Adam Harris from WV Music Hall of Fame

The South Charleston Museum and the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame presented two films about West Virginia musicians on  Saturday, October 13th, 2007, @ 7PM.  The two films were “George Crumb: Voice of the Whale”(1976, 54 mins.) and “The Amazing Dolores”(1989, 29 mins.). Adam Harris from the WVMHF set up a display of items to be presented at the future Hall of Fame in the lobby and introduced the program. Jacob Young, the director of “The Amazing Delores,” was unable to travel to South Charleston because of a late Thursday work emergency that came up at WVU Television Services. Unfortunately, only 10 people attended the very interesting night of films.

On November 16^th at the WV Cultural Center the first inductees including Mr. Crumb will be honored.

Adam Harris with temporary exhibit on George Crumb and Amazing Delores in lobby of South Charleston Museum
  
 More about George Crumb

George Crumb’s reputation as a composer of hauntingly beautiful scores has made him one of the most frequently performed composers in today’s musical world. From Los Angeles to Moscow, and from Scandinavia to South America, festivals devoted to the music of George Crumb have sprung up like wildflowers. Crumb, the winner of a 2001 Grammy Award and the 1968 Pulitzer Prize in Music, continues to compose new scores that enrich the musical lives of those who come in contact with his profoundly humanistic art.

George Henry Crumb was born in Charleston, West Virginia on 24 October 1929. He studied at the Mason College of Music in Charleston and received the Bachelor’s degree in 1950. Thereafter he studied for the Master’s degree at theUniversity of
Illinois, Champaign-Urbana under Eugene Weigel. He continued his studies under Boris Blacher at the Hochschule für Musik, Berlin from 1954-1955. He received the D.M.A. in 1959 from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor after studying with Ross Lee Finney.

George Crumb’s early compositions include Three Early Songs (1947), for voice and piano; Sonata (1955) for solo violoncello; and Variazioni (1959) for orchestra–the composer’s doctoral thesis. In the 1960s and 1970s, George Crumb produced a series of highly influential pieces that were immediately taken up by soloists and ensembles throughout the world. Many of these were vocal works based on the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca, including Ancient Voices of Children (1970); Madrigals, Books 1-4 (1965,69); Night of the Four Moons (1969); and Songs, Drones and Refrains of Death (1968). Other major works from this period include: Black Angels (1970), for electric string quartet; Vox Balaenae (1971), for electric flute, electric cello and amplified piano; Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 and 2 (1972, 73) for amplified piano; Music for a Summer Evening (1974) for two amplified pianos and percussion; and Crumb’s largest score–Star-Child (1977), for soprano, solo trombone, antiphonal children’s voices, male speaking choir, bell ringers and large orchestra.

 George Crumb’s most recent works include Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik for solo piano (2001), Otherworldly Resonances for two pianos (2002) and a four-part song cycle, American Songbook (The River of Life, A Journey Beyond Time, Unto the Hills, The Winds of Destiny) (2001-2004).George Crumb’s music often juxtaposes contrasting musical styles. The references range from music of the western art-music tradition, to hymns and folk music, to non-Western musics. Many of Crumb’s works include programmatic, symbolic, mystical and theatrical elements, which are often reflected in his beautiful and meticulously notated scores. A shy, yet warmly eloquent personality, Crumb retired from his teaching position at the University of Pennsylvania after more than 30 years of service.

Awarded honorary doctorates by numerous universities and the recipient of dozens of awards and prizes, Crumb makes his home in Pennsylvania, in the same house where he and his wife of more than 50 years raised their three children. George Crumb’s music is published by C.F. Peters and the ongoing series of “Complete Crumb” recordings, supervised by the composer, is being issued on Bridge Records.George Crumb is the recipient of numerous awards:

• Elizabeth Croft fellowship for study, Berkshire Music Centre, 1955.
• Fulbright Scholarship, 1955-6.
• BMI student award, 1956.
• Rockefeller grant, 1964.
• NationalInstitute of
  Arts and Letters grant, 1967.
• Guggenheim grant, 1967, 1973.
• Pulitzer Prize (for Echoes of Time and the River), 1968.
• UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers Award, 1971.
• Koussevitzky Recording Award, 1971.
• Fromm grant, 1973.
• Member, National Institute of Arts and Letters, 1975.
• Ford grant, 1976.
• Prince Pierre de Monaco Gold Medal, 1989.
• Brandeis
  University Creative Arts Award.
• Honorary member, Deutsche Akademie der Kunste.
• Honorary member, International Cultural Society of Korea.
• 6 honorary degrees.
• 1998
  Cannes Classical Award: Best CD of a Living Composer (BRIDGE 9069)
• 2001 Grammy for Best Contemporary Composition (Star-Child)
• 2004 Musical
  America “Composer of the Year”

