Aaron Richmond
Encyclopedia
Aaron Richmond was an American
performing arts manager, pianist, impresario
, and educator, based in Boston, Massachusetts, who managed the careers of numerous classical musicians and founded Celebrity Series of Boston
, a performing arts presenting
organization that still operates today.
where he had his formal education. After graduating from high school, he intensified his musical training with the goal of becoming a concert pianist. The following was noted in a brief Boston Globe review of a 1919 performance in which Richmond accompanied baritone Giovanni Petrucci at Boston's Steinert Hall, "Mr. Petrucci was assisted by Aaron Richmond, who played his accompaniments and a group of piano pieces."
In 1917, Richmond toured extensively as a pianist with the Tchaikovsky Quartet. During the same period, Richmond’s friend, conductor Arthur Fiedler
, was forced to cancel a series of bookings on the Chautauqua
circuit. Mr. Richmond filled in as pianist on the tour and later organized Richmond’s Little Symphony, a sextet that toured the circuit for several summers playing arrangements of orchestral works. He served as pianist and lecturer on the program and often the newspaper critic of the concerts. Richmond’s Little Symphony made at least one Chautuaqua circuit tour with William Jennings Bryan
.
debut caused him to reevaluate his professional goals and led him to a career in music management. His first office contained a studio where he continued to teach piano while he formed the core of his artists’ list from members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
and some prominent Boston vocalists.
Pianist Ignace Jan Paderewski was quoted as saying of Richmond, "[He was] perhaps the only manager I have ever known to whom the word 'suite' has meant a musical composition and not a set of furniture for a room."
In the Daily Boston Globe in 1948, Richmond said of himself, "Music to me is not just a business, an occupation, but a passion ... presenting great artists to the public, and expanding that public, is my mission. I never feel right unless I am convinced that my artists are of top rank."
, cellist Jean Bedetti, soprano Laura Littlefield, flutist Georges Laurent, the American String Quartette, the Smalley Trio, the operatic duo of Mr. and Mrs. George Mager and the Boston Symphony Ensemble, under the direction of Augusto Vannini.
In the ensuing decades, Richmond also represented soprano Claudine Leeve, violinist Carmela Ippolito, pianists Harrison Potter
and Leo Podolsky
, the Durrell String Quartet, tenor Joseph Lautner, the Fiedler Trio (Arthur Fiedler, violin; Alfred Hoy, harp, and Jacobus Lengendoen, cello), the Boston Sinfonietta, conducted by Arthur Fiedler, and piano and vocal folk-song duo Constance and Henry Gideon.
In the early 1920s, Richmond was appointed the New England
Manager of the Wolfsohn Musical Bureau, Inc. and, later, became the sole New England representative for the National Concert and Artists Corporation.
; baritones, Parish Williams, William Richardson, Wellington Smith, and Ernest Lamoureaux; pianists Winifred Byrd
, Moriz Rosenthal
, Cyrus Ullian, Hyman Rovinsky, Alexander Brailowsky
, George Smith, Harold Morris, Harrison Potter
, Grace Cronin, Guiomar Novaes
, Alfredo Oswald, and Alberto Sciarretti; the Kibalchich Russian Symphonic Choir and The Roman Choir; the Fox-Burgin-Bedetti Trio; cellist Felix Salmond
and violinists Joseph Coleman, Harry Farbman, and Paul Cherkassky.
Over the next several years, Richmond also presented such noted artists as pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff
, singer and composer J. Rosamond Johnson
, pianist Harold Samuel
, contralto Margarete Matzenauer
, the Fisk Jubilee Singers
, Harrison Keller
, Denoe Leedy, violinist Albert Spalding
, the People's Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra
.
and took the name, the Boston University Celebrity Series.
In 1984, the Celebrity Series changed affiliations and moved its operations under the auspices of the Wang Center for the Performing Arts
. Then, in 1989, the Celebrity Series incorporated as Bank of Boston Celebrity Series, an independent, non-profit institution with its own Board of Directors and an annual budget of over $3 million. Today the Celebrity Series annual operating budget is approximately $7 million. After 18 years of operating with the title sponsorship support of Bank of Boston, BankBoston
, FleetBoston Financial
, and Bank of America
, the Celebrity Series began operating under its incorporated name, Celebrity Series of Boston, in June 2007.
