Portland Youth Philharmonic (Portland Junior Symphony Orchestra) records,

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1 Portland Youth Philharmonic (Portland Junior Symphony Overview of the Collection Creator Portland Youth Philharmonic Title Orchestra) records Dates (inclusive) Quantity cubic feet, (12 record cartons, 1 oversize box) Collection Number Coll 184 Summary The Orchestra) records consist of sound recordings of orchestral performances, concert reviews, and documents relating to the youth orchestra s tours in the United States, Europe, and Japan, during the tenure of directors Jacques Gershkovitch ( ) and Jacob Avshalomov ( ). The Portland Junior Symphony, America s first youth orchestra, was founded in 1924, and was renamed Portland Youth Philharmonic in The collection also contains the manuscript for the book The Concerts Reviewed: 65 Years of the Portland Youth Philharmonic, compiled by Jacob and Doris Avshalomov. Repository Oregon Historical Society, Davies Family Research Library Davies Family Research Library Oregon Historical Society 1200 SW Park Avenue Portland, OR Telephone: Fax: libreference@ohs.org Access Restrictions The collection is open to the public. Languages Sponsor English Funding for processing this collection was provided by the OHS Performing Arts fund. Historical Note Building on a nucleus of students working with local violin teacher Mary V. Dodge, who had earlier founded and directed the acclaimed Sagebrush Symphony in Burns, Oregon, the Portland Junior Symphony Association recruited Russian conductor Jacques Gershkovitch to form a full youth orchestra. He agreed, and in 1924 the Portland Junior Symphony was established as the first youth orchestra in the United States and soon became a model for youth orchestras around the country. Gershkovitch remained at the helm until his death in 1953, and was succeeded by his former 1

2 apprentice Jacob Avshalomov in Avshalomov, also an established composer, led the orchestra for the next forty years. The orchestra changed its name to the Portland Youth Philharmonic in Both conductors brought the orchestra to audiences far beyond Oregon. Under Gershkovitch, the Portland Junior Symphony performances were heard on nationwide radio in the 1930s and internationally in the next decade. Avshalomov s orchestra produced commercially-offered recordings and traveled to the U.S. East Coast, Europe, and Japan. Oregon Public Broadcasting produced an hour-long television program featuring the youth orchestra which aired nationally in In 1984, the PYP celebrated its sixtieth anniversary in tandem with the New York Philharmonic's Young People's Concerts, performing in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center under the direction of Leonard Bernstein. Content Description The collection contains sound recordings (archival open reel tapes and commercially-offered long-playing records), concert reviews, and documents relating to orchestra tours for the Portland Junior Symphony Orchestra / Portland Youth Philharmonic under the batons of directors Jacques Gershkovitch and Jacob Avshalomov. Among the sound recordings are works commissioned for the orchestra and recorded by Composers Recordings, Inc., several U.S. premiers, souvenir recordings from tour concerts, and two major works by Ernest Bloch recorded in Papers include correspondence, programs, clippings, and general materials, including reports, itineraries, and ephemera related to the youth orchestra's tours in the United States and abroad; as well as prepublication materials, reviews, and letterpress programs made by Doris Avshalomov that were used in the book The Concerts Reviewed: 65 Years of the Portland Youth Philharmonic. Correspondents include major figures in the musical world, including Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa, both honorary sponsors of the Portland youth orchestra's tours. Use of the Collection Restrictions on Use The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any use of reproductions. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use of reproductions may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright holders. Preferred Citation Orchestra) records, Coll 184, Oregon Historical Society Research Library Administrative Information Arrangement The collection is arranged in the following series: Series A: Sound recordings, Series B: Tours,

3 Series C: Concerts Reviewed manuscript, and circa 1990 Acquisition Information Library accession no Related Materials Jacob Avshalomov papers, Coll 183, Oregon Historical Society Research Library Oral history interview with Jacob Avshalomov [sound recording], 1977 January 12, SR 9341, Oregon Historical Society Research Library Detailed Description of the Collection The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection. Series A: Sound recordings, cubic feet (11 record cartons and 1 oversize box) Sound recordings of Portland Junior Symphony Orchestra / Portland Youth Philharmonic performances, some accompanied by local high school and college choirs. Archival open reel audiotape (1/4-inch) and commercially-produced long-playing records (33 rpm LPs). Arranged chronologically within recording format. Access requires special arrangement and may be limited by availability of playback equipment. Use of sound recordings requires permission of copyright holder. Container(s) Description Dates Audiotapes Box November 1963 November March-1968 March May-1971 December February-1974 May 3

4 November-1977 May November-1980 May November-1982 November February-1986 March March-1989 November February-1993 May November-1995 May Long-playing records 14 The Gershkovitch Album: A Memorial Recording ( ). Junior Symphony Association, circa Thomas, Overture to Raymond; Grieg (arr. Gershkovitch) The Last Spring; Debussy, Rehearsal of " En Bateau" from Petite Suite; Mussorgsky, Prelude to Khovantchina; Rimksy- Korsakov, Russian Easter Overture. Composers Recordings Inc., Roy Harris, Elegy and Dance; David Diamond, The World of Paul Klee; William Bergsma, Chameleon Variations; Benjamin Lees, Prologue, Capriccio and Epilogue. CRI copies, different covers. Composers Recordings Inc., undated. 4

