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James Schwabacher Collection ARS.0024 http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt3r29r9kc No online items Guide to the James Schwabacher Collection ARS.0024 Finding aid prepared by Franz Kunst Archive of Recorded Sound Braun Music Center 541 Lasuen Mall Stanford University Stanford, California, 94305-3076 650-723-9312 [email protected] © 2012 The Board of Trustees of Stanford University. All rights reserved. Guide to the James Schwabacher ARS.0024 1 Collection ARS.0024 Descriptive Summary Title: James Schwabacher Collection Dates: 1860-2006 Collection number: ARS.0024 Creator: Schwabacher, James Collection size: 71 boxes Repository: Archive of Recorded Sound Abstract: The James Schwabacher Collection consists of sound recordings, correspondence, scores, scrapbooks, clippings, programs, teaching material and other papers from San Francisco philanthropist and lyric tenor James Schwabacher. Language of Material: English Access Open for research; material must be requested at least two business days in advance of intended use. Contact the Archive for assistance. Publication Rights Property rights reside with repository. Publication and reproduction rights reside with the creators or their heirs. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Head Librarian of the Archive of Recorded Sound. Preferred Citation James Schwabacher Collection, ARS-0024. Courtesy of the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif. Source The James Schwabacher Collection was donated to the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound by James Schwabacher in 2006. Sponsor This finding aid was produced with generous financial support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Scope and Contents The James Schwabacher Collection consists of sound recordings, correspondence, scores, scrapbooks, photographs, programs, teaching material and other papers from philanthropist and lyric tenor James Schwabacher (1920-2006). A tireless champion of vocal music, Schwabacher was extremely active in the San Francisco Bay area, not only as a performer, but as a teacher, vocal coach, and radio and television host. Perhaps most significantly, Schwabacher founded the Merola Opera Program, an annual workshop for aspiring singers, in 1957, San Francisco Performances in 1980, and the Schwabacher Debut Recital Series in 1983. The Schwabacher name belongs to one of San Francisco's more prestigious families: Schwabacher-Frey was a major West Coast printer and stationer, and Schwabacher and Company was a successful investment banking firm. His grandmother Carrie, who was a Fleishhacker before marriage, was a composer and pianist, and James grew up surrounded by music. Scrapbooks reveal regular attendance at San Francisco Opera performances, long before he made it to the SF Opera stage himself. After graduating from Cal in 1941, Schwabacher taught briefly at Stanford, where he conducted the Glee Club and sang in the West Coast premiere of Britten's Peter Grimes and alongside Dorothy Warenskjold in her debut in Der Freischütz. In 1948 Schwabacher joined the San Francisco Opera, playing fourteen roles over four seasons. Schwabacher would soon move away from opera, however, and the majority of his years performing were in recitals and oratorios. His singing career is most notable for a twenty-five year run as the Evangelist in The Passions of St. John and Matthew in the Carmel Bach Festival. The collection contains many recordings from these performances, but it also covers the period where Schwabacher was teaching, mentoring and administrating (he was president of the San Francisco Symphony Foundation and a member of their Board of Governors since 1959, and he was also on the board of the San Francisco Opera Foundation). For more biographical information, consult the oral history by Caroline C. Crawford titled "Renaissance Man of Bay Area Music: Tenor, Teacher, Administrator, Impresario: James H. Schwabacher, Jr." (available at http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt987006sc). Arrangement The collection has been arranged into fifteen series: 1. Awards and honors ; 2. Clippings ; 3. Correspondence ; 4. Media ; 5. Merola Opera Program ; 6. Misc. papers ; 7. Notes and notebooks ; 8. Photographs ; 9. Posters ; 10. Programs ; 11. Publicity and biographies ; 12. S.F. Symphony and Opera business ; 13. Scores ; 14. Scrapbooks and binders ; 15. Teaching materials. Related Collections Guide to the James Schwabacher ARS.0024 2 Collection ARS.0024 The Archive of Recorded Sound also holds the Carmel Bach Festival Tape Collection, ARS0025. Indexing Terms San Francisco Opera. San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Schwabacher, James Tenors (Singers) Box 4, Box 1 1. Awards and honors Scope and Contents San Francisco Conservatory honorary degree 