Aaron Richmond presented many performers during his 27-year tenure as director of the Celebrity Series of Boston
:
Following Richmond’s death on April 21, 1965, his associate Walter Pierce
assumed direction of the Celebrity Series. In 1986, Mr. Pierce hired Martha H. Jones as the Celebrity Series' Director of Marketing. She later became General Manager, and, in 1996, when Mr. Pierce retired his full-time post, Martha Jones was appointed Executive Director. Following Martha Jones' retirement from the Celebrity Series in 2011, Gary Dunning was appointed to the position.
dated from 1926. Richmond frequently served as the regional representative for Hurok's tours. On Richmond's death in 1965, Hurok said in The Boston Globe, "Aaron Richmond contributed to Boston what Hurok contributes to New York. He had the ideal spirit: 'Boston should see this company, hear this musician.' That came first, money later. That made cultural life blossom.
He wanted, so do I, that this country should know what is going on in the world. he put all his time, energy, vitality, knowledge to do it. I have lost a good friend."
Country Evening Concert Series, South End Music Centre (Boston
, Massachusetts
), Boston Community Music Centre (Boston, Massachusetts), the James Spooner Fund Concerts (Plymouth, Massachusetts), Gile Fund Concerts (Concord, New Hampshire
), the Greater New Bedford Concert Series New Bedford, Massachusetts
), Temple Beth El Concert Series (Providence, Rhode Island
), the South Shore Concert Association (Massachusetts
), as well as Smith
and Williams College
s, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and the Connecticut College for Women
.
Aaron Richmond was a founding member of the Concerts Association of America, founded in 1937 "to meet the pressing problems now confronting the concert-giving field." In 1951, Richmond was elected Vice President of the National Association of Concert Managers, which later became the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) http://www.ispa.org/.
Richmond took over direction of the Castle Hill Festival in Ipswich, Massachusetts
in 1964 where he organized the New England debut of violinist Itzhak Perlman
and a concert by an eighteen-year old Peter Serkin
.
Richmond also taught piano throughout his career, and for years kept a room adjacent to his business office in which he taught piano.
in 1961 , and the West German government gave him the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
in 1962 for his role in the cultural exchange program.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
performing arts manager, pianist, impresario
Impresario
An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...
, and educator, based in Boston, Massachusetts, who managed the careers of numerous classical musicians and founded Celebrity Series of Boston
Celebrity Series of Boston
The Celebrity Series of Boston is a non-profit performing arts presenter established in Boston, Massachusetts by Boston impresario Aaron Richmond in 1938 as Aaron Richmond's Celebrity Series....
, a performing arts presenting
Performing arts presenters
According to the Urban Institute, "A performing arts presenting organization is an organization, or department or program of a larger organization, that works to facilitate exchanges between artists and audiences through creative, educational, and performance opportunities...
organization that still operates today.
Early years
Aaron Richmond was born in 1895 in Salem, MassachusettsSalem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
where he had his formal education. After graduating from high school, he intensified his musical training with the goal of becoming a concert pianist. The following was noted in a brief Boston Globe review of a 1919 performance in which Richmond accompanied baritone Giovanni Petrucci at Boston's Steinert Hall, "Mr. Petrucci was assisted by Aaron Richmond, who played his accompaniments and a group of piano pieces."
In 1917, Richmond toured extensively as a pianist with the Tchaikovsky Quartet. During the same period, Richmond’s friend, conductor Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler was a long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
, was forced to cancel a series of bookings on the Chautauqua
Chautauqua
Chautauqua was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with...
circuit. Mr. Richmond filled in as pianist on the tour and later organized Richmond’s Little Symphony, a sextet that toured the circuit for several summers playing arrangements of orchestral works. He served as pianist and lecturer on the program and often the newspaper critic of the concerts. Richmond’s Little Symphony made at least one Chautuaqua circuit tour with William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
.
