when conductors verbalize more than conduct the music at hand in preparation for concerts. The style of DePreist seems to be similar to his poetry writings, concise, epigrammatic and terse, every word has a significant meaning. When being observed by Wayne Delacoma of The Chicago Sun-Times while conducting a rehearsal of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago (the training orchestra of the Chicago Symphony), DePreist used few words to emphasize the important points he wished to make: Wake up, he called, at the sluggish start of the first movement… More, more, open up, he yelled, trying with expansive waves of the arm to wring emotion from third movement’s (Shostakovich’s, 5th Symphony) melancholy theme. Cellos, that sound almost good, which is worse than bad.53 51 Antal Dorati, Notes of Seven Decades (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981), 315. 52 “I Would Never Want to be Denied the Opportunity to Conduct Because I’m Black.” The Oregonian, 1 June 2003. 53 Wynne Delacoma, “James DePreist Keeps Tight Hold on Strings,” Chicago Sun-Times, 17 May 1992. 97 Rehearsal Observation of James DePreist Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) found fame mainly as a composer, but was equally heralded as a conductor as well. His symphonic music encompasses such uniqueness that it is a challenge to dissect all its meanings. Mahler employed radical methods in his music that became common place to the twentieth-century audience, but was misunderstood in his day. He used contrapuntal textures throughout the orchestra. Additionally, Mahler had a unique compositional technique of continuously varying the melodies, for example in his Symphony No.5 in C Sharp Minor (1901-1904). DePreist is intimately acquainted with this work, having recorded it to wide critical acclaim with the London Symphony Orchestra. In his duties as a teacher of conducting, empowering and educating young minds, he reflects on the tremendous task he now has of teaching it to his students as it was passed down to him by Bernstein and Dorati. As professor of conducting at the Juilliard School, he also rehearses the orchestra for one of his concerts, where he programmed this symphony, about which he said, I’ve done Mahler Five many times, and each time it’s fresh and exciting,” he continued, “but I think there’s a point at which you must direct your attention to teaching so you can really give back and share the experience and insights you’ve gained over the years. The opportunity I’ve had here at Juilliard has opened my eyes to that…the area of education will be the one to which I will gravitate. I’ve been very excited about having had the opportunity to work here on a regular basis at Juilliard in developing young conductors. I have found it very gratifying, particularly because of the success of the students who have left here…[and now] have either won competitions or have prime positions with orchestras.54 The following observation is from a rehearsal the writer attended at the Juilliard School, as the orchestra prepared this symphony. DePreist was very focused on the minute details, which were crucial to the success of the symphony. The second movement of 54 Evan Fein. “James DePreist Looks Back-Forward.” Online posting. May 2011 98 this symphony, “Stürmisch bewegt. Mit grösster Vehemenz” (Violently-more agitation. With the greatest vehemence), has no program connotations ascribed by Mahler as in earlier symphonies, but others say, it is a funeral march to joy, a progression from despair to joy. Overall, this movement is a large complicated sonata-allegro form, replete with a plethora of details. Within the first fifteen measures, concerning the depiction of anger and agitation, DePreist said to the orchestra, “Too relaxed, not tight enough.” As the rehearsal progressed, comments continued such as, “Bassoons, it never gets soft enough…A little too grotesque-nudge it out of the piano…” He was only asking the orchestra not to play the sforzandos too heavily, to observe the indicated dynamic levels, and not be misled to play at dynamic levels of other instruments. He continued to be very frustrated about the dynamics and the shape of the expressions. The sense of humor, the dialogue with the musicians, and rehearsal techniques were clear and evident throughout the rehearsal. In rehearsal, he only raised his voice as he succinctly made the direct points, “There’s no crescendo, SOMEBODY’S not watching…Life is too short.”55 With this, he corrects a string bowing issue, imploring proper bow technique. It is remarkable how the tenets of Mitropoulos, Bernstein, and Dorati, combined with the emergence of DePreist’s own set of conducting techniques have evolved. There appears to be camaraderie between musicians and conductor that even existed from his beginning days as a conductor. The response of the orchestra to his every gesticulation was professional, and the sound varied according to his wishes. It was warm, centered, 55 Observed rehearsal of the Juilliard Orchestra, conducted by James DePreist at The Juilliard School, New York City, New York. 99 focused and tempered. From a creative composer to a re-creative conductor, there remains another creative side of James DePreist, that of a poet. The Poetry of James Anderson DePreist Many creative artists have shared their inner-most feelings through the medium of poetry. Felix Mendelssohn, in addition to being an outstanding conductor, was also an accomplished poet. Leonard Bernstein was known to be a ‘facile poet’ as well. In 1986, James Anderson DePreist published his first book of poems, This Precipice Garden, with an afterword by Poet Laureate for the State of Oregon and the 20th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, William E. Stafford. In his afterword, Mr. Stafford says of the poetry of James DePreist: Set free to exercise itself on its material, the art impulse will explore those hidden connections that lurk in the mystery around us. In original and unexpected ways the poems of James DePreist demonstrate that power of discovery; they provide a bonus by being accomplishments of a gifted musician working in another medium. And the poems taken together reveal an intricate balance essential but disguised in a symphony conductor’s role.56 It is said that poetry is created to evoke an emotional response, to share an expression of feelings, emotions and images in written form, causing one to use his imagination. Poetry reminds us of our limitations. DePreist captures this in his poems, for he happened upon his writing abilities by accident. Writing to a friend, he framed an epigram that eventually became a poem, and thus became enamored with this style. In an interview by Leonard W. Boasberg of The Philadelphia Inquirer, it was revealed that, DePreist started writing poetry “accidently”…He was trying to write a letter to a friend and, finding considerable difficulty saying exactly what he wanted to say, 56William Stafford, afterword to This Precipice Garden, by James A. DePreist (Portland: University of Portland Press, 1986), 52. 100 started making notes in the margin: “The marginal notes became numerous and in short order more significant to me than the letter.” 57 With this new found joy for words, he continued writing, often in hotel rooms, or on the back of magazines or stationary. This became a passionate new love for DePreist. The poetry, mainly private, often describes universal experiences. His poetry is in an epigrammatic style, and he uses as few words as possible. Often, comparisons are made to his art of making music, the displaying of a charismatic, sensitive and warm side, while the poetic side shows the reverse; it shows the introspective side. Reflecting back to his family, it was determined that they were definitely encouraging to one another, and especially to their youngest, male member, “Jimmy,” and they believed in the act of perseverance in overcoming formidable obstacles. Marian Anderson had demonstrated that in spite of being denied numerous opportunities due to her race you could overcome any obstacle. As a child growing up in Philadelphia, DePreist often would hear the vocal responses of his grandmother to the sounding of a siren from the distance. When a siren sounded, often, one took solace in being able to account for their family. However, concerns were exhibited for whom the sirens sounded for, and Mrs. Anna Anderson often reminded her family to be thoughtful of the ‘Poor Somebody’ for which the sirens were sounding for. Author, Gail Dana describes the home and his grandmother’s responses: James DePreist’s childhood home rang with the music of women. Cosseted in a South Philadelphia rowhouse, this matriarchy consisted of two aunts…DePreist’s mother…and his grandmother. The women gave young DePreist their love of art balanced with an ample serving of security. The only child in the group, he learned to harmonize first on piano, later drums. “And I believed that I could one day accomplish anything I wanted if I was qualified to do so.” For as long as he [James Anderson DePreist] can remember, this scene was darkened only by his 57 Leonard W. Boasberg, “Today, Another Side of Conductor James DePreist.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 24 June 1987. 101 father’s [James Henry. DePreist, d.1942] premature death and the discord of sirens. It was his grandmother who answered to sirens. Whenever a shrill whistle cut through the cacophony of neighborhood sounds, she’d walk to the window, peer through the pane, shake her head and whisper, “Poor somebody.” Today that poor someone was a stranger. Tomorrow it could be one of her daughters, herself…or James [Jimmy].58 So with this protection of family and home, it would be a concern as to whom the siren sounded for, which ‘poor somebody.’ MY GRANDMOTHER BROUGHT the distant siren’s tension among the peace of our unaffected home with words that spoke the compass of her soul and never let us, untouched hear a siren’s song again. “Poor Somebody,” she said.59 In 1989, James Anderson DePreist published his second book of poems, The Distant Siren, with a foreword by Maya Angelou, and dedicated to his wife, Ginette DePreist. This book of poems is more revealing to the sensitive, furtive, non-public side of DePreist. Maya Angelous says of his poetry: “His poetry has the tautness of a perfectly pitched viola and much of its resonance.”60 Through the recommendation of concert pianist and native Philadelphian, Natalie Hinderas, DePreist was offered an opportunity to represent the United States Government in the Far East in 1962, by visiting several countries and sharing his music as well as 58 Gail Dana, “DePreist: More Than Music.” This Week Magazine (Portland, OR), 30 January 1991, 38. 59 James A. DePreist, The Distant Siren (Salem, OR: Willamette University Press, 1989), 54. 60Maya Angelou, foreword to The Distant Siren, by James A. DePreist (Salem, OR: Willamette University Press, 1989). 102 lecturing and playing American-style jazz. Having met Bernstein, who was very encouraging, DePreist was off to a stellar start in his musical career. Upon arrival in Thailand, he was offered his first opportunity to conduct a full size symphony orchestra, and from there he was able to deduce that this was his life’s calling. As this decision was being reinforced and solidified, tragedy struck in the form of polio, leaving him unable to walk, ‘Poor Somebody.’ He lay helpless in a foreign country, away from his family, with a shattered future, “Poor Somebody.’ Bleak prognosis, shattered hope, a painful ordeal, now he had to look within his soul to find solace, ‘Poor Somebody.’ Le revers de la medaille me fasait mal. Je connaissais le sort de l’homme ordinaire, sans la garantie de pouvoire marcher a nouveau. Sans savoir si, un jour, je pourrais reprendre la carrier que j’avais a peine amorcee. Dans mon doute, j’acceptais ces conditions comme s’il s’’agissait d’un jeu entre Dieu et moi. Il me demandait de franchir un passage etroit et difficile. Je le traverais61 The other side of the coin was hurting me. I knew the ordinary man’s fate, without the guarantee of being able to walk again. Without knowing, if one day, I could resume the career I had just begun. In my doubt, I accepted these conditions as if it were again between God and me. He was asking me to cross a narrow and difficult passage. I would go through it. Special efforts to get him home were being negotiated between the United States and the hospital staff in Thailand. These efforts were initiated by contacts Marian Anderson had with President John F. Kennedy’s administration, including the United States Attorney General, Robert F. Kennedy. For the moment all Jimmy wanted was to go home. “Somebody please get me home,” he telegraphed his mother at the end of August. [Marian] Anderson contacted Edward R. Murrow, then head of the USIA (United States Information Agency), asking him to do what he could to get Jimmy back to the States as quickly as possible. On September 4, Jimmy was loaded by stretcher onto a military cargo plane headed for Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. Flying through thunder and rain storms while lying on a stretcher, for twelve hours, 61James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 69. 103 among seriously wounded medical evacuees from Viet Nam (sic), Jimmy found the journey to be a nightmare.62 Figure 6. U.S. Air Force C—141 “Starlifters, used for medical evacuations from www.usaf.gov/airplanes For it was clear at this point that, the siren had indeed sounded for James DePreist. As he lay with his thoughts and assessing the other people sick around him, one wonders if he was penning these words: WE HAVEN’T A CLUE as outcome; coincident confluences-the luck of the draw hunches, history, Hail Marys and chutzpah limp us through lifetimes. But no one knows; not really despite rantings and claims to be certitude’s intimates we’re all labrynthian travelers maples with faith.63 62 Alan Keilor, Marian Anderson: A Singer’s Journey (New York: Scribner, 2000), 306-307. 