Piano concert at Hinkle Fieldhouse

Description:	Eight hundred twenty five people played 125 grand pianos at Hinkle Fieldhouse on May 3, 1936. Organized by Sigma Alpha Iota, International Music Fraternity, the concerts kicked off the start of National Music Week and featured both an afternoon and an evening performance. Concert tickets were 50 cents and the profits went towards the organizations scholarship and student funds. The pianists participated in tryouts throughout Indiana and were selected by 150 piano teachers. Leading up to the concerts, the pianists practiced at least four times a week for more than six weeks in groups of 50 to 60 players. During the concerts, they played in four groups of 200 people, with two people at each piano, while the remaining 25 people were guest artists of the organization. The piano players ranged in age from nine years old to adults and they played in groups based on their ages. The nine to twelve year old group appears to be playing in this photograph, while the 25 guests artists are located at the pianos in the center section. This group performed Marche Militaire by Franz Schubert and Viennese Waltz by Cornelius Gurlitt. Frank O. Wilking conducted the concerts, which also featured a combined choir of approximately one hundred people from Butler University and the Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music, conducted by Donald C. Gilley, Professor of Music at the University. The baskets of flowers decorating the conductors platform contained 1,000 red roses, Sigma Alpha Iotas flower, given by the Wurlitzer Company, which manufactured all of the pianos featured in the concerts. The fenced off sections at the right of the photograph are likely the box seats that were created for this event.
Origin:	1936-05-03
Created By:	Bass Photo Company
Source:	http://palni.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/BldgsGrnds/id/967
Collection:	Butler University Buildings and Grounds Collection
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
Copyright:	In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Geography:	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 39.843607, -86.167299 39.843607 -86.167299
Subjects:	Butler University--Buildings College buildings Field houses Sports facilities Gymnasiums Basketball arenas Piano Pianists Wurlitzer Company Concerts Sigma Alpha Iota Butler University--Choral organizations Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music--Choral organizations Choirs (Music) Conductors (Music) College teachers Butler University--Faculty Butler University--Employees Children Bunting (Cloth) Signs and signboards Roses Baskets Fences Butler University--History Indianapolis (Ind.)--History People Hinkle Fieldhouse Butler Fieldhouse Gilley, Donald C. Wilking, Frank O. National Music Week Fairview campus

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