Artist Manager
An onstage lapse of memory during Richmond's BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
debut caused him to reevaluate his professional goals and led him to a career in music management. His first office contained a studio where he continued to teach piano while he formed the core of his artists’ list from members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
and some prominent Boston vocalists.
Pianist Ignace Jan Paderewski was quoted as saying of Richmond, "[He was] perhaps the only manager I have ever known to whom the word 'suite' has meant a musical composition and not a set of furniture for a room."
In the Daily Boston Globe in 1948, Richmond said of himself, "Music to me is not just a business, an occupation, but a passion ... presenting great artists to the public, and expanding that public, is my mission. I never feel right unless I am convinced that my artists are of top rank."
First Roster
Aaron Richmond Concert Management’s roster for the 1920-21 season included pianist Felix FoxFelix Fox
Felix Fox was a German-born concert pianist and educator.Mr. Fox studied piano with Carl Reinecke in Leipzig, and Hungarian-French pianist Isidor Philipp in Paris, and studied music theory with Salomon Jadassohn. Fox graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Leipzig where he made his debut...
, cellist Jean Bedetti, soprano Laura Littlefield, flutist Georges Laurent, the American String Quartette, the Smalley Trio, the operatic duo of Mr. and Mrs. George Mager and the Boston Symphony Ensemble, under the direction of Augusto Vannini.
In the ensuing decades, Richmond also represented soprano Claudine Leeve, violinist Carmela Ippolito, pianists Harrison Potter
Harrison Potter
Harrison Potter was an American pianist and educator.Potter was born in North Adams, Massachusetts and studied piano with Felix Fox, and, in Paris, Isidor Philipp. Early in his career, Potter taught for a time at Boston's Fox-Buonamici Piano School. He also served as assistant conductor of the...
and Leo Podolsky
Leo Podolsky
Leo Podolsky was a classical pianist and educator.Leo Podolsky had many piano teachers in his youth, but George Lalewicz was credited as the most successful...
, the Durrell String Quartet, tenor Joseph Lautner, the Fiedler Trio (Arthur Fiedler, violin; Alfred Hoy, harp, and Jacobus Lengendoen, cello), the Boston Sinfonietta, conducted by Arthur Fiedler, and piano and vocal folk-song duo Constance and Henry Gideon.
In the early 1920s, Richmond was appointed the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
Manager of the Wolfsohn Musical Bureau, Inc. and, later, became the sole New England representative for the National Concert and Artists Corporation.
First Concert Series
Richmond presented his first concert series in Boston during the 1924-25 season. The new venture, called the Wolfsohn Series, included sopranos Katherine Palmer, Kathleen McAlister, Suzanne Dabney, Mildred Cobb and Laura Littlefield; contraltos Abbie Conley Rice, Betty Gray and Rose Zulalian; mezzo-soprano Elena GerhardtElena Gerhardt
Elena Gerhardt was a German mezzo-soprano singer associated with the singing of German classical lieder, of which she was considered one of the great interpreters...
; baritones, Parish Williams, William Richardson, Wellington Smith, and Ernest Lamoureaux; pianists Winifred Byrd
Winifred Byrd
Winifred Byrd was an American concert pianist and educator.-Education:...
, Moriz Rosenthal
Moriz Rosenthal
Moriz Rosenthal was a great Polish pianist. He was an outstanding pupil of Franz Liszt and a friend and colleague of some of the greatest musicians of his age, including Johannes Brahms, Johann Strauss, Anton Rubinstein, Hans von Bülow, Camille Saint-Saëns, Jules Massenet and Isaac...
, Cyrus Ullian, Hyman Rovinsky, Alexander Brailowsky
Alexander Brailowsky
Alexander Brailowsky was a Ukrainian French pianist who specialized in the works of Frédéric Chopin. He was a leading concert pianist in the years between the two World Wars.-Early life:...
, George Smith, Harold Morris, Harrison Potter
Harrison Potter
Harrison Potter was an American pianist and educator.Potter was born in North Adams, Massachusetts and studied piano with Felix Fox, and, in Paris, Isidor Philipp. Early in his career, Potter taught for a time at Boston's Fox-Buonamici Piano School. He also served as assistant conductor of the...