1983 ; IVI Voice Symposium plaque 2000 ; 40th and 60th Birthday tributes Box 116, Box 2 2. Clippings Physical Description: 2 boxes Scope and Contents Newspaper clippings and photocopies of reviews, profiles, etc. Includes coverage of Carmel Bach, Ojai and other festivals. Box 4, Box 96, 3. Correspondence 1955-2000 Box 86, Box 5 Physical Description: 4 boxes Scope and Contents Almost all incoming. Mix of personal and professional, but mostly personal (holiday and birthday cards, postcards, letters from Sophie Schwabacher). Includes mail from Kurt Adler, Darius Milhaud, Leontyne Pryce, Sandor Salgo, Wallace Berry, Ned Rorem, Blanche Thebom, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Ansel Adams, Bidu Sayao, and Leonard Bernstein. Many concerning Merola program, especially its 20th anniversary. 4. Media Physical Description: 45 boxes451 open reel tapes ; 559 audiocassettes ; 711 instantanous discs ; 66 compact discs ; 33 videocassettes Box 103 Compact discs and CD-Rs Physical Description: 66 compact discsand CD-Rs Scope and Contents Mix of commercially released and unpublished works. Unrelated published discs were added to regular collection. Among the titles retained here: Allen Bond Sings Schwanengesang ; The Jewish School/Roslyn Bazak ; Traviata/NYC Opera ; Goerne/Schneider SF Performances Recital ; Songs of Ned Rorem/Susan Graham ; Twilight Fancies/Ruth Golden ; Tosca Excerpts/Chautauqua Opera ; Joseph Merrick dit Elephant Man/Petit firard ; Kenneth Goodson Recital and Oratorio Sampler ; Robert Breault, Tenor ; Elizabeth Anker Recital. Guide to the James Schwabacher ARS.0024 3 Collection ARS.0024 4. Media Instantaneous discs and custom pressings Box 107, Box 106, Instantaneous discs and custom pressings Box 105, Box 104, Physical Description: 711 instantaneous discs59 5-7" discs ; 550 8-10" discs ; 102 Box 108, Box 109, 10.5-12" discs Box 110, Box 111 Scope and Contents Discs are in no particular order, although most multi-part sets are in sequence. Original sleeves have been retained when information is written on them. Variety of brands, some locally recorded. Many of the 12" discs are NBC Reference discs originally used in broadcasts. Majority are opera broadcasts, especially from the Metropolitan Opera. A partial list of these discs (dated 1939-1944) is available. There are also many Schwabacher performances and interviews (including one on KBFC from 1948 and several KPFA airchecks), as well as Schwabacher family recordings. Other discs with local interest include recordings of a Stanford-WSC Playoff from 3/14/41, the Tom Coakley Orchestra at the Palace Hotel over NBC on 11/15/34, the St. Francis Orchestra in 1946, and several recordings of Schwabacher's friend Harry Owens, the Hawaiian orchestra leader. Some custom pressings are by MacGregor and Ingram, others are unlabeled microgroove vinyl discs, possibly for teaching use. Other airchecks and recordings, including Bing Crosby (also one custom press), Burns and Allen, Eddie Cantor, and Jack Benny, are actually from Cynthia Schwabacher's donation from 1993-94. Box 95 James Schwabacher, "If Music Be The Food Of Love... Recital Performances 1952-1967" (Cambria CD 1127) 2002 Physical Description: 3 compact discs Box 113 James Schwabacher, "My Life in Music" with tapes of broadcast Physical Description: 2 audiocassettes Box 96, Box 94, Schwabacher Debut Recitals Box 95, Box 93 Physical Description: 97 items50 CD-Rs ; 47 audiocassettes Scope and Contents Recordings of performances from the Schwabacher Debut Recital series on cassette and CD-R, each in a manila envelope with the singer's name and date. A few contain only the program and no recording. There are also two folders of promotional material (programs, brochures, mailers), a folder of reviews, one folder of correspondence, and two folders of miscellaneous SDR material. Tapes, cassette Physical Description: 559 audiocassettes Scope and Contents Opera, recitals, demos, interviews, off-air recordings, lectures, classes, copies of commercial releases, etc. Relatively few feature Schwabacher performances. Guide to the James Schwabacher ARS.0024 4 Collection ARS.0024 4. Media Tapes, cassette Box 103, Box 91, cassettes 1 Box 92, Box 89, Physical Description: 228 audiocassettes ; 1 DAT Box 90, Box 87, Scope and Contents Box 88 Selected titles: San Francisco Opera Gala 11/78 ; Leontyne Price 4/84 ; Fromm Lecture 1995 ; Opera Quiz: Tenors ; Singher Inrterview, SFO Pelleas Broadcast 9/79 ; Piano Practice Tape ; Roberto Devereux SFO Broadcast 10/79 ; Dialogue of the Carmelites SFO 1982 ; various Met broadcasts ; Shere, The Bride ; Boy’s Chorus Lunch for Schwabacher ; Norskog Town Hall Concert 1980 ; Johansen Interview ; JHS Das Lied ist Aus ; Mildred Warenskjold Class 1982 ; Winther Anderson Memorial Concert 1982 ; Cantor Joseph Portnoy Musical
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