Finding Aid for University of Illinois Russian Folk Orchestra Music and Records, 1970-1997 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

By Kelli McQueen

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Collection Overview

Title: University of Illinois Russian Folk Orchestra Music and Records, 1970-1997Add to your cart.

ID: 12/5/82

Primary Creator: Howard Grueneberg

Extent: 2.25 cubic feet

Arrangement: Organized in two series, Series 1: Administrative Records and Sheet Music, 1970-1996 and Series 2: Audiovisual Recordings, 1980-1995.�  Both are arranged by type of materials and then chronologically.

Date Acquired: 02/21/2022

Subjects: Music -- Russia, Russian Folk Orchestra, Russian Folk Songs

Languages: Russian

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Consists of administrative records, concert programs, calendar of events, and audio-visual recordings documenting the management of the University of Illinois Russian Folk Orchestra between 1970 and 1997. In addition the collection also includes general historical information about Russian orchestras and the instruments and music used by these ensembles.

Collection Historical Note

The University of Illinois Russian Folk Orchestra (UI RFO) was founded in 1974 by John Garvey, who first came to the U of I in 1948 as an artist-in-residence with the Walden String Quartet. He went on to found the first jazz bands within the School of Music, and became acquainted with Russian folk music after taking the U of I Jazz Band on 6-week tour of the Soviet Union as part of the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Cultural Exchange Program in 1969.

Garvey returned to Russia in 1970 to study Russian folk music and the balalaika with members of Moscow's Osipov State Russian Folk Orchestra. Garvey established the first model for teaching Russian folk music in an American university setting by bringing Russian musicians to lead workshops and perform. This inspired other programs like the Russian Folk Orchestra at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The UI RFO gave over 108 performances around the United States between 1974 and 1984. In 1984, musician Victor Gorodinsky, a graduate of Moscow's Gnessin Institute, joined the RFO as assistant director while working on a master's degree in library science. He became the full-time conductor in 1991 after the retirement of Professor Garvey. Under Gorodinsky's direction, the RFO increased its repertory to include modern compositions, (including some of Gorodinsky's own works), and transcriptions of Russian classical works. Gorodinsky left the RFO in 1995 to pursue a career in librarianship.

Subject/Index Terms

Music -- Russia
Russian Folk Orchestra
Russian Folk Songs

Administrative Information

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Acquisition Source: Howard Grueneberg

Acquisition Method: Gift


Box and Folder Listing


Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Administrative records and sheet music, 1970-1996],
[Series 2: Audio-visual recordings, 1980-1995],
[All]

