West Chester University All-Star Series Collection

Collection

Identifier: 050

Staff Only

The All-Star Series is organized into 2 series: Correspondence and Events. Correspondence features letters about the All-Star Series courses. Series 2 includes pamphlets and programs from the All-Star Course events. Each folder is in chronological order and contains materials related to the fall and spring series of the academic year. This collection includes lists of performers and speakers, event programs and invitations, promotional materials, and clippings, between 1936 to 1980.

List of all performers, speakers, and guests for the All-Star Series:

1937-38: Jooss European Ballet; Vienna Boys’ Choir, Lawrence Tibbett, Maurice G. Hindus; Pherbia Thomas; and Helen Jepson

1938-1939: Bidu Sayao of the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra; First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt; Grand Opera Quartet of Metropolitan Opera (Rosa Tentoni, Anna Kansas, Frederick Jagel, and Julius Huehn); Mordkin Ballet; Jascha Heifetz; and U.S. Senator Robert N. LaFollette, Jr. (Wisconsin)

1939-1940: The General Platoff Don Cossack Choir and Dancers; Hans Kindler of the Philadelphia Orchestra; Grace Moore; Alexander Woollcott; Jussi Bjoerling; Mozart Boys’ Choir; and Dorris Humphrey and Charles Weidman

1940-1941: Richard Crooks; H.R. Knickerbocker; Philadelphia Opera Company; Alexander Kipnis; Roslyn Tureck; Dorothy Crawford; and Cleveland Symphony Orchestra

1941-42: Helen Traubel; The Carolina Playmakers; John T. Whitaker; Albert Spalding; Miriam Winslow and Foster Fitz-Simons; and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra

1942-43: Metropolitan Opera Company performing “La Boheme”; Luboshutz and Nemenoff; Eve Curie; Gladys Swarthout; Helen Howe: One Woman Theatre; and Cleveland Symphony Orchestra

1944-45: Don Cossacks; Marina Svetlana (Premiere Danseuse of the Metropolitan Opera Association); Dorothy Maynor; Anne O’Hare McCormick; and Mario Berini

1945-46: Rose Bampton; Zino Francescatti; Jane Dudley, Sophie Maslow, and William Bale (dance trio); Saldezo Concert Ensemble; and Henry C. Wolfe

1946-1947: Eugene List and Carroll Glen; The Columbus Boychoir: Foxhole Ballet; Christopher Lynch; and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

1947-1948: Miklos Gafni; Sir Frederick Puckle and Robert Aura Smith; Karin B. Branzel; Marguerite McClelland; Martha Larrimore; and John Crain, Jess Walters, and John Gurney performing "A Night in Old Vienna"; and the National Symphony Orchestra

1948-49: Rise Stevens; The Columbus Boychoir; Margaret Webster's Shakespeare Company performing “Macbeth”; Igor Gorin; Mata and Hari; and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra

1949-1950: James Melton; U.S. Senator Margaret Chase Smith; Robert Shaw Chorale; George Mead; Philharmonic Piano Quartet; and Eleanor Steber

1950-51: Margaret Webster Shakespeare Company; Little Singers of Paris; Igor Gorin and Frances Yeend; Irene Hawthrone: premiere danseuse; Patrice Munsel (soloratura Soprano): Metropolitan Opera Association; and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra

1951-52: Ana Marie's Spanish Ballet; Cornelia Otis Skinner; Imgard Seefried, leading soprano of the Vienna Opera Company; Guiseppe Valdengo; Honorable Hubert H. Humphrey; and National Symphony Orchestra

1963-64: Koutev Bulgarian National Ensemble; Lorin Hollander; Roger Wagner Chorale; and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

1967-1968: Henryk Szeryng; Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre/Company of American Dance; and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

1968-1969: Oscar Ghiglia; Washington National Symphony with Howard Mitchell, Music Director; Gregg Smith Singers; National Ballet of Canada; and John Williams

1969-1970: Detroit Symphony Orchestra; APA Repertory Theatre: Moliere's "The Misanthrope"; Goldvsky Grand Opera Theatre: "La Traviata"; and Marlow Twins (dual pianists)

1970-71: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; Royal Winnipeg Ballet; Vienna Boys’ Choir; and Gary Graffman

1971-72: Spanish RTV Symphony Orchestra of Madrid; Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet Folkloria of Mexico; Gregg Smith Singers

1972-73: Bach Aria Group; Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra; Canadian Opera Company; and Fula Dance Company

1973-74: Bayanihan Philippine Danco Company; Virtuosi di Roma; Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; and Pro Música Antiqua

1974-75: Cliff Heuter Dance Company; Phyllis Curtain; Cleveland Symphony Orchestra; and Lorin Hollander

1975-76: Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Vienna Boys’ Choir; Andrew Watts; and Japan Folkloric Dance Ensemble

1976-77: The New Shakespeare Company; Roberta Peters; Van Cliburn; and Minnesota Symphony Orchestra

1977-78: Ukrainian Dance Company; Carlos Montoya; Roger Wagner Chorale; and Eugene Fodor

1978-79: Korean National Symphony; Vienna Choir Boys ; Vincent Prince; Scotland on Parade

1979-80:Youri Egorov; Mummenschanz; Tamburitzans; and Mr. Jack Daniels's Original Silver Concert Band

1980: Paula Lockheart; Juggernaut String Band and Mill Creek Cloggers; Lou Stevens; Silly Wizard (band); and Bill Staines

Dates

1936 - 1980
Majority of material found within 1936 - 1952
Majority of material found within 1963 - 1980

Language of Materials

eng

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Extent

1 Boxes (1 document box)

0.42 Linear Feet

Additional Description

Overview

The West Chester University All-Star Series Collection examines the All-Star Series, formerly called the All-Star Course, where various performers and speakers came to campus to educate and enrich the West Chester community. The series often included local and national performing arts and entertainment, as well as notable individuals to be speakers for the series. This collection includes lists of performers and speakers, event programs and invitations, promotional materials, and clippings, between 1936 to 1980.

Biographical / Historical

West Chester University's All-Star Series was established in 1936 and ran until spring semester 1980. The All-Star Series, originally called the All-Star Course, brought local and national arts, theater, and entertainment acts to the campus and West Chester community.

In 1936, West Chester State Teacher College's President Charles S. Swope reorganized the entertainment organizations at the college. He helped establish an entertainment committee comprised of faculty, local West Chester residents, and students, who worked on selecting the peformers, speakers, and guests for the All-Star Series.

Each annual All-Star Course or Series program consisted of 2 separate series of events, one in the fall semester with events spanning from September to December, and one in the spring semester with events spanning from January to the early summer. Each series, held during the fall and spring semesters respectively, consisted of two or three different performances. Among the notable speakers was First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who visited campus in November 1938.