THlE MTCTTIGAN DAILY
SUNAY, MARCU -127, 191
N1EVER A DULL MOMENT':
Staff Trio Lays Festival Groundworkil
Dr. Sink Recalls Great
" SC It
' ~ P'is sh
. * *
0 By MARY STEIN
There's more to a May Festival
concert than meets the eye and
ear-the three staffers who work
year-round behind the scenes at
the Musical Society's Burton Tow-
er~ offices can vouch for that.
They are the local Grover Whal-
ens who welcome visiting artists
at station and airport, the master-
minds who figure out rehearsal
schedules, the press agents who
-see that every city and hamlet for
miles around knows about the
May Festival.
AND, SANDWICHIING sales-
manship between their other jobs,
Gail Rector, Mrs. Mary Parkas
and Miss Deanne Smith also get
behind the Musical Society coun-
ter and sell Festival tickets.
"Not once in 17 years has my
job been monotonous," Mrs.
Farkas says. Besides being Dr.
Charles A. Sink's secretary, she
sends out press releases and ad-
vertisements, and lays out con-
cert programs-all months be-
fore the Festival begins.
Second of the hard-working trio
under Dr. Sink is Miss Smith,
who as cashier and bookkeeper
keeps track of the society's fi-
nances.
RECTOR, a graduate of the
Muisic School who calls himself
an "ex-bassoonist," is assistant to
D~r. Sink.
Hie describes his job as "trying
to foresee' the unpredictable and
then making sure it doesli't hgp-
pen."
In his four years as Dr. Sink's
right-hand man, he confesses he
has become somewhat blase
about acting as welcoming com-
mittee to musical celebrities ar-
riving in Ann Arbor.
In Dr. Charles A. ! i.k's meliti al n fehook, scores of biz namves
in American and Euiropean Iimsic a ,;,'pr'ominently.
artists '\ o appa edt a I aIii' U IeA'ln I May1Festival- I "IndChoral
Union conicerIt6 - f iI nc inlhr I t:, 11!'1:it 1 M .IIfwa] S(!oity pJl' ci~ lil's
num1erou 101s a ncdotd 'y.
DR. SINK telly one story tht pov'ides all interesting sidelight;
on Conduct or Leopold Stokow -ki.
It Seem~s that dutrill -th) May Festival of 1936, Stokowski
was invited to h(. guiest ofl hono r at a post-c('eCrt party.
Mysteriously, i hreisud,.: ! ( , ;St okowski was seen at, a local
piuh, happily lc'id in p.1 a t ng of ! _I,_ ,ii>i in college' songs-,''!I,. Sink
XII N MIM!E. SC'luiiianrir ini :osne to Ann Arbor,'" Dr. Sink
recalled, "concerts wvere' held in Uix eriit y Hall.''
'Phe ar t2£I:: i, ~wen t, on, wait ~( ilul i eama II"green rood-" before
periformances, >1nd( Mine. '1-lhiilttm 'Ilenk wanttel to know how% to
fe o thle stage 1Iroinithe roi.
"Right thirougfh that door," pointed Dr. Albert Stanley,
musical director at that tite.
"But I Can't get throup h its " exclaimed Mille. .Schumann-Heink,
who was built on tradlitionlally ge,1nerous prima-donna lines.
"Go Sideways," Dr. St anle~y advised.
"Mein Gott, T have no sdwy, was the opera singer's retort.
'SNGI 'PRO FESSOR):
HaroW Hwig To Sing, Here
On May Fesoimvai Program
Soprano Phuis
[Lote111Iebi i t
Shirley IT iia. eII 'Fo i
il !1"' 1ilsjet'< I Aer t '.
Solritlto V! 1i ) 11 ias ,tI ! re t r t
f1,0111 seasN \itli the Z a
Opera Cove(nt Ga -iden, , Luond.
will be heard for thew first t imet
in Ann Arbor wihren sh7e appears
in the May Fes tivA.
One of five soloists to make
their initial appearane here at
that time. the sopsranio will be
heard in Brahms " Requiem" Fri-I
day night and in the world lire-'
nmere of Llewelyn Gomer,'s- "Glo-
ria in Rxcelsis" Sunday afternoonl.
ALTHOUGH MISS Russell's
childhood ambition was to be-
come a concert pianist, an acei-
dent prevented furtheri study.
Shte then entered the (Cleve-
land Institute of Music to study
voice under Marie Kraft. There
she received her Bachelor of
Music degree and an Artist Di-
ploma.
At present Miss Russell is con-
tinuing her studies under the di-
rection of Mine. Lotte Leonard.
j- k
A COMPARATIVE newcomer
to the concert stage, the young
soprano made her first profes-
sional appearance at the 1948 Cin-
cinnati Music Festival under the
direction of Fritz Busch.
At that time the Cincinnati
Times-Star .music critic, Louis
John Johnen said of her, "Shir-
ley Russell . .. displayed hith-
erto unsuspected vocal beauty.
Her exquisitely clear notes were
a. delight to the ear and her
manner was charming in its
lack of affectation."
Fritz Busch himself showered
praise on Miss Russell for her per-
formance in the role of Sophie in
the May Festival there.
FA1OUS ';CGARETTE (GIRLJ';
On OperaItIio,0 Movies
S >1,mea o-sormno '.cho w~ill appear as
May 5eslvalConcert, has Ihad a
rai,;oInd concert wvork.
A natl iv eeican artist. wh1o
a ~t ry,. Miss Swart hou t got 'her start
ts sloistin ;a Kasas Cityv chulrcht
"' I 1'hoir aith ieagt of 13.
(A IYS SWARTHTOI"
Yout h Chorits
Daily -'ryson
BEFORE THE RUSH-Gail Rector, left, and Miss Deanne Smith
are shown issuing series tickets for the May. Festival. Single
ticket sales open at 9 a.m. tomorrow.
"
(Continued from Page 1)
"There will always be an ele-
mnent of the unpredictable in the
Job, though." he says. "Perform-
ers often don't look like their pic-
tures, and I've sometimes been
puzzled trying to pick out my man
from the crowd descending from
a train or plane."
"If he's a violinist, his instru-
ment gives him away. But singers
are often hard to identify."
WHEN CONCERT artists who
speak no English arrive, Rector
takes care of the "unpredictable"
by arranging with the language
department for interpreters.
The situation almost got out
.I
of hand last fall, however, when
the French National Symphony,
96 strong, came to town equipped
with one interpreter for the en-
tire orchestra.
Even Rector was sorely taxed to
cope with the language difficulties
that arose. "Both the visiting mu-
sicians and Ann Arbor merchants
had trouble making themselves
understood."
However, artists always find
Ann Arbor a cordial city, he says
-"And we always find them con-
siderate, never demanding."
RECTOR ALSO arranges time
and place for rehearsals. In the
flurried weeks before May Fes-
tival, this task gets complicated.
First the Choral Union prac-
tices separately, then with the
Musical Society's orchestral
group under the direction of
Lester McCoy; then, jiust be-
f ore the Festival, with the new-
ly- arrived Philadelphia Orches -
tra.j
Besides the larger tasks that
the staff faces, there are many
small but important details that
are ironed out as part of day-to-
day routine.
Items like issuing music and
keeping track of Choral 'Union
personnel fill in the chinks of the
staff's job.
I
Flutist Plays on Platinum
Harold Haugh's appearance with}
the Choral Union's Sunday aftet'-
noon concert in this year's May3
Festival will not, be his first taste
of concert work at the University.
An Associate Professor of Music
at the University for the last year,
he has made several appearances
in tile Choral Union's annual rMes-
siah performance B u r i n t lie
Christmas season.
NOTED FOR his unusually flex-
ible, tenor voice, Prof. Hfaugh has
been interested in vocal work sine
his early high school days. A na-
tive of Cleveland, hie sanrg in sev-
eral of the lar'gest cliurchc; in the
city while working his way through
Hiram College.
After earning his B.A. atI
Iliram, Prof. 1laugli entered
Union "Theological Seminary in
New York. After receiving his
M.A. in Sacred Music at the
Seminary, hi ehecamre ani or-
dained minister.
Prof. Haugh soon attained na-
tional prominence as a soloist fol-
lowing his outstanding perforin-
an('es with the New York Oratorio
Society. the Handel and Haydn
Society of Boston. thte Bach Festi-
val, Salt Lake Or'atorio Society
and in numerous recitals and or-
(hestral engagements.
Fortmerly a member of the fac-
Uly at the Oberlin School of
Music, Prof. Haugh joined -the
Un iver'sity faculty last fall. During
the last year' lie has taken time
out~ from his teaching duties to
sing in a number of concerts in
the Middle West and most recent-
ly its Florida.
kiddies to wave back to their
proud parents in, the audience.
But that's a part of the training
they get in concert etiquette.
A fewr songs are always special
favorites- with the young chor us.
TIhis yeatr two songs by Brahms
and Schumann which were writ-
teni for the Schumann children
are gi'eet ed with loud oo's and all's
and are sung with gusto that is
difficult to tone dtown.
ALTHIOUGH Miss Hood reports
"little disciplinary difficulty", a
few minor casualties occur each
year. The most frequent of thlese
mlishaps are c'onnec'ted with tile
mall fountain when an overly en-
thusiastic admirerfal in. For-
tunately these impromiptu baths
usually take place after rehearsal.
.N I'ER A successfulaudition
wit~h IIhe Ch1icag'o Opera Company,
the yun singer rose rapidlyt to
famel~. She m.a(k her debut at the
M111tropolta in "ia Gioconda,''
The roles with which she is
most closely associated are those
of Carmen and Mryignon. Since
her initial app~earance ats Bizet's
cigarette girl, she hats establish-
ed herself as the ranking Car-
mnen oif the day.
Choice of 800 radio editors as
"the best female classical vocalist
on the air," Miss Swarthout macde
her entryv into big time radio in
the early thirties.
:4 a4 s*
FIRST HIEARD as soloist on the
General Motot's Hour, the mezzo-
soprano has since appeared regu-
larly on "The Voice of Firestone",
"Ford Sunday Evening Hour"' and
the "Bell Telephone Hour."
The climax of her radio ca-
reer cane when she sang the
leading female Ipart in "Romeo
and Juliet" under the baton of
Arturo Toscanini on an N IC
Symphony Broadcast.
That Miss Swarthout's voice of-
fers the rare combination of con-
tralto warmath and coloratura ex-
pressiveniess,, has been one of the
primec factors enabling her to
break from the traditional obscur-
it y of mevzzo-sopranos, accoringl!
to crtitics5.
First flutist of the Philadelphia
Orchestra, William Kincaid, will
bring the only platinum flute in
the world to Ann Arbor for the
May Festival concerts.
The flute, made of precious'
platinum with silver keys, was
made by Verne Powell of Boston.
The platinum has been alloyed
'with iridium and is one of the
toughest and most heat resistant
metals known to man.
SO PERFECT is Kincaid's in-
lstrumnent that the accuracy of the
pitch runs into infinitesimal frac-
tions. The flute was displayed in
the hall of metals at the New York
World's Fair.
Kincaid might well have the
>world's most Perfect flute, for
critics say he is one of the
world's most renowned flutists.
Kincaid joined the Philadelphia
{Orchestra as solo flutist in 1922.
His solo appearances throughout
the nation have mounted to more
than one hundred performances.
e , . i
THE WOIItE.uiO1VTVeD
ItPLADELAPIII.A 0IIEIA
- ___. . _. _._ .r1
m1
_......_._.... _ _-_-__ ._.® ...u _ __ ._ .._. _ _..__... _ , _ __ _ _.______ _
T HE M AY F ESTF1VAT\Ij
OR FIFTY-SIX YEARS all musical rocid
IIavc, led. t~)o i Arbor forthis
w'orld-fam'ous event, which annually brings to) a close the season's mu11.sical activi-
ties provided by the University Musical Society. It. ,s a l t tin cilinuX to [well tl six
ma jor concerts by artists and orga1ni'/ations it) which a va. iI fie Ofmusic liter-At ure
is covered.
- ----- -----
Twenty - four composers
will be represented 'In the Festival of '49.
Has appeared since 1936 at all. :lest ival Concerts. The
Philadelphia Orchlest ra will be here igain fIhis year for
:ill six eolieris.
EUGENE OR,.MAN DY.. Conduct or
ALEXANDER HILS BERG .. . .Associate Condut or
invite you to take advantage of the opportunity of attending te 'estival. Com71-
plete ticket information may be found at the bottom of page four.
------ -----
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