Series 1: Administrative records and sheet music, 1970-1996Add to your cart.
Series constists of two "brown books" of sheet music, newspaper clippings, correspondence and other administrative documents, promotional materials, membership lists, discography information on recordings of Russian music, calendar of events, and concert programs.
Box 1Add to your cart.
Folder 1: "Brown Book" sheet music for Bayan and Bass Dorma, 1970Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Historical Information, newspaper clippings, audience survey, 1973-1996Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Photographs, 1977-1994Add to your cart.
Folder 4: Promotional materials, 1979-1995Add to your cart.
Folder 5: Balalaika and Dorma Association of America (BDAA) conventions at University of Illinois, 1981-1994Add to your cart.
Folder 6: BDAA correspondance and publicity pack, 1993-1995Add to your cart.
Folder 7: Information about RFO concert recordings, 1983-1995Add to your cart.
Folder 8: Arts Midwest/Applause and Illinois Arts Council Artstour, 1986-1997Add to your cart.
Folder 9: RFO membership lists, 1985-1996Add to your cart.
Folder 10: Correspondence internal and external, 1986-1993Add to your cart.
Folder 11: Board Minutes, February-April, 1992Add to your cart.
Folder 12: Finances, 1994-1995Add to your cart.
Folder 13: RFO stage plots and travle requirements, 1988-1994Add to your cart.
Folder 14: History of Russian Folks Orchestras in the Americas project, 1992Add to your cart.
Folder 15: RFO instruments inventories, informational bibiography-discography, 1992-1995Add to your cart.
Folder 16: Orchestra Events, 1974-1980Add to your cart.
Folder 17: Orchestra Events, 1981-1985Add to your cart.
Folder 18: Orchestra Events, 1985-1988Add to your cart.
Folder 19: Orchestra Events, 1989-1991Add to your cart.
Folder 20: Orchestra Events, 1992-1996Add to your cart.
Folder 21: Small Ensemble Events, 1987-1992Add to your cart.
Folder 22: RFO informational handouts and mailing list, undatedAdd to your cart.
Folder 23: Lists of orchestral music to check, undatedAdd to your cart.
Oversize Textile Box 7Add to your cart.
Item 1: University of Illinois Russian Folk Orchestra T-Shirt, undatedAdd to your cart.
Red t-shirt with black lettering and an image of a balaliaka, large, accession number 2022.120582.001.
Item 2: University of Illinois Russian Folk Orchestra T-Shirt, undatedAdd to your cart.
Red t-shirt with black lettering and an image of a balaliaka, medium, accession number 2022.120582.002.
Series 2: Audio-visual recordings, 1980-1995Add to your cart.
Box 1Add to your cart.
Item 1: The University of Illinois Russian Folk Orchestra, "An Evening of Russian Music", December 13, 1991Add to your cart.
Item 2: Raw footage of concert and WCIA newscast, March 20, 1996Add to your cart.
Kinderkonzert, U of I RFO and CU Symphony; WCIA Dave Schaul newscast
Item 3: University of Illinois Russian Folk Orchestra "Evening Bells", undatedAdd to your cart.
Item 4: "Evening Bells" UI RFO #4, undatedAdd to your cart.
Box 2Add to your cart.
Cassette 1: UI RFO at BDAA, June 17, 1980Add to your cart.
Cassette 2: UI RFO, April 24, 1983Add to your cart.
Cassette 3: UI RFO, April 29, 1984Add to your cart.
Cassette 4: BDAA concert excerpts, 1985Add to your cart.
Cassette 5: UI RFO, May 5, 1985Add to your cart.
Cassette 6: Interview with John Garvey and RFO, 1986Add to your cart.
Cassette 7: Untitled, February 23, 1986Add to your cart.
Cassette 8: UI RFO, May 4, 1986Add to your cart.
Cassette 9: Kasura concert, May 3, 1987Add to your cart.
Cassette 10: UI RFO, May 8, 1988Add to your cart.
Cassette 11: Untitled, May 7, 1989Add to your cart.
Cassette 12: Russian Music from PHC, December 1990Add to your cart.
small ensemble at Lincoln Square
Cassette 13: Untitled, April 29, 1990Add to your cart.
Cassette 14: Recording session, April 30, 1990Add to your cart.
Cassette 15: UI RFO: Garvey retirement concert, April 28, 1991Add to your cart.
Cassette 16: UI RFO, October 13, 1991Add to your cart.
Cassette 17: UI RFO, March 22, 1992Add to your cart.
Cassette 18: UI RFO, May 2, 1992Add to your cart.
Cassette 19: UI RFO Second Sunday Concert, November 1992Add to your cart.
Cassette 20: Untitled, November 22, 1992Add to your cart.
Cassette 21: WILL Broadcast Rodina Convention, September 19, 1993Add to your cart.
Cassette 22: UI RFO, April 16, 1993Add to your cart.
Cassette 23: The Night is Light, 1993Add to your cart.
Cassette 24: Untitled, March 20, 1994Add to your cart.
Cassette 25: Untitled, October 31, 1993; April 9, 1994Add to your cart.
Cassette 26: Untitled, May 1, 1994Add to your cart.
Cassette 27: Recording session, May 2, 1994Add to your cart.
Cassette 28: Untitled, April 30, 1995Add to your cart.
Cassette 29: UI RFO concert at KCPA, November 19, 1995Add to your cart.
Cassette 30: Recording session, November 1995Add to your cart.
Cassette 31: Untitled, November 19, 1995Add to your cart.
Cassette 32: Evening Bells, 1995Add to your cart.
Cassette 33: WILL concert broadcast, undatedAdd to your cart.
Cassette 34: Rodina Eddy & Orchestra only, undatedAdd to your cart.
Cassette 35: Snow Storm and other stuff UI RFO, undatedAdd to your cart.
Cassette 36: Tape 4 Demo master (Compressed), undatedAdd to your cart.
Cassette 37: Untitled, undatedAdd to your cart.
Cassette 38: SOR, undatedAdd to your cart.
Cassette 39: ROWC, undatedAdd to your cart.

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Administrative records and sheet music, 1970-1996],
[Series 2: Audio-visual recordings, 1980-1995],
[All]