63 James A. DePreist, The Distant Siren (Salem, OR: Willamette University Press, 1989), 46. 104 After the paperwork matters were resolved, DePreist found himself headed home to the United States, courtesy of the United States Air Force, on a medical evacuation plane, which was used to transport wounded military personnel from Vietnam and other parts of the world. Upon further reflection, the words of his grandmother again proved pivotal: Et comment aurais-je pu etre totalement desespere quand, dans l’ambulance qui me conducsait a l’aeroport, tout au long du trajet, j’avais droit a des virages sur deux roués et a une etonnante, merveiieuse, hallucinante sirene…En me voyant sourire, l’un des ambulanciers s’inquieta. Est-ce que ça va mal? Ça va très bien! Qu’est-ce qui vous fait rire? La sirene! J’adore les sirens. Depuis ma plus tender enfance, je reve de m’acheter une telle voiture pour entendre la sirene a volonte…Maintenant je realize une partie de mon desir. Les deux ambulanciers me devisagerent, sceptiques, tentant de decouvrir si j’etais reelement aussi bien que je le disais, si je n’etais pas attent en quelque endroit du cerveau…Cela me faisait riree advantage. Une surpri m’attendait a l’areoport. Je n’avais pas droit a un simple vol commercial, mais a un enorme avion de l’Air Force, san hublot, qui servait au transport des soldats maladies.64 And, how is it that I could be totally desperate when in the ambulance that was transporting me to the airport during the whole trip…I was enjoying…a wonderful, hallucinating siren…As I was laughing, one of the ambulance attendants worried. Is something wrong? I am feeling very well! What is making you laugh? The Siren! I love Sirens. Ever since my childhood, I had dreamed of buying such a vehicle to be able to hear the siren when I wanted to. Now, part of my desire is coming true. The two ambulance attendants looked at me skeptically, trying to determine if I were indeed as fine as I was saying…A surprise was waiting for me at the airport. I thought I was going on a commercial flight, but instead, it was a huge (United States) Air Force plane, without windows, which was used to transport wounded and sick military personnel. 64 James A. DePreist, Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard (Québec: Les Éditions Heritage Inc, 1980), 69. 105 Fig. 7. Vintage ambulance, equipped with warning lights and sirens, circa 1960 from www.vintageambulances.com From this point on, the life of James Anderson DePreist reflects the stuff of legends. He was rehabilitated to the point of regaining the ability to walk (though with the aid of other devices), he entered a major music competition for conductors, returned to Thailand to gain experience as a resident conductor of its orchestras, he married, relocated to the Netherlands, and began a significant career as a conductor of symphony orchestras. I HEDGED MY GRIEF by feigning indifference and anchored my ego in a myth.65 The siren has sounded many more times for James DePreist, and with each sounding, ‘The Spirit of Triumph’ is re-exerted. DePreist has had significant health related issues in his life, contracting polio, a kidney transplant, back surgery, and hypertension. In 65 James A. DePreist, This Precipice Garden (Portland: University of Portland Press, 1986), 24. 106 preparation for the 1987 season opener with the Oregon Symphony, a very unfortunate event would occur. Gail Dana, from The Oregonian provides an accurate accounting of the events: Then, in the fall of 1987, the siren’s song returned. James DePreist and the Oregon Symphony were completing dress rehearsal for the season’s opening night. Everyone was elated; everyone needed a break. The time was nearly 3 in the afternoon. DePreist prepared to descend from his podium…DePriest hadn’t noticed one of his leg braces falling loose. Standing, he let his full body weight fall onto the leg. The brace slipped. His leg snapped. DePreist barreled to the floor…The orchestra was asked to leave the stage. DePreist’s wife, Ginette, called an ambulance. Siren screaming, the vehicle rushed DePreist away. Meanwhile, Associate (sic) Conductor (sic) Norman Leyden scrambled to cover for DePreist. Despite the loss of a conductor, concerts must go on. And so it did. At 8 p.m., Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, the curtain rose. No one explained DePreist’s absence. They didn’t need to. For there, center stage, leg-in-cast, baton-in-hand, he sat. He lifted his arm. The music played.66 Once again, basking in The Spirit of Triumph. 66 Gail Dana, “DePreist: More Than Music.” This Week Magazine (Portland, OR), 30 January 1991. 107 CHAPTER V CONCLUSION “SUCCINCTLY PUT,” two words too many67 Figure 8. James Anderson DePreist and the Juilliard Orchestra from www.juilliard.ed The life of James Anderson DePreist personifies the true, ‘spirit of triumph.’ He has shown by the best of examples what it means to be victorious against adversity. It is hoped that this document will serve as a record of his remarkable achievements including special moments of inspiration- provided by his aunt, the legendary “Lady from Philadelphia” Marian Anderson. DePreist is a passionate promoter of the arts, as well as other humanitarian causes that are important to him and his family. 67 James A. DePreist, The Distant Siren (Salem, OR: Willamette University Press, 1989), 27. 108 Educational outreach has remained the center of his focus in his many years as a conductor; reaching the masses and the average person is a crucial part of his legacy. In addressing an issue about the benefits of businesses supporting the arts in the Beaverton Business Advocate from October of 1988, DePreist responded to the following questions: Advocate: Why should businesses really care about the symphony (orchestra), or about cultural activities in general? DePreist: It’s a matter of enlightened self interest. The quality of a community’s cultural life ranks among the top five-in some cases among the top three factors determining whether a company will move to an area. That’s because an increasing number of enterprises recognize that their top executives and increasing numbers of their overall workforce seek a wider range of cultural experience. Advocate: The federal administration has not had a similar increase in generosity towards the arts, however? DePreist: Seriously, it is not and should not be a question of defense or music. They both are a part of the same system. We need missiles to protect us, and we also need music – to protect us from the tendency to become less than we can be.68 As the interview continued, the question was answered that epitomizes his views on the job and task of a symphony orchestra conductor, the opportunity to sell and present music to the masses: Advocate: Is it reasonable to expect everyone to like classical music? DePreist: It’s a question of being exposed to diverse possibilities and opportunity for a broader range of experience. It’s like one diet’s. The favorite American foods may be hamburgers, French fries and hot dogs, but one should at least try garlic, or broccoli, or whatever. Not that it’s necessarily better, but one should at least taste it. I spend my life selling broccoli!69 68 James A. DePreist. Interview. “Missiles, Music and Broccoli: An Interview with Oregon Symphony Music Director James DePreist.” Beaverton Business Advocate, October 1988. 69 Ibid. 109 The entire community benefits from the raised consciousness of the arts, and this continues to be what he champions and perpetuates in others. DePreist addressed the 1993 graduating class of The Juilliard School in New York City, and his words define the need to reach and develop new audiences: As performing artists we share a fundamental presumption: that there is indeed a significant culture with a voracious appetite for what we do; A discriminating, appreciative renewable public—a forest of expectant faces. I submit that this essential forest of our future is at risk and if we are not careful, we will find ourselves having been trained as the answer to a question no longer being asked…Failure to buttress a culture by support of the performing arts is never of a shortage of money. It is due rather to a deficiency of will…As artists in a pluralistic, competitive society, we cannot afford to remain aloof, performing on the periphery of public pleasure, we must be involved: not in raising dollars, but in raising consciousness.70 DePreist also stated in another interview concerning our society and the arts, “Our society cannot call itself the most advanced in the world…if we have an attitude that would allow the arts to flounder.”71 Marian Anderson raised the consciousness of the world through the art song, while at the same time raising its consciousness to the many indignities of racial prejudice. She faced it and achieved victory, while always displaying the ‘spirit of triumph.’ She opened many doors for scores of people, in the world of music, including Mississippi native Leontyne Price, who would become a fixture in many opera houses around the world. 70 James A. DePreist, “Commencement Address for the Juilliard School” (Delivered on 21 May 1993 in New York City, New York), Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. 71 Robert M. Andrews. “A Modest Proposal for the Pentagon.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 22 March 1985. 110 Figure 9. Soprano, Leontyne Price with James DePreist from www.JamesDePreist.com Ms. Anderson’s efforts benefitted all people in many careers. The common thread was to instill the desire to work hard and be successful, regardless of the obstacles. One of Marian Anderson’s principal supporters was Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Mrs. Roosevelt came to the aid of Ms. Anderson when she was denied opportunity to sing at the Constitution Hall in 1939. Subsequently, it was Mrs. Roosevelt who opened doors for minorities (such as The Tuskegee Airmen to become aviators in the United States military) to achieve many meaningful and important accomplishments. As a result of Mrs. Roosevelt’s intervention at that time, it became possible for Colonel Guion S. Bluford, Jr,. (a native of Philadelphia also) to become the first African American in space. Bluford succinctly summarizes it by speaking for those who benefitted from the efforts of Marian Anderson, Eleanor Roosevelt and others, If you want to succeed, prepare yourself as best you can for whatever career you have chosen to pursue. Work hard, dedicate yourselves and make the necessary sacrifices. Above all, be diligent and persistent. A lot of times, people give up when they taste a little bit of defeat, but it’s important that you set your goals for yourself. You should doggedly pursue them until you achieve them!72 72 J. Alfred Phelps, They Had A Dream: The Story of African-American Astronauts (Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1994), 97. 111 James Anderson DePreist continues to carry that mantle, showing the world how to be successful, in spite of physical disabilities. He is a very potent supporter of the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as lending his voice and making appearances in such videos as: Saving America’s Children and Shine. His brushes with debilitating diseases, transplants, etc., have helped guide his efforts in this area. Susan Baumgardner, a white lady from Portland, Oregon came to his aid and donated a kidney to this African American man, quickly dismantling the many negative myths about the transplanting of body organs between people of different races. DePreist says, “I support the efforts to increase the number of organ donors in this country, and thank the special woman who gave this gift to me.”73 Together, they stand to represent the ‘spirit of triumph,’ proving to the world the true meaning of altruism. The American-born conductor, James Anderson DePreist personifies as well as epitomizes the ‘spirit of triumph.’ From social challenges, to a series of physical maladies, he has become a world-class symphonic conductor, educator, poet and composer, in spite of setbacks which would have limited lesser men. Along the way, he has demonstrated that one can overcome obstacles, no matter their size; one can overcome, as long as they are willing to confront them. James Anderson DePreist said, “Life is a balance. It’s never unlimited joy. There can be sorrow, even tragedy. The important thing is how you face it.”74 73 Vivian Cheadle. “James DePreist: The Maestro Bids Adieu as Music Director.” Senior Life (Portland, OR), September 2002. 74 Noel Hynd, “The Compass of His Soul.” The Pennsylvania Gazette: Alumni Magazine of the University of Pennsylvania, Vol.91, no.5, March 1993, 24. 112 This UNMAPPED HERE suffices75 Fig. 10. James Anderson DePreist with the Juilliard Orchestra from www.juilliard.edu Rehearsed, RELIC-LADEN remembrance enshrining ritual revisited riches reaching from revered past returning the consonance of our faith to remind with repetition of the reason for renewal76 75 James Anderson DePreist, The Distant Siren (Salem, OR: Willamette University Press, 1989), 37. 76 Ibid, 11. 113 APPENDIX A MUSIC COMPOSED, ARRANGED OR ORCHESTRATED BY JAMES ANDERSON DEPREIST Music composed by James Anderson DePreist: 1) Vision of America (1961) 2) Tendrils (1964) 3) A Sprig of Lilac (1964) 4) Themes 1-6 (1988) 5) Requiem (1965) 6) Eye on New York (1965) Music Arranged and Orchestrated by James Anderson DePreist: Themes for the Cosby Show Season 1988-89- Bill Cosby & Stu Gardner Music Orchestrated by James Anderson DePreist: 1) Go Down Moses- Henry Thacker Burleigh (a.k.a. H. T. Burleigh) 2) Let Us Break Bread Together- H. T. Burleigh 3) He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands- H. T. Burleigh 4) Done Foun’ My Los’ Sheep- H. T. Burleigh 5) Ride on, King Jesus-H. T. Burleigh 114 APPENDIX B SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RECORDINGS A Shoulder to Weep On. (Bennie Benjamin, Patricia Peale and George Weiss). June Valli w/ Orchestra and Male Quartet including Jimmy DePreist. (RCA Victor Record Prevue/Disc Jockey Sample, Laurel Music ASCAP. E2-VB7512 20-5017 2146). Baby Needs Mozart. (Mozart, Wolfgang A. II. Andante from Symphony No. 29 in A Major, K. 201, and Mozart, Wolfgang A. II. Andante from Symphony No. 4 in D Major, K. 19. The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, conducted by James DePreist.) (DELOS DE-1605). Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827). Leonore Overture No.3, National High School Honor Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor, Neal Gittleman, assistant conductor. AEA #1445 Audio Engineering Associates. Boys Gotta Dance. (Mozart, Wolfgang A. I. Allegro from Symphony No.5 in B-flat Major, K. 22, The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, conducted by James DePreist.) (DELOS DE-1623). Classical Music For You and Your Dog- A Day in the Life of Lucky. (Bizet, George. Excerpts from Carmen Suite No. 1, The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor) and (Satie, Erik. Gymnopedies for Piano No. 1, Lent et douloureux as orchestrated by Claude Debussy. The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor.) (DELOS DE-1617). Copland, Aaron (1900-1990). Happy Birthday, National High School Honor Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor, Neal Gittleman, assistant conductor. AEA #1445 Audio Engineering Associates. Day in the Life of Leo (A) - Classical Music for you & Your Cat. (Mozart, Wolfgang A. I. Allegro from Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, K. 22. The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra as conducted by James DePreist.) (DELOS DE-1616). Engineer’s Choice. (Respighi, Ottorino. Roman Festivals. The Oregon Symphony Orchestra as conducted by James DePreist.) (DELOS DE-3506). Engineer’s Choice. (Shostakovich, Dmitri. Scherzo from Symphony No. 10, Op.93 in E- minor. The Helsinki Symphony Orchestra as conducted by James DePreist.) (DELOS DE-3506). Girls Gotta Dance! Rhythms to Excite the Muscles, Symmetry to Stimulate the Brain, Melodies to Delight the Heart. (Bizet, George as arranged by Rodion Shchedrin, Bolero and Dance from the Carmen Ballet. L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo as conducted by James DePreist.) (DELOS DE-1624). 115 Good Music for Little Guys. (Bizet, George. Carmen: Act 1 Prelude “Les toreadors.” L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo as conducted by James DePreist.) (DELOS DE-1615). Hanson, Howard (1896-1981). Symphony No.2, Op.30 (Romantic), National High School Honor Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor, Neal Gittleman, assistant conductor. AEA #1445 Audio Engineering Associates. Menotti, Gian Carlo (1911-2007). Apocalypse, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Oregon Symphony Orchestra’s Centennial Collection). Music Surround Spectacular (The) - The Tests. [Respighi, Ottorino. Excerpts from Roman Festivals (Feste Romane). The Oregon Symphony Orchestra as conducted by James DePreist]. (DELOS DE-3179). Music Surround Spectacular (The) - The Tests. (Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich. Overture 1812, op.49, Ouverture solennelle. The Oregon Symphony Orchestra as conducted by James DePreist). (DELOS DE-3179). Natural Escapes. (Prokofiev, Serge. Sur Le Borysthene Suite, Op.51, a.k.a. Cinderella; On The Dnieper. L’Orchestre de Monte Carlo as conducted by James DePreist.) (KIC-CD-7634). Rachmaninoff, Serge (1873-1949). Symphony No.2, Op.27 in E-minor, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Oregon Symphony Orchestra, Centennial Collection). Respighi, Ottorino (1879-1936). Roman Festivals, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Oregon Symphony Orchestra Centennial Collection). Secret Classics. (Rachmaninoff, Sergei. Songs (14), Op.34, No.14, Vocalise, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor.). (DELOS D/CD 3071). Serene Journeys Through Classical Music. (Bizet, George. Carmen Suite, “The Carmen Ballet,” VII. Second Intermezzo. L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo as conducted by James DePreist.) (DELOS DE-1608). Stravinsky, Igor (1882-1971). Histoire du soldat (in English), Michele Mariana as the Devil and Michael Mendelson as the Soldier with Third Angle New Music Ensemble, James DePreist, narrator. (Gagliano Recording: GR 733-CD). Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich (1840-1893). Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Oregon Symphony Orchestra Centennial Collection). 116 The Symphonic Sound Stage: A Listener’s Guide to the Art and Science of Recording The Orchestra, Vol. 1. (Lutoslawski, Witold. Excerpts from Concerto for Orchestra, Capriccio notturno e Arioso. The Oregon Symphony Orchestra as conducted by James DePreist.) (DELOS DE-3502). The Symphonic Sound Stage: A Listener’s Guide to the Art and Science of Recording The Orchestra, Vol. 1. (Respighi, Ottorino. “Circenses” from Roman Festivals. The Oregon Symphony Orchestra as conducted by James DePreist). (DELOS DE-3502). The Symphonic Sound Stage: A Listener’s Guide to the Art and Science of Recording The Orchestra, Vol. II. (Rachmaninoff, Sergei. Scherzo from Symphony No.2, op. 27 in E- minor. The Oregon Symphony Orchestra as conducted by James DePreist.) (DELOS DE-3504). The Symphonic Sound Stage: A Listener’s Guide to the Art and Science of Recording The Orchestra, Vol. II. (Shostakovich, Dmitri. January 9th from Symphony No. 11 in G-minor, “The Year 1905.” The Oregon Symphony Orchestra as conducted by James DePreist.) (DELOS DE-3504). The Symphonic Sound Stage: A Listener’s Guide to the Art and science of Recording The Orchestra, Vol. II. (Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich. Hamlet, op.67. The Oregon Symphony Orchestra as conducted by James DePreist.) (DELOS DE-3504). University of Pennsylvania: Recordings at The University of Pennsylvania. Blue N’ Boogie Variations on a Theme by Hamilton & Blakey…(Drum solo by Jimmy DePreist). Thou Swell DeDe by Dick Grossmen Up At Denny’s Pad by Bob Mojica Really, Really, Really by Larry McKenna Recorded by NOLA Recording Studios, Plaza7-4870 (Telephone#). Washburn, Robert (1928- ). SONA, National High School Honor Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor, Neal Gittleman, assistant conductor. AEA #1445 Audio Engineering Associates. Young People’s Concerts: Young Performers-Pictures At An Exhibition, The New York Philharmonic Orchestra,, CBS Broadcast: (22 February 1966). Why Don’t You Believe Me. (Lew Douglas, King Laney and Roy Rodde). June Valli w/Orchestra and Male Quartet including Jimmy DePreist. (RCA Victor Record Prevue/Disc Jockey Sample E2-VB7513 20-5017 2146) 117 APPENDIX C JAMES ANDERSON DEPREIST AS AUTHOR OR WRITER DePreist, James A. “Art For The Sake of Art: Musical Metamorphoses” (The 6th Presentation of The John R. Adams Lecture in Humanities at San Diego State University). San Diego: Department of Classics and Humanities, San Diego State University, 10 February, 1999. DePreist, James A. Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard. Quebec: Les Éditions Héritage Inc., 1980. DePreist, James A. “Being Conducted by James DePreist: Poetry by James DePreist with an introduction by William Stafford.” Portland, Summer 1985. DePreist, James A. “DePreist Defends Symphony: ‘On The Edge of a Precipice, Only a Fool Does Cartwheels.’” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), 1 March 1987. ______. A Voice of Hope. Interview with Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Roberta Peters. A News Hour with Jim Leher, transcripts, 26 February 1997. DePreist, James A. Interview. Conductor, James DePreist, interview by Roy Hurst, 11 May 2005, transcripts, Heard On News & Notes on National Public Radio. ______. Letter. Black Conductors, ‘A Prize Not Worth Having.’ New York Times 25 October 1992. DePreist, James A. “Commencement Address for The Juilliard School” (Delivered on May 21, 1993, in New York City). DePreist, James A. “Commencement Address for Lewis and Clark College” (Delivered on June 15, 1986, in Portland Oregon). DePreist, James A. “Commencement Address for Oregon Episcopal School” (Delivered on June 9, 2000 in Portland Oregon), Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Van Pelt- Dietrich Library Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. ______. “Commencement Address for Portland State University” (Delivered on June 14, 2003 at the Rose Garden Arena, in Portland Oregon). DePreist, James A. “Commencement Address for University of Portland” (Delivered on May 8, 1983, in Portland Oregon). DePreist, James A. “Commencement Address for Reed College” (Delivered on May 20, 1990 in Portland Oregon). 118 DePreist, James A. “Commencement Address for Wilson High School” (Delivered on June 4, 1983 in Portland Oregon). DePreist, James A. “An Interview with James DePriest (sic).” Interview by Jon Tuska. Fanfare, September/October 1989, vol. 13, no.1. DePreist, James A. Interview with Betty Allen & Nancy Shear. WNYC-FM, New York City,1986.* DePreist, James A. Interview with Bill Jerome. Cosby Theme Music. WNCN-FM, New York City, 6 June 1988.* DePreist, James A. Interview with Brad Eaton. KXL Radio. 5 May 1988. DePreist, James A. Interview with Ed Bradley. Remembering the Dream. CBS Radio. 7 February 1991. DePreist, James A. [ Interview in French.] Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo. Emission du 30 Septembre 1994. DePreist, James A. Interview with June LaBebelle. The Listening Room. Radio Station of the New York Times, New York City. 5 August 1988.* DePreist, James A. Interview with KBPS-FM. A Tribute to Jimmy. Oregon Symphony Orchestra. DePreist, James A. Interview with Michael O’Rourke. Morning Edition. National Public Radio. 16 February 1986.* DePreist, James A. Interview with Nancy Shear. WNYC-FM, New York City, 1988.* DePreist, James A. Interview with Stuart Rosenthal. The Oregon Symphony. KXL-AM, Portland. 5 May 1988.* DePreist, James A. Interview with Susan Butrille (sic). 24 March 1986* DePreist, James A. Conductor James DePreist: In Conversation with Bruce Duffie, interview by Bruce Duffie, 16 June 1988, transcript, Convention of the American Symphony Orchestra League, Chicago, IL. DePreist, James A. A Conversation with James DePreist, Seattle Symphony’s Channel, 27 May 2009, Seattle Symphony American Conductors Project, “The Next Generation.” Posted on You Tube. DePreist, James A. Letter. DePreist Beams Choral Message to ‘Planet Stabler. The Oregonian, September 1996. 119 DePreist, James A. “Four Untitled Selections.” Edited by Jhan Hochman. Portland: Portland Review, vol.28, #2. 1982. DePreist, James A. Interview. Efforts to Promote the Oregon Symphony: Symphony Survival. Interview by Jim Leher with Lee Hoachber, Don Roth and David Schiff. Transcript, Online News Hour, 26 March 1997. ______. “Grounded in Faith, Free to Fly.” New York Times, 18 April 1993, sec. 2. DePreist, James A. Letter. Maestro Stays Put. Willamette Week Vol. 14, no.51 20-26 October 1988. DePreist, James A. Interview. “Missiles, Music and Broccoli: An Interview with Oregon Symphony Music Director James DePreist.” Beaverton Business Advocate, October 1988. ______. “Money Is Not the Bottom Line” (A speech presented to the Opening General Luncheon of the American Symphony Orchestra League’s National Conference), June 16, 1988. Symphony Magazine, August/September 1988. DePreist, James A. Interview. “Oregon Symphony Music Director James DePreist thoughtfully Answers our Questions,” by Janet Foxman, The Statesman, 18 October 1996. “DePreist Replaces Leinsdorf as Symphony Guest Conductor.” The Houston Chronicle, 24 September 1993. DePreist, James A. Letter. Response to David Stabler Article. The Oregonian, February 15, 1987. DePreist, James A. Speech at the City Club of Portland, Oregon. 30 October 1987. DePreist, James A. The Distant Siren. Salem Oregon: Willamette University Press, 1989. DePreist, James A. The Precipice Garden. Portland Oregon: University of Portland Press, 1986. DePreist, Jimmy. “A New Music.” The Pennsylvania Gazette:Alumni Magazine of the University of Pennsylvania, Vol. 57. No.10, June 1959, 19, 20, 31. 120 APPENDIX D JAMES DEPREIST IN ROLES OTHER THAN CONDUCTOR DePreist, James A. Easter Seals PSA. (Public Service Announcement), James DePreist, speaker. Whitman Advertising in Portland. February 1989.* James DePreist News Stories. KATU-TV & KOIN-TV, Portland, Oregon. VHS. 2001.* Making Music in Monaco. Concerts, performances and interviews. Produced by WQXR.* Sunday Mornings on Riviera. 8 October 1995. [Radio Broadcasts from Monte Carlo]. Stravinsky, Igor (1882-1971). Histoire du soldat (in English), Michele Mariana as the Devil and Michael Mendelson as the Soldier with Third Angle New Music Ensemble, James DePreist, narrator. (Gagliano Recording: GR 733-CD). A Shoulder to Weep On. (Bennie Benjamin, Patricia Peale and George Weiss). June Valli w/ Orchestra and Male Quartet including Jimmy DePreist. (RCA Victor Record Prevue/Disc Jockey Sample, Laurel Music ASCAP. E2-VB7512 20-5017 2146). University of Pennsylvania: Recordings at The University of Pennsylvania. Blue N’ Boogie, Variations on a Theme by Hamilton & Blakey…(Drum solo by Jimmy DePreist). Thou Swell DeDe by Dick Grossmen Up At Denny’s Pad by Bob Mojica Really, Really, Really by Larry McKenna Recorded by NOLA Recording Studios, Plaza7-4870 (Telephone#). The Juilliard Conductors’ Orchestra: Conducted by Students of James DePreist, The Juilliard Conductors’ Orchestra, conducted by Shochi Kubota, Ryan McAdams, Co Nguyen and Jonathan Yates [8 December 2004]. (JU DVD# 0011) ** The Juilliard Conductors’ Orchestra: Conducted by Students of James DePreist, The Juilliard Conductors’ Orchestra, conducted by Sarah Kidd, Kyunghun Kim and Vladimir Kulenovic. [Date of Publication unknown at this time]. The Juilliard Conductors’ Orchestra: Conducted by Students of James DePreist, The Juilliard Conductors’ Orchestra, conducted by Vince Lee, Ryan McAdams, George Stelluto, Guerguan Tsenov and Eugene Tzigane [8 December 2005]. (Juilliard CD# 0020). 