Sunday, October 3, 2010 at 4:00 p.m.

A Tribute to the WPA at 75

In collaboration with the Bedford Gallery’s “The American Scene: New Deal Art, 1935-1943,” October 3 - December 19, 2010

Aaron Copland’s Quiet City and John Henry

Ernst Bacon’s Remembering Ansel Adams 

Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus Overture

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7

A unique phenomenon in the history of American music, the WPA’s Composers' Forum-Laboratory had a profound influence on the development of an American voice in classical music.  Despite its brief existence, from 1935 to 1940, this Depression-era program, funded by Roosevelt’s New Deal, produced an astounding 5500 new works by some 1500 composers. Among those who thrived under its patronage were the great composer Aaron Copland and Bay Area native treasure Ernst Bacon, as well as Bacon’s close friend, Ansel Adams – a concert pianist, who it is said, was as adept at the keyboard as he was behind a lens.

*Program subject to change.