All City Instrumental Music Festival – May 1956

I couldn't help feeling a little nostalgic when I saw this full page of photos of young Lorain musicians rehearsing for the upcoming annual all-city instrumental music festival. The program included the all-city junior high school orchestra, the all-city junior high school band, and the all-city elementary orchestra. Also on the program was the Lorain High School Symphony Orchestra. The page of photos ran in the May 19, 1956 Lorain Journal.

Fourteen years later, the Instrumental Music Festival was still going strong and still held in May. I remember it well, as I was in fifth grade at Masson Elementary and consequently a trumpeter in the all-city elementary orchestra. It was quite a sound with all those young musicians sawing away on their violins, violas, etc. 

Here's the full program (which I saved all these years) for the performance on May 6, 1970.

It's hard to believe that Lorain had 17 elementary schools and 5 junior highs at that time. (Insert Alan Hopewell's comments about the superiority of Hawthorne here.)

Looking at the program now, the one that leaps out at me is "I Can't Do the Sum" from Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland. I had been wondering when and where I played it for the last fifty years and now I know.

For you Annette Funicello fans, here's her version of it.

And here are the music programs for the 1971 festival (when I was in sixth grade) and the 1972 festival (when I was in seventh grade at Masson Junior High).

I don't remember much about the 1971 program, except for "Arapahoe Warriors." I recall the selections on the 1972 bill much better, including "Great Gate of Kiev," "El Condor Pasa" and "For All We Know." You have to admit that the music selections were ambitious, with a nice mix of classical music and pop tunes.

What was interesting about being in the all-city elementary and junior high orchestras was that we ran into many of our fellow young musicians at Admiral King a few years later.

From what I can tell, the curtain came down for good on the annual all-city instrumental festival after 1975.

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I've had this in my files for a while so it's a good time to post it. It's a great "Bill Scrivo's People" featuring Maxine Price, one of the conductors of the all-city elementary orchestra. I remember thinking she was pretty and Bill Scrivo agreed. The interview ran in the Journal on August 22, 1971.