, Grace Cronin, Guiomar Novaes
Guiomar Novaes
Guiomar Novaes was a Brazilian pianist noted for individuality of tone and phrasing, singing line, and a subtle and nuanced approach to her interpretations...
, Alfredo Oswald, and Alberto Sciarretti; the Kibalchich Russian Symphonic Choir and The Roman Choir; the Fox-Burgin-Bedetti Trio; cellist Felix Salmond
Felix Salmond
Felix Adrian Norman Salmond was an English cellist and cello teacher who achieved success in both England and the United States of America.-Early life and career:...
and violinists Joseph Coleman, Harry Farbman, and Paul Cherkassky.
Over the next several years, Richmond also presented such noted artists as pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
, singer and composer J. Rosamond Johnson
J. Rosamond Johnson
John Rosamond Johnson , most often referred to as J. Rosamond Johnson, was an American composer and singer during the Harlem Renaissance. Johnson is most notable as the composer of Lift Every Voice and Sing which has come to be known in the United States as the "Black National Anthem"...
, pianist Harold Samuel
Harold Samuel
Not to be confused with Harold Samuel, Baron Samuel of Wych Cross Harold Samuel was a distinguished English pianist and pedagogue. He was one of the first pianists of the 20th century to focus purely on the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, and was known for his academic and cerebral approach...
, contralto Margarete Matzenauer
Margarete Matzenauer
Margaret Matzenauer was a mezzo-soprano singer with an opulent timbre and a wide range to her voice...
, the Fisk Jubilee Singers
Fisk Jubilee Singers
The Fisk Jubilee Singers are an African-American a cappella ensemble, consisting of students at Fisk University. The first group was organized in 1871 to tour and raise funds for their college. Their early repertoire consisted mostly of traditional spirituals, but included some Stephen Foster songs...
, Harrison Keller
Harrison Keller
Harrison Keller was an American violinist and music educator. Keller began his violin studies at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, graduating in 1907. From 1907 to 1911, he continued his studies at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin, Germany...
, Denoe Leedy, violinist Albert Spalding
Albert Spalding (violinist)
Albert Spalding was an American violinist and composer.-Biography:Spalding was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1888. His mother, Marie Boardman, was a contralto and pianist. His father, James Walter Spalding, and uncle, Hall-of-Fame baseball pitcher Albert Spalding, created the A.G...
, the People's Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
.
The Celebrity Series Launched
Aaron Richmond’s Celebrity Series was launched (12 years after his first concert series) for the 1938-39 concert season. In 1953, still under Aaron Richmond’s direction, the Celebrity Series affiliated with Boston UniversityBoston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
and took the name, the Boston University Celebrity Series.
In 1984, the Celebrity Series changed affiliations and moved its operations under the auspices of the Wang Center for the Performing Arts
Wang Center for the Performing Arts
The Citi Performing Arts Center is located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. It consists of two theatres, Wang Theatre and Shubert Theatre, both of which are neighbors, on Tremont Street, in Boston's Theatre District...
. Then, in 1989, the Celebrity Series incorporated as Bank of Boston Celebrity Series, an independent, non-profit institution with its own Board of Directors and an annual budget of over $3 million. Today the Celebrity Series annual operating budget is approximately $7 million. After 18 years of operating with the title sponsorship support of Bank of Boston, BankBoston
BankBoston
BankBoston was a bank based in Boston, Massachusetts, which was created by the 1996 merger of Bank of Boston and BayBank. Bank of Boston had a venerable history dating back to 1784, but the merged BankBoston was short-lived, being acquired by Fleet Bank in 1999...
, FleetBoston Financial
FleetBoston Financial
FleetBoston Financial was a Boston, Massachusetts–based bank created in 1999 by the merger of Fleet Financial Group and BankBoston. In 2004 it merged with Bank of America; all of its banks and branches were given the Bank of America logo.-History:...
, and Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
, the Celebrity Series began operating under its incorporated name, Celebrity Series of Boston, in June 2007.
