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.
Recommended Citation
Klefstad, Terry, "Music in the Redwoods" (2020). enLightening Talks. 3.
https://repository.belmont.edu/enlightening/Spring_2020/multimedia_hall_spring_2020/3
Klefstad Audio
Music.Redwoods.pptx (9788 kB)
Klefstad Slides
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.
