Music in the Redwoods

Location

Bunch Library Multimedia Hall

Start Date

4-3-2020 2:20 PM

End Date

4-3-2020 2:35 PM

Publication Date

Spring 3-4-2020

Description

The Bohemian Club is an elite men's club based in San Francisco, California. Every summer they stage a two-week camp, complete with concerts, lectures, and a grand musical called the Grove Play. The Play uses a full orchestra, sets, and costumes, and is performed on an outside stage, underneath giant redwood trees. It is considered the big event of the annual encampment, but, like the earliest operas, is only open to a highly elite, invited audience of only men. Although the Bohemian Club archives are inaccessible to non-members, I have been able to gain a general sense of these musicals through their published librettos, accounts in their yearbooks, and interviews with one Grove composer. This secret musical practice is a fascinating glimpse into the lives of elite Americans.

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Mar 4th, 2:20 PM Mar 4th, 2:35 PM

Music in the Redwoods

Bunch Library Multimedia Hall

The Bohemian Club is an elite men's club based in San Francisco, California. Every summer they stage a two-week camp, complete with concerts, lectures, and a grand musical called the Grove Play. The Play uses a full orchestra, sets, and costumes, and is performed on an outside stage, underneath giant redwood trees. It is considered the big event of the annual encampment, but, like the earliest operas, is only open to a highly elite, invited audience of only men. Although the Bohemian Club archives are inaccessible to non-members, I have been able to gain a general sense of these musicals through their published librettos, accounts in their yearbooks, and interviews with one Grove composer. This secret musical practice is a fascinating glimpse into the lives of elite Americans.