Aaron Richmond presented many performers during his 27-year tenure as director of the Celebrity Series of Boston
Celebrity Series of Boston
The Celebrity Series of Boston is a non-profit performing arts presenter established in Boston, Massachusetts by Boston impresario Aaron Richmond in 1938 as Aaron Richmond's Celebrity Series....
:
Music
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- Artur Rubinstein
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- Berlin Philharmonic
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- Chicago Symphony OrchestraChicago Symphony OrchestraThe Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
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- Eugene OrmandyEugene OrmandyEugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born conductor and violinist.-Early life:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music at the age of five...
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- Francis PoulencFrancis PoulencFrancis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
- Fritz KreislerFritz KreislerFriedrich "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately...
- George SzellGeorge SzellGeorge Szell , originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer...
- Glenn GouldGlenn GouldGlenn Herbert Gould was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach...
- Gregor PiatigorskyGregor PiatigorskyGregor Piatigorsky was a Russian-born American cellist.-Early life:...
- Guarneri QuartetGuarneri QuartetThe Guarneri Quartet was an American string quartet founded in 1964 at the Marlboro Music School and Festival. During the quartet's early years the members were in residence at Harpur College in upstate New York....
- Herbert von KarajanHerbert von KarajanHerbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor. To the wider world he was perhaps most famously associated with the Berlin Philharmonic, of which he was principal conductor for 35 years...
- Ignace Jan Paderewski
- Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
- Isaac SternIsaac SternIsaac Stern was a Ukrainian-born violinist. He was renowned for his recordings and for discovering new musical talent.-Biography:Isaac Stern was born into a Jewish family in Kremenets, Ukraine. He was fourteen months old when his family moved to San Francisco...
- Israel Philharmonic
- Jascha HeifetzJascha HeifetzJascha Heifetz was a violinist, born in Vilnius, then Russian Empire, now Lithuania. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time.- Early life :...
- Joseph SzigetiJoseph SzigetiJoseph Szigeti was a Hungarian violinist.Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania. He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on the violin, and moved to Budapest with his father to study with the renowned pedagogue Jenő Hubay...
- Juilliard String QuartetJuilliard String QuartetThe Juilliard String Quartet is a classical music string quartet founded in 1946 at the Juilliard School in New York. The original members were violinists Robert Mann and Robert Koff, violist Raphael Hillyer, and cellist Arthur Winograd; Current members are Joseph Lin and Ronald Copes violinists,...
- Leon FleisherLeon FleisherLeon Fleisher is an American pianist and conductor.-Early life and studies:Fleisher was born in San Francisco, where he started studying the piano at age four...
- Lily PonsLily PonsLily Pons was a French-American operatic soprano and actress who had an active career from the late 1920s through the early 1970s. As an opera singer she specialized in the coloratura soprano repertoire and was particularly associated with the title roles in Léo Delibes' Lakmé and Gaetano...
- Maria CallasMaria CallasMaria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...
- Marian AndersonMarian AndersonMarian Anderson was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century...
- NBC Symphony OrchestraNBC Symphony OrchestraThe NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo Toscanini...
- New York PhilharmonicNew York PhilharmonicThe New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
- Philadelphia OrchestraPhiladelphia OrchestraThe Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
- Roland HayesRoland HayesRoland Hayes was a lyric tenor and is considered the first African American male concert artist to receive wide international acclaim as well as at home...
- Rudolf SerkinRudolf SerkinRudolf Serkin , was a Bohemian-born pianist.-Life and early career:Serkin was born in Eger, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire to a Russian-Jewish family....
- Jan SmeterlinJan SmeterlinJan Smeterlin was a Polish concert pianist. He is especially known as an interpreter of Chopin and Karol Szymanowski.-Life:...
- Sergei RachmaninoffSergei RachmaninoffSergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
- Trapp Family SingersThe Story of the Trapp Family SingersThe Story of the Trapp Family Singers is a memoir written by Maria Augusta von Trapp, whose life was fictionalized in the musical The Sound of Music. The book was published in 1949 by J. B...
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- Victor BorgeVictor BorgeVictor Borge ,born Børge Rosenbaum, was a Danish comedian, conductor and pianist, affectionately known as The Clown Prince of Denmark,The Unmelancholy Dane,and The Great Dane.-Early life and career:...
