Stokowski Celebration

Last week marked the eightieth anniversary of an important milestone in the history of music technology. On April 27, 1933, The Philadelphia Orchestra, in collaboration with Bell Telephone Laboratories, presented a concert from the Academy of Music that was transmitted by telephone wire to a live audience in Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. Associate Conductor Alexander Smallens led the Orchestra in Philadelphia while conductor Leopold Stokowski was in Constitution Hall, “at the controls,” manipulating the sound electronically for the Washington audience.