121 The Juilliard Conductors’ Orchestra: Conducted by Students of James DePreist, The Juilliard Conductors’ Orchestra, conducted by Stilan Kirov, Dane Lam and Joshua Kangming Tan [24 February 2009]. (Juilliard CD# 0024). The Juilliard Conductors’ Orchestra: Conducted by Students of James Depreist, The Juilliard Conductors’ Orchestra, conducted by Vince Lee, Guergan Tsenov and Eugene Tzigane [3 May 2007]. (Juilliard CD# 0245). Why Don’t You Believe Me. (Lew Douglas, King Laney and Roy Rodde). June Valli w/Orchestra and Male Quartet including Jimmy DePreist. (RCA Victor Record Prevue/Disc Jockey Sample E2-VB7513 20-5017 2146). “Something to Think About.” Programs 1-14. KYTE. James DePreist, speaker.* “Voices of Hope.” Medical Rehabilitation Educational Foundation, 1910 Association Dr., Reston, VA. 22091, James DePreist, speaker.* 122 BIBLIOGRAPHY Aarons, Dick. “A Very Grand Finale.” Philadelphia Daily News, 31 March 2000. “A Hush-Hush Recording of Cosby’s New Theme.” The Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT), 4 June 1988. Abbot, Christopher. Review of Symphony No.5 by Gustav Mahler, The London Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conducting, Naxos 8.557990 (72:43). Fanfare, 1 May 2007. Abbot, Christopher. “The Want List 2007.” Fanfare, 1 November 2007. “Aiming For the Essence of Jazz on the Eastside.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), 1 November 2002. Alexander, Mary Jane. “Black Pioneer’s Life Delivers a Message for Conductors Today.” Chicago Sun-Times, 21 February 1993. ______. “Blacks Still Few in Top Ranks of Conducting.” The (Columbia, SC) State, 30 August 1992. “Alumni Profile: James DePreist, W’58.” Wharton Alumni Magazine: The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Winter 1990. Anderson, Julia. “Balance-Sheet Music: Symphony Attains Budgetary Stability.” The Columbian (Vancouver, WA), 17 June 1990. Anderson, Paul. “The Making of a Classical Concert.” The Aspen Times, 25 July 1985. Andrews, Robert M. “A Modest Proposal for the Pentagon.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 22 March 1985. Anthony, Michael. “DePreist’s Focus Is on Making Music.” The Star Tribune (St. Paul, MN), 8 November 1991. Anthony, Roger. “This Symphony Program Will Feature Songs in Key of TV.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), 2 March 1996. Asch, Kenneth. “Orchestral manoeuvres.” Strad, Vol.106 Issue 1267 (November 1995): 1135. Bargreen, Melinda. “DePreist Brilliant on Small Scale, Too.” The Seattle Times, 30 October 1989. 123 Bargreen, Melinda. “Two Works Celebrate words of King.” The Seattle Times, 12 January 1995. Barnes, Bart. “Cellist-Conductor Mstislav Rostropovich Dies at 80.” The Washington Post, 27 April 2007. ______. “Marian Anderson, Whose Voice Made History, Dies.” The Washington Post, 9 April 1993. Barnes, Terry. “The Classical World Resists Integration: Orchestras Are 1 Percent Black.” The Record (NJ), 13 November 1992. Bernstein, Leonard. “The Negro in Music: Problems He Has To Face in Getting a Start.” The New York Times, 2 November 1947. Biaso, Michele Lea. “Studio Offers Piece of History.” The News-Time (Danbury, CT), 14 June 2004. Bibis, Suzan. “Crescendo Achiever-How Conductor DePreist Bowls Over Adversity.” Daily News of Los Angeles, 23 August 1992. ______. “Oregon Conductor Bowls Over Adversity.” Daily Breeze (Torrance, CA.) 27 August 1992. “Bill Cosby Unveils The Music in Comedy and in Everyday Life.” The Columbian (Vancouver, WA), 7 October 1999. Blackwood, Easley. “Easley Blackwood: The Composer in Conversation with Bruce Duffie.” Interview by Bruce Duffie (Chicago, February 1993). New Connoisseur Magazine, (Summer, 2001). Blau, Eleanor. “A Musical Tribute to a Legend: Marian Anderson.” The New York Times, 15 August 1989. Boasberg, Leonard W. “Orchestras’ Overtures to Minorities Beyond Philadelphia, Symphonies Have Developed a Wide Repertoire of Methods to Racially Diversify Their Player Rosters and Their Audiences.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 29 April 1991. ______. “Today, Another Side of conductor James DePreist.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 24 June 1987. Boehme, Chris. “The Maestro: Oregon Symphony Conductor James DePreist.” Northwest Magazine, 29 June 1986. 124 Boule, Margie. “Two People United Forever by the Gift of a Better Life.” The Oregonian, 8 September 2002. Bradley, Jeff. “Aunt Marian Inspired DePreist.” The Denver Post, 16 November 1990. ______. “DePreist Charms CSO Audience.” The Denver Post, 17 November 1990. ______. “King Oratory Rings Out in Symphonic Setting American Composers’ Tributes on New CD by Oregon Symphony.” The Denver Post, 16 January 1995. Brady, Thomas J. “Singing Praises of Anderson as a Singer.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 27 February 2000. Braxton, Greg. “A Classical Case Beating the Odds.” The Los Angeles Times, 11 September 2009. “Britt’s Ends Season in Black.” Britt News (Medford, OR), Fall 1989, Vol. 7, no.2. “Britt’s 28th Season Under the Stars.” Britt News (Medford, OR), Fall 1989, Vol. 7, no.2. Bray, Rosemary L. “The Way We Live: An African-American Life; Claiming a Culture.” New York Times, 23 April 1989. Brookhouser, Frank. “Man About Town.” The Evening Bulletin Philadelphia, Monday, 20 August 1962. Brooks, Tilford. America’s Black Musical Heritage. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1984. Broun, Ronald. “Philadelphia Orchestra’s Flowing Bruch.” The Washington Post, 17 June 1999. Brown, Steven. “Philharmonic Parades on Familiar Turf.” The Orlando Sentinel, 26 April 2000. Bruce, Robert C. “Murry Sidlin on the Death and Transfiguration of the American Symphony Orchestra.” Sforzando, October 1996, 17-20. Bruce, Robert C. “Toward A Perfect Economy of Meaning, An Interview With James DePreist.” Sforzando, April 1997, 6-40. Bugbee, Pamela Gilbert. Letter. James DePreist On Disc. Symphony Magazine. Vol.40, no.3 May/June 1989. Burklow, Jennifer. “CSO Keeps its Focus on Artist’s New Work.” Chicago Sun-Times, 22 May 1992. 125 Butterworth, Bev. “Coretta Scott King to Attend Event Honoring Her Husband.” The Oregonian, 17 January 1995. ______. “Formal Gala Tips Hat to Music Maestro.” The Oregonian, 15 September 1991. ______. “King Shares Legacy at Symphony Evening.” The Oregonian, 29 January 1995. Butterworth, Beverly H. “’Tribute to Jimmy.’” The Oregonian, 28 August 1991. Campbell, R. M.. “Orchestra Reveals Little of its French Character.” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 20 April 1998. ______. “”Oregon’s DePreist Brings His Expertise to Seattle.” Seattle Post- Intelligencer, 27 October 1989. Canarina, John. Review of The Concerto for Orchestra by Lutoslawski, Roman Festivals by Respighi and Don Juan, Op.20 by Richard Strauss with the Oregon symphony Orchestra, conducted by James DePreist, Delos D/CD-3070. Keynote, June 1988, Vol. 12, no.4. Carter, Kevin L. “Belafonte Has an Award to Receive, Words to Deliver\ The Entertainer Will Be the First Marian Anderson Honoree Saturday.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 21 June 1998. Cheadle, Vivian. “James DePreist: The Maestro Bids Adieu as Music Director.” Senior Life (Portland, OR), September 2002. Cheatham, Wallace McClain. “African-American Women Singers at the Metropolitan Opera Before Leontyne Price,” The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 84, no.2 (Spring, 1999): 167-181. Chute, James. “Black Conductor, Symphony Look Each Other Over.” The Orange County Register, 10 February 1989. Cipriano, Ralph. “Ethel Anderson DePreist, 88.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3 February 1990. Cipriano, Ralph. “Ethel Anderson DePreist, 88; Chose Family Over Music Career.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3 February 1990. Clark, Martin. “Great Singer Faced Race Ban with Dignity.” The Oregon Journal, 4 February 1982. 126 Clark, Martin. “Young DePreist Learned from Radio What Aunt Marian Did On The Road.” The Oregon Journal, 28 January 1982. “Collaboration and Transparency: The Oregon Symphony Music Director Search.” Interview with Niel DePonte, Kathryn Gray, Lynn Loacker, Mary Tooze and Tony Woodcock, members of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra’s, Search Committee. Harmony, 10839836, October 2002, Issue 15. “Conductor James DePreist Appointed Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies at The Juilliard School.” Juilliard News, February 2004. “Conductors of America-James DePreist.” Lyric: A Magazine of the Fine Arts, October 1973. “Conductor Reflects on 22 Years with Symphony.” Columbia (MO) Daily Tribune, 14 July 2002. Cosby, Bill, and Alvin F. Poussaint. Come On, People: On the Path from Victims to Victors. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2007. Cosby, Camille O. Television’s Imageable Influences: The Self-Perceptions of Young African-Americans. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1994. Cosby, William H., Jr. “An Integration of the Visual Media via ‘Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids’ into the Elementary School Curricular As a Teaching Aid and Vehicle to Achieve Increased Learning.” Ph.D. diss., University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 1976. Cowan, Ron. “Director Hospitalized; Symphony Delayed.” Statesman Journal (Salem, OR), 10 March 2004. ______. “Refocusing, not Retiring.” Statesman Journal (Salem, OR), 12 January 2003. Crenson, Sharon L. “James DePreist, W’58: The Maestro.” Wharton Alumni Magazine: The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Winter 2005. Crutchfield, Will. “Musician’s Own Path to Podium.” The New York Times, 24 July 1984. Cumbo, Clarissa and Marion. “In Retrospect: Symphony of the New World,” The Black Perspective in Music 3 no.3 (Fall 1975): 312-330. Dana, Gail. “DePreist: More Than Music.” This Week Magazine (Portland, OR), 30 January 1991. 127 Daniels, David. Orchestral Music: A Handbook, Third Edition. London: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1996. ______. “National Symphony Plays Splendidly.” New York Times, 18 December 1973. ______. “Training Orchestra Plays Professionally.” New York Times, 18 November 1968. Delacoma, Wynne. “Bass Clarinet Concerto: It’s Music to the Ear.” Chicago Sun-Times, 13 January 1995. ______. “Blackwood Symphony Hits Mark at Premiere.” Chicago Sun-Times, 22 May 1992. ______. “Composers Let Freedom Ring on New CD.” Chicago Sun-Times, 16 January 1995. Delacoma, Wynne. “CSO Breathes Life Into Stravinsky.” Chicago Sun-Times, 14 October 1994. ______. “CSO, Violinist Shaham are Traditionalist’s Treat.” Chicago Sun-Times, 30 May 1992. ______. “Disharmony for Nation’s Orchestras: Major Symphonies Struggle to get in Tune with Affirmative Action.” Chicago Sun-Times, 19 March 1989. ______. “Grant Park’s Kalmar Takes Oregon Post.” Chicago Sun-Times, 29 May 2002. ______. “James DePreist Keeps Tight Hold on Strings.” Chicago Sun-Times, 17 May 1992. ______. “Juilliard Celebration Comes to Chicago.” Chicago Sun-Times, 3 March 2006. ______. “Retroactive Composing: Blackwood Romances the CSO.” Chicago Sun-Times, 17 May 1992. ______. “The Civic Has Assisted Many Along Career Path.” Chicago Sun- Times, 24 April 1994. De Lerma, Dominique-René. Black Music in Our Culture; Curricular Ideas on the Subjects, Materials and Problems. Kent Ohio: The Kent State University Press, 1970. 128 DePreist, James A. “Art For The Sake of Art: Musical Metamorphoses” (The 6th Presentation of The John R. Adams Lecture in Humananities at San Diego State University). San Diego: Department of Classics and Humanities, San Diego State University, 10 February, 1999. DePreist, James A. Au fur et a’ mesur: tel que raconté à Micheline Simard. Quebec: Les Éditions Héritage Inc., 1980. DePreist, James A. “Being Conducted by James DePreist: Poetry by James DePreist With an Introduction by William Stafford.” Portland, Summer 1985. DePreist, James A. “Biography.” TD, Special Collections, Annenberg Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. DePreist, James A. “DePreist Defends Symphony: ‘On The Edge of a Precipice, Only a Fool Does Cartwheels.’” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), 1 March 1987. ______. A Voice of Hope. Interview with Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Roberta Peters. A News Hour with Jim Leher, transcripts, 26 February 1997. DePreist, James A. Interview. Conductor, James DePreist, interview by Roy Hurst, 11 May 2005, transcripts, Heard On News & Notes on National Public Radio. ______. Letter. Black Conductors, ‘A Prize Not Worth Having.’ New York Times 25 October 1992. DePreist, James A. Letter. DePreist Beams Choral Message to ‘Planet Stabler.’ The Oregonian September 1996. DePreist, James A. “Commencement Address for the Juilliard School” (Delivered on May 21, 1993 at The Juilliard School in New York City, New York). DePreist, James A. “Commencement Address for The Oregon Episcopal School” (Delivered on June 9, 2000 in Portland, Oregon). DePreist, James A. “Commencement Address for Portland State University” (Delivered on June 14, 2003 at the Rose Garden Arena, in Portland, Oregon). DePreist, James A. “Commencement Address for Reed College” (Delivered on May 20, 1990 at the Reed College in Portland, Oregon). DePreist, James A. “Commencement Address for the University of Portland” (Delivered on May 8, 1983 at the University of Portland in Portland, Oregon). DePreist, James A. “Commencement Address for Wilson High School” (Delivered on June 4, 1983 at Wilson High School in Portland, Oregon). 