- Vienna Philharmonic
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- Winifred ChristieWinifred ChristieWinifred Christie was a British pianist and composer best known as an advocate of the Moór-Duplex piano.-The Moór-Duplex piano:...
Dance
- Agnes de Mille Dance TheatreAgnes de Mille Dance TheatreThe Agnes de Mille Dance Theatre toured the United States from 1953 to 1954 under the aegis of producer Sol Hurok. The company offered an overview of Agnes de Mille's choreography to that date, with the addition of Anna Sokolow's "Short Lecture & Demonstration on the Evolution of Ragtime" and...
- Angna EntersAngna EntersAnita "Angna" Enters was a dancer, mime, painter, writer, novelist and playwright. -Early life:Enters graduated from North Division High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1915...
- Ballet Russe de Monte CarloBallet Russe de Monte CarloBallet Russe de Monte Carlo was a ballet company created by members of the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo in 1938 after Léonide Massine and René Blum had a falling-out with the co-founder Wassily de Basil...
- Bolshoi BalletBolshoi BalletThe Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest ballet companies, however it only achieved worldwide acclaim by the early 20th century, when Moscow became the...
- Destine Haitian Dance Company
- Geoffrey HolderGeoffrey HolderGeoffrey Richard Holder is a Trinidadian actor, choreographer, director, dancer, painter, costume designer, singer and voice-over artist.-Early life:...
Dance Company - Iva KitchellIva KitchellIva Kitchell was a concert dancer, dance satirist and comedian.Born as Emma Baugh, Iva Kitchell was adopted by Robert W. Kitchells, at the age of three...
- Jooss European Ballet
- Jose GrecoJosé GrecoJose Greco was a flamenco dancer and choreographer.He was born in Montorio nei Frentani, Italy of Italian parents. He was raised in New York City from the time he was 10 years old. He began dancing in Brooklyn with his sister Norina at a young age.He made his professional dancing debut in 1937 at...
& his Spanish Dancers - Katherine DunhamKatherine DunhamKatherine Mary Dunham was an American dancer, choreographer, songwriter, author, educator, and activist...
- Kirov Ballet
- Martha GrahamMartha GrahamMartha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
and Company - Merce Cunningham Dance Company
- Original Ballet Russe, Col. De Basil, Director General
- Pearl PrimusPearl PrimusPearl Primus was a dancer, choreographer and anthropologist. Primus played an important role in the presentation of African dance to American audiences. Early in her career she saw the needs to promote African dance as an art form worthy of study and performance...
Dance Company
- Sadlers Wells Ballet/Royal Ballet
- Trudi SchoopTrudi SchoopTrudi Schoop was a comedic dancer who pioneered the treatment of mental illness with dance therapy.-The performer:...
and Her Dancing Comedians - Uday ShankarUday ShankarUday Shankar , the pioneer of modern dance in India, and a world renowned Indian dancer and choreographer, was most known for adapting Western theatrical techniques to traditional Indian classical dance, imbued with elements of Indian classical, folk, and tribal dance, thus laying the roots of...
and his Hindu Ballet
Theatre/Speakers
- Bristol Old VicBristol Old VicThe Bristol Old Vic is a theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, King Street, in Bristol, England. The theatre complex includes the 1766 Theatre Royal, which claims to be the oldest continually-operating theatre in England, along with a 1970s studio theatre , offices and backstage facilities...
- Cornelia Otis SkinnerCornelia Otis SkinnerCornelia Otis Skinner was an American author and actress.-Biography:Skinner was the daughter of the actor Otis Skinner and his wife Maud Skinner. After attending the all-girls' Baldwin School and Bryn Mawr College and studying theatre at the Sorbonne in Paris, she began her career on the stage...
- Emlyn WilliamsEmlyn WilliamsGeorge Emlyn Williams, CBE , known as Emlyn Williams, was a Welsh dramatist and actor.-Biography:He was born into a Welsh-speaking, working class family in Mostyn, Flintshire....
as Charles Dickens - Hal HolbrookHal HolbrookHarold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook, Jr. is an American actor. His television roles include Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 TV series Lincoln, Hays Stowe on The Bold Ones: The Senator and Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo. He is also known for his role in the 2007 film Into the Wild, for which he was nominated for...
in "Mark Twain Tonight!"
