Musical Hilarity in Oregon

Louisa leaves in 13 days for the Northfield Youth Choirs’ trip to Oregon.  Thirty-eight members of the Anima and Troubadours choirs will participate in the prestigious Pacific International Children’s Choir Festival (PICCFEST), held on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene. 

The June 20-29 tour kicks off NYC’s 25th year.

While at the festival, they will perform as a solo choir and will participate in a 200-voice festival choir that will sing for the opening of the world-famous Oregon Bach Festival, an adult choral and orchestral festival in Eugene that overlaps with the children’s festival.

They also will get to visit a Yo-Yo Ma dress rehearsal and meet youth from four other choirs: the Cantabella Children’s Chorus from the San Francisco Bay area, the Centennial Children’s Chorus from Fort Collins, Co., the Oregon Festival Choirs from Eugene, and the Portland Symphonic Choir from Portland, Ore.

They’ll have time for sightseeing in Seattle and Portland and along the Oregon coast before and after the festival.  Louisa’s already psyched about a stop at Powell’s City of Books in Portland, known as the largest used and new bookstore in the world.

It occurred to me the other day as I looked over the trip itinerary that although Louisa’s not exactly tracing the steps of her great-great grandfather, G. Oliver Riggs, she is, while on a choir tour, once again making a connection with of one of G. Oliver’s musical adventures a century earlier.

Last spring, her NYC choir went on a tour to Omaha, where 120 years earlier G. Oliver had played first cornet at Boyd’s Opera House as a member of the National Salisbury Orchestra (for more on this, you can read my April 17, 2010 blog post, Fresh Spaghetti and Sweet Music in Old Market Omaha).

G. Oliver’s Omaha gig is listed among his accomplishments in his entry in the 1941 edition of Who’s Who in Minnesota.  Another accomplishment on the list has to do with Oregon; specifically, winning second prize at a national Elks music contest in Portland, Ore., in 1912.

The mention of this Elks contest puzzled me for some time.  Was it a solo contest or a band contest?  Had G. Oliver been an Elk?  It wasn’t until I did some research in Havre, Montana, a few summers ago that I figured it out.  G. Oliver was living in Havre in 1912, directing the city’s adult band and a boys’ band.  He also played in a number of other bands, including the Kalispell Elks band, organized by his architect friend, Marion Riffo.  Riffo lived in Kalispell but had an office in Havre and designed some buildings there.

In early July 1912, G. Oliver and four other men from Havre played in the Kalispell Elks Band for the Elks State Convention.  A week later, they traveled to Portland, Ore., for the National Elks Convention (also known as the Elks’ Grand Lodge Reunion).

A postcard from the 1912 event where G. Oliver performed in an Elks band.

According to a Portland Oregonian article from July 11, 1912, the barbecue at Oaks Amusement Park was enjoyed by 20,000 Elks (of the human variety, that is).  I’m not sure what they barbecued – I hope it wasn’t elk.  The band contest was held outside in the early evening.  The Wagner Band of Seattle took first prize, the Kalispell band placed second, and the Fifth Infantry Band of California came in third.

When the music program concluded sometime after 9 p.m., people left the park and crowded into cars to return to the city.

The Oregonian reported, “Nearly every car resounded with singing and hilarity on the way in.  They were extremely weary but happy crowds that piled off the car in town and mixed with the thousands of other celebrators on the street.  The outing went off without an accident to mar the pleasantry.  Although the police were on hand, they had nothing to do.  With all the hilarity, there was no trouble of any kind.”

The festival Louisa is attending won’t involve quite so many singers, and, if for some reason police officers do attend, I hope they’ll have nothing to do but enjoy the music.  I expect a big part of the fun for the NYC singers will be meeting youth from other towns who share a love of music, and of performing.

Louisa’s bio from the NYC tour brochure

I’m thrilled for Louisa and the opportunity awaiting her.  I’ll be eager to hear about all the singing and hilarity of her trip when she returns.  If she’s lucky, she might even meet an Elk.