129 DePreist, James A. Conductor James DePreist: In Conversation with Bruce Duffie, interview by Bruce Duffie, 16 June 1988, transcript, Convention of the American Symphony Orchestra League, Chicago, IL. DePreist, James A. A Conversation with James DePreist, Seattle Symphony’s Channel, 27 May 2009, Seattle Symphony American Conductors Project, “The Next Generation.” Posted on You Tube. “DePreist on Call for Kidney Transplant.” The Columbian, 7 August 2001. DePreist, James A. “DePresit Defends Symphony: ‘On the Edge of a Precipice, Only a Fool Does Cartwheels.’” The Oregonian, 1 March 1987. DePreist, James A. Interview. Efforts to Promote the Oregon Symphony: Symphony Survival. Interview by Jim Leher with Lee Hoachber, Don Roth and David Schiff. Transcript, Online News Hour, 26 March 1997. ______. “Grounded in Faith, Free to Fly.” The New York Times, 18 April 1993, sec. 2. DePreist, James A. Letter. Maestro Stays Put. Willamette Week Vol. 14, no.51 20-26 October 1988. DePreist, James A. Interview. “Missiles, Music and Broccoli: An Interview with Oregon Symphony Music Director James DePreist.” Beaverton Business Advocate, October 1988. DePreist, James A. Interview. Interview on Cable News Network [CNN], 2002. ______. “Money Is Not the Bottom Line” (A speech presented to the Opening General Luncheon of the American Symphony Orchestra League’s National Conference), June 16, 1988. Symphony Magazine, August/September 1988. DePreist, James A. Letter. Response to David Stabler Article, Sunday, The Oregonian, February 15, 1987. The Oregonian, 18 February 1987. “DePreist Retires as Musical Director of Oregon Symphony.” Jet, 29 July 2002. DePreist, James A. The Distant Siren. With a foreword by Maya Angelou. Salem Oregon: Willamette University Press, 1989. “DePreist Signs Pact to Conduct in Sweden.” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 8 December 1989. DePreist, James A. This Precipice Garden. With an afterword by William Stafford. Portland Oregon: University of Portland Press, 1986. 130 “DePreist Wins Post in Oregon.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 30 December 1979. DePreist, Jimmy. “A New Music.” The Pennsylvania Gazette: Alumni Magazine of the University of Pennsylvania, Vol. 57, no. 10, June 1959. Derrick, Henry. “James DePreist to Conduct the ASO’s Tribute to King.” The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, 14 January 1988. ______. “Music Review: ASO Presents Powerful Tribute to Great Civil Rights Leader.” The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, 16 January 1988. ______. “Symphonies Across the Country Add Incentives to Attract Minorities.” The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, 8 October 1992. Dimitri Mitropoulous International Music Competition 10th Anniversary Supplement. “A Great Adventure in the Art of Peace, The Story of the Dimitri Mitropoulos International Music Competition.” January 1972 Supplement. Di Nardo, Tom. “Debuts Fill Orchestra’s 1992-93 Bill.” Philadelphia Daily News, 18 February 1992. ______. “DePreist Returns to Podium Visiting Conductor Has Time for Ellington as Well as Mozart.” Philadelphia Daily News, 5 July 1994. ______. “King Concert a Dream Come True for DePreist.” Philadelphia Daily News, 15 January 1993. ______. “Pavarotti Recital is Unforgettable.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 23 August 1979. ______. “Some Love-Ly Offerings Nothing’s More Romantic than ‘Boheme.’ Philadelphia Daily News, 8 February 1993. ______. “This Week, Stravinsky is Relatively Easy.” Philadelphia Daily News, 16 November 1992. ______. “Thursday’s Big in Dichter’s Life Date a Landmark for Pianist.” Philadelphia Daily News, 18 January 1993. 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Spicer, Osker. “Coretta Scott King, Oregon Symphony Releases Recording Inspired by Husband.” The Oregonian, 20 January 1995. ______. “King Celebration Will Help Keep The Dream Alive.” The Oregonian, 14 January 1995. Stabler, David. “American Symphony Orchestras fall on Hard Time: Oregon Symphony Reverses Trend, Cuts Deficit, Reaches Fund-Raising High.” The Sunday Oregonian, 23 August 1987. ______, “A Pinnacle for James DePreist.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), 9 November 2005. ______. “Bach to Basics: Oregon Symphony Goes Conservative for New Season.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), 25 January 1987. ______. “Checking On a Maestro and his Miracle.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), 17 January 2002. ______. “Conductor Healing After Transplant.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), 7 December 2001. ______. “DePreist Adds Post in Sweden for 3 Years Beginning in 1991.” The Oregonian, 7 December 1989. ______. “DePreist Hired by Symphony in Monte Carlo.” The Oregonian, 26 September 1992. ______. “DePreist Reveals Kidney Disease.” The Oregonian, 21 September 1999. ______. “DePreist, Symphony Tape Jazzy Arrangement of ‘Cosby’ Theme.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), 20 May 1988. Stabler, David. “DePreist, Symphony Think Music Instead of Money.” The Oregonian, 25 October 1987. ______. “Detroit Symphony Eyes James DePreist.” The Oregonian, 9 November 1988. 148 Stabler, David. “Gotham Greets the Maestro: New Yorkers Warm to James DePreist— But The Big Apple’s not Without its Bite.” The Oregonian, 1 May 1988. ______. “In the Spotlight, DePreist is in The Hospital with Neurological Ailment- Kidney is Fine.” The Oregonian, 24 April 2002. ______. “James DePreist: Devil’s Advocate of Diversity.” The Oregonian, 5 September 1993. ______. “James DePreist’s Five Year Plan.” The Oregonian, 28 February 1999. ______. “James DePreist Makes it Personal.” The Oregonian, 19 April 2009. ______. “James DePreist 10 Years on the Precipice.” The Oregonian, 23 September 1990. ______. “Life After Portland, A Symphony of Activities for James DePreist.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), 30 October 2005. ______. “James DePreist Scenes From a New Life.” The Oregonian, 1 June 2003. ______. “Maestro on the Move.” Vis à Vis, The Magazine of United Airlines, Inc.,Vol.3, No.4, April 1989. ______. “Marian Anderson: A Real Trailblazer Moves to Town.” The Oregonian, 16 August 1992. ______. “Monte Carlo Philharmonic Sounds Strangely Familiar.” The Oregonian, 16 April 1998. ______. “Motorized Chair is James DePreist’s New Way to Get Around.” The Oregonian, 3 April 2004. ______. “Music Review: Cheers Reflect Stirring Concert, DePreist’s Legacy.” The Sunday Oregonian, 19 May 2003. ______. “Now Boarding For Air DePreist: The Arts Stage & Sound.” The Oregonian, 4 April 1997. Stabler, David. “Oregon Symphony Director Receives Kidney Transplant.” The Oregonian, 4 December 2001. ______. “Oregon Symphony Director Says His Job’s Not All Sweet Music, DePreist Tells City Club of Unusual Path to Podium.” The Oregonian, 31 October 1987. 149 Stabler, David. “Retiring Chiefs Lament State of Arts.” The Oregonian, 26 April 2003. ______. “Symphony’s CD Combines Emotional Music with Martin Luther King’s Rhetoric.” The Oregonian, 13 January 1995. ______. “Symphony Feels Pressure of First Recording Session.” The Oregonian, 7 June 1989. ______. “Symphony Meshes Orchestra, Narration.” The Oregonian, 12 September 1994. ______. “The Arts Cover Story Goodbye, and Hello.” The Oregonian, 20 September 2002. ______. “The Oregon Symphony: Second Century.” The Sunday Oregonian, 3 September 1995. ______. “This One’s for the Maestro.” The Oregonian, 30 August 2002. ______. “Who Conducts the Conductor? Couple Forges Close, Old-Fashion Union Despite Differing Likes, Backgrounds.” The Oregonian, 9 October 1988. Starke, Amy Martinez. “Maestro gave us Chance to Bring Home Music.” The Oregonian (Portland, OR), 5 May 1996. ______. “Oregon Symphony: a Success Story.” The Oregonian, 5 May 1996. ______. “Portland Maestro Covers Fanfare.” The Oregonian, 5 January 1996. ______. “Symphonic Sweet.” The Sunday Oregonian, 5 May 1996. Stearns, David Patrick. “A Disengaged Orchestra Mutes a Rachmaninoff.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 27 April 2002. Stearns, David Patrick. “Pianist Brings Fearless Spontaneity to Rachmaninoff Concerto.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 11 July 2001. Story, Rosalyn. “Have Baton—Will Travel.” American Visions, Vol. 8, Issue 1 (February/March 1993): 42-45. Strickler, Jeff. “Jaglom’s Personal Soap Opera Goes On.” Star Tribune (St. Paul, MN), 27 April 1990. 150 Strini, Tom. “MSO Enriched with 2 New Guests.” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2 April 1999. ______. “Roge, DePreist Bring Out Best in MSO Show.” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3 April 1999. Sulcas, Roslyn. “Dance Conducting: Good for the Nerves, If Not the Career.” New York Times, 25 June 2006. Sundquist, Eric. “Waiting to Exhale.” The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, 27 February 1999. “Susan Baumgardner Donates a Kidney to a Special Friend.” Providence Spirit 8 May 2002. On the Providence Health System Oregon Intranet. Svejda, Jim. “The DePreist Years.” Beaverton Oregon: Skies America Publishing Company, 2003. Swann, Jonathan. “A Welcome New Rite of Spring That Brings Out its Balletic Rather than its Savage Qualities,” by Igor Stravinsky with The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James DePreist, Delos DE 3278. Grammophone, July 2001. Swed, Mark. “In The End, A Thing of Beauty.” Los Angeles Times-Entertainment, 16 December 2000. “Symphonic Theme for Cosby.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 4 June 1988. “Symphony’s Director to Leave as Soon as Successor is Found.” The Columbian (Vancouver, WA), 3 May 2002. Tagore, Kelly, Reardon-. “James DePreist: A Man For All Reasons.” Portland Downtowner, 26 August 1991. Taitte, Lawson. “Cool Conductor, Hot Violinist Get Their Level Best From DSO.” The Dallas Morning News, 28 January 1994. Taubman, Howard. “Martha Rockfeller Music Fund: Story of Quiet Help.” New York Times 12 May 1970. Taylor, Kate. “The Conductor Crisis.” The New York Sun, 12 December 2006. Teitsworth, Harmony A. “James DePreist.” African American National Biography, Vol. 2.Edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham. Oxford: University Press, 2008. 151 “Thanks, James DePreist, for Elevating Orchestra.” Statesman Journal (Salem, OR), 25 May 2003. “The Rewarding Search for the Perfect Metaphor.” The Chicago Sun-Times, 31 March 1991. Thompson, Era Bell. “Dean Dixon: Conductor Without a Country.” Ebony Magazine, October 1966. Thompson, Leon. “The Black Performing Artist and Achievement,” The Black Perspective in Music 3, #2 (May 1975): 160-164. Trescott, Jacqueline. “Marian Anderson’s Voice of Conscience; WETA Special Honors the Singer Who Touched a Generation.” The Washington Post, 3 May 1991. ______. “Recognizing Good Works; Bush Awards Medals for Arts and Humanities.” The Washington Post, 11 November 2005. Trotter, William. Priest of Music: The Life of Dimitri Mitropoulos. Portland: Amadeus, 1995. Tuck, Lon. “DePreist: NSO Follows A New Muse.” The Washington Post, 21 October 1977. Tucker, Typhanny. “Pioneering Conductor Shifts into Adagio-Nephew of Singer Marian Anderson Reflects on Career.” San Jose Mercury News, 14 July 2002. ______. “The Maestro Exits-Oregon Symphony Conductor James DePreist Will Step Down Next year, But His Baton Won’t Get Rusty.” The Columbian, 5 July 2002. ______. “Vienna Conductor to Lead Oregon Symphony.” The Columbian, 24 May 2002. “2 U. S. Conductors Take Prizes In the Mitropoulos Competition.” The New York Times, 12 December 1964. “37 Conductors Enter ’64 Metropolous (sic) Competition.” Billboard, 19 December 1964. Turan, Kenneth. “A Maestro With Gusto.” Potomac of The Washington Post, 21 July 1974. Turnquist, Kristi. “Orchestrating Culture: James DePreist.” The Oregonian, September 1984. 152 Valdes, Lesley. “American Masters Shine at the Mann.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 1 July 1998. ______. “A Native Returns to Conduct.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 23 November 1990. Valdes, Lesley. “Conductor Weighs the Issue of Race, Michael Morgan, Who Will Lead a Martin Luther King Concert here, Is Not Shy When the Subject Comes Up.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 19 January 1992. Valdes, Lesley. “DePreist, Ax in Mann Performances.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 7 July 1994. ______. “DePreist Conducts at Mann.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 18 June 1999. ______. “Dutoit Gives a Boost to Mann Summer Series.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 16 June 1991. ______. “For Mahler Work, A Visitor Leads Orchestra.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 30 November 1991. ______. “Honoring an opera Great from Philadelphia\ Marian Anderson was Born 100 Years Ago Today.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 27 February 1997. ______. “Marian Anderson’s Life Feted at Carnegie Hall.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 28 February 1997. ______. “Orchestra’s Outreach Effort Rewarded with Sold-Out Concert.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 14 January 1993. ______. “Orchestra to Begin 3-Year Retrospective of Premieres Next Season.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 5 February 1990. Vanweelden, Kimberly, and Isaiah R. McGee. “The Influence of Music Style and Conductor Race on Perceptions of Ensemble and Conductor Performance,” International Journal of Music Education, 25, no.1 (2007):7-17. Vitez, Michael. “Her Singing is Her Own Memorial: Marian Anderson’s Home Church in South Philadelphia Holds a Tribute.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 7 June 1993. Voegtlin, Anne. “Captain Courageous…With James DePreist at Helm, Adventure Lies Ahead for Oregon Symphony’s New Season.” The Columbian (Vancouver, WA), 14 July 1994. ______. “Living Composers Highlight of Symphony.” The Columbian (Vancouver, WA), 6 November 1995. 