The eighth Early American Moravian Music Festival and Seminar was held on the campus of Salem College in Winston-Salem June 12-19, 1966, in conjunction with the celebration of the bicentennial anniversary of Winston-Salem. This was the first Festival to be held in the newly-constructed Salem Fine Arts Center!
Guest artists included the Fine Arts Quartet (Leonard Sorkin and Abram Loft, violins; Gerald Stanick, viola; and George Sopkin, cello); Mary Beth Peil, soprano; Marlena Kleinman, mezzo soprano; Waldie Anderson, tenor; Andrew White, bass-baritone; Mayne Miller, piano; and Charles Delaney, flute.
Seminar faculty, with Clemens Sandresky as dean, included …
- John Weinlick, “Moravian Worship and the New Moravian Hymnal”
- Charles Adams, Kenneth G. Hamilton, Margaret L. Kolb, and Edward T. Mickey, “The New Moravian Hymnal”
- Alfred Frankenstein, “Non-Moravian Early American Music”
- Marilyn P. Gombosi, “The Festival Music”
- Howard Hageman, “Trends in Contemporary Worship”
- Russell Montford, James V. Salzwedel, and Clark A. Thompson, “Church School Music”
- John S. Mueller and Margaret S. Mueller, “Organists Workshop and Master Class”
- Ewald V. Nolte, “Moravian Music”
- Donald B. Plott, “Choir Directors Workshop”
- Leon Rapier, “Band Directors Workshop”
Public programs were held each evening of the week, with chamber music concerts on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, June 13, 14, and 15; the Festival chorus, soloists, and orchestra on Thursday and Saturday, June 16 and 18; and the band, strings, and soloists on Friday, June 17. Each of these concerts was preceded by a band prelude under the direction of Austin E. Burke, Jr. The concluding program was held in the outdoor amphitheater of the College on Sunday afternoon, June 19. In addition, organ recitals were held Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday afternoons, with John Mueller playing on the Flentrop organ in Shirley Recital Hall and on the Tannenberg organ in the Single Brothers House, and Margaret Mueller performing on the Holtkamp organ in Hanes Auditorium.
Notable in this Festival’s collection of “first modern performances” were the Dies Irae by Christian Latrobe and the Overture in F Major by Francis Florentine Hagen.
The Festival was organized by a committee led by …
- Thor Johnson, Music Director
- Clarence T. Leinbach, Sr., Honorary Chairman
- R. Arthur Spaugh, General Chairman
- Ewald V. Nolte, Editor of Festival Music
- Marilyn P. Gombosi, Assistant Editor of Festival Music
- Clemens Sandresky, Dean of Seminar
- … with the assistance of a host of volunteers!
