Interviews with Clarinetists Who Auditioned for Leopold Stokowski and the American Symphony Orchestra Julie L

Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2010 Musical Culture in New York in the 1960S: Interviews with Clarinetists Who Auditioned for Leopold Stokowski and the American Symphony Orchestra Julie L. Schumacher Detweiler Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC MUSICAL CULTURE IN NEW YORK IN THE 1960s: INTERVIEWS WITH CLARINETISTS WHO AUDITIONED FOR LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI AND THE AMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA By JULIE LYNN SCHUMACHER DETWEILER A Treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2010 The members of the committee approve the Treatise of Julie Lynn Schumacher Detweiler defended on October 26, 2010. _______________________________________ Frank Kowalsky Professor Directing Treatise _______________________________________ Alice-Ann Darrow University Representative _______________________________________ Deborah Bish Committee Member _______________________________________ Jeffrey Keesecker Committee Member Approved: _____________________________________ John Drew, Chair, Brass and Woodwind Department _____________________________________ Don Gibson, Jr., Dean, College of Music The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members. ii This treatise is dedicated to my parents, Ginny and Dale Schumacher, and to my husband, David. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank several people who contributed to the completion of this treatise. Thank you to my major professor, Dr. Frank Kowalsky, for his guidance and patience throughout this process. He has generously shared his time and experiences with me, both for this project and for the past three years. Thank you to Dr. Deborah Bish and Dr. Alice-Ann Darrow both of whom gave me tremendous encouragement and guidance as I brainstormed and researched this project. Thank you also to Jeffrey Keesecker who graciously agreed to be a part of my committee and my treatise as it was already underway. Thank you also to Dr. Denise Von Glahn, who met with me to discuss interviews and historical research, and to Lauren Smith who honestly and accurately answered every question I have had about my degree for the past three years. Thank you to the other clarinetists who gave their time and memories for this treatise: Virgil Blackwell, Dr. Janita Byars, James Corwin, Dave Hopkins, David Shifrin, David Singer and Richard Stoltzman. They all exhibited such openness and willingness to share their lives with me. This work would not have been possible without them. Thank you to the staff at the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Special Collections, who helped me find everything for which I was looking and who shared with me their expertise. Thank you to my parents, Ginny and Dale Schumacher, who have always believed in me, and thank you to my siblings, Joel Schumacher, Jill Borrero and Jodie Schumacher who supported me through email and phone calls. Finally, thank you to my husband, David, who provided me with an endless supply of encouragement, patience, and support during this project. Thank you for believing in my success. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ vi 1. CHAPTER ONE: THE AMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ..................................... 1 1.1 Birth of an Orchestra.......................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Leopold Stokowski ................................................................................................ 2 1.1.2 The Mission of the Orchestra ............................................................................... 4 1.1.3 After Stokowski ..................................................................................................... 7 2. CHAPTER TWO: THE AUDITION PROCESS: ITS HISTORY IN AMERICA ............... 9 3. CHAPTER THREE: AMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AUDITIONS ................ 15 4. CHAPTER FOUR: TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEWS ........................................................... 17 4.1 Interview with Virgil Blackwell ..................................................................................... 17 4.2 Interview with Janita Byars ............................................................................................. 24 4.3 Interview with James Corwin .......................................................................................... 30 4.4 Interview with Dave Hopkins ......................................................................................... 40 4.5 Interview with Frank Kowalsky ...................................................................................... 42 4.6 Interview with David Shifrin........................................................................................... 45 4.7 Interview with David Singer ........................................................................................... 50 4.8 Interview with Richard Stoltzman .................................................................................. 53 4.9 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 56 4.9.1 Further research ................................................................................................... 56 5. APPENDIX A: ETHICAL PRACTICES FOR NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AUDITIONS CODE .................................................................................................................. 57 6. APPENDIX B: CLARINET LIST FROM STOKOWSKI‟S AMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA NOTEBOOK .................................................................................................... 59 6.1 Index ................................................................................................................................. 59 6.2 Comments ......................................................................................................................... 63 6.3 Professional and Retired Clarinetists, Possibly for “Master” Positions ....................... 66 7. APPENDIX C: LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI PAPERS: COPYRIGHT PERMISSION ....... 67 8. APPENDIX D: HUMAN SUBJECTS .................................................................................... 68 9. REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 69 10. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH..................................................................................................... 71 v ABSTRACT This treatise is an exploration of the distinctiveness of the American Symphony Orchestra. The American Symphony Orchestra was a unique organization that combined contemporary music and young musicians of diverse backgrounds with a famous conductor. Although Leopold Stokowski used a rather archaic method of auditioning, his inclusion of women and minorities in the orchestra was progressive and his championing of young musicians was legendary. The orchestra resided in New York, a city that already had a rich, albeit very different, symphonic tradition in 1962 when the American Symphony was founded. There were no women and only one African-American musician in the New York Philharmonic at that time, and most orchestras in the country were not yet using screens to audition potential candidates for open positions. This distinct set of circumstances can be seen as a cultural microcosm for the creation and development of the symphony orchestra, including the transformation of the audition process and the introduction of women and minorities to the symphony orchestra. At the heart of this microcosm are Leopold Stokowski and the musicians who dreamed to be a part of his orchestra. Two of the interviews for this treatise were convenience samples due to proximity, and the other six interviews were randomly selected from the list that Stokowski kept on every musician who auditioned for him. Interviews were conducted either in person or by phone, recorded and later transcribed. This treatise begins with a history of the development of the American Symphony and is followed by the history of the audition process in the United States. A brief overview of Stokowski‟s audition process for the American Symphony provides some insight and context for the interviews that follow. vi CHAPTER ONE THE AMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The Birth of an Orchestra In 1961 at the age of seventy-nine, Leopold Stokowski enjoyed international fame and conducting engagements with orchestras all over the world, though he was tired of endless traveling and wanted to settle in New York City. After meeting with friends, advisors and his manager, Siegfried Hearst, Stokowski decided to create a new orchestra. This new symphonic venture would incorporate young musicians and champion contemporary music. The first season was planned to include a total of six concerts all performed at Carnegie Hall. Hearst introduced Stokowski to a man that he hoped would help fund the new symphonic venture, Gregory Roberts. Roberts purportedly was a wealthy patron of the arts with connections to different concert agencies in several Central and South American cities. Stokowski was delighted to have the financial support and held a press conference on 26 April 1962 announcing

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