My Lifetime Journey with Classical Music
From Wally Knox, Erie Philharmonic Board of Governor Emeritus
The quality of the nearly 83 years of my life have been greatly enhanced by classical music. By classical music I mean it in the broadest sense to include symphonic music, opera and ballet and even Broadway musicals.
I was fortunate to grow up in a home where classical music was frequently being played on a record player. Initially, in the 1940s, 78 rpm records were the medium. Later, in the 1950s, the records and players became 33 1/3 rpm on vinyl. Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Mozart often filled our house with music. I loved it for as long as I have a memory. Childrens music, such as Tubby the Tuba and Peter and the Wolf were also favorites of mine. Broadway showtunes such as those from Oklahoma and South Pacific were also often played.
My parents sometimes took me to concerts of the Erie Philharmonic Orchestra when it was conducted by Fritz Mahler in the auditorium of Strong Vincent High School in the late 1940s and early 1950s. About 1955, the Erie Philharmonic moved its performance venue to Tech Memorial High School. I attended Strong Vincent High School between 1956 and 1959. I then had the honor and privilege to be one of the 85 members of the Strong Vincent Concert Choir under the direction of the legendary Alice Simpson. Our repertoire included most of the Messiah choruses, masses and medleys of Broadway show tunes. The Battle Hymn of the Republic was a staple. In 1959 the Strong Vincent choir was the only Pennsylvania choir invited to perform at the Music Educators’ National Conference in Buffalo, New York, along with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York All-State Chorus and the Eastman School of Music Orchestra. My high school choir experience further opened my eyes to the wonders of classical music.
After high school, I attended the University of Michigan where I met my wife to be, Gloria. The university had a wonderful classical music program known as the May Festival which was performed in the 3,500 seat Hill Auditorium. The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Eugene Ormandy came to Ann Arbor to perform for a week in May for many years. My future wife and I attended a performance in 1963 of Camille Saint-Saen’s Organ Symphony with E. Power Biggs playing on the 7599 pipe Frieze Memorial Organ in Hill Auditorium. To this day, it is her favorite piece of classical music.
I attended law school at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law from 1963 to 1966. While there my wife and I were treated to a performance of Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake by Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet Company in Pittsburgh’s Civic Arena.
Upon returning to Erie in 1966, we obtained season tickets to the concerts of the Erie Philharmonic Orchestra. We have had them continuously since then. In 1976, the orchestra moved its performance venue to the Warner Theatre and it has remained there since.
Knowing of my love for classical music, friends of mine purchased the “baton” for me in 1989. I conducted the Overture to Carmen, and it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I then became involved in the governance of the Erie Philharmonic Orchestra, going onto the Board as Treasurer in 1989 and then serving as President from 1991 to 1994, during the tenure of Eiji Oue as Music Director. I remain on the Board of Governors to this day as an Emeritus Member.
During our almost 60 years of marriage, my wife Gloria and I have traveled a lot. We often make attending music performance a part of our travels. In 1983, we attended a performance of Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet at the La Scala Opera House in Milan, Italy. We attended a performance of the opera Carmen at the Opera Bastille in Paris in 1994 and Verdi’s Don Carlo at the Opera di Firenze in Florence Italy. We went to Sapporo Japan in 1992 for performances of the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra conducted by then Erie Philharmonic Music Director Eiji Oue. We also traveled to Bayreuth, Germany, in 2005, to attend the Bayreuth Wagner Opera Festival’s performance of Tristan und Isolde conducted by then former Erie Philharmonic Music Director Oue. We have been to performances of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. We often attend performances of the Chautauqua Symphony in the summer time.
I am so grateful for our Erie Philharmonic Orchestra and all those who make its success possible, from Daniel Meyer and Steve Weiser to the staff and all of the others in the community who make the Orchestra what it is today. We are truly fortunate to have this treasure here. I cannot imagine living in a community without a first-class symphony orchestra like the one we have.