153 Voegtlin, Anne. “Maestro.” The Columbian (Vancouver, WA), 22 October 1992. Walker, Jesse H. “Marian Anderson’s Sister Dies, Mother of Conductor DePreist.” N.Y. Amsterdam News, 10 February 1990. Walton, A. Scott. “Peach Buzz: Music May Cool Controversy.” The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, 15 January 1995. Ward, Charles. “DePreist: Upholding Family Tradition Maestro’s Life, Work Reflect Principles Of His Famous aunt, Contralto Marian Anderson.” The Houston Chronicle, 21 November 1993, Sunday, 2 STAR Edition. Webster, Daniel. “American Conductors for New Jersey.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3 April 1989 ______. “DePreist Calls Daughter’s Birth Omen of Success.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 28 June 1970. ______. “Finding Dark Color in the Details of Sibelius.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 16 January 1999. ______. “Harty’s ‘Violin Concerto’ at the Academy of Music.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 24 November 1990. ______. “James De Priest (sic) Finally Finds His Way Out of the Wilderness.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2 April 1972. ______. “Korngold Work Explores Violin’s Best Qualities.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 16 December 1994. ______. “The Legendary Singer Marian Anderson Dies.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 9 April 1993. ______. “Meyers Makes Soloist Debut with Barber’s ‘Violin Concerto.’ The Philadelphia Inquirer, 12 July 1991. Webster, Daniel. “Philadelphia Orchestra with DePreist, Rampal.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 30 June 1989. Webster, Daniel. “The Philadelphia Orchestra Presents Persichetti.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 29 June 1989. 154 Webster, Daniel. “Undertones of Change the Orchestra Begins its 91st Season Tuesday, and Maestro Muti Begins the End of his Mission. But There is a New Musical Director-Designate, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Guest Conductors will be Regarded as Possible Successors to the Successor.” The Philadelphia Inquirer,16 September 1990. Wheeler, Robyn E. “Making Classical History-African Americans Who Have Become Symphony Orchestra Conductors.” American Visions, February/March 1993. White, Maggi. “James DePreist: Taking the Symphony into a New Era.” Our Town (Portland, OR.), 11 January, 1984. This Week, Section A, p. 3. ______. “Maestro DePreist: A Man of Confidence.” The Downtowner (Portland, OR.), 27 October 1980. Who’s Who Among African Americans. 13th ed. Edited by Ashyia N. Henderson. Detroit: Gale Research, 2000. Who’s Who Among Black Americans. 6th ed. Edited by Iris Cloyd, Detroit: Gale Research, 1991. Who’s Who in American Music: Classical. 1st ed. Edited by Jaques Cattell Press, New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1983. Wierzbicki, James. “DePreist Leads Symphony as Guest Conductor.” The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 26 March 1989. Wigler, Stephen. “An Earth-Shaking talent at Peabody.” The (Baltimore, MD) Sun, 12 May 1995. Wigler, Stephen. “DePreist Brings a Difference to the Podium.” The (Baltimore, MD) Sun, 6 February 1994. ______. “DePreist’s Major Strides.” The (Baltimore, MD) Sun, 15 April 1999. ______. “Major Strides by Pioneer Conductor.” Sun-Sentinel (Baltimore, MD), 23 April 2000. Wilkerson, Isabel. “Discordant Notes in Detroit: Music and Affirmative Action.” New York Times, 5 March 1989, Special to the New York Times. Williams, Janette. “Pasadena Symphony Names New Artistic Advisor.” Pasadena Star-News, 2 June 2010. Wiltshire, Richard. “A Conductor of Note: The Oregon Symphony Scores a Big One by Luring James DePreist to our ‘Symphonic Hinterland.’ The Oregonian, 18 March 1980. 155 Winne, Judith W. ‘Great Idea, But ‘Black Philadelphia Memories’ Somewhat Muddled.” Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ), 3 August 1999. Zagorski, William. Review of The Rite of Spring/The Firebird Suite, by Igor Stravinsky with The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James DePreist, Delos DE 3278. Fanfare, September/October 2001: 278-279. 156 DISCOGRAPHY Adams, John (1947). Short Ride in a Fast Machine, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Cassette MR MAA 1991-31). Aitken, Hugh (1924- ). Violin Concerto (Aspen Concerto) for Violin and Orchestra, Elmar Oliveira, violinist, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (MR MAA 1987-38). Alvén, Hugo (1872-1960). Dance of the Herdmaiden (Bergakungen Op. 37, Vallflickans Dans), The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James Depreist, conductor. (BIS CD-570). Barber, Samuel (1910-1981). Concerto for Violin, Op.14, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violinist, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. Barber, Samuel (1910-1981). Symphony no.1 in one movement, Op.9, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (MR MAA 1989-55). Bartók, Béla (1881-1945). Concerto for Orchestra, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0193). Beaser, Robert (1954- ). Manhattan roll, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0062). Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827). Concerto for Piano and Orchestra no.4, Op.58 in G-Major, Joseph Kalichstein, pianist, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Cassette MR MAA 1991-31). Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827). Concerto for Piano and Orchestra no.5, Op.73 in E-Flat Major, “The Emperor,” Joseph Kalichstein, pianist, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0193). Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827). Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op.61 in D-Major, Shlomo Mintz, violinist, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (MR MAA 1989-55). Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827). Leonore Overture no.3, op.72b, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0247). Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827). Symphony no.3, op.55 in E-flat Major, “Eroica,” The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0314). Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827). Symphony no.6, op.68 in F-Major, “Pastoral,” The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (AMF 2003-4). 157 Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827). Symphony no.7, op.92 in A-Major, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0287). Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827). Symphony no.9, op.125 in D-minor (Choral), Brenda Rae, soprano, Ronnita Nicole Miller, mezzo-soprano, Jeffrey Behrens, tenor, Sidney Outlaw, baritone, The Juilliard Choral Union (Judith Clurman, director) and the Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0247). Bennett, Richard Rodney (1936- ). Symphony no. 3, The Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra or L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (KOCH CLASSICS 37341-2). Bennett, Richard Rodney (1936- ). Diversions, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James Depreist, conductor. (KOCH CLASSICS 37341-2). Bennett, Richard Rodney (1936- ). Concerto for Violin, Vadim Gluzman, violin and L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (KOCH CLASSICS 37341-2). Berlioz, Hector (1803-1869). La Corsaire, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0289). Berlioz, Hector (1803-1869). Les Troyens: Royal hunt and storm/Chasse Royale et orage, The Toronto Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. Canadian Broadcasting Company, 33 1/3 LP # (CBC-5016). Berlioz, Hector (1803-1869). Love Scene from Roméo et Juliette, Op.17, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE-3369). Berlioz, Hector (1803-1869). Roman carnival overture (Carnaval romain), The Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Zagreb Philharmonic # 7-4-69). Berlioz, Hector (1803-1869). Symphonie fantastique, Op.14, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (AMF 2003-4). Berlioz, Hector (1803-1869). Symphonie fantastique, Op.14, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0315). Bernstein, Leonard (1918-1990). Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, The Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Fontec FOCD9420). [Program notes in Japanese, biographical notes in English and Japanese]. Bernstein, Leonard (1918-1990). Symphony no.1 (Jeremiah), Kimball Wheeler, mezzo soprano, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (MR MAA 1989-55). 158 Bernstein, Leonard (1918-1990). Symphony no.2 (The Age of Anxiety), Misha Dichter, pianist, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (AMF 2007-119). Bizet, Georges (1838-1875). 2nd movement, Adagio and 3rd movement, Adagietto, excerpts from L’Arlesinne Suite no.1., L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE-3202). Bizet, Georges (1838-1875). Symphony No. 1 in C-Major, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE-3202). Bizet, Georges (1838-1875). Carmen Suite No.1, The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-570). Bizet, Georges (1838-1875). Carmen Suite no.1, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE-3208). Bizet, Georges (Arranged by Rodion Shchedrin). The Carmen Ballet, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE-3208). Blackwood, Easley (1933- ). Symphony No.5, Op. 34. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (CEDILLE CDR 90000 016). Börtz, Daniel (1943- ). Sinfonia I, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (MR MAA 1987-38). Brahms, Johannes (1833-1897). Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op.77 in D-Major, Joshua Bell, violinist, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (AMF 2004-35). Brahms, Johannes (1833-1897). Concerto for Violin and Cello (Double Concerto), Helen Kwalwasser, violin and Raya Garbousova, cello, The Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Zagreb Philharmonic #7-6-69). Brahms, Johannes (1833-1897). Ein deutsches Requiem, op.45 (German Requiem), Amy Shoremount, soprano, Matthew Worth, baritone, The Juilliard Choral Union (Judith Clurman, director), The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0124). Brahms, Johannes (1833-1897). Symphony no.1, op.68, C minor, The Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Zagreb Philharmonic # 7-4-69). Brahms, Johannes (1833-1897). Symphony no.2, op.73, in D-Major, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (MR MAA 1991-43). Brahms, Johannes (1833-1897). Symphony no.3, op.90, in F Major, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0124). 159 Britten, Benjamin (1913-1976). Peter Grimes: Four Sea Interludes, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0007). Britten, Benjamin (1913-1976). Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Op.34 (Variations and Fugue on a theme of Purcell), The Aspen Concert Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (MR MAA 1991-37). Brubeck, Chris (1952- ). Excerpts from Convergences: A Concerto for Orchestra, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (AMF 2007-119). Bruch, Max (1838-1920). Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, op.26, in G-minor, Elmar Oliveira, violinist, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (MR MAA 1991-43). Chen, Yi (1953 - ). Ge xu (Antiphony), The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0315). Chopin, Frédéric (1810-1849). Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, No.2, Op.21 in F- minor, Ann Schein, piano, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (MR MAA 1990-21). Colgrass, Michael (1932- ). Letter from Mozart, The Juilliard Symphony, James DePreist, conductor and George Stelluto, assistant conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0156). Creston, Paul (1906-1985). Fantasy for Trombone, Christian Linberg, trombone and The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. BIS CD-628). Daugherty, Michael (1954- ). Hell’s Angels, The Bassoon Brothers: Mark Eubanks, Steven Harriswang, Robert Naglee-bassoons and Juan DeGomar-contra-bassoon, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra (American Contrasts), James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE 3291). Daugherty, Michael (1954- ). Philadelphia Stories for Orchestra: Sundown on South Street, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra (American Contrasts), James Depreist, conductor. (DELOS DE 3291). Debussy, Claude (1862-1918). Clair de lune, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS3202). Debussy, Claude (1862-1918). Ibéria from Images, The Toronto Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. Canadian Broadcasting Company, 33 1/3 LP # (CBC-5016). Debussy, Claude (1862-1918). La Mer, The Juilliard Symphony, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD #0156). 160 Debussy, Claude (1862-1918). Prelude a l’Après-midi d’un faune (Afternoon of a faun), L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James Depreist. (DELOS DE 3202). Dello Joio, Norman (1913- ). Meditations on Ecclesiastes, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (KOCH KIC/CD 3-7156-2). Dvořák, Antonin (1841-1904). Symphony no.1, op.3, C-minor (Bells of Zlonice), The Aspen Concert Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (MR MAA 1991-37). Dvořák, Antonin (1841-1904). Symphony no.8, op.88, G-Major (formerly known as Symphony no.4), The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0316). Dzubay, David (1964- ). Siren song, The Indiana University Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Indiana University, Bloomington. School of Music. Program; 2003-2004, no.159). Dzubay, David (1964- ). Snake Alley, The Aspen Concert Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (MR MAA 1991-37). Elgar, Edward (1857-1934). Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op.61 in B-minor, Andrew Wan, violin, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0305). Fauré, Gabriel (1845-1924) Pelléas et Mélisande: Suite, op.80. I. Prélude, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE 3202). Faure, Gabriel (1845-1924) Pelléas et Mélisande: Suite, op.80. I. Prélude, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (KOCH KIC CD- 7348). Faure, Gabriel (1845-1924) Pavane, op.50, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James Depreist, conductor. (DELOS DE-3203). Fauré, Gabriel (1845-1924). Masques et Bergamasques, Op. 112, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (KOCH KIC CD-7348). Flagello, Nicolas (1928-1994). The Passion of Martin Luther King (Raymond Bazemore, narrator and bass), The Portland Symphonic Choir-Bruce Browne, director. The Oregon Symphony Orchestra (New Morning for The World). (KOCH KIC 3-7293-2HI). Glinka, Mikhail (1804-1857). Overture to Russlan and Ludmilla, The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-570). 161 Gubaidulina, Sofia (1931- ). Offertorium-Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Oleh Krysa, violin and The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS-CD 566). Haydn, Franz Joseph ((1732-1809). Symphony No.88 in G-Major, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0305). Hindemith, Paul (1895-1963). The Four Temperaments (Theme & Variations) Die vier Temperamente, Carol Rosenberger, piano and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS D/CD-1006). Hindemith, Paul (1895-1963). Mathis der Maler: Symphony, The Indiana University Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Indiana University, Bloomington. School of Music. Program; 2003-2004, no.159. Hindemith, Paul (1895-1963). Noblissima vision, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS D/CD-1006). Indy, Vincent d’ (1851-1931). Souvenirs, poeme pour orchestra, Op.62, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (KOCH KIC CD-7348). Indy, Vincent d’ (1851-1931). Symphony No.2, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (KOCH KIC 3-7280-2H1). Janáček, Leos (1854-1928). Sinfonietta, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. ((AMF 2004-35). Jolivet, André (1905-1974). Concertino for trumpet, piano and string orchestra, Brent Grapes, trumpet and Liza Stepanova, piano, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0314). Kanceheli, Giya (1935- ). Symphony No.1, The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (ONDINE ODE 829-2). Kanceheli, Giya (1935- ). Symphony No.4, “To The Memory of Michelangelo.” The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (ONDINE ODE 829-2). Kanceheli, Giya (1935- ). Symphony No.5, “To The Memory of my Parents.” The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (ONDINE ODE 829-2). Kernis, Aaron Jay (1960- ). New Era Dances, The Juilliard Symphony, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0053). Korngold, Eric Wolfgang (1897-1957). Symphony in F-sharp Major, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE-3234). 162 Korngold, Eric Wolfgang (1897-1957). Suite from The Sea Hawk, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE-3234). Larsson, Lars-Erik (1908-1987). The Hours of the Day (Dagens Sturden), The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD 570). Lees, Benjamin (1924- ). Passacaglia for Orchestra, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE 3291). Lekeu, Guillaume (1870-1894). Adagio pour quatuor d’orchestre, op.3. Quebec Symphony Orchestra- The 75th Anniversary, L’Orchestre de Quebec, James DePreist, conductor. (33 1/3 LP RCI 454/5-ACM 29). Liszt, Franz (1811-1886). Concerto No.1 for Piano and Orchestra in E-Flat Major, Brian (Keng-Lun) Hsu, piano, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0007). Liszt, Franz (1811-1886). Les Préludes (Symphonic poem no.3), The Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Zagreb Philharmonic # 7-6-69). LoPresti, Ronald (1933-1985). The Masks, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra James DePreist, conductor. (KOCH KIC/CD 3-7156-2). Lutoslawski, Witold (1913-1994). Concerto for Orchestra, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS D/CD-3070). Mahler, Gustav (1860-1911). Symphony No.1 in D-Major “Titan,” The Juilliard Symphony, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0053). Mahler, Gustav (1860-1911). Symphony No.5 in C-Sharp Minor, The London Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (NAXOS 8.557990). Martinů, Bohuslav (1890-1959). Double Concerto for 2 String Orchestras, Piano and Timpani, The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-501). Martinů, Bohuslav (1890-1959). The Frescoes of Piero della Francesca, The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-501). Martinů, Bohuslav (1890-1959). Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola & Orchestra, Nobuko Imai, violist and The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-501). Matton, Roger (1929-2004). Mouvement symphonique no.1, Quebec Symphony Orchestra- The 75th Anniversary, L’Orchestre de Quebec, James DePreist, Conductor. (33 1/3 LP RCI 454/5-ACM 29). 163 Mennin, Peter (1923-1983). Canto, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0211). Menotti, Gian Carlo (1911-2007). Apocalypse, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (KOCH KIC/CD 3-7156-2). Merikanto, Aarre (1893-1958). Violin Concerto No.2, Kaija Saarikettu, violin, The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (Disk 1: Meet The Composer Series: 4509-9970-02), James DePreist, conductor. Merikanto, Aarre (1893-1958). Violin Concerto No.4, Kaija Saarikettu, violin, The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (Disk 1: Meet The Composer Series: 4509-9970-02), James DePreist, conductor. Milhaud, Darius (1892-1974). Suite provencale, Quebec Symphony Orchestra- The 75th Anniversary, L’Orchestre de Quebec, James DePreist, conductor. (33 1/3 LP RCI 454/5-ACM 29). Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791). Ch’io mi scordi di te-Non temer, K.505, soprano scene and rondo-obligato piano, Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano, Benedicte Jourdois, piano, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0289). Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791). Concerto for Flute and Harp, K.299 (297c) in C-Major, Jasmine Choi, flute and Heidi van Hoesen-Gorton, harp, The Juilliard Symphony, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD #0156). Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791). Sinfonia Concertante, K.364 (320d) in E-Flat Major for solo violin, solo viola and orchestra, Miho Saegusa, violin and Chihiro Fukuda, viola, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0062). Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791). Symphony No.4, K.19 in D-Major, The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS D/CD-1010). Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791). Symphony No.5, K.22 in B-Flat Major, The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS D/CD-1010). Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791). Symphony No.29, K.201 (186a) in A-Major, The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS D/CD-1010). Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791). Symphony No.38, K.504 in D-Major “Prague,” The Indiana University Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Indiana University, Bloomington. School of Music. Program; 2003-2004, no.159). 164 Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791). Symphony No.38, K.504 in D-Major “Prague,” The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0289). Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791). Symphony No.41, K.551 in C-Major “Jupiter,” The Juilliard Symphony, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0053). Nielsen, Carl (1865-1931). Helios Overture, Op.17, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (AMF 2004-35) Pergament, Moses (1893-1977) and Ragnar Josephson (1891-1966), lyricist. “Den judiska sången” (The Jewish Song), Birgit Nordin & Sven-Olof Eliasson soloists, Stockholm filharmoniska köreningens orkester (Stockholm, Sweden), James DePreist, conductor. (RIKS LP-77 & RIKS LP- 78). Persichetti, Vincent (1915-1987). Night Dances, Op.114, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (NEW WORLD RECORDS 80396-2). Persichetti, Vincent (1915-1987). Symphony No.4, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE 3291). Peters, Randolph (1959- ). Butterfly Wings and Tropical Storms, The Juilliard Symphony, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0156). Prokofiev, Serge (1915-1987). Excerpts from Cinderella, op.87, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0062). Prokofiev, Serge (1915-1987). Cinderella; On The Dnieper (a.k.a. Sur Le Borysthene Suite, Op. 51), L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (KOCH KIC-CD-7349). Prokofiev, Serge (1915-1987). Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, no.3, op.26 in C- Major, Stephen Beus, pianist, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0315). Prokofiev, Serge (1891-1953). Lt. Kije Suite (a.k.a. Lieutenant Kije Suite), The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD 531). Prokofiev, Serge (1891-1953). Excerpts from Romeo and Juliet Suites, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (MR MAA 1990-21). Prokofiev, Serge (1891-1953). Selections from Romeo and Juliet Suites 1 & 2, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (AMF 2007-119). Prokofiev, Serge (1891-19530. Sur Le Borysthene Suite, Op.51 (a.k.a. Cinderella; On The Dnieper), L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (KOCH KIC-CD7349). 165 Prokofiev, Serge (1891-1953). Symphony No.4, Op.112 (Revised from Op.47), The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD 531). Rachmaninoff, Sergei (1873-1949). Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, op.18 in C minor, Natalie Hinderas, pianist, The Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Zagreb Philharmonic # 7-4-69). Rachmaninoff, Sergei (1873-1949). Symphony No.2, op.27 in E-minor, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James dePreist, conductor. (AMF 2005-52). Rachmaninoff, Sergei (1873-1949). Symphony No.2, op.27 in E-minor, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS D/CD 3071). Rachmaninoff, Sergei (1873-1949). Symphony No.2, op.27 in E-minor, The Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Fontec FOCD9420). [Program notes in Japanese, biographical notes in English and Japanese]. Rachmaninoff, Sergei (1873-1949). Vocalise, Op.34, No.14, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (AMF 2005-52). Rachmaninoff, Sergei (1873-1949). Vocalise, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS D/CD 3071). Rachmaninoff, Sergei (1873-1943). The Sea and the Gulls (La Mer et les Mouttes from Cinq Études tableaux, Op.39, Orchestrated by Ottorino Respighi), The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS D/CD 3071). Rands, Bernard (1935- ). Tre Canzoni senza Parole (Three Songs without Words), The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE-3342). Ravel, Maurice (1875-1937). Boléro, The Toronto Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. Canadian Broadcasting Company, 33 1/3 LP # (CBC-5016). Ravel, Maurice (1875-1937). Daphnis et Chloé: Suite no.2, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0289). Ravel, Maurice (1875-1937). Suite from Ma mère l’oy (Mother Goose Suite), The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0289). Ravel, Maurice (1875-1937). Ma mère l’oy (Mother Goose Suite), V. movement Le jardin feerique (The Enchanted Garden), L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE 3202). Ravel, Maurice (1875-1973). Pavane pour une infant défunte (1899 piano version, 1910 orchestra), L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE 3202). 166 Ravel, Maurice (1875-1937). Piano Concerto in G-Major, II. Movement, Adagio assai, Carol Rosenberger, piano, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE 3202). Respighi, Ottorino (1879-1936). The Oregon Symphony Orchestra-(Respighi’s Rome) 1.Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome) 2. Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome) 3. Feste romane (Roman Festivals) The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE 3287). Respighi, Ottorino (1879-1936). Roman Festivals (Feste Romane), The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS D/CD 3070). Rodrigo, Joaquin (1901-1999). Concierto de Aranjuez, Sharon Isbin, guitarist, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. ((AMF 2008-130). Rosenberg, Hilding (1892-1985). Overture to Marionetter, The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD 570). Rouse, Christopher (1949- ). Bump from Phantasmata, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (AMF 2005-52). Rouse, Christopher (1949- ). Symphony no.1, The Juilliard Symphony, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0100). Saint-Saëns, Camille (1835-1921). Danse macabre, Op.40, The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-555). Saint-Saëns, Camille (1835-1921). Samson et Delila Bacchanale, The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-555). Saint-Saëns, Camille (1835-1921). Symphony No.2 in A-minor, Op.55, II. Adagio, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE 3202). Saint-Saëns, Camille (1835-1921). Symphony No.3 (“Organ Symphony”) in C-minor, Op.78, The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Harry Fagius, organ and James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-555). Sallinen, Aulis (1935- ). Symphony No.4, Op.49, The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-607). Sallinen, Aulis (1935- ). Shadows, Op.52, The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-607). 