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The Inland Children's Chorus Forum Page
This area provides an opportunity to make connections with others and share your thoughts or memories on the discussion forum below. The following are links to related content and individuals on the Web.
YouTube "The Story of Bethlehem" Part 1
YouTube "The Story of Bethlehem" Part 2
Chorus America "Impact" Study (excellent)
Houston Children's Chorus ~ Founded by Shephen Roddy (former member).
So you can view or download the PDF documents on this site, download a free copy of Adobe Reader.
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Forum Comments and Discussion:
Only the ten most recent comments are shown below. Click to view all comments.
- Jerry Alred - Norma, thanks for the comment about the website. If I understand your question about the dresses, click on the "St. Nicolas Chorus 1953" thumbnail on the photos page for a good view of the ensemble. For some reason, I don't remember much about the concert itself, so I hope some others jump in with more details. And, by the way, I so much appreciated the help from your dad and all the others for getting us into those Eaton suits -- not an easy process!
- Norma Tunney Austin - I am an "old timer" as I was in the Chorus from 1944 to 1952. I have such fond memories of the thrill of the concerts...such excitement! Even all the rehearsals were fun and the final double rehearsals on Sat. when we got to have lunch at White Tower was really special. I made so many friends, and even remember a few "crushes"...ah youth! My close friend was Maureen O'Connell. We are still good friends and have discussed the fun times in the Chorus. When we weren't at rehearsals, we even "played Chorus" and did all the singing.....for the kids we liked, we sang well and, of course, you know how we sang for the kids we weren't so fond of !!! When I turned 16, it was a sad day. Then they formed the Senior Chorus. As far as Maureen and I can remember, we only sang with the Senior Chorus in the "St. Nicholas Concert"...neither of us can remember performing any other time with the Senior Chorus? We can't remember what dresses we wore for that performance? Can anyone out there remember what we wore? Some of the best memories of my youth were associated with the Chorus. I might add that my Dad was a "dresser" for the boys for several years...that being said, I must confess I have some "lines" in my scrapbook that he brought home in his pcket..(I don't think he gave out very many !!! Keep up the good work with the website, Jerry.
- Larry Brun 1950 - 1956 - I have been asked to identify the people in the picture on the home page. While I remember most of them from more than 55 years ago I can't remember a few and I'm unsure about a few first names. Although the picture is identified as a publicity photo 1955 I'm sure it was taken in the fall of 1954 or 1953. We were all 11 or 12 years old. Mr. Westbrock picked us to appear. I remember it was taken on a cold windy day and we were transported from the Lorretto after dressing to Holy Angels Church. The picture hung in the old DP&L building surrounded by other Christmas decorations and frills for ten or more years. I would make my yearly visit to see it. It was about 6ft by 10 ft.
Top Row left to right: Larry Brun, Barbara? or Carol? Besancany, Doug Waltemath, Marti-Lou Hale, Tom? Myers, Nancy? Lambert, Greg Westbrock, Judy James
Front Row left to right: Jerry Alred, Bev Hoover, Pat Caulfield, Unidentified, John Liddy (deseased), Unidentified, Robert Frederick.
If you were there at that time and can identify the other two or the first names please comment. Larry- Mary (Wysong) Bauer - I joined the Inland Children's Chorus in the fall of 1956, and "graduated" in the spring of 1963. I loved being a part of the chorus. It has added a dimension to my life that I otherwise would not have had. I was very small, and I remember that when I was fitted for my first concert in 1958, the smallest dress they had was still way too large for me. I am not sure how the seamstresses did it, but it fit perfectly for the concert. The dress number was 144 (I still remember it. And I wore that same dress until I left, in 1963.) The music was terrific, I enjoyed all of the practices, concerts, recordings, Christmas Parties, and trips to LeSourdesville. I remember, too, that I turned 16 on October 31, 1962, and so according to the guidelines, I should have "graduated" in the spring of 1962. I begged and begged, Joe Geiger, to let me stay in one more year. I kept telling him that when practices started in September, I would still only be 15. He finally relinquished and allowed me to stay in one more year. It was a sad day, when I had to leave the chorus. I remember, too, the 25th anniversay concert that we did with some former members who were now adults. Gene Schamel and Barbara (Fitzharris) Schamel, and several others. Mr. Westbrock was not there when I joined. Joe Geiger was the director then. He was an awesome inspiration to me. And although I have sung in other choirs, no director has ever even begun to live up to Joe's standards. I find that the older I get, the more I appreciate his perfectionism and patience with us. He was a wonderful person, and not only a great director, but also an exceptional organist. I don't know how many people know that. I sang for Joe in a church choir for many years during and after Inland Chorus. I find that the older I get, the more I appreciate not only his talent, but his inspirational force for my love for music, and all that he taught me. What stands out mostly in my mind, was the night of the black-out when our Christmas concert was scheduled. I was so afraid I wouldn't be able to get there. I finally arrived with only about 10 minutes to spare. The children were already lined up to go on stage, and they had an alternate in my place. I never got into my "Alice Blue Gown" so fast, but I made it! I think the alternate was sorry. I, too, like Mary Sue Gmaz still sing those songs to myself, and my children were raised on many of them. I was so sorry when Inland discontinued the chorus. I felt that it was a great loss to our young children, and that it was so sad that they would not be able to experience the excitement of performing at Memorial Hall in front of the large audience, not to say of all of the friends and love for music that they would miss out on.
- Nancy (Calvert) Hoffman - I was so excited to find this website. I have great memories of my years in the chorus. I was also greatly suprised to see the picture of my brothers (John and Don Stevens) from the Dayton Daily News article. I still have recordings and some pictures and programs from my years in the chorus. I wrote to Mr. Geiger, as an adult, to thank him for his leadership and his influence in my life. I have spent many years now working with children in theater, school and church. Inland Children's Chorus has been a positive influence in my desire to offter other children the same experience.