5 Robert Ward, Divertimento; Jacob Avshalomov, Phases Of The Great Land. CRI 194. Composers Recordings Inc., Ernest Bloch, Suite Symphonique and Symphony for Trombone and Orchestra. CRI May 12 Michael Tippett, A Child of Our Time (with chorus). Celebrate Dedication Concert 1968 May 4 Berlioz, Corsair Overture; Hanson, Serenade for Flute; Vaughan-Williams Fantasia on a theme by Tallis; Avshalomov, Inscriptions at the City of Brass. With chorus. NWI First International Tour March Souvenir Tour Recording Dohnanyi, Suite in F# minor, Op. 19; Avshalomov, Symphony: The Oregon. NWI April 23 William Walton Belshazzar s Feast (with chorus); Haydn, Symphony No. 2 " Oxford". NWI Forty-Eighth Season 1972 February 27 Handel, Zadok the Priest; Brahms, Song of Destiny, Op. 54 (with chorus); Respighi, Roman Festivals. Century Records Bicentennial Season Souvenir Concert Recording.circa 1976 Avshalomov, City upon a Hill; Dvorak, Symphony from the New World. NWI February 28 Brahms, Symphony No. 1 and Stravinsky, Rite of Spring. NW Series B: Tours, cubic foot (0.5 record carton) Arranged chronologically by tour date within subseries described below. Container(s) Description Dates General materials Contains materials relating to arrangements for orchestra tours, including itineraries, schedules, notes, minutes, reports, instructions, rosters, press releases, maps & other cultural 5

6 materials, business cards and other ephemera as well as materials for musicians. Tours included: First International Tour (1970 March 12-29): London, England; Lisbon, Portugal; Milan, Parma, and Florence, Italy; New York City and Washington D.C. Second International Tour (1979 November 3-14): Sapporo (20th anniversary of Portland/Sapporo Sister City association), Ebetsu, Tokyo, and Iruma, Japan. Included appearances on Japanese television. Spoleto / USA Tour (1981 June 3-10): Charleston, SC (Spoleto Festival USA and Piccolo Spoleto) and Washington, D.C. Third International Tour (1984 March 11-26): New York City (60th Anniversary of Young People s Concert with New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein conducting); Novisad, Belgrade, Zagreb, and Rijeka, Yugoslavia; Graz and Linz, Austria. Fourth International Tour scheduled for 1987 June cancelled due to anti-israeli terrorism in Europe. Planned itinerary: Leningrad, Soviet Union; Helsinki, Finland; Copenhagen, Denmark; Kiel and Hamburg, Germany. Fifth International Tour (1989 March 16-31): Jenbach and Linz, Austria; Bratislava, Czecholsolvakia; Budapest, Kecskemet, and Sopron, Hungary; Stuttgart, West Germany. (Sometimes referred to as Fifth tour.) Sixth International Tour (1994 June): Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Berlin, Germany. 12/1 First International Tour /2 Second International Tour /3 Spoleto /USA Tour /4 Third International Tour /5 Fourth International Tour (cancelled) /6 Fifth International Tour Referred to in some materials as the Fourth International Tour /7 Sixth International Tour 1994 Correspondence 6

7 12/8 First International Tour 1968 December-1970 February 12/9 Second International Tour (folder 1) 1978 July-1979 August 12/10 Second International Tour (folder 2) 1979 September- December 12/11 Spoleto/USA Tour 1980 September-1981 June 12/12 Third International Tour (folder 1) 1981 November-1983 December 12/13 Third International Tour (folder 2) 1984 January- April 12/14 Fourth International Tour /15 Fifth International Tour 1986 April-1989 March 12/16 Sixth International Tour 1987 September 1994 July Programs 12/17 First International Tour /18 Second International Tour /19 Spoleto/USA Tour /20 Third International Tour

8 12/21 Fifth International Tour 1989 Clippings 12/22 First International Tour /23 Second International Tour /24 Spoleto/USA Tour /25 Third International Tour /26 Fourth International Tour /27 Fifth International Tour /28 Sixth International Tour 1994 Musical Score 12/29 Tokeidai no kane (The Bell in the Clock Tower) Handscript & photocopy, in Japanese & English. Author unknown. circa 1978 Photographs 12/30 Setsuo Tsukahara and Junior Philharmonic Orchestra of Tokyo circa 1978 Series C: Concerts Reviewed Manuscript, , circa 1990 Jacob and Doris Avshalomov 0.5 cubic foot (0.5 record carton) Materials gathered and prepared for publication of The Concerts Reviewed: 65 Years of the Portland Youth Philharmonic, a book based on reviews of Portland Youth Philharmonic / Portland Junior Symphony Orchestra performances. Compiled by Jacob and Doris Avshalomov, and published circa 1991 by Amadeus Press. 8

9 Original reviews 12/ / / / Review paste-ups for publication 12/ / / / Letterpress programs produced by Doris Avshalomov 12/39 circa 1990 Find Related Collections Subject Terms : Concerts--Oregon--Portland--Reviews Music and youth--oregon--portland--history Symphony orchestras--oregon--portland--history Personal Names : Avshalomov, Jacob, Avshalomov, Doris Gershkovitch, Jacques Corporate Names : Portland Youth Philharmonic--Archives (creator) Portland Junior Symphony Orchestra 9

10 Geographical Names : Portland (Or.)--Performing arts Form or Genre Terms : Clippings Correspondence Manuscripts for publication Programs Sound recordings Titles within the Collection : The concerts reviewed : 65 years of the Portland Youth Philharmonic 10