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8200 People Attended Second Annual
Boston Piano Fair in Two Days
Over 8200 attended the two-day
Second Annual Boston Piano Fair here
at Symphony Hall, Friday and Satur-
day. March 16-17, while an estimated
2000 could not find even standing room
and were turned away at the evening
sessions which were highlighted by the
50 spinet-piano orchestra directed by
Arthur Fiedler, famous conductor of the
and Carl E. Tamm, assistant treasurer
of Chickering & Sons.
All of the piano dealers exhibited
and were joined by Thomas N. Rogers,
president of Hastings Sales Engineering
Co., with sound recorders, and the
Frank Gaviani Piano Accordion School.
Arthur Fiedler, conductor of the Bos-
ton "Pops" Orchestra, headed the music
The piano orchestra performed the
following: "Marche Hongroise", Ber-
lioz; "Ballet Music from Rosamunde",
Schubert; "Danse Macabre", Saint
Saens; "Polka from the Golden Age",
Shostakowitsch; "Twinkle, Twinkle,
Little Star", arranged by George Wright
Briggs; "Malaguena". Lecuona, ar-
ranged by George Wright Briggs. Mr.
Briggs conducted "Twinkle, Twinkle,
Little Star."
Elliot Lawrence, pianist and orches-
tra leader, performing his own com-
position, "Suite for Animals", was the
SOME OF THE H'iflO PEOPLE WHO ATTENDED THE HUSTON PIANO I AIK MARCH KITH mid 17TH.
Boston "Pops" Orchestra.
Newspapers in Boston as well as
throughout the country used numerous
stories and photos of the proceedings
as national coverage was made possible
through the United Press, Associated
Press and the International News Serv-
ice.
The attendance was almost triple that
of a year ago when the Boston Piano
Fair was started on a trial basis in
the smaller New England Mutual Hall,
when Fiedler led a 20-piano orchestra
for capacity audiences. At a committee
meeting held Wednesday, March 28, it
was the consensus that the Boston Piano
Fair would be a permanent event, and
plans were discussed to make it a three-
day affair. Carl E. Tamm, assistant
treasurer of Chickering & Sons, was
elected chairman for next year's Fair.
The Fair was made possible by the
following piano dealers who cooperated
with music educators in Eastern Massa-
chusetts: George F. Stanley, manager
of Baldwin Piano Co., who was chair-
man of the Fair; Ralph Burg, vice presi-
dent of Beacon Musical Instrument Co.;
Louis V. Lennon, manager of Music
Dept., Paine Furniture Co.; Paul Mur-
phy, treasurer of M. Steinert & Sons,
Inc., who headed last year's Fair; Guy
Norris, vice president of Norris & Co.,
who was vice chairman of the Fair,
14
educators committee which included
Albert Alphin, director, Boston Con-
servatory of Music; Harrison Keller,
director, and George Wright Briggs,
supervisor of the Popular Music De-
partment, New England Conservatory
of Music; Julius ChalofF. director, Cha-
loff School of Music; Dean Warren S.
Freeman and Professor Jules Wolfl'er.
Boston University College of Music;
Heinrich Gebhard, dean of Boston piano
teachers; Leo Litwin, director of music,
M. Ida College; Bert Nickerson, presi-
dent, Boston Musicians' Protective Asso-
ciation; Phil Saltman, director, Phil
Saltman School of Modern Music; Mel-
ville Smith, director, Longy School of
At both evening performances, Larry
Green, pianist and orchestra leader, pro-
vided a program of popular music, fol-
lowed by Leo Litwin, concert pianist
- with the Boston "Pops" Orchestra and
director of music, Mt. Ida College, in
classical selections concluded by a re-
quest for "Warsaw Concerto", which
he recorded for Victor Records with
Fiedler; Phil Saltman, pianist and direc-
tor of Phil Saltman School of Modern
Music, and George Wright Briggs, pian-
ist and supervisor of the department
of Popular Music, New England Con-
servatory of Music, in popular piano
duets; with the finale of the 50-piano
orchestra conducted by Arthur Fiedler.
feature at the Friday afternoon session.
The enlarged piano orchestra present-
ed numerous problems requiring an
engineering survey to determine if the
Symphony Hall stage could accommo-
date the weight; available rehearsal
space which was finally arranged at
Paine Furniture Co.; tuning of the
pianos for the rehearsal and at Sym-
phony Hall both nights; arranging of
music with no current available source;
and many others. The dealers provided
the pianos.
The attractive 20-page program was
another of the decided improvements
over last year's. The admission price
remained the same at 60 cents per per-
son including tax.
The Fair opened Friday afternoon
at 1.30-3.30 with solos by sixteen col-
lege and conservatory students; nine
adult performers, 4.00-5.30; a mixed
group of nine soloisst performed 6.30-
7.30.
Saturday afternoon 1.30-3.30 had
nine teen-age students; seven adult per-
formers, 4.00-5.30; nine students in the
6.30-7.30 concert. The evening per-
formance commenced at 8.30.
All pianists were selected through
auditions by the music educators com-
mittee and special recommendations
from schools and colleges, resulting in
110 pianists who performed.
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, APRIL, 1951