- Larry Brun 1950 - 1956 - Some of the things I remember: we had 2 concerts at Christmas, one with the Philharmonic, one by ourselves on different nights 2 concerts in February at the art institute back to back. We had lunch and watched movies in between. 1 concert in the spring on Sunday afternoon recording sessions in the summer after we had auditions for the concert group (100 plus 6 alternates)it was practice, practice, practice. the soprano boys and girls came on thurs. and the rest came on tuesday. on saturday we all came together. the closer to the concert the more and more practice. we began coming tues thru sat first, then double sessions on saturday 9-1 and1-4.we had lunch hour from 12-1. then eventually we came on sunday from 1-4 also. needless to say we were very well prepared. mr. Westbrock had a very talented ear and would not tolerate someone off key or goofing something up. certain bars would be sung over and over until it was right. he could tell where mistakes were coming from. at dress rehersal mr. Westbrock always said his biggest fear was that someone would drop there music binder. he would raise his hands and we would raise our books and then he would open his hands and we would open the books and never look at them again. no one ever dropped their book in my six years. He also feared someone would stumble and fall down. that never happened either. mr. O'Brien always spoke to us at dress rehersal. He was such a kind man. Dress rehersal was brutal and seemed to go on for hours and hours under hot lights, as we marched and marched and sang and sang. there was always a medical staff there to treat those who became ill and several did. someone mentioned the song we marched in to. I believe it was "march of the wooden soldiers" or "toy soldiers" or just "toys". at any rate it is similer to the song the Ohio State Band does script ohio to. i remember at LeSourdsville lake we always had a lunch of swiss steak then we had to sing before playing which we all hated. mr Westbrock would not let us ride the roller coaster which was pretty mild compared to todays coasters.afterwards they would raffle off silver dollars to those lucky ones. i won one one year and i believe i still have it. one year they gave everyone a ballcap with an "I" on it.
- Larry Brun 1950 - 1956 - I joined as an 8 year old in 1950 and road the bus downtown by myself after school for a nickel. I'm the one in the upper left corner on the picture on the front page. I believe that's Alred in the lower left corner. The picture was taken in the balcony at Holy Angels Church and hung as a very large photo (about 6x10 ft) in the old DP&L building at Christmas time every year for about ten years.I was in every big production that we performed includind the St. Nicholas story. the Steve Allen Show, the western show, the Special christmas show and many others. I was devastated when Mr. Westbrock died in 1955 and found it hard to go on in the chorus. I quit shortly thereafter. Mr. Westbrock was like a father figure to me and was one of the kindest and most influential men in my life. I would like to here from others who were in the chorus at my time. Larry Brun
- Fred Moore - I joined the Inland Children's Chorus in 1941 at the age of 8. My mother worked at Inland and thought it would be good for me to sing in the chorus. I sang in the chorus for 6 years. My uncle taught me to play the French horn which I played in the Roosevelt High School Band. I also played in the NCR Band at Old River Park. In 1955 I started playing with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and played with them for 25 years. I feel that the training I got thru the chorus took me to a higher level of music. I have retired my French horn but I now sing in my church choir. P.S. I still carry my folder at my side as I did in the Inland Children's Chorus.
- Jerry Alred - Susan, I love your comment about "Evening Prayer"! Thanks to contributors, our "music" page has both a recording and the sheet music for that piece. I always enjoyed not only the reassuring words of that song (I needed 14 angels), but I also appreciated that the bank of hot white spotlights on stage would shift to the much cooler blue lights. Ah!
As I've been preparing reviews to post on the site, I've come to realize that the impact of the performances was much more than the music, great as it often was. The performances involved the costuming and staging by Raymond Sovey, the Broadway theatrical designer whose central role I learned about only this year. It was also the hard work of all those "Inland people" who J.D. O'Brien refers to in his "welcome" on the home page (thanks for help with the collars) and of course the musical talents of Richard Westbrock and Joseph Gieger -- not to mention outstanding musicians like Mary Werner MacCash, Isabel Herbst, Paul Ray Jones, and others. It was the setting of Memorial Hall (Stephen Roddy mentions the "Austrian curtain" Wow!) and the incredible design, setting, and stage at the Dayton Art Institute. All the practices, dedication, and hard work of many came together to produce the performances that were highly praised in the newspaper reviews of concerts.
I share the sentiments of others who say they were lucky to have been part of the Chorus and that's part of the reason why I'm glad to have the opportunity to work with the site. And it's fun handling this historical material even for a short time. Having spent many years in the classroom, I am so pleased as well that Wright State will preserve this history because it offers a model for providing similar opportunities to young people in the future.- Susan Gmaz Jones - I was a member of the Chorus from 1957-1964 and without a doubt it was a very important and influential part of my childhood. My father was a 45 year veteran of the Inland and I was proud to partake of the opportunity that the Chorus provided to the families of their employees. To this day I still hum and sing those songs I learned which turned me into a Broadway "junkie"! Certain memories I remember most are the "Evenings When I Go to Sleep" prayer that always closed the first half of the concerts which I now sing to my grandchildren. I remember so well going to the Loretta and reading comic books before practice began. The nuns upstairs always loved to hear the singing coming from the basement!!! I loved coming to practice on Thursday at 4:00 (Sopranos only) and then on Saturday when all sections came and we put all the harmonies together. Joe Geiger did command strict attention and discipline from us and we always knew what we were there for! Such fond memories I have of those years. I am delighted that Jerry Alred has taken the time and dedication to pull the archives together and a special thanks to Wright State for their part in preserving the Chorus as a part of Dayton history.