U. honors conductor with concert, symposium

From Walt Disney's Fantasia to the Philadelphia Orchestra, the musical life of the legendary conductor Leopold Stokowski was honored yesterday by the University. The day-long event, entitled "Leopold Stokowski: Making Music Matter," took place three days before what would have been the maestro's 116th birthday. The event also celebrated the 120th anniversary of Penn's own University Symphony Orchestra Last summer, the University acquired a treasure trove of the 26-year conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra's manuscripts, photographs, letters and orchestral scores that originally belonged to the Curtis Institute of Music. A symposium in College Hall kicked off yesterday's event, which was headlined by Bernard Jacobson. The former program annotator and musicologist of the Philadelphia Orchestra gave a keynote address entitled "Leopold Stokowski: Magician in a Materialist World." The lecture was followed by a panel discussion featuring former Philadelphia Orchestra musicians Sol Schoenbach, Mason Jones and John De Lancie, all of whom played under the baton of Stokowski. "My admiration for Stokowski is unlimited and I am so delighted for this day of recognition," said Schoenbach, principal bassoon for the orchestra from 1937 to 1957. "I think we can all agree Stokowski made the Philadelphia Orchestra into a world-class orchestra in a city that was not world class like New York." Schoenbach's sentiments were repeated several times throughout the hour long question-and-answer session, which attracted a crowd of more than 400 people. Besides the three ex-members of the Philadelphia Orchestra who spoke, Stokowski's son, Stanislov Stokowski, and two daughters, Sadja Greenwood and Sonja Thornbeck, also attended the event. The activities then shifted to the Van Pelt Library for the unveiling of an exhibition that included several items from the Leopold Stokowski Collection located in the Kamin Gallery on the first floor of library. "The Collection not only documents Stokowski's career as conductor, but is also a major contribution toward the study of 20th century performance practice," noted Penn Music Librarian Marjorie Hassen, who curated the exhibit that runs through June 26. "The April 15 program and exhibition was designed to celebrate Stokowski, who was one of the the most influential and controversial conductors of his generation," she added. The University Symphony Orchestra capped of the celebration of Stokowski with a multi-media performance of the conductor's transcriptions. Selections included Stokowski's adaptation of the Andante cantabile from String Quartet No. 1 of Tchaikovsky and Johann Strauss Jr.'s Blue Danube Waltz, plus several of the conductor's film clips. Playing to a capacity-filled Zellerbach Auditorium, the orchestra's concert master Tony Park remarked on the night's unique experience. "Stokowski brings another edge to classical music," Park said. "It has been a great honor to play in a festival that pays tribute to someone as legendary as Stokowski." The orchestra also performed Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 and Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 1 with soloist and College sophomore Meryl Koenig, a music major who won this year's Concerto Competition. Penn's own maestro, Ricardo Averbach, beaming from an evening of great music, commented that he was thrilled by every aspect of the concert last night. Averbach, who has been the conductor of the orchestra for three years now, said he was especially proud of the attention the event garnered. "This concert, which in addition to honoring Stokowski is also a celebration of our orchestra's 120th birthday, has been sold out for over two weeks," Averbach said. "I am thrilled our orchestra was an integral part of this occasion tonight. This is an experience my students will never forget."

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