Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 929

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.6 linear feet (2 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Philadelphia Orchestra 1966 Latin American Tour collection, 1961-1966, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1961-1966 (inclusive)

Creator:

Philadelphia Orchestra

Form:

Clippings (information artifacts), Contracts, Correspondence, Promotional materials, and Photographs

Abstract:

In the 1960s, the Philadelphia Orchestra was led by music director Eugene Ormandy (1899-1985), who, with his predecessor, Leopold Stokowski, brought the Philadelphia Orchestra to international attention. The concert promoter, Oscar Humberto Alcazar Vega, determinedly spent five years planning for the Philadelphia Orchestra to tour Central and South America. This collection documents the Philadelphia Orchestra's 1966 Latin American Tour and includes material created and collected during the planning, from 1961 to 1966, as well as the tour which took place from May to June 1966.

In the 1960s, the Philadelphia Orchestra was led by music director Eugene Ormandy (1899-1985), who, with his predecessor, Leopold Stokowski, brought the Philadelphia Orchestra to international attention. According to Ormandy's obituary, the Philadelphia Orchestra "was held to be the world's most traveled and most recorded symphonic organization," and performed outside of Philadelphia soon after its founding in 1900.

The Latin American Tour of 1966 appears to have been the brainchild of Oscar H. Alcazar of Conciertos Asociados, the concert promoter for the Philadelphia Orchestra. Shortages of funding, in particular from corporate sponsors, delayed the tour for five years; however, Alcazar persevered with determination and continued to seek funding and support from 1961 to 1966. He worked with music director Eugene Ormandy, the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, the United States Department of State, embassies, and consuls; and finally, the Latin American tour took place from May to June 1966.

The Latin American Tour, consisting of Eugene Ormandy, guest conductor Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, departed Philadelphia on May 10, 1966 under the auspices of the Cultural Presentations Program of the United States Department of State. They visited Kingston, Jamaica; Caracas, Venezuela; Port of Spain, Trinidad; Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Porto Alegre, Brazil; Montevideo, Uruguay; Santiago, Chile; Lima, Peru; Guatemala City, Guatemala; and Mexico City and Puebla, Mexico; and gave twenty-four concerts.

Bibliography:

"Philadelphia Orchestra's Eugene Ormandy, 85, Dies," Los Angeles Times, March 13, 1985 http://articles.latimes.com/1985-03-13/news/mn-22065_1_philadelphia-orchestra

The collection, dating from 1961 to 1966, documents both the planning phase of the five week Latin American tour as well as the actual tour in 1966 and is arranged in two series: Planning documents, 1961-1966 and Tour documents, 1966. The Planning documents series includes correspondence, financial records, performance contracts, planning notes, newspaper clippings, and publicity materials. The primary correspondent is Oscar Humberto Alcazar Vega, the tour promoter, but other correspondents include Eugene Ormandy, the music director for the Philadelphia Orchestra; Boris Sokoloff, the manager for the Philadelphia Orchestra Association; Joseph Sokoloff, assistant manager for the Philadelphia Orchestra Association; Mary H. Krouse, secretary to Mr. Ormandy; Samuel R. Rosenbaum, general chairman of the festival; C. Wanton Balis, Roger Hall, and Henry Peltier of the Philadelphia Orchestra Association; and members of the United States Foreign Service, the United States Department of State, and embassies and consuls in Central and South America. These letters and the other material in the series document the logistics of planning an international tour including: obtaining funding; scheduling concerts; creating itineraries; sorting out customs issues; booking hotels; and transporting 120 people, ten tons of instruments and personal possessions, and seven trunk loads of music.

The Tour documents series contains travel documents and itineraries, concert programs and other publicity for the tour, newspaper clippings, and photographs. There are photographs of the Philadelphia Orchestra performing, Eugene Ormandy conducting, and Orchestra members sightseeing in various locales.