Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Source
Sponsor
Scope and Contents
Arrangement
Related Collections
Box Numbering and Commercial Recordings
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Archive of Recorded Sound
Title: James Schwabacher Collection
Identifier/Call Number: ARS.0024
Physical Description:
71 box(es)
Date: 1860-2006
Physical Location: Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound
Stanford University Libraries Stanford, California 94305-3076
Abstract: The James Schwabacher Collection
consists of sound recordings, correspondence, scores, scrapbooks, clippings, programs,
teaching material and other papers from San Francisco philanthropist and lyric tenor James
Schwabacher.
Access
Open for research; material must be requested at least two business days in advance of
intended use. Contact the Archive for assistance.
Publication Rights
Property rights reside with repository. Publication and reproduction rights reside with the
creators or their heirs. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the
Head Librarian of the Archive of Recorded Sound.
Preferred Citation
James Schwabacher Collection, ARS-0024. Courtesy of the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound,
Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Source
The James Schwabacher Collection was donated to the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound by
James Schwabacher in 2007.
Sponsor
This finding aid was produced with generous financial support from the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission.
Scope and Contents
The James Schwabacher Collection consists of sound recordings, correspondence, scores,
scrapbooks, photographs, programs, teaching material and other papers from philanthropist
and lyric tenor James Schwabacher (1920-2006). A tireless champion of vocal music,
Schwabacher was extremely active in the San Francisco Bay area, not only as a performer, but
as a teacher, vocal coach, and radio and television host. Perhaps most significantly,
Schwabacher was founder of the Merola Opera Program, an annual workshop for aspiring
singers, in 1957, San Francisco Performances in 1980, and the Schwabacher Debut Recital
Series in 1983. The Schwabacher name belongs to one of San Francisco's more prestigious
families: Schwabacher-Frey was a major West Coast printer and stationer, and Schwabacher and
Company was a successful investment banking firm. His grandmother Carrie, who was a
Fleishhacker before marriage, was a composer and pianist, and James grew up surrounded by
music. Scrapbooks reveal regular attendance at San Francisco Opera performances, long before
he made it to the SFO stage himself. After graduating from Cal in 1941, Schwabacher taught
briefly at Stanford, where he conducted the Glee Club and sang in the West Coast premiere of
Britten's Peter Grimes and alongside Dorothy Warenskjold in her debut in Der Freischütz. In
1948 Schwabacher joined the San Francisco Opera, playing fourteen roles over four seasons.
Schwabacher would soon move away from opera, however, and the majority of his years
performing were in recitals and oratorios. His singing career is most notable for a
twenty-five year run as the Evangelist in The Passions of St. John and Michael in the Carmel
Bach Festival. The collection contains many recordings from these performances, but it also
covers the period where Schwabacher was teaching, mentoring and administrating (he was
president of the San Francisco Symphony Foundation and a member of their Board of Governors
since 1959, and he was also on the board of the San Francisco Opera Foundation). For more
biographical information, consult the oral history by Caroline C. Crawford titled
"Renaissance Man of Bay Area Music: Tenor, Teacher, Administrator, Impresario" (available at
http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt987006sc).
The James Schwabacher Collection consists of sound recordings, correspondence, scores,
scrapbooks, photographs, programs, teaching material and other papers from philanthropist
and lyric tenor James Schwabacher (1920-2006). A tireless champion of vocal music,
Schwabacher was extremely active in the San Francisco Bay area, not only as a performer, but
as a teacher, vocal coach, and radio and television host. Perhaps most significantly,
Schwabacher founded the Merola Opera Program, an annual workshop for aspiring singers, in
1957, San Francisco Performances in 1980, and the Schwabacher Debut Recital Series in 1983.
The Schwabacher name belongs to one of San Francisco's more prestigious families:
Schwabacher-Frey was a major West Coast printer and stationer, and Schwabacher and Company
was a successful investment banking firm. His grandmother Carrie, who was a Fleishhacker
before marriage, was a composer and pianist, and James grew up surrounded by music.
Scrapbooks reveal regular attendance at San Francisco Opera performances, long before he
made it to the SF Opera stage himself.
After graduating from Cal in 1941, Schwabacher taught briefly at Stanford, where he
conducted the Glee Club and sang in the West Coast premiere of Britten's Peter Grimes and
alongside Dorothy Warenskjold in her debut in Der Freischütz. In 1948 Schwabacher joined the
San Francisco Opera, playing fourteen roles over four seasons. Schwabacher would soon move
away from opera, however, and the majority of his years performing were in recitals and
oratorios. His singing career is most notable for a twenty-five year run as the Evangelist
in The Passions of St. John and Matthew in the Carmel Bach Festival. The collection contains
many recordings from these performances, but it also covers the period where Schwabacher was
teaching, mentoring and administrating (he was president of the San Francisco Symphony
Foundation and a member of their Board of Governors since 1959, and he was also on the board
of the San Francisco Opera Foundation). For more biographical information, consult the oral
history by Caroline C. Crawford titled "Renaissance Man of Bay Area Music: Tenor, Teacher,
Administrator, Impresario" (available at
http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt987006sc).
Arrangement
The collection has been arranged into fifteen series: 1. Awards and honors ; 2. Clippings ;
3. Correspondence ; 4. Media ; 5. Merola Opera Program ; 6. Misc. papers ; 7. Notes and
notebooks ; 8. Photographs ; 9. Posters ; 10. Programs ; 11. Publicity and biographies ; 12.
SF Symphony and Opera business ; 13. Scores ; 14. Scrapbooks and binders ; 15. Teaching
materials.
Related Collections
The Archive of Recorded Sound also holds the
href="http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt487035w7">Carmel Bach Festival Tape Collection, ARS0025.
Box Numbering and Commercial Recordings
Commercial recordings in Schwabacher's personal collection (approx. 69 boxes) were retained
but not described. Note boxes 14-72, 97-102, & 118-121 are 78 rpm discs and 103 is CDs.
All will at some point be integrated with the general collection and the box numbers
deleted.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Tenors (Singers)
San Francisco Opera
Schwabacher, James
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra