USA > Pennsylvania > Lycoming County > Picture of Lycoming County, Vol. 2 > Part 12
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OTHER INSTRUMENTAL GROUPS
Several smaller instrumental groups specializing in classical music have existed in Williamsport, the oldest one being the Brahms Trio, begun in the 1920's. Since then, the personnel has changed, along with the instruments used. The cause of instrumental music in Williamsport gained much from the Williamsport High School Orchestra and Band, in which many local musicians got their start.
In 1914 the supervisor of music in the Williamsport schools, Mrs. Lillian M. Reider, founded the Williamsport High School Orchestra. Then in 1925 Mrs. Reider organized the high school band, which continues in existence to the pre- sent. When these groups first started rehearsing, there were such complaints by high school teachers about the noise, that the band and orchestra were forced to rehearse in the Parish House at Trinity Episcopal Church. With the death of Osborne Housel in 1957, the high school orchestra disbanded
In 1977, the Williamsport Area School District under its music supervisor, Dr. Kenneth Raessler, launched a return of the student orchestra to the high school. An ensemble of fifteen string players was formed. As these students and others progress, it is hoped that a full orchestra will come
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into existence.
The Lycoming College Band, having had numerous predecessors in the junior college days, was formed in 1948 by James W. Shaeffer who still teaches at the college. The band current- ly is directed by Dr. Glen E. Morgan and makes an annual tour outside the state.
Though Williamsport no longer has its own symphony orches- tra, a regional orchestra, known as the Susquehanna Valley Orchestra, was formed in 1966 by several residents of the Lewisburg/Selinsgrove area. Membership in the orchestra is open to all residents of the Susquehanna Valley, regardless of age or occupation. Currently, fall and spring concerts are held in Williamsport and Lewisburg, along with regular Children's Concerts.
CHORAL GROUPS
Though instrumental music may have occupied a larger share of the spotlight in the county, choral music has always been popular in the area. Numerous public and institutional choruses have existed throughout the county over the years, from the Oratorio Society in the 1890's to the Civic Chorus of the present. This is in addition to the numerous church choirs which have contributed much to the high standard of choral music in the county.
The oldest choral group in the county today is the Harmonia Gaesang which was founded in 1892 by John Fischer, as an offshoot of the Turn Verein. Originally, the Turn Verein was an acrobatic group within the German community of Williamsport. It later changed to a male chorus and sang only German songs. In 1960, the Turn Verein finally came to an end.
Both the Turn Verein and Harmonia Gaesang started doing non- German pieces in the early 1900's when theyounger members no longer spoke German. At its beginning, membership in the Harmonia Gaesang was restricted to members of St. Boniface Church. This regulation was eventually dropped. Today the Harmonia Gaesang has a large non-singing membership, along with its 30-member male chorus and a separate female chorus. Occasionally, the two choruses combine as a mixed chorus when participating in the annual state-wide Sangerfests. Their current director is Thomas H. Shellenberger, under whose leadership the groups have won many competitions.
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Of considerable importance to choral music in Williamsport since 1944, has been the Civic Choir, whose name was changed in 1977 to the Civic Chorus. The Choir was founded by Walter G. McIver, who along with his wife Beulah, came to Williamsport in 1941 to hold a summer choir school at the
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invitation of Dr. Frederick Christian, then pastor of Covenant-Central Presbyterian Church. In 1942, the McIvers returned to Covenant-Central as ministers of music. They continued the summer choral school which lasted for about ten years and was so popular that a year-round Civic Choir was formed.
Two of the most memorable concerts of the Civic Choir were when the choral group joined with the Lycoming College Choir and the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra to perform Handel's The Messiah at Christmastide in 1948 and 1949. The orches- tra and 250 voices performed to an audience of nearly 3,000 in the Capitol Theater the first year and to a capacity audience in the Williamsport High School gymnasium the second year.
Musicals and operettas sparked programs of the Civic Choir in the 1950's and 1960's. Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado" and "Iolantha" and the Broadway shows of "Finian's Rainbow" and "Brigadoon" were well-attended. Mr. McIver and his successors, Jay Stenger and Paul Ziegler, served as musical directors of these. Drama director was Mrs. Miriam Hunter. Playing to sold-out houses in December 1952 and 1953 was the Civic Choir's production of "Amahl and The Night Visitors" by Menotti that featured William McIver, boy soprano and son of Walter and Beulah McIver, in the title role, with his own mother playing the role of Amahl's mother. Today, under the direction of Thomas Gallup, the Civic Chorus continues to maintain a strong choral tradition in Williamsport.
As well as initiating the Civic Choir, Walter McIver, after joining the Lycoming College faculty in 1946, brought into being the Lycoming College Choir. Under Mr. McIver's tute- lage, the college choir gained a reputation for excellence which was demonstrated in many parts of the country during the choir's annual tours, begun in 1947. The choir toured the British Isles as well in 1957 and 1974. Upon Mr. McIver's retirement in 1976, Dr. Fred Thayer became the director of the Lycoming College Choir.
THE "SINGING MAYOR"
In 1940 Williamsport elected a new mayor, Leo C. Williamson, who quickly gained a reputation as the "singing mayor. " During his first year in office, Mayor Williamson initiated a community sing program in Brandon Park, which then became a popular annual tradition and lasted into the 1960's. Each summer, the mayor led thousands of people in singing old favorites. Many who participated derived a great deal of pleasure and looked forward to the annual event.
Mayor Williamson also initiated annual music citations which
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he gave to three or four individuals each year who contribut- ed to the enrichment of music in Williamsport. The citations were primarily the mayor's own doing. They were discontinued after Mayor Williamson left office in 1951, but were renewed for several years when Mayor Thomas Levering came to office in 1956. After leaving office in 1951, Mayor Williamson remained active in musical circles until his death in 1957. His fame spread, and in 1953, he led the singing for a birth- day party in honor of President Dwight Eisenhower at the Hershey Arena.
MUSICAL PERSONALITIES
While the Williamsport High School most always had a choral program of one sort or another, its modern choral program began in the early 1920's under the hand of Miss Emma Kiess. Then from 1925 to 1956, Miss Kathryn Riggle was director of the high school's choral department. Upon her retirement, Miss Louise Stryker became choral director. Miss Stryker re- tired in 1978 after teaching music in the Williamsport schools for over 40 years.
Among some of Williamsport High School's better known musi- cal products was Elaine Shaffer, perhaps the world's most highly regarded flautist until her death in 1973. Her last concert in Williamsport was given in 1971 at the Scot- tish Rite Auditorium. She was accompanied by pianist Hepzibah Menuhin, the sister of the famed violinist Yehudi Menuhin.
Another Williamsporter achieved notoriety at the early age of ten when he performed Amahl in the National Broadcasting Company's television production of "Amahl and The Night Visitors" by Menotti, sponsored by Hallmark. Boy soprano William McIver performed the title role in this Christmas production for four consecutive years, from 1951 to 1954. Today, William McIver is a professor of music at the Uni- versity of North Carolina.
A graduate of Williamsport High School and Lycoming College, Marianna Ciraulo has gone on in the musical world to become a singer with the New York City Opera, among other accomplish- ments.
The cultural and artistic life of Lycoming County and Williamsport has benefited greatly over the last fifty years from the annual Community Concert Series, founded in 1928. Williamsport was one of the first cities in the country to adopt the community concert idea for bringing noted per- formers and musical ensembles into the city for concerts. A subscription drive is held annually in March when sub- scriptions for the coming season's programs are sold. Past Community Concert programs have included such performers as
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Yehudi Menuhin, pianist Rudolph Serkin, the Trapp Family Singers, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra.
The Williamsport Music Club is another organization which has advanced the cause of music in Williamsport since 1937. Its members offer performances and/or discussions each month of different musical pieces. Each Christmastide the Music Club sponsors a community candlelight service in a local church. This event that features the Juvenile and the Junior Music Clubs, as well as the Senior Ensemble and soloists, has become an annual tradition which is anticipated by the community.
THEATER IN LYCOMING COUNTY
Besides music, another branch of the performing arts is theater, to which are closely linked ballet and opera. Theater in Lycoming County has a long history. In the late 1800's, not only Williamsport, but several of the county's boroughs had opera houses, including Muncy and Montgomery. Traveling opera companies performed in them, providing some of the only professional entertainment available in those days to small towns and rural areas.
Williamsport has had a series of opera houses and musical theaters since 1868 when the Ulman Opera House opened in Market Square. Traveling opera companies and musical groups performed there regularly, with the Irish tenor, Fritz Emmet, among the most popular performers. The Ulman Opera House closed in 1874 and was overshadowed for several years before that by the Academy of Music, which opened in 1870 in the Elliott block at the corner of Fourth and Pine streets. The Academy, too, was a center for traveling musical groups of varying reputations and ability.
Then in 1892 the Lycoming Opera House opened on Third Street east of Laurel Street. The performers there were also traveling professionals, though occasionally extra parts were available to members of the community. Both musical and dramatic groups performed there, offering a diversity of entertainment. In 1903 Fred M. Lamade pur- chased the Opera House and remodeled it to return it to its original standard.
John Philip Sousa's band performed frequently at the Lycoming Opera House until it burned in 1915. The Repasz Band used the Opera House to store its equipment and lost it all in the tragic fire. It was upon the same site that the Keystone Movie House (later the State Theater) was built. This was finally torn down in 1978 to make way for a parking lot.
In 1907 Mr. Lamade built another theater, The Family Theater,
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Interior of Lycoming Opera House
Octoberfest, Williamsport Area High School
on Pine Street. In 1917 the name was changed to the Majes- tic Theater, then to the Karlton in 1937. The Majestic showed the first silent movies in the area. Occasionally, vaudeville productions were offered. Towards the end of the theater's life, the Community Concert Series held its subscription concerts there. In 1952 the Karlton was razed to make room for a parking lot -- one of the first in Williamsport -- because the theater had become a losing fi- nancial proposition.
Throughout the years, the junior and senior classes of area high schools have presented dramas and musicals that have provided not only a vehicle for young talent but also en- tertainment for the community. At the Williamsport High School Mrs. Edith Mann directed the plays of the 1930's and 40's with Miriam Lesher Hunter, Eugene McCramer, and Paul Jones directing in the late 1940's through the 70's. All except Mrs. Mann, who was a private elocution teacher of the community, were or are teachers of the English department of the school. Until the impact of television was felt in the 60's, full houses attended the plays.
John Ulmer, an alumnus of the high school, has been an actor, teacher, writer and director in many areas of the country. For six years he served as a director of Stage West in Springfield, Massachusetts. He also was a tele- vision actor and founded the Carnegie-Mellon Theater Com- pany while teaching at Carnegie-Mellon University. Mr. Ulmer currently lives in New York City and directs plays in regional theaters throughout the country.
AMATEUR THEATER
The dramatic arts in Williamsport have more recently de- pended upon the talents of community amateurs. With the demise of the theaters which catered to the touring musical and dramatic groups, amateurs took to the stage. The ex- ception today is the Capitol Theater which now offers its facilities for touring artists. In the early 1930's, prob- ably the first amateur theater group in Williamsport, called the Williamsport Community Players, was formed. group performed in the Memorial Park playhouse until the mid-1930's when it disbanded. After World War II, another amateur group, the Lycoming County Playhouse, presented plays in the old South Williamsport Junior-Senior High School on West Central Avenue. This group offered produc- tions during the summers of 1946 and 1947.
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In 1948 radio station WRAK initiated Williamsport's first locally produced dramatic radio broadcasts. The broadcasts, known as Studio Playhouse, were produced one or two times a month for two years. After the disbanding of this group, several of its members created another dramatic group known
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as the Thespians. This group, too, lasted for only a short time.
Today, Williamsport is the home of three theatrical groups and a theatrical workshop. The current Williamsport Players was organized in 1958 and incorporated in 1959. Originally, the group had 22 members. It gave its first production in May, 1960, in Courtroom No. 1 of the old Lycoming County Courthouse. The first play was entitled "The Night of January 16," which called for a courtroom setting. The drama organization has performed three productions per season ever since, and added a summer production in 1978.
In 1962 Lycoming College became the home of the Summer Arena Theater, which drew its performers both from the col- lege and from the community. It was also Williamsport's first theater-in-the-round. The name of the group was changed to "The Arena Theater" in 1965. By 1966 the new Academic Center at the college had been completed, including the new theater and stage which are designed for theater-in- the-round productions. Charles W. Raison, a dramatics in- structor at the college, was instrumental in the develop- ment of the Arena Theater. 3 In 1970 Dr. Robert Falk succeed- ed Mr. Raison.
Today the Arena Theater performs four major plays per season, along with several student productions and one-man shows. Three to five plays are performed in the summer season, in- cluding musicals, comedies and dramas. As in the past, the Arena Theater continues to draw upon talent from the larger community to enhance its productions and dramatic capabili- ties.
In 1969 James Symmons founded the Drama Workshop, which he still directs. Funded through the National Endowment for the Arts, the Drama Workshop is an educational theater program and offers training to high school students, college students and adults in all facets of theater production, from acting to lighting. This aspect of the program is held in the summer months, when up to five performances are given. These performances include dramas, comedies and musicals. A junior high program in theater was initiated in the summer of 1978, which also concludes with a perform- ance. In the fall and winter the Drama Workshop takes its training program to the Muncy Correctional Institution and the Allenwood Federal Prison Camp.
The Community Theater League is the newest of Williamsport's theatrical groups. Organized in 1976, it aims to provide educational and performance experience through its theater workshops and four seasonal performances. The League per- forms in-the-round as a way of promoting audience partici- pation. The most unusual performance its first year was
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called "Christmas Madrigal" which recreated the setting of an actual Middle Ages dinner using the music, food and dance of the period. This was held at the Genetti-Lycoming Hotel in December, 1977.
An unusual theater program for children ages eight to fifteen was sponsored by the Junior League of Williamsport from the early 1960's through the mid-1970's. Mrs. Miriam Hunter, now speech and drama teacher at the Williamsport High School, served as director of the program. Each summer about fifty children participated in the program which had both an edu- cational and recreational goal. After several weeks of classes at Pine Street United Methodist Church, the children put on a main performance for the community at Lycoming College. From the summer group of children, a cast was chosen to present productions during the school year to schools in Williamsport and neighboring districts. Many children and teenagers received a satisfying introduction to theater and the arts through this program.
A Williamsport native and former student of Mrs. Hunter, Rudy Caringi, has gone on to gain distinction in the world of theater as an actor, playwright, and director. Mr. Carin- gi has had his shows produced off Broadway and has won a Cannes Festival award for a short drama. Occasionally Mr. Caringi returns to Williamsport to help with local thea- trical productions.
The art of ballet has come to Williamsport and Lycoming County with the establishment of the Williamsport Civic Ballet Company in 1962 by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Enterline. The intention of the company is to promote an understanding of ballet in the region and to provide the serious dancer with a professional atmosphere in which to study, work and perform. The Ballet Company offers two programs: a senior ballet for ages 14 and up and a junior ballet for elementary school children. The company performs 12 to 20 times a year, doing both classical works and many one-act original ballets. Students in both the senior and junior ballets are employed in the performances, at which outside guest dancers occasionally make appearances.
THE "SUMMER CULTURAL SERIES"
Apart from the organized performing arts groups in the coun- ty, numerous special arts and recreational programs are available to area residents during the summer months. The Williamsport Summer Cultural Series, sponsored by the Wil- liamsport Recreation Commission -- a joint venture of the city and the Williamsport School District -- was an out- growth of the Community Sings begun by Mayor Leo C. Wil- liamson in the 1940's. In 1961 the Community Sing format was altered to a concert program, with performances in
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Brandon Park by the Consistory Choir and the Elks-Repasz Band, among others. In following years the program grew to include a series of summer-long activities based in Brandon Park. There were dramatic productions, displays of arts and crafts, organ recitals, and local talent shows. In 1968 the cultural series took on an ethnic flavor with the presentation of the first six-weeks ethnic festivals. Each Wednesday for six weeks a different ethnic group took the spotlight in Brandon Park. The food, dress and cultural heritage of each group was highlighted. The idea of the ethnic festivals came from Dr. Robert Byington, then a professor at Lycoming College. He coordinated the ethnic series for several years until leaving the region in 1971. The Williamsport Recreation Commission and the Williamsport Foundation each contributed half the cost of the series.
From 1971 to 1977, Miss Doris Heller served as coordinator of the Summer Cultural Series. A decision was made to depart from the ethnic program in view of the difficulty of securing presentations of ethnic groups not associated with Lycoming County. There was also a desire to generate more local involvement in the cultural series. To this end the "Our Town" series was launched, with stress on local parti- cipation and talent. Brandon Park was used, along with the downtown area of the city and Memorial Park. The first "Our Town" series in 1971 featured a local adaptation and presentation of Thorton Wilder's famous play of the same title, "Our Town. "
Since then, each Summer Cultural Series has offered a vari- ety of programs for the entire community. Home Talent Days were begun in 1973 and have proven popular ever since. Area residents are encouraged to perform, whatever their talent -- whether singing, banjo playing, or even spoon play- ing. Ho-Made Day was initiated in 1974 so that residents can display and offer for sale all sorts of home made items, from cakes to cribs. There have been various arts shows and competitions from year to year. In 1977 an opera work- shop was held with area residents participating in both training sessions and performances of excerpts from four different operas. The Summer Cultural Series remains a part of Williamsport's effort to provide cultural enrich- ment and recreation to its residents. Other boroughs of the county offer similar programs, including Loyalsock Township, South Williamsport, Jersey Shore, Muncy and Hughesville.
THE GREATER WILLIAMSPORT COMMUNITY ARTS COUNCIL
The 1960's saw the creation of an important organization concerned with the development of the arts, and in turn, the quality of life and commerce in Williamsport and Ly- coming County. It is the Greater Williamsport Community
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Arts Council. The idea of an arts council was first con- ceived by the Williamsport Chamber of Commerce. Similar groups had gained acceptance in many parts of the country as a means to promoting industrial and commercial develop- ment through improving the image of the community.
The person most responsible for the successful creation of Williamsport's arts council was Barnard Taylor, at the time a local graphics designer. Mr. Taylor began in 1960 by seeking the support of prominent local businessmen, lawyers, bankers, teachers, doctors and others. These people formed into a committee to advance the arts in Williamsport. The committee approached the Junior League of Williamsport for $3,000 to hold the first arts festival. Once this was achieved a sub-committee or "round-table," of various artists and arts groups was formed to begin planning for the festival. The first festival in 1960 was organized by Lee Taylor, Mr. Taylor's wife.
The 1960 Festival of the Arts was centered around an ex- hibit of works in the Lycoming College gym by both local and outside artists. Along with the exhibit, several well- known artists from large cities were brought in to give lectures on the arts and present exhibits of their own works. An orchestra was formed; workshops in the arts were held; dance, musical comedies, plays and concerts were per- formed by local groups. The New York Times even gave the festival coverage, and a popular film was made of the festi- val by several local individuals. The first Festival of the Arts proved a huge success in view of the long hours of work and effort that many groups and individuals put into it.
The arts festival became an annual event. Different formats have been used since, including the first month-long arts festival in 1971 in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts. In 1973 the first October Festival of the Arts was held on the grounds of the Williamsport Area High School. This event was co-sponsored by the Arts Council and the Art Department of the Williamsport Area School District, whose supervisor, Dr. June E. Baskin, has annually coordinated the event. The October Festival, or October Fest as it is called, has included the display of arts, crafts and photography, as well as performances of dance, music and drama, with added features for children.
Along with the various arts festivals, the Greater William- sport Community Arts Council has sponsored or co-sponsored numerous concerts, recitals, exhibits and special lectures over the years, including the performance of mime by the masterful Marcelle Marceau; a performance by the Pennsyl- vania Ballet; and the last Williamsport appearance by Elaine Shaffer. Artists who have lectured here under the Arts
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Council's auspices include Scottish ballerina Moria Shearer, and former Williamsport resident Yvonne Young Tarr, who is the author of, among other things, cookbooks, plays and songs.
Financial support for the Arts Council comes from various sources, including private contributions and grants from the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts and the National En- dowment for the Arts. The council remains active in vari- ous cultural endeavors in the region, such as the October Festival and the current project of historical research.
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