Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-06-14

search assistant and I have
written an evaluation Of their
programs. budgets. aims, au-
dienceS. and their method Of
financing. Our analysis and
evaluation became the foun-
dations Of the proposed pro-
grams and budgets for the
Washington festival. :"
There will be two years Of
preparation, then. II all goes
well. October, 1862. will see
the festival burgeon out with
so performances and exhi-
billions. There will be 20
new works commissioned. and
the attractions will range
from the most gala. that will
win the respect even Of Sol
Hurok, to the most modest,
even presently defunct, Of
our local institutions. Operas
will be given by La Scala
Piocola and the Opera So
ciety Of Washington: the or
chestras will be the London
Philharmonic and the Ma
tional Symphony: sacred mu-
sic and chamber music will
be supplied by the Washing
ton Cathedral Choir. the
Washington Hebrew Congre-
CATION Chorus. the Catholic
University Shrine Choir.
Howard University and the
two major music founda-
tons Of the Library Of Con-
gress.
Groups to Cooperate
Ballet will be supplied by
the Washington Ballet and
the Martha Graham Dance
Company. dramatic and lit
erary interest by the Arena
Stage. the Institute Of Con-
temporary Art. the Library
Of Congress, and a new organ
ization, the Festival Theater.
There will be exhibitions at
the National Gallery, Phillips,
Corcoran, the Textile Muse.
UNI, Freer, and the Smith.
sonisn, and finally band con-
certs by all the local military
bands.
All this will cost. the Rich
man report estimates. $685.
900. and revenue from mem.
berships and ticket sales will
be $4,000 approximately
twice the proceeds from ticket
sales Of the National SYM
phony for an entire season.
Future years would have q
higher budget and would see
q truly stupendous roster Of
organizations-among them,
the operas Of Berlin. Glynde.
borne, New York and Vienna,
the orchestra Of Berlin, Bos.
ton. Chicago, Leningrad, Lon
don and Israel. the Bolshoi
Ballet and the Jose Limon
Dance Company.
Fascinated as ! always am
by projects of such color and
scope, and knowing Bob
Richman to be q table COM
panion Of unusual charm. I
had lunch with him Tuesday
to ask q few questions. Three
Of the models, for example,
I had never heard of-the
festivals Of Boston. Strauss
bourg. and Berlin-although
! am no authority in this line.
Based Upon Achievement
what do you imagine will
be the identifying character
istic Of your festival" I asked.
Don't all the successful ones
present a certain individual
image. or flavor. or taste, or
something that is more or
less unique? 1t seems to me
that what you plan. except
the out Of town organizations.
covers everything that could
be considered artistic in
Washington life"
yes. I think that will be
the best way to look at it," he
said. The festival doesn't
want to start from scratch,
but must build on what
Washington has itself created
here in the last 20 years
the National Symphony. the
Opera Society. the Library
chamber music concerts. the
Institute of Contemporary
Arts programs and the Wash
ington mber Chorus.
These will be the basis of a
festival I think will be artis-
tically outstanding"
Where do you envisage the
major events will be held?"
Certainly the project will
eventually be tied UP with the
Cultural Center, but clearly
that won't be ready by 1862.
Well have to make do with
what we have in the mean
time"
do you think the out-of-
town organizations actually
would Gomez"
Eyes. we've already ap-
preached tn e m, most Of
them. This will be the biggest
and finest thing Of its kind
In the country, and there
won't be much trouble in
getting talent"
Nov. Bob. the big ques-
ton )"
II know" he laughed,
money. Three quarters OF