BALDWIN, LILLIAN LUVERNE (1888-September 11, 1960) served the CLEVELAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS for a quarter-century as supervisor of music appreciation. She was born in Marion, Indiana, and received her undergraduate education at Glendale College. After teaching singing at Harcourt Place School in Gambier, Ohio, she returned to Glendale as an instructor and then went to New York to continue her studies at Columbia University, where she eventually earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degrees. She was also head of the vocal school at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, before coming to Cleveland in 1929. Her principal duty with the Cleveland school system was to supervise the annual series of children's concerts on assignment with the CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA. Working with associate conductor RUDOLPH RINGWALL†, she helped plan the programs and wrote study booklets for the 50,000 or more students who attended the concerts. Some of her study materials were published by the KULAS FOUNDATION as A Listener's Anthology of Music (two volumes) in 1946. Baldwin resigned from her position in 1956, the same year that Ringwall was replaced as associate conductor by Robert Shaw. Her departure was the culmination of an altercation with principal conductor GEORGE SZELL†, who criticized what he deemed as the "trashy" nature of the children's concerts. Never married, Baldwin lived in CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, and continued to conduct workshops and give lectures until her death in 1960.
Last Modified: 26 Feb 2006 04:06:24 PM- Related Article(s)