About the film – Robert Mugge, called “the king of the American music documentary” has spent his professional career creating films about many of America’s leading musicians including Sun Ra, Al Green, Ruben Blades, Sonny Rollins, Robert Johnson, and W.C. Handy. He has also made films about the blues, jazz, Rounder Records, zydeco, blue grass, Alligator Records, Hawaiian dance music, reggae music and other types of music. “George Crumb” was his first music film. His website - http://www.robertmugge.com/. 

More about The Amazing Delores 

A native Charlestonian, Delores Boyd has been dubbed “Amazing Delores” by musicians and audiences alike. A lady with a love for fashion, her voice has been likened to that of Janis Joplin with a phrasing of Van Morrison and an imagery similar to Captain Beefheart’s. She has the soul of Little Richard and the dance moves of Tina Turner. She passed away in November 2004. 

 In an industry full of unwarranted nicknames, the Amazing Delores comes by hers honestly. Mudlick, WV, native Delores Boyd was a former model and proprietor of a “beauty and charm school” before deciding to take up a musical career well past 40. Never one to half-step, she debuted doing a version of “House of the Rising Sun” — while jumping up and down on a table at an open mic night — and soon became a fixture in the clubs of the state capital, Charleston, in the late ’80s.

 Impossible to miss in her usual getup of gold lamé capris, leopard print tops, and massive beehive hairdo, and given to stream-of-consciousness ramblings about everything from God and the Devil to race relations, Delores was also blessed with pipes as unforgettable as her wardrobe and lyrics. Befriended by guitarist Michael Lipton, she became the subject of a PBS-TV documentary created by state filmmaker Jacob Young and eventually signed with Upstart Records. Any doubts that her manic live performances could be captured in the studio were dispelled by Stop Messin’ With My Mind, released in the fall of 1994. Produced by Lipton, who also wrote most of the music with bassist Stan Lynch, the album offered a powerhouse backdrop of country, old-time rock & roll, and gospel for Delores’ inimitable musings. From the first cut, the pounding “Rats in My Trailer,” to the finale, a towering cover of “Stand By Me,” Delores belted out her beliefs in a hair-raising voice absolutely determined to get its hearing.

Charleston officials marked the release by declaring an official Amazing Delores Day, but promoting the album proved problematic. Booked as the musical guest on the Jon Stewart Show, Delores decided at the last minute she didn’t want to fly to
New York, leaving her backing band stranded in the studio with Stewart. As she wrestled with her religious convictions, there have been periods since that time when Delores has faded from the music scene. But in recent years, she’s returned to her original stomping grounds, turning up occasionally for a set at Charleston’s Empty Glass with the Ants behind her.And while there haven’t been any new recordings, Delores can still create memorable musical moments; she joined Brit legend Kevin Coyne on-stage in 2000 for a mind-blowing duet of “Stand By Me” that proved she hasn’t lost an iota of her otherworldly appeal. ~ Dan LeRoy, All Music Guide About the film – Jacob Young directed this film about Delores Boyd as part of the award-winning series produced by WV PBS, “A Different Drummer.” The film was shown previously at The South Charleston Museum in February 2005 after Ms. Boyd passed away. Her mother, sister, and other relatives and friends attended the event.  The DVD of the film can be purchased at DancingOutlaw.com.  More about theWest Virginia Music Hall of Fame  The West Virginia Music Hall of Fame is a non-profit project designed to document and
recognize the rich and lasting contributions West Virginians have made to all genres of music. More than a museum, the Hall of Fame’s mission is to highlight the many important musicians - both living and deceased - who have helped shape the rich spectrum of American music from country, classical and jazz to rock, R&B and traditional. Website - http://wvmusichalloffame.com/gallery.html                                                          Admission to the event is $4.00. The South Charleston
Museum is located in the LaBelle Theatre,311 D Street, South Charleston, WV.  For more information, please contact the museum by telephoning 304.744.9711, e-mail scmuseum@yahoo.com, or visit http://www.geocities.com/scmuseum/WV_Film_Series.html END # South Charleston Museum
At the Historic LaBelle Theatre
311 D Street
South Charleston, West Virginia 25303
United States of America
Tel. 304.744.9711
Fax.304.720.3769 Items related to George Crumb that will be in the future WVMHF

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