Coulee Region Festival of Arts: Expanding Music in La Crosse
(written by Charles Dyar, Archives Intern)
Image of Frank Italiano
The Coulee Region Music Festival was founded in 1960 to bring music culture to Southern Wisconsin. The highlight of the festival was the performance of the Coulee Region Symphony directed by Frank Italiano. Frank Italiano at the time the festival was founded was the Logan High School band director. Italiano had started his musical career as a high school band director at Cashton, Wisconsin, in the 1930s and moved to La Crosse to direct the Logan High School band in 1946. He also directed the Onalaska Luther High School band and from 1968 to 1972 directed the La Crosse Symphony. To help develop talented musicians for the La Crosse Symphony, he founded the La Crosse Youth Symphony program in 1969. One of his dreams was to establish both a summer symphony program and a youth symphony which would lead to the Symphony School of America. Italiano had a love for music that he wished to share with the La Crosse community leading to the idea for a symphony and summer music festival in La Crosse.
In 1960 Italiano's dream became a reality as he helped chartered the Coulee Region Symphony Committee which included 60 musicians. The Coulee Region Symphony Committee was also chartered with the symphony and was responsible for the organization and development of the festival. At the Coulee Region Music Festival, the symphony took center stage at a series of performances. The performances of the symphony were themed as “Music Under the Stars” concerts. At Myrick Park the Coulee Region Symphony performed classical music at the sun set on July 16th, 23rd and 30th. The “Music Under the Stars” proved to be very popular as the audience expanded from 1,200 on the first performance to 1,600 on the 23rd and finally 2,000 at the final performance. The popularity of the open air-concerts and other events led to the festival being continued and expanded in 1961 and 1962.
Music Under the Stars performance of the Coulee Region Symphony at Myrick Park in late 1960s; photo taken by Herman L. Rick
The festival was renamed the Coulee Region Festival of Arts in 1961 and art expeditions, a film festival, dance recitals and other events broadened the festival. The Coulee Region was also expanded to 3 weeks which included a clinic for aspiring junior high and college musicians. In 1962 the festival continued to expand with the event becoming more ambitious. Between July 15th and 30th the Coulee Region Symphony gave four performances with the first three taking place at Myrick Park. The performances and Myrick Park were free to the public and the season finale “Closing Concert” cost $1.50 for general admission. The second week of the festival was themed Scandinavian Week with the Coulee Region Symphony having two performances featuring Scandinavian music to honor the heritage of some members of the Coulee Region. This would continue to be a common theme as each year different cultures would have performances themed around them. Among the new features were three art expositions including an outdoor art exhibit on July 29th. Also, for the first time the festival had a “Young People's Concert” which was described as having symphony music with narration designed to make it easier for younger audiences to understand. The festival was popular among the public and received positive reviews. One of the festival soloists said La Crosse showed “courage” by staging an ambitious festival and was “surprised” by the caliber and quality of the festival for a smaller city.
Dance recital during performance by Coulee Region Symphony in August of 1970
The Coulee Region Symphony of 1972
The Coulee Region Festival of Arts started to be known as the Great River Festival of Arts in 1974 and the Coulee Region Symphony was renamed the Great River Symphony. A yearly festival event that proved to be popular was the Pops Night. Starting in 1972 the Coulee Region Kiwanis Club co-sponsored the festival pops night. During the night a dinner would be served around a theme of a country or world region and followed by a concert by the Great River Symphony that matched the theme. Some themes included Americana, French, Scotland and Polynesian. The Pops Night was one event that grew to be a signature part of the festival like Music Under the Stars.
Great River Symphony Performance during 1976 Pops night
Among the features of the festival that continued to develop was the music clinic. In 1960 Italiano started the clinic which was held during the rehearsals and concerts of the Coulee Region Symphony. Groups of students were trained in performance technique by the first chairs of the symphony. They also were given the opportunity to participate in two rehearsals with the Coulee Region Symphony and be selected to perform in the last Music Under the Stars concert. In 1961 and 1962 the symphony clinic expanded into a three-week program which continued practice and performance with Coulee Region Symphony. Eventually the clinic and symphony partnership led to the expansion of the clinic into The Symphony School of America which was a summer program for talented aspiring musicians. The Symphony School hired professional musicians from across the United States to tutor junior high and college musicians. Students could apply for the three-week program in which the students would participate in group practices, sectional and private sessions to prepare for a series of performances. After preparation, the student would join the Great River Symphony which was the new name for the Coulee Region Symphony for a series of performances during the Great River Festival of Arts. The program expanded annually, so that by 1964 it included approximately 58 students, a private concert, a master piano class and professional voice coaching. The group was housed in the dormitories at UW-La Crosse and gave six concerts and up to five recitals during its season. The participants were also able to earn up to three college credits in orchestra performance, applied instrumental performance and ensemble performance.
Students from the Symphony School of American hold a group sectional to practice
A student from the Symphony School receives personal help from Miss Swett, a bassist with the San Diego Symphony
Starting in 1966 the Symphony School of America expanded from the La Crosse Festival and started performing around Dodgeville. The Symphony School had a two-week residence in Dodgeville where they did a series of performances at Governor Dodge state park before returning to La Crosse for the Arts Festival. While at Dodgeville the symphony was called the Symphony of the Hills. In 1966 performances at Governor Dodge State Park included All-American Show Night, World Premier Night and a Night of Dance. The Symphony School of America continued to perform in Dodgeville until the end of the Symphony School.
A performance of the Symphony of the Hills at Governor Dodge State Park during the late 1960s
In 1984 to save on cost the residence of the Symphony school was moved to the Superior due to it being cheaper for housing a UW Superior than UW La Crosse. The schedule of the school was changed to a two-and-a-half-week period in Dodgeville and a two-and-a-half-week period at Superior. The Symphony still gave performances in La Crosse as well as Dodgeville, Mineral Point, Monroe and Superior. The Symphony School that started in La Crosse branched out and eventually drifted away as cost started to grow and it became more difficult to support the program. The Symphony of the Hills and the Symphony School of America ended in 1987 after lack of funds no longer made it possible to support the $125,000 budget. Even without the symphony school the La Crosse Great River Festival of Arts continued to bring art and music to western Wisconsin. Today this tradition is continued by the La Crosse Great River Folk Festival. The legacy of Frank Italiano continues to live on in the La Crosse Youth Symphony which still operates today to help young musicians develop and bring music to the La Crosse community.
If you would like to learn more about the Festival, come visit the La Crosse Public Library Archives and look through the original records and photographs in Great River Festival of Arts Records, 1960-1986!