- Ruth DraperRuth DraperRuth Draper was an American actress, dramatist and noted diseuse who specialized in character-driven monologues.-Early life and family:...
- Sir Thomas Beecham
Following Richmond’s death on April 21, 1965, his associate Walter Pierce
Walter Pierce (impresario)
Walter Pierce is a performing arts impresario who, from 1965 until 1996, presented, managed, and promoted over 1500 music, dance, and theater events in Boston under the auspices of the Celebrity Series of Boston...
assumed direction of the Celebrity Series. In 1986, Mr. Pierce hired Martha H. Jones as the Celebrity Series' Director of Marketing. She later became General Manager, and, in 1996, when Mr. Pierce retired his full-time post, Martha Jones was appointed Executive Director. Following Martha Jones' retirement from the Celebrity Series in 2011, Gary Dunning was appointed to the position.
Association with Sol Hurok
Aaron Richmond's business association with noted impresario Sol HurokSol Hurok
Sol Hurok was a world-famous 20th century American impresario.-Biography:...
dated from 1926. Richmond frequently served as the regional representative for Hurok's tours. On Richmond's death in 1965, Hurok said in The Boston Globe, "Aaron Richmond contributed to Boston what Hurok contributes to New York. He had the ideal spirit: 'Boston should see this company, hear this musician.' That came first, money later. That made cultural life blossom.
He wanted, so do I, that this country should know what is going on in the world. he put all his time, energy, vitality, knowledge to do it. I have lost a good friend."
Other projects
Richmond served as artistic advisor to numerous colleges and committees throughout the New England area, including the Boston Morning Musical Association (Boston, Massachusetts), the Harvard Musical Association (Boston, Massachusetts), WestonWeston, Massachusetts
Weston is a suburb of Boston located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States in the Boston metro area. The population of Weston, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, is 11,261....
Country Evening Concert Series, South End Music Centre (Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
), Boston Community Music Centre (Boston, Massachusetts), the James Spooner Fund Concerts (Plymouth, Massachusetts), Gile Fund Concerts (Concord, New Hampshire
Concord, New Hampshire
The city of Concord is the capital of the state of New Hampshire in the United States. It is also the county seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2010 census, its population was 42,695....
), the Greater New Bedford Concert Series New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...
), Temple Beth El Concert Series (Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
), the South Shore Concert Association (Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
), as well as Smith
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
and Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
s, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
and the Connecticut College for Women
Connecticut College
Connecticut College is a private liberal arts college located in New London, Connecticut.The college was founded in 1911, as Connecticut College for Women, in response to Wesleyan University closing its doors to women...
.
Aaron Richmond was a founding member of the Concerts Association of America, founded in 1937 "to meet the pressing problems now confronting the concert-giving field." In 1951, Richmond was elected Vice President of the National Association of Concert Managers, which later became the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) http://www.ispa.org/.
Richmond took over direction of the Castle Hill Festival in Ipswich, Massachusetts
Ipswich, Massachusetts
Ipswich is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,987 at the 2000 census. Home to Willowdale State Forest and Sandy Point State Reservation, Ipswich includes the southern part of Plum Island...
in 1964 where he organized the New England debut of violinist Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-born violinist, conductor, and instructor of master classes. He is regarded as one of the pre-eminent violinists of the 20th and early-21st centuries.-Early life:...
and a concert by an eighteen-year old Peter Serkin
Peter Serkin
-Biography:He was born in New York City and is the son of pianist Rudolf Serkin, and grandson of the influential violinist Adolf Busch, whose daughter Irene had married Rudolf Serkin...
.
Richmond also taught piano throughout his career, and for years kept a room adjacent to his business office in which he taught piano.
Honors
The French government made Aaron Richmond a Chevalier of The Ordre des Arts et des LettresLégion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
in 1961 , and the West German government gave him the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Bundesverdienstkreuz
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...
in 1962 for his role in the cultural exchange program.