|
|---|
October 26-27, 1962 "An Evening Of Folk Music" In Two Concerts IN OBSERVANCE OF UNITED NATIONS WEEK TO BE HELD AT PIGOTT AUDITORIUM A guest speaker will begin each evening with a few words honoring the United Nations. FRIDAY EVENING, OCT013ER 26TH: Introduction, MR. LEE TRAVELER, MISS JUDY FLENNIKEN, MR. DON FIRTH SATURDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 27TH: Introduction, MR. STAN JAMES, Miss NANCY QUENSE, MR. BOB NELSON An Intermission is Inevitable but Indeterminate The performers will announce their own programs from the stage. Today each and every one of us is a member of a brotherhood of roughly three billion souls: the human race. We live together in the fastest-paced, most critical and complex society man has ever known. For this reason, it is essential that we try to know and understand our fellow beings. It was to this end that the United Nations came into being almost twenty years ago. It represents the means by which, through our support, mankind may be able to live in peace. This week, October 21 through 27, we celebrate the founding and continued existence of the United Nations and commemorate those whose efforts have helped maintain and insure our survival and wellbeing. Music has long been considered the most international of all languages. Since the earliest periods of history, people have raised their voices in song. John Steinbeck has said, "Songs are the statement of a people. You can learn more about people by listening to their songs than any other way, for into the songs go all the hopes and hurts, the angers, fears, the wants and aspirations." Folk music, the music of the people, besides giving pleasure to both songster and listener, serves to help us understand our heritage and our contemporaries. The singers tonight are all people who, though most heavily influenced by the Anglo‑American ballad tradition of their own culture, realize that their roots stem not only from their own land, but from peoples and areas around the world. Through their songs, they have come to feel a kinship with many people in many lands. As you listen this evening, see if you don't feel something of this kinship, too. On Friday, one of the featured folksingers is Lee Traveler. His name is well chosen, for he has journeyed far from his home at Georgetown, Colorado, "up in the mountains west of Denver." Lee has been in the legitimate theater for 17 years and has been a singer of folksongs for nearly half that time. He performed at the first Folk Festival at the Exodus in Denver with Josh White, and counts Josh along with Pete Seeger as his greatest influences. With a repertoire centering around hard‑driving ballads and blues, Lee has made quite a name for himself in his travels throughout the Southwest, including Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, northern Mexico and California. A personable, practiced performer, this wandering troubador has brought his music to people in coffee houses, college rathskellers, service clubs, posh night clubs, and "just about anywhere you go to hear entertainment." Judy Flenniken is a twenty-year-old student of oceanography at the University of Washington. She has been singing in this area for about the past two years and claims she "became interested in singing on the crest of the Kingston Trio craze and has since become a devotee of folk music." Whatever the spark that set her off, this glowing miss has developed a strong, vibrant voice which lends itself to belting blues or which she sometimes softens for a quiet ballad or children's song. She has become known for her work locally and has ventured as far south as the San Francisco Bay area to sing her songs there. Don Firth has been singing in this area for a number of years and is quite well known. He first became involved with folk music in 1933 and has worked with various groups in furthering the study of folklore. Taking up the study of classic guitar in 1955, he is today recognized as one of Seattle's most accomplished guitarists. He has played and sung, at one time or another, just about everywhere in the Pacific Northwest and, in 1959, did a television series, "Ballads and Books," on KCTS-TV. Don's robust voice, accompanied by his fine guitar or occasionally a banjo, may be heard in a wide variety of songs, from a Scottish (his own ancestry) hangman song to an Appalachian Mountain ballad or blues. In addition to performing, Don has a strong academic interest in the background of folk materials. Saturday night brings forth one Stan James, a 27-year-old singer of considerable talent. Born in Olympia, Stan has spent his life in the Pacific Northwest. His first interest in folk music came from the songs he heard sung by his grandparents from the rural South. As a natural consequence, he began singing and when his father discarded an old guitar, Stan picked it up (he still uses this same guitar today). Since these early days, his interest in folk music has broadened to the point where today, Stan's collection of songs includes many rarely heard Canadian lumbering songs, sea chanties, and Australian ballads. Many people in Seattle have had the chance to enjoy Stan's work since he moved here in 1958. Nancy Quense, a sophomore at the University of Washington, has been singing in Seattle and the surrounding area for about a year now. As the daughter of a naval officer, she had the chance for a great deal of travel as a small girl. Having learned something of several languages and heard songs from many lands, she has accumulated a repertoire with a true international flavor. While singing in her lilting soprano voice, Nancy accompanies herself on the guitar or autoharp. Rounding out this illustrious company in concert, is Bob Nelson. At 28, Bob has spent more than half his life singing and playing folk music. In his own words, he "began singing at age twelve and refuses to quit." Under the early influence of Burl Ives, he has developed a style of balladry that is thoroughly listenable and truly his own. In addition to his own researches into the background and styles of folk music, Bob has been performing in various places in and near Seattle for several years. His strongest interest in recent years has been the collecting and performance of Northwest folklore and song. A word about the sponsoring organizations. The Model United Nations Club of Seattle University is made up of students actively interested in supporting the operations and goals of the United Nations. No longer a silent generation, these students are fully aware of the critical political responsibilities which are soon to become their burden. They are consciously seeking out and developing their own political talents so that when the time comes for them to assume the roles of power and responsibility, they will be capable of maintaining the peace. The Pacific Northwest Folklore Society is devoted to the understanding and development of the folklore of this area. Collection, study, preservation, publication, and performance are all aspects of the Society's activities. The people of the Pacific Northwest are heir to a rich heritage of legend, song, dance, and other forms of lore. This study greatly aids the understanding not only of ourselves, but of our forebears and the land from which they sprung. Further information concerning the Society may be had by calling MElrose 2-1410 or writing in care of 108 N. E. 51st Street, Seattle. Good evening and thank you for your interest and attention. |