167 Sallinen, Aulis (1935- ). Symphony No.5, Op.57 “Washington Mosaics,” The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-607). Satie, Erik (1866-1925). Gymnopédies for Piano No.1, Lent et douloureux (Orchestrated by Claude Debussy), The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-570). Satie, Erik (1866-1925). Gymnopédie Nos. 2 & 3, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE 3202). Satie, Erik (1866-1925). Gymnopedies for Piano No.3, Lent et Grave (Orchestrated by Claude Debussy), The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-570). Schnittke, Alfred (1934- ). Faust Cantata: Seid nüchtern und wachet (Faust Cantata) for contralto, contra-tenor, tenor, bass, mixed chorus and orchestra, with Inger Blom (Mezzo Soprano), Mikael Bellini (Counter- Tenor), Louis Devos (Tenor), Ulrik Cold (Bass), The Malmö Symfonikör Choir, The Malmo Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-437). Schuller, Gunther (1925- ). Trombone Concerto, Christian Lindberg, trombone and The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-628). Schuman, William (1910-1992). American Festival Overture, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. ((AMF 2008-130). Schumann, Robert (1810-1856). Symphony no.2, op.97, in C-Major, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0316). Schuman, William (1910-1992). New England Triptych, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0193). Schuman, William (1910-1992). A Song of Orpheus, Yves Dharamraj, cellist, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0211). Schwantner, Joseph (1943- ). New Morning for the World (Daybreak Freedom) for Narrator and Orchestra, Words of Martin Luther King, Jr., Raymond Bazemore, narrator and The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (KOCH KIC 3-7293-2H1). Shchedrin, Rodion Konstantinovich (1932- ). The Carmen Ballet (based on music of Georges Bizet), L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE-3208). 168 Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Chamber Symphony, Op. 110a (as arranged by R. Barshai) from String Quartet, No.8. The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (ONDINE ODE 817-2) Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Concerto No.1 for Violin and Orchestra in A-minor, Op.99, Marie Scheublé, violin and L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (ARN-68326). Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Concerto No.2 for Violin and Orchestra in C-Sharp minor, Op.129, Marie Scheuble, violin and L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (ARN-68326). Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Concerto for Violincello, No.1, Op.107, Torleif Thedeen, cello soloist, The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-626). Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Concerto for Violoncello, No.2, op.126, Torleif Thedeen, cello soloist, The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-626). Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Festive Overture, Op.96, The Helsinki Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist. (DELOS DE 3089). Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Festive Overture, Op.96, Malmo Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD 570). Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Symphony No.5 The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (ONDINE ODE 817-2). Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Symphony No.7, op.60 in C-Major “Leningrad,” The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0211). Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Symphony No.8, Op.65 in C-minor, The Helsinki Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (ONDINE ODE TIS-2). Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Symphony No.9, Op.70 in E-Flat Major, The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (ONDINE ODE 846-2). Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Symphony No.10, Op.93 in E-minor, The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE 3089). Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Symphony No.10, Op.93 in E-minor, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0279). 169 Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Symphony No.11, Op.103 in G-minor “The Year 1905,” The Helsinki Symphony Orchestra, Sven-Erik Paananen, horn soloist, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS D/CD-3080). Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Symphony No.11, Op.103 in G-minor, “The Year 1905,” The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0007). Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Symphony No.11, Op.103 in G-minor “The Year 1905,” The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE-3329). Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975). Symphony No.12 in D-minor “Lenin or (The Year 1917),” The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (ONDINE ODE 846-2). Sibelius, Jean (1865-1957). Symphony No.1, Op.39 in E-minor, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (AMF 2008-130). Sibelius, Jean (1865-1957). Symphony No.1, Op.39 in E-minor, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (MR MAA 1987-38). Sibelius, Jean (1865-1957). Symphony No.2, Op.43 in D-minor, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE 3334). Sibelius, Jean (1865-1957). Symphony No.7, Op.105 in C-Major, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE 3334). Strauss, Richard (1864-1949). Alpensinfonie, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Cassette MR MAA 1991-31). Strauss, Richard (1864-1949). Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra in D-Major, Nicholas Stovall, oboist and The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0305). Strauss, Richard (1864-1949). Don Juan, Op.20, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS D/CD-3070). Strauss, Richard (1864-1949). Wiener Philharmoniker Fanfare, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0287). Stravinsky, Igor (1882-1971). Firebird Suite (L’Oiseau de feu) 1919 version, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE 3278). Stravinsky, Igor (1882-1971). Petrouchka (1947 version), The Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Zagreb Philharmonic # 7-6-69). 170 Stravinsky, Igor (1882-1971). The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps), The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE 3278). Svendsen, Johan (1840-1911). Romance for Violin and Orchestra in G-Major, op.26, Anton Kontra, violin with The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD 570). *Svoboda, Tomáš (1939- ). Concerto for Marimba & Orchestra, Neil DePointe, marimba soloist, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (ALBANY RECORDS: TROY 604). *{Grammy Award Nomination, 2003} Svoboda, Tomáš (1939- ). Overture of the Seasons for Orchestra, op.89, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (ALBANY RECORDS: TROY 604). Svoboda, Tomáš (1939- ). Symphony No.1 (of Nature), The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (ALBANY RECORDS: TROY 604). Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich (1840-1893). Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, no.1, op.23 in B-flat minor, Konstantin Soukhovetski, piano, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0287). Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich (1840-1893). Concerto for Violin and Orchestra op.35 in D- Major, Kristin Lee, violin with The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0279). Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich (1840-1893). Overture 1812, Op.49, (Ouverture solennelle), The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS D/CD 3081). Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich (1840-1893). Hamlet, Op.67, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. ((DELOS D/CD 3081). Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich (1840-1893). Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, The Aspen Festival Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (MR MAA 1990-21). Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich (1840-1893). Romeo and Juliet overture-fantasy, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE-3369). Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich (1840-1893). The Tempest (Fantasy Overture), Op.18. The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS D/CD 3081). Theofanidis, Christopher (1967- ). Rainbow Body, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0279). Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich (1840-1893). Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op.33. Ilya Finkelshteyn, cello, The Aspen Concert Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (MR MAA 1991-37). 171 Tsontakis, George (1951- ). Four Symphonic Quartets, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, James DePreist, conductor. (KOCH 3-7384-2-H1). Wagner, Richard (1813-1883). Die Walküre: Ride of the Valkyries (Walkürenritt), The Juilliard Symphony, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0100). Wagner, Richard (1813-1883). Gotterdammerung: Immolation Scene, The Juilliard Symphony, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0100). Wagner, Richard (1813-1883). Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, The Juilliard Symphony, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0100) Wagner, Richard (1813-1883). Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE-3369). Walker, George T. (1922- ). Symphony no.3, The Juilliard Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0314). Walker, George T. (1922- ). Trombone Concerto, Christian Lindberg, trombone and The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-628). Walton, William (1902-1983). Concerto for Cello and orchestra, Mark Kosower, cellist and The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE- 3342). Walton, William (1902-1983). Suite from Henry V, The Oregon Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (DELOS DE-3342). Weber, Carl Maria von (1786-1826). Concerto for Bassoon, Op.75 in F-Major, Patricia Pei-I Wang, bassoonist, the Juilliard Symphony, James DePreist, conductor. (Juilliard CD# 0100). Zwilich, Ellen Taafe (1939- ). Trombone Concerto, Christian Lindberg, trombone and The Malmö Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (BIS CD-628). 172 SUPPLEMENTARY BIBLIOGRAPHY Abdul, Raoul. “Reading the Score: A Who’s Who of Black Orchestra Conductors.” The New York Amsterdam News, 25 November 1995. ______. Blacks in Classical Music: A Personal History. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1977. ______. Famous Black Entertainers of Today. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1974. ______. “Reading the Score: Great Brahms Maestro Conducts Juilliard.” The New York Amsterdam News, 27 January 2005. ______. “Reading the Score: Historic Musicians Allen, DePreist Back in the News.” The New York Amsterdam News, 2 March 2006. ______. “Reading The Score: Juilliard Promotes DePrist (sic).” The New York Amsterdam News, 7 September 2005. ______. “Reading The Score: The Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo Superb at Avery Fisher Hall.” The New York Amsterdam News, 7 May 1998. Anthony, Michael. “DePreist Conducts Uncommon Works.” The Star Tribune (St. Paul, MN), 18 November 1991. ______. “DePreist’s Focus Is on Making Music.” The Star Tribune (St. Paul, MN), 8 November 1991. ______. “DePreist Leads Polished Performance.” The Star Tribune (St. Paul, MN), 8 November 1991. ______. “Finnish Composer Exudes Confidence.” The Star Tribune (St. Paul, MN), 16 March 1995. Bradley, Jeff. “It’s A Small World for Classical Violinists…” The Denver Post, 18 January 1995. ______. “Oregon Symphony in Impressive CD Program.” The Denver Post, 29 January 1993. “Bush to Present Arts and Humanities Medals.” AP Online, 9 November 2005. Commanday, Robert. “Bravo to Stockholm Orchestra.” The San Francisco Chronicle, 10 April 1989. 173 Dalton, Joseph. “A Little Fine-Tuning Symphony Premieres Reworked Concerto Friday in Troy.” The Albany Times Union (Albany, New York), 9 January 2003. “DePreist Replaces Leinsdorf as Symphony Guest Conductor.” The Houston Chronicle, 24 September 1993. Di Nardo, Tom. “DePreist to Conduct Orchestra.” Philadelphia Daily News, 23 November 1990. Dyer, Richard. “DePreist Brings to BSO a Touch of Brotherly Love.” The Boston Globe, 21 November 1997. ______. “James DePreist Adds Fire to Beethoven’s Ninth.” The Boston Globe, 31 August 1999. ______. “Isaiah Jackson Seizes the Day with Pro Arte.” The Boston Globe, 18 February 2001. Fleming, Michael. “City Orchestras Grapple with Gloomy Report.” St. Paul Pioneer Press, 28 June 1992. ______. “DePreist Puts Brakes on Bartok Concerto, Brings Out Subtle Interplay of Instruments.” The St. Paul Pioneer Press, 7 November 1991. ______. “DePreist’s SPCO Debut Solemn, Witty.” St. Paul Pioneer Press, 16 November 1991. “French Pianist Sends Ripples While Playing Them.” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 24 April 1999. Gabriel, Kevin. “Festival Ends with Uneven Musicianship.” Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA), 30 April 1998. Gelfand, Janelle. “Maestro DePreist, CSO Deft, Dramatic.” The Cincinnati Enquirer, 8 December 2002. “Gift of Music Touches Hearts.” Iowa City Press-Citizen, 22 July 2003. Goodfellow, William S. “Shostakovich’s Recorded Works Still Please a Growing, Global Audience.” The Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT), 10 March 1991. Green, Judith. “After 10 Years, DePreist Back to Conduct ASO.” The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, 25 February 1999. Green, Judith. “ASO Delivers the Goods in Confident Excess.” The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, 26 February 1999. 174 Guinn, John. “Young Violinist has a Fresh Approach.” Detroit Free Press, 28 May 1995. ______. “Youth and Talent take Center Stage Thursday.” Detroit Free Press, 20 November 1992. Hansen, Lawrence. “Guide to Records, Shchedrin: Carmen Ballet.” American Record Guide, May/June97, Vol.60, Issue 3, p.205. 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