[ARSCLIST] NY Chapter of ARSC Meeting 3/20/08 (Thursday)

[Dave Nolan <davenolanaudio@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yes, as if everyone's calendars couldn't get any busier ;-)

Announcing:

ARSC (The Association for Recorded Sound Collections)
New York Chapter
March 2008 Meeting

Thursday, 3/20/08
at the
92nd Street Y
Buttenwieser Library (2nd Floor)
1395 Lexington Ave. (between 91st & 92nd Streets)
New York,  NY  10128
>From 7pm to 9pm – doors (and refreshments) at 6:30

Part 1:  Seth Winner (Seth Winner Sound Studios) speaks on Rene Snepvangers:

In 1948, Columbia Records turned the record industry on its ear when it 
introduced the Long Playing Record. The new format enabled classical record 
buyers to enjoy longer works without the 4-5 minute interruption that was 
part of listening to the 78 rpm disc format that had been in use for over 
fifty years. One of the inventors of this format was Rene Snepvangers, 
whose work on developing a lighter pickup than what was being used at the 
time made the LP a reality. 

This evening’s presentation will highlight live recordings that Mr. 
Snepvangers made on microgroove cut lacquers while working at Columbia 
during the LP’s development. Among the artists we will hear will be: Jennie 
Tourel, Kathleen Ferrier, Eleanor Steber (in a recording session), Ernest 
Ansermet, Oscar Levant with Dimitri Mitropoulos, Leopold Stokowski, and 
Seymour Lipkin with Charles Munch. Not only will the importance of this 
collection be cited, but the technical problems concerning the original 
sound quality and playback will be discussed

Seth B. Winner has been doing remastering work for over 25 years. President 
of Seth B. Winner Sound Studios, he has earned 3 Grammy Nominations and 1 
Grammy Honorable Mention. He is in the midst of a number of long term 
preservation projects concerning The Bach Aria Group concerts, and a 
project of recordings by Cy Walter. Since 1987, Mr., Winner has been a 
preservation engineer employed by the Rodgers & Hammerstein Archives of the 
N.Y. Public Library. He is the technical curator of The Toscanini Legacy 
and is in charge of preserving the sound portion of this collection. Along 
with Gary Galo, Seth was co-chair of the Technical Committee of ARSC from 
1996-2004.

Part 2:  Matthew Barton (Library of Congress) speaks about Marian 
Anderson’s historic 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

Marion Anderson’s recital on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 was 
a key event in the struggle for civil rights in this country, yet it is 
rare to hear or see more than a few seconds of it. The first half hour of 
her performance was broadcast nationally, and we will hear it in its 
entirety.

By this point in her career, Marian Anderson had been hailed as one of the 
greatest singers of her generation, yet she was refused the use of 
Constitution Hall in Washington, D. C. because she was an African-American.

The ensuing controversy climaxed with this historic open-air performance on 
Easter Sunday before an audience of over 75,000 people, and a radio 
audience numbering in the millions. 

Matthew Barton is an audio/visual preservation specialist at the Library of 
Congress in Washington, DC. He also writes on music and historic sound 
recordings. From 1996 to 2003, he was staff editor and production 
coordinator for the Alan Lomax Collection CD series on Rounder Records.

All meetings of the New York Area Chapter of ARSC are 
FREE and OPEN TO ANYONE WHO WISHES TO ATTEND

For more information, please contact: 
Dave Nolan – Audio Archivist
92nd Street Y 
(212) 415-5559

dnolan@xxxxxxx